Graduation Post

Flash back to Wednesday, May 9th.
I was back in Durham to sit through a 2 day intense review session for the NCLEX.
Our original teacher was sick and we were sent a brilliant lady with a crazy life history.
Living on a sailboat for 2 years with her husband and cat was just one of her accomplishments.
ATI, you impress me with your employees.
We were given a folder and a new study book.
There were crosswords and games...oh boy!

One of the best things about the two days were that Stesha's parents were in town.

I got to meet them and hang out with her and her family.

They were staying in a hotel that had a hot tub and we took full advantage. 

This is the great thing about Stesha, we both enjoy the little things: food and hot tubs!

We spent multiple nights gossiping in the hot tub with her mother.

Saturday arrived and I anxiously awaited my parents and Lance's arrival to Durham.

Lance's first flight was delayed and he missed his connection.

Luckily, he was able to get on the next outgoing flight from Atlanta to Durham.

He arrived 1 hour after my parents at RDU. This gave me enough time to pick my parents up and drop them off at the hotel before picking him up. All four of us plus our luggage would not have fit in the car at the same time anyways, so it was perfect.

We all went to eat at Brixx for an early dinner.

I took Lance for a tour around Duke's Campus. 

In the Gothic Reading room of the Library 

I showed him the nursing building and then we headed to Dain's place for a couple of beers.

Later that evening, we picked Stesha up at her hotel and headed to meet with Garret at Frankie's Fun Park.

We hit some balls around, rode go-karts, and played some mini-golf where I found out I aint too bad.

We were a bit hungry as it was getting late. Lance had his first experience at The CookOut.

The next morning was my graduation day AND MOTHER'S DAY.

I had breakfast with my parents at the hotel's restaurant.

We had to be over at the school around 11 for some food and then the ceremony began.

I cannot explain how happy I was. I put in a lot of hard work and I'm glad I made it.

I loved having my loved ones here with me from home. I enjoyed having my Texas life and my North Carolina life blend together for even this short moment.

It was perfect.

Apparently I sprinted across the stage. Lance said it was hard to get a pic of me I was moving so fast.

My nursing pin

After the ceremony, we had some time to rest in the hotel.

We had reservations at Ruth's Chris for dinner at 7.

After an amazing dinner, I opened up my gifts.

My parents got me an engraved pen and pencil with an engraved keychain.

Thank you! 

The weekend was short and sweet and everything I wanted it to be.
Thank you Mom, Dad, and Lance for celebrating this great day with me.
AND a happy Mother's Day!

Graduation

I did it.

I will give a full update soon.

I am in the midst of getting settled in Houston and studying for the NCLEX (scheduled for June 6th).

Unpacking and cleaning

I spent the majority of my waking hours cleaning up around the apartment yesterday.

It took me about 20 trips to the dumpster and an hour and half to get all the empty boxes cleared out of here. There is a lot more room now that the boxes are gone.

I cleaned off the old TV stand and moved it near the front door. I then had the room to scoot the TV over to its place.

I originally wanted this pic over the couch, but we decided it went best over the bed.

I scrubbed the bathroom from top to bottom and then finally sat down to relax. 

Lance was at the library until 10:30 and then came home to study for another 5 hours. 

It looks like tonight might be the same pattern. He has a final tomorrow night at 6 pm.

My flight leaves around noon and I'll be back in Durham for a NCLEX review and graduation weekend.

I spent the majority of today in bed catching up on sleep. I ran some laundry and went to the leasing office to fill out an application to be on the lease.

Officially Done with Classes and a Houstonian

I'M DONE I'M DONE I'M DONE!

I gave my presentation on Monday and nearly had a heart attack. I blanked several times and barely remember speaking or what I said. 

Stesha and I went for a walk to go pick up our graduation caps and gowns from the bookstore. 

We got that done and went to run some errands for Stesha.

We were back up at school around 4 for our community poster presentations.

Our poster turned out great!

I'm so proud of my group. We won the award for the most overall impact.

This is when things got crazy. 

I had been up since 6:30 am and had only had 3 to 4 hours of sleep. I could not sleep Sunday night because I had so much anxiety over my presentation.

So 12 hours after I had gotten up, I started my 12 hour night shift.

I worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night.

I had minimal sleep because I was sleeping on an air mattress in an apartment that was not my own, during the day.

I finished my last shift at 7:15 am on Thursday morning. I had my final eval with my CI and preceptor. 

Then....

I WAS DONE!

It was bittersweet walking away from the hospital the last time.

The shift was sad because I knew I wouldn't get to see the kiddos or my preceptor again.

I've enjoyed watching the babies grow over the last 2 months.

So, I changed clothes, sprinted to my car, and hit the road towards RDU.

My flight was at 9:15...just two hours after my shift ended. 

They overbooked the flight and they told me I might have to be put on a later flight.

Someone didn't show up, so I did get to fly AND I had a great seat.

I could fully stretch my legs out.

Thank you for missing your flight random person.

My connecting flight in Charlotte went well too.

The lady saw I was flying alone and bumped me over a seat.

She also blocked off the seat next to me so I didn't have anyone sitting next to me.

I actually had two tickets for two seats:

I arrived in HOUSTON around 1 pm and Lance picked me up.

Our first stop was Sonic and it felt like home.

The trailer mover showed up around 3:30 to drop the trailer and there was no possible way he could drop it off without it blocking someone in. The parking is tight here. The lady at the front office was a bit unfriendly with us beforehand about us taking up 2 parking spots. They had been told this would happen weeks ago by my mother, yet she had no idea about any of this. I just don't understand...obviously people move in and out of here...she acted like it was a big inconvenience. I mean how do other people move in here? really?

The trailer dude said he could bring it the next morning and I was relieved.

My alarm did not go off this morning because I set it wrong.

Luckily, Lance's friend called him and it woke him up.

He asked if my phone was off of silent and I took a look at it.

The trailer driver was calling me at that exact moment. He was at the gate ready to come in. 

My alarm had been set for 7:20 am and this was happening at 8:45. I am so lucky to have caught that call. I would have been screwed. I'm not sure if I ever would have woken up. I was catching up (or not so much) on my lack of sleep this week.

Then we waited on the actual movers to bring the boxes and furniture inside. Our window was between 8-10.

They showed up at 12:30 after being AWOL for several hours. 

They got everything in the place in under an hour.

Then we waited for the next trailer guy to come pick it up. It was a tight fit and he was having issues getting it hooked back up. When he was backing up, he almost knocked the trailer over. It would have crushed the car next to it. Lance and I lost a couple of weeks off of our lives, I'm sure. 

Then the real fun began.

I have way too much stuff and we could barely get around the apartment.

I slowly got boxes unpacked and found a place for each of the items.

Lance got a lot of studying in for his finals while he would occasionally laugh at how much stuff I have and shake his head.

So here are the photos so far.

It's a sh*t show. Pardon my French, but it's the only way to describe it.

I'm tired and a little more relaxed.

This place feels like home.