March of Dimes Nurse of the Year

The corsage the organization let us wear

Last Friday night I went to an awesome dinner/gala where I was nominated for the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award for the Rising Star Category. The Rising Star category is for nurses who have had less than 18 months experience in nursing who have shown great strides. 

I cannot believe I actually won because I never win anything.  It is great! I actually feel like I was award for all my hard work at my new job...

Jay all dressed up I should have taken more pictures

My plaque that I got :)

All dressed up

The pretty real flower Jay got for me to wear in my hair

Pink Hair

Everyone needs Pink Hair :)

I Did It

I actually did it.  In my last blog I talked about needing a new hobby…. Well Ladies and Gentlemen…. I now am the proud parent of 2 additional rabbits as well as started piecing together my own quilt…

Abigail

So this is Abigail (white bunny) she was more August 30^th so that makes her 2 months old today. She pretty quite.  She is considered a Sable Mini Rex.  She doesn’t have the correct markings on her face to be a show rabbit, but can produce babies that can be.

Bonnie is the black bunny born August 7^th she is a Black Mini Rex.  She doesn’t seem as tame as Abigail but is actually show quality.

Bonnie

Lastly, Cole who is my original rabbit.  He is 2 years old and has been in multiple shows and his last owner didn’t want him any more because he is starting to develop white spots.  He is by far the tamest and will let me hold him anyway.  He does seem a little more manic now since the girls are here. 

Cole and Abby

I have done a lot of research on these kinds of rabbits and breeding.  All 3 rabbits are in the same breeding class.   And it is a lot more complicated and it amazes me how much inbreeding is in rabbits.  All my rabbit are pedigreed which means their heritage is traced back and are able to be shown in rabbit shows…. Yep it kind of a big deal in the rabbit world.

Cole

Abby

I can’t breed the bunnies till at least February they have to be at least 6 months old and they are only pregnant for 28-32 days and are pretty much ovulating all the time so that makes things easy… All I have to do is put Cole is their cage and watch the magic happen J.

More to come on the bunnies…

All my colors

Next I wanted to design a quilt.  So Rebekah and I went to the store the other day got a book with some patterns I like and started.  I really like the bright modern colors and then randomness of the pattern I chosen.  So far it is a lot of fun and a lot of hard thinking to decide what patch looks good to the next.  I am almost done with the patchwork.

Deciding what goes together

1st part sewing together

I know with these 2 hobbies I’m probably seem like I’m not taking my medications but whatever I like them both…  Jay said to me the other day I’m a little young to quilt.  Oh well.

Crazy Hobby Ideas

The last year I have been really needing a hobby to do that will keep my interest for a long period of time.  After doing some very brief sewing with Rebekah and her mom I think it would be really fun to learn how to quilt.  (Yea Yea I know it sounds like a 60 year old hobby) but I really like creating things and would love to have quilts that I have made 40 years ago passed on to my family and possibly children if I ever have some.  I have a quilt my grandma made 20 years ago and I think it is beautiful and so full of love.

This also is a way to learn something this is important to know.  It seems like sewing is becoming a lost art and would like to be able to have the skill for the future.  There is a quilting place in Casper that has classes I’m going check out when I get home and see but Rebekah also knows how to quilt.  I would really like to go someplace and do it where I have designated time allotted. We’ll see what happens.

Now my next hobby you might think I’m a little off my rocker…but I want to become a rabbit breeder… Pause for laughter…..I know what you are think what has Wyoming done to her… And this is pretty extreme and I really don’t know what I am doing but I would like to learn.  I have been doing so research and it doesn’t seem too hard.   Of course these are going to have to be pedigree rabbits so I found some places in Northern Colorado (Because there are NONE in Wyoming) that have the right kind of rabbit (Doe) I need since my current rabbit, Cole, is a Buck….Yep crazy.  So we see if anything comes of this.  Plus where am I going to hold this operation in my Garage like where my current rabbit lives…I don’t know we’ll see.

J

This a video of my current Rabbit Cole and my lazy cat Rascal.

A Really Bad Music Cover

Jay listens to different music and I have to grind my teeth through it all, but on our South Dakota Trip we heard the worst cover of "You Shook Me All Night"  and I felt impelled to actually record it.  The band is Six Feet Under.

Tiny Tight Spaces

While waiting on the Jewel Cave Discovery Tour to start, there is a small block in the entrance area that represented the tightest portion of the Wild Caving Tour. All participants are required to pass through the 8-1/2 inch by 24-inch crawl space before beginning tour in order to know they can make it. So Jay and I tried to fit through the tiny tight space. Obviously we did not take that tour J (ooh and I probably be really closterphobic) Enjoy!

Becoming More of a Patriotic American

This last weekend Jay and I went to South Dakota. Yep, South Dakota. It was pretty great I feel closer to being a more patriotic American because of it. I have always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and the Devil’s Tower (still in Wyoming on the way to South Dakota). It was a pretty drive this fall and I got to see many of the wonders of the USA.

First we went to the Devil’s Tower in Northern Wyoming. It was pretty spectacular how this column tower just protrudes out of the ground. I guess it was a result of volcanic activity.

The History & Legends of the Devil’s Tower:

Devils Tower is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet above sea level. Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt.

There are many different native American legends about the tower but my favorite one is this:

“According to the Native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota Sioux, some girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb. (Those are the marks which appear today on the sides of Devils Tower.) When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the star constellation the Pleiades.”

After Devils Tower we headed towards Deadwood, I have always heard so much about Deadwood and how great it is so we’d though it would be nice to stay there for the night. First we got a hotel and the Franklin Silverado which was right downtown. Let me just say it was really nice down stairs but after we got upstairs and we in our $120 a night crap of a room that had multiple alive and dead wasps flying around it we decided to go some place else. Yeah, wasps! So we ended up at the Iron Horse Inn that was just a couple blocks away we had to pay a little more but we didn’t have any wasps here! After we got settled, we went to dinner and then did some gambling. And I mean minimual I think I only spent $30 on gambling. I have too hard of time loosing my hard earned money so we ended up drinking and I got pretty tipsy and tired then we ended up going back to the room and passed out J.

The next morning we headed towards Mount Rushmore, which again was a pretty drive. I feel more of an American now that I have seen Mouth Rushmore. I was kind of surprise how small it was from a distance (except it is Hugh!) As one of Jay’s friends said it was pretty boring but it is something everyone needs to see.

History of Mount Rushmore:

Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level.

“South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people into the Black Hills region of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. Robinson's initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles site and chose the larger Mount Rushmore. Borglum also decided the sculpture should have a more national focus, and chose the four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. After securing federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in October 1941.”

After our brief visit to Mount Rushmore, we headed to the Jewel Cave. Which I guess is the 2^nd longest cave in the world. Yep in South Dakota. I was very pretty in the cave but I must be more closterphobic then I think because I had this pressure on my chest and hard time breathing at times now there.

History of Jewel Cave:

Frank and Albert Michaud, two local prospectors, discovered the cave in 1900, when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole in a canyon. It is unknown whether any previous inhabitants of the area were aware of the natural cave opening, which was not large enough for a person to enter.

After enlarging the cave entrance with dynamite, the Michauds found a cavern lined with calcite crystals, which led them to name it "Jewel Cave." The brothers tried to capitalize on the discovery, widening the opening, building walkways inside, and opening it to tourists. Although their venture was unsuccessful, news of the discovery eventually reached Washington. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Jewel Cave a National Monument on February 7, 1908.

After the wonders of Jewel Cave we were going to stay in the Black Hills area one more night but then decided to save some money and head home which was only a 4 hour drive back to Casper.

It was a great little mini vacation and got to learn more about American (and Indian) heritage then I knew before. I also got a Passport to the National Parks, where each place you visit you can get a ‘cancelation’ and stamp of each place. So now I’m excited to go other places in the US and fill up my passport.

Things I learned:

Black Hills South Dakota was actually pretty cool and a lot of history.

I am more of an American now J.

I love experiencing time with Jay outside of Casper.

I like going on these mini vacations, which surprising cost more money than they should.

Theodore Roosevelt must love this area of the USA since he made each of these places a memorial, monument or park.

Fantastic Creations

My roommate and her mother are expert sewers and have creating different projects, like a new unique shower curtain, ottoman cover with matching pills to help conceal my miss matched furniture. With my fascination with creating unique things and (maybe not really being able to find a duvet cover I like) I asked them if they would make a duvet cover, and the response I got was “no but I’ll teach you how.” So this last week I spent an hour looking at color combinations for a new cover that would match my room and still be fashionable so we ended up coming up with 4 separate colors and 3 days sewing my own unique duvet. 1^st is a black and while decorative pattern on my side. Next was an orange/yellow swirl pattern; the ends area pink and white pattern. I needed a little something extra to tie the green color in my room together so we ended up putting piping in between the colors.

I didn’t realize that there was so much that goes into it. There is precise measuring and cutting not just sewing fabric together. I also move sooo slow compared to Rebekah or her mom it probably took me 4x longer but at least I pretty much sewed the whole time myself. (There are some parts that required higher expertise that I did not sew, for the sake of beauty). Towards the completion of the project I though it would be a grand idea to add more green accents so I designed flower cutouts (appliqués) and Rebekah helped me organize then and sew them to the cover. I also learned how to make buttonholes and sew buttons on with a machine and not by hand. The scariest machine was the Serger and the warning that it can cut my fingers and all the different strings and way it sewed. Very professional looking though J

So after 3 days of pin sticks and back pain related to long hours at the sewing machine my cover is now finished and on my bed. I prefer the black/white side better than the orange J.

Terms I learned:

Pipping/Welting—the green part on the duvet

Sergering—the look that you see on the inside of shirts to help with fraying edges

Appliques—the flowers at the bottom

I’m thankful and happy that I learned how to sew the basics and understanding more about creating projects. It has become more of a lost art that I would like to know more about. I now want to make many more projects…up next is a kitchen apron J