Lately I've been wanting to write, but alas with nothing to write about, I've been quiet.
Right now I lay in bed pondering what I'm pondering. I feel as though I have so many thoughts in my head while I cannot name any of them. Strange feeling.
Over the past 2 1/2 weeks Sam has been talking an online winter interim sociology class to get close to wrapping up prereq's for PA school. Uggggh I HATE this class! The professor apparently thinks sociology is the most important thing in the world and treats his class as such. Sam had 33 assignments and tests in 19 days.... ahhhh! And the professor made the assignments in such a way that he had to read all the chapters to complete them. With him working and trying to get an A in this stupid class I feel like I haven't spent quality time with him at all. He gets home from work, sleeps, gets up and does homework almost until when it's time to repeat the cycle. Ughh... I can't wait until this class is over. Luckily that will be this Thursday. We've already decided we're going on a hot date this weekend. My parents have happily volunteered for babysitting ;) come on Thursday!
On another note, I'm still completely undecided in what I want to do with my career. Here are all the things I'm considering:
A) Family nurse practitioner
B) Acute care nurse practioner
C) Masters of nursing science (a general master's)
D) Certified registered nurse anesthetist
E) master's in nursing education (I'd actually love to teach either as a nurse educator in a hospital or as a nursing professor but they don't pay enough and most of the time require full time hours)
:sigh: I've got a lot of choices and don't have my heart set on any of them. I should decide sometime in the next several months so I can have my application in early for whatever I do. I think most of the programs have May application deadlines. I need to do a lot of research.
Finally, I'll conclude my post with the most exciting news. Ella's going to be a big sister!!! Well we're excited anyway. She, on the other hand, just stared at us blankly as if saying, "Me no speak a the English yet." Sam and I are so completely happy. We're very excited that the babies will be close in age- about a year and a half. If we have a boy Sam will have someone he can play a little rougher with and I won't so much worry. If we have a girl Ella Grace will have a close sister. I can't begin to explain how amazingly blessed we are. I know several couples that never could get pregnant or have been trying for a which and still aren't. I can't begin to put myself in their place- wanting a baby so badly and not being able to have one. I just trust in God's plan for us and know that no matter what what comes our way or what we think should happen in our lives.
"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55. 8-9
I want to post some pics of our holidays and recent going-on's in our home. Haha Sam has bought me two very nice cameras and while I can take all the lovely pics and videos that I want, I still don't know how to upload them. I need to get him to show me so that y'all can see beautiful Ella Grace.
Goodnight all :) hope everyone is as happy and peaceful as I feel right now. (I guess talking about our babies helped me get over the sociology thing :)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pet Peeves
Lately I've been mentally listing the things that drive me nuts. Here they are.
1) Being late to church.
I don't know how it happens, but ever since we've had Ella and occasionally before, we're always late to church! Usually its just a couple of minutes of singing we've missed, but still way not cool. I don't like trying to squeeze by the people who arrived on time so we can get a seat. But most importantly, I detest getting to church late because I feel like the least thing we can do as a family is get there on time. God has blessed us so tremendously in all aspects of our lives. He's given Sam and Ella to me. We're blessed with a beautiful home that is ours, health, family that loves us, and I could go on and on probably for my whole life with everything God has graced us with.
And I know that it is most important to God to just spend time with him, to talk to him, to love him, to read his word, and get to know him. I do think though, that we are commanded to be a part of the Body of Christ. By that we go to church to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Together we read his word and apply it to our daily lives. We together take part in his body and blood as he commanded of us. Its a beautiful thing.
And what irks me more than anything is being late. If we can make it on time to doctor's appointments and family dinners and even work, then my goodness- we CAN get to church on time. Its one hour a week, seriously.
:sigh:
2) People who don't put their shopping carts in the shopping cart corrals
This one irritates the heck out of me, because it is a simple common courtesy. How hard is it to push the cart back to the corral? At most, it's what, maybe 30 feet? Or if you don't want to walk that far, park closer to the corral! It's so annoying that literally every time we go to WalMart, there are carts all over the parking lot. We live in West Texas and it gets really windy here. I mean gusts of wind will come up from no where and make you slant forward or sideways when you walk. If it moves a person, I know it sure as heck will move some shopping carts- probably right into someone's car.
The other day Sam and I went to WalMart, and right when we parked this nice lady was pushing all the carts together that had just been left in empty parking spaces- like it was her job, but no, she was just being courteous to people who might take the spots. Sam saw her kind of struggling with 10 or so carts and jumped out of the car to help. What a gentleman <3 Anyhow, we proceed into the store and do our thing. When we walk back out, maybe an hour later, our whole area is surrounded by carts. Literally, our car was surrounded- we couldn't have backed out of the parking spot without hitting a shopping cart. Uggh. So, again, Sam rounds up the carts while I put the groceries in the car and get Ella loaded up. Then, the rudest thing! This lady who was parked right next to us gets her two grocery bags from her cart and instead of putting her cart where she's supposed to (it wasn't far away at all), she puts it with the same carts Sam's trying to get out of the way, after she looks right at him. And he was not dressed like he was working there- there was no mistaking him for a shopping-cart-putter-upper-employee.
Uggh. Some people have no courtesy.
Well I know the title of this post is "Pet Peeves", like there will be more than two listed but these are the only two that have really been irritating me lately. I'll stop here. For now :)
1) Being late to church.
I don't know how it happens, but ever since we've had Ella and occasionally before, we're always late to church! Usually its just a couple of minutes of singing we've missed, but still way not cool. I don't like trying to squeeze by the people who arrived on time so we can get a seat. But most importantly, I detest getting to church late because I feel like the least thing we can do as a family is get there on time. God has blessed us so tremendously in all aspects of our lives. He's given Sam and Ella to me. We're blessed with a beautiful home that is ours, health, family that loves us, and I could go on and on probably for my whole life with everything God has graced us with.
And I know that it is most important to God to just spend time with him, to talk to him, to love him, to read his word, and get to know him. I do think though, that we are commanded to be a part of the Body of Christ. By that we go to church to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Together we read his word and apply it to our daily lives. We together take part in his body and blood as he commanded of us. Its a beautiful thing.
And what irks me more than anything is being late. If we can make it on time to doctor's appointments and family dinners and even work, then my goodness- we CAN get to church on time. Its one hour a week, seriously.
:sigh:
2) People who don't put their shopping carts in the shopping cart corrals
This one irritates the heck out of me, because it is a simple common courtesy. How hard is it to push the cart back to the corral? At most, it's what, maybe 30 feet? Or if you don't want to walk that far, park closer to the corral! It's so annoying that literally every time we go to WalMart, there are carts all over the parking lot. We live in West Texas and it gets really windy here. I mean gusts of wind will come up from no where and make you slant forward or sideways when you walk. If it moves a person, I know it sure as heck will move some shopping carts- probably right into someone's car.
The other day Sam and I went to WalMart, and right when we parked this nice lady was pushing all the carts together that had just been left in empty parking spaces- like it was her job, but no, she was just being courteous to people who might take the spots. Sam saw her kind of struggling with 10 or so carts and jumped out of the car to help. What a gentleman <3 Anyhow, we proceed into the store and do our thing. When we walk back out, maybe an hour later, our whole area is surrounded by carts. Literally, our car was surrounded- we couldn't have backed out of the parking spot without hitting a shopping cart. Uggh. So, again, Sam rounds up the carts while I put the groceries in the car and get Ella loaded up. Then, the rudest thing! This lady who was parked right next to us gets her two grocery bags from her cart and instead of putting her cart where she's supposed to (it wasn't far away at all), she puts it with the same carts Sam's trying to get out of the way, after she looks right at him. And he was not dressed like he was working there- there was no mistaking him for a shopping-cart-putter-upper-employee.
Uggh. Some people have no courtesy.
Well I know the title of this post is "Pet Peeves", like there will be more than two listed but these are the only two that have really been irritating me lately. I'll stop here. For now :)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Aspirations
Lately I've felt stagnant in my career growth :( Since graduating from Texas Tech with a bachelor's in nursing, I've felt like I haven't done much to move forward. Now I'll say that I had quite extraordinary preceptors upon starting out in CCU after graduation. I was on orientation with a preceptor for about a month and a half before being on my own. I started taking open heart surgery patients on my own about 3 or 4 months after graduating. That is very uncommon. Definitely. It was not me, but amazing preceptors that enabled such progress. I took on the role of relief charge nurse at 6 months post graduation, and have become a full time charge (well, that's the two days a week that I work).
While all of those things are rare, I feel like soon after finishing school I stopped. With the exception of looking up medical conditions and drugs I am not familiar with, I've stopped pursuing progress. I'm stagnant. I think the 2 1/2 years of experience have made me comfortable and confident in my nursing skills, but I've stopped moving forward. And I think that may just be the problem- I'm comfortable and confident. And I don't mean confident in the arrogant sense; I mean that when a situation arises that requires quick critical thinking, I can handle it with ease. I can start medication drips stat, run a code, precept new nurses with all their questions.
But this is not where I want to be forever. Since Sam started school again this fall, I realized how much I miss learning. I miss taking classes, taking notes, even having to study for a test (though I don't miss the tests). I miss shopping for new school supplies as nerdy as that may sound. I especially love the feel of a mechanical pencil in my hand as I start to write on a new sheet of notebook paper or put a few sticky notes in my book to mark what's important.
Sam and I have discussed it, and as he's just finished applying to school to start a physician assistant program- hopefully, hopefully to start in the summer/fall 2011, I will soon begin my application for nurse practitioner school to start next fall as well. I'm very excited at just the thought, but am worried about what route to take- something I need to decide prior to applying. I'm considering the family nurse practitioner program as well as the acute care nurse practitioner program. I just cannot decide!!
Family NP- I can see patients in a doctor's office, assess, diagnose, and treat. I can prescribe meds, including narcotics. I can start my own clinic if I wanted to.
Acute Care NP- I do all the same as above but see sicker patients in the hospital, including patients that are on ventilators and lots of critical drips. I can put in chest tubes, central lines, and make changes on the ventilator.
here's a pic of a chest tube
and one of a central line, which is bascically a large IV site
The Acute Care NP is more appealing to me, because these are the patients I see day in and day out, and I enjoy the hospital setting. It also is a plus that I would be especially trained and educated to be in the hospital to see acute patients. What I'm unsure of is the scope of practice of a Family NP. A good friend, a very smart friend and well experienced nurse, just told me that that law changes are currently in the works to limit the hospital scope of practice of Family NP's. Ah! That's scary, because should I decide to take that route, I want to retain the ability to stay in the hospital. I don't want to be limited to clinics only. To me, that'd be super boring. (She will be starting Acute Care NP school in January.)
I need to do a lot of research on the differences in liability, scope of practice and privileges of each. I am very excited though and have until the end of May to decide. God willing, I'll be a nurse practitioner in the next couple of years! And that will bring mine and Sam's dream closer to a reality.
Our family goal and dream is to both work no more than 2-3 days a week each, preferably the same days. That way we'll have 4-5 days a week to be together and home school our kids. We've already made the decision that we want to home school, but having both of us there would be fantastic. I just want more time with my husband and our growing family.
While all of those things are rare, I feel like soon after finishing school I stopped. With the exception of looking up medical conditions and drugs I am not familiar with, I've stopped pursuing progress. I'm stagnant. I think the 2 1/2 years of experience have made me comfortable and confident in my nursing skills, but I've stopped moving forward. And I think that may just be the problem- I'm comfortable and confident. And I don't mean confident in the arrogant sense; I mean that when a situation arises that requires quick critical thinking, I can handle it with ease. I can start medication drips stat, run a code, precept new nurses with all their questions.
But this is not where I want to be forever. Since Sam started school again this fall, I realized how much I miss learning. I miss taking classes, taking notes, even having to study for a test (though I don't miss the tests). I miss shopping for new school supplies as nerdy as that may sound. I especially love the feel of a mechanical pencil in my hand as I start to write on a new sheet of notebook paper or put a few sticky notes in my book to mark what's important.
Sam and I have discussed it, and as he's just finished applying to school to start a physician assistant program- hopefully, hopefully to start in the summer/fall 2011, I will soon begin my application for nurse practitioner school to start next fall as well. I'm very excited at just the thought, but am worried about what route to take- something I need to decide prior to applying. I'm considering the family nurse practitioner program as well as the acute care nurse practitioner program. I just cannot decide!!
Family NP- I can see patients in a doctor's office, assess, diagnose, and treat. I can prescribe meds, including narcotics. I can start my own clinic if I wanted to.
Acute Care NP- I do all the same as above but see sicker patients in the hospital, including patients that are on ventilators and lots of critical drips. I can put in chest tubes, central lines, and make changes on the ventilator.
here's a pic of a chest tube
and one of a central line, which is bascically a large IV site
The Acute Care NP is more appealing to me, because these are the patients I see day in and day out, and I enjoy the hospital setting. It also is a plus that I would be especially trained and educated to be in the hospital to see acute patients. What I'm unsure of is the scope of practice of a Family NP. A good friend, a very smart friend and well experienced nurse, just told me that that law changes are currently in the works to limit the hospital scope of practice of Family NP's. Ah! That's scary, because should I decide to take that route, I want to retain the ability to stay in the hospital. I don't want to be limited to clinics only. To me, that'd be super boring. (She will be starting Acute Care NP school in January.)
I need to do a lot of research on the differences in liability, scope of practice and privileges of each. I am very excited though and have until the end of May to decide. God willing, I'll be a nurse practitioner in the next couple of years! And that will bring mine and Sam's dream closer to a reality.
Our family goal and dream is to both work no more than 2-3 days a week each, preferably the same days. That way we'll have 4-5 days a week to be together and home school our kids. We've already made the decision that we want to home school, but having both of us there would be fantastic. I just want more time with my husband and our growing family.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wisdom from my mother
The following is from my mother to me. I just want to share, because I think it's so wonderful:
"Happy thanksgiving!
T-Thankful for all the blessings; big and small.
H-Humility is the best way to see, to feel, to know Our Lord's presence in our lives.
A-Ask Jesus Our Lord for his blessing and guidance throughout.
N-Never think you can out-give, out-love, out-forgive Our Lord. Just follow Him and do what he asks. He has called you my name.
K-Know him like you know your very own family and friends. He yearns for you to come alongside him as a father yearns for his children's company.
S-Serve others with love before you seek your won pleasures. This is a sure sign that Jesus is resting in you and you in Him. When you step out to serve and love, you are stepping out o serve and love Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Mean it when you utter the greeting, "Happy Thanksgiving!"
As for me, today I am thankful for the cross and am hopefully confident in the promises of Christ.
"Happy thanksgiving!
T-Thankful for all the blessings; big and small.
H-Humility is the best way to see, to feel, to know Our Lord's presence in our lives.
A-Ask Jesus Our Lord for his blessing and guidance throughout.
N-Never think you can out-give, out-love, out-forgive Our Lord. Just follow Him and do what he asks. He has called you my name.
K-Know him like you know your very own family and friends. He yearns for you to come alongside him as a father yearns for his children's company.
S-Serve others with love before you seek your won pleasures. This is a sure sign that Jesus is resting in you and you in Him. When you step out to serve and love, you are stepping out o serve and love Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Mean it when you utter the greeting, "Happy Thanksgiving!"
As for me, today I am thankful for the cross and am hopefully confident in the promises of Christ.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sam's birthday!
Tomorrow is Sam's birthday, and I'm so excited! Sometimes I can't believe he's mine <3 I'm not sure exactly what tomorrow will entail. I originally wanted to do something with the whole family, maybe have everyone come over for dinner or something. But on second thought, I'm not sure that that's such a good idea. Sam works tonight and tomorrow night :( No fun, I know. So having everyone over til he has to go to work is probably not how he wants to spend this birthday. I'm thinking it'll be just me and Ella hanging out with him after he wakes up early afternoon. We'll spend quality family time together before going out to eat to celebrate :) I do believe he'd like that very much.
Please keep us in your prayers as Sam and I are rapidly trying to complete his application for PA school. I know we should've started it way sooner, but have prayed about it a lot lately and finally feel like this is where God is guiding us. Ah! It's due Dec. 1!! Almost everything is complete, but we'll feel so much better once we're just waiting to here from the school.
On another note, Ella Grace has just about started to crawl. She gets herself on her hands and knees and just rocks all day :) She's already masted the army crawl and can take herself anywhere she wants to go. There's definitely no staying in one place now!
I'll try to post a video later today, depending on if I get called in to work or not. Hopefully not.
Please keep us in your prayers as Sam and I are rapidly trying to complete his application for PA school. I know we should've started it way sooner, but have prayed about it a lot lately and finally feel like this is where God is guiding us. Ah! It's due Dec. 1!! Almost everything is complete, but we'll feel so much better once we're just waiting to here from the school.
On another note, Ella Grace has just about started to crawl. She gets herself on her hands and knees and just rocks all day :) She's already masted the army crawl and can take herself anywhere she wants to go. There's definitely no staying in one place now!
I'll try to post a video later today, depending on if I get called in to work or not. Hopefully not.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Samy, my sweet Samy
This post is all about my hardworkin', little sleepin', class takin', super intelligent, diaper changing, dream building, strong-faithed, incredibly attractive, rock-my-world, uncomparibly devoted husband.
Samy, I love you. I am SO proud to be yours.
Samy, I love you. I am SO proud to be yours.
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