Meet my brother.

I was going through some pictures this morning and found these of my brother that I just HAD to share with the entire blogging world. 

Every Thanksgiving, my family comes to Utah from So. Cal. to spend the weekend with us. We have a lot of fun together. On Thanksgiving, there is usually a bit of drinking. Most of us are used to it and some of us are still building up our tolerance...

This can't be comfortable.

And never pass out while your sisters have control of a permanent marker and your feet:

Semi-Promotion

I got offered a promotion at work. The title is Med Tech. A Med Tech is a CNA who is allowed to give out medications to patients. (At least where I work). The only problem is they want me to work the middle of the night shift. Yuck. 

I took the position. I told my boss that I would give it a try. I am nervous about being able to stay awake on that shift, but it will only be two nights a week. I went through a whole pro and con list and the pros for taking it totally out weigh the cons. 

1. It will look really good to have this title when I apply for the nursing program in the fall. The program is extremely competitive and any job experience and promotions within will help, a lot.

2. I get a little raise. Money is always a nice incentive.

3. Most of the residents will be sleeping and it will provide some good study time. 

I also want to find out if the building has wireless. I would really like to bring my computer. It would help me stay awake. 

Wish me luck! 

Finals are next week and I have a TON of studying to do. I can't believe the semester is almost over. I am so excited. Now I am just praying that I pass my biology class. If I don't, I have to retake it. Which means I can't take anatomy in the summer and I won't be able to apply for the nursing program until the spring. 

Yeah, no stress there! (Definite sarcasm here)

Cinnamon Rolls

For some really yummy cinnamon rolls:

Take this recipe: The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls 

and this frosting:

Caramel Glaze

1/3 Cup evaporated milk

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

In a small pot over medium heat, mix the evaporated milk with the brown sugar, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and mix with some sort of electric mixer until creamy, about 2 minutes. Pour over cinnamon rolls. 

If you want enough frosting to cover ALL the cinnamon rolls from The Pioneer Woman, triple the batch. 

I really like The Pioneer Woman's dough. They turn out great and I can freeze a bunch of pans before letting them rise. (When you want cinnamon rolls, take the pan out of the freezer and set on your counter. As the dough defrosts, they will rise.) I just don't like her glaze much. 

Unfortunately, there are no pictures at this time. As soon as I make some more I will try to remember to take a picture before we devour them. 

Weight Loss

For over a year, I have been participating in a contest at my kid's school. I have been apart of a Biggest Loser contest. Each person had to put in $100. to participate and at the end of the contest someone will receive a large chunk of money, about $500 this time. (Last time, the winner won $2000. We didn't get very many sign ups this time.)

Until lately, I haven't really cared about trying to lose any more weight. I lost 28 pounds last spring and I was happy with where I was, 154 pounds. A little thick, but I hold it well. 

Over Thanksgiving and Christmas I started to hover around 160 pounds. Not good. I did not want to go back up to 180 something again.  But, I just didn't have the motivation to get it off. Quite frankly, I just didn't care. With all the pressures of life right now, it wasn't a priority. 

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and try. I somehow had the motivation again to start losing weight again. I normally do this by counting calories. This works well, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to count calories anymore. So, I decided that I was maintaining my weight with the portions I was eating, I am now going to eat 1/2 of my normal portions. Instead of a whole sandwich and a side for lunch, I eat 1/2 of one and a smaller side. My two year old eats the other half and she gets all excited that she get to share with mommy. 

It's working. I started 2 weeks ago at just about 160 pounds. Last week I was at 155.5 pounds. 

Tonight when I weighed in: 151.4 pounds. 

I am just about to reach my first goal of 149.9 pounds! I haven't been that small since my oldest was a baby. I just can't believe it. 

Goal for the next week: To lose 1.5 pounds. 

4 Weeks Left

My semester ends in 4 weeks! I am so excited. I just hope I don't blow it here at the end. 

My first week off is the week of May 1st. Which means, I will get about 2 weeks home while the kids are still in school. Hopefully, I will take those couple of weeks and really organize the house back up before everyone is home for the summer. 

I do know that MY summer is going to be short lived. I start Anatomy sometime around June 1st. Time is flying. I get to apply for the nursing program in September. Wow. 

Oh Shit. I have to get my shots and background check done. 

A very shitty weekend.

Turns out I was pregnant. I miscarried on Friday night. While we would have loved this baby very much, now is not the time for another kid. Trust me. I would have to quit school because I can't go through the nursing program while pregnant. 

It still wasn't very comfortable. It was quite painful actually. I once had someone tell me that a miscarriage really early on was slightly more painful than menstrual cramps. My Ass ! My menstrual cramps feel nothing like that did and I would have only been 5 weeks along. I ended up taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen to ease the pain. I never have to take anything during my menstrual. 

Saturday I woke up late and was feeling pretty good. So, I decided to go to one of our local grocery stores and get donuts for the kids. Of course I had to eat one with them. A cinnamon roll. They used to be my favorite. Unfortunately, this cinnamon roll didn't sit well in my tummy. I got to have the lovely chance of throwing up four or five times throughout the rest of the day and feeling very yucky the next. 

The only good thing about my weekend: I only got to work one day. 

Out Of Control Rambling.

This is how I feel most of the time. Going to school, working, spending time with the family, and, if I can make the time, studying. 

Spring break was a mistake. I should have insisted to the school that we cancel spring break until I am done at the college. (No, I really don't care about the hundreds of other people that are there.) Spring break made me remember what life used to be like for me. I miss it. Kind of. It would be nice to if I could ONLY do school right now and start working when school is over. But, work experience will help me get into the Nursing program and since it is competitive, I would like any "help" I can get. 

I apply in September for the Nursing program. Maybe I can quit after that. So, 6 more months. Yuck. Or maybe I will just get used to my new life and quit wishing I had some aspects of my old life back. It will get better, even if it is in two and half years when my school is over. 

It's been awhile.

I realize I haven't posted in over a week and I apologize for that. Last week was great. I decided to turn spring break into a mini vacation. I read two books, including the fourth Twilight book called Breaking Dawn (I really liked it and I hope she writes another one in the series). We went to the community pool a couple times and I cooked EVERY meal (I love to cook!). We got some of the backyard done and we filed our taxes.....Yay! 

Did I mention that I did not use the alarm clock once! I slept until 8 am every single morning, it was great. It was great week and my house is STILL a mess. That's ok though. The semester ends in just over a month and then we can get the house spotless. 

Spring Break Continued

Today is my first day completely off. I just worked the entire weekend, which I do every weekend. 

There are a few things I would like to accomplish this week. 

1. Get the backyard finished ~ About six months ago, we decided to turn the ENTIRE backyard into a garden. With how many of us there are to feed, I would love to be able to do this from my own garden. Interestingly, I grew up in apartments. I pretty much kill every plant that comes my way. I wish I had a person who could come over and show me everything on gardening while helping me plant it. 

2. Get our taxes finished. 

3. And yes, get my house clean ~ It doesn't really get clean during the school time, so I would really like to get it caught up again. 

Hopefully, I will be able to get this all done. I will let you know. 

Spring Break

It is official. As of today, I have a whole week off of school! The first thing I am going to do is shut OFF the alarm clock. I do not want to hear it for the entire week. 

I still have to work. But at least I get to sleep in. Well, as long as the two year old lets me.