Weekend Project

You guys, I painted this nightstand this weekend, and I think it looks so good. It was quite the process, several coats of paint, hammering, sanding, distressing, and then a coat of brown stain stuff, and then touching up. And then, it was done, and it looks awesome.

It's All Over, For Now

I'm done with my first semester of nursing school, and I've never felt so free in my entire life. I thought that once I got through the pre-reqs, nursing school would be a breeze, not so. Nursing school is sort of ridiculous. My weeks were long, my days were long, my classes were long.

Mondays: Up by 4:00, out the door no later than 5:00. Monday was clinical day. That means I was suppose to have valuable, learning experiences in the hospital or nursing home. The most valuable things I learned during my first semester clincials:
1. I will never, ever be able to work at a nursing home.
2. I will never, ever be able to work in a small hospital.

Tuesdays: Physiology, one of the hardest classes I have ever tried to understand. And the tests, the tests. The questions would read something like:

Which of the following would stimulate the release of erythropoietin?
A. Low blood oxygen
B. Increased blood carbon dioxide
C. Decreased blood pressure
D. Pernicious anemia
E. Diabetes Mellitus
F. High blood oxygen
G. Both A and B are correct
H. All of the above
I. Two of the above answers are correct
J. None of the above will stimulate the release of erythropoietin.

(I'm not exaggerating)

Somehow, someway I got a decent grade in the class, and I have never been so happy to be done with a class in my life.

Wednesdays: Even though I didn't have class, I found myself at school every Wednesday but two of them. I would study or I would be testing.

Thursdays: I had physiology, and then I had physiology lab. Physiology lab taught me nothing, literally, nothing. Every Thursday I would wake up totally irritated because I had to go waste countless hours testing the osmolarity of my urine.

Fridays: I had class from 9:00-5:00. Sometimes I had breaks, sometimes I didn't. And in that amount of time I had TWO classes. And Two teachers, one of them, really drove me wild. If you raised your hand to answer a question, and you answered it in a different way than she was looking for, she would make the sound of a buzzer and scream WRONG! By the end of the semester, no one participated in class.

Saturdays: I was at school on Saturday loads, because of these infernal physiology quizzes I had to take at the testing center. Totally stupid.

I'm done though. And I am way happy. Three more semesters and I will be a working RN. I'm thrilled.

And now, I need a job and some projects. I have about 10 yards of fabric for skirts. And a huge quilt that has one block almost done, maybe I'll show you that block soon. And I have a quilt I made in October, its nearly finished.

And I'm really excited about two recent purchases!

Let me tell you some things

I'd like to tell you some things:

1. I went to New York last week and had a great time visiting just the best guy, my brother, Bridger.


This is a ribbon and trim store I spent a good two hours in, I ended up buying three really cool buttons.


One of my favorite destinations was a great candy store, Economy Candy Mart. I love candy.


It was a great time.

In other news, I had a really rough week I'd like to tell you about.

I returned home late Sunday/early Monday. I slept for one hour. I went to clinical. I then went straight to Tacos Nacos, only to find that they had closed while I was away. It was heart wrenching and sickening. Tacos Nacos is my favorite restaurant of all time. What could have possibly happened? I hope and pray that they will reopen really soon. REALLY SOON. I don't know what I'll do without my tacos.

Also on Monday, my brother's dog had explosive diarrhea all over the place.

But really the worst thing, really of the month and the year, is that Tacos Nacos is closed. PLEASE TACOS NACOS, REOPEN. PLEASE.

Spring Photo Shoot

A while back Bridger commented on a photo of Dawn and me, he said something along the lines of "You two make a great photo team." I thought to myself, yeah, we sort of really do. So, I called Matt McFarland and set up a photo shoot for me and my best friend.

I HIGHLY recommend that if you ever need a picture taken, you call Matt McFarland, he really knows what he's doing.

We took a lot of pictures, here are a few of my favorites.

Gmail Tutorial

You guys, I don't know if you know about these features on Gmail, but they are really great.

Feature 1: LABELS

I have this person who sends me loads of forwards and it sort of really drives me out of my mind. So, I created a label its called ANNOYING FORWARDS. And anytime this person sends me an email with "FW:" in it, it gets sent to a file that is overflowing with annoying forwards.

This is what you do:
1. Pinpoint emails that you can't stand


2. Go to the top middle section of Gmail and put the pointer on Labels, click manage labels.






3. Create a new label.


4. Open your email without the fear of being bombarded by obnoxious forwarded messages.




Feature 2: CHOOSE YOUR OWN COLORS

This honestly made my day. Google recently introduced themes for your account. Cool enough. I had a cute little fox or something at the bottom of my screen for a while. Now I have a streamlined bright aqua, orange and white appearance that I just love.

This is what you do:
1. Go to the top of Gmail and put the pointer on Themes.
2. At the bottom is an option that says Choose Your Own Colors




3. Knock yourself out. The options are endless.

Everybody else is doing it

Thank you Elizabeth for writing this great new survey. Cassidy in order to not let you down, I am doing it.

1. What's something new that you like?--Free time. In days past I never really appreciated or realized the potential of my free time. Now that I am in Nursing School I have about 95% of my time taken up doing modules, assessments, quizzes, and other "let's keep these students busy out of their minds," assignments. So, free time is something that I really love these days.

2. What's something new that you despise? --I have begun this new habit where I am certain my alarm clock will not go off in the morning, so I wake up about 40 minutes early on my on each morning. When I wake up on my own, there is no going back.

4. What's something that made you feel terrible?--Getting pink eye late last week. Yes I got pink eye. Luckily I am superb at catching it the moment it starts, so although my eye was a tad bit swollen, it never really went pink.

5. What's a great quote you've come across recently?-- I haven't really come across to many great quotes lately.

6. Who is a great mom? My mom. My mom. My mom. My mom makes me cakes, cookies and pies minus the gluten. My mom goes to Tacos Nacos with me on a regular basis. My mom is a great mom.

7. What is a word you cannot seem to get a hold of?--There is a whole group of words I have been introduced to lately that I can't get a hold of. Example: Percuss.

8. What's something that let you down lately? -- My cat. He has been non-stop biting me since yesterday afternoon.

9. What's something that did not let you down lately?--My ballet students. Especially my 8 year-olds. They totally impressed me this week. And my hair. My hair has been on its best behavior lately. Especially my bangs, I trimmed them and I think they look excellent.

10. Now just list some words you think sound great:--
fancy
plethora
gorgeous
yeah (Me saying, "You understand, yeah?"
thanks
apron
either
brilliant

I can't do homework ALL the time

I got tired of studying physiology today so I whipped this little baby up. I have needed a little bag to put my stethoscope in.

Notice my stethoscope is a really nice color of blue.

If you know any little girls, or people interested in dance

On January 17th, that's a Saturday, C&C Ballet (my place of work) will be holding a dance workshop. From 12:00-12:45 children ages 3-6 can come. They can try jazz, ballet or tap and maybe even hip hop. Then from 12:45-3:00 ages 7 and up are welcome to come try jazz, ballet or hip hop. Its $5 per person. So, if you know any kiddies who want to learn to dance, or they know one kind of dance but want to know more than that, or are thinking maybe they would like to learn to dance, or maybe you want to force them to dance, send them my way. I'll be waiting.

C&C Ballet Academy is located at 10128 South Redwood Road in South Jordan. Near Maxwell Carpets and the South Jordan Post Office.

The Beautiful Dachshund

Is there a cuter puppy?





I made this little shirt for Bridger tonight. It is a sort of going away/late Christmas gift. I originally did it with fabric but I ruined the whole thing and had to start all over. I personally think the stitches look better on a dachshund anyway.

Bridger found the design on wikipedia a while ago. Luckily I printed it right away, the post has been deleted. I wish I could give more credit to the person who designed such a charming little dog.

The Great 2008: Year End List (Part I)

I’ve revamped my list for 2008. I’ve added some categories, I’ve removed some. There are no runners up this year, there are no (s). You know like best idea(s), job(s). I have forced myself to really zero in on the very best and worst of the 2008. This is all for the best.

Best Restaurant (Fast-Casual): Tacos Nacos. Let me first use adjectives only: affordable, quick, delicious, wonderful, friendly, delicious. Now let me string that together for you. This restaurant has the best service in town, awesome Mexican food (especially the tacos and nachos), it’s affordable, it’s quick, it is really good.

Worst Restaurant (Sit down): Ganesh Indian. As noted earlier Indian food is tricky. This place had a cold atmosphere, ridiculously small portions and food that wasn’t anything to shout about. I spent about $12 on two small pieces of chicken and a quarter piece of naan, I’m not kidding.

Best Restaurant (Sit-Down): Royal India. Indian food is a tricky thing. It is usually quite pricey and the amount of food you get is totally unpredictable; sometimes you will get one cube of chicken and a bowl of sauce for $14.95, other times you will get lots of chicken and in a large bowl of sauce for $9.95. Royal India is the King of Indian food. They offer large portions that are not only incredibly delicious, they are affordable. Royal India is a must.

Worst Restaurant (Sit down): Thai Siam. This is honestly the worst Thai food in the state. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I’m quite sure the pad thai is nothing more than a bowl of rice noodles and ketchup. DO NOT GO.

Best Restaurant Overall: Tacos Nacos. It’s just so good. Did I mention that most menu items are gluten free?




Worst Restaurant Overall: Thai Siam. At least the food at Ganesh is edible. I am telling you the food at Thai Siam is not edible.



Best Device: Canon Powershot SD1000. I haven’t really purchased too many devices this year. In fact I am going to go ahead and say I absolutely haven’t. But I got my Canon for my birthday last (2007) December. This is a great camera. Canon really makes a good product. There isn’t one specific feature that makes this device stand out, it just is a shining example of an excellent camera.

Worst Device: Apple wireless keyboard and mouse. I got these late in the year 2007 so I wasn’t aware of their battery sucking nature. And as soon as they suck the batteries away my computer is right on top of telling me at 2:30 in the morning. I wish I had gone with the wired option.



Best Idea: Buying this quilt pattern. It just looks so pretty. I bought loads of fabric, I am talking a box full of gorgeous fabrics. This is going to be good.

Worst Idea: This quilt pattern. Will I ever be able to finish it? I want to, but it is so hard for me to focus on a quilt that will take me ages to complete. I am so good at starting things, I really hope I can finish this one.

Best Cat: For the third year in a row, Bosley David Winegar. Bosley. This animal does something great everyday. And let me tell you, he has learned a lot of words and phrases, examples: “Up!”, “Do you want a treat?”, “Come into the bathroom,” “Are you hungry?”, “Do you want to go outside?”. I feel like he is getting smarter by the day.



Best Dog: Max. Max has had a really good year. He hasn’t had any accidents in my room, and he hasn’t ruined any of my possessions. I feel like that alone makes him dog of the year. He is also really a grateful animal, he loves absolutely any attention or any scrap of food, sweet little thing.



Worst Pet: I love pets. Moderately sized pets. The following do not belong anywhere near a house: mice, rats, hamsters, (rodents in general), birds, snakes, ferrets, spiders, lizards. I think you get the picture. Cats and dogs are the only creatures that should be domesticated.

Best Concert: Neko Case. I didn’t go to many concerts this year. But I imagine that if I had gone to several concerts I would still pick the Neko Case concert. This was a free affair and once again, even if I had paid $45 or even $95 for this show I know it would still be the best concert of the year. Neko Case has an awesome voice and puts on a fantastic show. Let me guide you here to take a peek (thanks Jordan).

Worst Concert: Broke Social Scene. It could have been my impending illness, it could have been the thousands of people smoking at a non-smoking event, it could have been that it just wasn’t a good concert. I didn’t really enjoy myself and I am glad I only paid zero dollars for it.

Best Movie (For Everyone): Wall-E. Another stunning, yes stunning Pixar picture. Wall-E evokes nearly every emotion. That little robot couldn’t be sweeter.

Best Movie (Maybe not for everyone, but for most): Slumdog Millionaire. I loved this film. I loved, loved, loved the little kids in it. I really just loved this movie. Could I be any clearer?



Worst Movie: Indiana Jones. I didn’t expect much, I really didn’t. But I honestly couldn’t believe how dumb this film actually was. I asked Bridger if we could leave the theater several times.

Best Book: Love, Lucy. Some really wonderful people gave this book to me for my birthday (December 2007). This book is a sparkling example of a fabulous autobiography. Lucille Ball, one of my favorite women, is fascinating. Included in the book are some great pictures. I will probably be reading this little number again in the coming year.

The Great 2008: Year End List (Part II)

Best Part: The exact moment I found out I got into nursing school. I got the mail, noticed an envelope from UVU and threw the other mail who knows where. I then proceeded to scream at the top of my lungs. It was a pretty exciting moment. Think of how many gross things I am going to learn about!




Worst Part: Between mid July and November 11. I had a stomachache for about 98% of this time. Plus, I had a whole slew of other symptoms (sleep deprivation sleeping at most 2 hours a night, numbness in my fingers, pain in my bones, headache, numbness in my stomach, on and on and on). I had to have a scope put down my throat, which ended my life goal of not ever being put under. Thank heavens this is behind me.

Best Album: Islands’ Arm’s Way. I love it. When I listen to it I feel like I have been given extra energy. I don’t think a single track goes wrong.

Worst Album: Weezer’s Weezer (Red Album). I didn’t expect anything and I was still disappointed. What an embarrassing piece of work. Honestly, these men need to STOP.

Best Trip: Chicago. Chicago is a charming place. And, it was just my mom and me and we had a pretty good time. Plus, I got to ride on a real train.



Best Gift I received: I Love Lucy THE COMPLETE SERIES. Thank you Bridger. Thank you. I will never need to watch another TV show again. And the package this set comes in is unbelievable.

Best Job: Ballet and tap teacher. This is a great job. I have a lot of really good students.

Worst Job: I have only had my Ballet/Tap teaching job this year and I have loved every second. However if I had to pick a worst moment at my job to my list I would add the following: A young (4 year old) girl taking her tap shoes off and throwing them at me and then proceeding to scream at the tip-top of her lungs; all because she didn’t want to do shuffle ball change. The same young girl running up to me in the middle of practicing the Christmas dance and hitting me in the face over and over and over.

Best Store: J.Crew. I really love J.Crew. I really love the J.Crew outlet too.

Worst Store: Joann Fabric. Oh my. If you want to waste a lot of time go to Joann. You can wait for 40 minutes to get your fabric cut (if you can find some that is decent), then you can wait 40 minutes for the woman who cuts your fabric to figure out her little machine that adds up your total, then you can wait 40 minutes in line to pay. This is all if you can even find anything worth buying.




Best Fashion Industry Idea: Dark Purple.

Worst Fashion Industry Idea: 1980s style clothing. Stupid. The fluorescent colors, the stupid designs, the stupid clothes.

Best City: Chicago. Like I said, it’s a charming place. Lots of rivers and flowers and city-prettiness. A fabulous place. Go there.


Worst City: Draper. I just don’t feel like this city is very well planned. And the kids in my neighborhood always run around in the street while their parents stand on the sidewalk chatting.



Best Candy: Does anyone realize how much I love candy? The best candy I tried this year was Haribo Gold-Bears. I don’t even know what possessed me to try a Haribo Gold-Bear because I thought I hated gummy bears. In fact I think I knew I hated gummy bears. But I love Gold-Bears. They are an honest-to-goodness delicious candy confection.

Worst Candy: Hershey’s Kiss Mint Truffle. How in the world do you ruin a mint truffle. Honestly. I think in about 5th grade I made mint truffles and they turned out. How does Hershey’s ruin a truffle? They fill a waxy chocolate with minty, green goo.

Best Snack: Sundried Tomato and Parmesan Riceworks chips. Whether you can eat gluten or not, this is such a good snack. I could easily eat a large size bag within two or three days. I highly recommend this snack. The only places here in Utah I have found these chips are Super Target and Costco.



Worst Snack: Salsa Fresca Riceworks chips. Not good. My expectations were so high for these and they were a total let down. They have a really gross flavor.

Best Find: Bridger came across Sam Cooke live at the Harlem Square Club. This album makes me feel like no concert I go to will ever be exciting enough. Sam Cooke blew me away this time. In fact, Sam Cooke always blows me away. Thank you Bridger for finding this.

I'm making dreams come true.

Tonight as I was locking up the studio a mysterious PT Cruiser pulled up. A woman threw six bags of tutus at me and was on her way. Since the studio was locked up, I threw the bags in my car and sped home. Come to find out, the tutus are for my youngest dancers. They are three.

In class each week the question "What color do you want your (insert crayons on toes, butterfly, beach ball) to be?" At first these girls just said they wanted pink or purple. Then a new student came and she said she wanted her crayons, butterflies, beach balls and everything in between to be "spotted." I think that is adorable. Spotted crayons. Anyway, then the color of choice became "Rainbow with sparkles and butterflies and flowers."

Little do they know that on Monday they are going to be getting their costume for the year and it is rainbow with sparkles with butterflies and flowers and spots. Because I still think a spotted crayon is a great idea.

The costume lady did a great job this time around.

Most Recently

I just finished this quilt. I really like how it turned out. And the black and white floral fabric on the back is one of my favorites. I also think the woman who does the quilting (stitching on the top) did an excellent job.

AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

I got into Nursing School. I couldn't be happier.

Grains

I have had a stomach ache since July. First, it was an ulcer, that was when it was just a stomach ache. Then it was "a really stubborn ulcer," that was when it was stabbing pains in my spine with a stomach ache. Then when I was sleeping two hours a night, my stomach and fingers were going numb and I would turn scarlet after a shower, it was time for me to have a scope stuck down my esophagus to see what was really going on.

During all this I was convinced I had any or all of the following: pancreatitis, a hiatal hernia, gastroesophogeal reflux disease, stomach cancer, gallstones, a spastic gallbladder, kidney stones, diabetes, blood clots, an abdominal aneurysm, the list goes on and on and on (I got all those ideas from the internet mind you). My family was convinced I had become a total hypochondriac due to the fact that every time I turned around I had some new weirdo symptom.

After several thousand co-pays, two trillion blood tests, and 8 zillion visits to the doctor, I have an answer. Thank everything. I have Celiac Disease. As soon as the doctor told me that I said, "Oh I know a little boy with that, all I ever fed him was potato chips and marshmallows." What this means is, I can't have any gluten, that means I can't eat any food. So starting Tuesday at 2:00 PM my life changed for the better. I have eaten my weight in popcorn, jelly bellys and corn tortillas, with a dash of yogurt here and there.

A woman told me today she cried for six months over this problem, I replied with, "I am so glad I have this and not something like dairy intolerance or something really serious, this was a total relief, I have been sick for months."

I have two points to make with this story:

1. If you have persistent symptoms, go to the doctor until they know what is wrong
2. If you know anyone with this problem, I would like to eat more that corn tortillas for lunch and dinner. I would love any tips.

The good news is most candy is gluten free, that suits me well. The best news is, I haven't had a stomach ache today.

The ultimate pet, with the ultimate problem

I think cats are the ultimate pet.

They are:
-Extremely low maintence
-Lovable
-Loving
-They will play with you
-Will sleep on your feet
-Have a great look
-And if trained properly will take a bath

My cat isn't really allowed outdoors. He will go sit on the porch occasionally, but generally he prefers his cat nest from IKEA. Because my cat is always inside he requires a litter box. A litter box. Litter boxes are gross. They usually smell bad and the litter tends to get all over the place. I have found some pretty good litter in the past few years, but still, it gets everywhere.

My first preference is to train the cat how to use the toilet, however that seems like a lot of work that the cat won't really want to do. My second preference is to buy a $200-$300 cat litter robot box. But I don't carry that kind of cash. However, I recently found this product and I am considering giving it a go. Does this look like a scam to you?

The new project

A couple weeks ago I had an idea. I thought it would be neat to make a collage sort of thing with fabric. When I had the idea, I pictured a tree that I really wanted to make.

I gave this to Bridger for his birthday, I think it turned out pretty well.


The tree was made of hexagons cut from fabric and the trunk was tiny strips of brown fabric. I then added a picture of an adorable dachshund, and printed some little birds which I watercolored.

A few notes

Some things:

-My orchid is still alive. Many said it couldn't be done. But 7 months later I am saying, it could. Although there are no blossoms, and no spikes for buds yet, I have faith that within the next few months it will spike a couple of spikes and there will be buds on them. It is green, growing and gorgeous. I can't wait for it to flower again. I think I will go get it some fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen to encourage flowering.

The moss around the edge turned brown, so today I gave it a makeover with new Super Moss. Hopefully it will stay green, it looks so good.

-The kids in my neighborhood are dumb. I came about 7 inches from running over two boys today. I was going 20 mph, so it wasn't my fault. It was these stupid boys' fault, they were in the middle of the street on bikes that they could hardly manage, their dad stood on the sidewalk as I nearly killed his children. I stayed stopped for a few seconds, looked at both of them in the eye and yelled "Get on the sidewalk!" I also swished my hand in the air in a shooing motion. I was pretty annoyed.

This happens ALL THE TIME in this neighborhood. I am considering a door-to-door campaign telling parents how stupid they are to let their kids play in the street.

I honestly cannot express my anger to its full extent.

-Why, why do people put music on their blogs? That is so obnoxious.

-I am thinking of starting a sewing blog, I have loads of projects on the horizon. The name I had chosen for the sewing blog, when searched for on the internet, turns out to be a book or something, so I am trying to decide what to do about that.

-I still haven't found a day job.

-Elizabeth is giving me this painting and I cannot wait.

-I have a new sort of project up my sleeve, I hope it turns out.

-Have you heard Ben Kweller's new songs? I am in love with each one.

My cat sits up like a human more than he sits like a cat.

That is a cute little nephew I have.

Diane

I am worried about Diane Rehm. I try to listen to her show as often as possible. And for the past couple weeks Diane has not been the host of The Diane Rehm Show on NPR. I am highly concerned. Where has Diane gone? Is Diane in trouble? Has Diane offended someone? Did Diane disappear? Where is Diane?

She has this annoying man sitting in for her and I can't stand him for another show. He is snappy, lets callers talk for too long, interrupts the guests and has a tone of voice that is so mechanical and dry I want to strangle him.

Diane, where have you gone?

Just full of fun and beauty

This evening I was searching for dance recital music. Not only did I find a perfect song, I found a great short film. Its called Paradise. This gal did just a lovely job. And what a beautiful song. Unfortunately at this time I do not have a clip to show you. Just the above picture. Just take my word for it. Go to iTunes, find it. Spend two dollars. Have a nice time. Or view it on her website, it is much smaller. But still a nice time.

In other notes, I ran across this this evening and I am really benefiting from this young man's advice. I'll never have to make a decision again. Go ahead, try it.