Wedding Weekend

After being out of Texas for 37 days, I hopped on a plane to come back!

Let's rewind back to last Friday:

I woke up nice and early to prepare myself for my first in class exam.

I was nervous, but not stressed to the point of no return.

The exam itself was not TOO bad. I was relaxed and got through it.

One of the girls in my class baked us all yummy cookies to enjoy after the test.

I zoomed on home and got ready to leave for the airport.

It was my first time to drive and park at the RDU, so I left a bit early.

I had no problems finding the remote parking and waiting for the bus to pick me up.

Check in went smoothly and I couldn't wait to get on that plane!

So far, so good.

We leave the terminal and head for the runway...and then...

The engine shuts down and the pilot tells us we cannot go anywhere.

"Say again?"

I had just under 40 minutes for a layover in Charlotte, so I began to have an anxiety attack.

I was almost positive I was going to miss my connecting flight.

Long story short: I freaked, sprinted, and sweated...but I made it on my connecting flight.

No joke, we landed 25 minutes before my next flight took off.

Once I made it on the plane to Austin, I relaxed a bit.

The guy next to me on the plane enjoyed 4 bottles of airplane wine and struck up a conversation with me.

Once we landed I got really excited/nervous.

I hadn't seen my boyfriend in over a month and I got butterflies.

He was stuck in Austin traffic so I went ahead and changed for the rehearsal dinner.

I was so excited to see him when he drove up. I gave him a big hug and we hit the road.

It turns out a lot of people were running behind, so we weren't at all that late.

I'm not a huge BBQ fan, but I give the place props. It was pretty tasty.

After the dinner we headed to the resort. I got to check out the awesome room for the first time and we all sat back and relaxed.

A big majority of the guests were all hanging out at the hotel bar...so we joined.

Wedding weekends are just so much fun.

By the time we woke up and had lunch on Saturday, it was time to get ready.

The boy left for his groomsman duties. I stayed behind with his friend Neal and we headed to the ceremony around 4:45.

Promptly at 5, it was time to begin.

Enter: music

Bride

...and good old fashioned lovey dovey kisses

I couldn't get over how pretty everything was.

The view was amazing..

the food was great...

...and you have to give a shout out to the lighting

cake cutting

first dance

the night was young and went on for many more hours

We had to check out Sunday at noon.

our balcony view

We decided to have some pizza for lunch:

it was delicious!

I offered to drive, yes...offered...was not forced....so the boy could study.

We had a 3 hour drive from Austin to Houston.

We celebrated our first Valentines and relaxed all night.

...and I might have forced him to watch When Harry Met Sally...but I couldn't resist =)

Monday morning came way too soon and I had to say goodbye.

I boarded my plane and prepared to get back into the real world once again.

Everything was going so smoothly: no delays or anything.

...and then I get home

ready to pass out on the couch

and what happens?

my lock is jammed

So I continued to wait for 30 minutes until the maintenance guy could help me out.

Right now, I'm dead.

Night

oh, and happy valentine's day

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

I forgot to share that my lab partner has mad drawing/organizational skills.

She drew all this out in front of me while we practiced our head to toe assessment.

In case you were wondering (I'm sure you're chomping at the bit..hah!) this is what the head to toe consists of:

Yep, that is what is expected of us during the check-off.

Yesterday was a full day of classes and I had planned on practicing the head to toe after school around 4.

They had one of the CND mannequins all decked out for Valentine's day.

I knew I needed some food before we got started.

Dez, Stesha, and I went on a hunt to try a new place.

We decided on pizza and it turned out to be a mistake.

It was yummy and all...I mean look at that grease, but it made me feel sick about 2 hours later.

My partner and I practiced our head to toe once and then headed out.

This was my first time at school after dark.

I snapped a shot of the nursing building on our walk out.

By the time this morning rolled around, I was ready for my head to toe exam!

My buddy in the Clipp building wished me luck.

I banged it out in 20 minutes flat and made it look "effortless".

Who knew?

Look at me go

oh yeah, I passed =)

I wandered around campus with Dez and Belle for some time.

Then I went back to Dez's for a pasta lunch...mmm!

I decided to head home and work on vocab for my lecture exam in assessment that is Friday morning.

I finished that up and worked on my professional organization paper.

I actually got it done just in time for the DUKE vs. UNC game.

I went over to Stez's( my new name for Stesha+ Dez) place to watch the game.

Carolina kicked our butts in the first half, but we came around and ended up defeating them 79-73!

soooo happpppy

Time to prepare for a day of studying and packing tomorrow!

My body hates me

Saturday was a disaster.

Remind me to NEVER stay up 44 hours again.

I arose around 1 PM and all I could manage to do was finish reading a chapter and start watching a Stats lecture online.

It took just about everything I had in me.

I had to take a nap between 4:30 and 6.

When I woke up I was completely confused.

I was invited to go out to The Fed (a bar).

Was it the best choice for someone barely hanging in there?

no

Did I go?

Yes

First of all, it was the girl's birthday.

Who can turn that down?

The night started out calm and normal.

But then again, we are nursing students.

So what do we do?

We start talking about the most disgusting/weird diseases you can think of in the middle of the bar.

We pretty much creeped out anybody who was listening.

I got to know a couple of new people and it was nice to relax.

Then we headed to Shooters.

Shooters is more like a club and I felt like I was back in College Station, TX.

These people get crazy.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was paying for abusing my body.

I decided to go shopping because I knew I wouldn't get any studying done.

This wasn't random shopping.

I was shopping for a purpose.

I needed a second dress for this weekend's wedding festivities.

The first dress I tried on fit. Thank goodness.

It was also half price =)

I planned on curling up and napping the rest of the day. I was going to skip out on the Superbowl party, but Dez called and talked me into it.

I'm glad I went.

There was food and football. Just what the doctor ordered.

Michelle's boyfriend cooked us up some good stuff.

I left after the half-time show and headed home.

I worked on my pulmonary cases and finished them up (surprise).

When I woke up this morning I finally felt back to normal.

I did lay in bed most of the day, but I was studying for my head to toe exam.

I cleaned up the house a bit and then my lab partner came over.

We went over the head to toe once each and we only made a couple of minor mistakes.

Hurray!

...and here I am

updating a little too late

but there it is

goodnight

All Nighter

The rest of the week was similar to the past weeks.

A lecture over a body system and then a check-off of that system in lab.

Last night, the crew and I went to see No Strings Attached.

But before that, I had my first guest in my new place.

Dez came over and I cooked us Tacos! wooh

Back to the movie:

I absolutely loved it.

I wouldn't call it a COMPLETE romantic movie.

I found it more of the COMEDY type.

I laughed through the WHOLE movie!

I came home and spent pretty much all night talking to a special someone.

I had absolutely no sleep.

I saw this on my iphone and wondered what it meant:

It was sleet.

Up here, they call it HAIL!

It makes me laugh.

My feet were dragging all day, but I survived.

I went straight over to Dez and Stesha's after class to hang out.

Nicole joined us later and we had dinner.

Stesha is a momma hen.

She feeds us all.

They shared this video with me

...it made my day

I came home not too long ago and did my weekly lab write-up.

Tomorrow is filled with a TON of Patho studying and Stats catching up.

I have some Pulmonary cases I need to get done before I move on to studying for my full Head to Toe assessment exam on Wednesday.

I made a list of the things I need to pack for my trip to Austin/Houston next week.

We are down to 7 days! =)

One of my peers is having a SuperBowl party on Sunday. Her boyfriend volunteered to grill out our meat of choice. I cannot wait.

Sushi Love

Yesterday, in Fundamentals, we got a blast from the past.

One of the professors put on her old nursing uniform from way back in the day. A button down white dress like thing. Oh, and the cute hats that make them look like flying nuns.

We were given a history on nursing and how it has changed over the years.

Those old uniforms were designed to make nurses look like mini Florence Nightingales.

The lecture was followed up by Laws pertaining to Nursing.

Good Samaritan Act may protect me someday.

A new lady popped up in Patho that afternoon. She had a lot of energy and is very excited about what she does.

We were given our first round of cases to discuss in groups and come up with some answers.

I found this a bit challenging, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.

I had planned on staying up at school for a meet and greet party for all the cohorts.

Nicole and I weren't really up for waiting once it got past the 15 minute mark.

We bailed and ate at Twisted Noodles.

I came home and worked on studying for the lecture exam in Assessment.

Today:

Assessment Lecture began with the professor telling us to get out a sheet of paper and write a memory we have of a Grandmother.

We all wrote down our memories and a couple of students shared theirs.

The point of the activity was to show how remarkable of an organ the human brain is.

We knew how to get out a piece of paper with the right amount of force. We aren't picking up bricks here. We could use our pens and go back in time and remember a memory.

So yes, the lecture was on the neurological system.

I find the brain to be very interesting, but I'm sure most do.

Someone could completely understand what they want to tell you, but cannot communicate that to you. This happens with damage to Brocca's Area.

crazy!

I spent my break after class grocery shopping.

I needed some bananas, cheese, and strawberries.

This was enough to get me to go.

I also filled up on gas for the first time since I've been here.

Alley enjoying the gorgeous 70 degree weather

After lab, I studied the head to toe assessment with Dez.

We verbalized the procedure over and over up to the abdomen. I've got a lot of work to be done, but no worries.

This was followed up by dinner at Sushi Love.

It was recommended to Stesha by one of our professors.

The verdict?

Very good, and very quick.

The wait to be seated was over 30 minutes, but I now know why.

Once we ordered the food was out quick!!

Today was Katie and my dog, Penny's birthday.

...and the groundhog predicted an early end to winter!