I'm sure you vaguely remember me saying when I first started this blog that I'll probably get behind updating this....right? Just making sure.
It's been FOREVER. Life is insane. Nursing school is going full force right now. Thankfully, I'll graduate in December and I'll have the lovely 'RN' title by my name. I wish I could say that I'd be done with school forever after this, but the plan is to take about 6 months off while I start working and then begin graduate school in August 2013. Oh well. I know it will be worth it in the end. To be totally honest, I'm really starting to love nursing more and more. School is awesome and awful all at the same time. I'll be excited to actually start working in the field.
A lot has happened since I last updated. Friends having a BEAUTIFUL baby boy, friends getting married (tomorrow!), and friends just being good friends. We are truly blessed, to say the least.
Big news for us as well.......ready.........?
....
....
....
....
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.....We bought a HOME!
(For those of you who were thinking we were pregnant, you're all jerks.) :)
YES! A home! We close on June 6. It's been kind of hush hush for the most part, because we wanted to make sure everything worked out as far as financing and inspection before we told everyone. We had our hearts broken by 5 homes before this one due to shady investors, weird findings in the home, and just totally random and unfortunate events. It's really terrible timing, with me being school 4-5 days a week and working, but we couldn't be more excited. We will definitely post some pictures once we close....we've got a lot of sweat equity going into this, so we'll definitely show off some before and after pictures once we get moving.
P.S.-Anyone who is good at painting, ripping things up, moving, and other random DIY projects...we would LOVE your help! My sweet husband will basically be doing most of this work without me because of my crazy schedule. We will pay you in food, booze, and a new hangout spot :).
More to come in hopefully a few weeks! Stay tuned!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Crap...When did December Get Here?!
Eeek! Ok, It's been a really long time (I warned y'all this would happen)! I have all my nursing finals going on...7 total to get through by December 12. I had a few minutes though while I'm waiting for dinner to finish cooking. Mostly just wanted to add the recipe for the soup I've made tonight that is TOTALLY delicious!
Jessie's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (made with whatever I can find leftover in the fridge/freezer because we're insanely broke!)
-1 box chicken stock
-1 can cream of chicken soup (and 1 can of water with it)
-1/2 chopped white onion
-1 large clove of garlic, minced
-Leftover chicken breasts (already cooked) chopped to bite sized pieces
-About 2 cups chopped baby carrots
-1/2 box of favorite pasta (I really like the Barilla brand, I used Penne for tonight)
-1 tsp soy sauce
-2 tbsp olive oil
-Tony's cajun seasoning, Cavander's seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste
Chop onion and garlic, while cooking pasta. Chop carrots. In large soup pot, add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and garlic, sauté for approximately 5-10 minutes on a low-medium heat. Add salt/pepper to taste. Add carrots after onions begin to become translucent. Scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon (the stuff stuck/caramelized at bottom is what makes the soup taste so good). Add a little bit of your stock to the pan to help loosen stuff at bottom (I think the proper term for this is deglazing). Let it simmer a few more minutes, then add the rest of your stock, cream of chicken, chicken, and water. Bring back to a low boil. Add a dash of soy sauce and the other seasonings to taste. Let simmer for 20 minutes or so. At the very end, add the pasta to the soup (If you do it before now, the pasta will soak up a lot of your liquid and there wont be much broth).
Viola!
I promise after finals I'll have a better update!
Our handmade stockings (by Mom and I) that I'm sooooo proud of! 'Tis the season!
Jessie's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (made with whatever I can find leftover in the fridge/freezer because we're insanely broke!)
-1 box chicken stock
-1 can cream of chicken soup (and 1 can of water with it)
-1/2 chopped white onion
-1 large clove of garlic, minced
-Leftover chicken breasts (already cooked) chopped to bite sized pieces
-About 2 cups chopped baby carrots
-1/2 box of favorite pasta (I really like the Barilla brand, I used Penne for tonight)
-1 tsp soy sauce
-2 tbsp olive oil
-Tony's cajun seasoning, Cavander's seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste
Chop onion and garlic, while cooking pasta. Chop carrots. In large soup pot, add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and garlic, sauté for approximately 5-10 minutes on a low-medium heat. Add salt/pepper to taste. Add carrots after onions begin to become translucent. Scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon (the stuff stuck/caramelized at bottom is what makes the soup taste so good). Add a little bit of your stock to the pan to help loosen stuff at bottom (I think the proper term for this is deglazing). Let it simmer a few more minutes, then add the rest of your stock, cream of chicken, chicken, and water. Bring back to a low boil. Add a dash of soy sauce and the other seasonings to taste. Let simmer for 20 minutes or so. At the very end, add the pasta to the soup (If you do it before now, the pasta will soak up a lot of your liquid and there wont be much broth).
Viola!
I promise after finals I'll have a better update!
Our handmade stockings (by Mom and I) that I'm sooooo proud of! 'Tis the season!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Mystery of the hula girl...Solved!
Quick post before I head up to work.
At one of our wedding showers (a couple's one), it was Hawaiian themed for our Honeymoon. We were given these two figurines- a hula girl and a hula boy (is that what you would call a boy dressed for a luau?!). Any-who, we took them home and placed them on our makeshift 'bar'. Since moving in, almost every time I walk into the dining room where the bar is, I notice that the hula girl is facing the wall. After about a week of doing this, I got the impression Trey was messing around with me.
He came home from work that night, and I immediately told him that I was, "on to your little game, I know what you've been doing!" Confused, he asks me what the heck I'm talking about. I tell him about the hula girl, and (still looking extremely confused) he denies, denies, denies.
For the next week, same thing, hula girl always seems to be facing the wrong way. I keep accusing him, and of course he denies. Finally, I'm starting to wonder if there is something much more sinister...is our apartment haunted?!
Fast forward to 3 months later. Still constantly adjusting the hula girl to face the right way. I'd come to terms with the idea(s) that either 1) my husband is insanely persistent and very good at lying, or 2) there is a ghost in our apartment with a strange sense of humor. I was sitting at our wobbly, dumpster found kitchen table (long story, for another day), when a train went by like they do a million times a day. For those of you who haven't been to our apartment, the railroad tracks are literally a block away. I hear a strange shaking sound, and look up.
And there it is.
We are so close to the train tracks that every time a train goes by, it shakes our apartment thus shaking the bar, and the hula girl in returns wobbles to face the wrong direction. I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. Upon closer examination, I discover the hula girl's legs aren't the same length, so with the right amount of shaking, she wobbles to face the wall.
Trey comes home and I grab his arm and drag him over to the bar, eager as a kid on freaking Christmas morning. I shake the bar so he can see this for himself. We're both hysterical. All he can manage to say between a combination of laughing so hard that we're both crying and gasping for air is, "It would have been so funny if I really had been the one doing it all this time! You would have been so mad! Too bad the train thought of it before I did!"
Case closed!
At one of our wedding showers (a couple's one), it was Hawaiian themed for our Honeymoon. We were given these two figurines- a hula girl and a hula boy (is that what you would call a boy dressed for a luau?!). Any-who, we took them home and placed them on our makeshift 'bar'. Since moving in, almost every time I walk into the dining room where the bar is, I notice that the hula girl is facing the wall. After about a week of doing this, I got the impression Trey was messing around with me.
He came home from work that night, and I immediately told him that I was, "on to your little game, I know what you've been doing!" Confused, he asks me what the heck I'm talking about. I tell him about the hula girl, and (still looking extremely confused) he denies, denies, denies.
For the next week, same thing, hula girl always seems to be facing the wrong way. I keep accusing him, and of course he denies. Finally, I'm starting to wonder if there is something much more sinister...is our apartment haunted?!
Fast forward to 3 months later. Still constantly adjusting the hula girl to face the right way. I'd come to terms with the idea(s) that either 1) my husband is insanely persistent and very good at lying, or 2) there is a ghost in our apartment with a strange sense of humor. I was sitting at our wobbly, dumpster found kitchen table (long story, for another day), when a train went by like they do a million times a day. For those of you who haven't been to our apartment, the railroad tracks are literally a block away. I hear a strange shaking sound, and look up.
And there it is.
We are so close to the train tracks that every time a train goes by, it shakes our apartment thus shaking the bar, and the hula girl in returns wobbles to face the wrong direction. I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. Upon closer examination, I discover the hula girl's legs aren't the same length, so with the right amount of shaking, she wobbles to face the wall.
Trey comes home and I grab his arm and drag him over to the bar, eager as a kid on freaking Christmas morning. I shake the bar so he can see this for himself. We're both hysterical. All he can manage to say between a combination of laughing so hard that we're both crying and gasping for air is, "It would have been so funny if I really had been the one doing it all this time! You would have been so mad! Too bad the train thought of it before I did!"
Case closed!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Mmm Mmm Good!
Oops! So it's been a while since my last post. I figured I would slowly let this slip away as nursing school progressed this semester, but I will still make some time to sit down and post when I'm able. Life is crazy as usual, but thankfully I'm able to maintain some kind of balance between school, work, and marriage.
Nursing friends will appreciate the following. Squeamish friends should skip to the bottom of post for a great recipe....
Second clinical, overall, was MUCH better than the first. Minus one mishap. In the room with my patient, there was another patient with COPD. For you non-medical people, all you need to know for the rest of the story is that this causes you to cough A LOT....and it's a productive cough (yuck already). So this patient with COPD (we'll call him Mr. Makesmetossmycookies for HIPPAs sake) calls me over to help him. I happily oblige. Upon reaching Mr. Makesmetoosmycookies bedside, he hands me a cup and asks me to get rid of it because "I'm done with it." It was early in the morning and the patients had just had breakfast, and it was the glass that *initially* contained OJ. Thinking it was leftover OJ, I grab the cup (bare handed) to toss in trash.
If only it had been OJ.
Turns out, Mr. Makesmetossmycookies had been coughing up gunk into the cup. After this shocking realization, I had approximately .05 seconds to make it to the bathroom and toss my cookies. Thankfully, Mr. Makesmetossmycookies was blissfully unaware he made me toss my cookies, so no awkward moment for him. YUCK. Had I been mentally prepared to see his lung gunk in the cup, I think I would have held it together fine. But going into the task believing it was harmless OJ only to find out that it was much more sinister was more than my already nervous stomach could take.
Now that I've officially grossed you out, lets talk food!
Not surprisingly, I haven't had much time to cook until last night. I made homemade chicken noodle soup. It just felt right since it's starting to feel like fall(ish), and it was super easy and delicious! Here we go:
2 cartons of chicken stock (I use low sodium)
6-8 medium chicken tenderloins, cut in 1/2 cubes
2 scallions diced finely
1 clove garlic diced finely
15ish baby carrots, cut into bite-sized rounds
1tbs butter
a few dashes of soy sauce (it sounds weird, but it really makes a great broth)
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot on medium heat, melt 1 tbs of butter and saute chopped scallions and garlic until translucent. Let it brown just a little bit, then add the stock and carrots. Once boiling (medium/low heat), add cubed chicken and a few dashes of soy sauce. Let simmer for about 1 hour on low heat. Viola! Add salt and pepper to taste.
AND...if you're crazy broke like us, it is super cheap and there are plenty of leftovers to eat for a few days!
Until next time, "Happy fall, y'all!" (cue ridiculous Paula Deen accent)
Nursing friends will appreciate the following. Squeamish friends should skip to the bottom of post for a great recipe....
Second clinical, overall, was MUCH better than the first. Minus one mishap. In the room with my patient, there was another patient with COPD. For you non-medical people, all you need to know for the rest of the story is that this causes you to cough A LOT....and it's a productive cough (yuck already). So this patient with COPD (we'll call him Mr. Makesmetossmycookies for HIPPAs sake) calls me over to help him. I happily oblige. Upon reaching Mr. Makesmetoosmycookies bedside, he hands me a cup and asks me to get rid of it because "I'm done with it." It was early in the morning and the patients had just had breakfast, and it was the glass that *initially* contained OJ. Thinking it was leftover OJ, I grab the cup (bare handed) to toss in trash.
If only it had been OJ.
Turns out, Mr. Makesmetossmycookies had been coughing up gunk into the cup. After this shocking realization, I had approximately .05 seconds to make it to the bathroom and toss my cookies. Thankfully, Mr. Makesmetossmycookies was blissfully unaware he made me toss my cookies, so no awkward moment for him. YUCK. Had I been mentally prepared to see his lung gunk in the cup, I think I would have held it together fine. But going into the task believing it was harmless OJ only to find out that it was much more sinister was more than my already nervous stomach could take.
Now that I've officially grossed you out, lets talk food!
Not surprisingly, I haven't had much time to cook until last night. I made homemade chicken noodle soup. It just felt right since it's starting to feel like fall(ish), and it was super easy and delicious! Here we go:
2 cartons of chicken stock (I use low sodium)
6-8 medium chicken tenderloins, cut in 1/2 cubes
2 scallions diced finely
1 clove garlic diced finely
15ish baby carrots, cut into bite-sized rounds
1tbs butter
a few dashes of soy sauce (it sounds weird, but it really makes a great broth)
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot on medium heat, melt 1 tbs of butter and saute chopped scallions and garlic until translucent. Let it brown just a little bit, then add the stock and carrots. Once boiling (medium/low heat), add cubed chicken and a few dashes of soy sauce. Let simmer for about 1 hour on low heat. Viola! Add salt and pepper to taste.
AND...if you're crazy broke like us, it is super cheap and there are plenty of leftovers to eat for a few days!
Until next time, "Happy fall, y'all!" (cue ridiculous Paula Deen accent)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Can someone please stop my head from spinning? I'd like to get off the ride now, please.
This blog wasn't ever intended to be a place where I constantly complain, but unfortunately that's kind of what it's turning into. Today has been crappy, for lack of a more inappropriately appropriate term. Most importantly, I caught news that a dear family friend was injured during a horse show yesterday and is in critical condition. Sending many, many prayers his way today, and I ask that you please do the same...
Also, apparently there are two nursing homes in Little Rock with nearly identical names, only one of them was the correct location for my clinical orientation at 2pm today. Yeah, I went to the wrong one, and ended up being fairly tardy. Not the best way to start out the semester in nursing school. To say nursing school is rough would be a gross understatement. It's not even that the material is all that difficult, but the constant juggling of a new schedule every week at different locations, projects, papers, tests, and a job (along with a personal life, or lack there of) is extremely difficult. As soon as I feel like I'm falling into a routine, a new ball gets thrown in the air.
With all of the 'bad' things going on right now, I constantly have to remind myself that even though things appear bleak, in all reality we are still very, very blessed. There are many people going through much more difficult things than I, and yet they still manage to not only cope, but also overcome.
On a more positive note, the long weekend was exceptionally nice. Trey and I spent most of our days together eating Klondike bars for breakfast and watching cartoons until noon or so (and yes, we are definitely of legal age to be married). The best way to decompress after a stressful week is most definitely acting like a 4 year old on the weekends. So with the weekend quickly approaching, go act like 4 year olds and enjoy it! Unless your in nursing school with me...then you better be studying for our test Monday!
Also, apparently there are two nursing homes in Little Rock with nearly identical names, only one of them was the correct location for my clinical orientation at 2pm today. Yeah, I went to the wrong one, and ended up being fairly tardy. Not the best way to start out the semester in nursing school. To say nursing school is rough would be a gross understatement. It's not even that the material is all that difficult, but the constant juggling of a new schedule every week at different locations, projects, papers, tests, and a job (
With all of the 'bad' things going on right now, I constantly have to remind myself that even though things appear bleak, in all reality we are still very, very blessed. There are many people going through much more difficult things than I, and yet they still manage to not only cope, but also overcome.
On a more positive note, the long weekend was exceptionally nice. Trey and I spent most of our days together eating Klondike bars for breakfast and watching cartoons until noon or so (and yes, we are definitely of legal age to be married). The best way to decompress after a stressful week is most definitely acting like a 4 year old on the weekends. So with the weekend quickly approaching, go act like 4 year olds and enjoy it! Unless your in nursing school with me...then you better be studying for our test Monday!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
What the...?
So Thursdays are the new Fridays...sorta. I have one blow of class (chemistry) on Fridays and work...but neither of those count as a weekday as far as I'm concerned. So yay, my weekend (unofficially) starts today! And man do I need it. You gain a whole new appreciation for weekends once you're in nursing school. And best of all, it's 3 (real) days this week!
This week as a whole, however, has been a little...off. The kind of week made up of days stumbling around at 5 AM in the dark, falling down stairs in your sleepy stupor trying to walk to your car, sitting in the wrong class, and putting your keys in the fridge when you return home from an eight hour day of nursing and chemistry classes. Yeah, it happens. I was trapped in my own home until Trey got off work because my keys were 'stolen' by our fridge. Four hours spent wandering around our apartment mumbling "What that...?" and searching for my keys in all of the various places they usually end up (I should also mention that we recently installed a set of hooks by our back door for this exact reason). Trey comes home, listens to me whine and complain about the thief who surely must have broken in without breaking in and stole my keys, opens the fridge, and immediately begins laughing hysterically. I could lie and say that it has nothing to do with the color of my hair, but honestly that may be the only legitimate excuse as to why something so ridiculous occurred (aside from complete exhaustion).
So that's that. Hopefully my brain can reset itself this weekend so I'm less disheveled next week.
This week as a whole, however, has been a little...off. The kind of week made up of days stumbling around at 5 AM in the dark, falling down stairs in your sleepy stupor trying to walk to your car, sitting in the wrong class, and putting your keys in the fridge when you return home from an eight hour day of nursing and chemistry classes. Yeah, it happens. I was trapped in my own home until Trey got off work because my keys were 'stolen' by our fridge. Four hours spent wandering around our apartment mumbling "What that...?" and searching for my keys in all of the various places they usually end up (I should also mention that we recently installed a set of hooks by our back door for this exact reason). Trey comes home, listens to me whine and complain about the thief who surely must have broken in without breaking in and stole my keys, opens the fridge, and immediately begins laughing hysterically. I could lie and say that it has nothing to do with the color of my hair, but honestly that may be the only legitimate excuse as to why something so ridiculous occurred (aside from complete exhaustion).
So that's that. Hopefully my brain can reset itself this weekend so I'm less disheveled next week.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Here we go again...
We did it again. Spoke to soon. Just earlier this week, Trey and I were discussing how "abnormally healthy" our Rooney had been the past few months. Should have known better. Roo went to the vet today for an inflamed cyst in his eye and some localized infection. I wish he would at least have better timing when he gets sick, like, not right before our rent and utility bills are coming up next week. *Sigh*...dogs. What can you do? He's worth it (most of the time) :).
Things per usual are nuts. 5 AM mornings, sleeping 4 hours a night, homework, studying, working, sitting in the wrong nursing class for about 15 minutes on one occasion (yeah, definitely in over my head sitting in on 2nd year OB clinical reviews yesterday on accident), and not to mention trying to enjoy some free time with Trey and friends (what?! free time?!). Welcome to the next 1 1/2 years of my life.
I'm still managing to find time to play chef. Tuesday I made (kind of) homemade meat sauce and spaghetti. Not gonna lie...it was good. I'm kind of amazed, actually. And it only took approximately 20 minutes from prep to serve. So for those of you who are interested, here's the recipe:
Jessie's Super Quick Kind-of-Homemade Meat Sauce
1/2 lb ground beef
1 box frozen spinach
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I said kind-of-homemade...)
1 box of your favorite pasta (I prefer whole grain or multi grain linguine)
Heat large saute pan to medium high. Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic. Add some olive oil to pan and saute garlic. Then add ground beef, separating into smaller pieces and cook until well browned. Dump out excess oil and grease from pan. Microwave frozen spinach until thawed. Add jar of marinara sauce and thawed spinach to meat and garlic mixture. Let simmer for a few minutes. Serve over pasta of choice.
Quick, simple, and yields TONS of leftovers.
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