my life needs to slow down just a bit...

WHOA! I am sooooo behind on blogging. My life seems to run away from me every day to the point where I don't even know what day it is anymore! I was so busy last week working my first 8 days in a row that I basically cut off all communication with the outside world and went to bed at about 9 every night... I'm turning into an old lady :)

So, like I said, I worked my first 8 on last week. It pretty much killed me.. haha. I literally went to bed every night thinking "I cannot believe I have to wake up at 5:30am AGAIN tomorrow!". And then, unexpectedly, my nurse manager told me we were meeting on Thursday, so I ended up working 9 days in a row... wore. me. out. I fell asleep at the dinner table several times on Chuck last week.. ;) It was overwhelming. But now I know that I have to get plenty of sleep this week for my 8 on so I'm not miserable.. haha.

Regardless of the fact that I was worn out all week, I had such a great time on the Peds floor this past week. I've gotten so much better at reading doctor's orders, prepping discharge papers to teach the patients and their family about going home, being confident when administering medications (because giving meds to children is way different than giving them to adults!), and other various things. Plus, being on the floor for 8 days straight allows me to get to know my patients and see them day after day, and then (hopefully) see them get to go home! My children on the floor are really so adorable and I love them to death.. especially the little ones who run to me with their arms in the air when I walk in the door :)

Let's see.. what else happened since my last post. Easter was yesterday and it was actually beautiful outside! For once, it wasn't freezing on Easter morning. I went to church at Shades Mountain in the morning with Mom, Amy, and Emily, and then spent the afternoon at Chuck's house eating lunch with his family and hanging out with him and his parents. For years, we have always done holidays on our own with our own families, but the last 2 years I've eaten Easter lunch with his family, and I love it. We've just never been the couple who shares holidays with each other's families which has never bothered me, but now that I have, I love being with him and his family on those days. And, plus, he got a new shirt and tie for Easter and just looked so cute ;)

The weather here has been head and shoulders better than the last couple of weeks.. and I LOVED getting to lay out at the pool on Friday after my week of work. It was in the 80's and it felt awesome. I'm not the tannest person ever, but whatever.. it's pretty good for me at least :)

Today I applied for a few jobs!! And I called some people and am looking around a lot more, so I'm praying something will open up for me and I will at least get an interview somewhere soon. Please keep me in your prayers, as well. I'm actually looking into being a camp nurse for a summer camp up in Pennsylvania from June 19 to August 15 if something doesn't open up in the Birmingham area for me over the summer. I'll get great pay, they cover the cost of the NCLEX, they pay for the trip up and trip down, I get lodging, and all food is included that's eaten on the campus of the camp. If I did it, it would be me and my friend Kimberly who is also graduating with me in May. She found out about the opening from a friend and it sounds like an amazing opportunity to get more experience working with kids since I want to work in that field anyway. And, plus, I have to have at least some sort of income over the summer, so that would be a perfect solution. And then maybe positions will open up in August when I return. But I'm heavily job searching for the next couple of weeks and if i hear nothing, then I just pay accept the camp nurse position.

Let's see.. what else. Oh yeah.. get this.. my little sister has a BOYFRIEND!!! I know she's 17 and it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it's a HUGE deal to us! Emily and Michael sitting in a tree.. K-I-S-S-I... ok that's enough. You get the picture :)

I was a judge this past Saturday for the Hoover Ambassadors, which is an organization in my high school that I was a part of. It's a very prestigious group of people and I was very honored to be a part of it when I was in high school, so going back and judging who would and wouldn't become part of the group for this upcoming year was so much fun. Some of Emily's friends who interviewed said I was even a little bit intimidating ;) I loved being an Ambassador, and it's actually where I met Christina :)

I hope every had such a wonderful weekend and Easter. This week, make a point (and I will too) to just walk outside and soak up the sun and the beauty of how wonderful it is outside and the amazing weather God has blessed us with.. finally!

Love you all!