Today

Today was the first day I was in the nursing home where I will be learning for the next 5 weeks. We get there at 5:45 am two days per week. Today was just an orientation type day to get to know our surroundings a little bit better and see where things are how they work. Surprisingly enough I did not have the feelings that I thought I would. I was calm and anxious at the same time. I wasn't nervous at all, that's the calm part. But I was anxious to jump in and get started, I didn't want to just walk around and look at stuff. Every time I peaked in a room and saw a resident or saw someone rolling themself down the hallway in his wheelchair I just wanted to start helping. I probably could have, but I stayed focus on what our instructor was telling us. I am definitely excited to get started. When we do start for real next week, as nursing students we will take care of taking everyone's (there's about 35 residents but can change any time) Vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respiratory rate) and then we will assist the CNA's in the morning routines. Twice through the semester we will also give medications to a patient, with the supervision of our instructor. Part of this class is reading a book that I just started tonight. I think it is going to be a truly engaging and touching story. It's called Life With 'Big Al'. It is a journal that a woman kept throughout the three years that she was the primary caregiver for her husband who suffered from early onset Alzheimer's. My great-grandmother died of this disease, but I wasn't there for any of the progression as we lived in a different state. It is so amazing to read about it and see how the disease effects absolutely everything.

Changing subjects, my home teachers were over tonight. Home teachers are a companionship of men from my church group that come and check up on me at least once a month to make sure everything is okay and to deliver a message. Tonight we talked about prophets. I remember when my testimony of Living Prophets on the earth today was really solidified. It was August of 2005. President Hinckley, president and prophet of the Church at the time, had just come out at the beginning of the month asking everyone to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover before the end of the year. This was the first time in a long while that there was very specific counsel and people jumped in and heeded the prophet's words. He promised that if we did this three things would happen:
"Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."
Less than four weeks later Hurricane Katrina came. I only thought of the saints that lived in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Would people have been able to handle what was happening if they hadn't started this routine earlier? I wonder if people had a strengthened sense of peace because of this promise during this time of utter chaos...Prophets live and I believe the Lord speaks through them; we should hearken to their counsel.

Talking about Hurricane Katrina also reminded me of another thing. A reason (for there are many) for my choice in becoming a nurse. I want to eventually work for the Red Cross and become a natural disaster relief nurse. Pick up and go wherever there is a need in the world. I am so lucky to be getting such an education.

Signing off, if you made it through this post, then you are a brave soul. Sorry I guess I kind of tangented a bit...is that a word?

Clayton's Eagle Project, A HUGE SUCCESS!

A few weeks ago I surprised my brother by flying home for the weekend to in Connecticut for his Eagle Project. It was a huge undertaking that had been in the planning for over a year (meaning his project, not my trip home). He loves to sing and is also a very patriotic young man so he decided to make something happen that ended up being incredible!!! He organized a Patriotic Choral Concert comprising of two different church choirs in the community and various soloists from around the state that he knew from church. He made the whole event a food drive, asking people to bring 5 cans of food per person and donated it all the Shoreline Soup Kitchens. It was an incredible success and is still going on as money from businesses who want to donate to his cause keeps trickling in. Even though I was only home for about 36 hours, I am so glad I went. I love you, bud!

The good ol' American classic


Scouts singing away, and Mom and Dad


The food pile starting to pile up!


Despite the craziness of the night, Clayton was still able to sing in the choir!


How handsome he is! Hands off girls, he's only 15!


Presenting the food and money he raised to the Shoreline Food Kitchens


Socializes after


WOW! Look at all that :)


Scouts helping to load it all up into the truck



Congrats Clayton on all the work you did!!!!

I'm figuring it out

YAY!!! I figured out how to change things =)

It was a good day

It was a good day today. Technically I was supposed to start classes up again today for the start of the new Summer Term, but my professors were nice enough to give us today and tomorrow off. So I don't have class till Wednesday. Because of this, I slept in. Only not so much because my body is set to go off early, so I got up at 9 which is late for me these days. My friend Kim then convinced me to take a water aerobics class this summer for only .5 credit so I figured, why not? That will start tomorrow. I lounged around for a bit then went groceries. That was an adventure. I went down to Wal-mart because I needed some stuff other than groceries. I got a microphone for my computer so I can talk to people over gmail chat :). Okay, back the adventurous grocery shopping trip. All the lines were really long so I decided to go to self-check out...mistake. The self check out machines here in Utah are the most annoying things on the face of the planet, no joke. I thought that I ought to give them a second try from the one time I had tried them before, big mistake. I could have gotten through the register faster. The second thing that made this trip an adventure was Basil. I had a craving for that Italian salad thing with tomato and basil and mozzarella and balsamic and olive oil :P Makes my mouth water just talking about it. Anyways, Wal-mart didn't have Basil. I know you're probably saying "Duh, why would you think Wal-mart would have that." But it is a really good Wal-mart and produce is pretty good. Anyways, I was determined so I stopped at the next grocery store on the way home, no Basil. Stopped at a third, no Basil. Finally at the fourth, they had Basil. Why the heck does no one have basil??? I got home and had my delicious salad and was a happy girl. Then I cleaned the apartment. Then I went to FHE. After that we had a pool party and it started raining and it was way fun! So overall I had a pretty fabulous day.

Becoming a nurse

So I'm still trying to figure out how to do this whole thing, but here are some pictures from skills lab of us learning to give shots and other fun stuff.

My lab group is the best! :)


Practicing my darting motion on miss kimberlee before the real thing \/



MY FIRST SHOT! :)




All band-aided up after shots day

My first clinical

Nursing school consists of lecture and then mostly clinical work, in the hospitals/nursing homes/county health department offices. This week I start my very first clinical rotation in a nursing home. I will finally get to start applying the skills that I have learned over the last six weeks to real people. We practice on mannequins during skills labs for all the of the skills performed in areas where the sun don't shine. Everything else we practice on each other like giving shots (we just inject plain saline), drawing blood, testing glucose, learning to give oxygen, even nasogastric tubes. We haven't actually done this yet, that is part of our fall classes, but we will. I'm a little scared to that. Overall I am really excited to start clinicals. Part of me is nervous that I am going to have the someone's life in my hands this week. Another thing I am scared about that I haven't really had much experience with in my life is death. It is quite possible that I could come to get to know a patient really well and come in the next day and hear, "Betsy died last night." I'm worried about that. But overall I'm excited.

Title of the blog

I forgot to explain the title that I chose. First off I love Sheryl Crow and I took the title from one of her songs. I named it this mostly for me, to remind myself to look upward. To remember to enjoy life, soak things up and that we only live once. I tend to bury myself in books and forget to have fun when it is so important. Each time I listen to the song I remember to chill out, relax, and just soak up the sun. :)

My first post

So I figured I would set this thing up so that I can share part of my life with friends and family. I post pictures on facebook occasionally but others that don't have an account can't see them. I also think that this way I put down in text what is happening. So if I don't edit this very often it's probably because I'm too busy. As a full time student I study and that is about the extent of my life. There are other things that happen too but not much. I will update you on new things I learn, exciting storied from my clinical rotations (I'm a nursing student), events in my family, and anything that might be interesting.