Iceland!!

Hello! So, I recently had the wonderful opportunity to go to Iceland!!!! To see some of my pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=273125&id=689170200&l=0a5ff7f0a0

this is what happens when you have a night off in the midst of working nights...

Hello!
so....it's been a while and i have been notified that it could be construed that something such as a boyfriend must be in the picture to account for my lack of blogging. (o: well, that's false. there is no boyfriend, just a lack of blogging and not really any good reason to account for such. but, due to the fact that i have tonight off in the midst of quite a grouping of night shifts and i'm awake while most everyone else is either asleep or working, i figured it's a good time to 'catch up' my blog...

March 16 - OLYMPIC SKATING!!



My ward went skating at the Olympic speed skating rink in Kearns, UT. It was fun! And, now I can say I've ice skated somewhere famous! (o:

March 27-28 - Saint George
My ward took a weekend trip to Saint George and we spent all day Friday playing then went to the temple on Saturday. It was very fun! And, I had my first experience with In-N-Out Burger...fabulous! (o:








My sister Kori says the one with my head in the hole in the rock looks like a giant Cheerio! (o: That one was along the 'Pioneer Names' trail. It was really cool! (There's a place in the rock where pioneers wrote their names and the years they passed by in axle grease...)

April 9 - I bought a bed!!
So, this was a very big decision for me....but I finally decided to get the bed that I LOVED!!! And, now I'll have a bed for 'forever.' (I still think it was a great decision as I still LOVE my new bed!) The problemo came because my bank was still in Montana so getting the money from my account to the furniture store was an adventure, thus I got a big chunk of it out of an ATM machine....



April 12 to present - PEEPS War
So...for Easter my roommate (Sam) bought some PEEPS. Well, I must admit that I do not like eating those suckers, but we've surely had a fun time 'playing' with them... So, one day at work, I open my lunch bag and am greeted by 2 saran-wrapped peeps. I laugh then cleverly return them to Sam's food shelf. I then found the saran-wrap peeps hiding in my sock drawer. Next, I placed them inside Sam's shoe. Then, as I laid my head to rest, I heard a scrunching plastic sort of sound and felt something strange under my head....oh yes, there were peeps inside my pillow case. (this is where the photo documentation began). So, I held onto the peeps for a day to think of something really good.... and, yes, the SS PEEPS was created! So, I gave the peeps swimsuits and sunglasses (and a boat of course!) then, unhooked the chain from the flusher in Sam's toilet, and sent the peeps on an 'ocean' cruise... Next, I came home on my b-day to find a party with all my 'peeps'! (The apartment was decorated and the peeps were taped to the ceiling.) So, now the peeps are again in my possession..... I'll keep you posted!




Whew!! Sorry for the VERY long post....and, sorry for my long leave of blogging absence! (o: I'll try to do better with this.... I hope you all are doing well! Things continue to go great for me! I'm officially done orienting at work and so far, so good! Despite my finishing orientation, I'm still learning tons as I get to take care of lots of very sick babies! Have a wonderful day!!

Update!

Hello All!
So, things are great for me! I have a new roommate (Samantha Petersen) who's great!! And, between playing and working (and working out (o:...Sam and I are gym buddies!), I haven't posted pictures for a bit. So, here's what I've been up to!

1. I finished finishing my new desk...
(before...)

























(after!)






2. Our ward is doing a read the Book of Mormon in 60 days challenge....so, we made a poster for our apartment to keep us going (and, we have a book of '902 Way Cool Stickers' so we can chart our progress!) Sam was the official line drawer and my primary jobs were color coordinator and name writer....


























































3. We got a shelf for our kitchen so now we have a place to put our food! (We happened upon these gorgeous rings in our search for a kitchen shelf...)

















































4. I went skiing in Parks City!! Woohoo!!





All in all, everything for me is wonderful!! I hope you are all doing well!

I'm going to ICELAND!!

Hello! So, I've been absent from my blog for a bit...but all is well! I'm still orienting at work (PCMC NICU) and that's going well. My 'clinical coach' is amazing and I'm learning TONS! Other than having a real job (and thus a paycheck and thus a bed!! (o: )...the other new news in my life is: I'M GOING TO ICELAND!!!! Hooray! My abstract from my ORCA project at BYU (Parent's Perceptions of Pediatric Diabetes Management Clinics) was accepted by the International Family Nursing Conference and this year it's in Reykjavik, Iceland! So...here are some pictures (from a tour brochure) of where I'm headed this summer! (o:

I'm a real nurse!!

This is my happy v-day celebration....I got up early to play basketball then I literally studied all day! But, it paid off!!


Doing practice questions all day or for any sustained length of time becomes a little hard for me to tolerate. Thus, my alternative NCLEX study method was making posters/flash cards! (o: behind me is the wall of labs (which turned out to be very helpful!) and I'm holding notes related to all sorts of nursing things.... This is the triumphal picture post discovery that I have PASSED THE NCLEX!!!!


So, I passed the NCLEX*!! Hooray!! I kept studying after graduation until I took it, so I felt good going in (and wished I could have taken it sooner, but I'm grateful I didn't have to wait longer!). When I went in, I thought if I got 75 questions, I'd know I'd passed because I'd studied enough and knew enough about nursing that I wouldn't fail with 75 questions. However, when the computer turned off at 75 I think all of the nervousness and pressure I'd been holding at bay hit me all at once. I was a mess for the next hour or so and I really had no idea if I'd passed or not even up to when I saw it posted on DOPL today. I know everyone says they came out thinking they'd failed, but truly I thought quite possibly I could have failed. It was SO hard!!! I'm 99.9% sure I got the last question right and that was the one piece of hope I clung to that I may have passed... (our NCLEX teacher had a theory that you don't fail in less than 265 questions if you get your last question right...) After taking it, one of the biggest reasons I'm glad I passed is so that I don't have to take it again. (o: I wouldn't really classify it as a positive experience! (o: But it feels SO good to have passed!!!

Thanks to all for you help, support, prayers, and belief in my success!! I couldn't have done it without you!

*For those that don't know....the NCLEX is the licensing exam for nurses. It's a computerized test that gives you anywhere from 75 to 265 questions depending on how long it takes for you to exceed the 'passing standard' (an elusive concept with no real percentage or score). Meaning with >95% confidence you are prepared to practice nursing at the entry level. If you want to know more, I can explain further but I think it suffices to say it's a crazy hard test that you have to pass to work as a nurse! (o:

Ski Utah!!

Woohoo!! Now that I don't have class and clinical ruling my life....I was able to go skiing!! (o: It's been FOREVER since I last went, thus I'm very grateful for my wonderful, patient roommate and expert skier Coleen!! Good times, good times! It was great! I am trying to smile in this picture, but it was from the end of the day and my face was kind of frozen! (o: I think my face freezing is related to the snow and wind...it was a bit stormy. (Other than that it wasn't cold at all! My new coat and hat from Santa worked out great for me!) We tried an ungroomed area on one run with DEEP powder....um, ya. VERY hard to stand up if you fall in powder deeper than your poles it turns out! (o: But, all in all, so worth it!!! I had a FABULOUS time!!!! And, now I'm practiced up for our ward ski trip! (o:

It's official!! ...almost

Hello! So...thanks to the modern wonders of technology, not only do I get a printed copy of my diploma, I get a digital copy too! (o: Thus, my graduation is actually official and I have less than one month until (after passing the NCLEX) I'm an offical RN too!