Monday, December 7, 2009

...brief break from nursing...

Hello! So I know that it has literally been forever since
I've blogged, so sorry!! Bascially, nursing
school= busy to the max. Right now, I'm taking a brief
10 min. break from studying for finals to write a little
and update about life. This semester, which has been filled
with learning, is coming to a close. While it's a relief that there
is a real mental break in sight,I have 5 exams to take before I
can truly relax and enjoy the Christmas season. Right now I'm
looking at OB nursing exams Dec. 9 and 11, Med-Surg nursing
final Dec. 14, and Pharmacology and Philosophy finals Dec 16.
Then, on the 17th, I'm planning on recovering and actually
getting some sleep in, then driving back to Ohio on the 18th.
It will be a packed few weeks! I hope you all get a chance to
enjoy the Christmas season, even in the midst
of the craziness of to do lists and errands.
See everyone in Ohio soon!

Monday, April 27, 2009

We're young... and crazy :)

So, my roommates and I were up late on Friday
night and we had the crazy idea to leave way early in
the morning to go to Virginia Beach for the day
Saturday. After a few minutes of deliberation,
we decided that the spontaneous trip was a must.
We packed up some food, towel, and sunscreen and
hit the road! Spending the 90 degree beautifully
sunny at the beach was amazing! :)

Walking to the car...
I kept Lis awake on the drive there
(P.S. Notice my new hair cut!!)
Arrival!


I love this picture of me and Lisa :)



The pier









Who does this?!? We do!!


Tracy took a dip in the freezing cold ocean!
I did later, but only up to my waist... the
water's still pretty chilly in April!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Update 2

Oh, and Lincoln, my fish, is doing well. Cleaning his bowl
is on the weekend to do list, but other than that he's a
happy little betta. Apparently, bettas produce "bubble nests"
(we googled them a lot after we got them), and that
means that they're happy. In the wild, they take care of t
he baby betta eggs in the nest. Anyways, Link has
lots of little bubbles, so I'm assuming he's a happy little guy.
Now I just have to figure the best way to transport him
from Virginina to Ohio.

Update

Hello everyone! Well, I don't have any new pictures to post yet
but I thought I would give you update about my
life and near future. Right now, I have 3 days of classes left
and then exams begin- yikes! Needless to say, this weekend
will be filled with books and study guides and note cards.
The joys of the end of the year! lol Please pray for me as
most of my exams count for a large part of my grades.
I can't believe this year is coming to a close and I'll soon
be half way done with my undergraduate degree. Yet
another yikes moment! I have had such a wonderful
experience in college and learned and grown so much.
It's been amazing. I've also met 2 more wonderful
best friends- Lisa and Tracy. We were all 3 randomly placed
together as roommates last year and we've become almost
inseparable. We're constantly laughing and having fun
as well as encouraging one another and giving each
other advice. With us, 3 is perfect company,
not a crowd. I know that we'll be lifelong friends
and we're considering living together after we graduate too.
We'll see what the future brings. I've also been throwing
around the idea of getting my masters' of science in
nursing after I get a few years of experience in the hopsital
and then teaching as a nursing professor. The idea hit
me when I was tutoring one of my friends that's taking
a freshman level nursing course and she loved how I explained
everything. She suggested that I become a professor some day,
and it got me thinking about how I wanted to be a teacher when
I was growing up. Like I said, we'll see what the future brings.
God's plans for me are greater than any I can imagine! (Eph 3:20)
Next year, Lisa is going to be my roommate again and Tracy
is living near us too. We're going to be be in the "quads" again,
which are more apartment style living, with a kitchen and living
room area. I'm getting a little nervous about nursing school
next year because I know it gets harder and harder with time.
Right now, I have clinicals every Monday.
On Sunday, I go to the hospital after church to get my
patient assignment and write down all of his/her information
from the chart. Then, I have to write a profile to be ready to
turn in Monday morning when I get to the hospital at 6:45 am.
The profile includes the basics of the patient's care,
the patient's history, all medication information,
3 nursing care plans, and a patho report of the patient's diagnosis.
It ends up being around 20 pages long and takes hours
to write, but we have to know everything about
our patient and the potential problems and complications
they could face. This Sun/Mon is my last clinical experience this
year! But next year I'll have clinicals on Mondays and Fridays.
I'm taking OB nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing, Pharmacology,
and Philosophy courses. Until then, I plan to enjoy a summer
of no homework. :) This year, I'll be working as a camp nurse
at the YMCA day camp, where I've been a counselor the
past 2 years. I'm also working on getting a part time job too,
as my tuititon payments are only getting worse as the
economy goes down. I'm blessed to have a job opportunity for
here in Lynchburg next year as well. A family
that I baby-sat for is looking for child care from 3:30-6 when
their daughter gets home from school. I should be able to work
several afternoons a week for them during the school year.
It's been amazing to see how God is providing
for me, with job opportunities as well as strength in my life daily.
As I was getting ready for my first clinical this semester,
I found a verse that I love. It's written on a notecard in the
pocket of my scrubs: "...Do you have the gift of helping others?
Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.
Then everything you do will bring glory to God through
Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever
and ever! Amen." -1st Peter 4:11, NLT

Friday, March 20, 2009

My New Fish

So, Lisa and I decided to get fish and
went on a fish buying adventure...
We wanted to get cool tropical fish. However, the tropical
fish we wanted were all either too big, too aggressive, or
too high maintenance. So, we settled on bettas, the
same type of fish every other college student has.
Lisa has a blue betta named Abraham, and I have
a red betta named Lincoln. We call them Abe and
Link for short. Tracy got a snail from the pet
store, and she named him Theodore. He was free,
but the pet store lady kept telling her that she didn't
want him because she would end up with many more
snails crawling around the bowl. He's currently in
my bowl with Link, and we haven't had any problems,
so I'm keeping my finger crossed.
Anyways, here is the documentation of Abraham,
Lincoln, and Theodore's adoption into our family:
Our friend Kim helped us get them safely
into their new bowls


Lincoln, my amazing fish!! He's so fun to watch
swim around, he definitely has a personality!

Abe and Link

Tracy and Theo

The tropical fish that we didn't get

Ready to go home
Getting his bowl ready


We didn't know what we were doing!
Smile! Haha


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mattress Sledding

Well, with the snow the other day, we decided that it would
be fun to go sledding. One of the guys got the bright idea to
take a spare mattress from the dorm to the hill out back
and try it. It was quite entertaining and a lot of fun!
One of my friends captured our mattress
adventure on camera:
Josh, carrying the mattress up the hill

After falling off at the bottom of the hill:
Ready to go!


Heading back up to the top:
Yes, we tried to go down in while standing up....
Not the best idea. And we tried that with
all 5 of us on the mattress at once :)


Monday, March 2, 2009

Snow "Storm"

Well, it's been an interesting few days here in
Lynchburg, Virginia. We got close to a record
amount of snow (I've heard everything from 6 to
12 inches- I'm not sure) and everything is beautiful,
yet freezing cold. And being in the south, no one
knows how to drive in the snow, so we had a snow
day today! We have a 2 hour delay tomorrow too.
It's been exciting and relaxing to get a little extra
sleep and more time to study for exams this week.
Here are some pictures of the snow "storm" of 2009:




Playing in the Snow

Even as college students, we still love to play
in the snow like kids, and we get creative!
The past couple of days, I've been a part of
several snowball fights, "sledding" on a skim board
and a spare mattress, and built a snowman.
And of course, we had to follow it up with
some hot chocolate!
Giant snow ball fight on the
intradmural field outside our building:
Our snowman!

Complete with a carrot nose




Getting all bundled up to go outside:
Lisa, with her cute hat (that she usually
doesn't get to wear) and new coat
(a Christmas present from santa!)

Tracy, with her cute green scarf
and snow boots
Me, donning my rain boots,
that also work great in the snow :)

Roommates!! Playing in the snow and freezing!

Road Trip with Tracy!

Last weekend, I rode with my roommate, Tracy, to
Wheeling, WVa, where she was meeting her family for the
weekend. My dad came and picked me up, then we went
home and surprised mom! Here are some pictures from
our drive:

The Welcome to West Virginia sign,
which I've seen quite a lot lately...





The Virginia mountains and sunset









Thursday, February 19, 2009

Injection Check Off

This week, we checked off on intramuscular (IM),
intradermal (ID), and subcutaneous (sub-q) injections.
My mock insulin and heparin vials,
practice syringes, and needles