recap.

my internet was down for a few days last week...and then i was at work all weekend...hence why i haven't written in a few days. my bad.
last week was exciting! it was the end of clinicals forever!! now it is on to preceptorship! i have been assigned to 7e, which is an abdominal thoracic transplant intensive care unit. it is the same floor where i started my icu rotation, so i am really excited about it. for our last day of clinical we had a big breakfast, and we then took food to all of the floors we had worked on. me and a couple of friends brought fruit kabobs. they were bomb if i do say so myself.









here are a few moments on our last day of clinical...





later thursday evening, i went to yardhouse in pasadena with my dear friends grace and margie to not only celebrate being finished with clinicals, but to also celebrate grace's 23rd birthday! it was so much fun to spend a carefree evening with these amazing girls! i honestly cannot say how thankful i am for both of them, and i honestly don't know how i would have gotten through this journey without them! they are simply amazing, and are going to be phenomenal nurses.




[grace with her new alarm clock! we have only had a couple mishaps during our nursing school career...]







67 more days [but who is counting anyway...]! happy monday everyone!

city of angels.

i love good days. you know, those days when things just seem to go your way. do have days like this? well, today, i had one of those days. a good day. clinical today was...refreshing. as sad as it sounds...but there are very few days that i leave the hospital feeling encouraged and motivated. but today was one of those days. i was on 4 south today, the cardiovascular thoracic intensive care unit. my patient had so much going on, and i was running around the entire day...which is such a good feeling. i absolutely love being busy. and to make my day even better...we got a tour of los angeles county usc. and that just made my day. we got to see the brand new [gorgeous] hospital, and got to walk through the historical hospital. it was just awesome. the head chaplain gave us a tour, and he was just the sweetest man ever! i wanted to adopt him as a grandpa. the only downside to the tour was that we didn't get to see the er [i guess people had been abusing the privileges...boo people]. so i guess i am just going to need to transport a patient there...

[my nursing class and instructor with chaplain manly at lac usc]




the chaplain spoke a lot about the population of people you see at county, and that excited me. he spoke of being a missionary as a nurse, right here in the city of angels, and touching the lives of the underprivelaged citizens of the city. that is what i yearn to do. i want to serve and touch the forgotten people of this city. much like jesus, i long to live my life among the poor. i long to serve, educate, touch, protect, and bless the citizens of los angeles...and today reminded me of that desire.


and now i am working on CASE STUDY #2 at coffee klatch. and heading to my super awesome yoga class in an hour. it has been a good day.

...hear me roar.

it has been such a good four day weekend. it got off to a little rocky start, i had food poisoning on thursday [boo], and that was the first time i had been sick in a really long time. but i am feeling back to normal...praise the shepard! anyway, this week is an exciting week...it is our last week in the intensive care unit...and that means we start our internships! and it also means that the semester is half-way over. holy guacamole. 75 days people. does anyone else realize how fast that is approaching. this semester is definitely flying by, and i am so glad it is!
on a side note, i was feeling very productive at work this weekend...i had been wanting to hang up racks for everyone's towels in the locker room...and it finally got done yesterday! and to quote my friend amy, i am a woman...hear me roar.


[the finished project! BAM.]

and on a different side note, i just wanted to take a minute to say how grateful i am for my best friend kara. i have been best friends with this girl for 12 years, and i am so blessed by her. she never ceases to overwhelm me with her love, support, and encouragement. she inspires me. God has truly blessed me with this amazing woman.


[yosemite. summer 2005]


[hume lake. summer 2006]


[downtown disney. summer 2008]


[disneyland. spring 2009]


[snow valley. spring 2010]


[christmas time. december 2010]

well, i'm off to go train for the tough mudder! happy monday everyone!

hump day.

the simple things.
i have come to realize, that i love the simple things in life. i don't like getting all dolled up, i am much more comfortable in jeans and a sweatshirt. i am not a huge fan of having a night on the town, i would much rather spend a morning at starbucks spending quality time with a good friend. i don't like huge birthday parties, but prefer a simple dinner with my close friends. i prefer quality, not quantity. i love quiet saturdays filled with hot tea, a couch, and favorite movies. i love pictures of friends and family hanging on the wall, and not expensive pieces of art. i would rather go hiking then spending a night at a club. i prefer rainbows over heels. i prefer cooking my own meals at home, then spending money and going to a restaurant. the majority of my wardrobe is from target [nope, i am not ashamed], and not nordstroms. i don't spend hours putting on make-up [you are lucky if i manage to put on mascara]. i prefer to spend valentines day at home with a self cooked meal and a movie [thanks for a great night margie!], rather than a night in the city. maybe i don't just love the simple things in life, maybe i am merely a simple kind of person, and i am glad that i am.


[on top of half dome. yosemite, ca. summer 2010]

el oh vee ee.

"above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
1 peter 4:8

happy valentine's day everyone.

"probably the toughest event on the planet..."

i have wanted to do a mud run for a while now. they look awesome. and i have only heard how much fun they are. well, at the end of may, there is a mud run. and this isn't your typical mud run, this is the tough mudder. the slogan for the event is probably the toughest event on the planet. it looks crazy! [and i am pretty sure that is an understatement]. but i am pumped. training has officially began. time to start working up to running ten miles. i have till may 28th. three miles yesterday. two today. four tomorrow...hoping to be up to ten by the end of next month. and i feel that this competition it fitting for the theme of this year [compliments of mike detoy]: beast year 2011. i will keep you all posted on my progress. but i am stoked for a new physical challenge.

hump day.

decisions.
sometimes i wish life didn't come with decisions. or more so, that i didn't have emotions and feelings to alter decisions. i hate that my good intentions and the decisions that i make to follow through on those good intentions are overpowered by exhaustion. i wish that i simply knew what was going to happen...and the fear that my decisions are going to lead me to a negative place, where i am not intended to be. i hate when i don't know what i am really feeling, and that feel like i can't even trust myself. i hate that i have fear that i am going to regret the decisions that i am making now in the future. i wish that i trusted God more. i wish that i heard God's voice more clearly. i wish i could discern his will from my desires. i hate days when i feel lost.


[oldie but goodie]

nurses hike garcia.

yesterday after another overwhelming morning in critical care lecture, i went on an awesome hike up garcia trail with three other nursing girls [kia, deanna, and daniela!!]. it was, wait for it, legend...dairy [how i met your mother...anyone? anyone?] anywho, it was awesome. i had been wanting to go on a hike for such a long time, so it was so good to finally get to satisfy my nature itch. it was such perfect weather, and such great company...perfect combination for a good time. how i have lived in azusa for 2 years and never hiked the famous garcia trail is beyond me. and disclaimer...please just ignore how i gross i look in the pictures below...i still hadn't showered from getting off work that morning, and had just hiked over a mile in the sun...don't judge me.









on a side note, i want a dog. really bad. this isn't anything new, but it is a desire that has grown incredibly over the last few months. yesterday i was searching on craigslist [great utilization of time, i know], and found this dog named sugar. i want her. who has a house that i can keep her at until may when i move? and the video below just melts my heart. why do i do this to myself? who knows. but seriously, someone go save sugar for me...

hump day.

just 1.
so i decided to be really honest today. actually, for those of you who really know me this won't be a shocker at all. but for those of you who are more of my acquaintance, brace yourself. i don't really date. yes, you heard me right, i just took it there, i don't really date. take a deep breath, i am not one of those nerds whose social life consists of themselves and their x-box [it is more like me and my reality tv! ha!]. it's not like i don't date at all, but i have never been that type of person to go on dates every weekend with a different person each weekend. i just haven't. i don't know if it because i get attached easily [and i am just protecting my heart], or if it is the fact that i have never really had the desire to date a million different people, but i simply don't. let's just say that i don't need more than one hand to count the number of people that i have dated in my life time. and don't get me wrong, i am perfectly ok with that. i strongly believe in quality, not quantity.
now, i was inspired to write this post as a response to a recent goal that i made with a friend who's dating life is similar to mine. 1 date. yes, you heard me [well, essentially us] right. our goal this semester is to simply go on 1 date. now, to the average person, this sounds ridiculous, i realize that. and i may very well regret posting this tomorrow, but i just felt the need for some honesty here. so yes, 1 date. and this is a [bigger] deal for a person who doesn't really date [at all], and who hasn't been on a date in, well, [a considerable amount of time]. it will be interesting to see if i actually meet this goal. but i am trying to branch out of my comfort zone. and put myself out there more [this goes along with my new years resolution of embracing my life]. so we will see if this goal is accomplished before may 7th, i am just glad that i have a dear friend with a similar goal :]

just because...

[bridesmaids at my sister's wedding, june 2009]

neurology.

have you ever heard the phrase "the more you learn the less you know?" i first heard it in high school from my amazing chemistry teacher [holla at mr. e!]. i honestly didn't really understand that phrase during my good 'ol high school days, but today, that phrase slapped me straight across the face. my clinical rotation today was in the neurology intensive care unit at usc univeristy hospital, and let's just say that it was just a teansy overwhelming. actually, let me take that back, it was inredibly overwhelming. as i mentioned yesterday, neurology makes me nervous. though i have a deep love for derek shepard and all of his awesome neuro surgical skills, i have never felt a deep calling or connection to neurosurgery/neuroscience/neurology. never. so today was stretching. very stretching. and while i was reading charts, assessing my patient, talking to doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists, i very quickly felt incompetent. in my mind, the entire day, i kept thinking "who are you kidding...you are definitely not smart enough to be here. you just need to go home and read for hours because you have no idea what is going." now, i know these thoughts are a little extreme, but that is how i felt. not competent. and not ready [knowledge wise] to graduate in may.
so, with all that said, i am going to make myself vulnerable to the blogging world, and ask for support [which is so hard for me, because i am always very self reliant. always have, always will]. please be praying for me. i am overwhelmed this semester. i feel like i am simply trying to keep my head above waves that are crashing in all around me. i feel that it is a daily struggle to stay positive and remind myself that i can do this. i spent the day doubting myself, and i am exhausted. and now i have to go work on my case study. please just pray that God gives me strength and energy, because this is the hardest marathon that i have ever ran, and i am simply trying not to collapse before i sprint across that finish line.


[i get to see this amazing girl, my old roommate bre williams, on thursday after clinical [and after i turn in my case study!] and i am so excited! catching up with old friends is always stellar]