Why Do I Blog?

A year ago I began blogging. My first post was a summary of the year 2009. This year I don't think I really need to do that summary because I posted 37 times in 2010! My goal was 2 times a month and some months that's really all I had to talk about and other months I had more to say. 2011 will bring lots of changes with finishing up school and looking for a new job so I hope that I will be able to blog more than last years goal! I don't really feel that I can publicly blog about many of my experiences at the hospital, but if you just ask me in person, I have plenty of funny/gross/interesting stories with lots more to come!

As the year has begun to come to a close, I've asked myself, why do I blog and why should I continue to blog. I don't have a huge following and writing is really not my thing. I think the answer to that is because it's a like a picture I get to look back over and over to remember my experiences, where they took me,  and see how far I've come. To be able to look back at a time when I was having a hard time and see how God led me through it. To look back over all the wonderful times I had and see all the many blessing in my life, no matter how small. In summary, I blog to give myself hope. Hope that better days are ahead or hope that my life is already filled with blessings. I look forward to 2011 and may God bless your coming year!

End of Another Semester and a Few Random Things

• A week ago, I took my finals, concluding the end of another semester. Last week I was feeling two things. First, excited because I'm done with another semester and that means there's only one left! Second, scared because I only have one semester left. Scared to start applying for jobs, interviewing, and taking the NCLEX.  Lots of things are passing through my mind right now. Will I get the kind of job I want? Will I have to travel far? Will I get a job at all? Will I pass the NCLEX? However, the excitement is still a pretty strong feeling!

• I'm also excited for the cruise we're going on that is coming up very quickly! We leave in two and half weeks and that is pretty much the only reason why I'm not severely depressed about the winter and snow that started ridiculously early this year.

• Friday my parents and brother are coming to my house for Christmas for the 3rd year. It's really nice not to have to travel and wake up in your own bed on Christmas morning. So I have to cook, but I don't really mind that.

• I am also coming up on a year of blogging! Wow- never thought I'd be able to keep up my quota of at least 2 blogs a month. But I think it's really been great for my friends far away to be able to keep up with my life (Niki and Amanda)!

• Merry Christmas ya'll and thanks for reading!

Last night of Clinicals

My last night of clinicals was Thursday. We had so much fun together! There are 10 of us plus our teacher and we've really grown very close this past semester. 6 of us we still be in the same group next semester but 4 will not :( I can't imagine being in a group that will top this one. So for our last night, we came to the hospital but we didn't really do any patient care. We brought Christmas cheer to all the departments that have allowed us to learn from them. We gave 7 departments a cake and a tray of candy, brownies and cookies. They were thrilled. Then we all sat down together to enjoy a potluck dinner. It was a great night.

ACC Championship

Justin and I decided to go to the ACC Championship game this year since it was only 2.5 hours away in Charlotte, NC. We left around 2 on Saturday, the weather was terrible the first couple of hours! It was snowing and sticking to the road and many people were still driving like maniacs around us (even though we passed a bunch of cars in the ditch!) I was driving and it was terrifying especially where the mountain road gets all windy with so much fog I could barely see! But God was with us and we got to the stadium safely with plenty of time to spare. It rained about the first 10 minutes of the game but we didn't really get wet. My feet and hands were pretty frozen the last hour, but overall it was a great game experience (especially since we schooled FSU)! The drive back home didn't take us nearly as long and we got back home around 2:15 Sunday morning. The rest of the day I studied madly for my last Pharmacology Test today. Not only did we have a nice 2 hour delay this morning, but I only missed one question on my test! Wednesday I have my last test in Med-Surg and then Wednesday and Thursday nights are my last days of clinicals (and no paperwork this week :)). The semester is finally almost over...I'm so excited to almost be done and get ready for Christmas fun!

Thanksgiving Break!

I started off my Thanksgiving break with a great Saturday. I started the day off by getting some of my Christmas stuff out of the attic (note to self don't put Christmas candles in the attic- they melt but also make the box smell great!) Yay for Christmas cat mugs!
In the afternoon we watched Tech beat Miami with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then we headed to the theatre to see Harry Potter 7 part 1. I've read all the books a couple of times so I've always been a little disappointed by the movies. But I guess since the last part is in 2 parts, I thought they actually followed the book pretty well. I'm excited to see the last installment in July!

November Happenings

This week was pretty good. I didn't have any tests which was nice but I did have Sim Lab which was not as nice, but it still went pretty well. Tuesday night I went to a surprise baby shower for my friend Kristen so that was really fun. We had a great turnout (as you can see below). Wednesday and Thursday night I got to go to the ED for clinicals. I really enjoyed that especially since there's always something interesting going on and it's a great opportunity for me to practice IVs. Next week I have 2 tests but it's also the last week before thanksgiving break!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It's been two year since we got married and we both agree that it has gone by quick! Justin says we have 75 more years...I dunno about that but we definitely have a lot of great years ahead of us!

Halloween!

My sister and newphew came and visited me Thursday - Sunday morning and we had a great time hanging out and eating lots of chic-fil-a. We especially had fun getting all dressed for the Halloween party!

 Mom & baby robots

Caleb's gotten so big! (left in March, right current)

 

Last week of October! My favorite day of fall is coming...Halloween! I love all the cute Halloween decorations everywhere (especially the cats) and dressing up! What will be even more fun this year are that my sister and nephew are coming to visit  starting Wednesday so we can all dress up together! Here's a Halloween picture of myself from the past:

7 Months Left!

7 months from today I will be graduating from nursing school! I have been dreaming about that day for awhile now and I know it will be here soon! I'm trying not to wish my life away, especially since I'm really enjoying what we're studying this year and all that I get to be involved with during clinicals. Wednesday I got to go back to the OR and see a cystoscopy (they were looking at the patient's ureter and kidney with a camera to find kidney stones which they didn't find) and a stint placed in the ureter to make it bigger(ureters are the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder). Thursday I went back to OB and saw another baby be born. Wednesday I also got to start my first IV and was successful!

Yesterday I went to Sinkland Farms with a friend, ate some delicious pumpkin ice cream, and got 3 very cute little pumpkins!

This week I have fall break (Wednesday-Friday) and since I don't normally have class on Tuesday all I have for this week was class today! I did no studying this weekend which was fun to do whatever I wanted and feel like a normal person for once! I do have 2 tests when I get back so I will definitely be studying for those this week!

Still Summer

Everyone has been complaining like crazy about the heat but I'm still enjoying it! Until about a week ago, I hadn't even realized that hey, I'm not usually still wearing shorts near the end of September. Too bad I haven't been able to enjoy it too much since I'm usually inside doing school stuff but it's great to still be able to drive around with my windows rolled down and exercise with the sun shining so warmly. I have no idea what this warm weather means for the coming winter...hopefully nothing too terrible!

This past week has been pretty good. I'm a third of the way through this semester which seems really crazy! I've been pretty busy with studying and clinicals so these 5 weeks have gone by fast!
Monday, my first friend from college had a baby; a beautiful girl named Emma.

I had a couple of tests on Monday that went well. I was a little bummed last weekend that I couldn't do anything fun like go to my friend's wedding in Richmond or watch the game Saturday but all of my studying definitely paid off on Monday.
Wednesday night at the hospital was ok, nothing too exciting there. Thursday instead of going to the hospital at night I went to SimLab earlier. Simlab is Radford's simulation center for nurses where we have different scenarios that involve all the skills we've learned so far and then some. Usually there's myself plus one or two other students and a patient who is a dummy. The dummy talks so it's not like you can just do your stuff; you have to interact with it as if it were a real patient. We are also videotaped during the scenario and then the instructor goes over it afterwards (usually to tell us what we did wrong). We don't really like it, but we always learn a lot. Since I didn't have to go to the hospital Thursday night, I got to go the homegroup. That was nice since I hadn't been able to go since school started.
I'm looking forward to watching the game against BC tomorrow on TV so hopefully tonight I'll get lots of reading in! Another test Wednesday!

Week Two

Most of this week, until today, was pretty crazy. First of all I was really nervous about my two tests Wednesday. I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to study and really understand all of the material. One of the chapters was on fluids and electrolytes which can be a pretty heavy concept- what causes it to be out of balance, what are the symptoms, what fixes it, normal ranges, etc. This was the chapter that was most heavily focused on the test and the one our teachers warned us about. So I read, made charts, wrote and rewrote until I started to have a grasp on it Tuesday night. I even memorized about 10 normal ranges for various things which I normally have a really hard time doing (I love math but for some reason I have a really difficult time memorizing numbers). I then had a really hard time falling asleep because I was so nervous and then I dreamed a "scenario" about everything I had been studying. (all I remember now is something about a guy having an embolism and me trying to figure this out) Anyways, the tests went well Wednesday and that made me feel really good about the rest of the semester since this first test was supposed to be the hardest. We'll see about that since I have the worst time remembering drugs, especially the funky names.

Clincials went pretty well this week; I got to give a lot of meds, which is one of my favorite things to do and I had a good discussion with my clinical teacher about me sometimes being afraid of patients and patient-interaction. I think she's going to help me work through some of that so I'm not floundering around patients the whole year.

Today was fun since I got to spend the whole afternoon with college friend and former roommate Niki. I hadn't seen her since last July since she lives in CA now. We had a nice time strolling around campus and Target :)

It has Begun

Let me just start out by saying that in all my years of school I have never ever ever ever started reading on the first day of class. In high school and at Tech, I wasn't so good about reading (this is why I majored in math) and last year, I think I probably waited a week to do any reading. Well let me tell you, I was reading on the first day of class. Partly because I want better grades this year, partly since my teachers were like, "oh yeah, this year is much worse because we know you can handle it," and partlysince my first tests are next week so I have no time to waste! I guess we shall see just how long I can remain in high gear.

So Monday I"m reading my books after class, I'm like I think I can do this part. But I'm scared to death to go to clinicals because let's just say I had some interesting experiences last semester. But new year, new instructors so maybe it will be okay. At least I don't have to be at the hosptial at 6:45am. So I go to clincials Wednesday and meet my new clinical instructor. Let me just say, love her! When I came hope Wednesday night, I was actually happy. My past experiences not so much, more like wanting to go to sleep because I was so depressed. Even though my clincal time wasn't exactly what I wanted (in terms of missing any evening activities on Wednesdays and Thursday like homegroup), I think God really knew what he was doing when he put me there. I know I will definitely learn a lot from her and her teaching style plus I don't feel scared around her like I have with other instructors. She already had us getting involved in some really cool experiences. For example Wednesday we all let her know that we were pretty terrified to communicate with doctors so on Thursday she had one of her surgeon friends talk to us about nurse-Dr interaction and what he expects from nurses and what to say when we have to call one. So I definitely felt better about that piece. And then while I followed her around collecting expired drugs for us to play with, I got to go into the pharmacy which was cool because I had never been in one before. There is still a lot of work associated with clinicals since we have lots to look up about our patient like labs and drugs but hopefully it will also be really fun.

To sum up, this week has been a mental and emotional whirlwind, but not in a bad way like my year started out last year. I don't forsee my workload calming down anytime in the near future, so for those who are used to seeing me various times throughout the week, hopefully I will continue to blog every so often to keep ya'll updated (and please do the same on yours so I don't feel out of the loop)!

Back to School Eeek!

So Monday I go back to school. I've been dreading this day for the past 4 weeks not only because it's another year filled with work, but because it means that my favorite season is coming to an end. I've had a change in attitude the past couple of days about going to school. I think I'm ready to do some more learning and I'm excited to go back to finally having a job soon. I guess summer being over is what makes me the most sad. As I watched my neighbor take his window air conditioning unit out of his house today I was like, no, it's going to be cold again soon! No more fun summer trips, reading by the pool, or just enjoying being outside in shorts and a tank top.

I did a lot of walking this summer for my exercise routine and hopefully I can stick it out outside as it gets colder. Maybe I can learn to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors even though it won't warm. Let me know if any of you runners ever want to do some cross training by walking with me!

Summer's End

I guess I need to catch up on what we've been doing in August. The first week of August, Justin and I joined my parents, sister, and nephew at the Outer Banks of NC for a week of beach time. We had a cute little house that seemed to fit everyone. We were sad that my brother and brother-in-law couldnt join us, but my brother was working and Aaron is in bootcamp for the Navy. My newphew is now one and a half so he is up and around and learning new words. He loved the pool, the waves at the beach, and eating whatever anyone else was eating! He didn't so much like the sand though and I would have to agree with him on saying that it's "icky." Justin and I did lots of puzzles, read, and swam at the beach and pool. Justin even read a whole book! It was nice for all of us to be together since my sister lives so far away so we don't get to be together very often.

This past weekend, I went to one of my friend and roomates from college's baby shower in Virginia Beach. She's the first of my close college friends to have a baby so it is really exciting for all of us. We had a great time catching up and giving her cute baby clothes!

We love Rehoboth!

This weekend Justin and I headed up to Rehoboth Beach, DE for a little beach time and hanging out with my aunt and Coleen. We got there late Thursday night and then spent a wonderful day at the beach Friday. The waves were pretty big and the temperature of the water was very refreshing. Friday evening we played a little mini golf and had a delicious dinner that night. Saturday it pretty much rained all day but we still had a great day hanging out together and catching up along with a great lunch. The weather cleared up by dinnertime so we walked downtown where Justin got his salt water taffy and I got a shirt. We even tried some raw oysters that night at dinner (I think I like them better raw than the cooked ones)! This morning, since the weather was so crummy yesterday, we went for a couple hours to the beach before heading back home.

A Weekend in Richmond

This weekend Justin and I headed over to Richmond for a wedding and some July 4th fun. We spent Friday night at Justin's mom's house in Mechanicsville. Then Saturday for lunch, we met up at Texas Roadhouse with my parents and brother to celebrate my brother's 23rd birthday. That night we watched my friends Megan and JJ get married in Richmond, with a reception at the Science Museum of Virginia. We had fun hanging out with some of our Virginia Tech friends:



Sunday, we had a cookout at Justin's sister Lindsay and her husband's house along with Justin's dad and other sister Hannah. We headed back home last night and caught several fireworks shows on our drive home.

Charlotte or Bust

Saturday I had a very full, but fun day. I traveled with 5 other friends from church (plus a baby) to Charlotte. We left around 7am and didn't get back til 11. Needless to say I was very tired and grumpy (sorry Justin) when we got back. We got to our first stop, Ikea, a little before 10 when it opened. I had never been to Ikea before but had heard great things about and it's a Swedish company and I am Swedish so I liked it already. Wow, largest store I've ever been in. I now have a very large wish list. Thankfully, their stuff is inexpensive so I can have reasonable priced dreams. Can't wait to go back when I'm working again! After Ikea, we hit up Concord Mills Mall and shopped til at least I was dropping. We made one last stop at the Trader Joes and had dinner at On the Border. What a fun day with great friends! I didn't even mind the 2 hour 40 minute trip since I learned great things about my traveling companions. Can't wait to do it again guys!

A Look into my Sister's World

My sister, Elisabeth lives in Illinois with her husband Aaron and their 18 month old. Her neighborhood was hit by a tornado Saturday night a little before 9 pm. The following is a look into what went on that night:
"Prior to 9pm the alarms went off 3 times and we were back and forth from the apartment and basement. Aaron was watching a black cloud that was coming toward our building. As it got closer, we decided to go back downstairs. We just made it to our apartment door when the wind very violently picked up. We ran to the basement door and as I opened it, the screen door flew out of my hand. We got inside and Aaron tried to close the storm door and with all of his weight, could not. The tornado lasted about 5 seconds, but the damage done was unbelievable. Our apartment building lost the roof and a portion of the brick building. As you saw from the pictures, there were wood fragments, insulation, downed trees and peoples stuff everywhere. Our apartment was the only livable one in the building, so we stuck it out until we had to move last night. While it was for sure the scariest moment of my life so far, the blessing and peace of the Lord has been unbelievable. There were houses a block from us leveled but no deaths or major injuries. None of our stuff inside was ruined. We are alive! We spent most of the day Sunday and Monday cleaning up and helping neighbors. The apartment insurance company forced us to leave the building yesterday and our land lord had an open apartment across town that we were able to move into last night. While it was hard to leave our home we know it was the best thing to do, we're suppose to get several inches of rain today and tomorrow and there was the concern of our stuff getting ruined because of water or the ceiling collapsing. Aaron and Laura called friends and within an hour we had trucks, trailers and movers helping us. The move only took 3 hours. We are overwhelmed by the love and help we have had from friends, family and church members at Holy Trinity. The blessings that we have received from so many are hard to comprehend. Its amazing how the Lord takes a disaster like this and brings wonderful things out of it."

Here's a photo of her apartment building:

Since the Semester has ended...

The past couple of weeks have flown by since I've been out of school. I thought I'd be really bored, but I've kept pretty busy catching up on house and personal stuff I had neglected over the past semester. I've also been gone the past couple of weekends on mini vacations with Justin.
Last weekend Justin and I headed to Busch Gardens on Friday with his brother, Daniel. It was my late birthday present from March and I had a really great time. Justin gets sick on roller coasters so he only rode a few with me. But Daniel continued to ride with me until we were beat. The next day we hung around at Justin's mom's house and that night had a cookout with his dad and siblings. Sunday we met up with my aunts, my parents, and brother at Maggiano's in Richmond. We enjoyed an Italian feast that we had been planning for since Christmas but ended up not being able to go because of all the snow. Then once I was in school, I was unable to take any weekends off. It was delicious as usual and we had a great time together, though short.
This weekend, we headed down to White Lake, NC on Thursday night for a weekend with Justin's family and friends. We had a great time on the Lake swimming, tubing, jet skiing, go-karting, and as always, grilling some amazing food. The weather was even pretty decent most of the time. Still, after two consecutive weekends away, I'm glad to be in my own bed tonight with my kitties :)

Goodbye Grandma

A little over a week ago, I lost my grandmother. Growing up, she lived in the next town over from us so I saw her frequently. She liked to decorate cakes and made all of our birthday cakes with whatever animal or shape that we wanted. For our birthday present she would take us to the mall, have lunch with us, and let us pick out our birthday present. Sometimes we would spend the night with her. We always went to Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts. She loved animals. She owned a little poodle for many years, and liked to feed the birds and many stray cats in her back yard. She was good friends with my other grandmother, who passed away about 3 years ago. We used to all go to the beach together when I was younger. She was one of the nicest and sweetest persons I've ever met. She never had anything bad to say about anyone. She had 2 sons, 4 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. She would have been 90 in October.

All of us at Sandbridge Beach:



Last Easter:

I miss Gadget

This past couple of weeks have been hard in several different ways. First, my cat Gadget disappeared on the 19th. It has sucked not knowing what happened to him, whether he is alive or not, suffering somewhere, or just found a new home. I don't really know why he would have run away since he's allowed outside and he wouldn't really have a reason to leave me so the conclusion I have come to is that he's no longer alive. This makes me really sad because he was my favorite of my cats. He was really sweet and we definitely had some really good times together. I really miss him :(

Me and Gadget:

Gadget as a baby:

At the beginning of last week, I still had 8 tests hanging over my head. It's been really hard to sit down and study day after day and seem like you aren't really getting anywhere. But as of right now, I only have 4 left. I can finally see the end and sight and believe that I'm almost finished and am probably going to make it to next year.
Knowing that summer is near, I still haven't really figure out what I'm going to do this summer. I'm only taking one class so I'll have some free time during the day. Any suggestions?

Yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech. Sometimes I still can't believe that it happened to my school; it still seems pretty surreal. I did the memorial race in the morning with my friend Megan on campus and then kind of took the day off from school for the rest of the day.

The past few weeks have been going pretty well for me school wise which is amazing since a lot of my school mates have not been doing so well. I tribute that to the grace of God and continuous prayer about school! This semester is coming to an end which I'm really excited about since it's really really hard to study with all of the nice weather! I have three more weeks of class and then a half week of finals. I still have 2 tests left and then 6 finals to accomplish in that time which seems pretty impossible but I know God will give me the strength to get through it all. I think I would be feeling pretty discouraged right now if it weren't for my faith. I am still pretty worried about my skills final that I have coming up on the 27th. It covers all of the body systems we've covered this semester. I basically have to pick one of the systems from a cup and do that assessment on a partner. Each system entails lots of information to look, listen, and explain about. I am pretty nervous about it since there is so much to remember and it's the first test where I've had to perform something. But it's like I was telling my mom, I think I'm where I'm supposed to be and as long as I do my part, the Lord will do the rest. This semester has by far been the greatest period of reliance on God for me. I've had it pretty easy most of my life and I've never felt so humbled before. I'm grateful for all that God has taught in the past months and I hope that I will be able to continue to rely on him even when life is not as difficult.

Sunscreen

It's that time of year for everyone to be outside all the time, exercising, doing yard work, or playing with the kids. I want to strong remind everyone to wear sunscreen when you're outside. Not only does the sun cause skin cancer (even if you don't burn, sorry that's not a good excuse) but it definitely causes wrinkles! So if you don't put it on for any other reason, put it on for the prevention of aging skin! If not, when you look old and I don't, I'm gonna laugh at you!

My favorite sunscreen this summer:

A Better Week

This week was a much better week for me despite still having 3 tests. My tests went pretty well and I felt like, ok just 1 week at a time, I can do this. Monday was a great OB day at the hospital. I got to be a part of a patient's labor and delivery , something I hadn't done yet. Being at the hospital made everything that I've been studying so much more real to me. When I went home Monday afternoon, I felt like I was in a daze, maybe it was the birth or maybe it was having to be at the hospital at 6:45 am but I could seem to get the last couple of hours out of my head. The patient was getting angry and frustrated that it wasn't over yet and then all of the sudden, it was time for her to push and then the baby was born and a million things were happening at once! It was exciting and yet I felt like I was in a dream. I mean a year ago I wouldn't have imagined to be in the place that I was on Monday. It was an unforgettable experience that made me realise that nursing school, even though it's a huge challenge, is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Trust

Most of you don't know that I've kind of been having a hard semester. Last semester waa definitely hard for me, but this semester, I feel like I just can't get control of my grades. I started out studying like I did last semester, but the classes are different and I've had about 3 weeks of breaks including the snow and spring break. It's been difficult to keep focused and learn on my own to make up for all the missed classes. Last week I was feeling very discouraged. I wanted to quit but I kept going only because I've come so far. I kept thinking about how much more I could do to pull my grades up but then I read a friend's blog who also had a very discouraging situation. Here's part of what she wrote:

"I am clinging to Romans 8:28 which tells us that 'in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose'. And while driving home today I opened Beth Moore's new book to read this prayer... 'Lord, help me to learn how to hang on tight to You when my life is rocked by dramatic change. Empower me to trust You and not to panic or fight for control. Help me to stop confusing a change in my circumstances with a change in my security status. You are my security, O God. You are the one sure thing. When everything around me shakes, You are unshakeable. Use change to provoke what needs changing in me, Lord, and to increase my appreciation of the only One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever'. Wow. When I read that prayer I truly felt the Lord speaking to my heart. What an awesome comfort to know that He is unshakeable. This morning I had a harsh realization of how shaky and unpredictable my world can be. But God? He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!!!!"

Needless to say, I have once again been reminded by God of how great my need for him is, every day of every week, and not just the weeks that suck!

Spring Break

This past week I had spring break so I took the opportunity to go visit my sister, nephew (14 months), and her husband in Illinois. There's not too much going on in Streator, but it was nice to relax with them, watch HGTV, and teach Caleb how to smell candles. I hadn't seen them since August so Caleb had made some major changes such as standing and the beginnnings of walking and talking. I ended up watching him a couple of mornings while my sister was working so it was fun to have some one-on-one time with my nephew. We grew up with a pretty small extended family so my aunts always had a pretty big impact on us. Even though it looks like we'll be living far away for awhile, I hope we can still remain close. Caleb and his mom.
Caleb doing his I want to get so close to your face that I blind you thing.

Then this weekend I had a 1213 A reunion at Claire's new house near Harrisonburg. It was cute and it looked great from all the painting that she had recently done. We had a great time catching up and just relaxing together. Leaving on Sunday I knew that it was my birthday, but for some reason, it just didn't feel like my birthday this year. I have been dreading it for months but once it was here, it just flet like a normal day. Does that mean I can just skip it this year?

Claire, Natalie, Me, Liz

March Update for New Years Resolutions

If you recall in my January 1 post, I had a list of 10 resolutions for 2010. Let's see how they've been going:

1. Run in at least 1 race- I have a 10 mile race this Saturday so that should take care of that one.

2. Work out 3x a week- usually happends as long as my excercise class doesn't get cancelled.

3. Visit my sister, wherever she is- I'll be visiting her her next week in Streator, IL during my spring (haha) break. (I'll be sure to post about my trip)

4. Visit Amanda in Boston- no plans for that one yet

5. Blog at least twice a month- check (so far)

6. Go to Rehoboth beach with Sarah- no plans yet

7. Read 10 fun books- definitely haven't done any of that yet

8. Try one new recipe a month- check

9. Take Public Speaking :/- maybe this summer ?

10. Stop biting my nails! - this was a bad idea; should have been post cute pictures of cats:)

Some winter weather complaining and meal swapping

I haven't blogged in a little while I guess because I didn't really have anything to talk about unless you count complaining about the weather and the fact that in the past 2 weeks I've only had two classes. Well today was a nice full day of class, actually extended by a couple of hours to make up for all of the work we've missed. Not having class the last two weeks also means that I will probably have the worst week of the semester next week with 2 quizzes and 3 tests in 3 days.

Switching to something else, Saturday night, myself and 6 other girls from church swapped some meals. I brought 6 of the same thing and swapped it out for 1 from each of the other girls. I was really hesitant to do this since I'm pretty picky about what I don't like to eat (nothing made with mayonnaise, sour cream, or cream cheese for a short list). I was sure I would only be taking home 2 dinners because the rest would probably be tainted with ingredients I can't stand. But after careful inspection of the recipes, I saw to my surprise that all of them would work! Still, after I took them home, I was a little worried to try them since I hadn't made them myself and things always look different when they are cold in the fridge and when you heat them up (like soup). But so far the first two meals have been good and probably wouldn't have been things I would have tried to make myself. I guess this means I am in the process of moving out of my food comfort zone! Yikes!

Well it's been an interesting week. Last Friday Nicki and I completed a 7 mile run in 30 degree weather. Then the sky dumped a foot of snow on the ground and halted many things. I ended up not having class Monday and Tuesday but finally went to class today. Things are getting so messed up! We are supposed to get more snow tonight and tomorrow but hopefully I'll still be able to go to class come Monday. It doesn't look like we'll be able to get a weekend run in though :(

First Day

Today was my first day of class of the Spring semester. I started off the day by going to the hospital in Radford that I'll be doing clinicals in this semester for OB. We had a 2 hour orientation of the documentation program that they use. There was a lot of information to get to know, but it was also really cool how much information will be right at my fingertips on each patient. After that my teacher took us on a little tour of the birthing wing of the hospital. Then I had to go to school to do a checkoff (catheters). Not too fun, but I'm glad it's over with! Tomorrow I'll have an actual day of "class."

I made Minestrone Soup last night. It's really good and very healthy. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions (2 small)
1 cup diced celery (2 medium stalks)
1 cup diced carrots (2 medium)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or thyme leaves
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® cannellini beans, drained
1 1/2 cups undrained Progresso® diced tomatoes (half of a 28-oz can)
4 cups diced green or yellow zucchini (5 small)
1 cup uncooked tubetti pasta or other small tube pasta (4 oz)
2 cartons (32 oz each) Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, if desired
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
In 6-quart stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook and stir until garlic begins to brown. Stir in onions, celery and carrots; cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
Stir in rosemary, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, pasta and broth; heat to boiling. Reduce heat.
Cover; simmer about 20 minutes or until pasta is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with cheese.
10 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each)

New recipe and 6 miles

Last night I tried a new recipe, basic beef stew with carrots and mushrooms. It turned out really well. I did leave out the mushrooms because I don't like them and added some turnips instead. If you're interested in trying it, here's the link: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1142004

This morning, Sarah, Nicki, and I ran 6 miles on the Huckleberry; another milestone for me and Nicki. I hope to be able to increase a mile each week to be prepared for the Blacksburg Classic on February 20th.

Yay matching curtain!

I have been trying to find a shower curtain to match my bathroom walls. The walls are lilac and everything else in the bath is ivory. So I needed something purpley to spice things up a bit. Apparently no one makes purple shower curtain or at least none that aren't hideous. So after much searching, I decided to make my own. Now the only question that remains is, do I make a matching curtain for the window in there?

Last week, I finished puzzle number 2. Within the hour, Gizmo and Alice had knocked it off the table and were playing with the pieces. Oh well; at least I got to finish it.

Last Tuesday, on the way home from Sarah's Tuesday morning prayer gathering, I got rear-ended. Nothing too terrible but mostly an inconvenience and my neck was little sore for a few days.

The cardio and aerobics class I signed up for the rec center has been going well. I really like that it involves weights; I've always been a big fan of lifting, but it's kinda hard to motivate yourself to do it at home. Today I ran 5 miles with Sarah and Nicki. Sarah is trying to get me to run the Blacksburg Classic (10 miles) February 20. I wasn't sure if I would be up to the challenge, but today's 5 miles really didn't feel too bad. So I'll see and make a decision soon.

This weekend, Justin and I went to visit his family in Mechanicsville. We had a scrumptious meal as always at Maggiano's on Friday night. Saturday I got to meet up with one of my friends/roomates from college who now lives in Richmond, Natalie over lunch and (a little) shopping. I miss her a lot; wish she had chosen Roanoke instead of Richmond but I know it's a good fit for her.

A week from today I head back to school. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all of the craziness just yet but I'm definitely ready to get another semester over with so I guess that means I need to actually start the semester...

So I still have about 2 weeks off until class starts up again. I went to class briefly on Thursday to do my check off for restraining someone and have been reading (some of) my assignments for the coming semester. I’m taking 4 classes this spring: Anatomy & Physiology part II plus lab, Essentials of Maternal/OB Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing, and Health Assessment for a total of 14 credits; much better than the 17 last semester. I’ll be keeping you posted throughout the semester on how it’s going and what I’m learning.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to keep myself from being too bored by reading, doing puzzles, cooking, exercising, and hopefully not too much Facebook. Speaking of exercising, I’ve signed up for a class at the local rec center. It’s a cardio + weight lifting class, an hour long, twice a week starting Tuesday. Hopefully I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. But I'll keep you posted as well on how that is going. For now, I just have to say, Happy birthday Justin!






Puzzle #1

10 things for 2010

Many people make a New Year's Resolution on this day every year, but instead I have come up with a list of 10 goals for this year. I am counting on you all to help me! (Especially #10)

1. Run in at least 1 race.
2. Work out 3x a week
3. Visit my sister, wherever she is.
4. Visit Amanda in Boston.
5. Blog at least twice a month.
6. Go to Rehoboth beach with Sarah.
7. Read 10 fun books.
8. Try one new recipe a month.
9. Take Public Speaking :/
10. Stop biting my nails!