Let the new year begin!

I am excited for what the new year has to bring, as cliche as it sounds!

In 2011:

• We will be living in our first house!
• We will be going on a cruise (Feb)
• *fingers crossed* I will get into a hospital as an RN in the Twin Cities
• I have at least one amazing friend who is getting married!
• I will hopefully run a half marathon (Shooting for Grandmas)
• My baby boy (Theo) will turn 2!
• And who knows what other small miracles the year will bring... ;)

Our first new years together in 2005!

As this next year is approaching, I am gong to try and remind myself of the following:

• Its OK to sit and relax for a little bit!
• Everything does not have to be super clean ALL the time
• Think more about others rather than myself 

What a season!

Wow how this Christmas season has crept up on us! This year more than ever I have been trying to embrace the holidays and the true meaning behind it! Despite the blizzards and blistering cold, a warm cup of coffee has continually warmed me up and allowed me to unthaw and be grateful for all that has been and is!

On the note of Christmas, can I just say how much I love love getting Christmas cards/ letters/ pictures in the mail?! It is so fun to check the mailbox and find several updates on those we care about! In spite of the many hardships I know so many people have endured in 2010 and before, there is still so much to be thankful for and to rejoice in! Christmas cards always remind me of that :)

Update on my P90X journey....
Well, it has been going pretty well! Im on day 17 now and feel so much better already! Yes, the workouts are hard, but they have really grown on me! I have been sticking to them 100% for all six days a week! It makes me not even be able to imagine going back to working out 2-3 times a week now! The diet has been a bigger battle, as this phase includes practically 100,000 (ok, so really 5) proteins a day. And being a vegetarian, the things I used to use as protein: nuts, beans, cheese, peanut butter DO NOT COUNT AS PROTEIN for P90X! This has been the hardest because I have been trying my little heart out to have 5 servings a day of (egg whites, protein powder, & veggie burgers). Protein powder is my new best friend, and I have gotten quite creative in where/ how to intermingle it into my meals! I am working on my courage to try tofu again, and slowly work that into my diet. I think I just need some good recipes and a lot of mind power to get over how gross it looks!
All in all, I am pretty proud of myself for sticking to this and hopefully it will pay off in the end and change the way I eat/ work out for the future!

Other news: Our offer was accepted on the house we want!! Now for the inspection, and finalities of it! Hopefully we can say it is ours soon! We are so excited for this new adventure in being home owners! It is in such a cute neighborhood in South St. Paul! The house has been completely renovated (flipped) and is all ready for the Dittrich's to move right in!

I am especially thankful for those who are dear to me! I am blessed to have wonderful friends and family, an amazing husband and a pretty darn perfect dog :)
Love and Grace this holiday season!

Christina Joy

I said I was done...

After another bad (but may in fact be the worst) night of this job + some alarming realizations about some situations around me, lets just say I had some major fume to blow of.

*[Hint of one of the negative occurrences of the night @ work, I got peed on...all over...by a pre-school aged kid. ON PURPOSE. because he/she could not handle being told NO]

After ranting to none other than my lovely mother and husband, I decided to do my previously planned P90X 75 minute workout at 12:30 am. And it was just what I needed! A lot of hard work and concentration on things other than my problems {most menial in the grand scheme of things} And here it is, now 1:40 and I should be excited to shower and curl into bed with my puppy and man, but I just feel so energized!

Thank you God for creating exercise and for those around me for keeping me on board with this! Day 6. Its hard hard hard, but so rewarding when my muscles are almost to sore to go up the stairs the next day :) Then I know I really did do something to work those muscles!

I am going to force myself to go start the process of this thing called *sleep.* Unfortunately the meaning has become so twisted and abnormal lately due to my array of shifts, but I guess I should be grateful that tonight is a night to sleep AT NIGHT!

Adios.

The first day of the rest of my life...

I had a wonderful birthday week and feel so loved by so many people who made an effort to make me feel special! Thanks to those of you who did :) A special thqnks to my mom who always puts herself last and  others first! She is so loving, kind, loyal, encouraging and just plain hilarious! I am truly blessed by her more than she will ever know :) Hopefully someday I can be half the person she is...

Oatmeal masks with Mom on my Birthday

Today I am starting P90x with a great person who I know will keep me accountable! (and I may be able to offer a few laughs in return as she watches me to the workouts) so here it goes...I am serious about doing it 100% and NO CHEATING! Results here we come! I will keep you posted on the progress! Its time to kick it in to full gear and quit being so unhappy with myself!

Thats all for now! Ill let you know just how sore my body is tomorrow!

Christina

Loose Ends

I knew the time would come, and knew it would be sooner rather than later...but after only 5 1/2 months of my job I am officially bored out of my mind! Yes, I have learned a lot of new things and gotten great experience with my 2 clients, but once you "got it down" there goes the excitement! Don't get me wrong these kids are precious and I love them...but man...I thrive on excitement and a fast paced hospital unit and this is most certainly not the case. So I will just keep trying and crossing my fingers to get in at Children's as an RN [still waiting to hear back about the job I interviewed for at the beginning of the month] and hope to get a new perspective as I endure the next months at my current job. I know I should be thankful for what I have, and I am... I am just not being utilized like I believe I can and learning as much as I want to!

{ER Nursing at its best!}

On a happier note, Sam and I are FOR SURE moving out of our town home at the end of January!! I could not be more excited to purchase a house together and enjoy everything that having our OWN bigger and more personalized space brings! Its going to be a fun and busy time! We have been blessed with an amazing realtor who is making this whole process a whole lot less stressful :) [Thanks Kels for the referral!] It looks like in order to get the all of our needs and most of our wants we will be residing somewhere in St. Paul! More updates to come!


I am also excited to be running a 10K on Thanksgiving...Its going to be cold, but rewarding! Its called the Drumstick Dash [Such a cute name!] and it is at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis! I never thought I would be a 'runner' but my persistence and dedication to being okay at it over the years has paid off, and I have to admit, Im kinda proud of myself!


There are so many things I cannot speak of on here...but are weighing me down a bit, its hard when there is never a clear solution there, and when the process looks long and dirty :( I guess thats life huh?

I am going to try and enjoy a full 3 days off work and do some of the things I love <3

Enjoy this holiday season, and truly remind yourself what its all about!

Life as of lately

So the past few days I have had a nasty cold {unfortunately it seems like everyone else has too} which has forced me to STOP and RELAX, because the Lord knows my body needs it. I may have to blame my crazy work schedule which consists of working 40+ hours a week (and helping Sam with the students) of day, evening and night shifts. It sure makes a body confused. Oh well, its only for the time being...so lets hope my body can hold up through this cold weather approaching!

On the note of jobs....I had an interview at Children's Hospital today for their cardiac/ critical care floor. I think it went really well, but I am not getting my hopes up for the following reasons: they are doing a bunch of lay offs/ re shifting around of nurses so this might get filled by an existing RN, there are a TON of people who applied for it, and I'm sure a lot who have interviewed as well :) All in all, i count it a step in the right direction. I got an interview, and if I don't get this job, there will be one in the future just for me! I still have my foot in the door by being a casual (.0 hours) CSA so I can apply for internal RN positions! Keep me and this job in your prayers if you think of it :)

My heart has been aching so much lately for teenagers. The painful situations that many of them encounter are just not fair! Yes, a lot of it is out of their control, and is life taking its toll on their lives...but seriously, I wish I could just take all of their pain away and hand them a box of peace and love for them to enjoy for a lifetime! It just keeps me driving to do what I can to support and guide these precious kids. Keep posted for future plans!

Even though I have not been feeling well after my busy work weekend, I forced myself to A. celebrate my mom's 52nd birthday and B. do our annual pumpkin carving contest with my husband!
My mom's birthday was a blast (despite how I felt) and it was fun to all be together! My brother's girlfriend came too, and I have to say, Im quite proud of his choice! She's adorable! We watched the vikes vs packers and played games! (Theo sported his pack jersey proudly, what a rebel!)

The only downer to the night was when we decided to take my brother's newly purchased short bus (YES...a SHORT BUS! he plans to take on long ski/ road trips with his friends) to get the pizzas and a few treats and hit a car in the parking lot with it. We anxiously awaited for the owner of the vehicle to come out so we could talk to him. After about 20 minutes of long waiting we had him paged and he came out. luckily he didnt seem to care at all about the minor damage on his very old car. He laughed and said why dont you just give me 40-50$ and we will call it even. My brother said, how bout 80$? Done deal. And we were off! It could have been a lot worse outcome!

Pumpkin 1

Our pumpkin carving contest is taking place on facebook this year to have a little less bias in the voting...we shall see who the winner is!

Pumpkin 2

I also just got done baking the pumpkin seeds! One of our favorite fall treats! Yum Yum! The house smells so great on this cold rainy day :)

Until next time...

friendships life and other mysteries

As they normally should, friendships certainly take their course as you graduate from high school, then college, and beyond. As we are forming into the "complete" person that we were created to be we often mold into different relationships and different roles in existing relationships. And this is natural. However, sometimes hard for my brain (or maybe its my heart) to wrap around. I often times hold on to what "once was" and don't accept the fact that it "is not" anymore. I assume, and hope that this will become easier as I continue this transition into a much different phase of life. Its such a weird shift to realize all the more recent relationships that have been made are so strong and have such a common level in which they are formed. They are not based on memories, but on current involvement's, life phases, etc.  Although I know it is still important to remember the past, and hold dear to the people who were (or still are) a big part of your life, its OK to not hold too tight! I think we will always love and have a special place in our heart for those who were close to us in the past. I am so thankful for those few that have remained ever so close to me throughout the years, and these friendships have truly stood the test of time!

Pictures from the past:

As sam's new job entailed being the youth director for jr high and sr high students, it is natural that as I am involved too, I will build relationships with these kids. Can I just say that I am so excited about this? youth inspire me, and sometimes teach me more than I think I teach them. Right now I have been working more with the jr high than sr high (hopefully it will become more equal soon!) and I have come to this conclusion ...I frequently underestimate these kids, their talents, and ability to influence those around them, both young and old! Not that I EVER had low standards, but they just continue to impress me! I am so excited as we continue to build relationships with these kids and watch them grow up and hopefully stay on the right path ;)

Below is a picture of my small group of 7th grade girls (minus one of them) They are pretty great :)

Off to another night shift of work tonight in a few hours. Its not so bad, i suppose :) Patiently awaiting doors for my dream job to open up, but until then...I guess I have a pretty good gig!

<3 Christina Joy