Busy!

I have not written in a while, I've been so busy between school and work! I have worked a ton this week, it has been great but very tiring! I only lost 0.6 pounds this week, but better than gaining!

Also, my brother and his family were featured in an article in the New York Times yesterday. It's all about the pay cuts pilots have been taking and how it effects their lives. Unfortunately there were some misquotes and twisted information that don't necessarily put them in the best light (and a lot of comments were made about them being materialistic and greedy)...but I assure you this is not true in the least. They are a fabulous family, they have 4 kids and are very satisfied with their life! My brother was asked to tell his story abouthow losing 55% of your pay can affect your life, and he obliged...sad that so many people had to chastise them for this! Check it out!!

This weekend I'm off to RELAX up in Wintergreen with some great friends and I can't wait. Other than a quick trip to Nags Head in June, I haven't been out of town since I started school...and I couldn't be more excited!!

LOSE it...

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday b/c I went to bed early (well, tried to) for my first day of work today! I survived my first 12 hour shift, phew! But, had SOOO much fun...LOVE the mother/baby unit!!! I can't wait to learn as much as I can!!

So, I weighed in last night and I lost 3.4 pounds....woohoo! Gotta keep going...I need to lose a lot, but I'm already starting to feel better! Definitely headed in the right direction :)

That's all for tonight, gotta get to bed...I'm exhausted!!!

Procrastination...

This is what happens when you're putting off studying for a test. I put my glasses on Paylin and seriously laughed for about 10 minutes.....she, on the other hand, proceeded to jump off the bed and ly on the floor. I guess she didn't think my antics were as funny as I did!

I have my first test for NUR 102 tomorrow about the different stages of surgery and am having the HARDEST time studying for it. A couple friends came over and we put in about 2 hours, but it was pretty painful. I'm just hoping I'll somehow survive the test, since I'm definitely not as prepared as I could be.

I had my first Pathopharmacology test last week, which I managed to get a 91 on, and I think it completely used up my brain power for the week. I think my brain needs to recharge before it can work again!

So, be thinking of me at 8am tomorrow and pray that I can pull off a decent grade on this test...I'm going to need all of the help I can get!

Can't help it...still laughing about Paylin and the glasses ;)

I'm going to LOSE it

I finally did it, I broke down and joined Weight Watchers last night. My weight is at an ALL TIME high...I've gained 23 pounds since December, and I was already at a point that I needed to lose. Needless to say, I'm not very happy with how i'm looking and feeling right now. Thus, I reached the moment (FINALLY) where I need to do something about it. I will be weighing in on Mondays (for the most part) and will report my progress on here.

Wish me luck, here goes nothing!!!

Working Girl!

Today is my official start day for my new job! I have orientation all week (both online and on-site) and then I should be able to start orienting to the unit. I'm so excited.

My sister and I went last week and I got new scrubs for work....I have to wear all navy blue scrubs as a tech. I got a couple pairs of pants and several cute scrub tops (as cute as I could find in navy blue)! My next task is to find shoes to wear..I refuse to wear my white Danskos if I'm not required to :) I love my Danksos, but white ones are just not cute!

So, Happy 1st Day to me :) First day and I don't even have to work, fabulous!!

Online classes, friend or foe?

I can't decide how I feel about online classes. I definitely love that they give you the flexibility of not having to go sit in a classroom for several hours a week...however, I'm not sure that they give you the full learning potential.

Last semester I took an Anatomy class online...the teacher was great, I really did feel like I learned things...but probably not as much as I would have learned in the classroom. Now, with that class I did have to go take proctored tests in the testing center...so, you have no choice but to study because you have to know the information to pass! However, this semester I'm taking Development Psych online and 2 out of 3 of the tests are taken online at home. They are open book and open notes and you have 1 hour and 15 minutes to take them. AND, the test was only 37 questions. Thus, I had no motivation to actually study because I just sat down and took the test with my books and got a 100. Now, don't get me wrong, I love getting A's...but I just feel like there's something missing with these classes!!

I know that by doing it this way and not truly studying the material I'm only hurting myself, but with the amount of work that has to go into my Nursing and Pathopharmacology class I really have no choice! I really think I definitely get more out of a traditional class...of course for the sake of flexibility and scheduling, I'll probably take a couple more online classes.

Any thoughts? Which do (or did) you prefer?

Birthday!!!

I realized that I never posted a recap of my birthday!

Last weekend was great! I started out having dinner friday night with a group of friends. It was tons of fun. There were about 10 or 12 people there and then throughout the night different friends dropped in to have a drink with us. It was definitely a late night...I think we got home around 2:30AM, but we had a blast. I only have 1 picture which is from later in the night...the group that held out until the end :)

On Saturday, my good friend Maria (we went to VT together and were Chi Os) came into town and hung out with me! My parents had my huge family over and we had pizza, cake and ice cream for lunch. My 1 niece and 5 nephews were there along with my parents, sister, sister-in-law, her dad and my friend Maria....(my brother (pilot) and brother-in-law (firefighter) were working)! We had a lot of fun. My sister got me this adorable wine holder that is in the shape of a high heel! Here it is...
My parents got me a new duvet cover, the Serafina Duvet from Pottery Barn:
From friends I received some super cute VT coasters, Vera Bradley hi-liters (which I didn't even know she made), some note cards with a "K" on them, a gift card from Pottery Barn (which I used toward the cranberry pick stich quilt!), and of course my new blog design :) I also received lots and lots of cards and Love!!!!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to a friend's house to watch the VT vs. Nebraska game. We had tons of fun and were on the edge of our seats literally until the last seconds of the game! But, it turned out great and the Hokies prevailed :) Hopefully they can do the same today against Miami!!!

After the game I headed to get some Mexican food w/ Maria and my friend Callie...it had already been a hectic weekend, so we were pretty low key. Then, Maria and I decided to go see "Love Happens"..it was pretty good, were were just so tired and it started out kind of slow!

I had a fabulous birthday!!!! I had so much fun with everyone, I have great friends :)

I am looking forward to this being a low key weekend though :) Just lots of studying and school work!!! Don't worry though, I'll be taking a break to watch the Hokies....GO HOKIES!!!!!!

Thanks everyone for making my birthday wonderful :)

Life is about to get crazy...

Earlier this week I was offered a job as a Tech in the Mother/Infant unit at the hospital. I am beyond EXCITED at this opportunity. This is where I want to work post-graduation and it's HARD to get a job there as a new graduate nurse. I knew from the day I entered nursing school that if I had any hope of working in this unit right after school, I would need to get a tech position while I was in school.

Since starting school in January, I've stalked the website...day after day I checked for new jobs and very few were posted. FINALLY, about 2 months ago they posted a new position and I jumped at the chance to apply. After a phone interview, I was heartbroken to find out that they had already offered the position to an internal candidate...SUCH DEFEAT!!! (But, at least the phone interview was out of the way!!)

I kept watching and within a week they had posted another position....none for months and then 2 within several weeks, what are the odds??? Again, I jumped at the opportunity but also emailed my advisor, who is the OB teacher at our school (such luck)! She helped me out and to make a long story short, within a couple weeks I had an interview with the Nurse Manager on the unit. The interview went fabulously and 3 days later, I received a call with an offer!!

While I'm extremely nervous about the idea of adding work to my increasingly busy school schedule, they're super flexible about hours and school and I couldn't be more thrilled to have this opportunity. It's such a relief to know that as long as I show them what a hard and dedicated worker I am, I could easily slide into an RN position post-grad.

Next week I'll be juggling a week-long orientation, several classes, clinical and a test...and preparing for a test the next week. Guess I'm starting out with a bang! Luckily, the busier I get the more focused I become....and I'm sure going to need A LOT of focus for the next 20 months :)

A New Look...

What do you think of my new blog design?? I absolutely LOVE it!!! My fabulous friends, Grace and Beth, gave me a new blog design as a birthday gift and it's an awesome gift. It was so much fun to make all of the decisions and Erin at Designer Blogs was such a PLEASURE to work with...I would recommend them to anyone who wants a fun new blog design!!!! I think having this new design even gives me more inspiration to write posts more often :) I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do!!!!

Kid at heart!

(photo from www.nintendo.com)

I know it may be childish (b/c my 10 yr old niece and 7 yr old nephew have them) but I REALLY want a Nintendo DS. I've been dying to play that Brain Age game for probably a year now. I'm such a nerd...I think school is bringing out the brainiac in me :) So, if anyone wants to send one of these little babies my way, I'd gladly accept!!