New Year's Eve

An awesome night in Mission Springs. Card games, s'mores, the obligatory banging of pots and pans by at least one neighboring family, struggling to stay awake... It was like childhood all over again!

Hultgren Family Christmas

The celebration of Christmas spreads over multiple days in my family. I was working for the extended family events but was able to call and share pictures with cousins (my little cousins are far more adorable than yours, just saying...).

When my immediate family finally got together we shared amazing food prepared by my mom, good conversation, and fun games filled with laughter. (Presents too, but I enjoy the family time so much more.)

 And it can't be a family gathering without a funny family photo.

The theme this year, "They are all married except me!"

Just a Dusting

All it takes a is a dusting of snow and...

The local TV stations were treating the morning commute as if this were the apocalypse. People were slowly driving on the side streets at half speed ("cautiously driving" I could understand, but half speed?!?). Schools were either opening 2 hours late or not at all. There were a few fender benders on the roads. Thankfully no fatalities, just a little slipping and sliding.

I wonder what would happen if the PNW had a storm that mimicked one from the Midwest. How would the businesses  react? How would drivers handle it?

My Own Tree

There is a term in nursing known as "floating". We usually all dread it when we hear that our unit will be tasked to send a nurse to another floor to work for the shift. All too often we, as the ICU nurse, are given the maximum number of patients allowed or we get the emotionally challenging patient that the other nurses simply don't want to care for.

I, however, am rather fortunate when floating. So far I have only floated to the recovery room, the Pediatric ICU, and the telemetry unit. And with each float, I have been welcomed and treated very kindly. The unit I floated to today was so generous they even gave me my own tree on their team wall! It was my short day (only 8-hours) but a stress-free float.

The Holiday Festival

So that farm I like to spend some spare time at had its Holiday Festival today. While I am thankful it was not raining, I do wish it could have been a few degrees warmer. It was a day spent watching adorable little kiddos bundled in many layers for warmth smile at the site of animals and holiday treats.

Junebug looks adorable while I look...special

 

After 4 hours of being patient for photos, Jubilee was done with her photo shoot. She found the one weak point in the makeshift hay corral and kept testing it. In between family photos, I would sit in the weak point to keep her from escaping. The bonus was the warm blanket under.