Five on Friday

Thanks to Darci, Natasha, April and Christina for bringing us Five on Friday every week! Now let's jump on in.

(1)

I've walked/ran 9 miles and biked 2 miles this week. That, my friends, is an accomplishment for this girl.

(2)

I DESPERATELY want to make these. And drink these. Right now. 

Yes, even at 8AM.

Drink me

(3)

I also want to make and eat this at this. exact. moment. 

Does thinking about it negate the 3 miles I just ran this morning?

Oops.

Eat me

(4)

I start work in exactly one month. 

ONE MONTH. 

I am so excited, nervous, scared, emotional, ready/not ready.

Any nurses out there able to give me some advice for being a new grad nurse?

I'm on hematology/leukemia, but any nurse from any specialty is more than fine!

(5)

I must remember this. All the time. 

Share:

Five on Friday

Thanks to Darci, Natasha, April and Christina for bringing us Five on Friday every week!

Last week was one of the most hectic weeks I've had in a while, so let's go ahead and jump right in, shall we?

[one]

Tuesday, June 9th

I took the NCLEX. After 75 questions, it was over and feeling completely defeated and numb, I made my way back to my parents' house repeating the same thing to anyone who asked, "WHAT did I just take and did I even go to nursing school?!"

[two]

     

Wednesday, June 10th

I found out that I was officially a registered nurse. HOW?! I'm honestly still in shock and numb to that fact that I have RN behind my name, but I am so so blessed by God's plan. 

[three]

From Zazzle

I DO BBQ

Mom threw an I DO BBQ rehearsal dinner for the wedding Friday, June 12 and it was perfect! My sister and her groom-to-be were surrounded by very close friends and family and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely! I was such a bad blogger that night, I didn't take any pictures... But the picture above is what the invitation was similar to.

[four]

My sister's wedding was this past Saturday.

Y'all... absolutely beautiful. It was an intimate wedding of about 30 people, no bridal party, but my niece was the flower girl and her brothers were the ring bearers. She got married at our local church where my grandma was very well known and loved by our favorite monsignor.

Her reception was done so beautifully as well - we all laughed and danced and drank to our hearts content. My father made a speech for the ages, as did my sister's husband, and I don't think it could have been any more perfect. But then again, maybe I'm biased.

[five]

Now that the most hectic part of my summer is over, time to go apartment hunting...

Share:

Amazing.

I've got just one final standing in the way of me and the finish line.

That's right - graduation.

After 4 years in this beautiful, southern college town of mine, it's almost time for me to pack my things and move on to bigger and better things. But first, five things I'm thinking about this week by way of Darci, Natasha, April, and Christina.

(1)

Monday, I was supposed to go to my very first career interview ever (and I'm not counting the jobs I had in high school) but it got cancelled because The Joint Commission was there. Talk about being upset! I ended up going to HR anyway and meeting with my recruiter, but I wish I would have been able to meet with the unit directors and proceed with my interview.

However, God always has a plan.

(2)

My second interview ever was on Tuesday and I got lost. Like drove around campus 25 times and sat in the wrong parking deck. It was a 5 person panel interview with rapid fire questions, but the unit directors were all so sweet and thankfully they laughed at some of my comments so I didn't feel like I had a stiff crowd. I walked out of there feeling 50/50. It wasn't that I thought I did poorly, but I couldn't read them for the life of me, so I had no idea how I did. After my interview I hung around the campus for a little while to left traffic die down, soak up some sun and people watch.

(3)

After the aforementioned interview, my car broke down. Like just gave up. Driving along and my check engine light came on, but the car wasn't smoking and the temperature gauge was where it normally is. Then all of my dash lights came on and then flickered off and on. Then all of my gauges went haywire and pushing the gas pedal got me nowhere. So naturally, I freaked out while essentially coasting onto some random side street, parked and broke into tears. Thankfully I have such an amazing friend who drove down to hang out with me so I wasn't alone and drove me back home. Two hours later the tow truck showed up, but seeing my baby up on the bed of that truck... Poor Blu.

(4)

Wednesday I got a phone call that changed my life - I was offered a position at a nationally recognized hospital on the hematology/leukemia unit. What an amazing way to begin my nursing career. I am truly so thankful at the opportunity that God has given me!

It's so funny how God worked this week to make sure I was where I needed to be. Even with how crappy I felt the week started out, I did my best to remain positive but after my car broke down I honestly lost it. I didn't lose faith that God had a plan for me but I certainly thought it was a sign that today wasn't my day - interview included. 

How wrong I was. 

(5)

I graduate in 8 now 7 days y'all.
Praise Jesus for all He has brought me through during nursing school - from the countless breakdowns and career reconsiderations to passing exams, loving my patients more than I could imagine and creating friendships that I know will last forever. It's been a long two years, but I don't regret a single moment.

Share:

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Week

Am I late with my post? 

Yes.

Do I care?

 No.

Why?

Because I'm actually posting and I'm just proud of that at this moment.

This week has been a CRAZY one, so without further ado I'm linking up April, Darci, Christina, and Natasha to bring you my Five on Friday.

{ONE}

Monday I went to the doctor and was told I have a subconjunctival hemorrhage that looked a lot like this:

No. This is not me or my eye... In case you were wondering.

How was I blessed with such an unattractive eye all of a sudden? No clue. 

But it still looks like this, though it's getting better, and I've successfully freaked people out all week because of it.

{TWO}

On Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat hand delivered from the pits of Hell itself and was miserable. Fortunately I wasn't running a fever but unfortunately I couldn't rest all day because I still had to go in for clinical, so I just kept my mouth shut all day while I took care of my patients and made sure I stood about 35 feet back from everyone when I did have to speak. At this point I decided I wanted a tonsillectomy, so after my shift ended, I called the doctor to see if I could get a throat culture done that day just so I could have proof that I NEED MY TONSILS OUT. But of course, what doctor's office is open at 5 PM? None...

{THREE}

Meaning that Wednesday morning I had to go and get my throat swabbed & cultured before I went into clinical. Still without a fever and feeling much better (of course I would feel better the day the doctor sees me...), I went to help deliver some babies! 

Y'all. 

I think I'm meant to work on L&D because it was such a cool, birthday-filled, miraculous place. 

I saw one c-section, two epidural and one natural birth. 

THE. COOLEST. EVER.

(And yes, I know not every birth goes as planned/intended/etc., and that things can go wrong, I'm not oblivious to that. I just didn't witness those things while I was there... so shhhh.)

{FOUR}

My birthday is in three days!!! I'm so excited to go home and see my family for my birthday, and maybe go out with some friends who are in town for some drinks. I'm thinking something real low-key this year as opposed to last year. 

{FIVE}

This weekend I plan to watch the UGA game, relax and get myself feeling better, that way I can celebrate my birthday however I so choose and hopefully do something picture worthy so I have something cool to share with y'all. 

Have a great weekend & happy Friday!

Share:

Five on Friday

Say what?!

Yes, I'm making a brief appearance and of course, it had to be when my favorite ladies - April, Christina, Darci and Natasha - linked up. 

{ONE}

ALL of my favorite bloggers have just become mamas or are about to become mamas, and I just can't handle it. (IRL friends people I went to school with are all preggo too) The cuteness of all the baby bumps, baby shopping... ugh, I die. Looks like all of y'all drank the water, so I'm just gonna sit back and drink some juice and live vicariously through y'all for now. However, go take a look over at some of the ladies and tell me they are not completely adorable and try not to catch baby fever too - Elise, Leslie, Marquis, Katie, Jessi, and Andrea. Of course this list doesn't include all the recent mamas, but if it did this list would be endless.

{two}

My birthday is in 18 days and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do, what I want, how old I'm tur.. well, I know that one. This past year has absolutely FLOWN by and it has been a crazy, yet exciting one. I feel so blessed to be alive and I'm super excited to see what this next year of life holds!

{three}

These boots.

             

I so greatly desire some over the knee boots.

But which ones to choose??

{four}

As this semester of school is finishing up, I have to do a very brief recap of some of my clinical rotations. Due to HIPAA, I can't disclose much anything about the people I've met, their specific stories, where I saw them or why they were there... But I can tell you that I've met some pretty amazing children, heard stories about living during the Depression and traveling overseas to backpack through Europe, had quite a few heart to hearts, and spent time with some patients I will never forget. This semester I've been to a psychiatric hospital, a children's hospital, spent some time on a labor and delivery unit, a family care unit, endoscopy, oncology and in the ICU. 

While I learned a lot from each unit, I really enjoyed the substance abuse unit at the psychiatric hospital, the children's hospital, labor and delivery and oncology. I've gained a ton of experience and I'm so excited that next semester I will be on one particular unit the entire time. Where will I end up next semester? I'll keep you posted...

Sans coffee, this is spot on.

{five}

I'm on a mission to lose weight. Yes, again (am I really ever not on this mission?). So I started working out yesterday, because hey, why not start just a few weeks before my birthday and when it's absolutely frigid outside which just means my bed is oh-so-much-better?

Gotta start somewhere right? This past spring, I lost a pretty good amount of weight, and I kept it off! That is, until school started. The ripping & running and studying in places through lunch and dinner meant that I have been eating ALL of the wrong things this semester and I'm on a mission to fix that. Despite where I'm studying, what I'm doing, whatever, I'm making it a point to come home and grab food that I have prepared (or a salad) before I go lock myself in the library for hours on end. This way, I'll eat healthier food than the pizza my study group likes to order.

Share:

Five on Friday!

It's been a little while since I've done this link up; I've missed you guys!

Linking up with  Christina, Darci, Natasha and April!

ONE

I've begun moving out of this apartment (see here and here). While I'm a little sad, I cannot wait to move into my new apartment in August! The new place is 400 sq. feet smaller, but comes almost fully furnished. The beautiful place I've called home for the past year has been just that, beautiful, but the New York style wall of windows don't open, they aren't energy efficient, and it's just a lot of house for me. I'll miss it, but I can't wait to make memories in my new place. 

TWO

Mexico was a blast!! I've posted a ton of pictures here and here, and still have a million more to post. You can see some on my Instagram (follow me y'all!). Aside from my bout with an allergic reaction/upper respiratory illness on the last two days, I would go back 1000x (maybe just make the trip one day shorter).

THREE

My sissy made a blog! Go visit, say hey! She's new to the blogging community, so I'm still helping her learn the ins and outs, but she's already done so much on her own and I'm sure she'd love to hear from y'all!

FOUR

This weekend I plan to do a little laying out in the sun and making either this tasty looking Moscato Strawberry Lemonade, the yummy Amaretto Sour, or this Pineapple Rum Lemonade!

FIVE

I just want to say thank you. I truly am so thankful for each and every one of you who reads, comments, and replies to comments. Seriously. Alycia and I were emailing the other day (hey girl, hey!) and I swear her emails truly made me smile. I'm so glad that the blogging community has such open arms and is so welcoming to everyone and I PROMISE I'm going to meet up with some of you one of these days. 

Share:

Five on Friday!

I'm linking up today with Christina, Darci, Natasha and April!

{ONE}

I've created a linkup that is hosted every Sunday! It's called Blast from the Past (#blastfromthepast, #bftp, whatevs). Basically, it's a throwback of whatever you did that day! I open the linkup each Sunday morning and it closes Wednesday at 5 pm, so feel free to join and meet new people!

{TWO}

I watched The Vow maybe three times over the past week and I CANNOT get over how beautiful their warehouse-turned-home is! Like, it's so serious that I have decided I want to live in something like that and have been searching warehouses that are for sale around Atlanta. Like, just look at this beauty!

That teal metal looking door, ugh I die.

{THREE}

My Mexican food cravings are currently out of this world.

via

via

{FOUR}

Four days until I'm in sunny Mexico! 

In the land of margaritas. 

And sunshine. 

And beach.

And me.

{FIVE}
I got a kimono and sun hat for the beach! 

via

Share:

I've Fallen Off...

You know the drill, it's time for Five on Friday. Brought to you by to the lovely hosts - Christina, Darci, Natasha, and April. This week's post is super short, but it's not because I don't love y'all.

{ONE}

I am loving how God is working in my life right now! I truly have peace about myself and my relationships (even the ones that are ending...) and I trust everything that He is doing.

{TWO}

17 days until I'm on the sunny beaches of Mexico!

{THREE}

I need your help y'all. So, I've kinda fallen off (hellooo post title...) in both blogging and in working out. I went home this past week to see my family and only worked out once while I was there. Prior to that, I was maybe working out 3 times a week. But I know some of y'all remember when I was working out everyday.... So, really it's needless to say, but I need some tips on staying motivated to work out! Please please please leave a comment with any tips you may have that keep you motivated to work out that I may be able to apply to myself.

{FOUR}

I am SO thankful to be done with my first year of nursing school. Like, elated! I have found myself, however, having no idea what to do with my time though since I'm not studying like a crazy person. I don't have an externship this summer, so it'll be a real break from all things nursing which I am undecided if that's a good thing or not. As of this moment though, it's definitely a good thing. Ask me again towards the middle and end of the summer and my answer may change.

No {FIVE} for me today. But congratulations to Christina on the birth of her beautiful baby girl! April, I'm waiting to see pictures of your baby girl once she gets here too!

Have a blessed day and a great weekend y'all!

Share:

For the Love of Friday

Let's go ahead and jump right in, shall we? As usual, thank you to the lovely hosts - Christina, Darci, Natasha, and April!

{ONE} 

Thirty-ONE days until I leave for beautiful ol' Mexico. Just found out my flight is around 9AM, meaning I will be enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather by noon the same day!

{TWO}

The number of finals that stands between me and summer, Mexico, and my last year of nursing school. I know I haven't been posting lately, and I apologize. But it's finals week y'all. Have mercy. 

{THREE}

The number of things I want to buy before I head out on said trip. I am reallyyyy wanting a new bathing suit, a sun hat and some sandals. I would love a ton of new things, but for this trip, I'll make due with what I have if I can just get these three things. Good news is, I already bought some black bathing suit bottoms from Victoria's Secret, now I just have to buy some tops to mix and match.

Source

{FOUR}

The number of finals I've had this semester. The number of weeks until I am packing for Mexico. The number of hours I spent trying to get Beyonce tickets. The number of friends I contacted to get said tickets. The number of bathing suits and pairs of shoes journeying out of the country with me. The number of places I'm traveling to this summer (God willing). The minimal number of blogger friends I'd like to meet by the time I turn 25. The number of minutes before I lose all sanity because I'm posting this right before going into my last final of the week.

{FIVE}

Remember, once upon a time (here) where I told y'all I was working out and eating a mostly fruit and veggie diet and yadda yadda? Okay well your girl got hungry.
HOWEVER! I've lost 8 pounds. Which is both great and sucky because I've fallen off the bandwagon and I could've lost s really obligations or feel guilty for "wasting time" aka not studying. I'm still drinking mostly water, and I try and eat at least 1 serving of fruit and veggies each day. I just don't eat fresh food fast enough and it's too expensive for me to even buy such healthy food all the time and to keep replacing all the food I can't finish before the expiration date. So I'm doing what I can. I haven't worked out nearly as much as I have those first two weeks, but I still go walking/running at least twice a week and fit in other exercises whenever I can.
I am getting smaller though! I keep taking progress pictures - maybe one day I'll post some before and afters - and between those, my family and a few friends noticing I've gotten smaller, I'm doing something right! Just have to do more right than wrong. The usual life balance.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Share: