My friend Julie

As I have started to come to the realization that my friend Julie is not coming back I have decided that I want to remember her in a positive light, not in the dark place she was in when tragedy struck. So I am here to remember some of the wonderful memories. For those of you who knew her you may laugh along, for those of you who don't, lets just say you missed out on one of the most wonderful woman I have ever met. Tears are streaming down my face as I write this but I have to have some way to remember and I welcome any other memories anyone else wants to share on here. RIP Julie 5/30/12.

Bunco party at Jodi's house, all the ER girls

When I walked into work the first time that Julie was working in the ER at General Hospital I can still hear in my head the first thing she said to me. "Your Greg's daughter? Wow you are a lot prettier than I thought you would be...hahaha (picture Julie laughing here and you will know she was completely serious, you may also be laughing because her laugh was completely contagious)! She took me under her wing after this comment and taught me all I could learn in the short amount of time that I worked with her. I looked up to her as someone I strived to be in life. I just loved how smart she was and how successful she was and I was inspired by the fact that she believed  in me as much as she did. She would always tell me that I was smarter than her at my age and that if I wanted to be a nurse practitioner than I should just do it now and get school out of the way. She supported me in everything I did and encouraged me to better myself.

I will never forget the first code blue that was called overhead while I was working with her, and just remember I was only a nurse for about a week at this time. It was called to the CT room and she literally had to push me through the doors, shuffling her feet behind me. First off I didn't know where the CT room was yet and second off she made everything such an adventure, I couldn't get over her enthusiasm for all things challenging. Thankfully it was a false alarm and we laughed the rest of the day about me really running around aimlessly frightened!

Kill and Grill at Underhill's house, playing with Brad's bird!

I will never forget the time that she showed up at my house when I was so sick with strep throat. Of course I was totally stubborn so I wasn't going to go see a doctor and my temperature was so high. Her and Jeff just made me take some Tylenol and she made me come in to pediatrics (where she was working with Kay Henderson doing her Masters and I worked with Kay as her nurse) and get a strep screen and antibiotics. She really took care of me when she knew that I was miserable. I also loved working as her nurse when she was working with Kay in pediatrics. She just had confidence in me and didn't treat me any differently than she normally did, it felt like she respected me and that was refreshing to experience. The 3 of us had fun that day working together.


We had the best times outside of work also. Boating with most of the girls from the ER and their husbands. It was one of the best days I can remember with her. We tubed and drank and laughed all day long. We had fun teasing Jeff that none of the life jackets fit over his belly and we laughed at some inappropriate humor (although Gregg missed it every time, everyone who was there knows what I mean!) We always talked about doing that again but as time went by and life got in the way it never happened again. If we every go out to the river as a group again I'm sure it will not be the same.I remember Jeff's 50th birthday party at their house. It was so much fun just hanging out and opening funny presents, of course talking about stories from the ER.

I will never forget one of my bachelorette parties, in particular the one that my co-workers took me too. Yep ChipNDales in the Tri Cities. We carpooled up and had a blast, basically laughing at the men onstage. Needless to say we didn't think that they were sexy, we treated it as a comedy more than anything. So much fun. And then she also came to my Walla Walla bachelorette party. I can honestly say she was one of the friends that truly tried to show up to everything that she could to support me and what I was doing even if she knew that she wouldn't know anyone there. It meant the world to me. The same thing happened when she came to my work baby shower. She made me the most snugly blanket for Riley and made time between her two jobs even though she didn't work there anymore to come see and support me.

I have to force myself to remember the good times and how much fun we had together because if I go the other direction it is too painful to think about. I am devastated that I won't ever see her again, I am devastated for her family and friends and I really can't imagine knowing that she isn't there anymore. I feel as though I didn't take enough advantage of the time that I had with her but I am grateful for every moment that I did spend with her. As time goes by and hopefully while my memory of her is still strong I will try to revisit this post and post more stories of our time together, I just don't want to forget anything and I know that is impossible.

Patrick and Julie at our wedding!

Out dancing with all the girls

6 Month Checkup

Riley is getting so big. She had her 6 month checkup with Dr. Wren today. She weighed 16 pounds 2 oz which is in the 51st percentile and 26.25 inches which is in the 67th percentile! She unfortunately had to get 3 shots though and she was flexing so bad that one of her legs bruised poor girl. She was a trooper though and fell fast asleep and then did fairly well for my brother and sister all day while I was at work.

Last night she ended up sleeping 10 hours straight, which was great for me because I had an unusually hard day at work and then came home to just stress about feedings for Rile.yWe have been thinking about changing to formula, this is such a hard decision for me but it is becoming very hard working full time and trying to keep up on feedings, especially when I don't necessarily get breaks everyday if it is busy.

Usually the next day is the worse for fussiness after shots but today she has just been so lovey. She just feel asleep on my lap snuggling for her morning nap. Those are totally the moments I live for I wish she would do that every day. It makes all the hard times and hard decisions worth it!

We have tried giving Riley a sippy cup but she wasn't really taking it very well, she would much rather just drink her water out of a cup. It is hilarious watching her though, she loves water. I guess she loves just about anything with taste right now.

Memorial Day Weekend

We got so much done this weekend it was so wonderful. Patrick was home all weekend and Riley was just the biggest sweetheart which made my week wonderful. The next two weeks are going to be pretty hectic with lots planned so it was kind of nice to lounge around the house and relax a bit!

I had the best treat to get to go to Patrick's grandparents house and was given a lot of sewing things. I only wish Grandma Marj was around to teach me more about everything she did as far as crafts. Her craft room was amazing and rummaging through everything was so fun. She had hundreds of zippers, buttons, fabric, elastic, and thread. I definitely wont have to go shopping for all those little items that you hate buying for quite a while. Although I wasn't able to take home everything I would have liked to I was able to take home some great items and hopefully I will get to put them to great use shortly! I am looking forward to the day where I have my very own craft room where I can store tons of those items! Grandpa Bill was in a pretty good mood this day which was kind of surprising because he just had a doctor's appointment and it looks like he may end up living in a nursing home. It is hard to see his good days one day and then just hear about the horrible days the next. I'm sure it is frustrating for him as well. I took the opportunity for a photo op with Riley and Grandma Kay though!

Riley did give me some time to work on my quilt this weekend, I have started piecing it all together so it shouldn't be much longer. I am just hoping that I didn't mess it up too bad with my amateur cutting skills! She loves watching me sew and cook but this happiness doesn't last forever, usually only for about 20-30 minutes max at a time so I make the most of it!

We spent a lot of time at Nana and Papa's house this weekend. I helped my mom clean out a room to get ready for THE MASSIVE YARDSALE, date unknown. We did get the one room done and have quite a collection started for stuff to sell/give away and the baby/craft room is starting to look a bit more organized finally. This is Riley hanging out with Aunt Miranda while we cleaned. It was also my mom and dad's 29th wedding anniversary and we went out to dinner with them, how romantic for them huh!  

Another great thing that Patrick and I got to do today was finally, after 3 very long years, I finally saw the one and only Mustang that has been sitting in my garage under a cover. I had never seen it out of the garage since we got together so today Patrick decided to get it out to take me for a drive. He got it started and washed it and we headed over to my parents house to drop Riley off so we could go out driving but we got about 2 blocks away and when he turned on the radio it died. The battery just died. Needless to say he got it started enough to get back home but I never did get to drive in the car, I didn't sit in the car, I did however get to follow the car for 2 blocks...hey it's a start right?!?! I have a feeling that now that he got started he is going to replace the battery, brakes and get it licensed and maybe on our anniversary which is coming up he will take me for a drive, only time will tell!

What I am looking forward to this next weekend is the Farm Chicks show with my cousin, aunt, and mom in Spokane! I can't wait to spend the weekend with my other cousins in their new house and maybe do a little shopping! Also Patrick's step sister is graduating from high school and I unfortunately have to miss that but I am proud of her and hopeful for her future as a nurse!

6 Months Old Today!!!

So Riley is 6 months old, I can not believe how fast the time went by and in all honesty it makes me very sad. Although every day that comes along I look at Riley and think, this is my favorite age and it just keeps getting better. She is trying so hard to crawl but usually she gets in the perfect position and then just scoots around or reaches until she gets what she wants. It is adorable. She is a wonderful eater and she does really well in public so I have no complaints. I just can't imagine life without her and I thank God for my life everyday! Here are a couple of pictures in the last couple of days I am going to share with you!

Might be my favorite picture to date, the two loves of my life!

Flirting with daddy!

Riley already being 6 months old just makes me feel like I have to start planning her birthday party because time flew by so fast I don't think I will have enough time, and because I'm a total planner. I can't wait to see what she has in store for me in the future!

Diaper and Wipe Clutch

So I was on a mission last week to find the perfect fabric to make a diaper and wipe clutch. I had seen some on etsy but of course wanted to make my own. So my friend Lori and I set out for Lori and Mel's day of fun! First we went to Stash which is the cutest little fabric store downtown. I didn't see exactly what I wanted there but I did get inspired to make my first quilt, that is another story all together. Then we went to Joann's, I had to pick up some fabric for some baby blankets and I found a cute fabric there to use for my diaper and wipe clutch.

I didn't have a pattern and even if I did I'm not sure I would know how to read it but I managed and it turned out fine, I think the second one, if I ever get around to making it will be a little more finished! 

What you need:

2 different type of fabric. I used light yellow minky dot fabric for inside and a vintage looking bird cotton fabric from Joann's.

Interfacing

Decorative button

Velcro

Matching thread

Step 1: Start by cutting the size of fabric you want. I cut both fabrics 14" by 11.5". Cut the interfacing the same size.

Step 2: Iron on the interfacing to the bird fabric, I didn't do it to the dot fabric because then the dots will stick to the interfacing and not stick up and be cute.

Step 3: I wanted to make the strap first before sewing the bag so I knew how big to leave the opening. I took a piece of interfacing the size that I wanted the strap to be and ironed it on to a piece of bird fabric, leaving one side just slightly wider than the other. I stitched both ends of the strap.

Step 4: I then brought the fabric in the middle to meet and folded the slightly longer side under so that it would look more finished. I stitched right on the fold all the way down the middle.

Step 5: I then placed the two fabrics with the right sides facing each other as shown in the photo and stitched around the outside with a 1/2" allowance leaving an opening where I want to place the strap. When I was done I pulled the fabric through so it was all facing the right way.

Step 5: The pockets inside, In hindsight I should have sewn the pockets on before sewing the two main fabrics together so that it looked a little more finished but I didn't, so live and learn I guess! I just pinned where I wanted the bottom of the pocket to be on both sides of the clutch.

 Step 6: I pinned and stitched all the way around the pocket before without actually attaching it to the main clutch. The good thing about this fabric was that it is stretchy so it will fit my diapers or my wipe case. I know this is messy but the project was a little messy for me too!

Step 7: This is where I went and did a top stitch. all the way wround the outside of the bird fabric (you can see the pocket is sticking out and not top stitched until this point. It gets a little tricky because you have to get the strap inside where the opening is, you have to make sure the pockets are in the right place and it can get pretty thick but it is manageable.

Step 8: You then need to have some sort of way to keep the clutch closed. I really wanted a magnet closure and bought two different kinds but neither of them worked so like all the other projects if all else fails use velcro and add a cute button. Just make sure when you are sewing it on that you don't get the pocket dewn shut, since the dot fabric is stretchy it was easy to get out of the way when I sewed it on the machine. Also when I sewed the button on I was sure to sew around the edge of the velcro so you couldn't see all the thread. And voila, you are finished and ready to change your baby's diaper anywhere now, if only it was that simple!

No Turning Back

So I started reading this book after reading the Hunger Games because it was free on my Kindle, a little bit of a change huh. I started out reading it and all I could think was that it was such a simply written book, very juvinille with lots of romance, and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to put it down but I couldn't because I had to find out who killed who and who would end up dating the main character. All in all I wouldn't say this was even remotely the best book that I have read but it also wasn't the worst and it sucked me in so bad that I kind of want to read the second one now, ugh what did I get myself into?!?! So on a scale of 1-10 I would give this a 6 as far as peaking my interest, afterall I did finish it in 2 weeks, which is kind of a big deal when looking at my schedule and obligations at home.

Work Week Craziness

So it has been another busy week in the works at our house. Aside from working the last three days before that I took a day trip to Tri-Cities to see my best friend and her fiancee and help a little with wedding stuff. Of course I had to go on a little shopping spree at Hobby Lobby and Target as well, OK lets face it I spent more than Andrea did! All in all it was fun though and Riley did excellent!

However Riley hasn't been feeling well lately, yep turns out she is constipated. All those foods finally caught up to her and we are currently trying to resolve the problem, sorry in advance for sharing this Riley! This morning though we got to try squash, and like usual she loved it. I have yet to find a food that she does not like at this point.

Playing with Uncle Tanner

Work has been slammed again this week. Probably the most interesting case was a finger amputation. Interestingly enough we just got a plastic surgeon in that specializes in hands and ever since he moved here we have kept him quite busy. I feel like I never saw a hand problem before but just in the last 2 weeks I have seen two finger amputations. It made me a bit queasy but I managed to get through it without barfing! My last day was the worst. I had a cold which I feel like slowed me down a bit and then we were so busy that I couldn't get a lunch or a break so thankfully after a very hard week I have my evaluation today and will hopefully be getting a raise!

1st Mother's Day

I seriously can not get enough of my daughter and her cuteness. There are a few pictures, OK maybe a bit of a picture overload, from this week and I can't help but smile and thank God for my life, despite how tired I constantly am and the lack of time to myself I have, I wouldn't change my life for the world!

Bib from Aunt Megan

 Riley had pears for the 1st time this week. She LOVED them, like the most she loves anything. I fed them to her cold since it was a hot day and she couldn't get enough of them. She ended up eating half of the pear in one sitting and had the other half the next morning, waiting for the diaper that she is going to produce is making me quite anxious.

1st time eating pears

So sleepy she had to rest on her soft ball.

This is one of the first times that I have had this weekend off from work and thankfully it is a wonderful weekend. The hot air balloons are up in the morning and gorgeous and Riley and I have been taking lots of walks all around town.

Patrick took me to eat sushi last night which I have craved since day one of being pregnant over a year ago and have only had it twice since not being pregnant, oh it was so delicious. We went and got a bottle of wine and The Vow to watch at home and I ended up getting a much deserved, in my mind, massage! And of course Patrick couldn't leave it at that he had to surprise me with a present. Ever since I gave birth I have been teasing him about getting me a push present but was actually kind of serious about it, that was hard work labor! He told me right after I gave birth that I deserve any piece of jewelry I want and I said I want a plain band to wear to work so I don't have to wear my diamond, knowing my luck my diamond would get loose and fall out in someones poo or something silly like that. However 5 months have gone by and still no push present. Well he got me a band last night and it isn't plain it has 11 small inset diamonds in it that we will eventually replace with the birthstones of the family! Isn't my husband wonderful, sorry brag moment!!!

Last night was not all fun and games however. Riley had a rough night as far as sleep went. I was up A LOT last night with Riley. Luckily I did end up getting about 4 hours of sleep when Patrick took her in the morning and fed her some more pears of course while making me my favorite french toast breakfast! I then got to work on my quilt a little bit while sitting outside enjoying soaking up the sun with my family. Then we went to my parents house were the guys made us all dinner including Patrick's mom Kay was there! It was a perfectly relaxing day and I can't wait for what next year has to bring!

Riley and I on my 1st mothers day, couldn't be more blessed despite Riley's serious look!

Kay, myself, Riley, Jeanine, all the mom's together!

My mom feeding Riley for the first time, Riley eating zucchini and bananas for the first time!

Last night was not all fun and games however. Riley had a rough night as far as sleep went. I was up A LOT last night with Riley. Luckily I did end up getting about 4 hours of sleep when Patrick took her in the morning and fed her some more pears of course while making me my favorite french toast breakfast! I then got to work on my quilt a little bit while sitting outside enjoying soaking up the sun with my family. Then we went to my parents house were the guys made us all dinner including Patrick's mom Kay was there! It was a perfectly relaxing day and I can't wait for what next year has to bring!