I came across this adorable watermelon quilt and knew that I have to make it at some point!
Look at the gorgeous colors in this fat quarter bundle! Perhaps that's what caught my eye!
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Stockpiling Sewing & Quilting Ideas
Since I am inching my way closer to the end of my BSN, I continue to stockpile ideas for sewing and quilting ideas.
I came across this adorable watermelon quilt and knew that I have to make it at some point!
Wishing I had this window in the background!
Look at the gorgeous colors in this fat quarter bundle! Perhaps that's what caught my eye!
I came across this adorable watermelon quilt and knew that I have to make it at some point!
Look at the gorgeous colors in this fat quarter bundle! Perhaps that's what caught my eye!
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Cakewalk~
Let me begin to tell you that I'm finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I graduate on 8/6/17! I am now beginning to create a wish list of sewing and quilting projects! I've stumbled across the cakewalk pattern by Thimble Blossoms (whom I absolutely adore)!
This is on the Thimble Blossoms Instagram, this is her creating room! Look at how amazing it is! I adore everything about this room!
I can't decide if I'll be able to let go of my OCD & not have color coordinating blocks.
I love the background fabric!
I can't decide if I'll be able to let go of my OCD & not have color coordinating blocks.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
1, 2, 3, Change!
I often get bored with my blog background, hence the recent change! Please let me know what you think in the comment section below! Is the font large enough? Does the maroon background make it difficult to read? Don't hold back!
Friday, February 17, 2017
Educated Drug Dealer...
Seven years ago today, I learned that I had passed the most difficult test I had concurred. The NCLEX, otherwise known as the National Counsel Licensure Examination. 105 questions, all multiple choice, pick the best answer that applies. Easy you say, yet the answers are written in a way that you second guess your every click.
I could write a book with all that I've seen, good, bad, and in between. I have a handful of patients of which I can't forget. Thelma was a little old woman who had cerebral palsy, was frail, yet so sweet. She has always been my favorite as she reminds me so much of my grandma. Gary, who's family welcomed me into their family. Sadly, Gary had esophageal cancer from years of smoking. Eventually, he passed away. There's a sweet little old Hispanic male who was my first patient that I bonded with as a new nurse. Manny was his name, he had a large family, although they didn't visit him often. I would sit on the edge of his bed and watch TV with him on my down time. One of the night nurses failed to place the bed alarm on. Manny tried to get out of bed to urinate, and quickly became dizzy and fell. Manny broke his neck upon falling on the floor, and passed away. This was one of the first deaths that I struggled with.
And of course there's Roger. He was a little old man who had nine lives (I kid you not)! His brother lives on the East Coast, aside from that, he doesn't have family. I use to yell at Roger because he was so stubborn and persnickety, yet we bonded when I took him for a chest x-ray. I found out that he was fearful of loosing his trailer if he went into a nursing home. His fear stemmed from being homeless at one point during his adult life. Roger was in and out of the ICU for aspiration pneumonia. I recall the last time I visited him, I walked into his hospital room and he began crying happy tears. He reached his hand out for mine, he quickly grabbed it, kissed it, and cried into it. He passed away last year, which broke my heart. I think of him often, and talk to him as if he can hear me. I truly had a love for him as the elderly are my weak point. He felt like a grandparent.
I'll never forget my time in trauma! The week that Adam and I decided to go forth with adoption, we had three young infants (not from the same family, and all on separate days) who had been shaken, and unfortunately passed away. Each of them suffered what's called a subdural hematoma, or bleeding in the brain. The first was a three day old little girl. She was my first code in the operating room, on my first night of taking call by myself. Then there was the prison inmate who kept removing his abdominal staples as a means of staying in the hospital. There was another inmate who would place random items in his rectum, of which would wonder it's way up into his colon, therefore requiring surgery to remove the item/s. There was another inmate who would swallow silverware, of course requiring surgery. I was the primary nurse for one of the captains that Adam works with. And yet another of Adam's coworker's sister-in-law. The most satisfying cases were when we would harvest organs of one whom had passed, to supply life to many who would otherwise die. These seemed to be the easy cases, yet heart wrenching when the family members would request that I read a prayer prior to beginning the case. This brought life to the patient, whom otherwise I had never met prior. I was forced to place a name and a face together, which hit too close to home.
I will never forget the mother who's son was declared brain dead after a horrible car accident. She decided to donate his organs. My routine was to go to the ICU to meet the family members (of the patient who we were going to harvest their organs) and to let them know that I would take the best care of their loved one, as this is what I would want if I were in their shoes. The mother asked if she could have her son's name band, as she had held onto his name band from birth. I explained that unfortunately we are not able to remove name bands, as we have to follow a strict patient identifying system, which included the name band. Yet all of a sudden, a light clicked in my mind. I requested a new name band from the ward clerk, of which I then placed on the patient, and cut his other band off and gave (with love) to his mother. The hug that she gave me was powerful. We both began crying while holding each other.
I could go on and on, however I am absolutely exhausted after the week that I've had. Please disregard any rambling as noted above. I truly can not think straight at this point due to lack of sleep. I'm so tire that I do not feel like proof reading what I've written, but wanted to share a post of achieving such great memories and experience.
P.S. I have often felt like a drug dealer as at times, I am simply running from the med room to the patient's room with drugs...
Seven years of nursing is now in my tool belt, with many more years to come!
I could write a book with all that I've seen, good, bad, and in between. I have a handful of patients of which I can't forget. Thelma was a little old woman who had cerebral palsy, was frail, yet so sweet. She has always been my favorite as she reminds me so much of my grandma. Gary, who's family welcomed me into their family. Sadly, Gary had esophageal cancer from years of smoking. Eventually, he passed away. There's a sweet little old Hispanic male who was my first patient that I bonded with as a new nurse. Manny was his name, he had a large family, although they didn't visit him often. I would sit on the edge of his bed and watch TV with him on my down time. One of the night nurses failed to place the bed alarm on. Manny tried to get out of bed to urinate, and quickly became dizzy and fell. Manny broke his neck upon falling on the floor, and passed away. This was one of the first deaths that I struggled with.
And of course there's Roger. He was a little old man who had nine lives (I kid you not)! His brother lives on the East Coast, aside from that, he doesn't have family. I use to yell at Roger because he was so stubborn and persnickety, yet we bonded when I took him for a chest x-ray. I found out that he was fearful of loosing his trailer if he went into a nursing home. His fear stemmed from being homeless at one point during his adult life. Roger was in and out of the ICU for aspiration pneumonia. I recall the last time I visited him, I walked into his hospital room and he began crying happy tears. He reached his hand out for mine, he quickly grabbed it, kissed it, and cried into it. He passed away last year, which broke my heart. I think of him often, and talk to him as if he can hear me. I truly had a love for him as the elderly are my weak point. He felt like a grandparent.
I'll never forget my time in trauma! The week that Adam and I decided to go forth with adoption, we had three young infants (not from the same family, and all on separate days) who had been shaken, and unfortunately passed away. Each of them suffered what's called a subdural hematoma, or bleeding in the brain. The first was a three day old little girl. She was my first code in the operating room, on my first night of taking call by myself. Then there was the prison inmate who kept removing his abdominal staples as a means of staying in the hospital. There was another inmate who would place random items in his rectum, of which would wonder it's way up into his colon, therefore requiring surgery to remove the item/s. There was another inmate who would swallow silverware, of course requiring surgery. I was the primary nurse for one of the captains that Adam works with. And yet another of Adam's coworker's sister-in-law. The most satisfying cases were when we would harvest organs of one whom had passed, to supply life to many who would otherwise die. These seemed to be the easy cases, yet heart wrenching when the family members would request that I read a prayer prior to beginning the case. This brought life to the patient, whom otherwise I had never met prior. I was forced to place a name and a face together, which hit too close to home.
I will never forget the mother who's son was declared brain dead after a horrible car accident. She decided to donate his organs. My routine was to go to the ICU to meet the family members (of the patient who we were going to harvest their organs) and to let them know that I would take the best care of their loved one, as this is what I would want if I were in their shoes. The mother asked if she could have her son's name band, as she had held onto his name band from birth. I explained that unfortunately we are not able to remove name bands, as we have to follow a strict patient identifying system, which included the name band. Yet all of a sudden, a light clicked in my mind. I requested a new name band from the ward clerk, of which I then placed on the patient, and cut his other band off and gave (with love) to his mother. The hug that she gave me was powerful. We both began crying while holding each other.
I could go on and on, however I am absolutely exhausted after the week that I've had. Please disregard any rambling as noted above. I truly can not think straight at this point due to lack of sleep. I'm so tire that I do not feel like proof reading what I've written, but wanted to share a post of achieving such great memories and experience.
P.S. I have often felt like a drug dealer as at times, I am simply running from the med room to the patient's room with drugs...
Seven years of nursing is now in my tool belt, with many more years to come!
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Previous Taggie Blankie's
I have found such joy and relaxation by creating taggie blankies. I only with that I had more time to put effort into making things as I've always wanted to have a booth at a local farmers market. Some day I suppose, my time is coming.
I definitely specialize in pillowcases, and could easily make one in my sleep. However, I recall making a fabric alphabet for Michael for his second Easter and absolutely had a blast creating each letter! I could easily sell something of that sort!
I suppose I should get ready for my dentist appointment. Yuck! I associate visiting the dentist with visiting with Satan. While I've not had a bad experience thus far, I just dread sitting in the chair with my mouth wide open! It never fails, my dentist always asks questions while he's working away in my mouth.
Taggy Blankie Recipe~
Materials Needed: Two pieces of Oh so Soft (also known as minky fabric) cut into a 19" square (I've also made a 10" blankie, see the bottom two photos)
Assorted ribbons in a variety of colors and textures
You can also use minky fabric on one edge, and flannel on the other.
Construction: Round off the corners of the plush by tracing around a cup or other curved surface and trimming away the excess.
Cut the ribbons into 3" lengths. you will need about 24-27 pieces.
Lay one piece of plush on table right side up. Fold a piece of ribbon in a loop with raw edges together and pin to one edge of the plush, raw edges of the ribbon even with the ray edge of the plush. (Loop will be toward the center of the square). Continue around the square, positioning the tags along the four sides of the square. Basted around the square a scant 1/4" from the edge to secure the ribbons. Lay the second square of plush face down over the first and pin to secure. Stitch around the blankie with a 1/4" seam, leaving a 3" opening to turn the blankie. Turn. Hand stitch the opening closed. Top stitch around the outside edge 1/4" from the edge to secure the layers.
Tada!
I tend to purchase my minky fabric either at Joann's, as they have great minky, at a fraction of the cost if you were to go to a quilting store. I also love purchasing fabric from http://www.fatquartershop.com/
Monday, February 13, 2017
Sew In Love~
I was able to spend a little time in my sewing room yesterday and was sew in love (pun intended). I haven't had the chance to sew in a while, due to my busy schedule with school. The BSN program that I'm in is an accelerated class. It's a 14 month program, with each of the classed lasting five weeks. This means I have a minimum of one paper due each Sunday, two discussion questions, and six replies to others posts. I finished my lazy Sunday by having dinner at my mom & dads, which is always a treat as my mom is the BEST cook ever!
This is the recent pillow case that I finished yesterday for Mikey. I stalked this fabrics release date last year!
This is the first taggy blankie. It's a work in progress!
The second~
Here are a few photos of the project that I began yesterday. I'm making taggy blankies~
This is the recent pillow case that I finished yesterday for Mikey. I stalked this fabrics release date last year!
This is the first taggy blankie. It's a work in progress!
The second~
And the last~ I'll post photos of the final project!
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Missing the Beach - Lincoln City
This past summer we traveled home to Oregon to celebrate Michael's third birthday at the beach. We had such a wonderful time, and I often remember the sensation of being relaxed and surrounded by family. Here are a few photos from our first day at the beach.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Hello 2017!
Our little family of three began 2017 with a flu bug! Hoping this isn't a preview of what's in store!
I stumbled across my blog the other night and had a great idea to join the blogging world again! I must be crazy, as between taking an accelerated BSN course, working full time, being a mommy to a devil child (will fill you in later), and trying to maintain somewhat of a clean house. I truly have no free time at the moment. My life has been hectic since May of 2016! On the bright side, I'll finish my BSN in 6 glorious months! I ever so dearly miss sewing, crafting, quilting, and enjoying family time without the constant thought of having to write a paper!
I suppose I should get ready for bed, I've got a date with my best friend to see 50 Shades Darker tomorrow at 1015 am!
I stumbled across my blog the other night and had a great idea to join the blogging world again! I must be crazy, as between taking an accelerated BSN course, working full time, being a mommy to a devil child (will fill you in later), and trying to maintain somewhat of a clean house. I truly have no free time at the moment. My life has been hectic since May of 2016! On the bright side, I'll finish my BSN in 6 glorious months! I ever so dearly miss sewing, crafting, quilting, and enjoying family time without the constant thought of having to write a paper!
I suppose I should get ready for bed, I've got a date with my best friend to see 50 Shades Darker tomorrow at 1015 am!
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