Since I last blogged...

1.  I got an A on the first test of NS30.  Woot woot! 

2.  I went on a date.  We had a gift card to Muvico and Matt signed up for a newsletter so we could get a free popcorn.  He also signed up for a newsletter to get $5 off at CPK... every dollar counts when you're poor!

 Not a very good pic, but whatever.

3.  I found out how to wear white in winter (thanks Today Show) and wore it on said date.

4.  I played bocce ball and had "adult rootbeer floats" with friends.  I was too busy having fun to take pictures. In case you're wondering, an adult rootbeer float has a splash of Kahlua in it.  It is so delicious.

5.  I saw family members I haven't seen in 3 years.  Surprisingly, it wasn't even awkward.

6.  I made zucchini bread using this recipe (with some healthy tweaks), vegetable soup using this recipe (without mushrooms, ew), and some pasta (from Giada's book... can't find it online) and Caesar salad with homemade croutons.  All were yummy.

 So good.

7.  I took care of a couple awesome patients who had the best attitudes.  One was a woman who had a total shoulder replacement and she and her husband have done multiple marathons.  The other was a sweet 82 year old who had a left side mastectomy and joked that her new nickname should be "Lefty."  She also asked me how my day was going every time I walked into the room.  So refreshing.

8.  I signed up for the Pasadena Marathon.  And Matt signed up, too!
 
9.  I passed a math test and now I am allowed to give IV push and IV piggy-back meds.  Like a real nurse.

10.  I ran 8 miles with Matt and his long legs at a 9:12 pace.

Weekend Update

Ok, so it's not technically the weekend... But today was a holiday, so it was a 3-day weekend... so it counts. Plus I have some news:

I survived the first week of school!! That's not really news, but whatever. It's a big deal to me. One week completed is one less week I have to go to complete this terrible semester.

The third semester in my nursing program is notorious for being the most difficult of the four. When I was in my first semester, the class in the third semester lost 13 people. Thirteen people failed! Out of 50-60 people, that's a lot. That's why it is one of my New Years Resolutions to be a better studier.

My class has a facebook group, and today, one of my friends changed the group description to: "See course description in Dante's Inferno." It's seriously awful. I am already fairly overwhelmed. The only saving grace is that my clinical instructor seems fairly laid back and my clinical group is full of people I like. And I'm sure that the classroom stuff will be fine- with studying.

Moving on... Since I didn't have any patient prep work to do last Tuesday, I actually had time to make a meal and bake some cookies (gasp!). I adapted one of Giada's recipes and made a delicious pasta. Here is the recipe.

My changes are this: First of all, I didn't measure anything. And instead of using garlic croutons to make the bread crumbs, I just used regular breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning. I roasted 2 red peppers on my stove, while cooking the pasta. Then I sauteed some garlic in some olive oil and added a few handfuls of spinach to it. I sliced the red peppers and added them in with the garlic and spinach. Then I added the cooked pasta, mixed it all up, and sprinkled in some breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and almonds (remember, I didn't measure anything). I also added a few spoonfuls of pasta water (Giada recommends that sometimes), a little more olive oil, and salt and pepper. It was yummy!

Fiery goodness

The final product

Earlier in the day, I was in the mood for a little treat to have with some tea.  I made Paula's Tea Cakes.  They were really good- not too sweet and perfect to go along with an afternoon tea.  I halfed the recipe (because I'm a pig and would have eaten all of them) and I didn't have any buttermilk.  I improvised and was going to use the lemon juice trick for the buttermilk, but I didn't have any lemons.  I did have a lime, so I used lime juice instead and it worked fine.  I want to make them again with some almonds and almond extract and maybe with some lemon juice and zest.

Afternoon treats

On Sunday, I headed to the Long Beach Swap Meet with Caitlin and my mom.  It was a very satisfying morning.  While the weather was less than desirable, the vendors did not disappoint and the people-watching was spectacular as usual.  We have decided that swap meets are the ultimate hipster hang out.  You should see the people at these things... between the hipsters and some of these old ladies... wow.  I should have taken some pictures.  Next time.  

Mom insisted the "was a draft" in the car and used 

the sun shield thing as a blanket.

Cait- umbreallaless, hoodless, and hatless

Well, that was my week.  Coming up this week... First patient care days and a ton of studying to do for my first test next Monday.  Should be spectacular!

Jean and Mike's Visit

This week, Matt's parents came out from Illinois for a visit.

We see them about every 6 months, which is pretty good considering the distance, but it isn't nearly often enough and we always hate saying goodbye.  During this trip, we joked a lot about what we will do if any of us win the lottery or fall into some money somehow.  It would be so nice to be able to go to Illinois for a long weekend, or to have them come here for a special event they would otherwise miss.  We can dream, can't we?

We enjoyed 2 beach days, took a drive downtown to go to The Grove and the LACMA, had a dinner at my parents' house, played some cards and dominoes, and just enjoyed hanging out with each other.  **Side note:  Speaking of downtown... Matt and I decided we need to take better advantage of all of the activities LA has to offer and head down there more often

 January 4th... 78 degrees!

Dolphin watching

At The Grove

Mama's boy

LACMA

Some intense bocce ball at Carpinteria

Matt and I will be heading to Illinois in late May or early June, and we're already looking forward to it... Especially because we have a new niece that will be making her appearance in April!

Stay tuned for some posts about how terrible/stressful/anxiety-provoking school is... I start back this week.  Eeeek.

Resolutions

Ahh, the New Year.  It is always filled with such a wide range of emotions, don't you think?

For me, there is the initial let down of the holidays being over... This year it's "Did I make the most of the Christmas season? Did I spend too much money?  Why didn't I bake like I said I was going to?  So long until I can listen to Christmas music again.  Matt and I didn't take any pictures together... how pathetic. So depressing to watch the decorations come down."  The nice thing about being Catholic is that the Christmas season lasts past Christmas day (I don't know the exact dates, all I know is that we sing "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" and whatnot for a few weeks post-Christmas).  This helps ease the blow of Christmas being over and helps me to adjust to normal life again.

Then there is the freshness that comes with January 1st.  If you think about it, it's pretty arbitrary to make resolutions and write down goals for the New Year... we could really do this at any time of any day during any month.  But something about the start of the year gives us hope that we might actually stick to those resolutions and complete those goals.  I think it is a way for us to feel better about ourselves and it gives us a concrete time frame to do the things we say we are going to do and make the changes we want to make.  A lot of times, December 31st rolls around and we feel bad about ourselves for not doing what we said we were going to do... but oh well.  At least we tried.  Hopefully.

This year I rang in the New Year at my parents' house.  This is pretty typical- I don't think I've ever gone out on New Year's Eve... and I like it that way.  Matt was working, but the rest of us had a good time and enjoyed some adult beverages (Jake and Joe had sparkling raspberry lemonade from TJ's).

Well aren't they precious.

After returning from the Kings game. Typical.

Almost midnight.

2012!

This year I have a few resolutions/goals, so I suppose I will share them with you:

1.  Volunteer.  Everyone has time, and being in school is not an excuse.  Last semester I made myself feel better by telling myself that coaching for Team in Training was my volunteering.  But I do get paid (however small an amount) and I will probably always be involved with TNT in some capacity, so it kind of feels like that is my built in volunteering that I will always do.  I'm talking about volunteering on top of that.

2. Get a stronger core.  Come on, everyone has SOME sort of fitness goal for the New Year.  Last semester I missed a day of clinical because I hurt my back, and at the age of 24, that shouldn't be happening.  My back is terrible, and it's time to fix it.

3.  Be a better student.  I got a B in each of my last semesters, but to be honest with you, I didn't really work THAT hard.  I did work my butt off in clinical, but the classroom stuff always comes pretty easy to me, and I always put studying off until the last minute.  I think I could get an A if I worked to my potential, but I won't go so far as to say that is my goal... that would be complete nonsense because it might be impossible, from what I hear about this semester.  I'm hoping that my new second bedroom (more on this later) will help me with this goal.

4.  Run a sub-4-hour marathon.  I was going to keep this one a secret, but what the heck, I'll put it out there.  I'll talk more about this in the future.

I have some other smaller goals that tie into these, but listing everything would just be ridiculous.  Am I overshooting a little bit?  Perhaps.  But on December 31st I hope I will be able to say that I tried.

2012... I have high hopes for you.

First Post Ever

Well, I guess I'm doing a blog.  January is always a good time to try new things.

I have decided to take this leap at the convincing of one of my best pals.  She feels that others might like to hear about my life... I'm not so sure about that, but I will agree with her that I do have a lot going on. Being in nursing school alone is reason enough to have a sort of journal to jot down my thoughts about the triumphs and tribulations of this challenging time.  Mostly tribulations.  Actually, I shouldn't say that. A lot of times it's really great.  See these conflicting thoughts and feelings?  Maybe that's why I need a blog... Straighten out my mind a little bit.

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to have a place to a. journal some things about school, and b. talk about things not related to school at all.  I guess that's where the title comes in... I want to write about the things that "awake my soul." Yea, that's corny, but I don't really care.  "Awake My Soul" is the title of one of my favorite songs by Mumford and Sons.  It's really great.  You should listen to it.

I also thought that a blog would be a better use of time than trolling around Pinterest and Facebook.  When I don't have some sort of school thing to be doing, it's so easy to just turn on the tv, grab the computer, shlink around, and waste my life away.  I love Pinterest (I've even started planning a post about the wonders of Pinterest) and it's so easy to keep clicking "see more pins" for a good hour at a time.  I'm hoping that if I have a goal of at least 1 blog post per week, it might deter me from other, um, more wasteful activities.

Well, that about covers it!  It is really unlike me to do something like this, but it's a new year and I have some new goals (more about those goals later).

I will be writing, so if you want to read, feel free.  And don't be a creeper... if you follow along, leave a comment once in a while!