New York Times Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/us/04abortion.html

Haiti!

Good article on midwives in Haiti.

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/haiti-feature-040309

Why I am NOT so stressed!

School is over this quarter!! YEAH!! So many things have happened in the last two months. Thanksgiving we spent at Long Beach with Erin and family. My family was enjoying the beaches of Hawaii and Dashel's other family was living it up in Forks, WA. We made a full Thanksgiving dinner including a meat turkey and a veg turkey. Both were delicious and Erin even suggested that she might stick with the veg turkey next year!

I finished my finals and managed a 3.8gpa this quarter barely missing a 4.0. Grrrrrrr...next time!

BIG NEWS! Dashel and I bought season passes to Snoqualmie! I have gone up twice so far and Dashel has gone up 4 times (unemployment allows for plenty of skiing)! It's SO awesome. I love it!

I have recently started floating to the Pioneer Square Clinic at Harborview. I really like the patients and staff. And the location! It's great. The patients are primarily homeless and many have mental health or substance use problems. It's difficult but really rewarding. Yesterday I saw this man who was 100 lbs, 31 y.o. and recently d/c'ed from the hospital. He looked like a holocaust survivor. I have never seen someone look like this in the US. He has type 1 diabetes and is addicted to multiple IV drugs. He has lost most of the meat on his body from abscesses. So sad. The joys of nursing...

Dashel is currently working on two Christmas presents, one for Quin and one for Hazel. We have a cute little tree and it feels like the holidays. Pictures to come soon!!

Our neighbors need help!!

http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2009/12/03/leschi-community-council-establishes-fund-for-clemmons-family

Jordan! So Cute!!

Best goodwill purchase this year...

Recent Run!

Mellissa, Andrea and me running in 20 degree weather! Mellissa and Andrea both got 2nd in their age groups and I came in 3rd!

Mellissa and me

preparing to scoot the Seattle Marathon route

To do list new and improved

A while ago I posted my to-do list and I have made such good progress that I had to post an updated list! Check it out!! It helps that I had assistance from friends for some of them tasks...

4. Dust the house

9. Take our free pile to goodwill

13. Go to the sculpture park

14. Go to the Frye for lunch
16. Put fenders on my bike
17. Get a massage
20. Make pizza dough and freeze it

23. Sleep in with my cutie
24. Try to track down my lost jacket
26. Take my friends kids to the aquarium
27. Wax skis/snowboards
28. Plan a trip in December

29. Clean the car

30. Take my friend Katherine to Theo Chocolates

31. Go skiing!!

Updated to-do list! So far so good!

1. Rock climbing

2. Trail run

4. Dusting the house

9. Taking our free pile to goodwill

13. Going to the sculpture park
14. Go to the Frye for lunch

16. Putting fenders on my bike
17. Getting a massage

20. Make pizza dough and freeze it

22. Watch a netflix movie
23. Sleep in with my cutie
24. Try to track down my lost jacket

26. Take my friends kids to the aquarium
27. Wax skis/snowboards
28. Plan a trip in December
29. Buy a new big french press
30. Go to sleep before 10 and read with Dashel in bed!

Local News | Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules | Seattle Times Newspaper

If you want to here about my weekend...

read here

Who wants to move to BC? It's totally not stressful there!

(Elissa, no need to respond to this post...)

Dashel, remember when we stayed in a fancy hotel?

You LOVED it!

The last of the summer veggies...

why I am so stressed...

so I have been having yucky nightmares for the last couple of weeks. Last night I had a dream that someone was holding a gun to my head. This is likely for a few reasons:

1. Having watched an assault a month ago

2. Not sleeping enough and being exhausted all the time

3. Being stressed out

I previously blamed #1 for my nightmares but today I decided it was #2. Evidence why I am too tired:

ex. Today I woke up and went to get on the scooter to go to work. The scooter was gone. It was for sure stolen. The last time I had drove it was Wednesday when I had picked up Elissa on 23rd to scoot her home. All hell broke loose, I was late for clinicals, my clinical instructor called in sick, the whole staff at the clinic left for a two hour meeting mid day when my prof. was coming to the clinic to assess my skills.

I grumpily walked to my running group at the Seattle Running Company (come one, come all!) and met my friends Kellen and Aaron for a nice leisurely run. Afterwards we walked to campus to eat at the amazing $2 salad bar. And guess what we saw on the way?! THE SCOOTER!! Apparently I drove the scooter to campus at 6:30 am on Friday morning for class (which I really don't remember...) and left it for 5 days parked in front of Starbucks.

I guess I should go to bed now and try to get some sleep...

How I long for a free day...

This whole having 4 classe plus working on a masters thesis in addition to work is tricky. I'm enjoying school but I could really go for about 7 days off in a row. One day would just stress me out more. I would just be thinking about all the things I would want to do and never actually do any of them. These are the things I would want to accomplish:

1. Rock climbing
2. Trail run
3. Cleaning the fridge
4. Dusting the house
5. Working in the garden
6. Getting the car a tune up
7. Drying more apples and making more applesauce
8. Going to Goodwill/Bins and finding some reasonable work clothes
9. Taking our free pile to goodwill
10. Selling clothes at Crossroads
11. Using my REI coupon
12. Hanging out with Heather and getting coffee
13. Going to the sculpture parl
14. Go to the Frye for lunch
15. Change the sheets on the bed
16. Putting fenders on my bike
17. Getting a massage
18. Finally getting my hip/back X-rayed
19. Getting my HPV shot
20. Make pizza dough and freeze it
21. Getting crumpets with Mariah, Laura, Kate and Carly (how I long for biscuits and gravy from the Globe also)
22. Watch a netflix movie
23. Sleep in with my cutie
24. Try to track down my lost jacket
25. Visit my sweet niece and nephew (actually Dashel's)
26. Take my friends kids to the aquarium
27. Wax skis/snowboards
28. Plan a trip in December
29. Buy a new big french press
30. Go to sleep before 10 and read with Dashel in bed!
31. Go to a pumpkin farm and roast pumpkin seeds

soooo scared...

Last night I saw my first assault and mugging. It was awful. It's a long story but you can read all about it HERE. Yuck.

My favorite zucchini bread recipe

Not too bad for you zucchini bread
(makes 2 8-inch loaf pans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bowl 1 (combine all ingrediants):
1 whole egg and 2egg whites (you can substitute 1/4 C applesauce for the whole egg if desired)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt (soy, goat or cow although I like Nancy's or Strauss best)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bowl 2 (mix all ingredients):
2 cups flour (I usually use 1/2 wheat and 1/2 plain)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2teaspoon baking powder

Combine bowl 1 with bowl 2.
Add:
2 cups of grated zucchini
1/3 cup chopped nuts

Pour mixture into two greased loaf pans and bake for45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.

As a special treat, I highly recommend melting one or two squares of unsweetened plain bakers chocolate and mixing into the batter as a last step. It changes the color of the bread and also makes it seem like dessert. You can use the same recipe + chocolate for a healthy version of cupcakes.

Enjoy!

why I am so stressed...

because school has begun! Only 11 more weeks to go. Ugh. Wish me luck!

In more important news...

I did my first solo pap smear and speculum exam! Oh the excitement! AND the patient said it didn't suck anymore than usual! YEAH!!

Tomorrow is my first day as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Wish me luck!

Five years and counting...

Dashel and I spent the weekend in Whistler, BC celebrating the big fiver. A few months ago I won two nights stay at Evolution Hotel (a fancy place we could never afford) and we took them up on the offer! I had a cold so we primarily laid low and took advantage of the two beds, three TV's, fully stocked kitchen, two bath tubs and two full bathrooms (boo-ya!). We also spent time in the sauna, steam room and pool trying to release all the mucous from my poor nose! It was such a treat!

Standing on our deck after a yummy fresh pasta dinner

Updates!!

So many updates! First off, I just got back from Haiti one week ago. I went to Haiti with an organization called "Midwives for Haiti". I spent some time in Port au Prince with a great woman, Beth, who started the organization "Haitian Creations" which helps women learn sewing skills. She also has started an orphanage that has a tilapia pond, a chicken coop, a roof top garden and a trampoline. She is currently developing a women's health program also. We spent some time doing prenatal visits at her new clinic.

After Port au Prince, we headed to Hinche, Haiti which is in the Central Plateau. We stayed at an orphanage "Maison Fortune" with two fabulous men, Brother Michael and Brother Harry. Michael took us on adventures around the village and introduced us to his friends and co-workers.

Me with some local kids

Sweet, sweet girl

We spent the majority of our days working. We worked in the clinic at the orphanage in addition to training midwives how to place Norplant, a long-acting birth control. We also spent part of our days at the Missionaries of Charity Azeal feeding center which is a home for kids who are sick, hungry and/or homeless. Many of the children were dying while others were visibly thriving. One perk of the visits was the sweet baby pictured below. She is 8 months old and weighed 4lbs when we arrived. She was tongue tied and we clipped her frenulum which now has allowed her to suck for the first time in her life. I sure hope her mom comes back for her so the sister's can tell her that it was not her fault her baby was sick.

Tiny baby and April

Us watching the midwives practice using their new vacuums for difficult labors

One of our last days after we were stuck in a rainstorm (aka Hurricane Erika)

Overall the trip was fantastic. Emotionally exhausting and absolutely worth every second.

And we're off...

to Haiti! I will be back to the blogging world in a couple of weeks. Think positive thoughts about 100 degree weather and 100% humidity!

Post-triathlon...

Pre-triathlon...

Our new patio area

Our kind landlords built this great patio and gave us a great picnic table. You can also see our tomato plants in the pots below. We had a glass of wine at our table a few nights ago and slices of watermelon for lunch yesterday while enjoying the sun.

FUN!

Apricot time!

Today I did a little cooking! And blackberry picking! Yum!

I also made a snack to eat while I was cooking. Edamame! Yum! Unfortunately, one of the edamame popped out of the shell and right into the apricot jam I was making!

See Below

Apricots cooking down!

Some people put the pits in the jam to give it an almond-y flavor

About a month ago I made another batch of apricot jam (about 4 lbs worth of fruit) that was absolutely perfect. After I had completed the jam, I decided that it was not quite as thick as I wanted so I turned the heat back on...and I forgot about it...and it burnt. I cried. So sad.

BUT,

I yesterday I turned the smoky apricot jam into "spicy apricot bbq sauce". I added a variety of ingredients and it tastes pretty dang good! I added tomato paste, rice vinegar, mustard, grated onion, hot sauce (combination of brands!) and of course, the burnt jam. Now I just need to do some marinating.

The last week

Has been so busy and FUN! I finished my last week of summer quarter with three big finals that almost killed me and a weeked full of fun. I harvested some vegetables from my garden, too!

This is me SO excited about my red tomatoes and sweet carrots.

A harvest of basil, carrots (I think they are the sweet nante variety), beets, zucchini, cucumbers and small slicing tomatoes.

While I was studying like crazy, Dashel spent the day with Quin. They had quite a fun day!

Quin jamming out in Dashel's practice space.

Quin enjoying a delicious cupcake

Cupcake Royale is a great cupcake shop just a short 15 minute walk from our house.

Oh the joys of school being out and the beginning of summer!

Kittens inspired by kittens...

Get ready to live...

Why I am not so stressed...

because school is out!!! More to come soon!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Today I woke up early for my last quiz before finals week. I made it to the pool just in time for a quick swim before work. My new favorite place to buy coffee before work is at a place called Watertown. It's right in between the gym and work so I can stop on the way. I try to bring my coffee with me but I just can't seem to make it work on the days I swim.


A few nights ago Dashel and I made another fancy dessert with the ice cream maker as evidenced below. We cut up a bunch of mint from the garden and made mint ice cream and dark chocolate cookies (both from Martha Stewart's website) and made ice cream sandwiches.

We also had a yummy dinner of fish tacos. I breaded sturgeon my dad caught a while ago in Ilwaco, WA along with a peach cucumber salsa. I picked my first harvest of tomatoes and mixed them with cucumbers from the garden and peaches and jalapenos from my parents with a fresh squeeze of lime.

The fish looks kinda yucky but was actually really great! Tomorrow I have a quick run in the morning, a date with my dear cousin Kelley and off to the beach with my parent for a fun filled weekend!

summer weddings

summer weddings

Contemplating choices...

cheap beer or pharmacology...

Worst Assignment EVER!

Coconut Ice Cream w/Apricot Sauce

What a day!

Today I woke up bright and early and went to Discovery Park to do some trail running. For those of you who aren't familiar with Discovery Park, it's this great big park right smack-dab in the center of Seattle with beaches and trails made for running and picnic-like food. It's also conveniently located right next to Vertical World, a climbing gym. Everytime I go to Discovery Park to run I give myself a treat of going climbing. Today it was expecially great because I was there right when they opened leaving lots of space for beginner-me. Afterwards, I went to PCC and bought some groceries and headed towards Wallingford to study for a few hours.

After all of my business was taken care of, I decided to stop by and water our friends plants who are on their honeymoon and also borrow their ice cream machine. Below is the proof that the machine rules. We made "Arnold Palmer" sorbet (black tea/lemonade) and coconut/cajeta (condensed milk) ice cream. We visited our friends Jeremy and Tessa, ate dinner and now I am off to bed. What a day!

Arnold Palmer Sorbet

Inside of ice cream maker

Evidence of our messy kitchen