Life After Nursing School

I’m currently praying about what life is going to look like for me after May.  Seeing how the past year and a half of nursing school has flown by quickly, I’m expecting my final semester of nursing school to be the same.  The job search will begin for me in January, and I am actually really excited about it.  There is ONE particular job at ONE particular hospital here in San Antonio that I would LOVE to have.  Being a new graduate RN, I’m not sure if I will be able to get it though, but you better believe that won’t stop me from applying for it.  :D 

In addition to finding a nursing position, I also have an incredible (or so it seems at this point) opportunity for the summer that popped in my email inbox this week.  It’s a perfect fit with what I feel like the Lord is calling me to do…it fits a passion of mine perfectly…and yes, it involves CHINA!  The problem is it being during the summer…THIS summer in particular.  The summer that is PRIME TIME for me to be looking for and beginning my nursing career. 

This is where you, my friend, come in!  Would you pray along with me?  The desire of my heart is to follow the Lord wherever He leads me.  If that is working in a hospital in San Antonio…I’ll go!  If that is going to China…I’ll go!  Would you pray I would be sensitive to the direction the Lord is leading?  Would you pray that I would have the courage to run through the doors He opens and praise Him for the ones He closes knowing that He is completely in control? 

Let’s just be honest, though…I REALLY want to go to China.  :D 

Where to Begin…

Pediatrics….

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  Well, clinicals, that is.  I’m at Methodist Children’s Hospital for my pediatric rotation.  This week I was in pediatric oncology, and I am CONVINCED this  is where I want to work.  I’ve said for a while that I would like to work in oncology, but I never had any experience there.  I decided to have my “observation” day on this unit, and I was not disappointed.  

Having clinicals on two consecutive days usually means you get to see the same patients.  I had two of the most awesome girls as patients.  One girl, 9 years old, had the biggest smile and the biggest personality of anyone I have ever met.  Each time I walked in her room, she wanted to know how long I was staying for that shift and when I was coming back.  We played a lot of Deal or No Deal…laughed…talked...and had an all-around fun time.  She was SO proud of her hair growing back, and so I asked her what color it was before.  She said, “It was JUST LIKE YOURS!”  It was a small connection between the two of us, but a sweet one none-the-less. 

My other patient, a 13 year old girl, was also absolutely incredible.  Meeting her was one of those “God” moments…something only He can orchestrate, but I am oh-so-glad He did.  I’d love to share the story, but I’m not sure that’s ok on my blog.  Basically, one of my T bar M campers knew this sweet girl, and we prayed for her ALL WEEK last summer at camp.  It was neat to be able to share with this sweet girl and her mom that I had prayed for her and “knew” her before.    I felt like I should start singing, “It’s a small world after all…it’s a small world after all…”  I can’t tell you how much I love moments like that.  :D 

Class, on the other hand, is a different story.  I feel like I can vent because this is MY blog, so here I go…I can’t stand it when people feel the need to cheat!!!  Last week, we were lectured because somehow  a test got out and a few people in our class decided it was okay to use it to “study”.  AHHH!!  INTEGRITY, people!!!  Does it not mean anything???  I know for me, personally, my integrity is extremely important to me, and I get really mad when it’s called into question over something I didn’t do.  I don’t care if it’s my personal integrity…or a “class integrity”.  Our class has already been in trouble once for cheating in 1st semester, and I feel like we had to work really hard to earn trust back to the instructors of future semesters.  Once again…it’s ruined.  No, I didn’t do it, but simply because I am in the class where it occurred, I have to deal with the ramifications.  Not only me…but the majority of the others in my class. 

I NEED CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!! 

In other news….

I’M GOING TO NEW YORK OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK!! 

My sister and I are going to spend a few days before Christmas in NYC!!  I am SO SO SO excited.  It is definitely needed after the semester I have had. 

 

 

Life is crazy right now...I'll be back with an update post soon! :D

Fightin’ Texas Aggie Football

There is nothing better on Saturday in the fall than a Fightin’ Texas Aggie Football game.  I know, I know…the game yesterday wasn’t the best showing of my Ags, but nonetheless, it is such a fun experience.  As a student at A&M, I rarely missed a game.  I stood…yelled…and stayed till the VERY end.  No way I would be called a “two percenter”.  

One of the perks of being a student is getting a sports pass (thanks DAD!).  Each week, you give the nice lady at the ticket counter your sports pass, and she hands you a ticket which allows you to stand (squished like sardines) and sweat more than you ever thought possible while yelling (no cheering!), waving your 12th man towel,   and enjoying the atmosphere of Kyle Field.  NOTHING better!  :D

There’s just a couple of pics of Aggie football throughout my years as a student.  I LOVED it…if you couldn’t already tell. 

Since I graduated in 2007, I haven’t made it back to Aggieland for a football game….that is until last weekend!!  My mom drove from Lufkin with some friends from church, and I drove in from San Antonio.  We all went to the game on Saturday evening…..1st deck….45 yard line…right behind the band!  I have my see-ster to thank for those tickets!  :D    As always, it was so great to be back in Aggieland….standing (squished like sardines) and sweating more than I ever thought possible while yelling (no cheering!), waving my 12th man towel (except I forgot it, ahem), and enjoying the atmosphere of Kyle Field. For some reason I didn’t take many pics this weekend, but here is one I got of my mom, my see-ster, and me!  I love it…and I love them!  :D 

Hadassah "Haddie"

As I type this post, I have the cutest little helper sitting in my lap. Her name is Hadassah, but I'm calling her "Haddie". She is teeny-tiny and absolutely adorable! I may be a little biased, but I'll let you decide for yourself.

This little bundle of energy is about 6 weeks old (we think). She was abandoned, and so I'm not exactly sure when she was born, but she's a little tiny thing. I've had lots of kittens this age in my lifetime, but Haddie is by far the smallest kitten I've ever had.

I'm learning lots of things about Haddie in the 3 days since I brought her home.

• She LOVES attention. Actually she DEMANDS it!
• I'm convinced that she thinks her feather toy is an actual bird. She is so proud of herself when she "catches" it. She won't let it go and will growl if you try to take it away from her.
• There isn't any "people food" I've had that she won't eat, and she would much rather eat my food than cat food.
• She's a shoulder kitty and likes to sleep on her back.
• Someone forgot to tell her she's "fun-sized"....she has NO fear!!
• Can cats have ADHD??? Because I'm pretty sure Haddie does.
• She has an uncanny ability to delete things off of the computer. I'm learning to save often when she is around.

OB is coming to an end...

Today was my last day in OB clinicals. Surprisingly, I was sad to see this clinical experience come to an end. For the first time, I truly enjoyed my time in the hospital AND I feel like I learned so much! Not only was the clinical itself amazing, but I could not have asked for a better clinical group and instructor.

I could totally see myself working in OB....mostly, I just want to work in the Nursery. There is nothing better than holding newborn babies and realizing that just hours before, they were in their mama's belly. Such a miracle!!

I have my evaluation tomorrow and one last test on Thursday. Starting next week I get Pediatrics! I'm a little anxious to see if I enjoy it as much as I did OB, I sure hope so!

Why China? Here's My Answer!

I'm posting this video on here mostly for my own sake. It's not very well done because I put it together really quickly. I did this as a way for me to remember some of my sweet students.


This weekend I was FINALLY (after 3 years!) able to get some software to transfer my video from China 2006 to my computer. I've spend a majority of this weekend on a trip down memory lane with all of the videos. Slowly but surely they are being uploaded to my computer...so I'll have better ones to show (hopefully!) soon. :D I just never know how much time I have to devote to it with school going on.


Since high school, it's been my desire to go to China and tell them all about Father. Until 2006, China was an idea...a dream....a prayer. Now China has a face (or several faces) to me...its the faces of these students...Willan... Doctor... Emy... Chung Chung... Susie.... Why Y... Apple.... Candy... Yellow... Lily... Lucy... Susan...and many more. It's personal now!! Each one of them has a story, and I'm asking that they become a part of my Father's big story. These are some of my dearest friends, and I want them to know Hope and Peace.


So even though this isn't the most high-quality video, I wanted to give you a glimpse of what China looks like to me. These kids are the "WHY" behind the question I often get, but never know exactly how to answer, "Why China?"