Hot Spice Tea for Fall

This is my most favorite spice tea recipe for fall! Enjoy! 

1 tsp. whole cloves               I 48oz. can pineapple juice

1 stick whole cinnamon                 1 6oz. can orange juice

3 tea bags         1 6 oz. can lemonade

 

Use tea bags and make 1/2 gallon tea. Set aside. In small amount of water, boil cloves and cinnamon for 5 minutes. In gallon container, mix frozen orange juice and lemonade to directions. Add pineapple juice and 1/2 gallon tea. Strain water with cloves and cinnamon. Pour the water into tea mixture and discard used spices. Add water to fill the container to top. Stir well. Refrigerate. Heat to serve.

Natural

This blog may seem rather silly, but here it goes.  I am a brunette, naturally.  For years, I have highlighted my hair, then darkened it, then highlighted it, then darkened….etc. One of the first times I went back to my natural color from highlights was after I stumbled upon one of my sister’s beauty books, in highschool.  It said “brunettes should never highlight frost their hair.” So I immediately went back to brunette. 

Well, I have been a salon blonde for over a year now.  I realized, that’s crazy! I am spending so much money on bleach that has to be redone every six weeks!  Why? Because when my roots grow out I look like Shakira Shakira.  Yes, the singer.

I really had to question the reason I was blonde. Do I really think it goes with my brunette complexion better….not according to THE beauty book.  FYI: the auther was Tyra Banks. Seriously, it doesn’t go with my complexion better. It makes me look pale, unless I tan all year round.  Then it looks ok. 

The only reason I highlight my hair is because the media portrays blonde is in and hot.  How low is that to stoop to those standards? I know….low.  So I proudly am going back to my natural color next Thursday.  I cannot wait.  I’m sure it will be a huge shock to most people that know me only as a blonde, but they will get used to it eventually. Besides, I am not doing it for them, I am doing it for me. Rock on sister!  Plus I can spend that extra cash that I won’t be spending on my hair on something that is actually worthwhile.

Sleep Deprived

Let me start off by saying I am a full-time R.N. with a B.S.N.  Sounds important right? Sounds smart? Think again….

I had something happen the other day at work that has never happened to me before. When I awoke that rainy morning I felt a little strange.  As I fought against laying in bed, for the entire day, I made myself get up and go to work.  I should have stayed home that day.

Typically, we have random patients come in for various shots.  I am the shot nurse. Not complicated….so I thought. Here is the problem….

A patient came in for a shot late in the afternoon. I looked to see what shot I needed to administer to her. Ok, I thought to myself, this shot always goes in the hip. Period. I am very familiar with this patient…very.  I draw up the shot, call the patient back, and look at the chart to see which side I gave it in last time.

“I am going to give this in your (L) hip today because last time I gave it in your (R) hip,” I quietly told the patient. I immediately received a strange look and some slight hesitation, then she got ready for the shot. I administered the shot. She looked at me very strangely and then left.  I thought to myself, “that is strange.” She is always very outgoing and friendly. “Maybe she doesn’t feel well,” I thought to myself.

I leave the patient room, flip open her file and I notice something is wrong. This patient always receives her shots in the arm, per patient request. I had never given her a shot in the hip before. Shame on me for overlooking that but more so shame on her for not saying anything to me.  Apparently she has a HUGE phobia about receiving shots in the buttock.

Did I mention she has never come back?

Passion

Can I start off by saying I can’t even believe it is almost September. Secondly, I don’t know where this last year went. Life seem to be going by too quickly.

I always knew that I was busy, but it never seemed to bother me until lately. I was thinking about the last year of my life and it just seems like I have worked for the most part.  I have to say I am a little disappointed in myself too because not only have I been a work-a-holic, but also, I have been a work-a-holic at something that I am not passionate about.

It is starting to hit me that life is too short to not be passionate. So, as I am realizing that I am not “passionate” with my current position, I am also realizing that I am not sure what I would like to do in life.  I guess I can start with the fact that I know I don’t want to do what I am currently doing.

So where does one start, honestly? I could always go back to college, but for what degree? Either way, I need a change and it’s not going to happen unless I make it happen. So I have decided to become passionate about finding out what I am “truly passionate” about. Is this what feeling jaded feels like?

Chihuahua Nightmare

Justin had to leave for Houston on Monday of this week and was gone for four days. During that period, my chihuahuas decided to act out.  I have one chihuahua, Moose, who is the sensitive one.  He cannot deal with change.  For example, when we took our carpet out of the living room, he whimpered all night. He was distraught!  Then, there is his sister, Coco, who is anxiety city.  I cannot go anywhere in the house without her right at my heels. She has some serious separation issues.  When she was a puppy, she was taken from the breeder and then brought back to the breeder by that family because they decided they didn’t want her. Then Justin and I took her a year later. She is afraid of being left behind.

Monday, Coco was acting very anxious and Moose whimpered all night. I thought to myself, be sympathetic, they are just nervous. That changed immediately when I walked into the bathroom the next morning and stepped in pee.  We keep them in the bathroom with a baby gate just in case they do this very thing. Well, they do have a pee pad they can use, but apparently that wasn’t big enough.  The pee pad was saturated and they peed in front of the toilet, in front of the tub, and in front of the closet door. They have never done this before. Stepping in pee + morning sickness = disaster.

Later that night, Moose decided that his food bowl was possessed.  He kept barking at it and absolutely refused to eat out of it. He literally did this all night. I finally just dumped his food out on the floor, and he still barked at it. 

This absurdness continued until Justin came home. Then Moose ate out of his food bowl just fine, without problems, and they didn’t pee all over the floor that next morning either. Unbelievable.

Domesticated Modernist?

As silly as this may sound, I feel like I need to become more domesticated.  Why? Because I am going to be a mom. All of a sudden I am trying to learn how to sew (everything) and cook better. 

Let me just share my first sewing project issues.  So I bought this Amy Butler book that my sister swears by and also has been very successful with…did I mention successful??  So of course I think that this sewing business will be easy, buy the book, sew, done.

Not so much. I don’t have a lot of common sense, and this sometimes works to my DISadvantage. I’ll just come out and say it. I was making the most “simple” thing in that Amy Butler book, and I couldn’t figure out the directions.  There were all these abbreviations like fold this side to WS and bla bla bla. Seriously, how could I not figure this out. I did graduate college. C’mon! Then I found this handy little abbreviation page.  Wish I had known about that earlier. Then it made sense, but still didn’t understand the directions. It took me two days to figure them out. Afterwards, I ended up with an amazing shoulder bag. Oh yea!

So, did I mention I have just had one sewing project….just one. And something in me today thought I could sew some curtains. Don’t ask my why. So I went to hobby lobby and found this fabric that cost way too much, especially for an inexperienced sewer. I bought it anyway, and never unloaded it from my car. I am kind of intimidated. It can’t be that hard right. But part of me is thinking I paid so much that I can’t mess up now…..right?  I maybe plan to start on them tomorrow, or tonight.

Oh, to top it all off, the curtains that are hanging up in the kitchen now have been there since we first moved into the house. I went to take them down, turns out I never painted behind them. So I have to finish painting before I can hang the curtains which is a bit concerning because Justin will have to do that since I am pregnant. Is it really this hard to sew?

Goodbye Embryo, Hello Fetus

Let me start off by saying, I am 9 weeks pregnant.

I will be having my first baby around the end of March 09.  I can’t even begin to explain how it feels to be pregnant. It is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world that I have experienced so far.  Of course there are those moments of not feeling so well, but it is totally worth it. 

I cannot wait for my first dr.’s appt.  It is this coming Friday. I should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat, which will be absolutely amazing. It will also make me being pregnant feel more pregnant since I don’t really look like I am.  I am getting a very tiny bump, but no major changes yet.

Being pregnant has given me a whole new perspective on life. It has made me appreciate life more than I did before.  I was so caught up in being so busy all the time, I was missing out on the good things of life. Now, I stop and take time to enjoy life.  Life….what a packed word.  I have to ask myself how someone could not believe in God after being pregnant.  How else would a person explain the process of a developing baby over 9 months? And again life…..there is a life inside of me.  I have two heartbeats right now, as well as two of a lot of other things. My latest update on my baby said the baby was developing leg and arm buds, kidneys, brain, ears, eyes.  However, the baby is only a little larger than a blueberry.  How incredible is that!

I cannot wait to find out what I am having in a few months and to actually see that little baby on an ultrasound!

Goodbyes……..

I have always hated goodbyes, and yes, I have heard the cliche “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.”  That still doesn’t make it any easier.

My morning began at 4am, dark and early.  The only other “creature” awake that early was ArdamAeous, my sister and brother-in-laws cat.  I had to leave by 4:45am to get to the airport that was about 2 to 2 1/2 hours away. 

I had spent the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law and had the time of my life.  And now the time had come to say goodbye.  I hate that we live so far away right now, because that makes it tough to leave.  But hopefully someday we will live closer together.

I tell my sister bye at 4:45am and walk to my rental car I had gotten just a few days ago.  I jump in the car, and wave bye as I am pulling out of the driveway.  I almost cried then, but knew I had to concentrate on the roads so I wouldn’t get lost, so I was distracted for a little while.  Two hours later, big city rush hour traffic later, I finally see the glorious Enterprise sign.  I return the car, hop on the shuttle, and then wait in line at security at the airport for what seemed like forever.  By this time, I could have probably fallen asleep standing up.

To make a long story short, I got through security, got some Starbucks Coffee, made it on the plane and off and home safely.  Then, when I got home, it hit me how much I really do miss seeing my sister. 

But I am very grateful that I got to see her and hopefully we can plan another trip in the future.  One thing I did take home with me tonight in remembrance of this awesome adventure was her interest in growing her own herbs for cooking. 

Just to feel better, I went to the market, bought some herb seeds, and planted them tonight.  Just a little piece of family right in my kitchen.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles….

I woke up around 4am on Friday morning.  I had a plane to catch in Tulsa that would take me to St. Louis, MO.  My sister and I had planned a get together several months earlier.  We hadn’t seen each other since the wedding in October, so we were both just stoked.  After I  made it through security at the airport, I found myself standing in line to go through yet more security.  I thought I heard someone yelling my name, and I thought, okay, I just need more sleep.  I look to my right and there is a patient from Arkansas at the Tulsa airport at the SAME time as me.  Weird. 

I was so relieved to make it through all that security and finally to my departing gate.  I got an amazing window seat.  As I prepared for the plane to take off, I took several deep breathes….(I am afraid of heights).  We took off just fine, and through the time I was praying for the take off I somehow drifted asleep and slept until we landed.  I whip out my cell phone to call Justin and I have three new voice mails.  I thought, how weird.  It must be Tiff saying she’s running behind or something.  She had a two hour drive from Illinois to the airport.

 The first message was about her car breaking down about 20 minutes from her house and being unable to pick me up.  Okay, I thought, we can still make this work.  The second mesage was about how maybe I could rent a car or take a shuttle the two hours I still needed to go to get to her house.  The third message was about how she had reserved me a place on the shuttle, but it would not be coming until about two hours later.  I thought to myself, I was just talking about the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on the way to the airport with Justin’s dad and I totally jinxed myself.

I decided to rent a car, and luckily you do not have to be 25.  I jumped on the Enterprise shuttle at the airport in downtown St. Louis and asked the driver to take me to the rental place.  I told him I didn’t have a reservation.  He seemed shocked, like I should have.  He wasn’t sure if there would be a car available but her assured me he would take care of me and get me to my destination one way or another.  He dispatched to the Enterprise “substation” and stated he had a Mrs. Royeee with him that needed a car desperately, that “she had a BAD situation…I repeat a BAD situation occur.” Sure enough, he did get me a car, a little Kia Sportage.  I was on the road in no time, driving by the great arch of St. Louis, hoping I didn’t get lost, driving on like maybe four hours of sleep.  He assured me he would see me bright and early Monday morning to get me back to the airport. 

Three hours later, I made it to my sister and brother-in-laws house.  Did I mentioned I got lost?  Oh yea, I was well on my way to Chicago somehow. 

I am a little nervous about my drive back to the airport at 4:45am on Monday…….