Second Half of Spring Break 2011

Wednesday morning I had an appointment to revive my hair.

I refuse to go to anyone else but Cassi. I made sure I booked my appointment back in December.

trying to make contact with the mothership

After 3 hours of salon time, I came home to one of my favorite foods.

Mac and Cheese from the recipe my Uncle uses.

mmm mmm good

That night, I got to catch up with Katie.

We went to dinner at the Olive Garden.

It took the staff over 10 minutes to figure out who our waiter was. In the meantime, we had a couple of volunteers. We had our drink orders taken a couple of times. We ended up with 4 peach teas within a couple of minutes.

They ended up taking Katie's meal off of the bill to make up for their lack of coordination.

Thursday's lunch was at The Keg.

I told you before that one of my main missions was to eat all my favorite foods from home.

So yes, a lot of my pictures are of food.

The weather was too gorgeous to pass up. I decided to get some sun.

I spent about an hour outside next to the pool and I'm still a bit red on my chest.

The rest of the afternoon was spent over at my Aunt's house.

Baby Sloan and Jack were there, too.

Me holding Sloan and my Aunt Sandra holding Jack

Jack was really into these building blocks with letters.

He helped me spell out Lance's name.

On Friday, I got to catch up with Chelsie. I had so much to catch up on with her. We ate at McAlister's.

I tried on my bridesmaid's dress and I need to get it altered a bit. We went up to David's Bridal to see if a size down would help. It's a bit too snug up top, so I stuck with the one I had.

Luckily, while we were there, Chelsie found out her wedding dress was in.

She decided to have them pin it for the alterations right then and there. I'm glad I got to be a part of the process since I missed her picking out the dress.

The dress is absolutely gorgeous and she looked gorgeous in it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching a "Say Yes to the Dress" Marathon on TLC.

I caught the sunset on the way home.

The Duke vs. Maryland game was on.

Lance was coming into town the next day, so I figured I should get my studying out of the way.

...Friday night was spent watching a Stats lecture and doing a HW assignment.

I awoke Saturday with plans of doing my Renal cases for Patho.

I skipped that for a froyo outing with my Mom.

I got ready for a night out with my girls (and Trin) to celebrate Lindsay's 24th birthday!

We all gathered at Joe's Crab Shack and had the worst waiter in history.

It made the meal slow, but very entertaining.

Lindsay and Katie

the whole gang

Once dinner was over, I hit the long road to Lance's house.

Okay, it wasn't that long....but I was excited to see my boyfriend.

The night included a trip to Fort Worth and then Mansfield. We ended up at a family of a coworker of Lance's friend's ranch party-type-thing. That's what I'll call it. It was an interesting night. There was live music, a dance floor, a ton of food,...and a ton of booze.

Needless to say, I could not move the next day.

We had plans of going for a run, but I couldn't keep water down.

We managed to watch the second half of the Duke/UNC game and I'm glad to say we whipped their butts.

Eventually, I was able to move.

We decided to be just a bit productive and went to the mall.

Lance was on a mission to find some new sunglasses.

Then he was nice enough (after I made a puppylike face) to take me to get froyo.

My stomach tolerated it and I'm so glad.

We spent the rest of the night catching up on SNL and lounging around....oh spring break...how I miss you.

I came home the next morning (Monday) and packed up my stuff.

I had a mini photo session with Miss Penny Lane for Easter.

Once it got down to less than 20 minutes before I would leave, the tears started flowing.

I couldn't stop =(

It was 1000x harder to leave this time.

The whole break made my school life seem like a dream.

Had I really been gone 2 months?

I started thinking about how much I would miss my home, dogs, parents, my boyfriend, and friends.

I hate goodbyes.

All I wanted to do in the airport was cry, but I knew I would look like a freak.

I checked my bag and grabbed a seat next to my gate.

The flight went by fast and smoothly.

I had a late lunch in the Charlotte airport.

At this point, I was feeling a little bit better.

I had gotten so used to constantly being around people....and now I had to readjust to being alone.

Just me =)

I don't know where this kid's parents were, but I got seated next to him on my last flight.

He was so dang cute and was watching a pixar film on his ipad.

I was jealous.

I must say he was the most well behaved kid I've been around in some time.

Once I landed at RDU, I grabbed my bag and headed out.

Before I left for spring break, I put my grocery list in the car.

I went straight to Target on my way home to get groceries.

more trees are blooming!

I got in the door and Alley would not stop meowing.

She left me a ton of presents while I was away ;)

I unpacked, got the laundry going, and finished my Renal Cases for Patho.

I realize now that I didn't take any pics of me and Lance =(

I guess we were too busy enjoying each other's company.

Time for bed!

First Half of Spring Break 2011

Last Friday was my first day of clinical.

That is about all I can say about that.

Just know that is what I will be doing every Friday from now until the end of the semester.

my clinical group

We got out a bit early and I rushed home to get ready to head to the airport.

Alley had different plans:

I'm glad to say I made it to the airport in time for my flight and I had a wonderful surprise.

My seat was in first class.

This was new news to me =)

We were given a snack of nuts and then a meal.

I chose chicken parmesan and an oatmeal cookie for dessert.

This flight experience was 1000X better than a month ago.

There were no problems and I was treated like a Queen. The guy next to me was nice and we chatted a bit. I don't know what it is about me, but I must scream TALK TO ME.

Headphones in...don't talk to me.

I don't want to be rude, but I paid 3.99 to rent 127 hours.

I didn't get to finish my movie on the plane =(

I was literally the first person off the plane and I headed to baggage claim where I was greeted by my Mom.

I went to dinner with my parents at Jimmy John's. I was stuffed from the plane so I sat and chatted.

DFW sunset

I then drove 4 and half hours to Houston.

I arrived around 11 PM and got to see my boyfriend for the first time in a month!

We ended up staying in and watching a Lacrosse game followed by my favorite: Across the Universe.

Saturday morning was spent sleeping in.

Lance had a lacrosse game at 2 and I had a lot of fun watching him.

We ate lunch afterwards at a Crepe place, but I went with a panini.

After relaxing, we got ready to go out to a sports bar to watch the Duke vs. UNC basketball game.

I'm sad to say we lost, but I still had fun.

We were a little hungry and Lance mentioned a place that had good margaritas.

I give you Ruby Tequila's:

I'm not much of a margarita girl...so I had the bright idea to have pineapple soaked in tequila.

I took one bite and called it quits.

The waitress was kind enough to take it off the bill.

Sunday was a laid back kind of day. We slept in and relaxed. Lance had some studying he needed to get done, so I did the same. I got all of my ATI modules done for my first 2 weeks back after Spring Break. I also got to watch the season premiere of The Real Housewives of OC...without him complaining =)

We finished up the night watching Due Date.

Sadly, Monday morning Lance had to start his week of classes.

I headed back to Arlington.

Huntsville, TX

It was bittersweet.

I was sad to leave my boyfriend, but excited to come home for the first time in 2 months.

Plus, I know I'll see him again this weekend.

I made it home in 3 and a half hours to this:

the best greeting a girl could ask for

I fell back into my old routines.

Sonic Happy Hour

Followed by nap time

This morning I awoke early.

I made a smoothie and eggs.

This was followed by walking the dogs with my mom.

wrangling Penny into her harness

at the lake feeding the ducks

Spring is in bloom

I'm on a mission to eat all my favorite local meals....and not gain 5 lbs in the process.

I don't think I can accomplish both =/

Sake Hibachi:

Froyo at PurpleBerri:

I finished up the afternoon at Grandma's

Texas tomorrow!

Today was NG tube check off!

Followed by a session on inserting Foley catheters.

learning how to use the bladder scanner

This was all followed by lunch at Rockfish with Suzannah, Stesha, and Nicole.

...because all nursing students can think about while inserting catheters is food

I was on a mission for some clinical shoes.

We headed in the mall where we ran into this little girl.

She looked like she was having too much fun getting an enema.

We ended up going to a scrub store and I got the shoes I needed.

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and packing for my trip back to Texas tomorrow!

T-2 days till Spring Break

I must have slept hard last night because when my alarm went off this morning I was very confused. I stumbled around and tried to turn my alarm off by reaching for something completely different.

It was FREEZING this morning. I had to scrape the ice off of my windshield.

Today's lecture before lunch was spent learning about catheters and guidelines on infection control. I probably sanitized my hands 10 times during this one lecture alone.

For lunch, I went over to the clinic to eat. They have a salad bar that I really enjoyed.

Following lunch, we learned about ostomies. So many wonderful subjects to discuss before and after lunch.

After class, I practiced NG tube insertion once more to prepare for tomorrow's check off.

I then spent a 45 minute round trip walking to the bookstore. I bought some DUKE gear and enjoyed the blossoms I've been going nuts over this past week.

I came home and did another 5K walk/jog and went out for dinner.

That's when I ran into this:

I hope everyone was ok.

shifting Weather

Yesterday morning I slept in and relaxed for a bit.

I decided to get my butt in gear and went out for some shopping.

I bought some new shirts and a pair of shoes.

Once I made it back home I decided to go for a walk because the weather was nice.

It was warm and sunny...then all of a sudden it was windy and cool =/

the sky began to get gray

Around 30 minutes after I made it home, the bottom dropped out.

It poured most of the night.

I spent the evening watching catheters being placed in and taken out (fun....).

All I know is I hope I never need one of those things.

I woke up this morning and it was freezing!!!

It seems to always be painfully cold when I have to walk from my car to the school of nursing...erg.

In Intro to Nursing we were given ethical dilemma cases.

One important thing I have learned this semester is to get a living will and a healthcare power of attorney!

Our guest speaker today was the CEO of Duke Hospital...and guess what???

He is a male nurse.

This was followed by a birthday surprise for Margie!!!!

It seems like everyone is having a 50th birthday this week. I feel a little left out..hah.

They had set up the dummies to represent each decade of her life:

I was so thankful for birthday cake. I didn't have time to eat lunch between our speaker and flex lab so I chowed down on some cake while watching nasogastric insertion =P

After a bit of practice, it was time to head back down for Patho.

I snuck in lunch from the DUSON. The soup of the day was corn chowder and it was so dang good.

There wasn't really a lecture today in Patho. We split into groups and worked on some complex cases that involved Rheumatic Fever and DVT.

I calmed down after class with another walk/jog.

I had planned on just walking, but I was so cold at one point I ran to keep warm.

Today's blooming pic: