My top 6 iPhone apps

My iPhone was the first thing Eugene bought me after we got engaged and even though its a little outdated now, I love it! It's my little companion throughout the day and I do almost everything with it. My planner, shopping lists, budgeting programs, etc  are all conveniently packaged in my little electronic partner in crime. There's been so much hype about the iPhone 5 nowadays but I just wanted to break the ice and share my top 6 iphone apps.

Of course this excludes the usual necessities like Mail, Calenders, Weather, Instagram (hahaah) but these are the 6 most used applications on my iPhone on a day-to-day basis.

So here they are... in no particular order:

1) Avocado
 This is a messaging app for couples, and its been really fun and helpful for us so far. It's exclusive to just you and your partner (mine is password protected, hehe) and you can send each other pictures, emotions (you can take pictures of yourself as the emotions i.e. smiling, lol-ing, <3-ing, etc) and you can also create lists together. This has been helpful when I'm making a target run or going to the groceries because Eugene can just add things that he needs me to buy onto the list throughout the day. Pretty sweet.

 

2. Waze

This is a navigation application that works more like a GPS. It reads the directions out to you while your driving (unlike the Maps App on iPhone). The great thing about this App is that other "wazers" report if there's been an accident or if there's heavy traffic on the road, and you can choose (via waze) to go on a faster route. You can also contribute to this by reporting if you're in traffic, or if you see an accident/cop/foreign object on the road, etc. You'd be surprised how many wazers there are out there!

3. Flipboard

For all my fellow blog-lovers, this is will seriously be one of the best Apps you've ever downloaded. Even if you're just a huge news reader (like my husband), this is a really cool place you can store all your favorite websites and read it on the go. You can even import your google reader here and read all your favorite blogs anywhere you are!

4. ESV Study +

I love this App for its convenience and its accessibility. It's a lot more pricey than it was when I first downloaded it, but if you don't hauling around your huge study bible everywhere this is definitely worth it.

5. Sleep Cycle

The best alarm clock application ever created  (Thanks Alex O for the rec!) This App has changed my life in more ways than one. It's kind of confusing and hard to explain on how it works exactly, but it's basically a "smart" alarm clock that tries to wake you up when you're in your lightest sleep so that you wake up feeling most refreshed. Especially when I was only sleep 3-4 hours before my night shifts, this App really saved me. :) 

6. Songza

I will always love my pandora, but Songza has alot of cool features, too! The cool thing about songza, is you can pick your music based on what mood you're in or what kind of things you're doing. They have a huge list of playlists you can choose from and you can "like" or "dislike" songs to personalize the playlists to your taste. But, please beware: Songza doesn't censor profanity for some reason. Just click dislike on every song with profanity (like I did) and eventually it'll go away. haha! :)

My favorite list these days has been "Acoustic versions of Pop Songs" per my husband's recommendation. :) Super cooool

Happy Sabbath, my friends!

Love,

Sharon

Everyday Life - Week 37 & 38

Hello, friends!

So these last two weeks have been extremely busy with Eugene having his first midterm, applying/interviewing for intern positions and me transitioning from night shift to day shift at work.  It's been super fun and exciting. Eugene and I have been so thankful for God's provision in our lives and for His constant presence that brings us so much comfort and encouragement. It's been sweet!

I just started my second week of day shift and I'm loving it so much. I'm learning alot of new things, making mistakes and never making the same mistakes again, meeting alot of doctors, and getting used to a normal sleep schedule. It's really lovely because me and Eugene sleep and wake up together AT THE SAME TIME which is amazing! The new challenge is learning how to prepare dinner before I go to work in the mornings since Eugene comes home earlier than me. I'm making a more hard-core meal plan for this week in preparation for this new week ahead! With all the craziness, I totally forgot to post an "everyday life" post last week so here's what the last two weeks looked like:

My two favorite things to have while "winding down": Le Dip lunch with lots and LOTS of sriracha and home/cookbook magazines.

Husband busy at school means I have to learn how to use this myself. Fixing stuff around our house is fun!

Fresh home-made guacamole means we're having toast with guac and eggs for breakfast. :)

I can't believe this egg was so big it covered the whole toast...

Appetizer-making party at my house for pastor Aaron's ordination. Lots of love and laughter while making steamy BBQ meatballs and caprese bites!

Pooped after running errands all day. Winding down again with my Rachel Ray magazine!

List-making to stay productive throughout the week. This was our meal plan (that we didn't follow). Oopsie :)

Our little plant that we were gifted with by Carson/Bryan when we had them over for lunch a few months ago. This is the first plant I've managed to keep alive. Me and Eugene were very diligent about taking good care of it... we even looked up how much sun/water it needed online. (See guys, we're trying!)

I've been meaning to deep clean the bathrooms for a while now. I'm really thankful that I did, oh my goodness. Praise the Lord for Lysol and Windex!!! p.s. hello random mini tabasco bottle.

Eugene is taking some really hard classes right now. He learned an entire year biochemistry in one lecture. (Yipes!) He was reviewing his OChem book in bed... exciting. :) p.s. don't mind Mr. Darcy, it was gift I received for my bridal shower. Eugene accepts. 

I've decided to invest a few dollars on flowers each month. It's a small price to brighten up our home beautifully. I bought these beautiful yellow flowers for our dining table and I smile everytime I pass by them. Here they are out on our balcony getting their daily dose of sunshine.

Empying my pockets after work. I carry a lot of stuff. Sheesh!

Last but not least, here's a happy picture of us from a wedding we attended last week! (Congrats, Hannah & Matt. We love you guys!) Props to our wonderful sister, Heidi :)

Off to run alot of errands today. Have a beautiful day, everybody!

give thanks: wonderful coworkers who make it easy to transition to day shift, nakedjuice to power up every morning, ripe avocados, days off to catch up on my chores, reminders in Colossians.

. . . .

"If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  

{Colossians 3:1-3}

snippets of our little home

I officially finished my last night shift this morning, and today was spent recuperating, making up for lost sleep and deep cleaning parts of the house. The laundry and dishwasher are running and I'm enjoying a quiet night at home while Eugene is diligently studying for his first big test next week.

I'm planning to spend the next month or so renovating our little apartment and really make it a "home".  Our home is very simple and very us, but it can use a little more jazz here and there. Before I make any changes, I wanted to capture snippets of our first apartment.  

Here are some of my favorite spots!

This is our wedding corner. It's located in the corner of our living room between our keyboard and TV, right near the window. I wanted to keep bits of our wedding day in the house so here you will find some of the things we had at our wedding, the sand from our unity sand ceremony with some coffee beans we used for table decor, and my bridal bouquet. 

I probably spend 80% of my time at home in the kitchen, so this is definitely one of my favorite spots. My kitchen counter is small, but it gets its job done. I cook rice, brew coffee, slow-cook things, toast my bread and prepare all my food on this little counter. 

cook book corner.

this picture was taken about three months ago, and I've added a few more books and magazines to this collection so it is ever-growing!

my favorite little spice corner. :)

our bedroom drawer.

and a cheesy little sign I found at TJ max for $3 (score!)

the blessings of home-making. :)

hopefully I can really make our little apartment "home" to us.

i'll keep you posted!

love,

sharon

five things I love(d) about working night shifts

Guess what? Tonight will be my last night shift!!!!!! (maybe, ever!)

I've worked night shifts for about 3 years now (about 2 years as a nursing assistant and 1.3 years as a nurse), and let me tell ya-- my body has hated me for it. During nursing school, it was hard finding time to work during the day because of classes, clinicals, etc.. so working the night shift was the only way (even if that meant sacrificing sleep and going to class super duper sleepy all the time). For the past three years, my immune system has been a total wreck and I probably can't even count on my two hands and feet how many times I've gotten sick. Being a morning person, having to force myself to sleep at 9:00 am in the morning was an extremely daunting task. To be completely honest with you, I can't even remember the last time I felt perfectly well. It's been a very under-the-weather three years. 

But God, as always, has been so extremely gracious! He not only provided me with these jobs, but also blessed me with amazing co-workers whom I can now truly call my friends and so many opportunities to grow in my love and passion for nursing. Also, He always, always, always provided me with the strength and energy I needed to persevere through crazy, exhausting, sleep-deprived nights and the power to be joyful amidst the challenges.

He is good!

Now that my night shift journey has come to an end, I will bid thee goodbye with a list of 5 things I loved about working the night shift.

1) My Coworkers
The first thing on my list HAS to be my co-workers.

I have the most amazing co-workers in the world. Our night shift crew is a team of smart, hard-working, compassionate and extremely hilarious people. I can confidently say that I always go to work excited because of how much I love spending time with my coworkers! It has been a tremendous blessing being able to build relationships with them, learn from them, grow with them and work alongside them. They also know how to throw a mean pot luck. ;)

2) Coffee & the Word
On the nights I have work, my most favorite part of the day is when I get my dose of coffee and the Word. I usually wake up a little earlier than usual so I can head over to a local Starbucks to get a simple latte and spend time reading my Bible. I've been so blessed by these times, especially because alot of times when I'm so awful tired, I'm so desperate for God to give me the strength to survive the night. It's super awesome because I can testify how time and time again I came to Starbucks feeling so crappy and leaving the place feeling so refreshed.  It was my most favorite thing!

3) The Challenges of Autonomy
One challenge of working at nights is the fact that most of the doctors aren't there. So, when there's a patient emergency or we need some doctor's orders, we usually have to call a MD who knows nothing about our patients (which is quite an inconvenience). Even though it's hard, it's good because it really forces us to work together as a team to troubleshoot our issues, to act quickly in face of emergency and to think critically. I've learned so much from all the research, and thinking and brain power I've invested as a result of this inconvenience. I usually look like this when I'm working (I used a google pic since I can't take a picture of myself working). I learned to always bladder scan a patient if you can't figure out what's wrong with them (I took out 2 liters of urine once!), give a fluid bolus for neuro changes and extreme hypotension and to check a blood sugar when a patient becomes too lethargic. Thankful, even for inconveniences!

4) Snacks
I'm not a big snacker, but when you're working the night shift, snacks definitely keep you going. (Don't you agree, Jenny?) I've grown an appreciation for both healthy and non-healthy snacks, and especially appreciated the many times our sweet patients' families would bring us goodies to enjoy :)

5) Singing Songs

People think that night shift nurses have it easy, because all that the patients do at night is sleep. If you work on a neuro floor like me, you know that this is definitely not the case. Our patients jump out of bed, pull out their IV's and their JP drains and pick at their telemetry leads every 10 seconds. (This one night, all my patients together pulled out 7 IV's and 2 JP drains. super exciting!) A lot of our patients are agitated, anxious, restless, combative.. you name it. In this last year alone, I've been punched, spit on, slapped (in the boob, sorry TMI), kicked, peed on, pooed on, etc. Believe me, it is no walk in the park...but naturally it IS less chaotic without all the doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapist and millions of family members around. Sometimes this makes the patient more disoriented and confused, but on some nights, this gives me the opportunity to spend a lot of time with with them.

One thing I really love to do is sing songs for them (and sometimes, even with them!) When my patients are super anxious, or restless, or sad, or confused, I usually ask if they'd like me to sing a song. It usually starts pretty awkward, but there's something magical about singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or "The Way you look tonight". It really calms them down. Nothing melts my heart more when my extremely confused, combative and agitated patient stops screaming and rustling in their bed when I start to sing to them. It especially melts me when they begin to sing verses of the songs with me and correct me when I mess up on the lyrics. :)

My job is a tremendous blessing and my year of night shifts has been amazing. I'm excited to finally have a normal life and sleeping schedule, but I'm definitely going to miss my night shift crew. They will be family to me forever. I'm so nervous for what day shift will bring but so excited for the many great things I will learn and for the many ways I will grow in my love for my job. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow!

Time to sleep now,  before my last night shift ever!!!!!!!!!!

Give thanks: breakfast, iced water, sweet patients, hands to hold, time to read, vanilla lattes, gloomy weather and warm hearts. 

Everyday Life - Week 36 (aka, Labor Day update.)

I was really bad with taking pictures this week so this won't be too exciting of a post. Sorry, friends! This week was busy with labor day dinner hosting, working, working, working and a sweet retreat with my church at the end of the week. My busy week resulted in very little pictures, and I actually only have pictures from two days from this week (Oops!) and I also totally forgot about my goals.. (yipes!) but life moves on and we're gonna be OK!

This will just be a Labor Day update, I guess. :)

Labor day was super sweet because we hosted both sides of our families to come and have dinner. I had work the night before so I was a little bit delirious making dinner for 10+ peeps on three and a half hours of sleep, but it was well worth it. I was kind of nervous hosting my dinner for our families for the first time so I played it safe and did a little mexican DIY party with fish tacos and steak fajitas. Super easy and quick, but great potential to be delicious!

Everyone busy at work. Can you please pass the guac? (that was a huge bowl of guac.. I used 10 avocados.)

Action shot...Assemble!

For dessert, I just put together a simple strawberry shortcake with Sara Lee's pound cake, some vanilla ice cream and chopped strawberries. A little on the heavy side, but thats what our extra "dessert" stomach is for, right?

My dad also got stitches a few weeks ago and thank goodness we had a doctor in the house! (especially because if it wasn't for her, it'd be my job...) This is what we call family bonding time! 

This is a shot of my dining table this morning. This basically sums up our weekend. Bibles/Journals laying around from the retreat, a first aid kit I kept in my bag throughout the weekend (you never know what could happen in the mountains!) reading blogs on my phone in bed, a new issue of Rachel Ray's magazine (yay!!) and new locks for our lockers (his at the USC gym and mine at work). 

Here's a quick snapshot of what it looks like when I wake up in the morning these days. This was at 5:24 am. Ever since Eugene started school, I've been trying to wake up early with him on my days off. It's been super sweet (and productive)! Usually I can get some reading, cleaning, laundry-ing, dish washing, and blog-reading done all before 9am. It's amazing!

This week is going to be exciting/interesting/bittersweet because it's my last week of night shifts at work. I've been fighting for a day shift position since my interview for the job and the time has finally come! I'm excited for a normal life and sleeping schedule and the new batch of coworkers I will have the privilege to work with but I'm going to miss my night shift family so much! I'm planning to write a few blog posts re: night shifts this week so stay tuned!

have a great week, everyone! 

i'm gonna work my heart out this week :) I serve the Lord Christ!

give thanks: time with family, time to retreat, encouragement from the body, the gift we have in God's Word, iced coffee, the smell of freshly baked cookies, my wonderful husband!