Bits of Bethany

August Adventures

2011-08-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-06-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-04-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-03-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-03-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-16T02:19:00.000-08:00

Feeling Crafty

2011-02-06T23:13:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-01-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

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.

Graduation Pictures

2010-12-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

I'm done with school forever!!! (Or at least for a while.) It still doesn't seem real yet, but I know it'll start to sink in pretty soon.

I just want to share some pictures from my nursing pinning ceremony and my graduation ceremony. Both were very fun for me, and they represented the end of a long and difficult, but exciting, journey through college and nursing school!

PINNING CEREMONY ~ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010

Saying the nursing pledge

My clinical instructor, Prof Ronga

My study buddy, Kelsey

The South African nurses, Chelsea, Tony, and me

Some of our South Africa friends who came to support us

My closest friends, Sarah, Damaris, and Becky!

GRADUATION ~ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010

Getting seated

President Wallace spoke and gave us our diplomas

I got to wear an international stole showing the countries I had been to

Becky and I got to graduate together! It was wonderful!

Too Busy!

2010-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. This semester has been the busiest I've ever had! Thankfully, once it's over in 2 weeks, I'll never have another semester of school again!!

Even though graduation is only 2 weeks away, it still doesn't seem real to me yet. I have so many end-of-the-semester projects and big presentations in every class that I have to get through before I can even begin to think about graduating.

Plus, I just went on a missions trip to Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend, and I can't stop thinking about it! It was incredible and I really miss the people I met and became friends with over there. I miss my teammates too!

I'll post pictures and tell a few stories about my trip once I find the time. But for now, I have to get back to my project for my leadership class...

South Africa from A-Z

2010-10-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

I had been planning on doing this post while I was still in South Africa, but I never got around to it.

Lately, I've been missing the country and the people who live there a whole lot, so it seemed like a good time to remember all the funny phrases that South Africans use.

You would think that because they speak English, it would be easy to communicate and understand what they're saying. But don't be fooled! They say a lot of funny phrases that I had never heard before, and a lot of times I had no idea what they were telling me!

For your enjoyment, and in case you ever travel to South Africa and want to be able to communicate, here is a list of South African-isms from A-Z...

Air con= abbreviation for air conditioner (instead of "AC" or just "air")

Braai, bakkie= Braai means "BBQ" (very popular meal), "bakkie" means "pick-up truck"

Chips, cutlery= Chips mean "French fries," cutlery means "silverware"

Drinks: cold drinks, appletiser= cold drinks mean "soda", appletiser is a type of delicious soda

Eish= used simililarly to "wow," but can mean anything you want it to mean

Flushing toilets= couldn't think of a phrase for F, but random fact about flushing toilets: the handle to flush the toilet is on the right side of the tank (and it's really hard to get used to!)

Granny= grandma (they refer to any and all grandmas as "granny")

Half past, howzit?= Half past seven means "7:30," howzit? means "how's it going?"

It's a pleasure= you're welcome

Just now= in a few minutes (the hardest phrase to get used to since it has a completely different meaning in the US)

Keen= who's keen on going? means who wants to go?

Lekker= cool or great

Matric= Senior year of high school (short for matriculation)

Now now= right now (the opposite of just now)

Oh shame= that's too bad

Petrol, packet= Petrol means gas (petrol station= gas station), packet means bag (like grocery bag)

Queue= line

Rubbish bin, robot= Rubbish bin means "trash can," robot means "traffic signal" (like you have to stop at the red robot)

Slip, SMS, sharp sharp= slip means "receipt," SMS means "text message," sharp sharp (sounds like shop shop with their accents) means "cool" or "I understand"

Toilet, take away= toilet means "restroom," take away means "to go" (like ordering to go at McDonalds)

Umgungundlovu= the name of the county we were living in (means Place of the Elephant in isiZulu)

Vervet= type of monkeys that terrorized us every day

Woza= Come (in isiZulu)

X click= they use a click for the letter x in isiZulu

Yebo, yoh= Yebo means "yes" (in isiZulu), yoh means the same thing as eish

Zed, zebra= Zed means the letter "Z" (they pronounce it zed instead of zee), so zebra is pronounced zeh-bra instead of zee-bra

ICU Lingo

2010-09-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

I had a really busy day in clinical today. My nurse and I only had 2 patients, but we were busy going back and forth between them all day long!

When I thought back on all the things I did or saw today, I realized just how many abbreviations nurses use on a daily basis. And since learning about the ICU this semester, I've realized that ICU nurses use even more abbreviations than the average nurse!

Just to give you an idea of the crazy confusion that can ensue if you don't know your abbrevs, here's a list of things I did/saw today. See if you can figure out what they mean!

-IV monitoring and meds
-G tube meds
-NG tube reinsertion
-Chest tube removal
-ABG draws
-PT and INR draws
-A-line draws
-A-line removal
-Pacer wire isolation
-Rapid response
-Accu-chek
-Hemodynamic monitoring
-AVR patient
-New pulse ox
-VFib
-CT scan
-Vent monitors on SIMV with FiO2, PS, and PEEP

Does that mean anything to you? I'm proud to say that I understand all of it! But there's plenty more abbreviations out there that I don't know yet...

The Beginning of the End... of School!

2010-09-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

My final semester of college began last Wednesday, and I'm now officially on my way to graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing!

I cannot believe that I've already finished four years of college. I truly can't comprehend it! I feel like I was just a little freshman last week, but somehow time has passed much faster than I ever thought imaginable, and I am now a super senior.

I always thought it would be fun to tell people that I'm a "super senior." I'm actually kind of glad that it's taking me 4 1/2 years to graduate just because I get this really cool title as a result!

I'm also having a lot more fun on campus this semester because I actually know people now! Thanks to studying abroad in South Africa, I now have 52 close friends on campus that I bump into all the time! It's great!

Even though I'm going to be reading constantly for my critical care nursing class and my American lit class (probably shouldn't have taken them together), this is still going to be a fun final semester! Plus, I get to do clinicals at this place again:

Huntington Hospital!

I was awestruck once again when my clinical group met in the lobby this morning. I seriously felt like I was in a hotel rather than in a hospital.

Of course, this feeling changed quickly once we toured the ER and heard about a really "exciting" trauma patient that had just been brought in with a fractured skull. Our professor says that this patient will be transferred to the ICU floor that we'll be working on, so it may be one of my patients next week!

It's going to be a challenging clinical, but hopefully I'll feel like a real nurse by the end of it!

Vacation

2010-09-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of summer is usually a family vacation. This summer started off with one, and it was wonderful!

At the beginning of June, my parents and I flew to Niagara Falls, New York. We spent a couple hours admiring the falls from the American side.

Then we picked up my sister (who had flown in from Puerto Rico), and we all drove across the border to Canada! It was my first time ever going to Canada, and I was really excited!

We stayed in a hotel in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, and spent a couple days exploring the area and admiring the falls from that side.

Jen's friend, Laurie (who lives in Canada), joined us for those couple of days.

When we were done in Niagara Falls, we drove 8 hours to Nashua, New Hampshire to see my brother's new home! We stayed with him in his apartment for the rest of the week.

We had a lot of fun playing games and spending time with him.

We also drove into Boston twice to see the city.

I had always wanted to visit Boston, and now I finally got to! I loved it!

The trip was wonderful, but the best part about it was just getting our whole family together again. You can't beat that!

Baby Landon

2010-09-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful thing I got to do this summer was meet Baby Landon!!!

My cousin Dana had a baby on May 31, but since she and her husband live in Virginia, I wasn't able to meet their son until he was 11 weeks old. Dana, Carl, and Landon flew back here for Carl's sister's wedding in August, so I was able to meet Baby Landon then.

Dana and Carl with their precious son

Me talking to Landon

My mom with Landon- he can already do "the eyebrow" that his mama is famous for!

Landon Kyle is absolutely adorable, and I enjoyed every moment that I got to spend with him! I only wish he lived closer so I could watch him grow up. Next time I see him, he'll probably be walking already. But for now, it was wonderful to get to meet him while he's still small and cuddly!

Universal Studios

2010-08-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

Another thing I did this summer was go to Universal Studios! My cousin Felisha's boyfriend, Mike, turned 21 last week, and he wanted to go to a theme park to celebrate. It was only $20 more to buy year-long passes than a day-long ticket, so all 5 of us that went ended up buying passes! We weren't planning on doing that originally, but it seemed like the better value for our money.

I hadn't been to Universal Studios in many years, so it was all new and exciting to me. We've only gone once so far, but it was quite fun! It happened to be the same day that the Teen Choice Awards were being filmed, so we saw lots of celebrity limos driving past us. We never did see the stars that arrived in them, though.

It was great to just get to hang out with Tracie and Felisha again, since I haven't seen them as much lately.

And of course, their boyfriends are a lot of fun too. I look forward to using our passes again soon!

Weekend at Quaker Meadow

2010-08-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the weekend helping out at Quaker Meadow again. There was a Presbyterian family camp with about 120 people up there, and only 10 staff members instead of the regular 23.

I worked in the kitchen again, but I didn't burn myself at all! No cuts either! I was so proud.

And now, here's a couple pictures that represent an afternoon on staff:

Mikaela and me putting the meat slicer back together

Matt excited to do dishroom

Quincey and Missy dancing in the kitchen

Becky made me a ring out of foil

Group huddle to stay warm in the cold air

Once again it was another wonderful time spent in one of my favorite places on earth. I can't wait to do it all again next weekend!

Camp!

2010-08-27T13:10:00.001-07:00

One of the things I got to do this summer was go up to Quaker Meadow!!! My church hosted a family camp over Fourth of July weekend, and I got to help run the children's program! It was so fun!

I went up later on for a week to help out the staff. I worked in the kitchen again, my home sweet home. Then I came home for a while, and then went back up for another week of helping out. Working at camp is what I love to do most. It makes me feel like I'm actually doing something productive with my summer!

I'm going back up to camp again today! I'm actually packing for the trip right this minute. I'll be leaving in less than an hour! I can't wait to be back up there!

Last time I was there, I got 3 new burns on my left arm. Hopefully I won't add to my burn collection this weekend!

I'm Back!

2010-08-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I haven't blogged in a very, very long time, and I've decided to change that.

Nothing super exciting is happening for me right now, at least compared to the excitement I experienced in South Africa, but I can at least tell you about the ordinary things happening in my life.

I start school in 2 weeks, and I can't believe that it's going to be my last and final semester of college!!! I'm a little scared, but also looking forward to graduating. My books came in the mail today, which brought me back to the reality that I'll be reading them and writing papers very soon, so I need to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer that I have left!

This summer has flown by way faster than I expected. I thought that it was kind of a boring summer, but when I looked back on it, I actually realized that a lot of things happened! I'll post pictures and tell you all about it tomorrow!

New Blog

2010-01-31T06:37:00.000-08:00

I told you I was going to make a new blog specifically for my time here in South Africa, and I have! I just made it a few minutes ago. It's called From South Africa with Love.

I won't be posting on here anymore for a while, so be sure to check my new blog to read all about my new home for the next few months!

11 Hours

2010-01-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm basically leaving tonight for South Africa! It doesn't seem real yet.

I'm still not packed at all yet. That's my goal for this afternoon and tonight-get everything packed. I guess I don't really have a choice!

Last night I went to a commissioning service that the School of Nursing held for the 6 of us nursing students that are going to SA. The dean of the school and a couple other important ladies held it for us. The students that just returned from studying in SA during the fall semester also came. We had a lot of question and answer time with them. It was really nice and very encouraging. It made me really excited to go!

This morning the entire SA group had a meeting. One of the things we had to do was tell them whether or not we want to go bungee jumping and trekking through an "adventure cave." I chose not to do either. But I am interested in going shark cage diving! Hopefully we'll get to do that in Cape Town!

Tonight there's another commissioning service for the entire group. Our family and friends are supposed to come, so my parents will be joining me. We're going to go out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant first! After that I can pack some more, and then it'll be time to meet at the school at 2:30am.

Please keep me and the rest of my group in your prayers as we travel for the next couple of days!

P.S. I'm going to start a new blog specifically about my time in SA. The nursing professors like to read what we're doing, so I'm going to start a blog for them. I'll post the link for it on here once I create it.

4 Days

2010-01-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to tackle the chore of sewing APU's nursing patch onto the left shoulder of each pair of scrubs I'll be taking to South Africa. Unlike most of my family, I was not blessed with the gifted seamstress gene, so although I enjoy sewing, it's usually a long, difficult process for me.

I rented the new Sandra Bullock movie, "All About Steve," and worked on sewing the patch while watching it. When the movie was over, I was only a little over halfway done with the patch, and my fingers were dying with pain, so I asked my wonderful mother if she could do the second patch for me.

I finally got the first one finished, and in half the time it took me, my mom finished the second one. But, after adding the final stitch, she realized that she had sewn it on the right arm instead of the left! Now she's going to see if it can be sewn on with the sewing machine to save her talented fingers from another hour of agony.

Here's my finished result!

It turned out crooked- I told you I don't have the seamstress gene!

And just now my mom finished the second patch on the sewing machine. It only took about 5 minutes! Why didn't we think of that before?!?!

Question of the Day: What's the most space-efficient way to pack clothes in a suitcase?

Counting Down...

2010-01-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

5 days until I leave for South Africa, and I have SO much to do between now and then! Ahhh!

Question of the day: Does anyone have any tips for surviving a 15-hour flight?

Pray for Haiti

2010-01-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't already know, a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti this afternoon, and it's estimated that a few thousand of people have died. Many buildings in the capital and surrounding area collapsed, and injured people are lying on sidewalks waiting for help. The country needs A LOT of prayer right now.

The earthquake hit in western Haiti, but was felt across the entire country. As far as I can tell, though, the area that I was in this past summer is fine. Apparently my friends in eastern Dominican Republic didn't even feel the quake, so they're ok too. I'm so thankful for that! But many of their family members were in Port-Au-Prince (the capital of Haiti).

Please keep the country in your prayers as people try to find their family members and bring help to those who are suffering.

Christmas Lights

2009-12-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

I love to look at houses covered in Christmas lights when it's cold and dark outside. Fortunately, I've been able to do this very thing the last two nights with friends!

On Monday night, I went with my cousin Tracie and our friend Johanna, who is home from Boston College for Christmas. We looked at the lights in Morgan Ranch (really big, beautiful houses in the hills of Glendora), then near Tracie's house.

We found one house that had the lights choreographed to music (my favorite!), and two houses that had snow makers! (Really just soapy bubbles that look kind of like falling snow- which is the same thing that Disneyland has at the end of their fireworks show.) One of these two snow houses also had a whole village scene in front of it, so we got out of the car to take pictures there.

Last night, some of my friends from the Quaker Meadow staff had a Christmas party. We wanted to go caroling afterward, and we ended up looking at Christmas lights as well.

We went down Yale Street in Fullerton which was absolutely amazing! They hang colorful lit-up balls from every tree that lines the street. I've never seen a street like it! My pictures didn't turn out so great, but this might give you an idea of what it was like:

We also went to a place called East Lake, which was a beautiful man-made lake that is completely bordered by houses so that their backyard is a lake! Most of them had little boats anchored outside their back door. It looked like a fun place to live! It was also very decorated with lights. We sang some Christmas carols for a boat full of people that was passing by, and they enjoyed it!

Again, my pictures didn't turn out that great, but it kind of gives you an idea of what it was like.

Both nights were very fun, and they definitely got me ready for Christmas. I can't believe it's just 2 days away!!!

Recent Happenings

2009-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a few weeks, and so much has happened! Here's just a quick list of a few things that went on recentely:

*Andrew is done being in the Marines! His last day was this past Thursday. He had to get a bunch of signatures from people at Camp Pendleton, but they had failed to tell him that they needed his medical records too. My parents and I met him in Irvine that evening to give him his records, and we were able to have a nice dinner with him at BJ's. It turned out to be a very nice surprise!

On Friday, he turned in his medical records and got his last signature, so now he's on "terminal leave." This means that he is on vacation until January 30, when he will officially be out of the Marines and once again become a civilian. It's so great to have him home!

*In a flurry of final papers, presentations, and final exams, I finished my fall semester of classes! I had all my finals this past Monday, so now my classes are over and I'm on Christmas vacation!!!

The last week of school was really tough and I had to stay up late almost every night to finish papers. My nursing classes required presentations as well, which I always dread. What a relief to be done!

(Some of the textbooks I used for my case study earlier in the semester)

(Lunch with some of my friends at a nursing conference we were required to attend)

(One of the "dress-up" days in the nursing theory class we just finished)

I'll start the Spring semester on January 4th, even though I won't be leaving for South Africa until January 21. I have to start my community nursing class early so that I can get in 105 hours of clinical and lecture time before going to South Africa, even though I'll be doing plenty of nursing clinical work there too.

*I'm on call for jury duty this week and next week for the federal court in Los Angeles. Thankfully, I didn't get called in this week, so I was able to go to Disneyland with my family yesterday!

Andrew was given 2 free tickets to Disneyland and California Adventure for being a Wounded Warrior. I have a season pass, so we just had to pay for one ticket and my mom, dad, Andrew, and I were all able to go together yesterday. It was lots of fun!

Andrew was able to walk around the entire day without needing a wheelchair or anything! He was also able to go on all the fast rides without his back being bothered. Thank you God for how much he has healed!

Thanksgiving Highlights

2009-11-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was pretty fun this year. I usually don't get too excited about the holiday because I'm a picky eater and I don't like a lot of the traditional Thanksgiving foods (especially the big one, turkey). But, I do love potatoes and corn and the rolls that my mom and I only make for Thanksgiving, so I manage to find enough food to feel pretty full by the end of the day.

This year was very different from any other year because the only guests were my cousins- the Uphuses- and my grandpa. The Uphuses have never celebrated Thanksgiving with us before because they usually travel to their dad's side of the family for the holiday. And we normally have Gram and Grandfather over, but this year they were celebrating in Puerto Rico with Jen.

It was still a very fun day, even though the guest list was different. Here are some of the highlights from the day:

*Jello competition (Tracie brought "Green Jello" which has applesauce and Sprite, Tyler brought "Ice Cream Jello," and my mom made "Lemon Cloud" which is also made from jello. We never did vote on the winner, though.)

*Grandpa creating his own addition to the jello competition by spilling an entire cup of Orange Soda on top of the Lemon Cloud (thankfully we had all gotten a piece already!)

*Playing the "Thankful Game" that I'm pretty sure my dad created on the spot (we had to say one thing we're thankful for in 2 words or less, and go around the circle as fast as we could. My favorite: Tyler was thankful for indoor plumbing.)

*Jen and several people with her calling every phone and cell phone in the house at the exact same time

*Playing Hucka Bucka (an Uphus tradition that they taught us)

*Skyping with Jen, Gram, and Grandfather

*Skyping with Dana and Carl

*And eating a yummy cocoa cream pie with oreo crust that I made from scratch!!

All in all, it turned out to be a very fun day, and I'm already looking forward to next Thanksgiving!

No Swine Flu For Me!

2009-11-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

I finally got the H1N1 vaccine yesterday from my school's health center. My nursing program is requiring us to get it, and I finally had a chance between classes yesterday. I was surprised that it really didn't make my arm that sore! (And Jen- if you're reading this- it was only one injection, not two, so don't worry!)

This is the third vaccination I've gotten in the past month and a half, so I'm feeling pretty invincible. I dare any germs to try and make me sick now!

1 Down, 6 to Go

2009-11-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

I am currently in the middle of reading 6 different books. That's right, 6! And I'm not talking about textbooks or anything required for school. They're all books that I'm choosing to read in my free time. How in the world did I end up reading 6 at once?!?! I honestly have no idea...

I even have a special bookmark for each one. And as you can tell, I'm not very far into any of them, even the ones that I started months ago.

Here's a little summary of them for you. I'll go in the order that I started reading them in.

Book #1: Isle of Fire by Wayne Thomas Batson

I bought this book solely because I liked the cover. Isn't it beautiful? I was walking by the fiction aisle in my school bookstore one day when this cover jumped out at me. I LOVE anything pirate-y, and this is exactly that! After reading the back of the cover, I realized that this was the 2nd book in a series, so naturally I had to read the 1st book first. I bought this one and immediately bought Isle of Swords from Barnes & Noble when I got home.

I enjoyed the first book quite a bit, but I'm not liking this one as much. I think it's mainly because the author is focusing more on different characters than the ones from the 1st book. But, if you're in the mood for a pirate adventure story, you can give this series a try.

Book #2: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

I had heard from several people that this was a good book, so I started reading it as part of my morning devotionals. I'm really enjoying it.

Book #3: By the Light of My Kerosene Lamp by Ivah Heneise

This little book is a collection of letters that Ivah wrote while living in Haiti as a missionary, starting in 1947. She and her husband moved there as newlyweds and started a small Christian college. They had 4 children and raised them there.

Now, one of their daughters is a nursing professor at my school, and the other one still lives in their house in Haiti. I met the daughter in Haiti when I went on my missions trip this summer. She read us an exerpt from the book, and I knew I had to read the rest once I got home. It was difficult to find a copy since it's out of print, but I was able to order one online.

I absolutely LOVE this book! The letters are so well-written and touching. I definitely recommend that you read it if you can find a copy.

Book #4: Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

If you didn't already know, I'm going to study abroad in South Africa next semester! I chose this book off of a list of suggested readings for South Africa study abroad students. It's an autobiography of a young man who grew up in South Africa in the midst of apatheid.

I haven't gotten very far into it, but so far it's an extremely sad story. I can't believe that people really live like this still.

Book #5: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I read this book when I was a junior in high school for a book report, and loved it. When I got Barnes & Noble gift cards for my birthday, I knew this had to be one of my purchases because I had been wanting to read it again for a while. The problem was that I was already in the middle of reading all these other books, so I figured I would set this one aside for a couple years.

Recently, I didn't want to read Kaffir Boy just before going to bed because it was too sad, and I was suddenly in the mood to read Wuthering Heights instead, so I started it (not that it's much happier). Every once in a while I get in the mood to read it (especially when it's really windy outside) and I pick it up again.

Book #6: Crazy Love by Francis Chan

I bought this a while ago because the author is one of my favorite speakers from my school's chapel sessions. I hadn't started reading it though, because again, I was already reading all of these other books. But, Francis spoke in chapel at the beginning of October, and of course I wanted to start reading his book after hearing him once again. I haven't picked it up since then, but I intend to pretty soon.

And if all this wasn't enough, I started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy while I was baby-sitting in the spring because the little girl's dad recommended it to me.

I don't own a copy myself, though, and I stopped baby-sitting a while ago, before finishing the book. The problem is, the movie adaptation will be in theaters in two weeks, and I wanted to finish the book before I see the movie!

I was excited to find the book at the library two weeks ago, so I checked it out and added it to all the rest of these books that I'm reading. And surprisingly, I managed to finish it on Sunday!!! It was pretty sad, and the ending seemed kind of abrupt, but overall it was very good. I'm just proud that I finally finished a book! Now I just have 6 more to go.... Time to get reading!

P.S. Shane Claiborne spoke at my school this morning, and now I want to start reading his book (Irresistible Revolution), which I own, too! But I've convinced myself that I have enough to read already, so I'm not going to start on it, yet.

First Experience of Mental Patients

2009-11-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday was a lot of fun! I loved hanging out with the adolescents at the mental hospital. They were way more normal than I expected. Sadly, most of them were in there for drug problems or for being suicidal. A few of them had admitted themselves, but most were brought in by their families.

I felt like I was back in high school again- with the cool older boys picking on the geeky younger boys, the girls talking constantly, especially while the teacher was talking- you know, all that fun stuff. I mostly talked with the boys, although they weren't too willing to tell me about all the personal stuff I was supposed to ask about.

I got to go to an arts & crafts session with them where they were split into three groups. Each group was given a word to depict through any type of art medium on a poster. My group (mostly made up of the cool older boys who didn't want to be split up) was given the word "fun." I was really saddened to hear the boys disappointment that they couldn't draw any form of drugs as their depiction of fun. I asked them if they ever did anything besides drugs, and they had a hard time coming up with an answer.

I left the hospital that afternoon with a very different perspective on mental health and the issues that contribute to it. I have been praying for all of the kids I met, and I am hoping that their time in the hopsital will be beneficial.

First Day

2009-11-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

I started a new nursing class this week, and we had our very first day of clinical today! For whatever reason, the APU school of nursing decided to split the 5th semester of the nursing program and make us take two separate 6 unit classes this semester instead of just one. If you ask me, it's not a good idea to cram a 6 unit class into just 7 weeks! But, no one asked me.

My group survived the first class (rehabilitation nursing) and we are now beginning the second one (mental health). We had our first day of clinical today at the psychiatric hospital. It wasn't anything exciting- we just took a tour of the building, then listened to our teacher talk for a couple hours.

On Thursday, we'll actually get to start working with patients! I'm really excited, but at the same time nervous because we don't get to do the normal nursing stuff that I'm used to. We're just supposed to talk to our patients the whole day about their particular mental illness. We don't even wear scrubs! This will be a very different experience than all my other clinicals.

I'm excited that I'll get to work in the adolescent unit first, rather than with the adults. It seems like they will be a little easier to talk to.

I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday!

...never mind

2009-10-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to make my blog cuter! What do you think?

Blog Help

2009-10-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

I need some help on how to make my blog look prettier. I have no idea how to change the background or put a picture at the top of my page. Can someone please tell me how to do that?

Then the only problem will be trying to pick just one picture to display...

Halloween Haunt

2009-10-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've never been the kind of person that enjoys being scared. I don't like watching scary movies, or even going into rooms with the lights off after the sun goes down. I never even dreamed that I would ever enjoy something like Knott's Scary Farm.

But then I met Big Drew.

We were both staff members at Quaker Meadow in 2006, back when I was 18 and he was 17.

We were on staff together again in the summer of 2007, and that fall, he got a job as a monster at Knott's for its seasonal Halloween Haunt, also known as Knott's Scary Farm.

A couple of other staff members were going to Haunt to see Drew, and they invited me to go along, so I did. I was so scared... until I realized that all the monsters are just people like Drew, and it's just fun for them to try to make you jump. That made it a lot less scary, and a lot more fun for me. In fact, I ended up loving it!

In 2008, I couldn't wait to go to Haunt again, and I went with several of the new staff members from that year.

It was a ton of fun! We were able to visit Drew in his maze twice, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures in there.

We made friends with some of the other monsters while we were sitting down for a break. They had fun smashing a penny for us!

The best part for me, though, was watching my friend Beth (the girl with the red hair) getting scared by the monsters. You see, when I get scared, I try not to react, and then the monsters leave me alone. But Beth always screams and runs when a monster scares her, which is exactly the type of reaction they like to get.

Any time they find people who react like Beth, the monsters keep scaring them for as long as possible, chasing them through the rest of the maze or around the streets. They also point out to other monsters ahead of them that this person is coming, so those monsters scare her too! I figured out that if I just stood back a little bit, then all the monsters would scare Beth and leave me alone. It worked beautifully, and I had a ton of fun watching Beth get scared in the process!

Just this past Sunday, I went to Haunt once again. Beth and I had been trying to get a group together to go for the past month, and it finally worked out. I was sooooo excited to go again!! I had no idea I had fallen so in love with being scared!

Drew was promoted to being a "street monster" this year, which means that he gets to wander around the streets of the park rather than being stuck inside one little, hot maze. It also meant that we got to hang out with him more and take pictures with him!

Drew just got married two weeks ago, and his wife was a monster this year as well. She had to quit just before we went, though, so we didn't get to see what she was like as a monster. I was kind of sad about that.

But, it was a very fun night anyway. Once again, Beth attracted all the monsters and I got to just stand back and laugh. We were able to go through all 12 of the mazes, plus ride a few rides, and get home before 1am- which gave me just enough time to get some sleep before taking my rehab final the next morning!

Yuck, It's Raining

2009-10-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

I can't stand this weather!

It started getting cold a couple days ago. I had just painted my toenails a really pretty color that I fell in love with, and now I have to wear socks all the time and can't even see my pretty toes!

And to make matters worse, we got the first rain of the season today! I hate rain even more than cold, which is exactly why I live in warm, sunny Southern California. I don't like to get my clothes wet, so I can't stand walking in the rain, and I'm especially horrified of driving in it. And of course, it was my turn to drive to clinical this morning.

I carpool with two (and today, three) other girls from my clinical group. We each take turns driving all the way out to Downey on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings for our rehab clinical. It's always a traffic-y drive anyway, but today was much worse because it started pouring! I could barely see through the rain and glare of the oncoming headlights. One of the girls in my car even saw an accident happen! It was pretty scary.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped for most of the drive home. As soon as I got home, I changed into warm, comfy clothes, complete with two pairs of socks, and determined to not step foot outside again for the rest of the day. And I haven't!

On a happier note, the good thing about this weather is that it convinced my mom that it's time for fall decorations! She just put them up two days ago. I love decorations!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2009-10-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

Friday was my grandpa's 80th birthday! He's an avid bike rider (he usually rides about 16 miles a day, 3-5 days a week), so he decided he wanted to ride the bike trail that goes from Azusa Canyon all the way to the beach! It's a 38 mile ride. My parents and my cousin Dana's father-in-law rode with him. I had a class in the morning, or else I would've attempted it too!

I drove with my cousin Tracie, Aunt Cheryl, and Uncle John to be there at the beach once they arrived. They finished strong!

We had a picnic lunch there at the beach. Uncle John barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone.

My dad gave Grandpa a birthday present to use at the beach- a kite. It was tough to fly, but fun trying!

Tracie and I declared ourselves the "favorite" grandkids for the day since we were able to go to the beach with Grandpa.

Later on in the evening, we had dinner at John and Cheryl's house, and since Jen couldn't be there, we called her with Skype and let Grandpa talk to her. We even sang Happy Birthday while she was there on the computer!

Happy birthday Grandpa!

Let's try this again...

2009-10-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, I haven't been very successful at this whole blog thing. I've been to the DR & Haiti and back, and I didn't post a thing about it. In fact, it's been 5 months since I started this blog, and I still haven't posted anything! I really have no excuse- I just haven't done it. I actually forgot that I even had a blog for a couple of months!

Lately I've been thinking of lots of random things that I could blog about, so I've decided to give it another shot. At the moment, my life completely revolves around school, so that's probably the main thing I'll talk about. I hope that's interesting enough.

With all that said, welcome to the life of a distracted, procrastinating nursing student!

Welcome!

2009-05-06T22:31:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

I'm starting this blog for two main reasons. First, to share news about my upcoming missions trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I'm hoping to post a few pictures and stories while I'm on the trip so you all will know what we're up to over there.

My second reason is because several of my family members now have blogs, and I figured I might as well join in the fun! I've really enjoyed reading the stories posted by my sister, aunt, and cousins, so I thought you all might enjoy a few stories from my life too.

I'm sorry in advance if I can't find enough interesting things to blog about. Since today was my last day of school (I can’t believe I’m done with my junior year of college already!) my life won't be too exciting for the next couple of weeks. I do have some stories to share about the past semester though, so keep checking in.

I hope you enjoy reading!