Summary Friday: Project 365, Week 49

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Merry Christmas!!

May your day be filled with good food, good friends, and happy families!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Summary Tuesday: Project 365, Week 48

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Best Shot Monday - Plaza Lights, Take 2

Last week I said that one of my favorite things about the holidays was the plaza lights. And I of course had an accompanying photo. But it really didn't do it justice. So here's take 2...it really is beautiful...

And to be fair, I didn't take all of these shots myself -- someone else was taking some too, who admittedly had a much steadier hand than I do... So I am really not sure who took what, although it probably would be fair to assume that he took more of the good ones than I did...


For more great shots, see what everyone has to share at Tracey's!

Summary Saturday: Project 365, Week 47

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December 5:

By The Numbers

28.

Is a perfect number.
Is the atomic number of nickel.
Is is a magic number.
Is the number of dominoes in a set.

28 years.
10,224 days.
245,376 hours.
14,722,560 minutes.
883,353,600 seconds.

28 minutes is long enough to watch a sitcom (give or take a few commercials).

days is a lunar month.

28 weeks is just over half of a year - long enough for you to forget just how cold (or hot) the opposite season feels.

28 years is long enough to learn what love is. It is long enough to appreciate the little things. It is long enough to realize that achieving your dreams can take work. A lot of work. It is long enough to realize that all that work is worth it.

28. A whole lifetime and the blink of an eye, all at once.

And today? I turn 28.

Best Shot Monday - Plaza Lights

Every year, the plaza outlines all the buildings with lights. There is a big celebration on Thanksgiving night, and the lights are all turned on. And they are on every night until mid-January.

When I first moved here, I didn't really know what the big deal was. The lights were just Christmas lights, and they weren't even all the same color. But now? Now the plaza lights are one of my very favorite things - they remind me of Christmas. And more than that, they remind me of Christmas at my home - the home that I have picked and that I have made for myself. And that is awesome enough that I don't even care (too much) that the lights aren't all the same color...

For more of Best Shot Monday, see what everyone has to share at Tracey's!

Maybe sleep isn't so overrated after all...

My life is busy. But so is everyone else's.

I don't get much sleep. Sometimes it's because I have other things to do and sleep falls on the back burner. And sometimes it's because I am the WORST sleeper ever, and can't get a few hours of shut eye to save my life. Whatever the reason, I try not to complain about it too much. I picked this crazy life of mine, and I do enjoy it.

Yesterday morning when I got off of work (after working five looooong nights in a row) I had a few things for school that I was quite sure HAD to be done before I slept for a few hours. So being the diligent student that I am I sat down with my computer to write a prospectus for a final paper. Most of it was already done, I just needed to add a quick thesis statement and I would be all done.

So I sat down and puttered around, reading various articles and things that I had saved, so that I could make sure I picked a thesis that I could actually support with research. Sounds easy, no? And finally I found the perfect article - it said exactly what I wanted to say, and was going to support my thesis PERFECTLY.

And then I realized that I was reading my own paper.

And shortly after that, I realized that perhaps sleeping BEFORE turning in something that would receive an actual grade might be a better idea.

And I started to think that maybe sleep wasn't quite as overrated as I originally thought...

Best Shot Monday - Friends

Why yes, for Best Shot Monday I do have more shots from when my friend was in town.

And, by the way, did you know how much easier it is to have a mini photo shoot with someone who knows to keep their fingers out of their nose?

For more great shots (which may or may not include nose picking) see what everyone has to share at Tracey's!

Theme Thursday - Togetherness

This week, along with everything else, my best friend was in town for a few days. She is doing an assignment in Hawaii (sounds rough, no?) for a few months, so before this it had been a looooong time since I had seen her.

And I remembered that sometimes all it takes is a little togetherness to recharge your very being.

For a lot more togetherness, see what everyone else has to share at Stacy's!

The 7 Things Meme

Kimberly tagged me for the 7 things meme, so here we go!

7 Things I can do:

1. I can multi-task well. Very well, if I do say so myself.
2. I can remember details in a way that people are ALWAYS surprised by.
3. I can start an IV in almost anyone.
4. I can speed read.
5. I can forgive but not forget.
6. I can cook a delicious meal.
7. I can shower and get ready to walk out the door in about 15 minutes.

7 Things I cannot do:

1. I can't bring myself to go to the dentist. I know, it's a stupid phobia. Stupid, but real.
2. I can't make everyone happy all the time. But that doesn't really stop me from trying.
3. I can't leave the house with my camera. Hey, you never know what you might want to take a picture of!
4. I can't eat pineapple. Thank you, severe allergy.
5. I can't fall asleep easily.
6. I can't get a tan.
7. I can't drink regular milk. Ick.

7 Things I say most often:

1. "I'm sorry", which is usually followed by "I know that hurts" and then me doing something that does, in fact, hurt.
2. "You can do it!" Also usually followed by either "A little harder!" or "A little more!"
3. "I don't mind" -- even if I do, I can't seem to keep myself from agreeing to do things anyway. This is a SERIOUS personality flaw.
4. "I love you" -- is there a more loving creature on earth than a toddler? I think not.
5. "Hi!" -- everyone deserves to be greeted with cheer...even when I don't really want to...
6. "Oh hell" -- not very nice, I will admit, but sometimes I get just a wee bit frustrated.
7. "You have GOT to be KIDDING me" -- funny enough, no one ever really is.

7 Celebrity Admirations:

I have decided that my list is the people that I like to look at and admire. Shallow you say? Yes, yes it is.

1. Hugh Jackman
2. Matt Damon
3. Eric Dane
4. Simon Baker
5. George Eads
6. Patrick Dempsey
7. Prince William

7 Favorite foods:

1. Chinese food
2. Seafood
3. Garlic Bread
4. Fresh baked cookies
5. Chili
6. Pasta -- I can't even pick one kind. (Hi, think I enjoy carbs much?)
7. Tacos

I won't tag 7 people, but I am nosy and I do love lists, so if you want to do your own 7 things meme then let me know -- I can't wait to read more!

Best Shot Monday - Giving Thanks

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the holiday season is officially underway. I hope that everyone has at least a little time to enjoy it...and that your days continue to be filled with things to be thankful for...

See what other great things everyone has to share at Tracey's!

Summary Saturday: Project 365, Weeks 45 and 46

This would be what I like to call the "better late than never" edition...




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November 28:

Cobwebs

I have yet to figure out how in the world it's now the day after Thanksgiving, and I have posted nothing in almost two weeks -- including missing last week's summary saturday (which is actually ready to go and just never got posted).

Ack!

My hot Friday night plans certainly include cleaning out the cobwebs around here and checking in to see what everyone else has been up to lately. Hopefully everyone has enjoyed there Thanksgiving and found themselves with an abundance of things to be thankful for.

You Put Your Hands WHERE?

I am a student. I have been accepted to medical school. While not frequently mentioned, these are the facts.

But I am also a nurse -- that was my original degree, and one that I still use. My background? Labor and Delivery. There is a bit of the rest of OB thrown in - NICU, Nursery, Mother/Baby, but Labor and Delivery is the thing I know best - the part of me that I can't forget...even when there are some days that I want to.

Although I am a nurse, I rarely talk about work, although I am really not sure why -- the stories that I have reach to the sky and back, both good and bad. And I won't lie - labor and delivery can be a highly entertaining place to be. It is stressful and tiring, happy and sad, and every other emotion under the sun, all packaged up to fit in a newborn sized diaper.


I see patients of all different ages, sizes, races, backgrounds. Last night I had a patient who was having her first boy -- she had daughters, although her daughters were grown. Admission, labor, epidural, yada yada yada, delivery. And then there was the look on her face -- the same rush of love an emotion that I see on every face, every time. But this one was different too. Because she had grown children already, she watched that little new person change from as new as it gets to all grown up in about three seconds. There is almost no way to describe that look, but I can promise you this -- when you see it, you will know it. And when you see it, it will be stunning.


Those diapers that look so teeny tiny? They hold more in them than you would ever guess -- an entire lifetime of hopes and dreams and wishes can fit into those little diapers.

Best Shot Monday - Best Friends

This week I actually have tons of shots to choose from, which rarely seems to happen anymore. I haven't, of course, found the time to process or sort most of the shots yet, but these are two of my favorites for sure...just count those faces, ALL smiling and ALL looking at the camera!

For more great shots, see what everyone has to share at Tracey's!