Happy New Year

It is new year's eve, which is usually really exciting but with a storm that just came through my home town the roads are pretty much ice and I'm not able to go any where, not even to dinner with my mom. So while I would love to ring in 2013 the way most 22 year old girls would I am home updating you all on my life and studying for my second try on the exit exam. School starts in just about 2 weeks, seemed like my vacation went way too fast, and my list of "tasks" are already building up. Senior semester comes with preceptorship, boards, 10 weeks of classes (only 10!!), and many senior activities like the welcome back assembly and pinning ceremony. My first big senior even is the welcome back assembly, filled with lots of fun activities and information for the younger semester, plus we get class tshirts. SNA also keeps me busy with welcome activities for the freshman like goody bags and introducing our new big/little program. Not to mention trying to study for my second shot at my HESI RN Exit exam.

Any way with it being new year's eve and the start of a new year that will hold so many new adventures and paths I was trying to find a really good post for this year/next year. Maybe a recap of my year since I started this blog so late in the year, or maybe how I am going to really attempt some resolutions this year. Well both seemed kinda silly but I couldn't think of anything else so here is a quick recap of my 2012 as well as some things/goal I hope to accomplish in 2013.

My 2012 in a nut shell:
* I went through 6th and 7th semester in nursing school, two of the most challenging and time consuming semesters.
* Saw my first code and dead body (most exhausting day ever)
* Had my faith and love for neonatal nursing restored
* Stopped working for the first time in probably about 4 years (I couldn't work for my final year)
* Spent some great time at my job before I left
* Grew closer with my classmates
* Realized that there are still a few good men out there that were raised right by their mamas
*Had some amazing clinical rotation, OR, peds, L&D, NICU, ER.
* Discovered I have a love for the ER.
*2012 wasn't all that exciting =)

2013 Goals:
* Get healthy not skinny, yes I do want to loose weight but more importantly I want to be healthy, I feel like I'm only 22 and I'm too young to feel so old.
* Enjoy my senior semester, I never really have time to just enjoy being in my 20's, it has always been work and school, or all school but with course work slowing down, and the end of my college years coming up quickly, I want to enjoy being in my 20's, going out more, spending weekends dancing not nose deep in textbooks.
* Pass my exit and board exams, I know sounds simple or silly but passing my exit exam means graduation and passing my boards means I can practice as a nurse
* I'm sure I will think of plenty more but right now those are my three top "goals" right now.

What are your guys highlights from 2012 and/or goals for 2013? Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!!

Lee Brice Review

As promised here is my summery/review of the Lee Brice concert I attended on December 13th. Overall it was amazing especially since it was held at a fairly small club in my town. The club was packed to the max it was like hip to hip with everyone there. The doors opened around 7 and he came onto perform around 11, I showed up around 830 and the line was already so long (but moving quickly). For those of you who remember I had a final that morning and all kinds of other things to do so it was really nice to go out, enjoy some drinks and some good music with some of my classmates and friends. The concert itself lasted around an hour to maybe an hour and a half but I "missed" the first like 3 songs because I was being pushed, shoved, and hip bumped by everyone around me, I'm only 5 feet tall and I didn't wear heels (poor choice). My friend switched me so I had a small window to look through but I was pretty much put next to an older couple who were pretty much having sex with their clothes on while dancing next to me. It was pretty disturbing considering none of the drunk college kids were doing this, just the 50 something year old couple. Finally these really sweet guys noticed I couldn't see and was in a very awkward situation and moved me in front of them and created a semicircle around me to help me see and keep me from getting dry humped. It was really nice of them and came just in time, I got to enjoy the majority of the concert and got what would be considered like 5th row seat for my favorite songs. The concert ended around 1230-ish and the club closed at 2 am, that is when we all left. I enjoyed plenty of good drinks, great company, and a great concert. Nursing school sucks your social life from you so it's been a while since I have had a social life and gone out so it was so nice to remember what being in college feels like. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the show.
My overall favorite songs by Lee Brice:
- A women like you
- Love like crazy
- She ain't right
- I drive your truck
And lucky for me he played all of them! Thanks for checking out my summery guys!!!

                                                These are my personal pictures that I took.

"That was considered an exam?!"

Alright if you've been reading my latest posts you know I had my huge life altering determine if I graduate or not exam yesterday (Wednesday). My school requires an 850 to pass (and yes it is required to pass it in order to graduate) and my score was a 793 =( but on an upside I do get two more times to take it (at my own expense). So I cried my tears, threw a fit, had my pitty party, spent the majority of my evening and night out and about, slept till noon today and I feel better. Of course going out and drinking with a good nursing school friend (she passed by the way) was very much needed and helped me just kinda shake off the semester.

So I can retake it again sometime after January 11th and before February 1st but I can't sign up till January 7th so all in all I really can't stress about studying and preparing for it. The company is nice enough to provide a detailed report on your weak areas and offer study information for those areas so I will at least know the areas I can work on. But none the less it still hurts and makes you feel incompetent when you get a poor grade on such a huge exam.

Since I slept till noon after going to bed at 230 am, I didn't get much done today, some errands and put gas in my car but nothing really special. I usually spend my nights and days studying for something so now that I have maybe a week or so before I need to start studying again I almost don't know what to do with myself. I get really board and almost anxious (I know school girl nerd moment). So since I am pretty much in charge of the senior class participation for the welcome back assembly in January I spent my evening figuring out how to use Imovie and created an awesome "movie" for the assembly, still working on it but I was expecting this to take me weeks over break.

Tomorrow I was supossed to leave to head back home to visit my family but since FedEx still hasnt dropped off my packages (with my family's christmas presents included) I can't leave yet. Hopefully it will be here before 5pm tomorrow and I can leave on Saturday to go home. Since I'm stuck here another day I plan on giving my closet and room a nice deep clean (my closet looks like the world imploded inside it).

 Now that I have some more time I am hoping to get more posts done, maybe some nail tutorials, make up tips, a "what's in my purse" post, and definitely a Lee Brice concert review (coming very soon.) So please I would greatly appreciate what you as readers would like to see me posts!!! Feel free to comment below and let me know!

 

Last week we took silly pictures for the class "movie" I was "pregnant" and having my fetal heart tones assessed using a doppler. 

"Finals" week in a nutshell

It's been a while since Ive had a chance to sit down and write something out and I have "finals" week to thank for that. Now I put finals in parentheses because while classes, clinical, labs and semester is technically over on December 19th I have what is probably the biggest exam of my life, know as the HESI Exit Exam, and I can only think of one way to sum up this exam; Passing Hesi = Graduation. So I would love to say I am free I can sleep and enjoy my break, I am still sitting in my apartment with books spread every where and hurt review videos playing on repeat. But as far as actual finals week here is a recap of my week:

Monday was my Mother Baby final, 100 question, 2 hours and it wasn't that bad I didn't study as much as I probably should have but I also felt like I knew the information fairly well (I was also exhausted at this point). Overall I got a low B on my final and a high B in the class. I also had to show up for a Gero "final" which consisted of eating food and talking to my classmates because my teacher decided we would take our final online.

Tuesday I had no finals but I did need to run errands and tried to Christmas shop, in hindsight this probably wasn't the smartest choice considering I had a fairly tough final on Thursday morning and should have spent the day studying.

Wednesday I actually studied and studied alot, I do not do well in Adult Health, I know some what sad but seriously I hate cardiac and intensive care, I'm ok with burns and broken bones. So I studied till I really thought my brain would implode, and I calculated all I needed on the final was 118/150 to get a B in the class.

Thursday my life pretty much crashed around me (ok a little over dramatic). But in all fairness I studied so much for my 75 question final and nothing I studied was on that exam! The teacher even gave us a blueprint and the test didn't make that either. Half the stuff wasn't ever covered during the semester or she told us it was important this semester. Needless to say I received a 110/150 on my final causing me to finish out my class with an 82.5% which in nursing school is a C. I pretty much spent 20 minutes in the bathroom crying after that exam, went to lunch had a drink and bitched about it, went to pinning ceremony rehearsal and bitched some more. However by the end of the afternoon I was so tired from the day I went home and napped and went out with some classmates to the Lee Brice concert at a local club and enjoyed several drink and an amazing concert! Was very much needed and it was wonderful to feel like a regular college student again (nursing school has made me feel older than my time)

Friday was the actual pinning ceremony for graduating seniors, I was there because I am the Vice President of the Student Nurses Association (SNA) and I have the privilege to present our active seniors with a cord and pin, my best friend graduated this semester so it was very special to do this with her and celebrate. I also had a doctors appointment and some SNA shopping to do but I felt like super women since I did all this on 2 1/2 hours of sleep and very little food. I also spent a fair portion of the day crying either because of the emotions of the pinning ceremony or the current problems I am having with a particular guy (Friday night was spent pretty much in tears).

Saturday was my best friend's graduation and party, I am so very proud of her and it was really great to spend this time with her. With us being in different semesters I didn't see her much at all and we had spent a lot of years in our pre course work together. I was still fairly upset from my night before but I smiled and enjoyed the events with her.

Now today I finally feel like I need to start studying for the HESI so that is what I have spent the day doing. I am trying to pretend I don't have any guy issues that are completely destroying me and just focusing on this exam but it is no easy task. So in summery this was my past week and it may seem like nothing big when written down but it was a trying crazy emotional week and now I imagine this week will be pretty much the same (hopefully with less tears). I more than likley won't be posting until after my HESI on Wednesday but I am hoping that I can post a very happy post about the exam. So please fingers crossed and a little prayer sent to me at 9am on Wednesday morning.

This was an amazing concert! I will put more pictures up with a nice recap of the entire concert/night once I am done with my exam, stay tuned for that one!

Tea and Textbooks

It's everyone favorite time of year and no not Christmas time, I'm talking about finals week. If you can't tell I was being sarcastic, I hate finals week but at the same time it's almost a sigh of relief week for me. This semester in school was my second to last semester and the hardest one by far (not just in my eyes). We take mother baby nursing, adult health two and a gerontology class, personally I love mother baby and while its an 8 credit course and the most demanding class of the semester I almost felt like I got through it two easily. Adult health two is another story, I have never been good at adult health, I get it but not like I get mother baby. And gero well that was a whole 2 credits worth of a joke, and the teacher made it way too easy for us to not take that class seriously.

Any way before I begin a tangent about classes my main point was finals and how most people stress out until the final exam. For me at this point I feel like Ive sat through enough exams, read the chapters, took the quizzes, ect that I either know it or I don't and if I don't well then I'm screwed because there is no way for me to learn an entire semester in a weekend. So my finals routine consists of simply this:
-Review some of the stuff from the exam(s) I got the worst scores on over the semester
-Listen to the lectures that covered that material, we are fortunate at my school our lectures are video recorded.
-Take several naps through out the weekend
-Drink tea or coffee, I love coffee but I am trying to decrease my intake so Tazo Passion tea is my replacement.

So I have two finals tomorrow (Monday) then my last one on Thursday. However finals weeks also includes alot of other things for me, I'm the vice president of our Student Nurses Association chapter so I make several appearances at graduation events through out the week plus being a senior who will enter her final semester in January I am also planning welcome back assembly activities. Then there is the dreaded HESI exit exam. This exam determines if I am competent enough to graduate school and I need an 850 to pass, the exam consists of 160-200 questions and we get 4 hours. December 19th is what I am now considering doom's day, I either pass or fail (I get two more chances if I fail). I will save all my wonderful HESI tangents for another post.

So here are my tips for anyone taking final exams even if your not a nursing major:
-It is impossible to learn everything from the entire semester in a weekend, review what you feel weak on.
-Don't loose sleep the night before an exam, if your like me and have problems sleeping try relaxing activities the night before but studying till 2 am for an 8 am final does nothing.
-If you work well studying with others find that study group and utilize the variations in knowledge, I study better alone.
-Don't over study, your brain only studies in 20 minute periods so trying to read 6 chapters strait your brain isn't going to retain it all.

HAPPY STUDYING & GOOD LUCK ON FINALS

First and Foremost

Welcome to the start of what I hope will be a successful blog. I had the idea of starting a blog for several months now especially after my fellow nursing buddy Shayne started one. But considering I was in the process of my most challenging semester of nursing school the idea always got pushed to the bottom of the "to do" list. I tend to find myself with stories to tell, advice to give, project, nail art ideas, and recipes to share so a blog seemed natural right? Well here is it, months of thoughts and ideas finally being put into action.

Before I begin the posts filled with stories of my nursing school days, the advice Ive gained from hours and hours of clinical, fun nail art ideas, DIY projects for procrastinating study breaks, and recipes that make any nurse or nursing professor smile I want to share a few things.

This blog is designed to share my stories and advice Ive gained from the previous semester in nursing school and what I am learning as I finish nursing school. I share what I can but privacy comes first and foremost in my profession. Anything I do share I hope it helps someone in some way however not everything may make you smile and if your like me crying is likely to happen (comes a lot with nursing school).
I love baking and when school allows me time I will take full advantage of it and hopefully share any yummy recipes I come across with you. DIY and craft projects are a secret talent/love of mine and I hope I can share some of the projects I do with you (Pinterest is my mother ship for craft ideas). I can't paint my nails during the school year but I love nail polish and will share my manicures with you when I get to do them. Make up, hair, and shopping a expected loves of mine and what I find and can share I will without a doubt.
Sometimes my posts may just be a simple sum up of my day or week (depending on how busy my life gets) but I promise to attempt to remain interesting and try to offer a picture or two that will make you smile, I have two dogs who are extra good with that.

So to finish off my first post I hope everyone who comes across this blog will gain something and enjoy themselves while exploring. You can find me on pinterest, facebook and instagram and I welcome any and all followers. To end with a smile here is a wonderful pictures of my two furbabies =)

Milan is on the left, she is a pomeranian & yorkie mix also called a porkie while Vegas is on the right and he is a chihuahua and doxie mix also known as a chiweenie.