2 month milestone

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

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!

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

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!!

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

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

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.