Burgers and Ice Cream

When life has been busy for us for several weeks in a row and the weather turns cold and rainy again, we tend to lock ourselves inside during any free moments, eat omelets for dinner and watch re-runs of Greys Anatomy (ok..maybe that's just me). Regardless, today was another cloudy day, but mild in temperature and we decided to peel ourselves out of our place and drive into Portland. Our favorite go-to spot is 23rd Street. It's this perfectly quaint street lined with independently owned boutiques and shops--not to mention delicious food and a real taste of the city's unique culture. If we've ever taken pictures of us eating in Portland, chances are it was a place on 23rd street. 

Our main intention in going out was to visit our favorite, Salt and Straw, for ice cream--his favorite: strawberry honey balsamic and pepper. My favorite: almond bark. Jude's favorite: vanilla. 

But we noticed that Little Big Burger just opened a spot right next door and who couldn't use a killer burger and fries before a gallon of ice cream? Perfect product placement, if you ask me.

We've learned from our mistakes and made sure Jude was able to enjoy his own ice cream cone. 

Now that we've had our fill, we can go back to being hermits until the sun comes back, right?

The cousins are in town

We've been so happy to spend time with Adam's brother Matt's family since they came into town from Idaho over the weekend! Matt and Kim raise the most darling little kids and I die every time I see them! Talmadge is one sharp, sweet little dude and the twins, Paris and Vienna, are seriously the cutest little Cabbage Patch girls ever. Having their sweet little voices in my house meant so much to us and we couldn't get over how much they're talking now and telling each other, in those high-pitched, soft voices, to "Make good choices!!" and "I'm so proud of you!" 
Tonight they came over for pizza and cookies. Jude took a little bit to get used to seeing his cousins again, and after realizing that most of his toys were newly spoken for, he grabbed a cookie, immobilized their cookie-less dad, and made him watch as he devoured those delicious chocolate chips. "You take my toys, I take your dad. And torture him."

Tomorrow, we're off to the Children's Museum to wreak more toddler havoc with these faces. Can't wait to hear, "Paris, make good choices!" over, and over, and over again. ;) 

To Be Totally Honest: Nurse Installation

Nurse hat on, standing on a hypothetical bedside commode as a soap box, and begin: To be totally honest...

-Dear Dr. Stupid, stop yelling at me for your own mistakes. I'm not your dog. Furthermore, the orders you write for my patients totally suck. 
-No, I will not respond to you when you call me "Pill Lady." 
-To my male patients: stop looking down my shirt while I lean forward to listen to your lungs or I'll make up an excuse to give you an enema. 
-No, I will not give you Tylenol, Tramadol and Dilaudid all at once because you have 3/10 pain. I'm not in the business of killing you.
-I had graham crackers for dinner last night. 
-Stop blaming me for your colostomy pouch bursting when you can't stop picking at it.
-When I haven't peed in 12 hours, don't huff at me for having to wait 10 minutes before I could see you and then have the gall to ask, "What have you been doing this whole time?" just to inform me that all you needed was your trash bag changed. I will loathe your existence for all eternity. 
-If your family member is one of my patients and you call asking "How's mom doing today?," I don't magically know who your mom is by the sound of your voice. Don't get mad at me when I ask you to be more specific. 
-My nursing shoes should be burned. 
-I fear that I will have kidney infections many times throughout my career due to carrying around 12 hours worth of pee every shift. 
-I imagine I look like a ravenous hyaena devouring an animal carcass after weeks of starvation when I scarf down a few bites of a sandwich between patients. 
-I have misspelled "pennies" for "penis" more times than I can count.
-To all my frail little old ladies who keep falling while getting out of bed: I have envisioned duct-taping you to your bed so many, many times. 
-Don't flirt with someone who knows your medical history. You have no chance in hell, buddy. 

Now, with your own professions in mind, be totally honest with me.