Not my Gumdrop Buttons!

If you haven't seen the movie Shrek- first of all...you should. Second of all- that is a line in the movie made famous by Gingy, the sarcastic but good intentioned gingerbread man.

Well this year while shopping at Target I got caught up in the holiday spirit and impulsively bought a gingerbread cottage kit. It was only $9.99 and I thought of all the happy memories I could make with my little brother. Us chatting and bonding while putting together an architectural masterpiece. I brought it home and promised him we could make it on Thanksgiving. Silly me forgetting that when you tell a 5 year old they can do something fun it is ALL they talk about for at least the next 32 hours! Well the day finally arrived and we broke out the gingerbread house. It was fairly easy- even though the picture on the package always looks better than your actual finished product. We recruited Kenz to help us out and we started building. As far as the bonding went- Kian was much more interested in eating the candy. But he would randomly shout out words of encouragement "Good job guys this looks great!" or "We can do it however we want!" but mostly "Can I eat that?"
It was fun though and I think our house is the talk and envy of the entire gingerbread community. I'm pretty sure Gingy would be proud.

Turkey, Potatoes, Pie, and the Nortons

We combined all the things you need for a successful Thanksgiving this year and there was only 1 incident of crying (but when there are siblings involved you can pretty much expect that...).
Usually we being the outcasts from our family in Utah (sure love ya guys!) we spend Thanksgiving....alone. Which is ok but ya see these people everyday. So what sets it apart from any other meal we eat together (besides the feeling of warmth and love Thanksgiving gives you...and home made pie.). But this year we scored the Thanksgiving lottery and were invited to join the Norton family for Thanksgiving.
So the day started off with me getting up an hour and a half before my alarm (which did not make me happy but I gritted my teeth and thought of all the things I'm thankful for...like the fact I'm not a turkey today.)
I watched some of the Thanksgiving parade...snore...(parades are not my thing) and did some laundry. We got ready and had a model worthy photo shoot before leaving the house.
I
I know...professionally good looking right?

Then it was off to the Nortons.

We made all the final preparations...I made my magically delicious mashed potatoes (they really are fabulous). After some forlorn and starving looks from certain members of the family (I mean she does resemble an Ethiopian child doesn't she?)

We ate....and ate...and ate.

I am fully convinced that turkey really does make you tired because I just about passed out right there on the table after eating. We took a little break to watch YouTube videos making fun of the likes of Hilary Clinton and Barrack Obama (democrats in general)

...did a little cleaning...watched a little football (sorry Lions but c'mon we all saw it coming) and then broke out the PIE! We had a plethora of combos to choose from:
Chocolate Cream, Pumpkin (canned and real pumpkin), Apple/Cranberry, and my dad's world (kind of) famous Banana Cream Pie...
So de-lish!

My fave would have to be the Apple/Cranberry that Traci made. I don't even like apple pie but it was pretty much the bomb...and she home made her crust (I was un aware we were having dinner with Martha Stuart!)
A highlight would be when Coley decided to sample a piece of EVERY pie. That would be 5 different slices for those of you keeping track at home. I bet her that she couldn't eat it all...she took my bet and that tiny thing actually accomplished the mission. I am curious as to how that worked out for her later on this evening though...
After a day filled with food, laughter, friendship...and pie, we bundled up and drove home. We changed into our comfies and snuggled on the couch to watch Kung Fu Panda. I was asleep within the first 10 minutes but everyone else enjoyed it!
So all in all this year's Thanksgiving was a total success! Hope yours was great too! I am so thankful for so much- family, friends, my faith in the gospel, freedom. The list could go on and on.
Even through the tough times there is so much to be grateful for...and if you're having trouble coming up with one...like I said- Just be thankful you aren't a turkey today. You got off easy compared to the poor soul on your plate!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Currently Loving...

I am currently in love with a few things I would like to share with you...

1. Taylor Swift's new album "Fearless"
It is FABULOUS! Every song on there is great! I highly recommend it for girls of all ages!




2. Twilight
I was worried about this movie but I loved it! Thanks to Emma who put up with my craziness after I had worked 20 hours and slept for 3 and then went to go see this at 10:15...I was slurring my words and talking crazy and she endured it like a trooper. You Rock Em!


And it doesn't hurt that Edward is a total B-A-B-E!



3. Diet Mt. Dew
I was never a fan of diet mountain dew but I started drinking it on a whim while working at the hospital and now I can't stop! I swear it has some sort of drug in it....I have to drink it every day and it gets me through those long night shifts..
.

4. The Tiffany Holiday catalog
Too bad I don't make more money but I might just treat myself to something this year....


5. Sephora
I LOVE Sephora make up and they have all these fun looks for the holidays...I'm thinking about trying this one out for our work Christmas party at the salon...what do you think?


That's all- I am at a loss about what to blog about because it seems as though my life only consists of working. All the time. BORRING! But at least I'm makin some sweet moolah.
Hey shout out to my boyfriend Matt who threw over 400 yds in his game on Sunday for the SECOND week in a row! He is the only Patriots QB to do that EVER in history and only the 5th to do it in the history of the NFL! Say it with me....Tom Brady who?

Aww...isn't he so cute?

In the Spirit

I have never felt so in the spirit and mood for Christmas before since I was a kid. What is it about cold weather that I love so much? Snow flurries? Coats? I'm not sure but I am feeling the love for mankind! I want to shout "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night" to everyone I see and...
it's not even thanksgiving yet!!!
do not tell my dad but I am putting up christmas music now. my dad (and mom) hate christmas music before thanksgiving. that was the rule....they were not to hear it coming anywhere from the house before thanksgiving.
well too bad for you.
this is my blog and i do what i want!
and i want chestnuts roasting on an open fire and jack frost nipping at my nose dang it!
unfortunately for my paycheck the cold weather also brings a formidable urge for me to shop.
i just can't help it...and really...santa can't do everything ya know!

Peace at Last

So it finally happened. I experienced my first "death of a patient". For a long time we have had a patient who was very sick and came from a hospice situation basically to die. She was a sweet old woman. I cared for her last week when she first came in and I cared for her this morning at 2:24 am when she passed away. We learned about this in our class and we all knew eventually there may come a day when a patient we cared for died....but I wasn't really expecting it to happen to me. I work with mostly joint patients and unless there is a huge unforeseeable event...my patients are usually just fine. But for some reason yesterday when I went to bed after my shift I had a dream that this patient died while I was there and I could visualize caring for her and cleaning her after she died (how morbid is that???). Around midnight or so I was telling the nurses and the other tech about my dream and we were talking about how strange it was. I had decided it was anxiety but 2 hours later it actually happened. Very eerie. After it happened I went in and cleaned her and it was a strange but spiritual experience....preparing a body for a soul who has already passed. I didn't personally know her but I cared about her all the same and when the funeral home came to take her body I found myself tearing up. It was more because I was wondering if that is how my grandma left this world. If the funeral home came and got her. Who was with her? How was she feeling? I miss my Mam more than words could ever explain. I think about her all the time while working at the hospital. Hoping that the way I care for these people is the way someone cared for my Mam when I couldn't be there. Anyway...it's been an eventful week. Seeing how fragile life really is. One minute here...the next gone. I found a quote that I really liked.

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity"
-Gilda Radner

That is how I want to live my life. Making the best of each moment.
What a week.
Birth of a baby who I already love and the death of someone who could have been my own loved one.
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven.
A time to be born, and a time to die.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.


I couldn't have said it better myself.

Yay!

Almost immediately after posting I got the text message...
Logan Nicolas Chaput
8 lbs. 21 in. born at 4:40 this afternoon!
Congratualtions Jen and Nic! I can't wait to meet him!

P.S. I totally straight up stole this picture from Jen's blog but I know my mom would love to see this little bundle of love.

And note to Jen and Nic...nice work. He's adorable.

Baby Logan...we're waiting!

So I feel like since I started work at the hospital I have been completely useless. All I do is work and sleep. The only semi-exciting thing going on in my life right now is that my bestest friend Jen is currently in the process of bringing her baby boy into this world! I got the text message last night that she was going in to start the process and I haven't heard anything today but Jen....just so you know I am so excited and I'm praying for you! I can not wait to meet baby Logan!

From the Mouth of Kian

Here are a couple of my current favorite Kian quotes...

Dad: "Kian there is no shape that has 7 sides..."
Kian: "Yes there is...it's a PRESTAGON!"

Kian: "Did someone text message you?"
Me: "Nope..."
Kian: "Why not?"
Me: "I don't know because I have no friends and I might be a loser..."
Kian: "Umm...I think...a winner."

I love my brother

Burning the Midnight Oil

Wow...where to start. I feel like ever since I started working night shift I am literally dead to the world. I go to work at 11 and work all night until 7 am, come home fall into my bed by 8 get up at 2:30 and get ready for work at the salon and at 11 I rinse and repeat the whole process...so to say. It's been crazy, I frequently forget what day it is and sometimes I will realize it has been 24 hours since I have eaten anything... but it has been so great too. There have been some hard nights...2 nights ago we had a patient crash and go into kidney failure (keep in mind this was Saturday night...when I then I had to get up and go to church the next morning, teach sharing time, teach my Sunbeams, and all this without the help of my dear sister...). BUT there have been some great nights too. Last night I had a patient who took a great liking to me and was calling me into her room literally every 20 minutes AND she would call me by name and she was telling all the nurses "oh Vanessa knows how to do it, she knows the way I like it, no one does it like Vanessa"...it was cracking me up. This job above all else has taught me the value of service. I am there for people in their weakest state when their families can't and they trust me to attend to their needs and take care of them. What an awesome responsibility. I love love love it.
And can I just admit to the world right now what a huge dork I am? I actually had my family tape the football game for me last night because I couldn't watch it...when did I turn into such a guy? But the Colts won! Yeah!
In closing I would like to publicly apologize for being so anti social. But it probably won't change anytime soon because no one does it like me! :)
Also here is a picture of the delicious cake my darling mother made for me...rainbow chip of course! Thanks Mom...it's nice to know that even after 22 years you let me have the cake of a 10 year old and don't think twice about it (at least out loud...)
*Please make special note of the most fabulous birthday gift ever bestowed upon someone in the background...that is right ladies and gentlemen...it is a one of a kind...(sort of...), magically versatile...the one, the only, the...Magic Bullet! I have been lusting after this little beauty for about 3 years now and my friends got it for me! They are the best and I've already make some delicious concoctions in this baby.

Fall

I love fall...the colors change and the leaves fall and get all crunchy...there is nothing more satisfying then stepping through leaves and getting some good crunches. I love apple cider and caramel apples. I love pumpkin (pie, ice cream, carving them, pumpkin seeds etc...)...I love scarves and hats and coats. Probably one of my favorite things about fall would have to be my birthday though and this year was no exception. I woke up and unfortunately had to go to work but while I was there I got beautiful flowers delivered to me! I have never gotten flowers delivered to me before and it was a fantastic experience that I hope to be able to experience again...soon. My delightful friend Kylie and I went shopping and got some dinner and all that....I got some great clothes and it was a fabulous birthday! Still haven't had my rainbow chip cake (a tradition for me...) but Kenz is going to make it tonight. All in all it was a great day and I can't believe I am 22...wow I am so old :)


In other news...I start my night shift this week...I work Monday 11p-7a so...wish me luck. I will be staying up all night tonight and sleeping tomorrow to start getting my body in the mode...so if I post random jibberish at 3 am tonight..kindly disregard it.

22 Years

It's my birthday!

Halloween, Birthdays, and a Graduation!

So I must admit...I harbor some resentment towards Halloween. This stems from a childhood where my birthday has been 6 days before this ridiculous holiday. All growing up birthday parties consisted of costumes or witches brew (ok so that was actually pretty good...) and then as I got older I had to plan MY birthday party around the ghoolish parties that my friends had to go to. Seriously? So...I tend to try and forget that Halloween even exists...which is hard when your doorbell rings a billion times on October 31st. BUT when my Aunt Brita sent us a package filled with popcorn that turns orange and HOT CHOCOLATE that turns orange (in true Halloween spirit...) I had to try it. Bub was so excited he was dancing all around the kitchen while we made it...it turned out very tasty and we got to snuggle down and munch on popcorn and drink cocoa and watch a movie. What a great Friday night date!

Our poor Murphy LOVES popcorn and kept resting his head on my leg begging for a taste...it is just irresistable I suppose.




I graduated from the PSP program today!!! Yay! I got a 98% on my test and passed all my clinical stuff off too. It was bittersweet because I will miss my class...and George.


It was also the debut of my new hair color...I am still getting used to it...I like it but I will always be a blonde at heart...

Tomorrow is my birthday...woo woo! I'll be a fabulous 22 years old...yay me!
I am going to spend the weekend with some friends and I think we may be seeing the new High School Musical movie (obviously I am actually turning 12.)

Little Red Corvette...

I absolutely love Prince. I love him. And I love the song Little Red Corvette...which doesn't really have anything to do with this blog post but I just wanted to tell you....
and I did entertain my PSP class a couple times with my very own performance of this delightful tune...which does tie into my post today...

I love meeting new people and I love making friends and I was nervous going into this whole experiance that I wouldn't like it or that I would have no friends but I am so blessed because I made new friends with everyone in my class and they have a completely ridiculous sense of humor just like me so....that has been fabulous!

This is my class with my new love George...

Me and Kathie

I have more pictures to prove how incredible hilarious we all are...

We took George and put him up in this chair complete with stethoscope, coffee mug, pen, nametag...and our instructor didn't notice for a good 5 minutes that George was listening in on the class...it was so funny.

George and I had a photoshoot together....it's meant to be.

It is a little known fact that I have VERY long arms. One of my greatest talents is being able to be on my knees in front of the refridgerator and being able to touch the top. I can touch the ceilings in our house...and I pride myself on having longer arms than any guy I know. So one day in class we were talking about it and they said that your foot is the same length as the distance between your wrist and the crook of you elbow....meaning that I would have some very long feet. I was like "seriously guys....my arms are freakishly long...that won't work for me". Of course I had to prove it and we just happened to get a picture....there is still quite a bit of distance there. The one downside to this is that I can never find long sleeves that cover my arms...as evidenced in this picture...

All in all it has been a blast and I couldn't be more happy. Yesterday I had clinical and was on the Ortho side of the Ortho/Neuro/Spine unit and I loved every minute of it. We had some of the sweetest patients I have ever met. Sometimes it's hard and the shall we say...odors...are overwhelming but the look on these peoples faces or their families faces and they way they thank you over and over for what you do for them....really makes it worth it.

New Job by the Numbers...

#of days a week I wake up at 5 am : 5

# of rooms I work in at the hospital: 48

# of times I cried last week: 2

# of times it took me to finally get a correct blood pressure: 7

# of my PSP classmates: 8

# of new friends I've made: 8

# of questions I missed on my CPR test: 0

# of diet cokes it takes to get through the day: 7 (this is a rough estimate)

# of times I change my clothes: 2 (change from scrubs to professional dress for salon....tiring!)

# of times I cleaned up poop on my first day: 3

# of hours I clocked working last week (this includes hospital and salon): 72

# of times I laugh through out the day: too many to count

# of soulmates I've met since working: 1 (see picture below)

All in all it has been an incredible experiance so far. I only have 2 days of classes left and the rest are all clinicals on my actual unit. I will be sad to leave all the friends I've made but I'm excited about all the new experiances I will have. I won't lie...I've been exausted. I went to bed at 8:30 pm last Friday night (ridiculous right???) but it will all be worth it! I'll keep you updated! :)

Happy Birthday Bub!

Today is Bee Bop's Birthday aka Bub, Bubby, Kiki, Beeboperooni, etc...
I have many names for my brother.

Words can not express how grateful I am for Kian.

He has been the comic relief our family needs.

His laugh is contagious. He laughs, then I laugh, which makes him laugh harder...and we keep this going.

He LOVES playing hide and seek with me. He will randomly come up to me and say "ok you hide and I'll count...1, 2, 3..." and most of the time I can't resist

He says things to my dad like "I surely am not belligerent!" (my dad was using the word saying that he was acting belligerent and that was Kian's response)

He always asks "How was work" or "How was your day?"

He loves doing the "Bedtime Chart" with me.

He gives the best huggies.

He can take on anybody in the Mickey racing game for N64 and totally dominate.

He constantly amazes me with how smart he is. He writes his name, reads, spells, draws really cool golf greens, and the things he comes up with to say are just so intelligent.

He once told me that he knew who I was going to marry. When I asked him who he said himself which I promptly set him straight on...but it was still cute.

He can sing all the words to "These Boots Were Made For Walkin" and "SexyBack" which I SWEAR I had nothing to do with.

We sing other silly made up songs together.

We play basketball outside together and crack up the whole time.

He tells me I look "Beufital" which is his way of saying beautiful...and I love it.

Of course there are the times when he drives me absolutely nuts. Like when he claps or yells really loud or bangs on my bedroom door to wake me up. He yells at me and tells me I'm being a punk and then says "Well fine, we're not friends"...when I ask him when we can be friends he always says "On Tuesday"
(even though it is sooner than that).
Even though I can get so mad at him I think that I could stand to live without him...I have moments like I did last week...
Kian and I were laying in my parent's bed watching "Wow Wow Wubzzy" and we were having an in depth discussion of whether or not Wubzzy is a boy or a girl, and he put his arm around my neck and looked at me and smiled and said "I love you Nini"*pronounced nee nee which is what he calls me* and I started crying. Not bawling but my eyes did tear up. I can not imagine my life without him and the thought of him ever having to go through things that are hard or bad makes me cringe. I just want to protect him and baby him and have those moments with him forever. I don't want him to grow up. Hopefully as he does grow up we can be friends and buddies forever. Or at least on Tuesdays.
I love you Bubby!!!

Lifestyle of a PSP

Wow...what a week it has been and it is only Wednesday!!!

Here is a run down of the week's events...

Monday was my first official day at the hospital. I sat through 8 hours of orientation...listening to people talk...but I did bond with my table mates...2 RN's so I will never see them...but it was fun while it lasted.

Tuesday was just a nursing orientation so it was all the people who would be doing patient care. We listened a lot in the AM and in the PM we got to do these skill stations where we learned about code blues/crash carts isolation rooms moving and lifting patients AND tuberculosis mask fittings which were all very interesting and we got out really early. Let me tell you something though...both of these days started BEFORE 0700 (which is 7am for those of you unfamiliar with military time...which I am now VERY familiar with...) so I went directly from the hospital (in my HOT new scrubs that I bought...pictures to be posted later) to my other job at THE PARIS SALON and worked until 2100...got home at 2130 and then had a bunch of reading to do. I crashed right around 2245 and slept soundly until 0545 (you catching on now???)

Wednesday (today) which was really fun. We split into our acutal PSP class today. There are 9 of us and we had a blast. We started out the morning learning a lot of policies (yawn) and then learned about ostomys and emptying ostomy and foley bags (GROSS...if you don't know what that is...count yourself lucky). We breaked for lunch and THEN...the good stuff.

CHECKING GLUCOSE LEVELS

(aka blood sugar)

which we got to do with ACCUCHEC which is that finger prick thing you do at the Dr. office. I received one and gave one. I am happy to report that my glucose level was a 90 which is normal range. It was so cool. I practically felt like a DR.

Then we went over medical terminology/abbreviations.

Do you know what an MI stands for?

CBC?

b.i.d.?

FBS?

I do.

We had a little quiz at the beginning to see which terms we already knew and I was finished in like 2 minutes (before everyone else and I'm then only one in class with NO previous health care training). My instructor was really surprised when she was reading through it and was like "Vanessa...how do you know all this when you haven't even worked in the setting before? I'm impressed"...

My answer???

"Um..ER"

That's right DAD...one of my shows ACTUALLY came in handy for once.

So then I rushed from there today at 4:30 back to the salon where I will be until 9:00 or later...

I'm exausted.

Or maybe I just have S & S of exaustion?

Hmm...