High Five!

Well we all made it to Friday! 

Was it just me or did this week fly by for anyone else too?

Maybe it was because I was on a mini-cation at home this week,

but I felt like it went by really fast.

It was a good week and I am glad it is Friday nonetheless!

Whoops, I forgot to add the numbers in the circles so bear with me!

1. A pretty DIY project for my new room

2. My baby brother started driving. 

(It was hysterical and terrifying all at the same time)

3. Night out at Boston Beer Works

4. Hot date!

5. The caption to this picture said "Can you see Friday yet..."

I see you Friday!!

This weekend is the big move so I will definitely take pictures and update you all on Monday!

I Saw It, Pinned It, and Did It

Today I am participating in my first ever "I saw it, I pinned it, I did it!" and I am super excited!

Mason jars are all the rage in the world of DIY right now. I am making some things to decorate my new room I decided to turn one into a flower vase. Of course, I got the idea from Pinterest. I am a terrible plant owner. I kill every single one. I do, however, like to spruce up my rooms with imitations.

I got a medium sized mason jar, added some crystal pebbles and a few fake flowers and VOILA... that easy!

I also found this super cute idea for a decorative acrylic tray from Katie last week and decided it was so easy, I just HAD to copy her! Do you see a theme? I like easy DIY crafts because I have little to no creativity in the world of decorating and interior design. You can read how to make this tray here on her blog.

This is my copy cat (thanks for the idea, Katie! it was amazing!)

I will snap some pictures when I finally put it in my new room and jack it up with all things girly!

Tomorrow is Friday, woohoo!!

I Can't Believe

Top o' the morning to ya! I am linking up with Robin to bring you today's "I Can't Believe!"

I can't believe... UNH is already calling me asking for money "donations." I mean C'MON, I graduated less than 6 months ago and you think I have enough money to start donating? Give me some time to get on my feet and support myself and then I will think about donating!

I can't believe... There is still snow on the ground. Really, Mother Nature? Last year at this time it was 80 degrees! (I am not exaggerating, it was in the newspaper yesterday)

I can't believe... I spent all of my Friday night online looking at houses in Georgia. My mom and step dad may be moving there so my entire family (including the bf) sat around pursuing the market down in Georgia.

I can't believe... My boyfriend spent all weekend up at my dad's house moving furniture and he still wants to be with me! Every time he comes up to visit my dad always puts him to work, poor kid. This was him after a long day's work.

What can't you believe?

Quick Update

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today :)

I just have a quick update today.

Unfortunately I have been so busy getting ready to move

that I have had little time for anything else.

But when not preparing for the move, vacationing is awesome!

Currently it is 11:00 am on the East coast and I am 

sitting on the couch drinking coffee and writing this post!

I am procrastinating like crazy this morning

I really need to get ready and head out to run errands.

so I am off..

check on tomorrow for my "I can't believe" post

and on Thursday for "I saw it, I pinned it, I did it" post.

 

Who here loves Boy Meets World?

This girls does.. can't wait for the sequel!

Bittersweet Friday

Today is a bittersweet day for me. It is my last day working at a job I have had for the past 5 years. It is the end of one chapter in my life and April 1 marks the start of another. I am super sad to leave the comfort of my job right now but at the same time I am excited and anxious for my next chapter to unfold!


High five for Friday!

1. Had some drinks with friends
2. Sunset after the storm (would you look at that, it snowed.. again!)
3. From one sister to another
4. Easter care package. Support out troops!
5. Did some damage at the outlets.. but hit some great sales!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

I Cant Believe.. I Outgrew Easter Baskets

Today I am linking up with Robin from The Sunshine Diary
for her "I Can't Believe" series.

I can't believe...
I forgot how much fun Easter baskets were!

My brother and I kind of grew out of our "we love the Easter Bunny" phase. And since then my mom has stopped pretty much all forms of Easter love. Sure we still get a cute card and a chocolate Easter bunny, but no more are the days of running down stairs to a massive Easter basket with our favorite candy and little gadgets.

I was reminded all to well of the pleasure Easter baskets used to bring  while shopping for $60 worth a few bags of candy to fill a care package for Travis and his Marine buddies.

  

We filled an Easter box with all the Easter basket essentials. 

Candy? Check. Toys? Check. Easter eggs? Check.

I went a lot crazy in the Easter isle of the grocery store, finding candy and fun little toys to pass the down time in Afghanistan.

While packaging up these Easter treats, I couldn't help but miss Easter baskets when I was a little kid. I can't believe I grew out of Easter baskets!

P.S. Mom if you are reading this, I like milk chocolate.. enough with these dark chocolate bunnies, its like eating poo.. in my opinion. But thank you for thinking of me!

Moving and Over The Weekend

As I was taking a leisurely sunny drive through my hometown today and thinking to myself "it's so darn beautiful around here" it occurred to me that I am moving in less than a week. And that's when it happened... sheer panic. Yup, full blown panic attack in the car on the way to work. Tears, accelerated heart beat, shortness of breath and OMG OMG OMG running through my head. Come on Court, your on your way to work, get a grip!

But I can't help it, I am an anxious person to begin with. I am so excited to start my new job and live somewhere new. And by "live" I really mean "move in with Dad and Step mom for the time being." I am looking forward to all the new things I am going to experience and spend such quality time with my dad, something I have never really had the opportunity to do. but I can't help but feel like I'm losing something as well. I know that once I move next week, it is highly likely I will not move back home with my Mom. I will save up money and get my own place. And that is something that is hard for me to think about. I have always lived with my mom and she is my best friend. I feel like I see-saw between emotions. Sometimes I feel like I am a young adult and should start living a more independent life on my own, and then I have moments where I don't think I could live on my own at this point. It's definitely a time of transition.

There isn't really a good segway into my weekend review but lets just say, it made me completely forget about moving and being an adult. I spend the weekend hanging out with my roommates from college. Everyone came back home this past weekend and we lived it up. Insert photo dump.

Friday night we went out for drinks. An impromptu bar hop around town.

bloopers:

And here is the sure sign of a good night... the droopy drunk eyes.

Saturday we did some damage at the outlets. Holy sales, thank the retail gods!

T.G.I.F.

Thank goodness its Friday! I have been trying to write the blog post for the last hour and a half but I keep getting side-tracked watching The Fighter.

Hello Marky-Mark, you are gorgeous! Oh right... my blog post... what was I saying? Oh my goodness LOOK AT THOSE ABS..

2 minutes later... phone vibrates

Oh a text from mom...

Mom: DID YOU SEE THOSE ABS

Its amazing I was able to write this post and get to bed on time.

Here are my high fives for this week!

1. My daily calendar has been put to good use recently. I have organized some of my thoughts and started to schedule my blogs ideas. Stay tuned next week!

2. I just picked up the book Water for Elephants and so far I am loving it!

3. Sticking to my March goals, I have started running in the afternoons when I get home from work and the weather was absolutely perfect this week.

4. Cadbury eggs are a perk of the Easter season. They are my all-time guilty pleasure.

5. I had to buy Aruba Coconut body lotion from Bath and Body Works. It is part of their new escape collection and smells divine!

After working two weeks straight, I am looking forward to a little R&R this weekend with some fun mixed in. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Cancer Sucks

source

I woke up this morning really missing my little oncology kiddos that I worked with this Fall. I really needed some smiles and laughs. During my clinical internship I worked in the oncology unit at a Children's hospital. When I began I was really nervous because I didn't know how to react around my patients and their families. They are young kids with cancer, how do you go in and smile all the time when they have such difficult diagnoses? What I quickly learned is that my oncology patients were ten times more motivated to have a good time than any of my other patients. Some of my fondest moments are of hanging out with them usually laughing until I cried. Believe me, some of them were true characters. I wish I was able to post pictures of them because you would all laugh along with me!

One of the girls I worked with was newly diagnosed with Leukemia. She was admitted 5 days before I started my internship and she was still at the hospital the day I left. Over three months she sat in the same hospital room, unable to leave due to her inability to fight infections. She was a pre-teen beginning puberty and severely missing her social life. I witnessed her endure countless chemo cycles, risky medical procedures, and severe depression. At the end of each day, I would always stop by her room on the way out and discuss our plans for the next day. She would smile, mumble a "thank you, see you tomorrow" and throw up a double a thumbs up. She was absolutely amazing. She taught me so much about persevering and "just getting through the tough crap" in order to really live.

Every time I feel myself letting go and slowing down I think of her patience and motivation to kick cancer's ass and I push myself a little bit more. And did she kick cancers ass.. hard!

Please, do not take this beautiful life for granted, there are too many people fighting hard to keep theirs!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well wasn't this weekend quite a gem. Anyone else feel the same way? I must admit, after my original plans to go to Boston and see some friends fell through I was a little bummed. However, I had just as much fun spending time at home soaking up this beautiful weather!

Went to dinner with the family // 48 is like a heatwave! // went running and ended up my high school // went shopping with Mom // ate healthy all weekend // and it was so sunny and warm!

I Love Fridays

Welcome back Friday! If I wasn't working straight through to next weekend I think I would be a little more excited, however I am a lucky lady to even have a job in this world right now so I am not complaining!

What I will complain about is yet another snow storm that has reared its ugly head in the Northeast. Don't get me wrong.. I love winter and I LOVE snow. But come March, I am totally ready for some spring weather and sun. So I am currently praying to Mother Nature every day to cut us Northerners some slack and call off winter.

My high five for this week..

1. Alex and Ani finally designed a UNH bracelet and I wasted no time ordering one!

2. I got to meet up with one of my girls for dinner this week. I miss you my friend.

3. Eating clean with some fresh fruit this week.

4. I finished this amazing book. It was a great story about life through a dogs eyes.

5. I welcomed my sneakers and work out clothes back into my life and started running again woohooo!

Have a great weekend everybody! 

Child Life

Last night I met up for dinner with my girl Maura. While we were eating and having a lovely session of "catch-up" she blurts out "You know I read your blog! Feel free to shout out to me sometime." So this blog post serves as a major shout out to her.

Maura and I lived with each other all throughout college. Not only was she one of my roommates and best friends but she knows me more than I know myself. You see, if it wasn't for Maura, I would probably still be taking psychology classes, trying to pass in order to graduate. When I started college I enrolled as a psyc major. I thought for sure that was what I wanted to do. What I found was that I wasn't really interested in it and it really reflected my grades. I was doing so poorly and working so hard. One day at the beginning of sophomore year while crying over another low exam grade, Maura says "hey Court, you should really check out Child Life, I think it is right up your alley." So I did a little research and sure enough I fell in love with the idea of helping children cope with medical experiences. And come on.. who wouldn't want to to help kids cope through tough medical experiences by incorporating play and fun activities into their procedures.

Maura and I spent the rest of our college career glued to each others side. Literally. We had every single class together. At our graduation banquet we were awarded the "Most Inseparable Seniors" award. Proudest moment of my life.. sigh. Not but really, I love her. And she is one damn good Child Life Specialist ;).

Thank you Dicks Last Resort Restaurant for the embarrassing hats!

So here I am, about to finish up my role as a child life student by taking the very stressful certification exam and I couldn't be happier. I know this is exactly what I want to do with my life and I owe all my thanks to my constant supporter and cheerleader! Thanks, Mo!

We did not do so good on this..

A Few Pins

It is inevitable.. if I "peruse" Pinterest, I find myself coming up for air like 2 hours later. It sucks me in every dang time! I think its a problem that I am careless to fix. Here are some things that caught my eye over the weekend - among other things.

This DIY decorative tray is adorable and has been added to my list of must-haves.
Doesn't taco stuffed shells sound appetizing? My family loves anything taco related.
This takes body pillow to a whole new level.
I love JLaw (Jennifer Lawrence) and Silver Linings Playbook was an amazing movie.

Where Am I?

I am disappointed in myself for my lack of blogging this week. I apologize for being so MIA.

Here is a photo catch up of what has been going on..

 

 My first book of March. It is a heart warming story of life and love, as told by a dog.

Healthy eating. I could eat grapefruits all day.

 Butternut squash raviolis are my new favorite meal.

p.s. how much do you hate those plates? 

Personally, I think they are ugly and I keep telling

my mom to get new ones, but they are "family heirlooms"

mmmm... still ugly.

My hairdresser thinned my hair when I got it cut recently.

It is so much lighter now and there was enough leftover hair

to make a wig for a small animal. (this picture only captures half of

the hair she thinned.)

 

These were delivered. Thank you girl scouts!!

 

I am so glad it is finally March! I was sick of February to say the least. I am looking forward to my goals for this month. They are more personal goals, focusing on health and exercise.

Eat 3 well balanced meals a day.

I struggle with eating three meals a day. I usually am skipping 

breakfast or lunch and it is not good.

Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

Staying hydrated is also a weakness of mine. I have no problem remembering

to drink my coffee in the morning, but I repetitively forget to drink enough water.

Staying hydrated really helps skin complexion as well. Who doesn't want a better

skin complexion?

Exercise at least 4 times a week.

Plain and simple. I need to work out more.

Bring it on March, I am all about getting fit and healthy!