good times

Christmas was good. Our family had a good time and we had alot of chilling time which was nice. Andy and I decided to go to Sacramento on 12/26 to break up the routine and show our daughter the zoo. Since she is making mooo sounds at every large animal.

We got to the zoo and where there about 10 mins when we couldn't find our camera and Andy rushed back to the last place a picture was taken which was only 5 min past. Alas the camera was gone :( That was a bummer and my poor hubby spent the next hour running around to the lost and found and searching under every possible conceivable place for a camera to fall. So the trip to the zoo was a bit bummed but we tried to not let it cause the whole trip to go bad. The next morning outside of our hotel the street was closed and lined with a whole bunch I mean a whole bunch of police cars.

It turned out a police man was shot down the previous week and it was the funeral. Every single police person in the whole city was out in full uniform. We stopped to watch the casket drive by and Morgan thought it was soo funny and was clapping and laughing...my explanation that this was a serious event fell on happy ears. At least someone was having a good time. It was a good trip all in all.

Proud of Hubby

It's Saturday morning, and as I'm typing this I'm sitting on the heater cause it's freezing!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my hubby in writing to tell him he's a great guy.

Currently, as I type, he is helping a friend of ours move. Now mind you, this is not a normal weekend occurrence. Out of the 2 of us, I'm the one usually volunteering our time and giving away our furniture to the dismay of my husband! I'm trying to be better. This little moving task was my husbands own volunteering, that's why I'm proud of him. His love language is not acts of service and when he told me that he offered to help this friend move on Saturday, I said 'gosh that sounds like something I would do, proud of you, babe, to help this guy out.'

It's not easy for my husband to give up his weekend free time so this act of service moves my heart

Go Andy!
and p.s. please don't hurt your back while lifting furniture!

thoughts

This coming Sunday will be my first time to church in 2 weeks. I've missed the last 2 Sundays cause someone schedule me for the last 2 Sundays to work(pathetically, that someone was me..why did I do that!). Anyways, my hubby went last Sunday and I asked him about all the things I love about church. He did pretty good :)...

On that note, the last Sunday, several of my co-workers started talking in the aisle. In a room full of cubicles, it's hard not to eavesdrop even when your NOT trying. These 2 co-workers are a few of those nurses that are into Buddhism and some other form of meditation. It's a group of them, they haven't gone recruiting or anything, but their conversations are interesting to listen to..Seriously, wasn't trying!

They 'want to embrace life' and discover the potential in themselves through the opening of the mind and embracing pain and to achieve enlightment...I remember these quotes from a calendar in one of the nurses cubicles. Funny, both of these nurses really agree and think what I say about life and enjoying life is right on. I just smile inside knowing my point of reference is the good Word, brother! :) I haven't told them directly that I'm a Christian and I am hesitatnt to do so for this reason.

It seems with some people the moment you mention you go to church or are a Christian a wall comes up. Like instantly and everything you say is now through a 'religious filter' and they can no longer take what you say without all those biases coming into their minds. I think I will wait for a moment where she asks 'where do you learn this stuff!' and I will get up the courage to say, I've learned it through Jesus' example..

Walking in the Truth

Two Directors ago at my current place of employment, we had a director that held a meeting for all the nurses due to high frusteration regarding the computer systems and all the changes. She was sympathetic to the nurses who were 'advanced in years' ;) and shared how the new computer terms were like sometimes talking in Greek, especially to those advanced in years. Like, reboot the computer. "does that mean kick the computer w/ a boot?" You get my point

I think Christians do the same thing w/ our list of 'Christian' terms. Sometimes I don't even know how to apply terms or words that have become common to me. I've been struggling with the term-how to walk in the truth. How does one walk in the truth? It brings to mind a picture of the book Pilgrims progress...or maybe Dorothy on the Wizard of Oz following the yellow brick road. How do you walk in the truth? I guess truth is in God's Word, therefore walking in the truth means actually following God's word. I think it is following God's word mentally, in our thoughts. Not choosing to go down those mental negative paths and redirecting one's thoughts to what Gods truths are.

Maybe a more accurate phrase would be thinking the truth. Just a guess

My Ideal Christmas with family

My husband showed me this and I couldn't stop laughing...if only that could happen!

That time of year

I have never been a huge fan of Christmas. I'm not a Scrooge but I guess my one
sore thought when it comes to the whole holidays is the craziness that one can get
caught up in. You know traffic lines, beeping horns, crazed shoppers and long
check out lines. We haven't been married to long so are still working through
what type of traditions our family (Andy and Erica Jones) will have. That has
created some waves, but I'm happy to say that our resolving of the issues
don't tinge the whole weekend with sourness like before. We are even able to add some humor to it.
For example, my husband and I were trying to figure out how all the
extended family that came into town for Thanksgiving were going to see us
(for boundary people, I'm sure your thinking...not your responsibility ;).

As our voices rose toward each other, my husband suddenly breaks out in song
right on tune....
"it's the most wonderful time of the year!" Ahh yes. Well it worked out.

I did get to hold my new nephew last week, (my brother's baby). Amazing
how babies grow.

My sister is touring the areas in South New Zealand where they filmed Lord of Rings.
That is so cool! She borrowed my sleeping bag, so that will be my souvenir when
I get it back in a few weeks. Maybe I'll hang it on the wall as I think that will be
the closest I ever get to New Zealand

Hats Off

I love staying at home with our daughter. I work 1 day a week, no sweat. It works well. Some days are better then others and others are just bad where I'm practically handing our daughter to daddy the moment he is in the door. I got to see the opposite side of not staying home which I had forgotten...

I filled in for some other co-workers at work and worked a stretch of days in a row (read at the end how long the stretch was). In the middle of this work stretch one night, I was laying around telling my honey how I didn't want to go to work and I couldn't do it! Drive to work and do the productivity game. The thought occured to me that my husband does this EVERY DAY!! Gets up, goes to work, comes home, sleeps, gets up and goes to work. One long road stretching out until the end of time......practically

Not saying that staying home with our child is a piece of cake. But there is something about having control over your whole day. Go to the store? or Go to the park? or take a nap on the couch? (not that often ;). I have a lot more appreciation for those that work full time (outside the home).

So hats off to those that do the daily grind! By the way, my pathetic work stretch was 3 days in a row..Pretty sad. Makes me appreciate my husband in a new way.

Off Again

My sister leaves tomorrow. She visited for 2 weeks from med school (which wasn't even close to long enough) and now she is a MD, she has requested that we call her Dr. Carlson and being her sister, I look at her and roll my eyes. We had some good talks. One of the things about short visits is that you have to go deep in your conversations quick! Skim past the small talk and go right in. I have to admit, I've had trouble maintaining as deep as a relationship with her since she has been living overseas for the past 6 years. The frustration over short emails and people's expectations came to a head with her this last trip. We worked through it and I hope no angry emails will be exchanged this next semester.....we'll see.

She's off to the south island of New Zealand for 2 weeks of exploring :) I'm really excited for her cause that's her dream to travel over the world and she's doing it! WooHoo My one request was that she takes lots of pictures...Happy travels Danielle :)

Locally: Andy braved the crowds on black Friday this morning and was at Wal-Mart at 4:45 am. It was worth the early rise. We Americans are waaaaaay to happy shopping

Grandpa's New Girlfriend

I met my grandpa's girlfriend today that he has had for 2 years. Long story short, my grandma died, 3 months later my grandpa was dating this nice lady from Ohio (my grandpa lives in New York). They are cute together. Both of their spouses have passed away and when they talk about their kids or their old memories w/ their deceased spouse they still use the word we or us and you just know they are referring to their spouse. They do seem to enjoy each other's company but I can't even think of the fact that they are sleeping in the same room!! I guess that doesn't go away even if your 84 ;)

I guess people back then just lived to have kids cause Alice (the girlfriend) has 9 children!!! 3 boys and 6 girls!!! ooh my.. and 26 grandkids and 36 great grand kids!!! My grandpa isn't to far away 8 kids, 15 grandkids, and 1 great grand child (Go Morgan! :).

Thinking of those numbers made me really think about leaving behind a legacy and what kinda've legacy will our family leave behind. What can we pass down to our children, grandkids, and great grand kids.

Old Habits

Don't you remember the way you use to act during your teenage years or very early adolescents? I can. I remember being annoyed easily and being annoying to others I'm sure. So remembering it makes it seem that it was a very long time ago.. BUT I'm horrified to learn that around certain people (mainly siblings) I resort to those same stupid senseless ways of acting. It just oozes out of me and I come away feeling like that all those lessons I've learned that have helped me change and be the person I am today (hopefully more like Christ but some days are up for debate) are non-existent.

That's frustrating to no end. I'm beginning to understand why, holidays although wonderful at times, can be stressful mainly due to more extended family being around. No wonder people eat so much, it helps relieve their churning stomachs! This idea was mentioned to several of my co-workers and I've seen smiles out of people who I thought were statues and didn't know how to smile...So I guess I'm not alone :)

Pictures

I couldn't think of anything to blog about so I thought of pictures instead. This is my cousin's farm in upstate New York. Their family is in the dairy business and this is 1 of 2 farms they have. We watched them do the evening milking while we were there...Cows really are dumb

Dysbelief System

I've been thinking lately about the impact of having a belief about yourself that is not accurate (doesn't line up to what God says about you). I've learned about this before when I was taking some classes through Elijah house (if you want to know what this is, ask me in person, it requires a longer explanation) Any whoo...they call it unGodly beliefs but I like the word dysbelief system cause I'm using dys to mean impaired or bad, the dictionary confirms this...see below

1. Abnormal: dysplasia.
2. Impaired: dysesthesia.
3. Difficult: dysphonia.
4. Bad: dyspepsia.

I appreciate people who tell me that what I'm saying/thinking about myself isn't true and I have a dysbelief system. It seems that almost all of my negative thoughts can be traced back to this dysbelief. I give myself a headache though trying to reverse the thoughts. I know quoting Scripture and going back to the truth is the solution, it's just putting it into practice and in the middle of a crazy day where you are just keeping up, it seems overwhelming.

Wandering thoughts

Not much excitement the last few weeks, but that is what life is mostly about, right? Baby girl got to celebrate her 2nd halloween this year and she had way to much fun getting in the way of the older boys who were playing basketball/hockey at the harvest party and wandering to and fro..

My husband is watching texas chain saw massacre as I type and I have been advised not to watch...I think that's a good idea

I saw a white Durango on the way to the grocery store w/ the license plate-Shadowfax, thought that was clever

The computers went out for 2 hours today at work and it was the only time that I have played card games on the computer with the big wigs of our department walking up and down the aisle behind me and I didn't have to minimize the window...yah!

Other then that, day to day is good...and by the way doesn't that chainsaw EVER run out of gas?

plugging along

The last few days, I've really had to struggle to keep a good attitude at work and at home. The reason? Can't think of one in particular, just feeling out of sorts. Little things getting under my skin and at the same time wishing I didn't have to contemplate those little things so deeply, BUT moving forward....oh side note, this is my director's new phrase everything is 'moving forward'...lots of computer problems that are frustrating but ''moving forward.' We know that will increase your work load by having do these things but 'moving forward.' Yesterday I just
wanted to say 'you know what, I want to sit here in the mud thank you!'

On a joyful note, I'm having fun teaching my daughter how to shriek like a true girl when she is being chased down the hall. My husband can now enjoy the screams of 2 girls. The three of us make this face to each other when we're eating...no idea where my daughter picked this up but it sure is good for laughs.

dropping like flies

I blogged awhile back about how things where changing at my job due to a new director of our department. Since then one can feel the change of atmosphere in the office. Nurses are talking about how they feel like they are just doing mindless tasks and they don't have time to actually educate the patients but are doing paperwork instead. I'm biting my tongue and trying not to spread my distaste for the change as well. It's taking a toll on the number of nurses we have. In 2 weeks 4 nurses have quit. My boss called me today at home to ask if I can come in (WARNING: who ever is thinking about entering the healthcare system this is a normal thing to get calls if you can come in on your day off) It has happened a few times since I've worked at this current job which is a whole bunch less then when I worked in the hospital...Anyway she said they are short several nurses today because of sickness and plus one nurse who called in sick said " you know what forget it, I quit"...ooch,

I guess it's normal for people to revolt, quit, or complain when change happens. I don't think quiting will change anything and if I'm going to quit (which I'm NOT planning on doing this moment) I think it should be because I feel it personally and not because it's a popular thing to do.

I really feel for my supervisor who has to hand down the messages from the director about all the changes. I tell myself that she really has a harder job then me who just calls patients about seemingly mindless tasks. People really are like herd animals sometimes. My husband and I agreed that
even with the changes this job is waayyyy better then my previous jobs I've had before. So it's scary for me to say, but I'm sticking it out.

Robbed-not us

My husband came home from lunch today and found out our neighbors directly across from us
had their house broken into that morning and a few things stolen. My initial reaction was to think 'what things could be stolen from our house?' I can't think what they would take, don't have a flat screen-(finally there is a positive about not having one :) and anything else taken in the house could easily be replaced at Ross, sad but true, another positive reason to shop there. I began thinking why them? they are always home and I mean 99% of the time because their retired.

I wonder what motivates a bugler, especially in this case. I began thinking what if their house was scouted out by someone or was it just on the fly bugler. The only difference in our houses from the outside is that my husband has a dog warning sign on the fence and for the first time ever I'm glad our dog has a scary bark and that her bite is definitely worse then her bark-watch out!
Sorry Grandma Cindy

Back Home

The last 5 days have been a whirl of excitement and extreme tiredness. I headed off to up -state New York with my daughter and my folks to go see the relatives and some friends. It went well even though after a trip like this you come home from your vacation feeling like you need another one, but alone with just your husband and daugther on a deserted island!

My favorite part was seeing the fall colors back east though. That part was very relaxing. Just to give you an idea of the brillance of them the picture above is of my Great Uncle's house. I love Nevada..... no I like Nevada but love the people in Nevada, don't care much for the card board boxes for hills some times especially compared to this.

The Rules are changing again

Sooo, my supervisor stopped by my desk last week and told me she needed to see me. Immediately I started to have butterflies cause I thought this couldn't be good......and I was right!
I love my position at my job, it's per-dium, I love the people I work with, I love my supervisor, unfortunately though my department has had 4 different directors in the course of 2 years. Each one lasts about 6 months and they are either really good directors and therefore get transferred to another department of the company or they are not so good and then the nurses get a new one and the cycle continues

Anyways, it seems the new director we have, she's been there 2 months, as my supervisor put it "has cracked the whip!" therefore the certain amount of freedom per-dium staff have is slowly but surely being limited. I figure I have 3 options here...

Option 1- buck the system, revolt, continue to come in when I please and how long I please. Stick it to the man!- this was my husband's idea :) which I briefly entertained for about 5 seconds

Option 2- Wait this director out, cause based on previous timelines, the nursing deparment should be getting a new director in about 4 months give or take
a few weeks

Option 3- change my attitude and humble myself. ......sigh I know I'll go with this one but still
....sign change is hard

This is my blog!

Well this is me with part of my family, my husband is manning the camera. Junebug is such a joy in our family. I'm having to have
more and more patience each day though as she
gets more mobile. This is my
1st and most important job being a mom and a team with my husband. I enjoy my 2nd job as a RN just working part time.