joy

what a crazy busy week.
RA interviews.
the end of my maternity rotation.
but in spite of it all, God gave me the gift of joy, and reminded me of how much he loved me through phone calls, hugs, and the presence of dear ones in my life.

"happy hour" with my sis
lisa saved my life
last day of maternity!
jodi, alison, marcella, emily & eve
panaderia! scotty, abby, alison & lisa (denae was sick.) =(
eating our pastries

job offer

hiring freezes. a struggling economy. cancelled internships. no nursing experience.
all of these realities brought me a small amount of fear at the beginning of this month. i wanted to trust that God would provide a job for me, but these facts didn't make it easy.
so, in the process of me trusting, i applied for a job at salem hospital. they were coming to campus and if we sent our resume to them ahead of time, we could have an interview while they were here. since it sounded relatively painless and like a good experience to have, i sent in my resume. i was undecided if i even was interested in this hospital. but i thought that even if i didn't want to work there, i wanted to knowledge that somewhere wanted me. =) so i applied.
the next day, i had an offer for a full-time position, day shift, working on the oncology floor.
after touring the hospital on friday and getting confirmation in other places, i feel like this would be a good fit for me.
so, i have a job! God is so faithful.

interviews galore

it has been really good to be a part of the interview process for RAs next year. i know i don't have too much say in the final decisions made, but it still has been helpful for me to get a chance to interact with the candidates and get some closure.
however, it doesn't mean that it isn't hard for me, and that my heart doesn't ache just a little when i remember that i won't be doing this again next year. on the last night of group interviews, i got a little teary. i got it together before i had to talk or lead the group through their next activity. although my tired state probably did contribute to my tears, i know that there is more to it than that.
jacob & j keep teasing me about how i will be in tears all the time next year without them, but the truth is that they may not be that far off. i dragged my feet when God pulled me into res. life and now i am dragging me feet as this season is slowly coming to an end.

last night of group interviews-
abby, scotty, alison & lisa (denae was in class)

story time

“fairy tales are more than true;
not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can beaten."
-g. k. chesterton

just another reason why i will never be too old for stories. =)

lunch w/ my sis

one of the best parts of my week is my weekly lunch dates/other adventures with my "sister" lisa. she is a delight.

ordering the same thing

"senior picture"
(we had to get our picture taken for the yearbook & he suggested we do a handstand for our picture. although we declined for the yearbook, we decided to take one of our own.)
we didn't order the same thing. apparently this is how we feel about it.
neither of us had ever been in the darkroom. we snuck in. =)
and here's the secret passageway that got us there!

a grand thing

even though i am tired on wednesday nights after two days of clinicals, i always know i will be glad to be at staff meetings once i get there. it is such a grand thing to be greeted by 16 faces of those who i love and love me back.
hat night and finger sword fighting are just bonuses. =)

♥ day

valentine's day has never been one of my favorite holidays. i like the idea of having an increased effort to let people know that you love them, but i don't necessarily think it needs to be on february 14th and needs to be accompanied by candy, balloons, flowers and the colors of red & pink. however, despite my slight reservations about the holiday, i did enjoy this particular valentine's day, as i spent the evening with some dear friends.
the cookie making party at becca's turned into three hours of silliness as we took pictures, threw candy hearts into each other's mouths and laughed heaps. this may have been one of my best valentine's days yet. (i also got a delightful acronym and godiva from my family, which was also lovely. while i think demonstrating love shouldn't be a yearly occurance, i did enjoy my treats!)

in the bathroom-alison, liz, jared (my favorite neighbor), J, jacob, becca & bethany

more pictures here.

grand prix

after getting all my homework out of the way in preparation for lucy to come, it was a little disappointing to have my bestie get sick and have her car breakdown (thankfully, before her journey began.) so, with all my work out of the way, i headed home! it was a restful weekend, with movies, sleeping AND getting to go to the awana grand prix night, where i proudly witnessed paul's acceptance of the 2nd place trophy in speed. with an excellent design of an iphone car, he also came close to winning an award in design also. i was so proud.

waiting for the race to begin

the exciting race itself

the awards ceremony

alison, paul, trophy, john & peter

on sunday, john visited corban college & daddy took me out to dinner after dropping him off. since i wasn't feeling well, we went back to my apartment & watched enchanted after our yummy meal from red robin. a delightful evening that could have only been made better if i hadn't been sick. =)

fireproof

fireproof: one of the best movies i've seen in a long time.
i anticipated it being a little cheesy, but ended up being blown away by how moving it was. excellent acting. realistic story. hopeful & pro-marriage. i loved it.

love is a choice.

getting off campus

wednesdays are great days. i finish my second day in a row of clinicals, to come back to hang out with four great AACs. this week we had a field trip to eat pizza and our location for eating this treat was the flagpole in the middle of the intersection.

"sometimes you just need to get off campus."

abby, lisa, scotty, alison & denae