One can never go wrong with cookies and coffee

I know I have gone status MIA for a month if not longer, this was not my intention but senior semester kept me way busier than I expected. It wasn't even being over whelmed with homework but all this random busy work that kept me occupied. But I am 3 class days away from being done with in class work and will only be spending time in the hospital in precepting and working on my evidence based practice project (we won't go into that).

Any way I have been a pretty busy bee today between cleaning, crafting, and group meeting but i did manage to get some time in to make some AMAZING cookies and your getting the recipe. Now I did not come up with these cookies in fact I found them on pinterest (go figures right). I pinned the recipe a really long time ago and never got around to actually making them. But while searching through pinterest and my cookbooks for a yummy new cookie recipe & in a sense re-discovered this recipe in my own board.

There is a story behind my reason for baking I needed to give my instructor something nice for helping me to get the preceptor placement I really wanted and needed! Needless to say I haven't the easiest student in the past 4-6 weeks, mostly because I have been in her office weekly and emailing her daily trying to get my placement. I originally has requested to be in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a hospital about 45 minutes away and I had spoken with her a week before classes started to let me know that my preceptor placement was very important because I was applying to a nurse residency program in a Children's Hospital for after graduation. It ended up becoming this huge bundle of insanity as I was bounced from ER, L&D, Peds, Research/baby friendly initiative before finally receiving the good news they had officially gotten me into the NICU at the hospital I requested. Probably the happiest moment in my life and a huge relief to know I was getting exactly what I wanted and needed.

So after my teacher had been so nice to me and put up with my craziness I needed to do something nice for her. Hence these wonderful amazing soft chewy cookies!!! Everyone ready (drum roll please) Cookies & Cream pudding cookies!!! Simply amazing! I used the recipe posted here:
 http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/05/oreo-pudding-cookies.html

However I didn't have semi-sweet chocolate chips so I used a 4 oz cookie and cream candy bar and omitted the chocolate chips, they still taste amazing! Also I had to bake my cookies for about 10-12 minutes roatating the pan half way through, I think 8 minutes just wasn't long enough for my oven. I started with 8 and after 8 minutes I added 2 minutes till they were ready (I watched them very closely).

So for my teacher I found this adorable purple coffee much at Target on clearance for $0.98 (remember I'm still a broke college nursing student) and I had these little sample coffee packs from starbucks laying around. so I stacked some cookies in a bag, added my coffee, tied it with a bow, and a little homemade thank you note to top it off. One can never go wrong with cookies and coffee!

Valentine's Day with Dustin Lynch

Oh how I wish I actually spent Valentine's Day with Dustin Lynch but I did spend the night at his concert at our local Grahms' Central Station and let me tell you it was amazing!!! I hope many of you know who Dustin Lynch is but a lot don't especially since he is a fairly new artist with two singles currently out: "Cowboy's And Angels" and "She cranks my tractor". He is quickly rising in fame with plenty of girls swooning over this 28 year old heart throb with baby blue eyes, killer smile, deep serenading voice, and talent that a girl can't help but bat her eyes at. Dustin also write majority of his songs which just adds to the sex appeal of this man. If you haven't guessed it yet he is my celebrity crush, haven't had one of those since I was in high school, but goodness this country girl sure does like that country boy.

Any way back to the concert since you guys don't need to listen to me swoon, it was a great concert, not as packed as I was expecting and I actually ended up right at the stage by mid way through. Since he is a newer artist he did a lot of cover songs along with a few of his phone from his upcoming album, releasing this August. I would have appreciated a few more songs from this album especially since most of them aren;t out on the radio yet. I love his fan interaction, he is a great performer and is really about his fans and not just about being on stage. He brought several girls on stage to dance sadly I was not one of them :'( he was very interactive with his band and the audience, he band mates were also very interactive, they actually hung out around the club mingling after the concert. I really like seeing artists who are just getting started perform because you can see their true love for their fans, now artists who have been doing this for a while have a huge love for their fans but I can imagine showing love to a sold out crowd of thousands isn't easy. I also love that he stayed and met all of his fans after the show, signed pictured, and took photos with all of them. Let me tell you when he smiles at you and ask for your name even the smartest girl looses her words. I hope he would come back and perform in this area again sadly I probably won't be around when he does so I hope he continues to stop around the nation and do some great shows. Don't forget to look for his debut album out in August of this year!!!!

As far as what I wore I had this really great dress in my closet that I never wore (never had the proper event). It is this great plaid collared shirt dress, with scrunched sleeves and half button up with a brown braided belt (very country-ish) and since I don't own very many boots my non fuzzy tan American Eagle Ugg look-a-likes worked very well, kept my feet cozy and kept me comfy. Granted I was still like the shortest person there but I ended up in the front so it worked out fine. I got the Lorac Pro Pallet for Christmas so I created a great taupe and bronze smoking eye for the night.

 Now I had class at 8am the following morning, a test at noon, and a project meeting at 2 the following day. I was so exhausted the next day and all I wanted to do was take a nap but oh it was so very worth it.  It was such a great time and I'm really glad I went. Eli Young Band is coming at the end of march and you can bet this nursing student will be there (I am slowly on the road to getting my life back).

                                         

                     All photos were taken by me and are property of myself. Please do not steal =)

2 1/2 weeks in a nut shell

Sorry I have been MIA for a while (close to three weeks I believe), going back to school had kept me busier than I thought it would. Between the start of my senior classes, studying for my HESI retake, getting the SNA mentoring Big Nurse Little Nurse program up and running and just having some what of a life has kept me so busy my blog took some what of a back seat =(

As of February 1st  I have had quite an eventful and joyous 2 weeks so below is a recap of my nursing life since you last heard from me!!!

~ On Jan. 22nd I had my first class of the semester and it was a 4 hour snooze fest!!! Sadly my teacher is also the adviser for SNA so I have to show up.
~ On Jan. 24th I finally filed my degree application to graduate in May!!!! I was so nervous to do this since graduation wasn't a guarantee because I hadn't passed my HESI so it was kinda like I was submitting the application without actually knowing if I would be allowed to graduate.
~ On Jan. 28th my very good friend and recent nursing school graduate sat for his NCLEX and PASSED!!!! He is officially a registered nurse!!! Very proud of him!!!
~ On Jan. 29th I finally sat for my second attempt at HESI and oh boy was I so nervous!!!! After spending every waking hour studying for probably three weeks strait and putting everything school on the back burner (not like me at all) I PASSED with a 920, the minimum we require is a 850 and my previous score was a 793, so I made a 127 point jump in my score. I was so very excited, relieved, and happy!!! I'm pretty sure I floated on cloud nine the rest of the week and every one of my friends/classmates/teachers were so happy to hear I finally passed. I spent the next two or three days on and off of campus continuously seeing all my teachers so they could hear the good news.
~ On Feb 1st I had class and I registered to take the Kaplan NCLEX review to help me pass my NCLEX license exam the first time over the summer. I also finally got to have the Big/Little Reveal Day at our first SNA meeting. The big nurse little nurse program has become like my baby and I am so excited for this semester, we had 25 pairs (pretty good for our first semester) and we are still getting more requests for bigs and littles!!! I finally got to meet my little and she is just the cutest! I already adore her and can't wait to help her out. Me and a few other board members also spent the majority of the week crafting for this event and boy was there lots of glitter and bows!!!
~ Throughout the past two weeks or so (don't remember the exact days) I have baked a TON, mostly for stress relief and a break from HESI practice exams, I also got a tentative idea of where I will be placed for precepting, heard that if all goes well with the hospital I will placed in the NICU at my first choice hospital but I won't officially hear anything for a few more weeks. I also finally got out and spent some time with my very good friend at the movies before my exam, might I say Movie 43 is quite a funny movie.

As far as the next few weeks I need to get caught up at the least in all my homework and reading I put off while I was studying for my HESI. There is lots of reading I'm behind in but as far as actual homework I'm not terribly behind but I am one of those people who is always on top of her stuff and knows everything that is going on so going two plus weeks without knowing what was going on was really hard. I also am continuing to work on our big little program  and SNA stuff getting ready to hand over my position on March 1st. I am also getting ready to get my applications together for all the nurse residency programs I'm applying to next month.

My goal is now that I am done with HESI and can focus on my last semester I will have more time to get more blog posts up and actually get some fun stuff like recipes, study tips, or craft project posts up!!!
Until next time my readers <3

Back To School.........Already?

Well I have been some what absent from my blog these past 10 days or so, but I was busier than I thought I was going to be. I was on Christmas Vacation and spent it visiting my mom back home, I came back to where I attend school around the 4th or so and I don't remember slowing down since then, like I was expecting. Between studying for my second chance at my HESI Exit Exam (January 29th is the big day), preparing for the senior portion of the welcome back assembly, meetings, and preparing 75 survival kits for incoming first semester nursing students I hardly had time to eat (it's a really bad habit of mine).

But as of 230 pm yesterday I am free from all of my pre-school projects and just have to focus on HESI studying and getting back into being in school mode. Then starting in late February/early March I will get back into planning our pinning ceremony for graduation. I am also adopting a little (or 2) for our new SNA program Big Nurse Little Nurse (another post will go more in depth with that).

This semester as far as school goes I have 3 classes, 2 of which only meet every other week and we are only in school till March 25th so about 10 weeks or so. I have a total of about 5 exams (much less than the 15 from last semester), we have some community health based clinicals (once a week for about 2 hours), and we have one large semester long evidence based practice project. Starting around March 25th we will be leaving the classroom for precepting in our prospective fields, from that point on we have 6 weeks to complete 180 hours of clinicial work. We no longer attend classes or have homework, we simply work in the hospital and write a journal each week about it.

As far as extra curricula work goes I will hold my position of SNA VP until around the beginning of March, I will also be taking on the 2 littles in our new program like I said earlier, I will continue to be the class representative for whatever class things may come up. I'm also looking into volunteering with the younger semesters to help them with skills lab. I'd like to find a job but that isn't a huge priority right now.

So my earlier post was all about being unforgettable in 2013 and I really feel after yesterday I am on my way to that. I received so many compliments on my senior assembly projects as well as with my SNA work, my teachers are more than willing to write me recommendation letters for job applications, and many of our faculty has already said they will miss me dearly come May and they will have to find a new leader some where. Even though I am so very tired from all the work I am so glad I stepped up and took on the role.

My advice to any nursing students senior or freshman, be a leader, make yourself well known in school and step up into a role. Hospitals will recognize that and will fight for you, teachers will remember you and write amazing letters of recommendation, and your dean will know you so well you will be handed the responsibility of representing your class in their presence.

A theme for 2013

With a new year comes new beginnings, we hear it every year and I feel like our resolutions or our thoughts of a new beginning vanish before we even end February. School, work, kids, family, whatever may keep us busy slowly distracts us and before we know it the great plans we had for a new beginning are buried under a pile of grocery lists, homework assignments, bills, and whatever else may cover the buys desks of our daily lives. Now some people are the exception to the rule and conquer all the goals the set forth on the first of the year, me well I am no exception the that rule I very very rarely conquer my goals let alone even set them. I tried last year writing them on a very well decorated picture collage and taped it to my bathroom mirror so I would remember daily what I was working towards, needless to say it didn't work, while it stayed up for the entire year I don't even think I met one of the 6 goals I set for 2012. I read some where else, couldn't tell you where, about a theme for the new year. I don't remember reading anything in depth about it but about a week or so later I came across a quote on Pinterest about being unforgettable. Then all the pieces fell into place, instead of saying "My goal is to loose weight and get healthy. Or to learn spanish" (a failed one from last year). Why not just have a theme for the year, not a single goal you fight all year to meet then feel a slight pinch of disappointment on new year's eve when you notice those goals weren't met.

So my theme for 2013 is to be unforgettable. I am entering my final semester of school and then starting my first few months as a nurse, in hopefully the NICU or an ER in a children's hospital. I want to unforgettable in what I do, I want the people in my nursing program to remember me after I leave, I want faculty to refer to me in stories, students to remember the impact I had, inspire new students with my accomplishments. I want my fellow students in my class to remember me after we have all graduated and dispersed throughout the country.  I want the staff at my new job to be impressed with me, the patients and families to remember me as their nurse and the impact I left on their lives. I want to be remembered for whatever I do. So that is my theme for the year, I want to be remembered over the next year. I want to leave a legacy, not in the form of kids or a family but in my work and my dedication to what I love. So with that I say: "She who leaves a trail of glitter is never forgotten." Let me hear your plans, your theme, or what you want to do in 2013.

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