Life Is Good

Today was my first day as an IPN (during the time I wait to take boards, I'm called an IPN). It's exciting and scary at the same time to start a new job. I have hospital orientation for the next three days. I learned about the Sisters who started the hospital, and the hard work that was put into it. And the values and mission of the hospital. Something that I find very cool, mainly because I've worked for them before, is that they really do live up to their mission and the values. They put the patients and their families first and make changes so that the nurses and other staff can give excellent care to them. This hospital is the really the best hospital the area. Although I'm not looking forward to working on nights; I am looking forward to working for the best. I know that I will learn so much and it has a lot of room for me to grow. I'm still really nervous about working and making sure I know everything. But I know that God will direct. He will assist me in remembering the things I need, in order to care for my patients and be able to learn the many new things that I will have as I embark on this new journey. It's a real blessing also to work for this hospital because I live so close; if I walk it's about 15 min. But riding my bike it's only maybe two minutes.

On another note this video is so funny!

What Does It Mean?!?!?

Someone I know took this quiz, and I thought it be fun to try. But I think it's broken, or I answered the questions wrong! Go take it and tell me what you get.

You fit in with: Agnosticism 0% scientific. 0% reason-oriented.
	Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life.
Take This Quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I found this quiz entertaining! And for the record I do believe in God and I think I have a pretty good relationship with Him.

Me Tagged?!?!!

I was tagged by S'mee

10 years ago: I was 12 and probably chasing my brothers, hunting for lizards, and I one first place in my karate tournament.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. See my beau. I'm waiting for him to come over now :-)
2. Go to the store find a cute/sexy dress for tomorrow (it has to be a Spanish style, which is hard to find!)
3. Rescue my sister. She's coming to move with me for a bit. Yuppie! I got a roommate!
4. Study of NCLEX, but that's something I do all the time!
5. I'm meeting up with a girlfriend from nursing school to have dinner and play an NCLEX board game. Yes I have NCLEX on the brain.

I enjoy:
Hot chocolate, being with people, dogs, my job, the rain, the snow, being warm, making money, hiking, hugs, holding hands, walking up the stars, hiking, cooking, cleaning (serious when I'm stressed I clean, but my house is pretty clean so I don't really have much to clean), biking, camping, oh and did I mention hiking

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
First I'd pay off my student loans, buy a house and dog, have a HUGE backyard with a lake and green rolling hills, buy a new car, buy my little brother a house, pay my parents house off, put money away for a rainy day, go have fun, and give the rest away to people who are important in my life

3 of my bad habits:
1. Biting my nails
2. Meeting bad boys and thinking they are "so wonderful!"
3. Talking smack about people

5 places I have lived:
1. Lucerne Valley, CA
2. Apple Valley, CA
3. Adelanto , CA
4. Ava, Missouri (kinda)
5. My car, that was so much fun! jk

5 jobs that I have had:
1. CNA
2. EMT
3. ER Tech
4. Student Nurse Intern
5. RN IP (next step RN!)


5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I afraid of the dark.
2. I CAN change a tire, but it takes me about three hours, and I'm serious about the three hours! http://redahead.blogspot.com/2008/01/changing-tire.html
3. I have an obsession with Ice Cream, and I have yet to find a guy or gal who thinks it's as awesome as me.
4. I picked up a hitch-hiker in Utah so that I'd have someone to drive with. Talk about an interesting experience.
5. I hitch-hiked back from Utah to California once. Talk about an interesting experience.

Not A Funny Joke

*****************WARNING I'M ON MY SOAP BOX*****************

I read this joke online today that was so sick. Right now, even as I think about it, my stomach feels upset and the thought that someone could even find it funny. The joke was on a popular website but there was no way to report it as inappropriate. I will not share it with you; but the gist of it was a girl (AS IN A CHILD) getting sexually abused by her father. How can someone find that funny?!? Why would someone even want to share that?!? The thing that I get enraged about the most is because this is something that happens and is horrible, and and the person was making a joke out of it. Sexual abuse ruins lives. Those involved many times don't/CAN'T have normal relationships. They many times turn to drugs/alcohol. Can end up with a horrible STD. I could not even attempt to put up all the consequences of sexual abuse in children, there are many more physical and psychological devastating problems.

"... When a child is sexually abused, his innocence is stolen. Many sexual abuse survivors are ashamed to have already lost their virginity before they even knew what a virgin was. Sexual abuse survivors are deprived of the beauty of the innocent first kiss or first sexual experience. These are losses that need to be grieved".... http://www.ehow.com/how_2131979_loss-innocence-after-sexual-abuse.html?ref=fuel

It is the most disgusting thought of someone who is meant to protect you decides to feed there own physical wants. If anyone touches my niece, nephew, little sisters or future children I will... (I decided that it was not appropriate to put here) go to jail if I need to in order to protect these little ones. But sadly many children don't report it for fear of disappointing parents, or the perpetrator makes threats to hurt the child or family.

Here are some facts:
*One U.S. governmental source counts 78,188 child victims of sexual abuse in 2003. That’s a
rate of 1.2 per 1,000 American children. (That seems like a VERY high number to me)
*The 2001 National Crime Victimization Survey, which only covers youth 12-17, estimates
that 1.9 per 1,000 children are raped or sexually assaulted.
*National surveys of adults find that 9-28% of women say they experienced some type of
sexual abuse or assault in childhood.
All these estimates and others that are available have limitations and should be used with care.
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/factsheet/pdf/CSA-FS20.pdf
You may ask who does these horrible things, well here's what the website above says on that:
*Men perpetrate most sexual abuse and sex crimes.
*Sex offenders against children tend to be juveniles or young adults under the age of 30.
*Most sexual abuse and sex crimes are committed by people who know the victims.
Acquaintances are most often the perpetrators, followed by family members and then
strangers.

How to protect a child from sexual abuse?
Well I can't put it all here see this website for a complete list: http://www.apa.org/releases/sexabuse/protect.html . Here are a few points to keep in mind. 1) Develop strong communication skills with your children.
2) Make an effort to know children's friends and their families.
3) Teach your children that their bodies are their own. That it is OK to say they do not want a hug or that certain kinds of contact make them uncomfortable.

Another source you may want to look at is the Megan's Law website http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov . My previous residence there is a sexual predator right down the street, needless to say it's also RIGHT next to a school. Do you know who your neighbors are?

God sends us children, they bring an added amount of joy, teach us patience, and we find that we have a greater capacity to love. WE MUST PROTECT THEM.

Can't Sleep

This evening I got so nervous and worried about my NCLEX exam (which is coming up soon) that I finally decided I need to stop thinking about it for a few, so I went to bed at 8pm. Now it's 2am and I'm wide awake. So I'm just going to get up and start studying again.

But before I do that I'm going to share my two cents! I love to go visit my Grandparents. They live a few states over and I go several times a year to visit. There home has a great feeling, I feel so loved when I go to visit. The community they live in neighbors actually talk to each other and not only that they also come over to visit! What neighbors could be friends?!? The thought never occurred, until I'm visiting. I only know one of my neighbors and that's because we went to school together. The people I share the wall of my apartment wall (in case that didn't make since, the people next door) are so grumpy! It's not like we have to be friends, but hey we do live right next to each other, if I said "Hi" the nice thing to say is "hello" or something similar back; instead I get snarled at.

But I digress, the reason I brought up my Grandparents is, my grandma has a picture frame in her house it has a picture of a Shepard and sheep. And says something like "when you can sleep don't count sheep, when you could talk to the Shepard". It's an interesting thought which I have used. In school one time we were discussing how therapeutic prayer is. To just talk to someone about your concerns, worries, and thoughts is soothing. Prayer takes a load off. I can say, "I did this which was good, I did this that was bad, and I'm worried/scared about this" and for some reason it makes me feel better! I don't think I've ever gotten any amazing answers, just thoughts/ideas on what may work.

Another thing about prayer, not only the therapeutic affect, but for me as a Christian, it is a time to talk with my God. To thank Him for saving my soul and ask for His continued mercy.

World's Strongest Dad

This is an inspiring story. One which I believe we all can learn something from. I've heard it before, but it's such a good thing to hear again.


I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

And the video is below....

By the way, I can figure out why the video on the bottom came twice... and I can't figure out how to fix it. Sorry :-)

The Best Things In Life....

ARE FREE!!!!

Today I went out to visit my parents. My little sister "Smalls" has been begging (and at times harassing) me for a long time to come visit so we can go for a hike. Near my parents there are many good places to go hiking. We decided to go hike a mountain. But not just any mountain, it had to be a big one, AND it was very important to be fun! So we went off-roading in my dodge neon and found the perfect mountain. As I parked and looked up I was having a little bit of second thoughts. It was a very large pile of rocks and did not look too stable. But that didn't stop us, we hiked to the top and had the most amazing view. We had a 360 degree view of the valley. The mountain was very stable. It was fun as we tried to find my parents house and looked for my car. We played games. One game that we found fun was looking for where we would live if we were homeless, needless to say my energetic 9 year old companion found some really cool places. I was a little surprised at the lack of wildlife, normally when I've gone to this area before we see birds, lizards, rabbits, and if we're lucky a coyote and if we're not a snake! But not this time we saw a bird and that was it. On the way back to my parent's we realized that it gets REALLY cold at night still and lizards would be sleeping. And birds fly south for the winter.

When we got back to the house, I found out that my mom would be working tonight and that my dad was taking another sister "Red2" to a dance; they said they could use a babysitter. I was overjoyed with this; I got to spend the entire day with three of the coolest kids around. They have so much energy. And they are such good kids. We watched a movie, made dinner, ate popcorn, listened to music, cleaned house, and read from a few books. After the girls got ready for bed I went to each one and was able to get the sweetest hugs and kisses, then they fell asleep extremely fast. My dad came home with "Red2" and they had a fun time. And seeing that I really did need to get back home to go back studying for boards I came back to my apartment.

On the way back it hit me that everything I did today didn't cost anything but time. And it was the most fulfilling day I've had in awhile. We had fun playing and working together. I look forward to hopefully doing it again soon.

Peanut Butter, The Atheist's Nightmare!

I love this video, I heard a more in depth discussion about this several years back.

Mexico!!!

I am officially getting very worried about boards. I've been budgeting everything out the last few days, and found that if I fail boards I will be moving to Mexico. So if after February 6th you never hear from me again, know first that I love you, and second, I'm still alive. I will be working as a house keeper or gardener somewhere in Mexico! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9INIKltDfs

Graduation Pics

So here are a few pictures from graduation. Not very many of the ones people took turned out good, but at least I got some, and I have the memories! The ones here you won't be able to see anyone's face but I'm on myspace so if you add me as a friend you can see 'em all there. And by the way, I don't know why it's underlined and I can't figure out how to turn it off!

Do you see me?!? I'm the one wearing white holding a candle

RN Class of 12/2007

Walking down

The Limo!

Getting pinned, right before tripping over that dumb box!

What Crayon Are You?!?

I am a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. --I don't really get this "deep colors" but it sounds cool! You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. Thanks online web page. ;-) On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. --This is a little bit too true! However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. --Neither agree or disagree Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying. --What's that mean? Is this the kind of people I'm attracted to? Or are my friends? Yeah this one doesn't make a lot of since, unless it's taking about relationships!

Brothers, Studying, Hello, Cartoons

I just got a call from my little bro "C". He works at night job on the weekends, so on his way to work he gave me. What a nice guy. Maybe it means I'm getting old, but a phone call or someone dropping by makes my day :-)




I've been studying ALL day for boards which are exactly 26 days away! I'm getting a little nervous, so I'm going to get back to studying.



Oh! Another Random thought I found this on YouTube today, this was my faviorite cartoon as a kid. I wish shows were cool like this still.

FIRE!!!!!!

Right now I'm sitting in my beautiful apartment. I started a fire in my fireplace for the first time ever (in this apartment). Now I'm sitting right next to it. It's so warm. The fire brings such a comforting feeling. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in this big 'ol place. It's nice to just look at the fire; flames flickering with the occasional soft pop from the wood. Until today I never really paid attention to all the colors that are in fire. Of course you got orange, but also so many different shades of red and yellow; as well as blue and a hint of purple. Having a nice warm calming fire tonight brings back a lot of memories. Growing up my family used a wood burning stove to heat our house (and they still do) I remember sitting next to the fire and feeling warm and being around people I loved so much. Most of the things we did in the winter time as a family were near the fireplace. This last Christmas as I was visiting my parents I got to have that feeling again. We were sitting in the living room playing phase, 10 in front of the fire, feeling so toasty and comfortable; laughing and enjoying each others company. The flames are so beautiful it really is amazing. Yes I love fire. It has a therapeutic effect, I've been stressing about my board exam all day today, but now sitting here it just seems like everything will work out okay.

Changing A Tire

A few weeks go I got a flat tire. By the way it happened to be only three days after I had brand new tires put on! Feeling like a super independent woman and not really having anything better to do I thought I would attempt to change it myself. By complete chance I had seen a video on Youtube on how to change a tire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN5QQJlT8uwwhich) was 3:25 long and a pretty woman was changing the tire; so I felt sure that this was something I could not only do, but do quickly. I have had MANY flat tires in my life time but I also had AAA or big brothers that would/could come to the rescue. As I got all of the tools out of the trunk I had this overwhelming feeling that I was accomplishing something great! So I went to work.

Step 1) Find the place where the jack goes. (5 min)
Step 2) Trying to get my hub cap off (25 min)
Step 3) Loosening the lug nuts the first time making sure to use the star pattern (20 min)
Step 4) jack the car up (at least 10 min)

**Ok so at this point I realize that changing a tire is much harder then the video showed but I would not let that stop me I was determined.

Step 5) Take off lug nuts. Now here is where it gets even more complicated. The lug nuts would not come off, I worked forever. They somehow got tight again and I could not get them loose. (35 min)

**Now I'm thinking of every guy I know that might be able to come over and assist with putting the tire on. I'm thinking the lady in the video is crazy, there is noway anyone could change a tire in less the 4 min! However coming to the conclusion that I must do this myself (B wasn't going to be home until later that afternoon) and that I had important things to do (window shopping) I pressed on.

Step 6) Remove flat tire, and put spare tire on using the lug nuts you put in a special place earlier (25 min)
Step 7) pray that the tire is on tight enough and that you will not die on the way to the tire shop to get it fixed! (15 min)

That said I changed the tire all by myself! It was a little bit longer then 3:25. And it was much more frustrating then it looked in the video. I would suggest to every lady out there... USE AAA! That's what they get paid for, make 'em work for it, and they know how to do it a lot faster.

Just Another Day

This last week has been a little bit sad, my roommate moved out."B" is a great guy, he was cool to have around. It was nice to have a man around it gets a little scary around here without him. And it makes it really lonely around my apartment. I study for the boards, rode my bike in the freezing cold, watched DVDs, heck I even went to a Catholic mass this morning at a church near my house because I was SO bored! I can't wait until I start working full-time.

On the bright side, I heard about this 5/10k run that the town I live in puts on in a few months I want to run in it. I'm going to start attempting to get in shape for it. Also the park and rec department offers dance classes so after I get done with boards I will start taking that. I was surprised that my town offers so much to do and it's inexpensive. And my younger brother is likely going snowboarding this weekend and I'm looking forward to going with him.

So I may complain a little, but life really is good. I have everything I need. And a lot more that I don't!

Banana Bread

At my little apartment I had an abundance of bananas which were going to go bad if I didn't eat them. I used to like bananas but there was a point in my life where all I ate was pb&j and bananas because it was cheap. Now I find them somewhat nauseating to eat. But I hate to see good food go to waste. And my parents gave me a fruit basket for Christmas so it only made since that I should eat them to show that I was greatfull! I thought "hey I should make banana bread! but I don't know how to make it". So I went to the place which I go to find the answers to all of lives hard questions, yahoo answers, and got an amazing recipe. This was so straight forward, and the bread turned out great! I've been snacking on it the last few days, I've never tasted such a good bread. It turned out perfect. So just in case y'all are wondering what the recipe is, here I'll share it with you.

Banana Bread Recipe

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)I used 3/4 and it was just the right amount
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.