So change has been the name of the game lately. And that might actually be the understatement of the year.
In the past two weeks, I have ended my career with NSLC, moved to a new city, started my first nursing job, AND bought multiple major pieces of furniture (as in the over $300 kind). Am I an adult now or what?!?!
Obviously, a lot of changing going on and I'll be the first to admit it's been a wee bit stressful. Okay a lot bit stressful lolz. I keep reminding myself how pumped I am to have taken this big ole leap and moved here on my own for a job I already love and how proud I am of myself that. If you would have asked me for years ago if I would have moved out of Arkansas, I would have said heck no! Now don't get me wrong, I know it's probably going to be difficult somedays, but I know nothing but growth is going to come from it and I could not be more stoked.
So amidst all the chaos, I really want to start using this blog to chronicle my first year in my new city and my first year as a nurse. Why not start right this very second?!
First off, totally sold on working here. Why you ask? Because, a true sorority girl's dream...I can wear t-shirts to work! Not only can I wear t-shirts, but I can wear any t-shirts I want! Bring on the superhero/spongebob/frozen shirts! And who doesn't love wearing scrub pants? It's like pajamas with pockets!
Okay, real talk, this job is going to be an insane rollercoaster! Like the kind that goes topsy turvy and you feel like you're about to fall out and goes upside down and side ways and backwards and the whole shabang. I think my experience so far has been a perfect example of the ebb and flow of emotions I'll most likely experience in these next few months. I go from one day in class playing with one of the incredibly adorable therapy pups and making bead necklaces to the next class talking about dying children for 4 hours. The good is going to be really good and the bad is going to be really bad. Babies with congenital heart defects have a super long road ahead of them. These are some sick little babies with some sick little baby hearts. The most adorable, cute, precious, tiny sick little babies of course--nothing is going to stop me from loving on them as much as I can while I'm taking care of them!
So I had my first day on the floor this week. What is totally amazing and I didn't fully appreciate until this week was the opportunity I have to spend my first month on the cardiac step-down unit as opposed to jumping straight into the CICU. The abbreviations, the doctors, the medications, the charting, the conditions, the procedures, the policies. Literally everything is new to me. If I would have started straight in the unit LOL totally would have floundered around like a fish out of water LOL. It's awesome having the chance to get used to how things work and how things are done and what these kids start to look like when they're on the path to going home. I'm pretty sure no nursing school anywhere spends as much time on pediatric cardiology as I would have needed to be fully prepared to jump straight into work on the unit. But thankfully, the support for new graduates is INCREDIBLE at this hospital!! Literally everyone I meet is so friendly and will do anything to help me out. It of course helps that I have to wear this yellow ribbon on my name tag that is the not so subtle way of letting all the staff know "I'M A NEWBIE" without having to broadcast it to parents and visitors and such. I'm tempted to keep wearing it longer than we're supposed to so I have an excuse for not knowing the answer to something haha
So my first patients were the cutest little bundles of cute. LOL that at first when I looked at their charts I thought my patients were 14, 7, and 10. LOLOL more like 14 days, 7 months, and 10 days. Aka BABIES! They were all so tiny and such little troopers and the perfect first day patients. It was so bizarre, I kept feeling like I was in nursing school and I would need my precepting nurse to sign off on things and such, but NOPE! I could do things all on my own. Which is #terrifying. Overall it was an awesome day and I never once felt overwhelmed or lost or up the creek without a paddle which is way better than I thought I'd feel so I'm calling it a win!
Alright, that's all for now folks. Time to go take a nap or fall asleep before 10 or something.
8.14.2015
5.12.2015
just a little celebratin'
Well, alas its been awhile. I made a little detour on my blogging adventure into the realm of paper journaling. Seeing as it has been more than an entire year, there is almost no use in trying to play catch up. Much better to just start back up where life has me at right now. Sheesh sheesh sheesh a lot has been happening lately!
For starters, I GRADUATED NURSING SCHOOL! So I've officially crossed over into the post grad life. How do I feel about it you may ask? Still haven't decided. Although I'm going to go ahead and through that denial feeling out there. I've gotten so comfortable in my lovely little life here in my favorite little town of Fayetteville. As excited as I am to move on, this place holds a special little place in my heart that I'm not quite ready to let go of yet. However, time keeps ticking whether I want it to or not so something tells me I'll be much better off embracing whats ahead. So the fact that nursing school is over might actually be more scary. Still not sure if I feel qualified to be taking care of real people yet (by people I mean cute babies) but I guess at some point, I just have to rip the Bandaid off!
So graduation weekend was a huge success. My best friend and her momma came into town, the whole Williams clan was there (a rarity these days) and we just hung out. Lots of food (would not be a family gathering if it was any other way), lots of desserts (including the one the puppies ate), and lots of laughing. Just the way I like it. In addition to my graduation, we also were celebrating Mother's Day, three other graduations, three birthdays, a new job, and a new business venture. What can I say? We go big or we go home.
Now for the exciting news...I have a job! Well actually, it's my second job but that is another can of worms. I accepted my dream dream dream job in Atlanta in a Cardiac ICU!! So so so so so so so so so so crazy. When I had finally decided I wanted to experience live outside of Arkansas for a little bit, I never ever in a million years imagined I would be moving to ATLANTA! Not exactly sure when the "I'm terrified I know no one I'm moving to a strange city" freakout will occur, but I'm hoping my mother will be ready for it.
More to come on everything above plus some, I just figured this would be a good jumping off point to get back into remembering to blog more often. I have to have some way of staying in touch with everyone once I'm off on my little adventure!
For starters, I GRADUATED NURSING SCHOOL! So I've officially crossed over into the post grad life. How do I feel about it you may ask? Still haven't decided. Although I'm going to go ahead and through that denial feeling out there. I've gotten so comfortable in my lovely little life here in my favorite little town of Fayetteville. As excited as I am to move on, this place holds a special little place in my heart that I'm not quite ready to let go of yet. However, time keeps ticking whether I want it to or not so something tells me I'll be much better off embracing whats ahead. So the fact that nursing school is over might actually be more scary. Still not sure if I feel qualified to be taking care of real people yet (by people I mean cute babies) but I guess at some point, I just have to rip the Bandaid off!
So graduation weekend was a huge success. My best friend and her momma came into town, the whole Williams clan was there (a rarity these days) and we just hung out. Lots of food (would not be a family gathering if it was any other way), lots of desserts (including the one the puppies ate), and lots of laughing. Just the way I like it. In addition to my graduation, we also were celebrating Mother's Day, three other graduations, three birthdays, a new job, and a new business venture. What can I say? We go big or we go home.
Now for the exciting news...I have a job! Well actually, it's my second job but that is another can of worms. I accepted my dream dream dream job in Atlanta in a Cardiac ICU!! So so so so so so so so so so crazy. When I had finally decided I wanted to experience live outside of Arkansas for a little bit, I never ever in a million years imagined I would be moving to ATLANTA! Not exactly sure when the "I'm terrified I know no one I'm moving to a strange city" freakout will occur, but I'm hoping my mother will be ready for it.
More to come on everything above plus some, I just figured this would be a good jumping off point to get back into remembering to blog more often. I have to have some way of staying in touch with everyone once I'm off on my little adventure!
4.18.2014
Honduras
I've been meaning to write this post for a long stinkin time, since spring break ended to be exacted. For having a relatively easy semester, the last few weeks sure have push some of my buttons! This week alone, I've been averaging 14 hours school days. Between clincals, make up work, class and SI, I've barely had time to sleep (okay, i never give up my sleep, but i've been giving up everything else!)
But on to Honduras…
I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the beautiful country of Honduras for spring break with Global Brigades: Medical. Global Brigades is an organization that works to improve the quality of life for people in rural Honduras among other countries. There are 7 different brigades: medical, dental, public health, water, business, architecture, and one more I cannot remember. Each brigade works together to help make these people live sustainable, just too awesome. The brigade I went on was Medical and it was the neatest experience. The group arrived in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and immediately got in our buses and headed to the compound, Posada Azul. The compound was basically in the middle of nowhere and completely breathtakingly gorgeous. Mountains (like monster mountains you never want to have to climb, or drive up for that matter…) were in every direction. The only downside to this beautiful place was the stairs…all 150 of them. Definitely a workout. Tow other schools were staying at Posada Azul at the same time, UC Irvine and UCSD. I even met some tri delta sisters from USCD! We ate first thing because lunch was definitely missed in our travels.
All day, the first full day, was spent sorting medications. I almost forgot to mention, we brought over all the medications for our brigade in our luggage. I would have loved to see security look at my bag with 10 bottles of vitamins, 10 bottles of beta-iodine, 2,000 bandaids, and 20 rolls of gauze! So I got a little pharmacy experience and I'm not going to lie, it made me pretty glad I didn't pursue my short lived dreams of becoming a pharmacists. I started recognizing the Spanish versions of all the drugs I learned about in pharmacology last semester. The dots were connecting!
Day 2 we woke up before the sun and headed out to Santa Cruz, our brigade community. The drive was about two hours of bumpy, twisty, scary roads but the bus driver Mario made sure to get us there alive all week. The line of people was probably at least 100 people long when we arrived to the school to set up shop. It took a little to get rolling on that first day but once we did, whew! I spent the morning in the gyno rotation, and I think I'll pass on that rotation next time haha The afternoon was a little more intense. I was in triage. It was myself, another girl (who thankfully spoke a little spanish!) and our translator, Adrian. Thank goodness for those translators! Me and Ailon made a great team, she had the Spanish part down for the most part and I could identify what medical type things and drugs they were trying to say. Not too mention all week I majorly brushed up on my manual blood pressures. I thing triage was definitely my favorite part of the week, I even got to come back the next day and do it again! The second time, I had to get a little more confident in my Spanish because I didn't really have a choice! After we got back to camp, it took all I had to stay awake for dinner, I think I passed out by 9!
The second day was just as exhausting. I spent the morning in data informatics. The whole purpose of the data informatics system is too get all the people into some sort of medical record. It helps the powers that be keep track of everyone and also identify trends in medical problems. Day 3 was my busiest day by far. I spent the morning in the pharmacy. Basically how it worked was the pharmacist set up all these suitcases all around the room and a volunteer would bring us the prescription lists and we would be responsible for deciphering the incredibly impossible handwriting of the doctors (especially Dr. Belt…) and get everything necessary before giving it to the pharmacist to check and distribute. I don't think I sat down once! The afternoon was my favorite (I know, every things my favorite). I was in physician's consultation. I sat with one of the Honduran doctors (she even spoke English too!). She would talk with the patient and figure out what was going on, then turn around and explain everything to me. We even saw a lady with Cushing's which was neat. Halfway through the afternoon, we saw a 16 month old little boy who the doctor diagnosed with pneumonia. The little guy looked just miserable, he was coughing so much he couldn't breath. The mom said he couldn't sleep, he had a fever, and he was dripping sweat. It was obviously a sort of serious situation but we just had to do the best we could with what we had. The doctor decided the best thing to do would be to administered an extend breathing treatment to help little man's oxygen. Poor thing was fighting it so hard he fell asleep after 20 minutes of screaming and thrashing around. Before he fell asleep though, he wrapped his little hand around my finger and it made my heart melt. I didn't even think twice when the doctor asked me to stay with the mom and help hold the mask and keep little man calm. It was one of the moments I hadn't realized I needed, that made me realize without a doubt I'm doing what I should with my life. Throughout the 3 days, our brigade saw 880 patients…yep 880.
The last day our brigade had the opportunity to have a "holistic model day" in which we helped with another brigade's project. A two hour drive later, we arrived in El Canton to help with the construction of a community health center. After 3 hours of lugging 200 pound wood beams onto a roof, I thought I was dying. I thought I was going to have it easier after lunch by helping with the trench digging but let me tell ya, that was just as hard! That day was some of the most back breaking work I have ever helped with, props to all y'all construction peeps!
Overall, it was yet another trip of a lifetime. I know I would go back in a heartbeat if I ever get the chance! Honduras, you were too good to me.
But on to Honduras…
I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the beautiful country of Honduras for spring break with Global Brigades: Medical. Global Brigades is an organization that works to improve the quality of life for people in rural Honduras among other countries. There are 7 different brigades: medical, dental, public health, water, business, architecture, and one more I cannot remember. Each brigade works together to help make these people live sustainable, just too awesome. The brigade I went on was Medical and it was the neatest experience. The group arrived in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and immediately got in our buses and headed to the compound, Posada Azul. The compound was basically in the middle of nowhere and completely breathtakingly gorgeous. Mountains (like monster mountains you never want to have to climb, or drive up for that matter…) were in every direction. The only downside to this beautiful place was the stairs…all 150 of them. Definitely a workout. Tow other schools were staying at Posada Azul at the same time, UC Irvine and UCSD. I even met some tri delta sisters from USCD! We ate first thing because lunch was definitely missed in our travels.
All day, the first full day, was spent sorting medications. I almost forgot to mention, we brought over all the medications for our brigade in our luggage. I would have loved to see security look at my bag with 10 bottles of vitamins, 10 bottles of beta-iodine, 2,000 bandaids, and 20 rolls of gauze! So I got a little pharmacy experience and I'm not going to lie, it made me pretty glad I didn't pursue my short lived dreams of becoming a pharmacists. I started recognizing the Spanish versions of all the drugs I learned about in pharmacology last semester. The dots were connecting!
Day 2 we woke up before the sun and headed out to Santa Cruz, our brigade community. The drive was about two hours of bumpy, twisty, scary roads but the bus driver Mario made sure to get us there alive all week. The line of people was probably at least 100 people long when we arrived to the school to set up shop. It took a little to get rolling on that first day but once we did, whew! I spent the morning in the gyno rotation, and I think I'll pass on that rotation next time haha The afternoon was a little more intense. I was in triage. It was myself, another girl (who thankfully spoke a little spanish!) and our translator, Adrian. Thank goodness for those translators! Me and Ailon made a great team, she had the Spanish part down for the most part and I could identify what medical type things and drugs they were trying to say. Not too mention all week I majorly brushed up on my manual blood pressures. I thing triage was definitely my favorite part of the week, I even got to come back the next day and do it again! The second time, I had to get a little more confident in my Spanish because I didn't really have a choice! After we got back to camp, it took all I had to stay awake for dinner, I think I passed out by 9!
The second day was just as exhausting. I spent the morning in data informatics. The whole purpose of the data informatics system is too get all the people into some sort of medical record. It helps the powers that be keep track of everyone and also identify trends in medical problems. Day 3 was my busiest day by far. I spent the morning in the pharmacy. Basically how it worked was the pharmacist set up all these suitcases all around the room and a volunteer would bring us the prescription lists and we would be responsible for deciphering the incredibly impossible handwriting of the doctors (especially Dr. Belt…) and get everything necessary before giving it to the pharmacist to check and distribute. I don't think I sat down once! The afternoon was my favorite (I know, every things my favorite). I was in physician's consultation. I sat with one of the Honduran doctors (she even spoke English too!). She would talk with the patient and figure out what was going on, then turn around and explain everything to me. We even saw a lady with Cushing's which was neat. Halfway through the afternoon, we saw a 16 month old little boy who the doctor diagnosed with pneumonia. The little guy looked just miserable, he was coughing so much he couldn't breath. The mom said he couldn't sleep, he had a fever, and he was dripping sweat. It was obviously a sort of serious situation but we just had to do the best we could with what we had. The doctor decided the best thing to do would be to administered an extend breathing treatment to help little man's oxygen. Poor thing was fighting it so hard he fell asleep after 20 minutes of screaming and thrashing around. Before he fell asleep though, he wrapped his little hand around my finger and it made my heart melt. I didn't even think twice when the doctor asked me to stay with the mom and help hold the mask and keep little man calm. It was one of the moments I hadn't realized I needed, that made me realize without a doubt I'm doing what I should with my life. Throughout the 3 days, our brigade saw 880 patients…yep 880.
The last day our brigade had the opportunity to have a "holistic model day" in which we helped with another brigade's project. A two hour drive later, we arrived in El Canton to help with the construction of a community health center. After 3 hours of lugging 200 pound wood beams onto a roof, I thought I was dying. I thought I was going to have it easier after lunch by helping with the trench digging but let me tell ya, that was just as hard! That day was some of the most back breaking work I have ever helped with, props to all y'all construction peeps!
The gals
Sweet little melissa
Triage Day 1: Killin' it with Ailon
Day 2
The best bunk mate
Just being all technological
My view every morning..
Killing it in the Pharmacy
One of the best doctors I've interacted with
All hail mighty translators
Such sweet boys
My little man
Just a little USCD delta lovin'
bus selfless for the win #blessed
Good ole Dr. Belt
The group!
Masters of the wood pile
Overall, it was yet another trip of a lifetime. I know I would go back in a heartbeat if I ever get the chance! Honduras, you were too good to me.
3.18.2014
Crawling to the Finish Line
Okay it may not be the finish line exactly, but I am crawling towards Spring Break. Four more days, and ya know what? I think I'll make it!
Since I'm trying to catch up on this whole blogging thing, this might be a little scatterbrained (but, then again, whats new?)
Three weeks, start to finish, I can officially down with my thesis proposal! The weight that was lifted off my shoulders, I'm talking a freaking elephant, was a pretty euphoric feeling. The moment I pressed submit for my funding grant, I could see the confetti flying inside my brain, there were even those party poppers! I can't say I know a whole lot about congestive heart failure now, but hopefully give me a year and at least I might know something. Speaking of nursing, I learned how to start an IV last week! I'm taking volunteers for people to practice on..just kidding (well sort of). I'm sure the entire universe will hear about the first IV I start on an actual person...
Last Thursday was a great day to be an Arkansas Tri Delta! We had our annual Pancake Pigout philanthropy dinner, with all the proceeds (the pancakes were donated!!) going to the precious little kiddos at St. Jude. One of our cooks had to leave for the night so yours truly even flipped a few flapjacks! My first batch definitely didn't make the cut, but I got the hang out it after a few flips. The highlight of the night came when I finally got my chance to be Dolphy the Dolphin (and no that's not the mascots real name, I just felt like it needed a name). I climbed into the mascot suit and shook my fin like there was no tomorrow! I can't say being a mascot was necessarily on my bucket list but it is now (and crossed off I might add)
This weekend was a much needed break. I got to head on down to Little Rock to hang out with the brothers. Even Matt was off from her surgery rotation! We took the little nuggets to the zoo for the new baby tigers' welcome home party! I think I might have even had more fun then Marshall. The joys of staying in a gluten free household, Jason's Deli and P.F. Changs, um yum. Of course we couldn't not celebrate St. Patty's Day so we added a little food coloring to some champagne and voila, green drinks! I finally got to see Frozen, a perk of staying with parents of small children. I even got a few hours to be a total granola and try out my new hammock in the backyard! Overall, a great weekend, of course it's always great when I get to see my family.
A little blurp, I'm going to Honduras for Spring Break! I'm going with an organization called Global Medical Brigades. Basically, along with about 30 other students, we'll travel with some doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to rural Honduras and provide medical care to those who would not otherwise have it. Now this definitely has been on my bucket list!!!! I can't wait, I will for sure share when I get back.
Also coming up when I get back, BIRTHDAY PALOOZA!!!!! The big 2-1 is right around the corner!
Since I'm trying to catch up on this whole blogging thing, this might be a little scatterbrained (but, then again, whats new?)
Three weeks, start to finish, I can officially down with my thesis proposal! The weight that was lifted off my shoulders, I'm talking a freaking elephant, was a pretty euphoric feeling. The moment I pressed submit for my funding grant, I could see the confetti flying inside my brain, there were even those party poppers! I can't say I know a whole lot about congestive heart failure now, but hopefully give me a year and at least I might know something. Speaking of nursing, I learned how to start an IV last week! I'm taking volunteers for people to practice on..just kidding (well sort of). I'm sure the entire universe will hear about the first IV I start on an actual person...
Last Thursday was a great day to be an Arkansas Tri Delta! We had our annual Pancake Pigout philanthropy dinner, with all the proceeds (the pancakes were donated!!) going to the precious little kiddos at St. Jude. One of our cooks had to leave for the night so yours truly even flipped a few flapjacks! My first batch definitely didn't make the cut, but I got the hang out it after a few flips. The highlight of the night came when I finally got my chance to be Dolphy the Dolphin (and no that's not the mascots real name, I just felt like it needed a name). I climbed into the mascot suit and shook my fin like there was no tomorrow! I can't say being a mascot was necessarily on my bucket list but it is now (and crossed off I might add)
This weekend was a much needed break. I got to head on down to Little Rock to hang out with the brothers. Even Matt was off from her surgery rotation! We took the little nuggets to the zoo for the new baby tigers' welcome home party! I think I might have even had more fun then Marshall. The joys of staying in a gluten free household, Jason's Deli and P.F. Changs, um yum. Of course we couldn't not celebrate St. Patty's Day so we added a little food coloring to some champagne and voila, green drinks! I finally got to see Frozen, a perk of staying with parents of small children. I even got a few hours to be a total granola and try out my new hammock in the backyard! Overall, a great weekend, of course it's always great when I get to see my family.
A little blurp, I'm going to Honduras for Spring Break! I'm going with an organization called Global Medical Brigades. Basically, along with about 30 other students, we'll travel with some doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to rural Honduras and provide medical care to those who would not otherwise have it. Now this definitely has been on my bucket list!!!! I can't wait, I will for sure share when I get back.
Also coming up when I get back, BIRTHDAY PALOOZA!!!!! The big 2-1 is right around the corner!
3.17.2014
Mmmm Mmmm Chicken
I bet you'd think this post was going to be about chicken by the title, hate to break it to you, but its not. It's more about the embodiment of a chicken, specifically a chicken with it's head cut off (a little morbid if you ask me). Picture it, me running around like a chicken with its head cut off (don't worry, I still had my head). That has been me for the past few weeks, hence the lack of blogging, or sleeping, or reading, or (insert any action here). Crawling towards spring break is an understatement!
I've been cruising along all semester than all of a sudden WHAM! So long free time! It all began with a snow day. Sounds great, right? Yes it was fantastic and much needed but a definite productivity suck. Not to mention it was the 10th snow day of the semester (tuition money hard at work!). A test I had got moved to the end of the week so everything was peachy (of course, I conveniently forgot I had another test on the same day). Then came the whole process of trying to figure out how to be in two classes at the exact same time (both were mandatory of course). After hours of emailing my teachers and researching how to acquire a time-turner device, one of my teachers decided to cancel skills lab-whew another crisis averted. Class ended up being super awesome, who knew an interdisciplinary healthcare class would be my favorite class this semester? I guess it's not hard to compete with "Nursing Research." Wednesday was when things started to snowball. I had 5 hours of skills lab, two tests to study for (and no time), and I promised a friend I'd go to a basketball game. Of course that is when I should have been a smart and stayed in to study, but the game rocked so I'm over it. Then came the day I never want to relive again…. It started with 4 hours of skills lab (during which I passed out so thats cool), then a random honors college meeting, then a race against the clock to get the Reidster from daycare by 6 (I may or may not have ignored just a few traffic laws) (ps, I got him at 5:59, BOOM), then a trip to halfway to fort smith to drop Reid off turned into a trip basically to Fort Smith, then came the hilariously weird situation of having to have a phone interview for my NSLC job in the parking lot of a gas station (I can hardly drive without getting distracted, much less drive and write). Back to Fayetteville by 8:30, just in time to stay up for hours studying for my two tests. Not happy campers putting it lightly! Needless to say by Friday, I was exhausted, with no time for a nap (it's a rough life, I know). I had the chance to volunteer with one of my favorite organizations that Friday night, rEcess. It's basically a parents night out program for parents who have children with special needs. One of my favorite nights of the month for sure. It always puts it into perspective that, yes, my week may have been colossally sucky, but I brought a lot of that stress on myself. Some people have way more on their plate than they ever could have wanted, but they make it through, and so can I. And if playing with parachutes and trains and dolls doesn't make you happy, then you're crazy.
Before I go try to harness what minimal productivity I have left for the day, here's a little photo recap
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I've been cruising along all semester than all of a sudden WHAM! So long free time! It all began with a snow day. Sounds great, right? Yes it was fantastic and much needed but a definite productivity suck. Not to mention it was the 10th snow day of the semester (tuition money hard at work!). A test I had got moved to the end of the week so everything was peachy (of course, I conveniently forgot I had another test on the same day). Then came the whole process of trying to figure out how to be in two classes at the exact same time (both were mandatory of course). After hours of emailing my teachers and researching how to acquire a time-turner device, one of my teachers decided to cancel skills lab-whew another crisis averted. Class ended up being super awesome, who knew an interdisciplinary healthcare class would be my favorite class this semester? I guess it's not hard to compete with "Nursing Research." Wednesday was when things started to snowball. I had 5 hours of skills lab, two tests to study for (and no time), and I promised a friend I'd go to a basketball game. Of course that is when I should have been a smart and stayed in to study, but the game rocked so I'm over it. Then came the day I never want to relive again…. It started with 4 hours of skills lab (during which I passed out so thats cool), then a random honors college meeting, then a race against the clock to get the Reidster from daycare by 6 (I may or may not have ignored just a few traffic laws) (ps, I got him at 5:59, BOOM), then a trip to halfway to fort smith to drop Reid off turned into a trip basically to Fort Smith, then came the hilariously weird situation of having to have a phone interview for my NSLC job in the parking lot of a gas station (I can hardly drive without getting distracted, much less drive and write). Back to Fayetteville by 8:30, just in time to stay up for hours studying for my two tests. Not happy campers putting it lightly! Needless to say by Friday, I was exhausted, with no time for a nap (it's a rough life, I know). I had the chance to volunteer with one of my favorite organizations that Friday night, rEcess. It's basically a parents night out program for parents who have children with special needs. One of my favorite nights of the month for sure. It always puts it into perspective that, yes, my week may have been colossally sucky, but I brought a lot of that stress on myself. Some people have way more on their plate than they ever could have wanted, but they make it through, and so can I. And if playing with parachutes and trains and dolls doesn't make you happy, then you're crazy.
Before I go try to harness what minimal productivity I have left for the day, here's a little photo recap
A little baseball game fun
The house does look gorgeous in the snow, but I'm still over it
Fayetteville does have some of the coolest sunsets
basketball game with the gals!
1.19.2014
Taking on the Windy (and I mean very windy) City
I feel like I've conquered the world. I made it through 7 hours of airport starvation, a blizzard in Pittsburgh, and the literal/actual tundra (aka Chicago). What a Christmas Break.
My little adventure began with a trip to make the familia rounds in Virginia. Of course I forgot to eat breakfast before we left at an oh so early 5:30 only to find out our plane was going to be delayed because of fog. How delayed you ask? SEVEN HOURS, yes folks, I spent 7 hours in the fort smith airport. Hangry does not even begin to describe my emotions by the time the plane got to Atlanta. After that minor mishap, the next week or so was spent visiting, catching up, and getting into all kinds of shenanigans with some of the best family and friends. I even got to spend a crazy few days with my second family, the Crocketts, during which I found my newfound love for the show Moonshiners (trust me, just watch it and you'll be hooked). I even watched a UFC fight while I was there, who woulda thought? It was so nice to reconnect with all the people I don't see near enough.
On to da next..
After leaving my parents at the airport in Atlanta, I made my way to Pittsburgh to meet up with one of my NSLC gals. Blaken picked me up at the airport and of course it snowed from the time I arrived to the time I left. We walked around in the freezing blizzard cold to check out some of Pitt before my official first visit to small town Pennsylvania. After a day of so of hanging out at Blakens, we took a train (yes, a train) from tiny town pennsylvania all the way to Chicago. Just my luck, the train kept getting delayed, but we finally made it into Chicago, even at the same time as Alli! NSLC break: Chicago edition had just begun!
The weather in Chicago was cold. I mean ice cold. No colder than ice cold. The windows in the hotel room were iced over the entire time we were there…on the inside. At one point the wind chill was down to a mere -50 degrees. Yes, such a temperature exists, and let me tell ya, I never want to experience it again! A little cold weather couldn't stop us girls from doing a little shopping. Of course we hit up the cliche Bean and the Sears Tower in between stores. We even finished our first day with some delightful gluten free pizza.
The second day turned out to be even more adventurous when two of the guys we worked with, who live in Chicago, came in to see us. It literally felt just like we were in San Fran. The boys followed us around shopping and we always took the longest way to get anywhere. Where else would we end up on a freezing, blizzarding Sunday night but the Shed Aquarium. We even got to see a dolphin show from the side of the tank. I don't even want to mention the face-numbing walk to get a taxi…through the snow…into the wind…in -25 degree weather…yeah.
The last day was spent laying around and watching trashy tv all day, a perfect end to a perfect weekend. Except, oh wait, IT WAS SO COLD ALL FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED. Thankfully my dad worked some of his airline magic and got me on a flight the afternoon of when i was supposed to leave. Of course then I turned down a seat on an earlier flight because I already checked my bag on the later flight. Only to get home and find out my bag went on the earlier flight…dumb.
The weather in Chicago was cold. I mean ice cold. No colder than ice cold. The windows in the hotel room were iced over the entire time we were there…on the inside. At one point the wind chill was down to a mere -50 degrees. Yes, such a temperature exists, and let me tell ya, I never want to experience it again! A little cold weather couldn't stop us girls from doing a little shopping. Of course we hit up the cliche Bean and the Sears Tower in between stores. We even finished our first day with some delightful gluten free pizza.
The second day turned out to be even more adventurous when two of the guys we worked with, who live in Chicago, came in to see us. It literally felt just like we were in San Fran. The boys followed us around shopping and we always took the longest way to get anywhere. Where else would we end up on a freezing, blizzarding Sunday night but the Shed Aquarium. We even got to see a dolphin show from the side of the tank. I don't even want to mention the face-numbing walk to get a taxi…through the snow…into the wind…in -25 degree weather…yeah.
The last day was spent laying around and watching trashy tv all day, a perfect end to a perfect weekend. Except, oh wait, IT WAS SO COLD ALL FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED. Thankfully my dad worked some of his airline magic and got me on a flight the afternoon of when i was supposed to leave. Of course then I turned down a seat on an earlier flight because I already checked my bag on the later flight. Only to get home and find out my bag went on the earlier flight…dumb.
sista sista
me and momma being cute
weirdo dolls
love this picture, love us
momma geisel
Sears Tower
being hams
how many cold people can we fit in a taxi?
I think Marshall would have liked this penguin
Everyone, I know the pope
NSLC break: chicago
bundled up like crazy people
12.06.2013
Have you caught the cabin fever?
cab·in fe·ver
noun
informal
- 1.irritability, listlessness, and similar symptoms resulting from long confinement or isolation indoors during the winter.Alright y'all,I don't know what the rest of the world has been up to, but I have been laying in my bed for the majority of the last two days. Apparently Snowpocalypse 2013 has decided to decend upon Fayetteville, just in time for finals. As I make my way through the elbow-swingin' terror that is Walmart 'pre-storm', I immediately regret making the venture out. I don't know why people feel the need to stock up on so much bread but too each his own. If I was going to be snowed in for days possibly without power, I'd much rather eat Jelly Beans and chips and salsa. Thankfully, no power was lost and the weather seems to have stopped for the most part, but it's still too freaking freezing for me!Now, back to the finals. Eight more tests stand between me and Christmas break, aka three weeks of sitting on my butt and doing absolutely nothing. Lemme tell ya, after this semester, I deserve it! And that wash't a typo, 8 tests in 9 days…LOL. Not too mention about half of my grades are borderline, excuse while I drop off the face of the earth and move into the library, feel free to send prayers and coffeeBack to the cabin fever, I'M GOING STIR CRAZY! Up until a few hours ago, I had been stuck in Trideezy since Thursday morning. I think it was mainly the fact that I couldn't go anywhere if I wanted that was making me nutty. Last night ended up turing into a fun night when all the girls still in the house played Heads Up, an incredibly fun app like the game HeadBandz, in front of the fire. The lovely cooks left some eggs in the fridge for the weekend so I woke up to a lovely omelet made by Monica this morning, nomz on nomz. Then, as my sanity reached a boiling point, my awesome brother offered to drive down in his basically tank to come and pick me up, always there to save the day!
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