August Adventures

A lot has been happening this summer!

In June, Jen and Peter got engaged! Although I haven't actually met Peter face to face, he seems like an amazing guy and I'm so excited for him to be part of our family.

Then in July, Andrew and Heather got engaged! Not only is Andrew getting a wife, he's also getting two kids, Adalee and Alec. They make an adorable family! Now my parents are suddenly grandparents- Nana and Papa- and Jen and I are aunts. It's a big change, but a fun one!

At the end of July, Andrew's best friend since birth, Jon Shoe, got married to one of my good friends from camp, Kait. Andrew was a groomsman and I was a candlelighter. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with them!

This past weekend, my parents and I got to take care of Adalee and Alec! They stayed at our house from Friday to Sunday, and we had a ton of fun with them! They are such good kids, and so comfortable with new people, which makes it really easy for us.

We went swimming...

they watched my dad play softball...

and we took them to the beach.

It was a lot of fun watching my parents become grandparents!


A couple other random things that have happened this month:
my mom and I finished our cross-stich projects!! After six months of hard work, we are very proud of our finished products.

I also got a couple new books that I'm really excited about!

Just Cupcakes is a really fun cookbook full of cupcake recipes and ideas. I've already made angel food cupcake recipe, and it was delicious!

Cold Tangerines is a book about celebrating the little joys of life by Shauna Niequist. Shauna has spoken in APU's chapel a few times and was a delight to hear. My friend Johanna just finished reading her book and told me I'd like it, so I decided to give it a try. I've already read the first out of four sections and I'm loving it! She's a great writer!

Finally, I went to an Angels baseball game with my good friend Sarah, her family, and her Greek friend Ekaterini (Katie). We were sitting right in front of a big group of Orioles fans who were very vocal throughout the game, but it was still very entertaining. It was a really close game and went into extra innings, but the Angels had a big finish and won 9-8 in the 12th inning. Very exciting! There was even a MercyMe concert afterward, which was just as good as the game!

It has been a really great summer!

On My Own

I was really nervous going to work last night. I was finally going to be off orientation, which means that I would no longer be paired up with another nurse to make sure I didn't mess anything up. For the first time, I would be assigned my very own patients and I would have sole responsibility for everything that happened to them. Yikes!

I told myself, "This is what I've been working towards for so many years. I'll finally be the independent nurse that I've wanted to be for so long." But I was still scared!

The night ended up going really well. All of the nurses working with me were so helpful and I felt comfortable asking any of them questions. They all knew it was my first night alone, so they kept offering to help in any way.

I was only assigned 3 patients, so I didn't have a full load. They were all easy and it was going really well, but then I had to admit one more patient. She was really sweet, but she needed several blood transfusions, which takes a lot of time to set up and close monitoring to make sure there's no reaction. That made my night a lot busier, but I was glad to get the practice. Now I feel like an expert at giving blood!

All in all, the night went very smoothly and I am proud to have successfully completed my first shift on my own!

Finished!

Remember back on Superbowl Sunday when I told you about the pillow I wanted to sew? Well 4 months, 1 week, and 3 days later... I finally finished it!

I only spent about 4 days total working on it, but there was a lot of time in between when I didn't feel motivated to sew. But it's finally done, and I'm proud of the result!

Here's the front:

The back is very plain, but the fabric has a pretty flower design on it that I really like:


It turned out bigger than I expected, and I even had to buy a bigger pillow form so it would fit!

It was fun to make, but I realized that I'm not a big fan of sewing machines. I prefer sewing by hand, like my cross-stitch, because it's easier to get out and work on for a few minutes at a time. Getting out the sewing machine took a lot more effort, and I had to spend all day working on the project to make it worthwhile. I don't see many more pillows or quilts in my future, at least for a while.


P.S. I've been making more progress on my cross-stitch also. The background is coming together nicely. Just another month or two, and it should be finished as well!

Updates

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on blogging lately. I'll try to post things more often from now on. I don't have anything particularly interesting to share today, just some updates on what's been going on for me lately.

I just found out today that I have my PHN certification now! That stands for Public Health Nurse. I didn't have to do anything special to get certified, though, so it's not really a big deal. My nursing school is set up so that anyone who takes the community health class (which is mandatory for all nursing majors) will be eligible to get their PHN upon graduation. Although I don't plan on using it, I figured I should get it just because I can.

I've been house-sitting for my grandpa for the past couple of weeks. He's taking a cruise with his brother from Rome to Greece to Israel to tour the Holy Land and many of the cities from the New Testament. I think it's so cute that they're going now that they're in their 80's!

This is me teaching him how to work the digital camera he was going to take on the trip. Hopefully he remembers how to use it!

My cousin Felisha and my friend Johanna have been staying with me at his house some of the nights. It's been fun hanging out with them. Felisha and I found a family of raccoons living in the attic last week. Sometimes we can hear them walking around up there. The other day it even sounded like the babies were wrestling! They're so cute! I wish I could keep one as a pet.

The adorable babies!

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on opening day with my friends Damaris, Becky, and Courtney. We had all seen the 1st Pirates together when it first came out back when we were freshmen in high school. We also went to the midnight showing of the 3rd one when it was released, so it was very fun to go see the newest movie with them as well.

My best friends- you gotta love them.

Oh, and the biggest update of my life right now is that I started my job as an RN a month ago!!! It's going great so far! I'm on orientation for the first 3 months, which means that I'm paired up with another nurse who helps me slowly take on more patients and more responsibilities until I'm ready to work on my own. I was on days for the first 4 weeks and I loved my preceptor. I worked my way up to taking care of 4 patients, doing all of the charting, giving all of the meds, starting IVs, calling the doctor for new orders, etc.

I've just now started on the night shift, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's very different than days and a lot slower pace, but it has its benefits. There aren't any doctors or family members to deal with, no meals to serve, fewer meds to give, and the patients sleep through most of the shift (hopefully!). In fact, it's been so slow the last 2 shifts that despite taking on 5 patients for the first time (the maximum load for a med/surg nurse), I had absolutely nothing to do for at least 3 hours, and I was falling asleep while just waiting around for the sun to rise! So far it hasn't been too hard to adjust to sleeping during the day, but it might get a little more difficult as I start doing 2 shifts in a row.

Ready for my first day of work!

Well that's about it for now. I'm going to try my best to keep this up. Hopefully more interesting things will start happening!

Part I Done

I finished the main portion of my cross-stitch tonight. Now I just have the background and the outlining left, which will probably take another several months...

It's Official!!

I got a real job!!!!!

I was just offered a job as an RN on the med/surg floor at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora!! I'll be working nights, which is supposed to be the best shift for new grads. I start training and orientation next week.

What an amazing early birthday present! Thanks God!!

A Civil War Saga

I want to tell you about one of my favorite things once again- books!

I just finished reading my favorite book in the whole world for the 4th time, a novel that takes place during the Civil War. It's called Candle in the Darkness, by Lynn Austin. I first read it when I was in high school, and I LOVED it! It instantly became my favorite book of all time, and it hasn't been beat.

The story follows the life of a Southern girl named Caroline Fletcher. Caroline lives in Richmond and her family owns slaves, but she has always seen the slaves as people rather than possessions. When the Civil War begins, Caroline believes more in the cause of the North than of her homeland, the South, and struggles to seek God's will in the whole situation. It's a beautiful story about being obedient to God and fighting for what's right, and it has some romance sprinkled in as well.

Now imagine my delight when I found out that Candle in the Darkness is actually the first book in a series of three?! I couldn't wait to read the other two! I quickly found out, though, that the main characters are completely different in each book (although they are related to Caroline's story in one way or another), so the series is not a continuation of one story, but instead three different points of view during the same historical event. The first book is from a Southerner's perspective, the second from a Northerner's perspective, and the third from a slave's perspective. What a great idea for a Civil War Saga!


Fire by Night, the second book, follows the story of two young women, Julia and Phoebe. Julia is a rich girl from Philadelphia who, against her family's wishes, becomes a nurse for the North during the war. Phoebe is tomboy farmer in West Virginia who has been raised by her three brothers. When they all go off to fight in the war, she wants to join them, so she disguises herself as a man and becomes a soldier herself.


A Light to My Path, the third and final book, is about two slaves in South Carolina who have both lost their families. One is bitter and angry at all white people, while the other is timid and fearful. They both struggle with finding dignity in the life of a slave, as well as forgiving those who have enslaved them.

All three books are fantastic, and I highly recommend each of them. Lynn Austin is an incredbile author (my favorite!) and she has created very real, complex, relatable characters that become your friends as your read their stories.

So if you enjoy Christian historical fiction romance novels, then you should definitely read the Refiner's Fire series!


P.S. Once you're done with this series, then you should read the rest of Lynn Austin's books. Between my mom and I, we own 11 of her novels, and all 9 that I've read so far are amazing! In fact, I'm going to start reading her newest one, While We're Far Apart, right now!

Nursing "Fundations"

I started a part-time job 2 weeks ago! I am now a Teacher's Assistant for APU's School of Nursing!

The Chair of Undergrad Nursing wanted to start a part-time position that new grads could hold while looking for nursing jobs, so she created a TA position a couple months ago. She thought I would be a great person for it, so I was basically handed a job! I was so happy!! Three of my fellow South Africa nursing friends and I are the only ones working as TAs right now, but more people may join us in the future. It's kind of exciting that we're basically pioneering this position!

Right now I'm working with the freshmen nursing students at their clinical site. They're in Nursing Foundations (which another TA has nicknamed Nursing "Fundations" because we want to make it as fun as possible for the students). I go to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital on Thursday and Friday mornings, and I basically oversee the students as they go about their clinical experience. I answer their many questions, give them tasks if they have nothing to do, and help them with assessments and patient care. I work alongside their clinical professor, but she's basically given me all the same duties and responsibilites that she has!

I've been having a great time getting to know the 9 students in the clinical group. They are all so sweet and so eager to learn. They make me laugh because they are so scared to do anything with their patients! I remember being exactly like them when I first started nursing, and it makes me proud to realize how much I've grown and matured as a nurse.

In the meantime, I'm still looking for a real nursing job. Please keep me in your prayers as I look for just the right position that God has prepared for me.

"Seeking Wisdom from Above"

Every spring, APU cancels classes for a day and instead holds an event called Common Day of Learning. There are lots of different sessions led by faculty, students, and guest speakers about a wide variety of topics. This semester's CDL was held yesterday, and I got to be one of the presenters!

The theme this year was Seeking Wisdom from Above. Two of my South Africa study abroad friends and I planned a session about the wisdom we gained from our nursing experiences in South Africa. Seven of the nursing students that just returned from SA joined us as well. We had a great time sharing our love of the South African people and culture, as well as talking about the lessons we learned.

I talked about one of the clinics that we went to called Mason's Clinic.

This small clinic serves the rural township of Haniville, which is primarily made up of small mud shacks built on the hillside.

They have no running water or proper sanitation, which means that there are a lot of health issues, and the clinic is usually very busy.

A personal anecdote that I shared was about the lesson I learned on the importance of greeting patients as they come in. My very first clinical day was spent at Mason's, and I barely knew any Zulu at the time. I was really frustrated because I couldn't communicate with the patients on my own, and it helped me realize how important greeting patients in their own language is because it develops trust and respect and shows the patient that you care about them.

Near the end of the presentation, we shared a small nugget of wisdom that we each took away from our experience. Mine was about the fact that nursing isn't just about the skills we perform. It's also about supporting and encouraging patients spiritually and emotionally.

I also shared something that God reminded me of over and over while I was in South Africa, that each person I encounter is His precious child.

I shared a verse from The Message,
"God chose you out of all the people on earth as His cherished personal treasure" ~ Deut. 14:2
This verse really resonated with me, and reminded me how much He loves each one of us. I talked about how He knows the struggles and the pain that we're going through, but it's all part of His plan because He works everything for His good.

It turned out to be a great presentation and we had about 100 people come to listen to it! I was really grateful that I got a chance to share the wonderful things that I experienced and learned in the amazing country of South Africa.



P.S. I've continued to make progress on my cross-stitch, little by litte...

Progress!

Feeling Crafty

Today was the Superbowl, but my mom and I have never been very interested in football, so we decided to go craft shopping instead!

I have been wanting to try quilting for the past few weeks, so I was looking for different fabric options today. My mom has been wanting to start a new cross-stitch project, so she was looking for patterns. Although she didn't find any patterns she liked, I found some fabric!


Since I've never made a quilt (or anything close to it) before, I'm going to start out small by making a pillow. If I like it, then I might tackle a full quilt later on.

I'll be making a quilt square from ohfransson.com (where my cousins and aunt got their pattern from as well) as the pillow front. Since it won't take a lot of fabric, I just got a quilter's bundle with 5 different patterns.

I'll need to go back later to get the backing and pillow form, but I was excited to at least have something to start with this week!

I'll keep you updated on my pillow's progress as I begin to work on it. I'm really excited about it, so I hope it turns out well!


P.S. I also found this super cute cross-stitch pattern of an African woman with her child, and I fell in love with it. Even though I tried, I just couldn't pass it up! I'll be making it eventually to add to my African art collection.

Bethany Johnson, RN

I took the dreaded NCLEX last Friday, January 28.

It was awful.

I felt like I didn't know the answers to any of the questions, except for one.

I finished in 75 questions, which is the minimum. (I was so relieved that I didn't have to take all 265!)

I was the first one done in the room, which made me sure that I had rushed through the questions too quickly and failed.

But no matter how horrible I felt, I couldn't stop smiling once I left the testing center because it was all over with!

Four days later my name was listed on the Board of Registered Nursing website with an RN license number next to it.

That means that I passed the NCLEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And today, this came in the mail:

I am officially a Registered Nurse!!!!!

It's 2011 Already?

I cannot believe that time has flown so quickly! It's already been 2011 for almost a month now! How did that happen?

Well even scarier to me is that today marks one year exactly since I arrived in South Africa. Wow! How is it possible that it's already been a year?! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in that beautiful country. My experience there has truly impacted everything about my life, and I can't even imagine the person I would be right now if I hadn't gone to South Africa.

When I think about the coming year, 2011, it makes me wonder what new experiences I'll get to have. I'm sure nothing will quite compare to living in another country, but I'll be getting a lot of new professional experiences this year as I become an RN and (hopefully) start working full time at a hospital! That will definitely impact my life in big ways.

I've been thinking about things that I want to accomplish this year, and I figured I would put a few of my goals on here so I can look back on this post next year and see if I've accomplished any of them!

So here we go- some goals for 2011:

1. Read the Bible in one year
(I got The Message version of the bible for Christmas, so I'm excited to read it cover to cover just like a book!)

2. Pass the NCLEX!!
(I'll be taking it in exactly 5 days, 15 hours, and 26 min!)

3. Get a nursing job
(I'd be happy with anything to start out with)

4. Go to Disneyland more
(I want to make better use of my pass this year- I only went 5 times in 4 months last year. And I've already gone 3 times this month so I'm making progress!)

5. Wear nicer clothes
(I'm tired of wearing jeans with holes in them and shirts from high school)

6. Keep my room clean
(which I'm definitely failing at right now)

7. Follow a budget
(I'm anticipating making a lot more money this year once I get a real job, so I want to be smart about how I spend it)

8. Go on a trip somewhere
(anywhere!!)

9. Sew something
(I'm thinking of making one of those really neat quilts like my aunts and cousins have made)

10. Gain some weight
(most people want to lose weight, but I'm determined to gain some!)

11. Finish all my 2009 books
(remember that post that I made in '09 about all the books I was reading at once? Well I've only finished Kaffir Boy so far, but I'm determined to finish the rest this year!)

12. Exercise more
(hopefully at least twice a week- yikes!)

13. Blog more!
(My plan is to blog once a week, but we'll see if that happens...)

So there you go. 13 goals for 2011. I'm determined to stick to these and accomplish at least 10 of them this year. Wish me luck!


Random fact: One year ago today, I was eating a chicken burger with monkey gland sauce.