...one day at a time....

Moving Day

2010-05-04T12:09:00.002-05:00

I'm moving! Please visit me at my new blog, Making a House a Home!
http://confessionsofasooner.blogspot.com/

See you there!

More changes at my place...

2010-03-30T14:28:00.002-06:00

A few more changes going on at my house. See this beautiful quilt? It's a Christmas present from my mom. It wasn't quite done by Christmas, but it's done now and looking gorgeous on my bed.

Planning on painting my walls soon. It wasn't a huge priority for me once I moved in, but now the more I look at pictures in magazines or see other people's houses - I want to paint mine. i'm thinking of a pale blue. It will really pop with my white trim I think.

Speaking of houses, my best friend Jessica bought a house and closed on it this last Friday. It's so fun seeing her get so excited about her house, and it reminds me of how much I love mine. The best part? We live 1/2 a mile from eachother. So excited! I love having her so close.

2010-03-03T13:18:00.002-06:00

An entire month? Oh my! I'm sorry! Where has the time gone?

Work has been crazy as usual. This is my friend, and future partner, Drew. We had a little too much fun in WalMart one night...

I had my first recruit this month. Since I got promoted to Sgt. I am now part of the Education department and train new employees. I teach them to drive, teach them the driving policy and geography of the OKC metro. I was super busy with her. It was definitely a learning experience and we almost died one. (seriously, no joke)

We also have a student on our truck. He's a BYU student and he is doing clinicals with us for 10 weeks. We're starting week #4 on Friday. Having a 3rd person on the truck has been different, it's not just me and Aran anymore. Things flow better with just me and Aran. We've been working together for almost a year and we have a routine down, so adding another person into the mix is taking some getting used to.

This was my Valentines display in my living room. Pretty, huh? I'm particularly loving the tissue paper flowers and the paper doilies.

I've been sick with food poisoning yesterday and today. It's been terrible. I've been vomiting non stop. We started to head to Dallas yesterday, but had to turn around at Purcell because we'd already pulled over 4 times so I could upchuck on the side of the road. No fun.

I'm feeling somewhat better today. No throwing up (yay!!!) but, I'm so sore from wretching all day yesterday. My neck, chest, abdomen just ache. No fun. My mom has been excellent, she came over yesterday and took care of me. She also did a lot of cleaning for me since I usually clean on my days off. She did my laundry, took out my trash, vacuumed, and mopped. Plus, she made me Jello and pudding. She's the BEST. Love you mom!

2010-01-28T00:32:00.001-06:00

Don't you love the new layout? I'm totally jonesing over it. Love love love.

Snow expected this week. So not looking forward to it. Awful.

Following the commercial break...

2010-01-21T00:51:00.001-06:00

Stay tuned. Tomorrow, I'll be posting pictures of my Valentine's decor. It's mostly handmade stuff or other repurposed stuff I've had hanging around my casa. So excited to share it with you.

On a Side Note...

2010-01-18T10:00:00.002-06:00

Working in Emergency Medicine we see and experience a lot of horriffic things. We file the feelings away and do what needs to be done to take care of our patients. Car wrecks, natural disasters, trauma, and taking care of the dying are all part of our daily routine. We do what we can to keep tabs on one another. Checking up after someone runs a particularly stressful call and just being there and listening to eachother.

We see families at their worst. We comfort the grieving families and explain that we did everything that was possible to save their loved ones......and then it happens to us. Then WE are the grieving family. At work we lost one of our own. This man was a kind and compassionate individual. He came to work every morning with an excellent attitude. We all have our deamons. most of us get through them by talking to a friend or co-worker. I'm saddened and upset that this individual felt like he was trapped and succumbed to his personal deamons. I'm sad that he felt like this was the only way out. Which inevitably begs the question, could I have been a better friend? Were there earlier cries for help? Were there signs?

While I know asking "what if's" are pointless at this point. I'm spending today reflecting. Reflecting on this man's life. Reflecting on my work family. Reflecting on the way we, as human beings, treat eachother.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family, but also with my co-workers that found him. Imagine going to a call expecting it to be a typical call, but finding your co-worker instead.

I hope his death serves as a lesson to us all. Hug your families tighter. Say a kind word and be available for those you work with who might be going through a rough time. You never, know, YOU could be a life saver.

Mantle Masterpiece

2010-01-17T23:16:00.001-06:00

I found this mantle a month or so ago at my favorite antique store. I've had a love affair with this piece. Its price tag was a little on the high side. However, after multiple visits to the store this piece kept staring me down. I finally had to have it. I brought it home, bolted it to the stud in the wall and I was set! Now for the real challenge, how to decorate it!!?!?

I was on a mission to only use things I had around the house. Luckily I have a lot of cool treasures around here. I love these vintage windows. I have a whole stash of them! All shapes and sizes, different colors and finishes. The shutters were a $3 steal! the black lantern was an Ikea purchase. Add in a mish mosh of Mercury Glass, some pillar candle holders, a scalloped chalk board and a pretty H I made and you'll have........

the finished project!

love love love!

As promised....

2010-01-07T22:49:00.002-06:00

Remember this morning when I promised pictures? Well, your wish is my command. Here's what's new at my house...

Got these floating shelves at Kohls before Christmas. Just now getting around to hanging them up. These are mounted to the wall with a leveling device. So easy! The bowl on the top shelf came from my favorite antique store. On the middle shelf the spool was from my late Granny's sweing stash. Votive from Jessica T for Christmas and the picture is me and my dad! Bottom shelf has pics of the family!

Isn't this pretty? My sweet friend Jessica G painted this for me and it's hanging on the wall in my bedroom. It says "Love me and the world is mine". I LOVE this. It's even more special since she made it for me.

Me and my hunny on New Years Eve. He's in his scrubs because he was on call. Isn't the adorable?

This feast was what I made for New Years Eve. Pot roast in my new Crock Pot! It was heavenly. Words can not describe the yumminess that encompassed this meal. I very well could have squandered a marriage proposal out of Sean after this one. Oh yea, he'll keep me around.....for my pot roast.

Finally, did you see that SNOW! Oh my goodness! Make it stop! This is at my parent's house. See the little doggie house covered in snow? Poor puppies. Although they NEVER go in there. I think they're scared of it. They know better, plus the real warmth is in the BIG house snuggled under a blanket.

New Years Cleaning and Whatnot

2010-01-07T09:36:00.003-06:00

Hmmm, another Thursday post. Could this be a trend for 2010? Ha ha!

So far this year is looking to be a great one! I started my new shift at work and it's great. Started the year off with a SAVE! We had a kid 2 weeks ago who had an asthma attack and was in full arrest when we got to him (no pulse, no respirations and asystole on the monitor) With some good CPR, intubation and a breathing treatment down the ETTube, we got him back and he was discharged from the hospital! What fantastic news!

The tree is down and the holiday decor is all put away. I have done some New Years cleaning these past 2 days. changing the air vent, light bulbs, dusting, rearranging furniture, etc. It feels SO great to have a nice clean house to kick off the new year, don't you agree?

I got a new bed for Christmas! Look for pictures up soon. The quilt my mom made is still a work in progress. She has a few more rows of blocks and then it's done! So excited to get it and put it on my bed. Right now, my bed is a mish mosh of TWIN quilts my mom has made, flannel sheets and a fantastic blanket my friend Jessica got me for Christmas. So looking forward to having some unity in the bedroom instead of chaos with a tangle of blankets.

My friend Jessica G is coming over today. She's such a fabulous artist. We're going to get some canvas and paint some pictures to go in my house. Artwork is SO expensive and I think stuff means more when you create it yourself. We're also going to make some Valentines Day wreaths and hang some floating shelves that I got at Kohls. My bedroom is so plain and I'm looking forward to it looking like a master suite FINALLY!

This snow/ice/cold is killing me. I hate hate hate weather like this. This is why I live in Oklahoma. We're not supposed to get cold like this. Schools have been cancelled for the next 2 days. Isn't that a little crazy? Sure, if the weather is bad I understand cancelling school, ice on the roads, snow everywhere. But it's just COLD. Really?!?!

I got promoted at work to Sargent. This means that I'm a Preceptor/Field Training Officer now. I'll get brand new employees and teach them how to drive the ambulance, do patient care according to our protocols, use the radio and basically fuction in our EMS system. I'm so excited about it!

Sean and I went on a double date last night with our friends Lucas and Jennifer. We went to Mama Rojas and it was AWESOME. The atmosphere is really great and the food is to.die.for. Probably some of the best mexican food I've ever had. The roasted salsa is warm and SO delicious. I'll definitely be going back. After dinner, we went to Sean's and had a sangria party and played Jeopardy on the Playstation. I lost by $5! The cold front came through with high winds and blew a transofrmer down the street from his place and we lost power for the rest of the night. So we played scrabble for a while with a candle. Jennifer was on call at work and had to leave around 10:15 and i was shortly behind her at 10:30. The boys stayed up for a while longer doing "boy stuff".....whatever that means.

Well, this was a LONG post! Sorry if you're bored to death. I'll have new pictures up soon! This is one of my New Years resolutions - blog more and work on my blog to make it more interesting!

Take care friends!

2010

2010-01-01T12:22:00.003-06:00

Whew! 2009 has come and gone and now it's 2010. A new decade. A fresh start. An opportunity to start over.

I always get excited about a new year. It's a fresh start and full of opportunities. Ali Edwards is doing her "one word" again on her blog and I'm participating. My word for 2010 is......nest.

I'm really focusing on my nest this year. Making my home more "me". I'm going to change some fixtures, hang my floating shelves, do some landscaping, add more photos of family and friends. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the "big wall" in the living room. An entertainment center? Perhaps. A mantle. Would love one. I need a book shelf. It's all about nesting and enjoying my home.

Holidays Around These Parts....

2009-12-08T21:47:00.003-06:00

Check out these tree pics! I played with the setting on my camera and took these glorious pictures of my tree.

My sofa table. Stars from Pottery Barn

my pretty wreath I found on Etsy

Star hanging from my coat closet doors

Apothercary jars with ornaments and baubles

Tree topper. Glittered snowflake!

Four Months Later....A House update

2009-11-26T11:11:00.005-06:00

Can you believe it's already been 4 months in my house? Wow! Time flies, huh? Here's an update of what my house looks like now. It still needs some decorating help, but it's coming along.

Master bedroom: Right now it's got a black and white Tommy Hilfiger duvet. The wall decor is painted embroidery hoops with fabric. It's super simple to make, do I hear a tutorial calling? Maybe! My mom is making me a quilt for Christmas, so this decor will be retired to the linen closet soon. The new quilt is shabby chic and I can't wait to have it all put together. I'm also lacking furniture in this room. All I have in here is the bed, night stand and jewelry armoire. I'm wanting to get a dresser or bookshelf so I can display some photos, keepsakes and other treasures. Also, I'm still looking for a pretty picture for the wall in here, or a mirror or floating shelves. Suggestions?

Living Room: I'm pretty happy with this space. It's come together really nicely. The couch looks green in the pictures, but it's a chocolate brown corduroy. The giant key is from Pottery Barn and was on SALE! Score! The scroll above the front door is one of my favorite things. I'd like to get a side table for the area to the left of the giant key (underneath the picture frame on the wall) for DVDs, a sleek CD player, and other media stuff. I'm working on some new couch pillows. I'd like to get some inexpensive ones so I can change them with the season. These came from Ross. the ones i previously had on here were a gift from my sister, however, she decided she wanted them back (who gives gifts and then takes them back!?!?) Anyhoo, it's a sore subject around these parts.

Does anyone remember seeing that tutorial on someone's blog about turning sweaters into pillows?

Craft Room: This just got a re-do 2 weeks ago. I cleaned off my work table and moved the paper trays to the buffet table to give myself more work space on the table and added the corner shelf. The pink OTT Light on my desk is my FAVROITE thing. It uses natural light so the colors look richer and more real without the yellow-ish room light.

This is the shelf I got from Ikea and made my boyfriend, Sean, out together. It's coming along, but I'd really like to get some baskets for the cubbies. The magazine boxes are holding my stickers, rubons, ephemera, and all of my other goodies right now. It looks a bit...unorganized, but like I said, I'm working on it. I'd like to have the top filled with art, pictures and special stuff.

One more view of the craft room, this time with my computer desk from Corrine. I just LOVE that desk in all of its chippy glory.

Hall Bathroom: This might be my favorite room, but only because it's the only one that's completely DONE! The shower curtain is Rachel Ashwell, celery green towels which match the leaves in the curtain, and the framed hydrangea prints from Kirklands.

The pink hydrangeas and blue hand towel match the shower curtain perfectly.

Living Room: You can see a better view of the curtains my mom made. I just LOVE them. Like I said before, to the right of the crutains and under the picture on the wall, I'd like to have a little table or bookslef to hold some DVD's, photos and other trinkets.

My Living Room dilemma....what to do with this big wall! I'm getting a new tv for Christmas, but I'm not planning on putting it on the wall, but in an armoire or on a table, so what should I do with this wall? Paint it? What color? Leave it tan? Add a picture? So confused.

These ladder backed chairs were a STEAL from my local antique store. $10 each! SCORE! I love the blue and how it matches the blue in my curtains and the couch pillows. I'm a fan of mixing old with new to create a vintage homey feel. The table the TV is on was a $5 find from a garage sale and has the more beautiful legs! I'm hoping to paint this after the first of the year and find the perfect spot for it....somewhere.

You can also see a tiny peek at the guest room, however, right now that's my Chrsitmas room and it's filled with deocrations and presents, so NO peeking!

Another peek at the living room. The accent table on the wall has no Christmas vignettes yet. I'm working on it. The window has a glittered green star on it and the table has some silver chandle holders, Mercury glass apothecary jars, glass frosted pine cone ornaments, a hurricane glass and a glittered "Believe" wooden cutout. Stay tuned to see what magic appears here.

*please ignore the laundry piled on the dryer, I forgot to shut the door!*

What's that on the coffee table, you ask? Silver tray from Hobby Lobby, glittered pine cones, and brown ornaments, a vintage silver ornament and a mercury glass tea light.

Kitchen and Kitchen table: My mom made the curtains over the windows and they are so pretty. Love love love them.

Kitchen: Counter is all cleaned up, sink is cleaned and dishwasher is emptied! See the pretty holiday towels?

The other kitchen counter!

My most favorite thing, the KitchenAid mixer which is fixing to be put to good use making Christmas cookies. Also, the Pioneer Woman cookbook has been getting some use lately!

Kitchen looking into the kitchen table. Pretty!

See the buffet? It's a dresser from my favorite antique store, it looks perfect across from the kitchen table. Right now it still has fall decorations, but will be decorted with Chrsitmas treasures soon!

Kitchen looking into the living room. See that big wall?!?! What do I do with it?!?!?!?

Hope you enjoyed my home tour! Like I said, it's only been 4 months and it's come a long way, baby!

Almost Thanksgiving!

2009-11-21T11:05:00.004-06:00

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is almost here? Crazy! Where has the year gone?

I stopped biting my nails (twice) this year. They're long and beautiful, lets hope i can keep tehm that way. e

I'm making corn Casserole for Thanksgiving thi s year.

I've been sick lately trying to get over this nasty crud that everyone seems to have right now. Cough, fever, runny/stuffy nose, etc. Yuck!

I'm still dating Sean and he's just wonderful. thigns are going great.

Working on some Christmas shopping lately. I hope you're on Santa's Nice list this year.

Hi Friends! Remember me?

2009-11-10T22:56:00.003-06:00

Hi friends! Sorry it's been so long....I've been using that excuse a lot lately, it seems! I'm one busy girl. Thought I'd pop over and give you a little update on some stuff...

Jessica T came over this afternoon and we (we? Who are we kidding, I, made it) made a picture frame for her mom's birthday on Friday. Happy Birthday Myra!

Best day of my life! (Well okay, maybe not my ENTIRE life, but this is definitely in the top 10 best moments of my life) Meeting the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. If you don't know who she is, all I can say is " Are you living in a hole?!?!" She's a city girl living on a ranch in Oklahoma and she has a cooking/homeschooling/photography/life blog. Best. Stuff. Ever.

....and yes, I got to meet her. And yes, she was awesome.

I'm still dating Sean. This Friday (the 13th) will be 5 weeks together. *Aww!* (insert sappy love music here). He's pretty wonderful, that's all I have to say. I love having a boyfriend again. He eats what I cook, tells me I look beautiful, and does the honey-do's around the house. Last night I had him assembling a book shelf I bought from Ikea. He did such a fantastic job. I just love that boy!

I have a team meeting in the morning at work. We're discussing new protocols and new drugs we're going to start carrying on the ambulances. Sounds like buckets of fun. *yea, i'm being sarcastic*

Later guys! I promise to update more frequently! Thanks for sticking with me.

It's about that time.

2009-10-14T09:49:00.002-05:00

So, I met someone. Finally. You want the details? Okay.

His name is Sean. He's 30. Works at Mercy in Interventional Radiology. He's hilarious. We have a mutual friend (Lucas) so that's very cool, we've been on 2 double date with Lucas and his wife.

Last night was date #4. We didn't do anything special, just sat at his apartment and watched Role Models, made dinner and played with his black lab. Have you seen Role Models? So funny!

He's coming over to my place tonight before I leave for 10 days. What terrible timing, huh? Meet a fantastic guy, then leave for almost 2 weeks! Yikes! Anyway, he's great.

the end.

Things I'm Loving

2009-09-30T21:04:00.004-05:00

Been looking at a LOT of decorating things online lately, mostly bedrooms. I'm going to finally decorate my master bedroom probably after the first of the year. Maybe. I also have a guest bedroom to decorate.

Love this bed. And the colors. High ceilings. Long tall drapes. *drool*
Totally copying this idea for Christmas on the back of my chairs.

Cute little display of balls, snowflakes, sprigs and snow. Love the fresh colors.

Fancy pink living room. *drool*

I think these are going to be my christmas colors this year. I really like the fresh green with the white.

Totally love this memo board for my craft room....only I'd do it in pink.

Love this fall mantle. The black ravens are my favorite.

Darling storage ideas for the craft room. I LOVE the colors. So light and clean feeling.

I'm also loving this blue/silvee combo.

I'm dreaming of this bedroom. Isn't it fabulous?

My mom started making me the most gorgeous quilt for Christmas. It's light pink/green/yellow/blue/white. SO me. Loving it.

A few new things.

2009-09-18T21:41:00.003-05:00

New hair. Dark for the winter with some blonde chunks. It's SO cute. Love it, Jessica G!

Hydrangeas for my hall bathroom

Which match my fantastic new shower curtain.

Speaking of new things, check out this fantastic sofa table. Gorgeous isn't it? The legs are my Fav-o-rite!

change around my house

2009-09-10T15:01:00.003-05:00

Some of the new updates to my house. See the new mat in front of my door? The colors match perfectly with the color of my house and the tan in the mat. The red and black in the mat make it "pop", don't you think?

A chandelier wall decal from my friend Kathy. It's from Stampin' Up. It was SO easy to apply and looks so great. It looks light and hard to see on the wall, but I blame the flash, it actually stands out pretty good.

Chandelier on the wall to the left of the door.

Got some pictures for my mater bath. The blue, green and brown towels were a gift from my mom.

Hooks from Pier 1. The colors match perfectly.

Hydrangea pictures in my hall bathroom.

Hello hydrangeas!

Pictures from my trip

2009-09-10T14:39:00.005-05:00

Went to Rapid City, South Dakota for my cousin Cody's wedding. We had such a great time. Here are some pictures from my trip!

Aunt Lauri and my mom at the wedding reception.

The giant trees surrpounding my aunt's house. We just don't have trees like that here in Oklahoma.
Had lunch at the Apline Inn. It was to. die. for. We even got dessert, this is the bread pudding a la mode!

and this....is the caramel apple napoleon a la mode. SO good.

Waiting to be seated at the Alpine Inn. (me, my mom, and my dad)

Time for a silly picture!

Went to my cousin Rick's soccer game. He scored 3 goals. Go Rickster! This is me and my aunt Lauri, isn't she pretty?

No trip to Rapid City is complete without stopping to say hi to my favorite presidents!

Me and my mom. It was overwhelmingly sunny that day.

Me and my mom at Rick's soccer game.

Party at my hizz-ouse

2009-08-27T17:11:00.002-05:00

How did that sound? Gangsta' ish? Ha ha ha! I'm so NOT a gangster. I'm the whitest girl ever. LOL!

Anyway....I digress...

My housewarming party is tonight. I am SO excited. My dad came over and mowed, weed wacked and edged my yard and it looks fantastic! Who would have thought I could get all that work done in exchange for some cookies? He mowed while I baked.

I got a card today from a lady who couldn't make it to the party tonight. There was a BIG time gift card in there. So thoughtful and gracious of her.

Gonna take lots of pictures tonight and will post them on Facebook and here.

Then, it's back to work for 4 days of life-saving and then it's VACATION time!

What's new at my house?

2009-08-26T08:28:00.003-05:00

I finally got some fabric that I love for curtains. My mom had last Thursday off, so we started making curtains and finished them yesterday. They area beautiful and I love them so much.

Curtains in front of the big kitchen window.

...and over the sink...(don't they look fantastic with my cabinets)

close up of the fabric. It's a paisley print by Waverly.

Over the dining room window

mirror and art beside the coat closet

Frame with a photo of my cute family in it.

corner of my living room. See the giant key? Pottery Barn. (Remember that key Kim?)

Close up of the living room curtain fabric. It's soooo pretty.

Beautiful curtains on the window in the living room. I've got some tie backs, but they are too big, so I think we're going to get some new ones. For now though, just picture them tied back on the sides.

I'm baaack!

2009-08-13T09:43:00.004-05:00

Been so crazy lately. Working a ton, decorating the house, etc.

I made some decorations for my bedroom wall yesterday afternoon. It turned out SO cute! i'll post pics later.

I should get up and be productive today, but I'm having a really hard time getting out of bed.

one month later

2009-07-29T13:18:00.004-05:00

Here are a few updated pictures of my house after living here for a month.

The craft room has gotten some use, as you can see by the looks of my messy desk
The dresser/accent table and blue chair in my living room.

Finally did something with the master bath. I got this celery green shower curtain, towels and bath mat at Target. (I wish the color in the picture had turned out better!)

My bed! After almost a month, I finally got my big bed! the bedspread was a gift from my sister. Isn't it pretty?

Living Room. Every man that comes over seems to point out my small TV. I tell them, "It was either get a couch or a big tv" According to them, a TV is more important than a couch. I, however, disagree.

The kitchen with the oven, microwave and the fridge.

Other side of the kitchen. It's colors are kelly green with white and pink accents.

The kitchen table. The floral centerpiece is from Hobby Lobby on sale!

Another view of the living room. The pillows on my couch are from my sister.

THIS little beauty is my latest purchase! A pretty pink chair from the antique store. Ain't she purdy?

07.30.2009

2009-07-29T10:38:00.003-05:00

I called in sick on Monday.Physically exhausted after the week I had.

Bunco tomorrow! I'm so excited. I love the bunco ladies! Every month we have a pot luck to go along with bunco. The food theme is summer foods, Ann is making chicken salad sandwiches, watermelon and drinks. My mom is making cucumber salad. I'm making spinach artichoke dip and chocolate chip cookies, not sure what everyone else is bringing yet.

Next month Bunco is at my house. I'm still trying to decide on a food theme. Any ideas? I was thinking since it's August and almost football season everyone could bring their favorite tailgating food. How's that sound?

Alright, off for lunch with my sissy.

Overwhelmed

2009-07-27T15:18:00.004-05:00

So very overwhelmed with everything that has happened the past 2 days.

Work Saturday was a once in a lifetime experience. Had a call that was life changing.

Had to do interviews with the news channels and newspapers yesterday. The call was on CNN and USA Today.

More today on the news.

I'm ready for things to go back to normal.

A little (and I mean little ) update

2009-07-24T22:10:00.002-05:00

Good evening!

What a week is has been...or is starting out to be. I picked up overtime on Tuesday, a 24 hour shift in Yukon and another 24 hour shift in Mustang on Wednesday. I finally had yesterday off, but it was back to work for me today and for the next 4 days.

Aran (my partner at work) and I are going to see if we can get on 24 hour shifts for the fall. We'll alternate between Yukon and Mustang for a month, working 10 days the entire month. It's a sweet set up and hopefully we can get them. If not, no big deal.

We were busy at work today, 7 calls. Whew!

got some more cute house stuff. I'll try to post pictures later!

off to bed!

new layout

2009-07-21T08:45:00.002-05:00

Well, that do you think? It was time for a changeI think. I'm loving black and white right now. Blame it on my new bed and the black and white bedding I have. I think my master bedroom will be done in black, white, silver and pink. That's what I'm shooting for anyway.

I'm working a 24 hour shift today. I brought my laptop with me today, so hopefully that will keep me out of trouble. We can hope at least....

what was I thinking

2009-07-20T22:03:00.002-05:00

Seriously. I amaze myself.

Making dinner tonight was horrendous. Entirely too spicy. It might top the list with the grossest things I've ever made, although, it wasn't as bad as coq au vin. It wasn't anything like my mom's food, that's for sure.

Work today was interesting to say the least. 7 calls, 3 transports and the other 4 did refusals. We got a call for "smell coming from air vent". It's dispatched as an inhalation injury, so we're thinking it might be something legitimate. Oh no, the woman wanted her air vent changed. YES! (Did you jaw just drop open?) It was ridiculous!

However, the award for the biggest loser of the day goes to my last patient, who was arrested and in jail. His had was a little bloody from putting it though a piece of glass (yup, that'll do it). Long story short, he tried to kiss me. I pushed his head back and gave him a good butt chewing about not touching me. Then he says, "you're pretty". oh lordy. needless to say, the police and fire department guys found this wildly hilarious and in retrospect, it was, but at the time, i was in 100% fighting mode.

(what's with the no capitalization today? woops!)

on that note, I'm off to bed. Working my butt off this week. I've got 44 hours of overtime scheduled. that's just about another ENTIRE paycheck. i have lots of stuff i want to buy for my house, therefore, a girl's gotta work.

A little update...

2009-07-15T20:23:00.003-05:00

So busy yesterday and today!

Bank. Post office. Insurance Agency. Tag Agency. Wal-Mart. Then went antiquing with my friend Abbey from work. (quite unproductive, no treasures to be found).

Today, I was awoken at 8:00 by the Cox guy ready to bury my cable line. Then I had lunch with my mom and we went to Ross, Gordman's and Hobby Lobby. I got so much stuff. 2 sets of sheets for my new bed, some ramekins for desserts, a basket for my mail and bills, 2 faux mercury glass apothecary jars, some candles for my decorative plate on my coffee table, place mats, and a flower arrangement for my table. It was quite productive to say the least.

My mom invited me over for dinner, we grilled kabobs and veggies on the grill. It was sooo yummy. I miss my mom's cooking.

My friend Brandon and his wife came over today. They're wanting to buy a house and they came over to pick my brain about houses and the house buying process. It was fun.

Well friends, I'm off to bed for the night.

Hello again!

2009-07-14T07:19:00.003-05:00

Hello!

Remember me?

It's been a while, I know.

But on a side note, I'm all moved in to my new house!!!

Got the internet set up last week and it's so good to have cable and internet again. Really. I also got a new laptop, *thanks Dad!* So until i get my pitcures moved over here i won't be able to post pictures for just a bit.

Expect pictures soon though, becuase let me tell ya, my house is awesome.

T-Minus 37 hours....

2009-06-29T06:08:00.001-05:00

I close on my house in 37 hours. *squeel*

My room is empty.

Getting ready for the big day, 2:00pm tomorrow.

I'm excited, scared and nervous.

It'll be an adventure, that's for sure.

5 days and counting...

2009-06-25T21:56:00.002-05:00

5 days until I close on the new house.

Sooo excited.

Did the first walkthrough yesterday. The house is getting there, almost ready for me. I can't wait.

Right now, I'm cleaning, packing and getting rid of things I don't need.

I worked with Drew last night *drool* Again, the night was filled with flirtatious fun. We had 2 calls all night. Luckily we were posted in a great location, right across the street from Drew's apartment complex, so we hung out at his place all night, crashed on the couch, and watched tv. It was great, nice to get out of the truck and be in a different environment.

Back to work with my partner Aran from now on. He's the best.

Updates and Such

2009-06-23T21:24:00.002-05:00

I stand corrected.

I worked my last shift with Drew last night and what a night it was. Full of calls (7 to be exact!) We had such a good time. He really is a nice guy. He apologized for leaving my partnerless on Sunday and definitely made up for it last night. He drove me around town all night and treated me like a pretty princess.

Did I mention that I have a slight crush on him? The flirting was in full force last night, and I got this sweet text from him once I got home...
Hey, thanks again for the fun week.....I had an absolute blast and its sad that Aran is such a selfish bastard because you'd make a good full time partner. You wanna put up a truck, I'm game anytime. Thanks again Holly

*drools*

On to other things....

Everything seems to be in line for the closing next week. I'm doing my first inspection tomorrow where I'll point out every little detail I want fixed before the closing. Pretty excited about that. The blinds (and my back door with the built in blinds) are already 3-4 weeks behind schedule, so that poses a giant problem. What am I supposed to do? Hang sheets over my windows while I change? I don't want to be giving my neighbors a free show.

Another obstacle is the lighting fixture in the dining area. First, it's not centered with the window, it's off-center by an inch or so. So, that needs to be centered. I'm actually thinking about moving it closer to the wall slightly so you're not having to completely walk around the dining table to get into the kitchen, I'd like to have a more defined walkway to the kitchen.

I'll let you know how it all goes tomorrow. *psst! and keep your fingers crossed that Drew asks me out soon!*

Good Morning!

2009-06-22T10:01:00.002-05:00

A morning post! Nice for a change!

I've been working nights at work this week. I traded shifts with a girl that nobody likes. She's having problems getting along with her partner, Drew, who I absolutely love. So, I traded her for a week to give them both a break from eachother.

Let me just say, after being on days, night are kicking my butt. I miss being off at 8:00pm and not just starting my day. Whew. Talk about tired! I made it through Friday and Saturday, Yesterday Drew was pretty sick. He took off Saturday night for a friend's birthday and had entirely too much to drink. He came to work yesterday vomiting and totally ill. I sent him home, which was unfortunate for me. Because then I had to drive the Supervisor's vehicle to Tulsa to get capnography supplies since we're really low around here.

I just feel weird about the situation. I like Drew and he's a good friend of mine. However, I feel....shafted. I did this trade because he and his crazy partner are at eachother's throats all the time. He was excited to "have a competent partner for once" (his words, not mine). So, why would he get so drunk that he can't even function and then leave me hanging at work to do crap jobs?

Maybe I'm just ranting. I don't know. But I don't appreciate making a partner swap and then not having a partner.

What in the world?

2009-06-19T15:35:00.002-05:00

Made a little trip to the new house today to see how things were coming along. To my surprise there is a door in my living room. WHAT?!?!? Weird thing is that all of my doors are in place. Where will this mystery door go? Hopefully in someone elses' house and not anywhere in mine. Be gone foreign door!

But, for some new stuff, I have a tree!!!!

Not just one tree, but 2 trees!!! (the one closest to the camera is mine, the other one belongs to my neighbors)

And bushes! I have bushes and spunky grass stuff!

And lastly, a little bush and spunky grass in the corner. Isn't it cute!

Never in my life did I ever think I'd be excited about landscaping. But, it's exciting when its YOUR landscaping!

Shopping!

2009-06-17T09:43:00.002-05:00

With my new house I'm having to buy EVERYTHING. I have very few things to furnish a house, so I've been picking up things here and there to give it some chic-ness.

Painted glazed flower pots....$3.99 each. Aren't they so cute? I can't wait to fill these with beautiful flowers!

My kitchen will be pink and green. Found these placemats yesterday while in Shawnee with my awesome friend Jessica.

See these? They make my heart melt. HAND EMBROIDERED pillow cases with HAND STITCHED lace. Perfect for my guest room and they were a steal!

A surprise present from Jess, an embroidered dish towel with a pink W on it. Thanks! I love it!

Finally, this is the inspiration for my master bathroom. Love the greenish blue color. Love the dancing photo on the wall (see the reflection in the mirror). Love everything about this bathroom...except for the yellowish picture frame on the counter.

Do you see what I see?

2009-06-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

My first house! Isn't it cute?

View of the front...
The view right as you walk into the house of the living room (just to the right of the front door)

Living room into the hallway area.

The kitchen and dining area are just to the right of the front door.

The photo is a little dark, but the kitchen is beautiful!

Do you see what I see?

2009-06-11T20:36:00.001-05:00

Craft room! Yesss!!!!

Hall bathroom.

Guest bedroom

Master Bedroom. the door goes into the back yard.

Second view of the master bedroom

Stone countertops and backsplash in the kitchen

Cabinets and stove in the kitchen. One change I made was having a built in mocrowave over the stove.

View of the dining area from the kitchen. (table will go to the right of the lighting fixture)

Coat closet in the living area.

Laundry room. Access to the garage is on the left.

...and so it begins

2009-06-02T13:38:00.002-05:00

More house hunting today.

Hopefully I'll find something. Got a few good options open right now...

Work this week was good. Although, I was pretty cranky and unpleasant on Sunday. I've been sick since Saturday. Sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, etc. Today is better, the sore throat is gone, now if only I could get my congestion to clear up....

A couple of my friends Mike and Kim are having a baby girl!!! She's due October 20th. They just found our her gender a few days ago and I am SOOO excited. Her name is Harlie Jo. Super cute! I need to get started on her baby gifts, becuase lord knows once I get my house I'll be spending all my time working on that.

What a day

2009-05-30T21:19:00.000-05:00

Tired. Exhausted. Physically and emotionally.

House hunting sucks.

Bid on another one....got outbid by another buyer.

Busy at work today, 8 calls.

I'm tired.

Memorial Day Recap

2009-05-26T18:54:00.002-05:00

Can't say I did much of anything this memorial day, and I liked it. 2 giant watermelons were consumed, so that's always good.

I worked this weekend, and experienced minimal stupidity. Most of the drunk calls were in the evenings off my shift, however, there were a few bad wrecks during the day time. Girl ran a light and a motorcycle t-boned into her. Motorcycle driver was not wearing a helmet, dead on impact. So sad.

Taking time to remember those who have served our country and given their lives for our freedom. Is "thank you" really enough?

Hope you have a good week my friends.

Counter offer, schmounter offer

2009-05-21T08:29:00.002-05:00

I put a bid on a house last week and I got a response yesterday. They countered with the asking price of the house, but agreed to pay closing costs and $500 towards any repairs or work I wanted to do to the house. No good. The house just isn't WORTH the full price, there's too many "little things" that need to be done. New carpet, painting, trim around the garage door, a little bit of concrete work on the front walkway. Oh, did I mention that the house has been on the market for 71 days?

So, I suppose I might keep looking. Hopefully the right house for me is out there.....somewhere. I'm not sure if I'm even going to counter their offer.

I'm working today for overtime, I'm realizing that things for houses are SUPER expensive. I'll need to get a washer/dryer, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, kitchen table and chairs, etc. So, right now I'll pick up all the overtime I can get my hands on.

I'll keep you updated on the house hunting.

Much Ado...

2009-05-19T16:05:00.003-05:00

Lots going on around here.

Work is busy as usual. The new shift is really great though, and Aran is so easy to work with.

The weather finally clearned up and it's sunny and beautiful again. So thankful to be over the rain.

Working some OT this week with my friend Levi. He's a bucket of fun, so I'm sure the day will be great.

Wish I had more to share, hopefully something exciting will happen this week.

Hello Gorgeous

2009-05-14T08:09:00.002-05:00

Hi there! Glad to have a little bit of free time today.

Started my new schedule at work 8:15am to 8:15pm Friday through Monday. SOOO nice. It's been hard waking up at 6 when I'm used to sleeping in until 10:30 since on my old schedule I was working 1:15pm to 1:15am. However, on the flip side, I come home at a decent hour, still get to see my family, so the trade off is well worth it.

We've had some hellatious weather here lately. Lots of rain and storms over the past 3 weeks and frankly, I'm ready for it to all go away and for us to have some sunny skies.

I'm off today, so I'm planning on making a fancy French dinner tonight. Should be VERY yummy. Pioneer Woman would be jealous.

We took the ambulances out to Edmond yesterday on the Fire Department driving range and did a tough driving course. Hard stops. U-Turns, brake and evade, serpantine and then did it backwards. It was so much fun. I only murdered one cone, so I passed. *woo*

The house hunt is still going, unfortunately. I've been looking ALL THE TIME. I found a few that are okay, but I refuse to settle on a house that I'm not madly in love with. I've got an entire notebook filled with house ideas for decorating, cabinets, flooring, etc. It will take some time and money, but I know my dream house is out there....and if it's not, I'll get the closest thing to it and start fixing her up.

Not much else for news around this place, have lots of errands to run today. Tailor for my work shirts, grocery store for my French dinner, laundry!

2009-05-06T23:39:00.003-05:00

I've begun the nightmare that is house hunting. I met with a lender to see what I can afford. I've been out looking at houses with a realtor but I'm soooo frustrated. I've seen every home in the area that I want to live in that's within my price range. So....do I expand out at this point, or do I stick to my guns and wait it out until my dream home comes available in the area I want?

It was fun at first, but now, I'm just ready to get down to business and find a house!

Hola mi amigas!

2009-05-05T10:49:00.002-05:00

Hola amigas! Hoy es cinco de mayo! Ole!

Okay, that's as good as you're going to get as far as spanish goes for me. Although, I can ask medical related spanish questions....if that counts. Necessitas vomitar?

Off for 3 days! Yee haw! SO much to do though. I'm working on a Mother's Day project for my mom with an old typeface drawer. Gotta get that done while I've got some free time.

Also, continuing on with something else pretty major this afternoon. It's still brewing, but I can't WAIT to share!

Work was great this past week. Ran lots of calls, had a great time.

It's rained here for almost the past week. I'm frankly getting tired of the rain and everything associated with it (the humidity mostly!)

Off to hop in the shower, got a late start on my day.

Much Ado...

2009-04-28T19:20:00.001-05:00

Where has the time gone?

I've been working like a crazy lady lately.

Worked the Arts Festival last week on my days off, then worked my 4 regular street shifts. I'm off for the next 3 days and I need it!

Got something exciting happening right now! I can't wait to share!

Relaxation and Sunny Days

2009-04-15T15:52:00.002-05:00

It's been beautiful here today. Mid 70's, no wind. Pure bliss I tell ya. Definitely flip flop weather if you ask me.

My uncle and cousin are in town for part of the week. My dad goes on a fishing trip with his brothers every spring and this weekend is the perfect weekend for it. So, the house has been bustling with visitors and multiple trips to Academy and Bass Pro for last minute essentials.

I got my new schedule for summer at work. I'm on days which will be a nice change. I'm still working Friday-Monday, but my hours are 8:15am to 8:15pm. That should be nice. I'm guessing I'll get a lot of heat related calls since I'll be working during the peak "hot times".

Made a trip to Prague yesterday for a cut and touch up. She added some more highlites to my hair and gave me a trim and added some more layers. It's pretty cute. Thumbs up Jessica!

Easter Meester

2009-04-14T03:13:00.002-05:00

I'm a sucker for easter eggs. It's been a tradition in my house for YEARS. We use the plain ol' dye with the wax crayon stuff. (It's the best!)

Me and my sister, and no, we didn't plan on wearing the same color, just happened to work out that way.

See, even my mom and dad get in on the egg dying fun!

The Queen Bunny herself...

....and the rest of the bunny clan.

I love...

2009-04-01T11:46:00.002-06:00

dedeetsyshop:
Beautiful handmade appliqued pillows, and plush beanies. Love Love love.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6563434

SaSeaBoutique:
Who loves crowns? Crowns on pillows, tote bags and towels. Oh my!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5157581

A little trickery for April Fools...

2009-04-01T00:21:00.002-06:00

We always try to have fun at work, right? I traded partners with my friend Jodi for the day, this fungi (ha ha ha! Get it, FUN GUY) is Brandon. Brandon likes to play tricks on other medics.

This is Brandon in a truck that is not ours. With a Thomas Pack that is also, not ours.
We have a handrail on the ceiling of the truck, which is intended to keep medics from falling on their patients. But it also doubles as a support system for using Kerlix to tie the Thomas pack to the ceiling of the truck.

Behold, greatness.

Quick Thinking

2009-03-29T10:56:00.002-06:00

I worked with my friend Jim yesterday. He's been a medic for a LOOONG time. He's seriously one of the most talented and smartest medics I know. I was so excited to work with him, I always learn something new.

First, I started my VERY FIRST IV yesterday.....on Jim. He's getting me ready for paramedic school. My first attempt.....success! :-)

Then, the two of us handled a respiratory arrest. The guy just stopped breathing. Luckily he did it right in front of us, so we were able to intubate and start a breathing treatment through the tube. Turns out he had a major pneumothorax. I had to stop the truck en route to the hospital and rush to the back to help Jim. I was scared to death, especially since it was just the two of us. He talked me through everything and we saved the guy.

I got this note on my Facebook today "I have to say that I was very impressed with you last night. You are one HELL of an EMT and a GREAT partner. Dont ever change your great"

Thanks.

Snow? In March?

2009-03-28T10:37:00.002-06:00

We've got a winter (well, technically spring) snow storm on our hands. The metro got a dusting, but some parts of the state got 6 inches!

We were so busy yesterday, lots of car wrecks, falls and respiratory issues. Luckily, nothing too bad. The hospitals were overloaded, so hopefully today won't be as bad (although I'm sure it will be).

Stay warm friends!

A few stragglers...

2009-03-26T20:55:00.002-06:00

Found a few straggling pictures from spring break. Man, that was a fun trip. I'm ready for another.

La Hacienda our first night in Dallas. They had the best fajitas ever. Seriously. So good. Add in the chips and salsa, queso and tecate with salt and lime and I'm a happy girl.

Our last day, lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Man, I miss this place. Chopped salad and sicilian pizza. Yummy! Be still my heart.

I've been looking at houses lately. Working a lot of overtime while it's available. I'm wanting to buy a house some time this year. So, work is necessary. Lately it's been 6 days a week (totaling 72 hours), but it will be SO worth it.

Not much else for news here. Life is good.

Spring Break Recap

2009-03-19T21:25:00.003-06:00

My BFF Jessica and I headed south for spring break this week. Lord only knows how bad I need a break. I've been working 72 hours/week the past several weeks and I am exhausted. It was great to get away, relax and do some shopping!

Our hotel was great, Country Inn Suites in Lewisville. They were so helpful offering us suggestions for dinner. We wanted to eat at only places we don't have here in OKC.

First up, California Pizza Kitchen. Heaven in your mouth. Seriously delicious pizza. Yum!

La Hacienda Steaks and Mexican food. Yummy in your tummy. We split the "Fajitas for Two" but they should have been called "Fajitas to feed 4 or a small 3rd world country" we had SOO much food left. Luckily, our room had a fridge and a microwave.

Can't remember where we ate for lunch on Day 2, all I know is that it was on the West End and I got a "Dr. Pepper Chicken Sandwich" and it was to. die. for.

Dinner was leftover fajitas....with margaritas we made in the hotel room. YUM!

We bought a lot of wine in Texas....and drank a lot of it too. Our evenings were spent in the hotel room drinking wine and talking about stuff. Jessica and I have been best friends since we were 4 years old. Can you imagine having 20 years worth of stories to share? I'm SOOO blessed to have had her as a friend for so long. Love that girl!

On our way through Ardmore we HAD to stop at The Cloverleaf. Seriously, the CUTEST little place. LOVE IT!

I wanted to take this fella home with me! What a cutie pie!

Yum! Isn't that sweet!

While I was in Texas I had to splurge on some REAL cowboy....err....cowgirl boots. These are decked out with Swarovski crystals and they are fabulous!

This is my cowboy friend, Jeff. He works at the store where I got my sassy boots. What would a trip to Dallas be without getting your picture taken with a REAL cowboy?!

You spin my head right round, right round

2009-03-04T11:51:00.002-06:00

So much going on lately.....

Works was a challenge this week. Had a really bad trauma on Monday. Glad the week was over.

Had lunch with my friend Kim yesterday. So nice to catch up with her and her teaching adventures.

My aunt sent me an email this morning asking if I wanted to be "mom for a week" and stay with her 3 kiddos while and and my uncle went to a conference in Hawaii in October. HELL YES! Where do I sign up? They're flying me to Rapid City and will pay handsomely. Can't wait.

Gary and I love the Flo Rida song "Right Round". We heard it on a radio Monday as we were driving back to the station and we both just started busting out dancing in the truck. Soo funny. We looked at eachtoher and just laughed. You had to be there, but we're both terrible dancers. I started doing the "lawn sprinkler" and he was doing the wave with his arms and head banging.

So much to share! Where do I begin?

2009-02-27T09:28:00.002-06:00

I told you about my awesome friend Jessica G. I work with her husband, Chad. (They are seriously the cuuuutest couple in the entire world) Jessica does hair and every time we get together she ends up playing with my hair or teaching me a new way to style it.

I made the hour trek down to Prague yesterday for some high lites, low lights and a trim and she did a GREAT job. Then we ventured downtown and explored. We went to a great junk store and I got some vintage ledger paper for a quarter. Jessica got 2 books. Then we went to the craft mall/bridal shop/prom shop. This place was so funny, all of the dresses were from 1990's, with LOTS of fake pearl beads, lace sleeves, and puffy shoulders, bows on the butts, etc. They were atrocious. But, we tried on wedding veils and that was FUN!

This one is a keeper!
I like the wedding veil headband. This was my fav and I almost bought it!

New hair 'do. Do you love it? Nope, it's not a perm, just some fancy curling iron work.

Eikes! Yup, I'm a foil head.

Something I didn't mention earlier, I took a call with the bomb squad last week. Such a cool experience. This is the robot that detonates bombs. (Yes, I'm aware that it looks like I've got a pipe coming out of my head!)

I get paid to watch NBA games....

2009-02-18T12:57:00.004-06:00

Worked an overtime shift last night at a Thunder Game. This was my first Thunder game and it was pretty darn fun. I'm sure it would have been more fun if I was there as a fan and not as a medic. But it was great, nonetheless.

This is Rumble, the Thunder's new mascot. He was revelaed during halftime and descended from the rafters of the arena on a drum set. Everyone I talked to had a comment about him. My sister thought he looks like Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Kim said Sasquach. I think he looks like a warewolf. His mane needs to be crimped like a buffalo. The shaggy hair just isn't doing it for me.

I work Thunder games for the next 2 weeks and I work Blazers games the next 2 weeks too. Man! Have I mentioned that I like the overtime? And not only the overtime, but I get paid to watch NBA games! How sweet is that?

I'm also happy to report that there were no injuries last night (on the floor anyway).

Another Exciting Day....

2009-02-11T14:11:00.002-06:00

Work has been crazy this week. Gary was off at drill this weekend, so I had new partners each day. Saturday I worked with Clint, he's new and really cool. We only ran 3 calls. Sunday I worked with Rick and he was a lot of fun too. Monday I was with Abbey and she was great. Everyone told me she was a total jerk, but we got along just fine.

I got sent to Ardmore last night to help out with tornado damage. We drove down there hot (with lights and sirens). They gave me a brand spankin new truck to take down there. I was the first person to drive it. What a privilege. These trucks have a thing called a "howler" siren on them.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2008/slideshows/emsa/index.aspx

I just need to say it...

2009-02-05T12:59:00.002-06:00

Do you ever see something and you bite your tongue and then it just builds up and you feel like you're going to explode? I'm at that point right now. I'm going to get slack for this, I just know it, but I find it so darn irritating.

Scrappers who think that because they are "someone" in the scrapping community that they can charge outrageous prices for the stuff they sell on Etsy. I was looking at Etsy and I found something that was pretty cute and I thought about buying it. When I looked at the price, it was $70!!! for a JOURNAL! I find that absolutely ridiculous. It had a little bit of trim on the edge and an old key and pictures of birds from a vintage book.....for $70. What makes this person feel like they can charge something like that? Is it because she made it? What if I had made it and tried charging that much for it? Would anyone buy it? Probably not. The solution: Put it in perspective. Would the artist pay that much for a journal? Isn't Etsy about buying homemade at a decent price? Not screwing people who admire your work.

I'm sure this rant will ruffle some feathers (no pun intended, since it's about a bird journal). I'm just agitated that because this woman is "someone" that she feels like she can charge and arm and a leg for her stuff.

The End.

25 Things...

2009-01-29T23:23:00.002-06:00

Okay, okay. I've been tagged by 4 of my friends on Facebook to list 25 Random things about myself. I hate doing stuff like that on Facebook, so I'll do it here....on my own turf. Copy and paste it on your blog too! (Kim Walker, this means you, sister!)

I can not, CAN NOT drink milk. Completely grosses me out.
My New Years resolution was to read one new book each month. I finished "The Tipping Point" and I'm working on "The Earth is Flat" right now.
I paint my nails with clear nail polish.
I love to cook, mostly italian food.
I wish I had more time to spend in my craft room making fun things.
I'm deathly afraid of snakes and museums where big things are suspended from the ceiling and hanging over my head.
I believe in love, although I have yet to find it.
I could watch the Food Network all day, every day.
When I'm on a call at work, I check out every single firefighter to see if he has a ring on his finger and if he doesn't, I flirt with him. :-)
I can't function without my lipgloss, right now my favorite is Co. Bigelow Ultra Mentha Lip Shine No. 1122
I live with my parents but I pick up 1 extra shift at work each week for overtime to save up to move out.
I plan on furnishing my house or apartment with antiques.
I have never eaten seafood. No fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters, etc. Not even a fish stick.
I carry an obscene amount of pens with me and I will switch pens countless times until I find the one that "feels right" and writes the way I want.
I own about 10 different perfumes/fragrances and I love love them all.
If I could be on any tv show I would be on "The Price is Right" but with Bob Barker, not Drew Carey.
I want 3 kids....one day.
I've got subscriptions to about 12 different magazines.
I get my craftiness from my mom....and my restlessness from my dad.
I love lemonade from Chick-Fil-A. It's like heaven in your mouth.
If I could afford it, I would have a personal hair stylist to fix my hair every day.
I love the "Charlie Bit Me" video on YouTube. I think I've watched it about 1,000 times and I still laugh every single time.
I love manly men.
I love crosswords, word searches and sudoku puzzles.
I still have most of my toys from when I was a kid especially, every single Cabbage Patch doll, Popple and Barbie.

It's been nice...

2009-01-23T09:41:00.003-06:00

My 3 days off have been fantastic! Seriously. Loved each and every minute of them.

Tuesday was a nice lay-around-the-house day. Did some laundry, cleaned up a bit.

Wednesday I got my hair done and found a cute outfit to wear next week when I go out with Aaron.

Yesterday i had lunch with my mom and then we were back out to a different mall to see if we could find anything on sale.

All of the clothes out right now look the same to me. I guess I should say first, that I hate jewel tones. Purples, magentas, ugly yellowish gold, and dark teal, yuck yuck yuck. I just can't pull off those colors. It seems like everything is jewel toned this season.

Pretty much everything in my wardrobe is black, brown and white right now. Boring, right? I'm trying so hard to add more color, but when all of the colors are yucky jewel tones it's SO hard. I'd love a nice green, pink, or red. So, just incase any fashion designers are reading my blog (hey, you never know!) GET RID OF THE JEWEL TONES!!!

Okay, that's it. I'll get off my soap box now.

Whee! Days off!

2009-01-20T20:47:00.003-06:00

Finally off for 3 days. Today was so nice! I didn't do a thing! Those are the best days!

Getting my hair cut tomorrow and I can't wait. It needs a trim, and I'm also getting highlites. Time to brighten things up a bit.

Work was crazy this week. We had 6 calls each day, so we ran our butts off.

My friend Chad is setting me up on a blind date with his friend Aaron. We talked for a while tonight on the phone and he sounds like a really cool guy. I'm excited to meet him.

That's it folks. Maybe you'll get an update and some new pictures tomorrow!

Working Hard...

2009-01-14T14:41:00.001-06:00

or hardly workin?

This is what we do when we're bored. A nap is always welcome on our truck. Especially on those days when you're getting your butt kicked. It seriously takes us about 3-5 minutes to go to sleep, sometimes sooner. Although, you have to be careful, becuase pretty soon you'll get a call. :-)

My ride. Isn't she pretty?

Guess Who?

2009-01-09T09:37:00.002-06:00

While I was working one day my parents stopped by to say hi and check out the truck. I took them on a mini tour and showed them where we keep everything, how things work, etc. My mom (who still loves her digital camera she got for Christmas) was taking a load of pictures. This is one of my favorites, me and my dad.

Back to work today. Gary is off this weekend for Drill since he's in the Guard. So, I am partner-less (for now). Maybe someone will come in and I can partner with them.

2009-01-08T18:41:00.001-06:00

Well, the National Championship game starts soon!

Go OU!

Boomer Sooner!

My Partner

2009-01-06T13:57:00.003-06:00

Meet Gary, my partner for the next 5 1/2 months. He's pretty much the coolest person I know. We met during Academy at work and just "clicked". He's hilarious and we get along magnificently. We spend 48 hours (and sometimes a little more) a week together sitting in the truck, saving lives (once so far!), answering silly calls (a few of those too) and crime fighting (more on that later). We do a LOT of sudoku puzzles and crosswords too. Oh! Have I mentioned that we BOTH listen to 80s music in the truck? Yup. And you know what, sometimes we bust out singing too.

We're developing our own routine right now. We get to work, check the truck off, check our equipment, get gloves for the front and back of the truck, get the bio-bags ready, check out a laptop/toughbook, I hook up my GPS to the truck, grab 2 bottles of water and we're ready to go.
Once we get to our first post we get a newspaper and read that for a while (he always starts with the front page, while I start with the Living section). After the newspaper is read, we bust out trail mix and either Sudoku puzzles or crosswords for a while.

Edit: My gosh! I look terrible in this picture. Pasty white! Geez! Maybe I should go tanning! And look at that cheesy grin! Man! I'm such a fool!
Oh, have I mentioned his extreme strength and dashing good looks? (he made me write that). He loves to flex his muscles in the truck and say, "How's that look?" *rolls eyes* The funny part is that he's trying really really hard not to laugh.

Now, about the crime fighting.... last night we were sitting up in Edmond at one of our posts. We post in this BIG empty shopping center. We decided to listen to the Ohio State / Texas football game since Gary is a big Texas fan (that's his major flaw). Anyway, this white van pulls up to the bank behind their big dumpster. 3 people wearing dark clothing, hop out and are mulling around the building, messing with the ATM and messing around behind the dumpster where the back door to the bank is. We watched them for a little bit and then called the police to come check it out. So, not only do we save lives, but we also dabble in crime fighting. Ha ha ha!

2009

2009-01-01T01:05:00.003-06:00

This year I'm doing Ali's "one word" for the year.

So many words come to mind, however. My word is....

Grateful.

Lately I've been relizing how grateful I am. Especially each and every day when I am going into people's houses and scooping up the sick and rushing them to the hospital.

I ran a homeless man 2 nights ago. He got hit by a car. His right tib/fib was broken and he had a deep laceration on his forehead where you could see skull. He had no money. No home. Nothing, except the clothes on his back and a baseball hat. It tore me up inside to have to cut off his jeans with my trauma shears. These are this man's only pair of pants and I'm cutting them up. I took him to the hospital. I pray that he is doing okay.

So, my word is "grateful" and I will focus on how grateful I am each and every day. For my family. For my friends. For my home. For my clothing. For my education.

Christmas....backwards!

2008-12-26T10:44:00.002-06:00

Christmas pictures are up! Unfortunately I posted them backwards, so we'll start with Christmas Day....

My mom had to work. Therefore, Christmas dinner rested on my shoulders (and Whitney's shoulders too!) I made brisket, scalloped potatoes, and deviled eggs while Whitney made green bean casserole, spinach artichoke dip and honey biscuits. It was all so yummy.

Our big surprise present this year...... (can you tell by our faces how excited we were?!?!?!)

My dad in his sassy new robe! Lookin good!

The surprise presents were Electra Townie Bicycles!!! Mine is pink pearl and Whitney's is a white pearl. Both bokes have baskets and my mom even made the liners for the baskets. I remember the Christmas I turned 8 years old Whitney and I got bikes and mine was pink and Whitney's was purple.

A fancy pair of Brighton earrings. These match my Brighton necklace I got for my birthday!

Christmas Eve....

Whitney and I got my parents matching OU and Nebraska garden gnomes. Since our parents love to garden, we thought we'd bring a little rivalry to the garden this year. I'm just waiting to see which gnome ends up upside down at some point.

A gift from Aunt Mimi. It's a pillow she made with our family's picture on it. So cute!

A Brighton necklace from Whitney.

Hey! Cool digital camera mom! Ironically, Santa left me a matching one. So, now we both have out own digital cameras!

Our shop just isn't complete without a Craftsman work chair.

'Twas the Night before Christmas....

2008-12-24T21:44:00.002-06:00

...and Holly decided to post pictures from her birthday!

I should probably let you know the background story. When I was a kid I LOVED playing "tea party". Well for my 24th birthday my mom took me to a tea room for a real tea party. It was a lot of fun! She's so awesome, seriously the best mom ever. And what is a tea party without fancy hats?

The pictures are a little bright/fuzzy. Blame my camera phone.

2 more days

2008-12-23T16:40:00.002-06:00

Only 2 more days until Christmas! Can you believe it?

I finished Day 5 at work yesterday. 60 hours. Whew! I'm so glad to have 3 days off. I've been picking up an extra shift a week for overtime which will be a really really nice paycheck.

On Sunday when I worked with Chad we were dispatched to a house fire. The woman was trapped in her house because she had burglar bars on the windows and doors. It was my first fire.

Gary and I are officially partners now. Our shifts together start on Jan 4th. Our new shift is Friday-Monday 1:15pm to 1:15am. We are SO happy.

Birthday Girl

2008-12-21T07:41:00.002-06:00

Today I'm 24. 24! Ahh, glad to be en even number again. (Have I mentioned that even numbers are my favorties?)

I worked last night. Had a firefighter as my partner. Pretty cool guy. My friend Chad is a paramedic and was on another truck last night. He called dispatch and had a birthday page sent out for me. Everyone in the company got it. It said, "If you see Holly, wish her a happy birthday. She's over the hill and got some trauma!"

Over the hill? Who, me? Nah.

But about the trauma....

25 year old male was fighting with his wife/girlfriend in the car. Pulls over to the side of the interstate and walks into traffic. Yup, that'll show her buddy, right? Some people! Seriously. We got there and he was bleeding pretty bad. I got him naked in the truck and blood was just shooting out of his groin area (sorry, for being so graphic) my partner intubated him and off we went to the ER. They say he has a shattered pelvis and some other injuries. Hope he makes it. Oh, by the way....did I mention that he's HIV positive? Yea, no good. I'm always careful when there's blood and body fluids involved, but tonight I was EXTRA SUPER careful.

That's it my friends. I just got home and I'm going to go to bed and then wake up around 3:30 or 4:00 and go to work again.....yes.....on my birthday.

That's how I know I'm officially a grown up....I have never worked on my birthday. ever. YUCK!

3...2....1....liftoff.....

2008-12-16T17:28:00.002-06:00

One of the cool parts of my job is definitely this. Some crews hate heli-pad transfers. I, on the other hand, love them. We park by the heli-pad and the helicopters lands. The propellers literally shake the entire truck, they are SOOOO powerful. A few minutes later they cut the engine and the blades slow down. We don't get out until they're completely stopped. Then we take our stretcher to the chopper and load the patient and the crew into our truck and drive them to the hospital. Pretty neat stuff.

Work is still great. I worked with my pal Levi last night. He's such a looney toon. We had a great night.

I'm off tonight and working with Levi again on Wednesday.

Brrr! Stay warm!

Back to Work...

2008-12-11T12:19:00.002-06:00

Heading back to work tonight to work for my friend Shelley. She had a Dr. appointment today and they're drugging her up, so she can't drive the ambulance tonight. I'm working with her partner, Lucas. I've never met the guy before, so I hope he's cool.

Tomorrow it's back to work with Sherry, if she's there. Her boyfriend has a nasty staph infection in his leg and now has MRSA. They did surgery yesterday and hopefully he'll be able to keep his leg.

My friend Levi called me last night to see if I wanted to work with him on Wednesday becuase his partner, Morgan needed the day off. Heck yes. I did my training with Levi and Morgan and I had a blast. This is going to be great.

No time for crafting lately. Just some shopping here and there and sleeping. When you're at work for 12 hours, as soon as you come home all you want to do is sleep.

With that, I'm off to do some laundry and hop in the shower and possibly get a hair cut. Probably no time for that, but it's wishful thinking, right?

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

2008-12-09T16:27:00.002-06:00

snowy and cold weather.

Did I mention that I used to looove snow? I'd pray each night for a snow day, maybe a thin coating of ice on the roads....just enough where the school busses couldn't get down the streets so school would be canceled. Oh yea, THOSE were the good 'ol days.

Now, I'm the person driving the 5 ton vehicle and the thought of snow or ice makes me cringe. Yesterday it rained and all hell broke loose. Luckily, I had just gotten to work and I was still checking off my truck and I could hear the calls dropping around me.....

"472. 4-7-2 out of post 17. Start Emergency for the area of Penn and Memorial...."

"289. 2-8-9 out of post 23. Start Emergency for the area of I-240 and I-35..."

"455. 4-5-5 out of post 14. Start Emergency for the 4000 block of SE 44th Street..."

The trucks get started on the way to their calls, lights flashing, sirens blaring as more information follows.

"Unit 472, your call will be at Penn and Memorial. Map page 23. Priority 2 MVA. Called in by OCPD."

"289, your call will be at I-240 and I-35 northbound, priority 1 rollover, OHP on scene. I have medi-flight standing by"

And so the night went on. I ran 4 calls. Not too bad. I was partnered with the Supervisor last night because my partner called in becuase her boyfriend has a staph infection in his leg after he broke it in October. *yuck!*

I'm off today and tomorrow. I picked up my friend Shelley's shift on Thursday because she has a doctor's appointment and can't make it in. The cool part, is that I'll go in that day at 4:15pm and I'll get off at 4:15am. I love that shift. That way, when I come home, it's still dark out. I hate coming home when the sun is beginning to come up....it's too bard for me to fall asleep like that.

Well kiddos, I'm going to start getting ready I suppose. I might run to Target. I need to get some giftwrap and a few treats for Christmas.

December - finally!

2008-12-04T11:41:00.002-06:00

Wow. It's December! I am so pumped. I love the holidays. There's just some magical about Christmas that the other holidays don't have. Maybe it's the twinkling lights, the smell of baking, the tree, or the stockings carefully lined up on the fireplace. Personally, I think it's the twinkling lights.

I still have so much shopping to do. I absolutely hate the mall this time of year. Everything looks so.....generic. I've been a few times and nothing just screams "(insert name here) would LOVE this!" My sister asked for a toaster for her new house. Really? A toaster. Okay, whatever you want sis, off to Target I went. I came back with a pretty toaster....hope she likes it. As for what else to get her, I'm completely stumped. I'll head to the Cloverleaf this afternoon and hopefully I can find something special for her there.

For my mom, the quilter, a new set of rulers and cutting mat and an OU garden gnome. http://www.amazon.com/Oklahoma-Sooners-Lucky-Garden-Gnome/dp/B000VS41HO and for my dad..... the matching Nebraska garden gnome, of course.

I'll be heading to Sears' Craftsman section next week to pick up some toys for my dad. He's requesting a shop chair, some new box cutters, a dolly, and some other tool (I can't remember what it's called).

I'm on a really weird sleep/awake schedule right now. I work Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 6:30pm to 6:30am, so on those days I get home around 7:00am and I sleep until 3:00-ish. Then, I'm up all night! So, on days like today when I don't work, I can't sleep. It's bad news, really. But for some good news, my friend Sherry (who I call Sher-Bear) is working with me on Friday, Saturday, Monday and next Friday. I am SOO excited. Sherry is so great. We're going to have a great night, I just know it. Who knows, if Gary and I don't work out, then Sherry and I might shift-bid together in January. My other paramedic friend, Levi picked up 2 shifts with me too. I can't wait to work with him. He's a bucket of fun!

Well, I should get going. I'm still in my pajamas and if I'm going to do some shopping I should probably get dressed and ready to go.

Happy Thursday -new Grey's AND Survivor tonight! Whee!

Big XII

2008-11-30T17:17:00.001-06:00

So, we're Big VII bound. Ha ha! Sweet! So excited about that.

Boomer Sooner Baby.

Pictures from Work.

2008-11-29T23:41:00.002-06:00

Work has been great these past 4 days. Morgan and Levi are amazing. I love those guys! They are such goofballs. It was nothing but life saving and schenanigans for us.

Here I am being silly in my truck after dropping a patient off at the ER.

Levi decided to break out the Mass Casualty kit. Aren't the goggles and hard hat sexy? Ha ha ha.

After dropping a patient off, I ran into my good friend Chad while he was dropping off a patient too. Then I made him help me clean up my truck. Gotta make him work, right?

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T14:09:00.001-06:00

So many things to be thankful for this year....my cup runneth over.

I got released from orientation last night/this morning. So, I'm officially a real EMT and no longer a student. Sweetness.

I work again tonight and I get paid double *thank you, holiday pay!*

Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

New places, new faces

2008-11-26T14:16:00.002-06:00

My new partners, Levi (pmed) and Morgan (EMT) are awesome. Morgan is hilarious! Levi is so darn funny and sweet. These are 2 guys that I am definitely looking forward to working with more. I'm running hot to a call and Morgan is in the passenger seat screaming "Yee Haw! Let's git r' done!" Uh, yea.....this is going to be a LONG week.

We bonded later though, after we realized we both went to the same high school and had a lot of the same friends. So, then I decided to put the obnoxious-ness aside and embrace him for all that he is. I think that's when we became friends. :-)

Levi is as sweet as can be. He's 23 too and is so excited about becoming a daddy in 7 months. We ran a pediatric call and he was so sweet to that little girl.

Both the guys were great about answering my questions and breaking things out of the truck and showing me how things work. We pulled out the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) and hooked it up and each tried it out. Kinda wierd, but it gets the job done. The patients don't like it, but it helps them breathe, so too bad. :-)

I can't wait to get to work today and learn from these two guys. It's gonna be great.

New Layout!

2008-11-25T14:18:00.003-06:00

Yay! What do you think of the new layout? I, personally, am LOVING it. So new and fun. Yay!

I'm back to work today, with 2 new partners, Morgan and Levi. Should be interesting, I've heard they're big goofballs.

I got a new phone, it's a red Blackjack and it's freakin awesome. Seriously. I can't stop playing with it. It's awesome.

I suppose I should go take a quick nap before I have to be at work.

Christmas Book: The Beginnings

2008-11-24T21:23:00.003-06:00

I decided to make a Christmas Memory Book leading up to the big day. The album is a 6" x 6" Maya Road Chipboard album and I looove it.

These pictures are terribly out of order, so please forgive me.

First things first, the front cover. Not quite done yet, but will have a red sparkly "08" on the cover. Paper by Basic Grey and the gaffer tape is by 7 Gypsies.
Pages 1-3 of the book. Page 1 is a transparency with the word "one" in rub ons on the bottom right corner. Page 2 is Bazill cardstock and I hand stitched 2 snowflakes and the number 2. Page 3 is white cardstock with red paint brushed around the edges, a brown circle punch and a number 3 sticker.

Here's where my pictures are backwards. Oh well, you're smart enough to figure out how it looks in order....and if you're not, then scroll down to the bottom of this post and read it backwards.

Page 16 (my last page completed so far) is just brown bazill carstock with number stickers.

Page 14 is a transparency with a green border around it. The border is from 7 Gypsies 97% complete christmas sheet of stickers. Page 15 is Basic Grey paper with a tea dyed tag.

Page 8 is a library pocket card. I'll do some journaling on a tag and slide it in once it's finished. Page 9 is strips of BG paper layered and I left room for a photo and journaling. The 9 number is from Heidi Swapp.

Page 7 is more BG paper *gasp! Are you seeing a trend here?!* with some red ric rac

That's what I've got so far. I'm missing some numbers here and there, but it's coming along nicely. Hopefully I can work on it this week some.

Party of 1

2008-11-21T21:20:00.002-06:00

I brought my camera to work with me last week and was able to snap a picture. Well, I didn't take the picture, obviously, but my partner did. How awesome do I look behind the wheel?

My sweet friend Kim gave me the idea for Journal Jars for Christmas. I started making my prototype this afternoon and I am so pleased with how it turned out. Cutting the strips was the most time consuming part! Whew! I als had to take out a few of the journaling prompts because she's not married or a parent and a few of the prompts refer to that. I'm going to make a composition book to accompany the Journal Jar. I'll keep you updated on it.

Lastly, I must inform you that I am once again a single lady. Unfortunately since taking this job my time with Brian has been extremely limited (I haven't seen him for the past month!) He is now working for 2 ambulance services (1 full time and 1 part time) which leaves us no time to see eachother. Like most girls, I require attention *gasp* and that's something which he can not give me at this time. The separation was mutual and I'm sure we'll remain good friends.

On that note, have a lovely weekend.

2008-11-20T12:27:00.002-06:00

Hello there.

Well, my days off haven't been quite what I've hoped for. At work on Tuesday we were running constantly. We were SO busy. We didn't have time to get food so we ran into a 7-11 and got hotdogs. BIG MISTAKE. I woke up yesterday feeling terrible and throwing up. Yup, you guessed it, food poisoning. I was throwing up all day. So gross.

I have a team meeting at work this afternoon at 3:00. It's my first one, so I'm interested to see how it works. From what Laura said it's basically just a chance for us to get together to go over things that need improvement or new protocols, etc.

I'm going Christmas shopping with my mom tomorrow. I'm excited. I love girl's days.

I have a few pictures from work that I'm going to post this afternoon. But for now, I need to finish getting ready for the team meeting.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go....

2008-11-15T10:30:00.002-06:00

Back to work this afternoon. It's been really nice having the past 3 days off. I've been spoiled. Wednesday I slept in until 1:00 and stayed in my pajamas all day. Thursday I got my hair cut and colored (see previous post) and yesterday I taught 8th grade english.

The past 2 nights I went to Jeremy's house. He was in academy with me and moved here for this job. Can you imagine packing up your life and moving to a whole new state and not knowing anybody? I couldn't do it. Anyway, I've been trying to spend time with him and get him acquainted with the city and such. He's my sister's age and just a really cool, funny guy. I'm sure he'll settle in here nicely and make lots of friends soon.

It's supposed to be cool and windy again here today. I'll make sure to bundle up at work and stay toasty. I'm bringing my camera to work today so I can show you my big pimpin' ride. Ha ha ha. I should get one of those stickers that says, "My other car is an ambulance".

Take care!

Weekend Time

2008-11-13T18:40:00.003-06:00

It's the weekend! Well, for me it is anyway. My "weekend" begins at 4:15am on Wednesday and lasts until 3:25pm on Saturday when I get back to work.

Today was slightly productive. I got my hair cut and colored. Although, you can barely tell. I went darker, and it seems like she just put in some low-lights and trimmed off less than an inch. I got home and my mom said, "What did she do?" Yes, my thoughts exactly. Alas, I'm trying to make the best of it though.

Tomorrow I'm subbing. I have nothing else to do, so why not? The coolest part, my neighbor Erica will be in my class and I am so excited to see her. She's in 8th grade and is mighty cool. Can't wait.

That's it for news around here my friends. I'm bringing my camera to work on Saturday so I'll take some pictures of my ambulance to share. I'll give you the grand tour. :-)

It's Thursday....off to watch Survivor and Grey's!

One Week Later

2008-11-10T12:03:00.002-06:00

Feeling a little bit overwhelmed right now with work.

Today is day 3 of 4. Half way there. I need a little break.

Hitting the Streets

2008-11-03T10:16:00.003-06:00

Last night was my first night out on the streets. It was quite interesting. We had 7 calls and stayed pretty busy.

1st call: Assault on a woman. Apparently she got in a fight with another gal. She definitely had a broken collar bone and a nasty abrasion to her back.

2nd call: Seizure.

3rd call: The patient and his friends were in a church parking lot. The patient puked and gasped while he was puking which made his friends think that he couldn't breathe. Upon arrival patient appeared to be fine. Patient did not want to be transported and signed a refusal.

4th call: Patient was released from the hospital on Friday. Pt was supposed to get his pain meds filled but "didn't have a ride". Therefore he called 911 because he needed a ride to the hospital to get his meds filled.

5th call: Elderly man complaining of dizziness. Let me just say that I have a soft spot for old people. Really, I do. This man was the most precious thing I've seen. He lives alone and has a little dog. He didn't want to leave until his friend came to pick up the dog. So cute!

6th call: Nastiest, grossest place I've ever been at. Chief complaint: seizure. Upon arrival we entered the residence to find food all over the floor, roaches on the walls and bugs everywhere. The patient was sitting on the floor and had just had a "seizure". However, he was not post ictal. Which made us immediately question the validity of the seizure. His wife was also at the residence and couldn't keep her mouth shut. Finally she said, "Look! He's about to have another seizure" and right on cue, the man farts, puffs out his cheeks to hold his breath and then shakes his fists. However, his core isn't shaking and neither are his legs. His pupils are equal, round and reactive. This was the funniest fake seizure I've ever seen. Then the wife proceeds to tell us exactly how much valium it takes for his seizures to stop and *gasp* it's an insanely high dose. Nice try. We transported him to the hospital and they told us to take him to triage instead of straight back to the treatment area. Five minutes later they were walking out the door and flipping us off for not giving them the meds. Thought you could pull a fast one on us, huh? Next time why don't you do some research on seizures and then maybe we'll believe you.

7th call: Gunshot wound to the upper thigh/hip area. Drive by. Upon arrival, she was cool, clammy and diaphoretic. Once we got her calmed down and into the truck she seemed to get better. I had to stabilize her leg and straddled the cot sitting on the foot of it the entire way to the hospital.

All in all, I had a great day. I got to do a little bit of driving and today I'll be driving all day. Yes, WITH the lights and sirens. Woo hoo! I'm a little bit nervous, but I'm sure I'll make it.

T Minus 4 Hours....

2008-11-02T10:50:00.002-06:00

I start work today. Well, actually I've been at work since the beginning of October, but today is my first day out and about on the truck. I am so excited.

I've got my new flashlight they gave us at graduation, my pager, watch, stethoscope, goggles, hand sanitizer, EMS field guide and tylenol. I'm ready to rock and roll.

My uniform is all ready to go with a shiny name tag and caduceus pins.

Let's get to work!

Lightning the Load

2008-11-01T07:11:00.003-06:00

I have a confession.

I have too much stuff.

Therefore today will be spent clearing out my excess and driving to Goodwill with clothes.

There's a party on election night at my house and since I have to work that night I will not be in attendance! (Sucks, doesn't it?!?) Anyway, I need to get my room in "party mode" which means all nice and tidy, straighten up the desk and clothes and shoes up off the floor so it's presentable.

Much to do.

I think the people from my academy class are going to get together and do something fun today. Maybe drinks? Who knows. We have a quick meeting at work at 12:00 and then maybe we'll make battle plans.

Off to start my day....the shower is beckoning me.

All done!

2008-10-31T14:07:00.002-06:00

I finished the academy today! The ceremony was sweet. We all had our family members there. It was so nice to meet the family members of the people we work with. Chad's wife and mom were so sweet. Kris' wife and kids were precious. My mom and dad came and since my uncle was in town he tagged along too. We had a nice lunch catered by City Bites and they even got us a GIANT cake.

My mom gave me a gorgeous necklace this morning. It's absolutely stunning. I love it so much.

I officially start work on Sunday and let me tell you, I am SO excited.

2008-10-30T17:59:00.002-06:00

Today we were given "gifts". Well.....sort of. Pagers. We all thought they were pretty cool to carry around for a while......until they started beeping and vibrating every 15 minutes with shift information, post changes, schedule stuff, etc.

This way, "the man" can keep track of us. Gee, thanks.

Worn Out

2008-10-29T17:10:00.002-06:00

Whew! I am worn out!

Today was a long, grueling day. Emergency Vehicle Operations Course. Basically, it's a cone driving course. You have to go through it without knocking over a single cone. IT's extremely difficult. You demonstrate brake and evade, straight driving, lane changes, 3 point turns, weaving between cones and then weaving between cones backwards. You can't drive at a snail's pace either. You have to be going at least 20mpg. It took me about 8 or 9 times to finally nail it, but once I did it, victory was sweet.

The driving was the easy part, the hard part was being outside all day and waiting your turn to drive again. Patience. I'm sure I'll sleep really well tonight.

2008-10-27T21:59:00.002-06:00

Hazmat training was pretty much the worst thing ever. We spent most of the day learning what the colors of placards, pipes, warning labels, etc. Yuck. Never again.

I also got my shift assignment today. 1545 - 0345 on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The FTO I have is supposed to be great. Jason had her as an FTO and loved her. Plus, she lets you kinda do your own thing. She had Jason driving on his 2nd day! Sweet!

Well, that's it. I'm off to bed for an early day of mapping and geography tomorrow.

Night.

This week....

2008-10-26T20:24:00.002-06:00

This time next week I'll be out of the academy and in the field on the truck. I am SO excited. However, I'm a little bit nervous! I'll be paired up with two partners and they'll teach me everything I need to know to be successful on my own. I'm ready to get out of the classroom and into the field. It will be very exciting.

I got my jacket on Friday just in time since it's been sooo cold in the morning!

What's on the schedule this week? Hazmat training? Maybe. Mapping and geography of the city. EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course) which means.....learning to drive the ambulance! Wow!

Stay tuned.

People Care

2008-10-25T08:28:00.004-05:00

We were given a book on the first day of work and they told us to read it. I finally sat down and read it yesterday. It's called "People Care" and it's basically about how people who have been in EMS after a number of years are calloused. They're harsh and they're (sometimes) mean. We meet people on the worst days of their lives and for EMS people to come in to their homes and be calloused is unacceptable.

A few things I learned....

It's not intellectual power that will turn you into a top-notch EMT. It takes something more, you must love helping people. It's ALL about helping others, reaching out to them as friends and having them trust us to help them as much as we can on the worst days of their lives.
What you (EMT's) do with your life is take care of people who are mostly poor, mostly anonymous and mostly uncared about by anyone at all. You will rarely get thanked when you deserve to be. And you'll never get rich. Aside from that, some people aren't very nice on the worst days of their lives. They cuss at you, they spit at you, they hit you and bite you and they say terrible things about your mom. However, you still have to be nice and tolerate them. It's part of the caregiver's job.
Every EMT class should discuss the meaning of EMS in the following way:

The E in EMS stands for Emergency. Not ours, but someone elses. As a result, the emergencies we face will always be defined by their owners, and not by us.

The M in EMS stands for Medical. It doesn't stand for Me, and it has nothign to do with More Money for fire trucks, More political power or More public recognition. EMS is not just a public service, it is medicine. It needs to be driven by MDs and not MBAs.

The S in EMS stands for Service. It has nothing to do with self-esteem or any other kind of selfishness.

Your responsibility on every call you handle is not to take care of the public. It's to come home safe to those who love you.
Next time you are writing a patient care report, do yuor best to make sure it tells the whole story of your care. Then when you get to the part where you sign your name, imagine yourself standing in front of your patient, face-to-face and saying the following, "I did my very best for you."
EMS will take everything you have to give, it will chew you up and spit you out, and then come up asking for more. The reason is simple. Nobody gets out of here alive. Everybody dies some day, not matter how good their paramedics are their EMTs are, and no matter how great their nurses and surgeons.
When you find yourself in a position of responsibility for a really bad call, remind yourself of this: this is not your emergency. You're just there to help as much as you can, and sometimes what you can do to help will not be enough.
Humility is an important tool for any caregiver. Ther came too that makes it possible to wash the feces off a stranger's body, or control your feelings after someone spits in your face, can keep your grounded in the fact that no matter how brilliant you are, you're only a helper.

There are a few more, but I think I'll dave those for later.

Hope you have a great weekend!

I've been a slacker lately....

2008-10-23T06:53:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy with work that I've been slacking here. So sorry. :-(

Let's see...we ran trauma codes on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we just did boring administrative stuff....SSM, working the toughbooks, Public Relations and dealing with the media. Today.....drumroll please......hazmat. So not looking forward to that. I've been through SO many hazmat trainings....2 in the ER, another during EMT school, during the protocol test and now again. Lucky me....not.

Better get going. Have a great day.

Tiring

2008-10-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

Let me tell you something.

When I first got into EMS I didn't realize how extensive the training is for Emergency Management of disasters, (April 19th, Sept 11th, etc). I have to take several tests from FEMA about emergency management. Plus, I have haz-mat training too. I worked on these test for 3 hours and you know how much I got done? 1 and a half tests. Yea. Seriously.

I need a nap.

Mega Code

2008-10-16T20:55:00.002-05:00

We did mega codes for the past two days. Mega codes are full arrests, v-fib, asystole, pacing, etc. I was really nervous. We were working on dummies and all, but we were delivering actual shocks to them. Plus, I'd never worked a code before. My promary job? CPR and ventilation. I worked with Gary (paramedic) and Coty(EMT) yesterday and Gary had us to CPR for 30 minutes on a patient in asystole. I could have killed him once we were done. My knees hurt from leaning on the floor, my arms hurt from the compressions and my hands hurt from them being locked during compressions. I was worn out. Seriously. I came home and crashed on the couch at 5:30 and slept until 8:00-ish.

Today the paramedics got tested on the mega codes and we EMT's were the support roles since we can't push drugs or anything. The best part of my day? 3 of the paramedics asked me to be their partner. Totally flattering, which means that they obviously think I'm pretty good. I could only work with 2 of them though, so I worked with Gary and Sherry. (Sorry Chad!) Everything went smoothly and I was able to remind them of things they were forgetting.

Don't forget to log that drug dose. Where is the pulse ox? Don't forget to check the blood sugar. After you drop the tube and have it secure, apply the c-collar.

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow we're doing PEPP (Pediatric Education for pre-hospital professionals). Should be interesting!

A long day...

2008-10-15T20:39:00.002-05:00

Today was a long day at work. We started mega codes (full arrests, pacing, asystole, chest pain). Our first run through was with Gary as our paramedic and Tammy and I as EMTs. My job was to begin CPR and switch with Tammy every 2 minutes and ventilate the patient. Our first run through was pretty rough, but we knocked it out. I did a code with Gavin, another with Gary, one with Chad, another with Gavin, one with Lisa, etc. All in all, I think I ran 6 of them. My last one was killer, I was with Gary and Coty was the other EMT. We did CPR on our patient in asystole for 30 minutes. Yes, you read that right, 30 minutes. That was with Coty and I switching roles every 2 minutes. My arms hurt.

I came home and crashed on the couch until 8:00. I will definitely be going to bed early tonight.