courtesy mathfail

There are some actors in our world that seem to fit so well into their roles that they portray. Usually when we talk about this it is because they are so good at their craft and we admire their ability to immerse themselves, making their performances amazingly real.

But then there are those actors that aren’t acting. They are just being themselves. Patricia Heaton is a case in point. If you have seen just 5 minutes of Everybody Loves Raymond (and within those 5 minutes Patricia Heaton appeared on screen) you would see that she plays an annoying, complaining, angry person who doesn’t appreciate those who either choose to be or are forced to be around her on a daily basis.

That’s because she’s not acting. That’s her up there on stage. That’s the same person that goes home at night to her beaten-down family and any so-called friends that have to put up with her. Why did she win two Emmys for her role? For two reasons: 1) she wasn’t acting and 2) she would have ripped the judges’ jugulars from their throats with her filed teeth if they didn’t cast a vote in her favor.

Patricia, you are not funny. I know it’s a “sitcom” but yelling at your husband, dragging him by the ear, hating your in-laws and everyone around you is not a laugh-riot. The studio audience must have been drunk every time you were on stage. Or the producers pumped in the canned laughter.  

To enhance the points made above, here are two videos featuring Patty Helen Heaton. First up is from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. No need to watch this past the 18 second mark (but feel free to torture yourself):

“Where am I? You said get on a plane so I’m here.” Patricia, I believe it when you said you had no idea where you landed. The pilot probably came on the intercom and you demanded he shut up so as not to interrupt your mimosa and the brow-beating of your assistant you were in the middle of for not putting a picture of puppies with their throats slashed on your newest credit card. Speaking of credit cards, here’s the second video:

Okay, first of all, you would need instructions on how to walk. Then you go insult the rest of the country?! Way to make yourself likable. It gets better though. You then insult your alma mater! That means the place where you went to college, Patty. But at least you admit you didn’t spend a lot of time in the classroom. So, you got that going for you.

And finally, you were in Sierra Leone and yet you call them Sierra Leonees? They are called Sierra Leoneans, stupid.

Patricia, it’s not that you are bad at math; it’s that you didn’t even want to try to think about the question! Regis, you are a saint.

For these and for many other reasons that I failed to mentioned, I banish thee, Patricia Heaton, to the Island. Please, never, ever come back. In fact, even if I gave you a GPS and a motorboat I wouldn’t be worried about you coming back—you wouldn’t know how to operate either one.

–Limejuiceboy

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I am currently doing my pediatrics clinical for NR442: Nursing Care of Children and Their Families. I have been looking forward to this clinical because of my interest in child-care and was lucky enough to get placed at The Children’s Hospital (TCH). I say “lucky” because the bidding process for clinical placements is essentially a lottery to ensure fairness. My specific TCH clinical requires me to work on Saturday and Sunday, forcing me to better plan my week. However, when your clinical training is located where you one day hope to be employed, this isn’t really an inconvenience.

My placement is on a general medical/surgical unit. Honestly, when I first learned of my placement I was mildly disappointed because of my passion for newborn intensive care. However, this quickly turned into excitement because I realized I would be exposed to a wide range of conditions and diagnoses. This clinical has expanded my knowledge base tremendously and in two weeks I have been exposed to an array of pathophysiologies from failure-to-thrive to pyelonephritis to multiple sclerosis, to name a few. Furthermore, we get patients from 6 months of age all the way up to 17 years old. This really has challenged my understanding of developmental assessments and stages, as all nursing care must be tailored accordingly.

I only have one more week left in this clinical, making it feel like this experience has been too short. In this brief period of time, though, I have realized that there is a lot to learn in fields I didn’t previously consider. I am confident that the collective experiences I am receiving will contribute to my ultimate goal of newborn intensive care nursing.

I’ve been asked on several occasions what a typical day is as a DPT student at Regis.  I respond, “Usually, we start class between 8 and 10 AM (depending on the day); we’ll get a lunch break from noon ‘till 1, then classes/labs until 3 or 5 PM (again, depending on the day).  Keep in mind, of course, that doesn’t include any studying time.  Well, last Thursday constituted the LONGEST SCHOOL DAY OF MY LIFE.  It went as follows:

                7:00 AM:  I’m already on campus trying to finish finding research articles for a small group tutorial discussion starting in an hour.

I see this sunrise every morning as I'm getting ready to go to school. Unfortunately, since the days are getting shorter, we're sometimes still in class or studying when the sun is setting over the mountains.

                8:00 AM – 10:45 AM:  Lots of blurry moments of discussing a “patient scenario” who had a stroke at a picnic and we’re going through the process of treating him.  Someone brought donuts.  That definitely helped.

                11:15 AM:  A group of us got Little Caesar’s Pizza since we had to make up a lab (from a snow day) in 15 minutes and we didn’t want to worry about heating up food on campus.

                11:30 AM – 4 PM:  Musculoskeletal Management II Lab . . . aka I’m getting joints I didn’t know about poked, prodded, and mobilized again and again and again.  I can bend over a lot further now.

                4 PM – 6:30 PM:  Diagnostic Imaging Lab, this one involving electrical currents to nerves.  Probably not the best lab to have when everyone is on their last wind; welcome to PT school. . . that’s where we thrive. 

Actually, who knows where this lab came from (meaning, why at the end of such a long day?), but I suppose it had to be fit in somewhere. . . . so why not now?

                7 PM:  Finally home (I wasn’t sure how I got there), ate dinner, helped bathe Spencer and get him ready for bed, and get ready for the next day.  Oh yeah, I’d better study a little.

There you have it.  That was a Thursday.  It was tough, and it just got even more exciting with a test the following Monday, a quiz on Tuesday, a skills check on Wednesday, and a journal due on Friday.  Thankfully another paper that was due on Friday as well was postponed until the following Monday. What helped, though, was a bunch of us on the Monday of the exam decided to celebrate the 120^th Anniversary of Montana joining the Union by wearing flannel to school, since, come on, there are 5 or 6 classmates from that beautiful state.  You’ve just got to show support sometimes.  It helped break up the monotony, to say the least, and it made for a great photo and memory.  Why Montana and flannel?  Who knows.

Who doesn't celebrate the 120th Anniversary of Montana joining the Union? What a fun bunch of future Physical Therapists.

Here's a picture of some classmates during the Halloween costume contest. Just imagine 30 of us like that.

Actually you don't have to imagine...here we are!

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ~ Charles Dickens

The holidays are upon us, and I’m not going to pretend that school is kind of preventing my excitement at the moment. Next week is Thanksgiving, and I’m excited to be going to Texas again to see a lot of family I don’t get to see but once a year, but not excited that I’ll be studying for 2 exams and writing at least one 5 page paper, if not two. Sense my irritation?

Clinicals have been going well. We had to make up our snow day by working an extra long shift, but it really wasn’t too big of a deal. I had the opportunity to work one day in the ER and one day in the ICU. So far in nursing school, I haven’t had any opportunities to start any IV’s, believe it or not, because of the floors that we work on for clinicals. If you think about it, you get IV’s placed before you hit the med/surg unit because you’ve either gotten it before surgery or if you came through the ER, you got it placed there. But, while in the ER, I took every opportunity I could with the hope of not making the patients my pincushions. I successfully placed 6 of the 7 IV’s I did on the first poke!! I was very happy about this. To be honest, I was slightly worried that I would graduate nursing school without having practiced this skill, which is one that all my family and friends complain about being stuck multiple times. I still can’t convince any of them to let me practice on them. Haha.

I’m not an ER nurse. I really enjoy my time in the ER; it’s very different – in and out – like a drive-thru of healthcare. I’m much more of a relational person, and part of the reason I really love nursing and the bedside care of it is because I love developing relationships with my patients and their families. Working a day in the ICU – I could see myself possibly doing that in the pediatric setting. I liked that the nurses have only two patients at a time (whereas on the med/surg floor I’ve seen them take on as many as six or seven), and you can really tend to your patient’s every need when you aren’t spreading your time amongst so many. Of course, it is absolutely necessary to only have two or so patients at a time in the ICU because the care they require is much more intense. One of the patients I had in the ICU was on a mechanical ventilator when I walked in that morning, and by the time I left, he had been extubated (the ventilator was removed), and he was beginning to talk and wake up more often. He still had a ways to go to being discharged from the hospital, but it was encouraging to see the progressive healing that had taken place.

I went with another nurse in the ICU to a “mock core” which is where the hospital calls a “code blue” which indicates that someone’s heart or breathing has stopped and they need resuscitation. This “mock” one was performed on a dummy so that the staff can practice what to do when a real person flat lines. Well, not five minutes after we got back from that, her patient actually did code and his wife came out screaming as his heart monitor was displaying a flat line. They were able to revive him by placing an external pacemaker, but it was a very scary situation.

I feel like I am learning a lot this year in clinicals about the kind of nurse I want to be. I saw a similar situation this week in two different places with two different responses by two different nurses. One patient in the ICU who tried to commit suicide. The nurse said that she is not a psych nurse and is not responsible for tending to that part of the patient’s care. She said she was there to do the “medical” care and would stick to the point of what needed to be done. Did I make it sound like she was lacking some compassion? – because that’s the point I was intending to make. The second situation was in the ER with a patient who also tried to commit suicide and ended up completely mutilating his arm in the process. The nurses and plastic surgeons who were basically putting his arm back together spoke gently and lovingly to him, made sure he was comfortable and in as little pain as possible, and did not judge him but, rather, instead explained that he must have been in an absolutely horrible place in life to come to this point where he felt his only way out was to die. They said they didn’t know his situation, but understood that he was human who clearly needed love and compassion.

Sometimes I think when you see situations like people attempting suicide or overdosing on drugs, you can become numb to it or so discouraged that the only coping mechanism for yourself is to just not tend to that part of the patient’s care. Where is the holistic care they teach us about? A person is not just a diagnosis or an injury. A person is a human with basic needs, with desires, with discouragement, with hopes, with families, with friends, with a life outside of this hospital room that they can’t wait to get back to. A patient is a whole person who needs tender, loving care. I hope to never become hardened to situations such as these that I see nurses becoming hardened to. People will do things to themselves that I will never understand, but while they are in my care, they deserve the same amount of love and attention as the next person regardless of their situation. I’m not here to judge. I’m here to care.

I feel like I’m hanging on this semester by the skin of my teeth. Some junior nursing students were asking me the other day if it ever gets easier. I can’t say that it is easier. I think you just learn to adapt to the crazy and constantly busy schedule that nursing school gives you. But, it probably actually gets a little harder because with graduation just around the corner…senioritis really kicks in. The main symptoms of senioritis consist of anticipation, excitement, some apathy, and definite procrastination. You start feeling like free labor around the hospital and can’t wait until you start getting paid to do all of this work. Of course, have no fear – we are all super Type A personalities where crossing things off of a to-do list releases just as many endorphins as a piece of chocolate, so we will still put great effort into what we do, but getting the motivation to do so has to come from a deeper place than a brand new nursing student.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It’s such a special time of year. Enjoy it as much as possible.

Heather and friend sledding in Colorado

Roma 17 dicembre, alle ore 18, presso la Sala Tevere della Regione Lazio, si terrà la cerimonia di premiazione, alla presenza  dell’Assessore regionale alle Politiche della Casa, l’On. Mario Di Carlo, del concorso di poesia intitolato “Casa mia..Casa mia..” promossa dell’Associazione culturale R.E.G.I.S. in collaborazione con la Regione Lazio. L’iniziativa si prefigge di avvicinare le persone alla cultura letteraria utilizzando un tema caro a tutti, quello della casa. Il progetto, che coinvolge non solo la popolazione romana ma tutte le province del Lazio, ha già registrato una notevole partecipazione di pubblico nella precedente edizione, tanto da essere stato abbinato ad uno spettacolo teatrale dall’omonimo nome, la cui regia è stata affidata al romano Pino Cormani. Fino al 1 dicembre, sarà possibile inviare le poesie che una giuria apposita, composta da docenti universitari e scrittori, provvederà ad esaminare.  Il bando del concorso è scaricabile sul sito www.comunicati-stampa.net/ nell’area dedicata all’arte e alla cultura. “L’obiettivo di questo concorso – spiega il presidente dell’associazione,  Laura Monaco – è sensibilizzare l’opinione pubblica sul tema della casa, per mettere in luce la sua natura sociale e personale, legata ai valori e alle tradizioni familiari e individuali, al di là del mero aspetto economico e architettonico attribuitole dalla società contemporanea”.

“It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing.”
– Mother Theresa

Again I find myself starting this blog with this phrase…how time has flown! It’s already the end of October and as I start really looking at plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas break, I realize how much time I do not have.  It’s scary.

The job situation continues escalating our anxiety levels as we work in the simulation lab with Regis grads from just last May! Many of the nursing students who graduated in the class above us have not found jobs yet. A constant thought on the mind….what can I do to make myself more marketable? Who do I need to get connections with? What networking opportunities can I seek out? Etc etc. Colorado is just not where the nursing jobs are at right now. I’m not giving up. I’m going to do my best to find a job here, but that might not be where I am meant to start out. I do have peace that the plan for my life is laid out ahead of me, and I truly don’t need to worry about it. It will fall into place even if that’s in a place I would have never chosen for myself or in my wildest dreams. All things work together for good…

As I started my clinical rotation for Adult II at Sky Ridge, I had a few thoughts I would like to share.

Thought #1:

There is something seriously wrong with this profession when it is the “norm” that nurses  do not expect to eat OR use the restroom.  You think I’m kidding? Little might you know about what is happening outside of your room at the hospital. Nurses are amazing! A lunch break consists of drinking some water from a water bottle they filled up at home and maybe, just maybe, grabbing a little packet of crackers out of the nutrition room on the floor and probably eating those on the way to chart your last assessment. When they are rushing from one room to the next to ensure that their patients are getting everything they need, they forget they even have to go to the bathroom and don’t feel they have the time if they do!

Now, I ask you, how safe is this? I mean, seriously?! How can a human function at their highest capacity when they have no fuel? Nurses are selfless, but something has got to change in this scenario.  So, please, next time you feel your nurse is not meeting your every demand or maybe forgot something minor, remember to thank him/her for what they have done. We know you are not feeling well. We want you to get better and out of that place every bit as much as you do, but they are truly doing their best…even forgetting about their OWN basic life needs in order to meet yours.

Thought #2:

I was struck by the gratitude of my patient last week when I did things that were so minor to me, but meant to much to him. Let me give you some specifics. (By the way, I in no way mean to brag about myself in this; I’m strictly making a point based on personal experience. I also do preface this that by being a nursing student with only ONE patient on my first day, that patient is able to receive all of my TLC and extra special attention). Carrying on, first thing in the morning when I go in to meet my patient, I want to ensure that his room is picked up. Granted, housekeeping is not my job, but my job may include rushing into the room in an event of an emergency and needing access to the patient without tripping over socks, extra wires/cords, tissues all over the place, etc. So, I tidy things up as I have my first conversation with him. He was amazed at what I was doing and I believe he said, “Wow, you sure are a firecracker, aren’t you?” haha.  We had a great relationship right off the bat. He was able to see that I cared about him, wanted him to have a peaceful room without clutter, and did this for him (even if the back motives were to ensure safety for the healthcare team). Later in the morning, I noticed him picking at his lips. I asked him if his lips were dry and whether he had brought some chap-stick. He had lost it, and because we weren’t allowing him to eat or drink anything until after his procedure later that day, his mouth and lips were becoming very dry. Well, we have chap-stick in the supply room on the floor, so I took two minutes to go down the hall and bring some back. He was incredibly grateful. Really, it was no trouble at all. I was happy to do that rather than cleaning up bloody lips later. It’s the small things in life, isn’t it? A clean room. Some chap-stick. I hope I never forget to make sure my patients’ basic needs are met. It establishes good rapport, but it demonstrates that I really do care about them and their well-being. I understand that being in the hospital is no one’s idea of a vacation and can be quite miserable when you’re feeling so poorly, so I want to always take it upon myself to ensure that their stay with me is the best that it can be.

My first Adult II exam is on Tuesday. Besides taking some time for a social life and dressing like Barbie for my friend’s Halloween party, studying is what is on the agenda for the weekend. Ah. Such is the life of a nursing student…

Oh, and by the way, Colorado just got our first major snow storm! Class and clinicals got canceled, and some schools were closed for 3 days! Thinking it’s gonna be an interesting winter around here.

This semester we’ve really dived into the “PT Management” courses. . . . which means lots and lots of labs. Some, of course, are more interesting than others. For example, this photo gives you an idea of one of the more exciting times of a neuro-management lab this past week. Here, a classmate was put into a harness and hung over a treadmill to practice “body weight support treadmill training.” And there’s even research to validate the effectiveness of it!

Nothing is as fun as experimenting with classmates on the different interventions and equipment we learn about in class.

Although I couldn’t locate a picture yet for this blog, just try and imagine a large group of students all dressed up as mimes. That was our class theme for a school costume contest on Friday, October 30th. The majority of our class participated, and it was a lot of fun. We even got 3rd place at the group contest, losing, unfortunately, to the DPT class of 2012 as a “Where’s Waldo?” theme and another group dressed as cereal box themes.

Halloween was lots of fun with Spencer tromping around the neighborhood in the lion costume that his grandma had made. That’s right, nothing store bought. And he caught on very fast to the concept of Halloween: run to the door; pound on the door; receive candy. Next house. From the photo, you can even see that Daisy dressed up as a bumble bee to take part in the spirit of the season.

We all pose after coming home from a night out getting sugar. To Daisy's delight, she even got a bone from one of the houses we knocked on.

Spencer had quite the growl to go with his costume.

Another Class Down!

Community Health is officially over and as our professor would state many times, it was clearly “messy.” My clinical took place with the Schools in Urban Neighborhoods (S.U.N.) of Denver County. The S.U.N Schools are a group of private Catholic facilities that serve a variety of children from kindergarten through eighth grade. Many of the children attending the schools are from low-income, minority families and their tuition is paid for through a local charity, Seeds of Hope.

Our role as student nurses was to provide education to the children to promote good health. We taught topics such as smoking and tobacco prevention, hand-washing technique, nutrition and healthy eating habits, and dental hygiene. Also, these topics and more were addressed at a health fair for the eighth graders. I enjoyed this clinical for the immense amount of interaction it offered with the kids. However, it was incredibly time consuming because lesson plans had to be developed from scratch and catered to the wide range of developmental stages. Often times it was difficult to coordinate lesson plans with the teachers and planning and scheduling was pointless.

There were definite moments of frustration and therefore, I am relieved for this clinical to be over. However, I cannot deny the wonderful feedback we got from the kids. They absolutely loved us and were so eager to learn. After spending four weeks with them, they definitely got to know us and walking away with smiles, hugs, and high-fives has offered some consolation for the “messiness.”

Agora qual seria o sentido disso?
Ficar de quatro e e tocar a buzina com a bunda, tá aí algo … doentio.

Operating through Denver’s Road Home and Mile High United Way for eight years, Project Homeless Connect is an event servicing the homeless and uninsured individuals of the Denver community. The one-day event offers services such as employment assistance, housing, haircuts, massages, legal services, and more! On October 9th at the Pepsi Center, Regis and the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions participated in the event by providing health care to hundreds of individuals.

For the first time, on October 9th, the event focused on families to address the increasing numbers of homeless families and children in the community. Students and faculty alike offered their time for this one-day to create health care access for these individuals. Several stations were set up to screen for vision, BMI, diabetes, blood pressure, and child development. Other stations were geared towards education regarding child safety, the flu, nutrition, and tobacco use. To complete the picture, nurse practitioners, dentists, and physical therapists were also on hand.

This was a wonderful experience for everyone. Events like this demonstrate alternative ways to provide health care access to underserved populations. Health care professionals have a tremendous ability to work with communities to address health needs by breaking down the barriers such as cost and access through a centralized event such as Project Homeless Connect.

Weezer Snuggie
Are you a fan of nerdy 90s alt rock, staying warm, and 3 am infomercials? Then the Weezer Snuggie– aka the Wuggie– is for you. In case you’re still one of.

Weezer Snuggie Due Out November 3rd! | ZOINKS!
Zoinks! Weezer have announced November 3rd as the release date of their branded Snuggie, the “Wuggie”. Also worth reporting: the…

Weezer Gets Very Happy at Tiny, Exclusive Gig — Vulture
made gleeful references to the Weezer snuggie, and generally pulled off some real-deal swagger. The brief set list ran through the two new singles, plus “Say It Ain’t So,” “Buddy Holly,” “Why Bother,” and — best of all — a cover of …

weezer snuggie – latest 5 news, information, videos, photos …
weezer snuggie – latest 5 news, information, videos, photos, images.

Finally, A Weezer Snuggie – Stereogum
“A Wuggie is basically exactly like a Snuggie, except it says Weezer on it,” Rivers tells Rolling Stone. But it appears they’re sporting plain ol’ Snuggies in their Blink-182 tour announcement….

“Beanie Sigel Disses Jay-Z with “Average Cat”” and related posts
ghost adventures live kathy gloddy septa strike gunbroker travel channel young frankenstein weezer snuggie amazing johnathan the invisible trans allegheny lunatic asylum mitch hedberg kris humphries james watson parabot regis philbin …

// AP: NEWS – Weezer confirm December shows, release of branded …
3 will also serve as the release date for the long-anticipated Weezer Snuggie, or “Wuggie,” as it’s affectionately being referred to. There’s still no word on what exactly will make the Snuggie a Wuggie, but we’ll keep you posted. …

Snuggie with her
Weezer will appear for back-to-back performances on “The Late Show With David Letterman” on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30. Weezer releases Raditude on November 3rd. On the same day, they will introduce the Weezer Snuggie, the band’s personalized …

Weezer : Karl’s Corner / News : 2009/10/20 Tour Dates! Letterman …
On October 29th and 30th, Weezer will appear for back-to-back performances on The Late Show With David Letterman. Weezer releases Raditude on November 3rd. On the same day, they will introduce the Weezer Snuggie, the band’s personalized …
Rivers Cuomo, band Weezer, Rolling Stone, weezer fan, blanket, Pre-Order, Twitter, music news, Other Choices, Deluxe CD, world of music, Weezer logo, Tracklist, NBC, I\u0027m Your Daddy,

Well, we’re back into the classroom, and that includes long hours of lectures, labs, article reading, and all the planning involved with when this assignment is due or when that quiz will be held. I’ll spare you the details, but for those interested, year 2 (which we’ve just started) involves A LOT more article reading than year 1. And I’m not referring to articles from mainstream magazines; these are all from academic sources, which mean some are more interesting than others. The positive thing is that I’m starting to actually understand these articles. But that’s a whole different topic there.

In the midst of the above battles, our program is unique in that we have EVERY (all caps for emphasis) Wednesday morning off. Other programs may have a different schedule, but I love having that morning to catch up on homework, study, and if I’m being truly honest, put homework aside for a bit and do other stuff.

The following pictures, which were taken last Wednesday and this Wednesday, show a few things that I find myself doing on those mornings off. The pictures also demonstrate the crazy weather patterns of Denver that I’m becoming familiar to.

A great Wednesday morning for a hike in the mountains to see the leaves change colors.

A week later from photo 1, really foggy outside, Spencer all bundled up to go in his jogging stroller for a morning run.

First snow fall of the season.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Service Learning is a big component of our program. Each semester, we’re given different opportunities to go into the community and provide at least 10 hours of service, usually health-related. Here are some pictures of our project. About 12 of us went to a local high school and created a health fair for students to participate in during “report card night.” Students would go around to the stations and learn about different aspects of their health. Our booth, for example, focused on “Health Literacy,” specifically blood pressure, vision, and heart rate. Go Service Learning.

My group's platform poster about "Health Literacy."

The members of my class who were at the fair, posing for a photo at the end of the night.

“Listen!  the wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”
~Humbert Wolfe

I’ve just returned from a fabulous girls’ getaway trip to Boston over our fall break from school, and as I sit down to write this next blog, I’m in the company of my lovely cousin who has always been more like a sister to me, and her sleeping, 3 and a half month old son making those adorable coo’ing sounds babies make when they sleep. There’s so much beauty about babies. It makes one slow down and stop and think about life. It’s such a blessing having the type of relationship where I can come over after a day at school, chat, watch a little TV, bust out my computer, work on homework and just be in each other’s company with no expectations, just a peaceful time of togetherness.

“When the bold branches
Bid farewell to rainbow leaves -
Welcome wool sweaters.”
~B. Cybrill

Salem, Massachusetts

There’s something about the cool, gray weather of fall that gets me giddy inside and ready for the holidays. Putting on fuzzy socks and cozy sweaters. Snuggling under a blanket by the fire place sipping hot cocoa with my best friend. Summertime is the time to go go go, but the cold weather forces me to slow down. It’s a nice change; a nice opportunity to relax, and I absolutely LOVE to bake during this time of the year. I made four loaves of pumpkin bread yesterday in my “fall” mood! Yummy! I need to go buy a pumpkin to carve and make roasted seeds too!

The trip to Boston was absolutely fantastic! We had so much fun just being dorky girls together, taking silly pictures, and tearing up the town seeing every important site and then some! I love that I am part of a family that can do that – that we even have the means to take such trips makes me feel so blessed.

Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.
~William Cullen Bryant

Coming back to school is always a bit of a shock. I’m not sure why. I guess it’s a sort of defense mechanism to forget while I’m on a break just how consuming school can be. We started our Med/Surg II class and will start clinicals next week. Already we have a group project due on Monday and a quiz online due on Friday. FYI- it’s Wednesday! One of my friends said that her life is over now that Med/Surg II started! Haha…maybe that’s dramatic, but it is kind of true. This class is going to take up a lot more time than some of our other classes and the social life really does take a backseat.

The prospect of finding a job this next year is a thought always hanging in the air. The situation in Colorado seems bleak, so I’ve decided to expand my horizons. Texas seems to be calling to me. There are plenty of Children’s Hospitals down there (which is an option of a place I’d love to work), and I have a lot of family in Texas. Word travels fast and my aunts who live in Texas and went to Boston with were all jumping to tell me that I am welcome to stay with them, that they’d love to introduce me to some handsome firemen they know, that they’ll look for any connections of any friends who are nurses, etc, etc. It seems much more hopeful and positive than the circumstances in Denver, but I’m keeping all of those doors wide open, and looking for the Lord to provide the perfect opportunity be it in Denver or Texas.

This is such a rarity. I’m sitting here with a completely blank mind. I can’t think of anything interesting to say. I’m going to take this as a good thing – my mind is at ease. I know I have a million tasks to accomplish in a very short amount of time, but for now, I am going to just enjoy this moment here with my family, with a sweet baby boy who is going to grow up too fast. So, I think it’s time to put down the homework and enjoy these precious moments while they last.

Thy fishes breathe but where thy waters roll;
Thy birds fly but within thy airy sea;
My soul breathes only in thy infinite soul;
I breathe, I think, I love, I live but Thee.
Oh, breathe, oh, sink – oh love, live into me.
~George MacDonald