So much to share! Where do I begin?

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....

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....

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...

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...

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!)

1. I can not, CAN NOT drink milk. Completely grosses me out.
2. 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.
3. I paint my nails with clear nail polish.
4. I love to cook, mostly italian food.
5. I wish I had more time to spend in my craft room making fun things.
6. I'm deathly afraid of snakes and museums where big things are suspended from the ceiling and hanging over my head.
7. I believe in love, although I have yet to find it.
8. I could watch the Food Network all day, every day.
9. 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. :-)
10. I can't function without my lipgloss, right now my favorite is Co. Bigelow Ultra Mentha Lip Shine No. 1122
11. I live with my parents but I pick up 1 extra shift at work each week for overtime to save up to move out.
12. I plan on furnishing my house or apartment with antiques.
13. I have never eaten seafood. No fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters, etc. Not even a fish stick.
14. 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.
15. I own about 10 different perfumes/fragrances and I love love them all.
16. If I could be on any tv show I would be on "The Price is Right" but with Bob Barker, not Drew Carey.
17. I want 3 kids....one day.
18. I've got subscriptions to about 12 different magazines.
19. I get my craftiness from my mom....and my restlessness from my dad.
20. I love lemonade from Chick-Fil-A. It's like heaven in your mouth.
21. If I could afford it, I would have a personal hair stylist to fix my hair every day.
22. 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.
23. I love manly men.
24. I love crosswords, word searches and sudoku puzzles.
25. 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...

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!

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...

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?

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.

Well, the National Championship game starts soon!

Go OU!

Boomer Sooner!

My Partner

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

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!

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....

...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

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

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.....

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...

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.....

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!

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!