On Buying a Home {Part 3}

On the 28th, our realtor called me just after 8am freaking out that the figures had still not been changed by the processor and that no one could get a hold of her. To ease the worry, she insisted that we get to the house asap for a walk through. I'm not sure why she felt so strongly about that, but it was nice to go back and take some photos.

By 930 we were certain our 10am closing was not going to happen. Our lender was working really hard to get figures back from the processor and by 10, he had them. But then the last bit had to go through the under-writers for final approval which would take several hours. We went home and continued to pack and load the truck, not knowing where we would be sleeping Friday night. We prayed for the timing to work out perfectly and for our closing to happen.

By 2pm on Friday we had the truck loaded and the house empty. We had a lot of cleaning done, thanks to my amazing mother in law, and decided it was best to head to the other side of town where the title office and our bank were. The most we knew at that point was that we would be closing that day, we just didn't know when yet. So we headed to a bar just minutes from our destinations, had a drink and visited with our awesome help, Patty and Jared. Jared is a long time friend of B's. Patty is my MIL.

We sat with our phones on the table, obsessively checking for new texts and emails. By 330 we'd heard 430 was go time. At 420 it was moved to 445 so we went to the bank and waited for the final numbers for closing. At 448pm, we heard, made our check and bolted over to the title office. We had to be there before 5pm when the doors locked. Really, though, I know they would not have locked us out but we didn't want to chance it.

The sellers were in the conference room waiting for us and we sat there, making small talk until our realtor, lender and the closing agent arrived. That was at 520pm. Then it happened. We signed our papers and made the purchase of our very first home. I'm certain the shock is still wearing off! This is such a surreal moment for us, the most adult-defining event in our lives. Our realtor had a nice gift basket for us at the end and I was so happy I nearly cried, but I couldn't--I was TOO happy!

We called our family and headed back to the bar to celebrate with shots. Then we picked up the truck and met my parents at the house. They brought us food and basked in the new home with us. We could not have been happier. It was finally ours! We unloaded the truck slowly, storing most everything in the garage until the next day. B and Jared didn't finish until 1130pm, at which point I had been in bed for an hour already.

This has been one of the most exciting, challenging, exhausting, thrilling, disappointing, and humbling experience B and I have shared together. We learned a lot about buying homes all while learning a lot about each other and our relationship. We are closer and happier than ever. Really, the best it's been in our nearly 4 years of marriage.

Thanks for all the love and support! I feel bad that we could not share everything along the way, but we just had to do what was best for us. Hope everyone had a great, safe 4th!

Day in the Life: Working in a Hospital

It has been almost a year (WHAT?!) since I started working in a hospital. I never imagined how much I would enjoy working in a hospital and what it would mean for me career-wise. My future is here, in the hospital, and for now working in admin is just fine. I have received 2 promotions and now have my very own office, something which I never could have thought possible after less than a year. I feel so blessed and privileged to work with an incredible team and interact with patients everyday. It's amazing. So there is my little "day in the life" at work.

730am: Clock in, grab admit phone and let the birthing center (BC) know I've arrived. Get settled in office and scurry over to BC to admit inductions (usually 2 a day).

8am: Print census for women's care (postpartum), nicu, and peds. Check printer for today's discharges and collect discharge info for each patient on their account.

9am-12pm: Finish any discharges, visit patients, coo over newborns, collect money, log it, and answer phone for pre-admits, direct admits and anything else!

12pm: Lunch, usually a turkey diablo Panini. It's delish!

12:35-4pm: Back to the office, back to waiting for calls, scan docs, pre inductions for next day, check email, read blogs, stock office supplies, take a walk...

4pm: Time to go home! Leave phone with admit office, check mail box, say goodbye and dash over to pick Logan up from daycare.

Then I don't think about work the rest of the night! That is, of course, unless I have a great story. Like this morning, I walked in the door and a mama was ready to push! She was 9cm and within an hour had her baby. Thankfully, in the room and not in the front entrance. ;)

Sometimes, days are pretty slow with few phone calls and on those days I do my best to busy myself with whatever I can (or write a blog). Other days, I feel out of breath from all the running around I do between admits and discharges. The worst part of my job is asking for money, but hey, you knew for the last 9 months it was coming! So I'm kind of immune to it now. Patients rarely ever get upset with me, which is nice. The worst (yes, worse that money!) is when I discharge a mama with a nicu baby. It breaks my heart. Sometimes I cry with her a little as I TOTALLY know how she's feeling. Five days a week and then I get my weekends with my family! Could not as for a better job!

I'm a Big Kid Now

I make a point not to talk about work on my blog and I'm still going to hold to that, but I have news I feel is worth sharing. After nine months working at an incredible hospital, I have received my 2nd promotion. Never before have I worked somewhere that allows so much growth both personally and professionally. I suppose most hospitals are like this, but I am shocked. I never would have thought that I'd be as close to my dream job as I can get in less than a year.

Obviously my dream job is to be a midwife, but for now I will be just as happy working alongside all the awesome nurses and staff in labor and delivery as the admitting rep. I feel like a real working professional now...not that I haven't been, but this is the first time I've ever had a M-F 8-5 type job where I don't have to work weekends, I have my OWN office and more satisfaction as a working adult than I ever before.

I hardly consider what I do a job. I go home happy almost every night and never feel like I don't want to go to work. I love all the interactions I get with patients and my team. Oh my team! They are incredible. So much genuine support and care for one another. My benefits are amazing...I could go on.

I am so happy. I was really happy with my job before this happened, but I'm even happier now.

i heart faces-best face of 2011

Normally, this might have been a difficult challenge picking my best face of 2011. But it wasn't. I knew that of the hundreds of photos I took last year that THIS was the best photo, and not just because it's my little Logan looking like a stud. I feel like this photo helped define and increase my photography skills which means I can't wait to see how I grow from it.

Check out all the other awesome "best faces of 2011" below:

i heart faces-hands

Check out all the other awesome hand photos below:

(For whatever reason, I cannot get the button of a direct link from the photo to route back to iheartfaces so please follow the link below the picture. THANKS!)

CLICK HERE TO I HEART FACES

Finally! Becoming a Brio Childbirth Educator!

**This is a repost from my Midwife 101 Blog. ENJOY!**

Wayyyyyy back in December I felt the very first urge to really get by behind in gear to become a childbirth instructor. I emailed my Bradley teacher and she suggested this new and coming-of-age form of childbirth classes called Brio Birth. She was very proud of be a Bradley instructor but as far as I could see, not one workshop was coming to the Denver area any time soon AND if there was something even more modern than Bradley, bring it on! When I say modern, I mean a few things. Not modern in the way of technology or interventions, but modern in the ways of teaching childbirth to all the young, soon-to-be parents who don't want to have their baby in a barn, but might in their home, if that makes ay sense.

Anyway, I quickly started reading about Brio and came into contact with the Denver regional director. For weeks we emailed back and forth over when and where a Denver workshop for NEW educators might be. There were workshops for continuing ed teachers, but nothing for a newb like me. I waited. And waited and waited....nothing for months. My contact person was also so sweet and encouraging and I thought for sure she'd think I'd given up. Hardly. My passion to become an instructor and eventually a midwife has only grown stronger with each passing month. Workshop or not, I continued to read the suggested reading materials, many of which can be found on the tab above.

After April came and went, the month in which we were all hoping for date to be set and nearly 5 months after my initial interest in Brio began I stopped checking the site so often. I stopped emailing every other day and gave it up to God. I was sad, but hopeful that regardless, a date would be set.

Come the middle of July, B and I are driving home from a super fun wedding and I am messing around on my phone. It dawned on me that I had not checked the Brio site in some time. NEW EVERYTHING! I was shocked...I spent the next half hour navigating the new areas and info on my Droid and exclaiming to B (and keeping Logan fully awake past his bed time) about all the new info. We had until July 16th to reserve our spot at for a special SUPER discounted price, still without a Denver date added, or it doubled after August 1st. I could not risk it. B knew this was what my heart was aching to do so we took a leap of faith and drained our only credit card on the deposit. Yes, folks, this just DAYS after a huge move, one in which a credit card would have been very useful at times. Then, we waited some more. Over a month goes by as I am checking the site at least once a week to see if there have been any Denver dates added.

Last Friday while I was finishing a few things up at work I realized it had been over a week since I'd last checked, clicked on the link to dates fully expecting to see the same damn dates listed as before, none of which included Denver, and go one with it. But no....there was. The Denver workshop 3 day in person training right before my very eyes!! I was jumping out of my seat! Without a second thought I instantly requested those days off at work, knowing that our schedule gets made and set very far in advance and today those days were approved!

Come November I will officially become a Brio Childbirth Educator!!

i heart faces-pet week

In honor of my window-jumping greyhound I am featuring him in this weeks challenge. Check out all the other fur babies below:

 

i heart faces-beautiful eyes

This is one of my most favorite photos I've ever taken of Logan. He LOVES his bath time. His eyes in this photo say so much, not to mention they're so striking. He gets more compliments on his blue/green eyes than anything else. While the photo is in black and white (originally-not edited to be), color does not matter here. The long eyelashes, almond-shaped beautiful eyes melt my heart.

Check out all the other beautiful eyes entries:

Go take a peek

I have another side project blog, Midwife 101, and wrote up a post on WHY I want to become a midwife. If you're interested, take a peek. It's rather long and I love you for reading the entire thing. :)

WHY? <<<click here

New Home Tour: Kitchen & Bathroom

It's taken a few days but I finally snapped a few photos of these two rooms. I love our kitchen. I've always wanted a kitchen sink that looked out into the back yard so that I could keep an eye on our babe playing. He is OBSESSED with being "ou-tah" and since the entire yard is fenced and safe I am okay with letting him play while I do some dishes.



Ahh, dishes. We don't have a dishwasher. GASP! I know. I swore up and down we'd never ever live in a home without a dishwasher and lo and behold the yard won me over. Actually, funny story. I had no idea that there was no dishwasher until the day we moved in. B actually said "hey, s, you know there's no dishwasher, right?" and I was like "omg-how could I not have noticed?!" At that point it was too late. We'd already signed our lease and honestly, it's fine. I got the big deep bathtub and the large fenced yard my heart has longed for and for that I am okay with washing dishes 96 times a day, give or take.



Our stackable HE laundry is in the corner of the kitchen and it works out nicely. Now, I know you're noticing the open cabinets. There are covers of a sort and they slide and they stick and after doing lots of sliding and sticking for the first few days I nearly ripped them out. Actually I did rip them out, gently. I actually like the open look and this is not the final look we're going for. I want to get some pretty wallpaper to line the bottoms and paint the back some fun color. This will all have to wait.



Also, the blue antique cabinet needs new shelving in it and once we get that then all the food will go there acting as our pantry. All of our appliances work great and I've enjoyed cooking meals, that is, when I'm actually home to cook. The only other downside is the lack of counter space, something which was a deal breaker when we were house hunting. The good thing is that the total space is actually more than what we had at the apartment and I feel like it works out fine.

This is our tiny bathroom. Small, but it just happens to be the most updated part of the entire 66 year old house. Lovely tile outlines the inside of the shower and half of the walls around the room. I've always wanted a pedestal sink, but with such a cute sink you get very little storage. We've had these metal storage units since we first got married and they've worked out great everywhere we've lived.

See that window? Yeah, next to the deep tub it's my most favorite part of the bathroom. It's been open since the day we moved in a month ago and I love being able to look outside (into our yard-not at neighbors!). I also love our original medicine cabinet mirror which has a small dent in it.

Next up: Logan's room! :)

New Home Reveal: The Living Room

Our living room has finally taken the shape and desire that we have been hoping for and I am very excited to share this special room with everyone. Over the years we have collected pictures and mementos, things which I was no sure how I was going to fit into the small space of our 1000 square foot home. Then I discovered Pinterest and with that learned that the new, fun, hip, designer thing to do is a wall photo collage. I showed B a few of the collages I had found on Pinterest and he was totally into it. So a few nights ago after Logan went to bed we poured some wine, turned up The Strokes and began putting our wall together. Our house has a bit of an odd shape, one which is rather difficult to fill certain spaces and I am positive that without this awesome idea this wall would be super boring.

This room is our be-all room. We are in this room 98% of our day and I really wanted it to be something that was comfortable. I am not crazy about the TV on the coffee table but we have to work with what we have for now. Also, the curtains came with the house and we have every intention of personalizing those as well. Our landlord as given us free-rain on what we chose to do as far as decorating and painting goes. Since the collage wall is up I have no plans on painting it, although I do have plans of painting a few of the brown frames random colors to make them pop more.

Our couch is our newest addition, one of our biggest purchases since we married almost 3 years ago. We had lived on college and hand-me-down furniture since then and could not way to literally put our feet up. The couch is a chocolate brown microfiber which is super easy to clean (my biggest concern), comfortable AND reclines on both ends. We love it.

There are some quirky things about the house especially being that it is 66 years old. The first day we were here I pulled the metal latch on the window up to open it and it broke off in my hands. The screen on the back door has nearly come all the way off due to high traffic from the dogs and Logan. If the big door is open then Logan will throw toys inside or outside. Silly man! There are a few cracks in the ceiling from water damage and we are really hoping that once winter hits that there won't be any roofing issues. So far with all the rain we have had that has not been an issue. The carpet is super old and at the seems, like where it meets the kitchen linoleum you can feel the staples. That is annoying. The one and only light fixture in this room is inside the ceiling and was so dim that B put in a better energy efficient bulb and even still we need lamps.

I love that I can open the windows on both ends of the house and feel a wonderful cross breeze, especially in the mornings. We don't have AC so it's super important to keep things as cool as possible.

Next up: the kitchen and bathroom! Stay tuned. :)

My Most Favorite Poet

To fulfill an elective writing minor credit I took Creative Writing in the last semester of college. I knew anything with creative in the title would suit me and that I'd have no problem applying myself. This was also the same semester in which B and I first started dating which could only mean one thing: my puppy-love, star-gazed, emotional cup was overflowing and that my writing would have a very pointed subject: Love.

My instructor was awesome. She encouraged writing workshops and gave us wonderful prompts to get our juices flowing. Sometimes that was all I needed to write about something I just could not get down on paper. As part of my final project I had to compile a number of poems written by different poets on the subject of my choice while also integrating a few pieces I'd written over the course of the semester. Obviously, the subject was Love and it was not hard to find poems about love. However, it was hard to find good poems about love that were not gag-me material.

E.E. Cummings quickly became my go-to poet. The poem I included in my compilation was i carry your heart in mine.



(click for source)

That is only part of the poem but doesn't that one little part just make your heart melt? Doesn't it make you instantly think of the person(s) whose heart you carry? Mine are B and Logan, obviously. But even more for Logan as he grows older and develops into a little person.

Before Logan and before our marriage B and I committed to writing our own wedding vows. E.E. Cummings was my go-to inspiration. I knew it might have been a little cliche so I tried to find a poem or verse that was not so well-known, that spoke even more to me about the love I felt for B and that is when I found Since Feeling is First:

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
–the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

And there you have it friends. The opening of my wedding vows to B read: "When e.e. cummings said 'we are for each other' he had you and me in mind..." And since then this simple yet deep phrase has shaped our love and the meaning in our marriage and family. That is how this blog name was born and once more for my birthday (in just a few weeks!) I will be inking this on the inside of my foot. I've always wanted a tattoo but never wanted to get something that did not have enough meaning to want forever. Now I have it. I found that one thing that will always be etched into my heart and remind me how much I love my family, through all the highs and loves, goods and bads.

If you have a tat, what does it mean to you?

Home Sweet Home!

That's right friends! With the help of my brother, hubby and mom (who took Logan to the park) we are totally moved into our new home! It's a little overwhelming seeing all the boxes that need to be unpacked, the pictures that need to be hung, the clothes that need to be put away....I just keep telling myself it's a process! So as soon as we have everything in order I will post photos and get back to blogging daily. We have super sketchy internet for now until we get ours hooked up next week. Until then would anyone like to guest blog? I'd love to show you off!

Please, in the mean time, have a wonderful, safe and family-filled holiday weekend! Happy 4th!

Finding My Passion...At the Hospital

Working in a hospital has been wonderful. I'd like to point out that 5 years ago I never thought such a thing would even enter my mind. I hated hospitals. Anyone I'd ever known who'd been in the hospital was sick and/or died. I was just coming to the age where friends were starting to have babies. When I received news of a friend going into labor I could not wait to visit her. But wait. She was in the hospital. I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I called up a friend and begged him to go with me. We waited for the call that the little one had arrived and dashed over for a visit. Now that I have had a baby, I realize how crazy that is now! I'd never want that many people coming to see me after just having had a baby. Thankfully, my friend was way too excited, or so it seemed, to show of her new bundle and did not think twice about kicking any of us out.

The fear of being in a hospital quickly started to phase and I even went back the next day when things were less chaotic and I was able to hold her new daughter.

Since then, I have had a ride in the ambulance after fainting in the food hall in college, I've had a baby and spent several nights walking back and forth from the NICU to my mama room. I guess you could say I've become used to it. So when I started looking for a new job back in December, the hospital was the only place I was looking. Of all the places to work in town, this is by far the BEST place to work. Here or the school district or a brewery.

When I found out I had an interview I was shocked. This was not the first time I had applied for jobs with the hospital. I'd probably applied 50 times before over the last few years for random positions and all of a sudden within a month of sending my application in I had an interview. And then a 2nd interview. And then an offer. I was in the system! excitement flowed through me. B was so happy. It was just the kind of change our little family needed.

Now that I have been here 2 months as of yesterday I can honestly say I love it here. I never want to leave. In fact, rather than going back to school to be a teacher, something which I have always felt I have even had to convince myself was the right thing when really, I knew teaching was not what I wanted to do, I will be going back to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. Yeah. Can you believe it?! When I go back is still up in the air. B wants to get his teaching certification first and then I will start with some pre-recs for nursing school, get my RN and then begin my midwifery fellowships. Yes, this is going to take YEARS for me to accomplish but I could not be more excited. I know that if I don't do this now that 10 years from now I will be wishing I had. Whereas once I finish school 10 years from now I will be delivering babies.

After lots of prayer and finally getting a great feel for the hospital lifestyle, meeting and talking to labor and delivery nurses, whom I see multiple times a day to admit laboring mamas, I am certain that this is exactly when God intended for me to find my passion. Sure, it would have been nice to have known when I was in college. I think I was supposed to have a child and really know what it was like to go through pregnancy, labor and delivery, and even experience what the NICU is like for me to truly feel led to join the women's health field. I'm almost 27. I don't think it's too late. Really, it's never too late.

house update

>

Words escape me as I try to figure out how to sum up the last week and a half. Our first week living with my parents has not been without bumps in the road, but I believe we're get past any initial issues. It's like a college dorm room without the 3am undie runs and late night trips to Denny's. Our schedules are all different and we all seem to be able to do our own thing without disrupting others' plans too much. I'm optimistic that our time here will be good, however I am getting rather nervous about this entire short sale process.

We started our home-buying adventure six months ago and if you asked me then if I thought it would take more than six months to move into our new home I'd tell you you're lying. Ha, goes to show how much I know about buying a home! I suppose this is almost like becoming a parent for the first time. You have all these preconceived notions about how everything will go, what you will and won't do, and expectations but once you begin the process everything changes. Buying a home is no joke, which we knew, but we know very little about the short sale process. Now that we are in the thick of it, I can say we are still naive about it, but willing to learn. What sucks is our realtor does not seem to know very much about short sales so getting the info we need is challenging.

We want this house and we want it bad. It's perfect for our little family and well worth the wait. I just hate to think that we could be living with my parents for more than a month or two, for both of us. It's more than a blessing to be here and without my parents help I'm not sure what we would be doing.

So cheers to them for opening our homes and please send prayers that we get a closing date very very VERY soon!

i heart faces-may flowers

>

i heart faces is taking a break this week with challenges, but they did encourage everyone to post lovely photos of flowers to share. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our state flower, the Columbine. Those yellow ones in the bottom right corner? My faves!! And that hillside of multi-colored Columbines? To die for! I love that Columbines have a very mild, if any, scent and they are strong-willed. They have to endure harsh, cold, long winters here in Colorado and the reward is this. So lovely! I took these photos at the Steamboat Springs Botanic Gardens which is where B and I got married. So yeah, I'm a bit partial. Enjoy! And check out all the other lovely photos below.

PS I know that the photo in the bottom left does not feature Columbines. In fact, I'm not quite sure what they are but they're also in the gardens and I loved the white outline. :)

here's to momentum

>

Thanks to who seems to be my only reader out there in blog land (based solely on comments-I know there're more of you out there!) I have some much needed inspiration to write more pointed posts that won't have me ratteling off all of the random crap we did last weekend. Sure, those posts will still be around every once in awhile, but I'm not proud of how crappy my writing has been lately. I have a degree in English and THIS is how I'm using it?! Time to take MORE time with my posts and really make it worth it for you to continue to be a reader/follower. And not just for you, but for me too.

Last night B and I were going through all of our old writing material we saved from college. We have countless binders and notebooks filled with writing that is so good I can hardly believe I wrote it. Really. With that in mind, I am going to be taking some time to really figure out what this blog means to me and how writing makes me feel. I love to write. But I hate writing pointless, boring things which people will skim over in their feeds (which most of you have by now!) lol. It's time for purpose.

Being that it is 10 days into May, I will say that regardless of my motivation to write more I will be writing less due to how crazy-busy this month already is and will be. We're moving in just a few weeks. Packing, organizing an cleaning are eminent and I am hoping to share how I get it done all while working full time with a child, hubby and two dogs to care for. Speaking of the dogs, we need to get them to the vet for their yearly visits which always costs us an arm and a leg. Note to self-one dog is enough (however I could not imagine our lives without either one!). Running has totally gone to the wayside and if there weren't other things like packing that I'm sucking motivation into then I would so be out there pounding the pavement with Logan. I loved doing it but there is no way my tired brain and body can work that into our schedule. And at the end of the month B and I are going out of town (separately) for four days. Wowza!

So that about sums May up. In the mean time here is a short list of ideas to help kick my writing rear into gear (haha!). 

• the ins and outs of being a working mother
• how to be a mother to a boy
• separation anxiety
• love and marriage
• weekly recipe (def for WAYYYY after our move)
• ...and more

Ideas?? Please share!! :)

writers block

>I'm not sure if our impending move, being sick and an overall lack of motivation has caused this terrible writers block, but I simply cannot put my thoughts together right now. I'd love some encouragement and suggestions on blog posts so I can get going again. Otherwise, you may just be seeing the i heart faces photo contest postings, which I am not participating in next week, so just wanted to let everyone know. I hope all you beautiful mamas out there have a wonderful mother's day, especially if it's your first!

i heart faces-soft and sweet

>

It goes without saying that I did not take this photo. However, my dear husband B did and of all the photos in our archive that say "soft and sweet" this one stood out the most to me. I realize that I may not be eligible to win the photo contest and that is okay. But B deserves huge kudos for snapping this very special moment between me and my sweet boy. It is one of my most favorite photos of us and a rare moment in which he is actually sleeping on me. The original photo is in black and white and I only made a few adjustments to soften the photo even more.

Check out all the other great photos below:

i heart faces-pets

>

This weeks challenge theme is pets. It was barely 10* outside and Tulo cannot stand being outside when it's cold. Except when he's running with Butte. Captured this photo mid-sprint and you cannot even tell that he hates how cold it is. Here is his profile:

• Greyhound (99% purebred)
• Never raced
• Adopted at 10 weeks old 
• Weighs ~65lbs
• Height ~3ft from floor to top of front shoulders
• DOB August 14, 2007
• Named after Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies Short Stop
• Nicknames (mostly given and said by me): TT, T-Tons, T-Dog, T-Payne, Pooplo, TT-Peepee Pants
• Loves: 
• snuggling
• car rides
• running (as you can see!)
• playing with Butte
• giving Logan kisses
• laying in bed with us under the covers
• special chewy treats
• baseballs (no joke-it's the only ball he will play with and he can strip the leather off in no time)
• Hates:
• being left alone
• laying on the floor
• getting hurt (HUGE baby)
• water/baths (unless Butte is there to help encourage him, he will not get into the water)
• when he does something bad and gets into trouble
• being cold and/or wet from rain or snow (although the above photo proves that he CAN suck it up and have some fun) :)

Check out all the other awesome photos below: