Blogger's Block

So apparently I'm horrible at updating this blog! I'm going to try to be better! ;) Still enjoying FW and exploring it.. I find new stuff each day and I think.."hey cool, I didn't know this was here!!" I think my happiest place to find was Chik fil A... there's one right off of Hulen street which is so fast to get to from my place so I was very excited because before that, I had thought the closest one to me was about 15 minutes away! Just finished up my pedi ICU rotation and while it was WAY beyond the intenseness that I first thought it would be, it was great. I liked it alot, and could see myself being an ICU nurse... I start the night shift tomorow on the neuro/epilepsy monitoring unit and it should be interesting... I've been on days so far and so adjusting to the night shift all over again is probably going to be a challenge. Not only with trying to regulate myself back on days that I'm off but a puppy as well? We'll see how much sleep I actually end up getting these next six weeks!

Just a couple of pics from the past couple months..

Until next time... :)

Puppy Love..

Meet my graduation present...

I hope you're not thinking it's a "little white rat" as my dad joked! It's a maltese puppy and it's what I asked for as a graduation present. Since I've been in college for the past 4 years, I've been wanting a dog so bad but pet fees in the place I live now in lubbock are $1000 per pet---CRAZY. The management's not so great so I knew that even if the house was spotless and no damage I wouldn't be getting any of that deposit back.. so I never did get a puppy.

Now that I'm moving, I can't wait to get this little one! He should be ready just in time after graduation. But... when I was at Barnes & Noble one day I was reading a book about the breed and it was talking about how during house training, the puppy will have to go outside almost every hour... I'm not too sure about how this is going to work during the night yet! I have a few names in mind.. but throw out any suggestions! :)

DFW FUN!

This past weekend my friend Katie & I went to Fort Worth in search of a place to live! And we were successful. We found the nicest apartments right in Downtown and they're less than 5 miles from the hospital I'll be at! They're called Lincoln Trinity Bluff (I'll post a picture!) and they're super cute! They're so modern and there within walking distance of all the cool resturants and places of downtown FW! We're excited about our find!

While we were there this weekend we also went to a Ranger's game. I forgot how much fun baseball games are! The rangers lost, sadly.. but it was still a fun environment to be in. There was a fun fireworks show at the end and it was really fun!

We got a room at the Westin in the Galleria for the remainder of the trip! My kind of hotel... food and shopping right at your footstep :) I also got to spend some time with Lacey, Aaron, and little Audrey. We had a good time, and I'm so glad I got to see them since it had been so long..It was a fun weekend trip! But I'm mostly glad I figured out where I'll be living when I move! Searching was definately chaotic and stressful.. be glad you weren't there!

Today was the last day of my college classes (ever!) and the countdown's at 24 days until graduation!... WOW!

Day & Night..

The past couple of days have been extremely busy and a schedule for sleeping is pretty much non existant. Night clinicals and school don't mix too well! Since I'm used to staying up til around 8am I had trouble trying to go to bed before my major test today. Which by the way though, I passed:) This was a huge exit exam in order to now get OUT of nursing school. It was 180 questions, not even the instructors had a clue the exact topics that were on it, and took me all of the 3 1/2 hours to complete. Let's just say my brain hurt after answering that many questions about things I have learned these past 2 years! To actually graduate, we had to get a raw score of 66.7 which on an NCLEX conversion would equal an 80% chance of passing boards on the first time. My score was a 76.8 which converted to a 95% chance of passing NCLEX on my first attempt!! Prayers were definately answered. So my grade is actually a 95. A 95 in the gradebook for nursing school courses is something to be proud of I think :)
On another note, night clinicals aren't too bad. My rotations are on an oncology floor, which of course can be pretty sad. But the time passes faster than people think, although people do some pretty crazy things.. like overdosing on their own pain pills ontop of narcotics already being given. Yep, smart ones. My preceptor's husband brought us food the other night---home-made roast, potatoes, veggies, rolls, and a salad... That's been my first actual "meal"...especially home-cooked at that, since spreak break! Sandwiches just can't compare.
One month & one day until graduation.. let the countdown begin!

Real World, Here I Come..

This year for spring break I was perfectly fine with not having a planned trip to go on because I knew that this would be the time that I would be having interviews for when I graduate nursing school in May. Other friends of mine said, "No spring break trip? It's your last year?!?!?" I'm sure people thought I was crazy for actually being excited to interview all over during my break. I applied to almost everywhere in the DFW area, but since I want to work with children, my places were limited. They say that there is such a nusing shortage, and it's true... just not in speciality areas such as intensive care areas (especially for children). I've known all along that I wanted to work with children and babies... and after speaking with many different facilities... it began to become a pretty stressful time trying to find the job of my dreams. The week before spring break I recieved a call from Cook Children's in Fort Worth, and I can't believe I kept my cool while I was on the phone. They said that they were interested in bringing me in for an interview. WOW-- I couldn't believe it. I had heard so many wonderful things both internally and externally from many people. When the recruiter spoke with me on the phone, she said to park in the 'castle' parking lot for my interview.. at first I was unsure of where this was, but once seeing the hospital... it really did look like a castle! I can honestly say that my interview day was the most nervous I have ever been in my life. I had heard that 120 people applied, they gave out 80 interviews, and then from that they would be choosing 15 (yep, only 15) for the nurse residency program. Despite my nerves.. I thought my interview went great. The four nurse managers who interviewed me were super nice, and the tour of the hospital I got was amazing. I have never seen a hospital that looked the way this one did---it was unbelievable! My sister, Marci said she has to see it so maybe she'll being me lunch one day when they're back in Texas and I can show it off :) After the week of waiting to hear back from them (which I pretty much mind-blocked the whole experience to not get my hopes up so high) the program director called me and was excited to offer me a position into the program.... and of course I said.. "YES! my answer's definately yes!" She laughed, but I couldn't help not showing my excitement!! After being thrilled for quite some time.. I think I've finally calmed down about it, I'm still so thankful, and I can't wait to start! Just the other day I recieved this comment from a friend of the fam and I couldn't agree more.... "It is your God-given purpose. I guarantee you that you will do great things if you put Him in the driver seat as you embark in your new profession. This your calling to serve."
Have a great day!