Night Shift Diaries: Final Installment

I finished my final capstone shift a few weeks ago at UVRMC. I must say, it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be to finish. 

I've grown so much through this experience, and discovered that what I am really capable of. 

I've learned to be fiercely independent in caring for my patients. 

I've also learned that it's perfectly okay to ask for help. 

I have learned that having a good group of people that you work with can make any night pretty fantastic, despite the patient load or the "crankiness" of those patients. 

I built friendships and relationships that I hope to keep for quite some time. 

I found that I secretly (or not so secretly) love working night shift.

A few highlights from my last night shift as a nursing student:

-Addictions

Myles is an addict going through withdrawal.

Actually, he's an addict to students who do all his work.

On my last shift, he mentioned it was good that he had worked the day before too, because then he could go through withdrawal and get one last hit before I was really done.

He was complaining that he was going through withdrawal and actually had to do his own work.

Of course, he was kidding.

But it made me feel pretty good to know I had actually been helpful and not a drag.

Since finishing, I have visited a few times. 

Each time, Myles reminds me that he misses my help.

We've decided we make an excellent team and could handle anything.

-Laughing

The 6th floor is a great place to laugh about balls and weenies.

Meat balls, that is.

And the little sausage weenies in barbecue sauce.

Generally, the 6th floor is a great place to laugh hysterically about anything.

-Polygamy

We had a polygamist patient on the floor.

Myles said he might ask me to be his wife.

I replied that IF he asked me that, I would punch him in the balls.

-Excellent work ethic

On my last shift, Myles and I split up the work to divide and conquer.

I complimented (very sarcastically) his excellent work ethic.

He helped get all of our stuff done before I left.

His reasoning: he has to get used to doing all his own work again.

-Homemade brownies

I seriously would bring brownies at least every other week.

It's nice to have a little treat to help you make it through the evening.

Everyone loves them.

It's nothing crazy. Just a fudge brownie and a dark chocolate brownie mixed together.

Myles was eating one of said brownies.

Then he made a smart ass comment to Mycami, and started choking.

We couldn't help but laugh.

That's what you get.

-Your mom jokes.

Traci came into the break room while we were eating lunch and had to share the following two jokes.

Admittedly, they were stupid.

And that's why it was so funny.

Joke #1: Your mom's so dumb she bought tickets to Xbox live.

Joke #2: Your mom's so ugly she went to a One direction concert and they ran the other direction.

-Last highlight of the evening: I started an IV on Myles!

Success. I've still got it.

Guess it wasn't too painful after all.

And so ends my night shift career (for now) on the 6th floor at UVRMC.

It's been real.

And I really loved each moment of it.

How could you not with so many awesome people to work with?

I can't wait to go back.

Night Shift Diaries: Installment 2

This morning I finished my first 3 in a row.

Let's just say I slept from 7 till 3 today after I got home.

It was totally wicked.

I finally feel like I'm getting it.

The confidence thing is getting better and better.

I can do an assessment and chart it without much difficulty.

I took 3 patients on my own this week, and then helped with the other patients as well.

I actually feel like I'm making progress and one day I'll actually be able to take 6 patients. 

It's a great feeling.

I got home on Tuesday morning and threw my scrubs in the washer.

I took a nap, switched the wash, and got ready for work.

I went to work, and then came home to get ready for clinical.

HUGE problem: my white scrub top was dirty.

AFTER being washed.

The sleeves have a weird grey hue to them and the whole shirt has weird spots on it.

What gives!

So instead of getting the brownies finished, I had to leave early to go buy a new scrub top.

Sucked. I had to bring brownies because Myles and I lost a bet.

You see on Monday night, we were watching Love it or List it while eating lunch.

We bet with Bruce (the pct) that they would love the house. He thought they would list it.

Loser brought dessert. 

Myles and I lost. They listed the house.

Anyway, so I left the brownies at home.

Dan so sweetly and lovingly brought them to me at the hospital around 9.

It was so nice to see him for a few minutes.

We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like because I'm doing nights. 

It's all in the little things for us these days.

And the brownies were a huge hit!

The second highlight of the evening was not a pretty one.

I have smelled some pretty awful things in the last 3 years of nursing school.

Truly.

I know everyone who works in health care has inadvertently smelled some pretty terrible things.

But never have I ever actually started to heave because of a smell.

I've come close, but have always been able to pull myself together and soldier on.

Last night, it happened.

I started gagging and heaving at a smell.

Myles had warned me about it, but I figured it's just like the other smells.

You just don't breathe through your nose and really just don't breathe at all if you can help it.

It didn't work.

Oh heavenly days I was so glad that no one could see me and that any inflection in my voice didn't change.

I walked right back out, with a good excuse of needing to get some clorox wipes.

It was the strangest feeling!

My eyes were watering and I could feel my blood pressure dropping.

Seriously, I've never actually almost thrown up because of a smell.

Now I can check that off the bucket list. 

Thankfully after 5 min or so of pulling myself together, I walked right back in and finished the task.

No gagging or heaving.

I know this is totally disgusting, but it's these little gems that I want to remember.

Stinky smells are not gems per say, but it's an impactful memory for me. 

One that reminds me that I can do anything when I have the drive and motivation to get it done.

Another gem that I forgot to blog about:

A week or so ago, we had a patient that had CBI.

Unfortunately, the catheter kept clotting off so we would have to slam in 60mL of saline to try to break up the clots.

If the catheter is not super securely held, the force of pushing in the saline will pop the syringe right off.

I was helping Myles and when he started to push in the saline, I got sprayed.

No joke.

With bloody, urine saline.

Disgusting.

But seriously hilarious.

Myles felt so bad, but it was super funny.

Especially now.

Anyway, there's the funnies for the last few weeks.

On a bright note, I am more than halfway done with my clinical shifts!

10 down. 8 to go!!

Night Shift Diaries: Installment 1

I worked at the hospital last night. 

It was epic. For several reasons. 

Let's start from the top.

Myles was charging, so I had to be there an hour earlier than the usual 6pm.

Normal 5 o'clock traffic getting off the freeway in Provo.

I switch lanes because the left turn lane is 3 blocks away.

I notice that everyone in front of me is slowing down.

Expected. 5 o'clock traffic. 

Then it's a sudden stop.

I could've crapped a brick. I was not expecting it. 

Thankfully, I had space to stop without totally slamming on the brakes. 

Then the dead stop doesn't start to move again. 

For 1 minute. 2 minutes. 3 minutes.

In my head, I'm thinking what the heck is going on?!

I started looking around and that's when I saw a guy writhing in pain on the road. 

Motorcycle sideways on the street. 

My heart completely sank. 

In that moment, I was reassured that neither my husband nor my children will ever own a motorcycle. 

We then continued to sit there for 10 more minutes or so. 

The police show up. Then the ambulance and the fire truck. 

Thankfully, the guy looked okay because he was moving around some, and he had a helmet on.

The next few minutes were interesting. 

I had to reverse my car a block to get around the accident.

It was an experience I hope never to do again. 

I stopped by Dan's work to quickly say hello and goodbye.

You see, I was already late. 

I was supposed to be on the floor at the hospital as I pulled into Dan's work.

I had to stop though. 

I wouldn't see him for the next 12 hours and even then, only for a few precious moments before he would have to leave for work.

Working nights kind of sucks a lot in that respect.

But it's okay. We make the time in those little moments.

When I got back into the car to leave, it wouldn't start.

Seriously. WTF.

Guess what? I pulled in so fast that I didn't shift the car into park.

In fact, it was stuck in reverse.

*Palm to face.*

Dan came to the rescue and all was well.

Finally made it to the hospital 15 minutes late. Not the end of the world. 

The shift was awesome.

Actually, a little on the slow side.

But it turned out to be brilliant.

Probably the best shift I've ever had in terms of morale.

Tracey, Myles and  I all got the giggles around 330 and we were doomed since then.

I'm sure most of it was the tired and too much caffeine.

But it was hilarious.

So much in fact Myles and I would go into fits of giggles for the rest of the shift.

I had to leave the charge nurse report because I couldn't stop laughing.

I tried to compose myself and come back in.

I opened the door and looked at Myles and immediately started right in laughing again.

The best part about it all, it was the kind of laughing that makes your stomach hurt.

And then you start crying because you just can't help yourself.

It was fantastic.

Now, to get some sleep and then go for round 2 tonight.

Bring it on.

I'm making brownies and we may be teaching Myles how to twerk.

Stay tuned.

Night life

I did my first night shift on Friday. 

Holy cow it was exciting/nerve racking/interesting/fulfilling/exhausting.

Did you catch all that? 

I'm very proud to say that I survived and with only minimal caffeine. 

But we'll get to that part. 

I was supposed to work on Friday, but I had told Scott that I wouldn't be in because it was my first shift and all that jazz. I had planned to run a few errands in the morning, take half a benadryl around 11, sleep till 3, and then get ready to go. 

First shift and all, I wanted to be prepared and ready to go. 

As all well-laid plans go, it went straight to hell.

Not even kidding. 

I got guilted into coming into work, and what was supposed to be only an hour to help with charts turned into 2.5 hours and lunch to Masa (which if you've never been, GO!! Right now. Delicious.).

After finally getting home, I started getting ready and suddenly was completely dreading going to clinical. 

It's that awful pit feeling in your stomach.

I get it every semester before the first clinical. 

This was no different. 

Except no preassessment on my patient.

And it's night shift. 

NBD.

I stopped by Dan's work on the way to clinical, said hello, I love you, all that cute gushy stuff that married people say to each other. Reminded him of a few things I needed him to do when he got home, and I was off. 

Walking into the hospital, I had a minor moment of panic. You see there are 2 sets of elevators at UVRMC: the west elevators and the east elevators, the latter being the ones I needed to take. However, I didn't know the east elevators existed. 

I've only been on the west elevators to see a friend who had a baby.

Those elevators only go up to the 4th floor.

I needed to get up to the 6th floor. 

In my minor moment of panic, I decided to keep walking around the corner hoping and praying that another set of elevators would appear. 

Lo and behold, there they were. In all their shiny chrome glory. 

My preceptor is awesome. Hands down he's pretty legit. 

His name is Myles and I'd say we're in for a rocking semester. 

It's always nice when within 5 minutes of meeting someone you can joke around and be laughing. 

We had a great night. Fairly uneventful. New admit, and an adventure down to radiology. 

Did I mention I didn't get a nap at all on Friday? 

Well, I paid for that dearly between the hours of 1 and 3 am. 

Nodding off, my body practically begging for some sleep.

My preceptor even told me I could go take a quick nap. 

To which I definitely declined.

Seriously, never forgetting that again. The nap, I mean.  

I had a great and glorious plan to forego the caffeine. 

As I mentioned above, like most greatly laid plans, that went straight to hell. 

I finally caved around 245 and found the nearest vending machine. 

Surprisingly, I sipped it very slowly. Not really sure why, but it helped. 

I didn't get this huge jolt/rush of caffeine to my system. So, while I did wake up, I didn't crash 2 hours later, which was a huge blessing.

I just knew if I could make it to 4 am I would be totally fine. 

The rest of the evening whisked right on by, and before I knew it, we were giving report to the oncoming nurse. And when I say we, I mean Myles.

Let's be honest: first shift, the only thing I was super comfortable with besides head to toe assessments was hanging IVs. 

Got that in the bag. 

I learned a few great tips from Myles in the first shift: 

1. Chart as you go. That way it never gets put off and you don't have to remember what you did. 

2. Be a real human being with the patient's. 

I know that last one sounds pretty obvious, but it was really refreshing to see someone actually implement it. Sometimes, and I'm definitely guilty of it, nurses get too busy and too caught up in what they need to get done, that they don't take a minute to just sit with the family and talk to them. It was great to see that put into action and how well it works. 

And because we could all use a good duck face at 630 am after being awake for 23 hours....

One shift down, 17 to go. 

Oh brother. 

LAST first day of school

Well ladies and gents, it actually happened. I have finally started my VERY LAST semester of nursing school EVER!!!!! <-- If you can't tell how I feel about it, take a look at all those exclamation points. I'm excited to say the least. 

As first days go, it was fine. Boring. Overwhelming. And almost a somber feeling. This is the last first day of school I will have until I get super crazy and go back for a masters degree. This is the last first day I will have with this amazing group of people I have been so privileged to embark on this journey with. But it was also a very happy feeling. We are nearly there. We did it. We survived MedSurg. And then we all survived ICU despite those awful quizzes. The homestretch is here...finally. 

I can honestly say though, I thoroughly enjoyed every last drop of summer. I did not do a single NCLEX prep question, or worry about any assignments. That was pure bliss. 

I will be doing my capstone rotation on the 6th floor at UVRMC. Night shift. It should be fun. I'm a little worried about staying awake at night, but I'm sure it will be fine. Just an adjustment. Dan is a little sad about having to sleep alone, but Ruby will totally snuggle up to him! He'll be just fine. 

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear." 

Capstone: prepare to be demolished. 

Xxo, me.

High on life

You guys...today has been a great day. Phenomenal, in fact. I did not think it would end this way, considering everything I had to do today.

Last night, I was studying and finishing up some homework that was due this morning. I went to bed around 12:30 and woke up at 5 this morning to get everything finished. No sleep for nursing students. Anyway, I get ready, finish the homework and head to school. We had a Professionalism Conference today...blah. Really, these things are kind of a drag. The keynote speaker always loses me 15 minutes into the presentation. It didn't help today that I had to study for a test I was taking later that day. 

To make it even better, they dimmed the lights. It should be cardinal rule during any presentation that extends longer than 30 minutes that you MUST do the following:
1. Keep the room cold--okay, not so much cold, but definitely NOT warm
2. Keep the bright lights on
3. Be engaging, or at least entertaining--powerpoint is not engaging. Or at least that's what they tell us in school. And it wouldn't hurt if they threw in a joke every now and then.

So anyway, we get through the keynote speaker (hallelujah) and then we had 3-30 minute break out sessions. Usually these are kind of a drag too. Surprisingly, and gratefully, today they were not. They were actually quite interesting. Well, 2/3 were interesting, which is a pretty good run for these professionalism conferences.

We get lunch, and then some of us had to rush off to a Global Health information meeting. Next summer, we get to participate in a global health semester, which is the semester where most people go abroad (Ghana, Tonga, Taiwan, India...). I have always planned on staying in Utah for this semester--I'm a little attached to my husband and sleeping in my own bed next to him. Today, I had quite a little revelation, or inspiration. Whatever you want to call it. It was awesome! And a little daunting.

The instructors started talking about the group that goes to Washington D.C. for their study abroad. Something about their little 2 minute presentation really spoke to me, and I just had this feeling, the small little ones in the back of your mind, telling me that's where I wanted to and needed to go. I went to a little informational meeting about it, and I kept getting more and more excited.

But the excitement had to be put on hold. I had to study for a test, which proved to be quite difficult. I could not for the life of me focus. But FINALLY (after 3 hours of dinking around trying to study), I buckled down, studied hard, and sailed pretty well through the test. I was so happy with my grade! It was an entire letter grade improvement from the first test--who wouldn't be happy with that.

Then I was able to get back to the excitement of Global Health. I talked to Dan, and he instantaneously said yes! I had to ask him 3 or 4 or 10 times if he was sure he was okay with me being gone for 8 days and spending a little extra money to go to D.C. He was. He's awesome!! So kids, I did it. I signed up to go to D.C. for my global health study abroad and I'm so so excited about it. And Dan is already brainstorming ways for us to help raise a little money to pay for some of the cost to go (he really is the best husband ever!).

Anyway, I'm a little high on life right now. I've had a great day, which is quite the change from Friday (thank goodness) and I just feel so so blessed in my life to have married the man I did, to be at the school I'm at, and to be in this wonderful nursing program that has presented me with countless opportunities to grown, succeed, and diversify myself from other nursing students. I feel truly and richly blessed.

Happy Monday everyone!

*Side note: I realized that I should probably blog more often so that it's not just "I hate my life" rants and "Life is awesome" posts. Just a thought--it may or may not happen. I just can't quite commit to that one.

Pulling my hair out

I feel like this is my life right now. Today. Tomorrow. This week. This whole damn semester. 

I wouldn't be all that surprised if by the end of the semester I have some grey hair, or my hair is falling out. It's ridiculous to say the least. So much for this being the "easy" semester of nursing school. It's already turning out to be much more difficult that Med-Surg. Not in the content, but in the amount of work they're asking us to do. You guys, it's a freaking joke. 

Care for a sample? 

For tomorrow, I have to have read 2 chapters in my Mom/Baby book (mind you these chapters are like 80-100 pgs long each), 30 pages plus another 80 page chapter for Pediatrics, and then 4 different articles for Ethics. 

Oh and to add icing to this cake, I have a public health module that I have to complete by the end of the week...which let's be real for a minute--it's a waste of my freaking time. I pay my college tuition not so I can do it online, but so I can sit in a classroom and have instructors teach me. Ugh. We won't get into that.

I feel like in a nutshell, this semester is a mess. It's all over the place and so completely disorganized I can't even stand it. I try so hard to keep myself organized and I just feel more and more frustrated with each email that I get telling me about a different assignment, or changes to an assignment. I kind of want to scream at someone to get their shit together. The faculty expect that out of us, don't you think it's rightly fair that we expect that out of them? 

I get that occasionally there's going to be changes, and not everything works out in real life as well as it looks on paper. But really, it's like one thing after another. And I'm over it. Done. Checked out. Ready for it to be Christmas break and onto a new semester. 

At the end of the day, this is what my life feels like. A complete and utterly disgusting mess. And I hate it. It gives me so much stress because everything is all over the place despite my best efforts to keep it organized. Not joking-I have a planner (that I'm ACTUALLY using this semester to write everything down) and a white board that's probably 3-4 feet long with a gigantic calendar drawn on it and all of my assignments color coded so I know what's what. I'm pretty freaking organized. 

But it's still not enough. I probably should consider investing in a personal secretary to keep me on task and getting my assignments completed. 

Because, at the end of the day...I feel like this. Crash and burn. 

At some point...somethings gotta give. At some point...this will all get better. At SOME POINT...I will look back on these days and laugh...or at least smile. Right?

A little pick me up

This week went from fairly low key to crazy intense and stressful in matter of hours. Such is life.

Today I made a list, like I always do, of all the things I absolutely HAVE to get done by certain days (ex. Process paper due Wednesday night) and then off to the side all the things I should really get started on (ex. End of Life teaching paper due April 15th, Research executive summary due April 15th).

Today, I started to feel overwhelmed, like I always do, when I saw that mountain of a list to climb by the end of the week.

Today...turned out a little bit differently though thanks to this little gem.

John 14:3-4

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

This was in my End of Life class, and we were talking about legal and ethical issues at end of life (advanced directives, power of attorney, etc.). However, it hit me a little differently in the sense that all the work and effort I am putting into this life and especially my education is valuable, and it means something not only to me here, but in the next life as well. And Christ knows how hard I have been working to achieve this goal and the struggle it's been. He has not forgotten me, and while I'm busting my butt here to make that goal a reality, He is preparing a place for me.

In my Father's house there are many mansions...

I'm hoping one of those mansions is for me.

Happy Monday.

89.7

What a joke. Seriously. If it's gonna be a "B" then let's not be so cruel. For real. Freaking nursing tests...

Oh well, it's over. Now onto the long haul to finish the rest of the week, TB test tomorrow, CPR class Friday, finals next week. Boom.
Crank this baby out.

The struggle bus

This week has been less than ideal...and it's only Tuesday. Let's just say for arguments sake that three tests in one week does not have the most promising and uplifting of outlooks. Too say it's quite daunting is the understatement of the year.

But all the same, this too shall pass. Because last time I checked, three tests in 6 days does not equate to the world ending. Before I know  it, Saturday will be here, and this hellish week will be a distant memory.
Unfortunately, not too distant.
The reality is, after this week, I have another test next week, and another one the week after.
At least those I will have some legitimate time to study for.

Yesterday (Monday) was a long day. Monday's are always long days. I'm at school from 8 am till 7 pm, but I'm over that much of it. Yesterday was an exceptionally long day. I didn't sleep all that well the night before, and I knew how much stress this week was holding in it's grimy little hands waiting to unleash upon me. I braved the day, much like I always do, and went to lab. This is where it starts to roll down hill.

We had to give all our shots again. No big. The time constraint...that was big. I had to prepare all the oral meds, calculate four doses, prepare and administer four shots in about 30-45 minutes. Now to all the experienced nurses out there, this is cake, child's play. But to the itty bitty little stressed out nursing student, this is slightly short of hell. Anyway, it came and went and was over, thank goodness. Only it wasn't. I'd forgotten to give one shot, so I hurried and grabbed the supplies, drew up the dosage and gave the shot. Fatal mistake.

I failed epically in that last 30 seconds before giving the injection. I pretty much committed a cardinal sin of nursing. I didn't check the expiration date on the vial. It was expired. In August. Fail fail fail.

Okay, so it wasn't fatal, but it's was pretty ridiculous. Thankfully it was only 0.9% sodium chloride in sterile saline, but still. It's the entire principle of the matter.

Here comes the kicker: we didn't even realize it was expired until 3 hours later. Thankfully (for embarrassment's sake) I wasn't the only one who'd administered the expired meds. Unfortunately, this called for an incident report--this pretty little pink paper that asks you what happened/who was hurt/what can be done to correct it in the future...blah blah blah. You get it.

Filled it out, turned it in. No harm done, except maybe to my bruised ego. It was just the culmination of everything and it turned Monday into one of those days where I really just can't wait to go home and be done with it all. Struggling. Seriously struggling. I need a break. STAT. Even if it's just a 3 day weekend. Something.

Today, I was hopeful, if only slightly so. I went to school, preparing full well for the stats test I have to take tonight (I'm determined to get all A's and pay no late fees on any tests this semester) and guess what gets brought up in class...the expired vials. I shouldn't be so sensitive because it wasn't just me who made the mistake, and if anything it was to help everyone else realize how easy mistakes are made and that we need to be more careful, blah blah blah. But it sucks, knowing that one of those people they're talking about it  you. It makes you feel like you have a sign across your forehead that says Hey it's me! I'm the one they're talking about! I'm the one who forgot to check the expiration date! It's an awkward feeling, and not one that I enjoy.

Thankfully, my instructor is THE BEST and after talking to her after class, she really reassured me that it's perfectly okay, and that all the incident report is is a formality IN CASE something happens, which hopefully it won't. Rough way to learn how to fill one of those baby's out.

Anyway, it's only Tuesday, and midday at that, and I'm riding the struggle bus...hard. Knocking stuff down left and right. Hopefully after this test is over, I'll feel a little less out of control and all over the place, but it's not likely.

Bahhh...when do I graduate again?!

How many fingers am I holding up?

The nursing exam is over. Thank goodness! And to make that even better, I got a 93% on the test! Woot woot!! After Dan picked me up from the test, we got some food and went to get sealant at Home Depot for our table!!! <--As you can see, I'm pretty significantly excited about this last one.

We get home and were super exhausted from the food, and when we get tired, we start giggling about all the silly little things in the world. And so ensued a tickle fight of sorts, which ended with more laughing. So then I was poking Dan in the chest (he had his eyes closed...supposedly) and he kept smacking my hand with his when I'd go to poke him. Then I realized he didn't really have his eyes closed, so I did the only logical thing there was to prevent this: put the pillow on his head.

And just to test and make sure he really couldn't see, I asked the question:
How many fingers am I holding up? (2)
Two.
How did you know?! Okay let's try again...How many fingers am I holding up? (4)
Four.

Now at this point I knew he just HAD to be looking! No one get's two guesses in a row right unless you can see! Well...he's a good guesser. Haha I really was a little freaked out because he got both of them right, but he definitely couldn't see through the pillows.

We started to watch a movie, and very very quickly, he fell asleep.

I love moments like this.

Nursing school...

...may be the death of me.

This is how I feel pretty much every day.

And then don't even get me started on the answers to tests...

They should put a warning label on the applications--NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.

Killing me slowly. And I still come back from school every day more excited about the things I've learned. It's just a little sick and wrong. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Except the ones where I'm up at 430 driving to Salt Lake...but that's another matter entirely.

2011...what you were all about

January: I went back to school at EA to start my last semester there. I had no idea where I was going to go after that, but I knew I was graduating that semester.

February: Things got pretty serious between Dan and I. We knew we were going to get married, just not when or any of those other minor details. I also applied to BYU. It was pretty much the only option I had left. ASU's nursing program was just a numbers game, and I couldn't count on that. So I applied.

March: We got engaged!!! That's right! We were getting married. Then commenced the insufferable wedding planning. Just kidding, it really wasn't bad, mostly because I didn't care. Sorry Mom!! We went wedding dress shopping over spring break and found the perfect dress!

April: I found out I got into BYU...so after Texas we were headed to Provo. School was winding down for the semester, and I think it finally started to hit me that I would really miss Thatcher.

May: I went through the temple for my own endownments. That was such a special day for both of us. I loved every minute of it. Actually I was pretty violently sick 3 days before...like throwing up and peeing out my bum (sorry for the visual). So I didn't really eat anything and my mom was all freaked out I would pass out during the temple ceremony.
Oh...and we got married...and moved to Texas, where it's hotter than Satan's balls....and gradumacated from EAC. Woot woot!!

June: May was pretty busy, and June was a nice month of relaxation. I got to be great friends with Jaynee, and I'm so grateful that we did become friends. Oh and I got a wicked tan. I guess that Texas sun and heat is good for something.

July: Fourth of July bbq with Edge, and more of Dan selling door to door. Still had a wicked tan. It was awesome.

August: Jaynee left Texas so she could hang out in Pima, and LEAVE ME...but mostly so that Izzee girl could come whenever she decided to. The A/C went out in the car. We were sweating our little hineys off anywhere we went. We had to replace an engine mount on the car...and then everything worked perfectly!! Seriously, we found the best mechanic that fixed our car for a screamin deal!! But on the brighter side of things, we did get GREAT gas mileage while the A/C was out. I left to come to Provo and started school the last week in August.

September: You sucked. I was alone. It was awful. But on the brighter side (again) I started watching Kason once a week while Jami was at institute, and that was actually pretty fun. He definitely kept me on my toes. I also had class with Caitlin twice a week, and that was always entertaining. Then Dan came home!!! Woo hoo!! HAPPY HAPPY DAY!!!

October: General Conference was awesome! Loved it. Halloween was awesome at Jeni's house! Oh and I found out I got into the nursing program at BYU!!

November: Thanksgiving!! It was so good to see my family again. They came up for Thanksgiving and we had it with the Kimball side of the family. Black Friday shopping...at 10am. So much better than 4am.

December: The long (actually short) haul to finals. Finals. Shoot me. School's out!! And our very first Christmas together. I still have to blog about that. It was awesome though. I love it. And tonight is New Years Eve. Pretty excited about that!!

2011 has been wonderful. I learned a lot about myself as a person, and as a friend, especially adapting to the marriage relationship. It's been a learning experience, but an enjoyable and exciting one. And it can only up from here.

BYU Basketball

We got to go to the game on Tuesday night vs. Buffalo. I don't think we ever quite figured out which Buffalo it was, probably New York. Anyway, we were able to attend the game thanks to my wonderful grandparents. They have season tickets, and they couldn't make the game, so we were gifted tickets!!

It was so legit. We were in the 10th row. It was a pretty good game to watch.

The game started like 17-3 Buffalo, and immediately I thought greaaaaaat...this is gonna be one of THOSE games. You know, the ones that your team just gets straight up demolished. But, BYU did not fail me! They were ahead by half time, and dominated the second half. The coach for Buffalo even got a technical in the first 10 minutes of the game! (It totally reminded me of when EA played Cochise and everyone was practically screaming for Cochise's coach to get a technical called on him--I guess they don't mess around in the NCAA).

The final score:

And to top it off, because BYU scored over 80 points, we got 5 oz of free fro yo at yogurtland. Okay, Dan and I discovered fro yo and its yummy goodness in Texas, and ever since it's been love. For real. Even more than ice cream. So naturally, we went to yogurtland after the game. It looked almost like it was closed, or that no one was there, but we pulled in anyway. And guess what we found....a line out the freakin door!! After PATIENTLY waiting in line for a good 15 minutes, we got to devour our deliciousness.

Doesn't it just look fabulous?
After hearing the fight song a couple hundred times, I decided to shorten it down to three lines. Mostly because this was all of the fight song that I learned from my nephew.
Rise and shout, the cougars are out!
On to fame and glory!
We're the cougars of BYU!
Ra x 100000000000000000
Goooo Cougars!

Good idea? I think I'll submit it for consideration.

Of course, we've gotta throw in a picture of us! Don't mind my husband's sneaky mom face! It was such a pain to try and get a picture, plus the lighting was definitely not ideal. Oh well, what can you do.

One last thing. I was driving Dan to work yesterday, and this is what we saw:

How many men does it take to screw in a light fixture?

The means to an end.

I think you know what I'm talking about. The dreaded finals. Actually I haven't really been dreading finals all that much. Mostly because I'm really only worried about one final...and that one I'm taking today at 230. So I should probably be studying, but my little brain is so full right now, I'm pretty sure little black words are leaking out of my ears. If you see them around campus, please return them.

On second thought...don't. And to top that off, my little eyes are so stinking tired, and they are practically begging me to go back to sleep. I came home with every intention of taking a 30 minute nap (power nap = much more successful studying). Good plan right? Well I came home to find our bed made. I love that Dan took the time to make it before he went to work this morning, but I was thinking to myself, dang it! I can't take a nap now! I don't want to mess up the bed.

So I'm blogging.

I had a Book of Mormon final at 7 this morning. I showed up around 8 (it's one of those that he just collects the test at 10, so you can get there whenever). I finished by 840, went and sold 2 of my textbooks back. Walked out $89 dollars richer...which is just getting put to more books. That's the depressing thought. I can't even go spend it on something for Dan for Christmas, because I just have more stuff to buy for school.

Seriously, I almost had a complete panic attack when I was reading all the things I need to start nursing school next semester. But everything's all good now, and it's just cranking out these finals one at a time. So if you happen to read this either today or tomorrow, shoot a little prayer my way. I could sure use it :]

Oh and ps...it's almost Christmas!! just in case you forgot.

It's been another one of those days

One of those days that started out really rough and felt like I was scraping my face on the asphalt. Yeah one of them. Let's just say that it's like a huge bug hit the windshield and splatter it's guts in just the right spot so I couldn't see.

I read this quote:
"Faith isn't tested so much when the cupboard is full as when it is bare." --Elder Lynn G. Robbins

True story. I could say amen right there and call this post good.

But as the day went on, I was doing homework and stuff, and Dan came home from work early. I had missed him so much today. It was a little ridiculous to be honest. I just curled up on the couch next to him, we talked about what had happened earlier in the day, and I just felt the love of my Heavenly Father immediately. I felt Him wrap His arms around me and just hold me so tightly.

Then I read this quote:
"No pain that we suffer is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called children of God and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in Heaven." --Orson F. Whitney

We're not out of the fog by any means, but I can see just a little bit more clearly through that smog as we're walking through the valleys. Life is made of mountains and valleys. We're walking through a valley right now, but I know that as long as we keep striving to pay our tithing and read our scriptures and keeping the desires of our hearts righteous, the Lord is going to bless us. He won't take the trial away, but He'll provide a way for us to make it through this. I know that. I know that with all my heart.

....and now I'm headed back to the grindstone. To finish homework. 4 tests and I'm done with my first semester at BYU!

Just a few things

I'm an epic failure at blogging. That much is entirely too obvious. But seriously for one, I don't really feel like there's too much to write about. I mean, our days are pretty routine and the only things that are special and stick out are things that I don't really feel like I have to words to explain.

Anyway, we're doing great. It legitimately snowed today. Thank goodness it didn't stick. But when I came home during Sunday school today, it was hitting me in the face and sticking to my jacket. Yeah not cool. Seriously I have 6 more days of school. And I would be oh so grateful if it didn't snow till after those 6 days are over, because who seriously wants to walk around campus in the snow? Not this girl.

So that being said, school is almost over. I'm so so so excited to be able to breathe...for 2.5 weeks and then school starts all over again. Yeah not much of a Christmas  break, but I'm hoping that it will be just enough to let my brain rest, before I put my nose to the grindstone with nursing school.

I'm so so grateful for the opportunity I had to see my family over Thanksgiving. It was so great to just spend the weekend with them and enjoy family time, and no school. I love that Thanksgiving starts of the entire holiday season, because there's not gifts or presents, just good food, family, and a million and a half reasons to be thankful.

I don't usually get too excited for Christmas until Christmas Eve, literally. It's a little pathetic. But there's something about this year. I really think it's because it's mine and Dan's first Christmas together. Seriously!! How cool is that! Oh man it's a stinkin pain trying to find something for him. I went shopping to get him something, and ended up finding the one thing for him, and 10 different things for me. Okay it was really only 2 things for me, and one thing for us together, and then a gift for him, but seriously he's a hard person to shop for! I don't know what he wants, and there's definitely nothing we need!

So if anyone has good suggestions, text me!!

Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to Christmas with my love. It's gonna be probably my favorite Christmas yet.

That's just who I am this week

So Jennifer and I are supposed to be studying chemistry in preparation for our test that's this weekend. Do you think we studied? Absolutely not.

I think our poor little brains are just a little too fried right now to even think about studying chemistry. Word.

On top of it all, I've got a Marriage and Family test that's due by Saturday at 1155 pm, along with all the quizzes for this unit. My grades are less than mediocre, and quite frankly I'm a little peeved about it. I could potentially get an A in two of my classes that I have B's in, so I can't really slack off because let's face it...I'm an overachiever and would really really REALLY like to have an A in everything, but chemistry's just not gonna happen.

Suffice it to say, I've been pretty grumpy lately. But that's just my week. Awesome right?

On a brighter note, I'll probably be up pretty late for the next couple of nights trying to catch up on all my homework and get everything done on time.

On an even brighter note, my family will be here in 6 days!! WOOT WOOT!! I'm just a little excited, no worries. And after this week, I only have 2 days of classes next week. And then after thanksgiving, like 2 weeks left of school and then Christmas break...aka a MONTH off of school!!

Anyway, it's time for my chem review now...tune in for the next study session of Jennifer and Arielle...I'm sure there will be some pretty ridiculous pictures.

Grateful

I got into the nursing program! Woot Woot!! Huge blessing and stress at the same time. Mostly a blessing because I want to be done with school eventually and start having babies! Okay, but really, I do want to have a family, and sometime soon. I don't wanna be an old momma. Anyway, back to the stress part, now I just feel all this pressure to do even better in my classes. I feel like my grades don't reflect the actual student that I am, like I don't study and I don't try to do well, and I do. So I've been kind of down about that as of late, but I can do this. I can do this. As long as I have Dan and the Lord on my side, I can do this.

Dan got two jobs this week! Yes...2!!! We are both beyond ecstatic and he won't have to work on Sunday's either. They are both such a blessing for us. And he's finally getting better!! He really has hated being so sick and not being able to work. Poor guy has been couped up in the house all the time while I'm at school. But now he can get out of the house finally!!

We have been so blessed lately. Honestly, I was feeling pretty sorry for us just because he was having such a hard time finding a job, and then he just got so sick. I seriously felt like we couldn't catch a break. Well, I read a great quote on my sister's blog today: The night is always darkest just before the dawn. It felt so true when I was reading it today. Looking back on this trial we've got through together, we came out on the other side and we're stronger together because of it. We've laughed so much, cried a lot, and still we're happy and we're together. It felt like we were never going to get out from under this one, and so many things have come through for us.

The Lord loves us, and it is so clearly evident in ever aspect of our lives. We're healthy (well almost!), we're happy, we have a fabulous ward, and we love each other. At the end of the day, its our faith in the Lord, and the love that we have for each other that matters. With both of those, we'll make it through anything that life can and probably will throw at us.

Bring it!

Sunday Afternoons

You've gotta love it when you fall asleep on the couch with your husband, and you wake up with drool running down your forehead. Hahahaha, I seriously was pretty grossed out for a second, mostly because it's bodily fluid. Dan and I were laughing so hard for a few minutes about it though. Oh I love it!

On a side note, I found out Saturday (after studying for chemistry for a couple hours with Jennifer and Shelyse) that I got into the nursing program at BYU. I'm finally starting to get excited and happy about it. I think I've just been super stressed about this chemistry test just because I already needed a good grade, and then I was feeling even more stressed to do well on this chemistry test (I'm taking it Monday morning, so if you read this before then, keep me in your prayers!).

Anyway, today was really nice to go to church because I really just needed to know that my Heavenly Father is aware of us and exactly how we're feeling and what we're going through. I just needed to know that we're gonna be okay, that we're gonna make it through this. I've just had a lot of stress get piled on...ya know the usual school, money and just life in general, it's rough. So church today was so nice to just relax and listen-the Primary Program was today- and feel the Spirit. Exactly what I needed. I was reminded and could feel the Lord's love for us, and that as long as we're doing what we need to be doing, and have faith, the Lord is going to help us. It was a great reassurance to know that as long as we're working together to progress, the Lord will bless us.

I love my husband and I'm grateful for the trials we go through because we get to go through them together. We don't have to be alone in it-not that we ever are, because the Lord is always there.