KRISTEN IN THE RAW.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

No Snow Sightings in These Parts...



You aren't kidding me.


The heat doesn't bother me, personally. And most of the day I'm inside the cold clinic anyways. But I have to say that heading off to Colorado in the morning doesn't sound so incredibly bad. In fact, it sounds GREAT!


See ya'll around.


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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

King Harrison's Round Table

This was Harrison's birthday wish:


Being that I hadn't been there since a SIXTH GRADE field trip, I was more than happy to oblige.


The jousting tournament includes dinner...



... a halariously looking fuzzy headed master of ceremonies...



... brave knights on gallant steeds with squires and swords, jousting their way to the kings approval...



(I know it's blurry... but their FACES! It's the best part!)


Johnny, Walter, Elliott, Winter, Carolyn, Curt, and Clark


... a beloved prince abducted and almost executed by an evil, betraying knight... who happened to be OUR knight... hee hee...


... a very fake acting sorrowful princess, who couldn't seem to BEAR the thought of her dearly beloved never coming back to her kingdom... sniff...




Oh, and did I mention no silverware? That was weird.

Or the fact that Haley was in close vicinity to me and that my ears will never be the same?

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Monday, July 25, 2011

Cow Non-Tipping

To protect the innocent, I must code the names of those involved. The codes shall be as follows - The One Who Just Moved to Texas, The One Who's House They Were At, The One Visiting Texas, The One With Many Brothers and Sisters, AND, last but not least, The One Who Writes This Post.

Here are the Ones - looking so innocent and eager to bust a myth.




The One Visiting Texas was convinced that cow's can be tipped. The One Who Writes This Post tried in vain to convince her that it is a myth. The One Who's House They Were At said, "There's only one way to find out. Come over and we shall go out late at night." The One Who Just Moved to Texas and The One With Many Brothers and Sisters decided to join in on the fun.

Off they went on The One Who's House They Were At's golf cart. Over the river and through the woods, to the cow pasture they drove. They climbed with great carefulness through the barbed-wire fence. They marched with great stealth in the complete opposite direction of the cows. The moon shone bright and the neighbor's dog heard them, barked loudly, and caused quite a fright in The One With Many Brothers and Sisters. The Ones ran the other way, which happened to be right where they needed to go, for it was there that the cows were.

The Ones decided to link arms and walk in a huddle, trying to convince the cows that they themselves were just another cow, slowly ambling their way. That MIGHT'VE been The One Who Writes This Post's idea, but I can't say for sure, because fright does many strange things to a person. The Ones finally became close enough to the cows to see that they were lying down, not standing up. Minus one point for The One Visiting Texas, plus one point for The One Who Writes This Post.

One small, very small, cow stands up. Looks The Ones in the eye. Nods it's head.

The One's halt the huddle.

The One Who's House They Were At - "I think he means 'Bring It On, let's fight'!"

The One Who Writes This Post - "I think it's just a friendly nod."

The One Visiting Texas - "Whimper."

The One Who Just Moved to Texas - "Ha. Ha."

The Ones' footsteps - backwards.

The cow comes closer. The backward footsteps become more frequent and unsteady. The Ones do a unison swivel and make like a freight train back to the fence. They probably SCARED the poor calf.

The One With Many Brothers and Sisters - "I think I just... said a bad word."

The One Whos House They Were At - "BWHAHAA... RUN LIKE THE WIND!!!"

Back to the trusty old golf cart they ran.


MYTH. BUSTED.


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Monday, July 11, 2011

4th of July

One of my favorite days of the year. Second only to Thanksgiving. This 4th of July was no exception. Swimming at my sister's, having several over for dinner, going to Aubrey's, and watching fireworks over Lake Granbury.


and having a friend in town, WOO HOO.


So I started thinking about past 4th of July's... where we would sing on the float in the parade for what seemed like HOURS... but it was always fun... and hot.


And one where I was in California at July camp without my family (wayyyy too young, too), watching fireworks with Liz, Tiff, James (yelling "Weak Sauce!" after every single one), and lots of my other friends...



Doing a scavenger hunt at Drex and Beth's all around the neighborhood. I still think all the neighbors were secretly annoyed with us...


Watching fireworks with Derek and Jill, and Rog and Kara, and Kara and I missing almost the whole thing because we had to walk down the street to find a bathroom. So fun. Ppppbbbbtttt.



And last year, when all of Dad's friends and family stayed up and waited until midnight to ambush him and drag him away to a birthday party (his is on the 5th) that lasted until 2:30 or 3:00 the next morning...


And Aunt Jo wearing an APRON over sweat pants (her idea of making it modest??) and holding a pointer stick to try to direct musical chairs. I really need to dig up the picture of that.


I'm so lucky to have such awesome friends and family to party with...


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Sticky Notes & Naps

I haven't really said much about work on this blog, but I will today.

I love my job. And I love my friends and family that have more flexibility and get to do things or go places during the day. And for this reason, I need a sticky note on my computer that reads this - "I am very grateful to have such an awesome job". Because sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

I remind myself of this when my friends go out on days I have to work and invite me. I remind myself when friends from out of state come to visit, and I can't spend every single day having fun with them. I remind myself when my sister goes to my sister's and plays with my niece and nephews and I'm seething with jealousy. Hee hee... not really. Okay, SOMETIMES. But not every time. Mostly. I remind myself when I have to take naps during my lunch break because I stayed up so late the night before with friends or family, which I pretty much never regret, by the way. I remind myself that working full time builds responsibility and character, and builds up the bank account, to boot. Wow, did my dad just hack into my blog?

THEN... I think about how much I love my job. I think about how much I love gaining the experience and knowledge of how to be a good nurse. I think about all the patients that I meet that are so sweet (I try to forget about the ones that aren't so sweet). And I think about how good it feels when I leave, knowing (hoping) that I helped someone feel better today. And how I couldn't pick better co-workers, location, or boss (even though the whole 'uncle' thing still gets... interesting... sometimes).

And I am very happy. That is why I need the sticky note.

And now, I will go curl up in one of the exam rooms for my nap, thank you.

More of Lee

This little guy...


Is the most darling baby ever...









I was holding him last night and he was smiling and cooing with that perfect, poochy mouth... I think I might steal him.

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Friday, July 1, 2011

California Part 2

Landon and Mandy's wedding...





Me an Ally Mo!


Garrett and I




Mandy and Landon


Evan and I


Alex and I


Me, Ally Mo, Emily, And Ally Jo


more Cayucos...


Aubs and I had brunch with Greg and Kristina and then went to Shoreline Village before flying home.


Home again, home again... good to be home.

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