FAITH && COFFEE

Hello Blogging World!

I apologize for my absence over the past few weeks.

There has been A LOT going on in the world of Lauren Sikes lately. Many of you have gotten an earful (or two five) of my complaining, stressing, bitching, moaning. Call it what you'd like. Others of you have been lucky enough to be out of earshot.

To those of you who have been so kind and supportive over the past few weeks: THANK YOU

Instead of reviewing the stressors that have been weighing on me, I'd like to take a more positive spin on things and give a shout out to some very awesome people, places and things that have helped me survive thus far:

• Peace of heart and mind from God (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
• Countless heart-to-hearts with my mom (and dad!)
• Supportive, loving encouragement from friends
• A frozen yogurt place (Aspen Leaf) has opened in DeKalb! 
• A surprise visit from Ross last weekend
• Surviving the first exam of the semester
• An encouraging e-mail from a professor
• Valentine's goodie bags from the worlds best boss
• Being able to use my Spanish in the clinical setting
• A care package from my Mom
• An encouraging conversation and card from my Baba
• Fact: The semester is 1/4 of the way over!!!
• Coffee, coffee and more coffee

Our first trip (of many) to Aspen Leaf

Face Timing with Mom and Sis, "I Love You" in ASL & Care Package

LIFE UPDATE Now to get to the good stuff. As I said before, some of you have heard about these topics, for others of you this will be completely new information. Bear with me :)

• I was very blessed to be offered a full time position at two hospitals. I have accepted a position at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL for the summer working nights on a pediatric unit. So, bring on the espresso makers and pediatric scrubs!
• I have an interview at Children's Memorial Hospital this Saturday for a part time position that will begin in mid-summer and continue through my senior year! Wish me luck!
• My friends and I are hoping to run THE COLOR RUN this summer.
• I am going to be a co-author in a pilot study with the School of Nursing Portfolio Committee. They want to get the article published in nursing journals. So awesome!
• I have signed a lease with my two best girl friends and a guy friend for an apartment next year. I cannot wait to get out of the dorms!
• My 21st birthday is in 97 days!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

What have I learned? I'm an intense person. A lot of the stress I feel is stress that I put on myself. And apparently I reflect more deeply and more often than my mother. Also I'm strongly driven by external affirmation. This realization is a part of my growing up process. I'm not always going to get accolades for my accomplishments or decisions. I need to learn to make decisions for myself and to be proud of myself even without external affirmation. I'll still admit, though, that the external affirmations are still pretty great (see above: "encouraging e-mail from a professor").

Life is meant to be FUN. I'm going to try to focus on that a little bit more in the future :)

Frame Games - A fun and educational activity!

Much love to all <3