Meeting Miss Molina

Before the trip out to CO I made a few crafts for my new baby niece:

I knitted this hat

I made this blanket

hearts on one side

Star Wars on the other

When we flew in Christmas night, my brother, sister-in-law, and Molina were there to pick us up.

This was my first peek at her sweet baby cheeks

Here is baby girl wearing the hat I made:

And at her first Christmas

I ran out of time before the trip for my other crafts, so while the family was babysitting tonight and Joel & Michelle went out on a date, I finished up a few more projects:

I could not resist these super cute fabric prints

And then this hat was a too small fail, I think I was supposed to use "knit" fabric that would stretch, whoops

But the jammies fit

Me and baby girl

Tonight, while her parents were gone, Molina made us some cookies:

Then she cleaned up after herself

And then she settled down for a bottle and to watch the Michigan game with Grandpa

Love this little girl!

camping date

Last night I went over for a date, I was told to bring a sleeping bag and pillow, um.... I asked if I was going to be held hostage, haha

Anyway, I get to his house and I see this:

He'd talked about wanting to camp together, and so he'd set up a tent in his living room. We laid our sleeping bags inside and relaxed by the "fire"

He had downloaded a crickets/howling wolves app, and lite an outdoorsy scented incense stick.

It was actually quite wonderful.

He'd printed off questions to ask each other by flashlight, and we laid there and ate pizza and talked and it was really such a great time. Things are going really well and I am tentatively excited :)

Weekend Update

I'm not the biggest fan of this working every weekend. It was what worked best with this semester of classes, and what it's looking like for the next 8 weeks as well unfortunately. It's just hard school and work all week, and still more work on the weekend. Oh well, be thankful for a job right?!?

Saturday it snowed quite a bit here. So I worked till 3:30, then had my friend from nursing school's wedding at 6 in a town about an hour away. (an hour with no snow, that is) Anyway, I didn't want to get ready in the bathroom at work, so I went to a friend's nearby. I'm glad I did, but I dawdled a bit and then was running late because of the snow. I had a dress and heels, but I didn't want to be freezing or walking to the hall with open toed shoes, so under my dress I wore my scrub pants and work shoes. I ran into the hall, the concierge lady pointed the way to their ceremony. I asked the bagpiper guy in the back if there was a side door so I could sneak in, and he just said something like they were about to come out so I should hurry and run in there. So I just pulled my pants down right in the hall, kicked off my shoes, threw on my heels and ran in. I got to see the last several minutes of the wedding and when my friend came down the aisle, she never knew that I wasn't there the whole time, haha!

This wedding was super fancy.

The reception venue:

Our table:

The cake:

The couple:

My friend isn't a Christian, and has been living with her fiance, I'm really interested to see what she'll have to say about actually being married now and to hear if anything is different in her mind or what. I don't really expect her to say anything either way, but it's just interesting to hear other's perspectives on topics like that.

My other friend from nursing school and I

It was really fun hanging out with her, we had so much fun talking, joking around, and dancing together. It was really a great wedding. But at the end of the night I was exhausted. I had been up since 5:30am, worked 8+ hard understaffed hours on my feet, drove 3.5 hours in snow and icy conditions, then at least 2 hours of dancing to awesome music, and was aaaalmost home, when I hit a curb. I think my car is fine, but it made me cringe, especially thinking of those snobby Belle Tire guys asking if I hit curbs a lot, yeah so? yeah so!!

Anyway. Then Sunday slept in, listened to like 4 awesome sermons of my friend's CA church, did my new butt video (pretty good), worked all day on my quilting project, and then had a girl's night with a friend who was in town. So that was really nice. And back to the grind!

*Sidenote- how awesome would it be to take bagpipe lessons someday?! How does one get to learn that?? Bucket list!

I'm freeeee!

This morning I took my last exam of the semester. Grades aren't up yet, but I think I did decently.

Before class I made myself a veggie burger, breakfast of champions

I also made a little one for my classmate so she could see how good they are :)

Then I spent a few hours doing errands and Christmas shopping. It was starting to feel like 'one for someone, one for me...' for a bit. Not too much, but I did get myself a new exercise dvd. Since I exercise at home, I like to have a variety for not getting too bored and keeping different muscles 'confused'. I'm excited to try it.

one perfect butt please!!

I resisted this gorgeous scarf at Target

I've been wanting a white with polka dots scarf, and this one had pretty silver dots, but they wanted $17, yeah right!! Not worth it at all. The profit margin on that thing has got to be outrageous.

I also had to exercise some restraint around the super cute baby stuff I saw everywhere, I just wanted to get it all for my baby niece!!

so adorable, I probably would have gotten this one if they would've had the right size.

Last night I made this super tasty soup, Chicken and Gnocchi in the crock pot. Yum.

(and of course night-before-exam-cookies, not pictured)

I am excited for a little break from school, although I'm betting it will still be crazy at work, I will enjoy working on a few of my crafty projects today!

Weekend Update

One more week of school and then break for 4 glorious weeks!! I can't wait for our family trip to Colorado and to meet my baby niece. Everyday it seems I see a picture of her on facebook with her other aunt who lives an hour away and I feel kind of sad. Well, happy that she has other family that loves her and can be a part of her life, but sad that it's not me.

This weekend flew by, as usual.

I think Thursday Jill and I watched the Sound of Music the tv version with Carrie Underwood. NOT AS GOOD. But I forged on. Jill kept turning around to look at me with a little smirk on her face as Carrie pranced around on an extremely fake set complete with painted mountainous scenery. She said "the real one had the real Swiss Alps, and this is paint!' and later the children give the dad's gf a flower, and she turns to me and says, 'a plastic flower!?' and I had to agree, surely NBC could have afforded one real flower. Haha. Anyway, it was nice to lay around and relax and spend a bit of time with Jill.

And my buddy Mr. Becks. He was just getting deliciously shaggy with his fur, so soft and rabbit-like, but today he is sporting a haircut, tear.

what we thought of the movie

"encouraging" Becks to look at the camera

his sweet little face

Earlier this week I got this hummus, and thought surely it's not that spicy..

I mean, don't get me wrong, I could handle it, but it was pretty spicy. Supremely spicy even, haha. And every now and then I'd get what felt like a mouthful of red pepper seeds and it would be pretty hot, but good

And I went out on another date.

These were waiting for me in the car when he came to pick me up.

We went and got Thai food and then went rock climbing, it was fun. Had a good talk. Then the next day my friend cancelled her craft night that I was planning on going to, and so I hung out with him again and went to dinner with him and his friend who was in town from China. It was really fun, and neat to hear the friend's perspective of him. Then today was church, we are doing an 'Awkward Christmas' series and today was 'the ugly sweater' and we had a photo booth brought in, so went in with some of my church girlfriends that I love:

(apparently you could borrow an 'ugly hat' if you didn't have a sweater)

And then tonight was my parent's Christmas choir concert and then dinner with their friends back at the house. It was really fun. I'm glad to have such wonderful people and relationships in my life.

time for an update

Thanksgiving break was wonderful. I spent the break in Wisconsin visiting my mom's sisters (2 out of 3). I slept in, I ate, I hiked, I worked on my knitting, I didn't do a bit of studying, I visited with family, I watched movies, it was great.

My uncle is quite the host, there were fresh roses in my room, and in the bathroom there was a Thanksgiving card for me, more roses and a fresh fruit bowl, very thoughtful.

My aunt gave me this from Cambodia

I'm going to use it as a pen holder to help keep my backpack orderly. It's perfect!

This morning I was awoken by barking from the living room, so this guy was brought back to bed to sleep with me for 45 more minutes. Look at that little sleepy face.

Today I studied a lot, made dinner, and got stuff in order. I saw this new bill (or new to me, apparently this technology has been around since 2009). Anyway, in the bill is one of those holographic stickers (the kind that always has like a horse running thru a field when you wiggle it side to side). This one has a little '100'. Very cool.

It makes me wonder, is counterfiting still a big problem?? First there were colored threads in the bills, then when you hold it up to the light there is a strip, and also a little face that appears, and now the hologram. Crazy.

Anyway, I have been out on a few more hangouts/dates. Last night we walked downtown for the light show my city puts on. We ran into a friend of his from high school, who happens to live in the apt next to mine. So he was introducing me and then we were just like 'oh hey!'. So then my neighbor was asking him how he knew me and he stammered for a bit and said I was an old friend and we 'were just catching up' as he was clearly holding my hand, it was funny, I teased him all night about it. Even this old guy that was walking in front of us heard us, and teased him too. Haha. Anyway. Going good. It's nice, I don't have to ask myself how I feel or talk myself into anything like I felt like I was doing on dates some this summer. He has said a couple things to me, unbeknownst to him, that have been like little band-aids to the cracked parts on my heart. It's been a bit surprising actually.

Over break I was talking some to my cousin about the divorce. She had asked me what has been the most influential in my healing. So it was nice to share about how good God has been to me. I remember in my divorce class someone said 'time doesn't heal people- Jesus heals people' and it is totally true. Time does help make things sting less, but Jesus has been the one mending my heart and who gave me strength. And I am so thankful for my other friends and family that loved me and cared for me. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

First Date

hahahahaha, this makes me laugh, oh Sheldon

So I went on a date on saturday. It was actually much closer to the top of that picture than the bottom.

Some pictures from my night:

There was dinner, dessert, ice-skating, cards, flowers, he drove me somewhere and lit off fireworks, a walk, and to top it all off, he even let me practice starting an IV on him! I failed :( He had said earlier he'd let me practice on him, but as I was about to poke him I was feeling like some weirdo, and was asking if he was sure, and he just said 'well I really like you, so go ahead', haha. Ok! But then I felt really bad for not getting it. Maybe on date #2??

He told me some funny things like how he'd spent a good part of the day driving around to everywhere we were going to go ahead of time to map it out. And practiced his cursive for my cards. He had told a lot of his friends about the date and they kept texting him to ask how it was going. I saw one text that he sent to his friend: 'Anne looks really good' :) When we were driving out to the place for the firework he asked me if I was cold, and then before I could even reply a blanket was being laid on my lap.

This guy is actually someone I sort of knew 12 years ago in InterVarsity at school. A few weeks ago I randomly saw him at a friend's party and we chatted a small bit. I wondered if I would see him on facebook, and then sure enough, the next day I got a message and we've been talking ever since.

I feel alternately scared and excited about it.

We'll see.

So then yesterday as I'm midway to church my car wouldn't go into any gear at all and I was in the middle of traffic with cars lining up and beeping behind me. And I found myself calling him to see if he could come get me. And I was instantly mad at myself. I didn't just spend the last 2 years becoming self-sufficient and independent to become some damsel-in-distress overnight. I jammed it into gear, U'ed in the middle of the road, and made it back. And today I'm being a big girl, called my own tow truck, found a place to get it fixed, and taking care of it.

I took the day off clinical to get this car stuff figured out, and I think it's really good to have some time to process and get how I feel figured out too.

Maybe that dichotomic picture is perfect for how I feel at this second; but I'm feeling gradually more ready to put down the spray can.

One thing that I really really hated about being divorced was how I just felt so embarrassed about it. I hated that everyone knew I was a Christian, and getting a divorce, I felt like such a bad witness. The people who know me, know it wasn't my choice. But it was still embarrassing having to tell my co-workers and others. And even in that, God was SO SO good to me, and really only a few people said things that hurt my feelings (and I think that was unintentional, altho it did hurt). Mostly people just loved me and prayed for me and walked thru it with me. But that is one fear I have now for sure. I'm afraid to get excited, and to potentially 'fail' again. I was talking it over with Liz the other day and that helped a ton. Just realizing that a lot of it is probably in my own mind. She said for her she would look at me, and be happy that I was happy and moving on. And if it didn't work out, she would be sad if I was sad. That was really nice, and I think it'd be true for the other people who care about me as well.

God has been so good to me, He truly has provided everything I need, He has taught me so much and brought me through something I could not see any way out of. So I think I can keep trusting Him.

it's friday... friday...

Today was definitely a cookie day. It's been a long week, and a busy past couple days.

Exam on wednesday, 92%, woo-woo! Work on Thursday was busy, this lady was coming out of her anesthesia and trying to get out of bed to go use the bathroom. We can't let them up right away because they are a huge fall risk. So we finally convince her to use a bed pan, and the second we get out of there to give her some privacy she gets out of bed and tries to escape. So I was holding the curtain shut and trapping her in there! Her mom was in there with her (the patient was 36, and about to become A GRANDMA) and she was crying and swearing up a storm and pooping on the floor. (That part couldn't really be helped though, she did just have a colonoscopy...) Anyway, I guess she was a ex-drug addict, and one thing we learned in mental health was that if a person does something to kind of stop their development (like start doing drugs) their development is trapped at that stage of whatever age they were, and I totally saw this in action with this grown lady who was crying and yelling at her mom like a teenager. Sad. Then I had to leave that drama and go to my clinical. Which went good, until my one classmate was watching a birth and apparently fainted. Our teacher got an emergency page over the hospital intercom to take her to the ER because when she came to, she couldn't unclench her hands. So we were all super nervous. I got a text last night from her saying she was ok, and I guess because she must have hyperventilated before she fainted, it did that to her hands, but how scary!

Today work was fine, just busy. I have to say making the beds is my least favorite part of my job. Otherwise, I really like it a lot, and think it's a great fit for me, and I love talking to the patients and trying to help them feel less nervous or at least that someone cares about them for a few minutes. A few people have told me they think I'm going to make a great nurse :)

Ok, so this was my night:

(not pictured: small fluffy dog licking a beater)

Mmmmmmm

And some dinner

Jill loves me, she buys turkey sausage

and an applesauce attempt that remains to be tasted

And I'm thinking my socks might not be able to make it till Christmas :(

I actually found myself humming 'please Christmas don't be laaaaate' as I took this picture :)

Weekend Update - with pics!

This weekend did not have enough studying in it, but it did have lots of good times. I spent some time with Jill and Mr. Becks eating popcorn and catching up on Downton Abbey season 4, now all there is is the Christmas episode! :( they need longer seasons.

At some point I made crockpot cream cheese chicken chili, this recipe is super good. This time it was a little different because I did some substitutions with things we had, but still super tasty.

I also decided I need to be eating more vegetables. Besides carrots. At meijer the other day absolutely nothing was on sale and I see the typical bag of carrots in my cart. So I went over to the loose produce section and see a huge bunch of kale, locally grown even, for $1.49. So I got it. I'm not that experienced with kale, but heard good things about vitamins, etc, and I know that it is a hearty plant that grows year round. Anyway, I made this salad with some ken's asian sesame salad dressing, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and avocado, and it is super yummy. Wishing for goat cheese, but still pretty tasty without.

And my mom brought me over a bag of goodies the other day. My friend Liz made this awesome homemade applesauce in the crockpot, so maybe I will try that with mom's orchard apples.

What else have I been up to...

I went shopping for my sister's bday, and while I was there I found a brown scarf that I really liked :) I was looking for something brown with a print and I really liked this one, it has gold threads through it too. Pretty.

I haven't had my overwhelming urge to bake cookies lately, but did make the cranberry crumble again. Yum. Although this time I ran out of maple syrup and it is a bit more tart that I would like, but still good.

And makes a very tasty breakfast on top of some yogurt.

I've also had a lot of longer study sessions intruding on my cooking time, and therefore quick tasty dinners.

Becks didn't get any.

Hmmmpfppffff

Saturday I went rockclimbing with some new friends. First we met up at the house, it was a typical bachelor pad

ummmmmmm....

The rockclimbing was really fun and I had a good time. I really like 'sports' where there is no pressure and I can just do athletic-type things, I'm pretty good in that kind of situation.

Sunday was church, my friend pointed out to me the church budget cuts, lol

Yesterday in class I learned how to start an IV (for the record, some of that spilled 'blood' was there before I got my turn). But we're not allowed to do it in the hospital as students, so probably won't do it for real until I get a nurse job.

And then last night I went to book club. None of us had finished the book, so we just enjoyed dinner and talking (as usual!) and rolled the book over to next month. The friend that hosted last night has this great Salvation Army by her house, so Liz and I stopped in before dinner, and I found something I have been looking for forever...

Liz pretty much handed me this shirt as a joke, but I was like "YESSSS."

Team Edward!