SNOW!!!!

We had a record breaking foot of snow in the DFW area in one day last week! It was crazy, but SO beautiful!! While everybody got "snow days," including Colby's school, I still had to gear up on Thursday evening to drive home from work and at 5:30am on Friday morning to drive to work...yikes! A lot of people spent the night at the hospital, but I didn't have any stuff and really wanted to get home. All the snow was certainly a site to see! The first evening I couldn't even get my car in the driveway. Colby had to shovel it out, only for it to be covered back up the next day. I left the house super early in order to allow enough time to make it to the hospital. While on my street, there were 2 different neighbors that were stuck at the bottom of their driveways with the tires spinning. I was so thankful that Colb had dug it out the night before so that it wasn't quite as bad. He said, "I think that is the first time in my life that I've ever shoveled snow." So funny! We surely don't like the cold here in Texas! So on my drive to work, I did my best to not stop at any stop signs in my immediate neighborhood b/c I knew if I started/stopped it would be a lot more trouble in my car. Thankfully there wasn't anyone on the road at 5:30...imagine that!?! I was praying the whole way and just asked God to get me there safely b/c someone had to take care of those sweet babies at the hospital. So not too far into my drive, as I was getting on the highway (going maybe 20mph by the way), what is entering the access road, none other than a sanding truck!!! I literally said Thank you Lord out loud! What amazing protection! I made it to the hospital safe and sound, and had a good day at work, but wished I could be out playinging in the snow!

This is Thursday night getting home from work. My car was stuck there, so Colb had to shovel out the driveway...and the snow is still coming down!

BEAUTIFUL!

Then this is Friday morning when I'm surveying the driveway. Look how much snow filled up what Colby had shoveled the night before. Ps- when I say shovel, I mean he had to use a regular dirt shovel and a garden rake to move the snow, we aren't prepared for this stuff!Quiet, early morning. God made His presence known to me right then with the beauty and stillness of the morning. I stopped for a second to take it all in.

Here is on the way, and yes it's blurry, but I was concentrating on the driving part (mom!). This is the flashing lights of the sanding truck! Thank you Lord for your provision!

Colby took several pictures later this day of the beautiful snow. Even the fence had at least 3 inches stacked up on it.

The backyard pillowOne of the most pensive pictures I've ever seen! Hey Rocky...wanna go get your ball? Come on! It's right there!What about your ball AND your rope?
Umm...No thanks, I wanna go back insideSo Colby continues to pick him up and is going to make him get in the snow. Look how deep his foot print is!Look mom, no legs! Ok, maybe I'll get my ball, I'm gonna have to paw at it to dig it out

Then, this is Saturday morning when there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Rocky had to be forced to go in it. The poor dog would stand on the porch and raise his leg to pee off of it. I bet he held number 2 for about 3 days! Poor puppy! And to think we almost ended up in Pennsylvania for med school!

Small Group Game Night

Last week was our small group Bible study game night! We had a great time hanging out with everyone and playing games. The guys had a ping pong tournament in the garage and the girls stayed inside in the warm and played "Blitz." It was a really fun card game that was super fast paced and almost too much for my ADD, ha!! Briyana and I were partners and lost by 1 point to Kari and Paige. We are so blessed by this great group of friends!

Since it was Valentine's week, I made a yummy chocolate cake

I thought it turned out really pretty!The boys in action Love these girls so much!
Briyana, Ashleigh (& Harrison), Carolyn, Paige, Kari, me

Breathe!

Here's the new skill for the week. Here I am intubating a baby today in class...I'm praying for all breathing patients please! Blurry phone picture, but it was really fun to see the "blue" areas in the baby change colors once oxygenated, oh technology.

Just Because... :)

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."

-Robert Heinlein

Yes sir, I'll stitch that right up!

So yesterday was a fun (but long!) class day for me. We learned all of our skin biopsy techniques as well as suturing. We did all of the biopsy stuff on chicken legs, and I must say that I will never look at a chicken leg the same, as I practiced anesthetizing it, and cutting out an excision to remove the "lesion." I think my favorite was the cryotherapy that we did for if someone has a wart or skin tag that needs to be frozen off. It was VERY cold and leaves an ice ring around the specimen in seconds. My least favorite was the toenail removal...oh my sickness! Gives me the heebie jeebies, so future patients, just go ahead and do me a favor and do not get an ingrown toenail, yikes! So, we practiced our suturing on pigs feet and those were pretty raunchy to look at. But I learned single suturing, continuous suture, a mattress suture, dermabond closure, and even stapling! It was fun, and really made me feel like I was learning something useful. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot in the last year of school that I've been in, but this one is a little more meaninigful as far as experience goes. I am also starting in the hospital this semester and will be rounding with a PNP and a radiologist, so this will be fun and I'm excited to learn a lot!

***** Warning...semi-gross pictures ahead (not really, but just in case)********
My first patient

No problem Mr. Chicken, I'll take that right off!Amber and Maranda biopsying away- so thankful to have these two ladies in all my classes with me!Cryotherapy- Freezing!

Patient #2Ta-Da!

Seamstress at work

Home Improvement & B-day Dinner

We received a great Home Depot Giftcard for Christmas and for all of those homeowners, you know that this is Heaven on plastic! We knew just what we were going to use it on! Hardware for all of our cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms. Yes, we've lived in our house for a year and a half and have been awkwardly opening the cabinets since then. But hardware is expensive when you multiply it by all the number of cabinets!! I was in charge of measuring and marking and Colby did the drilling and placement of the knobs. Followed by me being in charge of cleaning up all of the sawdust! I think they look great! The funniest part is that it's been hard to remember to use the knobs! I find myself still reaching underneath, ha! Thanks Aunt Linda, we love them!

Love my handy husband

Yes it took a couple of days between study breaks to get them all doneBEFORE:

AFTER!! (yes the stain is the same, just looks different with the flash!) PS- ignore my cluttered kitchen :)Here's pictures from our fun dinner at Gloria's (yes-we're predictable) for Colby's birthday. Just can't resist those yummy $3 margaritas!

Holy Cow Cake Recipe

I had several people asking about the Holy Cow Cake that I made for Colby's birthday. Well, it gets its name because the second you take a bite, you think to your self, or say outloud, Holy Cow!
The recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor. I sure do love doctors and I LOVE this book and recommend it to anyone! There are even several more versions out now. It is perfect b/c it turns boxed cakes into a cake that looks like it was made from scratch by adding other ingredients to spice it up. Well, I'm all for time saving recipes and "Fake it, don't Make it!"
Cake Needs:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil, or canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower (I use Smart Balance Omega- as it's better for you than vegetable, and olive doesn't do as well for me with baked goods)
3 large eggs

Topping Needs:
1 jar (8 ounces) caramel topping (I use about half- it's too rich!)
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (Once again, I use the smaller one)
4 Butterfinger candy bars crushed (can use Heath bar, or whatever you like)
1 container (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed (can get the low fat kind!)
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature (low fat kind!)
Directions:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven an preheat the oven to 350. Lightly mist a 13x19 inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray and set pan aside.
2. Place cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down sides with spatula. Increase mixer speed and beat 2 minutes more. Batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and place in oven.
3. Back the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed (35 to 38 minutes). Remove and place on wire rack. Immediately poke holes all over the cake with a drinking straw or chopstick.
4. Prepare the topping. Place the caramel topping and sweetened condensed milk in a small bowl and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture over the warm cake so that it can seep down into the holes. Measure out half of the candy bars and sprinkle over the cake.
5. Place whip topping and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and blend with electric mixer on low speed until smooth and combined. Spread the mixture over the top and then sprinkle the remaining candy pieces on top.
6. Place the pan, uncovered, in the refrigerator to chill the cake for about 20 minutes before cutting into squares and service. *can store it covered for up to one week in fridge*