Rodeo+Slob week

Week 1 of 12 hour shifts started with a trip to the Rodeo with Cody and my great friend Cara and her fiance, Jeremy, who we LOVE! We had such a blast with them and I stuffed my face. I don't know what I was thinking, but I broke my clean eating diet for a day a made a slob of myself. I literally ate: a burrito, a funnel cake, my first ever Sonoran dog, and ice cream. It was a joke. I paid for it when I was up sick all night. Lesson learned. The Rodeo was good this year though, and we saw a really awesome bull rider! 

The next day I worked my first ever night shift, so I tried to just get prepared. I made a snack to take with me, worked out, showered, and napped before going in. It went pretty well, although I owe all the credit to the vast amounts of coffee I consumed that night. I was off the rest of the week and I go back in tomorrow and Saturday nights. So naturally I have been being super lazy, although productive. So far I have run errands, gone to the gym a few times, filed my taxes (by myself- for the first time, like a big girl), gone shopping, had a pedicure, gone to fro-yo with my friend Leslie and her bestie Alicia, had lunch with Cody, and gone to happy hour with my friends Haley and Cara! It's been a pretty good week or two and I am really enjoying 3, 12 hour shifts as opposed to 5, 8 hour shifts. 

I can promise I am going to soak up all of my time tomorrow before going into work, including getting a fresh manicure! 

Enjoy your week!

LB

EPIC fail

I realize after writing a post about how I am going to be better about updating, I probably should actually be better about updating. EPIC fail. Honestly, all I have been doing is working and trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can from the experienced nurses I am with before I am let loose on my own! Therefore, I have very little free time for fun. However, I start my one-on-one preceptorship next week where I work with the same nurse on their schedule for about 3 weeks and then I am officially on my own. What is my point you ask? I am going to 3, 12 hour shifts starting a week from today! WOO to free time! I'll be working the night shift, which means 7pm-7am and am trying to figure out the best plan for switching back and forth. I have a tentative plan to "nap" the day I go in from about 2-5pm and try a coffee around midnight, then come home and sleep a full 7-8 hours after my shift if I'm working a second night, or just 4-5 hours if I'm off the next day. Hopefully it will work out well!

In the last 2 months, other than working, I have just been shopping and organizing. I made a budget for myself, cleaned out my drawers, organized my makeup and jewelry and bought some new clothes. I have been going to the gym more regularly which has been good, and Cody and I went to Sedona! I'll try to post next week as I want to go to the rodeo next weekend! Sorry I've been such as slacker!

Best,
LB

Holy slacker!

AHH! I have not updated in WEEKS! So so bad! Honestly, outside of working all the time, I don't have too much to update about! Cody and I each went to our separate family's for Thanksgiving and had a lot of good quality time at home. It was like planes, trains and automobiles for me to get back after a delayed flight and a re-route into Phoenix! Moral of the story is, I made it back with a slight cold and was able to work that week as normal. Since then, Cody and I have both just been working our BUTTS off! Seriously! He has been working over time and I have been doing a lot of the same stuff while trying to get ready for Christmas! Unfortunately, I'll be spending Christmas Eve and Day in Tucson, but I'll get to spend it with my lovely roommate Emily and her momma Jean! I get to go home on the evening of the 28th and come back to Tucson on the 1st. So today, Cody and I exchanged gifts so we could enjoy them a bit before he leaves to go to Dallas next weekend. Then we spent the day together playing with his new Xbox, putting up and decorating the tree he bought Emily and I, and wrapping some gifts! All in all, we had a pretty nice day! The rest is a hot mess of photos from the last few weeks!

Betsy's Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Thanksgiving!

The Finer Things

Hey sexy ladies!

Christmas shopping with Mimi!

Coney at the airport :)

Roomies at Christmas time!

Cookie party

Austin's first peppermint patty

White elephant swag!

Emergency Department Holiday party!

Cody's kickball team won the overall tournament!

My Christmas gift! Thanks babe!!

Kinect craziness!

Until I get better at updating,

LB

Dealing in Variables

Work this week was an experiment in variables. My schedule was all over the place and was early hours instead of later ones. It was definitely a challenge to adjust this week, but I feel like I learned a lot about different areas of the hospital. I was able to shadow in the cath lab, and with the wound care nurse. I also got certified to assess patients for possible stroke through the National Institute of Health. It was really nice to be able to be on a relatively normal schedule, and I was able to spend more time with Cody and getting things done! Thursday night I went to his kickball game, and I had the amazing opportunity to shake the hand of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly! Truly amazing!

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner for our friends Jeffrey and Jillian's wedding and we celebrated at our favorite Tucson restaurant Vero Amore! The food was awesome and we had so much fun eating and meeting with new friends! Saturday was the wedding and we had a blast! Cody looked super handsome as a  groomsman and so did the bride and groom! There were a lot of non-traditional elements that really made for a neat experience. The groomsman rode into the ceremony on bikes! 

Wedding date

Sunday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week! We went to breakfast at Shlomo and Vito's and then went to see Skyfall, which was awesome! In typical Sunday night style, I made a bunch of food in preparation for the week, and made broccoli and cheese stuffed tilapia for dinner! It was great! All in all, a really good week!

More soon!

LB

Excitement Galore

Hello All!

Last week was AWESOME! I got loads of experiences in the Emergency Department, using my nursing brain and working on my skills! I'm starting to feel more like a nurse and less like a nuisance, although I still feel like I am in the way at times. Cody came back from his backpacking trip in Ohio and we were able to spend a lot of time together catching up and telling stories. Friday, we went to brunch and to see Wreck it Ralph! It was soooo cute :) He had a lot of fun and has some great photos of his trip.

Cody and his antipasto brunch!

This past weekend was very exciting! My great friend, Meghan, had her second little girl on Saturday! Her name is Lucy Reyn and like her name, she is absolute perfection! Meghan looks awesome and doesn't even look like she gave birth (brat ;) ).

Lucy

We also were able to use a Groupon I had to a yummy restaurant in downtown Tucson, aptly named, Downtown Kitchen with our couple friends, Brad and Christina. While downtown, we quick stopped by to see the All Souls Procession which is a tradition in Tucson. I had tried to get Cody and I to go, but we just weren't able to swing it earlier, but after a glimpse, we are SO excited to participate next year. Here is a link to info about the procession: http://www.allsoulsprocession.org/. We had a great time with our friends are were feeling very fortunate and thankful to have some couple friends that make time for us!

Brad and Christina

Cody and me

Monday at work was EKG class, which was a bit dull, but very informative. It was made much more pleasant when I got a text from my cousin Jeff, that he had proposed to his girlfriend Anna, and she said yes! We are all very excited for them to become husband and wife and Jeff couldn't be happier!

The final portion of this update is that I voted. Yay for me!

This weekend is the wedding of our friends Jeffrey and Jillian and we are very excited to celebrate!!

Until then,
LB

Adjusting

First full week of 3-11 pm work was rough! I never thought of myself as a morning person, but I guess I kind of am. I do like having the morning to pack healthy food and run errands, and grab Starbucks without the rush. Adjusting to work life versus school life has been very strange. I find that after I finish a task or activity, I don't know what to do next. I gave myself last week to adjust, and this week, I'm aiming to make more of a schedule with hitting the gym and reading my new book for a book club I'm attempting to start with some friends. Last weekend, Cody and I spent a lot of "together time" as he went out of town Wednesday to spend time with his friend, Mike, in Ohio. We watched lots of football on Saturday, and then went to see Argo in the evening. Admittedly, I had low expectations as it isn't my kind of flick, but it was really good! Sunday, we biked to the farmer's market and picked up some yummy produce, and came back and had lunch together! We finished off the evening making dinner together as well!

English cucumbers, french baguette with tomatoes and goat cheese, and homemade roasted cauliflower cheddar cheese soup

This week was pretty much typical as far as work, although I'm now on the Emergency Department floor, working with experienced nurses and picking up my own patients (to an extent). It's very intimidating to be with people who have been doing this a while and are very fast and efficient! I'm learning so much everyday and hope to gain as much as I can out of this experience! After Cody left, I spent some time with my roommates, and then went to a Halloween party on Saturday night with my friends! I had a blast and have consequently spent today recovering and pulling my life together! I'm starting to really like Sundays because I feel like I get a lot done. I'm feeling very blessed today to have days like today to savor what I have and enjoy my life as it is right now. I think it'll be my new goal to hold onto that feeling throughout the week.

If you haven't already, check out my friend Sarah's blog at http://spire-life.blogspot.com. She always has something that inspires me! This week, it's her workout posts!! Time to get my butt into gear!

Best,
Lauren

1st Week of School, Errr Work!!

Last week was my first week! Soooo exciting to finally put all of this hard work into action! This week was all training and orientation, but we were able to meet our ER new grad group which was awesome! The 7 of us really get along well and we have really gelled well so far! The first week focused on how Tucson Medical Center functions and wants things done. Cool things I found out that I did not know:

• TMC is the only non-profit hospital in Tucson (rock-on!)
• The ER new-grad program was recently redesigned and incorporates tons of interdisciplinary education!
• TMC new grads actually are enrolled in a residency program for a full year

Needless to say I am so grateful to be working for such an awesome organization! Emily and I have really enjoyed our first week as nurses wearing our carribean blue scrubs and walking around with our heads high not as students anymore! It is very comforting having such a great friend to go through this whole process with! I was also able to see one of my best girls Sunny this weekend and catch up with her. It was the perfect cap-off to this first week and I am really looking forward to having more time to spend with her!

So far, this week has been more orientation, but geared toward the ER which is more enjoyable because it has relevance. Friday will be our first 3-11pm day and we will actually be on the floor shadowing the core nurses!! EEEEK!

Until then,
LB