2/24 - Snow

We've had a few snow storms this week where they come and an hour later everything has melted but for a little bit of time, everything looks pretty in white. I personally am grateful that everything is melting away because I am still sick of snow after all of it in Russia. Anyways, I just thought that the trees looked really pretty with the sun shining on them.

2/23 - Boring

This was my day. Sitting at the table doing homework all day, NCIS on the television (marathon I think), and although you can't tell, it was snowing outside. It was an incredibly boring day full of listening to 9 speeches that were for the most part incredibly boring. On top of that, I had work at 4. So basically, not everyday of my life can be very exciting and this is one of those dull days.

2/22 - Rag Time

This is Edna. She is the best jazz pianist I know. I think she is about 95 and still kickin it doing most things by herself. Well, I went in to give her her pills the other day and she was sitting there a little upset thinking about all of the loved ones that were gone. She only has her kids left which is great but the doesn't have her parents, husband, or friends anymore. She doesn't complain about it but was just a little sad. So I told her to play her piano because it always helps me when I am upset. So I was out in the hall getting some other pills ready and then I heard some rag time playing from her room. I snuck in and took a picture of her having a great time playing. I am glad she did what she loves to make herself feel better.

2/21 - Clever

Sometimes the residents at work just crack me up. I was doing a med pass and as I was moving to the next hall, an open door caught my attention. I looked down and this is what I found. The residents get creative sometimes and I guess one of the residents thought that their shoe would make the perfect door stopper. Just makes me laugh thinking that she was running around with only one shoe on.

2/20 - Fail

What's this you ask? Well of course it's sheet cake! Okay so it's a really ugly version of it. Mom had us make it as dessert tonight but it somehow ended up totally lopsided. You can't really tell but the sided closest to the bottom is much higher than the other. Then there's the frosting. Those white spots aren't marshmallows. Apparently I can't stir powdered sugar very well. Then we decided to put mini chocolate chips on top to make it look more appetizing - didn't really work. It's actually really good, you just have to get past the look :)

2/19 - A Farewell and Hello

We finally got the KIA fixed and the motor in and ready so now it's ready for the road. The only problem has been who would drive it and how we would switch all of the cars around. Our situation up until now has been Mom in the van, Kaylynn in the Oldsmobile (Mortimer), and me in the truck. The KIA is nice so it was more like who deserves a nice car. Mom drove it into town the other day and with that one drive decided that she wanted it. So that just leaves Kaylynn and I with what vehicles to switch to if we were going to switch. Kaylynn abandoned Mortimer for the van and since I really don't like the truck (no power steering, one broken wiper, not automatic fuel injection, older than dirt), I gladly took Mortimer. We all spent about two hours cleaning out and transferring stuff between vehicles and are all very happy now. Actually, it only took a long time for Kaylynn to clean out her stuff. She has soccer shin guards in the truck from at least August - we don't really know the last time she used them.

2/18 - Can't Resist That Face

Matthew and I decided to go visit Courtney and Connor on Friday morning. What a lovely way to spend the morning! We watched movies and played on the Wii. Connor slept for a little while but eventually woke up and I went and got him out of his crib. After playing with me for a little bit, he decided that he wanted to play the Wii but obviously we weren't going to let him. Eventually, we had to leave so one we were up and getting ready, he ran over and got the Wii remotes just because he could. He then proceeded to shake them and laugh. He felt so accomplished but we all loved it!!

2/17 - Bishop's Storehouse

So many of you know that my mom loves getting her food storage in order and adding new things. She's gone so far as to can marshmallows and chocolate chips! Anyways, she wanted to stock up on a few things so we went to the bishop's storehouse Thursday morning to get some cans of refried beans, onions, and a few other things. The cool thing about it is that you go in with what you need and then just pack it yourself with whoever else happens to be there for their own orders. It only took two hours to drive there, can the food, and drive home. Not too bad considering it was down in Portland.

2/16 - Snow Day

I woke up at 7:00 this morning so I could do some homework and guess what? It started snowing! Are you kidding me? I thought I left that in Russia! Anyways, so I continued to do homework and eventually, there was around three inches of snow on the ground! That's about the time Matthew woke up; around 10. He got all excited and wanted to go play in the snow so after I finished my homework, we went outside and built this snowman, Fredrick, then had a snowball fight. Right about when we finished our snowman, the sun came out and everything started melting. We currently still have snow all over the ground but it has definitely gone down thank goodness!

2/15 - Oops

I needed to pay my mom back for paying my tuition this semester so I just used the online Bill Pay things from my bank. Thought it was simple enough and got it sent out. We received the check and this is what it said. Apparently, I filled out her name as Mom instead of Nancy Hokanson. It asked me for a tag name and I just assumed it meant whatever I was going to know it as not the name for the "Pay To The Order Of" line. My mom has been laughing at me for a few days now over it but it was just an honest mistake. The bank ended up taking the check but laughed because I guess they have never seen it before!

2/14 - Happy Valentine's Day...

So how does a 21-year-old spend her Valentine's Day? Single, working a full shift that night at an assisted living home working too much to take a break and watching the residents listen to some man playing an accordian. Yeah, exciting, I know. We had our annual dance at work but since it was the 14th, we had our monthly cycle fill which means that on the 14th, we replace all of the medicine in the carts for the new cards that are full. It was a long night but I was able to get most everything done. Happy Valentine's Day!

2/13 - Aladeen

Sundays are my only days off this month so when they come, I try to enjoy them to the fullest by spending lots of time with my family. Today, I spent most of the afternoon playing Connect Four and Mancala with Danielle. The best was when we played them with our eyes closed. It always come up with funny stories like Danielle skipping like four spots on Mancala (Matthew was right there being our judge). After everyone had dinner and a nap, we got up and needed dessert. I decided I wanted to make something I learned from Russia so out of the few options I knew, we ended up with aladeen. I'm not sure how to describe it but it's like a mix between pancakes and scones with apple chunks in it. We put powdered sugar on it and it ended up delicious! Everyone liked it! We are now ending our night watching "Leap Year" which I bought a few days ago from Fred Meyers for $7!

2/12 - Winter Cleaning

How did we spend our Saturday? Cleaning out our food storage room of old dead food and anything molding. Fun huh? Danielle and I emptied probably about 60-75 jars of disgusting food that made us just about puke. We did try to make it fun every once in a while like here, where we were emptying out water that had been sitting for years. Danielle decided to dance around letting the water fly to make some cool decorations on the driveway. We ended up smelly but happy with lots of pretty designs :)

2/11 - High in Fiber

I am taking a nutrition class online and our assignment for the last two weeks has been to take three days and try to get our recommended amount of fiber. My recommended amount is 25 g. We previously had to record our intake for three days and my fiber was at 16 grams. I decided I needed to step it up a notch. I have eaten a lot of raisin bran in the last couple days (7 grams for a cup!) and this was my lunch for today. It wasn't an exceptionally high amount of fiber but it made me feel like I was eating better. Chicken alfredo with cooked broccoli and carrots. It was delicious! Oh and I would also like it noted that since I've been back from Russia (where I lost a lot of weight but am unsure of the amount) I have lost 9 pounds! It's great to know that this nutrition class is actually helping me out!

2/10 - Dry Ground

One of my most favorite things in this world is a day with dry ground. I love the rain and the sound it makes but sometimes it gets old to have wet clothes and wear shoes that won't get my feet wet. We've had the most glorious weather this last week or so full of sunshine and no clouds. It's been wonderful and has resulted in dry ground and me wearing sandals all over the place. I know that being obsessed with the ground is odd but it really does matter to me. Just ask any of the teachers from ILP; I used to get hostile about the wet and muddy ground in Russia!

2/9 - The Hokanson Household

We currently have four kids at home, two of which are college students off track. So that's a 23 and 21 yr old who each have their own laptops, cameras, cell phones, and all of the cords that go with them. Then there's the next two who each have their own phones and cameras as well. Also, our mom has her own phone and laptops. Needless to say, we have an excessive amount of electronics at this house. Here's a picture of some of our explosion. It tends to spill all over the family room with all of the laptops out at once and drive our mother crazy!

2/8 - Doctors

My antibiotic I was taking for my cough worked while I was taking but once I finished it, the cough came back. It helped a little bit but I couldn't keep coughing all over the place. I decided to go back in and see if they could prescribe me something else. I ended up in a different room and this time, this picture was the decoration. It some kind of unicorn sheep thing. It's incredibly strange and I am not sure how it fits in an urgency care clinic but oh well. I just had to get a picture of it so I quickly got one between doctors.

2/7 - Classic Danell

Monday morning I drove Danielle to the orthodontist for her six week checkup. Everything went well and she ended up with turquoise and purple bands on and now has a chain on her top teeth. After scheduling her next appointment, Danielle went over to get some hot chocolate. This is a ritual for her - after every appointment she gets some hot chocolate for herself that they provide. She's got it down to a science at this point. Two cups (the second keeps it from getting too hot) then she puts in the packet and the hot water. Next is three creamers because that's the perfect amount to make it delicious. Two just doesn't do it and four is too much. Anyways, I joined her with the chocolate festival and it was wonderful! We had a good time driving her to school with our drinks and good music :)

2/6 - Perfect

This is Danielle and I. Do you notice a complete difference in our hair? Mine is all scraggly and messy and her's is completely perfect. I haven't had my hair cut since I think June so it's expected to be awful but when did Danielle get her last haircut? The beginning of November!!! You would never believe it with how perfect it is now would you? It seems that her hair grows at a perfectly even pace over her whole head and it drives her nuts! She thinks it's unnatural or something because nobody else's does that. I actually think it's awesome but give her crap about it all the time because I know it bugs her. What a lucky duck she is!

2/5 - My Dear Kelsey

I just love this girl!! I called her up after work to see when her fiance was going to Rexburg in March and ended up talking to her for quite a while. We got all caught up on each other's lives and it was wonderful!!! I really needed some socializing and a phone call from one of my best friends did the trick! We talked about everything and I am hoping to see her the first weekend in March although I think she is going with her fiance to a Jazz game. I am sure I will get to see her for at least a little bit so that will be perfect. This picture wasn't taken on Saturday but I couldn't very well take a picture of a phone call. I guess I could have but that seemed a little silly. Love ya Kelsey!!!

2/4 - Friday...

I am a 21-year-old college student who currently spends her Friday nights doing what? Working until 9-10:30 and then coming home to watch a movie with her brother and play Hearts on her computer. Talk about boring! Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I get to be home and I do actually see my family more than usual when I am home for the winter so that's fabulous but overall I don't really do much because I am trying to save every penny and don't really have friends here. I'm also grateful that I got to come home from Russia and stay for a while so that I can adjust to being back in America (I still get excited in WalMart because I understand everything). It will be wonderful when I go visit Rexburg next month and see a bunch of friends. Until then, Hearts will be my friend. At least I am getting better! This is a picture of when I was playing on my Mom's computer and managed to win with a score of only 2!!! It would have been 1 but I made a stupid mistake right at the end :( That's alright, it was still a rockin score!!

2/3 - My Project

So not going to lie, I am bored and lonely so I have been trying hard to find things to fill my time. This is my latest project. I went to JoAnn's with my mom and found this pattern for a cute apron that I though would keep me entertained for a few days. It only took me two days to do. That kind of defeated the whole purpose because I got too excited and finished it quickly but here you go, my new cute apron :) Now I need to find something else to fill my time

2/2 - Groundhog's Day!

The title has nothing to do with the picture but I thought I would say Happy Groundhogs Day! What a random holiday. So I guess that Michael, Courtney, and Connor came over tonight while we were at work. Connor's favorite toy is this little green M&M container that can break into two pieces and he can bang them on the table. So we got home and I guess Connor decided to leave the family room with a new vibe by decorating it with the M&M thing. How cute that he just left it on the handle! I guess he does that a lot! How considerate!!

2/1 - Girls Night

The girls didn't have school on Wednesday and I didn't have work on Tuesday so we went out for some much needed shopping. We love to go bargain hunting and it's been a while since we've gone with my work schedule and their other activities. We went to Ross and Kohl's and didn't really buy all that much (Danielle only had $1) but we still had a lot of fun getting caught up on each other's lives and debating on whether a purse s is worth the money or not. This picture is when we found some ridiculously tall heals and Danielle and I tried them on. Kaylynn is short to start but she looked like a midget when we had these shoes on. What a great night with my sisters!

1/31 - Rockin It

I worked a double on Monday so I was short on picture opportunities. I liked my sock choice a lot so I thought that would work. You see, my sisters don't like to have matching socks so that leaves me with the leftovers like this. It's fun even though no one sees it. It's the little things these days that keep me going :)

1/30 - Really?

So Sunday I worked a full shift at work and was in a particularly grumpy mood. I'm not sure why but I just didn't want to deal with anyone which was unfortunate because that's my job to deal with people. I finally made it through the shift and am heading home when some lights go on behind me. I was the only one on Parkway and the siren wasn't going so I knew the police officer was pulling me over. As he's walking up to my window, I start getting my license and he tells me that's all he needs. I tried to give him the paper that says my license has been expired but has an extension but he didn't even care. All he needed was my name. Eventually he tells me why he pulled me over. Any guesses? Because me license plate was so dirty he couldn't read it. Really? That was really worth it? Look at it, it's dirty but not like mudding dirty. Luckily he didn't give me a ticket or anything, just sent me on my way. Isn't that the silliest thing you've ever heard?

1/29 - Someone's Hungry!

I got to spend my whole Saturday with my darling nephew. It was glorious!! Everyone else had plans so I ended up babysitting Connor while Michael and Courtney went out with some friends. I just love that little guy and it was great playing with him and taking him around town while I ran some errands. He's just learning to walk and it's absolutely adorable! I had him walk to anyone that was around just so that I could watch it. That's not related to this picture but I still wanted to say it because it makes me so happy. So this picture: Connor loves food and tries really hard to get anything that he can. You can't eat around him or else he will come over and look so sad that he's not getting anything; it just rips your heart out. So Matthew had the gall to eat a PB&J sandwich around him and this was the end result. Connor really wanted that sandwich but Matthew just wouldn't give it to him.

1/28 - Issues

I know this looks bad but you just have to know that our toilets seem to be having problems. They keep plugging up on nothing and it's starting to get a little humorous. We were all hysterical the other day when Kaylynn tried so hard to unclog the toilet and nothing was happening but lots of swooshing noises. We told her to wait for Dad to get home but she was determined. When I came home from work that night, apparently they all gave up and went to sleep because this is what the downstairs bathroom looked like when I entered. Don't worry anyone, there's nothing wrong over here, just some malfunctioning toilets that are making us laugh!