MY FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF ALL TIME

Now that it is Christmas time, I have finally started watching this again & continue to look for any excuse to post it or watch it. It REALLY is that good! If you are in a bad mood, or just looking to feel of the true meaning of Christmas, then this video is for you. It makes me laugh, cry, and it makes my day every time I watch it :D ENJOY!

Wrapping up 6th Semester

Sixth semester of nursing school has definitely had its ups & downs. It's been more busy than challenging but I've still learned some big things. One of the most significant things I have learned from my psych class & rotation is the effects of stress on people. A lot of people seen in the psych units within hospital are there because of stress. That may seem kind of ridiculous to you. How can something like stress be the main cause of people in psych units. Well a big number of these patients have a history of substance abuse. Many people turn to substances as a way of dealing with stress, but ultimately this only makes it worse for the individual. Anxiety & stress is not necessarily a bad thing. In the beginning, it actually makes people more aware of their surroundings & even perform better & get lots done. Really, it all comes down to coping mechanisms. How do you cope with stress? Sometimes I go running. Sometimes I go crazy :D Effective coping mechanisms do not help you to escape from your problems, but rather help you to reduce the anxiety and deal with it. Meditation, relaxation, music, exercise. There are many many contributing factors that lead to mental illness, but a HUGE part is just coping with day to day stress and anxiety.

For my community clinical, we taught 6th graders this semester about nutrition, exercise, the heart, diabetes, digestion, muscles, etc. WOW they are so eager to learn. This had to be one of my most valuable clinicals. I love teaching, and this was a great way to get into teaching mode because this is what nurses should be doing constantly - patient teaching. 5 periods of 6th grade classes sure made me SO TIRED every week. I don't know how teachers do it.

Finals this week and then just one semester left to go. WISH ME LUCK!

Jacob....aka Elder Scoville

Yesterday was the last time I will talk to my brother Jacob for 2 years. Crazy. April was the last time I saw him so it'll be 2 1/2 years of seeing him in person (skype doesn't count). Jacob is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 2 years in Korea. Yesterday he reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT and I got to talk to him on the phone just a few hours before that (in between my classes). The shock began to set in for me the night before. I just can't believe that he's gone. I'm gonna miss that kid. I'm gonna miss all the phone calls I would be getting from him on a day to day basis. I'm gonna miss the times I'm talking to my mom on the phone and he keeps trying to call me at the same time. I'm gonna miss goofing around with him at Christmas time and making sweet movies. Jacob, you are awesome. You will make a great missionary. Work hard & make the most of those two years. Learn all the lessons you can.

See you in 2 years.

Compassion should not be forgotten

Today I felt like I did at the beginning of nursing school. My first semester I was at Westside and a woman had been left on the bedpan for who knows how long. We went in there because she needed help and she was confused; she didn’t even realize she was on the bedpan. As the nurse was not very kind and not very gentle with her, I was by her side, holding her hand and smiling at her. That was all she wanted. She wanted someone to smile at her and be kind to her. She was confused, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be treated poorly.

Today, I had the opportunity of watching two PTCA nurses on the floor remove a sheath from a post-cath pt. They were not rude to the pt nor did they treat her poorly, but they did not go out of their way to think about her as a person. She was pre-medicated with morphine, as per standing orders. Then as they proceeded to remove the sheath, they applied pressure, and the woman was in pain. She held my hand, squeezing it whenever the pain/pressure was extreme. I encouraged her to take some nice deep breaths. She did. She breathed through the pain and the pressure she was feeling. I continued to encourage her every so often. All the time, the PTCA nurses were chattering away about their past experiences with removing sheaths and various things; neither really asked the patient how she was holding up or how she was doing. Later that evening I went into the room to take a BP. The pt explained to me how she had had a breakdown just an hour or so before then. I asked if she was doing better. She was. She started to get emotional and cry as she told me how much it meant to her that I was there to hold her hand when she needed it.

I hope I can stay the nurse that I am now, and only improve from here on out on my PATIENT care. I want to be good at what I do, I even want to become a PTCA nurse. But, I do not want to digress in the way that I treat patients. I don’t want to lose sight of how I would expect myself or my family members to be treated if they were in that situation.

Running Update

Ok so I'm picking up from where I left off on the last running post. I got the flu shot on Tuesday (10/19) and then felt crummy Wed & got the flu Thurs (so no workout on Thursday which should have been a fartlek speed workout). Saturday (10/23) I ran 7 miles, it was a pretty good run since being sick before that. Monday 10/25 was 6 miles. This was another not very good run in 1:01:??. Wednesday 10/27 was 8x800 intervals: 4:11, 4:23, 4:26, 4:33, 4:46, 4:58, 4:44, 4:50 (normally I do this workout Tuesday but i was really sore so I did this on Wed). Thursday 10/29 was my fartlek run (2 min easy 30 sec hard) for 3.5 miles. Saturday 10/31 I ran 9 miles - not a great run for me. I went in the afternoon, it was super hot and I took Gatorade with me... Don't worry I learned my lesson & won't make that mistake again :D Water from there-on out. I don't know the exact time for that run, my watch broke the day before = frustrating! I think it was about 1:4?:??. Yes, SLOW, but that's alright because I have never run 9 miles before. Monday 11/1 I did 6 miles and realized that my asics are not the perfect size for my feet because it was really hurting my toes. Ok run at 59min. Tuesday 11/2 was 8x800 intervals: 4:40, 4:24, 3:25, 4:30, 4:42, 4:31, 4:41, 4:35. This was a great workout. Thursday 11/4 was Fartlek of 2min easy 30 sec hard and I did 4 miles/40 minutes. AND FINALLY, Today Saturday 11/6 I ran 10 MILES!!! The weather here has been BEAUTIFUL :D My time was 1:41:24 = 10:15min/mile. I was sad because my ipod was dead but it turned out to be a great run!! Knees & left shin have been sore but I've been icing + ibuprofen. Mandy showed me a knee exercise tonight. Open to any other suggestions :D

I love my running toys, by the way. I got a nice waterbottle that goes on your hand (I got the hot pink one :D) and I got an ipod arm band, both from Amazon. I love them! They have been working GREAT! The waterbottle is sweet because it's lightweight & fits the perfect amount of water. It also has a pouch that I can put my house key in!

CONGRATS RUBIO!!!!

Marco Rubio is the newest Senator from Florida! Wow! What a landslide win! As Morgan knows, I have never been super involved in politics, however, Morgan has really started to rub off on me :D I have been VERY interested in politics lately, especially healthcare reform. Rubio has really impressed me with his stance on healthcare reform. Not only has he come out and said that we need to repeal Obama's healthcare plan, but he also has an alternate plan for healthcare reform. This can be found on Rubio's website. He has 10 ideas for what we can do instead of Obama's plan:

IDEA #1: Allow Individuals To Purchase Health Insurance Across State Lines

IDEA #2: Encourage Small Businesses And Trade Associations To Band Together And Form Association Health Plans

IDEA #3: Give Individuals The Same Tax Break Given To Businesses When They Buy Health Insurance

IDEA #4: Incentivize The Use Of Electronic Medical Records

IDEA #5: Give People The Tools To Make Cost-Conscious Decisions About Their Health Care

IDEA #6: Increase The Number Of Community Health Centers

IDEA #7: Incentivize State Medical Malpractice Reform

IDEA #8: Enhance Health Savings Accounts

IDEA #9: Incentivize State Insurance Reform

IDEA #10: Adopt A Sensible Program To Cover Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

He has descriptions beneath each idea. Brilliant ideas. I especially liked #6. This semester in nursing school I am taking a community class & clinical. In clinicals, we go to a middle school and teach 6th graders about obesity; focusing on nutrition & exercise. Really, this is a big part of health that we are missing out on - PREVENTION. A big problem in our health system now revolves around Emergency Departments. Education and community centers could really help with this problem. There are so many diseases out there that are preventable or can be controlled, but people lack the knowledge to help themselves. We need more community centers so that we can help people to help themselves.

SNOW

I am realizing how much I miss the seasons, especially the colder ones. Truth be told, I am watching Marley & Me and there is a scene where they've just moved to a new area for a new job, and the kids run in to wake up the parents in the morning because it's snowing. They all run to the window to look at the snow coming down outside. OH HOW I MISS THAT!!! In South Florida, you don't expect much out of the weather. During hurricane season, you expect there to be random spurts of downpour mixed with lightening and thunder. Sometimes in the winter there are a couple weeks of cold (and by cold, it really is nothing compared to Idaho :D). But, there really isn't much to be excited about, and there definitely isn't anything worth running to the window in the morning to look at. I am so looking forward to Christmas in Washington & Idaho this year!

RUNNING & RUNNING HARD

Alright so I need to post about my running so that it is documented and then it will help motivate me to get faster. After finding the 10K race on December 11th, I talked with my brother, who is a hard-core runner, exercise-science minor, etc. , to develop a workout plan (click on this link if you want to take a look at his running blog - RUNFEARLESS). He has a SWEET book that will come up with speed workouts based off of time trials. So Monday (10/11) I ran a 10K time trial in 59:36. Tuesday (10/12) I did a 4m run easy. Thursday (10/14) I did a workout known as a fartlek (you do a certain time of fast running, then of easy running; mine was 2:00 easy, 0:30 fast for 30 min). Saturday (10/16) I ran 8 miles in 1:30:xx (Click on link to see run). Monday (10/18) I did 6m in 56:06 :D. Tuesday (10/19) I did an interval workout 8x800meters with 2min rest in between (that workout was hard because I was still sore from Monday's 6m run), intervals were: 5:15, 4:12, 4:35, 4:30, 4:37, 4:37, 4:35, 5:01. If you're noticing the first & last 1/2 miles to be SLOW it is because I used those as my warm-up & cool-down :D. I am working hard & can already feel & see myself getting faster. WOOT!

Healthcare

So today in our nursing "Leadership" class we spent an hour debating on Obama's healthcare plan. In my opinion, what a waste of time! How can you talk about one little piece of the puzzle like Obama's healthcare plan when there are so many other pieces impacting this? So I just need to get my thoughts out there. #1 capitalism. Oh that's right, we live in the United States of America, the Land of the Free. So people do well and are happy because they have choices and because there is incentive to do well and succeed in life. Oh ok, so I can choose what religion I want to practice, I can choose what company I want to mail packages through, I can choose what kind of health insurance I want (or choose to not pay for any). I choose what I want to be when I grow up and what kind of education I want to get. #2 Education. I get to choose what I want to be when I grow up, but it's expensive. That's interesting because when Morgan & I graduate, we will be out in society, working, contributing to society, and in Morgan's practice he will be supplying other people with jobs. We'll finally be making money, instead of borrowing, but now we have to pay back all of the interest on our loans. Hmmm.... Shouldn't there be some sort of program in place to reward those who help themselves or end up helping others later because of getting an education. Well I could think of a thing or two, like help paying back loans, or maybe just reducing the interest on loans. Instead, how about the government offers different FREE services for the community (instead of paying teachers more for providing kids with good education, or helping out students pay off loans), like public libraries. Let's get real for a second, I LOVE the public library, but aren't libraries supposed to be educational?? Our libraries down here have books, vhs, dvds, blu-rays...cds.... Oh ok so now I get it, the government is trying to make movie-rental places obsolete too now. #3 Canada. I think if you like the idea of Universal Healthcare, Canada may be the place for you. Or maybe just go for a visit, and then let me know if that's really what you would like. As much as I love WAITING and WAITING in line anytime I step into any government-run facility, healthcare does not need to be government run. #4 Healthcare. So really we're not talking about access to care because everybody already has access to care. Unfortunately it hits our ERs pretty hard, but we are already paying for people to have access to healthcare, and people don't realize it... #5 If we are really talking about affordability of healthcare, then I think education costs and payback should be addressed first. When Morgan & I get out of school, we will have $300,000 of debt. But we're supposed to payback those loans + interest + want to pay more taxes for a universal healthcare plan???

Just saying...

10K run in December

I have been running regularly with the intention of doing a half-marathon within the next 3-4 months. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a Saturday race on a preferable weekend. I did however find a 10K, which will work out awesome because then it'll force me to focus on picking up my pace (which I definitely need because I've been getting the miles in, but have been running SO SLOW). So I'm planning to run the Elf Classic on December 11th in Orlando. It's the perfect weekend because it's the Saturday after finals week. The cool thing about this race is that it is in the evening - at 5pm. This will be nice because we'll be able to make this event a day trip; drive up in the morning & attend the temple, and then finish the day with a SWEET 10K run.

More baby shoes

Alright, so these shoes really are SOOO CUTE and so fun to make. After making Bethany's, I just had to make another pair. They turned out great! Not sure if these are for a boy or girl yet. But I'll either add buttons or flowers depending on who they're for.

What I did differently than the pattern:
I used wonder-under instead of medium weight interfacing (so I ended up doubling the amount of pieces I cut out. I think this made the shoes a little sturdier too.)
I didn't use a very a thick fabric for the bottom, or sole, of the shoe - I just did more layers of fabric with wonder-under.
Another tip - fold your fabric over when cutting out each piece (otherwise this step could take a long time - and do the same with the wonder-under)

ENJOY!!!

BABY CLOTH SHOES!!!

Alright so I found the best idea from the Secret Stitch Club blog. Today I attempted and succeeded using THIS PATTERN posted by Star Dust Shoes. I was very pleased with how they turned out! Can't wait to make another pair. This pair is going to Bethany :D

NEW MONTH, NEW SEMESTER

Wow. Morgan began his 3rd year of dental school and already seems to be in the groove of things. He has been doing dental procedures on REAL patients now. And yes he is very good at it. He amazes instructors with how fast and proficient he is. He has been doing a lot of restorations already (cavities) and has a lot of patients. As a dental student, he has certain requirements he needs to meet before graduating, he has to do a certain number of restorations, root canals, etc. So he's already jumping right in and getting things done.

It's September and the beginning of semester 6 for me. This semester I will be studying PSYCH, community, leadership and research. Yes, I did put an emphasis on the psych. That's right, my clinicals will be on a psych floor, I've already heard many many stories from nurses doing psych rotations.... Pretty sure this won't be my favorite class, but it sounds like I will learn a lot of therapeutic communication that I can apply in various situations. I am still doing my externship - and I LOVE IT!! I learn something new every time I'm there and I really enjoy it.

CURTAINS!!!!

Alright so our new place is great. We love it!! Since I've been married, I've been thinking it would be fun to do curtains, but didn't want to have to deal with buying the rods and putting them up in a place that wouldn't be permanent. When we moved to our new place, there were curtain rods already up. And since I've had a few weeks off, I made curtains!!! We found the fabric at Walmart on sale, and thank goodness because these curtains took 10 yards worth of fabric to make.

NEW HOUSE!!!

Alright so we are officially in the new place and I promised my mom I would post pics by this weekend so here it is!!! A quick glance of our new residence. We're hoping to be here for the rest of our florida stay :D

EXTERNSHIP - cardiac stepdown unit

I have been searching and searching for the past three months for an nursing externship... In Broward County, evidently, these positions are hard to come by. I had finally decided that I probably just needed to work as a nursing assistant or volunteer to get at least some experience and do some networking while I was in school. Externships are the best experience though because they provide you with multiple things: 1. experience in the field 2. exposure to hospital systems (procedures, protocols, charting, etc.) 3. networking 4. a job when you graduate from your program. All great things right? I GOT AN EXTERNSHIP IN A CARDIAC STEPDOWN UNIT AND I'M SO EXCITED!!! I just bought my first pair of non-teal scrubs yesterday, along with my first ekg calipers :D

NEW SPICE = HILARIOUS!!!

Top video = Old Spice Commercial

Bottom video = BYU's new spice commercial

BYU's video has been shown on various news stations, CNN for example

My newest baby masterpiece!!!

Alright so for those of you who don't know - I have been making these cute little boy onesies with ties. They are darling, and it's been perfect because for quite a while all of my friends were just having boys. But now it's the season for girls, so I needed to come up with something clever. Here are some projects that I have already been making for gifts. And yes they are handmade :D

Diaper case & wipes case

Tie Onesie

Nursing cover

Alright so for those of you who don't know - I have been making these cute little boy onesies with ties. They are darling, and it's been perfect because for quite a while all of my friends were just having boys. But now it's the season for girls, so I needed to come up with something clever. Here are some projects that I have already been making for gifts. And yes they are handmade :D

And finally...my newest creation..... girl onesie with skirt :D

Andrea & Corbin meet FLoRIdA

Welcome to Miami (bienvenido a Miami).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA & CORBIN. We celebrated at Cheesecake Factory. Morgan told our waiter that it was both of their birthdays...but we're pretty sure he thought Morgan was joking around because they never sang Happy Birthday :( Don't worry Morgan & I sang for them and let them blow out one of our nice-smelling candles at home :D
John Lloyd State Park at Dania Beach. One day we went to the skip-jacks and the other day we went snorkling and found conch shells by the rock pier.
Andrea & I got smart the second time we came to this beach. Yeah we wore rash guards so we wouldn't get burned...again...

So yes Andrea & Corbin came and visited us in Fort Lauderdale. They went up to Orlando for a few days and spent the rest of the week with us. We had a blast!!

DECORATIVE PILLOWS!!!

So for the last 1 1/2 months I have been working on these pillows. Every time I go to the store, I always see way cute decorative pillows that I want to buy. I am always convinced that they will spruce up my apartment and make it look so much better, but they are always SO EXPENSIVE. So instead of paying $30/pillow I decided to find the pillows I loved and just copy the general idea. Morgan, believe it or not, contributed some of the greatest pointers for making these pillows look great. And thanks to makeit-loveit.com I was able to implement Morgan's great ideas :D I am a little over half way done. These are the two pillows completely done, and now I'm just waiting on Joann's to get the last two pieces I need....then there will be four beautiful decorative pillows. Each pillow I made is hand-embroidered with a unique design, hand stuffed by Morgan with feathers, and finished with a bias tape piping.

cockroach en mi bano

Once upon the time I had a mouth full of toothpaste, and I was going to the bathroom... Then I saw a cockroach two feet away from me on the floor. I jumped off the toilet and screamed for Morgan. Of course he happened to be in the other bathroom, so he didn't hear me at first. Then my knight in shining armor tackled that cockroach to the ground and fought him to the death. He finished the job by flushing it down the toilet. I then grabbed all my essentials from my bathroom and finished my getting ready for bed in the other bathroom. Well I sure love the weather in Florida, can't say much about the giant insects though.

YUCCA :D

I bought my very first plant this week. It's a yucca plant and I absolutely love it. Our place has too many naked corners and we found a way to spruce up the place. So apparently Home Depot has a warranty on all their plants. This is great! A win-win situation! If by chance our plant was to die - we could just go get a new one. This also means we bought our first pot this week too - a great deal at TJ Maxx. So a little info on the yucca: these plants only have to be watered about once every 7-10 days and actually the soil is supposed to get pretty dry before you water again. They tolerate temperatures from 30 - 90 and can tolerate less sunny areas as well. One of the big reasons people like to get a Yucca plant is because of the low maintenance and they clean the air. So if you're looking for a plant to get....we sure love our yucca :D

I want to be a labor & delivery nurse

Today was my very first day ever in the labor and delivery unit. It is the third week of my 5th semester of nursing school (Obstetrics & Pediatrics) and I have been loving every second of it. Even before going to the hospital, I have enjoyed going to lecture because I love everything I am learning. Let's be honest, OB is not just for people that want to work in the unit, but hello I want to be a mother and everything I am learning I can apply to my life :D When I arrived to the unit, my patient was dilated to 6 cm 80% effaced & at -2. And from there everything sped up! I was the official "stirrup". Seriously - I was a stirrup. No seriously, I was in charge of holding a leg up - so I was a human stirrup. Therefore, I was right there - front row & in on all the action. This was the first birth I had ever seen. It was amazing. Birth is such an amazing process and babies are the most beautiful thing in the whole world. I would have to say that today was my most favorite ever day in clinicals. I ended up seeing two NSVDs and even a C-section. I was there for a lactation consult and got to watch the baby care done by the nursery nurses. Today was also a trial of a very bad habit - selfishness. I couldn't, nor did I have the time, to hold all the babies. It was very hard because all I could think about was wanting to hold those precious little babies. Now I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. Labor & delivery/nursery/NICU nurse. I'd probably take any of those three. Just please let me work with babies :D

Once upon a time....

There was a boy named Morgan. He was very thrifty. His wife Chelsey had a road bike and was dying for him to get a bike so they could go biking together. Morgan had been waiting for the right deal for a long time. One day, his friend Tapa gave him an old bike with a rusted chain. Morgan took this bike home and got to work on it to get it up and running. After a couple weeks of working on the bike, it was ready to go. Finally, Chelsey's life-long dream would come true and they would get to go on a bike ride. After two minutes of riding down the street, Chelsey heard her name being yelled. Something must be wrong, she thought, as her name was yelled as if someone must be dying. Immediately, she hopped off her bike to turn and see Morgan holding something in his hand - the pedal of the bike. The bike ride was over. Chelsey was very disappointed. It had been too long since she had been on her bike and she was ready to go for a LONG bike ride.

Saturday, Morgan found a bike (after looking and comparing and testing for a solid two hours). Chelsey and Morgan finally went on their bike ride. And they lived happily ever after.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Well this Mother's Day the two mothers (Morgan's & Mine) were both NAUGHTY. They opened their mother's day gift early....BUT who could blame them?

I mean I don' t want to brag, but I'm pretty proud of my home-made gifts this year :D

Morgan and I were "on the ball" this year, we got our gifts ready earlier (which in a way promoted the early opening of the gifts, so I guess it's kind of our fault....)

I found the pattern on the Make It & Love It website: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/02/quick-apron.html

I love this website - it has the best crafts!

BYU

I got to see BYU while I was in Provo!!! I think it had been 2 years since I had gone inside that library. Crazy. I miss how big the library is there...unlike the size of the library in Nova's HPD. BYU had some pretty sweet exhibits - photography & Florence Nightingale (hello! she was a nurse :D). I also got to relive the experience of having a locker. Yes I had a locker at BYU and it was amazing. Couldn't remember the locker #, let alone the combo, so no I didn't actually open it.

At the BYU bookstore....I mean my professional recording studio, Shelley and I recorded a new song. It should be on the radio soon!

And finally, I got to see Shelley and Marci while I was in Provo = SO MUCH FUN!

HOME SWEET HOME

I went home this last week - visiting Idaho Falls and Provo. I was there for Jacob's eagle court of honor and his track invitational - 800 & 1600. And just for me Jacob decided to get a PR on his 800. As he crossed the finish line he did a cartwheel followed by a double backflip and then yelled - "that was for you sis!" Alright that was a lie but he really did get a PR :D On Tuesday night Rachel and I got to go on a Daddy-Daughter-Daughter date. Yes I had to hold back my selfish nature because I had to share MY dad with my little sister. We went to nicklecade and most importantly did DDR. Way fun!

KIMBALL

I FINALLY GOT TO SEE MY NEW NEPHEW KIMBALL TODAY!!! BEST DAY EVER! Kimball is the cutest and best baby in the WHOLE WORLD. I LOVE HIM.

RUNNING with different socks!!!

So Morgan and I have begun running....again. Yes we are working on "consistency". The time we had gone running before (2 days before), my shoe had kind of rubbed on my foot and I forgot about it until we were out running again. While we were running Morgan suggested switching socks....so we did. Off the side of the road, on the sidewalk we switched one sock and then continued our run :D Ha and I just noticed that Morgan wasn't wearing the same pair of socks to begin with....no wonder he didn't mind switching :D

I MET LINDA ANNE SILVESTRI!!!

The first week of April was the National Student Nurses Association Annual Convention. Wow that was a mouthful. This year it was held in Orlando, FL. This week was filled with house of delegate meetings, resolutions hearings, workshops, career advisement, exhibits, etc. What a great week!! I learned a lot! This was the first time we could credential and were able to serve as delegates! I also had the opportunity of meeting Linda Anne Silvestri (who wrote the book "Saunders Comprehensive NCLEX Review" - a very famous book among nursing students). PS I love this book and use it all the time!