LB428

I'm on an adrenalin high. Sorry if this post get mushy or too long. And sorry I'm not really sorry.

I really should have gotten around to posting this sooner. However, the craziness that is my life has prevented me from doing much of anything that isn't in my planner. And that my friends is full of boring stuff like readings, papers, focus activities (which don't keep my focus) and the list goes on. I did find time to do something that has me totally umm...I'm going to use the word verklempt. 

Now I feel a little guilty because I had every intention on educating you all about LB428, midwifery, and a skimming over of childbirth-even though I've never been through the experience. Obviously I didn't get to it and it bugs me that I didn't. 

LB428 is a bill that would allow Certified Nurse Midwives to attend homebirths. As the law stands now in Nebraska, CNMs can practice in hospitals-under MD's. But it is illegal for them to practice in the home. Essentially it is illegal for you to go through your labor to birth your baby in your home with the most highly trained a skilled medical professional in the area of childbirth. Sound funky to you? Me too. Alabama and Nebraska are the only two states in the U.S. that have these type of restrictions. What gives? 

Little factoid-The U.S. spends more money per capital for maternity care than any other, yet the United States of America has a higher ratio of maternal deaths than at least 40 other countries. FOURTY. There's a problem. I think professional, ethical, and properly trained midwives that's hands aren't tied could be part of the solution.

In the eighties there was a long hard fight for CNM's to get legal status and to even be able to practice. So they made a concession, and the words "Except a Certified Nurse Midwife shall not attend a homebirth" were added to the law and well here we are still trying to get it off there. Now homebirth is not for everyone. But each woman deserves a choice, she deserves to do what is right for her and her baby, and the truth is statistically, homebirth or at the very least, birth with a proper midwife is as safe or safer. But I'll tallk more about that another time in another post.

So I wrote my senator asking for his support of this bill. I worked hard on a letter and I edited and edited. I cut out sentences that had too much information and too much heart. I tried to get it factual and reasonable. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was some fruity, hippie chick(even if I am), who didn't know her stuff. I cited peer reviewed journal articles and told him to watch the Business of Being Born, because I'm bossy. I don't know if he looked at any of this but I do know one thing. He listened. He heard me, and the others who wrote him. He's now a co-sponsor of the bill and I'm so excited I could hug this stranger! 

I saw the post and I looked at Jerrel and said "He signed! He's a co-sponsor." then I cried. In a common area in West Center in Kearney, Nebraska I cried. Because I had been heard. Because someone had listened to my passion and wanted to do something about it with me. Because I wasn't crazy and this bill was a good idea. Because someone else wanted Nebraska to part of the solution not the problem. Jerrel, who wrote as well said "Look at you, all excited and stuff." So I'm verklempt. The hearing is tomorrow and I want to go so badly, it didn't work out this time. I have a whole new fire under me though and I'm going to keep educating, I'm going to blog about it more. We are going to get this fixed.  

http://nefriendsofmidwives.weebly.com/

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Blessings! 

Wedding Wednesday

Remember the problem I was having with invitations? That severe mental block that seemed like it would never end? 

Well thanks to my mom coming to K-town for the weekend and a wonderful sale at Hobby Lobby in the Scrapbooking and paper goods department we have invitations! 

They are still works in progress and I'm not going to show you one finished, because what's the fun in that?

I am going to post some pictures that can be called sneak peeks, I suppose.

I will say that they are darling, but not cutesy, homespun but not sloppy. They are vintage-ish but still with it. There is not much waste involved, so I would call them green, and we got to be retro and brought out the typewriter. 

I'll post more about them after I send them out. Excited?

And that's this weeks Wedding Wednesday. 

Blessings! 

How the Gingerbread House Met It's Maker

It's February. Do you happen to have a Gingerbread house hanging around that you just don't know what to do with? 

How about have a nice day at the shooting range?

To turn this into 

This.

Senor Smarty Pants wanted to go shooting. In particular he wanted to go shoot his new gun. He became a gun owner over the holiday season. I personally don't prefer his gun. It's too loud and big for a little lady like me. But to each their own.

I, dare I say, prefer this size of firearm-if I had to choose. I wore this thing while Jerrel was shooting, mainly because Jerrel liked that I was acting interested. Don't worry though, I'm still me. I spent my time taking pictures, asking questions, heckling, singing songs, and twirling around like a little girl while he finished off the Gingerbread house. Of course I remembered my Hunters Safety training and stayed behind him and wore ear protection.

Get outside and get some fresh air! It was so very nice so shake off a bit of the cabin fever.

Blessings!

Thrifty Thursday

Thrifty

Thriftier; Thriftiest 

1. Thriving by industry and frugality: prosperous. 

It's Thrifty Thursday, the time of the week where I share my thrifty finds from garage sales, antique shops, and of course thrift stores.

It's been awhile since I've posted but that doesn't mean I haven't been thrifty. Most of my thrifty-ness has been wedding related and well I can't post all that stuff. Where's the mystery in that? I can't give away the whole kit and caboodle. 

The family came to K-town last weekend. Mom and I made a stop at the Goodwill. We found some silver things for the wedding and then I found this. 

Nice huh?! Jerrels' apartment is a studio, a small studio at that and so there isn't a lot of room for coffee tables and things of that nature. That leaves my legs longing for something to rest upon. This little foot stool does the trick! It's like new-still had tags. Pretty happy with this little find! 

I will now go watch the 7 inches of snow fall to the ground with my hot tea. 

Blessings! 

Wedding Wednesday

I mentioned a few Wednesday's ago that we have cleared out my closet and moved the wedding collection to the basement. I also said it wasn't cute or cuddly but I've decided to share with you. Share this space where the "magic" happens. 

We have organized and labeled things. Once we got it all spread out I was impressed by my stacking abilities, making it fit in my closet. Go Me!

Sometimes I go down here and just look around, envision my vision for the wedding and the reception. It makes me giddy. I have pondered all of these elements, I have moved and arranged the items in my mind-usually during lecture, but that's beside the point.

I have dusted, shined, painted, and primed my pieces and while this room may not look like something special, it 'tis to me.

Plus, Mom and I kinda like these unfinished, rough around the edges type of spaces-it's where we find our best junk.

Blessings!

Valentines Day

May you show the people around you a little extra love today, no matter who are where they are. 

Blessings!

Wedding Wednesday

I've discovered I'm kinda a details person. I see the whole picture but want to make sure that all the little pieces are there to make the whole. So I spend time thinking about the little things. Not stressing just thinking.

Like seriously considering the differences between 15 inch and 18 inch wide runners. To go along with that, making sure the edges of said runners are frayed equally.

And don't even get me started on shades of peach.

Ok, Maybe I'm not that bad. But what I'm about to show you makes the sensible side of my head shake with shame.

These are the mint molds I ordered. I'm absolutely thrilled with them and I don't even really like mints. Roses are pretty and cool but when I found these they reminded me some antique buttons I have. Hence the bad picture with the antique button. So I snatched these babies up. I found them on Sweet! Baking Supply. The service was fast and the products look great. 

I think these are going to be the most darling mints. Now if you would excuse me, I have other details to tend to. 

And that's concludes week's Wedding Wednesday.

Blessings! 

mum's the word monday

Blessings!

Pre Spring, Spring Cleaning

The walls have been closing in for some time now. In my room, in my mind. Last weekend though, we were ultra productive-at least in the room department. I can now walk through my room and into my closet without hopping or standing on one foot. The culprit? Wedding collection. It was because of all this stuff that I couldn't fit my hamper in my closet. You can imagine the mess that ensued because of that detail. So we moved the wedding stuff out of my closet and into the basement in a little room that's not very charming or cozy but it's out of my hair, organized and I can breath again.

I wiped down my Mac-first time umm ever? It almost doesn't look like the 4 year old dino that it is. Minus the weird groan it makes when it's starting up that I'm ignoring, it's got a new lease on life. Don't be like me-clean your computers people. It's gross when you don't.

I finally got that Student Teaching application outta my hair and off my list. I feel lighter already.

I went through some of my things and got rid of 4 items of clothing, a few knick knacks, and other odds and ends. It filled a shopping bag-that basically constitutes a breakthrough for this girl.

I'd prescribe some pre spring, spring cleaning to anyone-go ahead try it out. I promise you'll like it.

Blessings!

Wedding Wednesday

Sometimes I still cannot believe that a man in a dark suit isn't going to come up to me and say "Mam, we need the ring back." And people are still asking about our engagement and wedding plans so I guess the new hasn't wore off yet.

When I explain our short, sweet, far away wedding, people respond a myriad of ways. One genre of responses has me perplexed though. Here's a few that fit into the category: "Oh our families would kill us." or "I wish we could." or "But (bride or groom) won't let us do that, basically it's their day."-This one baffles me! Another, " I have to have all these people in the wedding, they have to be in it."

I know I wrote about us wanting to make sure that everyone is okay with the things that are happening but we have ultimately made the decisions that are important to us. We are choosing to take our parents and brothers because we want them there, for us it wouldn't feel right without them. We chose to not have a big wedding because it wouldn't be us, we would be uncomfortable the whole time. We aren't doing anything outlandish or unachievable. 

Photo Credit

Go to the beach if you want. You and the ones that mean the most.

Photo Credit

If you want to and can talk someone into making the trek with you get hitched here.

Photo Credit

Or if this is more your style, awesome! Go for it!

Take ownership for the decisions. It's okay if you want a big wedding and I do not. It's not okay if you are allowing everyone else dictate this major event in your life. And if people aren't actually dictating your event, stop making it sound like that's the case. I don't know what you want me to do about it anyway. Own your wedding! Be thrilled about it, be confident in your decisions, and be thankful for all the people involved. 

In our culture this wedding stuff can get wildly out of hand. Take a step back, review what we want, what will get the job done, what we will look back on and be thankful for, and what we can live with. Slow down, even if you have 4 months to plan. This season won't last forever. Be in the moment. Be joyful. 

Thus ends my wedding rant and this weeks Wedding Wednesday. 

Blessings!