On a serious note...

About a week and a half ago, I got a phone call around nine o'clock at night.  It was the hospital and they needed me to come in because a tornado hit a neighborhood in Granbury and there were lots of injuries. The hospital had called a "code orange." Every off duty nurse was called in as well as off duty physicians.  I quickly got dressed in my scrubs and headed to the hospital.  the forty minute drive there was a bit eery.  All the traffic was headed in the opposite direction.  Lightning filled the sky.  I followed an ambulance all the way to the hospital.  All I could think about was what I was about to see. 

I got to the hospital at 2145. The hospital parking lot was packed! Now this is a small town hospital, at night there are a max of 20 cars on a normal night.  I ran through the rain into the emergency department.  It was packed.  We set up the hospital preop and recovery into an intermediate triage area.  The emergency department was set up for severe injuries and the cafeteria was set up for minor injuries.  

About 2200 the ambulances started rolling in, one after another.  It was a sea of lights.  The patients were soaking wet from the ran, covered in dirt, rocks, bugs from being thrown around in the air and ground.   Many of the injuries were broken bones, lacerations, head injuries, and puncture wounds.  These people had lost all their material belongings.  I never heard anyone ask about the state of their home or belongings but of the state of their family members.  We tried our hardest to locate family members and update them on the status of their family members.   It was hard because there were so many people. 

The Fort Worth EMS sent this medical bus to our hospital to transport twenty patients at a time to the metroplex.  We stabilized the patients and then sent them on this bus for further treatment. The bus was so cool. It was a greyhound that was gutted and set up to hold 20 stretchers stacked along the walls. The front of the bus had a medication area,radio to contact the hospital,and other supplies.  It was very high tech. One medic told us this was the first time it had been used.   I can only imagine how this bus can help people and how it can efficiently transport a couple dozen people to the care they need. 

I have never felt so proud to work at a place then I did that Wednesday night.  It was amazing to see all the medical staff at the hospital helping the community.  Paramedics, EMT's, police, nurses,physicians,nurse practitioners, crnas, radiology, lab and husbands of nurses banded together to get people the care they needed in an efficient manner.  It was amazing.

The last week and a half have been crazy. Tornadoes have happened almost every day. Lots of damage has occurred.  Many people have lost their lives. The medical community has seen a lot of trauma for a week and a half. People are devastated.  Our hearts break for the people who have lost so much.

Do what you can to help these people in need. Take tornado warnings seriously. Know a safe place and go there.  Prepare.   

Blessed is the GOD and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  I Corinthians 1: 3-4 

Our First Anniversary

Rygh and I celebrated our first anniversary in Fredericksburg, TX. We stayed at the country inn and cottages. We stayed in a little, rustic cottage that we really enjoyed. On our first night, we went to Rebecca Rather's The Pink Pig. We had a great meal on the patio. We then headed to Luckenbach to watch The Chris Story Band. Chris Story played at our wedding reception so it was really fun to see them a year later!

The next morning we woke up and ate leftover cookies from The Pink Pig which were delectable! We headed out to climb Enchanted Rock. I have always wanted to go to enchanted rock and we made plans several times but never actually made it there. It was beautiful. We took the adventurous way to the top of the rock. We had a great time and it was absolutely beautiful!

After climbing the rock, we drove the willow city loop. We saw some wild flowers. We ate lunch at the Knot in the Loop Saloon and had some great hamburgers. It was a bit of a biker hangout so I was a little out of place in my Nike shorts and tcu shirt.

We stopped by downtown Frederickburg and did some shopping. We picked up dinner at Opa's and had a picnic back at the cottage. It was a beautiful night for a picnic and really cool to see the elk so close. We took a walk around the place.

After our walk, we decided to cut our wedding cake and give it a try. At our wedding, I thought our cake was super dry and not very tasty. But oooo mm gggg the cake was amazing! We each had two slices! We exchanged presents. Rygh got a duck bag and I got two little decorations for this plate I have. We ended the night by looking through a jar of memories that I have been keeping of our first year. It was cool looking back on the things we have gone through in our first year of marriage.

We ended our anniversary weekend at Riven Rock Ranch for dinner with my parents. We had a great dinner and it was a bit surreal that we got married a year ago!

My first time

Hi!

This weekend Rygh and I headed to Garden City to see Mandie and Bobby. We worked their calves on Saturday morning. This was my first time actually working calves. My job was to vaccinate and pour wormer on their backs and on a small calf sit on them :) Rygh and Mandie held the calf down while Bobby branded, and castrated them. Working calves isn't for the faint of heart. It was a fun morning and I have even volunteered my help for next time! We did benefit from our work...we had some calf fries!

Saturday afternoon we took naps I.e. I took a nap, watched Hallmark movies and the boys worked on a carport. We had a fun weekend in west Texas with great food and family!

Porch rules...

Hi!

Life got a little busy the last few months! Here's a bit of a recap!

We started Camp Gladiator in January! CG is a daily boot camp type workout! We love it and definitely look forward to it each day! It has helped us stay fit and make some new friends. Rygh and I celebrated one year of wedded bliss on April 7th with a weekend getaway in Fredericksburg! We have both been working hard as a nurse and a farm manager. The cows are all having babies right now! I have been working a lot in preop at the hospital..getting better at iv starts! Buster is doing well! He loves to play ball! Diesel is doing well! He even helped me paint this week :)


So the real reason for this post is to show you a little project I have been working on for my mom's birthday on April 25th. I have been working the last week on her present. It is a wooden sign that we painted red and then stenciled in "porch rules." We met my parents in Marble Falls at Russo's for lunch and a little gift exchanging! Se loved it!

Here are two pictures....one of it in progress and then the finished product! I love it and think I may make one for myself!

Merry Christmas 2012!

Happy 2013! I can't believe 2012 is over! 2012 was a very memorable year... Getting married, moving to Stephenville, new job, and beginning a life with Rygh! We were very blessed in 2012!

Here's a little recap of our Christmas! My parents, brother, and grandpa came to Stephenville to celebrate Christmas at our house! It was really nice having everyone here. On Christmas Eve, we went to a Christmas Eve service at church and them had a tamale dinner! We opened one present on Christmas Eve....a little Alley family tradition.

We woke up Christmas morning to rain! It was a great Christmas present! We opened presents as breakfast was cooking in the oven! We got lots of great things! Rygh got clothes, tool box, axe, and other things! I got a beautiful necklace from my parents, food processor, kitchen tools, step stool, quilt from my mil,and lots of other great things! For breakfast, we had breakfast casserole, grapefruit, Nutella banana bread, and mimosas or poinsettias to drink!

We hung out at the house because it was super cold outside! We played with our puppies and talked! Christmas dinner was served around 2. We had smoked turkey, pork tenderloin, green beans, corn casserole, potatoes au gratin, popovers, and yummy green top! We topped dinner off with pumpkin pie and apple pie! Everyone went home in the evening and Rygh and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home! It was perfect! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a happy 2013! Can't wait to see what this year holds!

Lyn

Poor diesel

Diesel had a rather traumatic evening. He came back to Rygh covered in blood. Rygh thinks he cut it on the barbed wire fence. Poor puppy!

Christmas decorating!

Rygh and I came back to Stephenville on Saturday after Thanksgiving. We came back early to begin decorating for Christmas! Within 5 minutes of getting in the door, we were opening the box for the Christmas tree and working on putting it together. I bought our tree online back in September when I saw a "good deal." Well, we set the tree up and it barely came to my forehead. The tree was supposedly 6.5 feet.. I looked at Rygh all disappointed and we decided we HAD to get another tree! So thirty minutes after we got home, we headed back out to get a new tree! We bought a 7.5 ft tree from ace! It's beautiful! Round 2... We set the tree up and the lights don't work. Disappointing face #2! We quit working on the tree figuring it just wasn't supposed to happen on Saturday! Don't worry...we got our tree up and I love it! I'm not even going to get into the outside icicle light story! Anyways, our farmhouse is all set for Christmas now!