"What's going on Saturday?"

A hilarious conversation around the Ellis table last Sunday. As you will notice communication in our family specifically about family events can be a little cloudy! ;) It keeps things interesting!

Me: So Mom what time are we all supposed to come over on Saturday?
Mom: What's going on on Saturday?
Me: Ummm, we are all coming over to celebrate Christmas since Hannah's family and Lew and I won't be here for Christmas!
Mom: Ohhh, I didn't know that! When did we decide that.
Me: (I'm cracking up at this point) Mom we decided this weeks ago, that's one of the reasons why Hannah is driving up from North Carolina this weekend!
Now Sam and Priscila join in:
Sam: Wait whats going on on Saturday?
Priscila: Honey were coming here to celebrate Christmas while Laura and Lew and Hannah and Enoch are here.
Sam: We are? Did you know about that honey? I didn't know that!
Priscila: Yes love I have known about this for a while!
Now Dad joins in the conversation...
Dad: So wait a second what's going on Saturday?
(everyone starts chuckling)
Me: Dad everyone is coming over Saturday to celebrate Christmas because some of us won't be here on Christmas.
Dad: I didn't know that either!
Priscila: (talking to my parents) So are you still going to do something on the 25th even though everyone is coming Saturday?
Dad: Whats the 25th!!??
Everyone laughing hysterically at this point...
Multiple people: DAD ITS CHRISTMAS!!!

My family is so funny! I love you guys ;) Can't wait to celebrate with you on Saturday (It is Saturday right? ;) )

Pinned!

I had my pinning ceremony last night, in nursing school its a traditional ceremony where you are given a pin to wear on your uniform as well as exhorted to "be the best nurse you can be" ;)  It was a nice ceremony, nothing fancy, but memorable.  I think the reason why it's taking time to "hit" me that I'm done is because I'm done with this journey, but there are so many more to come!  The boards, my critical care course at the hospital, precepting under a nurse on the PICU where I will be working, and taking care of my first patients on my own (yikes!).  Fortunately these all come one at a time, so I won't be overwhelmed.  But I guess I am just realizing finishing this program is really just a start to a whole new realm of learning.  Maybe not quite as structured, but as a nurse you are ALWAYS learning!

Here are some pictures from the ceremony:

Mom and Dad ;)

Rissa and Grandma

Filing into the ceremony

Getting "pinned" by professor Schuler

Finally pinned ;)

::Nightingale Pledge:: "I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to faithfully practice my profession of nursing.  I will do all in my power to make and maintain the highest standards and practices of my profession.

I will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping in the practice of my calling.  I will assist the physician in his work and will devote myself to the welfare of my patients, my family, and my community.

I will endeavor to fulfill my rights and privileges as a good citizen and take my share of responsibility in promoting the health and welfare of the community.

I will constantly endeavor to increase my knowledge and skills in nursing and to use them wisely.  I will zealously seek to nurse those who are ill wherever they may be and whenever they are in need.

I will be active in assisting others in safeguarding and promoting the health and happiness of mankind."  .     author unknown

I made this pledge last night, as I read through it I actually got a little teary eyed (lets call it exhaustion ;) )  Either way while reading it I just couldn't help but see how God's enduring faithfulness has brought me to this point.  Without his mercy I wouldn't be here today, a graduated nurse.  And by his grace I can keep this pledge.  My prayer is that I will never become an apathetic careless nurse, there are already too many of those in our world.  And mainly that I will never lose a heart of compassion;  that I will never stop treating my patients as if they were my brother, sister, child, or parent...  Thanks to so many of you for your encouragement and prayers!  I am so thankful to my friends and family for walking through this journey with me!  

A little "shout out" to my friend Maureen (who I know is reading this ;) )for getting the award for Academic excellence.  Maureen I am so proud of you, all your hard work has paid off!  I am thankful to have spent these last two years with you, we have to keep in touch!!

Where did the year go?!

Us a year ago...

Us now...

As I am typing this it's crazy to think that one year ago we became husband and wife!  This year has been so full, God has been blessing us and teaching us so much, I just can't believe that the year is gone.  We haven't quite celebrated yet just because we wanted to wait until after school had finished so we could really enjoy our time together.  So we plan to go away for two nights over New Years.  We did eat our cake though, and amazingly it was SO good.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was great.  

To My Love:  That God would bless me with a godly, humble, servant like you is beyond my comprehension, but please know how blessed I am to be your wife.  You have taught me so much through your faith and perseverance, I can't wait to see what the years hold for us!!

On another note,  I had my final today, and yes that means I'm done! I'm still in shock. It could be the fact that I only got 3 hours of sleep last night, or the fact that my life has been so dedicated to this nursing program for the last two years that its hard to imagine it really being over!  I'm sure it will hit me...eventually, maybe when I go to take my board exam.  But until then, I will just try to enjoy some undivided quality time with my husband.  He's the one who sacrificed the most this year for me to be able to study hard, I don't know how I could have done it without him!

I hope to post some more pictures soon.   Rissa is finally back from Budapest and we got to celebrate her 19th birthday yesterday.  My graduation ceremony is also tomorrow, so I will post some pictures of that, until then....

Supply & Demand

This morning I woke up feeling weary.  More aware of weakness rather than grace, more aware of my "to-do's" than of all that God has done for me, and more aware of what I lack at the moment, than of the reality that my greatest need has been met through Christ.  

Though I despise the weariness, I love the result of the weariness --> Dependence!  I knew this morning that I needed to kneel before the cross and lay down my burdens.  I knew that I needed to find my sufficiency in Christ and not in myself.  What a sweet reminder!

I found this precious "gem" or truth in Beside Still Waters by Charles Spurgeon:

We have great demands, but Christ has great supplies.  Between here and heaven, we may have greater wants than we have yet known.  But all along the journey, every resting place is ready; provisions are laid up, good cheer is stored and NOTHING has been overlooked.  The commissary of the Eternal is absolutely perfect.

Do you sometimes feel so thirsty for grace that you could drink the Jordan dry?  More than a river could hold is given to you, so drink abundantly, for Christ has prepared a bottomless sea of grace to fill you with all the fullness of God.   DO NOT BE FRUGAL. Do not doubt your Savior.  Do not limit the Holy One of Israel.  Be great in your experience of His-all-sufficiency .  Be great in your praises of His bounty, and in heaven you will pour great treasures of gratitude at His feet.

What great mercy He has shown us!  

Yummy Pecan Goodness...

The other night we were having some friends over for dessert...originally I had big ideas of what kinds of dessert I was going to make.  I had a ton of new recipes I had been holding onto and waiting for the right time to break them out.  As I went through some of the recipes I wanted to try I decided I wasn't up for all the work they entailed, so I fell back on something I had made before that required LITTLE effort and LITTLE ingredients ;) And they are so very yummy, cant beat that!

They are Hungarian Cookie Bars.  Don't know what about them makes them Hungarian, but I made them this past summer when we were sending my sweet little sister off to study abroad in Hungary.  Either way the recipe is so easy, and they are delicious.  You can add whatever kind of nuts you want as a topping.  I have tried both walnuts and pecans, and I liked the pecans best.  They taste like little pecan pies, they have a dense crust like layer, a ooey gooey middle, and a nice caramel like crust on top with nuts....yum!

Hungarian Cookie Bars

1 3/4 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C butter/margarine softened

1 teas. vanilla

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

2 Large eggs

1 C chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease a 9" square baking pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together 3/4 cup of the brown sugar and the margarine. Add vanilla and flour; mix well. Pat this mixture into the bottom of the baking pan.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the remaining 1 cup brown sugar; mix well. Pour into the pan over the first mixture. Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the top.

Bake at 325ºF for 30 to 40 minutes, or until center is no longer jiggly. Cool completely before slicing. Slice into 2-1/2"x1-1/2" bars.

All I want for Christmas are ....trash ties?

Yes ladies (and men?)  these little things would be the perfect stocking stuffer for any lady in your family...or you could always just buy them for yourselves ;)  Either way these things are great, you've got to check them out!  I have an unusually thick head of hair and most hair "contraptions" don't work at all or give me a headache....I have been waiting for something like this to come on the market...and alas here it is!  Make sure you look at the gallery on the website to see how cool they look. 

Meat & Taters...

Lew is definitely a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy.  Though he puts up with my "frilly" concoctions I like to try to bless him with the kind of meals that he truly enjoys!  Even though he's easy to please it's cute to see him get so excited over a meat and taters dish ;)

So, here is something I made this week for the first time and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't have kiddos but I imagine that they would be quite fond of these little little meat muffins;)  They tasted so yummy and really weren't very hard to make.  I served it with brown sugar glazed carrots and mashed potatoes. 

Diner Meat Loaf Muffins

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup ketchup, divided

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)

1 cup finely crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20)

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.

Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.

Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes. 

To make the brown sugar glazed carrots...

Boil about 2 cups of baby carrots in salted water for about 8-10 minutes (until tender-crisp).  Then drain and set aside.  In same pot add 1 tbs butter, 1 tbs brown sugar, and a dash of salt.  Stir until mixed in and butter is melted.  Add carrots and stir for two minutes until glazed.