winding down

With only 3 tests, and 1 mini paper left to go this semester, I am happy to say I can see the light at the end of this year long tunnel. I can not believe I am almost a real nurse!   Sorta anyways :)

 

*my clinical group w/ our Peds instructor, celebrating the end 

of the semester!

Not much new to report in either Jeremy or my l

ife - we've just been chugging along, counting down the days until our vacation in Vegas (8 days!).  Jeremy is still working both jobs, which keeps him quite busy - but he seems to enjoy most days.  We're not exactly sure what he will do come June when I have to move to Portland which is stressful, but not much we can do about it yet.  Everything is kind of just hanging, waiting to see what the next day brings. 

Oh & because I'm almost a nurse I feel like I should say: make sure you all are washing your hands A LOT - hand sanitizer is your friend, carry it with you in every purse or at least in your car (you know I have a mini bottle with me at all times!).

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, 

and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" 

World Health Organization, 1948

ONE YEAR.

Exactly one year ago today Jeremy and I arrived here in Omaha Nebraska... I can not believe how fast time has gone by - I only have about 4 1/2 months until graduation and only about 2 months until I move to Portland.  

Ah yes, I did not make that announcement on here, although most people already know :)  I decided to take the spot offered to me by Providence Hospital in downtown Portland, Oregon. I had a couple other really great opportunities and it was a REALLY hard decision... I hate making decisions as it is, and this was no exception!  Anyways, I'm excited to move back towards home and start actually "being a nurse"! 

Hope everyone had a great Easter - we did, I will post a couple pictures of us dying eggs soon!

"We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; 

we respect that of others, without fearing it" 

~Thomas Jefferson~

is it really spring?

As I had been told by many Omaha natives, we did have one final (fingers crossed) "storm" over the weekend - which only ended up bringing us about an inch of snow, but a lot of wind. Parts of NE did get hit hard with up to 10 inches in one day, luckily, not us. 

Today was long for me, but I turned in my big paper of the semester which is excited because that means its almost over :)  Just a couple more projects and tests and I'm that much closer to graduation in August.  First things first, this quarter ends in exactly a month YAY.

Last week I started my Pediatric rotation at Children's Hospital.... I love it!  Well, I can't quite say that yet because I only worked with one child for a few hours last Thursday, but I really enjoyed it. It is a whole different world in that hospital - it is SO obvious that it was expertly planned out, down to the nurses stations which are designed to be lollipops!  I am just amazed at how smoothly things run, and how much passion you can sense from all of the health care providers. It is more then adorable to hear a doctor explain to the med students that the kid "has an ouchie in his tummy"!  Observing the nurses and doctors interacting 

with the children patients was great, I feel like I have already learned so much after just one day!   This week we are there 2 days, so hopefully I continue to love it :) I'll keep ya posted! 

P.S... go Mariners, opening day today!

mobile food and drinks

recent outings...

*saw this truck as we were driving to Texas Roadhouse (a place famous for their BBQ)...

*Jeremy about to enjoy steak and mashed potatoes at Texas Roadhouse

*My HALF slab of ribs... amazingly tender.
*Thai Nachos @ Stokes, happy hour!
*"Sure Thing" Martini, nerds at the bottom.. yum! @ Coloseum Happy Hour

Tornado Season, back already? UGH.

Well the title says it all, today we had our first tornado in Douglas County... Pretty much with very little warning, okay, well maybe there was some but I was in class for 9 hours so I had no clue! When we walked outside after class, it was a little windy but sunny and blue skies. Within about 2 minutes a friend called me to say the radio said there was a tornado Watch in effect... and then literally about 5 minutes later, I was getting closer to my apartment and the sky was getting darker and it was getting windier (never good) and then the horrible noise came on the radio... you know that one that they practice on TV, the test for emergency notification system - yeah, it actually gets used here - so the radio announced it was now a Warning and that it was time for everyone to get to shelter. Of course I was driving, and still about 15 minutes from home! And of course I overreact and freak out - but I kept calm and made it to Vatterrott College which was where Jeremy was. I stayed there for an hour or so and watched the storm pass right around us.. we saw some funnel clounds about 10 blocks away, but I don't think any actually touched down. Fhew. Storm #1, done.... lets just hope there's not another one tonight!

Anyways, I got a couple cell phone pics below.

*Jeremy checking out the weather... mini funnel cloud forming, not so good...

*Hello dark clouds.....

*Ah, finally the sun is coming back out.... check out how shiny the roads are from all the rain and hail!

*One of My Most Favorite Holidays*

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Sun is Shining!

Well not anymore since its 8pm, but today was amazing - 70+ degrees and sunny all day! I loved not wearing a jacket to class, and then running around the lake in the sun afterwards. Puts me in such a good mood... which was nice since I went back to class today after a week off.

The week went SO fast, we spent the first weekend in Kansas City - it was awesome! Only a few hours away, but a lot different then Omaha. I don't know if its because we don't live there, but both Jeremy and I really really liked it! We had been down there once before last summer but this time we went downtown, which was great. First of all it was warmer, and second of all they have way better shopping and third they have this very cool area called the Power and Light District. Its like a mini vegas :) We happened to be there the weekend the PBR was in town, so there were a ton of cowboys and cowgirls running around.... well actually there was just a ton of people in general! There was also a college basketball tourney going on so that made it busy too. Check out pictures on my shutterfly site - Jeremy and I both rode the mechanical bull at a bar - neither of us did so well compared to all the professionals there, but it was fun anyways, haha!

On a school related note... I have to make a decision about where my preceptorship will be soon, so I'll keep you posted as to if we will be staying in Omaha until at least August or moving back to the West Coast... no clue yet!

"Sun is shining, the weather is sweet
Make you want to move, your dancing feet"
~Bob Marley~