Rants, Recipes, and Running

Prayers have been answered! Tonight I can rest well! This weekend I can finally exhale . My "laughter" will no longer be forced, and my "smiles" won't be faked. I got a call today from my PRN job, and they want to bring me on full time until my hospital decides what they're going to do. They said they want to bring me on full-time for good...but understand my situation with the contract. ?!?!?! How is this even possible?! It's like, too good to be true. I'm seriously pinching myself here. And even better?!?!.... My position is 6am-2:30 pm M-F. WHAT?!?!?!!!! This kind of schedule does NOT exist in healthcare, my friends. I got offered a job on Wednesday that was going to be 16 hr night shifts on the weekends plus 1 hr night shift during the week. And I was going to accept that crappy schedule....because I want to be a nurse, already! But starting Monday morning it's real!!! (Meanwhile..I'm still waiting for my hospital to...

Let's talk "pain".... Often pain is viewed as negative thing. It can be very bad. As a nurse, I've seen some pretty extreme cases of pain. It can totally have a psychological take-over on one. My heart hurts for people who deal with chronic pain. Chronic pain is just not nice. But, today, I am dedicating a blog post to pain. Thanking it. (Now, I realize that pain can be a huge burden in life. So PLEASE , if you suffer chronic pain -- don't think I'm referring to you and take offense.) Pain is your body's way of communicating. It tells you, "Please stop." It tells you, "You're doing something wrong." I'm 10 weeks into training for my marathon on December 12. Things have been going amazing the whole time. Until last weekend.... After my 9 miler, my hip started feeling really sore. It's been slightly ongoing. But it was getting exponentially worse this week. 3 years ago, I would've been stubborn and pighea...

Yesterday morning was packed with a session of cross training.....rushed home to shower and get professional-looking....headed across town for an interview.....kicked butt at my interview...."bopped" over to our house to see the progress of the build......headed to the "design center" to sign more paperwork.... (Side note: I cannot get over just how much paperwork is involved in building a house. Holy Hannah. And we haven't even closed !!! Iy-yi-yi....Those lovely people in history who got law-suit-happy.....God bless 'em.) Yesterday was a good day! So here's a little humor for your Thursday. A little thought. A little depth.....( A little cynical rant ) Afterwards, I decided to head to one of my favorite places to peruse.... Target. But my experience at Target was far from fun, relaxing, or pleasant. Just confusing. Loud. Crazy. Despite many screaming children-temper tantrums.... Which is common and un-escapable. Although screaming chi...

It's that time of the year again..... I haven't had one yet from Starbucks this year. In fact , I've boycotted Starbucks for quite a few months. I've boycotted all coffee shops since I finished school. Because, sometimes I feel like I'm drinking this: It's been cooling off during the nights & mornings here lately, and last weekend left us craving some fall "treats". So I purchased a few cans of pumpkin at the grocery store - and decided to incorporate a little Beta Carotene into our diets! :) Ryan and I got up Saturday morning and headed outdoors for a run. Ryan accompanied me for 5 miles of my 9 miler - which was a pleasant and enjoyable surprise! I haven't ran with another person in about a year!! So this was great! After our run I made Ryan some egg-o-licious breakfast burritos . And I made me some Pumpkin Oatmeal -- kind of made this on a whim. Here's the creation I highly recommend! -1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats -1 cup...

It's Monday night/Tuesday morning-ish (past midnight) I'm home from my 1st shift! It went really really well! Somehow.... But I'm completely and utterly wired and cannot sleep. I don't know how this is possible. However, for the past 9 hours I did sit down once. And didn't eat dinner until 11:15 pm. So that could contribute to my current state of insomnia?! It's work-out-week for 10 on Tuesday!! Yay! :) 1. What does your work out schedule look like? It changes every week, but I do 4 runs/week. Here is this weeks schedule :) Monday - 5 mile tempo run (avg pace 8:15/mile) - Strength: Quadiceps, shoulders, abs, lungs Tuesday - 6 mile hills on tredmill - Strenghth : abs and stretching Wednesday - Cross train - bike 40 minutes, swim 20 Strength : abs, squats, back, Thursday - 19 miles Friday - off day - go for walk Satruday - 8 miles + plylometics Saturday - off day (go for walk, stretch) 2. What is your favorite machine to use at the gym? I p...

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I know I did! It was kicked off Friday night. After a grueling shift of orientation where I came home completely shell-shocked.... Ryan & I headed to the SAHBA (Southern Arizona Home Builder's Association) Home & Garden Show . It was exciting to talk to different companies about our landscaping plans for the house. We also talked to a variety of water-softener companies! Woo Hoo (that was the lesser exciting part) We then headed into town for some Sushi. If you are ever in Tucson.......... Don't go to Fusion Wasabi :) -- unless you like your waitress/waiters to be complete assholes to you. Just a tip! Food was EXCELLENT. Seroiusly wonderful, fresh, delicious sushi. It wasn't that our waitress was slow or unattentive . She was actually rude to us. Mean. Snotty. Disappointing . I could go on and tell the details - but I'll just end with the fact that their service sucks . But we still had a great night togeth...