RN, BSN ...really?!

when i tell people I am a nurse... its kinda weird.
i dont feel old enough to be a nurse.
i dont LOOK old enough to be a nurse.
but i am.

today i sat in on a committee meeting at my hospital.
we are trying to become a magnet hospital (a huge nursing award/recognition)
its a HUGE deal.
we are very close to getting it.
the "appraisers" are visiting our hospital right now... so work is a big deal right now
anyway my mtg today was with them. i was the "new grad" rep.
it was so strange to be in such a "huge important" meeting... with all of these grown ups!
(i was easily the youngest by twenty years. except the other two young girls... who were in there 30's)
anyway- it was a strange feeling. i felt like i was a kid still... but yet im not.
strange place to be.
i am def a kid. and def young! but i have a real job. i have a degree.
i am like a grown up.
i am a nurse!

its pretty unbelievable to me too...

ps like the pic? i got my new official badge today. pretty spiffy huh. well... i feel important! :)
ps.s. IM COMING HOME TO GA IN TWO WEEKS!!!


love and peace to you all. off to ponder this "real world" that i am in...

lets catch up.

so i heard someone from my floor is quitting... haha... i love how excited i am about that. she actually isn't quitting. she is in the "float pool" so she rotates around to different areas for 13 weeks- then moves on. she is moving on the end of october. it was funny bc the other nurses were trying to convince her to try and work something out where she could stay... i was just thinking please GO! thats great for me! haha... im terrible. BUT i need these folks to leave so i can go to days! another pregnant nurse (who is leaving in dec for maternity leave) told me secretly she is going to just work part time after the baby... so that means 2 people will be leaving... so just one more and i am on days!! before i even work a night!! LETS CROSS OUR FINGERS THAT WORKS!! haha... i doubt anything that lucky would happen- but God knows I need days... so I believe He will make it happen. :)

so yeah tomorrow is my first "official" day on my unit! yay! shoudl be good. prob no different than the other days... so yeah other than waking up at 6am im pretty happy about going to work.

today was my interview for big bro/big sis... went well except for the intense detailed questions... like who influenced me the most growing up. why. whats your family like. who are your best friends. what are there names. what do they do. what do you want to do with your lil. who is yoru significant other. what do they do. how has he changed your life? what has he brought into your life? what can you offer us? what do you do in your leisure time? what will you do if you dont like your lil? how do you handle conflict? give examples? tell me about yoru house? who do you live with?
ok lots and lots of questions. 1 hour of questions that were unexpected. i was thinking it would be lots of questions- but different than i expected. anyway they will call me in the next few weeks (or days) and let me know when they have matched me.

i did 2 things very grown up today. 1- got my oil changed, fluids topped off and new windshield wipers. i was proud. walmart did me well. haha... 2- didn't just pick up my prescriptions- i gave them my NEW OWN insurance card. no more mom and dad insurance... its my own. scary.

i had a marvelous dinner with ryan tonight. good conversation. good food. neat place... ok so its a bar... but really an "irish pub". which had awesome beer and awesome irish food- i had fish and chips and rhino had some good old shepherds pie... which was delicious. coolest part... the seats are church pews. the lighting is old huge lights from a church. you know the kind.. in an old churhc... big circular cylindar ones. im sure there is a name... ok and on the wall its all OLD books. lucky for us right by our table was the good old methodist hymnal. haha... it was funny.

............release your inhibitions... feel the rain on your skin... no one else can speak the words on your lips... live your life with arms wide open... today is where your book begins... the rest is still unwritten.......

that just came on the tv... that means time for the ridiculously obnoxious lives of the girls on the "hills" my mtv addiction. i think im just fascinated with the way these girls and guys (same age as me) live there lives in LA. its crazy. anyway im off to be intrigued.

ps- less than 3 weeks until im in lagrange!!

cant wait to see you all.

love and peace- d

the j0B.

let me catch you up on my job... I am finally done with my program (well as of tomorrow) so no more rotations! annnnddddd i have a job on the cardiac unit... which although its a night position... i am SO HAPPY! i really am. i think once nights start ill be saying something different, but i have at least 5 more weeks on days because ill be orienting on days... so for 5 weeks ill be excited and happy- but after that. ugh. no fun... im just hoping 3 people decide to quit days, or go to nights. im 3rd in line to go to days... so we just have to hope and pray that within the next 2 months 3 people decide to leave. sorta possible... but i dunno.

anyway today was a good day at work. i did a lot of just reading and learning... which i like. it was a good slow quiet day. hopefully tomorrow will be the same. i also have some exciting news... i am interviewing monday to be a "big sister" in the big brothers/big sisters organization! im reallllly excited about that. like super pumped!! AND i have found a contact at duke who is helping me find some volunteer work in churches with parish nurses! yeahHHH! im really excited about that prospect too!

anyway im really tired. my trip to the mountains spoiled me- and exhausted me.
im going to read a little harry potter and hit the sack....

love & peace-

i went to the mountains!

so paula called me tuesday night and told me i should come to gatlinburg to see her and chad. so...
i left wed. night... came back today (friday)
had tons of fun- hiking, eating, picking up hitchhikers, having the "one-eyed" wonder cook japanese, went through a mirror maze, went to the highest point on the ap.trail, laughed a lot, sat with the door open, wore a sweatshirt and was still cold, drove around the mountains with the windows down, and enjoyed my dear friends company... here are a few pics... but really i have so many stories. ill share them the next few days...

the view on the drive over...

cool old coke machine...

awesome wind chimes that paula and i wanted... too bad they were like fifty bucks

me on the appalachian trail heading towards maine... only 1,972 miles to go!

me and paula at the higest point on the A.T. AND the 2nd highest point in the EAST!

the glorious view of the smokies...

the trail.

oh i love life... random. spontaneous. fun.
ya never know where the road of life will take you...

my mosaic...

so before i tell you about my AMAZING SPONTANEOUS adventure to the mountains...

i copied a friend from college and made this fabulous little mosaic- that is a representation of me.

each pic matches the answer to the following questions...

1. What is your first name? (Danielle)
2. What is your favorite food? (green beans)
3. What high school did you attend? (calvary christian school)
4. What is your favorite color? ( purple)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (John Krasinski )
6. Favorite drink? (mountain dew)
7. Dream vacation? (greece)
8. Favorite dessert? (ice cream)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (rural nurse)
10. What do you love most in life? (ryan snider ::i searched boyfriend although i did search ryan snider and found some funny things)
11. One word to describe you? (spontaneous)

12. Your Flickr name? (I don't have one ) -- but if i did it would prob have to do with "dani mac" so i searched it... and apparently some girl named dani... got a new mac... hahaha

if you want to do this too... just type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr's search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows)... Have fun!

mia...

im off to work tomorrow... long day... but luckily i have 3 mtgs! and am going to try and leave early... haha... im lame. but its for a great reason...

and ps... i may not blog for a few days... like until this weekend... or next monday.

if i dont blog... then just expect one big long crazy fun one! the next few days just might be adventurous!

love and peace- d

peaceful day

so despite all my complaining and bitching about my job... (so ive gotten a little free-er with my vocabulary, sorry mom :)... anyway despite my attitude i will say only working 3 days a week is fabulous. really. granted at times its super boring, but im working on fixing that.
today though... probably one of the most relaxing days ever...

i sat outside on my deck, with a mountain dew, some jack's salsa and chips, and a good book in hand and i read. and read. annnnd read! it was so relaxing and wonderful!

then i ventured to target- bought all of the following: new rug for bathroom: 3$. 2 placemats for outside table: 2$ a new shirt: 3$ and a new (awesome) skirt: 5$ it was quite exciting.

after that i worked out at the gym.

then went to moes for 5$ moes monday! with friends! yay for friends in durham!!

finally topped off the evening with jon and kate plus 8. def my favorite show. they are an amazing couple! so funny. so great. have such great faith in the Lord. and i think do a great job raising their kids!

anyway thats my monday... hope yours was just as good.

ps- as i was out and about... i saw the first signs of fall... the trees are already slightly changing here! im so excited about a real fall this year! yay!! :)

love and peace in Christ-
d

ok. im over it... :)

so- im over it.
i mean i really was bummed i had to leave campout...
but the wise mrs. lingenfelter is correct... i did make some good mula today... and well i can just buy tickets. or actually... i can wait in the "walk up" line... campout each game... and prob get in FO` FREE.... as long as i find a college ID. its a good thing i know a few folks in div school! and well hopefully we can all come across some extra tickets for our favorite bluedevil/ lagrange professor. but thats just a hopeful mabye!

so yeah. campout was a blast- and i was only there for a few hours... well like 8. haha... but that was only 8 of the 36. and good news... RY GOT SEASON TICKETS!!! so YEAHHHH!!! granted exciting for him... not so much for me. but i am just hoping to get in the walk up lines... before the games... and get in. i mean as long as im there a good several hours before the game (and can come across a duke ID) ill be fine...

here are some pics from the madness:

(the several thousand grad students getting in line at a check-in)

ps. work ended up being really good today. very exciting... and crazy busy. so yeah it was a good thing i was there. :) ill write more about work and the grown up world tomorrow. for now im off to bed! :) peace and love-

::insert angry face::

lets just say the fact i have to work tomorrow... sucks.
im angry.
right now being a grown up and having a real job is no fun.

ill write more tomorrow when i have cooled off. but lets just say i was having a BLAST at campout... got see coach K and the guys team... and then i had to leave. why? bc i work tomorrow. ughhhh.

ill show you pics tomorrow.

i have a friend!

so. i met this girl... through a whole bunch of guys that ry met at div school. she-though- is not in div school. amber is a teacher and like me- graduated in may and is trying to figure out this whole "grown up" thing. we have hung out several times this week already- its been lots of fun. its such a blessing to have a friend... who is at the same place in life as i am! its been great.

last night i went to a concert with her- and some other girls- we saw jars of clay, third day, and switchfoot. it was quite a good show... the encore all 3 bands played. mmm. haha... it was lots and lots of fun- and very very cold! well... cool. i was bundled up in a blanket. but it was outside under the stars... such a perfect night!

so the rest of this is going to be random thoughts about my week.... enjoy

-ry is on an intramural soccer team. they are really good. undefeated. well theyve only played 2games, but still. its been fun going... bc yes i go to all the games. im so glad he is playing! i miss watching him play on lagrange's team... going sitting at all the games... cheering him on... luckily i can still see him play... just on the intramural level! its still fun. and the people on his team (all 3rd year div students) are cool and friendly and i like getting to know them...

- i have an interview wed. on the cardiac floor.... for nights. ugh... but oh well. what do ya do. its the only job available... we shall see how it goes.

- im coming home to georgia soon... like in a month. that is of course if i can get off work.. but im going to make it happen! its been far too long. i need to see friends. and family. and be "down south again". haha... i will say anytime i say im from ga people say oh really- you dont have a southern accent at all. ...thank goodness. oh how i am grateful i do not.

-its campout weekend... meaning all the grad students are camping out in tents for 36hours. they have to stay at the campout field (which is on duke campus) and check in randomly throughout the 36hours. apparently a loud bell rings... and you run to the table to check in. if you make all the check-ins (which last night lasted until 2:30 and began this morning at 7:30) then you are put in the drawing for duke basketball tickets. if your name is drawn... you get season tickets. BUT what most people do is join a group. ry is in a group of 12 people... so whatever happens they split 12 ways. whetehr only one person wins or all 12 win they split everything... the cost and tickets. hopefully ry will come out on toP! if not from what ive heard he is having lots of fun- meeting lots of people- ill be going over there today to hang out and goof off for a while.

- i think thats all for now... like thats not enough... but ill add some pics soon of the campout and other things....

hope you enjoy reading about my ridiculous life... it is quite random. maybe ill add some "deep" thoughts in the coming days... haha we shall see.

-love and peace-

obladi- oblada...

so from what ive heard... the weather back home in georgia is delightful. well let me tell you- here it is amazing as well. the air is so crisp. the sky is bright blue. its my favorite season... fall. well as of monday it will be official- but this week already the temps are in the 50s at night. highs of 70s during the day. i have to wear a light jacket in the morning bc its a lil chilly! and... my favorite part.... me and ryan eat dinner outside on my back deck. i love eating outside- esp when it feels so fabulous. man i love it!

ok well... as you may have read i started a new (and my last) rotation. im on the cardiac"heart" floor... and so far its been fabulous. i realllllllllllly like it. i def have lots to learn- but thats why i like it. i have a lot to learn but its really interesting and really pretty busy. (which is important to me). i stay busy- have lots going on- and currently have a great nurse who is teaching me a lot.

so yeah- i am really excited to see what happens in the next few weeks. ill actually interview for a position in the next few weeks and then will start soon after that officially on a floor somewhere. the biggest downside to this cardiac floor is that i may have to work nights... which is not something i want to do. hopefully ill be able to work something out- but i may have to flip my life for a little while.

im going in to talk to the nurse manager of the floor (who would be like my boss) tomorrow to see whats available- etc. so yeah if you think about it- pray something good works out!

anyway im done for now... off to read... im totally obsessed with my book right now... ive been reading "the other boleyn girl" for a good month and a half... its 800 freaking pages though... but now im almost done and can't put it down. such a FABULOUS book. ive really loved it. after this im going to read a harry- im on book 5! (and of course i love it) so ill read that for a bit- take a break from harry then go back. i am doing this alternating thing... harry other book... harry other book. haha...

ok thats enough rambling for now...
ps i will say im realllLLLLY missing lagrange right about now. :( really miss sara. seeing people i know. eating for free without cooking. having hw. walking around campus. its reallllly realllllly been a hard transition away from that. and if i could- i would go back tomorrow for another year of school with all my friends. but oh well as the beatles say so well...

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on!

love and peace

never heard the song? its ok... i found it for you (and me) to jam out too... haha... enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em4fZqtpw70&feature=related

the <3

<3 thats a heart... just in case you didn't get it.

tomorrow i start work in the cardiac unit.
its hard to believe i am already on my last rotation!
time FLIES by! good grief.
anyway i am reallly excited to see how it goes and how i like it.
hopefully it will be great- i think it will be.

so yeah- off to learn about some hearts.
sorry i dont have much to say tonight- but i need to shower and head to bed.

so the end for now- but i promise i will update you soon on my new unit!

love and peace-
d

sleepy head...

not much to say... im exhausted and suppose to be sleeping right now.
today was the last day of my second rotation... can i get a THANK YOU JESUS! no really. i am so greatful to be moving away from that floor!!
next week its off to the Cardiac Unit... which should/hopefully be great. i hope so anyway! im really looking forward to it.

tonight was fun- well started a bummer bc a concert ry and i were going to was canceled... but we explored downtown durham- ate some yummy mexican- went to a superbly aweosome bar- so classy/artsy/ cool... and we sat outside (bc here... at night... NO humidity and its in the low 70's. beautiful!) so yeah- the sad night turned out to be fun.

tomorrow is my FIRST SATURDAY OFF!!! since i started!!! again- THANK YOU JESUS! :) so i am off to a little duke football. should be loads of fun!

so until next time- im out. peace and love-

today was a day just like any other... sorta

what a day it has been.
to get the full rundown of today... i will have to start with yesterday... which honestly feels like it was a week ago!

anyway- here goes. yesterday. was annoyed at work. just frustrated and flustered and didn't know what to do. so i e-mailed my boss lady. ::who by the way is wonderful:: i went down to her office... had an amazing 45ish minute chat and left feeling so much better. i am SO lucky to have her! we chatted. laughed... and when i left i, not only felt better, but am now going to be a "new grad" representative at this big official meeting... which is pretty cool. i love stuff like that... big important meetings with "important people". no really. im not being sarcastic. i love figuring out why they are so important and talking with them and getting my name out there. i may be a nurse these days... but maybe one day my name will be known. :) haha... and well i just like to figure out what kind of jobs are out there and what i can do with my life...

so blah blah blah... today. well i woke up around 10ish... and it was pitch black- why... bc of the rain. it rains a lot here... and well it rained all day. i spent my morning doing nothing- finally got out of the house this afternoon and went to the grocery and to verizon. because yes- i broke the unbreakable phone. ...well i didn't really break it. but its darn broke as a joke! i can't flip it shut or it turns off... and then wont come on for several minutes. quite QUITE annoying. so i took it in... and they ordered me a new one! yES!!!

after verizon... i got a call from the boss... (luckily my phone was working!) and she informed me of more exciting news... i might just end up working on a cardiac unit! which could and would be soOOO cool. and sorry- hope i dont offend anyone- but def could be better than just the average gen/med floor. ill be rotating there next week and we shall see how that goes. it will be my last rotation. i mean after this rotation im thinking its going to be much better... but i dunno. i can't imagine things getting more annoying... but i guess its possible.

anyway im so excited to see what this last rotation holds... ummm what else. OH BIG NEWS. i cooked dinner tonight. and while thats not too uncommon these days (gosh i miss lagrange college caf) i actually made dinner from SCRATCH. i made REAL meatloaf. and wow it was SOOOOO good. i was impressed. ry was impressed. and then chelsea came home and ate some and was impressed. it was a good feeling. :) so yippPPEE for cooking real food and succeeding!

ok i guess thats enough rambling about my oh so exciting and thrilling life. im off to eat some icecream and watch tv. fun FUN! haha...

love and peace from the exciting life of a nurse in north carolina-

geo caching...

so paula and chad stopped by my house this weekend... they were traveling back to chattanooga from a week spent in washington DC. it was a blast to have them here. just a night and morning with a best friend... in a city of strangers... is such precious time. i wish it lasted longer!

anyway for an afternoon adventure we went geocaching. its basically using a GPS to go treasure hunting. go to www.geocaching.com to check it out. you get coordinates- plug them into a handheld gps and go looking for something. you never quite know what it is... could be a film canister... could be a big box. but its kept hidden... so people dont run off with it.

anyway we went out and were 1 for 1. found one treasure, but could not find the other. it really was a lot of fun. the one that we did find had a scroll inside to sign our names. the last time it was found was actually last week! tons of folks had signed it... and it had been hidden for over a year! the folks who signed it before us were from canada! so its really cool. and was fun. here are a few pics from our adventure!

paula suiting up...

our first find...

the second location... but no find....

3 12's....

so the last 3 days i have worked 12 hours shifts.
not the most exciting thing to happen... but that is why i have been away from the blog.
after working 12 1/2 hours... ::which is me leaving my house at 6.30am and getting back at 8:00pm:: the last thing on my mind is blogging. normally i get home... make dinner (or pick it up on the way home)... make lunch for the next day... and then lay in bed. or read. or ry comes over for a little bit and we catch up briefly. not the most exciting thing BUT luckily i only work 3 days a week... so there are 4 to do fun things... or be bored... but still. anyway i did add a little variety to my working 3 days... was a little adventurous and stayed up until 10:30! woaH! i know...

remember now, i have worked the past 3 weekends... UGH. so i was sick of not doing anything on friday nights... so this friday... there was a duke soccer game. duke v harvard to be exact. and it just so happened to begin at 7.30 so right after work i took off to the game. got there at 8. snuck in... and sat in the POURING RAIN to watch duke soccer. i will say though it was a blast! and def the highlight of my 3 days. i was with ryan, colin, and colin's friend ben. those 3 boys were so funny and the game was superb. we of course beat harvard 3-1. so yippee!!

brief rundown of my work week. sucks. dont like it... but will push through. only 3 more days with my current nurse and on this floor then i will be out of there. THANKFULLY! as ben says "ptl" ...or praise the Lord... haha... so yeah PTL that this rotation is almost done and then ill be off to my last one

ill blog again later tonight... about paula and chads visit! yeah... they came and spent the night last night!! waHOOO! it was a blast... but ive got to go make some dinner. ry and i are quite hungry! :)

much love and peace for now... d

my project

so tomorrow i start back work... my next rotation. ive had the past 3 days off- which has been wonderful! i was thinking and pondering some different ideas i had... and then i got struck with a brilliant one. why not reorganize our basement- into a workroom/ sewing room/ craft room/ painting room!

so today. i cleaned up half of our basement (its HUGE!) and organized the boxes all onto one side of the room. the other half i set up as a work area! im so excited about it!!! pictures are the only way to truly describe it... so here goes... before and after!

before:

messs!!

all the stuff against the back wall...

after... my corner nook

a wall of curtains to separate the boxes and stuff...

my table!

so there it is. all in a long long lonnnngggg days work! im hoping to get a carpet/rug for the middle. im pretty excited to have a place all to myself to sew and do crafts and make a mess!

:) so off to work tomorrow. hopefully its going to be great!
love and peace-