Home Improvement: our Office

 My office WAS a MESS. Seriously. It was a disaster and since I hadn't taken the time to get settled it was becoming a dumping ground fast. With school coming up I HAD to do something about the mess, so I took to the internet for inspiration and then took to my office space to take over.

In my before photo I had already started the makeover by adding the clipboards. Our living room decor is all in U of U stuff, and with our office being a part of the living room, I wanted to add that theme to it.

Since it was near impossible to find U of U scrapbook paper to cover the clipboards in, I actually used folders. After having them up, I found it was actually really useful, because then I can store stuff INSIDE of them and no one will ever know!

Then there was UNDER the desk. GAG. You all know how that goes, a million cords, wires, the works, and you really can't do much with it. I HAD to fix it.

In the after photos, I got a new lamp FREE of all the "storage space" that college lamps come with now. I found two small buckets for pens and markers (the silver one from Ikea, the red one from Target) and cleared the desk, leaving a LOT of room for books, my laptop, and notebooks.

In the second after photo, I had to jerry-rig it, but I came up with a way to get the cords out of my feet while I'm working at the desk. I put them up, and then zip tied them into a bundle and tucked them against the wall. To create the basket I had to go to Wal-Mart and buy a small basket. Bubba installed four hooks to hang them from, making it easy to slide in and out if I wanted to add or take out a wire. For easier access, I cut the slats in the basket facing the opposite wall and flipped the extension cord sideways. It took some effort, but I can totally tell the difference. My chair isn't getting caught on cords, my feet aren't drowning in them, I LOVE IT.

Home Improvements: Bedroom photos

Lets be honest. We've been in our town home for almost a month now. It's really time to get unpacked and settled. I spent some time this week getting things unpacked and asked husband to get to hanging up the photos in our bedroom. 

I was too big of a pansy to do a "real" gallery wall, but I did a "mock" one, and I LOVE it! Almost all of our frames are black anyways so I can build onto it should I get daring later in life. I love our photos, and since they weren't in the same rooms before, I know some of them are duplicates, which means I can take or get new photos to hang up in their place. 

This next one is VERY special to me. Ever since I hung up the Proclamation to the family in our old apartment, I wanted to add a very nice family photo to go with it. The first group of family photos we did in March, Brayden was too little and after we did our new ones this month I KNEW I had to use one of those. I love that I can see both at the same time.  

There you have it. A few small photos from our new bedroom. More to come once it gets perfect! 

Seasoned Shrimp

This recipe is one my husband actually did after HE (yes, he) found it on Pinterest. Let me start by telling you a secret to Pinterest. Once a week I let Bubba look through all the "Food and Drink" pins for about an hour and "like" all the ones that he thinks look tasty. Then during the week I try out a recipe or two that worked. This is one of those recipes, but he ended up cooking it, not me. 

What you need:

Shrimp.
Lemons/Lemon juice
1 stick butter
Italian Seasons seasoning packet.

Melt butter, add lemon juice and shrimp. Cover in seasoning and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. It is seriously THAT easy. 

How to make a mock-Wendy's Frosty - Hospital Style

Believe it or not, in every unit of the hospital, there is someone who knows how to make good food, with the crappy ingredients the hospitals provide. Luckily for me, after a few shifts in Bone Marrow Transplant, Chemotherapy and Med/Surg (CF specialty), I'm that person.

So, when you're loved one or yourself is in the hospital and hankering for a frosty, here is the recipe;

1 Chocolate Ice Cream Cup
1 Vanilla Ice Cream Cup

Let sit for about 5-10 minutes, until soft. Place in a sturdy cup (plastic is best, Styrofoam breaks too easily!) and stir very well until blended. Add milk if the ice cream isn't soft enough, it'll help melt it and blend better. Then... ENJOY! It is REALLY that easy!

I made these nightly for my patients and to this day I get approached by patients that recognize me at the grocery store that tell me that made their stay that much better! Don't convince yourself that hospital food sucks, you can make it great!

My Angry Tumor: How I healed myself.

I was four months pregnant and crying on the floor of an empty patient room. My boss hovered over me, scolding me about my behavior and about how I should be better, blah, blah, blah. She wasn't there, she had no idea how stupid this whole mess was, but there I was, acting guilty and sobbing. 

A nurse from another unit had asked me to take her patient outside so she could go back to her unit and I quote "put her feet up." I was pregnant, had food in my hands and mouth and hadn't eaten all day, so I told her "no, I'm eating." This caused her to loose her mind, leave her patient sitting there and run to my managers office so she could gripe about me. I took care of her patient and to this day the same thought still crosses my mind, "How petty."

That afternoon I was told I may loose my job because of this. I was dumbfounded. Never before had I ever told anyone no. I had never had an outburst at work, never done anything to warrant that threat. So in a desperate attempt, I signed up for counseling.

A few days later I was sitting in a cold counselors office. The window was open, the AC on too high and the July air did nothing to help. The smell of cigarettes from three floors down wafted up and into the room and I sat quietly, trying to read into what she was saying and just get through this and get back to my life.

But something else happened.

"What are your goals with counseling?" She asked, studying me. After a few moments I came across a few goals I genuinely wanted to fix.

"I want to be less angry. I want to be able to tolerate people. I want to be happier."

The thing about counseling is, that I'm a medical professional. Aside from my religion, I believe only in science, so the theory of counseling and therapy seemed wacky to me. Seemed almost like a hoax. People claimed they were healed, but maybe all they needed were people to talk to. I had friends. I had family. I could talk to them.

"Have you ever heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs?" She asked, leaning into me. Damnit. She was using medicine to talk to me. I nodded. and listened as she spoke to me. "Dani, you're not an angry person, I can tell that by talking to you. You're angry at the moment because you're missing something from the pyramid. We just need to find out what is missing."


I was confused, but understood. I was thinking, my mind reeling. What could possibly be missing?


"So what do I do?" I asked.


"Find the problem. Heal it. Or rip open the wound and let it heal itself. Whatever is best for your situation."


It was so obvious it was painful, the secrets I had to keep for my father, the drunks in my life, the drama with my family (in-law and biological). The health issues that surrounded everyone and there I was, not doing a damn thing to take care of myself or my unborn child. Here I was, being put on bed rest at only 16 weeks, and not giving a crap about myself or my unborn baby. 


There isn't a manual on how to break so many hearts at once. On what to do when your life kicks your butt so fast and so hard. There isn't a nice way to tell someone that their spouse had an affair, or that the person they love is an alcoholic. But that is exactly what I did, and something amazing happened. During all that crap, the "throwing the dynamite into the fish pond" so to speak, something amazing happened.

I took everyone else's problems and tossed it away. I focused on myself, on my baby.

And since then I've continued to do it, and haven't been angry since. I've healed myself, and bettered my life. And I hope that by writing this, that someone, somewhere will read this and make their life that much better too. Being "healed," getting rid of my metaphorical tumor, my life is so much better on so many levels.

Breakfast Quesadillas

Sunday mornings I make breakfast, but the usual routine was getting a little old. You can only make pancakes, eggs and bacon so many times. So today I wanted to share with you my breakfast recipe that hubs and I both loved! Breakfast Quesadillas!

What you'll need:
Tortillas
Eggs (about 2 per quesadilla)
Cheese
Green peppers
Tomatoes
Black Olives

How to do it:
Scramble eggs in a small frying pan, add your olives, green peppers and tomatoes. Once cooked, place tortillas onto a quesadilla maker (we got ours at Target for less than $15), add eggs and cheese and cook! This takes less than ten minutes to make and is really tasty! Plus, you can have veggies with your breakfast - perfect if you're trying to eat better!

Our Week in Photos

Okay, so technically it's been two weeks in photos, but when you've got a super busy schedule, errands and a sick baby, you kind of forget to take photos! That being said - its been a crazy two weeks! 

First row - when I took Brayden to the pediatrician we saw the COD MW3 Jeep there. The irony is, that is all I played while I was pregnant with the little dude and on bedrest, so not only did I find it amusing,  I found I HAD to take photos! Last photo is of daddy and little man snoozing. So sweet - both of em!

Middle row - Sunrise on my commute to work, look at that fire red sky! Little man can now sit up all on his own! He just started doing it - no practice! Last photo is little mans face as I'm taking photos of him sitting up all on his own. I'm sure he's wondering what all the hubub is about!

Last row - He can now also hold his bottle on his own...but being a boy...he's found other ways to eat on his own (see middle photo). Silly baby! Last photo, he can now also ROLL OVER! (he did it for the first time to get to his bottle, and not just back to stomach, it was back, stomach, back and then to bottle!) 

Yep, in two weeks we've mastered holding our own bottle, sitting up on our own and rolling over like a madman. Told ya it was busy. 

What have you been up to these last few weeks? Share below!