Finally done!

I honestly can't believe that I'm done with nursing school.  I dreamed about this day for quite awhile (and frequently cursed along the way) but I'm not sure I REALLY thought it would get here.

It's been an amazing ride.  One that I might actually miss a little tiny bit.  I've had my friends and family put up with me, support me, make me laugh, and let me cry.  Without them I know I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own.  I owe them a big huge thank you! 

ADN Pinning December 2013

Pinning was amazing, I admit I'm a sap (as if you didn't know that already).  I didn't really flat out cry but I did get teary eyed plenty of times.  Sitting there listening to speeches and looking around me at my classmates all dressed up and in graduation gowns was very important to me.  I think ceremony is an important part of beginning and ending things.  I don't know that I'll ever feel that way again, filled with joy, pride, excitement and trepidation for the future. 

I know I've said this before but I'll say it again: at 18 I never would have picked nursing as a career, now I can't imagine being anything else.  I know that this is my calling and it will never just be a job but be part of who I am and what I am. 

I've been so lucky to find this fairly early in life.  I never thought I'd be that person.  It is proof that things do fall into place if you are ready for them when they are ready for you.  Thank you to everyone, but especially my husband.  He never gave up on me, he always believed in me (even when I didn't believe in myself), and he has been my rock, my best friend and so much more.  Thank you for letting me use you as a guinea pig and teach you all kinds of gross diseases so that I could learn them too.  Thank you for everything.  Gabe doesn't realize it yet but he deserves a big thank you from me too, for putting up with an exhausted mom, and one who was maybe a little short sometimes, and didn't always feel like playing or reading one more story.  He's an awesome kid and I know that he's proud of me too.  He talked about my graduation the entire week beforehand, and even though the ceremony part was boring (he's almost 7 after all) I know he will understand someday.  I love you both so much. 

10 days...

In just 10 days I will graduate.  I came across this blog post that I made in May of 2010 with 1094 days and now I'm down to just 10.  I actually cried when I read that one.  I remember it now, but I had forgotten about it.  I hoped I would get here, I worked hard to get here but a part of me didn't REALLY believe I would get here.

 So just remember when you start something even if it's a long way off and there are a lot of days between now and when you finish it will come.  Those days pass anyhow so you might as well be doing something with them!

Appropriate for today since Nelson Mandela just passed away is a quote from him too:
"It always seems impossible until it's done".   I can attest to that! It sure seemed impossible when I started this journey. 

Just one more exam between me and graduation!  I think I might actually be getting excited. 

Almost there!

Nothing like posting in August and then not again til December right?!  Geez!

This semester has been amazing and crazy! I've been lucky enough to do a rotation in a major regional burn center and have found that I love it there!  I'm just 16 days from graduation (EEK!) and I'm really hoping that a job opens up there and I can stay.  The nurses and patients have all been simply spectacular.  The things I have learned there can't be quantified.  I never thought I'd be the kind of person that would find a job that I really really really loved and if I won the lottery I'd do this job for free. 

Right now the schedule looks pretty awesome, this week is my last clinical day, then the HESI.  Next week is my last exam and then just a presentation after that.  Pinning is coming quick and I have a dress and presents for my friends all set! It is going to be amazing.  I simply can not believe how far we've all come since starting this program.  I feel like a nurse now, I feel like I can do this, I feel like this is what I'm meant to be here doing. 

I want to take my NCLEX ASAP after graduation so I can really start working too.  I'm hoping by the second week in January at the latest, it depends on quickly school gets my info in to the state. 

Here's to the next chapter and starting out as a brand new nurse and being the new kid on the block and terrified all over again.  I know I can do this!

Bring it on!

It's taken a long time to get here.  To this place where I can say that I'm starting my final semester of school (for now).  To say that this is the one that matters.  It's been a long time coming, and the road hasn't always been easy but I have to say that in a way I've really loved every minute of it. 

This semester I know I will be challenged, AGAIN, in ways I can't see coming.  I will stretch the limits of my brain, the amount of sleep, the stress, and the fun and joy of this journey.  I will spend time with women that I call friends, women I couldn't even fathom having like them in my life.  Without them I wouldn't be here either. 

My family has given so much, sacrificed so much and been there when I need them.  They will not really ever know how much I am thankful for that.  My husband has been especially important and he's put his things on hold just so that I (we) could do this too.  He's a pretty amazing person, my best friend and the one person I know I can't live without.  I love you hon! 

I hope that I can be the kind of nurse that I would want to work with, the kind I would want as a patient and the kind that continues to learn and grow and never becomes jaded.  I hope that I have a job I love (or at least like) and it happens soon LOL! 

I am ready, I've been building to this for so long.  I had no idea that this is what it would feel like.  I can do this, I can be this, I am MEANT to be this. BRING IT ON!

RAWR!

I'm a horrible blogger, I know this (and so does anyone who actually checks this page) because I only post VERY sporadically but when I do it's because I've been thinking.

Today I was thinking that my birthday is in 2 weeks.  I was thinking that I'll be starting my last semester of school.  I went back and read some of the things I posted that first semester and HOLY COW! That was a pretty scared and stressed out woman.  I feel different now.  I feel like I might know where I fit, and if I don't that's okay I'll find it.  I can't believe that I'll be starting the last 16 weeks pretty darn quick here, and then the real work starts right?  My only regrets are that I didn't start this sooner and that my Grandpa won't be there to see me graduate. 

I've really begun to feel like I'm ME and that even with all the imperfections and things I'd like to change that I'm okay with me :D There's always work to be done and the best any of us can hope for is to have the time and desire to change things. 

Tomorrow I have a date with my hubby for Darius Rucker and I'm looking forward to that, then we have Miranda Lambert on Aug 11 and then I'll be gearing up for school pretty darn quick! Gabe will be starting FIRST grade in Sept! Here it comes! I'm going to really try and blog the last semester well so that when I'm an old haggard lady I'll remember what this one felt like too, because I sure wouldn't remember that 1st semester if I hadn't written it down too. 

Here's to the beginning of the end.... of this journey at least I'm looking forward to it, and to the beginning of the next journey too.

Three semesters down! One more to go!

Yesterday I finished my 3rd semester of nursing school.  That means I'm 3/4 of the way to being a nurse, for real!  I started with my pre-reqs in January 2010 and will graduate in December 2013.  Not too shabby for someone who never attended college and had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up, after the veterinarian thing was out at least. 

Looking back on the last three semesters is a blur.  I have made some really awesome friendships that I hope last a lifetime.  I have met some amazing instructors and mentors that I know have made me a better person and will make me a better nurse.  I have learned so many things from text books, lectures, videos, discussion and most of all my patients. 

There were times that this has been fun, really!, there have been times where this was hard, A LOT!, and there have been times I wasn't sure I was going to get through the next day...but I have.  My family has been so wonderful and understanding about everything.  I really couldn't do this without my husband's support. 

This summer Gabe and I will be home having fun, and hopefully that new pool will go up easily! This summer will be the last time that I'm home full time like this.  So we're going to enjoy it doing as many free things as we possibly can. 

Here's to an amazing summer and just one more semester of school before I'm officially a nurse....and then the real hard work begins and I simply can not wait!!

Self portrait

Gabe's self portrait. Kindergarten.

MS Muckfest 2013

MS Muckfest 2013 Donation!!

I just registered for the MS Muckfest!!  It's not til September so I have time to train.  It's a 5 mile mud run with obstacle course things.  I have really crummy upper body strength so that is the part I will need to work on the most. 

Anyone that would consider it please donate to our team "Not MSing Around" Just a few dollars at a time really adds up and can make a difference.  This is near and dear to our hearts here and the research this could fund might just be the difference that we need!  Please donate!!

48 days/260 days

It's spring break and right now there are 49 days til the end of this semester.  That also means that there are only 260 days til graduation. Of course that means spending the summer home again this year with my most favorite little human. 

I think about how I felt at this time last year, that I was drowning, that no one could possibly survive this thing called nursing school, that I would never finish, that I was never going to feel like a nurse, that I was terrified....so much more.  I feel different now.  I can see where I'm going and I can see how I'm going to get there (most of the time).  I know that I feel confident in some of the stuff I know and have learned.  Of course there is so much more to learn, there always will be, but I know stuff.  I know the answers, I just have to BELIEVE that I know them.

I enjoy clinical even when it means extra homework, because I like being on the floor.  I like spending time with patients.  I can see myself doing this job for the rest of my life.  I know this is what I'm supposed to do.  I may not always know what kind of nurse I'll be but I know that I'm supposed to be a nurse. 

In 260 days I'll be done with school.  I started this journey in January 2010 with my pre-reqs and I have met some amazing people along the way.  I have learned so much about myself, and I have been shown time and again how wonderful my family it (even when they drive me nuts).  I really can't imagine myself doing this without them.  I'm sure that I don't tell them that enough but I hope they know that. 

I can not wait to be done with this portion of school, to take my NCLEX and call myself a nurse.  On the flip side I'm terrified to be an official nurse that someone expects knows the answers.  It's going to be exciting.  Right now I'm focused on surviving this year, one day at a time.  Left foot, right foot, breathe.  Keep calm and nurse on!

4-1-13

Not a bad way to spend the day on spring break

3-24-13

Hung up the snake in Gabe's room

3-16-13

Checkerboard cake!

3-15-13

Baked layers for the checkerboard cake.

3-14-13

Resting happily

3-9-13

Studying respiratory diseases at Starbucks.

3-8-13

My lovely family.

3-5-13

My PN diploma came today!! More emotional about it than I thought I would be actually!!

3-3-13

My mom scored a huge Playmobil box from a rummage sale. This is just the Circus. Gabe loves it!!

3-2-13

Playing poker with my boys.

3-1-13

Chef looking like a statue. He hasn't moved in quite awhile.

2-26-13

14 boxes of Girl Scout cookies at my house now. Mwhaha

2-24-13

Gabe enjoying the car show

2-23-13

Studying respiratory on a Saturday.

2-22-13

Lewis has lots of toes, 6 on every foot! He's a funny cat too.

2-19-13

Settlers of Catan Jr.

Gabe won again!!

2-17-13

First stew in the new Dutch Oven. I wish you could smell it!

2-16-13

First 3D movie "Wreck It Ralph" last night.

2-15-13

Cat in drawer.

365

Valentine's Day

365

Mama and Gabe!

2-11-13

Because it is the week of Valentine's pics that I love:

2-9-13

Not snowmageddon here but still very pretty right across the street from home.

2-5-13

Gabe was a PAWS student! Effort is a big thing for him so I am extra proud. We will be going to the assembly on Friday!

2-4-13

Click on it to make it bigger and easier to read. It's interesting.

2-3-13

He's cute asleep. He had a sinus headache most of today but seems better now.

2-1-13

Gabe wrote the month for me!
And yes it is color coded for each person.

1-31-13

Gabe made these at school and brought them home.  I really love this kind of thing!

1-30-13

This is the pic for the 30th. It didn't upload last night ;)

This is my winter morning look lol!

1-28-13

Because I thought I needed some flowers that's why!

1-26-13

Drunken cat?!

1-25-13

Family Game night

1-24-13

When the windchill is Antarctica this is what Gabe wears to walk one block. His face gets covered with the scarf before he leaves too.

1-23-13

Super Bee for being extra good from school. Dinner at Culvers night for the school.

1-22-13

My "little" brother's 27th birthday today!

1-21-2013

Pretty obvious one for today. MLK day and the second inauguration of President Obama. I am moved now like I was four years ago.

1-19-13

Dave and Busters with Jer, Sam, Shawn, Mallory and Mike.

1-18-13

Super G!!!

1-17-13

Reading on his own!

1-16-13

Boy home sick. He's watching Mythbusters.

1-15-13

Walked home "by himself" for the first time today. Really with 4 girls lol!

1-14-13

Weights today. My butt hurts from squats too.

1-13-13

Breakfast for dinner! Gabe set the table.

1-12-13

One happy muddy dog! Plus good exercise for Sarah and me too.