rotation 1: complete.

so today was my last day in my current rotation. my job may sound a bit confusing... this rotating stuff. so let me explain... and if i have before... sorry...
im in a 8 week program for new nurses.
2 weeks i spend in training in a classroom. (those are done)
2 weeks i spend on a oncology/general medicine floor. (also complete)
2 weeks on a different general med floor.
2 weeks on a pre/post surgery floor.
after all that... i pick my fav of the 3 and then ::hopefully:: get a job there.

today was my last day in my first rotation- but i think it will be my favorite. just have a feeling. ms robin knows how those work. anyway... i just LOVE the other nurses there. they make me feel welcome, they let me be myself, they are SO helpful and encouraging, they are extrememly welcoming, and they are funny. a necessity in my co-workers.
i also like the floor population- random mix. the nurses like to call this floor the "trash can" of the hospital. they get all the patients who need a room and there isnt one available. for instance we have some cancer patients, some hospice type patients, surgery patients, psych patients, 20year olds who are sick... and EVERYTHING in between. i like it though. lots of diversity and lots of experience available. i mean you can't beat having a 4 foot 10 inch 60something year old lady walking around ::with a nurse:: asking for a rooster. but then she got mad because the rooster "messed" her up. to be much much nicer. i wont begin the profanities she used. ... i believe the reason she is in the hospital is for drug/alcohol overdose. sad that a lady would be in that situation, but really- sometimes the best thing to do is laugh. and seeing this tiny little lady in bright yellow crocs wander around looking for a "dang" rooster *and asking highly established doctors if they had seen the rooster* highly entertaining.

ok anyway. if you didnt think it was funny. sorry. guess you had to be there.

anyway- i dunno about you- but im OBSSESSED with the weather channel right now. really. weather fascinates me. and this hurricane. yikes.... and well hanna... she is coming more my way so now i really am paying attention.

oh and lastly. im pretty darn pumped. ryan and colin (rys bro) are having a labor day coookout. they invited the entire divinity school. yeah 100's. they are crazy. but its tom night and i can actually go! im so excited to meet people close to my age!!! just maybe ill make some friends tomororw night! cross your fingers!!

until next time- im off to fall asleep to the soothing voices on the weather channel. weird? oh well.

much love from an exhausted nurse... ::its 12.30am and ive been up since 5.45am!!::

payday

today was my first payday.
it was glorious.
i got a real, grown up paycheck.
to say i am excited would be an understatement.
granted... i have a lot of bills to pay and groceries to get in the coming days and gas to buy.
still. i will actually have money leftover from that... it feels like a miracle.
and to think- in two weeks i will get another paycheck.
right now that is just unfathomable.
i am so used to working so much in a hospital without getting paid a penny.
::thanks to nursing school, where i worked full time in a hospital without the pay::
but now. i am doing the same thing... and getting paid.
such a beautiful thing.
haha.

anyway. my work day today turned into a 13 hour, 45minute day. extremely long, but very eventful and full of learning. i love the floor i am on- and the nurses i am with. all very good, very funny, very kind, and very helpful. such a great group. i am really liking it... which is good. and sense i only work 3days a week ::yes thats full time as a nurse though- 12hr shifts remember:: i actually dont mind going to work at all! its nice... bc its something to do! i have found my 4 days off i get QUITE bored!! i will say having so many days off will be awesome to travel and such- but when im just hanging around durham- its quite boring and lonely.
im looking into some options of things to do.
such as.
1. take some or one random class at a school around here ::there are only 3 MAJOR universities not to mention the other state universities, community colleges, and tech colleges ALL within 30mins of me.
2. take piano lessons ::except i dont have a piano here, but there is a questionable keyboard in my basement?!?::
3. babysit (except no kids will ever beat my sizemore girls and the lingenfelter kids (truly the most amazing children ive ever met))
4. studying for the GRE ::which will prob happen anyway::
5. find a part time job ::yeah not so much::
6. volunteer somewhere :sounds promising::
7. get involved with a church ::also promising, but must find a church::
8. ...ehhh... dont really have an 8. so yeah. im pondering the previous options of things to do on my days off. we shall see if i follow up with any of them. ill keep you posted. dont you worry.

anyway- im pooped after an exhausting day. luckily no work tomorrow- but i get to take my paycheck to the banK! :) yipee!

so much peace and love from north carolina-
:)

the elopement of my best friend

To elope, most literally, merely means to run away with intention of getting married. More specifically, elopement is often used to refer to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving hurried flight away from one's place of residence.

thats according to wikipedia. which we all know is an accurate, reliable source of knowledge.

this is what eloping means to me:

8.22.08
a simple, but beautiful dress.

wearing whatever shoes you want... and looking awesome!

...being so happy and excited

becoming united together...

having an adorable asian baby is a MUST!

having close friends...

and family standing by yourside...

having an amazingly awesome preacher
:)

...and being so happy when its over...

::quick note:: this was right after dad pronounced them married. chad turned and waved. paula laughed. it was beautiful. so sweet. so funny. and so chad and paula.

...walking away into happiness...
or the lake.

... eloping. its all about the bride and the groom making it their day. the way they want it. nice, quick, peaceful. just a handful of people. in a park by the lake. it was an absolutely beautiful service. lots of happy tears. lots of laughing. it was the most happy wedding i have ever been to. and did i mention the bride was gorgeous...

im so BLESSED to have been there.
much love to
~chad and paula irwin~

back to nc...

so after a few long and amazing days i am back to nc.... its been an AMAZING week. one of the best i have had in a long long time. i spent everyday all day with paula and chad... we had a blast. really. i laughed so hard. worked so hard on their new place. ate so much! slept so little. truly just enjoyed my time with those two. we did lots and lots and got their townhouse ::or at least parts of it:: looking much younger and not so much like grandma land. (they are SO blessed /lucky... they are moving into chad's grandmothers 4bedroom townhouse! its decorated quite grandmotherly, but they get one room for their stuff and their decorations. oh and let me add grandmother doesn't live there... so a 4bedroom 3 1/2 bath for THEMSELVES!) yeahhh it was fun hanging out there and laughing and giggling and being silly girls...

anyway my parents also came up (we were in chattanooga, tn) so i was able to spend a bit of time with them which is also quite nice!! an amazing part though was when my parents were taking me back to the airport... they surprised me with SARA!! she was waiting for me there. i was so shocked... i just started crying. i didn't want to leave!! i just wanted to stay and talk and do nothing with her!!! but really. best surprise ive had in so so long!

anyway i flew home... and came home to 24 hours of work in a 48hour time span... loads of fun let me tell you. actually both days of work were really good- just long and so tiring! especially since i didn't exactly catch up on loads of sleep last week! anyway- i have lots of laundry to do, a room to clean and some groceries to get...

but its looking like i will be heading home to GA for HOMECOMING. :) good old lagrange. really i miss it so much! life was amazing. easy. my friends were a walk away. best 4 years of my life... anyway im pumped. so october it is!! see you all then... :)

oh and one more exciting thing... i cut my hair while in tn. funny funny FUNNY story. ive been wanting a hair cut- so one night paula and i went up to a walk-in 11$ haircut place. we met TAMMY FAYE. yeah. she lived up on a mountain... but has been cutting hair for 22years. (thats how old i am) anyway. i was like whatever. i showed her some pics of what i wanted... and well other than being like 2inches shorter than i wanted... its perfect. and actually i love it this length. best part of the whole thing was when she was like... and hunny if you want to add some volume you can just TEEZE it. yes. she told me i could teeze my hair... then proceeded to teeze it. i guess thats what 11bucks will get you... BUT it does look great and i LOVE it!! :) sooooo much lighter and more fun... and more mature! (thank goodness. i was looking like i was 15!) anyway... here is the haircut!! :)

much love to you all and see you soon! :)

job. day one.

so today i worked my first day... on the floor... as a real nurse.
i was at the hospital for 13hours and 30 minutes. talk about a long long day.
it was exhausting.
so i am going to bed without writing much at all.

but i will say it was awesome. i really liked it a lot. i liked the nurse i was with and our patients kept us busy all day- which is good for me. ill write much more about it and my "new grad" program later.

for now im going to bed...

but exciting news... im flying to ga tomorrow!
paula is picking me up and off to chatanooga we go for some exciting, sneaky, fun!! :) hehe...
i am so excited!!

so much love and peace from your favorite RN!! :)
::hahaha:: :) really though. BIG HUGS FOR ALL!!!! especially my favorite lingenfelter family!

rhino reunion.

so it has been a few days since i have posted... sorry mom. haha... and for all others who enjoy reading this. although i doubt "enjoy" is the proper term. anyway. for my loyal fans out there. im back in action. let me fill you in.

jack johnson concert: amazing. he is a very very talented guy who has a lot of talented musicians.

wed: chelsea's sister and friend were in town... so i gave them a tour de durham. i took them to all the places i knew that were cool around town. it worked out quite nicely ::since just a few days before good old julia mercer (now norman) from lagrange (who goes to duke) had given me a tour!!) anyway. we spent the day wandering around town having lots of fun.

thurs and friday were back to work... but it was computer training at the hospital. meaning i spent 12 combined days learning how to do things such as send an email. granted some things i def needed to learn- BUT 12 hours was def not necessary.

one very importnant thing did occur thursday night. my beloved rhino came to town. talk about excited... i was like a kid on christmas morning! getting the biggest present ever! i was so excited and giddy- just ask! ::but i know he was excited too! that made it even better:: anyway after what took him NINE hours... he finally got here to durham. yes. you are correct it should not take nine hours to get from savannah to durham. its like 5hours. the poor guy got a flat tire- then the donut was not good- so had to get a new tire at a sketchy place in the ghetto- then his bike rack on his car would not stay on! he persevered through and got here at about 9:30 thursdsay night. of course i was here to greet him and we unloaded and unpacked.

sadly ryan's adversity did not end there. he woke up friday morning to no power. the bill had not been confused between the people moving in and moving out of the house. 24 hours later ::after some sweat and frustration:: we got the power back on! i will say- hunting for a fuse box at 11:30 at night- in the pitch black... not a fun or easy thing to do. luckily it was in the SIXTIES last night... so we opened his bedroom windows and he was fine. the house was actually coool. yeah. nc weather is AMAZING.

today ry and i spent the day setting up house. well his room. and his house with his brother and his bro's girlfriend. it was a lot of fun and now his room is all set up and organized. yes it only took him a day... and it took me 2 weeks! haha...

ok well thats my week in a flash. hope you enjoy reading this!

oh mom. funny story for you. so you remmeber back at christmas when you bought me that little battery operated fan? well you did. and i was like what the heck. this is so random. i will add that it came in SUPER handy whne the power was off. it worked like a champ!! so thanks... i finally used it after 8months!!

haha... ok much love and peace from an excited gal in north carolina- :)

craigs list success

today i had my first successful craig's list purchase. if you dont know what craigs list is... you should check it out... craigslist.com ...basically its a place to buy and sell or give away stuff by meeting up with people or doing something like that. different than ebay. but basically the same... you can buy houses, washing machines, or even tickets! and its broken up by areas in the country... so i search durham-raleigh nc ... but you pick wherever you live... sadly lagrange was not nearly as convienent as it is here in a bigger city.

anyway. there is a concert tonight... jack johnson. chelsea and a friend of hers is going... and chelsea's sister is in town and going... so chels had this idea i should look at craigs list for a ticket. so i began my hunt last night... and today at 11:00 i had success for the concert TONIGHT! so crazy. so fun. and the best thing is my ticket was WAY cheaper than anyone else's! so yeah. off to see jack johnson tonight. if you dont know who he is listen here... jackjohnsonmusic.com

so ... wahoo craigslist... jack johnson here i come! :)

monday- monday.

oh monday. a little stressful, kinda frustrating. more meetings/orientation at the hospital. luckily only 2 more days of it! but kinda not good. we are only working thur and fri of this week... which is so nice, but at this point in my life... sadly... i need to work. i need hours... and im not getting them this week. oh dear. anyway, it was a little bit of a frustrating day, poor ryan and sara... they were the people i vented to... haha... but thats what best friends are for. :)

anyway i did work out today... holy cow! i went to a new class... muscle pump- BUT with a different instructor... good gracious. best work out ive had in a while so it was nice to sweat and get my mind off things.

the work out was followed by a superb dinner of taco salad. mmmm. so good.

anyway it was just a regular monday, except i think all this time away from rhino is catching up with me. good gracious. four weeks is an AWFULLY long time to be a part. im so ready to be with him! see him. talk to him- to his FACE! to laugh and goof off and just be together. hopefully it will be the last time we are a part for so long. i hope so anyway!

and yay... for ill be flying home in one week! to see some special people for a special occassion. so wahoOO for that! ok off to olympic watching... and to craig's list. i am on the hunt for some jack johnson tickets... for cheap. he is in concert tomorrow night here. my roomie is going so im trying to find a cheap ticket to go too!!

doubtful, but its fun to hunt!

love and peace from north carolina-

greece please.

the next place I am going.
the Greek Isles. in particular the island of Santorini. thats the place below.

I decided today I am going there. I have even already looked at hostels to stay in and cruises around the isles and things to do and the best places to go. Santorini is apparently the island to go to, and after seeing some pictures I agree. It is one absolutely breathtaking place... and I want to go. Typically, when I want to go somewhere, I end up going there too. Not to sound snotty or whatever about it, but normally I find the money, find the trip, and make it happen. Thats just my personality. I make unrealistic and crazy dreams- come true. Its how I am... and well I am going to make it happen. Somehow, someway, I am going to go. Whether I go on a nice luxurious cruise, or I go- backpack around and stay in hostels along the way. The latter being the much more affordable thing to do... so we shall see. Ok enough about Greece... Let me share about my day.

Lunch: with a FRIEND! waHOO! a girl I went to undergrad with goes to Duke Divinity here so I got to meet up with her, have a super lunch, and then get a "tour-de-durham" saw LOTS of cool places, and things I need to do, and restaurants I need to eat at! It was perfect!

Afternoon: met up with another FRIEND! this one from work... yes i know. I am making friends at work... yeahHH! :) but met up with her and saw "sisterhood of the traveling pants 2" SUPERB girl movie. I LOVED it. made me laugh, made me cry, made me miss my girlfriends, and my ryan. which i will add there is a baby in the movie... named RYAN CHRISTOPHER! yeahHHH. talk about making me miss my man even more... the baby in the movie had the same name!! i def made an audible gasp when i heard that. i couldn't believe it! anyway- lots of romantic scenes and lots of laughs. and oh yeah... they went to greece (prob why i want to go now) but after the movie i did research... so i really do want to go. haha...

nightime: OLYMPICS... of course.

so yeah. there was my saturday. very nice and fun. now im off to read a little and watch some olympics... that is if i can get away from my many google searches: greece ; greek isles; greece vacations; Mediterranean cruises.... haha. those are just a few!

so for now. much love and peace...

and for some... see you SOON! :)

8.8.08

the weekend is here! and now that I am a working woman, I have come to appreciate the weekends! My first full week of work is complete, and truly it will probably be the last time I work monday-friday for a long long time. my hours and days working as a nurse are quite sporatic. mostly 7am-7:30pm... long long long days, but only 3 days a week! so that gives me 4 days every week to play. eat. workout. sleep. and read. mmm fun fun. def glad to be done with week one of orientation... sadly 1 more week to go. (only mon, thurs, fri though!) its been fun this week getting to know some people and making friends. def a good thing!!

so as you should know. its 8.8.08. the beginning of the olympics!! im pumped. so time to watch the opening ceremonies... be the roommates... and possibly find some chinese food!

not much longer before ryan comes! THANK GOODNESS!! today makes 3 weeks... may not seem like long... but thats 21 DAYS! much longer than we have ever been a part in our 3 1/2 years! so yay... one more week without him!

ok enough for now. off to read and relax. :)

my best friend is getting ESPOUSED!

my sanity.
my laugh

my inspiration.
my india companion...
the only one who truly understands and knows how i feel...
::because she was there too::

my adventure partner.
my jelly bean experimenter.

one of my bestest friends...

so needless to say- im quite excited that she is GETTING MARRIED!!!
to the man of her dreams- who is perfect for her.
im so happy for them and so lucky to have such an amazing woman in my life.
yeah i can't wait!
thats what ive been busy doing... and loving every minute. getting emails about dresses, and invitations and the girls dresses and places. its been so fun to help out and be a part of this amazing time in her life!!

oh pong-a-u-long-a, i love you so much!


*ill do a quick side note*work is going great. long boring classroom meetings, but today was good and i am getting to know a lot of fun great people. so far so good. and today i learned about benefits... but actually think i might understand! haha :)

off to bed for an early morning.

peace and love.

rice crispies...

chelsea and i got a little crafty last night.
we found some marshmallows and was like hmmmm.
what can we make with marshmallows?
RICE CRISPIES!!!
so of course the next question was... well have you made them before?
no i responded- the same time she responded.
so we decided to go to a cookbook.
after that plan failed we had a breakthrough.
the marshmallow bag ::of course:: had the recipe.
so off to food lion we go to buy crispy rice cereal.
we got home and began making our delicious late night snack.
::let me add. late night is now 9:30::
anyway 24hours later... the rice crispy treats are gone.

they were so so so delicious.
so my first cooking experiment ended brilliantly. :)


let me add a few things about Duke orientation...
going great. long boring meetings, but when i remember i am getting paid to sit here, i brighten up and put a smile on my face. :) i also found out today my boss is totally fine with me leaving for three days to go to paula's wedding. whenever that may be.?!?!.
such a HUGE relief. im so so so excited for her and pumped that she is moving on with this next step in her life. i know its perfect and exactly what she and chad should do.
totally them. totally what they need. exactly what God wants for them.

so yeah. work is good. ive met a couple of fun girls so we sit in the back and laugh and have fun- while still paying attention to the amazing speakers that come through. haha.
no really. its been good. and it will last until friday... then a great weekend free!

thats all for now... off to read. watch tv. and go to bed. oh how painful waking up early is!!

love and peace

20 youth + oil + chocolate pudding+ egg= messy game night

me.
plus a lot of gunk.

me and chels. (1 of the roomies)
plus tons and tons of gunk.


tonight at chelsea's church the youth had messy game night.
chelsea being the superb senior high sunday school teacher that she is- decided she should go to meet some kids and get them pumped about sunday school.

well i went to. not wanting to get dirty at all. i was just the nurse who was watching making sure all went well. sadly my plan didn't work. i got filthy- but i did have a blast and meet some great people. it was lot of fun, at a great church, with fun people so what more could i ask for.

tomorrow is day one of the real world though-
so i need to go to bed to rest up before the big day!

peace and love