Things that makes me Smile

All I need to write today is that here are a few pictures of things that always make me smile...

My family, my husband and my wedding pictures

My silly baby boy, Sniper

Beautiful sunsets in Hawaii







And these are just some of the things that make me smile

Fun to act like a Kid

The WREB's are here, which means that Art has been pretty stressed out these past few days/weeks. Now I don't blame him at all; in fact he is handling it so much better then I think I will next year when it's my time to take it. So last night in an attempt to have a little fun and relax before the stress of the exam begins we went to Dave and Busters. Now this is not the first time we have gone by any means, but it was more the timing of the trip that made this one so special. It was pretty empty b/c it was a school night and we did go on the later side which made it really nice because we could play whatever game we wanted. I had such a great time, I think sometimes we all forget that it is important to just kick back and act like a kid. We all get so caught up in trying to live this perfect life, and our careers and everything, but taking the time to just act silly and play some games and spend time with the people we love is so important. So just act like a kid:)

Check your ego please

So just utterly annoyed today. Just sick an tired of certain people. Seems like some of the higher ups here just can't seem to let go of their egos. I mean yes I know they know more then me, and they have more training then me, but does that give them the right to talk down to me? To treat me like a 5 year old? I don't think so. I mean if I really mess something up, disrespect you then yes I deserve it but on a day to day conversation and basis? It just wears you down. And it's not just to me it's to almost everyone (student)...it just gets so tiring to deal with and I'm just so over it. I have just started to not care anymore...but it still just wears me down and every so often I just want to pull out every hair in my head and scream. Ugh. On the brighter side it's a 3 days week for me so tomorrow is my Friday:) Hooray

Pretzels!

So being on spring break I have a lot of free time on my hands being back here in boring Cleveland. So today I decided to try and make homemade soft pretzels. As many people know I am a terrible baker, whenever I try to do it no matter if I follow a recipe to the T I still manage to mess things up. So for the first time I actually managed to make something that required yeast and rising time and kneading that came out really well:). I even didn't follow the recipe exactly and they turned out I can't believe it!
So here is the recipe I used (mostly so I don't forget for the next time)

2 cups (plus a little more as needed to get the dough right)
1 tsp. of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt, plus more for the top
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
Mix together the sugar, water and yeast let proof for about 5 min. Mix together the flour and salt. Then mix the wet and dry together to form a sticky ball. Knead the dough adding flour as needed to make it not too sticky. My final dough was still a bit sticky but still formed a nice smooth ball.
Let it rise for 30min. in a bowl (I greased my bowl with cooking spray). After it has risen separate into about 10 portions (depending on how big you want them). Using a little more flour so the dough doesn't stick to your hands. Roll out long ropes with the dough and make a pretzel shape.
In a pot heat 1 cup of water with 1/8 cup of baking soda and heat to dissolve the baking soda and simmering. Dip each pretzel in the water bath for a couple seconds making sure all sides get covered. Remove and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with whatever toppings you like. I sprayed the tops with cooking spray and tested a few toppings. Cinnamon and sugar for one, another was garlic powder/basil/salt, and one was just salt. Bake in an over at 425 F for 8-10 min. My oven doesn't heat evenly so I had to rotate it a few times and let it cook a little longer. They should get a nice golden color on top and crack a little. Take them out and brush a little melted butter on top and enjoy.
We pretty much devoured almost the whole batch they were so good.

So here are two pictures I managed to snap before we dove in.

Back Home

So it's my first full day back home after Vegas...and I'm already slightly depressed. Cleveland just has that effect on me now. Our vacation was just soooo fun. Pretty much little sleep, lots of gambling, shows, food, walking around and spending time with some of my most favorite people. Now it's back to here to try and enjoy what little break we have left before the final push to the end of school year. Only 6 more weeks until I start m final year. I can't believe how time has flown and how much has changed since starting school here 3 years ago. More big changes soon to come. Now it's off to drink my Guinness in celebration of St. Patrick's day and watch some good basketball.

Off to Vegas

Well spring break is finally here and it's off to Vegas tomorrow:). Can't wait to get away from this place for a few days. One thing I've realized is that I truly believe in seasonal depression. Being here in the constant gray just makes me want to scream some days. So weird, but when you walk to school and the sun is out your day is just instantly better. My California amigos just don't realize how lucky they are...sunshine just makes everything so much more bearable. So I am going to try and enjoy this vacation to the utmost and soak in every ounce of sunshine. Viva Las Vegas...hopefully I don't go broke.

Day 2

What do write? All I can really think about is parenting...no not me parenting. I was on my pediatric rotation today and seeing some of the children that come through that department makes me wonder sometimes. How much impact do parents really have on their child's behavior? I mean some of the kids I see just have the worst oral hygiene, cavities, etc. Then I ask the kids about their eating habits and they tell me they eat candy, drink sodas, and the 14 year old I had today said he drank a lot of coffee...seriously? This got me wondering though, I mean b/c I am not a parent so I don't really know how hard it really is to influence good behaviors and such on your kid. I mean it's easy for me to say "brush your teeth, eat healthier, etc." but to be the person to have to nag and push them to actually do it day in and day out I don't know. All I can say is that although they may have been too lenient in some aspects (cough cough my bad eating habits as a kid) over all my parents did a wonderful job I think in raising my brother and I. the point of all this rambling? Being extremely thankful that my parents worked so hard to get me to where I am at today b/c I believe that your parents have such an influence on what their kids become. I am so glad they set the right example and pushed me so hard to be the best person I can be, hopefully one day I will be able to be as good a parent as they were.
P.S. on a more fun note...We leave for Vegas in just over 1 day!!! and...I get to see my parents in about 2.5 days:)

Lets give this a go

For who knows what reason this urge to blog about my oh so uninteresting life came about, but never the less it has happened. I have come to realize I have been absolutely horrible at staying in touch with so many people in my life. My form of keeping "up to date, and updating people" about life has been through facebook statuses, and photos and wall posts. It has been rather effective, however I feel facebook has become much more a "status" (no pun intended) thing. I mean people updating on there every move, showing off their new relationships, and especially engagement rings (it seems like lately). Although I am guilty of all of this myself I have come to care less and less about letting people know what I am up to, for me the reason I spend so much time of it has been about finding out what everyone else is doing. Recently it just hasn't really been all that exciting for me, yes I waste far too much time on it and still love knowing all the good gossip, but just hasn't felt like enough of a connection for me. After recently reconnecting with my high school best friend I have been wanting to be more "personal" with the people I truly want to stay in contact with. Admittedly this will probably not be the best way but at least this is my attempt to keep everyone updated on my life. I have found it so difficult these days to keep in touch for a variety of reasons
#1 the time difference, being on est and most people on pst makes it hard
#2 I am just lazy and when most of the time I don't feel like spending 20+ min. on the phone with people
#3 I am not a phone person: just have never been one
So I wanted to see if maybe this was a better outlet for me...we'll see how long this lasts like every other project I start...I will probably be really into it for like a whole week then get bored with this too, hahaha. So please follow me :)