Well, it's a learning process...

Starting IVs, I mean.

Yesterday, I got all the ones I tried on the first try. Today, I didn't get any. Super frustrating. I feel a lot more confident this week though than last week. I'm not afraid to get in there and do it without someone watching over my shoulder anymore. I guess I just need more practice. Practice makes perfect, after all.

I'm getting the hang of things at work though. Getting adults ready for surgery is definitely a lot more complicated than getting kids ready for surgery. You have to deal with the IV, lab work, ted hose, SCDs, a bunch of different meds to give, etc. etc. Half the time the order for the procedure doesn't match what's in the history and physical, and these days everything has to match up perfectly in the chart, or you're liable in a lawsuit. I never knew there was so much to worry about! I'm supposed to work the rest of this week, and then I have next week off for spring break. Yay! I can't wait to sleep in...and by sleeping in, I mean past 6 AM!

Travis has a bit of an easier week this week as far as school goes. He's got one test on Friday, and he has to turn in some more of that 12 page paper he's been working on for several weeks. He's also giving the invitation tomorrow night at church. Today, he went and reserved a pavilion at Sokol Park in Northport for the big graduation party with Tyler and Jeremy and everyone's families. At least we have a place booked now for sure. Now, I can start thinking about food and who will bring what. It should be fun though! :) Less than 2 months til graduation...60 days to be exact!

Travis is coming up here to Huntsville Friday afternoon, and we're supposed to go over to the Hesters' house for supper that night, so that should be a lot of fun. Next week, Travis is supposed to go canoeing with Alan, Andrew, and Gary on the Tennessee River, so they are looking forward to that. Mainly, I'm just ready to spend a whole week with Travis! I don't really care what we do, as long as we can do it together :)

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

Graduation is right around the corner!

So much has been happening over the past month, and I'm not doing a very job of blogging about it...sorry! We've enjoyed a lot of great Alabama football games. The LSU game was one of the best we've seen as students I think! We had a few friends over to watch the Mississippi State game, and that was a lot of fun. I made my mom's white chili and hello dollies, and they both turned out really good.

Yesterday was the last day of my preceptorship. It went by SO FAST! I really enjoyed working with Carmon, my nurse, and I definitely learned a lot. Tuesday, I finally got the chance to start an IV. I've started several IVs on adults in past semesters, but this was my first chance to try on a child, and she was 2 years old! It was a great opportunity. Last night, I worked the evening shift (3PM - 11 PM), so that was a little weird. Every other shift that I worked was 7AM to 3PM, so I was used to waking up at 5:45 A.M. I'm glad to be finished, but I'm really going to miss the nurses on the unit. They were great!

All that's left before graduation is a group presentation during dead week and an NCLEX review course during finals week. Then....it's time to walk across that stage at Coleman Coliseum! I can't decide if I'm more excited or nervous about graduating...I think it's about equally both. I'm excited to finally be finished with all of this work. Nursing school has definitely been a lot more work than I ever thought it would be. I don't even want to know how many hours I put in studying! So, it's a good feeling to almost be finished with all that work. The past 6 or 7 weeks have definitely been A LOT less stressful. I've kind of gotten a little taste of the "real world" since I've mostly been working and not done very much school work. That's one thing that I'll definitely enjoy about being finished with school....LESS STRESS! But...it's also scary to be graduating at the same time. Pretty soon, I'll be an RN with a lot of responsibility that I don't know if I'm ready for. I feel a lot more confident than I did before I started this preceptorship, but I'm still nervous. It's a good thing that most hospitals have a pretty long orientation for newly graduated nurses because I'll need it!

Speaking of hospitals, the job search is not going very well. I've applied for 6 jobs at Huntsville Hospital, and 5 of them have been filled by other applicants. I haven't been called for any interviews either. I've also applied for 2 jobs at Crestwood and haven't heard anything about those. I guess maybe I'm not being proactive enough...maybe I need to start calling and bugging people?? I've also considered trying to find a job at a doctor's office here in Tuscaloosa for the 5 months next semester that we'll still be here...but I don't know how likely it would be that anyone would want to hire me for that short amt of time. We'll see. I also have the option (I think) of working in pre-op at Huntsville where I worked the past 2 summers. Cheryl told me before I left in August that she would hire me PRN (as needed) after I graduated if I couldn't find another job. It wouldn't be a full time job, but it's definitely great hours and I already know the ropes there (for the most part). I may call or email her here shortly...

Travis is staying busy with his classes as usual. He has a big test in quantum mechanics coming up on Tuesday. He's hoping to do a lot better on this test than he did on the first one so that he can pass the class. I think he can do it :) I feel like I've barely seen him at all in the past 2 weeks because I worked the past 10 days, went to bed by 9 PM and was getting up at 5:45 AM. He, on the other hand, was staying up til 1 or 2 AM and sleeping late, so we were on totally opposite schedules! It'll be nice to be able to stay up a little bit later now that I'm done with my preceptorship.

Tonight, we are going to decorate for Christmas finally! I wanted to do it a couple of weeks ago because we won't be here for most of December to be able to enjoy it, but we were just too busy. I'm so excited!

Tomorrow is our last Alabama football game as students at Bryant Denny...and it's supposed to rain all day! I hope that it will hold off during the game, but we'll see. We survived a monsoon at the Arkansas game, so I guess we can survive another one tomorrow if we have to!

We're excited about seeing everyone at Thanksgiving next week! :)

Our busy October...

Well, a lot has happened since I last updated this blog. On October 2nd, I took the HESI and passed. Yay! It was such a relief to get that over with. I also took my final exams and did fine on those, so no more tests for the rest of the semester!!! WOOHOO! The only thing left to do this semester (besides the preceptorship, of course) is a group project that we have to present the week before finals week. I started my preceptorship a week and a half ago on the pediatric unit at DCH. I worked 8 days in a row (64 hours!) and survived, and it actually wasn't at tiring as I thought it might be. I feel like I'm learning a lot, and I really like my nurse. She even got my a birthday present! By the way, I had a great 23rd birthday on Tuesday. Thanks for all of the cards, gifts, and well wishes!

Travis is staying busy with his classes too. He's spent the last week writing a formal lab report and has been busy with homework for his other classes too. He didn't do very good on a quantum mechanics test last week, so he's worried about not passing that class. I keep telling him that he'll do just fine. He's pretty ready to be done with school and just start working.

Well, Alabama is still undefeated...BARELY. We both almost had a heart attack at the end of the game tonight! It was definitely an exciting finish! I hope we'll play better against LSU in 2 weeks though.

Here are some pictures from the past month:

This is my cap and gown picture :)

Picture from the Ole Miss game in Oxford

Our group of friends that went to the Ole Miss game

Picture with some of the girls from Northwood before the South Carolina game

Gary, Tyler, and Travis before the South Carolina game

Us before the Tennessee game today

This is me procrastinating!

I'm trying to get motivated to study for the HESI on Friday....but it's been a long day! For the past week, I've been studying and working on a group project. This morning, our group gave its presentation on ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). It had to be 50 minutes long! I was really nervous about it, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Public speaking is probably my BIGGEST fear, so anything that involves me getting up in front of the class is enough to make me want to run away! Luckily, I only had to talk for probably 7-10 minutes of the presentation since we had 9 people in our group. I'm just glad it's over now! Tomorrow, I have my last two clinical days ever!!! I can't believe it! Then, Friday I take the HESI (for hopefully the last time). It's from 9 AM to 1 PM on Friday. If I don't pass, I have two more chances to take it again, but I'm planning/hoping/praying to pass the first time! After that, I have one final next Wednesday and another final the following Monday. Then, it's time for my preceptorship! Yay!!!! I can't believe graduation is so close!

Travis has his big proposal tomorrow for his senior design class. Unfortunately, he's done pretty much all of the work on their presentation because his other group members are pretty unreliable. I'm sure he'll be glad to get that over with tomorrow afternoon!

This weekend, we may go camping at Tannehill on Friday night with some of the college kids and adults from Northwood. I don't think we'll spend the night, but we may at least go and be social for awhile (for once!). Then, Saturday, we're planning to have a few people over to watch the Alabama-Kentucky game on TV. It will be nice to actually hang out with people again....I feel like all we've done this semester so far is stay home and study!

Quick Update

Well, it's time for another week of classes! I survived midterms...and I've got finals week after next. My clinicals are going really well. I got to extubate my patient on Thursday, so that was pretty cool! Travis has been sick for almost the past week with congestion and coughing. Hopefully he'll start feeling better soon!

We had fun at the game on Saturday. It rained on us walking to the stadium, but once we got there, it stopped and didn't start raining again til we got home after the game. Perfect! I actually got sunburned pretty bad on my face...I guess I just wasn't expecting to get any sun since it was so cloudy and nasty outside. Speaking of rain, I'm ready for it to stop raining for a while. It's rained here every day for the past week and a half at least!

We had a pretty good shopping trip at Publix today. I got 3 free reusable Publix shopping bags with some coupons I had, and they had chicken breasts for $1.99/lb so we stocked up! I'm going to make an apple pie tomorrow afternoon to take to Gary and Alan's apartment tomorrow night for dinner (they're cooking for us!), so that should be fun. It's been a long time since I've made an apple pie, but I think I've found a pretty good recipe online. Well, that's about all that's been going on...hope you have a great week!

Our Fun Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was a blast, and it sure did go by fast! I had clinicals last Wednesday and Thursday at Princeton in Birmingham, so those mornings I had to wake up at 4:20 AM. Not very much fun...but at least the clinicals went well. I got to help take care of a patient on a ventilator one day, so that was pretty cool. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out by the time we left for Atlanta Friday, and we stayed up late both Friday and Saturday night at Jason's house. I finally got some good sleep Sunday night when we got back to Tuscaloosa. We had a lot of fun at the game though! I ended up sitting with Mollie, and Travis sat with Nate. We were in sections that were right next to each other though, so we could still see each other. We had a huge group that stayed at Jason's, so it was definitely an adventure trying to get showers and get ready on Sunday morning for church. Somehow we all made it on time though! :)

This week I'm back to studying like crazy...I've got a midterm this Friday and another one next Monday! How crazy is that? Seems like school just started! Travis is busy with lots of homework as usual and a group project that takes up a good bit of time. It will be nice to stay in town this weekend so we can get more done.

We're already getting busy!

Well, being able to relax in our new apartment didn't last long! We hit the ground running in my classes last week and haven't looked back. I feel like all I've done is study, do homework, type notes, and go to class since August 19th. I even study while I'm exercising on the treadmill! They weren't kidding when they said this semester was intense, that's for sure. I'm just trying to hang in there until October 2nd, which is our first time that we take the HESI this semester. We get 3 chances to pass it, but I'd really like to pass it the first time so I don't have to worry about it anymore after that. My preceptorship starts October 13th, which is the Tuesday after fall break, so by October 12th I will have already taken all my finals and everything. The preceptorship lasts until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and after that, all I'll have to do is a group presentation the week after Thanksgiving and an optional review course. So, basically I'm just holding on for dear life and trying to take it one day at a time until things slow down a little bit.

Travis's classes have gotten off to a good start as far as I can tell. He seems to like all of his professors (minus maybe one), and they all speak pretty good English (which is a major plus!) I've been lucky not to have to worry about understanding mine...I've never had a professor here at UA who wasnt from the U.S.! He's about to start teaching the high school class at church with Tyler on Wednesday nights, so that will keep him busy on top of his schoolwork.

Next weekend, we're going to Atlanta for the first Alabama game, so that should be fun. ROLL TIDE!! :)

Well, I gotta get started studying....hope everyone has a great weekend!

Summer...

...is almost here!!

In the meantime, though, I've got 6 tests in the next 2 weeks. The 3 next week are my big exit exams (the HESIs), and then I have 3 finals the week after next. I also have one more clinical day next week. AAHHH!! And, Travis has a couple of more lab reports to write, a project due next week, and 6 finals to take.

We also:

• Have a gospel meeting at church next week
• Are moving out of our apartment in about 2 weeks (which means boxing everything up beforehand)
• Are trying to buy all of the food and get last minute details planned for the bachelor party (which starts on the same day we're moving!!)

Double AAHHH!!
All of this equals "way stressed out Erin and Travis" until May 11th.
Please pray for our sanity!!! :)
That's all for now...back to studying!

Blue Angels + Garlic Chicken + No Tests = A GREAT WEEK!

Well, it's been a great week so far! We went to see the Blue Angels on Saturday, and that was a lot of fun! Travis saw them last year in Mississippi, but this was my first time to see them. They sure are loud and fast. It's hard to get any good pictures of the planes because by the time you see them, they're practically gone already!

Last week I started community health clinicals. For these clinicals, I'll be doing something different each Tuesday and Wednesday. Last week, we had orientation on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I did home health with a nurse from the county health department. It was pretty cool to see a different side of nursing than just being in the hospital all day. Today, I did WellBama...a program that my instructor started on campus to monitor to health of the employees at UA. Basically, I took a lot of people's blood pressure and checked some blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Tomorrow, I'm going to an inpatient hospice center on the VA campus.

Last night, we had two friends over for dinner, and I made Garlic chicken, corn, rolls, and brownies. It was yummy! I'd like to start having people over to eat dinner with us at least once a week until finals start. Being hospitable is fun!

Travis is as busy as ever right now. It seems like all his professors have been postponing tests and deadlines, and now they are all panicking and making everything due NOW! He's been working really hard though, and he'll deserve his 1-month break once finals are over. I think our last day of finals is May 8th, and he isn't starting work until after our trip to Fripp Island with my family at the end of May/early June! I'm so excited!

Speaking of work, I am hopefully going to work one or two days a week at the hospital doing what I did last summer. I don't think they really needs me that much, but I don't mind...I really just want to keep my foot in the door there. Plus, I can take my CPR recertification class and get my TB skin test (that I have to do every year for nursing school) done for free as an employee at Huntsville Hospital!

That's about all that's going on with us. We're excited about coming to Huntsville this weekend! Can't wait to see everyone :)

Hurry up, spring break!

I can't believe this will be my last spring break ever. This time next year, I'll be graduated and probably working somewhere in town. Travis might have to spend next spring break by himself! That means I want to take full advantage of this year's. We don't have any big plans, but we may go to the lake for a few days (if the weather is nice). Other than that, we'll probably just sleep late, throw the frisbee around, maybe go on a picnic, play tennis, and watch a few movies. I can't wait!!

Tuesday was my first day of OB clinicals. I got to watch a c-section, so that was pretty cool! That was probably the most exciting moment of the day. The saddest moment was seeing a stillborn baby born after only 20 weeks gestation. I pretty much decided by the end of the day that I would never want to work OB. Here are my reasons:

1. I wouldn't be able to deal with sad situations like stillborns or miscarriages.
2. There are too many dysfunctional family situations in OB. I pictured it as being all happily married moms and dads...but in reality, you see more women who aren't married, women in the middle of divorce, teenagers, and all sorts of other situations. It's just depressing to see babies born into bad situations like that.
3. There are so many ethical issues like abortion, IVF, surrogate mothers, etc. I'd rather just not have to deal with those on a regular basis.

Travis had one test today, and he has a couple of tests next week. I've also got 3 tests coming up before spring break. We'll both be busy bees until then!

One bad thing about working with sick kids...

...is that you get all their nasty germs! I think I was lucky the first two weeks I was on the peds unit b/c I didn't get sick at all afterwards. But, yesterday I took care of a 7 year old with strep throat who was throwing up all day...and my throat was hurting before I even left the hospital. Today, it still hurts, and I'm starting to ache all over. YUCK.

Other than that, it's been a pretty good week! I have a test tomorrow that I've been studying for off and on today, and it will be nice to get that over with. After tomorrow's test, I don't have another one for 2 weeks! Travis, on the other hand, is up to his ears in stuff to do...poor thing. Seems like all he ever does is write lab reports, do homework, study for tests, and go to class.

We're planning to go out to eat for Valentine's Day, except we're going on Friday night instead of Saturday. I think we're going to eat at Depalma's, an Italian restaurant here in town that is really really good! Depalma's is also where we had our first date, so it's a pretty special place :) Can't believe that was almost 3 years ago! Saturday night, Alisha, Katie and Mollie have planned a big Valentine's Day party. I'm excited! Apparently, we're doing a photo scavenger hunt, which I've never done before, so that should be fun!!

That's all for now :)

Homework + Hospital + Housekeeping = My week at a glance!

Well, it's been a good week so far! I had a test on Monday that went well, and yesterday was my 12 hour day at DCH on the pediatric unit. I got to take care of a 26 day old baby boy with pneumonia, and he was a cutie! He was pretty sick, but hopefully he'll get better really soon. I have another test on Friday that I'll be studying for today and tomorrow.

Travis has been busy studying for quizzes and writing lab reports all week. Usually I don't have any trouble keeping up with his schedule, but it's hard to do when he's got 6 classes! I think he's ready for things to slow down, so hopefully he can make until spring break (it's only a little over a month away!).

This weekend, we're going to a singing at Vestavia. They have it every year in February, and R.J. and Tim Stevens come to lead it. Last year, I think there were over 600 people there! We've been going every year since our freshman year. I'm really excited! Afterwards, we're spending the night at my parents' house to celebrate Jenn's 19th birthday. She, Daniel, and Miss Bo are coming home for the weekend too. Speaking of Miss Bo, she turned 1 year old yesterday! So I guess we'll be celebrating both of their birthdays this weekend.

My parents have been out in Phoenix this week. Dad had a business trip out there, and Mom decided to go with him. She and one of the other wives have been sightseeing and going to all sorts of places. They are coming back tomorrow.

Well, there's a quick update on what's been going on with us. Time to start studying!

Babies...

Today in class we talked about babies. Babies. I'm officially scared to death of them. It seems like there's so much that can go wrong.

- They can swallow balloons (and we learned that once a baby swallows a latex balloon, there's no way to get it out and they WILL suffocate to death).
- They can choke on their food.
- They can aspirate their vomit.
- They can die while they are asleep (SIDS).
- They can fall off the bed when you're not looking.
- They can get really sick before they've built up a good immune system.
- And those are just a few of the things we talked about...

EEEKK! I'm afraid that I'll be in a constant state of anxiety when that time comes. There are several people in my class that have kids, and I wonder how they do it. How do you find time to take care a baby, go to class and clinicals, study, and still have time to sleep? Who knows!

In other news, it is beautiful outside today! It's amazing how much the weather can affect my mood. When it's nice all the time, like in the spring, I take it for granted, so I guess it's good that God made the seasons; otherwise, I wouldn't appreciate the nice weather so much!

We are going to a wind ensemble concert tonight at Moody. Travis has to go to two concerts for his music class, so I'm tagging along. Tomorrow night we're going to a wedding in Bham. And for the rest of the weekend, I guess we'll be studying. At least, Travis will. I've got my first test a week from Monday, so I may go ahead and start reading for that.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend too! :)

I didn't know it was possible...

...to be a bum after school starts back! I haven't had this much free time during school since my first semester of nursing school (fall 07). This week, I've gone to my classes but done very little studying outside of class. Usually, by the second week of school, I've already had a test (or two), but this semester I don't have a test until February!

Next week, I'll be going to the RISE school for clinicals. The RISE school is a school for kids with special needs, but it also has kids who are developing normally. I think the kids are anywhere in age from infant to 5 years old. I'm really excited!

Travis is still hanging in there with his classes. He's starting to understand the material in several of the classes a lot better than he was at first, so I think that's helping his confidence that he'll make it through. Just don't ask me what his classes are about...he's taking thermal physics, electronics, modern physics lab, and a couple of other classes I can't remember right now. All of that stuff would go right over my head! I guess after we graduate, he'll be the one responsible for wiring everything once we buy a house, and I can be the one who nurses him back to health should he electrocute himself! I knew we'd make a great team :)

Tonight, we watched the Bucket List, our latest movie rental from NetFlix. We both really liked it! It's about two guys with cancer who get stuck rooming together during their hospital stay, are told they both have less than a year to live, and then decide to make a "bucket list", a list of several things they want to do before they "kick the bucket". I thought it was a cool idea, although I don't think that knowing I had less than a year to live would ever make me want to go skydiving! I got sweaty palms just watching that part in the movie!!

Tomorrow night, we're supposed to go to the UA gymnastics meet with several friends. I'm really excited! It's a great way to spend a Friday night (for free!), and it's really amazing to watch all the flips and things the gymnasts can do. As for the rest of the weekend, I'm planning to do as little studying as possible. If it's not too cold, I'd like to go running outside. I've had to resort to working out at the Rec Center this week since it's been SO cold! 12 degrees is way to cold for Tuscaloosa, Alabama!

The first week back...

Well, we've made it through our first week of classes...yay! I had OB yesterday and pediatrics today. I also have one class, community health, that meets on Monday. I think it's going to be a fun semester and hopefully not too hard! I'll also have clinicals on Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays every week throughout the semester in 5-week increments. The first 5 weeks I'll be in clinicals for peds, then OB, and then community health. After this semester, I'm hoping to have a better idea of what area of the hospital I want to work in.

Travis survived his first week too! He's going to have a much tougher semester than I am, I'm afraid. He's taking 17 hours, and I've only got 12. He's got a couple of foreign professors again this semester, but hopefully they'll be better than the one he had in the fall. His big problem this week was making it to his classes on time. He's got 3 classes back-to-back on MWF with only 10 minutes in between. That's one good thing about nursing classes...you don't have to worry about having back-to-back classes. All of my classes meet once a week for 2 1/2 hours at a time.

We're still running several times a week. Yesterday we ran 2 miles, and I finished in 15:28! I'm still not in the shape I was back in high school, but I'm okay with that. I'm just happy to be running again at all because it makes me feel so much better throughout the day.

Tonight, we're going to the quarterly singing at Northwood, and then I'm hoping we'll get to watch our Netflix movie (The Bucket List) afterwards. I don't have much of anything to study this weekend, and it's a really nice/weird feeling. Usually, I'm swamped with stuff to do after the first day! Guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts :)

Finals are upon us...

Well, I've already taken 1 final out of 3, and Travis has taken 2 out of 4. We are so close to being through for the semester!! I've done a lot of things BESIDES studying this week, so it hasn't really been that bad. Alisha and I have been running and working out almost every day recently (including a 4 MILE run on Sunday afternoon)! I can tell that I'm slowly getting back in shape!

Today I ate lunch at Cypress Inn with a big group of people from my mom's extended family. We were celebrating my great aunt's 90th birthday! You would never guess she is 90 years old from the way she looks though. She's in great health! I need to figure out her secrets so I can start putting them into practice...haha :)

We had fun watching the SEC championship game this weekend. Nate came into town, and several of us watched the game at Mollie's. I spent 4 or 5 hours on Friday baking cookies, brownies, and fudge to take with us! Needless to say, we still have fudge and cookies left over. And Travis isn't helping me eat it...AAHH! Even though we lost, we're still excited that the team did so good this season. We'll find out tomorrow whether we get the chance to buy tickets to the Sugar Bowl, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Football, baking, running...anything to distract me from studying sounds really good right now!

We love the holidays!

Last week was great! We only had 2 days of class (well, I only had 1), and then we were able to go to Trussville for a few days to spend time with my family. Of course, the food was amazing. Anyone who hasn't had my mom's sweet potato casserole is REALLY missing out. She also tried Paula Deen's dressing recipe this year, and it was really good.

We also discovered an awesome new store called Garden Ridge in Irondale. Mom told us about it, so Jenn, Daniel, Travis, and I went to check it out. They had a TON of Christmas stuff....rows and rows of ornaments organized by color! I bought some gold and red balls for our tree, plus a couple of cute snowmen ornaments. They also sell furniture, artwork, lamps, candles, books, etc. It is an amazing place! It's in a building that used to be Walmart, so that tells you how big it is!

Travis and I got up at 4 A.M. Friday morning to take part in the Black Friday madness. I always dread going when I think about getting up that early, but it's always worth it after the fact. We bought a bunch of movies that were only sale for $5-6 or less. We also bought a few Christmas presents, so at least we've gotten started!

We came back to Tuscaloosa Friday night in time to beat the traffic coming for the Iron Bowl. Wow, what a game it was! Probably the best game I've ever been to! Everyone was so excited! Now, we're all looking forward to the game this weekend against Florida. I think Mollie and I are going to try to decorate a cake in a Houndstooth pattern, so that should be fun. It may just turn out looking like black and white polkadots...who knows!





I passed my first HESI test that I took this morning. HESI is an exit exam we have to take at the end of every semester. It doesn't count as part of our grade, but if you pass, you get 3 points added to your average. It also helps you get the preceptorship you want in 5th semester if you've passed all your HESIs, so I'm excited. I have another one to take on Thursday, so hopefully I can do good on that one too.

We're almost through with classes, and then it's on to Christmas break! I can't wait!

A weekend full of fun!

We had a lot of fun this past weekend! Here's the recap:


Friday: My clinical instructor let us leave the hospital early, so I was home by 12:30 instead of 2:30!! Yay! I also got to go down to the OR and watch a surgery (it was something called a pericardial window where they drain excess fluid off of your heart to help it pump easier). That night, Travis and I went to Chili's with Josh, Bonnie, Meagan, Jason, Nate, and Mollie. It was a long wait for our food, but it was definitely worth it. Then we played Cranium over at Josh and Jason's house. It was girls vs. guys...and the girls won, of course! We had a blast!

Saturday: Being able to sleep past 5:45 AM automatically makes any day better. My parents came down for the game, so we went to a tailgate with them over by the Quad. My mom made taco soup and her famous fudge, and it was awesome! The game wasn't until 6:45, and it was COLD! Actually, cold is an understatement. I can't ever remember wearing more layers to a football game. We still had fun though! Bama is now 11-0, and I can't wait for the Iron Bowl in 2 weeks. Hopefully we can snap this 6 game losing streak!

Sunday: We decorated our Christmas tree!! I bought some colored lights at Walmart and a tree skirt, so we decided to go ahead and decorate since we'll only be in t-town a few more weeks before we leave for the break. It looks pretty good! I was lucky to have an ornament shower last fall, so we probably have about 20 ornaments already on the tree. We're planning to buy a new ornament every year that has the year on it, so we still need to get a 2008 ornament. We also hung a wreath on our door and put "Christmas bears" in our window. I'm definitely feeling the Christmas spirit, and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! Now I just need to start my shopping...

I'm getting old!

I'm officially 22 years old as of yesterday. I don't feel any older....but that's probably a good thing. Travis got me an iPod Nano for my birthday. I've taken it to the Rec twice already, and I love it! Now I just need an armband so I can wear it around easier.
Alisha and Emily surprised me last night by decorating the outside of our door and making me cupcakes. It made my night! The Ole Miss game this past Saturday was fun but stressful. I really thought we were going to lose it at the end. Hopefully we can pull it out this weekend against Tennessee without Terrance Cody.


On Thursday, I start the 2nd half of my clinicals at DCH. I don't think we'll actually be doing much but orientation, so that will be nice. I'm trying to get a paper for my online research class out of the way this week, so I won't have to worry about it later. Travis has been really busy with a programming project lately. We're hoping to both have time to watch P.S. I Love You that we rented from NetFlix on Thursday. It's sad that we don't even have 2 hours of free time to spend together anymore!!

AHH...nursing school!

It's not really that bad. I do study a lot, but I think it will be worth it when I graduate and have no problem finding a job. (Knock on wood). I had to do a presentation today in my front of the girls in my clinical group and my instructor, Mrs. Johnson. This was our last day with her, and in 2 weeks, we'll have a new instructor for the last half of the semester. We had a lot of fun with Mrs. Johnson, so it's kind of sad that we have to switch. Hopefully we'll like Mrs. Berryhill just as much! Here's a picture of our group. We took it this morning after our presentations:




This afternoon I'm going to work out with Kathryn I think. I'm trying to do better at exercising this semester than I did in the spring! Travis has been busy studying for a physics test he has tomorrow. Studying is pretty much all he's been doing lately...