this is what i want to do someday.

http://www.msf.org.uk/article/yemen-driving-arvs-through-city-under-siege

Doctors Without Borders

10.000th view

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Joyous day.

may 3rd wedding bliss

On May 3rd my beautiful mom married James. 

They moved up the date so that I could come, and I'm so grateful I had the chance to see her get married. It was a beautiful, sweet and close-knit ceremony.

 

Thanks to a two-minute certification online, I was able to officiate the civil ceremony. 
(photo cred to our personal paparazzi, Emily)

the bride & groom

the entire fam.

my siblings, Mom, step-dad and new step-brothers

I'm really happy for her, and excited to welcome more amazing people into my family.

my gorgeous midwest,

[please excuse me while I learn how to deal with my giant wide angle lens,

and focus more on the beautiful surrounding that is Iowa]

Russia details

I mentioned it a tiny bit,

but

here

are

the

details.

Much of my family is moving to Russia.

Lipetsk, Russia to be exact.

My dad took a job in the hog industry there.

I will have family in Iowa, USA and family in Lipetsk, Russia. My siblings will be taking school online so they can go back and forth between the two.

They are moving June 7th [which is a week&a half away...]. I'm going to visit them from the 15th thru the 25th, and I'll say goodbye to them there (as I leave for my mission on July 9th).

Dad in Moscow - may I note the funny combination of a very Iowa State sweatshirt with a very Russian winter hat?

Yaaay, adventures.

ER Stories 12: Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA)

It's almost one.

12:35.

Uh.. it's sort of almost one.

Sigh.

We've stopped accepting new patients at this point. (That's the nice part about working in a health clinic in Ecuador: we can close up shop for an hour a day during lunchtime without much consequence.)

12:37....

mission prep: new leaf

The paperwork for my mission took a long time to finish.

Finally getting my call felt good, and I think it gave me a little boost of confidence to at last be able to tell everyone exactly where I was going and when.

That was fair and fine,

except that everything was still the same. I was still the same Sydni with the same personality and the same flaws and the same strengths and the same habits. The only difference was that I had now been assigned a mission.

My perspective began to change not when I received my mission call, but rather when I focused on preparing for my mission.

I feel happy, but not just happy. I think happiness is an emotion that waves and flexes. I feel joy, which to me means a feeling of contentment and peace with my life, no matter the emotion I am feeling in the moment. 

I feel like the blessing of joy and emotional maturity has been strengthened as I read my scriptures and pray and stay focused on my mission.

People keep asking me if I am ready to go. I know I'm not ready, but I feel as ready as I can be.

They sometimes ask me if I'm stressed. Nope. I honestly feel fine. Things are happening quickly: I go to the temple June 7th. I quit my jobs June 12th. I go to Russia from June 15th thru the 25th. I leave for my mission July 9th. Maybe I should feel more nervous than I do, but I only feel peace right now.

42 days.

xavier's grad party

Xavier + Grandpa & Grandma Lewis

Grandma Linda

Dick & Michele

Quinn + Mom

Jed & Angela

the kids

+ Mom

this morning

Sometimes I can't sleep...

and, at dawn, I decide to go to the top a parking garage to watch the sunrise..

thinking about it....

(Sorrrrrrrrrry, I lost the source of this photo.)

because long hair is getting old.

another random did-you-know: fattest countries in the world 2013

1. Mexico

2. United States of America

(Shout out to the U.S. for no longer being #1 on the list.)

3. New Zealand

4. Chile

5. Australia

The more you know...

(I got this data from chron.com and listcrux.com. I tried to find a more offical source, but couldn't, so no promises on accuracy. )

muted colors

ER Stories 11: Foreign Body (Eyes, Ears, Mouth & Nose!)

Note: These posts are intentionally vague (with no names, ages, or dates) so as to protect patient confidentiality. These stories are random and their publication dates have no correlation to the dates they occurred.

Many of these foreign body cases aren't even handled by the ER Doctor; they are often handed over to a physician who specializes in Ear, Nose, Throat Care. This post is not meant to be an educational how-to-treat these cases, but rather a blog post of my personal account of how certain, specific (freaking cool) cases have been treated. Really what I am saying to you here, is let's not try this at home folks.

Kids have a tendency to stick objects where they're not supposed to go.

Turns out, adults do that too.

Foreign Object in Eye

(http://www.surgical-tutor.org.uk/default-home.htm?specialities/ent/eye.htm~right)

random ER did-you-know

Did you know that we can place IVs in the veins of baby's heads?

It freaks parents out and hurts a lot more to place than one in the arm or hand, so it's the last option, but it can be done!

(And, actually, sometimes the veins in the head can be much better for an IV than the other options.)

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a40551538/my_baby_has_arrived_photo_bomb

The more you know..

how much i will miss GIFs/memes on my mission:

So if you could send me some Mormon Ryan Gosling Hey Girl memes on my mish, I would love you forever.

(after July 23rd:

Hermana Sydni Heron

California Los Angeles Mission

1591 E Temple Way

Los Angeles CA 90024-5801)

Please and thank you.


(50 short days)

fluorescent light photoshoot

..because sometimes your new, PERFECT missionary skirt comes in the mail and you have to try it on right then.

#it'smyfriday