Mr. Heckles

In our last apartment, we lived on the first floor, but either there was some serious insulation and flooring between the two floors, or we had fabulous upstairs neighbors who we only heard (barely) when they were vacuuming or if they ran across the floor. Other than that, we barely knew they lived there.

Here, we live on the second floor, but our upstairs neighbors on the third floor apparently try to make as much noise as possible. Our first week here, we nearly called the police because we heard a male screaming at someone (we assume his wife?) for about 30 minutes. We couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was definitely screaming and stomping around. Eventually, he stopped and left (we know what kind of car he drives). However, it does appear that he lives here...oh yay...bleh.

Apart from that, the neighbors upstairs must also be sumo wrestlers that have elephants, and they all practice gymnastics all day long...because the noise on their floor through the ceiling is ridiculous. It is seriously like they run around and stomp all day long...or wrestle...or do gymnastics...because it's nearly impossible to make that much noise...we walk around or run into the other room to grab something, and I'm pretty certain that our neighbors below us barely know we exist. Are they rolling their couch over and over across the room upstairs?

So finally I got really really pissed off tonight after listening to it for about 4 hrs straight...there is just NO way to make that much noise...I turned into Mr. Heckles...yes, that old guy from "Friends" who lived below the girls and always hit his ceiling with the broom when they were too noisy...If I could have reached my ceiling with my hands by standing on the table or counter, I would have...Instead, I grabbed the broom and took the handle and banged it loudly 3 or 4 times quickly against the ceiling and screamed SHUTUP! I wanted to do more, but Beto told me to sit down. Do these people EVER sit down? Ugh! These are nice, brand new apartments...

Since I'm not sure if there's an abusive situation going on up there given the male that was screaming at someone else last week, we definitely weren't going up there...though if THAT happens again, the cops are getting called.

The apartment complex office is definitely getting an ear full tomorrow morning...It's hard to enjoy supper or your evening of TV or study for your NNP NCC exam when the circus is taming lions upstairs!

Emily & Beto

Settling in...

We're finally settled in in our new apartment in Peoria...

I started my new job on September 26 at OSF (St. Francis Medical Center) at Children's Hospital of Illinois...The first two days involved general hospital orientation...8 hours a day of all the fun reviews of the history of the hospital (which was actually very interesting), education on workplace violence, occupational health, parking, etc. The third and fourth days were nursing orientation for anyone working in the nursing field. Then on Saturday and Sunday, I learned all about documentation and placing orders in their computer system.

Finally, Thursday and Friday, I was in the NICU with the neonatal nurse practitioners! I just spent this week following them around, learning where everything was, how some things work, going on rounds, etc. I was able to go to a few deliveries which was wonderful! Everyone is so nice! I'm so excited about being here.

A little about the history: some nuns came to the Peoria area in 1877 and began taking care of the sick and poor. They started a small hospital in a two-story house...and then their hospital grew and grew and grew with additional buildings to what it is today. The children's hospital was added just over a year ago and includes a huge pediatric emergency department, an amazing CV OR/ surgery floor, NICU, PICU, heart unit, general peds unit, along with more clinics than you could ever name, including a St. Jude affiliate center.

It is a Catholic faith-based hospital; the nuns are still very present in the hospital and in its administration today. It's been very refreshing working here (though I'm not Catholic)...orientation was started with a prayer...meetings are started with prayers or reflections...the mission statement of the hospital focuses on love and care...if we're ok with it, it's encouraged to pray with families/patients if they are accepting...I feel so blessed to work in this institution.

Anyway, everything is finally unpacked in the apartment so it's starting to look like home...We visited at a local church last week and really liked it. There's another church or two we still want to visit, but it'll have to wait another week because we'll be out of town next week. Beto's still looking for a job so we'd appreciate any prayers.

-Emily & Beto :)

Packing

I despise packing...and moving...they are very high up on my black list...

We moved across town a year ago...we managed to probably sell off or give away half of our stuff (or throw it away)...and here we go again...We're moving in about 2-3 weeks, and we haven't packed a thing...

There's just so much involved in moving and packing...First, we had to pick a moving company...We receive our last quote in the morning, and then we'll make a final decision. Then, there's the packing...ugh...

We have to separate things into four groups: trash, giveaway, sell, and pack...You'd think that since we went through this a year ago, there wouldn't be that much to go through...Wrong! Then we have to pack it nicely in boxes...then do we take it in our cars, or let them load it in the trucks?

Oh, FYI. Please keep the boxes your TVs come in. If you pay a moving company to move you in the future, they will try to charge you up to $250 for a special "tv box" with styrofoam packing...seriously? Thanks to recommendations from friends, we will be buying a cheaper box from either UPS or UHaul. It's so ridiculous.

It will be so nice to get rid of junk we don't care about or don't use...Do you want to come pack for us? :)

Peoria, Corn, and Apartments

Beto and I drove up to Peoria, IL, to look for a place to live this week.

First, let's talk about Illinois. First, I guess I'm lacking in my agricultural knowledge of the country. Apparently that area of the U.S. is the corn belt, which I should have known right away. There was nothing but corn the entire drive up there. No really, I'm serious. Even the apartments we picked out back up to corn. But I started to like it...there was something peaceful about it...but I'm pretty sure we're going to have to come up with some corn jokes for when friends and family come up to visit...

Illinois has a lot of activities for history buffs as former President Abe Lincoln is from there. The city of Metropolis is in southeastern Illinois complete with statues of Superman and other Superman-related fun!

The interstate drive was pretty interesting. The department of transportation is creative with their signs.

These were all over the interstate when there were construction workers present. 

These were throughout the drive as well.

  

When we arrived Sunday night, we went to CHOI (the children's hospital) so I could pick up some paperwork from one of the NNPs. I was able to visit with them for a bit, and Beto and I both got a tour (my second time) of the NICU. It was nice for him to get a peek of what I really do. He said, "Your work is scary!"

We spent our first day in Peoria looking for a place to live and found one by 1pm! It's in a great location set off a main road, so it's near everything we need, but very quiet. We're excited!

We spent the rest of the day exploring a little bit...there are definitely some restaurants we want to try out when we move there.

On Tuesday night, we went out with some new friends (relatives of a Nashvillian friend). Granite City Food and Brewery serves the yummiest cheese soup!!! :)

I'll probably have to run up there once more before we move to finish paperwork and some other things...we're really sad about leaving family and friends here in Nashville and Memphis...but we're excited about this new opportunity and the adventure of moving to a new place...Let the packing begin (I hate moving!)

Emily and Beto

Heading North for the Winter...

Yesterday afternoon, I received my nursing pin from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing as I completed my Master's of Science in Nursing degree to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

I am the first person on either side of my family to complete a Master's degree. It's kind of surreal to finally be done with a degree that I have been slowly working on for the last three years. After months of having either clinicals or work every single day, with very few days off, I feel like there is something I should be doing anytime I have a free moment. I'm trying to relax for a couple of weeks, but then I will be studying until I take my boards later in the fall to become board-certified as a neonatal nurse practitioner.

Everyone has been asking what my plans are, so I thought I'd just address them here.

I have accepted a neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) position at Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, Illinois (2.5 hrs from Chicago and St. Louis). It's a beautiful new children's hospital with a 60-bed (private rooms) NICU that is connected to a delivery service and also cares for cardiac and surgical babies, as well as ECMO patients. They take transport calls from the majority of the region between Springfield and Chicago, though I will not have any transport responsibility. The unit is very dedicated to quality improvement and hugely impressed me from the moment I walked in.

The hospital is the midwest affiliate of St. Jude, has a home ventilator clinic (if you know me as a nurse, you know I like this), a spina bifida clinic, a multi-specialty CDH clinic, and so much more.

Beto and I will be moving to Peoria, IL, in late September and are very excited about this new opportunity. We're excited about living in a smaller city, but thrilled about being close to larger cities like Chicago that we can visit often.

We'll definitely continue to keep in touch via Facebook, and I promise to update this blog more often.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. God has truly blessed us with this wonderful opportunity!

Emily & Beto

Let the Countdown Begin...

It's hard to believe that I've been in school for basically 24 years...with the exception of taking one year off...and those 24 years do not even including pre-school...so maybe that's 26 years...

I spent elementary school accidentally throwing away retainers...going to sleep overs...and winning the school spelling bee with the words "sandal" and "caloric"...I spent middle school by progressing into the honors program, not knowing it meant I'd be in Calculus in high school...ugh...I even participated in a dance routine with a group of close friends in the school talent show...we lost, but everyone knows we should have won!...In high school, I studied like there was no tomorrow...all but 3 of my classes were AP/Honors (only because they weren't offered in honors/AP format)...I loved Spanish and excelled in competitions (surprised?!)...I graduated #14 in a class of 630+ students with a GPA 4.0 and averaged > 100 points.

In college, I obviously had no idea what I wanted to do since I got a degree in Marketing...I initially focused on pre-med, then pre-law, then pre-med...then thought about international business because I wanted to do something with my Spanish...I even focused on Women's Ministry/Missions for a semester...I spent a semester abroad in London with an internship at a fabulous hotel in their marketing department (super famous people stayed there!!)...but hated the office/desk job....

Then Holly Scarborough Cromwell saved me! :)  We had lunch one day after a beading class...she talked to me about nurse practitioners, and I immediately knew that was for me! I went home and researched some schools...talked to my parents...Dad was near a heart attack (after all, he had been paying for my private university education, and I was near graduation)...Mom was in tears because she was so happy! We visited Vandy, Duke, Johns Hopkins, etc. Then, Lipscomb announced their own program with Vandy. I debated between Duke and Lipscomb, but ultimately selected Lipscomb/Vandy because of Vandy Children's and the fact that Lipscomb's program allowed for summer and Christmas breaks, and Duke's didn't...and you paid Lipscomb's tuition vs Vandys... :)
I met Beto in Peru on a medical mission trip, and those breaks would allow me to travel and see him often! :)  Just prior to the end of nursing school, we got married...

Finally, I graduated and began working in the NICU...I knew I wanted to specialize in that area as a nurse practitioner. After finally taking ONE whole year off school, I began the neonatal nurse practitioner Master's program at Vandy School of Nursing part-time while working full-time. And here I am, having done the program part-time over almost 3 years, almost done at last.

I have 2 more months and 19 days until my pinning ceremony. That's 2 1/2 months of clinicals, then I'm done. I'll graduate, study for boards, and PASS them...I'll go on to start a job as an NNP...how long has it taken me to get to this point?!?!

I'm already the first nurse in my family - both sides.
I will now be the first person to have a Master's degree in my family - both sides.
Let the countdown begin. :)

Super Couponer: Take 1

I've been inspired by a friend's blog about her recent coupon experiences...

Sunday morning, we bought 4 copies of The Tennessean, our local newspaper. I separated all the Red Plums, P&Gs, etc. I set aside the ads for Publix, Walgreens, Target, etc. Then, I attacked it all with scissors until my back hurt so much from leaning over!

I then played online with coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, target.com (their store coupons), hunting down as many coupons as I could find that somewhat applied to products that I would consider buying.

I divided up the coupons into categories like frozen, dairy, household, personal, etc., and I placed them all over our coffee table in stacks. I began combing through grocery store ads for deals that would include my coupons and made a list. I also visited various super coupon woman blogs like Common Sense with Money, I Heart Publix, The Krazy Coupon Lady, Mama Cheaps, Frugal Coupon Living, etc. I hunted the best coupon deals for the sales out there.

What did I learn? People are freaks. Complete coupon psychos I tell you. But they are super saving ones. Only they can go into a store armed with a list and coupons in hand, spending $30 and saving $100. I'm amazed...and a bit scared.

I dragged my husband into the craziness. If I must suffer, so must he.

The first venture was to Target:
I learned important lessons before going there.
For instance, did you know that there are both store AND manufacturers' coupons in existence???
AND you can use both of them at the SAME time...and it's called STACKING???
So, I took this concept, and I did what I could. Here's the purchase that my hubby and I made.

Finish Jet Dry Dishwasher Cleaner - $3.59
---Target coupon $1.00 off
---Mfr coupon $0.75 off
---Final: $1.84 --- savings of 49%

Finish Jet Dry - $2.59
---Target coupon $1.50 off
---Mfr coupon $0.75 off
---Final: $0.34 --- savings of 87%


Reynolds Crock Pot Liners - $1.69 (on sale!!!)
---Mfr coupon $1.00 off
---Final: $0.69 --- savings of 59%   ---> I ended up buying 2!


Triscuits & Wheat Thins - $2.00 each (on sale!!!)
---Target coupon $1.00 off (must buy 2)
---Mfr coupon $1.00 off (must buy 2)
---Final: $2.00 --- savings of 50%


Total Before Coupons - $13.56
Total After Coupons - $5.56 --- savings of 59%


I was hoping to spend only $0.10 on each item after coupons, like those amazing stories you hear. But I don't think my trip was too shabby. I'm pretty proud.

We already had some Jet Dry from Costco, but from what I'm learning, this is all about creating a Stockpile and using your coupons when there are deals to be made. We do eat triscuits and wheat thins. And as for the crock pot liners, I'm super excited because crock pots (at least our's) were not shaped or made for easy cleaning.

I'll post another trip later. :)

Family Update 2011

I officially stink at blogging.

Look at the date of my last blog post, and you'll see that I don't need to try to make a case. I average 6 months  between posts.

Let me make up for it by telling you ALL about what's been going on with my immediate family (parents and brothers) and with me and Beto for the last few months.

My parents still live in Memphis (Germantown). Their live is relatively uneventful (Sorry, Mom). However, they do take multiple trips each year now to New York City to visit my brothers (I'll get to them in a minute). They really love NYC...Eventually maybe we'll all spend a beautiful snowy Christmas there one year...Beto and I still haven't visited there...They still have their dog, Sweetie, who continues to be spoiled rotten, but who lives up to her name by being super sweet.

Jason moved to NYC in August of 2009 to attend New York Film Academy for a year. After graduating, he took a few minor tv acting or stand in/extra roles. He stood in during filming on 'Royal Pains' on USA (You wont see him on it). I think he was an extra on a new lawyer show on there, too, coming on soon...'______ Legal'...'Lights Out', an FX show that premiered its season last night, is about a boxer. Jason plays a security guard on the season finale so watch for that. I'll be sure to post info on facebook. The big news of course is that he auditioned in July for a tall alien role in the movie Men in Black 3...he's 6 ft 10 in tall so he was perfect. They rewrote the movie and cut that part, but he filmed in December for a week in full prosthetics (Created by the same makeup artist who won awards for all the Star Wars movies) as a tall alien named 'Feelers'...met lots of famous actors in it...and will continue filming this non-speaking role (for now) in the Spring. Quite an honor. Watch for it on Memorial Day Weekend 2012. I'll be sure to let you know what he looks like around the time the movie comes out! ;)

Jordan, while working at Germantown High School, continued to work on his own website for video games and was paid to keep it looking nice by Rockstar Videogames in NYC, who created games like Grand Theft Auto. Finally, they flew him out a year ago to NYC and offered him a job as a manager of a new department that would target communications and interactions with customers and gamers. He accepted and moved in with Jason for few months. They live separately now, but he continues at the job and loves it and the city.

Beto continues to work at Publix while looking for a preaching job. He was invited in the late fall to teach a series of Bible classes on Sunday mornings at the Hispanic congregation at Berry's Chapel Church of Christ. If you remember, this is where he preached for 10 months interimly previously. He was asked to teach on relationships with Christ, church members, spouses, and children. We are almost done with the classes. When I finish my degree in August, we hope to look for preaching jobs at Hispanic congregations throughout the country where there are also NNP jobs for me at the same time! :)

While I've continued to work full-time as a NICU nurse, I've been studying part-time to complete my Master's in Nursing to be a neonatal nurse practitioner. I will finally graduate at the beginning of August. I have classes for the next 7-8 weeks or so. Then, in March-April, I will have one set of clinicals. In May-July, I will have my final set of clinicals! Then, I'm done! :) I really can't believe it. I'm excited, but I'm completely terrified. But Vanderbilt has a great program, so I'm sure I will feel much smarter by the end of it. There haven't been any preaching jobs at Hispanic congregations in Nashville or any congregations interested in starting any Hispanic churches. So I think we're interested in looking for NNP jobs and preaching jobs elsewhere if we don't find anything soon, which is exciting to us because we've been in Nashville since we got married, and I've been here for almost 11 years. We're ready for a change, maybe, we'll see, who knows. We'll see what happens.

Please keep us all in your prayers! I'll post updates when I remember, especially when I do clinicals!
God bless, Emily & Beto

Why I'm Liking Budgets...But Need Help With Couponing...

So I will definitely admit that budgets certainly work! And while it was sometimes annoying to have to make my lunch or take the time to figure out what's for dinner and actually try to cook almost every night or every other night, I'm very proud of us because it definitely worked in the long run...financially and in terms of weight loss - I lost a few pounds myself! :)

To start, we went from spending $792 last month to $188 on dining out/entertainment, including buying food at work, going out to eat, getting takeout, going to movies, renting RedBox movies and forgetting to return them, etc. We ended up spending about the same as last month on groceries ($450), but at least we actually USED the groceries this time instead of waiting for them to expire and having to toss them out. We didn't buy unnecessary things other than a few fun things so our "miscellaneous" area of spending was down, too!

All in all, let's just say that it's July 25, and we've already paid next month's rent, cable/internet, cell phones, and electricity.

We're dividing up this leftover money from our paychecks to use for Beto's application for citizenship, a deposit into our savings account, and an extra nice monthly payment on the car.

If you need help making a budget, I'd be happy to help! :)

Now, I need help from you. Ok, so I can cut out coupons. And I tried to watch for Publix ads or Kroger ads and use them with the deals already being offered, but they just didn't seem to help THAT much compared to deals that I've seen my coupon-obsessed friends get. Any pointers? I'll take any help! Thanks!!! :)

An Update from the Holidays

Apparently, I dont understand the true purpose of a blog and how you are supposed to update blogs regularly. If you look closely, it's obviously been way too long since my last update.

Beto and I managed to work out our schedules so that we could go home to my parents house for a few days for Christmas. Thankfully, it was not my year to work Christmas!

We spent most of the days just being lazy at home and sleeping...

A few years ago, my mom had been sick so cooking that Christmas was out of the question. I suggested just going out to eat or just picking up food. So dad took out the whole family on Christmas night to the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. We ate at the Capriccio Grill. It's amazing. Every year I get the same thing: prime filet mignon, risotto with cheese, and chocolate bread pudding...can't even describe it. It's the best meal I've ever eaten. We've continued the tradition and gone there to eat each Christmas since then.

Afterwards, we came back to the house for some ice cream cake since Christmas is my birthday too...this year was the big 2-8...

While at the Peabody, we took a lot of pictures...so here are some for your enjoyment...

This is the 2-3 story tall Christmas tree that is always decorated beautifully at the Peabody each year.




This is where the ducks enter and leave every day to walk around and into and out of the fountain in the center of the lobby. The lobby of the hotel is GORGEOUS!




Beto and I in front of part of the huge Christmas tree :)




My mom and dad in front of the Christmas tree...on Dec 21, they celebrated 30 years of marriage! :)




This is a pic of the entire family.
In the back, on the left is Jordan (27 yrs old), and on the right is Jason (22 yrs old)...they are actually THAT tall. Jordan is 6 ft 7 in tall. Jason is 6 ft 10 in tall.




The entire family went sneaking around the hotel for the next hour looking for fun pictures to take. We found three phone booth right next to each other. Beto (my husband) and my brothers jumped in them for a "candid" picture. My brothers BARELY fit into the phone booths! (From L to R, Beto, Jason, Jordan)




This pic was taken just outside the entrance to the hotel. If you look just above our heads, you can see the sign that says "The Peabody"...This was one of the first nights of temps in the teens and twenties! Brrrr, BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!!




Back at the house, we got ready to celebrate my birthday! This pic was taken of me and mom just after I blew out my candles! :)



Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! :)