Summertime!

I really do love summer.  I love the warmth (Mike says I'm a reptile), I love the sunshine, the hours of light, the smells.  I do NOT love the mosquitoes.  They are annoying me already. 

Sarah and I are running together.  I'm really enjoying it.  We're doing the C25K (again for me) but this time it's all on the road which I haven't done before, I did most of it on the treadmill last year.  Road running is so different than treadmill.  One isn't better or worse than the other but they just are different.  I love having a partner to run with, it makes the time pass faster.  I didn't even mind the rain storm the other day, until it was raining so hard we couldn't see.  Luckily we made it home before the hail started.  Of course the power was out. 

I'm working on these last 20ish pounds to lose, but I'm really hoping most about toning the middle of me.  I hate my middle.  So if those last 20 come off, I'm hoping a lot of it is off that middle.  But overall toning and working out should make that happen. 

In addition to running I'm doing the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels.  It is quick and fits into the morning easily.  I WILL do a full 30 days without missing.  I do have pictures but we'll see if I'm brave enough to post the before pictures or just the after ones.  Yes I'm a chicken, yes I've posted pictures before but this feels different, more out there, more personal. 

In just 10 days we're having a party for our tenth anniversary and I'm wearing a great fun party dress that I could not have fit into when we got married so I know I should be proud of myself (and I am) but I still feel like this is always an up hill battle.  I'm not sure when or if it will ever be "easy" but it is something I NEED to keep doing for myself.  I like the way I feel when I work out, and I like the way I look thinner, oh yeah and I'm sure I'm healthier too (but lets be honest, most of us work out to look good, not be "healthy"). 

So for anyone out there thinking they can't do this, take a look back at the weight loss posts here and the pictures, the struggles and the successes.  I know that even when there is a set back I'm still LEAPS and BOUNDS ahead of where I was before I got off that couch!  So just do it!

Made it!

I made it, I finished the first semester of nursing school.  I did it with the help of my family and the friends I have made this semester!  Thank you all!  Thank you for the fun, for kicking my butt when I needed it, thank you for making flash cards, and letting me us your notes, thank you for the lunches, and the jokes, and picking on me when I really needed it, thank you for showing me how wonderful people really can be and I know some of us will be life long friends. 

 Thank you to my wonderful husband who never complained when I had to study late, or go to study group, when dinner wasn't made, when laundry wasn't done, when I went to bed at 8pm on a weekend because I was so beat.  Thank you honey, you'll never really know how much I appreciate you.

Of course there are three more semesters to go but I'm feeling great having the first one out of the way! 

This summer Gabe and I will hang out, play in the yard, go to the pool and just enjoy not having to be anywhere before 8 am.  Mike and I are signed up for an aquatic workout 2 nights a week starting Mid-June and I'm looking forward to some "us" time.

I'm looking forward to grilling out and burning stuff with my brother and Sarah now that they are next door.  I'm looking forward to just chilling out some!

I can't wait for the party in just a couple weeks! I'm worried its going to be 900 degrees, or 30, or raining LOL!  But it will be a blast no matter what. 

I'm looking forward to running and working out more! (I hope my hip agrees, its really sore after the first day of running on Saturday).

I just can't wait!!!

Just keep swimming....

I feel like I'm drowning.  I am starting to see some people start to lose it.  Just three weeks left of this semester.  I'm both shocked at how fast it is going and yet each day seems like an eternity.  Each morning my alarm goes off and I think I could sleep for days, maybe I will when I have that chance.  Gabe can fend for himself ;)  Tests, tests, studying, studying, clinicals and reading. 

Things just feel like they are all so far to the wayside that I can't even think about them much, laundry is a joke!  I mean I'm not great at keeping up on laundry normally but right now it is a complete and utter disaster!  Food....well I did gain 4 pounds during this semester.  That's pretty good I think considering the complete and total lack of working out I have done.  I am looking forward to having some time to work out soon.  I really do need the time to unwind but then I feel guilty for not hanging out with Mike or Gabe or studying, eating or even ...GASP!.... sleeping that I don't do it. 

I am glad I'm doing this.  I feel really drawn here to this point in my life.  I feel like something called me here.  The universe put a lot of things in front of me and I ended up here.  I'm loving the work and I love the theory, I can't wait to find my place and find MY people, the place where I'm comfortable as a nurse, the place where I belong, the place where I make a difference in even just one person's day.  I know its out there.  I have some ideas of where I think I might want to be but then I learn something new and get interested in that too, I'm like a crow going after things that are shiny right now.  Hopefully I'll just KNOW.

For now though one day at a time, one class at a time, and one test at a time.  

Spring break

Well spring break came and went.  I didn't do anything exciting really but it was nice...sort of.  I find spring break to be a double edged sword.  I NEEDED the break...but I'm really just now actually relaxed from school and have to go back tomorrow...and we have a TEST!  On the first day back, yuck.  Whomever scheduled that should be flogged. 

There are only five weeks left of school this semester though and that will go by fast.  So I'm keeping my head down, and going to power through it! 

Life in a nutshell

I'm halfway through my first semester of nursing classes.  I am stressed, overwhelmed, but I love it.  Really!  I love the information that is being crammed into my brain every day.  I love the stuff that I think is gross.  I especially love the people that I am meeting and becoming friends with. 

Of course today I'm home sick with a little boy who's running a temp and worrying that I am missing a clinical day but overall everyone has been doing well during my "absence".  Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on things and Gabe and Mike are being neglected.  I know its only a short amount of time, and half way through the semester, means only 8 more weeks until summer anyhow.  Oh how I love that count down!!  Then I realize how short of a time that it really takes and it will be over.  How fast time goes!!

Ten years ago (on Tuesday) Mike and I got married.  Then I was a boisterous, funny, skinnier ;), very young woman and at 19 that girl would have never considered being a nurse.  She would have balked at the work, thought it gross, dirty, lowly and not fun at all.  Mike and I got married and had no plans to have kids, heck we were lucky to keep our cat fed then.  Now of course Gabe is 5 years old, I'm in school full time, Mike is still/again at FIS (or whatever you want to call it).  We're living in a great house and doing okay no matter the ups and downs we've had.  This 29 year old woman feels light years older (in a good way) than that 19 year old girl and yet I still feel the same deep down.  I'm glad that we've come this far together and I can't wait for the road ahead for life, school and family. 

To those that have been on this ride from the beginning I'm so happy to have had you there through it all, to those just joining us HANG ON! I hope you stick around for the next chapter(s). 

I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached

I better write all this down RIGHT NOW while I'm thinking about it.

Today was my first day of core nursing classes (the ones that really count!).  It was also Gabe's first day of daycare!!  Turns out Mother Nature has a sense of humor and the wind chill was below zero when we left the house, oh so early, in the morning. 

We did get out the door only to forget Gabe's boots, which didn't matter because it was too cold to play outside at daycare but still bugged me.  We got Mike dropped off at work and headed to campus.  I got a good parking spot (benefit of being there at 7:30).  I hauled my backpack, laptop bag, Gabe, his snowsuit, and his backpack all inside the school. 

I dropped him off and he barely said bye to me!  He was the first one there so he went off and was busy playing right away with all the cool toys.

Then I skedaddled to my first class, Pharmacology, which was at 8am.  I get there and we sit around for awhile and at about 8:15 another instructor comes in and apologizes that we were supposed to get an email that there was no class today, that it starts NEXT Wed.  Grrr!!  So now I have 2 hours to kill on campus while I wait for my next class to start.  It was a long two hours.

The next class is Nursing Fundamentals, we get settled in, do the obligatory paperwork, and jump right in.  It was an alright intro and seems like it could be interesting.  It is basically a theory class about the profession of nursing (subtitled "How not to get sued" by me). 

I am done at noon and head over to the daycare to pick Gabe up.  When he sees me he immediately bursts in to tears because they were just starting lunch and I interrupted him LOL!!  There were three other kids there at that point, two girls and a boy.  They all waved and said hi.  I did finally get Gabe to calm down and we took his lunch to go. 

At home he tells me that it was a boring morning because he was by himself for most of it (I think the other kids came around 10).  He did enjoy playing in the muscle room, where they play when it is too cold outside.   He waffles between telling me he's glad he went and wanting to never go back again!

Monday we do it all over again, but only for the afternoon since there was a last minute schedule change by one of my instructors :/ So we'll be on campus together from 12:30-4 and then head right to pick up Mike. 

I have about 115 pages to read this week for Fundamentals, my online Psych class will probably start posting things tomorrow or Friday.  So I'm off and running! Although I won't really be running because my backpack weighs a ton and is already stuffed to the max!

(not)refried bean burritos

Yesterday I posted the (not)refried beans and today I am posting to show what I made with them! 

I made little freezer packs to take to class with me for lunch.  The tortillas I used are quite small so I put 4 into a package. 

Ingredients, I didn't take pictures of the package of beans full, sorry.  There are also other ingredients in the recipe which I linked back to yesterday too!  They are DELICIOUS!

Then I set up a little assembly line and put 1/4 cup of beans into each burrito

I added a dash of cheese (less than 1/4 of a cup, just a sprinkle really), and 1/4 cup of beans was a LOT in this size tortilla.  I might go up a size next time but I like the idea of eating a lot at lunch (4) and feeling like I splurged instead of eating one big burrito LOL.

Then I rolled them up and put them into Ziploc bags.  I labelled each bag with the contents, date, and nutrition info I like to keep track of.  Each pack of 4 burritos is 350 calories and 20g of protein (for ALL 4 combined!!)

I only had one package of tortillas, and I made a double batch of beans so I had leftovers.  I took them and put them into ziploc bags, wrote the date, the size of the package (2 cups) and nutrition info for 1/2 cup of beans (60 calories):

I lay them nice and flat (helps to keep the air out too) and then freeze them like that.  After they are frozen you can stand them up if you need to in the door of the freezer.  I did have another cup and a half left over but I put them in a bowl in the fridge for lunch tomorrow ;) I couldn't resist! 

These beans are super tasty and WAAAAAY better than anything you're going to eat canned, and better for you.  Total time I put in today to portion and package everything up was about half an hour.  I'm not going to say my calorie counts are perfect but they should be close, and everyone's recipes will vary depending on exactly what you put into your beans and what burritos you use.  So make sure you figure it out if you need to be counting calories. 

I will definitely be making these beans and the burritos again!  Thank you so much to Budget Bytes for paving the way for these recipes!!