Egg Carton + Plywood = ART??

We just got back from a two-night trip to Spokane to visit our good friends the Moodys. They lived in Kirkland for the past year but then both won chairs in the Spokane symphony (they are fabulous musicians) and so moved east last month. It was so great to see them and tour their new stomping grounds.

The activities of our stay were quite spontaneous. For instance: the Moodys are still newlyweds and therefore haven't accumulated a lot of furniture and wall art. Their new place was beautiful but the dining room had a huge empty wall that was begging for a showpiece. Enter my artsy husband. He was itching with creativity and the Moodys were much desiring his eye for art. Jason pulled a 5 foot x 5 food piece of plywood from the basement and we set to work painting it white to create our version of a "canvas." We weren't quite sure where we would go from there but decided to take things as they came and create "group art."

Graham found an egg carton in the recycling bin and quickly went to work using it as a "stamp" on our "canvas."

I was quite skeptical as I am one for symmetry and neatness (and certainly not modern art!). The rest of group seemed excited by splatters and less uniformity so I kept my mouth shut and smiled. We all contributed and to my surprise, it worked! I really thought that our white trash art would end up as, well, trash.....but no! Granted, the piece is quite modern so you have to appreciate modern art to really enjoy it but it really made the room. See what you think:

Floating Down the River...

Last weekend, my brother Ben came and stayed with us while my parents took a weekend away to celebrate 29 years of marriage (go Mom and Dad!) On Friday afternoon, Ben challenged me to a game of tennis while Graham was at work and then we made grilled pizza for dinner--yum!

On Saturday, we planned to take a trip to Leavenworth to go tubing down the river. Unfortunately, Friday was about 80 degrees and sunny and Saturday was more like 70 and cloudy. BUT, we pressed on and decided to tube despite the weather and boy was it worth it! Thankfully the snow melt river had all summer to heat up and so it really wasn't that bad. Our tubes were practically luxurious with a back rest and cup holders and frisbee paddles for some degree of control. I saw lots of salmon swimming under my toes (I like to eat fish but I HATE swimming with them). We will definitely tube this river again in the future--hopefully as a part of a family campout or maybe for my birthday next year. Here are a few photos....

The 3 of us w/ Ben holding a beer stick??

Getting suited to float

I find this photo hilarious...Graham eating lunch

Ben (and me) w/ his "paddles"

Oh and yes, I was there too

Such a pretty float!

Home Visits

So I just got back from shadowing the speech therapist in Everett and I am really thrilled! The home visits were so much fun and it was refreshing to think of working with slightly older kids (toddlers). I think I would really enjoy some of the counseling aspects of the job (actually I think coaching is a better word), encouraging the parents in the small successes with feeding difficulties. I would get to work with all sorts of kids with disorders I've never heard of before so I would always be challenged. The therapist I followed also works with some of our NICU babies so I have worked with her a little bit before. She said she was excited by the thought of me taking the dietitian position and thought I would be a good fit. I officially submitted my application as soon as I got home! We'll see what happens.....

A Dietitian's Dream

Look what Graham made for me tonight! A perfect balanced plate: BBQed Salmon with Sweet Onions, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and a Balsamic Salad with Walnuts and Feta.....

An interview!

I got a call from Children's Hospital today and I have an interview in 2 weeks for a renal dietitian position! This means there are currently 2 jobs on my radar which means that I'm going to have options--wow! (Or more like "uggg" in my mind because decisions are so challenging for me...) I think I was surprised, quite frankly, to hear back so quickly. Maybe it's because Graham never heard back from Children's so I just assumed their system was slow. Anyway, the position would be Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week (WHAT!? That sounds like what a normal person would work!! I've never had that in my life so I must say it is quite appealing.) There would be the occasional Saturday shift and on-call Sunday, but only every couple months or so. I'm excited about the possibility of being challenged again in my work and about having steep learning curve and good training. Plus, I love kids and it'd be nice to maybe work with some who are old enough to talk.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I am job shadowing a speech therapist from the Children's Center (a clinic at my hospital in Everett, not to be confused w/ Children's Hospital). --The first job mentioned on this blog is the outpatient one in the Children's Center in Everett--. I'm hoping that being a part of some home visits will help me narrow done which job will be the right fit for me.

Good news!

Sigh

You know it's been a busy week for me when I haven't made it online to blog. In fact, with a blog-less week, you can pretty much be guaranteed that I haven't taken any time out for myself. Hence the sigh. But things are looking calmer on the horizon. Not to say that I haven't had a fabulous week--I really have--but it has been so busy. So social.

But today my wonderful husband had the day off while I worked. I came home to clean bathrooms, changed light bulbs and finances/bills that are now set up on an automatic payment schedule. And as if that wasn't enough, Graham suggested we go on a walk together to Starbucks where he would buy me a coffee to help my tummy and relieve my headache. We have small group tonight so we read our assigned chapters outloud together (nothing like waiting until the last minute!) and had some great conversations. We're reading "The Power of the Praying Wife" and "The Power of the Praying Husband." It seems so basic to pray for your spouse but we've found it to be challenging and so are really enjoying the books.

We talked a lot about future plans and goals. And about slowing down and not pushing so hard to achieve all our dreams at once. We discussed job possibilities for me and I'm feeling much more settled. The sermon at church on Sunday reminding me to have faith in God regarding my career and to trust Him to lead me. I think the more I try to find the "right" job, the more I realize that all I've ever wanted to do is to be a mom and a wife. I don't want any other career. But in the meantime, I am going to shadow a feeding therapist on Thursday who will be doing home visits like I would do if I got the job I've been talking about. We'll see how I like that and from there I'll decide whether or not to officially apply. On a positive note, the manager has already bumped up the hours of the position to include benefits which makes it much more appealing! Keep me in your prayers!

Look what my brother did yesterday!

I found these pictures to be quite the educational and material worth sharing. So 3ish weeks ago, my brother did this:
(Look at the enlarged the picture, paying attention to the area on the right where the arrow is pointing--notice the small crack in the tibia).
Well, since the time of the first pictures, Josh has been on crutches and not really walking. Poor guy! Apparently the tibia usually heals well on it's own (it's not the weight-bearing bone in the leg) so there hasn't been need for a cast. But yesterday, this happened:

So apparently he has successfully broken his leg twice! Ouch!

Hope for Haiti

My very talented sister has decided to do something about the devastation caused by the hurricanes in Haiti. She had been making beautiful earrings as gifts for family and friends but wanted to do more to help people. So she decided to start a website and and sell the earrings to raise money for the victims of hurricanes Hannah and Ike. All proceeds will go to Haiti and each piece is named after one of the orphans at the Maranatha orphanage. Please check out the beginning of her website and support this cause as you feel led.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6236528

PS- My brother-in-law Michael photographed the earrings--aren't his pictures AWSOME!? Such talent in my family.... :o)

Wow, I guess I sort of just had an interview

So lots of happenings in the Crozier household (as I'm sure you are now aware with all my posts!) I'm starting to wonder if anyone will ever believe us anymore when we say we're gonna do this or pursue that.....nothing has quite worked out so far as far as school and jobs go! But please don't give up on us yet, thinking we're "all talk." We may be 43% talk, but eventually I think there is going to be some action. Like today for instance.... I better start at the beginning....

About a week and a 1/2 ago, I discovered that the outpatient pediatric dietitian at my hospital (the only peds RD in all of Snohomish County!) has quite, leaving a vacancy in the clinic downstairs. I had referred a number of my babies her way after they discharged home so was always intrigued by her job. Anyway, after finding out that she quit, I decided to go way out on a limb and contact her manager to let her know that I was interested in finding out more about the position. I didn't hear back and so thought I'd burned my bridge.......until yesterday. The manager called me and wanted to set up a meeting, much to my excitement. So today we met to chat about specifics of the job description. Now I'm back to weighing pros and cons (but this time for ME) so here we go:

PROS:
-No weekends or holidays.....EVER
-Very flexible schedule
-Get to follow kiddos as they grow up and see their progress
-Get to be challenged again in what I do
-More diverse nutritional problems (not the same thing over and over)
-Pay would be at least the same (if not a smidge more)
-Get to do home visits and assessments in the clinic

CONS:
-Position (as it stands now) is only 2 days/week
-Position (as it stands now) does not have benefits
-Would still have to drive to Everett

Basically the manager wanted to know if I was seriously interested and I said yes. We discussed the fact that the position would be much more appealing if it could be at least 3ish days a week to include benefits. She said she was willing to push for this if that would sway me. Also, she is willing to go to my current manager to see about creating a split position between the NICU and outpatient so that I could work full time. SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT! I'm really excited, we're praying a lot, and are trying to figure out if this is what God has for me right now.

PS--An update on Graham's job...his manager came to him asking what they needed to do to keep him on staff. He requested Sundays off so it looks like he might get it!!! Which would make me having weekends off even more appealing!!

Running

Months back, I wrote a post about the Wellness Challenge that I'm a participant in at work. Well, we're now on challenge # 2 so I've basically spent the ENTIRE summer wearing a pedometer (quite the fashion statement! In fact, I'm sure Graham would not find my outside incomplete without the plastic lump on my right hip.) Anyway, I completed the first 12 weeks of walking 10,000 steps a day and was quite impressed by the results I saw. I'll admit that I thought twice about joining the repeat program, but because I was seeing so much progress, I signed up for a 2nd twelve weeks of walking. We just finished week 4 and I'm doing quite well. In fact, I've been talking to my mom and she's been mentioning that she's turned her routine AM walk into more of a walk/run sort of deal. AND, to make matters worse, my sister and brother-in-law have decided to train for a 5 K (and they NEVER ran before). So, not to be outdone by my mom and sister (and because Graham thinks I can't run), I decided I'd better hit the trail and see what I could do. So on Saturday, after walking 2 1/2ish miles, I decided to start running. Two miles later (without stopping), I was quite proud and realized I probably could run a 5 K right now if I really felt like it. Shock of all shocks! I know that 2 miles is pretty minimal, but the best part about it is that I could have kept going!

Interviews 2 and 3

Yesterday Graham had his final interviews at Children's Hospital and now we're both thoroughly confused. Don't get me wrong, they went great and I'm positive they loved him! However, we're not sure whether he should take the job (if offered) and we're not quite sure why this opportunity presented itself if he wasn't meant to pursue it. I usually helps me to write things out when I'm thinking something over so this post will be used to weigh the pros and cons.

PROS:
-get to work with kids!
-get to work on the Seattle side (and hence getting the final incentive to start looking for a new home over there so we could be closer to our friends and church)
-managers seemed awesome
-would get to work slightly fewer weekends
-lots of variety as the position involved rotating between inpatient and the outpatient clinic
-opportunity to expand current cancer knowledge base tremendously (Children's is a teaching hospital and he'd have a steep learning curve)
-our future kids would have 100% of their medical expenses paid under their benefits as well as free childcare

CONS:
-Graham loves his current job and coworkers, why would he want to leave? (They love him too!)
-he'd be working on the Seattle side and, for right now, we leave on the east side = bad commute
-he'd probably actually get paid less since he'd have to join the union and pay $700/year
-he'd still have to work weekends
-we don't have kids so the benefits they could potentially have doesn't seem to carry much weight in the debate at this point
-this would be more of a lateral move than an upward one

Hmm, I don't think either of us expected this to be so tough! So many things to pray about. We are feeling so open right now and willing to do whatever God may want with our lives but we're not feeling a clear pull in any certain direction. It's been a bit frustrating for me but quite honestly, I think my faith is growing as a result. I feel like God's shaping and teaching me to be willing to take my life day by day by faith that He is sovereign and has a perfect plan. And for those of you who know me at all, you know that I love to have my plans MAPPED out before I live them out so this unknown is proving quite challenging. I'm excited to discover where we end up!

Our "Weekend"

Because we work in hospitals, our "weekends" don't always coincide with the rest of yours so the past "weekend" that I will be referring to includes yesterday and today, our days off.

So yesterday I decided it should be what I like to call "my morning." Since getting married, I've learned that Graham could sleep in until the cows came home. Most of you know that I am very much a morning person and waking up at 7 AM is sleeping in to me. So this has created quite the dilemma for us. I've learned to let Graham sleep in on pretty much every one of his days off as he gets super beat working 12 hour shifts. I often spend about 3-4 hours alone on the mornings of our days off, dinking around, waiting for him to wake up. Usually, if we end up doing anything on these days, we don't end up getting out of the house until around noon which has been quite the adjustment for me. But there are occasions (yesterday for instance) where I will declare the next day "my morning" which means I get to wake him up whenever I want and drag him to do whatever I want to do. :o) So I decided an hour-long walk was a good morning activity for us (aiming to walk about 5 miles). Well, we went to Woodinville to walk along the Sammammish River Trail only to discover that's what EVERY OTHER PERSON IN ALL THE EAST SIDE had also decided to do. We ended up in the middle of some half marathon walk and 4 mile run which was quite entertaining. We just joined in and pretended to be a part! Graham didn't like the 5 mile idea so we returned home shortly after 2 miles...

My parents and brother Ben came down around lunch time and share they stories and photos from their most recent Haiti trip (they got back early Sunday morning). See all the orphans really made me want to go do some mission work. It was cute to see pictures of 15 year old Ben holding hands with the teenage boys (this is a cultural thing and I think they'd be quite offended if he didn't hold their hands). You can really tell from all the pictures that the kids just love my family. In fact, this is Ben's 3rd trip down and since the last time he was there, the kids painted the word "Ben" on the side of one of the buildings-just his name, no one else.

For the rest of the day, we attended an extended family gathering in Renton which included games of Bocci Ball, Ladder Golf and watching my cousin's cat attack, kill and eat an entire baby bunny. Ewww.

Today Graham had interviews 2 and 3 at Children's Hospital. I'll share more about where we're at on that front later.