Life Update and Beginning of Spring Break

So, it happened again. Life got way too crazy and I haven't blogged in over 2 months! I'm ready to graduate so life will (hopefully, maybe) slow down a little bit.  This is my last spring break ever! It's so crazy to think that I will be a working woman very soon (I GOT AN RN JOB!).  I'm going to give a little update on life, and then share our spring break shenanigans thus far.

So, since my last blog post on January 1st, here are some life details that have occurred:

• I started my very LAST semester of college/nursing school. Praise the Lord! Can't believe it is finally coming to an end. Don't think I'm complaining, because I'm not :)
• I made a quick weekend trip to Austin in February for some family time and my parents treated me to see the show Wicked at Bass Concert Hall on UT's campus. It was my first time to see it and I loved every bit of it! So good.
• I started and completed nine 12 hour shifts at Covenant Hospital with a nurse preceptor.  I was on Heart Center 5, a Neuro-surgical floor.  I took care of seizure patients (both real and fake seizures!), brain bleeds, post-craniotomy patients, and patients who had neck/back surgery.  I had never taken care of any of these types of patients, so it was a new and refreshing way to end my med-surg clinicals for good! I finished my last shift on March 7th.
• On Thursday, March 8th, one of my dreams came true! I was offered a job at University Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit! I will officially be a NICU nurse and I couldn't be more excited. I really feel like all of my hard work is paying off.  I should start orientation either the first or second week of June :) Here is a pic of me freaking out about the job :)

• Trevor has been competing in the Crossfit Open competition since the end of February.  The competition includes a workout once a week in which a judge watches and times you, then your score and many others are posted online to see the results nationwide.  Trevor is obsessed with Crossfit. On a normal day he is up there twice a day! He does an early morning 5:30 class and then the 5:30 evening workout on his own.  I think he's crazy. BUT he does look really good ;)

 Now, Spring Break! On Saturday afternoon we headed to Ruidoso to go skiing and snowboarding with Kaylan and Austin.  It was a really last minute trip and it ended up being so much fun.  We drove the four hours to Ruidoso, checked in at our hotel, then headed to Cafe Rio for some pizza. Kaylan grew up going to Cafe Rio and Austin loves it as well.  Trevor and I split a calzone and then Trevor and Austin split a second pizza! Hungry boys.  After dinner, we went to Wild West Ski Rental so Trevor and I could get our equipment for the morning.  Then we headed back to the hotel room so we could rest up for a long day on the mountain! We shared a hotel room to save $$ and it was so fun! Nothing like sharing a room for some quality bonding time :) 

We woke up bright and early the next morning to get ready and eat a quick continental breakfast at the hotel so we could be one of the first on the slopes.  We ended up being one of the first on the mountain and it was awesome! We did the bunny slope a few times so Trevor could get the hang of the snowboard and the rest of us could do some practice runs.  We skied until lunch time and made PB&J's at the truck.  Then we skied another 3 hours until we were all so tired and ready to hit the road back to Lubbock.  We had a blast and hope to do another ski trip with the Yocham's very soon! And both Kaylan and I forgot our cameras, so we only got iPhone pics :(

We are headed to Austin early in the morning where Trevor will drop me off until Sunday. He has drill in San Antonio until Sunday evening so I will be spending time with my brother & sister, Trevor's parents, and friends! My parents got to go to Maui for the week so I won't even get to see them this time. I'm bummed they didn't pack me in their suitcase! I'm sure it will be a great week away. I hope to feel refreshed and ready to finish out the last 8 weeks of my college education!

That's all for now. I hope that blogging will become more regular in the coming months!

2012 - Goals and Resolutions for the New Year

I don't know about you, but I am a list maker.  I make multiple lists a week on different pages of various planners, journals, and school notebooks. I love being able to mark something off my list once it is complete. Sometimes I even add something to my list once I've done it, just so I can mark it off :)  I enjoy accomplishing goals I set for myself, no matter how big or small they seem. 

For some reason, this is the first year that I've been really interested and willing to commit to setting some goals and resolutions for the new year.  In the past I always said "why wait until the new year?". This year I understand that the newness, innocence and freshness of January 1st is a great time to set some goals. Here are some of mine:

1.  Let my love for Jesus show in more tangible ways this year (and forever). Use my spiritual gifts, my talents, my time (which is precious in nursing school), and my personality to further the Kingdom.  In the end, this goal will mean more to Jesus than any other goal I ever set.  I recently finished the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  His words about being a lukewarm christian hit hard and have really morphed by view of being truly in love with Jesus.

2.  Be a better organizer and maintainer of the home.  We spent all day yesterday cleaning out closets and organizing a bunch of stuff. Together we had 5 trash bags full of stuff to donate to a charity called the Bridge of Lubbock.  We had so much clothes, shoes and other stuff that we never ever use anymore! I want to be better about cleaning stuff out when we buy new things.  Why hoard things when there are so many people all around us that could very well use it?

3.  Stop trying to plan out our life.  For some reason I think I'm in control ;)

4.  Commit to exercising for 1 hour at least 3 times a week.  I know this sounds like nothing to most of you, but when you work, go to lectures during the day, have clinicals at night, are married, and are in desperate need of sleep... Exercising is the LAST thing on my mind.  I need to take better care of the body that God gave me while on earth.

5.  Graduate from nursing school and pass boards!

Hopefully I'll be able to maintain these goals and resolutions! What are your resolutions for 2012?

-Anna

Merry Christmas!

This weekend has been full of delicious food, wonderful time with family, Christmas movies, reading, playing games, opening gifts, and most importantly, celebrating the truth that the Lord for sent his son to this earth to save us! I hope your weekend has been merry and bright! Merry Christmas!

"

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you GOOD news that will cause great JOY for all the people.  Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the MESSIAH, the LORD. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "GLORY to God in the highest heaven, and on earth PEACE to those whom his favor rests."
-Luke 2:10-15

2011 Rundown

The fall semester ripped my life out of my hands! I cannot believe I'm blogging for the first time in almost 3 months. School is priority and now that the semester is over (thank the Lord!), I have lots of free time to do things that I've been wanting to do all semester, like blog!

This fall flew by. I feel like each semester goes by faster and faster, and I'm not complaining one bit! But it does scare me to think that the years will start to go by faster, and I kind of want things to slow down once I'm done with school. I want to enjoy life and not rush through things- the way I think it should be.  I passed all my classes and am pleased with my final grades. The Lord definitely guided me through another challenging season. From long lectures and 5:45 am clinical days, to working and spending time with my sweet husband, God provided me the strength and endurance to never give up!

As 2011 comes to an end, I've been reflecting on the things that happened in our lives this year.  I remember at the start of this year thinking, "2011 will be a relaxed year". 2010 was way exciting because we got married, I started nursing school and we celebrated our first holiday season together as a married couple.  In 2012, I will graduate school, start working as a nurse, and Trevor will hopefully start working on his degree.  2011 just seemed like a year to grow and experience life together.  I feel like this prediction was very true, but 2011 was in many ways a very exciting time, too! Here are some highlights of our year:

2011 Highlights:

March: We adopted our first dog, Marley! She is a 4-year-old cuddly and sweet miniature schnauzer who we have fallen in love with. I honestly feel like she has been ours for so much longer than 9 months!

April:  I was given a nurse tech job at University Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where I get to feed, hold, bathe, and help with the premature babies.  I have truly learned so much and I actually look forward to going to work.  Trevor always tells me how happy he is that I have been given the opportunity to do something I am passionate about- I totally agree.

June:  We were both counselors at Camp I-Thonka-Chi, the burn survivor camp that I attended as a child. It was Trevor’s first time at camp and he is hooked.  It was such a rewarding week in Meridian!  I hope that we are always able to go to camp!

June 26^th:  We celebrated our 1^st wedding anniversary at a cozy bed-and-breakfast in Fredericksburg, Texas. The first year flew by – looking forward to many more!

July-August:  Trevor spent a little over 3 weeks in South Africa for extended training with his reconnaissance unit.  He had a great time and loved experiencing another part of the world!

August:  I started my senior year of college and final year of nursing school. I can't believe I graduate in about 5 months!

A few things...

1.  I had my first test of senior year today for OB class. It was okay and I think I did pretty good! I'm really loving that class.

2.  Marley got groomed last Friday and she looks so much better than before. Her hair hadn't been cut since the beginning of June so it was definitely time.  She got a real schnauzer cut, skirt and all and she looks so pretty! That is, until last night when she went through my backpack that was on top of a chair in the kitchen, found an old orange tootsie pop, and ate the entire thing. I had to use scissors to cut small pieces out of her beard. This is a picture when I picked her up:


3.  I am so thankful for Trevor! This weekend I was feeling pretty sick.  On Friday morning before he went to work, he went to the store and got me some soup and gatorade to last me through the day.  Then on Sunday, he came with me to the doctor so I wouldn't have to wait alone. Then when we got home, he mowed the lawn! Sounds like simple tasks but I'm thankful to have a husband that is willing to do those little things.  Sometimes those are the things that mean the most.

4.  This semester is the first time I have had to work during nursing school, and I am having a hard time finding balance! All last year, I could just focus on school on my days off. But now that I have a job that I'd really love to keep throughout the year, I have to figure out when I can work and how I can balance that with the workload of classes.  It really gives me a good perspective of those that have always had to work their way through school with no breaks.  Those people are some tough cookies! But I'm willing to sacrifice some extra time in my schedule to get to work with those tiny babies :)

5.  Lately the Lord has really been teaching me to be content in the season I'm in right now.  Sometimes all I can think about is graduation in May 2012, moving onto a real (RN!)  job, and other fun things in our future.  I think it's easy to get caught up in what excites us about the future, but God has put me where I am right now for a purpose.  And if I spend this time focusing on future things, am I doing the work that God is calling me to do right now? Probably not.  It's a hard task but I think its really important to recognize and respond to.

So there's a little update of life right now! Hope everyone is having a great week so far! :)
-Anna