Monday, August 31, 2009

Two Weeks Down.

It's hard to believe that two weeks of my senior year already went whooshing past; some of my friends are only starting classes now! This past weekend was wonderful---a great mix of study and fun. My roommate and I have made a determined commitment to get homework finished before Sunday so that Sunday can truly be a day of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Granted, it means working our little tooshies off on Friday and Saturday (when most people are socializing) and then being bored on Sunday (when most people are doing homework and can't socialize), but it is still rewarding and refreshing.

Anyway, after classes and work on Friday afternoon, we took a girls-trip to Aldi's, Wal-Mart and the library... with each stop adding it's own unique success. Foods, necessities, non-necessities, books. At the library I picked up two books, the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, upon Karissa's recommendation during our summer travels. Friday evening we spent some time working on homework. Saturday, I did laundry in the morning and worked on homework in the morning and afternoon. Around 4:00 Katie and I decided that we were going to work until 6:30, at which time we would stop and make grilled-cheese and watch MASH and ER. After a few episodes, we watched "EverAfter" with some girls from the hall and then headed to bed!

...which meant that Sunday was church, adoptive family's house for lunch, fun reading, phone call home, uploading Peru pictures, and more ER episodes, plus dinner date with (almost) the whole hall!

Today brought the reality of school back full-force! The weekend went by so quickly, but four hours of lecture beginning at 8:00 a.m. with only a one-hour break for chapel quickly reminded us of our full-time jobs as students. After class I grabbed a super-quick lunch (pizza, soup, and veggies) before heading to work, where I am answering phones and doing odds-and-ends tasks until 5:00 p.m. today.

Tomorrow we begin clinical, the "real deal." We'll begin by helping a nurse with her patients; in following weeks we will have one patient that we are responsible for, then in the last couple of weeks we will have two patients that we are responsible for. It's always nerve-wracking to start clinicals! Do I really remember how to do these things? Can I really do them?!

But, I am looking forward to this rotation; we are in the Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital, a good hospital. It's a bigger, newer hospital than the sites of my previous clinical experience, so I am glad that I get to have my "area of interest" rotation in a hospital comparable to the hospitals at home.

We have a drug quiz at clinical tomorrow, which I definitely need to study for!! After clinical tomorrow and Wednesday, we have classes again on Thursday and Friday, with nothing exceedingly special about those classes. Then it's a 3-day weekend because of labor day!! Wahoo!!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Start. For the Fourth (but last!) Time.

We officially began our senior year of college on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. with Adult and Child Health Nursing. It was nice to have a short week with only three days of classes; a good dose of getting started, but not too overwhelming... or at least we tried to let it overwhelm us!

This coming week will be a packed week, I know... and definitely not my favorite kind of week. Monday is class and work from 8:00 until 5:00; Tuesday is class from 8:00-4:00 with skills revalidations at 5:30 (yikes!! I'm not a fan of these nervewracking events called validations!); Wednesday, clinical orientation from ?? to ??; Thursday, class from 8:00 to 3:20; Friday class and work from 8:00-2:00.

These days are long and there is definitely a lot of work involved with ACH and Nursing Research, but similar to last year, we're trying to maintain an open-door policy... in that, sure, we'll be working on homework a lot, but we're always here to listen and talk and pray if someone needs to do so. We've got a little sign on our door that reminds people of this, and a second sign (or rather, set of notes) that say "Need a hug? Need to talk? Need a tissue? Need (or want) a piece of candy? Come on in, we're here for you!"

That's an update on life at this point. Not too much out of the ordinary routine of classes, work, and girl time in the dorm! I'm still trying to decide about participating in a Bible study or not... whether I can commit to a group like that this year. I'm not planning to do the pregnancy center ministry due to my work/class schedule on Mondays/Tuesdays.

But, I'm excited about the Lord's plans for this year. This year holds possibilities and opportunities that no other year held, many of which are unbeknownst to me of course, so it will be interesting to watch the year unfold and strive to glorify God in the journey!

Just for kicks and giggles...

Currently reading: the Purpose Driven Life
Currently listening to: Hillsong United, the One Heart Revolution
Currently drinking: lemonade
Currently eating: nothing. I'm full from afternoon snacks and supper.
Currently watching: maybe I'll watch some ER or a short part of a movie before I head to bed.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Making My (temporarily permanent) Home.

Here's a peek into the setup of our dorm room, at this stage (sorry that the pictures are in no particular order). I'm the only one here, but my roommate will come soon and then it will look much more complete!! I'll try to post more pictures when it's closer to the "final product"! : ) The first picture is of our little relaxation/encouragement spot... kleenex and a candy dish seemed appropriate for senior year of nursing school! : ) The second picture exhibits the awesome door hangers my mom and I found at a local art store. Hi-lar-i-ous.

For now, I am thankful for the air conditioning and large room... and for a few days to catch my breath before we have a big test on the first day of classes on Wednesday!

Check back later for more pictures!













Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Last Time For This

No, this is not my last blog post (go ahead, take a breath). Rather, it is the last time I need to wrap up summer vacation to prepare for another school year. It is my senior year already! Wow! Next year, real life begins... hmmm...

In the meantime, I've been enjoying some simple pleasures of life.

A new cell phone. Two thirds of the phones on our plan bit the dust, so we were able to upgrade. And because we keep phones a lot longer than the average customer, we got free upgrades, or free phones. Double wow! I didn't know that the system worked that way; but, it certainly speaks to Americans' discontentment with any technology that is "lagging behind" what is up-and-coming, which is also sad. Three years isn't all that long to own a phone, and most people don't even keep them that long. Yikes!

Great thrift store and free bin finds. In the last two weeks I've managed to end up with 4 knit shirts, two swing jackets, a new business skirt (which also miraculously matches my navy suit jacket, so now I have the choice of a suit with a skirt, or a suit with pants), pink high heels, a cute black stand/rack... perfect for something in the dorm room, if space allows, and a few picture frames!

Spiffy new glasses. A new style for me, but I love it! Some days I wear my glasses just for the fun of it.

Printing pictures and quotes. Planning to design, arrange and display pictures and quotes in my picture frames, because I love to have a dorm room that is sprinkled all over with photographs, quotes, and verses. It's the perfect day-brightener!

A wild black cherry gelati at Rita's. On one of the hottest days of the summer; thanks Dad!

Minimizing my life into plastic tubs and cardboard boxes. Oh the joys of packing for school! Perhaps one of those pleasures you quickly grow tired of! But, it's the last time I'll have to do it... at least for now.

Writting in my journal. A habit and hobby that guarantees to calm me, rejuvenate me, relax me, refresh me, reinspire me...

Maybe that's a good enough list for now... In other moments, I've been studying for a big test that we have on the first day of classes... comprehensive over many of the subjects we've learned about in the last year and a half or two. Ugh.