Adventures of a New Nurse in a New City

Sally Update

2010-02-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS OF SALLY, DAISY AND THE FAMILY AT MY GMA'S 71ST BDAY!

So today Sally went to have her "lady surgery" she was so excited to be in the car she threw up in my yet again!!!! I think she has motion sickness or something. When we got to the vet she tried her luck at taking on a Saint Bernard....that went well! At least she didn't draw blood like she did with Linus (her cousin) during a most memorable Xmas gathering with all 3 dogs.

BAD BAD BLOGGER!

2010-02-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

So I know I'm a horrible blogger but I figured it had been so long and I know that there are SO many of you who have just been lost without my updated blog posts, so I'll catch you up on my O SO EXCITING life here in Lincoln, NE

This thanksgiving my parents surprised me with my early Xmas present it was a beautiful puppy who I called Sally; why Sally as a name you ask? Well I named the dog I got for my bro and sister in law LINUS out of our mutual love of "PEANUTS" and Sally is my favorite character so there you go!

SALLY STAT'S

Approx 5lbs
Approx 4 inches tall
Profession: Greeter of all residents at the Tanglewood apt. in Lincoln NE
Hobbies: Chewing on bones, plastic bottles, throwing up in my car, prancing in the snow, licking salt off the sidewalks, cuddling with her mom
Favorite foods: Science Diet dog food of course, rawhide's, wood, plastic, underwear, socks, bottom of my sofa, and her absolute fav is ICE!
Best friend: besides me she loves visiting her sister and grandma Daisy and Janene in Des Moines, IA.
Arch Nemesis: LINUS, the cousin :) or any big dog for that manor, she squeals like a women being murdered, it's ridiculous.

This is at Thanksgiving she is 10 wks old!

FIRST MONTH OFF ORIENTATION

2009-10-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been off orientation for about a month and a half now and let me tell you I have learned sooooooo much it's insane. The night shifts that I have worked off orientation have been fine, not overwhelming, slow pace, and kind of boring. My first week back on days was quite the opposite. Last week was the week my arms fell off from being pulled in 100 different directions, my feet became numb because they were being stood on for 12 solid hours, and my brain went KABOOM from all of the information being absorbed...it was a great week...HA NOT!!!

I do think that this week definitely taught me about what nurses really go through on a daily basis. I guess the days that I had worked before were busy but this past week was a whole other meaning of that "busy" word.

Oh A.D.D moment...so I found out this past week that I'm getting a puppy for Xmas!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! she's a long haired black and tan miniature dachshund. I'm going to name her Sally because I figured we should keep the charlie brown theme going on in our family. Eli's dog's name is Linus and he said that if they get another dog they'd name it Lucy...I liked the name sally and she's my favorite Peanut's character, so there you go...

This past weekend was amazing I got to visit all my pals up in Cedar Falls, stay in the double wide trailer I had missed so much...ha, not, I got to see my wonderfully prego friend Jamie and her newlywed apartment. We made these really great cookies, they were pumpkin oatmeal and they were delicious. I got to spoil her a little with some baby stuff, she finds out the sex of the baby today actually :). On Saturday I headed up to no where Iowa and went to my nursing school friend Tesia's wedding, it was so great. I also got to spend some quality time with a few of my other nursing school friends. I love those times when you get together with friends and it's as if you never left each other; you just start up right where you left off. I missed them a ton and it def. made me realize that I need to be a better friend to Tesia who I love and miss and she only lives an hour away. Anyways it was so great to see them all and have fun dancing and swapping new nursing stories and experiences. It's weird how we all have these new lives but are still experiencing what it feels like to be new nurses in new cities.

Then to end the weekend I got to hang with my parents and then they told me I was getting a puppy...THE END :)

OFF THE BAND WAGON

2009-10-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

WOW I just realized it's been almost a month since my last post...really not t hat much has happened but I have had a few great weekends this month. A few weekends ago it was the Nebraska vs. Missouri game, it was on a Thursday night and I had to work. Amazing story though, I was working the night shift and I had taken care of this guys on wed. night and he was on end of life cares and pretty unresponsive. Well low and behold Thursday night rolls around and it's football time, this man was wide awake and hosting a husker party in his room!!!! it was so great, he was sooooooo excited to see those huskers play. He stayed up for the entire game and it was a doozy to watch let me tell you, Huskers pulled it out in the 4th quarter in a massive rain storm. This mans story was written about in the Lincoln paper, his family knew how important the huskers were to him and wanted others to know his story as well. He ended up passing on the Sunday afterwards...at least he got to cheer on those Huskers one last time :)

A weekend to remember

2009-10-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

So to start off with I am blogging while I work the night shift tonight. 6:30pm-7:30am can I get a WHOOT WHOOT?! It's a quiet night, hopefully it will stay that way. Tonight I am faced with my first end-of-life patient. He's on comfort cares and I'm quietly freaking out about the fact that he might die on my shift. He's a DNR so we don't have to resusitate him but it's just scary to think about having to deal with death. I've never had a patient die or have taken care of a dead person. So pray for the best.

Anyway, this past weekend was amazing. On thursday I headed over to Des Moines for my friend Annie's bachelorette party, we had a blast and it was soooooo much fun to catch up with nursing school friends. We ended the night at the Blue Moon which is a bar with dueling piano's...absolutely incredible and insanely fun. On friday Katie, Mom, and me went and got a well deserved pedicure and Eli and my dad hung out at none other than the Bass Pro Shop. We then met up as a complete family at the best place on earth PANCHERO's I haven't had it since I moved here and boy was it well worth the wait. Later friday night I left to help out my family in Lincoln with my cousin Ryans wedding rehearsal dinner.

Saturday I got myself all gussied up for Ryan and Angie's wedding and awaited the arrival of my family. I was so stoked to get to have Eli and Katie over to my house and show off all my cool IKEA things. Then we went to the wedding and the reception which was so beautiful and so much fun. My mom's side of the family is a blast to hang out with and so we had a great time dancing and laughing. After the reception our family had to haul presents to a hotel for the bride and groom to open. Some how one of us broke the mirrored Horn of Plenty (which is the word my dad used and will now never live down, but for those of you just like me who didn't know what a horn of plenty was, it's just a cornicopia) I think i'll start calling my dad Mr. Horn of Plenty, it was histerical listening to him trying to explain himself. After our delivary was made Eli and Katie came back to my house and we started watching Robin Hood:Prince of Theives and drinking mudslides. We didnt' make it very far through the movie, we were soooo tired.

Sunday we got up bright and early and went over to my Uncle Jim(mom's brother) and Aunt Judy's house for breakfast, again it was just so nice to spend special quality time with my family.

It was a great weekend and I hope I get some days off for thanksgiving so I can spend even more time with them.

2009-09-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

This past week was the week of the misfit patient. I have 2 patients who were on a 1:1 status meaning they had such bad dementia that they had to be supervised at all times. SO MUCH FUN!!! One of those 1:1 patients needed to be in isolation because of the flu. That one decided to pull out her IV not 1 but 2 times. and she was a bitter, scratcher, and spitter outer of any medications. I also had a bunch of patients who were just dead weight to move around and in turn killed my back and feet.

Putting aside the misfits this was my last week on orientation. I should have started my first day as an independent RN today but I was put on call!!! That's what I get for being a Newbie, o well I can now spend my day blogging and having coffee and a bagel at my new favorite place. It's Brewster's coffee and Big Apple bagels. When I first visited Brewster's I saw this display cooler with GINORMOUS mounds of something that was absolutely mesmerizing. I thought at first they had to be ice cream but NOOOOOOOOOOO, it was something much better, They were big mounds of homemade cream cheese!!! Amazing.

ANY WHO, hopefully I don't have to go to work today and I can just chill out drinking coffee and looking at huge mounds of cream cheese.

One can only dream right?!

Kitchen Update

2009-09-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

This is how I installed the utensil hanging racks, pretty comfortable if I do say so myself!

My beautiful magnetic knife holder and my butcher block

So I hung two tracks underneath my cabinets that hold hooks which hold my utensils. I also bought those 2 white cup things that hold more utensils. I love my new organized kitchen!!

KERI, BAYLOR AND BRODY

2009-09-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

This week I got to speak with my wonderful friend Keri. Anyone who knows me has heard me talk and talk and talk and talk about my friend Keri and her 2 beautiful, insane boys Baylor and Brody. I miss them a ton and hate not being within an hour of their house. I have had so many great memories with those 3; I just think about them all the time.

I have known Keri since highschool and she had just met this boy Lonnie, they started dating and wham, boom, pow they got married and had babies. :) That's the really short version but you don't need the details. I was so excited to meet the first baby. I knew I wanted to be a part of his life when he was born. Baylor was born when I was away at college and when I would come home for breaks I always ventured up to Lisbon to visit. I remember the first time I heard him laugh, I think he was laughing at my laugh but we just went back and forth laughing at eachother on the living room floor. I remember going to the pool with them and playing with tuberware and imitating the choo choo as it went by every 5 mins. I remember when I was babysitting him with his gma Kris Kris and we read the BUGGIE book. Baylor was very enthusiastic about the BUGGIE and when we tried to get him to say BERKLEY he would just yell BUGGIE. I took what I could get :) He then was able to say Berkie and thats who I stayed. I love that name. Especially now that Brody is in the picture and calls me that too. I haven't been able to get as close to Brody as I would have liked but I still love to visit him and hear his laugh and get hugs and kisses from him.

Those boys teach me so much about the joys of life, how to play bubble baseball, how to catch rollie pollies and more than I ever wanted to know about Dinosaurs. There so creative and smart and I miss just being with them watching a show about tractors or playing in the park.

I can't wait to see them again, I know they are growing into such great young men, and with a mother like Keri they are going to be the most creative, polite, considerate, God fearing gentleman the world has seen.

WELL HELLO JAMES ARTHER!!!

2009-09-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

This week my mom came to visit Mon, Tues, and Wed. We had a blast; we hung up all of my IKEA buys from about a month ago so now my kitchen is uber organized and very posh if I do say so myself. We went shopping and found dresses for the upcoming wedding of one of my cousins Ryan and his fiance Angie. They get married on Oct. 3rd here in Lincoln. I'm super stoked for that weekend because Eli and Katie get to come out and see my apartment and I just love spending time with my whole family. I always love the conversations our family has when we get together; there is always so much insight on God, Music, Movies, Politics, and futures plans we're praying for. I learn something new from each of them every single time we get together.

ANYWAYS BACK TO MY MOM

After we shopped and channeled our inner Bob Vila and drilled a bunch of holes in my walls (some used and some now mysteriously hidden) we ventured out to the James Arther winery. Wine tasting has become something that our family really enjoys and I can honestly tell you that this winery trumps them all. It's on beautiful land with amazing trails that take you throughout the vineyard and up to the top of a hill to unveil these majestic views of the countryside. However the best part was the actual wine tasting. I can with out a doubt say that there wasn't a wine we tasted that I didn't like. They were all ooooooooo so good. Plus she gave us practically a half a glass for each wine, so we felt amazazazing. No truthfully we were totally fine but it was soooooo much fun. After we tasted the wine and bought them out of their entire stock, we took our picnic of grill salmon, baguette, Nebraska Cheddar, and an apple up to the top of the hill and sat on swings and had a wonderful lunch with a beautiful view.

I can't tell you how much that visit from my mom meant to me. I love her so much and she is truly my best friend. I miss both of my parents a ton and was really starting to get homesick. My parents don't know this but I would often cry after I would get off the phone with them. Recently I have just felt really lonely and to have her around to hang out with and do stuff with meant the world to me.

LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Catch up

2009-09-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a long time so I thought I would catch everyone up on all the knew happenings and thoughts that have been going on in my life. (like you all care but whatev's)

I have been working night shift for the past few weeks and I have really hated every minute of it. It was so hard to adjust to the new sleeping schedule and it was just really boring. I also had a few encounters with a not so nice employee of mine. I about exploded at her for attacking my family that she knew of here in Lincoln. The kicker is that she knew they were my relatives before she decided to vomit nastiness about my family all over me. I rotate working the day and night shift so hopefully the nights that I work won't be with this particular cohort of mine. :)

Moving on at quite a fast pace me and my cousin Kim when to a Beth Moore simulcast at a local church here in Lincoln and it was absolutely amazing. She talked about Psalms 37:1-9 with a focus on vs. 4 which says "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" The whole weekend she talked about desires and what they are and how in God's perfect timing those desires will present themselves in our lives. The most challenging question about this weekend should be a relatively simple question but me and Kim found it to be a very challenging one. WHAT ARE OUR TRUE DESIRES? that simple but "O" so difficult. We had never really sat down and meditated on what are desires for our lives are and then questioned the fact that HOW DO WE KNOW THERE GOD'S DESIRES FOR OUR LIVES? I have been thinking a lot about these questions and praying for those desires to be God's same desires. I have also been praying for patience during the waiting period. God definitely spoke to me that weekend and it was a well over due wake up call.

That same weekend after the Beth Moore conference I went over to Kim's and got to babysit her 3 kids. I'm pretty sure their more mature than I am but they are such a joy. We played a rigorous game of 4 square and boy o boy did I clean up that game. It was the Mullet team (me) vs. the Animal team (Haleigh, Hannah, and AJ) They all have a favorite animal so it was me against a Horse, Wolf, and a Panther. The Mullet team came from the t-shirt I was sporting that day that has a picture of a man with a fuzzy mullet with the caption..."business in the front, party in the back" absolutely hysterical. My friend Keri so kindly gave the shirt to me and I wear it proudly, especially back in my trailer living days. I had an blast and can't wait to do it again!!!

2 month milestone

2009-08-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Through a lot of prayer and time I have been coming to peace with my place here in Lincoln. Like I have said before God definitely opened all the doors for me to get here and why I doubt him about his decision is beyond me but it happens :/

I know God will give me relationships here in Lincoln but I will have to wait on his timing, which I can do.

ANYWAYS, yesterday I went up to Grand Island, NE which is about 1 1/2 hrs west to visit my nursing school friend Tesia. I got to meet her soon to be sister-in-law and I also got to see their new home that their in the process of buying. It's a beautiful home and I can't wait to see how they make it their own. We had a lot of fun visiting the little grocery store on Main st. in Wood River, NE which is where their house is. The store is called Mr. B's and it was sooooo adorable. I love having Tesh so close, I think she enjoys having me in Lincoln too! ;)

I also realized that I haven't told you any stories from my new nursing job. I have had 1 patient leave AMA(against medical advice), 2 patients with fistula's which is a hole made from one part of the body to another, so my patients were peeing poop and pooping pee (minor stuff like that)...I've been successful on most of my IV stick but some I have had to get help on. I got to celebrate a 66th wedding anniversary with my patient and his wife, they gave me the leftover Olive Garden and some cake, it was a good dinner. I have been blessed to take care of patients and their families who have just received news of new onset cancer. I have been subjected to smells I never thought could come out of a human body, like bloody stools. I have learned how to deal with my patients who are hard of hearing...a true test of patience for sure!!

It's been a great 2 months so far and I can't believe I only have 4 more weeks of orientation...YIKES, I'm definitely feeling more prepared then I was when I first started. I start working the night shift this week, so I'll work from 6:45pm to 7:30am WOOT WOOT, it's be interesting that's for sure.

Reality

2009-08-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I've lived in NE for 2 months and the newness is starting to ware off and the reality is starting to become apparent. I am starting to struggle with the fact that I don't have many connections here in Lincoln. I have so much family around but they are all so busy with their own activities and families which is so important and I don't want to interrupt their quality time at all. I have been connected in a bible study but I'm just not clicking with the girls like I'd hoped so it's hard for me to get motivated to go. I try to go to busy places to surround myself with commotion but a lot of the time I find myself home alone in my apartment. I keep trying to tell myself that it's just a phase that I usually go through whenever I move, I know it takes a while to form relationships but I just have been really praying for someone to talk with and hang out with.

Please pray for those relationships to happen! Please pray for patience and a continued growth in my faith and relationship with Christ.

On the flip side, a new reality has hit me that I have now switched over quite comfortably to the teacher rather than the student. We have had nursing students on our floor and I have found myself loving the fact that I can teach them interesting facts and techniques. I have been able to walk them through their first time giving shots and it brings me back to the excitement of my first time. I remember my first insulin shot. I was only giving 2 units and I gave it in the arm and for some reason I thought the syringe was malfunctioning and that the insulin wasn't injected. I restuck this guy 3 times before I realized there was nothing in the syringe...it was just a really small dose and went in that quickly. :
) ah good times!!! Anyways I just have loved feeling comfortable in the new nursing role and I have also loved making my patient's smile and laugh.

God has given me my dream and has given me the personality to be successful at that dream...ALL TO HIM I OWE FOR THIS NEW REALITY.

GOOD BYE EGG!

2009-07-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is a story of a young lady getting rid of the old and branching out with the new...

Once upon a time in the summer of 2009 a girl named Berkley discovered that her speedometer and odometer no longer worked in her old 1999 Mercury Tracer (aka the EGG). She tried her hardest to keep up with the flow of traffic but somehow always got passed on 2 lane city streets. Then one day when Berkley was being visited by her parents; they stumbled along a wonderful place called Williamson Honda in south Lincoln. It was a beautiful site, so many new shiny cars and so many hungry salesmen hunting for their next victim. They stepped out onto the lot and Berkley immediately fell in love with the lovely Honda Civic...It was a spectacular car with an unbelievable deal attached to it. They looked around and test drove the civic of their choice and it was a done deal.

The next thing Berkley knew her EGG was being traded in for all $600.00 it was worth, (personally she thinks it was worth about $5.00 :) but their the professionals right!) and she was driving away in a brand new Honda Civic!!! Although this new car came with many new responsibilities she knew she had made a wise decision.

The moral of this small tale is that Berkley realized how important her safety was and having a car that vibrated, sputtered and ran at zero miles an hr all the time was not safe. Now she has a new car with airbags, working speedometer and odometer, power locks, cruise control, and great gas milage.

THE END!!

FIRST WEEKEND...CHECK

2009-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my first one to work. It was actually a great experience, on Saturday they closed our floor due to low census so we transferred our 3 patients and just took care of them on a different floor. Then Sunday we worked on the ortho floor, which was OK because I had the cutest old guys to take care of. I learned a ton because I was actually able to slow the pace down a little bit and absorb all that I needed to get done. I got off of work on time too which was a big change as well. Saturday night I went and took care of my cousin Ryan and his fiance Angie's dog Aisley...she was the most adorable chocolate lab EVER!!! she just wanted someone to love on her, so I was good at that. We played with her softball and then we splashed around in her kiddie pool as well. SO MUCH FUN!!

My parents came by on Friday and we went to look at cars....HOLY COW I'm in love, hopefully this will be my last week with my egg..boo hoo NOOOTTTTT!! I'm just excited to put my first pay check and sign on bonus to use, I haven't bought any groceries since my parents stocked me up a WHOLE MONTH AGO!! I can't believe it's already been a month, it seems a lot longer then that.

Last Thursday was super fun too, my friend Tesia from nursing school just moved out to Grand Island, NE a little over an hour away came to visit me. She was already decked out in Nebraska Cornhusker wear, Easiest convert ever. We had so much fun tooling around Lincoln and shopping at Target (aka the best place on earth). I can't wait for her and her fiance to experience the awesomeness that is Nebraska Football...GOOOOO BIIIIGGGGGG REEEEEDDDDD!

WHAT A WEEK!!

2009-07-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Holy cow...this week was an emotional roller coaster. The first 2 days of work were horrible by my standard I guess. I felt like I had absolutely no clue what was going on and I felt like I was so slow at everything. On Monday we didn't get off the floor until 9:30pm. I just felt like a failure to be completely honest. I was even more bummed because I was suppose to go to my first night of bible study with new girls from the Berean church. Well since I worked late I wasn't able to go :( I spent Wednesday and Thursday contemplating on what I need to do during my work day that will enable me to be more successful and efficient. I went into Friday knowing I had plans at the end of the day and with a new found confidence about my nursing abilities. I know what needs to be done and on Friday I was able to redeem myself and I felt a lot more competent in my skills.

God really helped me through this week, just showing me again and again that he wouldn't have clearly opened all of these doors just to shut me down with my first job. I know I'm still a novice and will need a few months to feel comfortable being on my own.

NOW FOR THE GREAT PART OF THE WEEK!!!

JULY 4th WEEKEND WAS SOOOOOO FUN!

I drove to York NE after work on Friday and went to my Uncle Zach and Aunt Lori's house. They have 3 boys Wyatt, Jarrett, and Grant and they are sooo much fun hang out with. My thumb is sore from playing bass on Guitar Hero World Tour. I only played bass for about 3 songs then I took my natural position as the lead singer of our band! On Saturday I went with my cousins to a cabin on a lake and blew up a few fish with fireworks. That's one thing I have missed while living in Iowa, Fireworks were illegal, NOT ANY MORE!!! they are so LEGAL in NE. We had fun blowing things up. I left the cabin with my other cousin Blair and we went to Larry the Cable guy at Memorial Stadium with her brother Drake, and My uncle JB. It was a night full of redneck, Larry look a likes, truly an experience I will never forget. I was privileged to have a primo view of a huge mans butt crack and it believe you me it was like the grand canyon!

On Sunday I went to church with both my uncles and cousins then me and the 3 boys were inspired by Roddick and Federer that we decided to go play tennis. Where I was then defeated by my 12 year old cousin. Oh well we had a great time. That night York had their fireworks display and then I headed home. It was a fabulous weekend, I am so thankful to have family close by.

This weekend I only work on Tues. then the weekend so I'll have lots of free time to lay out by the pool and soak up some rays!!!

Gettin' in the Groove

2009-06-26T20:22:00.001-07:00

So first week down and I have to say it ended a ton better then it started. I took on 3 patients by myself today and 2 were discharged so I got experience with all that paperwork. I feel like I have grown a ton but I really am frustrated at how much I still have to learn, especially since there are nursing students who know more than I do. :( I know I will learn soon, and I will continue to learn more each and everyday from now until I retire but for right now I just feel like I'm screwing up wayyyyyy too much!

This week has been a great week for hanging out with family, I got to babysit my cousins and hang out and Kim and David's (cousins too). I love spending time with that family, they are so full of joy it just puts me in a great mood. I know I say this pretty much about every post but I really have loved having family around, I do however miss having a group of friends to hang out with...Please be praying for some great connections with in the Berean Church I've been going to in Lincoln. They have a tons of opportunities within the church so I just need to be really upfront and outgoing, which is really hard for me, but I'm kind of forced too, unless I want to be a lonely ole' recluse.

O NO

2009-06-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first day on the floor. I wasn't nervous mainly because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I quickly found myself thinking throughout the day..."what have I just gotten myself into". This comment/thought was not about becoming a nurse because I know that's what I am to be but this was about my floor that I am working on. I kept finding myself wanting to be on a cardiac floor and wanting to have more to do than repositioning patients and asking them if they were still nauseous. It was just a hard day. It was the first time I've cried throughout this whole transition process. I think I was still a little bummed from the weekend, It was really uneventful and I missed being able to hang out with my friends. I can't imagine this move to Lincoln without the love of my family because those that live in NE have been absolutely amazing at involving me in their lives and loving on me. I need to realize that God so clearly opened these particular doors for a reason and how can I be dissatisfied? I know I am on this floor for a reason and I know that I will soon become accustom to how the computer systems work and I will soon get into my groove of a nurse. My friend Keri's mom Kris who is like my second mom, and nursing mentor said this would happen and that these feelings are really very normal. She was totally right, I had no idea I would feel this scared. I think it invoked a strange homesickness for the way things used to be at Allen Hospital/college and how I was as a student. It didn't help that there were 6 nursing students on our floor yesterday that just made me think about the wonderful 4 years I spend with all of my closest friends. I know things will get better but for right now it'll just take some getting use to.

As I write this I feel really selfish because I mean this was all apart of God's plan and he knows the great and the bad that will come out of this. What I need to do is just rest in what he has in store and find contentment. So please pray for that, also just pray for confidence and realizing that I am able to be a great nurse to these patient's.

My Apartment

2009-06-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

So I absolutely love my apt. Me and my mom painted all of these random green squares all over. In my bedroom we had the green square and then we hung different silver frames all over. LOVE IT!!

This is my Kitchen/dining room/entertainment/living room portion of my apt.

HERE IS MY BEDROOM...MY FAVORITE!

Almost Done

2009-06-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Only one more day of orientation and then I'll officially be performing patient care! AHH...kind of freakin out a lil bit.

I have had a great past few days. Yesterday at orientation they had play doh on the tables so I made a green butterfly with pink polka dot's and an apple tree with pink apples. I learned sooo much yesterday...NOT. Last night was fun but sad at the same time. I went and had supper with my cousin Kim and her husband David and their 3 kids and then me and Kim went to a purse party! We didn't buy anything but we had some great wine. Then the fiasco started. SO my phone died and I left it at home and while I was gone my cousin Ryan had been trying to get a hold of me and obviously I wasn't answering cuz I didn't have my phone. He ended up getting really nervous for my safety and ended up at my apartment waiting for me until I got home. I felt soooooo horrible. I def. feel loved though, Ryan along with all of my family around here have made me feel so incredibly welcome I haven't felt alone one single day out here. God is sooooo Good.

Today I went to orientation yet again and made a pipe cleaner creation for my pen and then went to my cousin Drake's baseball games here in Lincoln. AND I treated myself to my first RUNZA since I've been here in NE. For those of you who don't know what a RUNZA is...well that just too bad, cuz there super good.

Day 2

2009-06-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ah today was day 2 of my lovely hospital orientation. We discussed important information like back safety and hand washing. I also signed up for all of my benefits; this process was pretty intimidating because I feel like it's a very important decision and I didn't want to mess it up.

I found this really cool place called the Meadowlark and it's this coffee shop that's all organic, shade grown, and fair trade coffee's/tea's/food. The latte was excellent and I can't wait to go back...only next time I won't accidentally turn the wrong way onto the "one way" street to get there :) Thank goodness no one was coming at me!!

After orientation I came home and got my swimsuit on and went to the pool and had my quiet time and wrote in my journal a bit. I also started this new book about the dust storms in the Midwest during the depression. Then I took a lovely nap by the pool and took a dip to cool off.

BOY DID GOD MAKE A GREAT DAY!!!

BOO orientation

2009-06-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of orientation...8 whole hours of brochures, movies, and tours. I wish I could say that this was my first and last day but noooooooo. I have to go for the next 4 days!

I am def. getting used to Lincoln, I haven't gotten lost once! I ventured out to Pier 1 Imports to burn up a gift card from my uncle JB and it was well worth it. I got a new rug, lamp, tray to go on my automan, and sugar and flour canisters. And I got $2.60 back, then I went and spent a fortune on scrubs. Did you know that Grey's Anatomy now has a scrub brand, and let me tell you they are the MOST comfortable thing on the face of this planet.

New to the Blogosphere

2009-06-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

So this is my first blogging experience ever. I was hesitant to even do this but then I thought of ALL of the masses that are just so curious about my exciting life. I decided to fill them in on my new adventures of becoming a nurse and what it's like living back in Nebraska. On Friday I'm pretty sure I signed my life away in many different ways. We got to Lincoln and immediately went to the insurance company to get me off my parent's insurance.....AHHH real life was starting to hit. Then we went to get my apartment keys and sign the lease, again HOLY CRAP the whole grown up thing was starting to become more real. Finally without missing a beat we drove over to Bryan east which is that hospital were I'll work to sign a 2 yr. contract. I can't believe I now have an actual job plus an apartment that is mine and only mine!!!

This was only the beginning of the weekend. Saturday was move in day...

We started promptly @ 9am. My uncle Jim came to help us place everything in my spacious 538 sq. ft. apt. After getting the van unloaded my cousins Ryan and Amy stopped by followed by my Gma and Uncle JB with my 2 cousins Blair and Drake. Then my Uncle Jim came back with my Aunt Judy who so graciously brought over some food essentials like ranch dressing :) Then my cousin Kim and her husband David and their 3 kids stopped over. This was a fantastic ending to a very overwhelming day.

Today me and my parents went to the Berean Church with Kim and David and I loved it. It felt so comfortable to me and presented a TON of opportunities for me to get involved. After the family came over for lunch...we had SLOPPY JOE'S, SLOP SLOPPY JOE'S. Then...everybody left, even my parents. So now I'm sitting in my apartment and it's just me, this is sooooo weird. It will def. take some time to get used to the idea of living by myself.

Pics of the apartment soon...I promise!!