My Hubby <3

January 30, 2021January 30, 202119 Comments

Craig isn’t super romantic. I’ve never been swept off of my feet on a romantic date, I’ve never gotten a pice of jewelry other than my engagement ring, flowers aren’t his thing.

This used to really bother me. I would try to get my mom to help him get me a present, I would hint around what I wanted. Honestly, I was trying to trick Craig into someone he wasn’t. It’s easy to get swept up in the comparison game when you see other couples surprise each other and sporting new jewelry form Valentines day when I’ve never even gotten a card.

In Craig’s defense, he doesn’t care if/when I spent money on whatever I want. We have a joint bank account and he can’t keep a secret or a surprise to save his life. Craig isn’t a bad guy, he just isn’t the kind of guy who finds value in giving or receiving gifts.

That being said, Craig shows his love in other ways. In fact, it just about brought me to tears the other morning.

We bought workout mats for the garage a few months back. I had intended on going out there to work out. The mats are still in the original packaging – untouched. The days got colder, so did the garage, and my intention to work out slowly faded.

The other morning, I went to leave the house to meet my personal trainer and was met with a few inches of unexpected snowfall. I texted her to let her know I wouldn’t be coming because we got a lot more snow than expected and at 5 am, the plows hadn’t touched it yet.

I went back upstairs to let Craig know and he said “That’s okay, we will work out together.”

Okay, Craig DOESN’T workout, or eat healthy, or show any interest in either. This is not a statement that Craig has said before. I was very confused but Craig was very enthusiastic. He jumped out of bed and at 5 am, he ran out to the detached garage, in the newly fallen snow, got the mats, and set them up in my newly cleaned out basement.

He asked us what we were doing, and did a few squats with me as I explained the proper form. He ended up just sitting and chatting with me as I worked out. He brought me down a big glass of water and he fished my air pods out of my car so I could listen to music.

It was just so sweet, I had no idea how much his genuine interest, excitement and encouragement really touched me. It was such a sweet thing to do. He knows how much happier I’ve been since I’ve achieved a healthier lifestyle and he finds little things like this to encourage me and keep me going.

If you need a good workout, here’s what I did – never skip leg day!

Honestly, it was a GREAT workout and I’m still sore as I’m sitting here in the hotel room (snow storm is coming between shifts so I’m staying in town) Every time I see these mats, I’ll remember Craig is cheering me on even if he isn’t great at showing it.

Some of you may read this and think “whoopdy doo he set up some mats” but to that I challenge you to be thankful for the little things. If I were to say to Craig “yeah, nice you want to spend time with me but where’s a new necklace?” I would spend my whole life trying to turn Craig into someone he isn’t and I would be so unhappy waiting for him to change. I’m thankful, I am happy, I am grateful. I find joy in the small moments and kind gestures. What kind of life is it if you can’t do that?

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Saved you a seat!

January 29, 2021January 29, 20216 Comments

Is there anything more comforting than knowing someone saved you a seat? Remember that “new kid in the cafeteria feeling?” Feeling like you didn’t belong? Feeling like the odd one out?

I was scrolling through my feed and I saw those words “saved you a seat” and they really hit differently. It got me thinking, what am I doing to save others a seat?

Has there been a time when you see someone after they’ve gone through a tough loss? Have you ever thought “this is awkward, I don’t know what to say, should I talk about it or not?” Saving them a seat means inviting them in and welcoming them in conversation. It means acknowledging their loss but allowing them space to talk about something else. It means giving them the table to lead the conversation and making them feel welcome.

I witnessed some mean girl behavior at a wedding one year, everyone was wondering if “she” was going to show up after what “she did.” When she did show up, I made a point to go over to her a strike up a conversation because I knew she would be uncomfortable. I knew that night would be hard for her. Saving someone a seat means fighting for their seat at that table as well.

It is the relief of a familiar face in a room of strangers.

It is reaching out even when it is awkward.

It is treating someone the same whether they are the only one in the room or the hundredth person in the room.

I’m challenging you to save someone a seat, make them feel welcome and over all, just be kind. The world is cruel enough, we don’t need mean girls lurking around the corner too.

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LONG DAY.

January 29, 2021January 29, 20216 Comments

Man it’s been a long day so this will be a short post.

Gannon is still struggling from COVID complications even though it’s been at least 3 weeks – he has vomited every day, several times a day since Sunday (so five days). He’s either totally fine running around playing or he has an “episode” where he is lethargic and vomiting every 15 minutes. He vomited 7 times yesterday.

I’ve changed the sheets and gotten puked on more times in the past week than I have in my entire nursing career. Craig has missed work, we’ve had to cancel and rearrange all week to be home with Ganjo. Re reading this back, it sounds a little selfish and whiny. I feel so terrible for Gannon, I feel so helpless. It’s just been a really really long week. 😢

After he seemed better, vomit free for 24 hours, I thought we could try Grandma’s house so I could FINALLY go to my orthodontics appointment, the same appointment I’ve rescheduled 3 times already to get my braces off. I got about halfway there when I got a call from mom: Gannon was puking again.

This was getting ridiculous. I turned the car around, called to cancel my orthodontics appointment (UGH! They can’t get me in until MARCH!) picked Gannon up and took him to the doctor. Craig already took work off yesterday to be home with him so it was my turn to sacrifice my plans to be with Gan.

Gannon was getting more and more lethargic – he slept through the exam and really only cried when they drew his blood – guys he nearly SLEPT through his COVID swab. That’s how out of it he was. (He tested negative BTW)

His labs came back *mostly* reassuring but he is borderline dehydrated needing IV fluids. We made a plan to go home tonight with anti-nausea meds and see how he does. If he throws up again tonight (he hasn’t so far) he needs to go back for fluids tomorrow. His blood sugar was a little low too. He’s been so so so irritable too when he is awake – when I ask where it hurts he points to his chin/throat but that all came back fine too.

The ani-nausea meds seem to be helping. He ate supper pretty good and is currently getting into trouble with Carver when they should be asleep so hopefully we are getting over the hump.

It was a long day, not to mention I worked in the ER yesterday – the 1300 – 0100 so I wasn’t in bed/asleep until 3 am last night, this mama is running on caffeine and the grace of God.

I work again this weekend, I’m on a bit of a stretch right now and I’ve got a few projects I’m working on the side as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more with you soon!

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ZERO CALORIE NOODLES?!

January 27, 2021January 27, 20214 Comments

WHAT? I know – Well it’s technically not CALORIE FREE but the whole packet is 10 calories! Check it out!

I got these from Thrive market and they are, honestly, a little strange. They are called wonder noodles. They have the same texture of noodles but are essentially just clear noodles with very little nutrient value.

So why would you want to eat them? It’s an easy swap! I’m always looking for a way to improve my diet so I wanted to give these a try. Now let me be clear: I am not low carb. Carbs are good, you need carbs. I don’t however like refined and processed pasta and that sneaky sugar is in everything!

So while the boys had a can of ragu alfredo with shrimp and regular noodles, I was enjoying my wonder noodles, shrimp, spinach and my favorite primal kitchen garlic alfredo sauce! 10/10 recommend!

The noodles need to be seasoned, I added garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and pepper before the sauce. So the noodles: My goal is fat loss so I can see the purpose for these noodles, but once I’m to maintenance stage of my weight I would probably eat some real pasta again. I don’t love how they have 0 nutritional value but they are a good substitute if you’re looking to make a few swaps in your diet. Thanks for reading friends!

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SUNDAY FUNDAY!

January 26, 2021January 26, 20212 Comments

SUNDAY FUNDAY might be a bit misleading. Well, I’ll be honest, it wasn’t THAT fun of a day. Like it was pretty average. Ya know how sometimes the tone is just off? Everyone was a little on edge, a little more snark, a little more irritability, but we tried to make the best of it.

Craig got two of his wisdom teeth out on Saturday morning, Craig’s parents came over to help get him to the oral surgeon because I had to work the night before. He was not a happy camper this weekend to put it mildly. We really appreciated Craig’s parents helping us out.

Sunday was a cleaning/laundry day. The boys didn’t get that memo. They were set on dragging out every toy we’ve ever had and Carver “gave” me about 20 different Lego creations that all required 20 different “CLOSE YOUR EYES MOM! OKAY NOW OPEN YOURS EYES! I MADE THIS FOR YOU!” reactions. These boys are OBSESSED with Legos. They’ve taken over the house.

I made my favorite protein pancakes for breakfast – I LOVE any kind of Kodiak products – low glycemic index, lower carbs, and packed with protein! I added low carb chocolate ships and all natural maple syrup to top it off! YUM!

When Craig and I went shopping last Wednesday on our first day out of quarantine, we were in the grocery store and Craig got REALLY excited when he saw these little personal pizzas – he collected ALL the ingredients and was so excited to make these with the boys.

I picked a protein packed crust. We cooked up fresh mushrooms, turkey pepperoni, I added goat cheese to mine, and we had so much fun! Gannon was still super cranky from too short of a nap but he perked up when it came time to show down.

We’ve got a busy week ahead of us, I filled out our weekly schedule board and we are ready for a big week!

What’s on your schedule for the week? Thanks for reading friends!

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oh HEY!

January 25, 2021January 25, 20217 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an intro! Thought I’d give it a spin!

Hey! I’m Kalissa. I’m so excited to meet you.

I’m a self proclaimed self help junkie, registered nurse turned graphic designer, Taylor Swift’s biggest fan, recovering workaholic, and small town mama dreaming of working from home by trying my hand for the millionth time at solo-preneurship.

When I’m not working as an ICU/ER nurse, my hobbies include creative writing, cooking, making a fool of myself in my instagram stories, mountain biking, listening to podcasts, roller skating, and hanging out with my family (and there’s a lot of family to hang out with!)

I’m the youngest of 5 kids, auntie Sa-Sa to 7 nieces and nephews, and my mom is my bestie. We live just across town from each other. Since my Dad passed away from lung cancer in 2019, we see each other at least every day. You may know my mom as Jo from Jo’s Country Junction – that’s right, I’m a second generation blogger. If I’m half as cool as my mom is some day, I think that would be my definition of success.

My co-habitants include my two boys Carver (4) and Gannon (2), a naughty beagle named Betsy, and a husband, Craig who’s probably at the farm or in a tractor.

While The Pink Shoelaces started out as a nursing blog, it has morphed into everything and anything that comes to mind including Friedman Fam happenings, dealing with the loss of my father, new recipes, my struggles with mental health and body image, my favorite products and recommendations and our life in Northeast Iowa!