New Job and other News in the end of 2018

Hello Everyone,

I know it has been a while since I updated my blog.  As usually time seems to have slipped thru my fingers.  I can't believe it is DECEMBER already!!!

The biggest event in our house has been my recent job change.  I had been working at Molina Healthcare (insurance company) calling members and offering support over the phone for various health concerns/problems. I also had a part time job at Harmony Home Health and Hospice in the Pediatric department caring for kiddo's Saturday night while their parents sleep.

Now I am working for Harmony Home Health and Hospice in the Hospice (Adult) department and I will sub in the Home Health (Adult) as needed.  I am still working my one shift a week in the Pediatric Department.

The biggest change is that I will be offering the same Case Management support I was doing over the phone before, on an in person level.  Basically getting back to my nursing roots.  Woo Hoo!!!

In sad news Chikita (the white kitty) passed away.  She was 17 and lived a long life full of laying around and stealing chips to eat.  We adopted Allie, a 14 year old orange-ish yellow cat from a friend of a friend.  She needed a home and we needed a cat that was more people friendly than Saya.  So hopefully it will be a good fit.

      

                                                       

Chikita looking at the great out doors, but not wanting to actually go out and get cold.

Allie getting used to her new home, and eating some yummy food from her favorite food bowl.

We also went on a mini vacation to Julie's (my sister) place in Idaho and went to Yellowstone with my sister and brother in law, and my nephew Jordan and his family.  Bobbie had never been to Yellowstone, and I haven't been since I was a teenager.  It was SUPER FUN to spend time with the family!!!  We were even able to squeeze in a visit with my niece Julisa and her family.

We took the whole family some home made Peach freezer jam.  Bobbie and I went crazy and made TONS of homemade Peach freezer jam this fall.  Yum!!!

 Bobbie and I at one of the multiple beautiful Caulderas and Pools at Yellowstone.  This one luckily wasn't one of the stinky ones.  Whew!!

Sitting with Bobbie (in the hoodie) and one of my nieces (in the cute bow) and her Mom (in the sun glasses) watching Old Faithful erupt.  It was so much fun seeing the amazing power of the water being propelled so far into the air.

I know we did so much more in the last 2 months.  These are just the highlights.  I need to get better at updating my posts more than every 2-3 months.  Then they won't be so big and miss some of the fun stuff.

Until next time remember:
 

Love the Seher Gals

Where did August and most of September go?!?

As implied in the title of the blog post I am not sure where in the world August and September went to.  Clearly I did not post anything so I slipped there. 

However we went to the Utah State Fair. 
                                    
Bobbie and I started a walking in the park routine and she pointed out a cool free gym set up in the middle of Murray Park. 

 We completed and finished Dirty Dash (5K obstacle course in the mud).  Holy Cow!!  So Much Mud Everywhere!!!

Bobbie strained the muscles in her hand and caused her fingers to go all funky.  Luckily the Hand OT was able to figure out what was happening and help us with stretches to make things better.

Bobbie met her goal and earned the American Girl Doll she has been working towards for the last 18 months.  (Pictured with her Pediatrician and Care Manager that helped her with goal setting and progress supervision).

Bobbie started school.  So did Dahlia however I don't have a picture of it.

 We went to Hogle Zoo with The Mom's and 2 of Bobbie's 3 siblings.  Myself & Bobbie, Cheyene & Owen, Tami & Gigi (missing sibling: Dahlia).

Gratuitous numbers of pictures of Chikita have been taken by both Bobbie & myself.

 Equally excessive numbers of pictures of Saya have been taken by us both.

Lots has happened and I know I have not covered it all.  But these are some highlights.

Until next time remember:

Love The Seher Gals

Finding Motivation and Inspiration

So I am a visual person.  I can read about something but I do better when I can see a photo, drawing, model, mock-up, or some thing that actually lets me move the theoretical out of my mind and into the real world. 

So I find that I very much enjoy the inspirational sayings, or motivational pictures people put on their blogs, in emails, or on facebook.  I have a huge collection of them that I have saved.  I try to include one at the end of each of my blog posts to share in the joy.

I don't know what you are going thru, or what has happened to you recently.  Maybe you are in a great place, maybe you are in a rough place.  Not matter what here are some inspirational/motivational thoughts.  So here goes:

I am working on weight loss.  Sometimes it feels like it is so much work for such little results.  But this cute turtle says something different.

I have been described recently by someone as simple.  I think they meant it as an insult, but I am not sure that it is.  I know that I present a Polly-Anna outlook on life but that doesn't mean there isn't depth below it.   This saying really spoke to me about how we are more than what others perceive.

I try to remind myself that I am in control of my happiness.  It is not dependent on anything happening around me or outside of me.  My attitude dictates my happiness.  This cute saying sums it up really well.

I fall into the very human trap of thinking that everything should be easy-peasy.  I am a decent person.  I go to work and do a good job.  I go to church and give to charity.  I am a good mother, and pet owner.  So why aren't things smooth sailing?!?  This very well framed saying is a good reminder that things aren't always going to go the way I think they should, but that is life.  

So now that I have dumped a bunch of saying and thoughts on you, do you have a favorite saying?  Something that helps you feel like you can do it on a rough day?  Something that makes you smile in the middle of a storm?  What helps you to feel motivated and inspired?

Until next time remember:

Love the Seher Gals

Postcard Book

I am making a Postcard Book for my current adopted service member (adopted thru Soldiers Angels).  What is a postcard book?!?  I am glad you asked.

I put out an all-call for postcards from all over the US to my fellow Angels.  After weeks of exciting trips to get the mail and checking off the states as the post cards roll in it is time to take the postcards from all 50 states (and DC) into a book to mail to my service member.

There are a variety of ways to make a postcard book.  Frankly I am not sure there is a wrong way to do it.  I have seen examples that range from very artsy and intricate (scrapbooked with multiple stickers and inserts), down to very plain and simple (laminated and put on a O-ring).

Mine are somewhere in the middle.  I take the postcards and tape them on fancy colored paper with a label for the state name and if there is room the state nickname.  I tape just one edge of the post card so that my service member can flip the postcard and see/read both sides of it.

Thru the generosity of my fellow Angels some of my pages have up to 3 or 4 postcards.  Most have 1 or 2 postcards.  At the end of the postcard are a few pages of generic postcards that aren't state specific.

I very much enjoy putting together postcard books as they are a great way to let my adopted service member know that it is not just myself, but people all over the US that support them.  I hope that the books have been (and in the future will be) as well enjoyed by my service members as putting them together is enjoyed by myself and my family.

I know you may not have the need to put together a postcard book.  However I can promise you that someone in your life would love a card or letter or even a simple postcard letting them know that you are thinking of them.  I challenge you to send 1 such piece of mail to someone special this week.  If you want to feel free to let me know about it in the comments.


Until next time remember:

Love The Seher Gals

Boring-ness and meal planning

I have to confess that we have fallen into the trap of boring-ness.  Or we have when it comes to meals and the food we eat.  I have my favorite stand by meals, but lately even i am not happy eating the same old food.

Eating a high protein, low carb meal plan makes for a lot of chicken and eventually it gets harder to find ways to cook it and not wish it was a huge plate of pasta . . . or garlic bread . . or some of my other favorite carbs.

So I bought 2 new cookbooks for specifically for after weight loss surgery.  I haven't looked thru them yet, they just got here a few days ago.  I brought them with me tonight so I can look thru them and pick out 2 or 3 new recipes to try.

Do you suffer from boring food problems?  What are you favorite recipes?  I would love to hear about your favorite foods to eat and how you prepare them.  Let me know in the comments section.

I did make a super yummy stir fry a few weeks ago.  It wasn't as yummy as the one Edward, my brother, made for us in DC but for a first try it was pretty darn yummy.

What is your favorite dessert?  We had watermelon and it was amazing!!  We are working on eating more natural foods and using fruits as desserts.  So far the watermelon is a hit.

Oh dear, I've talked about food so long that I am hungry now.  Wonder if reading thru cookbooks will help or make it worse?!?

Remember until next time:

  Love the Seher Gals

Prepping Cards for Honor Flights

I am pretty sure I mentioned before that we are part of a group called Soldiers Angels.  It is a non-profit group that connects civilians to deployed services members.  We adopt up to 3 deployed service members and we are an Angel to our service member while they are deployed.  Sending a minimum of 1 letter a week and 1 package a month to our service member.  It's lots of FUN!! 

In addition to adopting and supporting deployed service members we also support their family thru a variety of different programs such as Baby Brigade (where we do baby showers for service member's who have a baby or their wives while they are deployed), we also do birthday cards for the family members of deployed service members.  I especially like sending out the birthday cards to the kiddos.  Last but not least we support our veterans thru a variety of different options.  The one that I participate in is sending cards for Honor Flights.

Honor Flights, if you are not familiar, are free flights for veterans that are given the red carpet treatment at the airport and all the way to thru to Washington DC to see the various Veteran's Memorials.  They get a police escort, do not wait at red lights, no such thing as traffic jams.  Red carpet treatment all the way.  It was a sight that brought tears to my eyes and made my heart swell with pride when we saw several Honor Flights in Washington DC.

Part of Honor Flights is mail call.  This is where Soldier's Angels and Angles like myself come in.  We want to ensure that every veteran on an Honor flight has a full packet of cards and letters at mail call.  So we send letters or cards of support when the All Call comes for an Honor Flight.  Some Honor Flights are small with 20-25 veterans, and it ranges all the way up to 90+ veterans.  So it takes a lots of work to keep a stock of Thank you cards made up ahead of time to be able to get them out quickly.  Since we add an extra little twist in our cards by adding an extra thank you insert from myself, and Bobbie plus our business card letting the veterans know we are with Soldiers Angels it makes prepping the cards a labor of love. 

This weekend we had some extra help because my niece Harley got in on the action and made about 200 Thank you insets to go in the next few batches of cards.

Chikita took her supervising job very serious and wouldn't move off the girls feet for anything.  Guess she wanted in on the action too.

We mailed out 50 cards for 2 different Honor Flights today.  We have about 30 more all ready prepped and ready to go.  Tonight at work I will write more Thank you messages.  Tomorrow we will stuff more cards.  Gotta keep ahead of the Honor Flights.  After all our veterans have done for us a little hard work on my part isn't too much to ask.

Until next time remember:

Love The Seher Gals

Lessons in Self Care

At church lately we have had several lessons in Self Care.  I know is sounds like an odd thing to talk about at church but when we are talking about stewardship you can't avoid talking about taking better care of your self.  After all how do you care for others when you yourself are in desperate need of some care??

So what do you do for self care?  Need some ideas??  Well, I have a few ideas, and I would love to hear your ideas if you want to share them in the comments.

Here are some things I do for self-care:
*I write letters of love and support for my family and friends, and deployed service members.  It recharges my emotional batteries imagining the joy my letters will bring to ,y loved ones.

*I watch my guilty TV/Netflix shows while snuggling with Bruce the Shark and my fuzzy blanket.  Sometimes it helps to unwind and not have to think about anything serious.

*I eat a yummy treat.  I know that using food as a comfort item can be a slippery slope for a lot of people myself included.  However sometimes you really do need a yummy childhood treat to boost your spirits.

*I hang out with my family and friends and share a good laugh.  Studies show that laughing releases positive endorphins.  Who doesn't love a good endorphin rush?!?  Plus it is exercising your abdominal muscles too.  Win-Win!!

*I take a short nap.  Enough said!!

*I do something creative like drawing, or mixing stuff in the kitchen.  Sometimes it helps to add a little of this and a little of that and hope it comes out to be something greater than what you started with.

What do you do for self care?  To recharge your batteries?  To add some zip in your step?  Whatever it is I hope you stop and do it today, because you are important!!

Until next time:

Love the Seher Gals

New Foods with Edward in DC

Not only did we get to go see some many fun new places in DC with Edward, we tried several new foods.

Sadly I only took pictures of 2 of the 5, but that is better than nothing.

Salvadorian Fajitas are SUPER Yummy!!!  Edward had fried plantains and it was also very yummy.  Bobbie's nachos were good.

Bakers Breakfast at a little Organic French Restaurant.  Totally have to admit that I tried to kale, but I didn't eat much of it.  Everything else was eaten by myself, Edward and Bobbie.  Thanks to my smaller stomach after weight loss surgery sometimes I need a little help with restaurant portion sizes. 

Bobbie's Belgium Waffle at the same Organic French place.  It was super yummy looking!!  She chowed down on it and sure seemed to love it.

Sadly I don't have pictures of the Ethiopian food we ate.  Or the summer salad we constructed from a sweet little farmers market.  I don't even have pictures of the chicken stir-fry Edward made for us with asparagus.  I learned that I like asparagus.  Who knew?!?

Clearly I am fired from being a food blogger.  I keep eating the food before I remember to take picture of it.  I am super excited to introduce my friends to some new foods, and even find more new foods to try.

Until next time remember:

Love the Seher Gals

Fun in Washington DC with Edward

Oh my goodness this last week was a week of 1st's.  We took a trip to see Uncle Edward in Washington DC for 5 days.  Our first official vacation in years.  Yikes!!  We need to go on a legit vacation more often.  Our version of vacation is usually a weekend trip to Grandma's or Aunt Julie's. 

Bobbie's 1st airplane ride.  So excited!!!

Bobbie's 1st Wake Up Call with Uncle Edward.  Too bad you can't hear to beautiful piano music he played for us before he came over to help 'snuggle' Bobbie awake. 

 Bobbie's #2 choice for activities to do in DC.  The National Gallery of Art . . . .west building.  Quickly followed by the tunnel and then the East building, and the sculpture garden.  So Much AMAZING Art!!!

 Getting ready to watch a movie at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.  I love spending time with these 2 goofballs!!!

1st Uber ride for Bobbie.  2nd for me.  So much fun, and such a sweet Uber driver. 

We took a hop on/hop off bus tour of Washington DC.  1st hop off??  Jefferson Memorial with Bobbie.  Bobbie bought a stuffed squirrel at the gift shop.  

2nd Hop off stop??  Lincoln Memorial.  There were so many people sitting in the shade on the top steps of the memorial.  Someone standing loudly reciting scriptures at the crowd.  So hot and muggy!!  Gotta love DC.

 Donna, the kid's paternal grandmother, asked that we please stop at the Vietnam War Memorial.  It had not be built and dedicated the last time she was in DC.  We looked at the books but didn't see anyone with her last name or the kid's paternal grandfather's last name either.  SO MANY NAMES on the wall.  We were both in tears by the end of the wall walk.  Seeing so many of the veterans on the Honor flight mourning at the wall was heart rending!!

 Aquatic Gardens are not something you see in Utah, but here in DC they are so gorgeous.  We even arrived just in time for the tour.  Woo Hoo!!  Took tons of pictures of all the amazing sights at the aquatic garden.

Playing cards while on the boat ride back from MT. Vernon.  Bobbie bought a spotted stuffed pig at the gift shop.  Seeing a theme yet?  Wait for it, it gets better!!

Bobbie's #1 item on her list of things to do in DC was Arlington National Cemetery.  Such a solemn and hauntingly beautiful place.  Bobbie bought a panda at the gift shop at a Metro station on our way to Arlington.  Bobbie's #3 item was to ride the metro at some point in her trip to DC.

We found the Nurses Monument at Arlington Cemetery.  It was off the beaten path, but worth the hike to find it.  Imagine our surprise when as we were taking pictures up comes another nurse, wanting to see the memorial as well.  Does a nurses heart good to know that we all want to honor those in our profession that sacrificed so much to care for their patients thru the ages. 

Oh to be young, and flexible, and grouchy.  2nd flight wasn't as much fun as the 1st flight.  Then again someone is getting tired of Mom taking her picture.  So the flight might not have been as bad as the picture makes it look.  Bobbie bought a stuffed giraffe, and a stuffed moose at the airport.  So it was a stuffed zoo collecting trip for Miss Bobbie.

Work was a bear to come back to and it reminded me why it was so much fun to go on vacation.  However it was a great trip and so much fun to see things that we had never seen before.  I had seen a few of the things in DC when I was there for a few hours at age 17, but nothing like this trip.  Can't wait for our next vacation!!

Until next time remember (sometimes sarcasm is the answer):

Love the Seher Gals

How in the world did 3 months pass so fast?!?

How in the world did 3 months pass so fast?!?  Can it really be May already? 

I did not sign paperwork for that to be approved.  Then again I don't want to go back to winter, so I guess I will allow it. . .. . . just this once.  Ha Ha Ha.

So much to report in the last 3 months. 

Bobbie got braces.

Our Adopted Soldier came home, and we have a new Adopted Soldier. 

                                               

I am trying a new dating app.  Yikes!!  (No pictures for this one, sorry)

We went to 2 different Mascot Miracle Foundation (MMF) events.

MMF Pep Rally April 2018

MMF Motorcycle & Car Show Fundraiser Rally May 2018

I am sure there are a lot more things that happened, but these are the things that stood out the most in my memory.  Hopefully you all have had a fun 3 months.  Hopefully I remember to update my blog more quickly than 3 months next time!!  Ha Ha Ha

Until next tine remember:

Love the Seher Gals