Thursday, January 29, 2009

celebrity entourage

at staff meeting we played a game-who would be your celebrity entourage? the game is simple. you must answer the question, "if you were a celebrity and were pictured in some celebrity magazine, who would be pictured with you?"

my three picks were:

ben barnes (if i'm a celebrity, i would like someone who is quite attractive to be associated with me. not only is he prince caspian, but he is good-looking.)
amy adams (we would have grand times, which would probably involve some silliness and dressing up. maybe i would get to try on some costumes from enchanted?)
billy boyd (the accent & silliness. )



Friday, January 23, 2009

team camo reunites

another team camo reunion happened last night. there were brownies, ice cream, jenga, but most of all, the blessing of being with people who i love and who love me back.

heather, alison & elizabeth
kissy face
we're silly
j., darek & steven
the first group picture-steven, j, darek, heather, elizabeth & alison
the 2nd round-heather, martha, elizabeth & alison
steven, darek & brent

Thursday, January 22, 2009

din-din with the fab five

after a day away from campus, consumed of all things nursing, it was so refreshing to see four of my dear friends and go out to dinner! we had such fun as we tried the "under 10 grill" for the first time. as the name suggests, everything is under $10. and it was quite delicious also! we were also a fan of the service. the server either believed or humored the idea that lisa and i were siblings...and that denae was adopted...and that abby & scotty were siblings. and then after he brought us our food, he asked scotty if he was intending to pray (which scotty promptly did.) after our tasty food, we went for a quick field trip to critter cabana before whisking denae off to her night class. we only had an hour for our meeting, but we made the most of it! =)

"the happy couple" with their burgers
the sisters with the teriyaki chicken box
we are silly, but great as this picture suggests.
yay for the aacs!
the fab five in fine form
posing with the dog at critter cabana

kiddos

yesterday as i was working in the lactation clinic, i thought to myself, "hmmm...babies. i think i wouldn't mind working with babies." and then our last consult for the day was a russian family-a beautiful newborn girl, accompanied by the mother, the grandmother and her five year old brother. and although i did like working with the newborn, my favorite was working with rueben.

during the 45 minutes that he spent in the office, he demonstrated his ability to turn into a turtle (for whenever his baby sister cried too loudly) at least five times. this act involved pulling his head and arms into his coat and scrunching up his legs, which he explained in great detail not only the nature of turtles but also why it was necessary for him to imitate their behavior. he also explained the nature of volacanoes and the difference between a shark & whale's diet. i also got to learn that the plush demonstration breast that was sitting on the table (to help in teaching about lactation to the new parents) was not a breast at all! instead it was declared to be a naked bird, because of the distinct lack of feathers. it was difficult to keep the laughter in, but he did make a convincing argument, as he showed me all the bird-like features on this object. he also asked my full name, after he had disclosed his own and boldly declared it to be a very nice name. (he muttered it under his breath several times to ensure that it was as good as it sounded upon his intial hearing of it. apparently it passed the test.) i also enjoyed him explaining to me that everytime his grandmother would speak, that she was speaking in russian. she would begin to converse with the mother, and then he would lean toward me and whisper the grand and glorious secret, "she is speaking in russian." he was a delight, and made me even more resolute in my decision to work with children in some capacity as soon as i am able.

and then, after my reminder of how much i like kids, i walk into the bruin's den this morning to get invited to work at an international school in china as a school nurse. while this is definitely not something i want to do right now, the way my heart jumped at the prospective makes me certain that whether or not i go to china or not, i definitely want to work with kids. i'm willing to get some experience with unwell grown-ups first, but i can't deny what my heart tells me. a school nurse, a pediatric nurse, a camp nurse...all these make my heart sing and dance. so someday & hopefully someday not too far into the future, i'll get to do one of them.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

babies

first real day of maternity rotation down.
eleven more to go.

what i've experienced so far-
quite a few pregnant women.
ethical dilemmas.
fetal heart monitor.
pitocin. lots of pitocin.
newborns.
and my first female foley catheter placement!

not experienced so far-
a real labor and delivery experience
my own patient's baby
and much more...

my first day was a little uneventful, but it gave me time to observe and hopefully ease my way into this strange unfamiliar place known as the "family birth center"... with more adventures to come, i'm sure!

to sum up

after a busy & overwhelming first week of school, here are a few highlights-

  • the first official staff meeting of the year
  • coffee with kvl
  • lunch with lisa
  • helping lacey with facebook & watching house
  • robin hood night with molly
  • basketball games
  • church
  • breaks from homework
  • knowing that i am loved
staff meeting at becca's
alison & lisa's frequent lunch-chicken strips & curly fries
"louise, your order is ready."

broom ball

january 10-
although i was reluctant to leave home after such a relaxing & enjoyable break from school, it was time to return to school. but i got to enjoy the company of some of my favorite people & even played broom ball for the first time!

lisa & alison-an unstoppable team for games involving bandannas
the apartment staff-we're pretty tough and didn't play too badly that night.
alison & martha
the team in action
lisa & alison on the ice
some of the girls-becca, alison, rebecca, martha & bethany
some of the boys-jacob, ben, ben & j

an early celebration

january 9-
the early celebration of mommy's birthday!! since i had to be back at school on january 10 (which precedes the grand and glorious day of january 12) we celebrated early. this special observance of mommy's birth was marked by daffodils, carrot cake, a delicious salmon dinner and a selection of gifts.

john, paul, mommy, peter & alison
daddy & mommy
blowing out the candles...

flood, fire and famine...actually, just the first

january 8:
after our unexpected weeks of snow, we soon discovered another phenomenon that sometimes follows a great deal of white flakes...flooding from the melting of so much snow. and what else is there to do when your town floods, but to explore & conquer the piles of dirty snow that remain?

peter, alison & paul atop the dirty snow
lewis and clark and sacagawea-today's modern snow explorers


goldsborough creek threatens to overflow!
shelton is a sad place.
peter & paul mourn the closure of the park and the contaminated water.
water, water everywhere!

poetry & tea

january 5 & 7-
although lucy began school on my last week of break, i did not! and since her schedule was flexible we did not end our fun, until absolutely necessary. in these short times of soaking up each other's presence, we watched
sky captain and the world of tomorrow & the rocketeer, drank tea out of mason jars, practiced having meaningful conversations, practiced "getting to know you" questions, read poetry, went to coffee, and of course took pictures.

coffee at lynch creek floral (with the winter green berries, which we fought to keep at our table)
we like each other.
dressing up.
poetry reading.
sleepover time.

lisa & frank

january 3-
next to be shared are the pictures from lisa's visit! it had been about 2 years since i'd seen lisa & frank (since i've been at school or work during the most recent visits), so it was really great to get to catch up with them over break.


all of us

the girls

the cousins

the boys

Monday, January 19, 2009

tardy

yikes-i have so many pictures to share...
so although they may be a week or two late, they were good moments from break, good moments from post-break and shouldn't be punished by not being seen simply because of my tardiness. =)

let's start with pictures of our new year's fun

we went to see "the tale of desperaux"

and finished the night with a delicious dinner

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

looking out for me

martha isn't going to let me do one-on-ones like normal.
even though i was willing to cut back in order to fit them all in (a three week rotation instead of a two week), she knew that i needed to be protected...from myself. and although i was quite disappointed at first, i am also relieved. i would have gone crazy trying to meet everyone in the midst of my busyness. and i would have wanted to enjoy them, wanted to be available and wanted to be what my staff needs, but i wouldn't have been able to do that. not while undergoing an exceptionally busy semester of nursing school, anyways. so, i'm just going to hang out in my apartment for a chunk of hours each week, and my staff can stop by and see me as they are available.

but even though i am sad to not be super AAC like i would like to be, it is nice to be looked out for. and that overwhelmed feeling i had bubbling up inside of me at the beginning of this week, seems to have diminished significantly.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

a little overwhelmed

wow. this semester is going to be tough.
long hours for clinicals.
long hours getting to and from clinicals.
a heavy work load for classes.
and trying to fit in one-on-ones & meetings among these other obligations
while trying to leave time for studying.
and still attempting to enjoy my last semester.
=(
i was feeling pretty overwhelmed both yesterday and today.
and then God sent heaps of my favorite people to hug me, encourage me, stop to talk to me.
it took quite a few of them before i realized that this was God's way of showing me his faithfulness.
he reminded me that i had fears and worries about last semester, but he saw me through it.
he called me to res. life AND nursing. and if he did, shouldn't i believe that he will be faithful to give me all i need to be successful at both?
the sermon on sunday was about trusting God. and as always, it is a lesson that i never seem to have a grasp on.

Monday, January 12, 2009

50

happy birthday mommy!! it was such a blessing to have some quality time over break with you. and although i wish i could be there for your actual birthday, i am so thankful for all the fun we had not on your birthday. =)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

joy, thanks & courage

i want this year to be a year of joy and thankfulness and courage.

-choosing to look for God's hand in my life.
-choosing to focus on the perfect love that casts out fear.
-choosing to be thankful.

the other night, daddy was praying for my upcoming semester, he prayed for joy for me. and i realized that this is what i also want. 

there are a lot of changes coming in the year ahead. some i know about like graduating, moving to a grown-upish house, paying bills, getting a job...and others i don't know about.

regardless i want to choose joy. i want to courageously move ahead, in spite of my own fears and inadequacies. i want to be a thankful person-each and every day. 

dressing up

costumes are one of my favorites. and dressing up was a fun way to bring in the new year. and my family are such good sports in going along with my silliness!

paul-presto the magician

peter-the injured athlete

john-taylor the latte boy

alison-meg march (from little women)

mommy-cinderella (at her 30 year class reunion)

daddy-tex the cowboy





paul did a magic show for us-
"its stuck!"

look what he had up his sleeve!

bravo!

cranium also provided some entertainment for the evening!

happy new year!