Its Been a Year!

One year ago today I began working as a nurse...a real big girl fully licensed registered nurse.


It has been a CRAZY year.

Full of amazing patients who have helped me realize why I became a nurse in the first place.
They have made me laugh...they have made be cry.

And occasionally they have irritated me...frustrated me..and stumped me completely!



I have in the past year felt completely stupid.  I have learned that more often than not I know absolutely NOTHING.

There have been moments...few and far between...when I have felt like a real nurse.  I have felt like I actually knew what I was doing.

And so I have hope that someday I might get to the point where I can be like one of those nurses I aspire to be.


It wasn't the perfect job...it wasn't pediatrics.  But it was cardiac.
And it has been a perfect first job.
I have learned sooooo much and had SOOOOOO many experiences.


One year of nursing down...now at least 19 more to go!!!!!!

Something Beautiful Happened Today

So our congregation (Singles) shares our church building with two other congregations.

Today while we were having our large combined worship service (Sacrament Meeting) the young children were meeting in the adjoining room.

During a particularly quiet and contemplative moment of the meeting when we partake of the sacrament (similar to communion) the childrens choir suddenly began to sing.  

And suddenly my eyes were welling up with tears....

This a very frequently sung song in Mormon world.  Like all the time.

And its always a nice song but sometimes its just a little cliche and seems overdone.

But today was different.

I don't know if it was the place my mind was in, the fact that it was children singing, or maybe it was just the words.

Well honestly it was probably all three combined.....

Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away,

But I feel it close around me as I pray.

Pray, he is there;

Speak, he is list'ning.

You are his child;

His love now surrounds you.

He hears your prayer

Why I Stay

Busy Busy Dizzy

Seriously!

Between work and family its been crazy.

Big Sister visited.
Baby Brother came home
Little Sister went back to school



I have a list of blog posts already written in my head.
I just have to get them written on ...paper hahaha

Stay tuned for updates.


But for now....
A little musical snack

Running

First I want to apologize for my absence.  As much as this blog is a great and fun part of my life-things have taken precedence over it in the past few weeks.


I hope to get a couple things under control and get back to this little blogging game.

So please be patient with me!

Musical Monday Moment

HAVE YOU HEARD SARA BAREILLES' NEW ALBUM!!!!????


OH MY GOSH!!!!!


CAN YOU TELL I AM SHOUTING THIS WHOLE TIME!!!!



Like for reals though.....

The Blessed Unrest.....
Check it out for reals.....
iTunes....
Spotify....they have commentary on each song...AMAHZING
YouTube even!





Another great one that just came out????

HANSON'S ANTHEM

Yes Hanson is still around!
An album full of upbeat, but not annoyingly pop-ey songs...um YES please!!!

Plus who can stay away from the hotness that is Taylor's stank face....Issac's MAD skillz...and Zach's hair flip + smile????????

BE HAPPY BE HEALTHY!!!!!

Finding Happiness: Vulnerability Also....I'm a NERD

WHY????  Ok...there are many reasons.

First books like this....



are like my favorite books to read!

(PS so totally should blog about both these books....SOOOOO incredible!)



BUT today....its because of this.....
I ADORE TED TALKS

And its not for the inspiring and awesome feelings and stuffs.

I mean those are nice.

But I get crazy about the research!

I love research.  Not actually doing it....I hate that...SOOOO TEDIOUS!!

But reading it???  Using it?????  Having it explain life and those you interact with???

LOVE!!!!!!!!


(Side note....not interested in nursing research....sorry nursing professors but my HUMAN DEVELOPMENT professors got to me first!  And now I'm hooked)



Today I watched this one........oh so interesting!

So to be truly happy....be vulnerable.
Lean into the joy and live whole-heartedly.

I could talk a lot about it...but she does a pretty good job yes?

Be Happy Be Healthy everyone

How To Not Fall In Love With a Jerk.....

aka...why Steph is a MAJOR NERD!!!!! (I LOVE research/theory books)

And why I will likely never have a normal/relaxed/chill relationship.

Because I will always be analyzing, overthinking, and researching it!!!!

Frankly I don't necessarily want to talk about the discovering if a guy/gal is a jerk.

I wanna talk about RAM....cause I'm a NERD

THIS THEORY IS CRUCIAL to relationships working.

I've been talking about balance for FOREVER. And here we are again!

These 5 areas of a relationship are very bonding individually.  However, when balanced and together they form a strong, healthy attachment.

Obviously if you know someone very well, you are close with them...

I know my sisters and my sisters know me better than most people in the world.

Even strangers at baseball games are amazed at how close we are.

How many times on a first date do you tell someone about the one time you made XYZ terrible mistake?  Or do you share with the neighbor who just moved in next door your ABC insecurity? Kinda have to trust them with your secrets before you spill them right?

Do you rely on a stranger to bail you out of jail?  Do you bring a stranger with you when you go to the hospital for a procedure and need someone to make sure you have all the post-procedure instructions cause you are still a little loopy from the sedation.

Kinda need to know and trust them before that right???

Commitment is a big word.  How many people have a "fear" of commitment or "issues" with commitment?

Think about the logic of it at this point...if you commit to someone before you know or trust them....??????? REEally?????

And finally touch.  I have to be careful to not get too preachy at this point.  So I will take a biological stand.(Transition from nerdy HD to nerdy nurse!)  Physical skin to skin touch and contact releases a hormone called oxytocin which creates feels of well-being as well as attachment and connection.  This is EXTREMELY bonding.  Very powerful and potentially very damaging...if the first 4 are not present.

So there needs to be a balance.  You can't have any greater or less than others!

High Five For Friday!

1. I took some time off..and got off early on the one day I did work this week...so I've gotten TONS done!!!!
-moved from baby brothers room to bunk with little sister for a while (that took a whole day...dang I've got lots of crap!)
-got TONS of Public Affairs stuff done....I should blog about that sometime!!!!


2.Big sister is in town!

3. GPs are coming in this afternoon!

4.YEAH FOR EMAIL!!!!!
I love technology!  One of my best friends is currently in England...so cell phones are OUT.
But the occasional wi-fi moment allows for emails!

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!




5. Finally and most importantly...Elder Baby Brother has gotten home from GHANA!!!!!!!!
YEAH FOR LDS MISSIONARY HOMECOMINGS!!!!!!  (see here if you are confused)
Like for reals....is there any point to the first 4??????

Be Happy Be Healthy everyone!

"You Never Know"

May I have a rant moment for single girls everywhere????

We all know how much I love all things "He's Just Not That Into You"

I'm usually Gigi.....lets be honest
Doing a lot of stupid stuff in hopes of finding "it"

Scheming and plotting and planning.


BUT sometimes I'm Janine
The best friend...the enabler

The one who says "Oo signs I love signs...tell me about the signs"



How many times has someone said to us...about a guy we have NO shot with...
"You never know!"


ENABLERS!!!!!!!!


We are girls....and therefore we dream and hope...and you just made our

little bitty hope


LOTS OF HOPE!!!!!


Cruel!!!!!!!!


So to the girl who inspired this post.....There is someone better out there for you.
You don't deserve to sit around and hope that he might call or text......

Its tough love time honey!
Cause you don't need the hope of "You never know"
You need..."Its never going to happen"


Big hugs and kisses love!
It'll all work out in the end...just not with him.


Thank you all for indulging me.  You may now go back to your business.

Be Happy Be Healthy!!!!

I Will Rest In You

A few months ago I was in a rough spot.

Some of it was situational, some of it was self inflicted.

And what did I do?  I went to one of my best friends.  And he told me to get it together.

And 2 weeks later...I hadn't.

So I went to another best friend.  Who coincidentally said exactly the same thing the first friend said.

And finally I got it.

But why am I telling you this?

Because that second night I was given a CD.  And I never made it past the first song....I just kept playing it over and over and over.

The words paint such a lovely picture for me...not to mention the melody is gorgeous and on top of it all Mindy Gledhill sings right in my range!

So often we forget.  We forget the place we once knew.  

Sometimes we forge ahead on our own...trying to climb a mountain without a guide.

And we get tired and exhausted because we are trying to do it on our own.

I do this constantly and I say to myself "I just want to sleep.  I just want my bed"

But how often do we crawl into the bed of faith?  

Sometimes we act a fool...and He shakes His head at our foolishness and the brings us in and asks us if we don't mind to "Please cut it out and let me fix it?"

We just have to let Him fix it.

Hopefully this is not too personal and not too spiritual.

I promise the wit and fun will be back tomorrow....but for now..................

Let Him help you be happy.  Let Him make you truly healthy.

 

Finding Happiness: Balance

Remember a while back when I started talking about happiness.
I fell off the wagon a little bit.
But I'm getting back on....and so I'm gonna talk for a bit....if you care to listen!



For a couple of years now I have kind of been living under the assumption that the meaning of life..the purpose of our being here is to find balance.

Balance between work...school...family....spirituality.

Finding that happy medium....not slacking and not being overzealous.

That my friends is the key.


And I think it is the key to happiness too.


I work the night shift...which totally messes with my mind and my body..and my schedule.

I live a life of feast or famine.  I work a lot.  And sometimes I feel like I miss out on all the other aspects of my life...social and otherwise.

So on my days off I go crazy!  I binge on everything....friends, food, shopping, sometimes sleep.

Its no way to live!  Frenetic living isn't any way to live!

Its exhausting..its unfulfilling and frankly I don't get a lot of stuff done!

So I've been trying to have balance,  Its hard because my schedule leads to every day being a little bit different.  BUT  I'm trying to be consistent  I'm trying to form habits and routines.



Its still a work in progress but hey...isn't that life???

As an old friend of mine once said......"Happiness is a journey....Not a destination"

Be Happy Be Healthy everyone! 

......if you want to check out one what one of my happiness guru's has to say about balance.

UGGGHHH 102.4!

Alright peeps.....

Its official

Being sick  SUCKS

I have a new-found sense of empathy for my patients!

I havent been super sick since....at least high school...possibly middle school since I last had a high fever.


I knew Wednesday night I had a little bug  (99.9 and general malaise) but I went to work and pushed through on tylenol and lots of fluids.
It came and went in waves...sometimes I was fine and good.  Other times my coworkers looked at me and said "GO HOME you look miserable!!"

But I was fine.  I went home with the plan to sleep it off and head back to work for my last shift of the week.
I was fever free at the time and slept pretty good.

But then 11ish hit and suddenly I was tossing and turning.  I couldn't get cool....HOT MESS much?

But I kept sleeping cause I knew I needed it for that night.

(at this point you can tell I'm a nurse with student loans...cause yeah going into work no matter what!)

I finally gave up on the sleeping thing around 3 and went downstairs to get the thermometer.
I could kinda go a little cross-eyed and see the numbers change.  But I thought for sure I say a 2....and I was super annoyed cause the thermometer was CLEARLY broken.
My temperature was NOT 92!

But yeah then it started beeping all agitated like....and 102.4 was the final result.
This led to an "Oh crap"..2 phone calls to my charge nurse and nursing services...a dose of tylenol followed by another EXACTLY 4 hours later...kool-aid...milkshake...a fan AND a blanket..

oh what a mess....and oh so not fun!!!!!


try to not get sick everybody....
it may mean its a perfect time to catch up the blog....but
SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not fun


So stay healthy everyone!!!!!

Summer Photo Dump?

Dear Adam Levine...

Wanna Marry Me???

Like for reals though.

You is super talented...even live!  And many pop stars just don't lets be honest

And super good looking....

And the only guy I've ever found attractive with that many tattoos....

I feel like its a sign!

Another concert in the summer of concerts!

This time Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5

And they ROCKED IT!!!!

Plus I got to go with the gals from work.

Best nurses in the world!

Wouldn't be able to make it without them!

Be Happy, Be Healthy!!!!

Though The Troponins of the 3rd Floor would take great care of you...we would rather not ;)