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. 

jenny's shower me shower

 this was 99.9% kirstin

but i will take some credit :)

i made like 1 thing!

i made these cute little rain drop bunting things

 and i love them on the umbrella

 homemade marshmallows for favors

 i made and hung these guys

 we gave the momma to be freezer meals

love it!

 i made these clouds for hazels bday

but then kirst added the rain drops

LOVE

 on the front door

 the giant paper mache and fluff cloud

love love love love

there are tear drop ornaments hanging off

love love love love

 and a mimosa bar

yes please

at every party.

Carnival Party for Doctor Cannon

The only way I could get Cameron to have/attend a party for himself

was if it had good food, beer, and games.

So, I did.

-

at first I was saying the party was for me,

because he was adamant about not having a party,

but when he found out it was carnival themed,

he was all in!

-

-

i planned, and pinned, and made for months beforehand.

i borrowed and emailed and called and enlisted help!

thank goodness for good friends!

-

so here is the carnival themed party!

-

the bunting is with random fabric i had or got in the remnent section

the table cloths were from Walls when i went to visit family

we had a prize tables for the kids, from winning tickets from the games we had around the yard

and a face painting station

and a balloon animal station

(i just had random people doing those activities)

i printed out a sheet of paper with different face paintings to follow

and had instructions on how to make balloon animals

i used this tutorial for most of the chalkboards

and did them on $1 store black foam boards

 my beautiful friend autumn posing in the photo booth.

we used cameron's mac in the photobooth app

and people could do it themselves

i made the fake large poloroid out of foam board

and wrote the Dr. Cannon using the same chalkboard technique mentioned above.

we hung the sign on the rope swing :)

 I realized we needed a drink sign...

so that was a last minute thing.

we used a cart for the water,

a large wheelbarrow & ice chest for the beer

and a mini wheelbarrow for the izzes

 there was a popcorn bar

i filled a bucket (borrowed) (cleaned) with popcorn

(i bought bags of popcorn from costco as opposed to popping it myself- $5/bag)

and had red and white plastic buckets with popcorn too

there was butter spray and powdered flavoring

and instructions.

we had small popcorn bags ordered on amazon to fill

 there was a hotdog and nacho bar too

we filled crockpots with the nacho cheese (huge can from costco)

wooden basket with chips (king sooper for $1 each - i got about 15 bags)

there were jalepenos to add

we also had plastic nacho trays!

i purchased some plastic hotdog holders at Walls for $1 for 4 and bought all they had...

total about 30, but I was worried we wouldnt have enough, 

so i ordered the paper hot dog holders on amazon.

kethup, mustard, and spicy mustard in squirt bottles

-

we tried to borrow a hot dog roller and had it in the works, but it fell through last min.

so we just used the grill

 we had a sno cone bar

i purchased a sno cone machine on amazon

and randomly found the syrup on clearance at target.

i made cute labels and taped them on.

in the same clearance section, they had the sno cone cups and straws

for favors i filled cute red striped bags with peanuts

 (bags of peanuts from costco & bags from hobby lobby)

I made a cute little label that said

"if you're nuts, you know who to call"

thanks for coming!

(cameron has his phd in psychology)

 for a little token for us to keep

we printed out his dissertation

and had people sign it

 i made these dowel signs to show people the party was in the back

everything went without a hitch.

we had a blast.

we had tons of beer and peanuts and popcorn leftover.

and cameron was very happy with his party!

success.

cinco de mayo

 we had a cinco de mayo party at our house

for our fellowship group

autumn and i decorated it all up super cute!

-

i made these bags, i printed them in the printer

and as long as i fed one at a time, they worked!

then when autumn arrived, we realized we didn't have anything to go in them.

#lifeofamom

so we decided we could use them for the pinata candy!

 margarita bar

 an old piece of fabric i found at the goodwill outlet for $1

it wasn't straight, but i put the wonky side to the back

worked out well huh?

 tray from goodwill outlet (prob 25 cents)

bottles: autumns from thrift

jar from who knows, filled with limes

small jars filled with mexican candy

 mustaches

 autumn and i made this bunting during a nap

it's tissue paper folded and cut like you would cut snowflakes out of coffee filter.

then i just folded and edge over string and glued it on.

we strung it up around this tent for the pinata!

 with the awesome mexican pop displayed

it was a great party!!!!!! thanks everyone!

*sad, i never got a pic of the yarn ball bunting... super cute.