Sunday, January 27, 2008

You may not know this about me

1. I have been to Costa Rica, Canada, Ireland and Fiji
2. I am terrible at doing housework
3. I have been in the hospital 4 times, two of those were for outpatient procedures
4. I went to emergency care twice when I had shingles
5. I have a weakness for sweets and coffeehouse coffees
6. I love painting the rooms in my house
7. I like to rearrange/redecorate often to keep life interesting
8. I once wrestled with my sister over what kind of baked beans to have for supper
9. I flipped a go-cart when I was eleven and broke my shoulder
10. I am a pyromaniac
11. I designed my own wedding invitations, they didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned
12. I think the landscaping in our front yard is hideous, it will make a good project for this summer
13. I am working on my third degree right now: AD in Liberal Arts and Sciences, BA in Graphic Design and I am working on an AD in Nursing
14. My best friend, Stephanie, was my enemy in 5th grade
15. I love throwing parties!!!!
16. I donated 10 inches of my hair this past July to Locks of Love
17. I love being an auntie, but sometimes wonder what it will be like when I have to care for my own children 24/7
18. I have piles all over the house, piles of clothes, a pile of stuff by the door, piles of mail on the table
19. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade I sang a solo at a choir concert. I had not planned to, but the girl who was supposed to sing was sick that day. I had not even tried out for the song in the first place, but I knew all the words!
20. I was undefeated in arm wrestling up into the 6th grade
21. I have a ten gallon fish tank with live plants and six adult platys, two baby platys and one adolescent guppy
22. I threw shot put and discus in middle school and high school, I was pretty good in middle school, but average in high school

Friday, January 11, 2008

I am Glad That is Over

UuuuuGGGGGggg. Monday through Thursday I worked evening shifts, which haven't been that bad in the past. On an ideal day there are 5 people working in the evening. We all are scheduled for 8 hour shifts and these shifts end at 6:30, 7:30, 9:30, 10:30 and 12:00.

I had been scheduled for 3:30-12:00, but got someone to switch with me for 1:00-9:30, which would have been great if it worked out. However, the guy I switched with pulled a muscle in his hip, and couldn't work on Monday, added to that there was a new guy training in on the 2-10:30 shift and a mix up with scheduling, so there was nobody working the 2-10:30 shift to train him!!!

Tuesday I worked the 1-9:30 shift but we were still missing the 12:00 person so we were pretty busy.

Wednesday I got switched to the 3:30-12:00 shift and it was a busy day!!! There were about 120 surgeries that day and it was a good thing we had all three of the later shifts staffed, but we were missing the 11-7:30.

Thursday I again worked the late-late shift and we were missing our 1-9:30 person again so it made for another busy night.

So, the four days I worked we were one person short every evening and we had so many surgeries and so many admits that they were putting regular patients in the intensive care unit because that is where the only available beds were.

I finally have today and the weekend off, then next week classes start up again.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Awesome Beef Stew!

We had the workers stay with us last week, so I did a bit of cooking. On Thursday I made beef roast in the crock pot and I kept the left over meat and broth and used it to make beef stew for Sunday lunch. I made it in the crock pot so it would be ready when we got back from meeting. It turned out really good, so I thought I would try to write down what I did.

To make the roast I put in a packet of beef stew seasoning, 1 cup water, 1 baby can of tomato sauce and some barbecue sauce. I ended up with 3-4 cups of broth that I used in the stew. Here are the rest of the ingredients:

1/2 onion - sauteed, 1 & 1/2 cups each of frozen corn and peas


4 celery stalks and 2 cups of carrots

I cooked up the carrots, with some olive oil, in the frying pan for about 10 minutes, then added the celery. They were still crisp when I took them off the stove, I did this to give them a bit of flavor and give them a head start, since they are so hard.

3 cups of redskin potatoes, cubed

As you can see, I fried up the potatoes too. Like the carrots, they were not completely cooked. I wanted to make sure they would keep their form when cooked in the crock pot for 6 hours.


1 to 2 cups cubed beef, 1 - 14 1/2 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, 2 T. Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, and garlic powder, 3-4 cups of broth from beef roast, 2 cubes of chicken bouillon, water - enough to cover everything and make it easy to stir up.

Here is the final stew! Mmmm, yummy.

I made it in an oval crock pot and cooked in on low for 2 hours and turned it up to high for 4 hours. Stir every hour or so. I thickened it with some cornstarch and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

I will definitely have to make this one again. I think the key to this recipe is using fresh ingredients, the only thing canned that I used was the tomatoes, otherwise it was all fresh or frozen.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

A Week with the Family

Well, we have the new computer up and running, Nate is at work, the house is pretty clean, lunch is ready for tomorrow, a cake is in the oven, the workers have gone to bed and I don't have any excuse for not getting these pictures up! Sooooo, here they are. Looking at these reminds me of all the fun we had when the family was together, even though it was a little hectic, with 4 kids five and under and the whole family in one house!

Only 8 months apart, but Westin must think Austin is a baby


Olivia helps make the batter for the Gingerbread house


Helping decorate


This year's Gingerbread house


Haircuts all around; Richard, Justin, Nate and Dad all got buzzed


Dad was worried, but it turned out fine


Westin and Grandpa have the same hairdo!


Grandma and Grandpa Thompson with the great-grandkids on Christmas Day


Grandma and Grandpa Craven


Justin, Katrina and Austin


Westin


I thought this one was cute!


Emma 5, Olivia 4, Westin 2


Crazy Kids!


Ready to eat Christmas Dinner



Our family


Austin hiding in the cupboard


Westin loves this popcorn!


Ready to go see the lights in the park


All bundled up




Westin decided to go off-trailing


Mom and Dad


Warming up by the fire


The kids running during a night photography shot


Olivia


Austin was HUNGRY

Thursday, January 3, 2008

New Computer

Nate built us a new computer, so we are in the process of transferring everything from this one to the new one. I am going to have to wait a bit to put up the pictures from the holiday.

For something different I will change my blog design, let me know if you like the new one!