Updates

Life has been moving lately for me (in a great way):  finishing summer school and preparing for fall semester, transitioning from my old job to a new one (better, yay!) celebratin' and decoratin' lol. Here's the scoop:

School- Not sure if I ever made it super clear, but I enrolled back into to school shortly after finishing my nursing program. Where I live, most of the hospital systems are wanting to go "magnet status" and that basically means that they aren't looking to hire the ADN (which is my degree) they want the BSN so it's extremely hard to get a job in the hospital right now as an ADN. It wasn't my original plan to jump right back into school, but God has a funny way of doing things..... He made it too simple for me to get in, the course load isn't as bad as I imagined and the program length is incredibly short! So here I am, about to finish my first of 2 semesters.

Job- The last time I talked about my job, I was on a serious soap box about having to work so much! I was not used to working 40hrs 5 days a week (and I still hate it btw) but there were other elements of that job that I subconsciously didn't agree with as well that led me to continue to look for other jobs elsewhere- ANYWHERE. Again I feel like God stepped in and placed me exactly where it was time for me to be, He opened a door for me that got closed on two separate occasions by man. And when He opened that door, He had management begging on my behalf for me to get that spot! PRAISE HIM! I am truly thankful for the opportunity that was created for me and I do not plan to take it lightly! I am in this position to better mold my knowledge as a nurse..... you can call me a sponge cause I plan to soak it ALL in lol

Celebrating- Hubby and I recently celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary! Gosh I can't believe its already been that long..... Thankfully it's been a wonderful first year full of blessings and triumphs for us! My continual prayer is that the Lord helps us build on the foundation we have laid together. I can't wait to see what the following years have in store for us, I know it will be  nothing less than great :)

Decorating- We've been in our house for 6 months and it still looks like a blank slate. Blame it on my inability to make a hasty decision but I feel like if it's something that we are going to look at everyday for the next 3-5 years, I need to make sure I don't make a terrible choice. So for that reason (and lack of downtime) we are just now really starting to decorate the space. Finally bought and brought home our new couch, a dining room table and put down some hardwood floors. Still got a long ways to go but at least our home is starting to take form. Pics and posts coming soon!

Now that everyone is pretty much caught up with what's going on with me, it's time to revamp my blog!

But first let me finish this schoolwork..... see ya later ;)

I think I got it.

Actually I know I got it........

The constant gnawing heat that comes over me while at work, disturbs me at night when I want to sleep and consumes me as I watch television...... It rises up inside of me and turns me into some sort of crazed animal. The fever.

Vent session

I've been very busy lately. Trying to organize my life and get a routine down since I'm a working gal now...... It's still a bit of a struggle. I'm too tired most days to do housework and that further makes me feel as though I'm not on the ball with managing my time. *Sigh* I need to get it together.

I believe I'm still in what's called the "transitional phase." Phasing out of being a student with lots and LOTS of time on my hands to clean and manage the home, available for my husband at all times and eager to do at the drop of a hat among numerous other things.... to a career woman with less time spent in the house and more time spent away. To be honest, I don't know how much I like it right now. This very well could be me just struggling with the fact that I haven't mastered my organization strategy yet, and with due time I'll get it all down in a way that satisfies me. Until then..... just keep me in your prayers!

I know it's only a matter of time before everything will smooth itself out.....right now it just seems chaotic in my eyes. What a journey!

Series: Updating my life

I should've posted this a couple of weeks ago but lately I've been barely getting on my computer and when I do it's only for a few minutes......

ANYWHO

I recently decided to get a protective style to get me through most  the rest of nursing school. I figured a sew in would be best because it was versatile and I could go as long or short as I want to..... I ended up with this one:

What you think? It's simple yet chic.....I can flirt it up when I need to or tone it down by putting it into a half up half down ponytail. I like it alot and my husband loves it...... it's crazy because he doesn't want me to cut me actual hair but loves the short hair do's on me. Go figure.

My plan is to leave it up for another few weeks then take it down and prepare for a relaxer...... 

So I'm married..... now what?

It's been a few weeks since the wedding and the hype seems like it's officially died down surrounding it. We're business as usual, both back to work and school for me in a few weeks. I tackled the dreaded name change game- driving back and forth and all over town to the different places to submit name change forms..... don't even get me started on the waiting game I had to play at the smallest Social Security office IN THE WORLD just to change my name on my card. I told Lewis he needed to be thankful that he didn't have to change his name and go through any of this madness I had to endure.... ish was for the birds. I digress.

After all that "excitement" was over, I was just sitting on the couch one afternoon and I found myself thinking:

"So..... now what happens?"

What is my next step as a wife? Where do I go from this point? Silly me thought there was this checklist that all new wives get tucked into their wedding bands to refer to. Nope! So I guess that means I'm wingin' it, right?

Since there is no special protocol to life after your wedding, I think I am just going to update my life. Yea, that's what I'll do! I need to anyways, and what better excuse to do that than getting married! What I plan to do is pick out a few areas in my life that need updating and make them part of my personal goals for the rest of 2013. I'll make it a series here on the blog to stay motivated and try to get as many, if not all of them updated before the year is over.

Time to shake things up..... 

OWE: Update

As of today there are only 41 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE WEDDING. You have GOT to be kidding me...... I knew once school ended the rest of the days before the wedding would just fly right by me and I wouldn't even be aware of it until a moment like this. SMH, I need to get with it!

I am here with an update, this one will serve as the one before the finalized update which I plan to do the first week in July; 2 wks before the wedding *GULP*......

See how my plans are unfolding after the jump....

Full speed ahead

Suddenly this is what my life is doing.... MOVING.

It seems like two weeks ago, I really had nothing going on and now....... things are becoming a blur because everything is going so quickly. Time has come to send out wedding invitations, I got accepted into summer school (3 days before the class started) I HAVE A BIRTHDAY COMING UP,  Lewis and I are currently making plans for after the wedding and we have 52 days until we get married. 

It may not actually seem like a lot but in my little mind, these things are definitely piling up..... and fast. I welcome all of it though because this building stress leads to good results! I just need to handle one thing at a time as much as possible and not let good stress turn into bad stress.

It's unreal to me how I am about to accomplish all the major goals I set for myself a few years ago.... I found myself asking "what will I do once I complete the last goal?" The answer is super simple: create new ones! I am less than 4 months out from finishing this chapter in my life....... It only makes sense to begin a new chapter and that's what I plan to do :)

Have a good day!!

60 days of cleansing......

Today makes 60 measly days before Lewis and I become husband and wife...... Eeeek! He asked me last night was I getting excited/anxious/scared since it's SO close; I just simply replied "I think I'll start to feel the wedding butterflies after all is completed and we are actually in the car on the way to East TX to get married." Truthfully, I guess you could say I am feeling the pressure now cause there are still tasks that need to be completed....... *SIGH* 

I decided to take these last 60 days before the wedding to "detox". Or is it clean out my closet? Spring clean? Purge from my life? Uhh Yea, all of that. I don't really know the exact term to use to describe what I want to accomplish in these 60 days but it's something along the lines of making sure my head is on straight and my life is somewhat aligned with the plans I have for myself and my soon-to-be husband. Now while Lewis is all for the whole "Get yo life" session I am choosing to embark on, he is does how a problem with certain aspects of it...... Sorry babe, you'll be okay!! Lol.

The things I plan to accomplish is these last 60 days before the wedding are:

• Staying fit
• Concentrate on evolving into my role (as a wife)
• Being more spiritually in-tuned 
• Evaluating my relationships with others
• Updating my wardrobe

Okay I threw in the last one because..... that is still an ongoing struggle from earlier this year *sad, I know*  

In actuality 60 days is a great amount of time to really evaluate these items, if not conquer and build upon all of them. 

Well, Guess it's time I really grew up. <----- Never thought I would say that out loud.*wow*

Who's tryna get lucky?

Mega millions drawing is tonight....... Who bought a ticket or 3? Lol...... Have you seen the lines on television for a ticket?? My goodness gracious people are SERIOUS about that 600 mil!!! Don't let this post fool you, I'm right with those people I bought 2 tickets myself hell. I would've spent those $4 on something irrelevant anyways......So why not?

Hey live a little!! It's doesn't hurt to try and you never know, you just might win something ;)

Updates.... O:AWE

Right now Wednesday is what I consider my lounge day during the week. I usually take this day to catch up on my select t.v. shows, clean up the apt, run most of the errands etc, etc. Thankfully I don't have an exam tomorrow so I can fully take advantage of the day......... Sun's out, birds chirping and it's fairly breezy. Great day grab lunch with a friend or something :)

So it's been about a month since I posted O:AWE and I wanted to share an update on the different areas.....

Hair: I've been keeping up with my simple little regimen pretty good. There have been times when I had to wait an extra day or so to actually wash my hair because of an unexpected event or lack of good timing, but for the most part it's going smoothly. My first pre-poo went really bad... oil everywhere lol.... but thankfully I've figured out another way to get it going. As far as length retained, I'm not really able to tell since I can only use a direct heat pass 1x a month. I've used it already for this month and the only thing I did was blow dry my hair to put it away in a style I talked about here..... I'll try and check once I take it down.

Body:  This part hasn't been going to good. I hadn't been able to get motivated to workout at all! I played my zumba game for about a week or so but couldn't get all the moves right to keep up so I slowly stopped wanting to play it. That and our living room is just too small for all the moving around you do for the game.....  I finally came to the conclusion that I must join a gym if I am to really get in shape like I want to. Plus working out at home sucks to me. Joining a gym should throw me back into the game. I'm seriously out of shape.....

Acne: I have been nothing short of diligent with this!My face hasn't been breaking out as much and my scars are starting to fade. It's really beginning to show too; When Lewis came home my face was one of the first things he commented on. "Your face looks really good, what have you been doing to it?" It made me feel good to know that I'm already getting good results from what I am doing. Also I love getting compliments from my Love bug :D

Mentally, spiritually, emotionally: Putting forth the effort to work on these things is yielding great results for me. I feel more in touch with myself these days, more than I was a month ago and even more than last year. I've changed my study habits and my test grades are reflecting that, I pray for other people more these days and it makes me feel wonderful... and I try to listen more and talk less to others; it's help me to actually hear everything they are saying verbally and non-verbally.

So far, so (almost) good..... right?

Oh, Saturday....

Yesterday afternoon proved to be a little challenging at work..... Was floated from a stable unit to an extremely busy floor where I was pulled from one end to the next for the remainder of my shift! My poor feet   hurt so bad when I got home..... I just shower, ate and tumbled into bed. Woke up and realized I had a number of things to do. Eye exam. Bank. Wash clothes. Wash dishes. Clinical project. Study. At first glance it's not really a long list..... but the trick is that they are all time consuming tasks. 

Man, it's Saturday!

So I ended up doing most of it, cause by the time I completed items #1 and #2 it was already 1 p.m lol. I tried to work on my project (some more cause I've already started it) but I kept getting distracted by hunger. Quickly nixed the idea coming to the conclusion that since I am at my greatest study/task completion/motivation potential in the morning, I should probably tackle that tomorrow after church when I would still be fresh (Lewis reminded me that I tend to turn off my "student mind" around 3 or 4 o'clock everyday and I am no good to focus on school stuff beyond that without massive conscious effort) along with studying. I did the rest though. This is pretty random but to my apt dwellers who use the community laundry room: do you guys ever notice that on the weekends it seems like EVERYBODY in the entire complex is washing clothes? No seriously, it's like a madhouse on the weekends....I was thinking earlier as I watched two ladies make a mad dash towards the SAME last available washer "doesn't anybody get a day off during the week anymore?" Eh.

Hope you guys are having a fantabulous Saturday and enjoy the rest of your weekend! Oh, happy Superbowl'n too!

Kind of like, whatever.

My love had been away from me for going on 3 wks and I absolutely HATE IT. He's been gone before and I didn't really mind other than sometimes when I would get a bit lonely, but the difference is that then Lewis was on a set schedule; 2 wks on and 1 wk off. So by the time I began to really miss him, he would be on his way home. This time he doesn't know when he will get to come home. It super sucks! I know he's beginning to get frustrated with it all being up in the air because every day he'll say "hopefully they let me know something today" ....... Aaaw, babe! Hang in there :( (me too) 

I digress.....

My school schedule allows me to have a full day off (well really two, but I work on Fridays generally) the way I spent it yesterday was mainly housework and school project stuff. Literally, I only walked out of my house twice both times for food lol. I figured since I would be home all day that I would whip out the shower cap and baggy my hair while I worked.

And you know what? It's still on as I type! Ha! I thought about just leaving it on and wearing my knit cap (noted in photo) to class this evening but I don't want to scratch my head and the person next to me look up like "did I just hear plastic rubbing?" 

Lately you guys, I've low-key had some fierce baby fever. It's not helping that I'm back in this maternal rotation where all I see is baby bumps and infants galore...... Maybe I SHOULD be a little more glad that Lewis isn't home right now....?

I've been on some "whatever" type stuff these past few weeks......At work they have reduced my floor hrs so next month I am only on the schedule a whole 2 DAYS. Anybody else would have a definite problem with only been scheduled two days for the entire month, but I looked at it and was like "oh, well whatever. More time to study or do other stuff." Before the 21-day fast I probably would have concerned..... with my paycheck, but since doing the fast I am learning to not be consumed with things that I really shouldn't be worried about. My focus right now is getting through this class, finishing the semester, finalizing things for the wedding.... Not wondering how I can squeeze in a shift or two during the next pay period to have a good check. I will level with you all, it's hard not to wonder about that but I know that this will definitely help me become a greater person. It's amazing what 21 days of just listening and following what God has to say can do for you!

One step at a time!

It's lunchtime and my computer is going dead (as usual).....  So food is next on the agenda lol 

I got class in a little while and I still need to nap, Zumba and shower before then! 

Toodles :)

Idle Chit chat

Forgive my little absence, school started back this week and I have made it my personal business to make sure I am SHARP this semester. No more slacking for me.... I can't afford to slip further behind.

Here's some of the stuff I've had my hands in lately.........

Since I discovering the state of my ends a few weeks ago, I have been looking all  over the place for little this and that remedies to help me deal with them. I remembered a while back that I had come across a blogger who talked about moisturizing her ends using the "baggy method" and her entire head with the "Greenhouse effect." The baggy method is simply that: you moisturize and seal your ends and then you wrap a baggy, ziploc, sandwhich or grocery, around it which is supposed to contain the moisture and really moisturize the hair. With the greenhouse effect method you are to M&S the enitre head and then you could either use a grocery bag or a shower cap to cover it up. It seems like it would have the same effect as DC-ing with no heat; you would let the heat from scalp do the moisturizing. 

I chose to do the baggy method for my ends, since that's my problem area.

My little knot

A day and a half later, result of bantu knots pulled into a banana clip

I was thoroughly surprised at how moisturized my hair was. It was still damp but that may have been because I sprayed my hair with water before I M&S. When I did the bantu knots a day later my ends were still pretty soft, not dry and stiff like they have been in the past. This method has just found it's way into my regimen!

Not sure if I've ever told you guys but San Antonio's water is extremely hard and disgusting..... that's the main reason why we were drinking bottled water at first but switched over to a filtered water pitcher by Brita exactly like this:                              

                               

 After we switched I never thought twice about it being the same water we showered with until I started to notice how dull my hair look all the time, then I also thought back to how my ends started becoming more and more brittle shortly after I moved here and how that lead up to a haircut. Not to mention how dry my skin was all the time..... needless to say it took me an entire year to figure out that the water has been reeking havoc in my life! So I purchased a filtered shower head by Culligan and let me tell you, this thing is the BUSINESS.

                                     

It has a powerful flow and it spits out A LOT of water! With 5 flow settings, I can have 5 types a showers a week lol.....The only thing I don't like about it is I think because it does spray such a large amount of water compared to the shower head that came in the apt, the hot water doesn't last as long anymore....Maybe about 10-15 minutes and then it starts to get cooler. It's a bummer, especially if I need to do a shower/hair wash combo; guess I'll have to choose which one to do first for now until I figure out a better system. Here's how it looks in my shower:

It's been up for about a week, but the very first time I used it I immediately noticed a difference in my skin so I know it's a keeper. I can't wait for Lewis to come home and try it out!

That's really the bulk of what I've been up to lately......

What's been up with you lately? Get your hands on any good projects? Find any good deals? Let's chat!

21-day fast

HA :)

Last Sunday the message at church had to deal with fasting and how it helps bring you closer to God. I had heard of fasting but before then I never knew the reason why people did it or what it ultimately was supposed to accomplish. Also while at service I became aware that our church is offering a 21 day fast to for anyone to participate in that runs Jan 6th thru Jan 27th. They don't require anything specific like giving up food entirely, skipping meals or anything to that effect; it's more like you are free to give up anything you want (and be serious about it) and get closer to the Lord. That could be surfing the web, greasy foods, sweets, shopping, anything you enjoy....... 

I decided to do it.

I wanted to do because for one: like I stated before I had never fasted and I am intrigued by it. Two: I wanted to focus my attention more on God and what I feel He has in store for me this year ::I don't know if you guys are aware of this but this year has some BIG things going on for me::  And really I have nothing to lose from this experience, I can only gain knowledge, patience and discipline. My Pastor printed off some materials for us to read on fasting like how it originated and the different types of fasting that are out there. 

For my fast I will giving up sweets. I am a sugar FANATIC ya'll. I love all things gummy (worms, bears, those little cherrys and gummy letters they sell in the candy stores) I love kids fruit snacks and fruit rollups, I also enjoy skittles......whoo, look at all that candy I just named lol! This will be really hard for me because I have a major sweet tooth ( I got the cavities to prove it) and it really comes alive after I eat a meal. But I know for a fact that I can definitely make it through this fast if I stay diligent and practice strict discipline! Every time I crave something sweet I am going to definitely pray about it lol..... And just to be completely true to my "no sweets" fast I will also only drink water or milk for the next 21 days...... I'll definitely need the Lord on speed dial lol

I feel as though I am really starting this year off the right way...... I will strive to continue to be blessed!
Wish me good faith in my endeavor :)

Idle chit chat

I have been up since before the sun decided to rise lurking my school student page. Spring registration is today and I want to make sure that I get the time slots I want and the teachers I want.....I bet everybody in my nursing program is up right now watching the clock; it's like a rat race. This is so sad. Lol And the crazy thing is, I don't think registration starts until 8 a.m! I'll prolly go back to bed after this.

Speaking of nursing school, last week I had a bit of a set back. In all my clinical classes we are required to take and pass a dosage calculation exam for that level..... I am not one to make up excuses but math is one of things I am not good in at all. My problem is not working the problem out, it's recalling the correct formula to use (and no they don't give us a formula sheet, we must remember all the formulas by memory)  So I take my exam, and I didn't pass. They give us one more time to retake it and if we do not make the passing grade, then we get dropped from the course. Well, I retook it last week and.....I missed it by one question. FML. I was so frustrated with myself when my teacher showed me the test! Tried to be strong and show as less emotion as possible but the more I stared at my test the more my eyes watered.......As far as I know, I have been dropped from my clinical class which means that I will have to repeat it in the spring; which puts me behind my class....which means that I may not be able to graduate on time. I'm okay with it now, it just sucks that I have to repeat it because of a math exam not because I didn't do the work... 

That's life for ya.

All I can do is focus on what I'm left to deal with which is my lecture class........ and keep my chin up.