Well, first week of clinical down, 8 weeks to go! So, today was our first day on the ward and with a patient. My patient's story is so very sad! An incredibly young guy (my youngest patient ever), with a lifelong mental deficits due to a spontaneous brain tumor. So very very sad. He is pretty much in a state where I'm not sure if he completely understands and he can't speak verbally back to me. So, I spent much of the day being available to him and his father and being sensitive and chatting to the dad. What a sweet man. I didn't know if he was the brother or the father....and boy does he love his son. So, it's going to be pretty insane, but totally exciting. In two weeks I get to spend a day in the OR and most likely will be able to witness open brain surgery!!!! Isn't that incredible! So, I'm going to have to work my butt of in the next few weeks, but I'm going to learn SO much!

Hola all!!! Well, today is a new day, and a better one than yesterday! Thank-you Jesus! I got my mark this morning from that test that made me so mad last blog....I did great! I get my studying did help even though I felt so tricked! Another blessing!
I had to bus to the U because my ride had car problems this morning. Boy is it very cold out there!!!!! I almost lost the skin on my face....that was the only part of me that was showing to the world and I almost lost it!
On the weekend, I had a great saturday with all my bridal party girls! We went to the Wonderful Wedding Show...and I'm still hoping to hear that I've won something! I really wanted that free honeymoon but I guess someone else might have needed it more. It wasn't meant to be...booo hooo!!!!! After the show we all went for supper at Olive Garden!!! Yummmmmy!! Salad and bread sticks are the best!!! And their pasta rocks!!! Hey, if you have a sweet tooth and like refillable drinks, get the raspberry iced tea next time you go! It is so good!!!!! But that's coming from someone that loves sugar! We finished off the girly night with a chick flick and a new bridal magazine to look through! I love being female! We get to have so much fun!

I'm cranky right now. Downright unimpressed with the test I just wrote. Do some profs just try and trick you with the questions they ask? Well, these ones sure did! It felt like it didn't matter at all that I invested time into studying, because they just tricked me anyways. Boy does that make me a cranky lady. I was sitting in the front row and can't look down at my paper the whole time, so I'm sure they saw by my facial expression that I was NOT impression. I looked pretty pissed off! I just can't hide my feelings very well....and this time, I sure didn't try!
Anyways, thanks for listening to the vent!....Oooohhhhh, just had a craving for naco cheese chips! I wanted to let you all know about my praise report of the day. You know the financial bind of the student loan thing from last blog, and I got good news last night! I had worked a lot over Christmas and the final payday for the shifts I worked was on friday. I remembered yesterday night so I call the bank to check where my account was at! Yeah! The amount that work put in my account was $25 short of rent for February!!! Praise Jesus! I can now pay rent and have a bit to spare and a bunch of space on my Visa in case of emergency!!! Thank you Lord! Through this all, I am so thankful that I didn't have to borrow, but realized how much it had to do with pride. I'm so glad that I didn't have to learn the lesson though and borrow....in order to lower the pride thing. I think that it also had a tiny bit to do with being a little bitter....which I wasn't aware of. I get ticked off when I hear of students who have everything handed to them on a silver platter by mommy and daddy. It's stinkin' NOT FAIR!!! So, I realized that though I've been doing this for 3 years and 8 months already, I'm still sort of frustrated that I've never gotten any help from the parentals! I am thankful for this opportunity to see the emotions in me that I wasn't aware were there. Now I am aware of them and can deal with them....I sure don't want to hang on to frustration and bitterness.....and I absolutely love the parentals and know their situations.
Well, I suppose I am a little emotional today by the emotions that these frustrating topics are bringing up in me.I have to run to the most boring class in the world which starts in 5 minutes! But I'm planning on skipping as much of it as I can!
Next blog will be far more positive....thanks for listening.

Prayer request for me! OK tuition (meaning a big chunk of money) is due tomorrow! I have been waiting on the student loan to come so that I can live and pay tuition! Well, went to the mail box this morning before coming to the U and....still no envelope from Student Aid. So, frustrated me, called them. They informed me that they are two weeks behind assessment and are assessing my amount again before I get it. The lady said they will only assess it in two weeks.....nevermind what they decide, when they mail it, or when I will receive it!!!! So, had enough from last semester and working over Christmas to pay the whole chunk of tuition....THANK-YOU JESUS!! Did that this morning but now have a very small amount left to my name.....causes a little sadness for me. I need to buy groceries today, so I will. I still must eat. I have 3 social engagements already planned for the rest of the month that cost money. My day with my bridal party girls will not be cancelled, but the two others might have to be! My biggest concern is that I may only get my loan sometime in the middle or end of February! That's a long way away! So, as I started to say, my biggest concern is rent for next month. Hopefully I have something to my name then, but regardless, what I have to my name now doesn't cover rent...and it's only Januarty 15 without groceries bought yet! I have never yet had to ask anybody for financial help since moving out in June of 2000. I REALLY don't want to have to now. It is a bit of a pride thing, but I hope that something works out so that i can figure things out on my own. The only way is if miraculously my loan comes before the end of the month......very unlikely!...I just might have to cancell all weekend plans for the rest of the month and beg work to give me shifts.......
A part of me feels sad and a little stressed. The other part of me is fine and feeling strangely excited to see how things will work out and how God will provide. I've had these loan situations before and it has always worked out.....
So, please pray! I know that everything will be fine, but it does could some stress that I don't want! Thanks everyone!

For Erica's interest...and the rest of you all, supper was really nice on sunday! We all went to Applebee's and after an hour long wait...which resulted in complimentary chips and salsa, we had a great time! I made a little toast to my husband-to-be, had a nice meal and great conversation! It was nice to have both of our families together! Our parents have met on multiple times so they are comfortable with one another. We even surprised Shane's sisters with the surprise happy birthday song by the Applebee's staff (they both had birthdays within the week!). They thought that the staff were coming to sing for Shane and I!
Our great friends Beau and Heather, whom I last saw in Florida in August, gave us a surprise call on sunday morning. I realized before they broke the news that the call didn't have the long-distance ring! They are in Winnipeg for a week! Tonight we are all doing something so I'm looking forward to that! Christina, Heather and I went out on monday for coffee, but tonight the guys and girls are doing something! Otherwise school is going well....we are just on a break and are in the middle of a pretty interesting lecture on respiratory failure! The guest lecturer really gets and keeps your attention! I brought readings to do during the lecture, but it doesn't look like I'll do them because she is quite interesting and I'm learnign things that I didn't know before! I love that part about student life! Learning something new every day!!!! It is great! This semester rocks!

In the next half hour we are off to our family supper at Applebee's! I'm really looking forward to it! It should be fun!
Church rocked this morning! Worship was really great and it felt like something was buzzing that hasn't in a while (on a sunday mroning)! I loved it! And Brian, man, I love when he speaks! On the same church note, I would absolutely love to swing that Mexico trip! It sounds like so much fun! I leave it in God's hands!
Just got a bunch of great emails from El Salvador team members! One girl always emails great stories of med school that just make me crack up! She's hilarious! The other nursing student is actually now preparing for her MCAT (big test to get into medical school)....interesting how things can shift! It just all keeps me excited and anticipating the future! I am sometimes very thankful that we don't know how it will all turn out! It would take the surprise off of God's twists!
Went to my cousin's wedding yesterday. Great food but a bit like one of my own wedding nightmares! I sort of felt at certain parts that I was in one of my dreams! I do hope the best for them though! And seeing the bride in her dress reminded me that I have one! And that it is going to be SO fun to prance around in it all day! I'm excited!
Well, wish I could be at church tonight but I'm looking forward to the family supper at the same time! Gotta go! Take care all!

Yeah! It is the weekend! I just finished my last class of my first week back and it is only 10:30am! My earliest class all week.....so I now want to go back to bed, but at least we are finished so early! It sounds like it will be a great weekend! I get to see my Shaner EACH DAY! I'm excited! Tonight we are hanging out....not sure what we'll do! Tomorrow we have a wedding to go to and sunday is church and our family supper! Since getting engaged 3 months ago, we have wanted to go out with our immediate families altogether! Well the day is finally here! We are all going to Applebee's on sunday and I'm really looking forward to it!
So this week was interesting. It isn't so bad being back in school! I really should be thankful for an incredible semester and quite a bit of time! It is a real blessing! I also enjoyed girls movie night with my roomie and neighbors, the WCV girls night at Earl's and a great coffee and grand time at Walmart yesterday with a girlfriend from high school! I absolutely love Walmart! Everything for our wedding so far has been bought there except for my dress!!!! My wedding is going to be the Walmart wedding! Hey, I think they should sponser us and therefore give us everything for free as long as it is from their store! Wouldn't that be great!?!
So all is well! Found out that for nine weeks starting on the 21st I will be at Health Science Centre for my next clinical on Neuro surgery! I'm happy about that and a girl in my class had my CEF and said she's great!!!! And she gives awesome marks and doesn't grill you!!! So, God heard my fears over the past few weeks about clinical and has given me a pretty good deal so far!!!
Have great weekends!

So here we go again! Back to the routine of University! So far, not so bad. But kinda silly. In our first class, the profs were intent on figuring out each name so that they know us and know if we skip their classes. So we all (the entire class!) had to say something about themselves! I announced that we got great gifts including our pots off our bridal registry for Christmas! Oh and another friend from nursing got engaged over Christmas! How exciting! Last semester I kept asking her or checking out her finger after every weekend! It finally happened! And there wedding is only 2 weeks or so after ours! June 26th! So much fun and so much wedding stuff to talk about!
Well, school is here and I'm getting back into the books so there not a lot to say! Have a great day! Don't lose anything important in this weather (by means of freezing off!)!

Hello everyone!!! Soon I will be back in the blogger world regularly! I start University again on monday! Back to the grind......boy oh boy! As I may have mentioned already, I'm a little nervous about starting clinical up again! Ahhhhhhh......my blood pressure sky-rockets! Especially the night before! I have these awful fears of not waking up in time....though in all of my clinicals (well.....this will be number 4)...I haven't had the dreaded sleep in yet! Praise Jesus!!! Even when I work the day shift, as I did today, I have to set two different alarms (one across the room so that I can't turn it off) and still I sleep fairly miserably fearing sleeping in throughout the night! And to make things worse I have been having these ridiculous wedding nightmares! In the past three nights, I've fought with my photographer, premarital counselling hasn't worked out, we forgot to make programs for the ceremony, the flowers were totally wrong, I got down the aisle to find out that some guy we didn't know was going to marry us and had switched with our original pastor, my girls decided that other things were more important and didn't show at the rehearsal or at the arranged stuff the night or morning before the wedding (for which I beat them up!)....and on the saga goes! It's crazy!!! I'm not even stressed at all about the wedding and I'm having these crazy nightmares!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!
Well, my roomie is supposedly returning today! It will be nice to see her! And tonight I'm going out to a friend's house!
Soon I'll have a nice new layout on this site!!!! My nice friend, Yvonne, has been working on one for me! So stay tuned!!
Have a great night! Happy New Year!!!!