I should be sleeping...

I have to be at work at 11:30 tonight. I told one of the other nurses that I would take half of her shift. I have already been to work today for 3 hours to destroy the discontinued medications. Since Saturday I have worked every night except Sunday and will continue this schedule until I get home around 7 am Saturday morning. That makes 6 nights out of 7 straight. So I think I'm going to go catch a 1 hour nap before I have to go back. Why must I torture myself like this?

Cap and Gown

Today I went and picked up my cap and gown with my friend Melissa. She is getting her bachelors degree and has already moved to New York with her new job for Delta. Anyway, we picked up our stuff and tried on our caps. So official looking! I am really very excited over the whole thing.

I figured this was as good of a reason as any to buy a new dress. Liz, mom, and I went to the mall to look. I found one that I really loved and bought it. When I showed it to Christian he asked if that was my old dress. I took the new one upstairs and compared it to one I bought last August. The style is exactly the same, only the colors are slightly different. Too funny. I guess I found a style that works for me!

Tomorrow I'm going to head up to Salt Lake with my friend Sean so we can apply for our RN licenses. We are going to be real nurses!!! I really feel like I am getting everything I asked for plus some.

Hired!

I got a call today from the New Nurse Residency Program at UVRMC. They extended an offer for me to join the program and I accepted. This program is awesome. They train new nurses for up to 12 weeks (the average is 10) in many different areas of the hospital. The ER, ICU, NICU, and oncology floors are all included in this training. I pick three areas that I would like the most and then they pair me with a nurse who will help me learn. This is full time work- three 12 hour shifts a week. Then one day a week I will attend a four hour class that teaches us more in depth things like reading an EKG, code blue responses, and other critical care skills that aren't taught to this level in nursing school. I am hoping that I get permanently hired in one of these areas about six weeks into the program. This is a wonderful opportunity for me. It does require at least a one year commitment out of me, so plans to move to SLC next winter are on the back burner for now. The kids are happy about that. I will still be working one day a week at my current job in the rehab and nursing center. I can't believe that everything is falling into place so well.

One Year

Yesterday, April 13th, was Christian and my anniversary. One year ago we started dating and haven't looked back. It's been a great year. We started dating from about the first moment we met. It was a whirlwind for a couple of weeks, getting to know each other and families meeting. I never knew that someone could be so loving and kind all the time. People think that it is odd that we have not had a fight or even an argument in all of this time. I say that it's a great thing. I am so comfortable and happy every second I am with this man. I have found who I was looking for and I found him when I wasn't even looking. Here's to more years like this in our future.

My last clinical

This morning at 1:14 am I finished my last nursing clinical! I never have to wear those green scrubs again (this font is the same color as the scrubs). I had the opportunity to do my last 8 clinical rotations in the ER at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I learned so much. I really hope that I can get a job in that department. Keep your fingers crossed for me! For two years I have been learning how to be an RN, sometimes with good nurses- others not so great. But through it all, I tried to keep a positive attitude and learn whatever I could. Graduation is in two weeks, then on to my NCLEX. Then they are going to turn me loose on the public. Watch out world- here I come!

Goodbye iPod

Saturday night my iPod was stolen while I was at work. I had bought this cute little stereo that my iPod could connect into so I could play the music for everyone to enjoy. Well, about 9pm I turned it off and placed it behind the nurse's station. I was gone for about an hour and when I came back at 10 someone had plucked the iPod right out of the stereo. I freaked out and asked all my co-workers if they had taken it, thinking it was some sort of really bad joke. Well it wasn't. I called the police and filed a report but I doubt that I will ever see it again. I can always buy another, but this one had major sentimental value. On my 31st birthday my friends Melissa, Mike, and Chris bought it for me. Six weeks later Mike died. There were so many great memories of the entire night attached to that iPod. At least I still have the photos.