November 25 is:

- 1 month till Christmas

- 1 month till my li'l niece/nephew is due

- 20 days till I start Christmas holidays

- American Turkey Day

Countdowns are wonderful things :) I quite enjoy them. I have actually been counting down the days until my Christmas holidays start for quite some time now. I think I started when there were 65 days left. How encouraging it is to be at 20 already! I am also thoroughly excited that there is only 30 days until Christmas! Our place is decorated for Christmas already. We figured that we may as well since we won't be here right up until Christmas. We may as well enjoy it while we can! Here are our two 'major' Christmas decorations:

This is our Christmas tree. We don't have any lights, but I still like it :)

This is my Nativity set. I love it.

Also, Happy Turkey Day to our friends to the South :)

Enjoy the weekend...and all the snow :)

Oh How Time Flies

It's so crazy. It's already November 2! That really makes me quite excited. I don't particularly enjoy winter, so once summer weather is pretty much finished, I start anticipating the next late spring/summer weather :) I am so thankful, though, that we are having a pretty nice fall...and no snow yet! It's just wonderful! Another reason I'm excited that it's November is that I only have about 5 1/2 weeks left until Christmas break!!! YAY! I'm very excited for that, and so ready to relax for 3 weeks :)

So far school is going okay - although as I have already indicated, I am excited for this term to be over. The courses are alright (well, most of them, at least...) but I just want to get on with next term. Then I can start looking forward to summer holidays :) I am really enjoying my clinical experience so far this term. We are doing 2 very different experiences: Maternal-Child nursing as well as Palliative and Long-Term Care nursing. I have had my palliative experience and part of my mat-child experience, and I am really enjoying it! It's interesting to see these parts of nursing as well as the normal med-surg stuff. I like being able to see the different areas that I can potentially go into when I graduate...in a year and a half :)

Well, I should probably do something school related...seems like that's the right thing to do ;)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Picture Post - Take 2

Here's two pictures from the other wedding I was involved in this summer...this weather that we've been having reminds me of summer. I think that I'm not the only one that wishes that it would stay this nice for the next month...at least!!! Oh well, we'll enjoy it while we can :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Picture :)

Here's a picture of one of the weddings that I was in this summer. I had a blast :) I thought that maybe I should post a picture since I haven't in....a long time!

Getting Into the Swing of Things...

Is HARD!!!! I am having a bit of a tough time with getting back into the school routine. I thought that it would feel really good and relaxing in that 'scheduled' sort of way, but no! It's almost like there's so much to do that I don't know where to start. I did do an assignment tonight that's due October 4, so I'm glad that that's done. I'm just a little nervous for what this semester all holds. Let me explain...
Last year was my first year actually in the nursing faculty. We had our first clinical experience, we learned all of our skills (from how to give bed baths to IV therapy, and everything in between) and our clinical times were good. Our instructors were there to give us a hand when we needed, and although we needed to know our stuff, it was okay if there were uncertainties.
This year seems like it will be different. There are more expectations. I am no longer one of the new kids on the block, but rather someone who is supposed to know what I am doing. I have had a whole summer off, therefore, I do NOT know what I am doing! Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but trying to remember everything from last year is proving to be quite a challenge. I know that the experiences that I will have this year will be good, and that someday I'll look back and wonder why I was so nervous/apprehensive. I'm not saying that I'm not allowed to make mistakes, I mean, no mistakes is always preferable, but since I'm still a student, mistakes will happen. There will just be more responsibility this year, as well as higher expectations. I guess that's all part of school though, right?
I do have some interesting experiences coming up, though. Here are two:
- planning my funeral. Yep. This is an assignment that we must complete. And it has to be thorough. Complete costs, pallbearers, eulogy, songs, bulletin, the whole works. We visited a funeral home this morning, and to say the very least, it was sooo interesting! It will be a challenge to figure out my funeral, though. Anyone want to be a pallbearer?!
- attending a child health clinic in Shilo. This is where moms will bring their babies for check-ups, immunizations, etc. I am very excited to be able to be a part of this!
Well, I should probably wrap it up and either motivate myself to study, or get ready for bed. I think my bed will win :)
If you made it through my ramblings until here, congratulations! You should get a prize! Unfortunately for you, I don't have prizes, so you just get the satisfaction of making it through all this ;)
Enjoy the rest of your week!

I Did It!

Well, I finally figured it out! The reason that my blog was so ugly looking with a bunch of "The Cutest Blog on the Block" icons was because I had accidentally uploaded the background about five times...oops! Haha. Oh well, it's all good now :)
Anyways...
My summer has gone well. Really fast, but so good. I have absolutely LOVED working as a health care aide, and I now know without a doubt that if nursing fails me, I can always go back to HCAing :) I really did not think that I would enjoy it as much as I do. It is an awesome experience, though, and I'm so glad that I have had this chance! I also have enjoyed working at the pool - possibly for the last time. I'm not sure yet. I really enjoy teaching lessons, but having two part-time jobs does not permit that often. I have all year to decide yet, but if I do go back next year, it will most likely be for even less hours than I had this year. We'll see what happens!
Earlier this summer, we went to Clear Lake. It was the most beautiful weather that we have ever experienced there! What a treat! We were able to spend a lot of time outside and enjoy the holidays.
Well, I was going to attach some pictures for you to look at, but Blogger is not allowing me :(
Sorry! I guess you'll have to stick around, and maybe next time there'll be a picture :)

Oh Dear

Well, I have once again attempted to alter the look of my blog. There's still so many extra "The Cutest Blog on the Block" icons. I don't know how to get rid of them. Maybe I can ignore them? No. That won't work. I'll try to google some answers. As for now, it's time to get ready for bed. No sleeping in for me tomorrow...it's off to work I go :)

Ridiculous

Yes. That's what I think about this whole template changing deal. I am frustrated with it because nothing is working, and I can't remember where to click to make things work! Argh.

Help, please

As you may have noticed (well at least I hope you noticed...) I changed my template. As you also can see, I have had some trouble. I can't get the two boxes that are green to change to transparent...or orange. Can anyone help me, please?

Stumped...

As to what to share with the blogger world. Yes, I know, it has been a VERY long time since I have last posted. I have not known what to post about, and so I have been putting it off.
Just to update everyone, school is out for the summer :) Yay! I really enjoyed my practicum that I did at BTHC, but I am also very glad to be working and getting a paycheck ;) This summer I will have 2 part time jobs - I am working at the pool as a lifeguard/swim instructor for my fifth summer, and I am also working at Salem Home as a health care attendant. I am enjoying both of my jobs, and I can tell already that I am going to be a busy person these next two months!
I was involved in one wedding this summer, and it was absolutely beautiful! The bride was gorgeous, and we had a wonderful day with rain only during the reception! The wedding party was super fun, and I had an awesome time :)
I know I've asked this before, but I am very curious as to who actually reads my blog. Would you please leave a comment if you do? Just to let everyone know, anyone can comment on my blog. I have the settings set so that even if you do not have a blogger or google account, you can comment by clicking on "anonymous". So, now you have no excuses not to leave me a little comment :)
I hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

School is...not out for the summer

Unfortunately, as indicated by my title, I am not done school yet for the year. It makes me disappointed, really. I would love to be at home, enjoying...the rain. Okay, so maybe it's a good thing that it's raining - keeps me from wanting to quit my studying in order to go enjoy the outdoors :) Anyways, I am taking a 3 week course - only 2 1/2 weeks left of it, too! This course, contrary to some people's thoughts, is by no means my choice. I was told that I was taking it. I had a bad attitude going into this course. I didn't want to come back to school. I wanted to stay at home, and maybe find a job and start making some money. As I am quickly finding out, though, the information that I am learning in this course is really actually quite interesting. Thankfully, this makes it much easier to study, and I just have to remember that I won't be here much longer!

To counteract that happy note, we were told in class today by our instructor that nobody ever likes her exams. This is what she said:

"You are all smiling today. You will all be smiling on Thursday and Friday. On Monday [the day of our midterm] you will all be pouting. And on Tuesday, nobody will be smiling, and nobody will want to talk to me."

I must say, the encouragement that came from that little message was just overwhelming. (I sure hope you sense the sarcasm in that last sentence...)

So, after this course is done on the 21st of May, I start a 3 week clinical rotation. What I am looking forward to about this, is that I am not doing my rotation in Brandon, but moving back home, and doing it at Boundary Trails Health Centre :) This is the first time that BU has sent second year students to BTHC, and I am very glad that they chose this year to try it out! After my 3 week stint there, summer will finally begin! Along with summer will come a summer job - one that I am really looking forward to :)

That's about all for now...hope you enjoyed the update :-)

Anyone Still Around?

So....pretty much I am terrible at being consistent :) Sorry 'bout that! What to share, though. Well, I am almost done my second year of nursing!!!...kind of. I have one more week of term 2, then I get a 2 week break (YAY!) and then I go back for a 4 week very intense third term. I only have 1 course, but from the things I've heard, it will be a tough course. After that, I have 3 weeks of clinical...at Boundary Trails Health Centre :) I cannot describe how happy I am about this! I get to move home 3 weeks early!!! I don't know for sure what's happening throughout the summer yet. I am not going back to the pool full time, and I would like to health care aide some, but those details haven't been worked out. That's about all that's happening in my life for now...not much, I know, but it still seems like a long haul for me! Can't wait till summer, that's for sure!

Happy Easter to you all!!!!

Long time, no hear

I know I should have posted sooner. I know that I said that I was trying to post more often. It really felt like I just posted last week...honest! But, alas, I did not. Well, today, I wanted to post ALL day, but I made myself not because I had a paper to write. Thankfully, that is done. At least for now. I got all the writing done, but because I just sat and wrote it today, it will probably need some serious editing. That's why we have tomorrow:)
This week is my reading week...aka spring break...and I am so super pumped. I don't think that I'm going to want to go back to school in any way after the break. And after this, I have 6 weeks, a little break, 6 more weeks, then SUMMER!!!!! And I'm so, so excited for summer. I've been waiting for it since it ended last August ;)
During my break I plan to bake yummy things, including a granola bar recipe that my lovely sister Heather came up with. I also plan to relax. A lot. And, of course, sneak some olympics in too...
For now, though, I should go to bed...sorry for the short post. I've got no more thoughts for today...they all went into my paper :)

Random

I really am trying to post more often. And I know it has been about 2 1/2 weeks since the last post, but that one took so much time, that I should be allowed to have a blog break:) Just kidding. Getting back into the swing of school has been kind of a challenge. I really thought that it would be a whole lot easier. It's not that I am not enjoying school (although, honestly, there are times when I don't enjoy it...) but I just really did not want to be here. I would have loved to have Christmas break for approximately 3 more months. Something like that, at least. I am now in my third week of school after the break, and it's getting better. It's not getting easier, but better. This term I have clinical 2 days of the week instead of one, so it kind of makes the week a little shorter. I am enjoying my clinical placement (surgical floor) and am learning much about how that floor operates, as well as new skills.

As much as I would love to elaborate on all that is happening in my life, I need to go eat, and then do some homework. Hope you're all having a happy Monday!

Welcome to My Place!

Welcome to my apartment! I hope that you enjoy looking around, and familiarizing yourself with my second home. It looks really bland because we're not allowed to put any holes in the wall, and we're supposed to use white Fun-Tak if we use any. (I think, actually, that I mentioned this is in my last blog post.) We find it quite roomy, especially considered to what we had last year. You are welcome to come and visit anytime! Oh, and just a note, I did not take any pictures of the big bedroom at the end of the hallway because that is my roommate's room and she was not around when I was taking pictures, and I thought I should probably ask her permission before I started taking any pictures and posting them on the internet.

Enjoy!

Entrance and going into the living room...my bookshelf and our Christmas tree!

The living room, and our lovely windows that give us lots of sunlight!

Mirror and sink in bathroom...

This is my bathroom. Not much exciting, but it's bigger than last year, and it sure looks a whole lot nicer!

Another one of my room. This shows how small it is. The end of my bed, chest of drawers, and you can kind of see the gold coloured door handle at the edge of the picture.

This is my room. It is the small room in the apartment, and I thought that it would be too small, but I actually kinda like it:) As you can tell, this is my bed and bedside stand.

This is the entrance and the hallway that goes to my room, the bathroom, and my roommate's room.

This is our entrance, and kind of into our living room. That is my bookshelf where I keep my heavy, expensive textbooks. I think that soon all three shelves will be filled with textbooks!

Our dining room. It's kind of little, but it does the job! We had a corner apartment, so we're lucky enough to be able to have a west window. I can't imagine not having it!

This is our kitchen. I love it! There are so man cupboards, and much counter space. As you can see, I didn't take time to put away the dishes before I took this picture - sorry! They are clean, though:) I also love the newness of the oven and fridge. Makes me so happy!

This is looking at our kitchen. This picture is taken from the living room.

This is our Christmas tree in Brandon. I think it is cute. I think it's really cute. Don't you wish you had it at your house?

Well, that is the end of the tour. I hope you enjoyed yourself and felt kind of at home. Have a happy new year!