Super Seven

1. New favorite male music artist - Ed Sheeran

2. New favorite female music artist - Brooke Fraser

3. THIS recipe is DELICIOUS and super easy to throw together.

4. I just started reading THIS book... It's pretty good so far!

I'll report back when I'm done :)

5. My new favorite blog: Joy the Baker 

She's witty and I LOVE her recipes. 

Example: roasted strawberry buttermilk cake

She also does podcasts which I have yet to listen to...

6. This will make you uterus and ovaries glow ladies!

A super cute "baby-wearing papa" moment HERE

7. Inspirational Video - A MUST WATCH! 

An Almost Nurse

Whenever I talk about work, Ross always refers to my job as being an "Almost-Nurse".

It's a pretty accurate description. At work I'm assigned to a preceptor and I work with her to provide care to our team of patients. I'm not allowed to do some of the really invasive nursing tasks, but I am expected to take a lead role in my patients' care.

My preceptor is pretty awesome. She is a newer nurse and she totally understands how much I want to learn. She provides as many opportunities as possible for me to learn. We are constantly looking things up, researching and thinking critically. She is very passionate about pediatric nursing and I'm really beginning to feel at home there too. I love working with babies and teenagers alike. It's difficult to describe, but I finally feel like I might've found my niche in nursing.

Orientation Day - May 21st
74 externs were hired to work all over the hospital this summer.
Can you find me? Second row from the top, smack-dab in the middle with my bangs down.

Wearing fun scrubs! I learned on the unit that Walmart has the best scrubs.
I am now on a mission to find Disney scrubs & scrub pants with flared legs.

Retractable ID clips. They make getting into locked rooms MUCH easier.
One of the nurses at work makes & sells them. How cute!!!

Example Meal:
My first meal after waking up... eaten at 5:30 p.m.
It doesn't matter what it is, I just try to eat 3x a day.

My shift is 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. I leave home around 6:15 p.m. to get to work early and get ready for my day. Then I get home around 8:15 a.m. and pretty much fall right to sleep. My breakfast is when people are usually eating dinner. I eat dinner at 8:30 a.m. I eat lunch at 12:00 a.m. It's a weird schedule but I've adjusted to it nicely. I have had ZERO trouble sleeping during the day (knock on wood) thanks to a dark room and comfortable bed. I don't even need much caffeine to stay awake at night.

I love being an "almost-nurse" on the pediatric unit in a children's hospital. It is such a blessing to get paid to do what I do. It makes me even more excited and ready to graduate. I feel like I've learned and grown so much over the past few days. I can't even imagine how much more I'll learn over the next 8 weeks. Praise the Lord for his crazy-awesome blessings.

21st Birthday Extravaganza

Here are a few pics to re-cap the big night! It was so fun.

Thanks to Ross for putting it all together! Best Boyfriend of the Year :)

Ross decorated my apartment with the help of my roommate!

Many new drinks to try! Margaritas, Screwdriver, Sex on the Beach, etc.

Alexa and Jimmy surprised me at lunch. I didn't know they were coming down to celebrate!
Alexa and Paige made me a booze-boquet and a scrap book to document each drink of the night :)

I swear I was excited to see Alexa! I don't remember what the sad faces were for. But as you can tell, she was a sneaky little thing! Just an hour or so before she surprised me at lunch, she texted me to throw me off. There were many other gifts that night including new scrubs, the crown, candy, etc! Paige was there in spirit among many other beautiful friends! I was SO glad to have Alexa, Jimmy, Ross and Chloe to go out with that night. We kept it simple and just went to two different bars in downtown Peoria. One of them, Kelleher's Pub, I will definitely want to go back to. It was right on the river and had a great outdoor patio. 

Once again, thanks to Ross for organizing/planning/setting up everything. It was a perfectly carefree and relaxing birthday. I didn't have to stress about a thing and that in it self was a HUGE gift. Not to mention the other great gifts he got me :)

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

... Or at least I hope so! I've managed to snap a few pictures to share updates.

I have been adjusting to life in Peoria over the past few weeks. It has been really nice to start work but working 12 hour shifts really zaps my day! On the days I work, I literally just work, eat and sleep. I have very little free time.  Other than those things, I have been enjoying cooking new recipes, spending quality time with Ross and volunteering at church.

First and foremost, I have throughly enjoyed quality time with Ross. Freeze pops are our new favorite snack :)

Our favorite thing to do is snuggle up and watch The Office! We're finally on Season 7

It has been a little difficult for Ross and I to spend time together because we are on opposite sleep schedules. Like I said before, my days often consist of sleeping in preparation for my next shift.

Luckily I only work 3 shifts a week! AND We've adopted a new way to secure quality time together..... WEEKLY DATE NIGHTS!!! Ross went through our calendars and planned out date nights for us in May and June and then Jimmy and Alexa offered a little extra help...

An extra special birthday gift :)

Stay tuned to read more about my 21st birthday extravaganza 

and 

my first couple of weeks working in the hospital on the night shift!!!