A long long absence.

I don't know where time goes. I always intend to write and then another day, week, month and oops two years flies by.
I have had a lot of things running around in my head and I decided it's time to dust off the blog and get back to it, because I really enjoy writing and let's be honest how many times do  I need to check Facebook in one night.
I ate dinner with one of my oldest friends the other day and I asked her, what do you do in your evenings? I asked because I spend a lot of time screwing around accomplishing nothing, watching stupid and stupider shows on tv. This discussion prompted me to really take a look at my time and one of the things I really love is writing and so I plan to spend some of time writing. If you read this I am interested how do you spend your evenings?
In my absence, I have had many adventures and many boring just normal days. I hope to revisit some of my adventures.
Recently one of my close friends was in working in my town for an assignment, she's a travel nurse.
It was so nice to have her here. On our last day off together we went to my favorite beach. We spent the day relaxing, watching the surfers, putting our toes in the ocean, and just enjoying the beauty of this little spot on the Oregon Coast. To get to the beach you walk down through the forest through these amazing trees, and come to a beautiful protected cove. I have been going to this beach since I was a teenager . It's the place I always pick to go, it's one of my favorite places.

Nurse Hands

My trip home from Las Vegas via Seattle had me seated next to a very pretty 20 something girl. She and her team were travelling to Zootown for business.  As I was sitting next to this girl I couldn't help but notice her beautiful, perfectly manicured hands. In fact I was embarrassed and wanted to hide my hands. I try to keep my hands cared for. I used to and occasionally still do bite my nails however it is something I have really been working on. However even if I polish, file, and  moisturize my hands will never look like that. I use such thick lotion, the lotion I use for my burned skin on my hands. I have even used the barrier cream aka butt paste on my hands to no relief. I wash in and out of each room, or hand sanitize. If I am walking down the hallway I push the hand sanitizer. I was feeling so self conscious and embarrassed about my hands only a couple of days later I saw this on Facebook.

This summed it up and made me feel so much better about myself and my coworkers hands.  

A terrible work week

This was a really hard week of being nurse. It was filled with sadness, thankless, crazy, busy, and sick patients.
In my new job I have not had many of those weeks, weeks like this in my last job burned me out, and made me question being a nurse. That was a terrible feeling questioning the career I love and know I am meant to do. I do not like having weeks like this, it causes me to come home bitchy, it takes all of my energy and stresses me out. I already feel like I am more emotionally liable working night shift, weeks like this make it so I can't control my emotions.
Sometimes it is so hard to go the extra mile when patients won't take care of his or her self. It is hard to run my ass off all night to in turn hear, that we are not doing enough.  The plus side I am done with school so I was able to sleep most of the day and not be worried about assignments or discussion questions.
I work with an amazing team, working with them helps ease all that we dealt with this week but we were all spent and so ready for our days off.

 I wrote this awhile ago and never posted.

Burn Camp

A couple of months ago I received an email that was gut wrenching. If you are my Facebook friend, which I think are the only people who read my blog are, you know that Burn Camp was cancelled.

The foundation that my burn camp was associated with got a new director and she is an evil corrupt person. I can not speak to this woman's motives, intentions. I can  hope for kharma to work its magic.

A group of people who have been involved with burn camp for many years came together and started  working to save burn camp. They started the Eyabsut Family Burn Foundation. These people are so incredible most are former counselors and camp directors. I can not express enough thanks to those who have worked so hard.
They have been successful and camp is on.  The fundraising goal was $80,000 and over $100,000 has been raised, this money ensures camp this year and that camp will continue on in the future years. If you are able to help http://www.saveburncamp.org/ is the website.  This is one of the most amazing places in the world. I can never express the wonderfulness of burn camp. I have been a camper, counselor in training, junior counselor, counselor, cabin leader and now nurse. This year I will be in a new role, I will be the camp nurse. I am excited and looking forward to this role. I am hoping to make connections with lots of the campers. I hope to make the connections will all of the campers.
I hope it is not lonely, I love the goodnight time of camp and am a little sad to be missing out on that part.
I work three nights this week and will head to Washington sometime on Friday. I may sleep all day Friday pack my car and head to Washington early on Saturday morning at like three or four am. Camp is a long week and I do not want to start out my week behind on sleep.
I am very excited about this year and can not wait for Eyabsut 2012.

Growing Up Continued

I forgot the many types of nurse I want to be. I have always loved pediatrics. I wanted to work in pediatric intensive care unit, I used to work in a pediatric hospital and I loved it. There was this one patient who had whooping cough who if he did not have good parents I would have totally adopted him.  I also love ICU, my final quarter of nursing school was in the St. Francis ICU.  I also love the cath lab. I got to watch a few procedures and think how the heart can be fixed is seriously amazing.  Next the ER,the variety is awesome. Working as a ER Tech in a medium sized ER definitely peaked my interest. Another job I wanted to do is work in the N.I.C.U. that has sort of fallen off my radar because I am totally petrified of  really sick babies. One of my best friends did her final nursing rotation in the NICU and came to love it. I worked in the nursery of my hospital for two shifts and spend some time in OB to become more familiar with this department as it is definitely my weakest department. I have worked some in the ER and I love it.
See my dilemma continues.

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Health care was an easy choice, I pro/conned medicine vs. nursing for a long time. I didn't want to be in school forever and the concept of physics was scary. I decided on nursing after long talks with my nurses about what I loved and who I was.
Since becoming a nurse the idea of getting my master's and becoming a nurse practitioner has always been there. Since breaking my leg I have been working in an informatics position. Nursing / Healthcare informatics is not going away. The technologist I have been working with has encouraged me to get my master's in informatics, it something I have considered.
I have realized since coming to my last job I am passionate about staff education, so yet another possibility of master's degree in education.
Yesterday I attended the trauma conference and thought about nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist because how awesome it would be to work on the trauma team.
I am in my last class for my bachelor's degree. I have started requesting information for graduate school but how can I pick one when I want to be everything. I feel like the five year old that has about ten different career choices they will tell you about.

FRESH AIR, SUN, & DRIVING

Today for the first time in 7 weeks I drove Ruby. I am not ready to drive all of the time, but it was so nice to get behind the wheel of my vehicle. If am driving I will be giving ample following room, I practiced slamming the brakes I can do it, but it does make me nervous. By the end of the less than five mile drive I could feel it in my leg.
Things that are unfortunate there is something wrong with my Jeep the pedals aren't moving, the windows won't go down, it says the driver door is not closed. Really lame and pisses me off. I tried to find a cure online it didn't work. We are waiting  for some paperwork from Washington for Jason's Jeep, until that comes I am not sure I want to take it to the shop because we will be essentially without a vehicle.
We spent the afternoon at Molly's we sat in the sun on the deck, watched the dogs play and visited. I loved getting some sun on my legs and face. I love how the sun can warm you like nothing else. It was in the low 60's when the sun went behind the cloud it was chilly. The dogs were having a hay day. I pet the horses. It felt like Spring. Earlier this week I was telling Jason how excited I was for being at Molly's and drinking her sweet sun tea.
I think being back at work has helped, most days it has been a little bit to cold to be outside but since I have broken my leg I definitely have cabin fever! I can't believe just how refreshed I feel from getting a couple of hours of fresh air has made me feel.
This week I was cleared to walk with crutches, I can apply 25 pounds of pressure increasing 25 pounds a week. The first day I could not even apply 25 pound, as the week progressed I have been able to apply more. It has been nice, I do not like walking with my walker I don't feel like I can control my weight as well as I can on crutches. I still have been using my walker at work, two blocks of using crutches is a long ways. My hospital is two blocks long. Being able to put some weight on my foot has made taking a shower so much nicer. I got good news about healing, it is happening,  I have six more weeks of sedentary work and we will see what happens at my next appointment.

Jess came to visit.

One week ago Jason and I headed to Missoula to pick up Jess. She flies standby and I had been waiting all day for her to come. We forgot it was Mid-Winter break, and it was President's day so lots of travelers. She arrived and I was so happy. I remember living with Jess and the apartment being roughly 85 degrees. I prepped her and gave her fair warning, our house is chilly, I have the electric blanket on the couch. I turned the heater on in her room and had the electric blanket ready.
On Saturday we went to Wal-Mart, it was ghetto, but fun to get out of the freaking house and be able to get a few things. On Thursday my work gave me a walker (more to come on this ) it is one of those that you can sit on. I can go backwards really well. Wal-Mart was fun because who doesn't have fun with one of their bffs.
Our goal was to work on wedding projects. We worked on the string chandeliers, our first ones sucked, we realized we needed a lot more yarn. I will post a separate blog so people can see what it is really like and provide some of the resources I found for this if any one is curious.
It was so nice to watch tv, chit chat, do a craft, visit, fb, etc. I miss girl time.
On Sunday we decided that we would make ourselves do homework and then go see "The Vow".  Homework took all day but alas we had time to hit the movies. "The Vow" was good. I thought it was a really sad movie, more so when I saw the ending. During the movie I also got sad because I was taking her back to the airport in the morning, no coffee dates, trips to Ross have to wait. I hope she will be back soon!
 She was smart and hit the airport first thing in the morning but can I say puke to getting up at 0345... I am really looking forward to our next visit. Thank you so much Jess for everything ! I love you!

Birthday Christmas Trip

The second week of January Jason and I headed to Washington to visit our families. We did spend more time with my family because it was the week before my birthday and Jason's mom and grandma had been here for Christmas.

It was so nice to see my family and a few friends. The first day my Mom and I did a little last minute shopping, and we ended up having Christmas at mom and Nels. I was very lucky in that I got to spend some quality time Will. He is a really funny although serious boy. While we were eating dinner he bit me he has some good strong teeth. Jason and I got Will this fun dinosaur toy that bounces balls and out and plays music he and I had a really fun time. We went to Maya and Greg's for breakfast and it was fun to see Will in his house with all his toys, I fed him pancakes and I couldn't believe how much the little nine month old ate. I also loved spending time with my sis. I was kinda bummed around Christmas because I really missed Moo.
I met Jess in Woodland and headed to where she was planning on having the wedding. It was so good to spend time with Jess. Her stepmom's family owns a beautiful ranch in Washougal Washington along the Columbia River Gorge. She stayed the night with me at my mom's house. We went to Dad's for breakfast and then up to see Skye! It was good to see her. I need new tires on my Jeep and couldn't make it up Zillig. We ended up walking up to her house. Skye is doing good! We also went and visited my aunt Vicki and uncle Sandy. It was nice to see them. We spent a day up with Grandparents with Maya and Will.  Will loves Granny and Grandpa.
There was a snow storm brewing and boy did we not know what were in for. We headed to Puyallup for our last day. I got to meet Jason's grandparents and their significant others (on his Dad's side), it was nice to finally meet them. We went to dinner with his Mom and saw his Grandma before heading over to see the Aaron and Robyn.I was so happy to get to see another of my best friends Robyn and I know Jason was happy to see his bff Aaron. They recently bought a very nice house.

The snow is up to my bumper, the back was covered solid, and it is up over my boots.

The whole time we were in Washington my sleep cycle was really messed up, I would be so tired early and wide awake in the middle of the night that was weird.
It was nice to catch up with Robyn. When we arrived to our friends house there was probably six inches of snow, and when we woke up there was a lot more snow. We decided to head on home. I was so disappointed and couldn't believe the fact that Washington is terrible about doing anything about the roads. We left Tacoma and  headed north on I-5, it was not plowed at all nor was I-405, and really I-90 for that matter. The top of the pass was blowing from the snow off the lake. Eastern Washington was a little better, Idaho much better, the pass in Montana was ok. We ended up taking the shorter highway that was not plowed at all, it was a little hairy. We eventually arrived home to at least a foot of snow.

The broken leg

On the 21st of  January I was heading to work and slipped on my stairs, as best I can tell I did a twist and buckle. My leg was underneath of me and I threw it out, I noticed that my foot was looking a little weird. Jason was standing in the house, when I told him I think I broke my leg. Then I decided maybe it is not broken just sprained so I gently tried to touch my foot down, which resulted in me feeling a bunch of crunching.

Jason took me to St. Luke and unfortunately our ortho doc is not taking any new patients because he is leaving, so I was transferred to Kalispell. I was a direct admit, went to CT Scan and then up to my room. I was having a hard time laying still in CT scan because I was hurting and so the tech taped my feet together. Dr. DuMontier came in and so did one of his assistants that night and told me the plan for surgery in the morning. The whole time I kept thinking did I really break my F-ing leg? You have got to be kidding me and to this day  I still feel this way.

When I was at St. Luke they had not been able to start an iv in me because I was dehydrated from having the flu the night before. So I was given two shots of demerol. At Kalispell they got an ER nurse to start an iv and I asked to be put on iv fluids knowing that I had been dehydrated and would be NPO. My pain was pretty well controlled and I was sleeping relatively comfortably when I twitched and woke myself up. That hurt like hell at that point it was 4:30 in the morning and I had to get some iv pain meds. The staff was awesome and I really appreciated them.

When I went to the OR the staff was very nice wishing me happy unbirthday when I made the statement that for a lot of people birthdays stop at 29 but I will be more than happy to turn 30. I was really nervous in the OR, I was also trying to see my CT Scan pictures or x-rays of my leg, but without my contacts could not see much. Surgery went well, I was told I have a rod in my tibia and screw in my ankle. I stayed on Sunday night and went home Monday afternoon. I have to be non weight bearing on my right leg for probably eight weeks. The first day I walked with a walker and came home with crutches. Man I am regretting being out of shape crutches are hard work.

Things at home have been ok. I have had a lot of pain and it is getting a little better. Jason and I have figured out how to do a bath/shower which definitely helps because I was feeling so gross. I slept on the couch for the first few days and have tried to sleep in my bed but I get one good sleep for a couple of hours and then I have a really hard time getting comfortable. I think I am headed back to couch because for some reason I sleep a little better on the couch.

People have been so supportive of me and friends from work have dropped food by which I really appreciate. My work has said when I am released I can do light duty at least part time. Of course I am stressed about money, but luckily my Grandparents helped me out.

On Tuesday I was slipping and stepped down on my right leg which made it hurt a lot but it is feeling better. The psuedo splint/cast I have is really heavy and pulls on my knee a lot which is where I have a lot of my pain. My knee is where the main incision is and it is still pretty swollen. I have two smaller ones on the lower inside of my knee.

Today was my first day out of the house, I had something I had to pick up from the post office. I was nervous but did ok, although walking in the post office was a lot further than I am used to. It was really nice to get some fresh air!

I am so incredibly grateful for Jason! He has been amazing through all of this. When I can walk and get things secured I definitely have to do something for him!

Recurrent nightmare

Tonight Jason and I watched Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. There is a scene where Cameron Diaz is in the backseat of the car and there is no one to drive the car. This is basically the premises of my nightmare that I have had so many times. Watching this scene reminded me of the dream.

In my dream somehow I end up in the back of the car and all of a sudden realize there is no driver, as the car is speeding along I am stuck and must get in control of the car and get in the front seat.Of course I am panicking and don't know what to do. I used to have this dream a lot. The only thing I can think of is feeling like my life is out of control, but I really don't know. I do not know the last time I had this dream, I think it has been awhile.

Montana

When I met and started dating Jason he told me he wanted to move to Montana. I didn't object and kept it in the back of my head.  In May of 2010 maybe even Memorial Day, we drove out here to visit his Aunt Molly. I loved it. The area Molly lives in is a valley has  the Mission Mountains on one side. We came back a couple of times over the past two years and realized more and more this is exactly what we want.

I was having a really hard time at my job, I was stressed and felt really unhappy, there were many awesome times and I have some amazing co-workers but something had to change. For months before we moved, I looked at houses and jobs, Missoula is similar in price because of U of M, we didn't want to move to Montana to live in the city. A couple of  housing job opportunities came up but did not work out. I kept looking and found a clinic job at St. Luke and sent an application as well as wrote any open RN positions.  I was called less than 48 hours later. I was in the middle of my stretch on and made plans to come over the next week on my days off. I interviewed for my current job in the hospital and the clinic job. The clinic job would have been a sweet deal M-F no holidays, but somewhere I have grown really accustomed to having a four days off, it makes it easier to go home. Also the clinic paid less, which was a big pay cut. The hospital job felt right, it is what I know. I loved the director of nursing and had my fingers crossed. She did tell me three other people interviewed and I am so glad I got the job. Jason drove over and we looked at a house in town. The house in town was so much bigger than the Lake Tapps duplex and we told the landlords we were interested. I got the call on Tuesday offering me the job, later in the day the landlords called us and asked if we were still interested. We got set to move in two weeks, which flew by.

I get asked why move here, why leave, a lot? I had this sense that I should. I really didn't want to keep waiting and in five years have the shoulda, coulda, woulda's. Jason and I want to have a family and not raise them in the city. We want to have horses, chickens, and a garden. We want to own land. When we have come here it feels right. There are so many things that I love here.

Is Montana perfect? No. There are many things I miss, my girlfriends and proximity to our families is hard. I miss the morning after work coffees, nursing school girl get togethers, and many other things with friends. I also miss Asian food, there are a couple of restaurants that we have found and they fill a space, so be forewarned when I come home I am probably going to be craving some Asian. The grocery store in town closes at like 9pm, the grocery store in the town I work in is open a little later. I miss Safeway in every town. There is a Safeway about 30 minutes away, it is more expensive and I go there sometimes. I love the weather, I love the people, I love the traffic, attitude, and I really love my new job.

 This is our house, with one of our two huge maple trees. In the Fall it was awesome!

 From the highway the Mission Mountains. They  take my breath away daily!

 One day Jason went hunting with his uncle. I went back to bed at his Aunt Molly's. When I woke up a couple of hours later there was a foot of snow! It was so much fun! Everyday I keep hoping for more!

A frozen tree in my yard, over the past couple of weeks we have had really cold temperatures and freezing fog. From the freezing fog the trees have been amazing. I took some pictures when Jason and I went on a walk the other day but didn't get all of the trees I wanted and am hoping for more freezing fog so I can post more. It looks like snow, except the trees become so accented. Every leaf and twig just stands out.

Zip lining in White Fish!

One of the girls at work was talking about wanting to go zip lining up at Big Mountain, in White Fish. I heard about this and thought it would be really cool. I looked at the http://skiwhitefish.com/ website and found out about zip lining. It was off-season and in fact the last weekend of the season to go. I made a reservation and was so excited. I picked the six zip line tour. On Saturday morning we dropped the dogs off at Molly's and headed up north. The drive around Flathead Lake was really nice. White Fish reminds us of Leavenworth.

The first zip line was short just long enough to practice the positions, I really don't remember the second zip, to get to third we had to ride the chair lift which made Jason very nervous. We hiked about a quarter mile up to the number three which was the longest and highest. I loved it. Number four was right by number three it was also high and long! I loved the rush and wish we could have stopped to take pictures while on the line. Five and six were short and fast but really fun. I can't wait until my friends come over and I can do it again.

I have always loved the sensation of flying, whether it was swinging as hi as  I could go at the creek, or doing all kinds of flips on the bars in at the Rose Valley playground, or even diving. Ziplining gave me the flying sensation.



I have pictures I will come back and attach these.

Chicago National Teaching Institute for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses

Nicole and I on the bus with Chicago in the background

My work picked me to go to an amazing conference in Chicago. I learned so much, and had a wonderful time. I have never been to anything like that before and couldn't believe how much there was to see and learn. I was torn between critical care classes and mentoring/leadership classes.  The group I went with had a lot of fun. One of the fun things we did was a double decker bus tour where we toured Chicago. We got off at the Navy Pier and had lunch. I thought that was a lot of fun. Chicago is really interesting city. I was expecting May to be warm and one day it was but it was actually chilly and windy. The park in the middle of the city is so cool, I can see how people love that area. The Buckingham Fountain was also very incredible famous from Married with Children which I dislike but still really cool!

The conference sponsors a fun night, and this year they sponsored a night at The Field Museum which was really cool. I was so excited to see Sue the first T-Rex skeleton ever found. I knew Jason would be so excited so I got pictures and a magnet. There was a mummy exhibit which was really cool and creepy. Part of me doubted the realness of the mummies but then there was one that was unwrapped, and it was a real skeleton.There were also a lot of really cool things there!
I was so excited because one of my really good friends who I used to work with Kari lives in Chicago and she came with us to the Museum with me and I was so happy to finally see her!
I couldn't believe how much stuff I came with reps wanting you to buy stuff, vendors giving away stuff, learning materials. It was awesome but required an extra suitcase. 

Kari, Nicole and I !

The Stuff

There were classes I wanted to go but didn't make it. I couldn't believe how tired I was after the conference. We stayed at a really nice hotel but I was really surprised at the stuff they didn't include. They wanted $10 a day for a gym and $20 a day for internet, no breakfast. For the amount of money that was paid for our rooms I couldn't believe how little came with the hotel. Maybe I am not used to fancy hotels and that is what happens. One really cool thing there was moving being filmed at the hotel and we got a picture with Kelsy Grammar. I stand by the fact that taxi drivers are psychopaths and should have their licenses revoked. We had two of the scariest rides of my life. Ayo one of the nurses from the ICU told the driver to slow down. It was he and Nicole's first ride and they were terrified.

Year in pictures

A photographer friend on facebook is doing a 365 of pictures, she has posted pictures of her kids, family, friends etc, I love the idea and really want to do one, I've been meaning to work on it unfortunately with school, work schedule, and all the craziness that has ensued,  I am really behind, however, I am going to work on it. I have lots of posts to catch up on. So be paying attention for many more posts because this is something I don't want to fail on.

This is one upcoming post, my trip to Chicago for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses National Teaching Institute It was amazing!

 Another preview is the wedding I was just in Pittsburg! It was one the best weddings i have been to and I am so excited to share about the week. This adds to my collection of 27 dresses....

Aunty Lala

 This is an old post I just never got around to publishing it....
This past week was amazing I got to spend it with my nephew and sister. My sister went into labor on Saturday and I got the call in the evening on Saturday and left work for a family emergency. I arrived at the hospital at midnight stayed for a couple of hours and came back on Sunday after he was born. My sister and brother in law choose to just have them in the room. My brother in law had to leave for his job on Sunday night and unfortunately was going to be gone all week which gave me the opportunity to stay with her and help her. We haven't spent time together in a really long time so it was so nice.
Will is a really good baby, he is sweet and cuddly. I loved watching him and his funny facial expressions. My sister and I agree one of his best is when he's sad and he does this sweet pouty face.
Reading Will Harry Potter, he was crying during a funny part when something was happening to Dudley, I looked at Will and said, "No Will this is a funny part, Dudley is getting what he deserves." This caused Maya and I to laugh our identical jiggly poof laugh. At one point she was nursing and I made her laugh, she said, "This isn't jiggly poof this is jiggly boob."

At the hospital Will found his thumb and started sucking. It was amazing to see a two day old baby with such dextrity even if it was accidental. As he has no control he quickly pulled it out and literally threw a baby fit temper tantrum because he was so frustrated. He would be frantic trying to get his thumb back in his mouth, sticking fingers, fists in. It was so amazing to watch him attempt, he managed to do it one or two other times but we quickly learned that he needed something to soothe himself. Maya did some research and gave him the binky depsite her best efforts to prevent it.

When we took Will for a second weight and bili check I was going to take his picture, he totally posed and raised his eyebrows, this became one of my favorite pictures.

I was totally affected by Maya's hormones, during this week and had sympathy hormones.

When Maya showered I took the time to tell Will all about his Mom and how wonderful she is. It was amazing to see my little sister become a Mom, she is amazing. I loved watching her with Will. How sweet and caring she is. Will is all boy. Almost everytime we changed him he would end up peeing all over the place. At one point i had him on his side as I was wiping him and looked up to see pee by his shoulder and on the pad.. Boys will be boys I guess.
I was outside cleaning my car and Maya came to the door to tell me how he was having the biggest poop and it was really funny listening to this tiny boy make so much noise.

Aunty Lala came from Maya when she couldn't say Michaela. I will be Aunty Lala or Aunty Mic. One night we were laying in bed talking and I told Will on his fourth birthday I will buy him a puppy. I was talking to Maya and can't wait until Will is old enough for the three of us to go to Disneyland (it's a tradition for an aunt and mom to take the kids.)

SNOW

 Late late and a little bit later. We had so much fun when it snowed... The first morning I woke up Jason and made him get up and play with me in the snow. I don't think he was thrilled that it was early and we were up but sometimes you just gotta get up and play! This is one of the branches in our driveway and our light post.

Aries is getting old but he still had a lot of fun out in the snow. Junior was the funniest I have ever seen him. He was the epitome of a kid a in a candy store. Both of the dogs would burrow their faces in the snow and end up with SNOW FACES!!

 

The worst part of this was I was called into work on Monday night.  I was so happy thatto drive me. Our normally very short drive took over an hour. Going to work we had to drive down one big hill that was a disaster zone cars in all directions, cars high centered on the median. King County made a big deal out of their snow plan, it ended up that Pierce County's snow plan was to close roads if you live on a hill. Jason also took his Grandma home, on his way home he realized that all of the roads to our house were closed.

We've had snow a few more times, nothing like the first time. I
wish it did. The other day Jason and I went outside of Wilkenson  in attempt to take pictures of Mt. Rainier, we never got those pictures but we definitely got some cool pictures of the snow. The dogs were in heaven and so was Jason getting to drive Red in the snow.

Back to the Island for the grape harvest.

This past weekend  (a couple of weeks now, I started this and never finished) was the grape harvest at the island. Jason's aunt and uncle own a cabin which is undergoing a total makeover. The cabin is on Stretch Island in Grapeview.  Unfortunately I worked on Friday night and Jason worked on Saturday morning and so we didn't make it out in time for most of the harvest however we got to see some of it. What I saw I loved and I want to be there next year for it all! Jason was given a part of his aunt and uncle's grapes, You can really see how the grapes that haven't been neglected are doing so well. We are hoping that in the next couple of years all of the grapes at the cabin will thrive. Part of why I am enchanted with cabin is it reminds me of the beach cabin. They bought it with the hopes that everyone would come out and enjoy and have a place to relax. Which is what I think about the beach cabin.
Jason and I got to the island as they were doing the last harvest, the residents all gather and go collect the grapes from everyone's vineyards. I can't remember the people's names but I am so envious of a) the garden b) the outdoor kitchen and c) their backyard.

The outdoor kitchen reminds me of Jayme and her family who have cabins and the BullShed @ Lake Mayfield.

 This picture was just perfect I thought. This was the last bunch of grapes from 2010.
The garden is huge they have everything. Jason's aunt and uncle end up with baskets of veggies throughout the summer and fall. I am so excited to have a garden.

The backyard was one of my favorite things, what you can't see is the Mt. Rainier across the water, an area with the bbqs and tables, exercise equipment, amazing windows, sitting area. nice big yard to play in.
I got to watch the men using the press, and got to taste the juice as it came from the press it was awesome.

I can't wait until the next time we go back.

My latest adventure... working out.

Last year I signed up for LA Fitness, and got a personal trainer. I think I went maybe four times.. I've been paying for training all this time. Yu-Gi-Oh just didn't do it for me. He was obsessed with my arm size discrepancy and made me feel really uncomfortable. I just didn't feel it. Also I went to night shift and from there my working out went to hell. During the spring and winter Jason and I were hiking and sometimes running the trail near the apartment, not consistent enough. A good thing is Jason and I have really worked on our diet, and although cardio wise I am out of shape I didn't gain to much weight because of the diet changes we have made.

About two weeks ago I decided enough was enough and it was time to get serious to get back to pre-nursing school weight and fitness level. I decided that at least three times a week I will go to the gym after work. I also decided to use my personal training that I have saved up. I am currently working out with Brittini two times a week and trying to do cardio before my sessions and a couple of other times a week. I like Brittini, she was about 40 pounds overweight and pre diabetic, one of my being over weight fears, she also seems to understand that because of my burn I don't have full range of motion, she pushes me like I need to be pushed.. I am sore but feeling good. One really good thing about working out after work is that I am sleeping better because I am so tired.

Some of my sessions I am disgusted with myself because of how weak I am other times I am starting to see a little difference. I will keep updating on the changes that are happening.
Yesterday for cardio I did Spin class. I forgot how bad spin hurts my butt. It was a good workout and I am looking forward to going again.

a couple of adventures

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I went canoeing on Lake Tanwax.We explored a little back part and then headed out onto the lake. It was really fun. the weather was almost perfect not hot, not to cold, we were bundled up just to be safe. There were a couple of fishermen didn't seem like they were catching to many fish. There were lots of lilly pads blooming. Lots of cool cabins and docks in the back canal we explored. While we went out in the main lake I was looking at so many of the cool houses.

A good part of the day was while I was having to use the brick sh!t house Jason started talking to these two men who were leaving the lake. The elder gentlemen was really interested in the canoe and was telling Jason that he used to canoe. I bet he had a lot of good stories to tell. I always like when we connect with people while we are out adventuring

We also took Aries with us in the canoe. He did a really good job only moved around a couple of times making me think he was going to flip us.

Jason likes to use kayak paddles he feels that he has better control I wasn't sure about this since I grew up using a paddle in the end it turned out nice.

The worst part was we ate like crap before canoeing and we both could totally feel it, we were dragging and felt like we were mucking through sludge. Since we have really been trying to improve our diets we feel when we eat like crap and that day really was one of those days. Given I am out of shape but still I noticed what a huge difference eating healthy makes.

After canoeing we went to Silver Lake in Spanaway and tried to fish, it was a very unsuccessful day although I learned how to cast when fly fishing. We headed in knowing we wouldn't catch much as it was the middle of the day and there were no fish jumping. It was still fun to be out with Jason and work on casting so one of these days I can catch a fish. I have a lot of fishermen and women in family and hope to be able to live up to their legacy.

A couple of weeks ago we baked lamb chops with this vegetable medly. It has zucchini, green peppers, acorn squash , yellow squash. This turned out really good and made me look forward to fall to be able to cook with more squash.