In Hiding

To the few of you who had been following my blog, I thought I'd let you in on where I've been hiding.

In December, I graduated from grad school.

Hooding Ceremony

Me, far left, after graduation

Selfie with my baby sister

Now, I am a certified and licensed pediatric nurse practitioner and have been practicing full time for 2 months now.

An early morning at work

Showing off graduation gift (stethoscope) and anniversary gift (4 of these sweet mugs) from the Mr., plus a tiny view of my cozy workspace

During all the craziness of grad school, I finally tipped the scales from an OK weight for my height to being heavier than is healthy.  Unfortunately I didn't realize it until I only had one pair of dress pants that fit and half of my scrubs sat collecting dust after they seemed to become mysteriously too tight, as if overnight.

You may not be able to see it in the above photos, but in them I am 5'6" and 170 pounds, BMI 27.4.

To remedy the situation, I started Weight Watchers in January.  A first it was hard, figuring out the points system.  So most of what I have been cooking hasn't been very shareable, as they are recipes coming straight from other bloggers.  I have lost 8 out of the 35 pounds I need to lose, and am becoming more comfortable with the points system.  In the near future I'm hoping to remake some of my older recipes to be a little healthier, and will include WW points info when I do.

Until then, if you need some yummy recipes and inspiration, hit up my older posts - or for some healthier options, check out some of my favorite blogs where I find healthier recipes! Later I may post some of our "tried it and loved it" WW recipes. Look forward to it! :)

• Iowa Girl Eats (you'll have to figure your own points if doing WW)
• Skinnytaste (we have loved EVERYTHING I have made from here!)
• Living a Changed Life
• Pointless Meals
• Eat Yourself Skinny (some of these recipes are a little bland but its a great jumping off point for learning to cook healthfully)

Here's to being healthy but still being a foodie!

"I'm Back, Jack," with DIY Pacifier Clips!!!

Do you watch Duck Dynasty?? I have a sick love affair with it, and I love it when Si goes, "I'm back, Jack!!"  Hence the title for today's post... :)

So, I've been a little bit MIA lately, mostly due to finishing up loose ends with school and trying to work entirely too many jobs all at once...  but by this time on Friday, I will be officially graduated from nurse practitioner school!!!

WHAT am I going to do with all my newfound free time?!?!

Well, aside from starting a new job... ;)  hopefully more baking, cooking, sewing, and some blogging to show off all my results.

One of my good friends from college is having a baby girl in March, and I wanted to do a little something special for her.  I found several tutorials on Pinterest for pacifier clips (here and here), but ultimately decided to use this one from The Crafty Cupboard.

Beginner seamstresses, never fear!!! This was SO EASY.  I knocked out two pacifier clips in about 10 minutes.  I bought a package of fat quarters so that I would have baby G's nursery colors, but this requires so little fabric that you could easily make this from scraps in your pile, or even old shirts from your giveaway basket.  I have so much fabric left over from my fat quarters that I could easily make 100 more... unfortunately for my crafty little fingers, I don't have that many pregnant women in my life, and I don't think baby G needs a clip for every day of the year.

Here is my finished project.  I'm pretty proud of these :)  Don't you love the added touch of the sparkle ribbon I used? I couldn't resist.

So, hop on over to Melanie's tutorial and make you and everyone you know some of these bad boys!

Hello? Anybody home?

Hey... I'm not dead... Be back soon... Promise.

Pinterest Experiments #3: Removing Glitter Nail Polish

I love glitter.  On everything.  Especially my toes:

While I was babysitting my favorite 8-month-old, I got the bright idea to paint my fingernails this wonderful minty shade after he had fallen asleep for the night. (Essie Turquoise & Caicos)

After I did it, I realized I wanted my toes to match.  And *you know* what happens when you try to take polish off your toes with new, fresh fingers...

Sooo... I asked very sweetly, and the Mr. helped me out.  I decided to try this nifty technique I'd pinned recently:

Did it work? Yup.  This is the Mr. wiping the last bits of polish off after we unwrapped.  Isn’t he sweet?

Finally, clean toes.  (I promise my toenails aren’t really yellow, it’s just the crummy iPhone pic.  Seriously!)

Verdict:  This is a Pinterest trick worth trying. 

 

Linking Up At:

• Sunday Scoop
• Strut your Stuff Saturday
• Think Pink Sunday