Fall in New England

I LOVE FALL!! It is my absolute favorite time of the year! The leaves are changing -- and the are just beautiful this year, it is cool and crisp outside (just cool enough for a sweater), and of course there is the apple picking and all of the festivities that go alone with that!

Well today we headed to the Applecrest for a beautiful afternoon of apple picking. It was a great family outing and it wasn't too busy, so the kids got to run around and of course pick apples!!

It was a blast, and a miracle happened..... I got all three kids to sit next to each other, look in almost the same direction, and smile!!

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!

10 Things I Never Thought I'd Say...

10. Aidan we do not use our sister's as chairs...
9. Our underpants go on our legs, not our head...
8. If Mommy doesn't give it to you on a plate it does not go in your mouth...
7. Aidan, the walls are for looking at, not for writing on....
6. Cora get your feet out of your mouth...
5. Kids Ketchup is for eating, not for painting...
4. Aidan, we don't pee on Haylee...
3. Haylee, we don't color the van with chalk, only the ground...
2. Haylee we do not pick other people's noses...
1. Cora, we don't suck our toes at the table...

What are somethings you never thought you would say?

I got a 94.29% People!!

So my first month of Nursing school is over -- and I survived!! I can't believe how much we have crammed into 1 month! Let's see.... we have mastered the art of taking vital signs, we have learned how to do head to toe assessments, we have learned about our legal responsibilities, we have learned about our ethical obligations, and we have actually started to do clinical rotations!!

As for the clinical rotations -- I am currently assigned to a Long-Term care facility... otherwise known as a nursing home. And in the 2 weeks that I have been there I have learned two VERY important things:

1 - I do not no matter how desperate I ever get for a job, want to work in long-term care.

2 - Under no circumstances will any member of my family ever move into a long=term care facility!

No those may not seem like big things to you -- but they are big to me! I really do not like this place. They treat the residents like they are toddlers -- the residents are dictated their schedule each day (told when to get up, what, when , and where they can eat, they all have to wear diapers to bed, etc...). I will be glad when I am done with this round and I move onto the hospital!!

The other thing that happened this month was that we had our first exam in my nursing class. And I got a 94.29!!! Whoa hoo!!! I think this is a great way to start off the semester don't you??

Frustrated!!

So I was happily going along trying to clean the house this morning, when the door bell rang. So I go answer the door and there are 2 gentlemen who want to discuss religion with me. Now I was tempted to just shut the door and go about my day, but I thought about my brother who is finishing up a religious mission in Nevada -- so I opted to listen to what they had to say.

So I let them speak. In the process of their speech they would periodically ask me a question -- now here is why I am frustrated -- as I would attempt to answer their question they would cut me off and not listen to what I had to say!!! Now, I try to respect everyone and listen to every one's opinion -- the LEAST these gentlemen could have done was listen to my opinion and my answers before telling me I was wrong..... and they did tell me I was wrong over and over again! I listened to these gentlemen for almost 15 minutes! For me that is a long time, I'm a busy person....

If they were trying to get me to convert to their beliefs they went about it the entirely wrong way! Insulting me, telling me I am wrong, and not respecting my opinion will NEVER get me to believe in what you are saying!!

OK, now I feel better -- time to go back to cleaning and homework....

Just Surviving...

So I know I haven't written in almost two weeks, but a lot is going on and I am in survival mode! I don't think I can do one more thing if I tried -- so I am sorry my dear blog... I promise that from here on out I will try my hardest to write daily, well maybe weekly, actually monthly, Oh I don't know.... I'll write when I can!

For know here is a run down of of what has been going on the past few weeks...
-> School Started -- so I have survived my first few weeks of school. It has been going alright, I am still a little overwhelmed but I am hoping that that will pass soon.
-> I have been in touch with one of my sisters. Jessica and I have been swapping e-mails back and forth. It was the highlight of my year to hear from here and to get back into contact with her!
-> I have been working. I love my job, it is so much fun to work with Student Activities, and since it is the begining of the semester we have had a few activities for the students that have been a great success.
-> I have a new title at work. I have been named the Presidential Student Ambassador Student Coordinator for the PSA program at school. I am excited to be working with the program since I had a great time as a PSA.
-> I have also joined the Student Senate. I wasn't going to but I miss being involved in student government and there are some issued on campus that I would like to be involved in addressing.
-> We are trying to buy another car. Now normally I wouldn't think that this would be a big deal, but since the banking industry has gone down the tubes over the past few weeks, buying a new car has become an interesting and frusteratingly long process -- with any luck this will be completed this comming week.
-> I also have a couple of friends getting married in the next 2 weeks so I have had to try and find outfits to wear to the weddings -- and let's just say that shopping is not necessarily my favorite thing to do!
-> Homework.....I know I already talked about school, but I feel that homework needs its own category! I have had no less than 300-400 pages of reading to do each week along with other assignments for my nursing class. I am not used to having THIS much work -- so it has been a big adjustment.
-> And let's not forget that I am a Mom and I have 3 kids that need attention also!

So, it has been busy. I am trying to handle all of this as best I can! I will try to keep the blog updated as best I can, but I make no promises!

Yummy Stuffed Zucchini

So I volunteered to make dinner for a family in my ward, but I had no idea what to make. So a few days before I opened the refrigerator to see what I had and then dived into my numerous cookbooks.

I had been given a ton of zucchini so I started with the "Cooking with Zucchini" cookbook that my grandmother gave me that was published in 1977! In that book I found a recipe for stuffed zucchini that sounded yummy -- so I took that recipe and adapted it to what I had in the house and the outcome was fabulous! So I thought I would share my adapted version of this recipe...

Stuffed Zucchini
3-4 medium or 2-3 large zucchinis halved lengthwise
1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 large onion chopped
1 lb. fresh mushrooms chopped
4 drops of hot sauce
Salt & Pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 jar spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup diced sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup diced string cheese (I know this is odd, but it is what I had!)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Parboil zucchini in salted water for about 5minutes and drain. Scoop out and reserve the pulp leaving 1/2 to create the shell. Chop reserved pulp and set aside.

Brown meat in skillet. Add onion and mushrooms and cook until brown and tender. Keep cooking until all of the liquid cooks off.

To the meat ad the zucchini pulp, hot sauce, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and spaghetti sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add cheddar and string cheese and mix, the cheese does not have to melt.

Spoon the mixture into the shells and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy! Everyone who tried this thought it was great! So try it!

Happy Labor Day!

We decided to embrace the beautiful day and take the kids fishing when Jesse got home from work tonight...

After about 5 minutes it escalated to this....

And that quickly spiraled into this....

In the end we all had a great time! The kids got to go swimming in their clothes -- I wasn't prepared....again... Jesse got to go fishing, and I got to just sit and enjoy the peacefulness of the lake! It was a GREAT afternoon!!