February Goals

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions but setting goals throughout the year, yup I can handle that. I didn't make any goals for January because I was busy working on finishing up some school business and trying to find a job. All of which are complete.

Yup, got a job. I will be working on med/surg floor in a local hospital. It wasn't the hospital I wanted to work at first but God works in mysterious ways and well who am I to question His will? I've always said that God will place me where he feels I should be. I'm just riding the wave. I'm cool with that plus I finally get to buy any type of scrubs I want. I've been wearing an all white uniform for the past 2 years. I call it the marshmallow suit. No, I'm not sharing pics because I never took a pic in them. Lol. 

Now onto these goals. I was inspired by Little Lovelies by Allison blog post about her 2013 Monthly goals. She was able to accomplish them all. So awesome. 

So I've learned a few thing about goals using SMART goals. We used them in nursing school for patient care goals. They can be used for any goal setting so don't worry. 

Specific: what is it that you want to do? 

Measurable: Put a number on it. How many are you going to do of that specific task? 

Attainable: How will you do it? How are you going to do it? 

Relevant: Can it be done? Is it worth being done? 

Time-Bound: How long will it take to accomplish this goal? When will it be completed by? 

For a patient that is in the hospital we use these goals all the time. Such as The patient will walk in the hallway (Smart) three times (measurable) with assistance (attainable) by the end of the day (time-bound). The goal is relevant. In the hospital we are always working towards independence and getting patients moving. Obviously, if the patient were bed bound this would not be relevant. 

Okay, I'm sure you are done with me being a nerd. Lol. 

My February Goals

1. Study NCLEX material everyday for 5 hours.  I will be taking my boards at the end of the month, this is  my most important goal of February.

2. Go to the gym 4 days a week. I've been sick all week and haven't went in over a week. I'm going to regret it when I go back. 

3. Run 10 miles on the treadmill by the end of the month. I walk a lot but not run. I will be running a 5K in the spring with my nursing school friends. Time to get training. 

4. Do one sewing project by the end of the month. I am dying to do some crafting. Feel guilty because I should be studying. 

5. Spend money on only food, bills and essentials for the month of February. My husband and I made a goal to not spend any money in February that wasn't necessary. We need to pay down some bills.  We want to see how it goes so that we can make bigger impact on decreasing our debt. 

6. Reduce time on the internet to one hour a day by the end of February. I spend way to much time on the internet, specifically Pinterest. 

7. Write two blog posts in the month of February (not including this post). I wish it were more but due to Goal #1 it has to remain small. 

So I think these goals are attainable and can be done. I'll let you all know how they go. Do you make monthly goals? Any tips on any of these goals would be appreciated. Please share! 

 Have a wonderful weekend!! 

Jess

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Stuffed Green Bell Pepper Recipe

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a recipe with you.  Last night I made my hubby and I a treat since we are starting our 3 day detox by juicing today.  No solid foods for 3 whole days. EEK!!

Anyway, the stuffed peppers were a hit with my husband. We each had one and couldn't even finish it. I'm saving the other 2 stuffed peppers for a later time by freezing them. This is a great recipe for all those great green peppers that are harvested from the garden. The stuffed peppers freeze well and can be put in a lunch box to defrost for lunch (You would have to microwave to warm up obviously).

 Green Bell Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients: 

• 4 big green bell peppers
• 1 pound of chopped beef or chopped turkey
• 2 cups of Instant Rice (Or whatever rice you would like. I used Minute Rice because of time and laziness)
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese or bread crumbs to sprinkle on top. I used cheese. 
• You'll need a frying pan and a baking dish.

Recipe: Make rice and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean pepper and cut across the top of the pepper (Do not throw away top). Remove seeds from pepper.  With the top of the pepper remove the stem and chop up the remaining part of the top of the pepper. Chop up an onion.  Saute chopped pepper and chopped onion until soft. Add in chopped meat and stir together until chopped meat is browned. Add 3/4 of a can of crushed tomato to pan along with the rice. Season with salt and pepper. Saute and stir for 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat. Take remaining 1/4 of crushed tomato and spread on the bottom of the baking pan. Fill up peppers to the top with the meat and rice.  Sprinkle cheese or bread crumbs on top.  Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy!! 

To Freeze: Place peppers on a baking sheet and put in freezer. When peppers are frozen put peppers into freezer bag to store in freezer.

Hope you try them out. They were so delicious and filling. Any questions please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Have a great week,

Jess

 

Working on me.

My stinky sneakers.

You might be wondering why I would post a picture of my sneakers, right? Well, I made a decision to work on me after nursing school. I want to take care of me. I gained some weight while in nursing school but I was overweight to begin with so I can't blame being overweight and unhealthy on nursing school.

Still going with the change mantra for 2013! This pic can be purchased on etsy here.

I have been slowly incorporating a veggies and fruits into my diet. I go to the gym everyday with my daughter (love her because she gives me dirty looks when I complain). My body is in tons of pain. I'm having a love/hate relationship with the pain and the gym. I know that in order for my body to become strong I will have to endure some pain. I love those endorphin's! I feel so energized and my mood is pleasant. My husband loves it. LOL.  I've actually been following a lot of workout plans that are found on Pinterest. Check out my workout board here. I have been doing a lot of exercises I have not done in the past. I am getting off of the treadmill and pumping iron with the boys.

 We plan on buying a juicer this week so we can start to juice fruits and veggies. I'm so excited! If I find any tasty recipes I promise to share them. My husband and I watched two interesting movies on Netflix called Hungry for Change and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It was rather interesting to learn about  how food works in our bodies and the importance of eating well and exercise. If you have the opportunity to watch either one or both do so. I have an understanding of most of what was discussed in both movies but my husband who is not a diet nut or a nurse does not.  My husband learned about the dangers of diet soda. No matter how much I tell him that it is not calorie free and really not good for him he had to hear it from someone else. My husband is a diabetic and thinks he can drink diet soda and it won't affect his blood glucose. I think he was in denial for a long time. I pray that he makes a commitment to himself to take care of himself too.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week! 

Jess

Word of the Year 2013

Last year I assigned the word "check" as the word of the year. I felt that 2012 would be a year of checking things off my list of assignments, clinical days, exams and such in order to reach the end nursing school and to graduate with my BSN and become a nurse. I learned early on in the year how to organize my life using a day planner. It helped me to focus on the tasks that needed to be completed and recognize those sneaky little time wasters that cause me to lose track of time. I learned how to study better too by breaking down my time. I would spend hours reading and not take in any information. I learned how to study efficiently and what I really needed to learn. So let's just say, the check system worked for me. I still use it in everyday life. I'm a list maker. I can't help it. I need to do it.

So what is my word for 2013:

Change

Yup, Change, not money change but a life change.   I will be facing a lot of "change" in my life this year. Sometimes "change" is scary but for me, I'm so used to change that I'm quite comfortable with it and am excited of all the "change" that will be coming my way.

 I will be working as a nurse somewhere soon.  It has been my dream to work as a nurse since I was a young child. I'm so thankful to God that he allowed me the opportunity to go back to school and achieve my education and put me on the path to a new career. I don't have a job yet, I don't know where I will work. I will be applying to hospitals after the New Year. I'm leaving it up to God to where he wants me to be. I have followed his path thus far and he has not steered me wrong.

My daughter will be graduating from high school in the spring and leaving for college in the Fall. I won't say that this has not saddened me because it has. My children are my first priority in life. I feel like I breath because they breath. As scared as I am to let my baby leave the nest it that I know I have done the best that I can as a parent. I, was and still am not a perfect parent but I try to teach my children all that they need to know and still allow them to learn their own lessons. I am confident that I raised a smart young woman that will do wonderful things in her life. She makes me proud everyday. I'm so blessed.

 Oh and let's not forget my life changing decision to take care of me. I need to learn to become healthy and accept the thought of taking care of myself since my career will be about taking care of others and when I'm home I take care of my family. My husband and children gave me a gym membership and fitness classes for Christmas.  How will I ever manage all the big and small changes in my life? I have a feeling a lot of prayers will be done.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Many Blessings too!

Jess

Happy New Year!

           Happy New year!

I'm wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year. I hope that you find what you are looking for, rid what holds you down, and find peace in all you do. 

Wishing you many blessings for 2013

Jess

Baking Christmas cookies, there goes my diet

I have been trying to lose some of this unwanted weight I'm carrying. I have decided to lose weight during the Christmas season. Ha! I know better but I'm so tired of being overweight and unhealthy. I have worked on incorporating healthy foods into my diet. So you can only imagine how hard it is when I decided that it was time to make Christmas cookies. I did not go overboard but I did taste test several cookies.

Here is some of the Christmas cookies I baked this holiday season.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies. Recipe found here. These cookies are a hit in  my home. Everyone loves them. Not one cookie is left. 

Okay so these next cookies are dangerously delicious and well are pre-diabetic Paula Deen.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies from Paula Deen. Get the recipe here.  These are my hubby's favorite cookies. 

I made my own family recipes that have been passed down to me by my mother. I think everyone makes these so I don't mind sharing the recipe. 

Thumbprint Cookies (my favorite)

The recipe is super easy and theses cookies are super delicious. You can use any kind of jelly you would like. This year we use Raspberry (seedless), peach, strawberry blackberry, black cherry, and cherry jelly. Here is  my recipe, Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cup (4 sticks) of softened butter
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks (hold onto yolks)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4 cups of flour
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• your choice of jelly, blended smooth
• 1/2 cup Confectionery (powdered) sugar

Baking directions:

Preheat overn to 375 F. Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add flour into mix and beat on medium until all blended together. In a separate bowl beat get white to a loose consistency. Form 1 inch balls of dough and roll into egg whites and then into walnuts. Place on baking sheet. With the back of a spoon or with your thumb press gently into the center of the ball. Fill indentation with jelly. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool. Gently coat with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas! 

Jess

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I have a serious addiction to Pinterest

The big P. Yup, I'm a Pinterest addict. I have over 1,800 pins and 35 boards right now and growing. I can't help it. While I was in nursing school I pinned my little heart away. My daughter and I after the holidays will be doing some (as we call them) Pinterest projects.

My favorite pins right now are Christmas pins and as always food pins. Since it is Christmas I want to share some of my favorite Christmas pins. Feel free to follow me on Pinterest. I love it there, I'm sure you do too.

One of my joys before school was card making. I still have so much  paper. It will be fun to do some card making again in the future. To see more of my Christmas Card pins go click here!

A beautiful Christmas Care made by Dawn Easton, TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com

Along, with all the shopping comes the wrapping. I'm so inspired this year to wrap all the gifts beautifully. I'll probably be the only one to appreciate it but as long as I'm happy, who cares right? To see more gift wrapping pins click here.

Beautiful gift wrapping from Alissa at 33Shadesofgreen@blogspot.com

You have to put those presents under the tree. How about this beauty? 

Yeah, I agree she's beautiful. Check out the blog post on this tree at Moore Mintues,click here.

I'm truly inspired this year to make new stockings for my family. I love these plaid stockings.

You can purchase these beauties at Horchow. 

Must throw in some mantel luv. So many to choose from, so hard to pick just one. 

A great how-to from BHG. Click here for instructions.

How about what is trending this holiday season? 

Reindeer, Chalkboard signs, and Cone shaped decorated trees.

So I can go on and on. Please join the dark side with me on Pinterest if you haven't already. Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest. Let me know and I'll follow you back.

Have a wonderful holiday. 

Jess