The End is just the Beginning!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but my two year sentence is up! That's right.......... nursing school is finished. Now instead of my posts being rants about teachers and concept maps, they will be about patients and bosses! I'm only kidding! Well, I decided that before I take the NCLEX and my memory purges itself of everything I better write some things down. There was a lot that happened this year--both good and bad, that I don't want to forget.
I started out nursing school living with my little sister and just trying to figure out how to do this nursing school thing! For those who are nurses you will understand that nursing school is like nothing you have ever experienced. For the rest of you I will try to explain it. School has always been difficult for me. I don't have the patience to pay attention during lectures and I don't read because well, that patience factor again. It took me two weeks to read Harry Potter #7 and that's because I skipped the paragraphs that seemed boring or didn't have quotation marks in them! Sad I know. Well, in nursing school they start you out by buying all of your nursing books at once. $2000 right out the gate! Then they tell you that they want you to read all of these books! I was nervous and tried my hardest my first two semesters to figure out how I was going to do all of this reading. Well, by test two I gave up on the reading and just focused on my notes! I was a good girl that first year though and gave up fun activities and a social life for school. It payed off and I got the best grades of my life.

10 Random Facts About Yours Truly!

So, just to shake things up a bit before school starts and all of my posts become rants. Haha! I am gonna try to be better this semester and post less about school (at least the negative parts)! So, I thought I would let you in to the inner workings of me. Just how weird am I? You are about to find out!

1. I dance around in my room, the kitchen, and in the bathroom while I am getting ready. I am not shy I will dance for most anyone. :)
2. I will not share cups or straws with anyone. Seriously, grosses me out. It doesn't matter if you are a boy I really like, my mama, or the president; I ain't sharin'!
3. I am a Britney Spears fan. Just her old songs, but every time Toxic comes on I feel the need to bust a groove!
4. I am disgusted by mouths. Weird I know considering I used to work Labor and Delivery. Yeah, mouths gross me out the most.
5. I watch some ridiculously stupid t.v. shows (especially lately with the bedrest thing!) Like for instance Toddlers and Tiaras, Pretty Little Liars, and occasionally Jersey Shore. Don't worry I also watch CNN from time to time.
6. I am a blog stalker. Yeah, it is weird, but I like to check out crafts, people who I used to know back in middle school, and recipes.
7. When I was born the doctors told my parents that due to a congenital disorder I may never walk even with surgery to repair it. Sure showed them!
8. I have ADHD like bad sometimes. It tends to drive those around me crazy sometimes. My roommate won't even sit by me anymore during class because the foot tapping and finger fidgeting was too much for her. My other roommate has to remind me to tell her when I have switched topics because sometimes I will carry on numerous conversations with the same person all at once. Oops! :)
9. I love to fly. As soon as I arrive at the airport I get so excited. My mom once said it was because there are so many people and noises that it can occupy me for hours. She is probably right! :) I love security and walking through the "tunnel" to board the plane, and I especially love take off and landing! When I was younger I wanted to be a flight attendant so I memorized the entire spill at the beginning of the flight and still recite it with them today! :)
10. I am very nervous about graduating. Not so much about school or the ceremony, but the fact that I will have to move to somewhere unknown, start a job that is still relatively unknown, and wait for a future that is very unknown!

Well, now that I have shared more about me. Let's see who is brave enough to say 10 random facts about themselves!

New Year's Resolutions!

So here is what I am thinking I would like to accomplish in 2011...........

1. Most importantly-- I want to beat that test! That's right the time is approaching in a mere 6 months for me to take the national boards!

2. I really want to get healthier and more fit. I have a definite love-hate relationship with the gym; as in I love to hate it! It will take some serious structure, but I know I can do it!

3. I want to build my testimony and feel stronger in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

4. After I pass that test, I want a job. A good job that I can learn to enjoy!

5. I want to work harder at finding people who could use my help or just a little compassion.

Well, I definitely think that these resolutions are attainable. Guess we'll have to see just how well I do with them! What are some of your goals for this year?

Wrapping up the year!

Well, as hard as it is to believe it is time to say goodbye to 2010! I can't believe it is already time to ring in a new year! A lot has happened this year that has influenced my life. I started the new year with my second semester of nursing school. I absolutely loved it! Despite my previous thoughts I actually liked Mental Health. I learned a lot about addiction and how it impacts people's lives and families. It is a difficult thing to deal with. I also loved my Med-Surg. rotation where I was finally able to get into the hospital and really work with patients. I learned a lot about myself and how much I love this career! I had amazing teachers who I still go and visit! This semester also brought a lot of craziness in my personal life. I helped out at the scene of an accident, had to rouse a drunk guy out of our apartment, and grew closer to my little sister.
Over the summer we decided to rip up my mom's kitchen and remodel it. It was fun and very different. It looks amazing! We went to L.A. this summer for Dana and Wes's wedding. It turned out beautifully and Dana was so happy walking out of those temple doors. We got them all moved in and they are doing well.
This fall I moved back to Twin Falls to start another semester of school. In the nursing program here the third semester is considered harder than any other physically, mentally, and emotionally. I can attest that it truly was, but can now say that I conquered it! We learned a lot of difficult, but interesting topics including more fluids and electrolytes, cardiac, and neuro. I got new roommates this semester and love it! It has been 100% drama free! I am still living with Tara, and have a few others with similar backgrounds to us. Clinicals this semester were so fascinating. I took three patients a day this time around, went to the GI lab, surgery, cancer center, peds, and the ICU. I also started my first official IV on a really difficult poke! Definitely a high point! This semester I have also dealt with my first stomach ulcer, concussion, and brokenbone. If you know me well, which most of you do, then you won't be surprised. I am a spaz, a clutz, and a major worrier!
So, as I ring in this new year with my crutches and cast, and all of my job applications; I say thank you to the great people in my life. Thank you to my awesome friends who stick by my crazy ADHD self and do not judge me! Thank you to my family who have always loved me and been my biggest cheerleader! Finally, thank you to my Heavenly Father who has blessed me more in these last few months than I probably deserve! He has been a great strength to me. Stay safe this year and live life to the fullest.

Well, I made some resolutions for this year and now it's time to see how I've done...........

I am still not a sewer! I haven't been too great of a blogger, but I do worry less. I think I do anyways! I have worked very hard this year to be a positive person in most every situation! Hope you all did okay with your resolutions, you'll have to wait a few days to see my new resolutions!

It's that time of year again!

I apologize ahead of time for the rant..............

Holy smokes! It is that point in the semester again.... the point where you just want to quit and say, "I shall now embrace my future as an underwater basket weaver". I always thought I would be great at that (except for the fact that I panic when I have to hold my breath underwater). Okay, so maybe nursing school isn't so bad (although I sometimes feel like I am holding my breath underwater)! We are at that pivocal point where your professors throw as many assignments and tests at you as they can to 'build character'. Well, the deadlines are quickly approaching and I couldn't be more happy for Thanksgiving break, a.k.a. the downhill slide point! Dana will appreciate that my 12 pack of diet cherry pepsi is down to 1 now! Thanksgiving will be great tho! I love it! My mom makes a great meal, we get to spend time together, oh and we are going to see a young little wizard and his friends! Woot Woot! Well, here are some pictures of me and the roommates for anyone that cares.... and by that I mean the family! Haha! Hope you are all doing well, I apologize again for the rant!


This is a waterfall here in Twin Falls. You can't tell from the picture, but you can actually walk behind the waterfall! It's pretty fun!
This is me and Tara the day that we took my family to see the alligators in Hagerman! They have a farm with actual alligators!
This is a crazy girl who is about ready to finish her concept map, teaching plan, plan of care, and med sheet!

A new project!

School is going well. We have 5 school weeks left until the semester ends and 19 school weeks until graduation- but who is counting?!! I just got a bunch of pictures back from Walmart and was trying to figure out what to do with them. My roommate Alyssa has hers set up all cute and fun, but I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I went through my box of crafts and remembered that I had a bunch of frames that I had collected from trips to DI. I decided to just tape the rest up on my closet doors. Well, here's how it turned out.

That's right I have reading glasses!

So, a little known thing about me......I wear bifocals. That's right folks, since I was 23 I have been wearing bifocals. I only wear them for reading and for driving in the dark, but I do wear them. I have always been a little embarassed by this fact. I have 20/20 vision, but my eye muscles have difficulty focusing when they need to strain (ie. darker rooms or night). Well, when I moved to Twin this semester they got lost in the move. Being the poor college student that I am I just tried to get by without them. It just wasn't working with all of the reading I am required to do so I went to Walmart today and got myself 'reading glasses'. Oh yeah, they're pretty hot!

Well, here's an update on school:

I am halfway through my third semester out of four in the nursing program. It really is as bad as everyone said it was! Haha! It is teaching me discipline and structure. It is also teaching me gratitude and trust in my Heavenly Father. I have had to depend on him more this semester than I have in most years of my life. Instead of doing several care plans during the semester we do mini plans of care every clinical day. Here is a part of the journal entry in my last plan of care. It pretty much sums up my rotation of clinicals this first half.........

"This rotation I was able to start my first real IV, help with an NG placement, care for a patient’s NG, watch surgeries, care for the cutest little kiddos, and improve my assessment skills. I have cared for families who were difficult, families in need of education, and those in need of support. I have learned a lot from my patients and their families this rotation. I learned to slow down, take time to listen, treat them with compassion, and listen to what they aren’t telling me. I have had some easy days, tough days, silly days, and sad days, but each day has been a learning day."

I hope that you are all doing well. I am loving fall just like I always do! Enjoy the picture with the old lady reading glasses!