Rants, Recipes, and Running

I know, I know - Thanksgiving was 2 days ago. But I have to do a little reflection post of the season. I also haven't had a personal computer for several weeks. (long story). So alas, I make time for a little reflection and tribute post to those things I am thankful for. Because isn't the entire holiday season a time of thanksgiving, love, and joy? I write this post at a Starbucks in Las Vegas, as my dear husband does grad schoolhomework. For the hotel he is living at for 3 weeks has unreliable Wifi. Needless to say, he is excited to come home! ;) So greetings from Sin City! 2016 has been a whirlwind of a year. We have had many changes and different things thrown at us, and when I look back to a year ago - I feel like I, too, have changed. But if you aren't changing, you aren't growing. I am thankful for a home . The obvious shelter, air conditioning, pillow to rest my head on. But beyond that....we purchased a new home this year that will be our "foreve...

I simply cannot be a "blogger", and not write some form a "thankfulness post". But I fear that this may turn into a novel. Or an Odyssey-like poem. I will try to keep it simple. Bare with me, my friends. Every single day I am reminded with how blessed and lucky I am. Maybe it's because I work in a career where every day I'm talking to people who are dealing with bad news, and it  gives me an overwhelming sense of grace. But lately I have really honed in on listening to my patients, and trying to be a shoulder to lean on. Being that shoulder to lean on, and focusing more on really listening instead stressing about all the work that needs to be done has really made me take a step back and count my blessings . So here are a few of the things in which I am grateful for: Every single day, I have a home to return to. Let's start with the obvious. It has a roof. During the 100+ dog days of summer, I have the ability to crank that AC to as cold as I wan...

Greetings from our cabin in the woods in Big Bear, California! I am supposed to be moving Ryan to March AFB today for training, but his training has been rescheduled and re-routed. However, we had already put our deposit on our cabin (we were going to stay here for a few romantic days before I moved him).....so we made a fun vacay out of the deal! Pictures will come eventually . :) I am determined to finish this Grateful blog, however! So here's the last of it! The best thing I tasted today was.... For breakfast I had a slice of my home-made blackberry lemon bread, toasted on the stove, and a spread little Fage greek yogurt on it. I love going online to .... look up recipes, gawk at dream vacations, and look up home renovation ideas. I must admit a great deal of this is done via Pinterest. I'm grateful for the way these things feel: my husbands arm around my back, a hug from family & friends, cool & crisp freshly washed sheets after a long day, the ta...

Well, it's taking me longer than 30 days, as my consistency in blogging has been horrible since I've been home! It's been really busy and I've been in a constant mode of go-go-go! All good things, but I will admit that I'm having a deep longing to just hole up in my house and be a recluse for a day. All this business has me feeling extremely grateful, which is a great theme to get me ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Let me pick up where I left off with this "30 Days of Gratitude" I'm lucky that I'm smart enough to figure out how to .....use critical thinking in my job. It's something they try to teach you in college, but I think it mostly comes with experience. My time in the ER has really built that. I've reached the point where I feel like I can look at a patient, anticipate what's going to happen and just how sick they are within the first 20 seconds in the room. In this moment, what I love most about my friends are .......

The strongest part of my body in this moment is ......I'd have to say my legs. Even after basically taking a 3 week break from running (with a few intermittent jogs in the middle) - I am clear to resume training. I went for a 10 mile run yesterday, and worried that I wouldn't be able to carry though. But to be honest, my legs didn't even feel a hint of soreness. I have all the strength training and biking to thank for that! Even after a rough day at work, the things I'm most grateful for are .....This answer is very evident for me right now! My coworkers. After working at different hospitals in a different state this summer, I gained a serious appreciation for my coworkers. I honestly think my ER is the dream team of ER's. No matter how busy it is, everyone helps each other out. People always have your back, and that energy is contagious. We all work as a cohesive team, and we find things to laugh and smile about throughout the day. It makes even the worse days e...

I am making a point of savoring a little "me time" before it gets busy. Starting this afternoon, then next few weeks I will be going 100 mph at life. So many exciting things I look forward to coming up. But I'm also a little stressed, as our house has sat vacant for 4 months (ahhh!) -- and we have a party hosting about 30-40 people just 6 days after we get home! So this is my moment to breath. Okay, okay, I lied. I'm procrastinating . All the luggage bags and totes are nicely laid out, I'm supposed to be packing, and then going to the gym, and then packing more, and then picking up Ryan's family at the airport. But I am avoiding packing like the plague. So decided, "I really should drink my coffee and play on the computer...." I'm not going to be able to do my 30 days of Gratitude post tomorrow, as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day with Ryan's pinning ceremony starting at 9 am! I have major butterflies in my stomach thinking about...

I'm stealing this idea from my sister, Lisa , as I think this is a great way to "refocus". We have so many great things to be thankful for. This summer adventure has put light on that. From the bad moments to the best moments ever -- if I've learned anything it's that m y life is very full and my husband and family are rockstars. So here it goes! 1.  I'm most thankful for my ability to adapt . I feel like I am a very "adaptable" person. In fact, my old manager (you know, the guy that didn't let me run the marathon) once described me as a cat . And that I could be throw from any height, and will find a way to land on my feet. I've moved to new cities twice now where I knew no one, and had no idea how to get around...and I've found my way. I learned to work at 2 new hospitals this summer, with completely new charting systems, department flow, etc. Back in AZ, I was the Nursing House Supervisor, as basically a new grad, googling poli...

Today I am going to write a brief "thankfulness" post on my job. I am well aware of the blessing of having a job in today's economy, and so I go to work every day feeling blessed & thankful. The best part of my job is that no 2 days are the same. There is always something challenging and I can always learn something new. I'm also blessed to get to interact with so many interesting people. One of my favorite things to do is just spend a little time talking to my patients about where they came from, where they've been, etc. I also have a pretty fabulous team I work with, which makes a huge difference! However...my "dream job" would be to work in an 8-5 M-F clinic as a Homeopathic Nurse Practitioner. But with the economy and people's reservations to spend money.....that is just a dream. A very far stretched dream. So I will continue to recover patients from cardiac caths, convert people from afib to sinus rhythm, do dressing changes to foot ...

Today I am thankful for our house. We are so blessed to have gotten this place! Here are a few reasons why I love this the steal we got!: 1) It happens to be in a neighborhood in the part of town I've drove to to run the trails for the past year! Now I don't have to drive 10 minutes to go for a gorgeous run, as it's right outside my back yard! 2) It backs into a golf course. Some people (our realtor) would say that's not a good thing. I disagree. AZ doesn't have a lot of green grass...and that's what we look at every day, and we don't have to maintain it either! (maintaining grass in this state is a headache ...) We are located in a spot where very few balls end up in our yard too, so it works out. 3) It's a very friendly neighborhood. (but not too friendly..so it's a nice balance. No annoying neighbors!) -- The weekend we closed, our neighbor came over with a plate of cookies to welcome us. It warmed my heart. And people are already working on...

Today I am focusing my giving of thanks to my Mom & Dad, Marlys & Paul.   (this is a photo of us @ the reheasal dinner before our wedding)   I never knew how much I'd miss them before we moved to Tucson. Growing up I took for granted how lucky I was to have such loving and wise parents. They taught me so much about God, family, work ethic, and so many valuable life lessons. They demonstrate the meaning of a marriage centered on love and commitment. They run a business together and raised 5 children together. It is sometimes easy to get sad when I realize we only see them a few times each year. But, then I must remember I am so very blessed that I get to see them. And I talk more than once/week. In fact, I text my Mom almost daily!  I am so happy to have them in my life. AND I get to see them in just a few short months as we're making a short trip home for New Years -- which is a TOTAL surprise since I didn't think we'd get home at all this year!!

Remember last week when I said "I'm going to think about trying to do a thankful post daily" ? Well, I thought about it!And that is as far as I got..... Can I just say that I'm really sick of packing. Every day I've had off for the past 1 1/2 weeks, I've spent the entire day packing boxes, taking them to the house, unloading them and placing items in appropriate places, take empty boxes back to the old house, repeat. Also, life has been a tad chaotic lately. We are living between 2 homes. So when one says "Do you know where my ______ is?"...I now just laugh. But the official "moving day" will be here this weekend! I am SO excited! Okay, now to thankfulness..... Today I am blessing my thankfulness on wellness . By wellness I mean a variety of things. 1) I am thankful that we both have our health. It is sometimes easy to forget how truly blessed one is to have their health (mental & physical) 2) I am thankful that we are...

I haven't been blogging lately. I have been spending my days off on a ladder painting. On my hands & knees cleaning grout. And packing boxes. We closed 2 weeks ago - and the more time we spend in the house, the more thankful I'm feeling! (and the more time we spend in the house, the more things we find that need repairs :D) We get the U-Haul next weekend, and make the big move -- so we will be all settled in just before Thanksgiving. :-) This experience has brought Ryan & I closer. We haven't had much of a social life lately, so we're getting LOTS of quality bonding time working on the house. Our new idea of a date night is a trip to Home Depot or a night of painting baseboards together. Good times! All I have to say is Thank God for unsecured wireless networks & Pandora Radio. It's keeping me working! What did people do before Pandora? ( Don't worry...I realize the answer to this question is they had these weird *tape-devices* and someth...