STARTING A NEW PATH IN MY NURSING JOURNEY

A new path in my nursing journey started a few months ago. It was a big jump, well actually a leap from the path I was currently on. I went back to work in January from maternity leave. I was excited at first to be working again and to be back around my nursing pals. Here is a little background on what kind of department I work in. It is a adult telemetry and step down unit. The population we care for is the critically ill or post surgical with acute and chronic disease processes. I have gotten more experience there then I ever thought was possible in a couple years. After being back a month I still felt like something was missing and "self scheduling" turned into whenever they wanted you to work which was causing many conflicts with schedules and events at home. I needed to find a job that will work with Mike and the kids schedules. I absolutely LOVE being a nurse.. I could not ignore my feeling that something was missing, I was starting to feel like "it was just a job." That doesn't work for me I want to enjoy my job and feel like I am making a difference. So I decided its time to explore another field of nursing. One of the perks of being a nurse there are many different departments out there.
So job hunting I went! After a couple job interviews and offers, I still felt like something was missing. I think it was because I was looking at basically the same departments I was already working in. Job hunting can be exhausting not only did I want to find the right place for me, I had to consider, travel time, insurance, benefits, and 401K plans (ugh grown up stuff can stink.) During my job hunt I was praying for guidance and putting it all in Gods hands which of coarse can make a world of difference. 
A friend of mine from nursing school Jody sent me a message giving me her managers email and the rest is history! No no I think I need to elaborate a little more then that. The process started.... off to the first interview with who would be my manager. As I am sitting there nervous answering all those subjective interview scenario questions, I realized my new necklace Mike got me for Christmas that I am 100% positive I put on in the morning was NOT on my neck. Trying to focus but I just couldn't. I had to look for it after backtracking all my steps and couldn't find it, finally I found it in my bra hahaha! After that adventure I was called in for a second interview with the clinical director who was very nice. I was told I would hear in a week well a day later I was offered the job!!! After many prayers and talking it over with Mike I accepted the job as a full time employee. I decided to stay at my current job as pro re nata (PRN) and help out when I can. This was defiantly a good decision I made for our family. I am sure you are wandering where is my new job at? I am a now a hospice nurse at Hospice Of The Western Reserve. I am at the beautiful facility on the lake called Davis Simpson Hospice House. 

First day of orientation

It's OFFICIAL 

This is the view I get to look at every day, these pictures don't due justice.

A Boat

Along the vista walk way

the view from the Chapel 

View from a picnic table I was eating lunch at

Some asked "you want to work with the dying?" Many people do not really understand want hospice is and think dying people are lying there taking there last breathe, there is so much more to the picture. It is a privilege to be able to spend time with people on their last months, weeks, days and maybe minutes. I feel like this is what nursing is all about, after all we all live to die someday some just much sooner then others. It defiantly can be emotionally draining at times the big word is "why" I have to stop and tell myself I am not here to question god we all have a plan in life. I love getting to talk with patients/families and hearing stories, it is amazing to see how just talking and listening can be so therapeutic. I have learned skills here that I didn't know existed in nursing, for example sub-Q fluids or pumps? I have heard staff say only in the "hospice world" I am beginning to believe this.

I absolutely love my new job! It is rewarding in so many ways and I can not say enough positive and nice things about this place, the people, and all the staff members. I look forward to continuing my nursing career here. Thanks for reading!

FLOODED LAUNDRY ROOM TRANSFORMED TO A STORAGE ROOM

expensive crapper..

Here is an update on our old laundry room. In my previous post I mentioned I wanted to turn our old laundry room into a half bath, well those dreams were shattered when I found out it would be over $1500 for a toilet?? That is just the toilet itself, because we needed a special up-flush toilet due to how the plumbing is arranged so we have decided to turn it into a storage and coat closet instead. So our project has been just that a storage room! As much as I wanted a half bathroom this is more realistic and this will help move along my cluttered space above our washer and dryer.

Sore eye

Not organized storage closet

I will now be able to move all my kitchen overflow into this closet and find some cabinets to put above washer and dryer. Here is what the old laundry room turned into a cluttered mess..

Cold air seeping through

This mess has been driving me nuts thank god I could just close the door and not have to see it... All this was below our shelves in my old pantry which is now the new laundry room. So this storage room needs to hold all this and whats above the washer and dry, this is going to be a challenge. Mike and my Dad decided to use plywood instead of dry wall. We had drywall before and the water damaged it and this way if we were to have a pipe burst again it will be easier to repair by removing the plywood and if we find it soon enough it wont be damaged. Not that we anticipating another flood!

Here is it being painted and the other picture shows the plywood for the walls and the ceiling. You can see in the last picture we had to enclose the plumbing that runs up to the washer and dryer when I came home and say that I will admit I was upset I didn't realize it was going to take up so much space and I am pretty sure Mike was annoyed actually I know he was annoyed with my reaction. It took me a few minutes about 20 and I got over it (one of those not seeing eye to eye moments with your husband).

Enclosed plumbing

The hardest part of projects for me is the mess during the projects. Who else organizes during construction?? Hurry up paint DRY so we can install shelves and coat rack! Okay a couple days later the paint is completely dry and trim is up. 

All painted and dry

coat rack/shelves

Coat racks and shelves are up...

When you do a project there is always at least one or two things that you don't think through and here is ours.. 

Light switch dilemma

It doesn't look to bad until have something on the shelve, then we will have fun getting to the switch. We laughed this one off. Yes, we could move the shelve or put a side ways switch up. We have decided to be annoyed by it for now. Now is the fun part ORGANIZING!! I hung the coats that were in the play closet. Now the kids will have more room for toys and I will be able to reach them now. A win win for both. I had the whole closet organized and I realized I still didn't feel organized.

I took everything out and off to the store I went. The storage isle is my favorite isle of the store!

Now that I have all my bins full and organized it was time to label. I bought some nice identa-labels. I went online to upload the free template to type my labels due to my messy hand writing. My computer decided it would not open the download..annoying!

Thank god for the library right up the street. Here is an updated picture of above the washer/dryer. Not real happy with how the pictures of the storage room turned out. It is a small space and hard to get a good picture angle. But I am really happy with how the space turned out and cant believe how much fit.

full view

storage bins

iron and ironing board

fun for our little people

my junk

Our finished storage room! Thanks for reading.  If you ever need any help organizing feel free to ask I really enjoy it!

MASTER BEDROOM MAKEOVER

I had wanted to change our bedroom around for a while but other projects trumped this one. So in December of last year about a week before Christmas I decided to tackle our bedroom. Of coarse again I failed to take before pictures, but I will describe it. It had beige walls and dark brown decorations. The curtains and bed spread were matching teal, brown, and cream. I loved the bed-set, Mike had got it for me for my birthday a couple years ago. I had decided to go for a elegant look. This link below was my inspiration from pinterest. http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/grey-bedroom.jpg?9d7bd4

I had the hardest time finding a chandelier that I LOVED, I must had sent Sarah and Ashley a million pictures. One we bought off of amazon.com had pieces missing actually they were never missing it was a typical "man thing" Mike failed to look in the actual box. I had already made the long return phone call and printed the return label when I found the pieces so back it went lol was not funny at the time. So after weeks for searching, Lowes is where I found one, I wasn't sure at first but after it was hung I love it!

Chandelier

 We painted the walls a gray but with the light on it grabs the purple from the bed set which I found at Kohls.com of coarse on sale, 30% off  coupon, and kohls cash (awesome deal) so the walls look like a light purple. 

Wedding Pictures

Bedspread

Above our bed is three of my favorite wedding pictures one black/white, one sepia, and not sure the proper photographer color name for the third. Above the pictures I hung some word decals that say "A love story never ends."

Next is curtain time I fell in love with these the second I saw them on amazon.com they reminded me of my wedding dress...I was hesitant to buy at price because of the price but Sarah talked me into it..

Wedding Curtains

I almost forgot we MADE our headboard, it was a relatively easy project. It started as a piece of plywood, clearance fabric, padding, buy1get1 buttons all from Jo-Ann Fabric's, and we already owned a stable gun. About an hour or so later Mike and I had a finished headboard!

Do it yourself Headboard

Next to our bed is a shabby chic night stand form amazon.com (I love AMAZON) it was the easiest table ever to put together 3 pieces and pretty sturdy. On this night stand was a beautiful purple orchid, I love orchids my second favorite flower next to tulips but I have been called the orchid killer, I can not keep them alive for my life so as you see it is gone :(

 In the picture below you also see that our bed skirt does not match we have a sleep number bed that inclines and sits up and that skirt costs us a pretty penny unfortunately we matched it to our old set so it stays. 

Nightstand

Here is a mirror that I got on a spa weekend getaway with my mom in Hartville, Ohio we found it at a antique shop for next to nothing. Mike sanded it and painted it white for me, yes I am spoiled!

Antique Mirror

Last is a couple walls I wasn't really sure what to do with them, one has a clock my mom had engraved with our wedding date. Don't mind my bath robe in the picture..

The last wall will be pictures of our little people, you will notice only Addie's is up, I am waiting for wallgreens.com/photo to have a free 8x10 special. I now have a bedroom I enjoy hanging out in.

Wedding Clock

There is our finished master bedroom! 

Little People

I may add one thing I have a chest my Grandpa made me we may sand it and paint it white or black and put at the bottom of our bed and use as a storage bench, I will update post when that is finished. Thanks for reading,  feedback and ideas/comments are always welcomed and appreciated!

A LITTLE UPDATE ON THE FAMILY ROOM PROJECT AND SHOPPING WITHOUT OUR LITTLE PEOPLE...

Sunday morning after a fun evening out with family for my brother in laws birthday, Mike and I woke up with NO kids and decided to do some "window shopping." Out we went to Mentor with no car seats, strollers, just US! I was not in the mood to tackle my favorite store Kohls, the parking lot was packed so we ventured over to our new Home Goods store. I had only been there a couple times never with enough time to really look in each department. I was on the look out for curtains and pillows! I came across some cool coffee mugs and water bottles. Mike got me this really nice coffee mug for Christmas I loved it...

and for some reason I decided at work to put it in the microwave, did I mention the bottom was metal...RIP coffee mate mug :/ not to mention the kitchen smelled like it was on fire and it took forever for it to stop smoking even under running water... So I felt bad and couldn't replace the mug but I did get a new water bottle and since Sunday my water intake has tripled.

So I came across some curtains I was soso about them at first and I didn't even pick them up and then a few minutes went by and Mike pointed them out and said he liked them.. I was surprised he doesn't say much when shopping for decor unless I ask or his famous words "go ahead if you want it" (good husband)! They were priced right, had two sets, and are 95 inches in length which is perfect. I like them to lay on the floor a bit, better then too short. I really love them

even more now that they are up and even better the Sun is shinning! Next we headed over to Burlington Coat Factory they have a great discounted selection of household items and decor. I found a really soft blanket that I love for only $9.99. I have some what of a blanket pet peeve I will not let anybody use MY blankets, I can tell when 

they do

My soft blanket and new pillows

they smell 

different! I know I am strange but don't mess with Amber's blankets! The lamp now does not match I am thinking of getting a new lamp shade and painting the bottom.

I also found the perfect clock that matches my new colors down stairs and I feel it was a steal.

A steal

Perfect Gray

Okay our next stop Gabriel Brothers I can always find a good deal there. I love throw pillows, I have been told they are annoying to some due to taking up space but I feel they are a necessity. I found THREE matching ones which is rare for Gabriel Brothers. So after our pillow fight yes we looked like kids, all three made it into the cart and @ only $5.99 a piece! 

Above is the pillow in the picture with the blanket. So our last stop was at Marc's which carries a good amount of target merchandise, I did not find anything for the family room but I did find a beach hat for Miss. Addie for we will be at the beach in 80 days~ Oh and I almost forgot we got our furry friend Dexter a OHIO STATE bandanna.

I am still looking for a few pieces of older furniture I would like to refurbish for some new end tables. Craig's list here I come... Hopefully I will have the finished family room soon, I would say we had a successful shopping day though.

OUR BATHROOM FACELIFT

http://www.lakecountyymca.org

I had a VERY eventful Monday, I am at the YMCA working out and 

all I can think about is what I am going to blog about this week?? Okay this is a project we did hmm let me think... about a few months ago if not longer. The people that remodeled our house claimed to be interior designers I am not so sure about that? But remember if you read previous posts you will know I bought this house because of the amazing chandelier in my kitchen that is currently hanging over no table lol I sold our pub table to make room for our kitchen remodel that will hopefully take place soon. 

Back to the bathroom another room I wanted to brighten up, it had tan walls and horrible ceiling tile/back-splash whatever you want to call it. This is why I question if the "interior designer" knew what she was doing. She used tiny tiles and they only covered a little over half of the ceiling above our shower, why not cover the whole ceiling above the shower?? 

In the pictures you will see my again amazing handy hubby scrapping off the tile and spacing out the new tile.

I was about 6-7 months pregnant and very moody and I told Mike "this bathroom needs to change" he responds with "what do you want done?" 

Next thing I knew the tile was being torn down and the next day I was at Lowes picking out tiles (all the grouting supplies), paint, a light fixture, and mirror! I think Mike would of did anything at this point to make me happy during this pregnancy there was not a day I was not sick :( but of coarse worth it in the end :) After saying that, my baby is 5 months old so this project was about 7-8 months ago, wow have I lost track of time! 

Here is the finished tiles, pretty good job for his first time laying tile....
The fan also needed a face lift, we were going to buy a new one but finding one to fit was a pain, so I painted it and that was in the budget!

Here is the finished project, it is amazing the difference paint can do...

The light fixture is a little off center with the mirror but whoever installed the previous track lighting did a rough job the wall defiantly had some damage so we were trying to cover up holes and still had to patch some. 

We also hung a simple mirror in place of a bulky medicine cabinet for our small bathroom. My shower curtain that I LOVE came from Target I looked all over for one then my Smart friend Sarah says "Did you Look at target?" hmm why didn't I think of that! I also bought "decorative towels" the kids don't understand that and I think they TRY to dirty them up, I guess pick and choose your battles!


Here is my little Mason Jar project, I 

painted a little chalk paint window labeled Cotton Balls and Q-tips. The end..Oh wait I wanted to show you one more thing our closet, at first I thought how odd why didn't they just make it the length of the wall but It was grown on me it is very deep and has two shelves, I cant show you the inside it is a disaster but it sure does hold a-lot. 

So there's my bathroom face lift! 

Thanks for reading!