Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Here's a little background info. My parents were high school sweethearts. They met in geometry class; my dad sat in front of my mom. They got married a couple of years after they graduated high school. They have four wonderful children (the third is truly exceptional). Growing up, my mom was not close to her brother, so she was determined to make sure that didn't happen to us. When we were kids, she made us play together, which we hated at the time, but now I'm grateful cuz my brother and sisters are among my closest friends. About seven years ago, my parents opened up our home to my cousin and got custody of her (my dad's sister's daughter). She went from an ackward kid to a beautiful young lady, whose still kinda ackward ;) . Then about two years ago after grandma died, my parents asked grandpa to live with us (my dad's dad). He's very entertaining... and aggravating. My parents have been married for 33 yrs. Since it's their anniversary, I decided to tell you about how great they are.
My parents both came from not-so-loving homes, but they became Christians about 23, 24 years ago and decided that their children would be raised differently. I thank God when I look at their families and see what my parents have come from and how God has changed them and how they have rose above that. They work so well as a team, each bringing different strengths to the relationship. My dad is so funny, hard working, and wise, and he is great at giving hugs and kisses, and letting us know how much he loves us. If I need dating advice, or need a shoulder to cry on, or need my car fixed, or if I want to build something, my dad is one of the first people I go to. He always tells me I'm his favorite, and even though he tell my siblings that, too, I can't help but believe him. My mom is so selfless and never complains. Though she isn't the greatest at verbalizing it, she's one to show her love through action. She does so much for us without expecting a "thanks", and majority of the time she sees the need and does it without being asked. She has always put us (her family) first. I have learned so much about selfless love and contentment from her. She is always encouraging me to achieve my dreams, and she really believes that I can do anything. I love it when I walk by her room and hear her praying on the phone with one of her friends for us. Sometimes I just sit on the steps and quietly listen, and smile.
I also love how my parents love each other. My dad buys slurpees for my mom almost every night (she loves them), and my mom always laughs at his jokes, whether they are funny or not. They tend to show their love for each other through the little things. Occasionally, they sneak a kiss in front of us, and we tease them, but I love knowing that they are still romantically in love. They truly enjoy each other's company; my dad has told me that he can't wait for us all to move out so that he can enjoy growing old with his wife.
So congrats, Mom and Dad. And thanks for showing me what the good life looks like.

A Tree-hugging Christmas

"If you want that 'fresh pine' scent, buy an air freshener! Let the trees live"

Last year 23 million Christmas trees were sold during the holiday season. It's sickening. Did you know that 1 acre of pine trees can supply enough oxygen for 18 people? This year I encourage you to let the trees live. Here are a couple of suggestions from the Sierra Club (some environmental group):

-use storm-downed branches or drift wood to decorate your house with instead of the traditional Christmas tree

-celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas because it is more "earth-friendly"

Actually, this is my family's Christmas tree. It ends up that the Christmas tree holder had a big crack in it and had been leaking water on our carpet for the past couple of days, so my dad put it in the front yard while he went to get a new holder. We had a lot of friends and family visiting that day, and I was asked about six times why our tree was in the front yard. At the time I had no idea why, so I told people it was on strike. The sign made it more convincing. When my mom saw the sign, she gasped and asked me if someone was taking our tree away. I laughed, reassured her that no one was taking our tree and that I was just messin'. My favorite part about the picture, though, is our gnome giving the 'peace' sign in the bottom left corner. I didn't notice him till now.

Wedding Bells and Beer

One of my nursing school buddies, Jackie, got married yesterday. For a wedding, it was pretty fun. I think my favorite thing about the wedding, though, was the gifts for the guests. Most people go with chocolates to show their appreciation to the guests for coming to their wedding. But that's not Jackie and Darrell. To them, nothing says "thanks" like a beer cozie.

My Manic Moment

"The diagnosis of a manic episode or mania requires at least one week of unusual incessantly heightened, grandiose, or agitated mood in addition to three or more of the following symptoms: exaggerated self-esteem, sleeplessness; pressured (hurried) speech; flight of ideas; reduced ability to filter extraneous stimuli; distractibility; increased activities with increased energy; and multiple, grandiose high-risk activities involving poor judgment and severe consequences such as spending sprees, sex with strangers, and impulsive investments." (APA, 2000).

After the last couple of days, I decided to do a little self-diagnosis. Hopefully, you can relate, and if not, either empathize or keep your mouth shut. Yesterday, I woke up around 7am, got my oil changed, got emissions test done on my car, went to the chiropractor, got a safety test done on my car, went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby (I had to get supplies for my jewelry show on Thurs.), ran to work to drop something off, came home, got chewed out by my mom about something I didn't even do (menopause and holiday season don't mix well), had dinner, then worked on making jewelry until about 3am (and while making jewelry, I watched America's Next Top Model, dumb but entertaining). All day, I'm my happy self, a little excited and anxious about my show. Woke up today around 7am, had a meeting at working, had two messages from my mom about something I forgot to do, ran to Wal-Mart looking for jewelry tags (not there), they directed me to Jo-ann Fabrics (not there), who directed me to Office DePot (bingo), ran home, mom's on my case about something else and this time I snap (honestly, my mom is amazing, but the holidays are stressful for her, and it usually doesn't bother me when she gets irritable, but today I'm very "on-edge"), got last minute stuff ready for my show, went to my jewelry thing (made $242 in 2 hours, whew-whoo!), went back to the oil place cuz my oil was leaking, picked up some dinner (this was the first time I had eaten all day), went home, unpacked from the weekend, did laundry, talked on the phone, and am now writing a blog. And on top of that, throughout the day I received/made about 25 phone calls. And boy, did my mood fluctuate today; I really, really tried to be in a good mood, but everything was ticking me off. So, I would say heightened or agitated mood with symptoms of sleeplessness, pressured speech, reduced ability to filter extraneous stimuli, distractability, and increased activities with increased energy. And I thought this was going to be a relaxing Christmas break. A few more days like this, then you'll have to give me some Lithium and call me crazy.

sweet freedom

Finally, the semester is over! I'm done with finals and ATI testing for now. This has been the freakin', longest semester I have had in my six years of college. I have a whole month off; no tests or lectures, no getting up early for clinicals, no bathing dirty, old men. I'm so ready to graduate; I'm getting too old for this. But I've learned a lot of cool (and not so cool) stuff and had some great experiences this semester. I learned to give meds, shots, IV, enemas (yeah, that was fun; large woman hadn't crapped for three days, boy she ate a lot of corn), insert catheters, gave bed baths, got yelled at by anxious family members of a patient, got to watch my first endoscopy/colonoscopy (and I noticed the first polyp before the dr. did, pretty exciting, he gave me bonus points), do wound changes, worked with isolation patients, used "therapeutic communication" with psych. patients, helped with activities in the psych. ward, and learned a lot about different illnesses/diseases and psych. disorders. Man, I love this stuff! I also had some 'I'll treasure this moment forever' experiences, but I think I'll keep those to myself. It's hard to explain how God works on your heart when you are helping someone so fragile.
Plans for Christmas break? Hang out with friends that I have unfortunately neglected all semester, go out dancing, pick up extra hours at work, try to get a job at Children's Hospital, possibly go to Chicago with some friends, sleep, pick up my guitar again (it's been collecting dust since I started nursing school), paint, make/sell my jewelry, re-vamp my blog, hang out with my fam, and enjoy my momentary freedom from books. But currently, it's snowing outside, and I feel a snow angel coming on or possibly some sledding...

beware of the lady in red...

I consider myself a mild-tempered person, not much really gets to me. And I'm not one to use my blog to complain about crap. But yesterday I almost punched a lady in the face. Here's my story...
I went to Target to pick up some tiolettries that I was out of, and I paused at the make-up section to waste time and put off studying for my finals a little bit longer. Though I never wear it, I checked out the lipsticks cuz they were on sale and decided that maybe it was time to open my make-up horizon, and I have a formal dinner this weekend, so why not. I found two shades that I liked, but to see the color better, I did what all girls do, I opened the container of the lipstick. It... it was beautiful. As I put the cap back on, a Target lady came up to me.
"Give it here."
I was shocked, "Excuse me?"
"Give me the lipstick; you opened it and now we can't sell it. So give it here."
"But I'm going to buy it..." as I hand it over.
"I don't care. Give it here and give me the other one, too."
My jaw dropped. It makes me think of a jr. high kid chewing gum in class and the teacher comes over and makes them spit it out in her hand. People were staring at me and I was so embarrassed. Stupid lipstick nazi. I'll be honest, I was tempted to open more just to be a punk, but I resisted. Darn morals.