I will post an update as soon as I can. I have been super crazy busy finishing up my VERY LAST QUARTER OF NURSING SCHOOL! I have a week left of my preceptorship (aka internship) and then I graduate December 7th. I couldn't have asked for a better precepting experience. I'm in a surgery center and getting to learn a lot. Today I got to be in the operating room and do the role of the circulating nurse. It was fabulous. Loved it. I can already tell you that this is where I want to be.
I promise to update you soon! For now, here are some pictures of my class goofing off on our last lecture day. The first two pictures- my whole class (I am in the front center). The last pictures are of me (far left), my nursing besties, and one of our instructors "kicking" us out the door to be nurses. More pictures to come I'm sure.
About two months ago I cut all meat except fish out of my diet. I had just been feeling terrible for quite some time. No energy and bloated all the time. After about a week of doing this I felt so good. I wasn't bloated and I had a ton more energy. It was hard to do at first and I will tell you straight up right now that I have tried adding meat back to my diet a couple of times and, I don't like the feeling I get the next day. In all honesty, it makes me feel like crap. So I think I safely say that I am a pescetarian. I just learned that word. I kept calling myself a "vegetarian but still eat fish." Little did I know there was a name for that. I guess we learn something new every day don't we.
Here is my problem, I have no clue what to make. I love portobellos and salmon but I can't live off of that. I've done the occasional bean and cheese burrito too.
Here is the awesome part, I am now a carrot lover. If you know me, you know that in the past I have hated vegetables and especially carrots!
There is one vegetable that has always intimidated me.
It's eggplant. It's a beautiful vegetable but I had no clue how to prep it, until recently. I didn't know if it had to be peeled and such. Are there seeds that need to be removed? Well a friend from work told me how to do it. So I ventured out. I made eggplant parmesan. Oh my gosh it was soooo good.
Here is what I did. I cut up the eggplant. There were seeds but I didn't remove them and it was fine.
I then dipped the slices in an egg wash and then into italian seasoned bread crumbs. I fried them in melted butter until they looked crispy.
Then, I layered the slices about 3 high with spaghetti sauce and a slice of mozzerella between each layer.
I topped it with another spoonful of sauce and shredded parmesan. I baked them at 350 degrees until the cheese was melted, bubbly, and browned. I served it with roasted broccoli and cauliflower, pasta (could have done without), and artisan bread. Oh my gosh, so good I tell you. I am now a fan of eggplant.
If you have a favorite vegetarian recipe, please share it with me!
I found this recipe on Bakerella's blog and had to try them. I have made them twice already and they are seriously divine. And, super easy to make. If you like oreos, you will LOVE oreo truffles. A coworker of mine has actually asked me to make some for her hubby for his upcoming birthday. Poke around Bakerella's blog, seriously check her stuff out. And now the recipe for what I call Heaven, aka Oreo Truffles.
1 package oreo cookies (you will be using the WHOLE cookie) 1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened) white chocolate candy coating
1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later.
2. Crush remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. I used my kitchen aid with the paddle attachement, it worked great.
3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. I let them chill for a while before dipping but you don't have to.
4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top before the chocolate dries.
5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!
**NOTE** In the picture above I had used white chocoate chips and you can see that it's much thicker than the candy coating would be so it's hard to cover the whole ball. They were still just as good though!
***UPDATE 9/6/09*** Thank you all for you prayers for Mackenzie. She seems to be feeling much better and has been fever free since yesterday. She still won't eat much but I'm sure she'll be back to her normal self in no time. Her cough is getting better which means she is sleeping better! Original post follows...
This week has been insanely crazy with Mackenzie being under the weather. It all started Monday. She woke up and was a happy girl with a slight cough but nothing that alarmed me. Matt took the morning off and decided he wanted to take her to Toys R Us. She loved it there but then again what kid doesn't! She listened very well and we got her a little piano that has a stool to sit on and a tee ball set.
So, we get home and Mackenzie goes down for her 2+ hour nap. She wakes up and has this awful barking cough and a fever of 101.5. I'm telling you I thought a seal had invaded my kids body! Mackenzie also said that her right ear hurt.
We have yet to look for a pediatrician in our new area and seeing as though it was after 3:30pm we decided to take Mackenzie to the walk in clinic in town. We actually didn't have to wait that long which was surprising. We were told to get a cool mist humidifier for her cough, I was pretty sure that it was croup but there is no way to confirm that. When looking at Mackenzie's ears the doc said the right one was fine but the left was a little red. She also said the tube has come out of the ear drum (no big deal) but she couldn't tell if Mackenzie actually had an ear infection because she couldn't see that well into the ear. She gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and we were on our way.
We go to Fred Meyer and shell out $60 for a cool mist humidifier which by the way has helped her cough more than I thought it would. We did not fill the prescription since there was no confirmation that Mackenzie had an ear infection.
Tuesday she seemed ok though she had a mild fever off and on. Her cough still sounded bad too. It was $2 admission Tuesday at the fair so I decided to take her to see the animals. She actually didn't like that very much and we didn't stay long. See picture below. Tuesday night she ran a fever of about 101 again and actually fell asleep on the couch with not one but THREE pacifiers. She doesn't usually fall asleep just laying on the couch. Plus it was only about 6:00. She slept off and on the rest of the night. Keep in mind this was my second night of sleeping on her floor watching her breathing and listening for wheezing.
Wednesday was more of the same, less barkey though. She still had a fever which meant she couldn't go to daycare. I didn't want to send her anyway. She looked pitiful and felt awful. Another thing to keep in mind that this was my last week of work and I had to call in. Hello guilt, my name is Eva. Matt slept in her room this night and we were hoping the fever would be gone by morning so I could go to work. Matt is taking all of next week off so he couldn't stay home with her.
Good morning Thursday. Fever was slightly higher during the day, it actually stayed elevated up around 101.5 or so. Again, I stay home. Mackenzie did not look good at all. Why is she not getting better?? Did she really have an ear infection? More guilt hovering over my head at this point just at the thought of it. By about 7:30pm her fever elevated to 102.8, this was with tylenol on board. I started to panic a little as all of a sudden she is much, much worse. Her cough is more frequent, she is lethargic, she won't eat (actually she hasn't eaten much since Monday). I sleep on her floor again and decide to take her to her regular pediatrician up north which by the way is next door to my work. Her Grandparents actually agreed to take her Thursday but with her being so much worse, I couldn't part with her. They offered to watch her the next day so I could at least go to work on my last day. Boy do I feel lame. I slept on her floor or really just dozed here and there. Her fever stayed at least 102.5 throughout the night and by about 3:00am it went down to 101.
Happy Friday! I go to work for most of the day feeling so guilty for not being with my baby girl. Though, I know her Mimi and Papa are giving her extra cuddles for me. Here is what I found out at her doctor's appointment...NO EAR INFECTION! I am so glad Matt and I went with our gut and didn't give her an antibiotic when she didn't need it. She's had her fair share of them. She did have croup and that was a seperate illness from what she has now. Nice. That explains why her fever went up. Her lungs are clear which means no pneumonia. Throat is a little red but no blisters (likely from coughing and post nasal drip) so no Strep either. Whew. The doc thinks she has enterovirus of some sort. He asked if myself or Matt had any unusual really bad headaches last week, DING DING DING! I had one last Friday that made it difficult for me to see. Apparently teens and adults usually only get an extreme headache with enterovirus and young children and babies can get runny nose, cough, fever, and intestinal symptoms. In thinking about it, Matt has been having an off and on cold the last couple of weeks.
So, we are to keep an eye on her and if her fever is still over 100.5 on Sunday, we are to call the on-call doctor. I am so thankful to everyone that knew she was sick for keeping her in your prayers. I hate having a sick little girl, it breaks my heart to bits.
Look how pitiful she looks with her sad face and puffy eyes.
What do you think? I love the colors of this background that I found at Delightful Dots. While updating the look of my blog, I found the fonts to be really boring. This blog needed to be spiced up! I also wanted to change the name of my blog.
Well I tweeted about my desire to do this. I have a blogging friend, Stephanie, she also happens to be a nursing student as well. She is fabulous and I know we would be great friends if we lived near each other. She has an amazing talent people. She made me a new header to go along with my background. And, she was able to incorporate a couple of my favorite pictures of Mackenzie! How cool is that?! I love the header!
She also made me a button (see side bar) for you to grab and add to your site.
Mackenzie got to go to her very first baseball game. We went to watch the Everett Aquasox play. It was so much fun! Mackenzie had a blast. She wasn't sure what to think at first when the announcer came on. She does not like loud noises at all. But she got used to it and before we knew it she was yelling "RUN!" and "CHARGE!" She was clapping and dancing too. She and I got to be on the screen when we were doing the chicken dance. I can't wait to take her to another game. She loved watching the kids behind us acting crazy and dancing all around. You can tell she's watching them in the video below. She did have a minor accident while she was dancing. She hit her face on the metal rail in front of our seats. She liked the mascot, Webbly, until he got closer to her. He's a frog. All in all, we had a great time. Mackenzie was super happy the entire night.
Walking into the ball park
Our happy family-taken shortly after hitting her face
I finally was able to capture Mackenzie singing her ABC's. I just love how she sings "l-m-n-o-p." I was quite surprised at how giggly she was in the early evening for only having a 30 minute nap today. The giggles stopped though at about 8pm and she was then ready for bed. She fell asleep super fast too.
Why the heck did I wait so long to go to the Children's Museum in Everett? I think it's because I had taken her to the one in Mount Vernon and after paying $5 (each) for her and I to go, she didn't like it. She didn't want to play with anything there. So knowing that the one in Everett was more expensive, I was a bit nervous to take her. I hate wasting money.
Well yesterday I HAD to get her out of the house. I HAD TO. Let me repeat: HAD TO.
So, off we went to the museum in Everett. I do NOT know Everett at all but I have to say, the place was so easy to find, and I found my way back to the Hwy 2 with no problem. I can be directionally challenged at times so this was a plus in my book.
The museum in Mount Vernon is NOTHING compared to the one in Everett. First off, that one is in the mall. Again, why did I wait so long to go to the one in Everett?
Mackenzie had a blast! She loved the farm area and the water room. She also really liked the glow room and the rooftop playground.
The pictures speak for themselves, Mackenzie LOVED it there. We got there about 3:30 (little miss decided to throw a few tantrums before we left) and stayed until closing at 5pm. We could have spent a lot more time there and I will for sure be taking her back and will for sure be getting a membership. I wanted to get one yesterday since the money I paid for admission would count towards the membership. However, I did have to clear it with Matt first. I can see us spending a lot of time there. Especially since we live so much closer to it.
Alright people, I have jumped on the juicing bandwagon and I don't plan on jumping off. I am once again going to talk about my friend Sarah. Ok I will admit it, I secretly want to be Sarah. Are ya happy?
About a year ago, Sarah started blogging about her newly found love, juicing. She did a giveaway on her blog of a juicing book, I didn't win. Darn. But, reading about her juicing experience got me interested in it. I will admit thought, I wondered why I would want to take the time to juice vegetables when I can't stand vegetables. I guess I thought maybe juicing fruits and vegetables together would get me to consume some good nutrients. And then, just maybe, Mackenzie would drink some too. See, Mackenzie hates vegetables too, just like her mama.
I have been wanting to juice ever since.
I had no clue what to juice or how to juice.
While packing up the house to move about 6 months ago, I found that we had a juicer. Hmm, not sure where that came from exactly and I know we had never used it. I waited until we moved to actually try juicing. At the end of May I got the juicer out, on a whim I guess. Again, I had no clue what to put in there. I first tried carrots and apples. Did I like what I had just made? ABSOLUTELY NOT. It was thick, gritty, and gross. Awful. But, I didn't blame the produce that I mixed. I blamed the juicer. It was old and not to mention cheap. I put through like 3 apples, 2 cups of baby carrots, a peach, and some kiwi and got only about 9oz of juice.
I put the juicer away.
My problem is that I just want to wake up one morning and be 20lbs lighter and have great skin. I don't want to do the work. Yes, I am lazy. Busy. One thing I've noticed is that I don't have the energy to play with Mackenzie. She loves for me to chase her around the house and I tell ya, after one lap around, I am dog tired. I'm in a funk most of the time, even while taking Vitamin D. Don't get me wrong, the D helps me like you wouldn't believe. Matt didn't believe that it was helping until I stopped taking it. He then asked "are you taking your vitamin D?" There ya go.
Well I have had the pleasure of seeing the results in Sarah that I want to see in myself. So, yesterday I bought a juicer. The old one will be going to the good will. I got the Jack Lalane juicer from Costco for $89.99. I went and bought organic produce: carrots, apples, celery, cucumber, ginger, pears, and lemon.
Tonight I juiced with a good juicer. It wasn't gritty, IT WAS GREAT JUICE! Mackenzie even liked it. I had to try one that I thought I would like before I venture out to the ones that have celery and beets. My recipe tonight was 3 apples, a carrot, and a 1 inch piece of ginger root. That juicer spit out 24 ounces of juice! GOOD JUICE. The picture I posted is only half of what that juicer spit out.
The plus side to this, I drank half (Matt had the other half) and was only able to eat about a quarter of my dinner. Yep, I think this is going to be a good thing. Tomorrow I will try something else...apple, carrot, cucumber, and celery. Maybe I'll throw in some ginger again.
Yesterday, Mackenzie and I met my dear friend Helen at the park for a photo shoot. Words can not describe what Helen captured with her camera. At first, Mackenzie was a bit shy as you can see in some of the pictures. But after a little bit, she was hamming it up for Helen. It was too funny.
Helen and I used to work together. When I was pregnant, she offered to take my pregnancy photos. She did a fabulous job and I was hooked on her photography. She was new at it but she really caught my attention.
We got together last summer and had a "Rainy Day" photo shoot, again she did an AMAZING job.
She took our Christmas pictures last year.
Here are some of the pictures from yesterday. Can you see how much Helen's talent has grown? I certainly can and I am so thankful for a friend like Helen who knows how to capture the emotion and the curiosity of an energized 2 year old.
Please check out Helen's websiteto see her other great photos and to see how to get in contact with her should you need a photographer. We had so much fun playing at the park. In about an hour, Helen had already taken 169 photos and I'd say about 97% or more are keepers. I want to frame just about all of them!
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