Goodbye, 5200! You can keep your snot.

Have I mentioned that I loved my job in Tennessee? It was awesome. Not the butt wiping, snot sucking, drug dealing, and restraint charting parts. But the people I worked with. They made it great. And I will always love them. (Oh, I didn't always hate the patients either. Just sometimes.) On my last day they threw a little going-away shin dig for me and another coworker who is moving to North Carolina, Cecile. It was pretty sweet.

Pizza par-tay!

The cake: super awesome. Thanks Stacey!

Cecile and I. There may or may not have been tears involved.

Tammy and I. I know you were the party instigator. I love this woman.

Loved my coworkers! Niki, you look amazing. Something was obviously hilarious.

5200 (and 5300) you will be sorely missed! You guys really are the best!

Kingsport Faves: eateries

Hey friends. Have I mentioned that I like to eat? I know, it's hard to believe. But I do. Kingsport had some amazing little places that I loved and don't want to forget! I'm going to start with breakfast and then work my way through the day, ending with dessert. Mk? Get ready for serious deliciousness.

1. Jan-Mar Restaurant: This is the best old school diner breakfast food, ever. The biscuits and gravy are magical. The pancakes are light and fluffy and the size of your head. The omelets are huge. And the hash browns. Oh the hash browns are the best of all. Also, you can buy all this food for like 94 cents.

2. The Mustard Seed: Alas, I have no pics of this. I don't really know why, since I went there a ton. They have super cute southern decor. Their chicken salad is yummy, tomato soup is velvety, their caramel cake is amazing. They also have a sandwich called the Micah's Smash, which is a panini with turkey, bacon, cheese, and some other stuff=my fave.

3. Korner-Copia: Another great lunch place that recently started serving dinner. They have tons of great sandwiches but the reason that I love the Korner is their chicken salad. To Die For. It has curry in it and the flavor is ah-mazing. I could eat this chicken salad every day. Of my life. I like it in a spinach wrap. Too much bread gets in the way of the chicken salad-y goodness. I begged for the recipe before I left. I was denied.

4. The Courtyard: This little place is open only from 11-2 on week days. It has a fountain in the middle of the restaurant and lots of fake ivy and flowers everywhere. Adorable. There are two reasons I love this place: the peach tea and the salad dressing. I probably drink a gallon of the peach tea every time I come here. I don't know how they make it, but this is magical nectar. The salad dressing is some kind of strawberry poppy seed goodness and they put it on a strawberry spinach salad. I could just put a straw in the dressing and drink it like the tea. But over spinach is the more normal choice. They also make some great quiches, the one below is chicken pecan quiche. Yum.

Stephanie, my fellow peach tea addict.

5. T.K.'s Big Dogs: this is the just straight up hot dog goodness. This guy gets classic hot dog combos from ball parks across the country, orders ingredients from where the parks actually get them, and serves them up to local Kingsportians. There is honestly every hot dog combo you could ever imagine. But we get only two: the West Coast dog, a hot dog with guacamole, sour cream, and chili in a pretzel bun, and the Chicago dog, pictured below. My mouth is watering.

6. Pal's: this is a fast food chain that is not Kingsport exclusive. But we don't have it in Kansas and I love it so I'm including it. My favorite food is probably a good burger. This place has huge juicy burgers. When you unwrap them, grease has already soaked through the paper. Judge me if you will, but it is good artery clogging food. The fries have some kind of delicious seasoning on them. And the peachy tea rivals #4's. Also, the front of Pal's just makes me laugh.

7. Stir Fry: Just a block from our loft on Broad Street, I have probably been to this restaurant more than any other non fast food restaurant ever. We ate there so much that we ate almost everything on the menu: sushi, stir fry, noodle bowls. After we got tired of eating these things, we switched to the American menu of burgers and fries. It was all good. Stir Fry also had delicious cocktails and insanely amazing carrot cake.

8. Zaxby's: I'm throwing this one in for my husband. Fast food chicken that we do not have in Kansas, honestly this was not my fave. But my man craves this like clockwork on Sunday afternoons. I will give them one thing: their fried white cheddar bites. So good. But who hates fried cheese?

9. Sweet CeCe's: this is a new frozen yogurt place and we only went there once. But it is definitely worth a mention. I had the pomberry sorbet with wide variety of toppings. Perfect for summer.

10. Babycakes Cupcakery: this place was right next door to my loft and my downfall. Amazing cupcakes, a free cupcake on Wednesdays, the reason I gained lbs. Lemon crumb, chocolate ganache, red velvet, carrot, fresh strawberry, blackberry, birthday cake, wedding cake, nutter butter...I could go on and on.

Lemon crumb. My favorite.

So there it is. Excuse the mix of instagram and other photos. But this is the good stuff. I loved discovering Kingsport through food. Check these places out if you are there!

And now I go to work off the damages done by all this goodness.

Happy Tuesday!

What to wear to a NASCAR race

So we went to a NASCAR race. Yes, it's true. What do I know about NASCAR?

1. It originated with the transportation of moonshine

2. Someone named Dale Earnhardt was the best ever.

That is it. Caleb's work paid for us. And I was totally up for it. Since you know, I am never paying $93.00 of my own money to go to a race. Sorry NASCAR.

I did not know what to wear to a NASCAR race. I was unfamiliar with appropriate attire. I chose a pair of super roomy jeans because they were comfy. I looked through these pictures and realized that was a horrible decision. So you do not get to see a pic of me from the waist down. And you do get a tip: baggy jeans do not look good on people with hips/large backsides. Caleb chose to dress punkish because he felt like no one else would. This was true.

Bristol Motor Speedway behind us!

 Benny brought his kiddos. They were super stoked. You can tell because the little one is pretending to be asleep. And the older kid decided punkish dressing was his style as well. That made two people.

I know I am going to sound like a super airhead girl for saying this. But here goes. Basically, you just watch the cars turn left. 500 times. I'm not kidding. And it is so loud that you have to wear earplugs and use sign language to talk to people. BUT the best part is when the pull in for a pit stop. Because the pit crews are super fast and awesome! The kettle corn was exceptional as well.

Apparently not a lot of other people wanted to pay $93/ticket either.

 Also, we did see Jeff Gordon get in wreck right in front of us. Kinda cool. (He was fine, ok?) I guess Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped him. People were upset. They yelled things like "That is SO Jr.!" Except I mostly read this on their lips and with my exceptional sign language skills.

Conclusion: NASCAR is kinda fun. I think I'm good though. Going in the summer would probably be better. Better, as in crazier NASCAR fans. Which is the whole reason to go anyway, honestly.

Oh, and what to wear? White shorts and black tanks, obviously!

Sexy Kiewit girls!

Happy Monday friends!

Oh, life. Some lessons are learned the hard way.

The past couple weeks have been full of ups and downs. I want to be all cool and bloggy and show you all the nifty DIYs and recipes that I do all the time. (Oh wait, DIY...that must be someone else.) But this is just life. Baker style.

Our up and down list. Accompanied with photos where appropriate. (I love Instagram, don't you?)

1. Down: my sweet Grandma Frank spent a week in the hospital. She's home now, my mom is there taking care of her. And she is recovering, but there are still some worries about her health. Send up a prayer for her if you think about it!

2. Up: We paid off ALL of our student loans! This felt so amazing. Champagne necessary.

3. Down: The Civic died and we had to tow it. It wouldn't start, even with a jump.

4. Up: The Civic lives on! It just had a super dead battery. 

5. Up: Awesome Friday flowers. Maybe the best ones yet.

6. Up: The discovery of the Green Monster Smoothie. I've seen this on Pinterest and everywhere on the intraweb and decided to make my own version. So so so good! I love getting a serving of fruit and veggies first thing in the morning. 

Green Monster Smoothie

1/2 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt

1 frozen banana, chopped

1 spoonful of creamy peanut butter

Half a bag of spinach (or as much as you want)

1/2-1 cup skim milk (depends how thick you want your smoothie)

A couple ice cubes

Blend on puree setting and then on liquefy to get a nice smooth texture. Serves one.

7. Up: Getting cool points with all my coworkers for wearing blue Chucks with my scrubs. 

8. Down: Chemistry lesson learned the hard way.

So on Wednesday night, I planned to make chicken and dumplings, a Southern delicacy. I made a batch over the weekend but it didn't turn out well. So I went at it again, hoping for some better and blog-worthy results. 

I had a big stockpot full of the boiling chicken broth that needed straining. I decided that a great idea would be to pour it into a glass pitcher and then easily strain it from that. I picked a nice big thick pitcher. I poured my just boiled chicken broth in it. I was almost finished when I heard a loud cracking noise as a the pitcher broke and a gallon of almost boiling water spilled onto me. I said a few choice words, ripped off my pants, and got some cool clothes to put over the burns, which were already blistering. 

Caleb insisted I go to the ER. Note: a pain rating of 10/10 and some juicy red skin gets you in super fast. I got hooked up with some pain pills, silvadene cream, and ice packs. In and out in 45 minutes, impressive. 

Taco Bell and a Smirnoff later, I was feeling much better.

Basically, where the ice packs cover in the pic is where the burns are. Yes, I did take pictures of the burns. No, I will not show them on here. Because that's gross and no one wants to see them.

Bottom line: Do not put boiling water into room temperature glass. I feel like I should have already known this. But I didn't. And now I do.

9. Up: My sweet husband took the day off yesterday to take care of me. He brought me things, dressed my wounds, and did the laundry and dishes. And we spent most of the day watching movies and playing video games. Time well spent.

10: Down: It was my Grandma Voth's vintage glass pitcher. And I loved it.

So today I'm taking my first sick day of my life because I can't really put pants on. Which is kinda lame, but true. Don't worry, I plan on being a real woman tomorrow and going in. 

Oh pants-less life. I bet I'll never forget this one! Happy Friday!

(PS follow me on Instagram, @lorrib)

Christmas Eve festivities

Do you ever have a day that you think is never going to end? I did. Yesterday. I got floated to the ER to help with overflow and I was wayyyyy out of my element. Around 10:30, I was like wow, this day is never going to end, I'm going to be down here forever, I'll probably get so old that I'll become a patient here and then die down here in the ER because the hospital is so full that they will never find a room for me. How sad. Sometimes I'm a little dramatic. Fortunately, I had the awesome new nurse I'm training to help me. (Thanks Chelsea!) Oh, and the day ended. And I went home and had wine and Chex mix for dinner while watching Boy Meets World with my hubby. Ah, the good life.

Anyway, I wanted to share our Christmas Eve. Because it was wonderfully fun this year. I had to work on Christmas Day, so we celebrated a day early. And it helped that we celebrated with our families a couple weeks ago...I think both Caleb and I had a much easier time with being away from home this year.

We woke up and opened stockings and gifts. Did your mom ever make you take a picture displaying all your gifts? Mine did. I thought the pics were dumb, but now whenever I see them they are hilarious.

I got massively spoiled this year by my honey. Also note my trendy new hairstyle.

Caleb's main gift is missing from this pic. He is getting a gun. (So crazy, I know. Tennessee, what have you done to us?) It is currently being shipped.

We spent the day hanging out, watching Christmas movies, and cooking. Then we went to dinner at Stephanie and Logan's, where they had some ugly Christmas sweaters waiting for us.

Logan was carving the roast and cut his thumb. Right after making a joke about cutting his thumb. Classic.

The food was amazing. I believe the roast is blood free.

Group photo shoot with the Christmas tree.

And we played a few rousing rounds of Settlers of Catan. Probably one of the best ways to spend a Christmas Eve.

One last great photo of Logan with one of his stocking stuffers, straw goggles!

Thanks Slogans, for a super fun Christmas eve! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!


For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
(Isaiah 9:6)

Kiewit knows how to throw some rockin Christmas parties

Its an extravaganza because it was three (3) parties. That's right. I'm a high roller now. (Oh wait, I'm not.) I bought three (3) separate outfits. They were awesome. ThankyouExpressstore. Did you know that if you ask Express for the coupons in their mailer, they will just give them to you in the store? And then you get a large discount. It's quite nice. I'm never above asking for discounts straight up.

Ok. Party number one. This was my favorite. It was here in Tennessee for just us Tennesseeans. The band was super rockin'. There was even a prom photographer that took some super sexy pics. I left work an hour early for this party. And it was great to spend time with everyone before we all start moving to separate ends of the world.

This dress was my fave too. And my husband maybe smiled normal for half a second. Why are we holding hands like this? No one knows. Also, the things sticking out from my head is a reindeer antler, not some misguided curls.

There was a cocktail party in Kansas City a week later. No pics were taken. I work a cute purple dress. But my tights that claimed to be control top were not very controlling. Moving on.

Corporate Christmas party on Saturday night. I pulled out the big guns for this one. Super shiny top! I love it. Another awesome band played, Liquid Blue. The singers had a choreographed dance for every song and they played for hours. I was super impressed.

I love these girls. Our feet hurt (high price for heels) so we picked a table near the dance floor and did some people watching, learned some new dance moves, and found some dresses that should be on What Not to Wear.

Emily and Christi: Tennessee is not the same without you!

The hub, looking classic.

Elevator ride. Because I could never get him to take a super nice pic with me. Oh the burden I bare. I kind of love this pic actually.

Yeah so that wraps it up. We brought our big camera but sometimes we don't like carrying it around at parties. And we just love our little Iphones. But the moral of the story is, get yourself a nice sparkly top from Express. Thank me later.

And now on to folding laundry and my last of three in a row tomorrow... 

Giving Thanks

So I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post...I almost skipped it, but I love Thanksgiving and honestly can't afford to NOT reflect on what I'm thankful for. So here is my list, with a few pics of recent happenings.

1. I am so thankful for my j.o.b. I have worked a whole freaking lot this year and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do that. I love my coworkers and my patients (ok, most of them). Sometimes I hate the hours, the poop, and the crazy people. But I love getting to help people through some of the toughest times in their lives.

B-12 is my favorite shot to give. Because its pink. Duh.

2. I am so so thankful for all the awesome friends we have. We have so many great friends here in Tennessee and actually spread all over the place. We spent Thanksgiving evening with Logan and Stephanie and our favorite nerd game, Settlers of Catan. Logan cooked a killer turkey. It was amazing.

3. Both of our families pretty much rock. So thankful for supportive, loving families! We met up with Caleb's fam in Nashville for Thanksgiving weekend. We shopped till we dropped, people. It was real.

And we saw my sweet cousin, Nicole while we were there. Tessa, Nic, and I got our shop on. L.o.v.e. this pic.

4. My darling husband. He is my favorite person on this earth. I got him a Thanksgiving card since I had to work all day. (Don't worry, he was fine with shooting guns with his buddies all day.)

5.  The little things that make my days good...coffee, Kathie Lee and Hoda, convos on the way home from work with my momma, laughing at silly tv shows with my hub, going out for lunch with Stephanie,  emails from my Grandma, a good butt kicking at the gym, Michael Buble's Christmas album, Instagram, and a tiny glass of wine at the end of the day.

6. And of course, the amazing fact that God send his Son to die for me. Wonderful, amazing, and the huge truth that gets forgotten in the little happenings of daily life.

That's my list! I would like to share that I am officially a Tennessean as of today. I switched my driver's license over. Caleb is switching his too. Why? So that we can legally buy a gun in the state of Tennessee. Oh Tennessee, what have you done to us?

(Oh, I really heart Instagram. Can you tell?)

Celebrating Two Years in Charleston, SC (Part 2)

Back to our Charleston trip...which I had to split up into 2 parts since I'm kind of excessive like that...

On Monday (the last day of our little trip), we took a tour of Fort Sumter, which is where the Civil War started. I think this one is the best pic of us on the trip, which is funny since I always want nice pics of us dressed up and it never really works out.

The fort is an island so we took a lovely little ferry ride out. There was a museum and just tons of cool history to be soaked up. Nerdy, I know.

We also toured the Military Museum back in Charleston.

We spent our last evening at High Cotton, which was our favorite restaurant. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was great (live band and gorgeous dining room), and our waiter was hilarious.

Caleb had steak with bourbon bacon sauce and I had the most delicious shrimp and grits. Ever.

Seriously, go to Charleston just for the food. It is insanely good.

Pics of our adorable room at Wild Dunes in Isle of Palms. Very comfy and cute, it had a patio, kitchenette, large bathroom, and washer and dryer!

We got up bright and early to watch the sun rise over the ocean and were not disappointed. Beautiful.

Obviously, I have to share a pic of my sweet husband cooking me breakfast. Future self: remember, he does know how to cook eggs and bacon!

We stopped at a scenic overlook on the way back. Who doesn't love some good scenery? This reminds me how insanely beautiful it is to live in Tennessee. Also, I left my iphone here and a man that was blowing leaves picked it up and ran it over to the car before we drove off. I'm not sure how long this iphone will last...

Caleb has a mustache from my hair blowing in the wind. I think it suits him.

I love that we saw the ocean and the mountains in the same day. We are so blessed! This trip was a blast, go to Charleston for
1. the food
2. the good hair days
3. the shopping
4. the history
5. the ocean
6. the good times with your lover




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