Rants, Recipes, and Running

I received news by my teacher today that I have been placed on some mystery unit at my sponsoring hospital for my practicum. Which will hopefully help my chances of getting some visibility and getting hired at that unit, too! My teacher cannot release the information since only 2 out of the 25 people in my class have placed. (killing me! I want to know now!) So I am praying for either Emergency Department, ICU, or Telemetry (in that order).... Yay!!!! Things are moving along. 76 days until I have my BSN. I am starting to feel a little better, I think! So yay! My stomach is still.....irritable. But, it is doing a little better. Maybe the antibiotics I'm on are actually doing something! (fingers crossed) And Ryan is back, and he is like a different person!! After he graduated - had guard annual training for a week, was sick for the following week, was in North Dakota/Nebraska for the week after THAT...............And now life is getting back to normal! I have not seen t...

Another month has somehow managed to FLY past us! I'm ready for June to be her! There are lots of exciting things coming up this month! Baseball games, camping trips, my LAST real class of my undergrad! Woo hoo!! Current Book(s ): Oh, still the good-ole Critical Care Nursing textbook. Written by Sole. I also tap into an NCLEX prep book when I'm feeling like going outside of "the box". Also reading article after article about Percutaneous Coronary Interventions, Stents, and CABG surgery. So thrilling....(capstone...) Current Music: Hm.....I am so fallen from the music world right now! It's sad! I do listen to jazz or "Piano Solos" via Pandora-genre-stations while I'm studying, though. Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Yoplait Whips! I put them in the freezer, and have them for desert every once in awhile. Delicious! I like the Strawberry flavor. The chocolate mousse is good - but a little too "chocolatey" for my likings. ...

"You never know what you're gonna get" That's the attitude with me, and my "beauty/style" life. In my lifetime (which has been considerably short...I'm 22!) I have had: -Very very short hair, long hair, red hair, auburn hair, blonde hair, REALLY blonde hair, brown hair, brown hair with blonde high lights, brown hair with red & blonde highlights, permed hair, straight hair.... ...You get the point....I'm pretty "bold" about hair. It's hair. It'll grow back. If it's too blonde, you can dye it darker...etc. So we have had 3 consecutive days that have hit about 100. Yesterday was 101. I'm burning up! It's been 6 months since I've had a haircut. So...I went in today for a "trim". And I went from this: To This..... The "kicker" is that my husband, Ryan...has absolutely no clue I did this. I told him this morning, "I think I'm going to go in to get my hair trimmed. It...

I think I am due for a recipe post. Today it almost hit 100 in Tucson. Yikes! So, what better a topic to blog about than soup?! ;) Many have the attitude that "soup is for cold weather". But, it's never reallly cold here. If I followed that rule, we'd never get to eat soup! That would be a very, very sad day. Now, normally when you see Minestrone it is a vegetarian Italian soup. However, as I've stated previously - I have a carnivore of a husband. And a "Vegetarian-Meal" just wouldn't quite fly! So I serached around at Minestrone recipes - and concoted my own little "brew"!  Here it goes! 1/2 lb Ground Turkey 1 14.5 oz can Stewed Tomatoes 1 can Garbanzo beans 1.5 Beef Bullion Cube (you can do the low-sodium style, or can of beef broth, but I need my Na+) ;) 3 cups water 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2-3 Bay leaves And here is where it gets kinda murky, since I don't really do recipes...... About 1/2 Red on...

1. What is your favorite piece of furniture in your house? Our king-sized sleigh bed. Boy that sounds good right now. Especially since I'm sooo sick and I had a 12 hour clinical today, and 7 hours of lecture on EKG's tomorrow. All I want to do is curl up in bed with heating pads and pillows. :-(. Why is it that my toughest semester of nursing school is my "ill-est"? :( 2. If it was raining so hard on a Saturday that you couldn’t leave your house, what would you spend the day doing? I would search around for ingredients and put together a fantastic soup or stew - slow cook it all day. I would also make home-made bread. And probably bake some cookies. I'd also sip some lemon-tea. Clean the house, organize cupboards, maybe watch a comforting movie like "Pretty Woman" or "Ferris Buellher's Day Off". 3. What was your favorite candy as a child? Hmm..probably Fun Dips. I remmeber that was my "naughty" thing I'd purchase when ...

I am stealing this idea from my sister . Thought it looked kind of fun!! I just finshed my first Critical Care Exam....which I was terrified of. And I am actually walking away feeling REALLY confident about it! It's weird. So yay! Celebration. Ryan is charcoal grilling beer can chicken for me tonight! I am making a sweet-potato salad and spinach salad! I love doing the easy stuff ;) So here we go! I ALWAYS ... -Make lists . Lists are absolutely vital to my survival in everything. If you went through my purse, kitchen drawers, school-bag, anything - you will find many lists about everything! -Eat breakfast - and within the first hours that I'm awake. Skipping that meal is not an option for me! -Make breakfast, pour coffee how he likes it, and pack a lunch for Ryan EVERY day. Even on weekends when he gets up at 4:30 for guard. Doing those little things for him are really important to me. I Sometimes .... - Vacuum the house or scrub my kitchen floor when I'm feel...

This won't contain a lot of pictures, for I'm not the best with my own camera. But, Lisa  is posting some great photos! But I will say the past weekend was INCREDIBLE! So here is a little bulleted list of the amazingness. First off, I am quite  burnt out . With clinicals, critical care class (which is more challenging than my previous courses in nursing school - to say the very least), and preparing for the party. I can't remember the last time I had a "break". It has been go, go, go - and it probably won't "stop" for awhile! But all the prep and hard work was WELL worth it! Wednesday , Lisa got in. We went for an amazing 6.5 mile hike . Since (I think) all of you read her blog, you can see pictures on her recap! :D (Thanks, Lisa!) Lisa & I hiking Madera Canyon We then took her to our FAVORITE sushi restaraunt; Ra . It was a beautiful evening filled with tons of laughter, great conversation, and fantastic weather! As a side note - that night...