Cruise!

I went on my first cruise with two friends from Tech in March of 2008 and I was hooked. For our honeymoon, Justin and I went on my second cruise November 2008. Then there was a break because I went back to school and vacations sort of take a backseat when you're watching your money. But then I broke down this fall and was like we need to go on another cruise and January seemed like the best time for us to go with my school.

We left Saturday the 8th out of Baltimore (we drove up the day before and stayed the night with my aunts in NOVA). We had 4 days of cruising on the ship mixed with 4 days of visiting ports (9 nights). Our first port was Cocoa Beach, FL. We just visited some shops there and sat on the beach for awhile. It was coolish and windier that day (I think like 72). The next stop was Key West, also a cooler and windier day but it was fun to walk around and visit the shops. After Key West was Nassau. We went to the beach here, it was warm when the sun wasn't covered by clouds, and still a pretty nice day. The last port was Coco Cay, which a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. When I was there for my first cruise, it was one of my favorites cause you can just lounge around and relax. They have a barbecue lunch and the water's really warm. But again it was windy and cloudy so not the best beach day. Other than the ports, we had a really good time relaxing on the ship, eating lots of great food, and enjoying the performances every night. I don't think we will go on another cruise in January again, but it was great all the same!

New Year, New Resolution

I wasn't really going to do a resolution this year since a I couldn't really come up with one, but after talking with some friends last night, I decided that a great one would be for me to read my Bible more. I did a terrible job in 2010 so it looks like I need to try a lot harder in 2011. I have a bible study that goes through the new testament and psalms so I think I will start with that. It seems pretty manageable; I just need to be diligent to sticking with it (like flossing)! Good luck with all of your resolutions!

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!