Sunday, November 28, 2010

Win a Silhouette Digital Cutting Tool

Silhouette Digital Cutting Tool, win it!

Does anyone own a Silhouette? I really want to win this one, so I can gift it to my girlfriend who would drool all over the place if she had one.   Check out all it can do here.  You can enter to win a Silhouette today over here at Thrifty Decor Chick.  My collection of crafting isn't very big, but I do make a few handmade cards from time to time, and think it's a great way to show someone you care and love them by selecting a perfect card just for them.  If I won this Silhouette, I would ask the friend I would gift it to, to let me come over to her house and make a few cards before giving it to her completely.  Does that make me a terrible gifter??  Either way head on over to Thrifty Decor Chick today and enter before 8pm tonight.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Max Lucado: Fearless Parenting

I found this article in a magazine called Thriving Family, it's a Focus on the Family publication and the article was an excerpt from a book of Max Lucado called Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear . 
This was encouraging because of what Max writes for parents is something I can relate to. 
Enjoy:
 
Giving Our Kids to God
            Jairus isn’t the only parent to run onto Gospel pages on behalf of a child.
            The Canaanite mother.  The father of the epileptic boy.  Jairus.  These three parents form an unwitting New Testament society: struggling parents of stricken children.  They held the end of their rope in one hand and reached toward Christ with the other.  In each case, Jesus responded.  Deliberately.  Quickly.  Decisively.
            Note to all panicking parents:  Jesus never turned one away.  In the story of Jairus, Jesus made the father’s prayer his top priority.  He heeded the concern in the parent’s heart.
            He will do the same for ours.  After all, our kids were His kids first.  “Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?  The fruit of the womb his generous legacy?” (Psalm 127:3, The message, a paraphrase).  When you look at your children, you look at God’s most generous endowment.  They upstage any divine grace he give.  Before they were yours, they were His.  Even as they are yours, they are still His.
            We tend to forget this fact, regarding our children as “our” children, as through we have the final say in their health and welfare.  We don’t.  All people are God’s people, including the small people who sit at our tables.  Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
            Parents, we can do this.  We can be loyal advocates, stubborn intercessors.  We can take our parenting fears to Christ.  In fact, if we don’t, we’ll take our fears out on our kids.  Fear turns some parents into paranoid prison guards who monitor every minute, check the background of every friend.  They stifle growth and communicate distrust.  A family with no breathing room suffocates a child.
            On the other hand, fear can create permissive parents.  For fear that their child will feel too confined or fenced in, they lower all boundaries.  High on hugs and low on discipline.  They don’t realize that appropriate discipline is an expression of love.  Permissive parents.  Paranoid parents.  How can we avoid the extremes?  We pray.
            Prayer is the saucer into which parental fears are poured to cool.  Jesus says so little about parenting-no comments about spanking, breastfeeding, sibling rivalry or schooling.  Yes his actions speak volumes about prayer.  Each time a parent prays, Christ responds.  His big message to moms and dad?  Bring your children to Me.  Raise them in a greenhouse of prayer.
            When you send them off for the day, do so with a blessing.  When you tell them goodnight, cover them in prayer.  Pray that your children have a profound sense of place in this world and a heavenly place in the next.
            Parents, we can’t protect children from every threat in life, but we can take them to the Source of life.  We can entrust our kids to Christ.  Even then, however, our shoreline appeals might be followed by a difficult choice.
           
            How Jesus Responds
            As Jairus led Jesus through the crowded streets, “someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ he said.  ‘Don’t bother the teacher any more.’  Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed’” (Luke 8:49-50).
            The hard reality of parenting reads something like this: You can do your best and still stand where Jairus stood.  We need to know what Jesus will do when we entrust our kids to Him.  He unites the household.  Jesus includes the mother.  Up until this point, she has been, for whatever reason, out of the picture.  But here, Christ unites them.  He wants Mom and Dad to stand together in the struggle.
            And He banishes unbelief: “Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said ’Do not weep; She is not dead, but sleeping.’  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside” (Luke 8:52-54, NKJV).
            God has a heart for the hurting parents.  Should we be surprised?  After all, God himself is a father.  What parental emotion has He not felt?  Do you find yourself wanting to spare your child from all the hurt in the world?  God did.  And yet, He “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all thing?” (Romans 8:32).
            “All things” must include courage and hope.
            Some of you find the story of Jairus difficult to hear.  You prayed the same prayer he did; yet, you found yourself in a cemetery facing every parent’s darkest night.  What hope does the story of Jairus offer to you?  Jesus resurrected his child; why didn’t He save yours?
            God understand your question.  He buried a child, too.  Death wasn’t a part of His plan, and He hates it more than you do.  God resurrected His precious one and will do the same with yours.  Your child may not be in your arms, but your child is safely in His.
            Others of you have been standing where Jairus stood for a long time.  You’ve long since left the water’s edge of offered prayer, yet haven’t arrived at the household of answered prayer.  At times you’ve felt like a breakthrough was nearing, that Christ was following you to your house.  But you’re not so sure anymore.  You find yourself alone on the path, wondering if Christ has forgotten you and your child.
            He hasn’t.  He never dismissed a parent’s prayer.  Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you.

Taken from Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado

Friday, November 26, 2010

Statistics Exam 2 - Results are in

Measly 69/100, goodness gracious.  The class average was 70.  Does not this say something about the exam or professor?  I am not thrilled, my average in the class is teetering right below a B more like a B-
Shoot man, I studied for this exam and this is still all I was able to get, a dinking 69... a 69! 
What on earth am I going to do when the cumulative final comes around in a few weeks??  I'll keep you guys posted.

On the flip side, I got an A on my in-class facilitation for Communications and an A on the paper I wrote in that class. 

I'm still doing well in Existentialism, we just got done reading about Sartre's short story called No Exit about 3 people stuck in Hell.  Yikes... can't wait to start that paper due on Tuesday.

Lastly I'm waiting for my result of the Soc. test I took last week, there is a 2-litter of Diet Dew on the line between a co-student and myself.  If I get a higher score I get the Dew, likewise if he gets a higher score than, I have to buy him a Dew.  It started out just a bet for a 20-oz, but the last test we tied getting the same test score, so this test we bumped it up to a 2-litter.  Now if we tie again, we already agreed on bumping it up to a 12-pk for the last test.  Nice huh?

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thank you

My blog was just mentioned as one of the

50 Up and Coming Nursing Blogs Worth Reading

How completely cool is that??  Does this mean I'm famous?  Probably not, but very neat just the same.

Thank you to:  http://www.accreditednursepractitionerprograms.com/50-up-and-coming-nursing-blogs-worth-reading.html  for posting all of the up and coming blogs worth reading.

Woot woot!

Thanksgiving part 1

Our Thanksgiving feast started last night cooking different meals in the oven before today even started.  By the time I went to bed, my back was aching.  This am the kids got up first to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, my hubby shot up shortly there after dancing around the bedroom like a child on the morning of Christmas (this is my hubby's favorite holiday!), I was trying to sleep in because I never get to sleep in.

Kinda bittersweet today, because I had to work at 4p, and I don't get to share this holiday with my parents or sisters, but I was trying to stay positive with the excitement my family was giving off.  Between my hubby and myself we slaved over the stove all am.  The windows in the kitchen were fogged up with the oven being on as long as it was today.  Usually we don't have family over at our house but this year we did.  My hubby's aunt and one of his buddies.

Ultimately I didn't eat much for fear that I'd fall asleep during my shift at work.  Maybe I'll heat up another plate of food later after 8p when my shift if done.  I can't wait to get off work, thankful to be with my family again.  Overall this day was a great one. 

When I get home, the kids and I will scour the Black Friday ads and get our game plan for tomorrow am. 
I'll post later tonight with all the pictures of the food we cooked.  Aww the pictures, what a bunch I have.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Statistics Exam 2 ...done!

After a week of eating, breathing, sleeping, and dreaming Statistics I have finally taken the second exam of the semester covering five chapters.  I think I will pass the exam... but boy oh boy I was worried that I would forget everything I was studying.  It was a difficult exam and if our professor would've just lectured or written the exam in a way that I could have understood it, I probably would be feeling more confident right about now.  My brain felt like mush right afterwards, so when I stopped at the bank and the teller asked me for my acct. number and I literally stopped and had to rack my brain to think of the numbers that I normally know like the back of my hand.  Yikes, there is something to be said about using all of your brain power and not being able to feel like you can function after doing something so exhausting like taking a crazy stressing exam.
I thought the best way to overcome my lower brain function would be to take my study buddy out to lunch at Culvers!  Yumm, best choice ever, and followed it up with some chocolate frozen custard with marshmallow topping!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

New Couch, Curtains, and Wall Color

A few months back we had ordered a new couch set for our front room.  A few weeks ago it came in and was delivered to our house.  The night before we painted our a new color on the walls called Apple Crunch, our new front room was becoming warm and inviting and we were thrilled to have our couch delivered.  Here are a few pictures of the couch and wall color together. 
This is the chaise lounge that is my new favorite spot.

You can kinda see the Apple Crunch wall color, it's kinda peachy cream but definitely warm.

Just the right size for my laptop and school work.  I'm in love.

Lastly we were needing window treatments and after much debate I went and purchased some panels I thought would compliment the pillow colors of the couch.  Unfortunately even after the sale the curtains were terribly expensive because they can't just sell affordable curtain panels but instead they charge an arm and a leg for just one panel per package racking up my bill to more than I wanted to spend.  Not to forget to mention I had to buy the curtain rods and tie backs.  But enough of my whining, if we ever move, after I graduate nursing school, I can only hope it'll help the prospective buyers to think that they could live in this warm atmosphere too.  Here are the pictures of the curtains:
Please excuse the wrinkles.
Two gold panels and two striped panels per window in the front room.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Stats., Soc., and Com. to do lists. - Update

My Stats professor, changed what will be covered on the exam this coming week from six chapters to five chapters, both homework assignments are due Friday.  Our exam study group will be Monday through the noon hour and exam will be administered Tuesday at 11am.  I'm biting my nails as I speak.

My Soc. class is still on target as far as the exam is on Friday, covering two chapters.

And my Comm. paper is finished as of this am and I uploaded it to our on-line writing lab to make sure it looks complete and that I didn't miss anything and I'll be turning that in tomorrow before 4pm.

As far as today goes, I have to come up with a motivating question regarding Sartre the Existentialist Philosopher.

Tootles and TTFN.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Stats., Soc., and Com. to do lists.


Mainly rental books

Please excuse my messy handwriting.












I'm freaking out a bit people.  My Stats professor was a little off track according to the syllabus and now wants the rest of us to pay for it.  Our next exam is due by 11/23 and he wants to cover 6 chapters worth of information.  Seems kinda dense especially when the first exam only covered roughly 4 chapters and they were the beginning chapter where less difficult information is covered.  This week alone he claimed last Thursday that we would have 3 chapter homework assignments all due by possibly Wednesday of this week so we could have them all graded and back to us by Thursday so we can review for the exam.  This schedule this week frightens me because that seems like a lot to me.  We only have his class Tuesday's and Thursday's so I won't have an update for that class until tomorrow, but goodness gracious.

Then our Soc. class has an exam due Friday, but again this professor originally on his syllabus had us scheduled to take this exam after Thanksgiving, but because he too got off track and behind, he's pushing the date of his exam up too.  However untimely this is, I appreciate his tactic better, because he's only making the exam cover two chapters, less work but due sooner.  Ugg.

Lastly my Comm. professor is right on track, but I must have forgotten that the 17th was this week, (ever have that problem where you see a date in your mind and think it's a lot further off than it really is??) so I have a 5 page paper to write before Wednesday which shouldn't be a problem, because I like writing for her, she has an outlined that is strict and hard to screw up.  So I just get a feeling of dread and being overwhelmed. 


My Phil. professor has pushed all papers back til after Thanksgiving thank goodness!  And gym, well gym is gym, nothing that I foresee being due before the holiday, but it would be like that professor to push something on us as well, besides just being active.

Gotta hunker down and not post for a while or chit chat with my family on the phone or watch tv or hang with my family just to get past this week will be a miracle. **whine, whine** 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Counselor Meeting - Explained

After I went to my  counselor meeting I found out that I only have 12 general education credits left to complete along with my nursing classes for the next 2-1/2 years.  6 credits of humanities and 6 credits of Foreign Culture.  I also found out that there are classes that fulfill both of these requirements at the same time, so in essence instead of taking 4 (3 credit) classes I may be able to take 2 (3 credit) classes that fulfill both requirements.  And since I have 2.5 years to get those two classes done, I'm taking this summer off from classes and I will concentrate on volunteering at the hospital in town.  Yay!!!!  One less thing to worry about.  I'm excited.

Nurse dream

Last night I had a dream that I was at my nephew's birthday party and I had already become a nurse.  As odd of a dream it was, I was asked to weld a bracelet for one of my cousins, and cut the cake to serve to all the relatives at the same time.  Then out of nowhere my grandmother (who's dead) was there and coded, then all eyes turned to me as though I should know what to do, because I was the nurse.  I didn't know what to do, so I started crying and asking my uncle to help move the body out of sight from the relatives so they could continue with the party.  The body was on a table next to my welding work bench and through tears I finished welding my cousins bracelet.  (I don't even know how to weld)
What could this dream mean?

Statistic homework problem, yuck.

Heights of male students.  To estimate the mean height (mew) of male students on your campus, you will measure an SRS of students.  You know from government data that the standard deviation of the heights of young men is about 2.8 inches.  How large an SRS must you take to reduce the standard deviation of the sample mean to one-half inch?  Use the four-step process to outline your work.

I've already answered this problem, but it was a real doozey to figure out how to word the 4 steps it takes to answer it.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed on actually understanding the idea behind Confidence Intervals.
We have our second exam that will be covering 6 chapters in a little more than a week and I'm not ready.  I'm going to take time off my studies from other subjects and concentrate on just my Statistics, that way I'll be doing problems in my head, over and over and over every night until the testing day. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veterans Day--Thank you to my Pop

They Did Their Share  By Joanna Fuchs

 
On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.



Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;



In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.



Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.



No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.



Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.



We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Counselor Meeting

I have scheduled a meeting with my counselor at school this Thursday, to determine how many more gen. ed. class credits I need to fulfill prior to graduating in May of 2013.  I'm kinda scared, because for the past two summers I've taken classes and was hoping to take this summer off from classes and maybe becoming a volunteer at the hospital here in town.  If my counselor suggests taking classes this summer, I think I'm going to cry. 


I'm getting fried as far as school goes.  Having 2-3 weeks off between semesters is one thing, but oh how nice it would be to have a couple months off especially in the summer.  Where all I have to worry about is putting in my 24 hours of work each week and then come home and really enjoy my family and my off time.  A girl can dream can't she??

Monday, November 8, 2010

Hell explained

This was given to me via email, but I thought it was great that I chose to share it on my blog... haha
HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :
Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.' THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Advice from Nursing Students

I have a few girlfriends who have started the nursing program this semester.  So what do you think I've been doing...pumping them with questions.  haha.  So far I'm told that there are lots of quizzes and tons of reading and due to our location being a satellite program there is un-organization with the "mother" campus.  I've been told that in the computer lab the students have access to the computers and the printers and even the ink in those printers but no paper. 
Yup you heard right, our tuition dollars don't pay for the school to supply the students with paper for the printer in the computer lab.  My fellow co-students are telling me that if we want to print off the powerpoint slides that make up most of the class lectures that we'll have to tote around a ream of paper so we can successfully print them off at school.  Otherwise we'll have to print them off on our own time, elsewhere. 
Now there are lockers at the school (that we have to provide our own locks) that we can store our ream of paper in, but they're a whole floor lower than our computer lab.  I realize our economy is suffering and cutbacks are a must, but printer paper...jeepers that's a big section to cut out for the students.
I look forward to starting in January so I can see for myself these little adjustments I'll be in for.
Another graduating co-student that I take my philosophy class with gave me advice telling me that I should read, read, read the chapter before I hear lecture on it.  Also to make flashcards if I do better learning with them, and to take instructors that challenge the student more because the student ends up learning more that way.  I think I'm going my co-student friend and see if she'll pass on her locker to me after she graduates this December.  haha, anything to get some leverage there.  You know what I'm sayin', you know what I'm sayin!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

5BD

I've told you all in the past that I lost 31 #"s through Weight Watcher's BUT it took 2 years to do.  I have approximately 10 #'s left to lose to get back to goal weight.  I have come across a diet that sounds appealing called The 5 Bite Diet by Dr. Alwin Lewis basically where you get results similar to gastric bypass patients without the surgery.  You just limit your food intake to the same as a gastric bypass patient so for example you have to follow the following rules:
  • Do not eat breakfast.
  • Do not snack.
  • Eat five bites of food for lunch.
  • Eat five bites of food for dinner.
  • Eat at least one bite of protein a day.
  • Take a multivitamin every day.
  • Drink only water, diet soda, no-calorie drinks, black coffee, or black tea.
This sounds doable and genius and I'm reading his book right now called Why Weight Around? 

Dr. Lewis brings up a good debate on why or why not this plan should be followed.  He thinks for my height which is 5'8" that my ideal body weight should be 140, but not to go lower than a BMI of 18.5 which would put me at around 122.  He claims that the diet isn't for life, but just a tool for people to lose weight quickly to get back to where they want to be and then to start introducing bite by bite until you begin maintaining this loss of weight.  He claims it only takes about 3 days for your hungerstat to shrink and the shakiness of hunger signals to subside. 

I'm going to give it a whirl and I'll check back in with you all after I see results.  Dr. Lewis claims you can lose an average of 13#'s the first week.  Of course I'll still be working out and running to stay tight and tone, but I gotta say this sounds like a magic bullet!