SunStorm

Truth in Photo

2012-03-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

Images of inside my heart:

Off my Rocker

2012-03-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

Well, I've officially been off my meds (anti-depressants) for two weeks now. I feel so much better! Like myself again for once. I may have an occasional burst of mania here and there but I never get crazy with it...I simply talk 110mph and have the happy go-lucky energy of a 3 year old. It may get on some peoples nerves, but hey, they can deal with it! As alot of you know I have been having migraine headaches for the last several years. It wasnt' until this year that I put three and two together and realized that my antidepressants were causing bruxism (teeth grinding) which in turn caused my horrific headaches. Those of you who have suffered with me on those long nights of blinding pain in the ER while I banged my head against the wall screaming will be happy to hear that I no longer even have the great deal of tightness in my neck. Which is what my neuro doc thought was causing my headaches. I was pretty nervous coming off the meds. Of course, being the rebel that I am I did so without my doc's consent. ( I know, bad bad bad) but I titrated down and so far it's been great. I've even been throwing around some prose in my head again which I haven't done in so very long. I'm finally coming out of the sleepiness stages of "coming down" from the medicine and have battled stress with exercise which of course is also helping the waistline a bit as well! So if I seem a tad more introverted or distorted, you now know why. I no longer wake up with my jaw in severe pain from grinding my teeth so badly at night and no more awful headaches! I am really hoping this is a long time cure and not just a short reprieve but only time will tell.
*fingers crossed*

Quantum Physics: The Science of my religion.

2012-03-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

Out with the BAD, In with the GOOD!!!

2012-02-29T20:11:00.001-08:00

If you’re like most people in the world today, you spend a lot of time focusing on everything that is wrong with you; your life, your health, your friends, your family, your external relationships with others, and when you’re finished focusing on all that you begin to pick out others problems. We have easily become a society that loves to hate, loves to hurt, and it almost seems as if we’re in competition with those around us to see who can “out stress” each other. I’ve been doing a little project here lately; I’ve been asking everyone around me- “how are you doing today”. This in its self is not unusual but I’ve been really taking heed to the responses. I can honestly say by my calculations in this experiment that well over 90% of people are so quick to complain about their life. It is so rare that someone brags or has a happy statement to make or proclaim. I’ve noticed so many who are “tired, sleepy, irritable, upset at someone, behind on projects, running late, feels like a chicken with their head cutoff, can’t sleep, can’t get anything productive finished, …the list goes on and on.

What’s wrong with this picture? Now before I go any further, please let me clarify, I am not the exception to this rule. I have my complaints, bad days (a lot more than I’d like to admit), and am working through the same issues as everyone else. In our society and economy we have developed this “poor pity me” complex. We have come to get more satisfaction out of telling people our problems and obtaining their sympathy than from sharing our happiness and positive energy with those around us. We are more focused on self than anyone else. We worry about “me me me” and not “they they they” so much. I feel we’ve lost track of our ultimate purpose in this life. I’ve been working diligently here of late on watching what I say to others about my own issues. Even my closest friends, whom I share everything with; I’ve held back the negative and focused on the positive.

The musical artist Moby really got it right in his lyrics for Natural Blues. It goes something like this:

“Oh lordy, trouble so hard
oh lordy, trouble so hard,
don't nobody know my troubles but God
don't nobody know my troubles but God”

Perhaps we should go back to this. We are often disappointed when those around us do not give us the love, attention, or understanding we THINK we should have received from them therefore leaving us feeling even more depressed and rejected. If we really think closely about it, it’s very wrong for us to put so much pressure on other people. We have to learn to not put our happiness in the hands of others. If we can’t bring ourselves happiness and satisfaction how can we ever begin to think that others can achieve this for us when they have their own troubles to deal with. Every single person you meet has more on thier plate than you do, maybe not at the present moment but they have, do or will. So what should we do about this? How do we get out of this rut? After all, we’ve become accustomed to getting out of doing things, making excuses, and procrastinating all due to our innate desire to show those around us that we are indeed just too consumed with our own troubles to help anyone else.

I would like to challenge you to do a little experiment yourself for the next seven days. Keep it up longer if you can, but for seven days keep your troubles between you and God. Don’t bother those around you with your burdens or issues, pray about them and then let God handle them. Now, I know of course your probably thinking “I already do this and it just dosent seem to help sometimes”. To this I can’t help but think of something my dad always told me growing up. He would say: give it to God and let it go. Ok, we’ve all heard this before. Yada yada yada….but when we pray to our Lord about our problems with ourselves, our finances, our families, our problems with others, ect, we often continue to worry about them. We keep on telling others of our problems “So and so did this, can you believe what he said?, I trust you Lord but oh man, what if what if….this is NOT putting our trust in God. This is a slap in the face to God. We might as well say “well, Lord, I have this problem you see but I’m not so sure your big enough to fix it so I’m going to tell all my friends about it to get their opinion and I’m still going to worry about it myself cause I just can’t trust you completely.” That is the cold hard truth and if you are completely honest with yourself you know this is true.

We cannot control what those around us say or do or how they act. It’s not our job. If you find yourself having a problem with someone, rather than saying something to someone else, speak to that person about it. Or at the very least pray about it and let it go. There was a recent conversation I overhead among a group of friends in which someone was complaining about someone else not doing things up to par with their expectations. Rather than going to that person directly, this person decided to complain to those around them about it and ask someone else to say something to them about the issue. This is so disrespectful in my opinion. I have always been the kind of person to confront others with whom I have an issue. No one can change their activity on your behalf if you do not tell them your wishes. Telling everyone but that person will change nothing except give the offender a bad taste in their mouth concerning the one who has the issue in the first place. This is just an example I wanted to share.

We need to learn to be more respectful of each other’s time, energy, emotions, and ability to process. Cut those around you some slack, try telling everyone you encounter in a conversation how good your life is and make a point to pray for those who complain to you. However, do not give into the urge to complain yourself when confronted by someone who is going on and on complaining. Just give them an understanding smile, a hug (if appropriate) and let them know you’ll keep them in your prayers.

I would like to clarify before I end this that I’m not trying to say it’s bad to ask for prayer in times of need for yourself or family and friends. We all need that support at some point. I’m simply speaking of our day to day interactions. Myabe just maybe we can spread a little more joy in this lifetime rather than provoking more negativity. So next time someone you how you are doing, simply reply with “I’m great, how are you?” It’s that easy. Just give it a try and see what you find. If nothing else, by putting your needs emotionally on the backburner for a week, you may be surprised how many others you can have a positive impact on and how it really puts your own problems in perspective. Taking care of others is our common goal as Christians in life. Lets spend more time on our blessings rather than our problems....you never know, your problems may just dissapear.

May peace and love fill your days and contentment fill your hearts at dusk.

I AM NOT

2012-02-28T17:42:00.001-08:00

I am not:

One to judge others. It's simply not my place no matter the issue.
a person who takes lightly to negative energies and presence.
an honest person all the time.
anywhere near as humble as I should be.
intelligent.
dumb.
perfect.
always a nice person.
up to par with my own expectations of myself.
anywhere near the conclusion of my travels.
anyone but God's child.
ever alone.
finished making my way in this world.
ever ever ever going to give up no matter what.
always as strong as I appear to be.
one to throw my problems onto others (with the exception of my husband..thanks babe!).
as free of complaint as I'd like to be.
as emotionally secure as I pretend to be.
the pushover I pretend to be.
the tattoo's that I have.
anyone Else's definition or opinion of me.
afraid of anything.
living up to my full potential.
going to keep being so lackadasical.
letting my laziness win this time.
I am not.

I am none other than Kristen. I'm perfectly happy with that.

MBO Day 4 (a little behind)

2012-02-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have been -to the best of my ability- practicing mindfulness meditatio for some time now. It has been incredibly therapeutic for me, in the sense that I have noticed so much more about myself and my surroundings than I had ever imagined. As most of you who read this are dear family and friends, you know that I practice meditation daily already. Adding the mindfulness practice to my daily routine…not in meditation but in ALL that I do has made all the difference in keeping my sanity.

This being said (from a preivious post actually), todays meditation was on Mindfullness. I'd like to re-share an experience from that previous post with you all as it is still the best example I can come up with to describe how it feels to practice mindfullness:

Today, after several days of practicing this concept it all clicked. I was washing dishes by hand today which I’ve been doing for quite some time now as I read that the dishwasher is the most bacteria/fungus filled appliance in the common household. I started noticing that I really took care to take my time, feel the bubbles of the soap on my hands, the squishy coarseness of the dishcloth, the heaviness of the pot I was washing. I was taking my time, devouring the opportunity to be able to feel, I mean really feel what I was doing. I focused on my feet firmly planted on my soft cushion mat in front of the sink. I could feel the air from the vent above rustle my hair a bit, the sound of a mower far off in the distance…it was as if my awareness was heightened beyond my normal realm of conception. It was the most beautiful thing. I hope to keep this up, although in today’s hustle and bustle of life it’s hard sometimes to focus on such small things. To focus intently on each footstep, each breath, each flick of your eyelid. It is hard to do most times but so rewarding and calming once you conquer it.

Mindfulness meditation has its roots in Buddhism but is rapidly becoming more of a practice in western medicine for treatment of psychological issues. I did at first study this practice from a Buddhist perspective and there are a great many things which can be learned from doing so, there are actually 10 forms of mindfulness focusing on God (Buddha) and also moral life.

Some people may say I'm wrong for applying eastern medicine practices in my spiritual life but during my meditations I always focus my attention on my Lord and Savior. I only refer to Buddhism out of respect for the foundations of what I practice. In anything we do, whether considered Christian or not, can bring glory to God.

MBO Day 3

2012-02-23T11:36:00.001-08:00

Making Peace with Stress

Someone once told me that there are only two times when we feel stress – daytime and nighttime. Let’s face it. Stress is part of our everyday life. We experience some level of stress every time our needs are not met. In today’s meditation, we are going to transform our relationship with stress, learning to let it go and cultivate more peace, joy, and calm in its place.

What Is Stress?
Stress has been part of human life since our earliest days on the planet. Although we no longer experience the stress of living in cold, dark caves and fighting off saber-tooth cats, we do experience emotional turmoil in our relationships, challenges balancing our daily lives, and a multitude of physical health concerns. When we encounter situations that we interpret as stressful, our body has the same reactions our ancestors had tens of thousands of years ago. Our blood pressure rises, we begin to perspire, our breath becomes shallow, and our blood platelets become sticky. Our body activates its fight-or-flight response, and it takes at least twenty-four hours for the body to recover its equilibrium. Many people live in a state of chronic stress and imbalance, which contributes to emotional and physical dis-ease.

Through the practice of meditation, we can activate a different response, one of restful awareness, intuitiveness, and creativity. Meditation takes our body and our mind from a place of hyperactivity, fear, unrest, and uneasiness to a state of inner calm, peace, and silence.

In meditation, as we cultivate the ability to witness the activity of the mind, we spontaneously make more conscious choices. We’re able to access the response that best supports our own health and wellbeing. Stress then becomes something that we can observe and release.
Too many times I hear friends and family almost brag about being under stress. We see to use this as a regular adjective to describe our lives these days. In truth, things can only stress us out if we let them, it's our choice. Meditation works for me in alleviating stress, but we should all strive to find what works for us personally to restore and maintain balance in our lives. We should realize saying "I'm Stressed" is as bad for us health wise as saying "my blood pressure is sky-high", "my hearts racing or palpating", or a number of other ailments as seen in the picture related to this post. We need to treat stress as we would any of those diseases. Stress is a disease, luckily one we can control!

Much Peace and Love.

Mind Body Odyssey Day 2

2012-02-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

This would have been posted last night but I was having technical difficulties with blogger, so no go. Yesterday's meditation was really great. It focused mainly on the ego. The biggest question which we meditated on was "What do I own". Now of course, as usual, I went through all the realizations such as 'house, car, that beautiful necklace, ect,' but as the sounds played on and I was left to my own devices, out of material things, I began to focus on emotional things, physical things, people, relationships, and the thoughts and feelings of others about me. It was these latter things which really got me to thinking. You see so many times in life I let others judgements and opinions weigh me down. Because of this I cut myself short because I do not wish to criticized harshly or I'm too afraid of what others may think. I take my relationships with people (family, friends, my husband, work colleagues, and even my dogs) for granted and I don't particularly try to foster those relationships before beginning new ones. I'm an extrovert at heart, very outgoing and I have a tendency to try to love everyone as much as possible; often doing this at the expense of my own mental and emotional health. I love to do it however, so I have to find a good common balance to even it all out..hence I do meditation and yoga and prayer. I realized that when someone says something negative about me, instead of 'owning' that comment, therefore letting it control my emotions, I should take that and use it to help myself evolve, then simply let it go. Now of course I know your thinking...yea right, let it go, but when you find yourself in a situation where you can be silent and really think about what's important, you find that letting it go isn't so hard after all.

The great truth of all this is that we 'own' nothing. In the simplest of terms, we do not even own our body and mind. These are simply the vessels for our soul, our ego. I can only 'own' and therefore control how I treat others, how I act, how I love, how I give, how I serve, how I speak, and how I think and believe. Everything else must fall to the wayside when it comes to what I let effect my ego. For, to me, as a Christian, all that matters is what my Father thinks of me. And by His words I am judged soley on my actions, responses, and emotions toward Him and others.

Ask yourself "What Do I Own", see what you discover, delve into what truley matters. No matter who your are, where your at in life, or what you are doing, you 'own' what you believe of yourself. This I know for sure.

Much Peace and Love

* end note: during the writing of this, my computer crashed, instead of allowing myself to get angry I just took a few deep breaths and set my mind to re-writing it all. When my computer came back up, this site popped back on the screen and my words where still on the page....Law of Attraction, may very well be, may very well be. I can't help but smile at that thought.

Mind Body Odyssey 2012 Day 1

2012-02-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

Synopsis:
The Mind-Body Connection

Only a few decades ago, medical students were taught to view the body as a machine whose parts would inevitably break down until it could no longer be repaired. Today science is arriving at a radically different understanding: While the body appears to be material, it is really a field of energy and intelligence that is inextricably connected to the mind. All of the thoughts, perceptions, memories, emotions, and feelings in our mind influence every cell of our body. When we have a loving thought or focus on a happy memory or feeling, our brain triggers a cascade of molecules that promote well being in our physiology. On the other hand, when we hold onto emotions such as anger, fear, and doubt, this creates stress and damage in the body.

Through meditation, we can reverse the effects of accumulated stress and toxicity. Meditation takes us into inner silence, allowing the body to restore balance and repair itself. In today’s meditation we will practice a simple yet effective breathing practice that will help you experience the silence and peace within.

_______________________________________________________________________
This first meditation was very simple, we started out with just focusing on our regular breathing at the moment. Not trying to change it, simply observing how we were breathing before the meditation really began. I noticed my breathing was quite shallow and fast. After a few moments we were simply instructed to mentally recite the word "So" when inhaling and "hum" on the exhale. It was this simple. The mantra (or words you repeat) help to maintain focus on the meditation as wandering of the mind and thoughts are natural. When you feel your mind start to wander you simply refocus. No big deal. It was so nice to perfectly clear my head for a small space of time. To literally think of nothing, and just let go for a short time. I recieve so much happiness and peacefullness from meditation and I do hope you all will give it a shot sometime! I'll provide a link at the bottom to the site for the Chopra Center which has just begun another set of meditations. It's absolutely free to do, and no need to create yet another online account, if you have a facebook you can log in with it! You may be surpirsed by what you discover! The type of meditation I do regularly is Primordial Sound Meditation, here's an explanation:

Primordial Sound Meditation originates from the ancient wisdom traditions of India. It is an easily learned meditation technique which uses individually selected vibratory sounds, or mantras, to create a quieting influence in the mind. These mantras, or primordial sounds, are the basic vibrations in nature. The selection of the correct sound is individually determined based on the location, time and date of birth. When used correctly, these mantras guide the awareness from the level of activity to the realm of silence.

I know for me, meditation has played a MAJOR role in stress reduction and overall happiness in my life. I hope you'll give it a shot as well. You can meditate for anywhere from one minute to several hours...the choice is yours. I hope you visit the site I'll provide below for more information on the health benefits of meditation. Wishing you all much peace and love...until next time.

Click here for more information on health benefits.

Click here for a link to the guided meditation site I use.

Yes, Peacefullness

2012-02-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

Today I got my new Yoga gear along with my new Yoga DVD set in the mail! I'm so excited. Feb. 20th starts a new 21 days of guided meditations from the Chopra Center as well. It's so hard sometimes to just slow down and take it all in - so to speak. Having a good routine of meditation and yoga have really helped me over the years, yet even though I realize it's benefits I still end up straying away from it here and there. Its' not until I become anxious and stressed out that I have that "ah ha" moment and get back into it all. I've also started reading 'The Happiness Project-Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun " by Gretchen Rubin. I've really been dealing with alot of stress here lately (story of my life) so of course, the best thing: start doing what works; AGAIN. You'd think I'd have learnt my lesson this time especially since I preach to my patients about deep breathing techniques, meditation, prayer, and stretching all the time but I suppose the old saying is true..it's easier to dish it out than to take it when it comes to good advice. So here's to yet another start at it, maybe just maybe I'll keep it up this time.

Onto other news; I haven't posted it here but I did on facebook but I FINALLY got my release date from my current unit and will be officially moving to an Acute Psychiatric ward after March 24th. I really could not be more excited.
We have another vacation coming up the first week in May and have decided to Chuck Dovish it and travel around the state camping out at a different places. Well, at least this is a good possibility. There's really nothing I love more than planning trips...perhaps I should have been a travel agent. I'm always planning trips for co-workers; booking flights, hotel rooms and excursions. I really enjoy scouring the Internet for the best deals and getting it all put together so it flows well. Oh well, too late in life for a career change at this point. Which brings me to another issue: I'll be 30 this year- no seriously: I'LL BE 30 THIS YEAR. How did this happen? I'm not prepared to exit my 20's at this time. Can I get an extension? No? Are you sure? Guess I better pull up my bootstraps and prepare for the next awesome decade of my life. Pretty sure I'm having an early thrisis. Yes...a thrisis- like a midlife crisis except premature. I'll quickly come to accept it though as I do everything in life. After the life I've lived I've certiantly learned to suck it up and embrace whatever is going on in the present. Thank God for the gift of humor; it's the only way I've made it so far in life. I wish you all a very merry weekend. Until next time: Peace and Love to you all.

New Books!

2012-02-11T15:22:00.000-08:00

So I went into Barnes and Noble today looking specifically for the one book I needed for the next book club meeting. Ended up coming out with 4. So here they are:

For Book Club:

And the Other three which I can't wait to delve into!!!

Were you aware that....

2012-02-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

* The Great Spotted Woodpecker drums 12,000 times a day!

*Archaeologist led by the University of Witwatersrand discovered a mattress in a South African rock shelter made of sedges and grasses. The 77,000 year old bedding held insect-killing chemicals emitted from laurel leaves.

*Male guppies will harrass nonreceptive females for mating.

*In 1950 there were 2,300 people in the U.S. older than 100.

*Paul Revere made a trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire before he made is "famous ride".

*Just off the Atlantic coast there are dozens of sunken World War 2 ships.

That will be all folks!

Oh yea, and...

2012-02-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that I'v also been delving into theoretical physics as well as metaphysics and have officially been promoted to admin of the metaphysics group I belong to on facebook! Ok, yes that's kinda nerdy but I'm proud of it. Also, on Feb. 20th I begin a new set of guided meditations from the Chopra Center which I'm a little more than stoked about. I've discovered Naked smoothies and am absolutly in love with them. As a result I've lost a good little bit of weight from using them as meal replacements and feel so much better with more energy. I just had the best damn spinach harvest salad from Kroger and now I believe I'll go clip my toenails and shower to get ready for work...to much information? Well, that's what I'm here for.

Ok, Ok, here we go

2012-02-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

So, I've been away awhile *smirks and shuffles feet*. I've honestly been very busy. I'm not even really sure where to start. I had planned on this awesomely long post of witty prose to tell you all what I've been up to and into the last little while but honestly I'm exhausted and kinda just in the mood to "get it over with". So we're just gonna go with the good ole fashion list-style update with some add-ons if I do happen to get a creative jolt here and there.

I'm still awaiting a release date from my current unit to make the move over to psych nursing. I am chomping at the bit to get over there! I've always wanted to do psych as I have a certain special compassion for those suffering from mental illness. I know for sure I'm stuck in physical rehab until Feb. 27th but our schedules not out yet after that so hopefully I'll be moving shortly thereafter.
We went to Oaklawn to the horse races 2 weekends ago at the start of vacation. It was my first time going and we had sooo much fun! I actually won my first 4 races! Apparently I have a knack for picking good horses...OK, not really, I just got lucky. We had several friends go with us and it was a blast. My most favorite part though had nothing to do with the races. Just before the first race, the place was bustling with people laughing, talking, and just generally being loud and jolly. Then they announced on every TV and the sound system that they were about to start the National Anthem. Within 10 seconds everything came to a complete standstill. Hats came off, hands were placed on hearts and you could hear a pin drop in this massive place with thousands of people. Call me emotionally patriotic but it brought a tear to my eye to realize just how much of an impact this special song has on people still. Then of course we all went back to being loud and happy and drunk!
So then we went to St. Louis. Oh what fun we had! We went to the art and history museums, the science center (where we got to see the film Tornado Alley in the Omnimax theater there) the planetarium, the zoo, Busch Stadium, Anheuser Busch Brewery, Sweetie Pies in the Mangrove, the Arch, and the Jewel Box. The two most awesome things were of course the stadium and the brewery! We got to hang out in the Cardinal's dugout, get our pic taken at home plate, and tour the exclusive Cardinals Club. At the brewery we went to Beer School...the final was killer but we chugged our way to the top of the class! Then we took the Beermaster Tour in which we got to tour every step of the brewing process. We had beer straight from a huge beechwood aging tank which was unfiltered, then fresh beer that was only 5 mins. old from the finishing tank. We also got to go kick it with the famous Clydesdale's and tour the production lines. Finally we were taken to the VIP room with posh leather furniture and our super cool tour guide opened up a fridge full of all kinds of beer they make and told us we had 20 mins to help ourselves to as much as we wanted! We even got to try a new wheat beer called Shock Top ICP 6 days before it's official production. The whole experience was really neat. At Sweetie Pies we found ourselves in the most amazing soul food restaurant EVER. The owner was a former Ikette backup singer until she suffered a collapsed lung and was unable to sing anymore. She then decided to pursue her other dream of owning her own restaurant. While we were there they were filming their second season of their own reality show called Welcome to Sweetie Pies which premieres on the Oprah Winfrey Network this march. The food alone is worth driving back to STL for...AMAZING!
So then we came back and prepared for the Super Bowl we were hosting this year. We had quite a great crowd over for the game and had sooo much fun! Slim cooked his great homemade chili, we had cheese dip, hot dogs, Lori made Slutty Brownies and Vodka Gummies, Cyndie made her famous cheese ball and brought veggies with an amazing spicy dip she created, and Blake brought the best damn deer sausage balls which he made himself! We ate and we drank and we drank and we ate and even though our team lost, we all had an incredible time.
Monday it was back to the grindstone at work. Of course I'm lucky and only had to work Monday and Tuesday and am off today...schweet! I did have to take my oldest daughter Stormy to the vet this afternoon. She's got a stomach bug it seems and so we had to give her some medicine. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.
Now I am currently blogging, facebooking, watching a movie and texting pretty much all at the same time.

I do believe that all about covers it, I think I'll go have a beer now and maybe even some leftover chili. Peace and Love to you all.

Yikes!!

2012-02-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, I just realised how long it has been since I posted anything. I've been so busy though and do have lots to share. I'm hoping to have some time tonight after work but lets be honest with the premiere of The River coming on ABC and me having it DVR'd I highly doubt I'll get around to it seeing as how it's a two hour premiere so I'm pretty sure I'll be passing out shortly after it! So much for my New Years intention to blog more often with more interesting content! But I'm off tomarrow so that will be catch up day..you can expect a very long, detialed wine influenced post by tomarrow evening! Peace and Love to all.

Pilobolus: A Performance merging dance and biology

2012-01-21T20:06:00.001-08:00

Psych

2012-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it is official...I found out that I am officially going to be transfering over to an acute Psych ward at the VA! I'm so excited about this move! I've wanted to do psych nursing for as long as I can remember. I haven't gotten a release date yet as to when I'll be able to transfer so I'm still on a physical rehab unit until then. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later. I'll be in a "pool" and will work between three differnt psych units as needed (but still full time). Such great news to me!! Who knows just where this move will lead....

Updated Bucket List

2012-01-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is something I felt I would like to address again since it’s been awhile. Well, that and I’ve thought of a few things since then to add to it. I would also like to address a controversial issue within our circle of friends and family as I realize that everyone has very dominant viewpoints on this subject. We have made a very educated and mutual decision to not have children. Trust me, there is no need for anyone to start vehemently making phone calls/emails addressing the issue and telling us how great of parents we’d make, all the hundreds of reasons we should have kids and how we’ll be missing out on such a HUGE part of life by not having kids. Because my response will be as follows:

Yes, we would make great parents; which is exactly why we’ve decided to be open to adoption and other options should the urge to have kids ever come about. We’d much rather adopt or foster children who have never know a loving family or spend our money helping charities and volunteering to help impoverished children around the world and right here at home. These are things very dear to our hearts and means so much to us that we are more than happy to sacrifice having our own children to help those who are already here and NEED help or have been forgotten.

We have 16 nephews and nieces between us….so we officially have plenty of kids in our life. Ranging from ages 5months to 14 years…we get all the ”kid” time we need.

We love to travel and our adult freedom as well as our adult friends who do not have kids as we enjoy going out and having a nice dinner and drinks with friends who do not spend the entire evening talking of their children. Not to say we mind you speaking of your kids a lot, we understand, really, but we also enjoy the alternative.

And last but not least, we are both just simply happier being child free. And for that reason alone everyone should be happy for us and respect our decision as we are happy for all our pro child family and friends and respect their decisions.

Now onto the Bucket List:

Visit the following places: Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall, Ireland (planned for our 5 year anniversary), Anheuser Busch Factory (coming up in a week and a half), Nashville TN, Sundance Film Festival, Mount Everest Base Camp, participate in Heifer International field trip, and attend a Gdansk festival. That’s about all I can think of at this time.

I’d like to go skydiving again (but I’d like to static line jump this time), Take as many cruises as possible (even with the news of one running aground off the coast of Italy this year), Go on a Rio Bravo mission trip with my church (hopefully next year), get the kitchen remolded a.s.a.p., add the living area to that as well, and the master bath. Spend some time on the coast in California.

Last but not least, as I’ll surely think of a hundred things to add to this – I’d like to get our Christmas decor put up from 2011!!!! Surely we’ll get this done on vacation coming up soon!

This ended up being a more spontaneous post than I had prepared for..my intention were to really think of everything I’d like to do and make this pretty much all inclusive but while writing I noticed that I indeed have done a lot of stuff I had wanted to do by this time in life. I’ve really lived my life to the fullest and still continue to do so which makes me very happy. There’s nothing better than to realize you are one the right path which your soul wants to be following. I must say, I am happy indeed with Kristen. I pray that everyone will obtain that same level of happiness.

Peace and Love,

Kristen

cinéma J'amour

2012-01-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

A lot of people like to spat off the classics when naming their favorite movies of all time. Now, I’m sure there are indeed those out there who do love the classic films, out there like ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Pink Floyd’, and the likes. But let’s face it, those are great film’s if you’re stoned. I am not afraid to honestly say that I have re-watched these as a sober adult and they were nowhere near as entertaining. Honestly I was left asking myself why in the world I even liked them so much previously.

Mind you this post was inspired by a conversation with a friend on film.

So I have given great thought to my top 10 favorite films of all time. In the process I was sure to consider not simply plot but the emotions each film demanded and how effective the story and character were in portraying a common ground with the viewer…me. So here goes!!

And my number one favoirte movie of all time is:

Peace and Pictures

2012-01-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

7 Days

2012-01-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

I'm three days into my seven day stretch of being off for my abdominal tear. It's getting better but last night I was thrown into a coughing fit thanks to my wonderful allergies and therefore woke up to a very sore side as a result. On the up and up, my good friend Elizabeth came over yesterday afternoon for a visit and brought me the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins which I've instantly fallen in love with. My plan is to read all three books by next Monday. I've challenged myself to read 30 books this year...and that's a minimum really. I know I can knock out more and this year I'd like to put more focus on reading than I did last year. I belong to the site GoodReads along with some other friends and it's pretty awesome if your a book lover looking to expand your interest. I really hated missing our 2nd book club meeting Monday, I really enjoy it. And we actually get together and chat about the books we read, with wine and good food. It's not simply a bunch of catty women getting together and complaining or gossiping which I would never be apart of. Our next meeting is Feb. 20th and our book is "We Bought A Zoo" so I'm pretty sure that we'll be watching the movie after the meeting! I love that! Well, that's about all that's going on. Mikes off today with me so we're having a movie day and simply chillin. Yay, lazy day!

Here we go

2012-01-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

I've not done a very good job at keeping the Ole blog updated but there's been good reason. I've had alot going on...or well, kinda. Let me start with the fact that I've now been a nonsmoker for 9 days! Yay! I also have lost 7lbs!! Super yay! I've learned that I'm 95% sure I'm getting my job back on my old unit which totally rocks!

Now for the not so good news...what I thought was a pulled muscle over New Years Eve turned out to be a torn muscle in my stomach. Those of you from facebook already know this but I know I have some readers of this blog who are not on my facebook. IT. HURTS. LIKE. HELL. and that's all I can say about that.

We are FINALLY getting our first vacation since our wedding/honeymoon last year. This mind you is only because we took off 21 days for our wedding/honeymoon so therefore gave up our vacation time for the year. But this year we are getting 4 vacations! The first one is coming up in a couple of weeks and we were going to go to Nashville, TN for the week but have decided instead to go to St. Louis, Mo. We are going to Beer school and to take the Beermaster tour at Anheuser Busch, a tour of Busch stadium, and going to the St. Louis science center. Those are just the big things we have planned. Of course we'll be checking out the nightlife and doing some shopping!!

That is about all that's been going on. Oh, and my excuse for not posting more often is that I've been on pain meds and quite honestly didn't feel up to typing away until today. I usually blog at work actually but the last couple of nights have been really busy so I've not had the time. I'm kinda glad works picked up tho. We're getting new patients in again which is nice. I enjoy the slow times but when we're busy the hours of the day go by soooo much faster!
OK, I'm off to church now, then hopefully I'll be able to catch a nap after and then work! Luckily Mike is smoking a bunch of meat today including deer, chicken, a turkey, and pork loin using apple, pear and pecan wood...so I'll be looking forward to sum yummy meals this week!! Good day to you all!

Peace and Love
kristen

Day 4

2012-01-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Smoking cessation timeline – the health benefits over time

In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you don’t cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack in similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.

*Information from www.highlighthealth.com

2012

2012-01-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well well well Dear Constant Reader...here we are welcoming ourselves to yet another year by the grace of God. This year should certiantly prove to be interesting with the coming election, the prediction of our worlds end, and Lions defensive tackle Suh pulling his stunts. We had a very much needed relaxing and well, liquefied New Years weekend in Germantown/Memphis TN. It was great. I'll not go into many details but lets just say I drank more in the past two days than I did in all of 2011. What happens/happened in Memphis will stay in Memphis. I will say this however; I laughed so much and so hard that I have officially pulled a muscle in my side/stomach. Not that I'm complaining though as so far this year has proved to be packed with laughs already despite me still having this nagging cough. I haven't had sugar or a smoke since Dec. 30th, we had all the "good luck" foods for New Years Day, and got to celebrate with friends and family last night and today before work. So now it's back to the grindstone. I plan to pack this year with as much adventure as possible, with a trip to Nashville already planned in three weeks, book club meetings (speaking of which I need to clear my reading list on the blog from 2011 and start over), and who knows maybe this year we'll even make it out to Vegas for my 30th birthday...although another cruise...perhaps to the Bahamas this time...sounds even better! My meditations are going well still, always insightful, I'm learning more and more about myself each day just from really listening to me for a change. I've found that's something we (or at least I) have taken for granted. We worry so much about what others think of us or think we should do. Well, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, I love myself more than any person on this earth. We all should. So to each of you I say this: Love yourself without boundaries, experience all that you possibly can, take nothing for granted, dream well beyond your realistic realm, and learn everything you can get your hands on. We've got one life to live.....and I know I for one am gonna it one helluva run for it's money.

Peace and love,
Kristen

New Year Intentions

2011-12-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

Today I would like to share with you all my Intentions for the New Year. I'll not be doing resolutions this year because they always fail. So I've decided to list my intentions in that they are not things in which I will be sad if I fail in. I love myself too much to put myself in a predicament to let myself down. The prayer and meditation of the month of December was very good at getting me back into myself. Love of self is often looked down upon. But dare I ask you, if you do not love your self, how can you know how to love others. This goes for any context. We must first work on ourselves before we can be of any assistance to those around us and cater to those relationships of varying levels in our lives. I have finally came to enlightenment on this issue. So now, with that being said...onto my 2012 intentions! Hope you enjoy as there are quite a few! I'll of course be updating through the year as I accomplish my goals. Much Peace and Love.

1. Stop smoking for once and all. I plan to have my last cigarette tonight at midnight rather than start on the traditional New Years Eve night.
2. To follow Dr. Chopra's book Perfect Weight
3. To read a minimum of twice as many books as I did last year
4. To meditate for at least 10 mins every morning before getting out of bed
5. Stretch more often
6. Volunteer more often
7. Obtain my certification in Pain Medication Management for work
8. Blog a little more often with more interesting content
9. Share my knowledge of meditation and peaceful living
10. Share my gift of encouragement with everyone
11. Study more on ayurvedic medicine

With any luck I'll accomplish all these and more but if not, oh well, it's just life. We're here for a limited amount of time and I plan to live it to the fullest. I wish each and everyone of you a very safe and happy New Year. May you all be blessed in abundance and achieve all you strive for. Peace and Love.
~Kristen

Exploration

2011-12-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better in this world than to go out exploring. Getting in the car and driving to an unknown destination. Turning this way and that with no expectations. Freedom. If there is one thing I've learned about myself so far in life it is that I am a freespirit. I can not be caged. I'm lucky to have a husband who understands this and gives me a little rope...lol. So the whole point of this is that we of course are leaving for Memphis Saturday for New Years Eve. Even though I'm really looking foward to the music, BBQ, people, positive energy of all those people and gettin the heck out of town. More so I'm really really looking foward to the car ride wtih Slim. We have the best time in the car together. I love stopping to take pics of crazy stuff and taking the backroads. Nothing compares. Just 2 days to go and we get the heck out of doge for a min.!! I am soooo ready. We've not had a vactiaon since our wedding/honeymoon back in April so its long overdue!!

Extra Extra Read All About It!!!!!!!

2011-12-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

I was out taking a break tonight at work and ran into a few co-workers from my old nursing unit where I used to work with Mike. For those of you who do not know, I had applied for a job on that unit since our nursing ACN (the manager of all the nurse managers) had retired and the replacement wants me to stay in nursing service and not go to Mental Health. This of course means I'll be working with my husband again! Hooray!!!! So I haven't heard anything about an interview or whether or not I'm getting the job but while talking to those co-workers a bit ago, Cindy, (who does scheduling on that unit) asked me if I'd mind having every weekend off with Mike. "Hell Yes..I'd LOVE to" I replied!! But then I had to tell her I hadn't heard anything about me getting the job yet. She then told me that the nurse manager had come to her and asked if she could find me a spot on the evening shift with Mike on the schedule! So she was needing to know if I would work Monday through Friday!!!! I. AM. SO. EXCITED.!!!!!! First of all to be working with my husband again. We work so well together and after having worked together for 3 years I know we go good together well at work and home simultaneously. Then I get to be working back on my old unit with all my beloved co-workers that I have worked with since the day I became a nurse, and to top it off having EVERY weekend off!!!!!! I'm so super stoked. Now, of course I still haven't heard officially and this is the government with all their red tape but this is a super good sign. This indeed makes the Kristen happy!

In other news, we had a wonderful Christmas. It was busy but great to see all the family. We're gearing up for New Years which we'll be spending in Memphis on Beale St. We are leaving this Saturday around noon or so! Besides that, I have nothing to report. Just work as usual. But I did get a new phone today...I got the HTC Vivid which is totally ballin...I've never had a smart phone so I'm super stoked but still trying to figure the dang thing out.

That will be all today. Peace and Love

Christmas

2011-12-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

I love this holiday. Everyone is in such a great mood and spirits are high. Although my tummy is about sick of all the sweets and treats about now. One more day and it will all be over for us. Tomarrow my lil brother and his wife and kids are coming over for breakfast. Our tradition is to make homemade chocolate gravy and biscuits wtih bacon and we're adding eggs and pancakes this year! It will be so nice to get to see my nephews open all thier presents! Today we went to church and had a great time with our church family. We got to wear our pajama's and the kids got to bring their favorite toy which was awesome. I love my laid back cozy church of misfits!! Also tomarrow we are going to Slim's family's house for a light lunch and to exchange gifts then I'm off to visit friends and family of my own whille Sllim has to go to work. I also forsee a bubble bath and long nap in my future! All in all it's been such a great holiday time. I just can't wait for New Years Eve now! For the moment I'm heading down to indulge in our potluck here at work...which has red beans and rice included!!! I'm loving it! Peace and Love to all!

Happy Christmas Eve!!

2011-12-24T16:13:00.001-08:00

Christmas Spirit

2011-12-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

All the grinches are putting a crink in my Christmas Spirit. Bleh.. At least I have Starbucks cinnamon coffee, I hate when my nerves are shot like this. I only want peace and happiness. This is what I get for not meditating the past 3 days. I should really know better!

New Books

2011-12-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

So I finished reading my book club book early it was: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff so I decided to treat myself to a couple new books for the inbetween's. Our next book club meet is Jan. 9th and I've already request and been approved the night off! So anyway, below are the books I've ordered plus my Friend Elizabeth is bringing me The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins! Soo happy. So here's the others:

Why is God Laughing? by Deepak Chopra Seriously c can't wait for this one!!

and

The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra

Wish I could get the pic from the above to show up but for some reason blogger is being a booger. OK, so that will be all for now. Just wanted to share with you all my recommendations for good reads!

Dharma (or my purpose)

2011-12-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

As most of you know I've been taking the Chopra Center's 21 Day Meditation challenge. They are based out of Carlsbad, Ca and employee a diverse group of yogi's and practitioners of vedic medicine and holistic medical approaches.

Yesterdays Primordial Sound Guided Meditation was about Exploring our unique Gifts. The synopsis is as follows:
In today’s meditation we will begin to explore, harness, and cultivate our unique gifts and talents. You can begin by asking yourself, “What is it that I do better than anyone else and how can I use this talent to bring joy to others?”

The Law of Dharma states that EVERY sentient being has a purpose in life – we each have unique abilities and a unique way of expressing these gifts. By using our gifts and talents to serve others and ourselves, we fulfill our dharma and bring more harmony, joy, love, and abundance into the world.

Today we will also enliven the sixth chakra, also known as the Ajna chakra. This chakra is the center of insight and intuition, and it correlates with the Law of Dharma. By putting our attention on Ajna, we awaken the inner voice that guides us to the highest aspects of our nature. The intention in today’s meditation will be to quiet the voices of others so that we can awaken to the voice of our own soul. Turn up the music, turn down the voices, and let’s journey together on a wonderful red carpet dharma ride!

So I was having a hard time determining what exactly my unique God given gift was until today. I received a Christmas card from my friend Elizabeth in which she wrote "...you have the gift of encouragement...". God sure has a unique way of answering questions! Then I was having a conversation with a friend in our church's facebook group and he made me realize that we should appreciate the need and use of our gifts on a daily basis. However, I still can't shake the knowledge that there is something bigger I need to do, something that will make more of an impact on the world. That is what I need to figure out. I kept thinking I was waiting for God to reveal to me my path or my gift, but in a sense, I just needed to learn to use my gift in the ways God intends and in the ways that will help the most people. I love self evolution.

Cirque du Soleil, Haven Hill, and randomness.

2011-12-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

OK so first of all, I'm absolutely in LOVE with Cirque. I guess you could say I'm now a Cirque freak and damn proud. I now have made it my life mission to see everyone of their shows....you can check them all out and see previews at cirquedusoleil.com we saw the Dralion Show of course, as I know I've mentioned a gazillion times, but surely you'll understand it was the most awesomest show I've seen in forever.I really hope to go see the Mystere Show when we go to Las Vegas (hopefully next year). Well, the only thing that comes close was the female illusionist/magician who preformed on our honeymoon Cruise. I wish I cold remember her name..it was Lady something. Oh well, anyway of course Cirque was much more ballin. We were really surprised that all the music was being played live and you could catch glimpses of the musicians throughout the show, as well as the live performers/singers. I won't even begin to try to describe the clowns who were so hilarious we were left with tears in our eyes and a stitch in our side from laughing so much, or the amazing acrobatics that defy what any human should be capable of doing physically, or the eroticism just clear enough for the adults to "get it" from the interpretive dance. I promise my words would come no where close to do them justice. You all should really go check out their website and preview the shows and then GO to all you can!! Slim really didn't think it would be his cup of tea but he was willing to go seeing as how I was as giddy as a 3 year old in the days before hand but he ended up having the time of his life.

OK so now on to some other things, we had went out for Starbucks and to walk around Barnes and Noble a bit before going to the show, then we went "window shopping" for new furniture and ended up standing in line for an hour to get into the show but it was cool cause we got to meet some pretty awesome people, then we also were seated by some cool peeps...I'm so glad my Slims a social butterfly like me in social situations! So anyway, needless to say today my hips and feet were feelin the pain due to the seriously way too cute shoes I bought just to wear to the show. So today I went in for another massage....yes, I'm a massage junkie as well. Ah the benefits of not having kids. Anyway, after the show last night we ventured over to Slims parents to see their Christmas lights and their tree and for some coffee and apple cider. We had a great time with them and Cyndie as always has such a beautiful Christmas tree and wreath's as well. It was almost 1am by the time we got home. Our girls of course had to sniff us up and down for an hour since we had played with Kit and Viv at Cyndie and Roland's (that would be their dogs for those of you who don't know). All in all, it was a great date night and a very much needed one. I have the most amazing husband in the whole world, he is so sweet to me and well, I'm a spoiled brat thanks to him. *wink wink* but I love it.

OK so on to Haven Hill, this is an up and coming band out of the Memphis, TN area and I'm really loving them so I'll post a video and a sound byte if I can get it to work...lets try....
Haven Hill- Carolina Bridge (their newest single)
and my favorite: Switchblade Life (Live at Riverfest in Little Rock, Ar) it takes a sec for the sound to kick in.

Other than that, we got our hotel booked in Germantown, TN at the Hyatt Place for New Years Eve. We plan to take a taxi over to Beale St around 5 or 6 that afternoon and start joining in all the activities and of course watch the guitar drop at midnight. I've read they also have an empty guitar case there and everyone writes down their "blues" from the ending year and place them in the case after which they bury it, which is a pretty awesome tradition! I just can't wait to get out there and here some good music, do a little bar hoppin, drinking and having some good ole Memphis BBQ and of course with Slim and I you just never know who we'll end up talking to or meeting!! We're thinking about going over to Mud Island and perhaps Graceland on New Years day before heading back home, but we'll see how we feel!

So that is life in a nutshell. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone, I've had the most amazing two days off and today was filled with pure laziness but it was much needed. However, I ended up falling asleep from 6pm to 1am so I've been up since 1am and it's now 4 am and I really need to get back to sleep so I can get up in the morning and finish the laundry (which obviously didn't get done today), do my meditation from yesterday and today, and workout. Then be at work at 3:30...Yay

oh yes, and at some point I seriously need to get to Wal-Mart to get some food in the house!! Yikers, and I have to get all the Christmas Presents wrapped. So much to do, running out of time! And I'd really like to see Steph and the kids while they're down from Delaware as well, so gotta try to make time for that. Gotta love the holidays! OK, I'll stop rambling. Bevis and Butthead are callin my name. As always, thanks for reading! Peace and Love.

Quickie...with more to follow...sometime

2011-12-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

So we went to the Cirque show last night, it was the Dralion show and OH. MY. WOW. it was AMAZING!! I went to sleep last night with the smile and heart of a child after their first circus! It was great. I'll post details later but right now I just got home from a 1 hour full body massage and am really looking forward to just sitting here and watching the latest episode of Storm Chasers and also the new episodes of Bevis and Butthead later! So, details later, for now.....it's chillaxin time. Peace and Love!

Yay Holiday!!

2011-12-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

So here's what I've been up to, I don't have long to write a truly interesting blog tonight so I'll just fill you in dear readers on whats been going on in the life and times of me. Here goes:

Finally got Christmas cards sent out! yay!!!
Kinda disappointed that we've only gotten 4 so far this year ourselves. People just ain't doing it as much as they used to but dang it, it is one tradition I'M. NOT. GIVING. UP. EVER.
I'm so stoked to be getting to have a wonderful Christmas breakfast with my family Jeremy, Tiffany, Kenneth,, and Jackson the day after Christmas and see my awesome nephews open their gifts from auntie Kristen and uncle Slim!
We are going to see Dralion presented by Cirque Du Soleil this week at Verizon which will be sooo awesome! I've wanted to see them forever!
That is of course we're going to see Dralion after we have dinner and drinks for an official (very much needed) date night!
The 19th of this month we have plans with the super cool Mitch and Lori Forrest to go looking at Christmas lights in our JimJams while drinking coffee/hot cocoa/baileys!
We found out we have New Years Eve and Day off so we've decided to go to Memphis, TN to celebrate the new year on Beale St! We've invited a few friends so hopefully it will be a group thing but if not, that's super cool too!
Slim got the garage cleaned out yesterday and all the outside Christmas lights put up so all the holiday decor is officially up and working.
I still have to wrap presents and we're not sure when we'll have time to share holiday dinner/lunches with all the family members but we will work something out.
And we got to participate in the lighting of the third Advent candle at church Sunday!! I haven't done that since I was a kid! Slim light the candle while I read the proclamation.

Well, that's all I can think of for now.....I just love this time of year, so many traditions!!! Oh and of course we'll have homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy for Christmas morning. Although I'm kinda sad that we have to work and will be missing the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. That's the only bad thing about working evenings, we miss out on so much church wise and social life wise, but you can't beat the pay and shopping at wal-mart at 1am is sooooooo much better than during the day!

Hope everyone's Holiday is going just as great as ours! God Bless you all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Sloth

2011-12-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Yep thats right, I do not think it's possible to be any more lazy today than I am right now! I'm doin good to lay here and keep my eyes open watchin tv. Haven't even gotten out of bed yet! Oh how wonderful! Although I have to be at work 3:30..which means I have another hour and 15 mins until I actaully have to get out of bed and in the shower for work. But, until then....I'm. not. moving. *smiles*

Busy Day Off- update

2011-12-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

So I have the day off tomarrow by myself and I'm actually not sick (finally). However, I do have alot to do...so indeed, you guessed it, I'm going to bore you all with my plans:

1. Sleep in (at least until 10am.) ---CHECK
2. Go to bank and take care of bills ect. ---CHECK
3. Go to post office to purchace stamps for Christmas Cards---- CHECK
4. Finish addressing said Christmas cards and send them off-----IN PROGRESS
5. Clean the house---CHECK
6. Meditate with some light yoga to follow----CHECK
7. Read my new book for the book club----CHECK, WITH MORE TO COME
8. Go buy groceries---NEXT ON THE AGENDA
9. Cook a gourmet dinner for my wonderful husband ----WILL COMMENCE ABT 11PM
10. And hopefull pop over to my friend Lori's for some imbibing if she is availble! ---WINE DRUNK, FRIEND HAD PLANS, DID EXTRA DRINKING IN HER HONOR!

11. Hopefully squeeze in an hour long massage from my favorite massuse Shela! ---SUPER CHECK!!

As you can tell, I'm really looking foward to it and although theres alot to do, it will all be fun! Our meditation today was focusing on "What do I want" and while I'm still letting my subconscience mull it over, I'm really loving the focus this set of self guided meditations from the Chopra Center has on developing our spiritual self's. As for tonight, my feet are achy and I have a headache so I think after work I'll soak in a tub of Eucaplyptus Epsom salts while reading and let the worries of the day linger away! Peace and love to all.

Who am I? Who are you?

2011-12-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today's guided meditation led me to focus on who we are inside. The us we often don't boast about, the us we try to make submissive so as to not sound so haughty and vain. As we focused on our breathing, we were instructed to repeat "I am ____" continuously filling in the blank with new adjectives and definitions. I found this quite hard at first as I'm not usually one to boast about myself, even if I am the only one I'm boasting to; however, I then realized after the meditation was completed that it is indeed so therapeutic to do so. Often times those around us take us for granted or overlook how amazing we are, simply expecting us to do the good things we do and we often do not get credit for those things. Usually when people make list about themselves it is a list of faults, things they wish to change, or regrets. So with this lingering feeling of pleasantness lingering over me after this mornings meditation I have decided to share those things that went through my mind. Not all are good things, they don't have to be, but the majority are. As I began this meditation I was focusing on the negative as we are so programmed to do but then i was guided to focus on the positive and found, that I indeed am a good person. So here is my list....my "I am___".

I am:
kind, free spirited, open minded, loving, accepting, non-judgemental, understanding, not a gossiper, a sister, a daughter, a lover, an aunt, a mom (to my doggies!), a good friend, compromising (although my husband may disagree..lol), practical, ever changing, evolving, growing, learning, exploring, cheerful, willing to try anything twice, a caregiver, a nurse, part of a community of amazing people, a reader, a hiker, a canoeist, a movie buff, peaceful, a Christian, a sinner, a bitch (at times), a free thinker, an intellectual, a human who makes many mistakes, I am all these things and so many more. But above all else, I am uniquely me, and I love me, and God loves me, and in the end that is all that matters.

I hope this has inspired you to focus on the wonderful parts about yourself rather than the dreary sides. We all have faults, bad days, make mistakes, say the wrong thing, end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and do things we wish we could take back. But we are human and it is that human element that makes us all beautifully wonderful.

Peace and Love.

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

2011-12-07T01:12:00.000-08:00

Synopsis

The events of that small-town summer forever alter David Hayden's view of his family: his self-effacing father, a sheriff who never wears his badge; his clear sighted mother; his uncle, a charming war hero and respected doctor; and the Hayden's lively, statuesque Sioux housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier, whose revelations are at the heart of the story. It is a tale of love and courage, of power abused, and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice.
Personal Review:
I can't help but feel like something was missing. It was a good read and a good account of how small town secrets have lasting effects on everyone involved. I was more than a little dissapointed that the doctor got off so seemingly easy, it left a feeling that justice wasn't served. However, the author did a good job portraying the interrelationships when dealing with something so tragic within a family dynamic. I'd recommed it in end especially for the setting of the scenes, I was really drawn in to the descriptions and scenery of Montana (somewhere I've never been).

Meditation 101

2011-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

OK so I'm willing to admit that I've not been meditating (or praying for that matter) like I'd like to. So I've decided to take the Chopra Center's 21 Day Meditation Challenge. I'm really excited about this as it was a practice I was very adept to for a long time, but then started slacking. So I've found This site to follow along with and although I've missed a part of the December challenge I plan to start In the New Year to follow along. I do plan to work on some of the meditations for this month just for the fun of it though. Meditation really brings alot of peace and contentment in my life so I've got to get back into it. And after all it's free! In the mean time we did get all our inside Christmas decor put up. So that's about all that's been going on in my life. Peace and love!

Snowmen!!

2011-12-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Yes folks, it's Christmastime in the Black household. Well, almost. We still have to put the tree up and get the outside lights up but all of my many many snowmen are out and beaming! I just love looking around my home and seeing all of my cute lil snowmen! We have our stockings hanging on the hearth along with Stormy and Sunny's. It was a little sad as we found the mini stockings we had last year for our hamster Splinter and our Guinea Pig Snickers; both of whom have passed now. We decided to keep their stockings but just not to put them out. They both had good lives, but are dearly missed.

I've been under the weather again (cant' seem to shake this crud) so I'm going to the doc tomorrow but in the meantime I've called into work today and have delved into my latest book entitled Montana 1948 by Larry Watson. It is a story told through a twelve year old voice who witnessed a series of events that would forever change his family. It is the story of the summer of 1948 when the charges of a young Sioux woman forces Davids (the young narrator) father, the Sheriff of their small Montana town, to confront his older brother, a charming war hero and respected doctor. As the small town takes sides , David witness the unraveling of his family brought on by the revelation of a simple truth. I dont' want to give too much away but it is a story of a family torn apart by a bad seed of sorts and how the actions of the ones we love can make us question our love, loyalty, courage and even justice. I'm almost finished with it now, I'll probably finish tonight but oh what a great read.

OK, so I'm kinda boring tonight. Not much else to say really, my wonderful doggies are mothering me cause they know I'm sick and my awesome in-laws are bringing me some medicine to help as well with this rib cracking cough. So I think I'll just end here and take another slurp of NyQuil and wait for my Teslon Pearls to arrive! Peace and Love to all.

Oh and I seriously promise a more provocative post next time....I've been a bit out of my senses here lately. Thank you all for sticking around though!

It's begining to look alot like Christmas

2011-12-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

I'm so ready to put out all of my Christmas decor!! I usually have it out by this time of year but with this sickness putting a damper on my agenda it hasnt' got done. However, I think this weekend we will start working on it. I have to work all weekend but we can always do it before and after work. As most of you know, I collect snowmen and have over a hundred in my collection so far. That number grows every year! I just love the holidays! One of our favorite traditions is to put on our JimJams (as Lori would say) and gather a couple of Thermos's for hot chocolate/coffee/Baileys and pile up in the car to go look at Christmas lights while we listen to Harry Connick Jr. and other artist sing all the traditional carols. It's sooo nice! Then of course theres always chocolate gravy and homemade biscuits for breakfast on Christmas morning! I just love all the traditions that make it something special. So with all hope I'll be posting some pics of this holiday's decor. Oh and I got my first Christmas card in the mail today!!! I love getting Christmas cards! I've got all mine ready to go just have to get stamps on them. I sent out close to 100 every year. It's just such a nice token of thought. Well, that will be all for tonight. Peace and Love.

Accidental Revolution

2011-11-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

I'm currently ~~reading~~ trying to read Accidental Revolution by Kyle Anderson. It is the 'Story of Grunge'. I've always been a fan of the 90's grunge scene as those were my prime teenage rebellion years. However, I'm having a really hard time getting into this book. I often times really enjoy reading rockography's (if you will) as it's a life I've never lived, nor ever will, and am really quite sure I would not enjoy but for a moment in time. It's still fascinating to read the stories of the bands I grew up listening to. One of my favorites is The Dirt by Motley Crue....that my friends was one heck of a go round! Then of course there was "I'm With the Band" by Pamela Des Barres which chronicled her life and times as a groupie for some of the most influential bands of the eighties. I was really hopeful for Accidental Revolution to be a good read but I'm finding it sketchy and a bit between being overly drawn out and too rushed. Paradox, I know. I'm going to keep at it until my next book club book arrives which I ordered off of Amazon today. But who knows, it may just prove to just the "$2 discount shelf book" I bought. On the other hand I'm really looking forward reading our next book club book called "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff. Synopsis as follows:

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.

And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.

Should be pretty interesting and I really can't wait to get it in, I'll also be re-reading Phineas Gage....an exciting tale of neuroscience. Yes. I. AM. A. NERD.

Survivor

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

I suppose I survived the flu this year. I can only guess that is what it was as I've only ever had the flu one other time and it's been years ago. Of course it being the day before Thanksgiving and Black Friday, no doctors office were open and I wasn't quite ER sick. I had all the symptoms though; rib crackin cough, stuffy yet runny nose, stopped up and achy ears, full body aches, upset stomach, and of course fever...but, I am VERY happy to say that I didn't have a sore throat! *knock on wood*. I was off work Wednesday and when I woke up that morning I didn't even want to get out of bed, I did tho, and tried to function but by the afternoon it had overtaken me. Come Thursday morning, I promptly called into work sick, assuming that of course I had some kind of metamorphosed virus that was slowly eating my organs from the inside out. I didn't get out of bed Thursday. Friday was not much better, still running fever and achy all over, got out of bed for apx 30 mins before saying "the hell with it" and retiring back to my lair. Saturday (yesterday) was quite better. Fever was gone but I was physically drained from being so sick so called into work again and took the day to re-coop from being sick. Actually managed to leave the house for a few mins yesterday to pick up some things from the store. So today I shall return to work! Yay!! I seriously hate being sick! I'm not a good sick person, I teeter between the mentality of - just lock me in my bedroom and let me die- and -please cuddle me cause I feel really bad and therefore selfishly don't care if you get sick-.

So now that that's over, moving on! I've got to work tonight until midnight, then be back at work at 9am for an interview (which I was suppose to have on Wednesday but was too sick to go), then onto another interview in Searcy. After that I shall come home to nap (and review Sarah's Key before heading to my book club meeting in Little Rock at 7pm. I'm super stoked about that! I do have to stop by and purchase a bottle of wine for the meet and I'm hoping the liquor store off of Keihl in Sherwood still has Palo Alto 2008 Chilean Cab Sav on sale...cause as me and my friend Lori found out, it is some seriously GREAT shit!! Until next time..........

Flu?

2011-11-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

I think I got a touch of the flu this year! I've been deathly sick since Wednesday! Finally feeling a bit better today but ended up calling in to work Thurs, Fri, and today. I was scheduled off wed which is when i started feeling crappy. So I spent Thanksgiving with a bottle of NyQuil, Vick's vaporub, nasal spray, and a rudolphesque red nose. OK, so not much to say but I wanted to post something. I'm now tired again, back to sleepy land for a min...hopefully.

der hundertste

2011-11-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Yay, I finally made it to my 100th post! Well, that's not really alot for a wannabe blogger but hey, it's a milestone so I'm celebrating. Celebrating how? Well, seeing as how I'm at work and don't have a whole lot of time I'm going to entertain you with my top 10 favorite quotes. So here goes:

#10

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist” ~George Carlin

“No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.” ~Jack Kerouac

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” ~Robert McCloskey

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~Mark Twain

“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you're letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.” ~Jim Morrison

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers” ~François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)

Buy the ticket, Take the ride" ~Hunter S. Thompson

"Judgement is a mighty big job to take away from God." Kristen Black

And my number one favorite quote of all time:

"The whole world is about three drinks behind." ~Humphrey Bogart

Reading Rainbow

2011-11-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

That was one of my favorite shows as a child on the ever loved PBS! I was looking over my completed reading list for 2011 and just realized that I've not read all that much this year. Of course that is in comparison to what I usually read. I'm going to have to step it up next year! Joining a book club will surely help though and we meet for the first time on Nov. 28th. I'm really looking forward to this! Not really sure what I'm going to read next...life's been so busy this year so I've not had much time for reading. I remember when I was a kid my dad told me that as long as I kept reading books, he'd keep buying them for me...haa haa he had seriously underestimated the cost and number of books I read as a child! I remember my favorite thing to do after school was to sit outside in a lawn chair with my feet propped up and read until there was no light left to read by. It was one of the best things about living in the country. It was so quiet and all I could hear were the sounds of the woods in the evening. Beautiful! Oh how I long for those days again! C'mon retirement!

Isla Passion, Cozumel, Mexico

2011-11-21T19:20:00.001-08:00

We spent the day here on our honeymoon....I'd give my right leg to be there now!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

2011-11-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

That’s exactly what Slim and I heard last night while watching a movie. We hadn’t been able to sleep so we got up, now we know why. We had been up for about 20 minutes or so when we heard what sounded like firecrackers being shot off right outside our living room window. Slim looked outside just in time to see the breaker blow and fire shoot down the line to the house which sits directly behind and to the right of our home. It’s actualy right behind our neighbors house. The house was not occupied as far as we know. The owners had been remodeling the old home every since we had bought our house 2 years ago and had just put on a deck last weekend but hadn’t moved in yet….Thankfully. Even with all the rain we’ve been having it was amazing how quickly the fire caught on. Whithin a few minutes the back quarter of the hosue closest to us was engulfed in flames blocking off the side entrance and within 6-8 minutes the entire back half of the hosue was destroyed. We had called 911 as soon as we realized what was going on and they had a pretty good response time of 12 minutes from the time we called but it all happened so fast. All we could do was stand on our back porch and watch. It really made us think about how quickly a house fire can run amuck and how little time you have to get out of a burning home. Needless to say we will be calling ADT and adding on that fire package today. In the meantime, I’m posting some house fire safety tips and information just to raise awareness. Now that I’m averaging 50 or so hits a day on this blog perhaps it will help someone out there. I know a housefire is something a lot of us just don’t’ think about much. It’s one of those “it always happens to someone else” kind of things.

Home Fire Safety

Get Smart About Home Fire Safety

Home. It's the place where you expect to feel safe. But more fire deaths and injuries occur in the home than in any other place. Don't underestimate the danger of home fire. Get smart about home fire safety and make sure your family is in the know when it comes to house fire dangers.

Fire Safety 101

House fire is sinister. It can start in an instant and consume your home in just minutes. Luckily, there are steps you can take to educate yourself and your family about home fire safety so you are better prepared in an emergency situation.

House Fire Facts – How a House Fire Burns

The first step in family house fire safety is to understand how fire burns and the risks it poses. Only then can you properly protect yourself and your family against home fire.

A home fire – or any fire for that matter - requires three elements, both to ignite and to continue burning:

Heat - Common heat sources include a hot stove burner, a spark from a worn electrical wire or a burning cigarette.

Fuel - Just about everything in your home can fuel a fire — clothing, food, furniture, clutter, paper, plastics and more.

Oxygen - The oxygen in the air around us also fuels a fire.

As a fire burns, the heat it warms nearby items, making it even easier for them to start burning too. The bigger the fire gets, the more quickly it spreads. In less than 30 seconds, a small flame can turn into a major blaze.

Because most people don't realize how quickly a fire grows, they often overestimate their ability to extinguish it – and underestimate the amount of time they need to escape.

Remember, if a home fire starts, the smartest thing you can do for your own safety is to get out and stay out.

Knowing Home Fire Dangers: The Key to House Fire Safety

Poisonous Smoke

Fire creates poisonous smoke. Smoke's poisonous gases spread quickly from where the fire begins and can overwhelm you long before you see any flames. Inhaling these gases can disorient you and slow your reaction time, making escaping the fire more difficult.

Two common deadly gases in any home fire are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen from the blood and carbon dioxide causes people to breathe more quickly and inhale more poisonous gas. Understanding the dangers of smoke inhalation is critical to home fire safety.

Intense Heat

Fire creates intense heat. In the first few minutes of a home fire, room temperature can reach 100ºF at floor level and 600ºF at eye level. This intense heat can cause serious injuries and death. The heat can melt clothing onto skin, causing severe burns. Moreover, breathing this superheated air causes rapid, severe lung damage, and unconsciousness follows in just minutes.

In just five minutes, the room temperature can reach 1100ºF — hot enough to ignite every combustible object in the room simultaneously. This event is called flashover. After flashover, conditions in a burning room deteriorate rapidly, making survival unlikely.

Remember, home fire safety is not something to be taken lightly. A home fire is a dangerous situation – and knowing the house fire facts is critical to your family's safety.

Emotional Trauma

Fire creates emotional trauma. In addition to the physical dangers, fire takes a tremendous emotional toll on people and their families. Losing one's home, treasured possessions and photographs is traumatic. Belongings collected throughout your lifetime or handed down for generations are impossible to replace.

Rebuilding and recovery can be overwhelming. Think about cataloging every item in your home. Now consider doing it without being able to see any of the possessions. Fire victims must recall, record and replace everything they own while coming to terms with the tragedy. They must do this while rebuilding their homes and their lives.

Preparing a home inventory well in advance is a good idea – and may be easier than you think. Learn how to make a home inventory.

Complete a Self-Assessment

You can improve your odds of preventing or escaping a home fire. Try this quick and easy fire risk assessment. You will receive an individualized "score" and customized report card with tips for lowering the risk in your household and improving your ability to escape a fire.

Complete the Fire-Risk Assessment

Detect, Escape and Survive

Keeping Your Loved Ones and Home Protected Against Fire Is All About Planning

The best case scenario is preventing a fire from happening. Unfortunately, fires do happen and when they do, having the right preparations in place can make the difference.

Smoke Alarms

Having enough smoke alarms — and keeping them in working condition — are important fire safety steps you can take to save lives in your home.

96

2011-11-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is my 96th post....only four more till I hit the hundred mark!

Not much to chat about today...I've been working the past two days with my new air/walking boot for my fractured foot and lets just say it's taken some gettin use to! It sure has helped with the pain tho! Before the boot I felt as if someone were stabbing me in the top of my foot every step..now, it's not bad at all! Still working though but on restrictions....I have to take a 10min break every 50mins, cant stand on my feet for longer than 30mins at one time, and have to keep my leg propped up while sitting. Pretty sweet deal! When works not hectic (which is rare) I actually have permission to kick back with my foot propped up at the nurses station! Although those of you who know me well know damn well I'm non-compliant (what nurse isn't) and end up overdoing it regardless. I just can't sit here and watch my co-workers run their butts off, I have to get up and help...it's a moral thing. Anyway, I did draw a cutsie flower on my boot and put some OU stickers on it. A few of my patients have wanted to sign it which is cool but I didn't think it a good idea due to all the HIPPA crap....you just never know how far something so simple will be taken when you work for the federal government. Oh and of course I now have been given the nickname "Bigfoot" by my patients as well...God love em! So, that's about all I have for tonight. I get off at midnight and have to rush home and try to get some sleep cause I have to be at the hospital tomorrow at 9am for a bone scan which can take 3-5 hours so I'll end up having to come straight to work after that.....um....yea...I foresee alot of coffee in my future! But at least I'm off work this weekend with my awesome husband and we're having Thanksgiving with his family at our home for the first time which will be a blast!!! Bring on the Turkey and Watergate!!!!

The End.

Morality without Religion?

2011-11-16T21:34:00.000-08:00

I posted this question in my Metaphysics group on facebook today and was fascinated by the responses, thought I'd share the conversation. This is one of my favorite things about facebook, a gathering of ideals and responses in which we can debate respectfully and learn from each other. Perfection indeed.

Here's the question I posted:
Here's a question: Would morality exist without religion? At what point would we say the hell with it and run around annihilating one another without the notion of sin=punishment?

And the responses:

From a brilliant man from Australia:
Ha, I plan to become a Professor of Philosophy at Sydney Uni, and my thesis question is going to be about whether we invented morals because immoral activity was wiping out our species, therefore laws were implemented to dissuade these activities so we could continue to flourish, or are morals and ethics innate? I haven't refined the exact question yet, but that's a rough copy.

Second comment which I really enjoyed:
Evidence and theory suggests that it would - see the idea of "survival of the nicest". Beyond that, there are some benefits to behaving altruistically, even if it is for selfish reasons: at some point we would start isolating those who act selfishly and cannot be trusted. I am using selfishness as an example of immorality.

Morality allows for co-operation, through trust. Co-operation is good, at the least it is as good as not co-operating...

The fact that most animals are not cannibals is proof of the benefits of co-operation and "morality".

Third response:
Moral is not the only way to guide your acts, ethics is another. Morals has a lot of inputs from the parts of religion which were used for social programming. Morals are not universal, but cultural. Ethics are universal, and the study of ethics, and conflicts of ethics in a decision process can be mathematical. Ethics uses inputs from metaphysics, philosophy ans science.

Fourth:
Weighting ethics on a mathematical scale opens the door on what the measuring stick is, who decides it, and whether it is an individual dilemma or a social one. I don't see how you could empirically prove that a certain ethos is right, even if you do hark back to utilitarianism.

Fifth:
I also recall reading an article in the New Scientist about a study that showed happier people were more selfish than depressed people, using money as a measure of the generosity of both. I'll have to look it up, it's very interesting.

Sixth:
Indeed morals have a tendency state for good what is good and what is bad in a dogmatic way, whereas ethics recognizes the complexity relativity of the world. So you are right, a given ethos cannot be proven right, and it's what makes ethics more universal. Meta-ethics is maybe what you should look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-ethics

Seventh:
Very interesting, but not surprising. Morals are essentially rules on how to "play the game of life". Since the end goal of the game is happiness, from a hedonistic perspective, and playing a game with less rules than opponents leads to higher likelihood of winning... the more immoral you are the better your chances at being happy all else equal.

This only applies if some level of morality is upheld - and this will continue to hold true because morality is an evolved efficiency!

Eighth:
Fascinating Lai! I'm reading Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" at the moment. While not exactly light-reading, he does form some strong arguments about a prior knowledge, but I think the idea of God as a prior knowledge may be scrutinised in a relativistic way. For example, the man next to me may be smarter, taller, be more intelligent, eg. a better version of me, then the man next to him may be even better, and so on, until by inductive reasoning you come to the idea of a version of you without flaws, ie. God. I ask you to please not pound me too hard on my ideas, as I'm a relatively soft-hitter in the world of philosophy, but any constructive criticism is welcome.
Musa, further to your hedonist and immoral parallel, on a psychological level, hedonists usually never actually realise their ideal happiness, but one can act immoral to try and win the game, but be happy afterwards. I suppose getting bogged down in the psychology of it does take away from the philosophical aspect, which is our goal.

I really wanted to share this with you all, It's so nice to have these conversations...it's what I live for!

It's Fiona Apple DAy!! My two fav songs!

2011-11-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

Time Machine...Please

2011-11-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

So while thinking of what to write exactly in this post today I Googled just what I had on my mind. So I typed in " what do you call a person who can't make decisions". Google's first result: "Pathetic".

You see, I currently work on a nursing unit in which I'm not very fulfilled. After graduating nursing school I started working at the Central Arkansas Veterans Health care Administration. I worked, in the beginning, on a unit which was a diverse variety of nursing care. We had lots of patients with gnarly wounds (which I love working with), lots of different infectious diseases, acutely sick patients and then those who were simply there for some IV treatments for infections. I loved it. I worked with very skilled nurses who knew their way around and taught me a great many things. After three years on said unit I married my wonderful husband who also happened to be my co-worker. Thus one of us had to leave the unit as it is policy that we could not work on the same unit. My Slim (said husband) had been working on that same unit for 10 years so I only thought it fair for me to leave. So I applied for a physical rehab unit and got the job. I really love the patients on the unit. It's so wonderful to see our veterans coming in unable to walk and do for themselves only to leave smiling and walking out of the hospital and I am honored to be apart of that. However, I feel I'm loosing my acute care nursing skills, I feel something is lacking, and I honestly feel like my fellow nurses are too lackadaisical in their nursing care. Fore example..I was taking a blood pressure on a patient a few weeks ago while a fellow nurse was caring for him, his blood pressure was 89/48. I said out loud.."wow, well, someones not getting any blood pressure meds" and commenced to having him drink alot of fluids to help get his pressure back up after reporting to the team leader that night. This nurse who was in the room actually looked at me and the blood pressure reading and said "oh...is that bad, what's it suppose to be?". I was flabbergasted. I wanted to scream "are you freaking kidding me, you've been a nurse for 40 years!!???". I just kept my mouth shut. This mind you is only one occurrence of many, and I mean many that have happened that have led to my utter distrust in my co-workers ability to provide adequate nursing care. Not to mention all the drama and gossip they keep stirred up, of which i cannot stand. So I end up going in every day, fighting to keep my mouth shut, my head down, do my job and get the hell out of there. It's sad. I'm unhappy. So onto the point at hand. I have an interview on an acute psych unit Wednesday. I'm just so unsure if that's something I really want to do. I've always had a fascination with mental health however am logical enough to realize that having a fascination and working in such a field are two VERY different things. I keep going back and forth as to whether or not I should even go to the interview. I guess it couldnt' hurt. Perhaps I should pray about it and leave it in God's hands but lets face facts...I'm too much of a control freak for that. I guess as Google said in the beginning....I'm pathetic. lol. I just wish I knew what it was like on a day to day basis on that unit. For some reason Into the Into the Great Wide Open comes to mind.

2011-11-13T20:40:00.001-08:00

I am sleepy. That will be all.

Thanksgiving Decor

2011-11-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well, as I've mentioned before this will be the first year we host Thanksgiving at our house for the Black family. So of course I had to go buy a few decorations. Here's a sneak peak:

A day in the life of...well...me

2011-11-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

This will be updated periodically throughout the day.
Woke up at 5:30am ...bleh. Not so happy about this but after going to bed so early what can I expect.
Laid in bed until 7am until I just couldn't take it anymore, put the dogs out, and commenced to cleaning my master bedroom/bathroom. I even washed the shower curtain. The whole bedroom smells so great now, a mix between bleach, Windex, freebrez, and swifter solution. I'm pretty much confined to the bedroom right now as Mike passed out on the couch last night so I'm letting him sleep. I've stripped the bed and am doing laundry so I'm vegging on the unmade bed watching music videos. This makes me feel like I'm 16 again on a lazy Saturday. however, after Mike wakes up I must clean the rest of the house which I promise not to go into so much detail about, and then head off to work at 2pm. That should be fun. This will hopefully not prove to be as boring as a day as I dread it may be....I'll keep ya posted.
Oh and yes, I must remember to go by Barnes and Noble before work to pick up the book I need to have read by the 28th for the book club meeting. I'm pushing it there!!!

It's now 10am. I have the rest of the house finished despite the fact that my wonderful husband still sleeps on the couch. Well, I've got everything done except for vacuuming and moping in the living room and kitchen/dining room. I did manage to put up the dishes from the dishwasher without clinging them together and waking him up..that's skill y'all...just sayin. Think I'm going to kick back for a bit and take a break until he wakes up then knock the rest of it out. As much as I love a clean house...dusting kills me. My eyes are beat red right now, my sinues are draining, I sound like a 85 yr old man clearing his throat every 5 seconds and I scared the shit out of my dog a bit ago when I let out what was seriously the BIGGEST LOUDEST sneeze in history of all sneezes. I pretty sure I spewed sneeze gunk half a mile. TMI? yes, but I'm a nurse and that kind of talk is completely normal in my world. Get over it.

11am
house completely clean..with the exception of getting the laundry finished but I've gotta take a shower and prefer a hot one so got to prolong the use of the washer. I should really shave my legs today. It's been a min. It just really feels great to be so productive today! I'm so glad winter weather is here as well, it's so nice to sit with a warm cup of coffee and the fire place going with the fall decor through the house, husband...still sleeping soundly on the couch..dogs napping in the floor, and me watching Black Sheep cause I've always had a thing for Chris Farley. I should really take a nap today but not so sure that's going to happen. it's gonna be a long night at work tho if I don't.

6:38pm
Works been incredibly busy tonight! I wolfed down my salad in what seemed like 45 seconds. I did make it to Barnes and Noble to purchase the book I need for the book for the book club and am already two chapters in (which was read just before report at work). At least the night is going by pretty fast I must say! I just can't wait for midnight to get here. Despite the coffee I had this am and my unsweet tea from sonic I've been slurpin on all afternoon the lack of sleep is getting to me. I did have an epiphany this evening. While driving to the book store I was jamming out to some Sheryl Crow and Ani Defranco and I couldn't help but to think to myself, here I am listening to girl music on my way to a bookstore to get a book for a book club...this is not a life I ever envisioned for myself..although I'm grateful for the peacefulness of it all.
I could really use a nap right about now.

11pm
Ok so I bailed out of work two hours early due to a really gnarly headache. I had taken all the headache meds I had with me and nothing was helping so luckily I had been passing pills all night and was finished with everyone so I got to come home. Head still hurts but not to matter, I'm ready for my warm cozy bed. It was a busy night at work, I'm glad it's over. Hopefully I can get a good nights rest and get rid of this headache to go enjoy sum good ole church time tomorrow. So as I said in the beginning...it did prove to be a pretty standard boring day in my life. But hey, not everyday can be full of adventure and excitement. As for me now, it's off to a hot shower and bed! Oh and if you combine my other blog The Dark Side....I've finally gotten to 100 post today! That's something to brag about! lol. peace and love.

Success (so far)

2011-11-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of myself for keeping up with NaBloPoMo on my blog!!! Even though I kind of cheated last night by simply posting some pics at the last min due to having nothing to write about. Tonight will simply be just an update of recent goings on in the life and times of Kristen. So here goes.

1. I've joined a book club. I'm really excited about this! Our first book is titled Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay and we'll be meeting on Nov. 28th for dinner and wine and to watch the movie based on the book afterward. I'm so excited about this!

2. I've actually given up sodas for a few days now and have been living on unsweet tea! Its' soooo yummy and my super awesome BUN coffee maker makes a fresh pot of tea in under 3 mins!

3. I'm organizing a girls movie night this Friday the 11th in which we'll be watching Crazy Stupid Love with Steve Carell and having drinks and popcorn and chips and dip! So I'm super stoked about that.

4. I'm really looking forward to the prospect of going to see Cirque du Soleil which is coming to Little Rock Dec. 13th and 14th.....if only I can get off those days for us to go! If not, I may have to call in as this is such a rare opportunity!

5. We will be having our first ever Black family Thanksgiving dinner at our home this year! So I got to go buy decor for the holiday. I always do Halloween and Christmas so big that Thanksgiving usually gets left in the dark but not this year!!

That's about all I can think of at the moment so I'll end there for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something a tad more interesting for you, if time allows but I'm determined to post every day this month for NaBloPoMo even if it's something rather dull at times. Peace and Love to all.

2011-11-08T21:08:00.001-08:00

Family Photos

Super Awsome day!!

2011-11-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Slim and I decided to go visit the traveling museum of The Nina and The Pinta today. We started our day off with a great lunch at Olive Garden, then it was off to history! It was the last day for the replicated ships to be docked at Little Rock. We were really surprised at how tiny they were!!!
The ship you see first is the Pinta, the one behind was the Nina.
The stats for the Nina are:

Deck length - 65', Beam - 18', Draft - 7'
Tonnage - 75, Sail Area - 1919 sq ft

The Pinta
Deck length - 85', Beam - 23', Draft - 7.5'
Tonnage - 101, Sail Area - 3800 sq ft

They were both super cool, it's amazing to believe that they were so small. We had road the trolley downtown to the Old Statehouse and walked down to the ships. Afterward we wandered our way around to Redbone's Downtown. There we met an awesome bartender, had some good converstation and some really great drinks!!! This is where we enjoyed The Rocket Shot! This tasted just like the old school rocket pops we had as kids! They were soooooooo good!! Needless to say we needed to walk it off so we walked back across to the north side of the river where we had parked.

After coming home and taking a languorous nap we rented the movie Bad Teacher.....it was soooo bad ass!!! Hillarious!!! So, now we're just chillaxin and I'm thinking about talking him into going to see Paranormal Activity 3, but haven't decided if I really want to get out again...hmmm....we'll see! What a great day indeed!!! I've not laughed so much in forever! I love my bestie Slim!

Oh and in case your wandering what happened to the Santa Maria, it was not included in the floating museum because the ship never made it back to Spain, it ran aground in Haiti and fell apart. You can find more information about the ships at TheNina.com.

NaBloPoMo- 11/6/11

2011-11-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

Stare at the sky for awhile, fly in your mind to any place you want to be. For me, it's Ireland. That will be all tonight. It's been a long busy day and I am too exhausted to think of anything to blog but I do want to keep up with NaBloPoMo! So there it is. Peace and Love.

NaBloPoMo- 11-5-11- Saturdays!

2011-11-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Oh Saturday, a treasured day among us all! Saturday is the seventh day of the week on many calenders and in conventions that consider the week as beginning on Sunday, or the sixth day of the week according to international ISO 8601 which was first published in 1988. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday

The Latin name for Saturday is dies Saturni or Saturn's Day. It was named before the 2nd century for the planet Saturn which controlled the first hour of that day according to Vettis Valens. The classifications of weekday dates to the Hellenistic period, also known as the weekday heptagram. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries, the Roman Empire originally had an eight day week which was replace during that time with the seven-day week. The association of the weekdays with the respective deities is indirect, the days were named for the planets, which were in turn named for the dietes of the times.

In Scandinavia Saturday is also know as "bath-day" derived from the word laugr/laug which means bath. This is the result of bathing practices by the Vikings on Saturdays. One can only hope they did not only bathe one day per week, then again history teaches us that this was indeed standard practice. It wasn't until later in our history storyline that due to hygiene issues that multi weekly/daily bathing became standard. (ewww).

Info from Wikipedia:

-Saturday is indeed a weekend day in most countries as here in the U.S.

-In Nepal, Saturday is the last day of the week and is the only official weekly holiday.

-Saturday is the official day of rest in Israel, on which all governmental offices are closed as well as most businesses including public transportation.

-Australians usually hold most elections on Saturday and it is the only day in New Zealand on which elections can be held. It is also the preferred day of the week for elections in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

-Saturday morning television holds a special block for children's program's...unless of course your a CBS Sunday Morning person like myself!

-Most clubs, bars, and restaurants are open later on Saturday than other nights of the week thus "Saturday Night" has come to imply the party scene and has lent its name to films such as Saturday Night Fever and Uptown Saturday Night.

-And who can forget SNL (Saturday Night Live)!!

-In folklore, Saturday was the preferred day to hunt vampires, because on that day they were restricted to their coffins. Although I think the producers of True Blood would disagree here.

-The term "Saturday Night Special" coined for any inexpensive handgun came about due to an increased amount of criminal activities that take place on those long Saturday nights.

-Saturday is the only day of the week when children in Sweden are allowed to eat sweets. This tradition was introduced in the 1960's to limit dental caries.

Saturday in Pop Culture

Just to showcase a few examples:

The Saturday Evening Post, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Morning Breakfast cereal, Holy Saturday is the day before Easter, Black Saturday is named after the beginning of a tragic bushfire in Victoria, Australia.

Saturday and Religion

Most Christians are not aware that Saturday is the sabbath day. The Bible tells us clearly in Daniel that a persecuting power would change God's laws, which it did- the Seventh Day Sabbath became the first day sabbath without God's approval. The book of Daniel also refers to their change of God's law by the Antichrist power as reaching to the host of heaven and trampling the heavenly sanctuary under foot.

Hebrews 10:26-29 Teaches- "For if we sin WILFULLY, after that we have received the knowledge of the taught, there remain NO more sacrifice for sins, ...He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worth, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith there was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

This passage warns us that there remains no sacrifice to cover wilful sin and to continue in wilful sin is to trample the Son of God under foot and to treat Christ's work on the cross as an unholy thing despite being under grace. The change to the Sabbath day came about over hundreds of years and by the death of millions of Christians. This is another fact that most Christians are unaware of.

But most of all.....

All this history can seem a bit much, even mind boggling considering the last paragraph, but lets just get to the basics of a good ole American Saturday (at least the ones we have off work if you work weekends). Saturdays are typically filled with bliss. Sleeping in late, lackadaisical breakfast's while preparing food for the many awesome football games to come, picking flowers in the spring, hitting the lake in the summer, hot dogs and weenie roast, cold beer or warm wine, spending time with family and friends, lounging around reading a good book, vegging in front of the good ole television, casino trips, road trips, not having to get out of your pajamas all day, the smell of a good pot of chili wafting through the house, trips to the dog park, or standard park if you have kiddos, cookouts, BBQ's, fireworks, all those good ole classic American things we treasure so much. So in closing, I'd like to say...despite the fact that I work most of them...Saturdays are indeed my most wonderful days of the weeks. Have a great Saturday everyone.

NaBloPoMo- 11/4/11

2011-11-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Friday, November 4, 2011
When you are writing, do you prefer to use a pen or a computer?

I prefer a computer, specifically my laptop as it is set perfectly to my satisfaction. I like using a computer to find new words to describe things, look up facts/stats and honestly to make myself more interesting. Of course there are those times when a pen and paper are wonderful...like when your in the middle of something or away from computers and a great thought comes across your mind. Back in the day when I wrote regularly my favorite thing was to take a pad and pencil (I love an eraser) and go into the woods and write. So very therapeutic. No matter the benefits of pen and paper I do essentially prefer electronics. I'm spoiled. Besides I can type 70wpm with 98% accuracy whereas I can write legibly for only about two sentences before I get in to big of a hurry to get all the idea down and it gets so sloppy even I can't read it. I'm really wishing some of these prompts were a bit more interesting. Then again, I wish I could make them so...just don't really have the energy this evening.

Correction to yesterdays Post

2011-11-03T08:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, yesterday I posted about a song from the movie Life in a Day...not the song I was thinking of. Honestly my computer was acting up and I couldnt' hear the music so I assumed (hmmm..) that I had the right song but indeed no, so here is the correct song that I was thinking of clicky clicky

NaBloPoMo- 11/3/11

2011-11-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday, November 3, 2011Can you listen to music and write? What song did you hear today?

Yes indeed! I really enjoy listening to music when I write. When I was really young (age 13) I used to sit in my room and listen to Pearl Jam while writing. One poem of which was published. I used to really write a lot and I've kept everything I've ever written in a torn and tattered folder graffitied in only the way a tweeny bopper can graffiti. I still enjoy going back and reading through those early writings when I really had a passion for it. However sad it may be life has jaded me in some ways and one of those ways is that I no long have quite the penchant for it as I used to. I've become a bit more emotionally numb to life in general as most adults do, and lets face it, writing without emotion is as fun as reading an algebra textbook. I heard a new song yesterday that I'd like to bring up. It essentially was the theme song for the movie Life in a Day produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin MacDonald. The song is called We Are One by Skytone. Very awesome. Sticks with you.

NaBloPoMo- 11/2/11

2011-11-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, November 2, 2011If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?

Oh this is quite the easy one! Growing up rather poor and in the south I was routinely accustomed to that good ole southern cooking! Now, one might believe that seeing as how I lived off these foods alot of my life due to their cheapness and easy availability, that I wouldn't wish to have them ever again. Much less as a last meal. However, there's always the comfort level, and it is found in the following foods for me.
-Great Northern Beans (which I'm actually cooking a pot of tonight!)
-Cornbread - not from any package...homemade cooked in an iron skillet with lots of butter!
-Fried crispy Potato's with Old Bay seasoning on them and cooked up with onions!
-Fried cabbage and peppers and onions! (you simply cook the cabbage down in a bit of olive oil in a skillet with bell peppers and onions and lots of S&P)
-And last, dessert!, I'd have Baked Alaska...only because I've never had it and I've been seeing it on that stupid Discover Card commercial here lately and it looks really freaking good.

And of course I'd like to be dining by a nice campfire in the woods with the cicadas and crickets singing in the background as i stared up at the stars. Is that too much?

NaBloPoMo- 11/1/11

2011-11-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I stole this idea from fellow blogger Lori McFarlane over at Scott and Lori, I love reading her blog as she is quite an interesting person and I have a certain love for her girls. anyway, so I went to the NaBloPoMo site and read all bout it. Seeing as how of course this is the 2nd of Nov I'm not off to a good start but I'm officially backdating this post. So lets go back in time and pretend today is yesterday, just for today. For those of you who do not know about NoBloPoMo- it stands for National Blog Posting Month. The site can be found here and it encourages those of us who have been a tad bit lackadaisical about posting to get back in the groove of things. So here's the prompt from Nov. 1st as well as my post. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011What is your favourite part about writing?

I love how cathartic it is for me, to put my words onto paper (wood or electronic) helps me to sort through things and also it honest just makes me feel more apart of the world by sharing my life with others. I thoroughly enjoy reading others blogs especially when they are discussing issues that I am interested in so in a way this helps me to feel relevant in the world that perhaps someone out there will read my words and be encouraged, comforted, humored, or simply waste a little time. I'm not a great writer by any means. I do not use perfect grammar, punctuation, or style but I dont' care. I write whats on my mind and sometimes that comes out in rambling thoughts and phrases. It's just how I am and that's all i can be. Thanks for reading!

Chicago World Fair Murders

2011-10-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween!

I've always had such a fascination with serial killers. It is incomprehensible to me how the mind works and it's correlation with mental health defects. So today I was reading about the infamous H. H. Holmes, classified as America's first documented serial killer. He is said to have killed well over 200 people however he confessed to only 27 of them and was convicted of only four. He was sentenced to death by hanging in 1896 on 4 counts of first degree murder and 6 counts of attempted murder. He was, as most serial killers are, very charismatic and clever, duping many people with his charm. He is most well known for his murders in his "castle" which he built under the guise of a hotel during the time of the Chicago World Fair in 1893. In his hotel of terror all of the "rooms" were blocked from the outside. No windows to further hide his devious behaviour. Gas lines were ran into some rooms so that Holmes could asphyxiate them at any given time. There were over 100 hundred guest rooms along with several "torture chambers" including acid pits, a stretching rack and if you were lucky you would die a quick death for your organs and skeleton to be prepared and sold to universities. Needless to say...this was one wicked bit of evilness. After his conviction but before death Holmes claimed that he was possessed by satan. He hung on the rack for 15 mins twitching before being pronounced dead 20 mins after the trap door had opened. Justice? You can read more about him Here if you like. I simply cant help to have a curiosity as to just how much evil we all have in us that we keep under wraps due to our religious beliefs, convictions, or human compassion in life. Was Holmes possessed? Was he simply a twisted and evil individual? Or simply a man who had nothing to loose and let his true sadistic desires shine through. We'll never know.

2011-10-26T17:38:00.001-07:00

Skunk in our parking lot at work the other night. Poor guy had a yoplait yogurt cup stuck on his head!

Halloween Horror Fest 2011

2011-10-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year other than Christmas. I love skeletons and snowmen and have a wide collection of both. So last night I was indulging in a wonderful Halloween tradition of watching some of my favorite Halloween movies and thought I'd share them with you. Below is a list of my top 25 favorite scary movies...mind you I have a rule..if a movie I watch comes out with sequels or re-makes it's mandatory that I watch it, whether I want to or not. It's another quirky Kristen thing. So I'll not list the sequels but at least you'll know that I have seen them. Seriously every last one. Here goes in no apparent order:
1.Halloween (1978) Directed by John Carpenter
2. Halloween (2007) Directed by Rob Zombie
3. House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
4. Devils Rejects (2005)
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari (1920)
6. Nosferatu (1922)
7. Friday the 13th (1980)
8. The Haunting (1963)
9. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
10. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
11. A Nightmare on Elm St. (1984)
12. Poltergeist (1982)
13. Psycho (1960)
14. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
16. Rosemarys Baby (1968)
17. The Birds (1963)
18. The Shining (1980)
19. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
20. Alien (1971)
21. Jaws (1975)
22. Army of Darkness (1992)
23. The Evil Dead (1981)
24. The Amityville Horror (1979)
25. Session 9 (2001)

Buttprints In The Sand

2011-10-21T14:31:00.003-07:00

Buttprints in the Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some strange prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you along.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."
"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

-- author unknown

Magnesium Sulfate...How I love thee!

2011-10-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

The wonderful facts about my new favorite compound!

· Mag Sulfate is a naturally occurring mineral that is important for a lot of body systems, especially the nerves and muscles in our bodies.

· It can be used as a laxative (not for me! Lol), a facial cleanser, skin exfoliater, hair volumizer, and to help soothe muscle aches while reducing pain and swelling in joints and sprains. It also helps increase water in the intestines.

· Mag Sulfate is commonly called Epsom Salt. This name comes from the town Epsom in Surrey England. The salt is distilled from the springs where the porous chalk of the North Downs meet non-porous London clay.

· Mag Sulfate plays an important role in many bodily functions like electrical impulses, muscle control, energy production, and the elimination of many harmful toxins. It helps regulate over 325 enzymes in the body.

· According to the National Academy of Sciences, Americans magnesium levels have dropped by half in the last century due to changes in agriculture and diet. Our preference for fat, sugar, salt and protein work to speed up the depletion of magnesium in our bodies.

· This defficiency helps to account for high rates of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, arthritis and joint pain, stress-related illnesses, digestive maladies, chronic fatigue among others.

· Mag Sulfate is not so easily absorbed by the digestive tract, but IS easily absorbed through the skin…thus soaking in a bath of Epsom Salt does a lot more for a person than just relieving aches and pains!

· Researchers and physicians suggest the following benefits from proper magnesium and sulfate levels, as listed on the web site of the Epsom Salt Industry Council:

-Improved hear health, prevention of hardening of the arteries, reducing blood clots, and lowering blood pressure.

-Improved ability for the body to use insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.

-Flushed toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body eliminate harmful substances.

-Improved nerve function by electrolyte regulation.

-Relieved stress due to magnesium binding adequate amounts of serotonin in the brain.

-Reduced inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps.

-Improved oxygen use.

-Improved absorption of nutrients.

-Improved formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins.

-Prevention or easing of migraine headaches!!

So what the the world do we have to do to get ALL these benefits of this wonderful element? Take a bath!!!! That’s it! By adding 2 cups of Epsom Salt to your bath water and soaking for at least 12 minutes three times weekly we can reap the benefits of our wonderful friend Magnesium Sulfate! I know I’m down!

Perserverence of life and love through adversity.

2011-10-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

I read this article from The Telegraph...very unique and amazing!

Vietnamese woman Nguyen Thi Phuong now looks like a septugenarian after the rapid aging affliction took hold following an allergic reaction to seafood.

Her sad story began in 2008, when her youthful beauty began to fade over the course of just a few days, leaving her with sagging, wrinkled skin all over her face and body.

Until now she has been forced to wear a mask in public to hide her appearance from prying eyes, but now doctors are attempting to establish what caused her sudden and horrifying aging.

Her husband, carpenter Nguyen Thanh Tuyen says his love for his once beautiful wife has not faded while Phuong, now 26, says her condition has only worsened since she was first struck with the condition.

The couple, from the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, in Vietnam, have agreed to talk to the media for the first time in order to ask for help.

Some have argued that the condition is lipodystrophy - a rare syndrome that causes a layer of fatty tissue beneath the surface of the skin to disintegrate while the skin itself continues to grow at a startling pace.
The syndrome with no cure leaves its victims with loose folds of skin all over their bodies, wrinkled faces and the gaunt features of people decades their senior.
The condition is extremely rare and out of around seven billion people on the planet, only 2,000 are thought to have lipodystrophy.
Displaying photos of a beautiful 21-year-old woman on her wedding day in 2006, Phuong said: "Five years ago, I was rather pretty and not so ugly like this, right?"
Phuong explained she has long been allergic to seafood and that she had suffered a particularly bad reaction in 2008.
She said: "I was really itchy all over my body. I had to scratch even while sleeping."
Phuong said she took some medicine bought at a local pharmacy instead of going to the hospital because her and her husband Tuyen, now 33, were too poor to afford it.
She said: "After one month of taking the drugs, I became less itchy but hives remained on my skin.
"Then I switched to traditional medicine and all the hives disappeared, together with my itching. However, my skin began to sag and fold."
Phuong then took another kind of traditional medicine to treat her rapid-aging skin problem - but to no avail.
The couple do not remember what the medicine was or which pharmacy they got it from.
Phuong said: "We considered that it was our destiny and I quit treatment in 2009. Now I always wear a face mask whenever I go out.
"The skin on my face, chest and belly have folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.
"But the rapid-aging syndrome hasn't affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind."
In 2010, the couple migrated to the southern province of Binh Phuoc's Bu Dop District where they rent a small wooden house.
Tuyen continued to work as a carpenter while Phuong got a job at a cashew-nut processing factory.
Both earn a total of VND3 million - less than £92 a month - which means they cannot afford an examination at a major hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
Tuyen said his wife's disease has not affected his love for her or their relationship.
He said: "I married Phuong when she was a beautiful woman. I have followed her through her disease and have never been shocked at all.
"It's not easy to talk about one's own marital affairs. Just simply understand that I still love her very much."
Phuong said her husband's love is the reason she is able to persevere in the face of adversity.
She said: "He still loves me like before despite the fact that I look old and ugly. With him, I feel more confident to live and work."
On October 2, doctors from Nguyen Dinh Chieu Hospital in Ben Tre Province said they would examine Phuong for free and send her to the HCMC Dermatology Hospital if they failed to diagnose her condition.
Meanwhile, stories about Phuong in the local media have prompted a variety of diagnoses from local doctors. Many of them do not believe that Phuong has lipodystrophy, saying instead that Phuong may be suffering the side effects of too much steroid medication.

Arachnophobia, chronic ankle sprains, and how meditation will help.

2011-10-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been finding quite a few spiders around the house here lately. Despite the use of Ortho Max Home Defense spray inside and out they seem defiant enough to persevere into our humble abode anyway. I looked up on the Internet today and have come to the conclusion that most are simple funnel web spiders; also known as Agelenidae. They are a common grass spider found here in Arkansas and I can say I've certainly seen many of their webs in my flower bed outside. Here's a pic of one of these boogers:

I've killed about 7 or 8 of them in the house in the last week and a half. I always thought they were harmless but I was reading on Wikipedia that their bites can be harmful to humans, although they generally tend to simply run off rather than attack. Then night before last as I was gathering all the Halloween decor from the garage storage room I killed a huge black widow with a very large egg sack on her! Lets just say....*&^*% went DOWN! So needless to say, I'm kinda freaked out about all these varmints around the house as I've always had a fear- not of spiders themselves- but of getting bit by a venomous one! I have been bit twice in my life by venomous spiders and it's not fun!
On to other news, I sprain my ankle again at work...Yay! I'm stuck wearing ankle braces for at least six months now to give me support. However, It has renewed my interest in Mindfulness Meditation. I am now really focusing on every step I take and ensuring that I have proper footing. I had recently gotten far away from meditation and prayer for that matter as I let myself get lazy and had myself believing that I was simply too busy. Blalookie. I have to make the time. So I've re-committed myself and plan to spend at least 30 mins meditating each morning. Hopefully this will also help with the spider infestation (yes I'm being dramatic here) as well...along with some moth balls!!

Life is a highway!

2011-10-06T16:43:00.001-07:00

So finally blogging again. Life has been zipping by at too fast of a pace for me to catch up, or perhaps I’m just too sluggish here lately. I usually have my Halloween décor out this time of year, which hasn’t been done. I should have had all the ghost pops made for Christ Church booth at CabotFest done already, which I do not (and it’s in 2 days.)I feel like I can’t get enough sleep, even though I’m easily getting 8hrs a night. Not restful sleep though. That’s the problem. I’m sleeping but not resting. So that will be enough of the complaining.

So we had a 3 day weekend last weekend and drove up do Norman, OK to watch our Sooners beat the dog poo outta Ball St. Take that David Letterman. Wait, I better hush my mouth, this sat we play the Longhorns and well, lets just keep our fingers crossed! Thankfully it’s a morning game so I’ll be able to catch it before work that afternoon. We stayed in the Sooner Legends Inn and Suites and OMW it was AMAZING. I’m pretty sure they do not make descriptive enough words to use here. It was the ultimate in OU Sooner fan fare all in a hotel. Each room is themed with a past OU champion. We had the Steve Owens room and it was so cool! Aunt Sharon took us out shopping and to this awesome Mexican restaurant Friday nite where I learned that in Oklahoma they serve strawberry margaritas in fishbowls. I properly stumbled outta there after a nice long visit with Sharon, Ryan and Oliva. We had such a good time. The Saturday morning we opened the bar and began our scheduled drinking while catching the first half of the Arkansas game in the hotel bar (poor razorbacks were getting their butts handed to them). Then we went to get ready for lunch with Ross and Andrea and off we went to some tailgating! I ended up with pics of me with 2 of the male cheerleaders, the two OU mascots Boomer and Sooner, the Batonist for OU and 2 band members! It was crazy cool! I had gotten OU shirts, earrings, necklace, bracelet, face sticker, nail tats…the whole nine yards! In case you didn’t know this was my first live OU game so I had to go all out! It was such a blast and I awoke Sunday to find myself hoarse from all the yelling and cheering at the game. We met up with Ross and Andrea and our nephew Ian and niece Kylie Sunday after a few drinks at the bar and enjoyed a brunch at Red Robin (which I’d never ate at before). Then we went over to the Sam Noble museum which had a lot of great exhibits. Slim and I got a chance to tour the campus while we were there and we have decided that we are surely going to have to move to Oklahoma. Oh and of course my husband got his pic took by the Berry Switzer building statue. He was like a kid in a candy store. I can honestly tell you nothing was more exciting about our trip other than seeing my wonderful husband wide eyed and in awe of all his favorite athletes. He looked like a kid who just discovered Christmas. That put a smile on my face. Not too often does a wife get see that childhood giddiness in their spouse and I’m so happy to have witnessed that. We finally arrived home at 10:30 Sunday night and I was at the vet at 7am waiting for my babies as they had been boarded while we were gone. All in all it was a great trip but every since we’ve been playing catch up. We’ll get the ghost done tonight though, put up Halloween stuff tomorrow am, and clean tomorrow night before bed. Then all shall be done and I can enjoy simply working all weekend.

Life is good. Praise God.

A small collection of favorites.

2011-09-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Breathe
Home, home again.
I like to be here when I can.
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire.
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells

Brain Damage
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.

On the Run
Run, run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave.

Helen Chenoweth
A cricket disturbed
the sleeping child; on the porch
a man smoked and smiled.

Sonnet 60 ~William Shakespeare
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

Jeepers Creepers

2011-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

I work in a very old hospital. Fort Roots Hospital originally came about around the late 1800's so it's been here awhile. You can read all about the history HERE if your a history nut like me. So of course there is always the looming question of "is this place haunted?". I have to tell you, as an employee working here during the dark hours of the day I have seen and heard some very strange things. I, at times, go for walks on the ground floor at night. However; I am very cautious as we are also a psych hospital and you never know who is lurking around the corner. The halls on the ground floor seem normal and nice on the front side where every one comes in and out at the front entrance. However, if you keep going around to the back side..you enter a tunnel like environment where there is no ceiling frame hiding all the air vents, wiring, and various pipes lining the sky. When it's dark and quiet around here it can at times be down right scary. I've seen doors open and shut on their own, heard voices in rooms with no-one in them, the ice-maker going off with no-one in the water room, ect. BUT...today, I encountered the strangest thing. I was passing medications to my patients and in an empty room at the end of the hall which I was working, I heard a door open and then after a few mins I heard the toilet flush. At first i thought maybe a disoriented patient or someone whose bathroom was tied up had scurried in there. No big deal. But after waiting for a couple of mins no-one came out. So I went in to see if perhaps the person needed help....the toilet flushed again as I was reaching for the door handle...I opened the door...and I swear I caught the glimpse of not a person but a shadow (not my own). This is officially the freakiest thing that has happened up here. There was no-one in the room at all. And the toilet was not defunct as it has not flushed again since. I did however feel a sense of humor for some reason, as if perhaps it were a ghost laughing that it had scared me with it's antics...who knows. I can't help but smile thinking about it now.

Much Ado About Nothing

2011-09-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

So...um..yes...*shuffles feet* I haven't blogged in a few days. It's been a long weekend. I've been ill for a day or so but doing much better today....kinda. There's really no excuse for my lack of blogging. Honestly I've missed it very much, you see blogging for me is so cathartic. This is pretty much my online diary and you dear friends get to read it all, after all I've always said I'm an open book. Besides, Ive never been much of one to care what mere mortals think of me..heee hee. So what have I been up to? A whole lot of nothing. Work on Friday in which I managed to trip over a wheelchair and fall, busting my tail and apparently landing so hard they heard it at the nurses station 3 rooms down. Um...yes, embarrassing. Luckily not much was damaged other than my pride, thankfully I don't really have any and just laughed the whole thing off. Needless to say I was ok. So anyway, Saturday we went shopping for the ghost pops we're making for our churches CabotFest booth and we worked on those some this weekend. But mostly, I laid around watching TV. ALOT of TV! Caught 4 or 5 football games and while the Hogs blew it, the Sooners tore it up out there with an amazing play from Whaley the new walk on! Then we caught OSU beat aTm, sadly they (Texas) are running to the SEC next year apparently. Wander how that will affect our Red River Rivalry. We watched the movie Bridesmaids, which I had heard from various co-workers was the female version of The Hangover...um..not so much guys. It was "alright funny" but still a sappy chick flick in disguise. If you don't already know I am SOOOO NOT a chick flick kinda girl. I mean come on...I watch Dexter and True Blood..those are my kind of chick flicks...then again what does that say about my mentality? Uh oh. Now, I do have one guilty pleasure which is Kendra...yes, I watch the Kendra show...I know I know, but she's a hoot! Other than that its been alot of The Office and Family Guy. Then it's just back to work again today. If you can't tell, I'm getting really wrestless here. I've never been the type that can just hang out at the house all day. I feel like a caged animal. I always say to Slim...man, I really can't wait till we get a day where we can just kick back and relax but it never fails, as soon as we do I'm jonesin to be out doing something. I feel like I just thrive on having a million and one things going on. Ok, I'm going to shut up now cause I'm actually trying to write this while watching The Office and well, it's a pretty hilarious episode and I'm getting distracted. So there is that.

SNAP Challenge Day 4

2011-09-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

So far so good still! Although I'm starving tonight..forgot to bring something to eat for lunch at work so all I've had today was some Metamucil and carnation instant breakfast...luckily Slim's cooking blueberry pancakes for dinner tonight!! I'm sooo stoked!! I've been praying everyday for all those who do without. Each time I really want something, like a burger, candy bar, whatever it may be, I use that as a reminder to pray for those who have to live like this every day and do not know any other way of life. I am so glad Slim and I decided to do this challenge. It has really taught us just how much we spend on eating out and convience foods. Wasting so much money in the process. We have actually decided to keep the challenge up, with the exception of giving ourselves a few more dollars for food. Instead of the $57 we had to live on this week we are going to up it to maybe $75 next week and see if that might be something we could sustain on from now on. We realized after this challenge that we can be doing and saving so much more, and that's exactly what we intend to do. Well, we only have 2 more days left. Technically I believe we are suppose to keep going through Sunday but we already had plans with Marty and Jo for lunch and have dinner plans with Mitch and Lori so we're calling an end to our SNAP challenge after church Sunday. As for now, I'm ready for bed!! But still an hour and half of work left. :(

SNAP Challenge Day 3

2011-09-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, I"m hungry. Seriously. It's so hard to fight the urge to go just get whatever it is I'm craving or really wanting for dinner/lunch. But then I have to remember there are those who do not even have that option and after all that is why we are doing this in the first place. To walk a mile in someone else's shoes. So today, I've had two apples, a carnation instant breakfast, and for dinner we will be having blueberry pancakes again..no syrup. We totally finished off the Sooner Soup last night...it was even better the second go round. All and all it hasn't really been too bad at all. and only 3 more days to go. We're keepin it up until Sunday after church. In which we are sooooooo goin out for lunch!!!!
Slim did have rice today and it was our first time to cook 'REAL' rice....lol. we had always used the minuite rice stuff but lets just say we have some more practice on gettin the texture just right but it was really way cheaper to buy a bad of long grain rice! It's really gonna be fun cookin our first bag of beans together! We've always used canned!!! it's really kinda exciting!

Pre-marital "get to know us"

2011-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

So I came back across this when looking through our old site that I made for our wedding and thought it was pretty cool so I thought I'd post it here. I know alot of you already have seen this as you were at the wedding but for those we've had the pleasure to meet since our nuptials, here ya go:

Get to know Slim

Slim anwsers 20 random questions.

20 Questions

1.HAVE YOU EVER ATE A CRAYON? Yes, a black one.
2.DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? Yes, OU memorabilia.
3.WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU GOT STOPPED BY A COP? Going home from Kristen's apartment one night last summer.
4.WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? heights
5.IF YOU COULD LIVE ANYWERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD IT BE? Oklahoma
6.WHAT WAS YOUR DREAM JOB AS A CHILD? construction worker
7.IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERTED ISLAND AND COULD ONLY HAVE 3 ITEMS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? food, water, shelter.
8.WHICH IS WORSE? STEPPING IN DOG POO OR SITTING IN GUM? sitting in gum
9.IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Crimson
10.IF YOU WERE GOING TO A REMOTE PLACE AND COULD ONLY BRING ONE CD WITH YOU WHAT WOULD IT BE? George Strait's 50 greatest hits.
11.IF YOU COULD BE ANY ANIMAL WHAT WOULD YOU BE? tiger
12.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? ice tea
13.IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY CAR IN THE WORLD WHAT WOULD IT BE? one that's paid for!
14.IF THERE WAS AN EXTRA HOUR IN THE DAY WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT DOING? hanging out with kristen and the pups.
15.CAN YOU PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT? yes..spoons
16.LIST 2 BAD HABITS YOU HAVE. chewing ice and eating too much good food.
17.WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LIFE HAS TAUGHT YOU? nothing in life is free
18.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL? our home
19.WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? 10/27/1977
20.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE? New Mexico.

and:

Get to know Kristen

Kristen anwsers 20 random questions.

20 Questions

1.HAVE YOU EVER ATE A CRAYON? Yes, I had oral fixation with cerulean as a child.
2.DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? yes, imprinted pennies from those cool machines at various places.
3.WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU GOT STOPPED BY A COP? Slim and I were accosted by the police while hanging out talking at a park after work one night.
4.WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? ants!!
5.IF YOU COULD LIVE ANYWERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD IT BE? Ireland
6.WHAT WAS YOUR DREAM JOB AS A CHILD? Astronaut
7.IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERTED ISLAND AND COULD ONLY HAVE 3 ITEMS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Canoe, paddle, and chapstick!
8.WHICH IS WORSE? STEPPING IN DOG POO OR SITTING IN GUM? sitting in gum
9.IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Cerulean
10.IF YOU WERE GOING TO A REMOTE PLACE AND COULD ONLY BRING ONE CD WITH YOU WHAT WOULD IT BE? The best of Pink Floyd collection
11.IF YOU COULD BE ANY ANIMAL WHAT WOULD YOU BE? Caspian Tiger
12.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? Diet Dr. Pepper with cherry and vanilla from Sonic!
13.IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY CAR IN THE WORLD WHAT WOULD IT BE? 78 chevy el camino (my first car)
14.IF THERE WAS AN EXTRA HOUR IN THE DAY WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT DOING? reading
15.CAN YOU PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT? yes..the Clarinet and jugs
16.LIST 2 BAD HABITS YOU HAVE. Snoring and burping
17.WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LIFE HAS TAUGHT YOU? Just give it some time...
18.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL? cow manure
19.WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? 07/18/1982
20.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE? New Mexico.

If you would like to visit our ole wedding site (which i never did take down and probably never will cause its fun to look back on) just click Right Here

SNAP Challenge Day 2

2011-09-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

We've successfully made it to day two! We had blueberry pancakes this morning with no syrup or anything but the blue berries alone made them really tasty! Then we both brought peanut butter sandwich's for lunch and a couple of apples. Tonight we're gonna have some more Sooner Soup!! Really looking forward to that. I have to say though...I'm starving!!! I never really realized how much I eat. Especially at work. Tonight there was a whole cheesecake, some kind of pastry thing which looked amazing yummy and I resisted all these temptations as the challenge rules are you cannot accept food from any other source other than want you've bought. oh and of course I forgot to add coffee to our budget so I've had no caffeine tonight except for my two diet Pepsi's that I brought. Well, actually Slim packed our lunches in those cute little brown lunch sacks...adorably dorky..I loved it!!
So anyway we have $7.43. We need to add butter, coffee -if possible, cinnamon, and popcorn
so here goes:
butter $2.00
cinnamon $.50
popcorn $1.47 (for 3 pack box)
so that comes to a total of $ 3.97 which leaves me a total of $3.46 for some coffee...I may have to barter something to help out with the cost..I'll see how cheap I can get it. Either way...I'm really proud of how well we've done! It's really not easy going from buying anything you want to being so limited. Already I've had those thought of ok, the heck with this, I want a snickers or a burger from burger king but we're keeping each other on track. Thanks for stopping by! Peace and Love

2011-09-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

Sooner Soup! Smells sooooo good!

oops

2011-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

I just realized that we forgot butter and popcorn (which we already have) but i forgot to price them. I think I live without the butter..even the bluberrie pankcakes i eat with just some sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on...wait, gotta price cinnamon...crap may have to do without that...ok, I got some more planning to do but at least we have a few dollars of our SNAP allowance left to play with!!

SNAP!!!!

2011-09-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, today was our first day on the SNAP challenge prompted by the Arkansas Foodbank. You can find the info Here just scroll down the page a little to find it. As promised I have my grocery list in hand to account for each item we bought today and the items we plan on using that we already had in the house, we got prices for and adjusted out budget accordingly. Here's the list:

-Great Value Wheat Bread:$1.25
-Great Value Long grain rice $1.26
-Ham Beans in a bag with ham flavor packet $2.26
-Martha white cotton country cornbread (2 pkg) $1.56
-Great Value Kidney beans $.66
-Great Value Pinto beans $.66
-Whole kernel sweet corn $.48
-Great Value stewed tomatoes $.68
-can of rotel $.88
-2lbs lean hamburger meat $5.76
-Great Value whole milk $3.87 ( this we will split between two milk jugs and add water therefore making it two jugs of milk instead of one!! )
-3lb bag Gala Apples $3.47
-Great value taco seasoning $.38
-Hidden valley Dry ranch mix #1.42
-Great value blueberry pancake mix $1.57
-Oatmeal (whole wheat) $1.64
-Carnation instant Breakfast $4.96
-small bag potato's $2.77
-peanut butter $1.96
-minestrone soup mix (add water and beef) $3.00
-Self rising flour $1.84
-miracle whip $1.72
-onion 1 med. $.74
-18 pk Diet Pepsi $ 4.98

Bringing us to a total of $49.77
which leaves us with a total of $ 7.43 to use for anything extra we may need!!

Now, we just pray that God gives us the willpower to not over indulge, keep our portions small and make our food stretch for the week. I really think we've done a good job of keeping it all healthy. making sure we have protein, healthy carbs, vegetables and fruit as well as dairy. Let us know your thoughts and if you think this would be possible for your family to do for a week!!

Tonight we'll be having Sooner Soup (Thanks Lori Forrest!!) which I'll post the recipe for below:
Sooner Soup :)
2 lbs. hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can Rotel
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. powdered Ranch dressing mix

Brown hamburger and onion. Drain fat. Combine remaining ingredients, including juices. Cook on medium heat until warm. (I usually add about 1/2 cup water to add more broth)

For breakfast today we had a carnation instant breakfast (they're full of good vitamins and minerals as well as 5 g of protein to help keep ya full! Slim took a peanut butter sandwich to work along with an apple and I'll probably just have another shake seeing as how i feel like donkey butt. But I'm going to make the soup with some homemade biscuits tonight! Off to a good start so far!! Thanks for stopping by!! Peace and Love!

SNAP, a fall cold, and early Christmas joy!

2011-09-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the beginning of the SNAP challenge for us!! We’re sooooo excited about it! Tonight we’re going to get a game plan for shopping for food tomorrow and plan our meals for the week to match our budget. I’ll be posting what we’re eating everyday and the approximate cost of the days food, some days maybe over the $4.09 mark but we will not go over our weekly budge amount. It’s going to be a tough week, but hey, having to eat on so little food maybe we’ll lose some weight as well! Gotta look on the bright side. Plus we’ll be keeping busy making 500 ghost tootsie pops for our church’s Cabot Fest booth this year! We’re sooo excited. I’m really blessed to have a husband who loves to do crafty stuff with me and doesn’t act like it’s too girly for him. My Slim is so super cool. I really enjoy having a church in which we can be so active in, it means so much to really be a part of something and reaching out to people in the community as well. As for now, I’m just ready for this nite to be over with at work, it’s been a long day! I think I may be coming down with whatever sickness has been going around at work or what Slim had last week, just not feeling quite well. Blah…at least maybe I’ll have a rainy day off tomorrow to kick back and nap and sip alka seltzer! I’m really looking forward to October, not just for the OU/Ball st. Game we get to go to in OK but also because I just love Halloween! I love decorating the outside of the house for it and then of course I start Christmas decorating very early! First weekend we have off in November all the Christmas stuff comes out and that includes my massive snowman collection!!! I’m a tad bit obsessed with snowmen mind you. I just love sipping coffee with a little Baileys in it on a cold winter morning in my snowman pajamas with the Christmas tree all lit up, the doggies laid out in the floor and some Harry Connick Jr. singing Christmas carols! And then of course every year for Christmas we have a tradition of putting on our PJ’s, filling up a thermos with hot chocolate and driving around listen to carols while looking at Christmas lights!!! Ok, a little off subject there but as you can tell, that is indeed my FAVORITE time of year!! Well, that’s all folks.

We LOVE a challenge!!

2011-09-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Slim and I are getting really excited about the SNAP challenge! We are coming up with all kinds of ideas for meals and with a combined total of about $57 before taxes, we think we're gonna rock this out!!! We've got alot of great ideas from some of you and we will be putting those recipe's to use! Especially the newly named Sooner Soup thanks to our wonderful friends at the Forrest Compound. lol. We officially start on Monday and the last day will be a week from tomorrow. It's gonna be interesting especially because of the cost of healthy foods. Slim and I were talking about the growing problem of obesity in America and especially among those who are on welfare or food stamps. What we have deduced is that it is indeed cheaper to buy say..a box of Twinkies, rather than a bag of salad and dressing. It's really sad but true. We've been watching what we eat and can tell first hand that when we started dieting our grocery bill skyrocketed in comparison to what it was when we just ate whatever. That's pretty sad, it should be the other way around. But enough of that...I have to work all weekend so will probably not post until we start our challenge Monday. I'll blog about our first shopping experience. Until then, I've got a few task to complete at work and for church and checking out the sale ad's for the local stores so we can make the most of our money for the week! Peace and Love to everyone and have a great weekend!!

Update....update, read all about it!

2011-09-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

My wonderful partner in crime, best friend, Ace Boon, Numero Uno, and husband Slim will be taking the SNAP challange with me. By this point if you don't know what that is just read the last 2-3 blogs before this one. This really helps out as for the two of us will have a combined total of $ 57.02 before taxes to spend on food for the week!! We're coming up with some really creative ideas! I'll of course keep you posted dear bloggity blog blog.

Need some ideas!!

2011-09-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so as you can see from my last post which you can find by clicking Here I will be embarking on a journey in empathy for those who do without or live on much less than we who are more fortunate. This is so NOT going to be easy!!! I'll be going to the grocery store (or stores) depending on what kind of sales I can find in hopes to score the cheapest veggies and stuff to make this not only cheap eating but also healthy! So what I'd like to ask everyone, is to give me some ideas as to what I can buy. I'll have $28.60 for the week to buy groceries with for myself...not sure yet if Slim is participating..lol. I know I can do stuff like a bag of rice and beans, cornmeal for bread or flour but am looking for some interesting ideas on how to do this!! It's going to reallly be a challenge, and I may fail but I am honestly going to do my best. I am however going to spend the $28.60 before taxes on the food as food stamps are tax free so my cost will be a little more after I have to pay taxes on my purchases. So if anyone has any ideas for me please post them here or on facebook! I greatly appreciate any advice/ideas!! And of course if anyone wants to join me in this challenge, well, I'd love that too!! Peace and Love.

Giving Thanks Day 7

2011-09-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to post with focus on my next upcoming project. The Arkansas Foodbank has a challenge starting Sept. 19th throughout the 25 for Hunger Action Month. The Arkansas Foodbank challenges you to live on $4.09 a day for seven days. That’s the average SNAP benefit (formerly known as food stamps) for an individual in Arkansas. Try it for a week, a day, or even just a meal. It’s an exercise in empathy—a call to live in someone Else's shoes for one week. By raising awareness of the barriers to accessing high quality, nutritious food on a food stamp budget, we hope to channel that empathy into action to end hunger in Arkansas.
Here's a bit more info:
• Fill a Plate – Contribute to the Food bank, volunteer at a pantry or soup kitchen, organize a food drive. Consider contributing the amount of cash you saved by spending only $28.60 on food for the week. For every $1 donated, Arkansas Food bank provides enough food for a person to have a full days worth of food.

Here are some other ways you can help out...check out the Arkansas Foodbank Hunger Action Month Calender by clicking HERE to view other opportunities to help support the fight against hunger.

So now we come to today's Thankfulness: I am thankful that I no longer know what it is like to go hungry. There was a time in my life when I never knew if I'd get to eat that day, or sometimes even for a few days. there have been times that I stolen food during the darkest periods in my life. But for the last 10 plus years I haven't had to worry about this, I have been blessed. However, even so, I have forgotten what it feels like to be hungry. In today's society we just eat and eat and eat, everything revolves around food in our lives. Most of us have now idea what it's like to feel hunger pains. I am thankful for this but also know I need to walk a mile in someone Else's shoes so that I never forget what it's like and how important it is to donate to those less fortunate thanks to my abundance of blessings. Peace and Love.

SNAP Hunger Challenge Rules
• Spend no more than $4.09 per day, including beverages.
• Don't use food already on hand unless you deduct the value from your weekly amount. Salt and pepper don't count, but all other seasonings, cooking oils, condiments, snacks and drinks do.
• Don't accept food from family, friends, coworkers and others.
• Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
• Keep track of expenses, food choices, etc. and share your experiences on Arkansas Foodbank blog.

Giving Thanks Day 6

2011-09-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, today has to be short and simple as I've been very busy and well..when I wasnt busy i was napping which is THE one thing in this world I am terrific at!! Anyway, i promise more of a doosey tomarrow but for today, I am thanful for oxygen, good friends, great vino, and my two wonderful ~~doggies~~ children. Peace to all, I'm off to imbibe a bit with a good friend!!! Tally Ho!

Giving Thanks Day 5

2011-09-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Only two more days left in my Giving Thanks series! Not that I won't keep it up on my own, it's just the end of blogging about it. Today I am thankful for a few things:

1. My wonderful friends and family
2. The computer that crashed on me at work last night casuing me to wait over an hour to get it up and running again to do my med pass, I'm thankful for this because I now know how to fix this problem when it arises again. I used to just ask someone else to fix but everyone was really busy so I just took to toolin around with it and figured it out!
3. I am thankful that I my husband snores...well, not really that he snores but that i have an amazing man sleeping next to me every night, even if he does make noises. The dog actually snores louder.
4. I'm thank for waking up this morning, even with a headache because that was my warning sign that my blood pressure was sky high!
5. And last but not least, I am thankful for all the blessings God has bestowed upon me, especially the ability to listen to people from a non-judgemental standpoint and help them through tough situations.

Giving Thanks Day 4

2011-09-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I was going to skip today in lieu of 9/11 but I still think it's important to keep in line with what I'm doing.

Today I give thanks for my wonderful church family. I am so thankful that God lead me to Christ Church knowing I would finally find my home and feel fullfilled for once in life. I am thankful for all my brothers and sisters in Christ there who I honestly feel I can be myself and bear my soul without judgement. There is a mutual love and respect at CC that I have never found anywhere else. I have never felt so full of content and the need to minister to others. Through my experience of being uplifted through Christ Church i have found myself so much more comfortable witnessing to others and helping people. I by no means am perfect, I have my faults...belive me..many many many of them but slow and steady wins the race. Today I am thankful for my unwavering faith.

My 9/11

2011-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

I was in college at PCC/UA in Stuttgart, Ar. I was leaving my first class for the day and had turned the radio to my car on my favoirte station 100.3. I was listening to the Corey and Jay show and they were talking about the first attack. I thought it was a joke at first as they are a morning comedy duo but I wasnt laughing, just waiting for the punchline. After about a mile or so I realized what they were saying was really happening. I drove a few more blocks in a panic to where I had been working at a hotel only to run into the lobby telling my co-workers what had happened when we turned on the tv in time to see the second plane crash into the WTC. We just stood there, like deer caught in headlights, not knowing what to say or do or think or what it all meant or would mean in the coming day. After a couple of hours I drove home and watched the news about it on tv most of the day, calling and checking on my friends and family whenever I could get through on the phone lines. All I can honestly say is I remember confusion, I remember worry, but most of all I will never forget the way I saw my fellow Americans react to one another. Everyone; friend or foe, came together, we loved each one all the same and we stood for something we had all previously taken for granted. I will never forget.

Giving Thanks Part 3

2011-09-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today I give thanks that I was physically able to go volunteer at the Arkansas Foodbank with our church family. I am thankful even though I only got a few hours of sleep last night and had to get up incredibly early I still was able to catch a catnap although right now I am really fighting the urge to scream. There is someone I work with who will just NOT SHUT UP. No one's even listening, she's just talking to herself and I know its the evil lack of sleep Kristen coming out but OMW I've never wanted to yell SHUT UP at someone so bad in my entire life. So therefore I am thankful that I have the ability to keep my mouth shut and simply roll my eyes, not respond and hope this person gets the hint. Oh what a wonderful day...I really am a monster without sleep....any by the way why the hell do people have to be so dang vocal when they yawn? Geezz already. Well, I'm looking foward to tomarrows post. I'll be breaking the week of Giving Thanks series to recount my story of where I was when all hell broke loose 10 years ago. Until then....

Giving Thanks Day 2 In times of Turmoil

2011-09-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today I received a phone call from my estranged mother whom I had recently gotten back in contact with after several years of not speaking. She is having some health problems, and we’re not sure just yet how things may go. Just when I thought life was calming down here we go again. But, this time, I am prepared. Instead of feeling down about the situation I am going to give thanks. So below is a list of the recent negative events in my life and why I am thankful for them- or at the very least the people involved. Keeping in line with my “Giving thanks” Series, here we go:

My dad has liver cancer- I am thankful that it is only in his liver and a transplant should solve the problem. I am also thankful to be able to be by his side as he goes through this in his life and be a positive influence to him to keep his spirits up. He is my superman and always will be. (I’ve been a daddy’s girl since day one.)

My grandma (dads mom) has dementia - this just sucks, but I am very thankful to be able to go over on my days off and help out with her daily activities so that she may remain at home surrounded by family that loves her rather than being thrown into a nursing home with strangers.

My grandpa (moms stepmoms, second husband) committed suicide – I am thankful that for the time I got to spend with him and to know that he is no longer in pain and suffering. Also because it has rekindled a relationship with my step-grandma which had burdened me for a while.

My mom is having respiratory issues, smoke inhalation damage to lungs and eyes, and we’re awaiting the results of the chest x-rays for further details – I am thankful that I have gotten back in contact with her to be there for support for her when very few in her life would be at this point.

God ~~thinks~~ knows I am a boulder in the stream of life – I am thankful for this because as I previously viewed it as a burden I have learned much about myself in the last couple of months and what I am capable of handling and helping people through. God has taught me that He instilled in me a deep rooted sense of love and compassion as well as strength to deal with much more than I ever imagined and I can honestly say it is ONLY through my Lord Jesus Christ that I am able to find the strength to carry on and carry my loved ones when times get hard. Praise be to God.

Giving Thanks

2011-09-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired after reading an article in my Psychology Today magazine which led me to the website Thxthxthx.com. So I am going to start a week long dedication to blog about at least one think I am thankful for that day. Somedays there maybe more than one and who knows maybe I'll continue this further than just one week but I'm aiming for a week to start.

So for today:
Dear body,
While I do not enjoy my achy swoleen ankle, my headache, or the general feeling of maliase I am feeling, i am thankful that today you made me sore enough to call in with my sick hubby so we can enjoy reading our newspaper/magazines while waiting for our homeade chicken and dumplins to cook for dinner tonight. Oh how I long for the chicken n dumplins!! This sick day will not be wasted!

Call the Fire Brigade...Part Deux

2011-09-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, after an amazing weekend with the family I am happy to report that I have officially not had a smoke for 72 hours!! I know I had posted that I was quitting before, however, with recent traumatic family events I fell prey to the addiction once again. Never being able to get past the 12hr mark without one. I am not vain enough to say I am quit now. I know I could easily go back, seriously....very very easily. But, try, try we must. Lets hope the smokless days keep a comin!

And off subject, please say a prayer for all the people in Oklahoma and Texas who have been and are going through the turmoil of mother nature at this time with the wildfires. I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through. Please also pray for our brave firefighters out there combatting the flames.

Next off point topic: my nephews and nieces ROCK!! I had waaaayyyy too much fun this weekend, and even found perhaps one of the most fun couples we've met in a long time to hang with!!

Ok, I'm all done for now.

2011-09-02T23:28:00.001-07:00

Pimpin it on the bed, like she owns the place!!

Focus on the Family

2011-09-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, yes, it's the title of a radio show but I thought it fitting for this post. I really have nothing important to discuss, no scientific discoveries to blab about, no personal crisis or revelations ....thankfully! Life has been peacefully wonderful! Slim and I went hiking monday and had a great time, we cleaned and chilled tuesday, and the last two days we've been preparing for our impending guest! We're so excited to have our family from Oklahoma coming down for the weekend! They will be in Fri evening so when we get off work they'll already be at the house waiting for us! And that means our awsome nephew and niece Ian and Kylie are coming so therefore it is officially PLAYTIME!!!! Saturday will hold a gathering of family for the first OU game of the season with great food as always and of course great drinks! So, pretty much dear blog, you will be still yet neglected until at least monday..and possibly tuesday as I have to get up early monday to go photograph a charming young lady for her senior pics! So I'll miss you blogesphere but I must live life to write about it....till next time....I'll stick to the quickness of facebook where I dont feel the need to ensure such great depth of materail.

Turn Turn Turn

2011-08-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

It was first proclaimed in Ecclesiastes, then The Byrd's sang about it, yes folks, I'm talking about that timeless statement "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven"

Specifically:
A time to weep, and
a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;

Well, today is the time to laugh and dance!! As you all know who read my blog I've been in the weeping and mourning stage for a bit now. Things changed today! After a great service in church I was riding into work with my wonderful ~~partner in crime~~ husband Slim who made me laugh so hard I had tears of happiness rolling down my cheeks. Then I've encountered nothing but happy and joyful people at work with my patients cracking jokes...yes, they got jokes today!! I've laughed more this afternoon than I have in the last month. It feels great! And to top it off, Slim and I are both off tomorrow and going on an adventure!! I"m so excited!!! Thanks be to God, I needed this respite of blissfulness!