New Stockings!

I did it! I just recently purchased these cute little gems about 30 minutes ago...

As many of you know Ryan and I decided to wait and buy new Christmas decorations this year until after Christmas. I think it is totally awesome that I will have an awesome Christmas 2010! BUT we really needed some stockings and today only, at Pottery Barn you can get free shipping and momograming! So these were a steal! Hopefully they will continue to have a pattern like this or something that goes with it so that as our family grows (in the very distant future) our stocking collection can expand too! We got the bigger stockings and they say "Carly" and "Ryan" in red. I can not wait until they come in the mail and I am super excited for December 26 when I can buy more decorations!

Thank-full Day

I know everyone is probably doing this today but I have so many things to be thankful for I feel like I must express them! Today I am thankful for my salvation with out my amazing savior nothing else in the world would matter! As always I am thankful for my family and that all my monetary needs are met every year. But most of all this year I am thankful for my sweet husband! Ryan and I often talk about how great it is that we never have to have awkward first dates again or experience heart-break. I am thankful for Ryan's spiritual guidance in my life and that he makes me laugh daily...

We have so many wedding pictures like this because we laugh so much together! I hope you can find something to be thankful for whether it is big or small. On a smaller note I really like this...

I think this is so fun! I get excited to see how google will portray the holiday we are celebrating! I wish you all happy shopping tomorrow! Hopefully I will find something great! For now Ryan and I are leaving Pinehurst and on our way to my Grandma's house is Charlotte!

on the road again...

We are back on the road traveling for the holiday. We have made it to our first destination

Pinehurst North Carolina to visit Ryan's family for the holiday. We got in around 4 yesterday afternoon and have pretty much been eating since then. There is always a feast at the Brehm's and I love it! Today we are going to the gym to earn all of the eating we will be doing. Until then I will enjoy my favorite breakfast

Grapefruit!!! It is great having a family that loves to cook for us and buy the things we like to eat. I hope you all get to enjoy the fun food this holiday offers!

Christmas is Coming

We had a wonderful but very busy two days at weekend camp! The program went well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves but it left Ryan and me very tired at the end of the weekend. I still managed to get some things done around the house. We had about 36 hours at home before leaving for Thanksgiving so I wanted to make them count! I finished Christmas for Ryan's family because we will not be seeing them in December. And I worked on a little project of my own...

Yep I decorated our house for Christmas! This is the first year I have ever done this, so I feel pretty proud of myself (Ryan did help me a little so I wouldn't kill myself falling off the roof). Sorry the picture is not great and my car is in it but I think you can get the general idea. I also added a few little things around the house from a box of decorations I found. Not to mention I did laundry and packed for our little holiday adventure. Tomorrow is a full day of work then we are off to North Carolina early Tuesday morning! I hope you were able to check some things off your to do list in this busy time of year. By the way, I am not as my blog sounds. I did not make it to the gym and I did not study for my CCRN today two things that really need to get done. Hopefully I can really hit the books this week!

CCRN

I just couldn't bring myself to blog yesterday. I was totally worn out and kinda moody after my long emotionally draining day at work. Does everyone have these emotionally draining days at work like me? Sometimes I feel like it is only me. People die, co-workers argue, doctors yell, families cry, and I run around playing catch up most of the day. Often I long for a job where I could just go sit at my computer and actually take a lunch break, but I know God has directed me on this path and I am excited to find out where it will lead me. So currently I am studying my booty off for this work test. Yes, I know I am graduated and I should not have tests anymore, but I actually I chose to take this test no one made me! The test I am studying for is the CCRN, Critical Care Registered Nurse Exam. I am already a registered nurse but now I am trying to get a cerification that says I'm really good at caring for critically ill patients. I think this is a good idea for my future because it looks really good on resumes. Which I hope will help as I apply for graduate school this winter. I think most of the stuff on the exam I have learned at some point, but now I have to compile it all into one. I really need focus to study during Thanksgiving break and all the holiday activities. I am not telling people when I am taking it, but it soon let me say that! As for now I will be spending a lot of time with my new favorite book...

Please pray I test to the best of my abilities and that work or life drama does not distract me from doing my best!

P.S. Also if I pass UK will reimburse me for the exam fee ($200) which would be nice with Christmas right around the corner!

Fun Birthday Suprise

Today I worked really hard at work and was pretty busy. I have discovered that this is basically my life now that I am working day shift. I really like it, while night shift is a great learning environment day shift A) Makes me feel like a normal person B) I am busy and not constantly watching the clock C) I get to share my bed with my husband every night! So all in all I would trade night shift for running my tail off any day. After work I hurried on over to the Young Life office for club. I gave my first YL talk of the year which was about "The Cross" I think it went really well and the kids seemed engaged the whole time. Then after club I got a fun little surprise from a YL parent! A little birthday card and these amazing creations...

These little treats are from the marvelous...

I hope that you have been there! In my little box I know there is a strawberry delight which is strawberry cake with butter cream frosting, the chocolate one with swirls on it is chocolate cake filled with butter cream icing, the one with fluffy white frosting is actually cream cheese icing on carrot cake, and the last one is a surprise! I am super pumped to share these with my honey! I hope you all can take a little trip over to Caramanda's off Southland Drive and get a little treat for yourself weather you need a pick me up or want to celebrate! They also have cookies and full sized cakes, but you can buy a cupcake or cookie for less than $2.50! Have a great night :)

Christmas Decorating

Today was overall a pretty great day. Besides being punked by my boss for some goofy not really valid reasons I loved this day! It was so pretty outside I wore my rainbows all day. I also got to hang out with Jenna and Baby Eden, probably the cutest and most happy baby of all time! She can cheer just about anybody up! Look at that super cute smile...

It was also really nice to hang out with Jenna and talk nurse stuff and marriage because she is both married and a nurse! Since I was so close to Hobby Lobby being at The Wilmhoff's I thought I should run out there really quick. I found some awesome things. I bought a little nick-nack for our entertainment center, some ornaments for decorating, and a large B which I am going to paint and use in our bedroom hopefully a project I complete soon. After this fun little adventure I wanted to get some pine cones of my own after reading Jen's blog yesterday. So, with Jenna's advice I went to a little park behind Merrick apartments and found a whole bag full! I used them to make decorations for my new bookshelf

Here is a close up of the tall vase...

This was probably the most simple decoration I have ever made. I thought about painting my pine cones and putting glitter on them, but that will have to wait for now. I just alternated pine cones and different ornaments in the vases. Luckily, I have a bunch of vases from my wedding so now having to buy those saved me a bunch of money. I also bought lights and wreaths to hang outside our house so hopefully I will accomplish that decorating before Thanksgiving! I'll keep you posted :)

New Bookshelf

These past few days have been absolutely delightful! I had my 24th birthday, got to spend lots of time with my hubby, went to visit my parents, and took a much needed trip to Ikea! I love all of my birthday gifts equally, but I have special feelings for our new bookshelf. It is going to help fill an empty space between our kitchen and living room. It also has some really practical uses which is probably why Ryan is such a fan! It gives us a place to put our keys and mail right when we walk in from the garage, it also has tons of storage so we can hide some of our crap in it when people come to visit. This piece is also awesome because it matches our entertainment center and coffee table because they are all from Ikea! Ryan and I are also now a professional Ikea assembly team, we have put together all of the pieces that we have. We were able to put this cute piece together in 45 minutes flat from box to placement! I am proud of our Sunday evening project. I also can not wait to decorate this new shelf! I can not wait to fill the bookshelf with baskets and decorate it with some pretty things for Christmas! I really like it because it has all different shaped spaces which gives me the opportunity to buy some fun different baskets!

My next goal is to hang a shutter over this shelf so we can hang cards, invitations, or important mail, like the one below. I think that I will also add a mirror to open and room up and give you a place to check yourself before you walk out the door in the morning, so fun! Too bad the Habitat Restore is closed tomorrow! I guess my shopping adventure will have to wait for Thursday when I am off work!

Thanksgiving on a weeknight.

Today was an amazing day for many reasons, but mostly because I acted like Rachel Ray for a bit and made Ryan and myself "Thanksgiving Dinner" in 30 min. Sunday the grocery turkey breast were on sale so I figured I could find someway to use them. I made this little meal in literally 30 min. Turkey breast I marinated in italian dressing over night then sprinkled with sage before grilling. I grilled for about 6 minutes on each side. Green beans were super easy, yes they are from a can. I put them on the stove with a chicken bullion cube and let them simmer away for about 25 minutes. Lastly mashed potatoes! I love mashed potatoes almost as much as I love homemade mac and cheese, but now I can make potatoes faster! I bought the steam and mash potatoes! There are amazing and super easy. I followed the directions then added 4 tbs unsalted butter and 1 cup skim milk and mashed away! Ryan liked this dinner and I felt pretty accomplished on a week night. Then to top off all of my cooking I went to a cooking class at Williams-Sonoma! I love that place and I love free cooking classes. We made some awesome scalloped potatoes which I am making this weekend when I go visit my parents! I love to cook and I love my family so I can't think of anyone else I would rather cook for and try new ideas with.

Christmas is Coming!

Hi!
I am really going to try to keep up with my blogging this month and post pictures. I am so excited that today is the start of Christmas at Starbucks. There are not many things that I enjoy more than a warm gingerbread latte! Today I went on a coffee adventure. I decided mid-morning that I needed a little pick-me-up here at work! Well I thought I can just run down to the cafeteria and grab some of their faux starbucks. They were closed to change over to lunch food. Then I walked to the small coffee shop in the front of UKMC waited patiently in line only to find out... CASH ONLY! Who carries cash anymore?!?! While I don't even think I really wanted coffee anymore it now became a mission. I walked accross Rose Street (burrr it is pretty cold today!) to Kentucky Clinic to Starbucks. I was pretty happy with my choice especially since I got this pretty new Starbucks cup...






I typically hate winter but I can put up with it from November until about January 1 when all of the holiday spirit is gone, so this cup makes me happy!



To follow up with me burning my husband before church on Sunday morning...



This is Ryan's arm so it turns out I really did do some damage, but I think he will survive. I told him love was a battlefield so now he as some scars to prove it! Happy Tuesday!

Daylight Savings

As most of you know and I hope that you do. We got an extra hour of sleep last night! I loved it because there isn't much that I like more than sleep. I am usually pretty good with my time management, but this morning my extra hour really threw me off. I for some reason felt like I could wake up 15 minutes before we needed to leave for church. This is where things went a bit south. I was running around the bathroom and closet trying to get ready and look somewhat decent for church. When Ryan my sweet husband came to talk to me while I was getting ready. Thing were going great me doing my business in the mirror and Ryan talking to me to help pass the time. Then oops! I accidentally hit Ryan's arm with my curling iron. Our sweet conversation went down hill pretty quickly at this point. I promise I would never burn my husband on purpose, but for some reason he did not see it that way. Luckily my husband and my curling iron survived my clumsiness. And I did not have to get rid of either one of them. Here is the culprit, I really like her for many reasons, but I have had her since college, my mom bought her for me at Wal-Mart, she heats up in 2 minutes, AND she turns off automatically in case I forget :) I don't know that I could get through my day without my trusty curling iron or my sweet husband. I am glad he is no longer mad at her or me over our little early morning mishap!