Life As An RN

I am now in my 10th week of orientation, only 5 more to go before I am on my own. I am settling in to my new role as an RN. I still don't believe I am actually living it. I worked so hard to get here & now I just am here. It doesn't seem like I should be done yet!

Working nights is different! I feel like I work all the time with having to sleep so much during the days. But I Love the shift itself. Everyone I work with is so nice & I think it is a great place to start for a new grad.

I am getting more comfortable each day with what I am doing & understanding why I am doing what I am doing. I still have Tons to learn, but I am getting the hang of things!

Children's Mercy is as wonderful as always. The kids never cease to amaze me with there strength & endurance. I have learned so much about life thru each & every one of them.

Month of Celebrations

What a month this has been! February is always a fun month for us.

For Valentine's Day we went furniture shopping for our family room & then that weekend following we enjoyed a nice dinner together at Hereford House in Zona.

We also have Dustin's Birthday on the 25th, now that he is as old as me! We had fun weekend of going out with friends on Saturday & to dinner on Sunday with Dustin's parents.

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to Mike & Jerry as well, who also have February Birthday's!

Last Saturday night we went out with Pat & Jessica, Jerry & Emily, & Mike (Champange had to work) to celebrate the February Birthdays & Pat & Jessica's engagement! We went to a really good italian restaurant off of Grand called Anthony's & then to have a few drinks afterwards. It is always fun to hang out with everyone, we don't do it enough!

Congratulations Pat & Jess!!!

Pat purposed to Jessica on their cruise they just returned from on Valentine's Day. How romantic is that!!!

They are tentatively planning on a 2010 wedding!

Scout Goes To The Vet

Scout had his first visit to the vet with us the end of December. We were unsure of what shots he had received & since he had been neglected & in who knows where we thought we should have him tested. They did blood work & stool tests. All came back well, except he had round worms. Not a big deal, just 2 rounds of antibiotics & all is well! I thought it was going to be a chore to have him take a syringe full of medicine, but low & behold he loved it! Then of course when he was all done, he thought the syringe would make a good play toy, I didn't give in on that one.

What's This?!?! A Treat!

More Please!!!

MMM.....That was lip-licking good!

He is doing soo well at his new home with us!! Since we took him in Oct 28, 2007 he has gained 20lbs, grown a few inches taller, loves to wrestle & play ball, loves to chew on rawhides & hooves on a rope, can do commands sit, lay, & stay, & can even hold a treat on his nose! We are so happy we kept him & I think he LOVES his new home!

House, Work, & NCLEX

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated!!

We have been busy as usual. Finish one thing & start another, that is how life is supposed to be right??

Anyhow, our house is officially on the market as of last Monday. We have had 1 showing so far (thanks to the freezing weather & snow) & I have been doing a TON of cleaning. I knew we had a lot of stuff we didn't need, but I had no idea how much! I have done all the closests now (6, but who is counting), under 2 beds, some cabinets & the basement. With that 2 car loads have gone to Goodwill, a trailer of trash to the dumpster & all our Christmas & some other things to storage. It has been 2 full weeks of work, but the house looks GREAT!! Now we are just hopeing that it sells quickly. If you didn't know we are building a new house. It won't be finished until the end of August, but we are okay with moving to an apartment for a few months to save some money while we are waiting. We are very excited, but nervous just the same. I will post pictures as things develope, right now there are just sticks in the ground for the foundation to be dug. Nothing too exciting yet!

I am now in my 6th week of orientation at Children's. It is going pretty well. I am not sure that I like doing the whole chemo thing though. I am in the process of making some decisions about what I really want to do. Not to mention working nights is not so easy! I will keep everyone updated as I make my decisions.

NCLEX is coming up next week!!! YIKES! I don't think I could ever really be fully prepared, even if I spent 15 hours a day studying for a week. I am just going to do some practice tests & do the best I can.

Dustin has been slow at work with all of this snow & cold. Other than that he has discovered XBOX Live & is pretty addicted at the moment. I think he does it just to get out of helping get the house ready! :)

That is about all that is going on with us! More next time....

Graduation/Thanksgiving

Finally I am able to upload some pictures!

This is a pretty good one of Dustin & I at my graduation party! Such a fun day that was with so many of our family & friends!

Dec 1, 2007

Avery on Thanksgiving. Learning how to eat cool whip out of the tub! Was I not supposed to teach her that???

Dustin & Jacob

Jacob & Gavin

We really enjoyed Thanksgiving getting to watch & play with all the littles ones!

New Beginnings

I decided to continue working at Children's Mercy on 4 Henson where I have been for the past 2 years as a care assistant. I really Love working with the amazing kids & it is a great floor to get experience on. I am working nights, which has been a change for our house, but it is more money & slower paced, which is good for learning. I have also excepted a job with a local Home Health place & will do that on a per visit basis. I have completed my 1st week of a 15 week orientation at Mercy this past week. It is a little overwhelming right now, so many things to learn! But I have a really great preceptor who is very patient & knowledgable. I won't be starting training at the home health job until mid Janurary, but that will be good giving me a few weeks on the floor to get my feet wet. So far I am loving it!
I am taking a Kaplan class the 1st week in Jan. to help me prepare for boards. It comes with a gurantee of passing, so I figured it definantly couldn't hurt! I am not looking forward to boards!

Dustin has started learning how to do blue prints at work. He seems to really be enjoying it & is excited about adding more knowledge to what he already knows. He does a "class" once a week in the evening & then brings home blueprints to practice on. He hopes to boarden his responsibilities at Sun!

GRadUatIoN!

Graduation was really nice! It was December 1st at the Majestic Theater in Zona Rosa. We had a Party at our house afterwards thru the afternoon & evening. Many more people came than I expected & it was really an amazing feeling to know that everyone cared so much.

*I have been trying for an hour to get up pictures & it is not working for some reason. I will try again another day!

November Update

We have had a busy last couple of weeks!

Of course it started with me finishing school! I still am in amazement.

Then we had Christmas pictures for the year.

Then for those of you who maybe didn't know we were expecting again, but unfortunately we lost this baby as well on the 21st. We are of course upset & frustrated. But we did find out the baby stopped developing at about 7 weeks. So next week we will start testing to see what is going on & how to fix it.

Next my Mom had surgery. She is doing good, just recovering & moving a little slowly.

Then we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day at Robin's house (Dustin's step-mom). She made a great meal, as usual. We spent the day with family. It was really nice & relaxing.

Saturday we went to my Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner & then to Robin's in the evening for the KU vs MU game. Can I just say what a game! Scout had a great time playing with Devin & Emma & Ellen (cousins). Then we went to Jerry's for a bit & Scout really had fun wrestling with Smokey!

Sunday we put up the Christmas decor. That is always a chore! I love having the trees up around the house it makes it so cozy.

Dustin finished the deck he has been working on today!! WooHoo! It looks amazing! I must say I am very proud of him, he did a really good job.

Tomorrow I am going for my official interview at Mercy on the floor I have been working on for the RN position. They have already told me I have the position, just have to make the final decisions.

Needless to say we have kept our selves busy! I am loving having time to spend with Dustin & just living life. I must say though I am ready to get back to work! I will post new pictures tomorrow!

Nursing Graduate Here

I am proud to announce that I am officially graduating nursing school!! I am not sure how this happened, but I have to say I now believe in Miracles. All that is left to do now is get thru NCLEX! I am so excited & not really sure what to do with myself. I haven't quite wrapped my head around the fact that I will not be going back to school! Saying those words makes me sooo excited!! December 1st is graduation! I can't wait for that finalization!!

Thank you everyone for your continous support, prayers, & encouragement over the last 2 1/2 years. I don't think I could have gotten thru this without everyones encouragement!

Introducing Scout!

We would like to introduce the newest member of our family,

SCOUT!

He is a chocolate lab mix (with terrior we think) and about 1 year old. He needed a good home & of course we couldn't say no! He is such a good boy, already potty trained, doesn't get on the furniture, doesn't bark, doesn't jump on people, & doesn't lick! What more could we ask for. He has discovered yesterday that he can jump the fence, so that is something we will have to fix soon. The kitty's are doing fairly well. Elway is more excepting than Kitty, but it is getting better each day!

Today he finally played ball with me in the backyard. We both had a great time. He is starting to get more comfortable & LOVES to be pet or played with!