I'm through!!

As of yesterday 10/14/2013  I am OFFICIALLY finished with RN school!!! Words can't really describe how I feel right now, I've been waiting on this moment for a very very very long time!! It's here and I'm beside myself with joy!

No longer am I a student; No longer do I have to study pages and pages of material for an exam; Gone are the days of anxiety during a test because I can't recall what I read about cardiac tamponade or spinal cord injuries to answer a question correctly. See ya later late night cram study sessions. No more deep breaths that become hyperventilation and cringing as I hit submit and hope I passed........ NO MORE!!! It's been a bumpy road with celebrations and tears of frustration....... But I made it and

 I. AM. THROUGH.

Praise God!

On to the next chapter in my life......... *cue Katy Perry*

Schools back in....

And it marks the beginning of the countdown til I finish my program!

I had my last first day of school yesterday and it felt weird. Just to know that in a few short months I'll be finished with school..... makes me feel a combination of excited, nervous, anxious and relieved emotions on any given day. I won't know how to act when I finish......

Wait, yes I will

AAAYYYEEEE!! *In my loud ratchet voice* Lol

Right now though I need to focus on completing this one last class which I am currently in the swing of now. So far my clinical experience MAY not be what I hoped for, for the sake of graduating though I plan to grin and bear it..... with LOTS of prayer! <----- No lie.

Wishing everyone returning to school this fall success this semester!!!

 

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....

Finally, a break!

Is it true? Am I really done with my spring classes? Seems a little surreal that I am no longer responsible for studying something! I don't know how to feel........
While I'm super excited about not having class I am hoping that I get selected to take this summer school course, just call me an over achiever lol

While I have this free time I plan to finish up as much as possible in terms of wedding planning. We only have 66 days left...... which really means I have about a good 45 days to get it all set! My biggest task to tackle at the moment are the wedding invitations. I took the DIY route for this and while I have the wording down pretty good, my biggest challenge is finding a design to fit. I want it to reflect both mine and Lewis' personalities without seeming fake or commercial..... Haven't found anything that speaks to me yet, but I know it's out there!

Really though, where has the year gone?
Along with the invitations we still need to choose a place to do the cupcakes for the reception, send out final payments, finish pre-marital counseling, talk with the Reverend who will be marrying us, hash out the final details for flowers, book the hotel for the night/weekend.......the list of little things to complete is a mile long. I'll just be glad when all of it is done and all I am responsible for is showing up with my dress on a hanger lol.

When you look at it, I'm not truly getting a break ....... just shifting gears!

Oh! OAN: For all my folks who are doing the money challenge that I talked about way back in January HERE..... It's Week 19, have you been keeping up with saving ya money? I can honestly say that it can be difficult to part with it at times, especially when you are a little strapped for cash.... but I've been pretty disciplined and I'm proud! The challenge is really about to take off now too, from here on out it's big savings! It's never too late to join either, just check out the link for the challenge!

Weekend plans

1 exam down, 3 more to go! And if I keep making grades like the one I made this week, the other exams should be something to look forward to!!

Since I unofficially don't have to study for anything this weekend (I should ALWAYS be studying, but I just took an exam and I don't have the next one for another week and a half) my weekend plans are as follows:

• Finish my critical thinking paper
• Clean up the house 
• Pay bills
• Run errands that I've been putting off because of studying
• Treat myself to some retail therapy
• Wash my hair
• Workout......

In no particular order of course! My favorite item on that list: Retail therapy! Lewis told me I could get myself something nice.... on him! Love that man :)

After all that is said and done it's back to just chilling at home, surfing the web and preparing for my next week of work, clinical and class.

Hope you all have a dashing weekend!!!! Do you have any plans this weekend?

School grind

The break was nice, but now I have to get back on the school train and ride out these last 8 wks of the semester! I'm starting my pediatric rotation and I'm hoping I don't fall in love with any of the kids there, I also hope I don't come home crying every week after seeing a sick baby...... I have such a soft heart lol. While I was lolly-gagging with Lewis these past few days, I didn't get on the computer much and I didn't expect to see all this work I'm responsible for turning in on the first day of clinical (which happens to be tomorrow actually) I've knocked out my two math quizzes, I just need to finish 2 more worksheets before I am due to be in class at 10 a.m...... I can manage that.

I am planning to have a great 8wks in this class! No slacking!

Idle Chit Chat

                 Idle chit chat

This is my first round of finals in the semester so it's study/cram time for me. A smarter person would have taken last week (which was spring break for me) and studied real good so that they are uber prepared for the exams..... I wasn't that person. I had to handle wedding business for majority of my break so that only left the weekend for me to "try" to study. Fail. I ended up being busy most of the weekend as well....... Glad I actually feel confident about these tests otherwise I would be sick to my stomach right now lol

Sooooo..... I accidentally poured washer fluid into the brake system of my car the other day. According to Lewis that was among one of the worse things I could have done to my car O.o Ooops? For the record though, the cap is NOT labeled "brake system" it just says clean the filler before removing or some ish like that....... It wasn't alot of fluid but Lewis said that no other fluid except brake fluid is supposed to go in there so I had to go get my brakes flushed. The dude was tryna really scare me by saying "Oh we can't be too sure that your brakes will ever work properly again" Then why am I giving you my money if you can't guarantee that you can get it all out??? Anyways it's panning out to be an all day affair; there's no telling when I'll get my car back. I was told not to ever get under the hood of my car again........ Deal.

After I take my last final I plan to do some major chilling....... and spring cleaning! This place need a refreshing organize and I'll have a little over a week to do it. Can't wait.

My sew-in is doing okay, I think I'm going to go ahead and take it out thought. The thread is getting loose and it's almost time for a relaxer so I need to wash my hair properly before then. I realized I need to use a chelating shampoo on my hair because of the hair water here; this will help my hair retain moisture a whole lot better than it has been. I am still having moisture problems!

I guess I'll go start dinner for myself...... Nobody else is going to do, and plus I'm carless at the moment so I really don't have a choice of to-go foods.

Good day All!!

Week re-cap

School this week was something like a breeze! I can't really figure out why though, just seemed to flow very well and speed through. I think the fact that my Love bug came home for a few days had a lot to do with it :) Gosh I missed him so.......

I had a pretty busy week at school. I had to present my teaching project in clinical and I'm so glad I made the right move to go first among the presenters! I say that because the other people had handouts in COLOR ink and poster boards with animations while all they had to look at for my presentation was my beautiful face lol. There was no way I was topping that if I let them go before me..... Whew! Dodged that bullet.

I had an exam this week also. I felt pretty confident about the material, so I felt really confident about the test. Thankfully I passed that with no worries! A lot of the other students weren't too thrilled with the exam or their grades..... Blessed that I wasn't one of them.

Our church is studying from a book that talks about finances and how to set yourself up to become wealthy. It was written by one of our own church members Bro. Arthur Toole III. I think it has some valuable information worth looking into, especially for the growing young adult- like myself. It's not a how-to book per se, but it does put ideas in your head that you hadn't thought about. The book is called Don't eat from the F.I.G tree, I think everyone should definitely look into it!

After all the hustle and bustle of the week, I decided to take Friday as my day to just sort of mellow out. I didn't have work or school so I was pretty much free to do whatever........I ended up being very unproductive lol. I filed my taxes that morning (E-file with Turbo Tax!) and then I sort of awkwardly walked around the mall for about 2hrs trying to shop. I think I walked into about 8 or 9 stores in total and bought nothing! I was disappointed in myself. I hate shopping, but I want clothes! Crazy right? After that I had a datenight aka "girls night out" with my friend to a burger joint followed by heading to a Spoken Word event. I'd never heard Spoken Word live before then and although my friend told me the show wasn't all that good, I really enjoyed just getting dressed up and being out of the house. The things we look forward to......

Today, I plan to start studying a little bit and also gathering information for my NEXT presentation that is due in 2wks...... Followed by doing a bunch of NOTHING lol

I love weekends, the only time you can turn your mind off during different times of the day and everyone is okay with it!

Make the rest of the weekend a good one :)

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!

This lady.......

Since I no longer have a class to attend on Tuesdays I decided yesterday to pick up a shift a my job. I was placed on a floor I was unfamiliar with so at lunch time I figured I would just sit down in the cafeteria and eat rather than go back to the break room with strangers. Well I don't remember if I told you guys this but my clinical class comes to the hospital I work at...... and of course I end of spotting one of my classmates in the cafeteria. It was sort of awkward cause I knew I was going to be asked why I wasn't in class but up at work. I explained the sitch and then we sat down together to eat. One of my other classmates walks in and sits down next to me and we all start chit chatting.....  THEN......

*Cue my instructor*
In walks my teacher.....

I didn't really pay any attention to her at first because she usually gets her food and goes back into one of the breakrooms, but apparently this day she spotted us and invited herself to sit. It didn't phase me at all that she wanted to sit with us- she came over, spoke to me, put her soup and drink down and then

PICKED UP ONE OF MY DAMN FRIES AND PUT IT IN HER MOUTH!!!!! 

Yea, no seriously! And it happened so fast I don't think it registered to her right away, if at all. Just took a fry off my plate and shoved it in her pie hole, like we kick it that. We don't by the way. (naturally cause she dropped me from her class remember?????) How does that make it okay for you to touch my food?? When it happened I made a face like "trick, what has gotten into you?" When she walked off to get something else I looked over at one of my classmates and said "did she just take one of fries?" My classmate was just nodding her head and cracking up...... granted it was funny, but I was still a little shocked that my teacher had just "debo-ed" my food. *Debo= strong arming or taking anything just because you carry a heavy presence..... definition based of a character in the fictional based movie "Friday" starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker..... must see movie to truly understand definition LOL*

I couldn't wait to get home and tell Lewis, I knew he would enjoy the story- and he did lol The nerve of some people......

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.

School.... so far.

Last week was my first week of maternity health AKA pregnant women 101..... and I feel completely out of my element! I'm not even going to play games with you guys, the night before class ( like most students) I'm trying to figure out where I'm sposed to get my information about breastfeeding for a worksheet that was due and all the rest of the fifty-leven pages that were due right? Well I just began to get so frustrated and overwhelmed with all the information that I just broke down in tears! It's totally brand new information that I can't relate to..... So I feel like I basically have to submerge myself in this class in order to be successful. Great. It doesn't help that my clinical instructor is obsessed with this subject so she's can be overbearing at times with the information and highly defensive (because of encounters with previous students). So essentially I got my work cut out for me this flex.

 Lucky for me though, this is the only class I have to deal with so I guess that is something to smile about. Kinda. Lol  This week I was on a mother/baby unit (post delivery) and I got to see all the tiny babies wrapped up like little burritos..... it was so heart swelling! I love the little "coo" noises they make, and when they got all fussy during the assessment I just wanted to wrap them back up and leave them alone. I'm such a little punk hahahaha....... This class may end up being more rewarding than I thought.

Schools OUT

Well.... at least for the rest of the week! I took my last final yesterday morning and I did my thing on it, said my have-a-good-weekends to my classmates then bolted for my car at 9:25 a.m! I was sooooo glad to be done with my classes..... you guys know (somewhat) how I've felt about this flex so there is no need to get into detail about it lol. I am proud to say that even though final grades have not been posted, I am confident that I made B's in all of my classes! I know to the scholarly student that's pish-posh but to a strong C nursing student (like myself!) that is a milestone! I'm ready to pop bottles damn near lol....... I kid, I kid. But I am very deserving of these grades; I worked hard this flex!

Since I've been out of school since basically this time yesterday, I've had an array of things I want to do/get done while I have this bit of time on my hands. There is re-organizing the wedding planning, finish cleaning the house (did most of it yesterday after I got home), I thinking about rearranging the bedroom, doing a little craft project (or 2), and running some errands. I really only have today because tomorrow I go to work and Saturday I will be tied up most of the morning and some of the afternoon at a women's conference.... 

So the question is: Why the hell am I still in bed? 

Seriously you guys, I've only gotten up like twice: once to pee and the other time was to warm some breakfast up and grab my laptop....then it was right back in the bed for me! I feel like lounging all day, but I can't! Ugh. On the bright side though at least I don't have to study for an exam or do a project; I should embrace this little time I have lol

Looks like I'm about to get my day started...... I feel bad about being in bed now that I've just told the world wide web my list of to-dos and I haven't made a move yet lol

Mind Right Monday

This week is finals week for me... which is signifies the end of these classes (THANK YA SWEET BABY JESUS) and also that means I get a day or two of freedom before my next class. This also ends my first year of nursing school and begins my last year!!!! I'm super elated about how time is flying....dang. I'll be married and graduating before ya know it!!! Enough of that for now though, it's Monday folks and you know what that means: time to lay out my goals and what I'm grateful for this week!

So last week I kept it pretty simple and straight to the point with my goals, I plan to do the same this week! 

Goals

• Study hard and beast these exams
• Relax my hair and do a length check
• Hydrate! (I've already started doing it on the regular, why stop now?)
• Prepare myself for this next level of nursing school
• Start back some wedding planning (YAY!!!)

Gratefuls

• Life, health and strength
• Lewis for giving me validation when I need it 
• Family
• Constant support
• Church members who are evolving into awesome friends
• Water filters (SA's water is awful......)

Welp, what are your goals for the week? Are you grateful for anything? Lets have a fantabulous week everyone :)

Oh remember I'm linking up over at Okdani.com, if you guys want to start up your own MRM be sure to link up over there as well! Shout me out too..... I would love it :)

 

So close, I can taste it!

I am this () close to being done with these set of classes!! I am in my last week of "instruction" and then next week we have finals! Now if the week would only speed up.......

I know I jump on here every now and then and rant about school, but you guys truly don't get the full opportunity of hearing my b*tchfest. You should be thankful, poor Lewis gets an earful.... nightly. To be honest though, this has been my best flex of nursing school (grade-wise) I've been killing my exams and scoring high on my presentations the entire time; I think I'm off a smidge. Seems like I tend to do better when I'm forced to be fully consumed with my work...... rather than when I only have to worry about one class at a time. Weird.

Well I know Lewis will be happy once next week comes, he told me he was tired of me "being so busy all the damn time." His exact words lol

I'm actually in between exams at this very moment..... I just finished one, and we have to take another one in 30 minutes...... FML.

I need a time warp machine.... or borrow that clicker thing from Adam Sandler.

Just taking a break from studying to hi!! Hope you guys are having a great day! Wish me good luck on my exam this afternoon!

Mind Right Monday!

I'm day late with this but nonetheless here is my strategy for the week!

Goals:

• Study at least an hr a day for each class/exam I take this week (Which is all of them!)
• Exercise at LEAST 2x this week..... (I say two cause I KNOW I can do that)
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!! (this has become a growing problem since I started back working)
• Check on interview for class project
• Start other project for class
• Spend QT with Lewis (he's been feeling neglected lately and from the above you can see why :/ )
• Relax!

Gratefuls:

• Health and strength
• Lewis, his support and for him being the one person constant in my life as of lately
• Family support
• Perseverance
• That its a choice to work, not a requirement
• Faith!
• That these classes are almost over with! 3 more weeks and it's on to the next.......

I think I only really got like 2 of my goals done from last weeks' MRM........ But I got it this week!!!! What about you? What goals do you have this week? Are you grateful for anything?

Mind Right Monday

I have been re-inspired by a fellow blogger Dani over at OK Dani to post a weekly list of goals and things that I am grateful for to my page. When I first started doing the MRM, I only did it on paper and it really helped me organize my thoughts and what I needed to get done on a weekly basis...... I actually don't know why I stopped doing that, it worked for me then. Now since nursing school is getting a bit hectic this should come in handy!!!!

P.S I love Dani's blog, she is so funny and real and is a proud new mommy! Check her out!!

My goals are this week:

• Finish my care plan for clinical before Wed
• Clean up the house
• Study for at least 1 1/2 hrs everyday (got 3 exams AGAIN next week)
• Start on class presentation
• Book interview for class project
• Get to bed on time (We'll see how that works out)
• Make time to relax (not likely but a girl can dream right?)

I am grateful for:

• Life, health and strength
• Lewis
• Family/support system
• My ability to adapt
• Patience!!!!

Hoping to have a bomb-ace week...... stress-free and productive!!

Randomness....and updates.

This flex in nursing school I'm taking mental health theory and clinical. I'm not really interested in going into the field but it is interesting to read  about all the different types of mental illness that are out there..... and even cooler to actually see it in real life. But I swear by the end of this class, I will have diagnosed myself and everybody around me!! Have you ever read about something and think to yaself "OMGoodness, that is SO me" or had a feeling that somebody you know matched the sign and symptoms to a "T"? Lol...... man, this class is going to be very informative.....

I got 2, wait scratch that, 3 exams lined up for this week so I've been a nervous lately. Not really sure how to study since it's the first exam, don't know what to expect in the questions..... especially pharmacology. All that class is is drugs, drugs, their class, adverse effects and more drugs! I've been studying most of the day for that one. Pray for me!

Really been preoccupied with school lately so in an attempted to not deal with my hair last week I ended up doing my entire head in straw curls...*Will do a separate post on this*.... they lasted exactly a week until I got tired of looking at them; just washed my hair last night. Dreading that I have to wake up and figure out what to to with it every morning. I'm sure I'll find something. Currently 8 wks post... but looking more like 12 because of the under processed hair.

The wedding planning is basically at a stand still for now until I get my school work more under control and balanced with my home life. I got the call that my dress came in yesterday so I'm super excited to pick it uuuuuupppppp!! Ugh, I can't wait to lay eyes on it and try it on again :) Prolly do that later this week after all my test are through and Lewis leaves for work, can't have him eye-spying on it..... yea, he can be nosy like that. We are still really just saving the funds ::and still playing the savings game:: for the whole sha-bang and will prolly start purchasing things come the beginning of the year.

 Next on our planning list is catering, reception hall, and engagement pictures....... 9 months to go!

Since my incident with that coworker at my job, I have been a bit leery about being put with her patients cause I don't want to go through what I went through the first time-again. But so far, so good. We did have to work together again but thankfully I was on the opposite unit. It's only a matter of time before we cross paths again though and I hope it goes better. I ain't no killer but don't push me..... Other than, my job has been plenty pleasant. Just trying to manage my time the best I can, I can't be everywhere at once.

That pretty much sums up what I've been up to lately...... What about you? Whatcha been up to?

Back into the swing of things....

School started back yesterday for me! To be honest.... I'm super excited about this school year for two special reasons:

1) I am halfway through my RN program come October and I'll be completing my last 2 1/2 semesters this school year and then I'm done! By next October, if God says the same, you can call me Nurse Bee- RN!

2) Next July I'm getting MARRIED!!!! No extra comment needed.

These very important future instances have put an extra jolt into how I handle the next 10 months. I gotta go ALL IN! No holding back. So I expect myself to be the best student in all my classes, and finish planning this wedding like a BOSS.

I got this.
I think......
....... I hope......

Also I'm coming back strong with posts, I had kinda fallen off because I didn't know what to post or if anybody would even come check me out after I did post. Now though that doesn't matter to me, I'm going to post regardless so stay tuned :)

Guess I'll go study a little. See ya!