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...

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...

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

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....

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

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

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.