Casamochi.com

 

Hi!  I did an addendum to this post on 1/30/2018. I have recently started a new blog over at casamochi.com!  I’ve been wanting to self-host my own blog for awhile and finally found time (late at night when the kids are asleep) to get it started.  If you have been with me for awhile, thank you!  I’m excited for this next chapter, and hoping you come along 😉

-Lauren

My Thank You to the Ladies of “The View,” from a Former Pageant Girl, AND a Nurse

A few days ago, the nursing community started a movement in response to certain remarks made by hosts of “The View.” I am a registered nurse, and a former pageant girl. I was offended by these comments. I am thankful for the support we have received in response to these comments as a nursing professional. I am even more thankful that there is a renewed sense of comradery and unity among our profession. As many have already said, education is the best remedy for ignorance. These comments were a good reminder that there is much to learn regarding the nursing profession, and the Miss America pageant system.  I am most thankful that this is the start of a series of many dynamic changes that will be made to our healthcare system because we now, stand as one.

I have been an emergency room nurse for almost 7 years. I felt a calling. I decided to go into the profession after seeing all of the wonderful nursing care my grandmother received by nurses before she passed away.  As an emergency room nurse, I have the opportunity to care for patients in their most vulnerable moments. I am honored and proud to work alongside exceptional nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals who take great pride in what they do. Some of my most difficult days are at work: seeing traumatic accidents, adults and children pass away, patients at their most psychotic and dangerous moments; yet I am fulfilled with what I do, because I know I can make a difference.  The other day, with their permission, I had the opportunity to pray over a patient with family, as they were taking their last breath. For myself, and millions of others, nursing is not “just” a job, it’s a calling.  Several years ago, I competed in the Miss America pageant system at the local level: Miss Covina. I was able to compete at the Miss California pageant several years ago, and although I didn’t make it far, today I still use what I learned from my participation years ago. The pageant experience endowed me with interview skills, public speaking skills, and lifelong friends.

Thank you to the hosts of “The View.” You see, as a nurse, I have never felt more part of a community than I do now.  Inspired by comments (which nurses or pageant contestants didn’t appreciate) made by the hosts of this show, there has been a national “nursesunite” campaign where thousands of nurses have pulled together in a wonderful way. There is a “Show me Your Stethoscope” page on facebook that has received over 700,000 members within a few days. Nurses from all different departments, countries and states are now connected, and the sleeping giant has awoken. I’m thankful to “The View” because their comments inspired many people, including major corporations,  Ellen, and people from all walks of life to rally in our defense.   As nurses, we don’t perform our duties for thanks or accolades. We do it because we care. I have never felt more pride for my profession.  I’m thankful to “The View” because the disrespectful comments started a movement. The nursing profession is now empowered to make great changes to our healthcare system.  We are listening, and we are engaging. Miss Colorado demonstrated strength and character by defining her role and talent as a nurse.  I also thank “The View,” because  women should be encouraged to replace harsh and judgmental words with kind, and friendly words about one another.

It seems there is some confusion over whether nursing is a talent and why nurses are wearing doctor’s stethoscopes. All nurses are talented. Some of us care for children with cancer, for adults after they have open heart surgery, for recovering addicts, for people in life threatening situations.  Regardless of one’s ethnicity, gender, religion, or age, we do not discriminate; we provide all our patients with compassionate care. Lots of talent, education, and skills are required for our jobs. As a group, we span over 100 different specialties. Some interesting facts that you may not know: Nurses are injured more than constructions workers. Nurses are assaulted more than prison guards. Nurses report one of the highest rate of satisfaction with their profession. Nurses care for an average of 8 million Americans a day. Nurses comprise the largest percentage of the healthcare workforce. Carrying a stethoscope is not unique to doctors. Nurses are required to assess their patients, and a stethoscope is required to auscultate (listen) to different parts of the body such as the heart, lungs, and abdomen. In the emergency department, usually nurses are the first ones that have interactions with patients and can quickly assess the acuity of a patient by using their stethoscopes. Unfortunately for me, I am on my second stethoscope. The first stethoscope grew legs and ran off the unit several years ago.

Dismissive and unkind words were used to describe some of the talents of the Miss America contestants. In order to compete in Miss America scholarship pageant, these contestants have undergone hours and hours of practice, and have been successful at several different pageants (their local city and state pageants.) These young women are talented. Did you know that the talent portion is unique to the Miss America pageant? Most other pageants do not require a talent portion at all. It takes alot of courage to perform a monologue, an incredibly unique talent to the Miss America pageant. I applaud Miss Colorado. She delivered a touching monologue that many nurses, healthcare professionals, patients, and families resonated with. Miss Colorado is proud of her profession, and she is one of thousands of talented nurses. I hope that one day, if my 2 month old daughter ever decided to enter the Miss America pageant, that her talent, whatever it may be, would be received with kind and loving words. The Miss America pageant is about more than physical beauty. In every local city pageant, people volunteer their time so that these young women can have better interview and interpersonal skills, become better public speakers, become more worldly, and ultimately, more confident. My experience with Miss Covina involved dozens of local business owners that volunteered their time and services to empower these young women. The Miss America pageant also promotes volunteerism in their contestants by requiring a platform that they are encouraged to be involved with. The Miss America pageant also helps thousands of young women by providing scholarship money to the winners. I was able to pay for part of my community college with my winnings.  Thank you to the Miss America scholarship pageant for all that you have done for your participants.

Finally, this is my call to action: let’s use this momentum to make positive changes to our healthcare. To anyone that may be reading this: fellow nurses, former patients, doctors, police officers, firefighters, affiliates of “The View,” or anyone else looking to make a difference in healthcare, please sign this petition.   This petition seeks federal legislation for safe nurse to patient ratios, so that we, as nurses, can provide the safest, highest quality care to our patients.  In many states, there are no laws regulating how many sick patients a nurse may have. This is unsafe. This federal legislation directly effects you, your child, your mother, your sibling, or anyone else you know that may require nursing care. Please let this movement be the start of nursing solidarity. There are many other issues we can tackle together including legislation regarding workplace violence. This is where we start. Over 3 million nurses, together as one, united for a cause.

Respectfully,

A Proud Nurse and Former Pageant Girl

 

P.S. I don’t take many selfies, especially in my uniform, but when I do, you bet I’m wearing my stethoscope!

Baby Girl

I have been meaning to post some pictures of Emma for the past 2 months now; I can’t believe she’s already 2 months old!  Some things I’ve learned so far: not all pregnancies, deliveries, babies, and postpartum experiences are alike. Not even close. Life with two babies that are 16 months apart is crazy! Fun, but definitely crazy!

This sweet baby of mine is wonderful! We are so happy to have her in our lives. Having a girl is very different than a boy. I feel a special kinship with her. Here are some pictures taken at the hospital:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Go-To Veggie Quinoa Salad

 

 

I love having a salad I can take out of the fridge and eat as a main dish or side throughout the week. Little man has been loving it, big man loves it, and I love it because it’s so easy to make. There are many different ingredients you can add to make a fun variation: artichokes, olives, bell peppers, etc. Serve it with a side of hummus and maybe some turkey meatballs and you have yourself a quick week night meal. I also love that I can grab all of these ingredients in one trip to Trader Joe’s. This recipe usually lasts at least 2-3 days depending on how frequently we are eating it, but it can stay fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days. Our toddler loves this salad, can’t you tell!

Go-to Veggie Quinoa Salad

• Ingredients:
• 1 cup quinoa cooked according package
• 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro
• 2 tbsp chopped Green onions
• 2 small persian cucumbers
• 1/2 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes
• Feta cheese to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Prepare quinoa according to packaged directions.
• Mix quinoa with cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, feta cheese, and cilantro.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small mixing bowl: olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.  Slowly combine with dry ingredients. Eat and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Nurses Week!

I get excited every year for nurses week because I LOVE freebies!  The hospitals that I’ve worked at usually have a fun giveaway for all the nurses. I’ve received lunch-pails, iPhone chargers, salad Tupperware, Mugs/cups, and a bunch of other cool stuff I can’t remember.

As much as I get excited about what the hospital gives away; I am most excited for the treats I can get outside the hospital.  This year doesn’t seem to be as many as in the past, but still worth taking note of:

Cinnabon- Nurses can receive one free Cinnabon Classic Roll or MiniBon roll to if they present their healthcare ID badge. Valid May 6-12

Larkburger- Nurses can receive one free small burger tomorrow, May 6th, dine-in only, if you present your current nurses badge.

New York and Co.- Nurses who shop in store and online today, May 5th, can receive 30% of their purchase with a valid ID or proof of employment. To receive the discount online the promo code is 9818 .

Starbucks- Ok, this one isn’t exactly for nurses week, but for the whole week you can get 1/2 off a frappucino from 3-5 pm.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, if you are looking for some functional and fashionable scrubs, email me at Ladiesgofirst85@gmail.com or leave a comment with your email to receive $25 off your first purchase of Jaanuu scrubs!

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrubs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been an emergency room nurse for six and a half years. I love the variety of the emergency room: ages, cultures, medical problems, acuity levels. It’s all very fascinating! I also enjoy learning something new everyday, and seeing instant results in my patients: they come for a specific problem, and we help them fix the problem.  I frequently get asked if my job is anything like the TV shows and the answer is NO! There aren’t any McDreamy’s or McSteamy’s floating around saving a different trauma every hour…the ER isn’t quite as dramatic as in the shows, and luckily, I’ve got my own McDreamy at home 😉

My shifts in the ER are usually 12 hours long, I’m in my work clothes for a long time. I am excited to share the most fashionable, reasonable, and comfortable scrubs I have worn. I have a few important criteria I look for when I’m shopping for scrubs: pockets (for a few of my supplies), material (are they comfortable and not going to transport germs to my family), and are they cute (and in this case, can I fit my 7-month-pregnant belly in them AND still look cute?).

Jaanuu has done a wonderful job of exceeding my expectations of scrubs. I love that their Peplum and Dolman scrub tops both have pockets that can fit all of my essentials. The material has antimicrobial properties, feels soft, and doesn’t require ironing to look good (awesome for busy moms like me.) They have designed the scrubs to be fashionable and functional for the long shifts we work in the healthcare industry.

I am wearing their Dolman top in Hunter Green. You can check out their scrubs at www.jaanuu.com

For $25 of your first order, send me your email address to Ladiesgofirst85@gmail.com and I will send you a discount code!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Nurses Week!

Changing Direction

I’m not sure if very many working and/or non-working moms feel like they have a lot of free time.  I have a good balance between being a stay-at-home mom, and being a working mom. I work twice a week in an emergency department, and my shifts are usually between 8-12 hours shifts.

At the end of a 12-hour-shift, I’m done. I don’t want to cook, clean, do laundry, or anything else that requires me to muster up energy. When I come home from work, I want to spend a few a minutes with my husband and son, put little man down for bedtime, eat some ice cream and call it a day. The interesting thing is that I feel this way many times when my husband is at work also. He works 48 hours at a time, so it’s usually little man and I by ourselves, all day, for 2 days in a row (my mom has been wonderful and usually comes by once a week to watch little man if I work while my husband is also working, or just to relieve me so I can run some errands without child in hand.)

At the end of a day when I’m watching O (little man) all by myself, I’m POOPED!!! At the end of these days, sometimes I will be able to finish my ice cream, and watch half of a movie before falling asleep (especially with being almost 7 months pregnant, baby girl is starting to further deplete my energy.)

I know that I’m not the only mom that feels like her time is valuable. The more time I spend cleaning, shopping and preparing food means the less time I have to spend with my family. Since I have 5 days off a week, I want to maximize that time. This has looked a lot like: meal planning, intentional grocery shopping once to twice a week (with a specific list), making meals that take me 30 minutes or less to prepare, and preparing O’s food in bulk and freezing it. I feel like the freezer, ice cube trays, the blender, pinterest, and the crockpot have become my best friends.

I am aspiring to blog at least once a week (although I might fail every now and then). I initially started this blog as a way to keep track of our mortgage payoff. Since we paid off the mortgage of our townhome, we sold the home, and used the proceedings towards a larger, single-family home. I am no longer debt-free, but do intend to become debt-free again.

My new topics will be:

*Toddler food ideas: I will try to focus on things I have made for O that have been wonderful to make in bulk and freeze for a quick and healthy lunch.

*Dinner ideas: Meals that I have made that take me 40 minutes or less to prepare from start to finish.

*Camping/dutch oven meals: One thing I would like to do is make an area in my backyard where I can use my dutch oven to pretend like I’m camping. I LOVE THE DUTCH OVEN!! Not sure how much camping I will be doing in the next few years with two little ones, but excited to keep trying new recipes.

*Nursing: Whether it’s reviewing different nursing products, to personal experiences, to helpful tips I have learned…..nursing is still the most interesting and challenging job I’ve ever had.

*Entertaining/Serving others:  I love getting ideas for easy and delicious meals/snacks to make for families once they have had a baby. I also love quick dessert/snack ideas for when we host our bible studies. For either of these, it’s fun to make great food, fast.

*Marriage/child-rearing: I’ve been married for almost 6 years now, and it’s wonderful and challenging at the same time. I think it’s wonderful to have a community of people to share the seasons of marriage and raising a child. Becoming a wife and a mother are the best things that have ever happened to me.

*Finances: I will be keeping track of our mortgage payoff. It will definitely not be at the speed of which we paid off our last home, but our goal is still as soon as possible.

*House projects/DIY: Any kinds of crafts and house projects that we are doing I will try to share. I’m lucky to have a super handy husband, we have been able to save lots of money on house renovations because of him.

*Misc: More things may come to mind, but the above stated are usually at the forefront of my brain.

I’m currently looking to self-host my blog, but I’m not quite sure where to start. Any suggestions?  What companies are easy and good for hosting. Are there shortcuts to transferring old posts to a new host?

Thanks for stopping by!

I will be back later this week with a scrubs review and discount code.

Baby Girl

We are excited to be welcoming a baby girl in July!  My children will be 17 months apart.  The idea seems overwhelming just thinking about it. We are praying for a mellow, easy-going baby that will love her brother. The good thing about having kids close together is that the infant stage still seems recent. I can remember things we went through with Owen, so I’m hoping that the adjustment of going from 1 to 2 kids won’t be as big of a life change as going from 0 to 1 child. I always wanted one boy and one girl so I think the baby shop is closed for business after this one. Here are some pictures that were taken about 7 weeks ago by Taylor Mosby. She is building up her portfolio and is offering photo sessions for a very reasonable price!  Message her at mosbyphotos@gmail.com if you are ever in the South Orange County area.

Thanks for stopping by!

Freezable Lactation Cookies

These are my favorite cookies whether I’m lactating or not. I’m not sure if there is evidence-based data to support the idea that these cookies will produce more milk. What I do know is that there are some different galactagogues (substance that produces lactation) in these cookies that include oats and brewer’s yeast.  I also know that if you aren’t lactating and you want to eat/make these delicious cookies, you won’t instantaneously be able to breastfeed 4 children.  My husband has had a few and nothing ever happened to him 😉  When I first made these cookies, I was about 2 months postpartum. I baked the whole batch and the cookies were gone in about 3 days. Maybe 2. I thought “There has got to be a way for me to have some self-control with these cookies,” so I decided to freeze the dough.  It’s nice to be able to make myself 1 or 2 cookies at a time instead of 48, it considerably decreases the temptation.   Do they really work?  Who knows, but they are amazing! I make a batch about once every other month and I’m still breastfeeding my son who is now 12.5 months old.

 

Freezable Lactation Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons brewers yeast

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
3. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well.
4. Add eggs and mix well.
5. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla, beat well.
6. Sift together flour, brewers yeast, baking soda, and salt.
7. Add dry ingredients to butter mix.
8. Stir in oats, nuts, and chips.
9. ***Scoop onto baking sheet.
10. Bake for 9-12 minutes.
11. Transfer cookies to cooling rack and let sit for a few minutes.

**To freeze:

1. Scoop tablespoon size of uncooked dough onto tupperware. Layer entire bottom of tupperware.
2. Top with wax paper
3. Repeat layering process until you have filled tupperware.
4. To bake, start from step #9 of above directions.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Tanaka Farms

{Baby O making his “I’m not so sure about this” face }

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting the pumpkin patch was a super fun and frugal activity for the family.  The pumpkin patch at Tanaka Farms was $2 admission per adult. We didn’t pay for any extras: riding the train, horses, etc. Having a 7-month-old, we figured that he would be stoked if he could just sit and chew on the pumpkin stems all day. Turns out our little one is particularly fond of leaves and dirt;  we caught him shoveling them into his mouth a few times during our visit.  I can’t believe 7 months have gone by so fast!!