Still alive and kicking...

Just busy working and trying to get used to working nights and living days...I do apologize to my 3 (4?) readers for not giving you anything for over TWO MONTHS! I'm a horrible blogger...but you know me. I like happy. I like fun. Been a little stressful lately and I certainly am not one to bring people down (at least not on purpose.) So, we're still in Chatt (3 1/2 years...that's a record), still trying to enjoy this city as much as we can while we're still here (yes, we always have the urge to move on...), working, living, breathing. That's about it, I guess...will definitely let you know when something amazing happens! :)

I survived!

First night on my own (after two weeks away and two weeks less orientation), done. I walked out at 0705 with a smile on my face. Yay!!! Night #2 coming up in less than an hour...Let's hope it's as good or better. Super cool part? I worked with a group of nurses I have never worked with before. They were welcoming, helpful and very friendly. How nice! Our techs were fantastic (but I already knew that having worked with them before). Great start to my new career. I know I'll have 'bad' nights, hard patients and stressful times, but for now I'm quite content being able to say my first night was a good one (busy, but good.)

Feeling human again!

On a normal regular day, I try to be appreciative of the 'little' things most of us may take for granted. A few years ago I quit using headphones when I walked so I could appreciate my ability to hear (birds chirping, leaves rustling, water gurgling). I tried to look around more to appreciate my ability to see (the Riverwalk is full of wildlife and gorgeous nature). When I would pass someone on the Riverwalk in a wheelchair, I became very conscious of my ability to walk. All those simple things so many of us do on a daily basis and don't think twice about. The last two weeks have been yet another wake-up call of 'little' things to appreciate.

I've just started feeling human again after my first bout with pneumonia. I had worked a particularly busy 3-night stent and was completely worn out. My joints hurt, my muscles ached, I was mentally and physically exhausted and had two days to recover before another 3-in-a-row schedule. I figured my body was just getting used to nights, used to moving patients without the help of the lift team. Maybe I needed new shoes. I know I needed new shoes. What do you call a nurse with a bad back? Unemployed. So, Lon and I ventured to the mall (ugghh) and I tried on some shoes I had heard rave reviews about (online and from coworkers). They felt great. More than I normally spend on shoes, but my back is worth it, right? (Yes, it is.) So, I find out my size and promptly order some from Zappos.com (free shipping, usually overnight delivery, great return policy, and I liked the 'exclusive Zappos' color I could get...oh yeah, and no taxes!). Now let's see, where were we? I worked Thurs, Fri, Sat nights...tried to recoup Sunday, to the mall on Monday, ordered shoes (which arrived just in time on Tuesday for me to go back to work). Still not feeling too hot, thinking I might be coming down with the flu I started taking the Dayquil/Nyquil regimen on Monday. Tuesday night at work got a few little dizzy spells (very short, very weird) and about 0300 took my temp. 100.0. Great. Had a staff meeting at 0700, too. So I took some more Dayquil and toughed out the last few hours. Now I'm still on orientation, so I have an RN working with me. (We like to tell our patients they are getting two for the price of one.) He recommended calling in for Wed night if I wasn't feeling better. Well, I certainly wasn't. For the next two days I could hardly stop coughing long enough to get a decent nap, didn't have the energy to do much, had a daily fever, fatigued very quickly just walking up/down the hall, felt like crap. Never had the flu hit me so hard. So Friday I go to the doctor...crackles in my right lung, you say. Pneumonia?!?! What the.... Great. Get started on a Z-pak and follow up next week.

By the way, during all of this Lon rocked! He wouldn't let me do anything in the kitchen (to keep from spreading my germs and because I was tiring so easily). He fixed me anything my stomach could tolerate (mostly crackers, broth and hot tea). I was so nauseous most of the time that nothing sounded good. He downloaded fun movies for us to watch (got to see all six Star Wars in sequence over the weekend), tried to keep me as comfortable as I could get...all in all, he was my super awesome husband. :)

Finally on Wednesday of this week, I started to have an appetite again. I was beginning to feel human once more. I still have a nice productive cough, but I want that junk out of there! Other than that I feel I'm at about 90%. Yay! I can finally go back to work (had to miss almost two full weeks!) Gotta love feeling like crap AND not getting paid. Nice. No more fevers, no more aches. Oh and the new shoes worked great last Tuesday night...I get to try them out again on Sunday. Whew...pneumonia is no laughing matter and I will appreciate the ability to breathe deeply so much once I get it back. I hope you NEVER have to deal with having pneumonia...it totally sucks.

Just a quick post...

between naps. Ever had pneumonia? Let me just tell you how much it SUCKS! Work has been going fine...some super busy nights, some a little more relaxed, all great learning experiences...but somehow, somewhere I inhaled some nasty little bug that set up shop in my right lung...and I now have pneumonia. As someone put it, I've had to take an 'unwanted vacation.' Maybe I'll tell you more about it later, but fatigue sets in quickly with this one...and I'm tired...again. Anyway, lets just hope the Z-Pak is doing it's job fighting the nasty bacteria and I'll be over this soon. Oh yeah...and this was supposed to be my last week of orientation (on my own next week).
Now I know why my pts with PNA (can you guess what that is?) are so miserable...I can surely empathize. Hope your day is going TONS better!!!

RN (official title)

Well, it's official...I have my license number and my ID badge says 'Staff Nurse.' I'm giving meds and seeing patients all on my own. I'm such a big girl now. :D I'm still training, but I'm loving it. My patients are so interesting and fun. Even the ones with bad attitudes can make me laugh. Like I've said before, if you don't want help, why...oh why did you come to the hospital? Regardless, I'm going to do my best to make you well and able to enjoy life a little more. Whether you like it or not. And to my dear, sweet patients who genuinely do want to feel better and live longer, I absolutely love you! In the past week I have gotten a handshake, a gorgeous red rose, laughs, appreciation, smiles and even some flirting....I LOVE my patients. Thought I might want to hit up ICU after a year or so on the floor, but if all the patients are on vents or are non-responsive, Med Surg may be my calling...who knows. I really enjoy the interaction with my patients and their families. That's the great thing about nursing...you can do anything! Work with patients, work with computer programs, IV team, doctors' offices, wound care, travel (my dream!), hospice, home health, school nurse (not for me!), floor, ICU, ER, OR, PACU, kids (hell, no!), adults, geriatrics, mental health (could be interesting), military (I've done it before), administration (maybe later, when we've settled somewhere), ANYTHING!
So looking forward to what life has in store for us...Life really is good.

New Chapter

5600 practice questions, 75 NCLEX test questions, two days of waiting and a PASS on my boards! Yay!!! Rachel H. Jordan, RN at your service. It's been a long road, but one I can look back on fondly. I learned a ton, saw and did all kinds of interesting procedures, made some friends, had some fun. A new chapter is beginning. I've helped numerous nurses care for patients over the last two years and now I'll be the one responsible for their care. It's intimidating, but exciting. I really do love (most of) my patients. The ones who come in with legit problems, call for their PRN pain meds every four hours on the dot, but don't want to do any of the other treatments/tests/meds that will actually help their bodies heal...well, they can be a little frustrating. If you want to get/feel better, come see me. I'll do everything in my power to help you. If you don't, why did you come in today?

Ironically, the same night I found out my 'pass' results, we got our 1st glimpse of Nurse Jackie (Netflix rocks!). We had heard about it...some people were offended that she's a nurse hooked on pain killers, some people loved that she says 'Doctors diagnose, nurses heal.' We had to see for ourselves (and we loved Edie Falco on Sopranos). Survey says: LOVE it!!! We've only seen the first four episodes of Season 1, but so far, so good. It's a drama...it's fiction. But there is truth in it. It's a fun show with some great personalities. A new fave.

This weekend I'm so excited to start converting the office from my study zone into a real office/creative workshop! Yippee! I won't have to move school books or study guides out of the way when I want to work on our vision boards or play on FB (found a new addictive game...Gardens of Time. It's a hidden treasure game-I love those!). It'll feel so good to either get rid of or put away all this excess material, but a little sad too...I have a wall that is covered with cards and notes. It's my At-A-Girl wall that is right behind my PC. Check it out:

Some of them are from my days back in the Navy, most are from the past two years cheering me on, making my day, making me laugh. Still haven't decided if I'm going to take it down just yet. It may look messy, but it makes me smile every time I see it.

Guess it's time to start being productive. Happy Saturday!!!
:)

Trying to dig out...

(Friends from class at The Terminal right after our FINAL final! Tara, me, Mary, & Alissa)

That's what I feel like. I'm trying to dig out from under this pile of "must do's and need to's" I've placed on myself. Why do I do that? Why do we do that to ourselves? I need to do more questions to prep for NCLEX. I need to walk/hoop/do yoga/lose weight/start juicing/minimize. I need to appreciate more/love more/do more/be more. I need to BLOG more. I need to revamp my closet/clean the bathroom/organize everything/declutter the office (that I won't need very soon!!!). I need to get in touch with friends more/see my family more/put myself out there more. Why? Why do I need to do all this? Lon loves me just the way I am. We laugh every single day (quite a bit, actually!) Why, when things really are fine, do I put these pressures on myself that I'm not doing enough? Guess I am my own worst enemy...

Had dinner with a couple of good friends from school last night and their hubbies. We had a great time! One of them has already taken and passed the NCLEX (nice job, Mary!) and the other takes hers right before I do. I'm on track to have done over 6,000 questions in preparation for boards. That's the number I remember them giving us our 1st semester of nursing school. If you add in all the exams I took during school, I'm already well past that. Anyway, I found out yesterday that people from my class are passing boards and did as little as 180 practice questions. WHAT!!! 180??? I'm already over 4,500 with a schedule to do 200/day for the next week and a half. Why am I doing all this again? Can I stop now? No. My brain won't let me. I've had that stupid 6,000 in my head for two years now...how could I possibly stop with all this time left? However, I think if I slow down a bit, take some more time for me (yoga, walk, thrift store shopping???) and maybe hit 150 or so questions/day, I'll still be okay.

I can not wait for boards to be over and done with. When my 'off' days can be all-about-me days. When I have a few days off in a row, we can actually take a little road trip...see the fam or friends. Maybe, finally, go someplace new...like Savannah (are you reading this, Jenn???) We have been in lovely Chattanooga for way too long...we are itching to get moving and see new places, people and things. Three years...we have already been here over three years. Our longest stop yet. And, because I need some real nursing experience before we start our truly nomadic lifestyle (CAN'T WAIT!!!), we'll be here for at least another two. Good God! Five years in one spot...are you kidding me? Don't get me wrong. Chattanooga is a beautiful town. Lots of cool stuff to see and do...but we have seen and done most of it. Time for *new*. We LOVE *new*. Of course, we also do not enjoy summer. HATE this awful heat and humidity. So to move on to a much more temperate climate is something we look forward to as well. Chattanooga is quite pleasant in Spring and Fall...and Winter is almost bearable, but Summer...not a fan. When you start to sweat just by walking out your front door...how is that fun? Love being close to my family, but looking forward to saying 'See ya!' to the SE. At least for a bit. Ready to experience everything else this gorgeous country has to offer (yes, I realize I still have two years, but I'm ready!)

However...I do have wonderful things to say about work. I love working with my patients! And my coworkers are great too. :D Wow...did I ever think I'd say such a thing? No...but so glad I can. Part of me wishes I had realized how much I'd enjoy this when I was still in the Navy...let them put me through school and pay me to be an officer. No student loans to pay back. More money. But I don't regret a single moment since I left the military...how could I? I've enjoyed the last 11 years immensely and I got to marry my best friend...and I wouldn't change that for anything! Now look how much fun we're going to have! And I still have friends from the Navy that we can visit (and we'll even bring our own bedroom!) In fact, together we have friends/family that span the entire country...what a fun bonus to traveling and exploring...getting to visit and hang with good friends along the way.

Hopefully, this long, rambling post has made up a little for the lack of posting the last few months. The NCLEX is almost here and then the studying will be behind me. Life will be working, hooping, blogging, reading, road tripping, and moving forward towards that next chapter...how fun!

A night to remember...

Wow...I know it's been a while since I had a good post, but...well...life happens. The Pinning Ceremony was fantastic! I received a bonus prize I certainly was not expecting. Had a great night with all my 'Mom's'...awesome. (Friday night before Mother's Day and all...) Here's a pic from dinner at The Terminal. Superb restaurant, very cool atmosphere, excellent brewpub!
Thank you all for coming to celebrate with me!!!

Love it!

I have the coolest niece ever...this is what she got her Aunt Rachel for graduation. And she's only four years old. She rocks. Period. :D

1. Trying to be artistic with our cool asparagus fern.
2. The tie dye sucker with the cool peace sign in all it's glory.
This is what she picked out for me....LOVE IT!!! Thanks, Addison!!!

Surprise!!!

Shocked. Awed. Flabbergasted. Speechless (yes, me). What an amazing night! Graduating was fantastic, but this...this blew me away.

Summa Cum Laude

Oh...and my 'major award' I told you about a few weeks ago...here it is! :D

Yes...I am a nerd. And that's okay.

Still here...

I know, I know...I'm a horrible blogger. The last few weeks have been so busy with my final, starting management (7 12-hr shifts with a nurse for school), nurse tech-ing (shadowing a nurse at work), getting ready for pinning/graduation and just living life. I've started reading 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin and have 'The Art of Happiness at Work' by the Dalai Lama waiting in the wings. Been trying to hoop regularly (quite unsuccessfully, I must admit), but working on it. Finally got an SD card for my MP3/phone so I can download some fun music and get some hooping inspiration! Lon just finished reading 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell and that too is on my new reading list (now that textbooks are being sold to Amazon!) My pinning is the same weekend as Mother's Day and I'm going to have all our mothers here in town at the same time! Busy, busy...I hope to blog on a more regular basis once life settles down a bit...we'll see!
Time to get out and enjoy this super pleasant April Saturday! :D

30/30 Hoop Challenge

Well, I started another challenge for myself. Beginning Friday, April 1st, I am challenging myself to hoop for at least 30 minutes for 30 days. So far, so good! Friday I worked my first 12-hr shift as a Nurse Tech (shadowing a nurse with multiple patients) so I did 15 minutes before work (to wake up and get some hoop-energy) and 15 minutes after I got home and showered (to relax and hoop the stress off). Yesterday was my Cool Tricks in Coolidge Park class...two hours of learning new tricks in 65 degree, sunny, breezy goodness! Even got my first sunburn of the year! :)

Lon met me down at the park, we had a picnic (a la Subway), walked all over downtown Chattanooga, checked out the Saturday River Market, wandered back to North Shore and popped in on some live music at a local brewery (out back, in the sunshine, of course!). Great day!!!

Today is gorgeous once again. Did some homework, made some super yummy pumpkin-oat-blueberry pancakes for breakfast, played with my hoop and we're heading out for a walk shortly. One more week until NO MORE HOMEWORK!!!!!

AND....just found out Friday I'm getting some sort of 'major award' (hope it's not one of those sexy leg lamps...I have no place for it!) The cool thing is the awards ceremony is on my birthday! (It's from school...Hats Off to Excellence Award Ceremony...sounds impressive, doesn't it?) So, I'll let you know what it is once I find out. Yay!

Here's to a fantastic week!

Need a brand new bag???

I don't know if you guys have heard of or checked out Bags 4 Darfur, but she makes some adorable bags! She recycles table clothes, hankies, baby blankets, draperies, etc...any fabric that catches her interest and turns them into super cute bags...and then sends a portion of the profits to help feed those in need in Darfur. Cool, huh? I just linked her latest post...a bunch of Springy-brights!
Happy Hump Day!

(Would have loved this one! Too cute!!!)

Happy Cow Hip Bag Giveaway

Sara from The Happy Hoop; Walk Slowly, Live Wildly; The Happy Janssens fame has offered to giveaway a cute hip bag made from recycled leather furniture. Check it out! I love hands free and I am not a 'purse' fan...great idea!

I need more space!

Hooping in the morning is wonderful, but our little apartment with all its ceiling fans and limited horizontal space is just not conducive to off body hooping or moving around very much. Poop! But boy, has it put me in a good mood and I'm ready for Test #4 this morning! My head is clear, my eyes are bright and I am wide awake with a pumping, happy heart.
That's all. Looking forward to hooping in the park this weekend and knowing what it feels like to NOT have a ceiling or walls to contend with. Happy Monday! :)

Bliss

[blis]

n.

1. Extreme happiness; ecstasy.

2. The ecstasy of salvation; spiritual joy.

Phrasal Verb:

bliss out Slang

To go into a state of ecstasy.

I love Spring. Period. End of story. Fall is a close second, but the fresh air, birds chirping, new leaves and flowers, shaking off the cold/dullness of winter, opening the windows again, warm air, cool breezes...what's not to love? Oh yeah, the pollen (esp. here), but I'll deal with it. Totally worth the trade-off! This spring is especially exciting...why, you ask? You know me...I'll tell you!

Well, this spring not only am I graduating nursing school and starting a new career, I've also been taking hooping classes and am in LOVE with this new blissful activity! As I'm writing this, I only have 42 days (6 short weeks!!!) until RN Pinning/graduation. Ahhh...so close. The weather is gorgeous and life is good. In fact, it's so good that I signed up for another class. It was 'reward/celebration' for finishing my last clinical (on Tuesday...I'm done!) This class will be held in a beautiful city park on the TN River and is a two-hour workshop that is all tricks. How fun! The last class of my current March Hoop Dance Madness is tomorrow morning and the Cool Tricks in Coolidge Park is next Saturday. Perfect!

The benefits of hooping/hoop dance are numerous. I feel better. Lon has noticed that I'm standing straighter and using better posture. I feel amazing when I hoop and when I come home from class. My clothes are getting looser...yay! (Too bad I'm not a fan of shopping...I'll muddle through somehow.) I'm laughing and smiling more (and hopefully spreading that to others). It's such a huge stress reliever (even when I didn't know I was stressed!) It puts me in a good mood just talking/blogging/researching about it! Crazy, right?

Well, I hope you have something in your life that makes you feel, well, for lack of a better word...blissful. No wonder so many hoopers use that word in everyday life. That's what it does. Makes you feel blissful.

Plan for the day: Study for Test #4, walk in the park, hoop, study some more, maybe venture to the thrift store for some new duds, enjoy every minute as much as possible. :) That's a good list for a sunny Friday, right?

War Wounds

My first official (and very tender) war wound. Yep...that's me. I won't disclose exactly where this is, but let's just say I learned a new technique. Chest hooping. I love it! But I'm going to have to wait a few days until I can practice it again...And, yes, it does hurt just as much as you would imagine. Ouchie! And I'm pretty sore in some other places too...but don't worry about me. I knew bruises were a part of learning this super fun dance/technique/exercise/way of life (call it what you will). Fortunately, some other people in class were talking about their bruises and I realized where some of last week's mystery bruises came from. (For those of you who know me well, you know I bruise if you look at me funny. So I'm pretty used to mystery bruises, but it's nice to solve the mystery once in a while!)
Pretty nasty, isn't it? (By the way, my skin isn't super funky...I have goosebumps!) Just thought I'd share...probably gonna have many more to come. So worth it, though. Had an absolute blast learning chest hooping, especially once I was actually keeping it up...and then to realize I could transition from waist to hip to waist to chest back to waist and ALL ON PURPOSE! Not even by accident anymore. :) One more class left in this series and we're gonna work on some tricks. Too fun!!! If you hear of a hoop jam in your area, I highly recommend you go! Hoop Jams are free and hoopers are more than happy to show you how they do their magic...you just may get hooked!

******Super Special Offer******

For those of you on Facebook, if you 'Like' HoopTonic's FB page, both you and I could win free hoops! She's having a giveaway in an effort to boost her following. She posts inspiring videos, quotes and links. What could it hurt? And what a great way to try it out, too! Free hoop...why not??? :)

Hooping

Oh my goodness...do I ever absolutely LOVE hooping! After class #1 I was 'high' the rest of the day. Just the happiness from hooping, laughing, dancing and sweating kept me going with a huge grin on my face all day long. Bliss...now I know what Sara is talking about. Feels like walking on a cloud, on a sun-shiney day and everything is wonderful. (Can you believe I got all of that from a round piece of plastic and some music?) Ahhhh.
Class #2...even more fun. Learned some new tricks (taking the hoop off and putting it back on my body), had some more fun, got to know my fellow hoopers a bit better, and *this is the best part* was told that I was a 'hooper.' My instructor said in every class there is usually one or two people who you expect to see at hoop jams or events...and she thinks I'm one of them! I know in my heart I am...if I can get my body and that wonderful hoop in sync then I will absolutely be out there hooping it up!
Practice, practice, practice. That's how it becomes easier. Lia tells the story of how she could hardly keep her hoop up at her first class and a year later she has her own hooping business. Could this turn out to be a side for me? RN by day, hooper by night? Sounds like a good name for a future blog, doesn't it? :)
One thing I can be sure of, I'm loving it right now and you never know where life can lead you. I'm keeping an open mind (and a spinning hoop!)

Time flies!!!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted...life has been BUSY! Still busy...shouldn't be blogging. I'm working on finishing a major project for school that's due by Monday, have a test on Monday, have my 2nd hooping class in 2.5 hours, have another school project due Thursday...and here I sit at the computer. Just wanted to pop in to say Hi and that I've not fallen off the face of the earth. In fact, after this weekend my time should open up a bit. I'll do a blog post dedicated only to my hoop class...I LOVE IT!!! School is good, just busy (as noted above) and I only have 30 days until the final and 55 days til pinning/graduation! Just worked my last day as a patient care tech yesterday and will be moving on to nurse tech here in the next week or so. Lots to blog about, lots going on...not much time. Yet. Enjoy the sunshine and warmer temps (hope that's what is going on where you are.)

Til next time (which I promise won't be a month from now!)...

Test 2...done.

High on cold medicine is not my ideal way to take a test, but I feel pretty good about it. I'll find out how right (or wrong) I am in test review in about 30 minutes. The weather has been gorgeous lately and we've had our windows open for almost a week now. The power bill should be much kinder to us next month! Getting excited about what this spring is bringing. A hoop class, completion of a long-time-coming goal, a new career...and beautiful spring weather!!! Last year we didn't get a spring...went straight from winter to summer. Yuck. 2011...it's gonna be a great year! :)

(Later that same day...)Wa-hoo! I was right...had good reason to like that test. Made an A! Two more and the final...and then (dum da dum dum DUM!) The NCLEX.

Funny thing about hindsight...

it's 20/20. But if it wasn't for stupid mistakes some of us would NEVER learn! :) Our 1st test of the last semester is done. I did well, but could have done better had I not made two stupid mistakes...on two of the easiest questions! I got cocky, glanced at them and just 'knew' the answers. Oops. But you know what??? I won't get them wrong again. Got it...in my brain...cemented. That's what mistakes do. Teach you that you're not as smart as you think you are. But now I'm two bits of information smarter for having gotten those wrong. Sure, I changed a right answer to a wrong one, too...but I already knew I shouldn't do that. However, I did go back and change a wrong answer to a right one...so, it's a wash and those aren't the mistakes. Hindsight. Ahhh...next test on Monday.

Yesterday we had our first (of several) NCLEX success classes. (For those of you not well versed in my 'nurse speak,' that's the National Council Licensure Examination for RN's) Talk about getting me excited. I am so ready (but not yet prepared, mind you) to take my exam! I'm ready for pinning. I'm super ready to graduate. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in just a few short months, I'll have NO.MORE.SCHOOL. Yippee!!! It's only been three years, but I feel like it was ages ago that I had a job and a life. No studying, no exams, no papers, no mass amount of text that I should be reading. And I only have 79 days til pinning/graduation and then a few weeks more before I can take the NCLEX and be completely done. Oh man, does that feel good to say. I've enjoyed school, but I'm ready for a real paycheck again. Won't that be nice? I'll take a gamble and say, 'Yes, it will.'

Happy Tuesday! I hope to see a birth or C-section today in clinical...talk about birth control!

Hoop Class!!!

Yay for me...I signed up for a hoop class! I can't wait to get instruction from a live person and be with a group of inspiring hoopers...my DVD's are great, but our apartment is vertically challenged. Until the weather warms up I'm stuck practicing waist and hip hooping (which is great, but I need more room!). It's called March Hoop Dance Madness, perfect for me, right? I'll keep you updated, but I'm totally stoked right now!!!

Updates

I've been adding comments to my last post with all of my daily smoothie recipes. Some are better than others, some are WAY better. And I've even found one that Lon likes and I have enjoyed as a dessert! (banana/spinach, if you want to try it)

Only 95 days til pinning! I started this journey in May of 2008...can't believe these three years are down to three months. My brain and my bank account are looking forward to the change! :)

Green Smoothies

Thank you to Sara Janssen for introducing me to the Green Smoothie. I'm enjoying my very first one right now. Think I'm going to make a trial run of these and have one every day and see where it takes me. She issued a challenge several years ago (before I found her super-happy, always fun, inspiring blogs) to have a green smoothie every day for 30 days. Great idea, I think. Should I issue that challenge to my (5) followers? I think I will. I like to throw that gauntlet thing around. :)

Here's my challenge (and this is new to me, too!): Drink a green smoothie every day for 30 days and let me know the good, the bad and the ugly of it. (The only ugly I can imagine is either a food pairing you don't enjoy or an amped-up bowel!) What do you say? Any takers???

So far my first one is DE-licious! One thing I've found repeated over and over online is to mix it up and not have the same ingredients day after day. Sara included several different recipes on her challenge...this morning I'm enjoying a banana-spinach smoothie and can't believe how easy it is! One filling tasty (and very pretty) beverage is supplying me with 13 grams of fiber! I've already gotten four servings of fruit/veggies this morning...that puts me ahead of the game.

Banana-spinach
2 bananas
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
Ice water to desired consistency

I just dropped the bananas in my blender, topped them with the spinach and poured a little water in to get the blending going...and presto! Done. I was worried about the taste...so I stuck a spoon in to try just a tiny little bit. Banana. That's all I got. Apparently if you stick to the 60/40 fruit/veggie ratio the fruit flavor will always overpower the greens. What flavor should I try tomorrow?

Hooping!!!!

(Yes, I'm trying to make up for lost time...posting several in one day to make up for weeks of silence!)

I got a hoop for Christmas!!! Along with some instruction DVD's from Hoopnotica. So cool, so much fun! Here are a few pics of me hooping in the snow of MI. Do you know how hard it is to hoop with bulky winter clothes on???

Head Wraps

Here are the head wraps on my 'mannequin'...
My own fun creation...part scarf, part hat. Could be used for either...just fun and good for keeping the cold air out!

Tie Dye Designs

Here's a few of the designs I made for myself and others over Christmas break. They include bandanas, head wraps, shirts and onesies. So fun! I was even able to salvage a remnant from our wedding/honeymoon in Mexico...see if you can figure out which one it is. :D

Hemp's Notorious Cousin

Cutest Xmas Pic!

Okay...here's my fave Christmas pic taken this year...this is my brand new niece, Ava. And yes, Aunt Rachel did make her that awesome onesie! :) She wouldn't let go of my fingers....

And here's another sweet one...She's a cutie, isn't she?

Happy 2011!!

Just a quick post to let you know I'm still around...just busy with family and unable to upload pics and such til this weekend (probably). Have lots to report, pics to post and rumors to squash. :D Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season this year. Only 124 days til pinning...yes, the countdown is back on! Until next time...enjoy whatever makes you happy!