"wind chill warnings"

i am learning so many new things and seeing many things that i've never seen before.

today for example. waterloo is having a "wind chill warning". i had no clue what the meant, so i headed over to weather.com for the 411. i will share it with you : )

"COLDER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH INTO NORTHERN IOWA OVERNIGHT WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING TO 20 TO 27 BELOW ZERO. EXPECT WIND CHILL VALUES AS COLD AS 35 TO 45 BELOW ZERO OVERNIGHT. BITTERLY COLD CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST ALL THE WAY THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN."

first of all. HOLY CRAP. its cold outside!!!!! i'm trying not to be bitter as i see the high 80's weather forecast for back home : ) ENJOY THE HEAT EVERYONE!!

while i'm on this kick of sharing all the new little things i'm learning...

1) your car might not start in the morning due to the cold.

2) give yourself PLENTY of time to "find your car" if necessary. i'm really thankful my truck is blue so i can see it peeking out of the snow drifts.

3) layer clothing.

4) never go in the freezing cold with wet hair. you will have icicles hanging off your head.

5) don't let your legs touch the side of the truck when getting into the car or your pants will be covered in dirty snow.

6) warming up your car is a necessity unless you want to sit in your car staring at your breath while driving due to the frigidness.

7) you determine how far everything is not depending on traffic, but depending on if the streets have been plowed.

8) school gets canceled because of the snow!!

9) when your car is sliding through the grocery store parking lot due to the ice patch you didn't see... don't brake.

10) be thankful for 4x4 drive.

nursing school starts today

the fun begins today! its a little overwhelming to think about but at the same time i'm beyond excited. my mom left for california yesterday, which was hard to see her leave but at the same time i know this is where i'm supposed to be.

i love my little place <3 my housemates are super sweet and we all get along really well.

1st class today in nursing skills which is the equivalent to a CNA (certified nursing assistant) class. most of the girls out here got their CNA license in high school (which isn't a requirement in CA). basically it teaches you basic patient care skills including: feeding, bathing, dressing, etc. good times : )

 

more later!

roadtrip flashback

i'm now blogging from my new home here in waterloo, iowa. it has been such a whirlwind week! this year i've already been in 8 states since taking our road trip. my mama and i left california early january 2nd to head to iowa. 1st stop was in utah where we stayed in st. george. driving can be exhausting and we were thankful for the stop over. from utah we headed to idaho springs, colorado where my parents 1st met and later got married. its the cutest little mining town cradled in the looming mountains all around. i loved it there : ) we were able to visit with some family friends that my parents knew from the commune where my mom lived. honestly i felt like i was in a movie. we stopped in this little restaraunt that my mom used to go to 30 years ago and the same lady owned it and recognized my mom. 30 years later! pretty crazy. in idaho springs we saw the first snow of the trip and this is where the freezing began : )

after idaho springs we headed to boulder, colorado because its my favorite city in colorado and also to visit my mom's cousin patty.

(side story- in the hotel we stayed there was a fireplace and i thought of course i know how to start a fire! many camping trips and campfires, piece of cake. um yeah. well hannah has never lit a fire in a FIREPLACE and of course forgot to open the damper. its about a high of 11 degrees outside and i'm freezing. we get back to our room after an amazing organic dinner at sunflower in boulder with cousin patty, and i am already starting the fire. the fire is going great and my mom walks in the room and asks why its smoky in there. bright one i am, responds "its a fire, its supposed to be smoky." yeah not so much... my mom calls downstairs because i was convinced i had done everything right... he asks if i had opened the damper. what's a damper?? mom found the damper and proceeded to open it. problem solved. smoke has now engulfed our little suite and i'm rushing to open windows to let the "fresh mountain air of 11 degrees" into our room. the smoke alarm is now going off. i'm fanning the smoke alarm, trying to open windows, and trying not to fall over from laughter : ) negative points for the domesticity of hannah...)

after our rather eventful evening, we woke up early for the most DREADFUL drive ever to omaha. 8 hours of absolutely NOTHING. it was pretty intense... and i was so thankful to get to my grandpa's house in omaha, nebraska. catching up with grandpa and being able to spend time with him was really great. i'm hoping to spend spring break at his house to spend some quality time with him.

omaha to iowa! we finally made it. we drove straight to my new home here in waterloo. my room is quite big which is amazing and i really love my little house. my 1 housemate is really sweet and i meet the other one on saturday. both girls have been very helpful already and i think its a good fit for me here. i've been able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents at their farm which is only 14 miles from my house. i've never had the opportunity to be this close to my grandparents and i'm very grateful for this chance.

i have to run to my orientation!! classes start monday but i will blog more about driving in the snow and other such fun : )

2 weeks and counting

december is already here and i'm getting ready to move to iowa. my room is mostly packed up, i'm saying my goodbyes, and its really crazy.

my last day of work is christmas eve and i'm really really going to miss my coworker kimberly. she's become like my sister over the past year and a half... i've been really blessed to have such an amazing office to be apart of.

december 29th i'm heading to washington to visit my traveling partner in crime becky!!! : ) we have sooo much to catch up on as she just got back from a 3 month stay in nicarauga. i feel that soon after i graduate from allen we'll be travelling again, who knows where but i can't wait.

january 2nd i'll be saying goodbye to california and hitting the road with my mama. we're renting a car and driving to iowa by way of a few nights in colorado and visiting my grandpa in nebraska. i'm really looking forward to seeing where my mom and dad were married and also going to boulder <3

i'm going to try and keep this updated throughout my adventure in iowa : ) pictures too!

watch out waterloo

its official now! i will be a student at allen college in waterloo, iowa for spring semester of 2009!!!!!! can we say stoked beyond all belief?? yeah its quite exciting. i found out on my birthday (pretty much best birthday present i could've gotten..) now its crazy to think that i'm actually leaving... nursing has been the goal for so long and now its actually finally happening. insanity.

its gonna be quite the change of scene, but honestly i need a change right now and i think its perfect timing. more soon about all the excitement!!!

she's back to blogging...

summer has come and gone and i haven't written on here once... its just been that busy!

i'm still looking for a nursing school. i actually got "accepted" into allen college in iowa for fall semester, where i wanted to go however i was missing one little class... statistics. the class i fear more than anything. SO guess what hannah is taking right now?? i'm actually waiting to hear if i am accepted for spring '09 in iowa... it kind of is insane to think about packing up for two years, leaving california and possibly not coming back... once i'm done with school i'd love to start in a completely new place. we'll see... life is crazy.

more later...

catching up

i have been slacking on this whole blogging thing...
life is crazy. enough said. i'm going to try and keep up over the summer...

i'm trying to find a school to get into for nursing as soon as i possibly can. anywhere and as soon as possible would be lovely. who knows. i sure don't.

life hurts. lessons are hard to learn. sometimes the tears don't heal wounds. thats why i am beyond thankful for the friends that are my everything.