Whats on Becki's Mind

Friday List

2009-12-03T22:52:00.000-08:00

- Make Granola
- Fold and put away laundry
- Devotions
- Go for a walk or swim
- Go to work
- Nap

Keeping in short and simple for Friday

Thursday To Do List

2009-12-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

I need the accountability...so here it goes.

- Devotions
- Put away the clothes that are covering my bedroom and the pile in my living room
- Clean Living Room/Dining room
- Go to a training class at work - Done
- Go to PT - Done
- Go to Community group - Done
- Take package to post office - Done
- Go for walk -Not done, but had a killer workout at PT

Not a lot on my list, but its a full day between driving and spending time at the class and at PT. Bleh.....

Baptize My Heart

2009-08-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to this artist off/on for a while and this song just resonated with me. Its called Baptize My Heart. I've put the lyrics below and highlighted the parts that are a cry from my heart. Yes, there are a lot of lyrics, but it is also a 14 minute song. If you get a chance to listen to this song, I would highly recommend it. All the music by Misty Edwards is amazing...long and repeating, but I've come to find that the repeating helps it to sink in past your head and into your heart.

Baptize My Heart

I can hear the song
Of the Creator as He sings over His creation:

I played the flute ...
Did you dance?
I sang the wedding song over you ...
Were you romanced?
I played the funeral song ...
Did you lamented?
I told you My judgments were in the land ...
But did, did you repented?
For even children
Know when to dance!
And even children know
When to lament…

I played the flute for you ...
Did you dance?
I sang the wedding song over you ...
Were you romanced?
I played the funeral song ...
Did you lamented?
I told you My judgments on the land ...
But did you repented?
Repent, did you repent?
For even children
Know when to dance!
And even children know
When to lament…

What should I like to do this generation
My children in the market place
We sing:Of the Flame
The only safe place is in You

Baptize my heart with
Your fire, desire, Jesus(Repeat x4)
I don't want to be offended, no
I don't want to be offended
I don't want to be offended
When it's all coming down

I wanna be for You
Not against You
I wanna be with You where You are(repeat x4)

I pledge my allegiance to Jesus, to Jesus
I pledge my allegiance to the Lamb(repeat x3)

When the nations arising against You
The nations (x2)
I wanna be where You are
Sweet with the wicket
I wanna be where You are
-the only safe place-

Baptize my heart with Your fire,
Desire, Jesus(Repeat x4)

I don't want to be offended, no
I don't want to be offended
I don't want to be offended
When it's all coming down

I pledge my allegiance to Jesus, to Jesus
I pledge my allegiance to the Lamb(repeat x3)

We played the flute ...
You did not dance
We played the funeral song ...
You did not lamented
Oh God…
Teach me how to dance...
How to lament…
Show me what YOU're looking for
What kind of response YOU're asking of me
Oh oh

Baptize my heart with Your fire,
desire, come on(Repeat x4)
I don't want to be offended, no
I don't want to be offended
I don't want to be offended
When it's all coming down

Baptize my heart with Your fire, desire, Jesus(Repeat x4)**
I don't want to be offended, no
I don't want to be offended
I don't want to be offended
When it's all coming down

Once again You are going to shake everything that can be shaken
Jesus desire of the nations
The only, only safe place is in the center

I pledge my allegiance to Jesus, to Jesus
I pledge my allegiance to the Lamb(repeat x3)

From the son of David
To the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth
When it is all coming down
When the nations arising against Him
I pledge my allegiance to Jesus Christ of Nazareth
The Jewish King
The Son of David
The Slave Lamb
Alpha I Know that He is the Magnificent obsession
And He is the desire of the nations
To Turn it all around
Its just a matter of time . . .
I am going to choose this day to love Him, to serve Him
I am going to choose this day to clean the hills…….alone
I pledge my allegiance to Jesus, to Jesus
I pledge my allegiance to the Lamb
Is all coming down…

Once again You can shake everything that can be shaken
Oh Righteous Judge of the nations
Beautiful Bridegroom
Lover of my soul
Do what you have to do
Just come
Come to make the wrong things right
Come to turn the darkness flight
Turn the world upside down, ‘cause
There is no peace until You come back

Jesus until You return
Return, return, return,
Return, return, return
Jesus please come back
Creation is growing and waiting, waiting and growing, growing and waiting,
Waiting and growing, growing and waiting
For your return
You are the only Man of Peace
That we want
You are the only King that we cry to come again…
Return …
Jesus come…
Come again Jesus…

The Bones

2009-08-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

This is a song from church I have found very convicting as of late. If I ever figure out how to get music on my blog, I will actually share it with you (anyone know how to do that?). For now, here are the lyrics.

I've been found out, hallelujah.
My sin is in front of my face.
My secrets exposed, hallelujah.
Now will you blot out this disgrace.
Your justice falls, like a hammer.

The bones you have crushed, rejoice, rejoice!
The bones you have crushed, rejoice.
In breaking my bones your love is shown.
I'm broken, hallelujah.

It's painful to scrape, hallelujah.
The blood that is caked on my hands.
Your strong hands they tear, hallelujah.
They'll heal what they break in the end.
Your justice falls, like a hammer.

The bones you have crushed, rejoice, rejoice!
The bones you have crushed, rejoice.
In breaking my bones, your love is shown.
I'm broken, hallelujah.

In breaking my bones, your glory's shown.
In breaking my bones, your glory's shown
In breaking my bones, you've shown your love
I'm broken, hallelujah
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.

Has it really been that long????!!!!!!

2009-08-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe my last post was in April! Crazy!

Well, you readers (the few that there are) are in for special treat. Hmmm, maybe "special" and "treat" aren't the right words. Perhaps some other words should be used, but I'm not sure exactly which ones fit. Anyway, here is the scoop....my spiritual life is like a puddle, or collection of water that is not moving....its stagnant, gross, and filled with mosquito larva. I have put so many other things in front of God that I have to wander around that special room in my heart and still have no clue where He is at (think room of requirements full of trash that students have hid and you are searching for the diadem of Ravenclaw, for you HP fans out there).

So I have pulled out a book from my collection called Authentic Beauty: the Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman by Leslie Ludy. Now, I am no longer a "young woman", but it still applies to women of ANY age. Anyway, this book is super convicting and I have cried many a tear while reading through the first few chapters. One of the tools she gives is a long set of questions to use when cleaning your heart room. These questions cover just about any type of sin you can imagine and while going through it, it brings up even more sins! She also gives 5 steps in dealing with that specific sin. Good stuff! Tough stuff! Healing stuff!

So, starting tonight, I have begun going through the list of questions, repenting, asking forgiveness, and takin out the trash. I've worked through the first 10 questions and still have a long way to go, but it feels good. Painful, very painful, but good.

I plan (plan being the key word) on posting updates, thoughts, struggles, etc. as I go through this process. Some of it is for my benefit, to get things out on paper (or the modern day equivalent), and some of it is for your benefit, so you can maybe be convicted about areas in your own life, or you can see areas where I need to be held accountable (feel free to call me out on things!).

I hope this will be a time of cleansing, healing, and growth....and that the mosquito larva will be taken care of, cause they are gross!

What gods do you have in your life?

2009-04-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

In my scripture reading today, we read through the 10 commandments. Now, I've read the 10 commandments many, MANY times, and can actually recite them (thanks Sunday school), but I was blown away by the first one. I saw it with new eyes and a convicted heart, which was probably related to Easter having been a few days ago.

Ex 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me."

WOW! Normally when I've read that verse (or recited that commandment), I've always thought about it in terms of the polytheism of the Old Testament - you shall only have one God and that is Yahweh. Today when I read that verse, I realized that it was talking about gods....the things in my life that I have put as more important than the King of King, and Lord of Lords.

That got me thinking even more specific. What gods do I have in my life? I have little gods, like reading, watching TV, hobbies. I have big gods, like wanting a husband, children, money, respect. I have so many gods that I can't even list them all here! How did I let these gods sneak into my life and take the place of my creator, my Savior, my Abba?

My goal this week is to confess and repent of these gods, put them back in their place, and elevate my God to His rightful place.

So, my question to you...what gods have crept into the place reserved for God, the creator, Savior, and lover of your soul?

While I'm Waiting

2009-03-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Found this on another site, and I just fell in love with the song. I've posted the music video on my facebook page as I couldn't figure out how to do it here.

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race, even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy, no,
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race, even while I wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
I'll be taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will not faint
And I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on you, Lord

Home

2009-03-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have for sure decided to come home early from Guatemala. I am soooo homesick despite my best efforts. I have learned a bit more Spanish, as well as some phrases I'll need for work. Not as much as I have hoped, but I struggle so much with languages, I am impressed with what I've learned so far.

Anyway, I changed my flight to the 17th. Not sure of the times yet, I'm still waiting to hear back from the travel agent.

I decided to make a trip up to Tikal with some people from my school this weekend. Its rather a whirlwind trip as we leave at 4am Saturday morning, stop at a couple of places on the way to Tikal, spend the night, and then come back the next day, stopping at a few more places before arriving in Antigua at 9:30 pm. Maybe not as long and relaxing as I would want, but it fits in my timeline.

I'll take lots of pictures of Tikal and will share them when I get back. Its too hard to upload photos here, as even with DSL, its SLOW.

For those people who feel I might be missing out by leaving early...I appreciate your concern, but I honestly feel like its a the right thing to do. I've stretched, done what I need to do, and I am ready to come back home. I have no regrets about leaving early, just excitement to be back home.

TGIF

2009-03-01T04:41:00.002-08:00

TGIF folks, TGIF! I had a big test at school today and got a 79%, which is about right for me. I did real good on some parts and then awful on others. We have moved on to some easier things, for which I am most thankful.

I was awakened this morning to the sounds of a mariachi band playing in the living room right out side of my bedroom. Quite the way to wake up. I'm trying to get pictures and some video up, but my computer isn't cooperating this morning. I will try again later.

For those who have been wondering what my days have been looking like this week, here it goes:

6:30 wake up and shower
7:15 breakfast (fruit, juice, bread, and runny eggs *gag*)
7:30 leave for school, where I pass a beautiful old church, of which I don't know the name.
7:40 get to school early for 2 reasons 1)check my email and 2) I am an overachiever who must arrive early
8:00 classes start
9:00 2 minute coffee/tea break
10:00 Morning break where I check email, read blogs, visit with other students
10:30 classes start again
11:00 ready for classes to be over as my brain is full
12:00 classes end.
12:10 colapse on my bed and rest until lunch
1:00 lunch which is usually soup, meat, beans, and tortilla
1:30 take a nap
2:30 study before I forget everything I learned that morning
3:30-4:00 read
4:00ish go for a walk around town
Wednesday only (leave for church) at 6:00
7:00 dinner is usually beans, tortilla, tamales or some other meat
7:30 read
8:00 start a movie on my laptop
8:45 fall asleep during the movie
9:30 wake up and actually go to bed

That is my day...boring so far. Hopefully, it will be more interesting after I change houses and get more involved in the church. I actually just heard from the office that I will be moving tomorrow instead of Sundaym which actually is nice as it will give me something to do tomorrow.

To...much...spanish...in..my...head

2009-03-01T04:41:00.001-08:00

Seriously, I don't think I have any room left. My poor teacher this morning...I couldn't remember hardly anything from Monday or Tuesday. I still can't speak um hardly at all. I have to literally think of one word, translate it, think of another word, traslate that, etc, etc.

There is a reason why I am done with school...I dislike school imensley and am too old to have the memory to capture this information. I know, I know..29 isn't THAT old. I unfortunetly have inherited my mothers memory, which is, well, not great.

I went to Bible study last night and met a nice Canadian woman named Debbie, who incidently reminds me of my mom. She volunteers at a home for kids with CP and other deformities and plays with them, feeds them, etc. I'm going with her today to see if I can volunteer a few afternoons a week. It was nice to be in a group of believers again, although I miss my CG back home. I'll be going to church on Sunday as well.

I was able to switch my homestay family to the lady I had wanted in the first place. I'll be moving on Sunday. I still don't know if I'll stay for the full 4 weeks; I really, REALLY miss home a lot.

Sunday and Monday

2009-03-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I’ve survived my first full day in Antigua. My head is spinning!
I had a really rough time Sunday after arriving in Antigua. I was met at the airport by an odd looking man, who, if he hadn’t been carrying a sign with all my information on it, I never would have gone with. We loaded into the van and off we went to Antigua. For a while I wasn’t sure if we were even heading in the right direction, and then things looked familiar and their were signs, so I felt better.

We arrived at my host family’s house and was told that the place I had requested was full so they put me here. The wife met me at the door and I was ushered into my room. I have a private room and private bath, and after paying today, have been charged accordingly, even though I asked for a shared bathroom as that cuts the price. Anyway, she showed me my room, told me when meals were the next day and then left. I unpacked and then realized that I was almost out of water to drink and wasn’t about to touch the tap water with a 10 foot pole. I wandered around, but wasn’t sure what part of the house was ok for me to go to. So I decided to charge my computer, only to find that my three prongs don’t fit into the 2 prongs they have here. At this point I sat down and had a good cry. I then decided to go and find some food, as my family doesn’t provide anything on Sundays. After wandering all over town trying to find something that looked familiar, I came across a Subway. I was relieved until I went in and realized that I couldn’t read the sign, nor did know how to ask for anything. I mimed to the man what I wanted and between my miming and his limited English, I was able to get my food. I then wandered all the way back to my house and proceeded to have another big cry.

After laying down for a bit, I felt better and wandered around the house some more. Finally, this girl from Denmark walked in and said hi. I picked her brain for a bit about drinkable water, laundry, and plug converters. Her and another girl were leaving for the week, and weren’t sure if they were coming back or not, but I at least felt better and had something to drink. I ended up going to bed at 8pm and slept a solid 9 hours.

Monday

First day of school! Got up and had breakfast, which unfortunately almost made me gag. I have a lot of food issues, but one of the worst is soft fried eggs. What was the main item on my place?? 2 very soft, runny eggs *gag*. Thankfully, there was bread and fruit. I managed to eat a few bites of egg and after almost hurling, stuck with the bread and fruit.

I then walked the 6 blocks to school where I met with a most wonderful teacher named Izabel. We covered 4 different verb forms in my four hour class time. I of course can no longer remember anything I studied this morning, but hopefully, it will come back tomorrow. I realized that I can understand most of what is being said, but have the verbal skills of a slow 2 year old. Anyway, she as very patient and there were enough breaks that I didn’t feel overwhelmed.
After class I headed back home for lunch, were I met two new students who had just come in. One speaks Spanish very well and is from Taiwan, and the other is a very young 15 year old from Alaska who is only here for 1 week and speaks hardly anything. We had a good lunch of Asparagus soup, chile releneo, guacamole, rice, and tortilla. It tasted good at the time, but is making me nauseous just thinking about it now.

After lunch I headed back to the school to pay for this week and leave for an activity. As I was paying, I realized that they charged me more for the school as I wasn’t paying for the full 4 weeks at once, AND they charged me for a private bathroom, even though I didn’t request one. I had already signed everything when I realized this. I requested to be moved if a spot opened in the house I had requested, and they said maybe next week.

After this, I met up with three other students from the school and we were driven to a coffee farm, where the whole tour was in Spanish, which none of us could really understand. We then went to a macadamia nut farm, which was beautiful, educational, and had good samples J After some time there, we drove to an artesian center in San Antonio where we were given a review and demonstration on Mayan fabric creation and customs. They walked through the traditional clothes, how it is worn, and then had us dress up as a wedding party. There was a married couple in the group, so they got re-married. I was the mother of the groom and the other lady was the mother of the bride. The clothes were amazing, although very hot. We got to mimic all the fabric costumes associated with marriage and the new family.

Such as: the girls start weaving/embroidering a shawl for their future mothers in law when they are 14. This is presented to their mother in law on the day of the wedding and she must wear it the whole day. If she takes it off, it is a sign that she doesn’t like her future daughter in law. The mother of the groom makes an apron that she presents to her daughter in law after the ceremony. They then have to make coffee and tortillas together before the bride can go to bed. The mother-in-law also makes a special blanket for her first grandchild that is used as a sling. Anyway, all sorts of cool things.

The real kicker though, was that it was almost all in Spanish. I was miraculously able to understand about 75% of it and translated for the others! This is where I really realized that I understand a ton more than I can speak. Afterwards, the tried to get us to buy things. I was almost tempted to buy one of the baby blankets/slings as those things rock! I didn’t bring enough Quetzales with me, so I go back if I can’t find one cheaper here in town.
Back to the school we drove and now I am at home typing this as I am waiting for dinner at 7pm. As I don’t have internet at the house, I will type now and send tomorrow at school. I’ll also try to get some more pictures up tomorrow.

Please keep praying for me as I am really lonely and unsure. Part of me just wants to hop on a plane and come home, but another part knows this is good for me. I’d love to have e-mails from home! Letter mail and packages take up to a month or two to get here, depending on customs, etc, so they aren’t really an option (thanks for the thoughts though).
Much love to everyone back home!

2009-03-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

Kids outside the clinic at Cipresales

Me and some of the girls from Cipresales

Janie and the hot medical students from several of the local villages. All medical students in Guatemala have to do a 6 month service time in the rural community at the end of their 3rd year.

As we were leaving Cipresales I was able to snap this picture.

Some girls trying to sell Teresa some trinket at a viewpoint stop

Last day of clinics

2009-02-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today was our last day of clinics and boy are we exhausted. We saw 97 people yesterday in medical alone and today we saw 52 before lunch! Thankfully, we only worked a half day today as we needed to pack up and the clinic nurse had a meeting. We are all lounging around this evening, checking e-mail, doing some shopping, taking much needed naps.

I can´t believe that my team is leaving in two days and then I´ll be on my own! I´ve had the final confirmation from the school and class starts monday. Ok, I´m off to find a card for one of the students.

Wednesday Evening

2009-02-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back at the Internet Cafe again. No wireless thus far and no immediate plans to have any..so here I am. Hopefully, I will be able to have more wireless acess in Antigua so that I can blog at times other than in the evening when I am beat.

Today was our second day of clinics. It was slightly busier than yesterday, and rumor has it that it will be busier tomorrow as they announced on the local radio station that we were going to be there doing clinics. Hopefully is is a bit busier, but not swamped.

I was in lab and pharmacy again today. I did quite a few more blood draws and came back with several positive tests for TB. There was some question as to whether I was reading the tests right or if the tests were bad as they were outdated. No conclusion was made, and while it was possible I was reading the tests wrong, I kind of doubt it. I followed the directions and I have used these kind of tests before. They don´t have a history of TB in Cipresales, but it can spread pretty fast and 3 f them were in the same family. They are being sent for further testing and will get started on medication just in case, which is really what is important.

We also had a newborn baby in the clinic today, but not as a patient. The community health worker´s sister-in-law had an emergency c-section and then had a stroke. The outlook isn´t good, so Tomasita (the community worker) went and got the baby and brought it back so they could care for it. What a darling little thing. I wanted to get a picture, but Rolando said it wasn´t a good idea (culture and photos don´t always mix). Please keep her sister-in-law, the baby, and her 4 other children in your prayers.

Currently, I am stuffy and have a very nice cough going. It makes it very interesting to try and talk to patients...I get some pretty weird looks. The team is taking good care of me, which is totally a blessing.

Off to dinner! Buenos noches

Being sick is no fun

2009-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I didn´t blog yesterday...we don´t have wireless at the place we are staying. At the moment I am writing this from an internet cafe in Pana. I blame any spelling or puncutation mistakes on the Spanish keyboard I am typing on.

Lets see...where did I leave off...

Sunday we went to church at Community of Faith, which is held at the house we are staying at. A nice short walk to church :-) The service was almost entirely in Spanish, although the message was translated for us gringos. After church, we went to Antigua (yep, where I am going to school). We went through the Capuchines convent again (always a fun time) and then wandered through the market for a while before spending some time around the Parque Central. Antigua is going to be a very interesting place to go to school. I have already found the Dominos Pizza, a bookstore, and several places to eat.

Monday I woke up with a bad cold, nausea, and extreame exhaustion (from not sleeping). This also was our travel day to Pana, so I got to spend all day in the car. After getting drugged up (in a good way), I crawled into the front seat and slept most of the trip. We started out by heading to Palencia (east of Guatemala City) and then backtracking through Guatemala City and out west to Pana/Lake Atitlan. That drive was about 5 hours, some of which was spent in traffic. We stopped for lunch at this resaurant that looks like it was taken right out of Leavensworth. Rolando (Tito´s assistant) ordered me some soup as I didn´t think the steak or chicken would been a good idea. I felt a bit better after eating and went and napped in the car while the group finished up. We dropped on clinic supplies in Ciprisales and then headed down to the place we were staying, a beautiful Christian retreat for missionaries. I got a bed by myself (due to being sick) and a roommate who is a doctor with all sorts of fabulous things to help me sleep. Went to bed early as we start clinics bright and early.

Tuesday

We had our first day in Cipresales. We saw about 55 patients in medical, which is really slow. Dental was very VERY slow. The community worker thinks it will be busier tomorrow, and I hope so. I worked betwen Pharmacy and Lab. We filled a lot of prescriptions and I had patients test positive for diabetes, H Pylori and a case of TB. I took a nap in the car after lunch and felt better as I had been running a temperature off/on during the day. We wrapped things up and headed back down to Pana and here I sit typing an update. Hopefully the wireless will be up and running so I can post some pictures (not that I took any yesterday or today as I was feeling so crummy). Oh, its also been increadebly windy and kind of cold the past few days. Last night I thought the roof of our house was going to come off in the wind!

Ok, well, I need to head off to dinner and then home to bed. Several things to pray for:

1) My health. Its tough being sick and trying to be a productive member of the team
2) More patients for tomorrow
3) Stamina and good will between team members
4) Safe travels

Feb 20th and 21st

2009-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Feb 20th

Finally arrived here in Guatemala! The flights went well and I have to say that Continental rocks! Not only did we have a movie on our way to Houston, we also were served lunch and they made 3 trips for beverages! The flight to Guatemala didn’t have a movie, but they did serve another meal. I guess Continental is one of the only airlines left that serves meals. Anyway…it was nice!

The only hitch was as we were taxing around the runways in Houston, one of our team members heard this strange noise. They had to stop the plane and check the overhead bins. She was sure it sounded like something was loose. Personally, I think it was this guy sitting in front of me. He was tapping his foot to the music he was listening to (even though I-Pods were supposed to be off at this point). After the flight attendant asking a bazillion questions about the noise, I stopped him and told him I thought it was the guy in front. He rolled his eyes because this guy had been giving the flight attendant a difficult time. Not in a mean way, just in an irritating “I’m a boy in my late teens” sort of way. Anyway, since we had to stop, we lost our place in line for take off and had to circle the runways for another 20 minutes. We got into Guatemala City pretty late 10:30 and didn’t get back to where we were staying until 12:00am. Can I say tired!

Feb 21st

First full day in Guatemala. Is sunny and in the mid 70’s. Tank top and capris type weather.
We had a pretty rough night last night and nobody got very much sleep. I think I took the record with only 2 hours of very fitful sleep (I‘m pretty much used to that anyway). We didn’t get to bed until around 1am and then had to get up at 6 so we could leave for our busy day with the kids from Community of Faith school. There was lot of groggy people this morning.
We had a blast with the kids and no one drowned, so that’s always a good thing. We divided 140 kids into teams and then the spent the morning going to several different games. I spent the morning manning the ball relay game. I was standing in one position so long I got a nice little burn on my shoulder and neck, despite sunblock! After game time, they opened up the pool for the kids.

They had a nice little shallow area which was probably only 1 foot deep and then a larger pool that went from 3 feet to 6. This totally helped the kids from getting in over their heads, literally! Kids here don’t usually learn how to swim, yet they love playing in water. They will jump in anywhere in the pool, even on top of another person and then flail about until they either get to shallower water, reach the edge, or someone helps them. Because of the smaller pool, the kids who couldn’t swim stayed there which really helped! I was sitting on the edge of the pool, just in case someone needed saving and got soaking wet from all the splashing.

After an hour of swimming, we had lunch, which was amazing! We had steak (everyday food here), tortillas, pasta salad and my favorite, refried black beans. I could write a whole paper on how much I LOVE the black beans here, but I will spare you the details of my passionate love affair.

During the afternoon, thee kids had a worship time and then did a craft. At the end of the day, we were able to give out school supplies to each child. Each class presented us with a card and big hugs.

These kids are amazing! This is the one time during the year that they get to do something like this and we are the only group out of the 12 or 13 that come down each year that does anything with them. So much missed opportunity to minister to them!

After the kids left, we went to the principles house with some of the teachers and had dinner. We had this corn drink that was, well, gross. It was like drinking creamed corn without the chunks of corn. Then we had these tamales that were, well, also gross. They had chunks of chicken in them, bones and skin included! Yep, I’m going to have a hard time with the food down here. That tamale broke about 15 meat rules (if you don’t know about my meat rules, its probably better not to ask, it’s a weird thing of mine). Black beans and rice make up a complete protein, right???

Tomorrow we have church and then changed plans a bit and are going to Antigua (where I'm going to school). I'll try and post some pictures in the next few days.

Guatemala Here I Come!

2009-02-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

So, I am officially leaving in 5 days for Guate! I am this weird mixture of excited, nervous, happy and scared. Crazy!

Anyway, I am going to try and post updates and pictures here on my blog. It depends on internet access and if I have any hot dates taking up my time (just kidding mom, just kidding....maybe).

Stay tuned for tales of my exciting adventure!

Birthday Musings

2009-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today is my Birthday...I am *gasp* 29! I certainly don't feel 29 - I feel more like 22. I realized that 10 years ago, yes 10, I was halfway done with my first year of nursing school..CRAZY!

I actually don't have a whole lot to say. Not much I can do about getting a year older, nor would I really change it and try to stay young forever. Aging is a normal and healthy part of life.

On a fun note..I get a card from my insurance agent every year that has the highlights from the year you were born. I got a kick out of some of them and decided to share them with you.

In 1980:

-The US boycotted the Olympics in Moscow to protest the invasion of Afghanistan.
- Mt St Helens erupted
- John Lennon was killed
- The top movie was The Empire Strikes Back (perfect, don't you think)
- A gallon of gas cost $1.19
- Bread cost $0.51
- A gallon of milk cost $2.08
- First class stamp cost $0.15

2009 Goals

2009-01-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of resolutions, but I like having goals. Here are my goals for 2009....

1) Live a more healthy lifestyle (diet, exercise, stress reduction)
2) Get out of debt (specifically credit card debt, but my student loan is in here too)
3) Read through the Bible
4) Keep my house clean
5) Live a more organized, simple life

That pretty much it...although there is a number 6, but its a bit more out of my control...

FIND A MAN!!!!!!!

Seriously....if you want to set me up with a nice Christian man, you are more than welcome to do so! Permission has been given!

Feeling pretty good

2008-12-18T22:26:00.001-08:00

I am feeling pretty good about my ability to drive in snow/ice. I have been parking at the bank up the hill from my house and walking up/down. It's worked well...I don't have to worry about not getting off my street and I get some exercise.

Tonight was my community groups Christmas party on Queen Anne...not a pretty place to drive in the snow/ice. I had pretty much decided this afternoon not to go as it was slushy and very cold, which equals ice! Long about 4:30 I decided that I had to get out of the house and that I HAD to go to the party. I quickly threw my side dish in to the oven (turnip gratin....yum!), and tossed on some decent clothes while it was cooking. As soon as it was done, I put on all my snow gear and started hiking to my car. I had planned on giving myself 1 hour to get there, as it usually takes me 30 min. Group started at 6:30 and I didn't get to the car until 5:55.

It was compact snow/ice with a nice sprinkling of sand. I actually was able to go 30 most of the way, with the occasional down shift for hills and such. Not once bit of sliding the whole trip down. I made it up Queen Anne, going a back way to avoid the big steep hill. Found the place and surprised everyone by actually showing up!

We had a great dinner, conversation, and white elephant....I got this key chain that beeps when you whistle so that you can find it...very handy. I opted to leave around 8:45 as I wanted to get home before it got too cold. I made it off Queen Anne and onto Hwy 99 without any problems. Pulled into the bank and walked back down to the house.

Yep, I'm feeling pretty good! Now the real challenge is going to be braving the Eastside to get to work and back this weekend. They got a ton of snow last night/today. I'll just give myself plenty of time and pack an overnight bag in case I need to stay there (it is supposed to snow again this weekend).

Wednesday List

2008-12-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

This list thing is kind of addictive....

- Sleep for at least 4 hours -Done
- Weather permitting, go Christmas Shopping -DONE!!!!!!
- Laundry
- Clean/organize desk
- Make candy trains for community group

I'm sitting at work typing this, hoping and praying that it won't snow until after I get home this morning. I really do not want to deal with snow on top of ice...bad news! I keep checking the windows every hour to see what is going on out there. So far, there have been just a few flakes, but nothing major.

List

2008-12-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

-Brave the ice to get new tires for the front end of my car. Done - but no tires purchaced
-Go to the store -Done
-Laundry - Partially Done
-Put away Christmas boxes - Done
-Clean Living Room - Done
-Attempt to go to work tonight and find a place to sleep for tomorrow so I don't have to drive home Done

Snow, snow, snow

2008-12-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

I love and hate snow. It is so beautiful and clean, but a pain to drive in.

I had a big Christmas party tonight down on Queen Anne that a girl in my community group is putting on with her roommates. Its a big swanky event.....its actually called The 4th Annual Swanky Christmas Party.

I got dressed up, really dressed up, and looked, well, hot! There was only an occasional flake or two when I left. I got there early because that is what I do. There were a few people there, but most didn't show until 7:30-8. Rodney played a few carols for background music, there was a ton of food, lots of company, and there is a white elephant exchange yet to come.

Anyway, it started snowing more....and more.....and then started sticking. I decided to leave around 8:30 simply because I don't know how my car handles in the snow. There wasn't much accumulation on the road, but I have about 1/4 in so far at home and its still coming down.

I'm sad I left the party so early... I probably could have stayed for another 1/2 hour or more, but I didn't want to chance it. So, I am now eating roast beef and about to watch a movie. I'm sad I'm missing out on the gift exchange and the carols :-(

Friday List

2008-12-12T13:31:00.001-08:00

Taking a suggestion from my sister and cousin...I am posting my "to do" list for today (or what is left of it)

- Grocery shopping (in preparation for snow) Done
- Clean kitchen
-Put away laundry
-Finish putting up Christmas lights
-Make Christmas shopping list
- Go to dinner and a show with the girls
- If time, take a nap before afore mentioned dinner/show

2am

2008-11-28T02:03:00.000-08:00

Well, its 2am and I am sitting at a desk at work wondering how in the world I am going to stay awake until 7:30am. I am so not a night person....

It is super silent (I can't use the 'q' word here as it causes all hell to break loose) tonight. Most of the patients discharged home today. My patients are sleeping (or what passes for sleep when you have a new baby). I tried to convice one of my parents to let me watch their baby for them, but they declined, for which I am sad. It makes time fly when you have a baby in the crook of your arm. Seriously....who turns down a safe person watching your baby for several hours so you can sleep.....crazy!

Its now 2:05 and I am still bored and tired *sigh*

Well, I think I'l go meander over to the main desk and see if there is any excitement happening.

Vent

2008-10-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

FYI, I am going to vent about work. If you don't want to be subject to this vent, please do not read.

Ok.......I'm very upset with my work, specifically the person who deals with payroll. I got my paycheck this week and noticed that I was not paid for 4 hours of overtime I had worked. I got regular evening pay, but not the time and a half we get for working over our 36 hrs/wk. Now, our work has started having the employee sign off their electronic time card at the end of the pay period to make sure everything looks fine. I signed off my time card after working the 4 hour extra shift and didn't notice that it was put in the wrong column (I was tired, it was after all extra work on my day off).

So, I wrote a note to the person who double checks our time cards to let her know of the error and could they add the overtime money to the next paycheck. I got an e-mail back from her today saying that I didn't qualify for overtime pay on the extra four hours. Here is where it gets complicated....we can't clock out more than 6 minutes before 7:30am or we get docked a full 15 minutes of pay (so only get paid for 11.75 hours, instead of 12). I clocked out one morning at 7:19am (was tired and just wanted to go home and not sit around for 4 minutes just so I could clocked out), and this is where the problem apparently arose.

Apparently, by losing those 15 minutes, I did not meet my full time requirement of 36 hours for the week, which means, the 4.25 hours of overtime I worked became regular pay, not overtime pay. Apparently there is some clause in the contract that if we don't meet our 36 hours, we forefit any overtime pay, unless we work over 40 hours. So in the end, by clocking out 4 minutes before I should have, I got penalized 4 hours of overtime pay (despite the fact that I had made up the .25 hours by coming in for my extra shift).

Thus I am mad, very mad, but not sure what to do about it. The lady in charge of payroll actually said "I'm sorry the rules are so picky". She actually used the term "picky"! Picky applies to the "clocking out more than 6 minutes before 7:30, you lose 15 minutes of pay". It does not apply to docking someone 4 HOURS of overtime pay when they come in on a day off to help out because you can't staff the unit appropriately! That is called "robbing" someone of their deserved pay, not being "picky". AAAAaaarrrggghhhhhh!!!!! &@#&** (insert desired swear work here).

Anyway, thank you to listening to my vent. I'm going to talk with some others at work and see if they've come up against this before and what the best way to handle it is. I'm also going to look at the contract and try and figure out where this clause is.

Whosits and Whatsits

2008-10-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, where to begin.....

Last Friday I joined my sisters, mom, and chiblings at the Children's Museum in Everett. What a magical and lovely place (I know Kris...only if you haven't been there a bazillion times). It's how I remember the Seattle Children's Museum being when I was younger. Ahhh....the memories of "working" in the grocery store, the restaurant, the telephone operator booth, the bank...they all stay with you, even at my old age. Anywhoo....it was really fun, and I got to hold Elsa a lot, which made me happy. She always looks at me with this curious "who are you and why are you holding me" look, and then breaks into an Elsa smile that just melts your heart and makes your uterus do flip flops. Here are some pictures:

As of late I have been on a Patrick McManus book kick. If you have never read any of Patrick McManus's books, I highly recommend them. He is, by far, the best outdoor humor writer of all times. Growing up, my dad had several of his books, and I remember reading them and laughing so hard tears were running down my face. Not much has change, I was laughing so hard at work (tears and all) that one of my coworkers came in to see if I was ok. I read her the portion I found hilariously funny and she just gave me this "Becki is a weirdo" look. I think it has to do with the fact that she lives in downtown Seattle and has never been camping. How else can you explain her not laughing about your tent attacking you in the middle of the night after hearing a "bear" outside? With titles such as : Real Ponies Don't Go Oink, Rubber Legs and White Tail-Hairs, Never Sniff a Gift Fish, and They Shoot Canoes, Don't They...how can you go wrong! Check them out from the library and be prepared to laugh until you cry (unless you are cold and heartless, live in the downtown of a major city, and have never been camping).

I also want to encourage you to check out the sermon series my church is doing. It's on the Song of Solomon and is called The Peasant Princess. It is amazing and has fabulous teaching and information for singles, young married, old married, and anyone not in those categories. You can watch the sermon or download the audio from www.marshillchurch.org. I highly, HIGHLY recommend taking a peak.

Well, I'm off to go clean my bathroom. Until next time....

Risk

2008-10-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday, I got to hang out with some friends and some of us played a game of Risk. I haven't played that game in ages! I made it to the final two, thanks to the kindness of my friend Rodney.

Here are some pictures:

Playing Risk

Still playing risk

Me after losing Risk...trying to not look out the window (we were on the 18th floor and I hate heights!)

My wild, passionate love affair

2008-10-10T14:58:00.001-07:00

Tricked you.....you thought I was talking about a guy, didn't you? Read on...

I went to TjMaxx today, a place I rarely visit, as in never! I'm looking for a shirt to go with this cute skirt I bought and I as I drove by, I figured why not stop in for a look. Well, I found a shirt that should work as well as two other cute ones...and then I noticed all the bedding on sale. I needed a new set of sheets, so I meandered over there. The quality of these sheets are amazing! 300, 310, 400, 600 (!!!!!) count sheets for $29-59! Not just one sheet, but they whole shebang (fitted, flat, 2 cases)! I found a 400 count set that looked nice and felt, well, like I'd imagine our beds in heaven will feel like, should we have beds.

I continued to meander and went over to the sale table where I can get an additional 25% off already reduced items. Nothing much of interest....until.....on the edge, tucked under some towels, was this gentle purple (I hope you know what I mean by that) that caught my eye. I had to find out what this color belonged to as it was heaven! After lifting away the towels, I gasped....a 400 count sheet/duvet set (flat, fitted, 2 cases, duvet cover, and 2 shams!!!) reducded to $58 dollars plus an additional 25% off!!!! I unzipped the corner and reached my finger in to feel the material. It was as soft as a baby's bottom! I prayed, "Lord, I know you don't encourage us to steal, and I plan on paying for this, but at this price I feel like I'm stealing from this store. Forgive me, Amen"

Anyway, I wandered up front to the cashier, sure that when she scanned it I would be informed that this wasn't really on sale and I would have to pay the full price, $225! I held my breath, and it rang up at $43.50! I dashed to my car, screeched into my parking spot and sprinted into the house as I was ripping open the package. Everything was shoved into the washer and it was started, the whole while I was mentally calculating if I could get it washed, line dried and on my bed before I had to leave for work in 3 1/2 hours. I'm not sure, but by all that is holy, I am going to try. They could try and kill me tonight at work, and I won't care as long as I can come home and sleep on these sheets!

Thanks for listening to my story about my love affair with these sheets. It just proves it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Phantom of the Opera

2008-09-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Phantom of the Opera last night with some people from church. Overall I enjoyed it (it is the Phantom after all), but I was disappointed in the quality of the production. I felt it was more like a college production, rather than a Broadway production. The singing was good, but the performers mics weren't balanced, so when when they sing as a group, all you heard was noise, not individuals voices. The volume on the mics for most of the main characters was so low, that you could hardly hear them, even if they were the only ones singing. The special effects were lacking, and the set design was lame. Maybe it was the fact that is was at the Paramount and they don't have quite the fancy stage like the 5th Avenue (I think thats where I saw it last). I felt bad for the people that came with me. None of them had seen the Phantom before, and this was not a good showing. I think they kind of regretted putting out good $$ to see it. Lacking is the best way to describe it....very lacking.

2008-09-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Star Wars Dreams and the Puyallup Fair

2008-09-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Have I told ya'll about the Star Wars dreams I randomly have about my friends? If not, I do have random SW (star wars) dreams in which my friends become characters...its a sign that you are a good friend. Anyhoo, has I have a SW dream in which a friend in present, I go and get them a figurine of their character...to mark the momentous occasion.

Well, I finally had a dream in which my friend Ben (Rachel's brother, for those of you who know Rachel) appeared. He is officially known as Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi. I gave him his character on Sunday and he promptly used his Force powers to find me some Otter Pops (the push up sugar water popcicles).

I had been unable to find them in several stores, and after mentioning this on Sunday, he was adamant that they were at QFC (the one by my house, where I went, did not have them). So apparently after dropping us off at the girl's house on Sunday, he drove to another QFC, found them, and then drove them back to the cabin (which I had left only 5 minutes prior), where he left them in the freezer with the following message : I used my Obi-Wan Jedi powers to find these (or something along that line). After getting back from church that night (which I chuckled through because of the message), I left him the following voice message :Master Obi-Wan, your power in the Force is quite impressive. The Otter Pops will be enjoyed for many planetary rotations.

I don't know why I shared this story, you really would have had to have been there, but it reminded me of 3 things: 1) I'm blessed to have such good friends, 2) Otter pops are so good, and 3) Ben does not like to be wrong.

On other news, I just got back from doing the Puyallup Fair. I haven't been to a fair in probably 10 years and I now remember why. It was hot, crowded, and boring. I swear the craft exhibits and animals were just as I remembered the last time I was at the fair, nothing has changed, except the price! I went with Beth, which made it fun, so I don't regret it. I'm now good for another 10 years. I also don't like how the Puyallup is set up in comparison to the Evergreen State Fair. The craft and animals barns at the Evergreen are nice and lined up and flow pretty well. To contrast that, the Puyallup is all over the place! There is a craft barn next to the cows, which is in the middle of the food booths, which is next to the rides, which is next to the rabbits and birds...???? Random! Out of courtesy for the fair gods, I ate a corn dog and had a elephant ear, both of which were less than stellar. Then at the bathroom stop on the way to the car, some wonderful person decided to smoke in the stall next to me! I ended up with a massive headache, which is still lingering. Yuck, I hate smoke!

Trip to PCC

2008-09-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

So I braved a trip to the opening of a PCC just down the street here in Edmonds. If you are not familiar with PCC, it's a market that has all/only organic produce/food/products. Now I am not 100% into things organic. I mean, does it really matter if my paper towels are made organically, or if my mac and cheese is organic? Especially when it costs more? I do however, like my organic meats and some vegetables and fruits, and am willing to pay more for them.

Anyway, so PCC moved in and I am very excited. I drove down the street and as I got closer I started noticing many cars parked on the side of the road, which is unusual in this part of town. I keep driving and traffic is getting worse. I turn into PCC and it is like a car lot, seriously...a car lot! People are honking, blocking traffic, cutting people off. Not a picture that goes hand in hand with mellow organic people, in my opinion. After driving around and parking wwwaaayyy away, I meander in to the store where I am now blocked by human traffic. It takes me three minutes to actually push my cart through the doors and enter the store. Insane! I realize now that I should have waited at least a week before coming here.

I head to the meat department to get some chicken and I am astounded by how rude people are. Not verbally rude, but grocery store manners rude. Am I the only person who knows its rude to stop and "park" in the middle of the aisles? I know you are looking at a product, but please park your cart to one side or the other so that others can get by....not in the center where you hold up traffic while you debate the merits of this organic pop over that organic pop. You also should not leave said cart parked while you wander to another aisle so that you don't have to fight the traffic you caused. I managed to grab my chicken and the other items on my list and fought my way to the front where the lines where 15 people deep in every lane and there I sat for 35 minutes while waiting to get to the register. Another lesson in manners....you don't get in line and then send someone out to grab 20 more items you purposely didn't get because you knew the line was going to take a while. RUDE! One item, sure...two items, ok...but not 20!

I felt so bad for the employees..they had people commenting on how unorganized and crowded everything was and how long they had been waiting. People, really....its opening day! Did you expect to get in and out in 5 minutes? I thought everything was as well organized as could be expected and said so to the friendly employee who was working the line trying to sooth the ruffled feathers around me. Poor woman, they are not paying you enough to deal with this...I understand customer service completely. Sometimes they don't pay me enough to deal with the crap I get from patients (by the way, my new favorite slogan is: RN - trained to save your a**, not kiss it!). I left the store and decided that I would wait for a few weeks until I went back, but I am still thankful they opened.

In other news, I'm working on my Guatemala support letters for this next year. I can't believe it's time again, but it is. I also feel uncomfortable sending these kinds of letters out, I feel like I'm begging for money. I know that people like to donate and that it's not money for me, but for a very good cause, but I still feel uncomfortable. Last year, my whole trip was paid for by donations, and I'm hoping for the same this year. I'm going to put word out at work, and at church, so hopefully, some of those single people with extra money want to donate. Look for your letter soon!

Camping Trip to Camano Island

2008-08-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Back in July, my friends Abby and Beth and I went camping at Camano Island State Park. The campground was very nice, the beach was very rocky and a loooonnngggg hike from the campground (it actually was just steep, not long). Abby and I came over on Friday and then Beth came Saturday night. The weather held until Sunday morning when it poured. We managed to pack up the camp (everything except the tents was put in the car the night before in anticipation of rain, this is Washington after all), in just under 30 minutes. Then we went to some cafe for lunch where I had the biggest club sandwich ever...I mean EVER! It was about 8 inches tall (ask the girls if you don't believe me) and I was only able to eat one fourth of it. I wish I had gotten a picture of this sandwich, just so people would believe me. Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip.

An early version of the headlamp.

I was trying to look coy, but instead I managed to look very evil, especially since my black coat blended in with the night. Scary!

I'm king of the world! It was really windy.

Trip to the Zoo

2008-08-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mom, Jenni, and I took Ethan and Gwen to the Zoo. The weather was great..overcast and cool in the AM and then sunny and warm around lunch time. I think we managed to see everything we wanted (except the nocturnal house as there was a line!). The kids even got to pet goats at the "petting zoo". Whatever happened to a variety of animals, such as pigs, cows, chickens, etc....just goats! That hardly counts as a zoo. Here are some pictures from our trip.

The kids riding the Komodo Dragon

Mom and the kids on the Monkey sculpture...they couldn't stop climbing for a good picture.

Gwen and I riding the baby elephant (don't worry, no baby elephants were harmed in the taking of this picture)

Night Shift Type A Personality

2008-07-19T05:29:00.001-07:00

So folks, as much as I would like to deny it, I have a type A personality (at times, but especially at work). The other night (I can't remember which, a side effect of working nights is losing all sense of the date, day of the week, or time of day), I realized that I have not been sleeping enough. I have been moody (shocking I know), overly emotional, disoriented, and paranoid (especially about sleeping in my very safe apartment).

After much evaluation, I came to the conclusion that I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep on my days off, which is the direct result of me trying to keep a day schedule on my days off. After working my last 12 hour night shift, I would sleep from 9-12 and then take a nap from 2-3 and 6-7. Then I would try and force myself to go to bed at 11pm so I could wake at 9am so I could feel "normal". The result, is that I have deprived myself of sleep for too long and am now having a hard time sleeping due to paranoid delusions that there is some crazy demonic presence in my apartment (lack of sleep combined with to many late night episodes of Ghost Hunters and TAPS will do that to you). Note: I don't actually think there is anything demonic in my apartment, but when you are tired and you see something "move" out of the corner of your eye, the imagination runs wild!

In an effort to fix this lack of sleep and the ensuing problems related to that, I have set myself a pretty rigid schedule for sleep, eating, exercise, and even vitamins. Thank you type A personality I have inherited from my mother (its not a bad thing mom, really). Anyway, I thought you might be interested in this schedule, and feel free to beg, borrow, or steal anything that fits for you if you work nights too.

Sleeping:
Work Days: 9am-5pm
Transition Day (first off day following my last night shift): 9am-3pm, nap early evening if needed
Off Days: 4am-12pm, nap if needed mid afternoon.

Eating:
Work Days: B 5:30pm, Snack 9:30pm, L 1am, Snack 4:30am, D 8:15am
Off Days: Whenever I want, but am only allowed to eat out twice a week, not every day
*No processed foods on work days!*
High protein B and S. Balanced L and S. High Carb D

Exercise
Transition Day:5pm
Off Days: 2pm
No exercise on work days (sleep is much more important)

Meds/Vitamins:
BP Med: 5:30pm
Fish Oil/Multi Vit: 8:30am on work days and whenever I eat B on off days.

You will notice I have not assigned bathroom visits....somethings just shouldn't be scheduled!

This has gone into effect as of last night, so I haven't tweaked anything yet. Hopefully, this will get me up and running better in the next 2 weeks or so. I have also applied for a day position, which if granted, I won't actually start until next summer; but hey, at least its something to look forward to.

Well, I think I should get back to work. Good night (or morning to you day folks).

Snail races and other things single people do to entertain themselves

2008-07-06T04:32:00.000-07:00

So...what do a bunch of single 20 somethings do for fun on the 3rd of July....we have snail races! Actually, we had a BBQ for community group, THEN we had the snail race. The house we were at had a ton of snails, and one of the guys thought it would be fun to have a contest to see which snail was the fastest. Out came the fingernail polish to adorn the particularly lucky snails...they were covered in dots, a smiley face, and several styles of racing stripes. It was then decided that we needed a finish line, so the ribbon basket was brought outside and a nice pink ribbon was adorned with "finish" and stakes between two twigs pushed into the grass across the sidewalk. The contestant were lined up and then off they went! Smiley took the early lead, but then Norman put out the slime and pulled ahead. The race was antenna to antenna the whole time, but Norman won by a fraction. After a round of cheering, he was given the place of honor in the bushes, where he would be safe for a while. There are pictures and a video floating around, so when I can get a hold of them, I will post them here.

The other entertainment that us single people like to enjoy is making fun of the other members of the community group who are singing old school worship songs while playing bongos and keeping time with sticks. They were inside the house, singing away, while 5-6 of us (me included) were outside snickering at them and remembering how dorky we were in junior high and high school.

Fun times!

Anyway....my life is boring, hence the need to race snails. Work is going well, although I have not been overly busy for the past few weeks. I think I've read 3 books in the past two weeks and that was only reading them at work! I shouldn't complain, as there are days when it is super busy, but it sure makes the nights really long!

Not much else to say...so I guess I'll get back to work...I mean reading my book :-)

Amazing Sermon

2008-06-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

If you have a spare hour, I would really encourage you to listen/watch this sermon that my pastor preached on Sunday. It's on worship...but not music, etc.....more like what we worship besides God. All I have to say is WOW! I can't get it to link properly, so...

www.marshillchurch.org
On the left hand side, click on Worship: God Transforms. Then just hit the arrow to watch the sermon, or go down a bit farther and you can download the audio.

Song

2008-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

I was listening to some music by Bebo Norman today and I just wanted to share one of his songs with you. If you have never checked his stuff out, I would really, REALLY encourage it. I got to see him in concert a while ago and got hooked. I don't know how to get music to play on here, but if you go to my mySpace page, I have the song playing there.

I Will Lift My Eyes

God, My God
I cry out
Your beloved needs you now
God be near
Calm my fear
And take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

Chorus:
I will lift eyes
To the maker of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift eyes
To the calmer of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes
To the healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, My God
Let mercy sing
Your melody over me
And God right here
All I’d bring is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

Chorus

'Cause you are and you were and you will be forever
You’re all that I need to save me
Because you fashion the earth and
You hold it together, God
So hold me now

Chorus
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, My God
I cry out
Your beloved needs you now

Tired....

2008-06-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been on night shift for.....actually I don't even know how long I've been on night shift. Long enough to lose all track of time, days of the week, or even what month it is. Ughhh...I now remember why $$ is the only reason to work nights, which is why I'm working nights. I have several pictures of Guatemala on my locker and one on my clipboard to remind me why I am putting myself though this misery.

Right now I am listening to Enrique Iglesias on my computer, in Spanish no less. I can only understand a bit of what he says, but I figure its good exposure. It also reminds me that I need to work on my Spanish today.

Lets see...what else is new......

I have a "new" car. The quotations are there because its a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, which is 4 years older than my other car (piece of crap that it is). Its older, but it has less than 75,000 miles on it and is in good working condition. I bought it from a couple at my church for a good price. It doesn't get the best gas mileage, but I don't have to worry about it making very funny noises, leaking oil, shimmying in strange ways on the freeway, or just afraid to go anywhere because the car might die. It was a good buy and hopefully will serve me well until I get back from Guatemala next year.

Not much new news on the Guatemala front. I'm still waiting to hear back from Dr Tito, the head of the medical team down there. He's been busy with clinics/trips and both of his boys have been very sick (which always happens when he is out on clinics...a definitely attempt by the enemy to disrupt work there). I'll be e-mailing him again here in a few weeks, just to touch base. I did, however, hear from Oscar...now don't get all excited...it was just a quick note asking how I was, how my Spanish was coming along, and when I was coming back to Guat. I'm hoping that Tito and Rolando are coming for a quick visit this fall to attend a medical missions conference in Tennessee and that Oscar will be able to join them. They usually make a stop in Seattle to speak at some churches to raise support, but I haven't heard anything for sure. I'm tentatively planning on going to the conference, as I'm definitely interested in medical missions.

Well, I need a nap.

Patience

2008-05-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

I've been reading through My Utmost for His Highest and this was my reading for May 2nd. I thought I would share it with you all...enjoy!

The Passion of Patience

"Though it tarry, wait for it." Hab 2:3

Patience is not indifference; patience conveys the idea of an immensely strong rock withstanding all onslaughts. The vision of God is the source of patience, because it imparts a moral inspiration. Moses endured, not because he had an ideal of right and duty, but because he has a vision of God. He "endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible." A man with the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue; he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it; things comes with largeness and tonic to the life because everything is energized by God. If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son actually, of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure and the power to endure is there because you see God.
"Though it tarry, wait for it." The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. "What shall I render unto the Lord?" said the Psalmist. "I will take the cup of salvation." We are apt to look for satisfaction in ourselves - "Now I have got the thing; now I am entirely sanctified; now I can endure." Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." Of we have only what we have experiences, we have nothing; if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of relaxtion spiritually.

Musings

2008-05-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

3 movies you must all watch...

1) Dan in Real Life (you laugh and cry)
2) Lars and the Real Girl (don't let the sex doll keep you from seeing this movie, its very clean!)
3) Once (musical in nature)

I love movies that make you think, cry, laugh, and reflect on things in your life. I found that all three of these movies caused me to do that. Also, the soundtrack for Once is amazing!!!!

Anyway, I have a ton of musings, but they just don't seem to want to go on "paper". I kind of feel like my head might burst, but not quite sure how to process it all. I'll probably have a few weird sleepwalking dreams and then they will be sorted out and processed...I just hope I don't walk around naked outside or any of the other things I dread when I know I'm sleepwalking but have no control over.

*sigh* I think I'll go to bed. A tired, overly emotional girl should never be allowed to blog...

Chapin

2008-04-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today I made Chapin for breakfast, which transported me right back to Guatemala. Chapin (for those who aren't familiar with it) is a traditional meal in Guatemala. It is often eaten for breakfast and sometime dinner (the main meal is usually lunch). Chapin consists of several items....eggs, fried plantains, frijoles negros volteados, queso fresco, fruit, salsa and a bread of some sort.

I had received the black bean recipes a few weeks ago and just didn't get around to making it. There are actually three ways of eating then as you go through the stages until you reach the final product for Chapin.

1) Caldo de frijols (broth of bean). You cook black beans overnight in the crock pot with a whole onion and a whole head of garlic. Serve with rice, sour cream and croutons.

2) Frijoles colados (beans strained). You blend the beans to a puree and then mix with sauteed onions and garlic. Serve with eggs or however you want to eat them (they are kind of runny).

3) Frijoles negros volteados (black beans turned). You saute some onion and then add the black bean puree with some oil and stir....and stir.....and stir until you think your arm is going to fall off. Once it drys out and forms a ball, it is ready.

Spoon on a plate, add some scrambled eggs with salsa on top, a few pieces of fried plantain, a tortilla, the cheese (I used cheddar since I don't like queso fresco). It totally took me back to sitting in the Italian restaurant in Panajachel in the morning with the team waiting for our Chapin breakfast. Yum! I made a big batch of bean puree and plan on eating it all week....its soooo good!

Langugae School

2008-04-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

I thought everyone might be interested in checking out the language school I am planning on going to in Guatemala. I've heard good things about it, and even got a recommendation for who to do my home stay with. They also do some community service, offer dancing and cooking classes, bike rides through Antigua, and an opportunity to climb an active volcano! Anyway, here is the link...

http://www.ixchelschool.com

First Day of Work

2008-04-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day on the new job and boy am I tired. My brain hurts! The physical assessment stuff came back pretty quick, but the 20 step process (I kid you not) to give any medication or IV fluid is insane! It takes me 10 minutes to give a Tylenol and its not because I am busy or tied up anywhere! Anyway, I'm tired and I have another 12 hour shift tomorrow so I am going to bed.

Numb Tongue

2008-04-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Yep, my tongue is numb, actually its only the right side of my tongue. My adventure started on Tuesday when I went in to have the final work done on my crown. They numbed the right lower side of my mouth real nice, did the needed work, and then off I went. Everything was going away nicely when I went to bed, except that the right side of my tongue, and my lip was still numb. I figured it would go away overnight, so off to bed I went.

Well, I woke up the next morning and something just seemed wrong. Not in a bad way, just different. Once I woke up enough, I realized that my tongue was still numb. "This is odd", I thought to myself. I reasoned that I had been lying down for the whole night, so maybe it didn't just go away, but it will surely get better as the morning wears on and I am up and moving about.

It didn't, which then made me call the dentist. The nice receptionist (who also works as an assistant) explained that this can be normal when you get injections. Sometimes the needle bruises or partially severs the nerve. It usually resolves......in 2 weeks to 6 MONTHS!!!!!! Yep, it can take up to 6 months (or sometimes longer) to regain taste, hot/cold, and sensation!

Has anyone else had this happen or heard of this before? I hadn't! So, right now the right side of my tongue is numb, I can't taste anything on that side, nor can I tell if something is hot or cold. It makes drinking hot coffee or tea mighty interesting to say the least. I hope is resolves sooner than later as you don't really appreciate your tongue and what it does for you until you can't feel it.

On a brighter note, today was my last day at the office. It was filled with a lot of goodbyes, instructions, and tears. Dorothy (the other nurse) bawled as I was saying goodbye. To be honest, I think it has more to do with her being left with all the work, and not so much with her missing me personally. I understand, I know how much work there is! She got a full realization of how much work I plow through each day when I was gone in Guatemala. I can process a stack of 25 charts in under 15 minutes *brag, brag*. Anyway, I am completely going to miss the people, but not the work, paperwork, or phone calls ("Yes, I am 2 seconds pregnant and I'm wondering if I can open my door to go outside? Will this hurt my baby? Are you sure? Maybe you should check with the doctor and call me back.") Laugh away, but its pretty close to the calls I get. How ever did we manage to reproduce all these years if breathing will hurt your baby???

I start orientation at the hospital on Monday, and then the following week I start my orientation back to the maternity center. That will probably be on day shift for the next 4-5 weeks and then on night shift for 1-2 weeks. It all depends how quickly everything comes back. I'm aiming for only a 3-4 week orientation if I can help it.

The time line for my 6 month trip to Guatemala is tentatively set....meaning I will either 1) be going mid Feb for language school, doing the RRB clinic trip mid March, and then start with Tito, or 2) do the RRB trip mid March, then language school, then Tito. I'm looking into various language schools and picking the brains of a few friends who have been down there doing this type of thing. I'll be contacting Tito probably in the next few months to make sure he can use me for the spring/summer next year and then I'll start firming up plans.

I will close with a picture from Guatemala, which reminds me why I want to go back, and no its not Oscar related (mom, I know that is what you are thinking!)

New News

2008-03-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

Oh, where to begin......

I am adjusting to being back from Guatemala, although I REALLY miss it there. I am still working on my "thank you" letter to send to those who prayed/donated for me to go....a month later isn't too bad, right?

Still haven't heard from a certain man in Guatemala, and am beginning to think I won't, so I have been struggling with letting it go. It sounds so easy, but for me, its one of the hardest things to let go of. It's one of those areas that I have always struggled with trusting God. Maybe thats what I'm supposed to learn through this situation....I just don't like it though! When you are getting up there in years (don't laugh anyone who is older than me), seeing younger (much younger) siblings/cousins getting married and having kids, knowing your eggs are wasting away, and are super lonely, it makes it REALLY hard to trust in God's timing.

Anyway, as a result of a very strong desire to go back to Guatemala for 6+ months next year (2 months of language school, and then the rest working with the clinics there), I have decided a job change is in order. Actually, I've been considering a job change for a while, but this really kicked me into gear. Last week, I approached the maternity center here at Evergreen about coming back to work full-time. The manager just about jumped over the desk to offer me a job, which after much consideration, I accepted. What I really had to weigh, was the fact that I would be on night shift (horror of horrors!). I do awful on nights (7pm-7:30am), and I will warn everyone now, I'll most likely be a sleepy grumpy person until I can get a day shift. The plus is that I get some flexibility in how I want my schedule to look. I'm going to request Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. This will allow me to pick up an extra shift every so often, and still leave my Sundays and Thursdays free for church. I start hospital orientation April 7th, which lasts for a week.....can we say boring!

Dr Dydell took the news very well, and has been very supportive. They are actively looking for a nurse to replace me. Dorothy is doing ok, although I notice she is getting a bit more panicky every day. I think that if we can find someone before I go, she will do better.

I also resigned from being the CO of Alpha Base (the good guy Star Wars costume group) and have notified both bases that I will mostly likely not be active. As much as I love, LOVE Star Wars, there are more important things in life and Guatemala really opened my eyes to the excess and waste of money that I am guilty of. Convicting!

I am learning some Spanish by using Rosetta Stone online software, which is working ok. My vocabulary is improving, but my grammar is not doing so hot. I've never been good even with English grammar and the Spanish stuff is even worse! Here is a sampling of my Spanish to wow and impress you all....

Hola
Adios
Una manzana es verde.
Un perro es grande.
Mi camiseta es azul.
Cafe es calor
Come estas? Muy bien

I know, I know....impressive! Have a great weekend!

Snow

2008-01-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I tried to get into work this morning, but after being on the road for 1 1/2 hours, and still just being in Lynnwood, I went back home. I had about 2-2 1/2 inches on my car this morning...I know...you people on the other side of the mountains are laughing right now. Its already compacted to ice on a lot of streets, which combined with the snowfall they are predicting tonight, means a very, VERY thick layer of ice tomorrow morning. I'm going to try to head to work around 9:30-10 and if I can make it, I'll probably just stay the night at someones house so I don't have to make the drive again tomorrow. I just hope its better soon. I need to get my paycheck (curse the fact that we don't have direct deposit!), and go get last minutes things for my trip. If its not better by Wednesday or Thursday, I'll have to skip the ministry meeting/worship time at church on Thursday night so I can get all ready. Bahh....why does it have to snow the end of January!

Assorted things

2008-01-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

A compilation if you will.....

1) Leaving for Guatemala next Friday. Feeling nervous, excited, and blessed to be able to go. Just have a few more things to get, then I shall pack, and check over everything 20 times.

2) Being blessed by my community group at church, although when asked about my stance on predestination (that was the topic of the sermon last Sunday), I just sat there probably with my mouth hanging open and drool coming out. I definitely need to study more on this topic. Its not something I've ever struggled/wrestled with, and isn't a key part of my relationship with God, therefore I've neglected studying it.

3) Best homemade laundry soap ever!

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light loads, use 2 tablespoon. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.

Smells great, cleans great, is cheap, easy on the environment...what more could you want! Was able to find all products at Fred Meyers, which is handy.

4) Reading the Golden Compass....I know its quite controversial in the Christian community, but I want to judge for myself. The key is to be confident and firm in your beliefs/convictions and then read said books with an open mind. Don't go in with a bias...just go and read it for what it is...a piece of fiction. So far I wouldn't say its a fabulous book like Harry Potter, (I know Michelle disagrees with me on this point, but this is my blog, so too bad), but it does have a semi-decent storyline. I plan on reading the other two in the series as well. Told a person at work and she chewed my ear off, and then chewed my other one off for reading HP. I felt like saying "its really sad you can't just read a book and make your own decisions, but have to let others do your thinking for you." Apparently I am going to hell and all my future children will go to hell as well for me being willing to let them read the series when they are older.

5) Working a lot of overtime the last couple of Friday's, good for the paycheck, bad for me...I'm tired. Its not that I have anything else to do on Friday nights, but I like to know I have the option of doing something if I wanted to. I am really boring, lol.

Can't think of anymore assorted things for now, so I will end this blog.

Wow!

2008-01-09T21:07:00.002-08:00

Has it really been that long since my last post! Crazy!

Anyway, now that I am striving to be regular on my blogging, I thought I would tell you about what I did for my birthday. Yes, I am officially ancient and old.

Abby, Beth, Rachael, and Brett (Rach's BF) took me to this Moroccan restaurant in Seattle called Kasbah. I have never been for Moroccan food, and well, this was fabulous!

From the outside it looks like a dump (it is in Ballard after all), but when you walk in.....wow! They have lush tapestries, water fountains, metal objects of all sorts. We were lead to the back corner on the room surrounded by red drapes, the ceiling had white fabric draping from the center, which reminded you of being in a tent. They had this big metal plate with a raised edge that served as the table. On two sides were benches with pillows and the other two sides had poofs. I choose the bench as my balance leaves something to be desired.

They have a 5 course dinner thing, where you get to choose your entree. While we were deciding, this man comes up in traditional garb with a big teapot/kettle and a basin. We washed our hands while he poured the water, and then dried them on the towels at the table. Then another guy came around and asked what we wanted. I got the Vegetable Tagine. Thankfully, I was familiar with what a Tagine is (thank you Andrew Zimmer from the Food Network). The others got Lamb and Chicken dishes.

The meal started with this amazing soup....it was really good. Tomato based with Garbanzo beans, lentils, veggies and spices. They served this with a Caraway bread. The next course was the salad...which didn't have lettuce. There was some spiced carrots, some tomato salad and something else which I didn't know what it was, but it tasted divine! Once again, more bread, and....you got to eat with your fingers. After that came the appetizer, which was something called B'stilla, which was ground chicken, eggs, and spices wrapped in Filo dough, cooked and then sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. I didn't like this dish at all. The combo of the meat and sugar just didn't work for me.

Our main dishes came out next. All I can say is that it was great! So flavorful! Served with more bread. After they took the plates away, the guy came back with rosewater which he shook into our hands and then after rubbing our hands, we dried them off. They smelled, well....like roses (imagine that). Then came dessert which was honey poached pear drizzled with chocolate and served with a sweet mint tea. The perfect ending!

Oh, during our meal there was a belly dancer..she was not bad.

Anyway, it was a blast...the company, food, environment, and music was all wonderful. I would highly recommend this place. I put the website below, so check it out.

http://www.kasbahmoroccanrestaurant.com/

Long time no blog...

2007-11-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Yep, its been a while since I blogged. What is new in my life???? Not much, unfortunately.

I'm still going to Mars Hill church in Seattle and LOVE it. I have always had a hard time sitting through sermons, even those that were no longer than 30min. But there is something about how Pastor Mark (Driscoll, not Pitroff), that keeps me still an attentive for 50-60 min at a time. I'm still having a hard time with the worship as its not at all what I like/am used to for church, but I'm slowly learning to appreciate it, especially now that I am starting to know the songs.

The community group I am part of is going good. Its in downtown Seattle (not my favorite place), but the people are nice and there are a lot of single guys :-)

The missions trip is coming together. I have my passport, and will be getting my vaccinations soon. Luckily, I only have to get my Hep A and a Tetanus booster. Not too bad.....

I have been working out at Curves for the last month and had my first weigh/measure tonight. I went in not expecting anything at all as this first month was just to get me going on a regular basis. I gained a pound and half, but I lost almost 4 inches overall...so I think the gain was probably muscle. I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least.

Well, I am going to bed. I think I'm fighting a cold or something as my head hurts and I feel crappy. To all a good night....

Fabulous Movie

2007-10-29T22:45:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a free showing of Lars and the Real Girl that my church sponsored. This is a must see movie, folks. I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in I don't know how long. What I thought was really cool was that you laughed really hard, but when the movie was over, you have a lot of serious things to think about. It is definitely a 5 star movie in my books.

My only advice.... don't let the fact that it is a story about a sex doll scare you away. It is 100% cleaner and more family friendly than 98% of all the commercials/cartoons/shows on TV. Very, VERY well done.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

2007-10-27T23:32:00.001-07:00

So, last night my friends Beth and Rachael came over and we carved our pumpkins. 3 hours later, I had finished two (mine and Abby's as she was out of town) and they each finished one. My hand is so sore....I had the worst tool ever for scraping the pumpkin skin away. Anyway, here they are...can you guess which two are mine? I think I might have a few pictures without the flash...but my camera is not cooperating at the moment.

Yummy Recipes

2007-10-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here are two recipes I saw on an Episode of America's Test Kitchen (which is a very, VERY cool show). They are both fast, simple and delicious!

Skillet Chicken and Rice with Peas and Scallions

Be sure to use chicken breasts that are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking.

Serves 4

4	boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
	Table salt and ground black pepper
1/2	cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
2	tablespoons unsalted butter
1	medium onion , minced
3	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
	Pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2	cups long-grain rice
1/2	cup dry white wine
4 1/2	cups low-sodium chicken broth
1	cup frozen peas
5	scallions , sliced thin
2	tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1	lemon , cut into wedges, for serving

1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in flour to coat and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the chicken well on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

2. Off the heat, add the butter to the skillet, and swirl to melt. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and return to medium-high heat until softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the rice thoroughly and let toast for about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in the wine and let the rice absorb it completely, about 1 minute. Stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Nestle the chicken into the rice, browned side facing up, including any accumulated juices. Cover and cook over medium heat until the thickest part of the chicken registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate. Gently brush off and discard any rice clinging to the chicken, then tent the chicken with foil and set aside. Return the skillet of rice to medium-low heat, cover, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, 8 to 12 minutes longer.

5. Off the heat, sprinkle the peas over the rice, cover, and let warm through, about 2 minutes. Add the scallions and lemon juice to the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the chicken and lemon wedges.

___________________________________________________________________
Skillet Chicken with Broccoli, Ziti, and Asiago Cheese

This recipe also works well with 8 ounces of penne. Parmesan cheese can be substituted for the Asiago.

Serves 4

1	pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cut into 1-inch squares
	Table salt and ground black pepper
2	tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil)
1	medium onion , minced (about 1 cup)
3	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4	teaspoon dried oregano
1/8	teaspoon red pepper flakes
8	ounces ziti (2 /12 cups)
2 3/4	cups water
1 2/3	cups low-sodium chicken broth
12	ounces broccoli florets (4 cups)
1/4	cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes , rinsed and chopped coarse
1/2	cup heavy cream
1	ounce grated Asiago cheese (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
1	tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Stir the chicken and continue to cook until most, but not all, of the pink color has disappeared and the chicken is lightly browned around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.

2. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the ziti, 2 cups of the water, and the broth. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid is very thick and syrupy and almost completely absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

4. Add the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and the remaining 3/4 cup water. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli turns bright green and is almost tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Uncover and return the heat to high. Stir in the cream, Asiago, and reserved chicken with any accumulated juices and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked and heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing more grated Asiago at the table, if desired.

2007-10-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am having a whopper of a pity party for myself. Its just been a rough week and I just want to just get away from work and not ever go back. I'm overwhelmed and I just want to cry.

2007-10-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little angry, frustrated, and impatient.

Feeling very un-attractive, boring, and sad.

Feeling very VERY lonely, confused, and disappointed in God.

Zoo Trip and Other Assorted Topics

2007-10-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

So for the heck of it, I went to the zoo on Saturday. Now, I love the zoo....I mean really love the zoo. I have seriously considered volunteering there and I may just once my busy social life dies down a bit next year. Anyway, I went by myself (which is a nice way to see the zoo) and got to meander around, stopping where I wanted to stop, going where I wanted to go, and just enjoyed the amazing creatures God has made. Here are some pictures:

Baby Tiger (born earlier this year)..very fluffy looking, I wanted to cuddle with it.

Birds in Willawong Station....they will fly up and land on you..you can also pay $1 and get a Popsicle stick with a tad of birdseed on the end. I am Dutch, and therefore cheap...I just enjoyed others getting pooped on.

Classic zoo Peacock

Yep, thats a bear.

I love this one..it look like the monkey is giving the finger, lol

My favorite, the elephant

Some exciting news is that I was elected commanding officer of my good guys Star Wars costuming group. This means I have power, unlimited power (insert evil laugh here). It also means I have to coordinate all events, convention appearances, settle disputes, and approve costumes. Just a tad bit more to add to my plate, but it had to be done.

Blessings

2007-09-22T09:52:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to share with everyone how things are going in preparation for my trip to Guatemala:

- My passport application has been sent in, so now I just have to wait 6-8 weeks (per the person I gave the application to) for my passport to come. Just enough time for them to make sure I am an acutally legal resident of the US and don't have a criminal background.

- I will be having a meeting with the group on October at which I will find out what vaccinations I need so that I hopefully will not contract some funky disease...not looking forward to those injections. Will be making a trip to Costco before I leave to make sure I have a super sized box of Immodium AD....don't really want to get the Guatemalan equivalent of Montezuma's revenge.

- Last night I got an e-mail from the accounting person with RBB (Reach Beyond Borders) with my total support raised so far. Before I give the amount, I just wanted to share that I haven't been concerned at all about if enough support was going to be raised. Normally I worry (I'm VERY good at that) and it disrupts my life, but I haven't had even a moments concern. I consider that a confirmation that I am supposed to go on this trip and that God will provide. I also consider it a confirmation in that he has provided $1500 of the $1850 I need to go! Yep folks...that leaves $350 I need to raise before Jan 2! As my mom says, "its like a hug from God". I am feeling completely blessed and loved by God, family and friends.

On a non missions trip related note...I woke up last night at 4:30 to what I thought was the static sound from my alarm clock radio, but instead it was a torrential downpour outside. I laid in bed listening to it for a while and then went back to sleep. I LOVE the sounds of a heavy rain...I just wish I had a tin or metal roof, then I would REALLY hear it. I'm also totally in a fall mood. I'm thinking its time to start baking bread and making soups and stews. I want to smell cinnamon pine cones and rotting leaves. It totally makes me want to put up my Christmas decorations and play Christmas music. Yes they would be 3 months early, but oh I long for that time of year (minus the snow...unless its on a weekend). Maybe I'll take a jaunt out to Michaels and see if they have their pine cones in yet. I wonder if there's an easy way to make my own...hmmm...I may look online.

More proof that I am a dork...

2007-09-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, tonight at community group, this guy Brad (who I've known for a while) came up while I was in line getting dinner. He said he needed to talk with me about my trip to Guatemala....and then asked how short I was. Me, being myself and a little on the slow side, thought for a moment and said "5'8". He kind of looked at me weird and then I realized he was talking about money, not my height. We both got a good laugh over it.....I honestly thought he was going to offer me some boots or a coat or something...money was the last thing on my mind.

Real smooth Becki, real smooth!

Wow!

2007-09-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some amazing news.....during my community group tonight, I asked for prayer for my support to come in for Guatemala. There are three deadlines I need to make and a certain amount by each one. I sent out my support letters yesterday (expect one on the mail :-), and just wanted group prayer for God's provision. Afterwards, this guy came up and asked me how much I needed to raise, and how much I had currently. I told him...and he said "Well, I have $500 I'd like to give you. If by the end you don't have enough let me know, and I'll fill in what is needed"! I was speechless at his generosity, to say the least. I was so flustered, that on my way back from grabbing him my support letter...I ran into a wall mounted TV, lol. A classic Becki move...

I'm still blown away and very grateful. God is amazing!

Guatemala

2007-09-04T20:40:00.001-07:00

I am going to Guatemala....on a medical missions trip.....for 10 days......I am so excited!

A Day in Becki's Life

2007-08-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by my cousin Lindy to tell you what a usual day in my life is like. Its not really interesting or fun, but I suppose the grass is always greener.

I usually get up at 6am, hit the snooze and get up at 6:09 when it goes off (that 9 minutes sure makes a big difference, lol). I put my contacts in, and check my e-mail while I brush my teeth. Shower, dress, take my vitamins...then off to work by 6:45. I get to work around 7:30...switch the laundry over, put away the clean speculums and tools, fill the equipment basins and turn on the warmers in each room (nothing worse than cold speculums and gel). Patients start arriving at 8am, so I start putting them in exam rooms. During this time, I'm also checking the lab results that came in overnight, filing the normal ones, sending results letters, etc. At 9am the phones turn on and the messages start coming in. I usually get a breather around 9:30, which is when I usually scarf breakfast. Patients, calls, labs continue until 12:30 when, if everything is going smoothly, I get to go for lunch. The afternoon patients start at 1:00-1:30 depending on the day, and then its back to patients and calls for the rest of the afternoon. If I have a free moment I try to schedule surgeries or order supplies. Last patient is usually done at 3:45, which is when the charts start flowing from the Dr's office as she is done charting or signing off things. There is usually a pile of things she wants us to follow up on, call someone about, or fax somewhere. We usually clean the speculums and other equipment, stock supplies in the rooms and basically close them down for the night at around 4:30 or so. Then its back to calls and filing until we are done, which is hopefully 5 or 5:30. Drive home and usually get there at 6 (doesn't seem to matter if I leave at 5 or 5:30, I still get home at the same time). I change right into my pajamas, cook dinner, watch some TV, check e-mail. Sometimes I'll go hang out with the girls, or watch a movie with them, but most of the time I'm in bed by 9 or 9:30pm. Repeat over, and over, and over again.

Vacation

2007-08-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Just got back from my vacation....now I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow!

Went to Lake Chelan with the family Wed-Fri and then drove home and left Sat morning to spend the weekend at Guemes Island (Sp?) just off Anacortes. I could totally live in that area! Its so quaint and quiet...especially on the island. The ferry ride to and from work would be brutal though as it makes me REALLY seasick.

Finishing up laundry and boiling some eggs for breakfasts this week...then going to bed, where I plan on getting a decent nights sleep.

Good Job!

2007-08-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share two "good job" moments I had this week. This has been my first week on the weight watchers eating plan, and I had to face two big challenges. 1) We had a drug rep bring us Mexican food....which I love and could eat for every meal, every day and never get tired of it. 2) I went out to eat with friends to the Old Spaghetti Factory.

I made a very modified taco salad of the Mexican food, stayed away from the chips/salsa, and didn't eat any of the cookies.

And tonight I made it through the Spaghetti Factory with good choices. I ate the salad with the nummy creamy pesto, but only dipped my fork in the dressing for each bite (which only used a 1/4 of the total dressing they brought), had 1 piece of bread, and ate half a serving of plain spaghetti with tomato sauce (and choose the whole wheat pasta). I did splurge and eat the ice cream, but I was still within my points for the day because of the other good choices. All in all, I am very proud of myself.

Hopefully the scale will reward me more tomorrow at weigh in...although even if it doesn't I am still proud of my choices.

Get Fit

2007-07-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

I'm 100% committed to losing weight and getting fit! I'm tired of being tired, heavy, and unable to find/look good in clothes. To this end...I have joined Weight Watchers. I was a member over a year ago and did lose some weight, but was lazy..very lazy. I'm bound and determined to work at this and lose weight. My leader is very cool. She is a fellow nurse and also lost 110 lbs and has kept it off for 5 years. I found this very inspiring as I have about 100 lbs to lose as well..so its nice to talk with someone who has done the same. I weighed in Thursday and this is my second day watching my food intake and tracking my points. I'm planning on joining the YMCA in the next few weeks to go and swim before work. They also have discounted massages there, which I am really looking forward to as I have some serious knots that need to come out...stupid stress.

Busy, Busy

2007-07-22T21:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry for not getting more blogging done lately. It has been a very busy past few weeks.

Went to Lake Chelan to spread Grandpa's ashes, which was a beautiful thing. I was kind of surprised at how much closure it gave me. I felt like I reached a place of finality and the pouring of the ashes into Gold Creek just cemented that feeling. It was also great to spend time with all the family and just relax, the apricots were nice too :-)

I took this past Friday off as I volunteered to prepare the food for Jason Pitroffs wedding. Everything turned out nice food wise, and Debby (Jason's new wife) guess almost perfectly on the food. The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL! It was very simple in the gazebo at the Edmonds City Park. Close friends and family....very nice. It was such a blessing to see how special it was for the two of them....to be honest, it made me jealous a bit. Very happy for the both of them though.

Saturday, I was in the Kla Ha Ya Days parade in Snohomish. It drizzled for most of the time, but we had a good time. Chewbacca flew in from Nashville, and with his new stilts was at least 7'9. It was very impressive and he definitely stole the show. Everyone kept yelling "Chewbacca, Chewie!" Put some pictures below.

I also finished the Harry Potter book today....wow.....won't give anything away, but wow! Got it Saturday morning at 11 and finished it this evening. Not bad, not bad at all. I'll probably have time to read it again before I start passing it around.

This is me saving the universe from evil.

Me fraternizing with the enemy

Chewbacca and his non-Wookie dad

Harry Potter

2007-07-12T17:40:00.001-07:00

I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie this morning...sorry Jenni....it was amazing!!!!! The best HP movie so far! I thought they did a fairly decent job of keeping to the story...it wasn't all action, like the last movie, and we got to meet Luna Lovegood, who is my new fav character. That girl played her spot on! I HIGHLY recommend you go see this movie!

On another note, Shawn, aka "the guy", wrote back and I'm having some mixed feelings about what I should do. On one hand, I think I should at least meet him before I make a decision, but on the other hand I'm not really interested in "just being friends" and dragging this e-mail thing on. I'm not really sensing any direction from the Lord, so maybe that is the direction....just continue until I do sense something. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the ideas of arranged marriages....if anyone want to pick out some nice guy and set the wedding date, I may be up for that in the near future.

Ok..

2007-07-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

So this guy has not e-mailed me since Friday....why do I sense he's maybe not as interested as he sounded. Its actually kind of funny, in a God sense of humor type of way. I have been praying that if this wasn't from God that he would close all doors and communication....don't pray for something if you don't want to recieve it. If he for some reason does contact me again and doesn't give a decent story, like "my child was in the hospital" or "I had to go out of town last minute for a family emergency", I will kindly be letting him know that I'm not really interested in sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for him to grow some balls. I'm way past the whole "lets be friends" or "just want to hang out" type crap that so many guys and gals are so fond of. All people should be past this by my age, but for some reason, it's still quite popular. I'm 27 and my eggs aren't getting any younger, thank you very much!

A Guy

2007-07-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

So a bit more on this guy...for those whom my mom hasn't already filled in.

His name is Shawn, he's 32, divorced, has a 2 year old son name Thor that lives with him full time. We haven't met yet, just e-mailing. He says he's a Christian and goes to church when his work schedule allows. He works as a medical assistant at the UW ER, and is planning on applying for physician assistant school or nursing school. Used to be in the Air Force as a flight medic/critical care tech. Is on good terms with his ex, who recently moved to Chicago for a job. They got divorced because "they just didn't get along and his wife declined counseling".

Top three things I have issues with....

1) Not sure how solid of a Christian he is. Has me a bit concerned.
2) The reason behind the divorce....kind of a lame reason if you ask me. There is always 2 sides to any story, and I'm interested in finding out more.
3) The fact that he wants to go back to school.

Top three things I don't have issues with....
1) His son...I love kids.
2) His age...32 is still very young, and I will remind my readers that I am 27, which is ancient.
3) The fact that we haven't met yet....we've only been "talking" for a week.

4th of July

2007-07-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!

I was in a parade today down in Edmonds. It was hot, hot, hot, but we had a good time. No one go heatstroke, our costumes didn't fall apart, and I looked good! I did get tired of being called "Darth Maul" and one girl said she though we were from the Matrix.....these people are seriously having this part of their education neglected. "Train up a child in the ways of Star Wars and they will never part from it." Yes, that is a bit sacrilegious....but I think God is a total Star Wars fan...I can just see Him in heaven wearing a WWYD? bracelet (What Would Yoda Do?). Its a good thing God has a good sense of humor....cause 2 sacrilegious comments in one day is probably too many.

When I got home last night from the festivities at my mom's house, my freezer was hanging open, devoid of my frozen goods, with a note attached. I had talked with my landlords the other day about the freezer leaking water on the floor and the freezer defrosting and refreezing all my food. Well, they took it upon themselves to move my freezer stuff upstairs and turn off the refrigerator. My land lady said not to worry about the stuff in the fridge as it should stay cold enough. I didn't think it worked that way if the freezer door was left open and defrosted.....I was right. My fridge was room temperature this morning, so I had to throw out a lot of stuff. Oh well, hopefully the freezer will now work right.

Yep...

2007-07-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

Yep, so I've met a very nice man.. Met in the sense of talking via e-mail....no phone calls or in person meetings, yet. I won't say more as it makes the suspense all the better.

Naked Man

2007-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, I saw a naked man on my way to work yesterday, just standing by the side of the road in Kenmore. I'm driving, minding my own business, when I see this man on the other side of the street with his back to me......and he is naked. I keep driving, thinking "he must be holding a sign 'down there' to make a political or advertising statement"......well, when I drove by and whipped my head around, he was completely naked. I was shocked at first, and then I started giggling like crazy. I debated whether or not to call the police, but didn't think I could call 911 for such a thing (apparently you can), so I just kept driving. It made for a very good story at work, and we chuckled about it all day long.

Speaking of work, I have to go in for a bit today to work on the new office. I have supplies piled all over the waiting room and they really need to be put away. I'm also going to a stamp thing with Kristi today and planning on getting my hair cut....busy, busy.

Poll

2007-06-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

I am doing a poll for which license plate frame I should get...opinions please!

1. I'm a Star Wars fan, Honk if you R2

2. My other transport is an AT-AT

3. My car made the Kessel run in 2 parsecs

4. My other ride is a TaunTaun

5. Its an armor thing, you wouldn't understand

Any other suggestions are welcome. Some of these were my ideas, others were from the garrison.

Sushi

2007-06-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try Sushi for a very long time. Now mind you, I don't eat seafood of any kind, which kind of makes you feel out of place in a restaurant where 98% of the menu revolves around seafood. Michelle had given me a good recommendation in Kirkland and my co-worker gave me one for Mill Creek. Since I didn't relish going to Kirkland and trying to find parking, I opted for Mill Creek.

The place was called Sushi Zen. Its in a strip mall, but it is a nice place! I got seated and when the waiter brought the menu over, I confessed my inexperience. I could tell he was about to suggest some raw fish dish when I asked for a suggestion...so I quickly stated "I don't eat fish or seafood, do you have some non-fish rolls?". He gave me two nice suggestions, a basic vegetarian roll and another one that I can't pronounce, but it had pickled plum in it. They arrived and looked great...I then tasted one and wasn't that impressed. The rice was good, the vegetables fresh, but it was the nori (seaweed wrapper) that did me in. It tasted like a beach at low tide...and it didn't taste nice. I tried to hide the flavor with some pickled ginger and wasabi, but with no luck. I managed to eat 4 pieces, but then I was done. I didn't want to be rude, so I asked for a box. I left it at the cabin for Abby as I know she likes that sort of thing.

All in all, a good experience and I would definitely go back to the restaurant and get some noodles or some other food, but not the rolls. At least I can say I tried it.

Exercise

2007-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

I really need to start exercising again. I was doing good for a while, and then I missed a day....then 2.....then 5..... and now lots of days. I'm thinking about taking a tennis class as I've always liked tennis, but never really knew how to play. I've also been looking into going swimming before work a couple of days a week, but the thought of getting into a bathing suit is awful! I just need to do it, stop whining, and stop caring about what other people think. Yes, self, that is what I must do.

Long time

2007-06-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

I know...its been a long time since I blogged. I don't even have a good reason, except that I didn't want to. Nothing interesting going on....just work, stress, difficulty sleeping, etc.

I envy people who get good sleep. Its the deep, dark, evil envy too, not the watered down stuff. I'll forever curse the day I inherited my dads bad sleeping genes! Why couldn't I have inherited my moms "I lay my head down and sleep until 7am" genes, those are the ones I really want.

When you dream you are living in some sort of earthbound ship, and neglecting the people upstairs so that they die, and then getting called on it by coworkers......something is wrong. When you actually start getting up out of bed to look for those you neglected....something is terribly wrong. But when you are tired because you were up all night living out a stupid dream.....thats the ultimate in wrongness.

Curse the sleep disorders that plague me!

Good movie

2007-06-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

So, last night I watched Star Wars Episode 3. Man, I love that movie! Beth, Katie, Rach, and Spencer came over and we had some good laughes, chuckles, and scoffing....nice combination. We also ate popcorn an gummy bears and drank Verners ginger ale. Poor Rach and Spencer both had huge stacks of finals to grade...I'm glad I'm not a teacher.

Combination

2007-06-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

So this is a combination post from the last few days.

6/12/07

Just found out that my costuming groups was cut from the Torchlight parade. We had originally be accepted and we had turned in our entrance fee. Then our CO got a letter saying that they were sorry for the confusion, but they were cutting us because we had been in the parade two years in a row and there are other groups who want a spot. I would have understood it if they had just said no right off the bat, but to go almost 2 months after accepting us and then say no....after accepting our money, that is just stupid. We were really bummed as this is a big parade for us and its the 30th anniversary this year. We are doing other parades, but this is definitely a highlight.

6/13/07

Went out for coffee with the girls and Philip. We hadn't seen him in almost 2 months, so it was nice to catch up. Having serious bouts of loneliness lately....it is tough being single...especially during wedding season. I have two weddings to go to this summer, and while I'm happy for the couples, it just makes me jealous. I know, I know...God has it all in control and I just need to trust Him..... I hate hearing that, despite its truth, especially since its almost always said by those who are married! Do you ever hear a single person saying that??? Never! And if they do, they are lying...they are having the same doubts in God as the rest of us.

6/14/07

Thinking about taking some tennis lessons. I enjoy playing, but I don't understand the rules, and have no form. I think I'm going to look into it.....

Need a haircut something awful, but the person I want to go to is out in Snohomish. No one gives a haircut like a gay man....they just know how to make it look good! I should call and see if he has any Saturday appointments.

6/15/07

I am a controlling, bossy person. We are going to be opening an annex office in the next few months and the space needs to be stocked, organized, and put together. I've decided to take this on, mostly because I don't want it to be a group effort, too many cooks in the kitchen! A couple of my co-workers have to argue and discuss to death any decision , including where the garbage can should sit in the exam room. Uggh...I am NOT organizing an office with them, I refuse. What I really need is three full days in a row where I don't have to worry about phone calls, patients, or people needing my help. Three days and I can have that office operational....I'm sure of it! So, the controlling personality has come right to the top.....and bossy side is also rearing its head per my co-nurse. I apologized for bossing her around and asked her to call me on it. She is my equal and I have no right to boss her around.

A pile of charts a mile high

2007-06-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

That is was was sitting on my desk all day long...a pile of charts that not only were sitting there laughing at me, but also reproducing. I would go to put a patient in a room and when I came back, there were three more charts. I think we need to put those charts on some birth control, or get them fixed.....

I stayed at work until 5:45 and then fought traffic. Here it is 9pm and I just finished dinner. I did manage to get the kitchen cleaned, so it hasn't been a total waste of an evening.

I have yet to work with my sewing dummy, it just sits in the living room scaring me when I get up to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I really need to move it, but I am just too lazy.

Tired, tired, tired

2007-06-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Got back from the camping trip this afternoon. I am tired....I didn't get nearly as much sleep as I needed. Nature decided to try and kill me (and mom) with allergy problems. I had sneezing, stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and facial swelling for most of the weekend. Mom thinks there was plant that set us off....stupid allergies.

Friday was beautiful! Saturday was cold and rainy, but we managed to stay dry. Today was cloudy, but no rain. We hiked all over and went up hill and down hill and across hill. Very nice.

There was this very good looking man who was camping two sites over. Abby (daring and bold women that she is) asked him if he wanted to join us around the campfire last night. He came over and we had jiffy pop, laughed, and shared funny stories. He is from Vermont and has been driving across the country for 3 weeks. He's getting ready to start heading back after he stops off in Oregon. We gave him some firewood before we left today and wished him a safe trip. Did I mention he is cute???

Must go to bed as I have to work tomorrow....*sigh*

Bed

2007-06-07T23:03:00.001-07:00

I'm going to be gone for the weekend, so I will miss posting at least on Saturday....so consider yourself warned.

I was going to post something longer, but I am sitting here yawning...so I'm going to bed instead. I'll try to post something before I leave tomorrow.

Camping!

2007-06-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Friday I am going camping with my mom, sister, Abby, Beth and Mary. We are going to Fort Ebey State park and are staying until Sunday (or it rains so much we are all miserable). I definitely need a break from work, and I'm hoping this will put me in good spirits when I get back.

My only concern is that our campsite is like the farthest from the bathroom. I ALWAYS have to make at least 1 trip in the middle of the night, and once my contacts are out, I am blind as a bat. I have glasses (which are pretty hideous), but the Rx is back from 1998 and my eyes have changed a lot since then. I really need to buckle down and get a nice pair of glasses that I can wear instead of contacts. I'll add it to my list.

CPR

2007-06-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

I took a CPR class tonight as my card had expired a year ago. It was nice to have the refresher, and its even better to take it with other health care providers as it goes real quick. The class was to be from 6-10, but we got out at 8:30. Now I am certified for another 2 years (or longer if I let it lapse again).

It looks like we may be hiring another nurse and a MA at our office. We are adding another Dr in September, so Dr W and her will share the nurse (for triage, procedures, etc), and each have an MA to do the rooming of pts, and the less important stuff. I'm a little concerned how Dr W's current MA will take being demoted. She has been practicing way out of her scope for a long time, feels like she is the queen bee, and does pretty much whatever she wants. Hopefully, they will both have strong personalities and can put her in her rightful place (which is the bottom of the seniority totem pole). Nothing worse than an uppity MA who thinks she is the same as a nurse (she actually calls herself a nurse to her patients). I always refer to her as an MA and make sure I say it loud and often, as she obviously needs to be reminded. I worked very hard, and had a lot of schooling to have the right to call myself a nurse, and I'm not about to share that with someone who may have a lot of experience, but only took a 3 month class to get her certification.

Steak

2007-06-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

I had me the biggest craving for steak today...it was awful! As many of you know, I'm not a big meat person at all. I would choose just about any other food over meat. I'm wondering if my iron level is low or something, or I'm deficient in some other mineral. Anyway, I had to have steak, today!

I ended up going to the Keg and got a very nice 9 oz piece of steak, of which I ate half. The other half is for lunch tomorrow, along with the left over garlic mashed potatoes. I feel much better now, and the craving seems to be gone for the moment.

Tomorrow night I am taking a refresher course for my CPR. My certification lapsed a year ago, and if I want to work in the hospital, I need to be current. Its probably a good thing to be current in anyway, especially since I thought a woman was going to code on the exam table the other day. Long story that isn't proper to post here, so ask me about it next time I see you. I also expect the course to be boring, and it pretty much is, but the teacher knows it too. They schedule it for 4 hours, but we are usually out of there in under 2 as the teacher has no desire to be teaching a class from 6-10pm on a Tuesday night.....going to miss Deadliest Catch :-(

I still haven't heard back from Stevens. I'm going to give it to Thursday or Friday and then inquire as to the status of my application. I'm REALLY hoping it works out, but if not, I'll probably go to Evergreen. I just really wanted to be somewhere different, with less deliveries, and a bad reputation I can try and make better :-)

Well, its now an hour past my bedtime, which means 30 min less reading for me :-( I'm finishing up a great Star Wars book....Dark Lord : The Rise of Dark Vader. It chronicles some of the early period following Episode 3. It also give an awesome look at what is underneath Vader's suit...very cool.

2/3rds of the way

2007-06-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

I am now 2/3rds of the way to my goal of blogging every day for 30 days. To be honest, I think I might be running out of things to say (hard to believe I know).

Today I got something I have been wanting for a really long time......no, its not a man (I wish!), its a sewing dress form. I joined Freecycle, which is the coolest thing ever, and now I have a size 18 dress form that is my height, and I got it for free. Just stopped by on the way to my mom's house and now its mine.

This will be perfect to display a costume and/or work on sewing projects (I'll need to fill it out in certain places as I am not yet a size 18). Anyway, I'm very excited! I'm going to give it a good cleaning tomorrow and then put my royal guard on display to see how it looks. Sweet!

Becki's day

2007-06-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Made cards.....got Star Wars swag collected by a friend from Celebration 4....ate Mexican food.....read a book.....visited with friends....watched a movie.....considering my opinion on when life begins for a family discussion....going to bed because my head hurts.

Elephant Ear

2007-06-01T22:43:00.001-07:00

I had an elephant ear tonight for the first time in probably 10 years. I forgot how good they are! Abby, Beth and I went to the Edmonds Waterfront Festival. I've never been before, so I decided to go this year. It was ok....the booths were pretty much all the same (did you know there are a millions window companies in Edmonds?), the food was diverse and smelled good, the beer garden was full of drunk people (and one particular white man who danced in a kind of disturbing way).

The best part was the troop of belly dancers that performed. They were pretty good, although there was this one dancer who was a tall stick. She literally was like an "I". She'd shimmy her hips and it was an all over body tremble. She'd undulate and it looked like a fish trying to swim upstream. It was worse watching her than the overweight woman who was dancing (at least she had curves!). They all seemed to enjoy themselves, so that is really all that matters, but it was still kind of funny.

Anyway, very fun, sort of worth the $3, would probably go again next year.

Sad

2007-05-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

I am sad at the state our world is in. When 12 year old babies are having sex and getting pregnant, something is wrong with the world. Our new patient who is 12 came in today for an ultrasound a check with the Dr. I think we were all really hoping two things, 1) that she was seriously going to consider adoption, and 2) that it had been a case of rape instead of something consensual. We were unlucky on both counts. The father of the baby is apparently 3-4 times her age and her grandmother got him put in jail for statutory rape; it was totally consensual. She also firmly wants to keep the baby....so sad. It makes me want to go and steal the baby while she is in the hospital, just to keep it safe and give it a good life. *sigh* Its just plain sad, very, very sad. It makes my head hurt, so I am going to bed.

Poor Dr D

2007-05-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

So I told my Dr today that I had applied for a per-diem position at Stevens....she just about died because she thought I was leaving. I realized after that I could have asked for just about anything at that moment and she would have given it to me without reservation. Its kind of scary to have that kind of power! She started asking if I wasn't getting paid enough or needed more time off. Once I calmed her down and explained my reasoning, she felt much better.....poor Dr. D, I really scared her.

For those who aren't aware of my reasoning for going insane and working more, there are three main reasons:

1) I'm probably going to need a new car sooner than later, and an extra job would allow me to funnel larger amounts of money into that fund.

2) Once you've been out of the hospital 3 years or more, you are required to take a refresher class before you can work in one again....it will be 3 years in October and I REALLY don't want to take a refresher class.

3) I'm getting bored with my job and needing a change. This allows me to get some change without sacrificing my good, stable position.

Dark Side

2007-05-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

So I have started playing Knights of the Old Republic again (Star Wars game) and have decided to be as bad as I can be. Its weird cause normally I try to be as good as I can, but my bad side needed an outlet. Its also kind of nice to get to say mean, evil things to the other characters in the game, and you get to use cool dark side powers like force choke and lightning.

I just read that last sentence and it makes me sound REALLY cruel....good thing y'all know I'm not really like that. Anyway, its really interesting to see the game from the dark side, and your face also gets all craggy and ugly like the Emperors. Sweet! My GT guys would be proud of my complete turn to the dark side.

Too fast

2007-05-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend went way to fast for my liking! I don't want to go back to work tomorrow, I don't!!!! I keep telling myself that its only 4 days until Saturday again, but its not really helping that much. I just got finished watching The Sin Eater. Its one of those cheesy Christian movies produced by Michael Landon Jr. For once I would like to see a Christian movie that doesn't have crappy music, bad acting, and can actually give some competition to Hollywood. Ugg!! Anyway, its now late and as I have to work tomorrow, I should probably go to bed.

Good movie

2007-05-27T22:22:00.001-07:00

So I just go back from seeing Waitress. Its was a cute, funny movie, and I overall enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the part where they had an affair, but other than that it was good. We were going to see Pirates of the Caribbean, but the 7:45 showing we had arrived at 6:45 to buy tickets for was sold out, and we didn't feel like hanging out until 8:30 and then having 3 hours of movie, so we switched theaters.

Plan on doing the Denny Creek hike tomorrow with Abby if the weather cooperates. I can't believe this three day weekend is almost over! I got nothing done! That's not entirely true...its just that my Saturday was jam packed and so it didn't feel like a day off. I REALLY don't want to go back to work on Tuesday. *sigh*

I need to go wash some dishes as I have a pot with some strange thing growing in it.

Short blog

2007-05-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, too tired in fact to write a long blog. More tomorrow.

Tired

2007-05-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well, my new visor worked fairly well. I only sweated out 1L of fluid as opposed to 5L, so I count that a success! Seriously, if there is a nice breeze, its not too bad. The real test will be tomorrow when I'm out walking in the sun.

The couple tonight did a pretty decent job on the costumes. The bride was Padme, the groom Anakin, the bridesmaids were Handmaidens, the groomsmen were Jedi, and the flower girls were junior Handmaidens. Some of the other guests were also dressed in costume. None of the costumes would have made it into the 501st or Rebel Legion, but over all not

bad.
I managed to get my lines off with only two mishaps. I said "royal scum" instead of "rebel scum" and then I messed up their last name slightly. I'm hoping that no one really noticed as my speaker system isn't great and I had the mic literally in my mouth. I was hoping to practice a few times after I was in gear to check volume levels and such, but after arriving 20 min early, I realized that I had left my outer robe in the dryer(where it was de-wrinkling), so I had to drive home and back, which only gave me 5 min to get dressed and have them tell me their name. Ahh well, it still was fun.

Jill, here are some old pictures of my Royal Guard costume. Don't have any from the wedding reception yet.

Lesson

2007-05-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

I learned a lesson this evening.....don't put your head inside a helmet where you just installed a new visor using super glue. It makes your nose and throat burn something awful. In the attempt to get more airflow in my Royal Guard helmet, I have replaced my solid visor with double layer screen mesh. In theory it should work, especially since I can tilt my head back a bit when I exhale through my nose and the warm air goes out through the visor. We'll see how it work at the wedding tomorrow night.

Hurt Knee

2007-05-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I hurt my knee today and I have no clue how it happened. After lunch it started getting sore and then I started limping. Its moving all wonky....yes I did say wonky. I've been icing it all evening and have taken Advil, so hopefully it will be better by morning.

I really have to work on my Royal Guard helmet tomorrow. I'm putting a mesh visor in to give that baby some airflow. I guess I'm just full of a lot of hot air!

I'm off to bed early tonight. I'm so tired.

Worst day

2007-05-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Well, today almost took the cake for "worst day at work". Dr D was in surgery most of the morning, and was running 45 min behind, so our in office procedure had to wait. While she was gone, a patient showed up for fetal monitoring/contraction monitoring. Baby looked great, but she was contracting every 3 minutes, which is not great at 35 weeks, but ok. She then had a fluid check which confirmed a low fluid that hadn't resolved and a baby in frank (legs up next to head) breech. Her cervix was closed (good), so after a quick call to the OR to confer with Dr D, the patient went to Maternal Fetal Medicine for an evaluation. Well, they found out that the baby has a heart defect and had to be delivered today.

While Dr D (who was back in the office) was on the phone with them, another patient was getting an ultrasound at 20wks to check gender....they had unexpected identical twin girls! Great, yes, but we don't do twins so we are sending them elsewhere, which is sad because they are one of our normal couples. Phone calls in numbers you can't believe were followed by all three Dr's being in surgery/deliveries, which delayed patients. Right in the middle of this, we get a call from an ER Dr over at Swedish with a pt of Dr I's who wants to be admitted to Evergreen for a possible bowel obstruction. I call into the OR where Dr I is and he says there is no way he is dealing with this because its a general surgery case. Phone call back to the ER Dr wraps that up.

More phone calls followed by the receptionist coming back to let us know that a grandmother just called to set up OB care for her 12 year old (yes, I said 12) granddaughter. What in heavens name is a 12 year old doing having sex!!!!??? Who is having sex with a 12 year old???? Why do they have to call us??? We are kind of stuck taking her as her older sister (20) is coming to see Dr D for her 2nd baby (first at 16). Stupid, stupid people......it just makes me sick thinking about it. Let me just tell you right now that I will be handing out all the pamphlets we have on adoption and places for her to call. I don't care if she doesn't want them, she is getting them. I can't even wrap my mind completely around the situation, and I am MOST interested in hearing how all this came about. As one of the girls up in the front office said, "She's probably only had her period for, what, 5 minutes."

Ok, I am going to bed. Its been too long of a day.

Extra Work

2007-05-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note tonight as I am tired and ready for bed.

I'm looking into taking some occasional shifts at the hospital, if they can be flexible with my schedule. It would probably be two days, maybe three a month, and most likely on weekends. I've decided that this is the best way to save money for a new car, which I will probably be needing by the end of summer. I'm not really looking forward to it, as well, I like my time off. It just seems like the most feasible option. My budget is pretty much set and it doesn't leave extra for a car, so the extra hours must be worked somewhere. I'm putting out some feelers tomorrow and Wednesday, and hopefully, they can be accommodating, especially since I'm working full-time as it is. I actually took a gander over at the Stevens Hospital website (I know, I know, not a great hospital), but its close. They have a per-diem position available there on the Birth Center. It would be nice to just have quick trip to work, instead of driving to the Eastside. Please keep the whole situation in your prayers.

Hurt Toe

2007-05-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

I was minding my own business, checking my e-mail, when my right foot decided to kick forward and I smashed my toes into my desk. My poor middle toe took the brunt and scrapped a nice piece off. It of course hurt like no tomorrow and bleed like nobody's business. After a few choice swear words (I'll leave them to your imagination), I bandaged the poor thing and watched as it continued to bleed. I put another Band-Aid on and it finally stopped. It still hurts and I am not looking forward to wearing my shoes tomorrow. Do you think it would look funny if I wore pink flip-flops with my scrubs??

On a brighter note, I am making a fabulous dish tomorrow night for dinner. I made it once before and loved it! Its from Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller, which is my new favorite cookbook. I highly recommend it, and suggest you use the Soba noddles. Soba is a buckwheat noodle, so it has lots of fiber and a great texture and taste. Its found in the Asian food isles. The sauce makes 3 cups (you only need about 1+) for the recipe. The leftover sauce is a great marinade, or dressing, or a dip if mixed with some black bean paste.

Beef and Noodles in Thai Peanut Sauce
Recipe courtesy Robin Miller, 2006

8 ounces somen or soba noodles or whole-wheat spaghetti

Thai Peanut Sauce:
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Pad Thai:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 1⁄4 pounds lean beef steak (such as sirloin or flank), cut crosswise into 1⁄4-inch-thick strips
1⁄4 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1⁄4 cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain, transfer to a large bowl, and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the sauce ingredients until well blended and set the pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the peanut sauce and simmer until the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the beef mixture to the noodles and toss to combine, and then serve on individual plates topped with the peanuts and scallions. The leftover peanut sauce will keep in the refrigerator up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 3 months; thaw completely in the refrigerator or microwave for about 3 minutes on LOW before using.

Campfire smell

2007-05-19T23:31:00.000-07:00

I've decided that campfire smell is pretty cool. Its amazing what a few logs and a flame can do for a persons spirit.

My sister's graduation party was today and we had a camping theme, campfire included. Decent turnout, although not as many as my mom had planned on. It was good just to spend time with family and enjoy the weird (sunny/windy/cloudy) weather.

I also watched Marie Antoinette tonight. Its a good movie and an interesting look into life during the time of big hair, powdered wigs, and men acting like women. It makes me want to learn more about her, as the movie probably isn't completely accurate (it IS a movie after all).