Friday, October 4, 2013

Road Maps

Always travel. Never stop.


Anywho, last semester came to a finish and I have never been more glad to see an unofficial transcript come through! Tough as nails! Psych is a killer. My grandma Parsons was a psych nurse back in her day and I felt like I should do that class justice because of her love for the area but in the end, I just wanted out. I'm super glad for all of the nurses who have the patience to do that for a living. 

This semester is a nice change. I have pediatrics, but also maternity so it's refreshing! Don't get me wrong, I went into nursing to care for the sick and I love it so far, but maternity has a cheeriness to it that I haven't seen on any other unit. I saw my first births, 1 natural and 1 CS. The natural birth was the first birth I saw, ever, and I was lucky enough for it to occur on Valentine's Day! My CS was the other day and it was quite eventful! (Disclaimer: mention of bodily fluids) Sometimes mothers become nauseous due to the epidural and they projectile vomit onto the surgeon... Everyone sits there and tells them, "Oh you're ok! It's ok..." No. It's not. Not cool at all. Thanks for that shower. And then the surgeon takes out the organ to sew it back up, rather than stitch it back up inside the mother. Well all is well and good until the mother starts gagging and hacking and coughing. Her small intestines fell out... Student nurses are sooo NOT mature enough to keep from cracking up! Neither are the surgeons. Poor lady. But all in all it was a good experience. Can't wait for the nursery next week, fingers crossed! A lot of the babies are preemies addicted to different substances. Super jittery and feisty little buggers!

    (The diaper is smaller than an iPhone)

Pedi is good too. I was in a situation where I saw a child have a few seizures. I've seen Abby have them and it wasn't unlike her episodes, but coupled with other disorders and syndromes, you really feel for the children and their parents. It's got to be a hard life and I totally give them props for doing the best they can with the miracles they've been given.

This weekend Mel is sick, so Liss and I went to visit her boyfriend! Without her! Headed to lunch soon and then we will be headed to Concord and then home. Lots of driving and lots of caffeine! Have a great Sunday everyone!



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Late Summer Happenings

So, about that promise... Here goes.

The last leg of my summer has been eventful, to say the least! After I returned from North Carolina, I had to start picking up shifts at work. Not only did I have more work, but I also was busy painting the house. Yea, that still hasn't been finished! Whoops. Anyways, I tinkered with my schedule at work and begged, pleaded, and bribed so that I could get to Milford, NH a few times. Convention was very much a needed thing this year for me! After Milford, I really couldn't get out of any more work, but I really wanted the weekend of Altamont. So... after disgruntling a lot of people, I paid a girl to take my Saturday shift and I drove to Milford after work on Friday night. I stayed with my friend, Riley, and then we drove with another girl Adora out to Altamont. What an awesome weekend! After returning, I found out that a girl had been fired and, as punishment for taking off so much time, I was stuck with all of her day shifts! I pulled doubles almost every day! Ayaiaiaiaiay! Talk about a tiring week. But, when I had been given her shifts, I requested off a few days so I could head up to New York for the Annual Vaughan Pig Roast. Sneaky me got them! 

New York-bound I was! It was a great weekend full of home-made apple cider in a washing machine, one goooood pig(!), Split Rock, bonfire with a sing, volleyball, baseball, pool, face painting, sleeping in the pop-up, sleeping in the bus, 10 baby puppies, and good friends, old an new.

My apologies for how short this entry is, but my next class is looming and I mustn't miss the first day. Hence, this short and sweet overview. 

An for those who are wondering how my first 2 classes went...... Help me! It'll be a tough semester! But it's shaping up to be quite interesting:

Slacker Slacker

I am sitting here, not 20 mins away from my junior year, and all I can think about is this past summer. Sigh. Where does time go? 

So, I am going to post, for all to see, a promise to update my blog with the most recent noise from New England. AFTER I have weathered psych/mental health and adult health I. And now, I will feel very guilty if I don't!

So, coffee in one hand, backpack strap in the other, I wish you all as great of a day as I know I'm about to have!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

North Carolina Fun

After my northern travels, I hopped on down to the great NC to visit family in Charlotte. It was a blast and a half!

Kaleb, otherwise known as K-boy, K's, and K1, is getting so big! He's grown so much since last summer. It really stinks that we live so far away from them. Kaleb is hitting the 2's and is showing great promise of being a little imp! His food always finds the floor and there's always a twinkle in his eye right before it leaves his little fist. A time out chair has made it's way into the house and I can't imagine how hard it is to keep a serious face while holding him into it while he's giggling away, oblivious to the fact that it's a punishment!

Kambrie, also known as K2 (I'm sure there's some other nicknames in the works) is just so darling! She's a good baby and loves to be held, which worked out well for me! We made many rounds around the downstairs while I was babysitting, just walking in circles. But when the girl wants to be heard, she let's you know she wants something! Hmm... Seems like she'll fit in perfectly with all of her other cousins on this side! 

Kambrie, A. Jules, Lydia (Kaleb's favorite babysitter), and I skipped down to the Gaffney Outlets in South Carolina for an afternoon. We carted our loads around the place and then hit up Olive Garden for supper. Our poor waitress was overloaded with tables because someone had quit on the spot. We cut her some slack and had a lot of fun with her and in return, we got double the amount of mints! Yum!

A trip down south is not complete without frozen yogurt! So U. Keith and I ran out with Kambrie to get some yummy-ness while A. Julie put Kaleb to bed. Turns out the fro-yo place had closed so we had to hunt down another place! Man was it a delicious late-night snack!

I left at 7ish on a Tuesday night and so we spent the day at some of the friends' pool. Got some sun and was able to spend some time with K1 and K2. Kaleb was so stinkin' tired but didn't want to leave the pool. He just about fell asleep sideways in his floatie! What a lil fish! And Kambrie had her first pool experience. She was so good and didn't seem to mind the water. I was laying on the chair in the shade with Kambrie on my chest and I had to make my mother jealous: 


I think I succeeded! Here's some pics:













It was an awesome trip and I can't wait until Turkey Day to see them all again!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Happy Moment

Do you have one moment in your life that you look back on, where life was perfect? No worries, no troubles, and all was right in the world? I've always had good moments to look back on, but I can officially say I have that one moment that really completes my life. 

This moment happened to take place on a seemingly endless road in Minnesota. I was driving a white lifted truck towards the vanishing point on the horizon with the late-afternoon sun shining down on us. With shades on my face, coffee in one hand and the other arm on the wheel, the burning orange ball of fire sank lower and lower, but never quite disappeared, giving us hope that the day would never end. Wide open fields flashed by on either side as we covered the miles, one hay field at a time. As the time slipped away, four friends, some old and some new, belted out the words to the old country music slipping up from the speakers as if we were responsible for keeping the song going. Time didn't matter, destination was no longer important, and the impending good-bye was the farthest thing from anyone's mind. THAT... is my moment. The moment I knew that the future holds bright things. The moment I realized that its not so much the destination, but the trip. The moment that nothing mattered except for living, truly living. That is the moment that I realized I was about to have a long relationship with the Midwest. So friends, with my words marked, here's to the beginning of something great!





Friday, June 21, 2013

So Utah was fun!

As you may know, Abby, mom and I have recently returned from a fabulous convention in Utah (yes, Clover, it was quite nice! It would be nice to make it out sometime, too!). We saw old friends and met new friends and even met people we have known for a while but never met face to face! The convention was beautiful! It was set on a hill overlooking a small valley that crescendoed into a mountain. The red of the dirt sharply contrasted with the blue blue of the cloudless sky. A highway wound around the mountain in the distance, with a truckers honk faintly audible every once in a while. From the entrance of the dorms, the peaks of the top of the tent jutted into the sky, providing a great photo-op (which I failed to take advantage of. Shame on me!) Kids sat in circles laughing and sharing stories of home while the adults tried to figure out connections between everyone. The older folks spoke of how the economy and the weather had had an influence on their farm or ranch since they last saw each other. Runways, head of cattle, how to pronounce "Worcester", cuts of meat, hairdos, the Texas heel-click, altitude, population, population density, clothes, shoes, pets... Between all of the age groups, not a topic was left unmentioned. The 90* weather didn't phase anyone, except for the few who who wandered off to find a sweatshirt due to the dryness and the breeze sweeping in from the north. Even though the people were different, the place was different, and the food was different, what we heard was the same, which made it easy to overlook the formerly mentioned differences and feel right at home. I love it when that happens!


                    First impressions


                 Driving to convention


                 Driving to convention


        View from convention grounds


        View from convention grounds


Clockwise from bottom left: Tye, Clint, Morgan, Jessi, Me, Chyana, Ty, Blake, Clay Brett.


Standing L/R: Blake, Riley, Abby, Chyana, Jerrik, (Help?), Tye, Clint, Me, Clay Brett
Sitting L/R: Morgan, Krista, Jessi




Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Traveling

You will never regret a trip, in my opinion. Granted, I've never experienced a trip where everything went wrong or something happened for me to regret it. But that's just what I think. 

My dad is a firm believer in experiencing. Experiencing life and having the college experience and and and. And... I guess I am too! I am en route to SLC, UT for Riverton conv. That is most definitely something that you can't regret. I also recently purchased my second flight to Charlotte, NC to visit some fam down that-a-way (I went last year, as well). And since I'm a travel-holic, I'm currently contemplating another trip, but since it's not entirely concrete, maybe I'll withhold the info. Now I feel secretive... 

Anywho... Boarding my flight in Philly to SLC so I'll let this be all for now.



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Painting

I really do like painting... I think it's the scraping that gets me tho. And as of yesterday, my jeans are a piece of artwork instead of attire to be worn to work. Oh well. (House isn't changing color, just receiving a facelift.) my boots are also pretty painted.



Speaking of paint, I took Abby to RIC orientation today. Can't wait to be at the same school with her again, although I think that will wear off. How paint ties in is that I have an art class that I have to take, so we could possibly have 1
class together in our entire college career. We've never had a class together except for morning choir in high school at 6:45am. :) It's just exciting.

What's also exciting is that a week from today, I will be in Utah! Can't wait!

Now back to the house...


Monday, May 27, 2013

Fab Fam

These past few weeks I've been with the family a little more... Mom and I already do a lot together, but Abs and I have gone shopping (window-style of course!) and we went to Barnes and Noble for notebooks cuz it's getting to be that time of year again! (Hello Riverton, Utah!) Haven't done a whole lot with Stefan except tolerate him a little more. The poor kid, having two older sisters. And Dad's been home a little more recently so it's been nice!

Also, I went up to New Hampshire last weekend to visit the fam up there!  It was a surprise, I was having dinner with the bunch and something came up about the Monday Night Ball Game (yes, it deserves caps!) and I said, "oh, man! I haven't been to one in ages!" I ended up going home with BW as my co-pilot and WalMart had everything I needed!  I surprised my grandparents and had dinner with my grandpa on Monday night, and lunch with my grandma on Tuesday.  And shopped with a good friend of mine, my Aunty Laura!

I also would like to welcome my new baby 'cuzzin', Kambrie Danielle White to our crazy family!  She is a bundle of cuteness and has an awesome big brother, Kaleb Leighton White!  I figure that since I didn't have the blog when he was born, he should have a grand introduction too.  Anyways, congrats to Aunty Jules and Uncle Keith on their re-newly-found sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and crying kiddos!  I hope I can go visit them sometime this summer.

On the other side, Aunty Stina and Uncle Scott are coming with Dakota the week that we ship out to Utah... Two ships passing in the night.  What a bummer!  But we will get to see them over winter break.

Anyways, here's some recents and some not-so-recents.

Sunday

Dakota, when they came to surprise my grandparents on "moving-in day!"
Wish we lived a little closer.
 
Kambrie Danielle White

Isn't she precious!?

Daddy, Kambrie, and big bro Kaleb. He is just TOO excited!

Welcome home, momma!  Congrats Aunty Jules!

This one's an oldie from when Kaleb was just a wee young'un!
BW and SP have grown a bit... They are the tallest of the bunch now!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Almost done!

4 finals done. 1 more to go, and I haven't failed anything yet. It's been a good semester, school-wise! So that means that once I hand in this final, I will be half-way to being a nurse. This news excites me beyond the capacity of words! 


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Vehicles

Some people hate driving. I don't. Here are my negative and positives about cars:
-Positive: Driving allows for friendships to be made. Your first car, best car, most clunkerish car, car with the most memories... Your car is your friend. And if you want to keep the friendship alive, you treat it like you would a friend.
-Can be positive or negative, depends on the car: Sometimes you are known for your car. "oh my goodness, you know that guy in the powder-blue Prius?" or "the dude that drives the Maserati." Orrrr... "the guy who is always on the side of the highway because his truck broke down... again." You are what you drive. Sometimes. 
-Negative according to my wallet, excusable according to my sanity: They say it costs too much for a tank of gas. Well... I can see their point of view on that... But if you are driving to relax (because I am a nerd, and yes I like to drive to think and relax), what is the price you would put on peace and quiet and a relaxing experience? 
-Negative: Some people have those cars that back up for you or parallel park for you or brake for you or heat your seats for you (okay that's not bad...) or open the doors automatically for you. Pretty soon we will just put our cars on auto-pilot and go to sleep for 2 hours and wake up to thanksgiving dinner... While we're at it, can someone spoon-feed me? You know that expression we say when someone can't keep odorous substances contained and it is completely necessary for all passengers to hang their heads out in the nice H-2-Oh for a few moments: ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!!! That one? Yea... Well if you drive an old car, then that may apply, but these days, we click our windows open. That doesn't even make a cool expression. And the new I'll-open-when-I-want-and-break-when-you-need-me doors. I guess they are okay, but the culmination of all these new gadgets and clicks and do-jiggeys and buttons totally take away from the car, making driving so that you don't interact with your car. 
-Positive: And the more you interact with your car, the better you know it. And the better you know it, the better chance you have of naming your car with a fitting name. Because let's face it. Each car needs a name. 
-Positive: Each car has it's own era. My dad tells stories based on what car he had. When him and mom were dating, those were the "ford escort" days. My uncle does the same thing: when him and his buddies went bombing around Milford as teens, those were his "trans am" and "camero" days, depending on what story he tells. My grandpa too. 

Truth be told, cars have character. They see us through anger (racing down the highway) and happy times (back roads to the park). And they are just awesome. That is why I have dedicated an entire post to vehicles.

Some like these:


Some prefer these: 


And the coolest prefer these:


Or something like that...

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Spring Has Sprung!

Oh how Garden City highlights the best parts of spring! I spent the afternoon with Mel and Liss Abel's and we hung out there for a while. Yes, I'm pro-Dunkin but the Starbucks there has a 50% off frappuccino deal going on right now, so yes please! We also swung by my elementary school and hung out in the school yard, going over some basic geography. Someday I will hit all 50. Anywho... this afternoon was prime for getting some pics so enjoy!