07.15.09

The other night at work, one of the girls was talking about googling her name to see what other people with her name do. She was looking at some pretty amazing pictures by a photographer by the same name. So out of curiosity, I googled my name and sure enough, there is someone living my dream :) :

So if you are ever in Henager, AL, you should look up Stephanie Bryan :).

07.14.09

My hospital has such amazing artwork all throughout, very kid friendly but something that adults can appreciate too. So after much Googling and Facebook creeping, I have finally found my man...I mean, my artist: Donald Ross aka Scribe. Ironically enough, he is also the artist that created one of my favorite piece of art on my way to work that I blogged about here. Here is his website and here is an awesome video of him creating live art while people watched. It's nice to know that he puts so much pride into it, I know from first hand experience how much enjoyment it brings those of us that work there everyday and the kiddos there too!

07.13.09

As I was wondering aimlessly on the internet, I happened across this picture from Life magazine in March of 1954:
and it's of the hospital I currently work in! Thank goodness we now have scrubs but I am a little bummed we don't get to wear the fun hat. I am amazed at how much our industry has changed for the better, but I would love to be able to see a day in the life of a nurse then :).

07.12.09

Call me a woman of high class, but my two favorite kinds of cake are Funfetti and Jello No-Bake Cheesecake :). So when Monkey decided to be up at 5:45 this morning, I thought our project should be a sugar buzz that would be needed later in the day.

Funfetti Cake before:

Funfetti Cake after:

07.11.09

The Hubs surprised me with this awesome set up while Monkey and I were busy picking up the house...my very own poolside retreat on the porch, complete with chair and frosty drink (and as for the nose sucker thingie, no I wasn't congested, they make great water guns!). Monkey had a great time until The Hubs took the hose for the flowers and then he was ready to get out. I got this one picture of my sweet angelic boy:

before he got mad and BIT A HOLE IN HIS POOL! Two little vampire looking holes to be exact. He had a very soggy time out in his swim trunks while I patched it :).

07.10.09

One of the first times I remember meeting my sister in law was at my brother's surprise 14th birthday, she helped plan it since she was his girlfriend at the time. She was nice to me and to this day does not make fun of the George Michael-esque hat I chose to wear. Amazingly enough, their relationship went off and on through the years and over the miles (she moved out of state before her junior year) and today they are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary! Making a marriage work is such hard work and they have been through some rough things together...I am so proud of them and so lucky to have them in my life!

Happy Anniversary Bub and Tara!

July 9th, 2009

After working the weekend and my regular scheduled days, today was my much anticipated "Day Home With Monkey." I am so grateful for the schedule I have, I love that Monkey gets the social interaction of daycare a few days a week, a few days a week home with me, and weekends (most of the time) with both The Hubs and I. I love our Thursdays though. After much playing and errand running, nap time came and Monkey fought sleep hard. After he'd finally given in, I peeked in to check on his and saw this:
Mass evacuation of the crib!

I fell asleep after reading to Monkey with him nestled on my shoulder, a treat we don't get much anymore. The Hubs told me that he loved seeing it, it had been so long and that it reminded him of when he first came home. He was tipping the scales at a little less than 5 pounds then and was just a little warm lump on your chest when he'd fall asleep. Now he is this running, laughing, little bundle of boy, not even a baby anymore :).

July 8th, 2009

I have a new all time favorite steak place....and lucky for me it's our very own house! I am not bragging on our exceptional cooking skills, a majority of the credit goes to Jack Stack Steak Rub (we get it at the grocery store). Plus I usually make grilled rosemary and garlic potatoes and sauteed mushrooms. Only thing we are missing are the wonderful yeast rolls from Texas Road House :).

July 7th, 2009

Since I am on my "sleeping, spend an hour with my favorite boys, working" schedule, I had to go back to the archives...from last month :). Upon arriving to work on part of my floor that was under construction I saw this lovely piece of artwork painted on the giant plastic barrier sectioning off the under constructions rooms:

Originally this guy (we called him Mr. Pringles Man, given the striking resemblance) had no mustache and was frowning. We brought this to the attention of Awesome Night Shift Maintance Man Darrell who promptly made Mr Pringles Man look a little more kid friendly. After coming out of a patients room around 3 a.m. I saw that Awesome Darrell had made Pringles Man a girlfriend "so he wouldn't be lonely..."After coming home and hitting the sack, I got this lovely picture mail from the amazingly talented day shift nurses and CA's who were giving Mr. Pringles Man a little make over! What a stallion!
One of the millions of reason I love my job :)

July 6th, 2009

My Martha Stewart-esque friend Sara sent me links to three blogs she gets recipes from and I just love The Pioneer Woman. She does it all: cooks, homeschools, does photography...and all with a pretty great sense of humor. Since she lives on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere, the ingredients for her recipes are pretty much things you can find at any grocery store. I gave up my pre-work nap to make Chicken Spaghetti since the only thing my husband might love more than me is a home cooked meal. It was yummy and even great reheated for my lunch at work (Night shift lunch time: 2 a.m.). Another great blog for recipes is Annie's Eats. Hope your dinner is yummy tonight :)!

July 5th, 2009

The Hubs is quite the daddy, he can handle poopy diapers and other toddler unpleasantness in stride (he claims to be a sympathetic vomiter, but so far so good). Tonight however, The Hubs' iron constitution was challenged. For dinner The Hubs made a Bryan family favorite: Puke. FYI: Bryan family tradition states that a family favorite dish must be given an unsavory nickname. Puke is cut up pot roast in brown gravy over rice or potatoes. Monkey started off with his fruit, and decided to add freshly squeezed watermelon to his Puke. We both assumed that given the new ingredient, Monkey would have no interest in eating it. Oh contrare! He loved it even more, eating large spoonsfuls of it and saying "Yum!" The thought of Puke doused in watermelon juice was too much for the Hubs, he simply stated"I think I am going to be sick." How appropriate given our main course :)

July 4th, 2009

Happy 4th of July!The picture of the day responsibilities went to The Hubs since I was working today. Monkey had a great time with his cousins and was home in bed before fireworks this year.

I have such memorable and meaningful moments with my patients and their families when I have worked holidays and this 4th was no different. Another perk is that we have an amazing view from the floor of the hospital I work on and not only do we get to see one big display, we get to see a panorama of the KC skyline and all kinds of smaller displays going on. Happy 4th, may your food be great and your fireworks be sparkly!

July 3rd, 2009

A Tale of Two Kitties

For our first anniversary The Hubs and I decided to adopt two very sweet little brothers, Jack and Cole. And like most brothers, their personalities are quite different. Cole has the patience of a saint and is a total lover. He lets Monkey wrestle him and appreciates any time you sit and pet him, be it 5 minutes or an hour. Jack is more....well, he quite the drama queen. He meows and scratches at the door at 5 a.m. to be fed (although there is some food left in his bow he needs fresh food...RIGHT NOW!) and avoids Monkey like the plague. The other day I was checking my e-mail and heard the hallway floor creak like someone was walking down the hall: it was Jack... I think I may need to invest in a kitty treadmill :). But occasionally Jack will reward your effort with a quick 5 minute snuggle and then he is off...and it makes me wonder if he helping me prepare for the those pesky teenage years with Monkey. But I do love my boys, all four of them :).

July 2nd, 2009

It is amazing how much guilt neglecting a blog can give a person, right up there with finally making that phone call to a friend or relative you now you should have months before. I had gotten so far behind that I figured it best just to start with a clean slate today :).

This summer has been so hot (reaching 90 degrees or more by 10 a.m.) so today's overcast sky and temp of 72 degrees was a welcome change and called for a trip to the park. On our way we got a little taste of the warmer climates: We had a great time with a new friend we met and spent most of our park time with. I asked his dad if he made friends every where he went and his dad said "Yes, actually we are having to teach him about strangers because he thinks EVERYONE is a friend." Afterwords we came home and Monkey enjoyed a 3 1/1 hour nap. His favorite word right now is NO! (the NO count is off the charts today) and he enjoys wearing his safari hat and taking his pants off...what this means for his future I have no idea...