The Crazy Cat Couple

Where has the week gone!? I feel like this has been happening a lot lately blink and it's Monday again! Interesting work we last week. Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights. Kind of odd, my sleep schedule was interesting, but at the same time I enjoyed having a night off for a small break. Since I can't legally share what happens at the hospital, I'll give a brief run down. I had 3 tough nights last week. Each night I seemed to have one patient who was extremely sick. I mean I understand I have a license for a reason, I am supposed to be able to care for these people, but it makes me super nervous! Having the lives of others in my hands on a nightly basis tends to add some stress to my job. Don't get me wrong I love being a nurse, but I have a long way to go to become comfortable caring for such sick people. Confidence in my skills hasn't always been my strong suit.

Last week I was able to FINALLY go watch Chad play basketball at DMU. This was his first time playing basketball since his undergrad at Missouri Western. I was pretty impressed! He was sinking shots left and right, however, he did make the comment "I don't know how I did this in high school! Sprint up and down the court and actually try the whole game!" He was a little tired and sore, but he did enjoy playing!

This weekend was one for the books. So glad I got to spend time with my friends in Iowa City and of course a Hawkeye win is always nice!

Newlywed Moment of the Week:
Luckily, on my night off, Chad and I got to spend some quality time together. So how would we spend time together? Of course by building a kitty jungle gym! To answer your question, YES, we are the crazy cat couple! We had a gift card to Lowe's so that helped fund our project. We bought some plywood, a carpet remnant, some screws and brackets, a staple gun, and a saw. Then the fun began! We sawed the plywood (I don't suggest this, my ears hurt!) into 4 pieces. Covered them in carpet. Attached the bracket to the wood. Then hung them on the wall! At points it tested us, but we make a pretty good team! Made it out with only a bump on my head, no not from Chad, but from dropping the level on my head! Haha! Here is the finished project!

The kitties and their gym!

You might ask.. Where in the world did you get the idea for this!? Well a mixture of Pinterest and our cat Holly being a bit overweight! 

For my recipe of the week I'm going to share my newest addiction! 

Five Minute Healthy Frozen Yogurt! For everyone who knows me, you know I don't cook! This, however, is so easy even I can make it! 

All you need is:

4 cups of frozen fruit (I used mixed berries and threw in some frozen rhubarb)

3 tablespoons of agave nectar of honey

1/2 cup of plain yogurt (I chose Chobani since it's high in protein)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Throw everything in a food processor. We have a Ninja, which we love! Blend until creamy or about 5 minutes. Then you can either eat it now or put it in an air tight container and throw it in the freezer for later! It is a delicious, yet healthy treat!

So today as I was enjoying my day off, I was able to watch the Today Show for once! They were talking about this new app called Snap! Basically what it is is you download it on your iPhone or iPad then take pictures of your receipt from the grocery store and you get money back! Today I scanned one from last week's grocery trip and I got $1 back for a gallon of milk and 50 cents back for apples. It's not much, but it adds up! There were other items for deals as well such as diapers, $3 back! Click Snap below and check it out!

 Snap

Hungry Husbands and Burrito Bowls

Another week in the books at the Walker house. It feels like I have lived at the hospital lately. Between picking up extra shifts and working my own schedule by Friday I had worked 8 of the last 9 days! Whew! Let's just say when I got off Friday morning I was ready for a few days off! To celebrate Chad and I went to our new breakfast spot called "Waveland" and oh my it is delicious! A huge plate of food for a cheap rate, now that's my kind of food! 

For my first edition of Newlywed Moments I'd like to share one of the funniest moments from this week. Chad was very adamant about showing me a video on Facebook, while he was unable to track it down he goes for plan B. He tried typing the name of the video into the search bar on the Facebook homepage. Not only was he unable able to find it by doing this, he also was convinced that the search bar on Facebook should be able to do things like a search engine would! I could not stop laughing! And he is the smart one in this marriage!!

We spent Friday night with a few of Chad's friends from high school and some of their college friends. Just me and the boys, but heck it was a good time! Saturday we took the opportunity to sleep in! Our day consisted of Chad studying for his Pharmacology test on Tuesday and I caught up on some laundry and enjoyed some snuggle time with the kitties. Sunday will most likely be quite similar, but of course throw in some football and I have to work tomorrow night. I have a pretty odd schedule this week Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. I guess I get Tuesday off because they were overstaffed. Chad usually spends his evenings studying and when he gets a break he plays on an intramural volleyball team at DMU! I was told I missed a barn burner at this week's volleyball match-up! They won!!

I'm starting to get super excited for next weekend. I finally get to reunite with my best friends and cheer on the Hawkeyes! I've been looking forward to this weekend since hmm.. last year's adventure in Iowa City! 

Well there is a little catch up on the day to day happenings of the Walkers, but for my post today I wanted to share a recipe or two that Chad and I have eaten Usually what happens is I browse Pinterest and then Chad makes what ever strange concoction I find! This week I had really been craving Chipotle, but instead of spending 9 bucks on a single bowl, why not make 3 meals worth for equal or less money!

So I am a huge fan of their corn salsa! Delicious! I found this copycat recipe on Pinterest that hits it pretty close!

Corn Salsa:

1 lb bag of frozen corn, cooked

1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped

2 green jalapenos, finely diced

1/2 red onion, finely diced

one lime, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

1 poblano pepper, roasted in the oven and finely diced

Mix ingredients together and enjoy!

Also what is a burrito bowl without pico!? 

Pico de Gallo:

6 ripe Roma tomatoes, finely diced

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1/2 red onion, finely diced

1/2 tsp salt

one half lemon, juiced

1/2 jalapeno, finely diced

Mix ingredients together, and enjoy!

We also decided to make the rice as well! Turned out awesome!

Cilantro Lime Rice:

2 cups basmati rice

4 cups water

1 Bay leaf

1 tsp salt

one lime, juiced

2 Tbsp cilantro, finely diced

2 Tbsp canola oil

Saute rice in oil until translucent, add bay leaf and water and bring to a boil. When the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to low. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. We just used a rice cooker and it tasted equally as delicious!

Mix salt and lime juice together until the salt dissolves. Pour over rice, fluffing with a fork. Sprinkle in cilantro and toss to coat with lime mixture.

We decided on chicken burrito bowls so this is the Chipotle chicken recipe.

- 1 7oz can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Remove the peppers and keep the sauce.

- 6-7 dried red chili peppers

- 1 small onion

- 2 tsp cumin

- 2 tbsp dried oregano (all I had on hand)

- 2.5 tsp salt

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- 2 cups water

Throw everything together and you get this delicious mixture! Now if you have any questions, don't ask me! Haha! Because we all know Chad is the cook and I just enjoy the food that "The Chef" makes.

                                                                  Our burrito bowls!

College Student to Career Woman in the Blink of an Eye

Where do I start? I guess I can start with why I'm writing a blog! Since moving to Des Moines I don't get to see my family and friends as often as I'd like so I figured I would create this blog to keep anyone who is curious about our life, up to date. Also, I don't want to be one of those people that posts their every move on Facebook. No thanks.

Life the past 6 months has been nothing short of a whirlwind adventure! But thankfully it is finally starting to slow down a bit! January I started my last semester of nursing school, which for me was the hardest yet! No, not because the material was hard, but a combination of wanting to be done and trying to manage my time outside of class and clinicals. Since Chad graduated in December, we were back to living long distance for my last semester of school, so of course I went home more and studied less than I probably should have. I spent 11 clinical days in the spring at Heartland Regional Medical Center in the nursery, which may not sound like many, but it kept me busy! I absolutely loved it!! Loved the staff, loved the babies, and loved being a part of each mom's (and dads!) special day. In April I turned 21 and life didn't drastically change like I thought it would! Nope only thing this is different is I can go out with friends and not be told I have to leave because I'm not old enough! 

May, oh May.. This may be where the whirlwind really took off! On May 10th I graduated from Missouri Western State University with my BSN! After 3 long years and many struggles along the way I had reached a goal I had thought to be impossible to reach at times! Looking back now I still get chills when I realize I am the first person in my family to graduate from a 4 year university. (And I did it in 3!) With little to no time to relax it was on to wedding planning and studying for my nursing boards! I had my bridal shower on May 17th thanks to my beautiful sister-in-laws, it was perfect! Then on May 18th I loaded up and headed back to Kansas City to take a review class May 19th-21st for my nursing boards. Although I hated sitting in class all day, I loved getting to stay with my best friend Jordan and her mom Patty, oh and Mema! :) 

This is where my life began to get extra crazy! I got home on the 21st from Kansas City and then had 3 days to pack everything up for Chad and I's big move to Des Moines! The move was an adventure like none other we had had before! Chad had his bachelor party the night before moving day, so this left my mom and I to load up the trailer while the boys were off having fun! We managed though! From getting a clothing armoire down 2 flights of stairs to flat tires on the trailer to forgetting the spare, at the end of the day all I could do was laugh and ask what else was going to come our way! Well I said it, because after our first night in Des Moines we woke up to Chad getting a call that his credit card information had been stolen! Chad doesn't care to share about his bachelor party, the bruises told the story! Haha! June 2nd was Chad's first day of school at DMU! PA class of '16 woohoo! He usually spends his evenings studying, and his weekends studying but we try to make time for some fun between all of his tests!

Fast forward a week and it was time for my bachelorette party! I had spent the whole week studying for my nursing boards, so I was ready for some fun! We had an awesome time and everyone survived! By the act of poor planning on my part, I had scheduled to take my nursing boards on June 10th, two days after my bachelorette party! Not to mention the countdown is down to t-minus 11 days until the wedding! What's life without a little stress right? On June 12th my life as a nurse began! I passed my boards on the first try! Although taking them I was sure I'd fail, but isn't everyone? Okay boards complete now it is 9 days of crunch time! Of which went extremely fast! 

Wedding week. All I can say is thank God for Jordan! She came up from Kansas City to help me. THE WHOLE WEEK! Honestly, that's why I made it to wedding day. She helped me from sun up to sun down and even into the wee hours of the morning on occasion! Oh wedding day, it's finally here. The day I had dreamed about since I started dating this guy six and a half years ago! It went off without a hitch (other than our hitchin' of course!)

Life since the wedding has been great! Nothing really changed other than all the work I had to do to change my name to Cassidy Ann-Louise Walker! We've had some newlywed moments where we are still figuring out this thing called marriage. It's a work in progress and we have our moments, like cleaning the kitchen after The Chef makes his concoctions to my OCD of folding clothes. But at the end of the day I love my husband beyond words and he can always make me smile, even when I'm mad at him!

While Chad returned to school after the wedding, it left me home at the apartment all day by myself. I was going stir crazy for sure! So after applying for a few jobs I got an interview at Mercy Medical Center of Des Moines on July 7th. July 8th I got the call that they would like to hire me! Woohoo!! On July 21st I started my journey on the Telemetry floor. For those of you who don't know what Tele is, basically is a cardiac floor with patients on heart monitors for various reasons. 

August was a big month too! We welcomed our newest niece to the Walker clan, Kaylee Ann Walker! What a blessing! We also traveled to St. Joe where I was the Maid of Honor in my freshman year roommate, Rilee, wedding. What an wonderful day for her and Brandon, loved being a part of the Eaton-Peters wedding! Being in Kansas City area, why not get together with some college friends and enjoy the Royals!? Loved getting to see our friends Erica and Jordan, Whitney and Jonathan, and our also newlywed friends Kelsey and Andrew! Chad got to celebrate his birthday with the Royals, well until the 2nd inning at least. He and Andrew had a little too much fun tailgating! ;-)

September I started on my own on the telemetry unit, and I love it! Love having my own routine and helping my patients. Working nights has been an adjustment, but for the most part I've adjusted well. I've made a few friends with my new co-workers and can't thank them enough for showing me the ropes!

With all the excitement this summer I've forgotten to share some big news!! Chad and I....

ADOPTED!! Two kittens that is! We are now parents to two very cute and very naughty kittens. Herky is our goofy, adventurous, lover boy and Holly is our fat, loving, not so agile sister kitty. We love them so much and Chad seems to over love them at times and I think they get claustrophobic from him loving on them! We do consider ourselves crazy cat people and take them wherever we go, like people do with their dogs! Haha! They are world traveling kitties of which their vacation spots include Aunt Jordan's basement and grandma and grandpa's houses!

Well this concludes my first blog! Look for a future one, I promise they won't be as long! :)

                                                          Our wedding party rocked!!

                                                                  Mr and Mrs Walker

                                                                  The Bride's Side

                                                                 The Walker Clan!

                                                                Our precious children!