Happy Halloween

I have been doing a lot of sleeping this weekend. I feel like I deserve it after having 2 exams back to back the last 2 weeks. I've been doing one task a day in the school department. Today I finished my Peds quiz. Tomorrow I will get to work on my resume.

I got out and went for a walk this afternoon. I planned on walking more, but it started to rain on me.

North Carolina has some of the prettiest Fall displays I have ever seen. It kind of makes me wish I had started school in the Fall...just so I could have spent two Falls here instead of two Springs.

I got a card in the mail today with some coffee samples AND an iTunes gift card from my parents.

Remember that Michael Buble Christmas Album I wanted?

Got it!

Now that Halloween is almost officially over, I can move on to Christmas music!

Nip-It

I thought having clinical at 11 AM would give me plenty of time to get some sleep the night before.

I was wrong.

Why?

Because Game 6 of the World Series dragged on for way too many innings. I stayed up late watching the game.

When morning arrived I had a 45 minute drive. I really enjoyed it. I'm used to driving 5 minutes to clinical in the morning ands still being half asleep when I arrive. The 45 minute drive gave me time to wake up and enjoy the colorful display of the Fall leaves.

I made it on time...early actually.

It is a beautiful facility.

The sad thing, the Rangers lost the game the night before.

I knew I would be stuck at the hospital during the final game of the series.

I kept up on my phone.

Lance entertained me with pictures of his Halloween Costume.

Can you guess who he is?

Steve Prefontaine

 I'm not sure, but it looks like he shaved his chest in this pic...and his armpits ;)

I arrived home close to midnight and I had a package waiting!

It was filled with more Rangers gear and it rubbed salt into my newly formed wound (we lost).

I was also sent an article in Reader's Digest about the 50 secrets your nurse won't tell you. I enjoyed reading it and then hit the bed hard.

I received a Thank You card from Trinity and Chelsie.

It's so pretty. 

I slept in this morning.

I got up and did a little schoolwork. I had some Nip-It modules to do for Peds. They were learning modules that educates on vaccines. I finished all those up and checked 'em off the list.

Here are some new photos of the pretty fall leaves.

I went to PetCo mainly because it is right next to the grocery store. It was convenient and I needed to get a pet carrier for Alley.

I had to resist playing with all the kittens....it just had to be pet adoption day on the day I walked in there.

I brought the thing home and tried to get Alley acquainted with it.

I hope she likes it and doesn't freak out on the plane next month.

studying

I've been changing my study space.

Most of the time I have been studying in bed. The past week or so I've been changing it up. I moved it downstairs last weekend and moved it into my actual study room today.

I came downstairs this afternoon to eat some food. I ended up falling asleep and taking a nap on the couch. Those things are addicting. 

At the moment I am trying to consume a large quantity of water. I woke up with a huge headache this morning and I think it was because I was dehydrated. I barely got any fluids in me over my 12 hour workday yesterday. Bad Rachel!

What a Hoot

Tuesday was one of those days that was completely dedicated to studying. I was so mentally DONE with maternity by the end of the night. The one great thing about nursing school though: I can use just about everything I learn in the real world. In college I would learn a ton of stuff that I knew I would never use in a job or in the real word. 

Seriously, I feel like I will have the knowledge to birth a baby by the end of the semester... whether it be in my home the natural way or sliced open getting a C-section. 

I fell asleep late Tuesday night feeling a little anxious about the exam. Alley snuggled with me and I dozed off.

I got to school 2 hours before the exam (7 AM) and got in some last minute studying (basically reviewing).

9 AM rolled around and the exam started. It wasn't bad. I circled 2 more than last time (I circle the ones I'm not sure of). And you would have never guessed...I missed 2 more questions on this exam than the last one. hah

One of my classmates was reading The Chronicle and I noticed Aziz Ansari on the front. Apparently he performed on campus Tuesday night. Bummer! Lance absolutely loves this guy. Every time I'm in town I swear he is watching his stand-up.

In Leadership, we had a guest speaker. It was the Duke nursing recruiter. She was very nice and informative. We learned how to apply for a job in the Duke HealthCare system. I do not plan on working at Duke, but it was very informative on how to get the process going. 

We each got her card and a cute mini basketball. I'm sure I'll use it as a stress ball in the future.

The next hour in class we had a resume workshop. I need to work on mine. We are turning them in next week as an assignment, but it's not really for a grade. It is so our professors help us in making them just right. There is a lot of crap that I could throw on my resume, but unless it's relevant...there is no point. 

Our professor has noticed that some people are just ready to get out of here and graduate. She cheered us up by singing a little Karaoke. She told us not to give up and teared up. It was really sweet. 

Yes, I got it on video ;)

I arrived home to a package!

My parents ordered me some pjs that I saw and wanted.

They have cute owls on them.

I also got a stocking and some booties. 

Please excuse the mess in my room. I've had 2 exams in the past week.

The pjs are big on me. I always have an issue picking between a small and a medium. This time the medium is way too big. I'm debating if I can live with that or if I need to get the smaller size.

So I noticed a new Christmas album on iTunes last night...

I will need this soon.

I stayed up pretty late last night doing basically nothing. I hate when I do that.

We had 2 guest speakers that are health inspectors for the city of Durham speak to us in Community Health this morning. 

We got to look at some disturbing photos that they have taken in restaurant kitchens. Ew.

We did discuss what they believe to be a link of the state fair to some E. Coli cases. 

Glad I didn't make it.

The CND always have a good time dressing up the mannequins. 

I call this William and Kate's wedding part 2.

We finished up cardio in Peds and moved on to Respiratory.

I came home and worked on a presentation I have to do in clinical tomorrow. I have to teach elimination patterns, jaundice, and behavioral responses in newborns. Wonderful.

Tomorrow is my first day in my Maternity rotation. It's a 45 minute drive from my place, but it doesn't start until 11 AM. woohoo!

I got a nap in this afternoon. I'm a rare napper, but I did it!

Now, I'm happily watching Game 6 of the World Series.

Rangers could win it tonight (crosses fingers).

200 days Until Graduation

oh yeah!

Maternity Boot Camp

Maternity Boot Camp was in full swing this morning. Breakfast was provided and I downed coffee on my way to school. I was ready.

Walking into the room was frightening the way this baby was sitting up.

We got to play around with the radiant warmer and learned how to do a proper assessment, diaper, and swaddle a baby. Luckily I've had practice with baby assessments in Peds and plenty of diaper practice. 

I did practice swaddling a couple of times to get that down.

We also learned more about assessing the mother after birth using BUBBLE-HE.

Breasts, Uterus, Bladder, Bowel, Lochia, Episiotomy, Homan's Sign, and Emotional Status

***The More You Know***

hah!

Lunch was also provided: Dominoes 

After lunch we sat through a long lecture on Fetal Heart Monitoring. It really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. They made some modifications from Group A at the beginning of the semester...we got the short, sweet, and condensed version =)

Our whole class was due up to have a PPD skin test done to check for Tuberculosis exposure.

check out that bubble

The result will be read on Wednesday. 

I stayed up past my bedtime last night to watch the Rangers play (and win Game 4) and talk to Lance on the phone.

Yesterday he moved into the new apartment!!!!

Here are some pics so far:

He is still in the process of getting things in order and unpacked.

When I got home today I had a package and card waiting for me from home!!!

It was full of goodies.

ALCS magnet

puppy chow

scent for my car

penguin mug =)

Ranger Shirt

I planned on running, but my legs didn't want to move. I ended up walking and got to chat with Katie for the first time in over a month!!

We got to catch up.

Once I got home I forgot to turn off the app I use to calculate my walking/running. I was finished in an hour...not an hour and 22 minutes =/

I am currently watching Game 5 in the World Series and hope we pull this off.

I got more Maternity reading done just a bit ago. I have all day tomorrow to finish up my studying.