WOOT!

I am now officially a  "Pattern Designer". I just published my first pattern. You can check it out at

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/monkey-toy-2

Hurray! Another New Years resolution crossed off!

So here is the thing....

So here is the thing.... next time you find yourself biking downhill, on a dirt road, without a helmet and you hit a GIANT pot hole it isn't a good idea to try and break your fall with your knees.

 I was almost to the end of my 10 mile bike ride when I found myself in this situation. There was a car on my left and a ditch on my right so I couldn't swerve. I was going too fast to brake. I knew I needed my brain if I was going to finish my anatomy class so I decided to plant my feet and hope for the best. I ended up getting my right leg twisted inside of my bike. Not so much fun.

 I laid in the middle of the road for a few seconds, the oncoming car waiting patiently to see if I was alive. I untangled myself and made an assessment. My brain was safe. Thank you God. I could put weight on my knee even though it hurt. Thank you God. My jeans weren't ripped. Thank you God. My ipod didn't break. THANK YOU GOD!

As soon as the car realized I was for the most part in one piece, they zoomed pass. Thanks so much. I called my Dad and he came and picked me up. All in all not too bad. A couple of bruises, a moderate abrasion on the dorsal right arm, distal to the elbow (anatomy class remember!) and I think I might have hyper extended my knee. It is OK. I am going to keep it iced for the next couple of days and maybe get out the trusty crutches (Oh, how I hate them!). I am sure it will all work out.

Anyways don't break your fall with your knees. It hurts. Now you know!

Royal Wedding Party!

Unfortunately Will and Kate forgot to send Emily and I our invitation to the wedding. It wasn't a big deal though because we decided to throw our own party! We knew that the Happy Couple had requested everyone wear hats to the big event so we made our own...

Mine featured the Royal Love Birds. The tag says "she was beautiful" because Emily and I still don't understand how Will got a hottie like that. I know he is a prince and rich, but he isn't THAT rich. Emily says "He doesn't look that bad when he is moving... Really fast...."

Emily's hat had a bunch of netting coming off of the back of a white, sparkly, tophat. A plastic Bride and Groom were attached to a spring and fastened to the front. The effect was quite breathtaking.

We woke up at 4 AM, so that we could watch the wedding live before I had to leave for work. We had made berries, cream and scones the night before which we ate for breakfast with tea. Well, I started off with tea, but when the full realization of waking up at 4 AM sunk in I switched to a giant mug of coffee!

But it was OK, even the Queen needs her coffee now and then....

WOOT!

 Watching the wedding was really fun. Emily and I were overtired and hyped up on caffeine and sugar, so we put the TV on mute and made up conversations that the wedding guests were having.

 Kate's gown was beautiful, Will had big ears, the Queen was old, and there were lots of British accents. Well worth waking up early for. 

Except for commercials... I hate commercials....



Royal Wedding

2 Corinthians 1:3-6

Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken because we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Hebrews 6:10-12

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through FAITH and PATIENCE inherit what has been promised.

Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise -
why destroy yourself?

Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool -
why die before your time?

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

Yum!

So despite my lack of blogging Friday night dinners are going great! So far I can add to my repertoire:

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Brussel Sprouts

Chicken Pot Pie

Mustache shaped Meatloaf (Unfortunately there were no pictures taken. It was devoured far to quickly. I was lucky to get a bite!)

And this weeks yumminess Lasagna with Garlic Toast.

Cooking has been a lot of fun! Everybody is really supportive. Olivia offered to pay me two bucks to start cooking on Tuesdays as well and Andrea has started buying her family pizza for dinner on Friday's and then walking back to our house to eat with us!

Next weeks challenge.... Quiche Lorraine! Who's coming over for dinner?

Boy, Oh Boy!

Meet Max....

He is my new nephew.

I am now an Aunt!

Having worked as a nanny for so long I have started to think of babies as sort of transitory things. You love them, and you take care of them for a little while, but they aren't permanent so don't get to attached. Things change. For a little while you spend all of your time with them and then you might never see them again.

I found myself holding onto little Max yesterday, falling in love, but thinking in the back of my mind "Don't get to attached.... don't get to attached..." Then I realized, that this baby was ours. We got to keep this one and I could love him and spoil him and hold him forever because he was MY nephew and it was wonderful!

He really is a very good and calm baby. He got passed around to so many giggling and chattering Aunties yesterday and never really made a peep. At one point in the night however someone was holding him and he started to make a little face like he was choking or gagging on something. Everyone instantly jumped and the girls started saying "Give him to Amy! Give him to Amy!". I remember thinking "Don't give him to Amy. She has only had a baby for like 10 hours. How is she supposed to know what to do.... Give him to Mom!" But it was so sweet! The instant Amy had her arms around him and started cooing sweet little whispers his whole body relaxed, he got a little smile on his face, and snuggled right up into her arms. I was like "Holy Cow! My sister's a Mommy!"

So welcome to the world little Max... We are so glad you are here.

Homeschooler!

Katie and I wanted to do something. Anything. Stacy wanted to read her book. Katie and I DIDN'T want Stacy to read her book.

Next thing I know there is an all-out-yarn-throwing-battle. Balls of yarn were flying and bouncing everywhere. Pretty acrylic, wool and cotton streamers soared through the air and landed draped over picture frames and anatomy models. Thud... THUD... THUD... as balls of yarn bounced off of my sisters heads and backs and the sound of giggles and me shouting "NOT THE MALABRIGO!" echoed down the hall....

Ahhh... the late night excitements of homeschoolers!

MUST WIN!

Check out how cute this is! My Aunt Keke made it as part of a give-a-way on her blog, Cherrykingdom.blogspot.com 

 The give-a-way is a 14 day extravaganza with more prizes added daily! The goal is to help my sister Olivia win scholarship money for college by having people vote for an essay that she wrote. All you have to do to win this beautiful prize pkg is visit Olivia's blog:

http://livinthemomentphotography.blogspot.com/

Read and follow the instructions in Olivia's 100th post. Which are:

Like Olivia's essay on facebook

Leave Olivia a comment on her 100th post telling her you voted for her.

Become a "Liv in the Moment" follower

Mention the give away on your blog.

That's it! Good luck, and keep checking cherrykingdom.blogspot.com everyday to see what new goodies have been added!

Phlebotomy

Yesterday was my first venipuncture! Hurray!

I am currently in a program that will train and certify me to work as a phlebotomist. I thought this would be a good thing to do while I am waiting for my nursing program to start and while I am in the program. Next week is my last week of classes but I still have a little ways to go. I need to get 25 successful venipunctures(using my own volunteers), go on an internship and sit for my national licensing exam. I am feeling a little bit intimidated. 25 draws seems like a lot to complete, but the only way to get the ball rolling is to start.

My teacher surprised us by letting us draw on our classmates yesterday after lecture. I was feeling a little bit nervous, but for the most part OK. I put on my lab coat, said a quick prayer, then walked up and started "doing my thing". I avoided making simple errors, my voice was steady and my hands weren't shaking to bad. I needed my professor to check the vein I picked because my volunteer had really deep veins that were hard to locate. She approved of the vein I had picked and so I prepped my needle.

I was doing fine, the needle went in quite smoothly, and I hit the vein. Everything was going great. Then I realized that there was a needle in this woman's arm and I had just put it there. I didn't lose it but I looked down and my knees were shaking like crazy! My volunteer noticing the change started saying things like "You are doing great! It doesn't hurt at all. Nope doesn't hurt you are doing a wonderful job..." which helped immensely! I finished up my draw, thanked my volunteer, found a seat and took a DEEP breath.

My Professor came over later and told me that I should be very proud of myself. My technique was perfect, except I needed to steady my hands a bit, and she said that it was a very difficult vein even for an advanced phlebotomist and that I had done well. She also said that it was funny to watch because as soon as I put the needle in my knees started shaking so much that I looked like a baby duck trying to learn to swim!

Thinking of Megan

Poptarts....

If I ate nothing but Poptarts, uncooked Ramen noodles, Coke, and Sobe strawberry daiquiri drinks for the rest of my life I wouldn't be sad....

Friday Night Dinner:Chicken Cordon Bleu!

I am learning to cook.

I have been wanting to learn how to cook for awhile now but after a few miserable attempts (Lets just say curdled mushroom soup that tasted like dirt.... YUCK! Poor Ryan still ate it =) ) I was feeling pretty discouraged. However as part of my New Years Resolution (more on that later) I am picking up my apron and trying again.

Friday nights are my cooking nights and this weeks recipe is Chicken Cordon Bleu from myrecipes.com, with brussel sprouts from "The Joy of Cooking" and mashed potatoes.

Emily and Stacy did all of the grocery shopping for me so that I could get started right when I got home from work. Thanks girls!

The recipe told me to pound the chicken with a rolling pin.... It sounded pretty scary but was actually REALLY fun. I might have over pounded it a bit....

Unfortunately my timing isn't the greatest so the mashed potatoes didn't make it but the chicken and brussel sprouts were done right on time!

Mmmmmm.... YUM!

Daddy said the brussel sprouts were the best he had ever tasted! The chicken was great and we even had some sparkling cider and chocolate cake pops for dessert! Yum!

 So my first Friday night cooking attempt was a success! Hurray! I might be single this Valentines day, but with a recipe like this I don't think I will be for long!

"Gentttttttttttleman..."



Colorado....

 Here are some pictures from my trip to Colorado last week. I was originally only going to be able to stay for a short visit but thanks to a massive snowstorm back home I ended up being able to stay much longer! Hurray!

We had a great time visiting Estes Park, hanging out, playing wii, taking the kids to playclass, and visiting Toast...

I had so much fun sorting old baby clothes and "shootin' the shit" with Louise for a couple of hours. We talked and laughed and ooed and ahhed over all of our old favorite outfits. We were so loud that Ryan had thought we were playing wii in the basement!

I also enjoyed the surprise party that Ryan and I threw for Louise. We said we were going "shoe shopping" but really we went out and bought cake, balloons, flowers and presents. We came home hid all of the surprises, helped put the boys to bed and started cooking dinner.

I wasn't quite sure how we were going to set up the party in such a way as to surprise Louise but when a baby started crying Ryan saw his opportunity. "Hey Louise whay don't you go get that boy?" Ryan said. Louise was tired and asked if he would please do it, to which he firmly refused. Louise and I were both pretty surprised by his reaction. Then I realized what he was doing and quickly turned my back so Louise wouldn't see me hiding a giggle. Louise didn't pick up on anything and so upset, went upstairs to check on the boy. We sprang into action in her absence, got everything set and when Louise came down stairs she was so surprised! It was wonderful!

 

Boys are very cute and getting SO big. When they came and picked me up at the airport I greeted the boys with a "Hello Babies!" they smiled and giggled at me and stuck out their fingers for me to kiss them. I also love the way that they shout CAR! CAR! BEEP BEEP! Whenever they see something with wheels. 

 

Ryan and Louise have such a wonderful family and are such great parents. I love them all so much and can't wait to come out for my next visit.

Cardioke!

Oh yes! You read the post title correctly, I said Cardioke....

We have started up round three of the Game on diet and this time Emily is on my team. At first I wasn't sure if Emily was going to play seriously enough (muuust win..... MUST WIN!) but man, that kid is a slave driver!

I didn't really want to exercise yesterday but Emily talked me into it, so we started surfing through OnDemand's free exercise programs. When I saw "Cardioke", "A funky approach to exercise that combines a full cardio work out with all the fun of karaoke!", I just had to give it a try. I mean come on... that sounds.... "funky".

It was really horrible. We danced to "hit" songs like "Lets get it started" and "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me". There were plenty of old ladies and teenage boys with hair in their eyes exercising with us onscreen. The video concluded with the host's wife (who looked a lot like Michelle Obama) singing a song she wrote called "You're enough!". It was pretty awe inspiring.... I am sure you can imagine =)

Well we got our 20 minutes of exercise in and have well established that I no longer get to pick the exercise videos no matter how "funky" they are!



Oh look... I found it on youtube! Enjoy!



It is like a train wreck! So bad.... but I.... just can't.... look away!

Check me out!

So what do you think of the new blog layout? I L-O-V-E IT!


I got a call this morning from Armenia. My big sister Katie is working there right now and called to ask if she could "do something" to my blog. I will admit to being a little hesitant but agreed. Five minutes later and BAM a brand-spankin-new blog layout and I am really excited. Thanks for the new layout Kate! I love you....

It's Raining Babies!

There seems to be an abundance of babies being born lately and I LOVE IT! Here are some pictures from my oldest sister Mimi's shower last week.

We had it at our church and the theme was storks.

Here is Andrea's present to Amy. The baby heads are pictures of Mimi and Kevin when they were little. The result was very cute and just a tiny bit creepy.

We had a cupcake tower and a watermelon carriage.

We also had three different types of soup. The Italians in our front yard made a HUGE pot of Italian wedding ball soup. Four gallons actually. So if you want some soup let us know...

This is Francis, a 27" paper mache stork that Mommy made. It has been decided that Francis will be at each of our baby showers after which we can take him home and put him in our nursery until the next sister has a baby.

Here is Andrea cheating at one of the party games!

Playing hostess 

These were our centerpieces. Storks cut out of card stock and surrounded by cake pop party favors!

Mimi received many lovely gifts.

At the end of the day we all came home and flopped on the sofa. Surrounded by half eaten cake pops, scraps of card stock, bits of wrapping paper and LOTS of pots of leftover soup, our one thought was "We have WONDERFUL friends!" So thank you to everyone who came and to those of you who couldn't make it, we LOVE you!

Born to create drama.

This one goes out to all of the Drama Queens! You know who you are!

Summer...

A 45 degree heat wave this week has left green grass and dreams of summer days. So here are some pictures I found from last 4th of July. Here is to warm weather and sunny days wherever you are....

This just about sums Gabe up...

Garrett + Johnny = best buds!

My Michigan Baby...

My Colorado Babies!

Two of my sissies...

Emily and I filling up water balloons

Katies avacodo-bean-curd-cake

My Mommy and Baby

My Bro, Uncle and Daddy....