Almost Christmas

December is halfway over and I have yet to make a post! I've been a little busy with work and Christmas shopping. But I think I'm finally done (with the shopping not with work :P). The past 3 Christmases, my parents and brother have been able to come visit us for Christmas. But this year, my sister, her husband, and my nephew are living near my parents so we will be going to her house for Christmas. I was a little bummed to not be able to do Christmas at my house this year but I'm actually very excited to spend Christmas with my sister. It's been a really long time since we've all celebrated a holiday together. My brother is still in Okinawa so it will also be sad not to have him around for Christmas this year either.

I haven't done too many crafts. I did make 2 Christmas scrub tops that everyone at work just loves. And I made these Chocolate Covered Cherries that are delicious! Waay better than the store bought. (You can find the recipe here,) I'm sure there will be a lot more baking to be done once I'm at my sister's house!

Early Thanksgiving

This weekend we went to Mechanicsville and Newport News to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families since I have to work Thanksgiving night. Friday we ate dinner in Mechanicsville with most of Justin's family at a delicious Asian restaurant. Saturday we spent the day with my parents, visited Justin's grandparents, and ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with them. Sunday on our way back home, we had brunch with some of the other members of Justin's family in Mechanicsville. It was a quick trip but we got to see a lot of family and eat a lot of great food.

Grand Cayman Island & Mexico

Thursday we docked beside the Grand Cayman Islands. There was no pier so we had to take a "tender" to get to shore. From there we took a taxi to "7 mile beach" and relaxed and played in the water for a little while there. We could see the ship from where we were, so we decided to walk back to the ship. It took us about 1.5 hours to walk back but we got to see a lot of cool things along the way. We saw the Ritz hotel, lots of fish among the waters with more coral in it, lots and lots of coral, and I stepped on a bee! (Ouchie! but my foot is fine now)

the Ritz!

Justin swimming

Coconut Tree

Friday was our last port and the one I was the most excited about because of the excursion we had picked to go on.  We docked beside Cozumel, Mexico, which is and island. But then we took a very rough ferry over to the mainland. From there we boarded a tour bus to Tulum, which has a section of the Mayan ruins. On the ride, our tour guide spoke for over an hour about the Mayans. It was definitely really interesting.

the "castle"

After touring Tulum, we got back on the bus to go to the beach where we had our very our private Mexican lunch. The food was really excellent, I was like, "so this is what Mexican food is supposed to taste like!" Definitely way fresher tasting than anything you'd find around here. It was also my favorite of the 4 beaches we went to. Just really lovely water and so picturesque.

Saturday was a day at sea and our last day on the boat. We got to see Puss in Boots in 3D in the afternoon. It was a cooler day so I didn't spend that much time outside, but it was still a very restful day. Sunday we got off the ship around 9am and drove back home. Good thing we had our kitties waiting for us or we might not have ever come back!

Haiti & Jamaica

Tuesday was our first port: a privately owned section of Haiti called Labadee. It was nice and hot (about 95) and just a really great day for swimming and relaxing by the water. The water was beautiful and warm. We enjoyed a nice barbecued lunch outside and then enjoyed the afternoon by the pool listening to island music.

our awesome ship

Wednesday we docked in Falmouth, Jamaica.  For that day, we chose to take a bus tour to Ocho Rios to climb the famous Dunn's River Falls. It was an interesting ride listening to the tour guide about the history of Jamaica. Dunn's River Falls is a 183 ft waterfall that dumps into the beautiful ocean. It was definitely really different than anything we had done on our previous cruises and we were glad we got to make the trip.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the last two ports we visited!

Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure & First Days Aboard the Freedom of the Seas

Yikes, it's been a month since my last post! I guess I was waiting for all the exciting things that would happen on our trip to Orlando and cruise going to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico.

So Friday, October 28, we drove down to Orlando and spent the night there. Saturday we spent the day at Universal's Islands of Adventure aka home of Harry Potter World. The day started out a little rainy but it cleared up by 10. It wasn't all that crowded there so we never had to wait in any lines. I don't know if we planned on it, but we did end up riding the 3 water rides they had there so in some of my pictures we look a little wet. They have a Jurassic Park, Cartoon, Superhero, Dr Seuss, and of course Harry Potter areas. By the end of the day, even Justin admitted that the Harry Potter section was the best one even though he thought he would like Jurassic Park the best. Since there were no lines, by 3:30 we had ridden all of the rides at least once and were pretty wiped out. So like a couple of old people, we left to go back to our hotel and eat some delicious stuffed pizza at Giordano's (a Chicago based Italian & pizza restaurant). It was as fabulous as I had remembered it being in Chicago.

Hogsmeade

Hogwarts!

butterbeer!

Jurassic Park

Popeye & Olive

Sunday morning we got up, excited to board our ship and drove the hour to Port Canaveral. As we were standing in line to go through customs, I was like man, there are an awful lot of people wearing Harley Davidson shirts. Is it biker week? Soon we saw the banner, "High Seas Rally." Apparently of the 4000 guests on board the ship, 1400 of them were bikers. It's an annual get-together they do to raise support for dialysis. They definitely made this cruise a little more "interesting" than the previous ones we had been on.

Monday, also Halloween,  was a day at sea. We had fun doing the many activities on board such as lounging by the pools, mini golf, and ice skating. We entered the Halloween contest that night but we did not win :( Maybe next year!

I made both of our costumes this year

 Stay tuned tomorrow for more about our vacation!

Yarn Wreath: Halloween Edition

My Latest Creation...

It is officially October. With that this weekend came more like winter weather with highs of 48. I was not pleased. But it should warm back up in a few days, thankfully.

I had been looking for a Halloween scrub top , but I wasn't able to find any prints I liked. So, I decided to make my own (sorry for the poor picture quality but it's jack-o-lanterns with a spiderweb background):

It turned out so well (and cheaper) that I think I will definitely be making some winter ones.

First Quilt

Last week, I tried my hand at my first baby quilt for my friend Sarah. I found the instructions on this blog from Pinterest. It was pretty easy and only took me one night to do it.

Frist Night Shift

So last night was my first night shift. It went fine. It really wasn't that bad staying up all night. I'd still prefer to be on day shift because I just like the pace so much better. Night shift can be kinda boring. There's this lull between about 12 and 5 and after getting used to the business of days, I really didn't know what to do with myself! I got home around 8 this morning and slept til about 2. I felt like I was back in college getting up that late!

Wreath

So, I finished my wreath. It doesn't quite look like the one that I had posted about earlier, but I think it still looks OK.

Transition

Yesterday was my last day of work on day-shift. So I'm trying to gradually stay up later since my first night of work is on Monday. Last night I stayed up til 12 (that was really hard since I worked yesterday but Pinterest kept me occupied). Tonight I'll stay up til 2 and then Sunday night I'll stay up til 4. Hopefully I won't die Monday night! Then Thursday I have a class all day so I'll have to switch back to day schedule for that and then switch back to nights to work Friday night! Ahh!

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend I actually had the whole weekend off, which was nice for a change (I've worked the last 3 weekends). Friday night, my brother came up and we had some fun in downtown Blacksburg. Saturday, we watched us slaughter Appalachian State at Buffalo Wild Wings. Sunday, we went to church and Texas Roadhouse. Sunday night, Katie joined me for our first Women's Evening Prayer meeting. It was great to get back to praying for each and know that someone else would be praying for your requests all week! This morning, my brother went back to Richmond, Justin and I went swimming, had lunch at Chic-fil-a, and then I worked on some crafts from Pinterest. Perfect for a rainy day!

Finally Making Things from Pinterest

After weeks of looking at crafts and looking at recipes, I finally made a couple of things. The first thing I made was this Cinnamon Roll Cake. It was a little too buttery for me (it has 3 sticks of butter in it!), but everyone else loved it. There are a few others out there that seem a little lighter so I will have to give them a try. Here's mine:

 The second thing I tried my hand at was a Hokie wreath. I'm also working on this beautiful white one like this, but I haven't quite finished it yet.

It didn't quite turn out how I wanted it, but I think the white one will look better.

Great Days Off

Yesterday I went to see the fabulous movie, The Help. Really, if you haven't seen it yet, it's really great. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it again! Today, instead of my usual morning run, I decided to go for a swim instead. I was getting bored of running so I think incorporating swimming in my workout regimen will really help me.

Tonight I got to speak to my previous clinical instructor's new clinical group about how to make it through clinicals and their last year. It was nice to see my clinical instructor and classmates without actually having to do clinicals. Afterward, I went to Olive Garden with two of my favorite classmates. We had a great time catching up on all that had happened since graduation.

Home Improvements

The past couple of weeks, I've been working hard on my days off on the side door and stairs. The paint on the stairs was really coming off and the door had quite a few chips too. It took me longer than I would have hoped to remove all the old paint, but it had to be done. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but just imagine it looking pretty ghetto. Sorry about the shadows, but I'm really not a photographer.

The next challenge will be the front steps and door. There are quite a few more steps in the front so it may be a couple of more weeks before I get finished.

Working Girl Blues...4 Years Later?

This fall, I'm having a really hard time dealing with the fact that I'm not in college anymore. I see all the students back and it makes me wish I was back in my apartment or even a dorm at Virginia Tech. You may be thinking, but wait, didn't you graduate 4 years ago? Well yes, but the first two years after graduation I worked at Tech so I never really felt like I was missing out on anything. And then the two years after that I was back in school for nursing. I like my job, my house, and my family, but I really miss all the good times I had with my friends while I was in school with them. I never imagined I'd be feeling this way 4 years later. I figured I'd be feeling this after I got married, but even then, plenty of my close friends were still around. Thankfully I work with a lot of great women and when we get the time, we have a really great time together.

Steppin Out '11

Thankfully I had today off so Justin and I got to go to Steppin Out in Blacksburg. I've gone every year for the past 4 years and it's always a lot of fun and I always get some great stuff. This year I got some soy candles, a new Virginia Tech flag, baklava, and some cinnamon-sugar covered nuts. Justin wanted a new coffee mug for work so he got a very unique pottery mug from a vendor from Floyd. We had a great time walking around seeing everything and eating some good food. Thankfully it didn't rain while we were there!

Berry Picking

I'm loving my days off this summer! This morning I enjoyed picking some blueberries and raspberries in Blacksburg! They're delicious! I'm gonna have to go back very soon!

Beach

Last Thursday, we drove to Rehoboth, DE to visit my aunts at the beach and attend a wedding for one of Justin's cousins. Since I can't take any time off from my job until September, this was pretty much our only vacation this summer. In order to take off those days, I ended up working 6 days in a 7 day period. We left at 6:30 am on Thursday so that we could go to the beach for a few hours that day. It takes us about 7 hours to get there. We spent all day Friday and Saturday at the beach as well since the wedding wasn't until Saturday night. It was pretty hot there, making the water feel very nice. Thankfully, there were no jellyfish in the water. We had a nice visit with my aunts, ate some fabulous seafood, and had a good time with Justin's family at the wedding. We came back on Sunday, making a pit-stop at our favorite Italian restaurant Maggiano's in Falls Church, VA.

Welcome Chandler!

A couple of weeks ago, I brought home our new kitty Chandler. We got him from the Humane Society of Montgomery County. He was 11 weeks old and already neutered. He's so sweet. He loves people and just purrs all the time! Gizmo has been getting along with him the past couple of days, but Alice is still a little afraid of him. I'm hoping she'll warm up to him soon because I think they'll make great friends!

New Car for Justin

Justin finally found a car he liked on Craigslist. It's a 2000 Audi. It has lots of nice features including heated seats and apparently it's very fast!

A Month

Tomorrow it will be a month since I started my new job. It doesn't seem like it's been that long but time flies when you're having fun! I still have at least 8 more weeks left in my preceptor-ship. On one hand, it will be nice to be able to make my own schedule! On the other hand, I'm sure I have a lot more to learn, especially with making judgement calls, I enjoy having someone to work with and complain talk with, and I like working during the day. I've gotten used to working 3 days in a row and having a bunch of days off, but I still might split it up once I'm on my own.

I've always hated the phone. But I especially hate calling doctors. My preceptor makes me do it sometimes. But it's a confidence thing I have to get used to. 

My parents are visiting us this weekend. We're going to go to the Natural Bridge and do some berry picking as long as the weather is nice.

Week 2 = better

Wednesday-Friday was week 2  on the floor for me. Last week I was so exhausted even after the first day. This week went so much better for me. Wednesday night I still felt like I had a lot of energy left when I went home and my feet didn't start hurting til Friday. So it looks like my body is getting used to me running around on my feet 12+ hours a day, 3 days in a  row. The days also go by really fast, which helps. We are always very busy, especially on the days that we have a lot of people leaving and coming.

Back to Work

Two weeks ago, I started my new job. The first week was orientation so it was Monday-Friday, 8-5ish. I mostly sat in a classroom, hearing from different departments and learning the computer system. It was informative, but the week seemed to really drag by. But then I had 5 days off before my 12 hour shifts started Thursday. I worked 3- 12 hour shifts in a row and it was really tough. Yesterday went by pretty fast because we were really busy but I definitely felt like a zombie last night. I slept a good bit last night and am feeling better today. Hopefully in a few weeks, I'll get more used to the schedule, mentally and physically. When I am on my own in a few months and am able to make my own schedule, I'm not sure if I'll want to work 3 days in a row, but we'll see.

The NCLEX

Last Tuesday (31st) I finally got my Authorization to Test which is basically the document that allows a nursing graduate to pick a date to take the NCLEX. When I looked up the dates, the first one available in Roanoke wasn't until the 20th so I looked up some dates in other areas. I finally decided that it would probably be best for me to to it on the 3rd in Newport News, which is where I'm from. This was a really scary decision for my since because I definitely didn't feel ready to take it so soon but everyone always tells you to take it as soon as you can. So I finished my NCLEX review book and drove to Newport News Thursday afternoon. Friday morning I took the test. I had TONS of people praying for me and I actually felt a peace (until I was sitting at the computer). The NCLEX is a computer adaptive test so you can get anywhere between 75 and 265 questions and have up to 6 hours to take it. Once the computer decides that you have answered enough questions to either pass or fail it, it cuts off. I answered 75 questions. I felt like I knew the answer to about 3 questions. I knew the answer to the first question, the one math question I got, and one other. I cried when I got my car.  Nurses tell you that if you feel like all of the questions were impossible then you probably passed because you answered enough of the "difficult" questions. But still, nothing prepares you for the feeling afterwards of failure. I was upset for a couple of hours (had to buy a new bathing suit to cheer myself up) and then decided that I would just not think about it. The bad thing about taking it on a Friday is that you don't know the results until Monday. Somehow, I managed to not think about it much over the weekend. I hung out with some friends in Richmond on Saturday and went to Randolph Park with friends after I got back Sunday. I was also excited about starting my new job today so that helped to keep my mind off of the results. I called the VA Board of Nursing Licensure number during at break at orientation this morning. The automated response said that I was currently licensed, meaning I PASSED! I can't tell you how good it feels right now to not have to study anymore and know that I have a job and am an RN! There are many people who don't pass the first time and I know fellow classmates who still haven't found a job. Thank you all for your prayers and support during this challenging time in my life! For over a year now, I have felt like God was with me every step of the way and that this is really what I'm supposed to do. For me, this is not just a dream come true, but a calling that I am finally able to fulfill.

White Lake

Thursday night, we made our annual Memorial Day Weekend trip down to White Lake, NC with Justin's family. My first trip was when we were in high school, 8 years ago. We cook out, swim in the lake, tube, and ride go karts. We have a lot of fun for just a few days. Justin got really burned last year, but we stayed on top of the sunscreen this year and he managed to get only pink-tinged. I didn't take any pictures this year, but here is us last year:

Connecticut & Boston trip

Last Tuesday I took the train to visit my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in Connecticut for a week. My brother-in-law is in the Navy and attending submarine school in Groton. There's not too much to do in Groton, but I got to spend lots of time with my sister and nephew whom I don't get to see very often. The last time I saw them was when they came to visit back in October. We did end up going to their nice-sized mall, getting pedicures, and visiting the submarine museum (complete with tour on a real submarine!).

me & the nephew

Friday, my sister and I drove up to the Boston area to spend the weekend with my friends from Tech, Amanda and Josh. Amanda made us a great dinner Friday night and then we went to see the new movie Bridesmaids. Saturday, Amanda drove us into Boston to do some touring. We took a "duck" tour on a special bus that could also go in the water. It was one of my favorite things we did.

Our duck:

In the water:

We also did some walking around ourselves and enjoyed dinner in the 'Little Italy" section of town. The best eating was at Mike's Pastry. They have lots of different things to choose from but they specialize in cannoli. Between the three of us, we definitely got an assortment of what they had. Everything was so delicious and definitely worth waiting in the line that went out of the store and down the street!

Sunday we went back into Boston to walk around Harvard, MIT, and enjoyed some lunch before driving back to Connecticut.

waiting for the subway:

MIT

Monday I took the train back home. It was a great trip but I was glad to be home!

McAfee Knob

Yesterday I went hiking in Catawba, VA with my brother to McAfee Knob. I had done Dragon's Tooth a couple of times (which is very near by) before but I don't think I recall doing McAfee Knob before. It was a little disappointing when we got up there because the spectacular 270 degree views you are normally supposed to be able to see was all covered by fog. On the way back down it rained heavily, thundered, and lightninged. My brother seemed to still have a good time. I promised we would try it again the next time he came, and this time, bring lunch!

Graduation

Graduation- a day I've been dreaming about for years. It was weird when the day actually arrived. I think I was more excited about it in the weeks leading up to it than the actual day. On the actual day, I thought about all the people I would probably never see again, the fun with friends that would never be the same, and the classroom I would never sit in again with all of the people around me who really understood what I've been through in the past two years. I know the people I was closest with I'll still remain friends with, but it's hard to keep up with 51 other people who live from Roanoke to Wytheville to West Virginia. I guess what I felt after all the celebrations were over, was lonely. I'm so used to being around all these people most days of the week who love me and understand me and now it's like, well now what? I do have things planned the rest of the month until I start working. I'm very excited about my visit up north and weekend at the lake. For the most part I'll be busy; but it'll definitely be different. Congratulations guys, I'll miss you...

Super Blessed

Right now I feel like the most blessed girl in the world! 1) I got a job before graduation at my #1 hospital (many of my nursing friends haven't even heard back from places they've applied); 2) I graduate on Wednesday! 3) I got an A in one of the most difficult nursing classes; 4) I get to visit my sister, nephew, and Amanda next week; and 5) my new purple laptop will be here this week!