"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude of life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrance for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."
- quote by Charles R. Swindoll
I haven't posted in awhile, and while many things have happened, life continues to remain about the same. This quote represents a mantra I have been telling myself lately, mostly surrounding work. I often wonder to myself why in the world people act the way they do. If they hate their job and have to complain about everything, everyday - why in the world wouldn't you quit or find something else - something that makes you happy? Lately I have allowed too many people to influence my mood and attitude. It is my life, and my heart, and my attitude. I have control over it and I control how other people affect me. It isn't up to them - it is up to me. It is just so difficult sometimes because people are fake, are rude, are mean, disrespectful and sometimes just down right awful. Anyway, I thought I had more to say about this subject but now my mind is tired after working all night so I need to quit. Moral of the story? I no longer give a rat's behind what other people think (most of the time). I will choose my own attitude and my own response. No one can take that away from me and no one can take my happiness away. No one.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
My Mother
Happy Mother's Day to my one and only Mom. This post is a tribute to her and to thank her for being my mom and everything she has done for me in my life. Thank you mom for carrying me for 9 months and giving birth to me (and 3 other children!). I will never know the sacrifice your and your body made until I have children of my own. When that day comes I hope I can be half the mother you were to me. My mom worked very hard in the house and outside the house. Not only did she work several days a week as a nurse she maintained a home. For as long as I can remember we had a huge garden. My mom spent countless hours out there to provide home grown, nurturing food to fill our bodies. While I probably grumbled many a times about helping pull the weeds and snapping those green beans, I am thankful. We always had a home cooked meal on the table even if my mom had to work that night. My mom is a wonderful cook and I look forward to eating her home cooked food (especially the rolls) whenever we travel to Iowa.
My mom supported me in all my endeavors throughout school. She supported, encouraged, and sometimes nagged me about the piano. Without that nagging to practice though, I wouldn't have accomplished what I did. She made it to almost all of my cross country and track meets, cheering for me all the while. I always had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Gatorade and a granola bar thanks to my mom. She sat in the stands and iced my legs when my shin splints were so bad. She held my hand while I cried as I found out I had compartment syndrome. My mom always encouraged me to do my best at everything and work hard.
Thanks to my mom for being the role model I needed to become the nurse I am today. Thank you for supporting me through nursing school when things were really really hard. One day my mom came over to our apartment and cleaned and did dishes so I could study for a test. Thanks Mom. She was the first person I called when I found out I passed my boards and the first person I called when I had my first patient death. She celebrated with me and cried with me.
My mom is strong and loving. She loves her son in law like a son. My mom has a heart for Christ.
Thank you mom for being my mother. Thank you for raising me to have a relationship with Christ. We've had our differences but like dad always told me - we are more alike than different. Thank you for loving me and showing me that love. Happy Mother's Day Mom.
My mom supported me in all my endeavors throughout school. She supported, encouraged, and sometimes nagged me about the piano. Without that nagging to practice though, I wouldn't have accomplished what I did. She made it to almost all of my cross country and track meets, cheering for me all the while. I always had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Gatorade and a granola bar thanks to my mom. She sat in the stands and iced my legs when my shin splints were so bad. She held my hand while I cried as I found out I had compartment syndrome. My mom always encouraged me to do my best at everything and work hard.
Thanks to my mom for being the role model I needed to become the nurse I am today. Thank you for supporting me through nursing school when things were really really hard. One day my mom came over to our apartment and cleaned and did dishes so I could study for a test. Thanks Mom. She was the first person I called when I found out I passed my boards and the first person I called when I had my first patient death. She celebrated with me and cried with me.
My mom is strong and loving. She loves her son in law like a son. My mom has a heart for Christ.
Thank you mom for being my mother. Thank you for raising me to have a relationship with Christ. We've had our differences but like dad always told me - we are more alike than different. Thank you for loving me and showing me that love. Happy Mother's Day Mom.
Monday, May 7, 2012
A little of this and a little of that
I think summer has officially arrived here and we skipped spring weather all together. Brett and I were commenting today how we only had one or two fires in the backyard this spring because it was either too cold, or now too hot. It is currently 89 degrees and sunny. Brett got up this morning and went golfing. I was awake from 3-6 so I just slept in a little longer. When he got home we went and ate lunch then ventured out to this produce place I saw advertised online. They have local produce from farmers and then quite a big green house as well. We got 3 peaches (which smelled wonderful!!) and some flowers for the front flower box and a hanging basket. The house already had a little metal hanging spot on the front - I have just never used it yet! I still need to get some flowers for a couple pots on the back deck. My goal is to keep them alive this year! The lady at the green house helped us pick out some good flowers and told me just to keep them wet. It apparently isn't good to let them get dry and then try to over compensate by watering them a bunch. I think that happened last year to my petunias in the front box. Whoops. I don't have as green of a thumb as my mom does. Brett has one final exam this week and then he is done with classes! This summer will be spent on research and teaching 1 lab as well as going to Korea for a week. I will still be working at the hospital 3 nights a week but will hopefully be transitioning to the new unit in June! I am going to be working on the PCU (progressive care unit) which is the Neuro unit and then higher acuity (more sick, etc) patients. I am looking forward to something different as I feel like I am starting to get bored sometimes at work. Hopefully it is a good experience and I don't hate it!
At the end of this month we will celebrate 5 years of marriage. Craziness!!! We both can't believe it has been that long and look forward to many many more years together. We will be going to Laura's graduation from college that day and then flying out the next day to North Carolina for a relaxing vacation on the beach and hanging out with our friends Megan and Josh. SO EXCITED for this vacation!!!
------ and now we are back after a little break and a trip to Menards -----
Turns out Brett didn't like the front box planter. He ended up taking it all down and we bought some wood at Menards and had paint matched to put up a new one. My flowers won't get planted tonight then but I still took pictures to share anyway.
The pie was delicious. :)
At the end of this month we will celebrate 5 years of marriage. Craziness!!! We both can't believe it has been that long and look forward to many many more years together. We will be going to Laura's graduation from college that day and then flying out the next day to North Carolina for a relaxing vacation on the beach and hanging out with our friends Megan and Josh. SO EXCITED for this vacation!!!
------ and now we are back after a little break and a trip to Menards -----
Turns out Brett didn't like the front box planter. He ended up taking it all down and we bought some wood at Menards and had paint matched to put up a new one. My flowers won't get planted tonight then but I still took pictures to share anyway.
The pie was delicious. :)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Loneliness and Cats
It has only been one day (not even 24 hours) since Brett has been gone and truthfully I am kind of lonely! I have tried to stay occupied and do things around the house but I kind of lack the motivation when there is no one else here. Sure I mowed the front lawn, took out the trash, did a few loads of laundry and sorted some mail/papers but I also watched a lot of TV episodes and laid on the couch and cuddled with my cats. Oh the cats - how we like them and how they make me mad at times too.
We all know that Marshy is a big fat cat and will do whatever it takes to get food, be it cat food or people food. The other day I got out some wet cat food for Parker just to give him a little extra. I was quiet about it since the can was already open and in the fridge. Halfway through Parker eating it Marshy came around the corner in the kitchen and practically sprinted toward the bowl. Before I could pick him up and put him in the other room he had garbled down 2 big scoops of the food!! That is the difference between Marshy and Parker. Parker daintily chomps with his small teeth and savors the cat food thinking "hmmm this wet food sure is delicious, so soft and moist and lovely. yum yum yum, a lovely little snack for me." His lips being licked by his small tongue all the while. Then the fatty comes around the corner bounding toward the bowl led by his huge nose. "FOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD" he thinks. Chomp, smack, swallow. The cat food disappears. I pick him up and a loud meow comes out. I bring him to the other room scolding him all the while. His thoughts? "FOOOOODDDD!!! I know there is more food in that other room. Food that fills my tummy food that smells good. I never know when I will get more food again. FOOOOOODD!!! Let me in to that room, let me in, let me in." By this time Parker has gotten scared and ran downstairs. I put away the rest of the bowl but had left the cat can on the counter. I walked into the other room talking to Brett then remembered I had left the can out. I walk back into the kitchen and Marshy is stretching his body to reach up where his nose smells something good. The silly cat acts like he never gets any food. And we still love him and scratch his belly till he purrs.
Now before you think that Marshy is the big bad cat and Parker never does anything to bring on scolding, let me tell you about something else. The clock reads 6:00am. In pounces Parker to the bedroom. He walks around 2 bodies lying peacefully in bed. "wake up large people, wake up, the day is beginning, time to get up, time to get up. purrrrrrr" he thinks as he butts his head on our faces. If there are feet or arms stuck outside the covers they are fair game for those little but sharp teeth Parker has. "ooooooh strings!!!! long strings so fun to play with!" as he bats and grabs at the blinds and strings. This persists until we get up and feed them, or get up and put him out and just shut the door.
Good thing I have the cats to keep me occupied while Brett is out of the state. I am also working 4 nights this week. Can't believe the month of March is almost over either. I am really enjoying this gorgeous weather we have here. I never even scooped snow one time this past winter. This past Friday night we went with Josh and Anna to The Hunger Games at the movies. It was a great movie but nothing compares to reading the book itself. There is so much more you get when you read the book that just cannot possibly be put into a movie - it would be way too long. It was interesting to watch the movie and compare what I had pictured while reading the book to how it was portrayed by the actors in the movie. My imagination runs wild while reading which is one the reasons I have always enjoyed reading books. It is an escape.
This May we are going to celebrate 5 wonderful years of marriage. I am so thankful for these past 5 years and for Brett being by my side supporting me and supporting us in all our adventures and decisions. It has been a fun ride so far and I am truly looking forward to all the years we have ahead!! I am also looking forward to taking a vacation in May. While it is true that I only work 3 nights a week and have the other 4 off most weeks - which may seem like slacking to other people who are not in my profession - I still need a vacation from work!
Well I think it is time for some ice cream here.
I leave you with a picture from Laura's visit to us in Illinois. Which reminds me, I still have to write a blog post about her visit here! Yay for sisters.
We all know that Marshy is a big fat cat and will do whatever it takes to get food, be it cat food or people food. The other day I got out some wet cat food for Parker just to give him a little extra. I was quiet about it since the can was already open and in the fridge. Halfway through Parker eating it Marshy came around the corner in the kitchen and practically sprinted toward the bowl. Before I could pick him up and put him in the other room he had garbled down 2 big scoops of the food!! That is the difference between Marshy and Parker. Parker daintily chomps with his small teeth and savors the cat food thinking "hmmm this wet food sure is delicious, so soft and moist and lovely. yum yum yum, a lovely little snack for me." His lips being licked by his small tongue all the while. Then the fatty comes around the corner bounding toward the bowl led by his huge nose. "FOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD" he thinks. Chomp, smack, swallow. The cat food disappears. I pick him up and a loud meow comes out. I bring him to the other room scolding him all the while. His thoughts? "FOOOOODDDD!!! I know there is more food in that other room. Food that fills my tummy food that smells good. I never know when I will get more food again. FOOOOOODD!!! Let me in to that room, let me in, let me in." By this time Parker has gotten scared and ran downstairs. I put away the rest of the bowl but had left the cat can on the counter. I walked into the other room talking to Brett then remembered I had left the can out. I walk back into the kitchen and Marshy is stretching his body to reach up where his nose smells something good. The silly cat acts like he never gets any food. And we still love him and scratch his belly till he purrs.
Now before you think that Marshy is the big bad cat and Parker never does anything to bring on scolding, let me tell you about something else. The clock reads 6:00am. In pounces Parker to the bedroom. He walks around 2 bodies lying peacefully in bed. "wake up large people, wake up, the day is beginning, time to get up, time to get up. purrrrrrr" he thinks as he butts his head on our faces. If there are feet or arms stuck outside the covers they are fair game for those little but sharp teeth Parker has. "ooooooh strings!!!! long strings so fun to play with!" as he bats and grabs at the blinds and strings. This persists until we get up and feed them, or get up and put him out and just shut the door.
Good thing I have the cats to keep me occupied while Brett is out of the state. I am also working 4 nights this week. Can't believe the month of March is almost over either. I am really enjoying this gorgeous weather we have here. I never even scooped snow one time this past winter. This past Friday night we went with Josh and Anna to The Hunger Games at the movies. It was a great movie but nothing compares to reading the book itself. There is so much more you get when you read the book that just cannot possibly be put into a movie - it would be way too long. It was interesting to watch the movie and compare what I had pictured while reading the book to how it was portrayed by the actors in the movie. My imagination runs wild while reading which is one the reasons I have always enjoyed reading books. It is an escape.
This May we are going to celebrate 5 wonderful years of marriage. I am so thankful for these past 5 years and for Brett being by my side supporting me and supporting us in all our adventures and decisions. It has been a fun ride so far and I am truly looking forward to all the years we have ahead!! I am also looking forward to taking a vacation in May. While it is true that I only work 3 nights a week and have the other 4 off most weeks - which may seem like slacking to other people who are not in my profession - I still need a vacation from work!
Well I think it is time for some ice cream here.
I leave you with a picture from Laura's visit to us in Illinois. Which reminds me, I still have to write a blog post about her visit here! Yay for sisters.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Recap
There is actually so much that has happened since I last blogged. Not really big things, but so many activities that I could have blogged about and have pictures to show. I am going to attempt to catch up on a few things! I'll start with last night. (This was actually several weeks ago now - but I never got around to publishing this post...) Josh and Anna and Brett and I went to downtown Bloomington to a chocolate festival :). We basically walked around and visited different stores and businesses that offered a variety of chocolate treats, truffles, miniature cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, hot cider, and more. In the museum there was a competition for desserts and we got there at 7:45 when the judging was supposed to happen and then we were to get to try the different desserts there - but they were gone already... I have generally avoided downtown Bloomington but after last night Anna and I decided that we need to visit more stores there and generally walk around and see new things. There was this cute little music/guitar store that we quickly walked into just to look, we'll have to go back. Another plus to last night - it was free! We're all about free things around here. I don't have any pictures from last night. Afterwards we came back to our place and played a rousing game of scrabble.
Now lets go back to December. I was able to get some time off from work thanks to some great coworkers who switched dates with me and a flexible schedule. We took both cats with us back to Iowa over Christmas. Parker basically hid the entire time like he did last time in the truck and at the farm. Marshy explored the truck a little bit and also explored the farm a little too. We split our time back in Iowa with both our families and had lots of meals and lots of family time. A few pictures to follow!
Brett has been busy like usual at school with teaching labs and doing research again this semester. He is getting ready for a trip out to California to present some research and attend some seminars, etc at the end of March.
Claire in her apron helping me make cookies one day at Mom and Dad's. She was a really good help with putting all the ingredients in the mixing bowl! (and eating M & M's) :)
There were a few toys at Mom and Dad's that didn't quite work right. The batteries had been in them so long that they had corroded. Claire brought them to Uncle Brett to fix - and she was quite interested in everything he was doing!
Claire and Natalie playing the piano and singing together. I have so many pictures of the girls from our time in Iowa that I could fill this blog with them - but I'll just share a few. Miss these girls!!
We have had such a mild winter here in Illinois and I love it! I have not shoveled once this winter so far, and Brett has only shoveled a couple times. The high is supposed to be 51 today, the 22nd of February. Today is kind of a lazy day, although I have been awake since 3:30 this morning - couldn't sleep. ugh. I work tonight so I went to the gym early this morning and I will nap this afternoon before work tonight.
Our 5 year anniversary is coming up in May. I really can't believe 5 years have gone by already. Wow. I would love to take a week long vacation to a warm beach somewhere to celebrate but I don't think I will be able to take that much time off work, or afford a vacation to a beach.....oh well I can always dream right? Time to take a nap with my kitties today! And since a blog post on here wouldn't be complete without a picture of the cats - here is one from our trip back to Illinois after being in Iowa.
Now lets go back to December. I was able to get some time off from work thanks to some great coworkers who switched dates with me and a flexible schedule. We took both cats with us back to Iowa over Christmas. Parker basically hid the entire time like he did last time in the truck and at the farm. Marshy explored the truck a little bit and also explored the farm a little too. We split our time back in Iowa with both our families and had lots of meals and lots of family time. A few pictures to follow!
Brett has been busy like usual at school with teaching labs and doing research again this semester. He is getting ready for a trip out to California to present some research and attend some seminars, etc at the end of March.
Claire in her apron helping me make cookies one day at Mom and Dad's. She was a really good help with putting all the ingredients in the mixing bowl! (and eating M & M's) :) 
There were a few toys at Mom and Dad's that didn't quite work right. The batteries had been in them so long that they had corroded. Claire brought them to Uncle Brett to fix - and she was quite interested in everything he was doing! 
Claire and Natalie playing the piano and singing together. I have so many pictures of the girls from our time in Iowa that I could fill this blog with them - but I'll just share a few. Miss these girls!!We have had such a mild winter here in Illinois and I love it! I have not shoveled once this winter so far, and Brett has only shoveled a couple times. The high is supposed to be 51 today, the 22nd of February. Today is kind of a lazy day, although I have been awake since 3:30 this morning - couldn't sleep. ugh. I work tonight so I went to the gym early this morning and I will nap this afternoon before work tonight.
Our 5 year anniversary is coming up in May. I really can't believe 5 years have gone by already. Wow. I would love to take a week long vacation to a warm beach somewhere to celebrate but I don't think I will be able to take that much time off work, or afford a vacation to a beach.....oh well I can always dream right? Time to take a nap with my kitties today! And since a blog post on here wouldn't be complete without a picture of the cats - here is one from our trip back to Illinois after being in Iowa.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Joy
Yesterday was a joyful day. A relaxing morning, a wonderful lunch made by Anna Roorda. She is such a wonderful cook. I'll say it again and again and again. She even made Pioneer Woman's potatoes that we watched Saturday morning on the Food Network. Delicious. Their apartment is always warm (literally too!) and inviting and joyful. You can tell that Josh and Anna make their apartment a home. It doesn't matter if their walls aren't decorated perfectly and all the furniture doesn't quite match - it still feels like a home. It is the people that make the home. This got me thinking about how I am always thinking/striving to make our home look "perfect". So when people walk in they look at the matching throw pillows, the artwork placed on the wall, the coordinating picture frames and curtains and think that our house is so put together. Those are such outward things though. We are what make our house a home - not the decorative pillows. Why am I trying so hard to make things look so good on the outside? Why not focus my time and energy on the things that you can't see right away?
We got together with some other friends on Saturday evening. Part of our discussion was about how no matter how much we have in common with another person and how much we are alike - those outward things do not matter. What really brings us together in unity is our belief in Christ. In the end all the outward things and the small things we try to chat about - we are bound to disagree about those earthly things. Thankful for that unity in Christ.
Maybe it is time to start focusing more inward instead of outward. (side note, I had inwardly and outwardly written first and then changed it because I couldn't decide which was grammatically correct. Then I realized that it doesn't really matter because it is my blog and I can spell things wrong if I want.....or if I don't know how it is supposed to be - end site note).
Yesterday was also joyful because after eating lunch with Josh and Anna we played this new game called Scotland Yard. There is one person labeled "Mr. X" who is against all the other players, trying to hide/sneak around the board. It is a strategic game but what I liked about it was that the team who was against Mr. X could talk together and decide what their moves were going to be as a group. You weren't just playing by yourself, unless you were Mr. X. Brett was the X person first and he lasted a good while but then we caught him. The next time we played Anna beat us all. She even wore the hat labeled Mr. X so we couldn't see where her eyes were looking on the board. We also watched the Packers lose yesterday. That wasn't so joyful. It was fun to have another person cheer/yell at the teams like I do sometimes. Telling them they should run faster and how it was so silly how they just ran right into a bunch of people instead of running to the side. Oh, Anna, I think we have a new bond in football. :)
The cats are still the cats. I think Marshy has just mellowed out a lot lately. At first I thought maybe he was having some vision problems because he was just slinking around the house and moving slowly and just not his normal self. However, he still goes after food and runs down the stairs like there is no tomorrow. No problem there! Parker has this new thing in the morning. He will come into the bedroom and shut the door. Then meow and complain that he is locked in and can't get out. He is such a pest :)
I found our camera! It was in the couch cushions. I think last time I was putting pictures on the computer it slipped in between the cushions and got stuck. Now the battery is charging so the next post I write should have a few pictures instead of just boring words.
Until next time.
We got together with some other friends on Saturday evening. Part of our discussion was about how no matter how much we have in common with another person and how much we are alike - those outward things do not matter. What really brings us together in unity is our belief in Christ. In the end all the outward things and the small things we try to chat about - we are bound to disagree about those earthly things. Thankful for that unity in Christ.
Maybe it is time to start focusing more inward instead of outward. (side note, I had inwardly and outwardly written first and then changed it because I couldn't decide which was grammatically correct. Then I realized that it doesn't really matter because it is my blog and I can spell things wrong if I want.....or if I don't know how it is supposed to be - end site note).
Yesterday was also joyful because after eating lunch with Josh and Anna we played this new game called Scotland Yard. There is one person labeled "Mr. X" who is against all the other players, trying to hide/sneak around the board. It is a strategic game but what I liked about it was that the team who was against Mr. X could talk together and decide what their moves were going to be as a group. You weren't just playing by yourself, unless you were Mr. X. Brett was the X person first and he lasted a good while but then we caught him. The next time we played Anna beat us all. She even wore the hat labeled Mr. X so we couldn't see where her eyes were looking on the board. We also watched the Packers lose yesterday. That wasn't so joyful. It was fun to have another person cheer/yell at the teams like I do sometimes. Telling them they should run faster and how it was so silly how they just ran right into a bunch of people instead of running to the side. Oh, Anna, I think we have a new bond in football. :)
The cats are still the cats. I think Marshy has just mellowed out a lot lately. At first I thought maybe he was having some vision problems because he was just slinking around the house and moving slowly and just not his normal self. However, he still goes after food and runs down the stairs like there is no tomorrow. No problem there! Parker has this new thing in the morning. He will come into the bedroom and shut the door. Then meow and complain that he is locked in and can't get out. He is such a pest :)
I found our camera! It was in the couch cushions. I think last time I was putting pictures on the computer it slipped in between the cushions and got stuck. Now the battery is charging so the next post I write should have a few pictures instead of just boring words.
Until next time.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Nothing New
I have had so many ideas for blog posts floating around in my head lately but just haven't had the energy/time/motivation to write them out. Since I last wrote we took a trip back to Iowa over Christmas. I've got many pictures to post about that, so that will be a post of its own. I've been fighting lately to get my shifts in at work. I actually got 3 whole shifts in this week and even signed up for extra on Thursday but ended up just getting but on call. We then spent New Years Eve here at home and had Josh and Anna over for a low key night. It has finally snowed here. Everyone acts like this is a blizzard around here - just a few inches of snow. Crazy people.
Well that is a short synopsis of happenings around here. Maybe I'll find the energy later to actually do a real post. As for now - I think maybe I'll just lie here on the couch. Or maybe do some dishes....yes.....dishes it is.
Well that is a short synopsis of happenings around here. Maybe I'll find the energy later to actually do a real post. As for now - I think maybe I'll just lie here on the couch. Or maybe do some dishes....yes.....dishes it is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)