Holiday Survey

In the spirit of the season, I came across this fun little survey from one of my favorite blogs I follow religiously... www.pbfingers.com And thought it would be fun to share my answers

25 Questions: Holiday Style

Eggnog or Hot Chocolate?
Tough one, but I will say hot chocolate

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
They are sat under the tree

Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Since we don't have a house, we just have trees and they have white lights

Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but I want to find one of those fun mistletoe headbands to walk around with...

When do you hang your decorations up?
The Saturday after Thanksgiving

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Easy, my mother's chicken and dumplings, DELICIOUS

Favorite holiday memory as a child?
The year all the kids got rollerblades from Santa. We went up to our church and rolled around for the entire afternoon Christmas day, so much fun.

What is on your Christmas wish list?
I have a long list of books I want to read, most can be found here: Pinterest Book List  
I also would not mind money for school ;)

Or diamonds...

Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
Now that I am married, we split the holiday. Last year we opened gifts with the in-laws Christmas Eve and with my parents on Christmas day.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
We actually have two trees, a pink one and a traditional green one. We were fortunate enough to have an ornament shower for one of our wedding showers, and those ornaments fill up our little trees.

Real tree or fake tree?
I have always had fake trees. Obviously the pink one is fake.

Snow? Love it or dread it?
The few times I've been around it I've had a blast, so I'd say I love it. I also enjoy it because when it does snow in Texas everything is shut down, no school, no work... Hooray!

Do you remember your favorite gift?
Barbies were always a winner growing up, but last Christmas my husband surprised me with a ginormous Chick-Fil-A stuffed cow, it was AWESOME! About the size of a small  human.

What's the most important thing about Christmas for you?
Getting all of the family together. Our little clans go a little crazy when we're all together and it's so much fun.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Pumpkin pie and peppermint bark

What is your favorite tradition?
Christmas dinner, everyone together and we open those fun poppers with little goodies inside. All of us put on the paper crowns of various colors and stuff our face with my mom's home cooking. YUM!

What tops your tree?
We actually don't have a tree topper for our green tree, but our pink tree has a silver star

Do you prefer giving or receiving?
Both, it's fun to give, especially when I find a clever gift or something they really want.

What is your favorite Christmas song?
A favorite?! I love holiday music, so I can't have just one...

Candy canes, yuck or yum?
Anything made of sugar is yum...

Favorite Christmas movie?
Elf, The Santa Clause, A Christmas Story

What do you leave for Santa?
Sugar cookies and eggnog

Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Driving to my parents house and having brunch

Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?
The mall, I'm still skeptical of purchasing stuff online, plus it doesn't always look the same as the pictures, and you have to pay for shipping....

Christmas letter or Christmas card?
Cards, they are fun to display, plus some letters are rather lengthy

Just a fun random post, please feel free to copy questions and fill in your own answers!!

~Brittani

Diabetes Rotation

I spent a couple of weeks with an outpatient Diabetes Education Center. During this time I was able to sit in on a few group classes that they conduct on a regular schedule. The topics included diet, exercise, stress management, diabetes basics, and sick days. They were tailored to a crowd newly diagnosed with diabetes, but even though I have learned about the disease through my own education at TCU I still learned a lot.

The attendees to the classes made it interesting too. We had a couple of war veterans who talked about their time in the service and a class clown in one. The group classes lasted about 4 hours, so there was a lot of information presented to them during those times.

I also had the opportunity to sit in on some individual sessions. These patients come in for yearly follow ups to the Diabetes center to check on their diet, medications and blood sugar history. During one of the sessions I had the opportunity to practice a little bit of carbohydrate counting with food models. I love food models, they look so real!

One of the afternoons during this rotation, the Diabetes Education Center hosted a come and go Diabetes Education Session for the nursing staff at the hospital. They had several booths set up for the nurses to come and learn how to correctly check blood sugars, use the different glucometers (blood sugar meter), how to use the different insulin devices, a brief carbohydrate counting breakdown, and what other medical conditions individuals with diabetes are at risk for.

I got to check my own blood sugar using a glucometer!

Though it wasn't at the ideal time (you're supposed to check before eating and two hours after a meal, I did it just 1 hour after), I got a reading of 109, which is in the normal range. However, it was interesting to try it out, because I had never used one before. I will say I was a little nervous because you do have to prick your finger to get blood to test, but the lancing devices they have now make it almost painless. I barely felt it prick my finger, so if I do have to check my blood sugar regularly (which of course I'm hoping I don't) I shouldn't be afraid.

On a side note, I must say congratulations to my great friend Stephanie who married the man of her dreams December 1, 2012. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the wedding part and we had a blast! My favorite part was when the groom started repeating the pastor when it was Stephanie's turn. "I Stephanie..."

The BEAUTIFUL bride and myself

Onto my last and final rotation for the semester!!

~Brittani

This scripture my fabulous friend Lacy recently shared and I found it most appropriate. Thanks Lacy!!

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know." ~ Jeremiah 33:3