Let's play...

catch up!

I started my new job about a month ago, and I am loving it!  I was pretty certain that I would enjoy the hours (8am-5pm), and enjoying them is an understatement.   I work about five minutes from home so that makes things a lot nicer too.   I am learning a lot!  Although I am familiar with oncology from working at Cooks, adult oncology is quite different.  I am really loving it though.  The people I work with are great.  The patients are really nice (on most days-you know some older folks can be pretty grumpy). Another perk, we get food catered every day for lunch!  Watch out- I may end up being as big as a house! :)
I celebrated my 28th birthday a few weeks ago.  We went to dinner with friends and then went old school and decided to bowl afterwards.  I really forgot how much fun bowling really is!

A few days after my birthday we celebrated Independence Day.  We stayed home this year and Jon grilled some food and put on a firework show for us.  I'm pretty sure our retirement community neighborhood didn't like the fact that we were popping fireworks at ten o'clock at night, but it was for a good cause! We also had some sparklers left over from our wedding that I had fun with!

Pat Green came to town and put on a concert.  Jon and I joined Jennifer and Billy at Sam's Town casino for the show.  It was a lot of fun! None of us had ever really been to Sam's Town and it ended up impressing us.  We wished Pat Green would have played longer, but at least he played most all of the songs we wanted to hear.

 Jon finished up with orientation with LOPA at the end of June, and it seems since he's been on his own in July he has been really busy! (But don't let that fool you, he still has numerous days off during the week!)

A couple of other things are underway at the Cox household, but I will save those for next post.  I promise it won't take me over a month to tell you about those! :)  Until then...

Bittersweet

I briefly mentioned in a previous post that I will not be working many more night shifts.  I have been searching for a new job for 6 months.  I applied for 8 different jobs, went on 7 different interviews, and had 2 job offers.   I have been searching really hard for a day job.  Working 12 hour nights with a set rotation does not work for me and my home life.  I feel as though I am always tired.  I have a hard time transitioning from vampire to normal person in the amount of just a few days.  I miss my husband!  I can't stand to be away from him at night, and he has made it clear to me that it's not working for him either.  I am annoyed with having to work every other weekend (all 3 weekend days).  I mentioned the idea of self scheduling at my current job, but do to powers that be (nurses with more say so than me) the idea was shot down quick.  Once I realized that, I started searching harder.  My main dilemma...finding a day time position in an area I was interested in and not a HUGE pay cut.  I was fully aware that going from a night time position to a day time position I would have to take a pay cut, but right now a significant pay cut would not work out for us.  Let me just tell you, it's hard finding a job that meets those requirements!  Since graduating nursing school I have worked in the pediatric area.  I started in pediatric hematology/oncology and then switched to pediatric intensive care.  I love kids!  Honestly, I love my job! I feel that I have good critical thinking skills, I am very laid back, and I typically go with the flow.  These things I have found are a great need in the ICU setting.  I am not OCD like a lot of nurses I work with, but that never seemed to be an issue.  The city I live in does not offer much in the nursing pediatric area.  This is where my first bump in the road came.  I realized really quick that I was most likely not going to be able to continue working with kids if I wanted to work during the day.  I applied for a case management position and 2 education type positions at the hospital I currently work at, but none of that worked out because people with actual experience in those fields also applied for the jobs.  I applied for a surgical/procedure position, but again another person with previous experience was chosen.  I applied for a position working for a urologist, scheduling surgeries.  I was offered this job.  The pay was not up to par (I seriously thought about taking it anyway), but the doctor gave me the creeps BIG TIME.  That was a big red flag for me, so I turned that offer down.  I applied for a position in adult hematology/oncology at the state hospital in town, but again, 2 other people who were already employed at the hospital that had experience were chosen over me.  I was becoming very discouraged.  I wasn't sure where else to look.  I was almost to the point of talking my husband in to moving (which never would have happened, but I would have tried).  I continued to pray about it, asking Him for an answer.  One day a friend of my husband asked if I would be interested in working for an adult hematologist/oncologist, and my reply was...absolutely!  I applied for the job, went on 2 different interviews with different groups of people. (I feel that I am now a professional interviewee) I prayed so hard, almost begging God to let this be the job for me and to let it work out.  Patience is definitely a virtue, and God definitely answers prayers.  I start the new job on Monday June 18th.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to work Monday through Friday 8-5 with a 1 hr lunch break, no weekends, no holidays, no call.  I am not taking much of a pay cut.  I will be a chemotherapy infusion nurse for a hematologist/oncologist.  I will be working with adults, which is a new thing for me, but I think I can handle it.  It is a bittersweet feeling.  I am looking forward to this new adventure, but I will miss the kids, the critical care aspect, and my co-workers.  
Here's to new beginnings....

Summer is Here and the Grillin' is Good

I don't know about you, but summertime makes me think of being outdoors and grilling.  Here in Louisiana it can be tough to enjoy the outdoors because it is so stinkin' hot!  Lately, Jon and I have been trying to do more outside, especially before the real summer heat hits.  We went to Hot Jazz on the Red again.  Unfortunately while we were there a bird decided to use Jon at it's port-a-potty.

Me and my handsome hubby @ Hot Jazz on the Red

The other night I was able to get off of work, so we joined some friends at the pool.  I forgot to put on sunscreen, so I am a little on the burnt side now.  After we left the pool we all came to our house, and Jon grilled us some burgers.  They were delicious!   I think that got Jon in the grilling mood, so last night he grilled some chicken and a potato recipe I found on pinterest.  Once again, delicious!

cheesy grilled potatoes via Pinterest

I only have 2 more nights in which I have to work a night shift.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to be at home at night and to spend time with my husband.  We always enjoy cooking and eating dinner together, and now we can do that every night!  I see many more grilled dinner nights in our future!  I also see a lot more nights like this in our future...

The three pictures I used in this post make me think of my latest Facebook status...

"Listening to Texas country music, 

dinner is on the grill, 

glass of wine in my hand, 

and my husband by my side...

this is the life!"

fruits of his labor

I should actually have titled it "veggies of his labor."

My husband likes to plant a garden every year, but at the end of "growing season" he swears he's not doing it again.  One year, when we still lived in a tiny duplex, our super tiny porch was overgrown with all sorts of peppers!  Another year he grew grapes and tomatoes.  Our first year in our house he went all out and planted a huge garden with all types of tomatoes, blueberries, peppers, etc.  Last year he went with squash, okra (or so he thought- it ended up being cucumbers), and watermelon.  This year he again said he was not doing a garden because it's a lot of work, but we were at the nursery and he couldn't pass up a few plants.  He decided on 3 tomatoes, 4 sugar snap peas, and 4 kentucky wonder green bean plants.    So far we have had 1 little tomato, a handful of peas, and a TON of green beans!  I don't think the poor snap pea plants will survive the hot summer we are about to endure.

green beans plants

up close

We are enjoying all the green beans!  We have used them for a side dish for 2 meals and have another meal planned tomorrow that will include them.

one of the yummy meals

I know having a garden is a lot of work, and I help very minimally (I can't keep any plants alive), but I think next year I would like to plant things for a salad.  Maybe we could grow some different types of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers...it's just a thought...that I will definitely have to approve with the hubby...because like I said it will be veggies of his labor.

7 Day Cabbage Soup Detox Diet Review

As you may remember from this post, two girls from work, and I decided to try out a 7 day cabbage soup detox diet that I found online.  My husband, Jon, also joined in on the fun.  Jon and I are the only two that stuck it out until the end, and I have to brag and say that I am the only one that did not cheat all seven days!  The two websites where I obtained all the information for the diet plan are My 7 Day Diet and Cabbage Soup Diet.  The week plan goes a little something like this...

this was my reminder card and motivation throughout the week

(the links will take you to the individual day recap)

Day One- Fruit (no bananas) and Wonder Soup

Day Two- Vegetables (no beans, peas or corn) and Wonder Soup...on this day you can also have 1 baked potato with a small amount of butter

Day Three- Fruits (no bananas),Vegetables (no potato, beans, peas, or corn) and Wonder Soup

Day Four- Bananas (up to 8), Skim Milk, and Wonder Soup

Day Five- Protein (lean meat), Tomatoes (6-8 fresh) and Wonder Soup

Day Six- Protein (lean meat), Vegetables (no potato, beans, peas, or corn) and Wonder Soup

Day Seven- Fruits (no bananas), Vegetables (no potato, beans, or corn), Juice, and Wonder Soup

The beginning of this diet was very difficult, I'm not going to lie.  I had to constantly remind myself that it's only seven days and to take it one day at a time.  I drank only water all week, except day seven I had juice.  That was a big deal for me!  I love sweet tea!  I also usually drink coffee or coke at work, mainly for the caffeine, to keep me going.  I am proud to say I have been caffeine free now for a whole week!  I am going to do my best to continue to not drink so much caffeine.  I now realize I can make it through these working nights without it, so I have to stay strong and not give in to the desire.  One good thing about this diet, was that it made me cook and think about what I was cooking and how to cook it.  You can only use very little olive oil.  I feel like I became pretty creative and experimented some with spices to try to help ease the pain of limited choices.  (Although I feel that Jon will say I only used black pepper to season everything.)  I do plan to continue to branch out and make healthier and fresh vegetables more often now.  Most of the things I read online said you would lose anywhere from 5-10 pounds within the week.  One website even said 17 pounds (not sure that's too healthy)!  Of course I weighed myself at the beginning, throughout, and at the end.  I ended up losing 6.8 lbs total. I am glad I did the diet and stuck with it to the end without cheating.  I proved to myself that I can in fact stick with eating healthy if I will just make the effort to do so.  I still have a little more weight that I want to lose, but I feel this diet definitely gave me the kick start I wanted to get the ball rolling!

Day Seven...Fruits, Veggies, and Their Juices

The very last day (it feels so good to say that) was not bad at all.  It was basically a repeat of day three but add in some juice.  Technically day seven is comprised of fruits, vegetables, and juice.  One of the websites says vegetable juice and another says fruit juice.  I guess it's up to you to decide.  It also states you are allowed one cup of brown rice, but I didn't have any so I just forgot about it.  The first meal of the day consisted of stir fried vegetables (with minimal amount of oil and some added water), steamed asparagus, strawberries, and cantaloupe.  The next meal was the salad from day three with a minimal amount of balsamic vinaigrette dressing, squash and zucchini left overs, and a bowl of wonder soup (are you surprised?) with a peach for dessert.  I have also been snacking on strawberries and pineapple.  I am not a vegetable juice fan, so fruit juice is what I had to stick with.  I really enjoyed Naked's reduced calorie tropical juice.  It has cherries, coconut water, mango, passion fruit, orange, apple, and pineapple in it!  Very good, you must try it!  I almost can't believe this long and dreaded week is over!  Look for a review post about it in the near future!

Day Six...Protein and Veggies

This day was pretty easy.  I'm tempted to say that it was the easiest so far.  I also must admit that I may have cheated, in some sort of way today.  I didn't cheat by eating something I wasn't supposed to, but instead I did not eat something I was supposed to...soup!  I just could not bring myself to do it.  Day six is for protein and vegetables, and supposed to be soup as well.  With all the other yummy food I was allowed, the soup was just not sounding appetizing.  Maybe tomorrow I will finish the diet with a bang and eat a few bowls of soup?!
I was very proud of my first meal of the day.  I seared salmon filets, sauteed spinach, and baked zucchini and squash.  I am always leary of cooking fish because I definitely want it to be done but I don't want it to be over done,  catch my drift?  Sauteing the spinach was a first for me and I have now found a new veggie we will be consuming more of!  It was delicious!  I added a little garlic to it and some black pepper and red pepper flakes with a hint of lemon juice...divine! :) Now you can see why I didn't want any of that dadgum soup!

For my next meal I baked chicken and put it on top of the colorful salad I made on day three.  It was good, but not near enough food!  I guess I should have eaten a bowl of that dreaded soup to fill me up.  Oh well...Only one more day to go...

Day Five...Protein and Tomatoes

all my maters

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Day five was all about protein and tomatoes (oh and wonder soup).  I love tomatoes so this day was not too shabby.  For breakfast I had sliced tomato with a tad of seasoning (yumm, right?)  For lunch I made a recipe from skinnytaste called Skillet Cajun Flounder with Tomatoes, but I substituted tilapia for the flounder.  It was a great combination of the protein and tomatoes.  I also had a bowl of soup.  Up until this day, the soup had not been so bad.  After eating a delicious meal, the soup tasted bland and just down right gross.  I choked it down anyway.

Skillet Cajun Tilapia with Tomatoes

For dinner I baked chicken and sliced some tomatoes.  I had plans of making a tomato salsa something to  top the chicken but I just ran out of time before I had to leave for work.  And I can't forget I had a bowl of soup.

Day six will also be an easier one.  It is protein and vegetables day.  There are so many varieties of vegetables, and I like them all! The end is near...

Day Four = Monkey Business

I am so glad that the fourth day of the diet is over!  It was by far the hardest!! Day #4 consisted of bananas (up to 8) and skim milk, along with the wonder soup!  I like bananas, but not eight in one day!  I do not drink milk often, and definitely do not like skim milk, so that was really tough for me! As you can assume my meals went something like this...soup for my main course and a banana and milk for dessert.  I only ate 5 bananas throughout the day.  There was no way I could have eaten 3 more!  Jon and I went to Hot Jazz on the Red, and it was so hard not to bring a yummy snack and drink a beer or have a glass of wine!  Instead I brought a big jug of water and proceeded to drink the whole thing!

I am very excited about day five because it's finally time for protein...which means meat to me!  Day #5 of the diet is protein and tomatoes day.  You are allowed lean meat for lunch and dinner and also 6-8 tomatoes.  I am a huge fan of tomatoes, so I am looking forward to this day!  One day at a time...

BLR

I made a gender reveal cake for my best friend, Holly, back in November (you can read about it here).  Well the sweet little boy we had all been so anxiously awaiting arrived one week early in April.  Holly was at work (she works at the same hospital as me but on a different unit) when she went in to labor.  She was quickly admitted to the L&D floor.  I was also working, so I made frequent trips throughout the night to check on her and the baby.  A while back Holly had asked me to be there with Baleigh so that Jeremiah (her husband) could be with her.  That morning Jeremiah and Baleigh got there, and Jeremiah and Holly were quickly prepped and taken to the OR.  Baleigh and I passed the time until her baby brother was born by acting silly, watching cartoons, and talking about what baby brother (BryceLeo as she calls him) would be like.

At 8:44 A.M. on April 10, 2012 Bryce Leo Rivers made his appearance in this world!  He is such a precious baby boy!

Jeremiah and Baleigh with Bryce

Baleigh is a proud big sister!

how sweet is he!!

I couldn't be happier for Holly, Jeremiah, and Baleigh.  They have one cute little boy to be proud of!  And since Mother's Day is approaching, I would like to give a shout out to Holly and let her know how proud I am of her!  She is an amazing mother, a wonderful wife, a dedicated student (in school for her masters), a full-time employee, and a great friend! I am thankful to have Holly, and her family, in my life, and I look forward to many more years of friendship.

Day Three...Combo

The third day was much easier than the first two!  Day three is a combination of day one and day two, so you are supposed to eat fruits and veggies, except you are not allowed to have a potato on this day.  I had to make another trip to the store because we were about out of soup, plus I wanted more vegetables. For my first meal of the day I microwaved/steamed carrots and broccoli and had a handful of grapes.  For the next meal I had a wonderful salad, and of course a bowl of wonder soup!  The salad was composed of lettuce, spinach, red and yellow bell pepper, cucumbers, mushrooms, broccoli, purple onion, and tomatoes.  It was a very colorful and delicious salad.

colorful salad

For dinner I was ready for a hot meal and not the same ol' stuff I had been eating.  I decided on asparagus, okra & tomatoes, and squash, and don't forget, a bowl of soup.  

I had planned on having some fruit for dessert, but I went to sleep before I was ever hungry for dessert.  The weight continues to slowly come off, and I am sure that day four will be a big weight loss day because it is bananas and skim milk day (not looking forward to it).  Keeping my eye on the finish line...

Cinco de Mayo = 6 years

May 5, 2012 marked 6 years that Jon and I have been a couple!  It's crazy to think that we have been together that long and only married for one year!  So much has changed in the past 6 years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  

Cinco de Mayo

Day Two...Veggies

Let me recap Day One before I tell you about Day #2...After eating fruit (and of course wonder soup) all of day #1, my mouth was raw (I suppose from the acid and sugar in the fruit) and I had ZERO energy when I woke up!  I did lose 5 pounds...which is the only thing that kept me going on this diet.
For day two the diet required eating vegetables (no beans, peas or corn) and of course, wonder soup.  You are also allowed to have one potato with a small amount of butter.  When I woke up without any energy, I was so ready for some food.  I immediately chopped up zucchini, squash, and purple onion, spiced it up and put it in the oven.  For my first meal of the day I ate a baked potato, purple onion, squash, zucchini, and a bowl of not so wonder ful soup.  I was in heaven eating that potato, even with the small amount of butter!  I stuffed my face and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Day #2 consisted of a lot of wonder soup, squash, zucchini, purple onion, broccoli, and carrots.  I did have one small salad as well.  This day has not been as hard as the previous, but I have also been eating every 3-4 hours.  Day three is a combination of Day #1 and Day #2.  I am going to have to make another trip to the grocery store, because I am about out of wonder soup, and I am ready for a different variety of vegetables.  Keeping my eye on the goal...

Hot Jazz on the Red

Jon and I always try to find fun things to do around town.  We get tired of the same ol' restaurants or hang outs.  One thing we always look forward to about the Spring/ Early Summer is Hot Jazz on the Red.   The Barnwell Memorial Garden and Art Center is a place located on the Red River here in town that hosts Hot Jazz on the Red.  They have an outdoor jazz concert every Thursday evening from 6 pm- 8 pm.  We love to go early in the Spring because the weather is so nice.   It is free and BYOB.  People bring blankets and spread out with their kids and dogs, wine and food, and enjoy the outside while listening to live music.  It really doesn't get much better!  Here are a few pictures from the latest concert we went to...

I made a southwestern style pasta salad for us to eat.

We also brought white wine and cheese and crackers to enjoy.

love him!

We hope to make it to more concerts this year... and support a good thing in this city!

Kick-Start...

I'm constantly complaining about my weight, feeling depressed because my clothes don't fit, but yet I CAN NOT stop eating all the yummy food out there!  Two girls I work with are getting married this next month and are trying to lose weight.  We all decided we needed a "kick start" so we chose to do the "7 Day Detox Diet" aka "Cabbage Soup Diet."   There are specific things to eat each day, along with "wonder soup," which is the cabbage based soup.   Today was day one and consisted of eating fruits, except bananas, and wonder soup.  I went to the store this morning and stocked up on fruits and veggies (and I spent an arm and a leg I must say!).  I got home and started making the wonder soup.

the HUGE pot I had to use...

all the ingredients for the "wonder soup"

"Wonder Soup"

My first meal of the day was the soup, cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries.

picture of my first meal...beano included :)

As this first day is coming to an end,  I must say it has been tough.  I am tired of fruit already!  I am definitely looking forward to my one opportunity of eating a potato on day two!  Also, I have been drinking SO much water, that I might as well stay on the potty!  Wish us luck...we still have 6 more days!