peace out swedish.

Wow, after working for nearly 10 years

almost 8 at Swedish...

I quit.

It was something I thought I would never do.

At first it was just a thought/dream.

Then it became a reality.

And the closer it came to my last day, 

the more I wanted it.

A lot of things came into play.

But my number one role in life is to be a mommy and wife.

I feel that being home (as I write this it's been 2 months) has changed me.

I feel like I am more engaged with Hazel and Cameron.

And I actually get to see cameron!

We get the whole entire weekend as a family.

it's been so nice.

Don't get me wrong, I miss working, as in,

getting paid to do what I love. I miss patients, I miss changing lives.

I miss saving lives, I miss helping people pass.

I even miss the crazy parts.

I miss my co-workers especially, and I miss a lot of the doctors.

I miss the camaraderie and the teamwork.

Swedish was my family for nearly 8 years.

(how is it possible that I have been a nurse for 10 years?)

I learned so much.

I definitely left a changed woman.

But I will be back.

Someday.

You can't stay away from ICU. 

me leaving work on my last day.

-

 then move forward a few hours to my going away party.

so many people i love showed up.

it was awesome!

PS: i had laryngitis at this point and barely had a voice...

karma?

 kerri

 nicole & victor

 add in mandy

me and lo

-

-

i don't know how people stay up late and hang out..

i was pooped by 8 (well I had been up since 2am).

Thank you to all who came to wish me well. 

Christmas part 3

 So, we arrived in Plano late Sunday night.

We hung out for a little bit, then had to go to sleep.

We were definitely pooped from traveling, and ready to be in one place

for 5 days.

we woke up, had breakfast, went out for lunch, the boys went to see a movie,

and the girls went to get their nails done :)!

Then the girls came back to nap.

We all had a great day of just relaxing and being with the fam!

The next day, we were headed to the zoo!

we took the DartRail to the Dallas Zoo and it was so so so much fun!

 so, the denver zoo has this bird area where you can feed the birds nectar.

we thought the dallas zoo would be similar.

NO WAY!

the birds land on you and pretty much attack you (in a nice way).

We were all covered from head to toe with birds!

They tried to take my rings & sunglasses... sneaky.

 did i mention i used to be deathly afraid of birds?

i'm better now, but it's still a little scary.

 They also have the most amazing thing ever there...

you can feed the giraffes!!!!
I was ready to spend all my 401K feeding the giraffes,

but Cam made me stop at $20.

they walk right up and take the food

you can pet them and love on them.

the one giraffe that kept eating form us was the only male,

and let's just say he had his own little musky scent. :)

cam and hazel got all rubbed on and had to wash their jackets once we were home!

 life complete: fed a giraffe.

 oh man.... this next picture.

we always made fun of LeaAnn and her doll collection.

just because.

but when we arrived sunday night after travelling...

this was all set up in our room :)

we freaked out!

it was so creepy.

then it became a running joke, and alec set them up hanging from the stairs

so when I got up to pee one night I had a heart attack, and then we set them up for when Blake & Jenny arrived :) it was awesome!

 Christmas morning was fantastic!

Hazel was so much fun!

She could't believe she was getting so many presents!

She got this amazing Cinderella doll that she loves!

 Cam got these awesome jammies that say #1 dad

 We gave David & LeaAnn this Bittermilk Gift Set

and we all got to try it...

let me just say: DELICIOUS!

 Poppy and Hazel

 Me & Claire

 Lili and her 2 granddaughters

 bittermilk mixed drink!

this may have been the tom collins?

 alec and austin

 family photo

 the pies!

I made the crusts which were oh so delicious.

lea ann made the pecan one and it looks much prettier than mine :)

 Hazel & Abbey

they bonded and Hazel wouldn't leave her side

It was a really great trip and we had so much fun.

The day after Christmas we had to head home.

I had to work my last 2 days at Swedish.

christmas part 1 & 2

so, with my schedule & cameron's schedule...

we had to do christmas all crazy like.

we left on a Thursday after I worked 4 days in a row.

and drove to Lawrence, KS.

We stayed 2 nights with Sus & Chris & Felix.

Mom & David joined us there, and we had a mini family Christmas!

Friday we cooked our Christmas feast

Sus was doing an elimination diet, so we had to follow strict rules.

We had mashed cauliflower

a special pumpkin pie

turkey breasts from the local farm

and lentil salad

it was actually DELISH!

 this was packing to go

 in the car, i think hazel fell asleep coloring :)

 I made Felix and Hazel matching jammies

and they were so so cute!

 Hazel got to open 1 present Thursday night

it was this amazing owl backpack!

 we went to the park

it was super chilly, but fun!

 probably the best moment of the trip was while felix was eating lentil salad

and he kept making this face.... literally mom and I were crying.

 Sus and momma cooking/eating dinner

Then saturday morning, we packed up the car and headed to Arcadia, OK

to visit with Gram and the Phelps Crew.

It was me, cam, sus, felix, and hazel and all of our stuff crammed into the car.

Not that exciting of a car ride, but we made it!

I was starting to get nauseated on the way there, but I thought it was from sitting in between both car seats and being in the car. NOPE... I got some random stomach bug that had me up all night.

but I felt okay the next morning.

Then at about 12, everyone started to show up!

-

we ate, we opened gifts, we played, we lounged.

it was so great to see everyone.

we attempted kid photos.

hmmmmm, it's really hard with all these littles.

 i dont think there was a single pic where they were all looking or sitting. 

oh well :)

 then we tried to get one of the girls.

G didn't really like that.

  don't remember why sus was doing this

was she showing off her huge muscles?

but it was amazing!

then, about 6pm

we loaded up the car

and the cannons headed to Dallas.