Update

Wow! I cannot even believe it is November already! Where has the time gone? I am sorry it has been so long since my last post, but here is an update for you:

• School is good - things have calmed down a little, but it is still keeping me busy. I registered yesterday for my last semester!! I can't even believe I only have one more to go! Sooooo exciting! I am really glad that I stayed full time in our program - out of the 65 students who started with me in August of 2007, only about 15 are due to graduate in May!! Crazy! A lot of people started working in January and some are still taking classes part time. I just know it is going to be one heck of a celebration when this is all over in May (hoping I pass all my classes, of course). :) Oh, and my externship is going great! I really love my nurse, Kelly, and I am learning so much! I feel this is such a great transition for me and it is really helping to prepare me for when I get my first official RN job. I am getting used to the nights as much as possible, although some weeks I get very little sleep (mostly from all the assignments and other things going on) - that plus the constant stress do seem to be taking a toll on my body sometimes.
  
• Brian is also due to graduate with his master's from LMU in May and right now he is working on his applications for PhD programs. As many of you probably know, he is looking at schools in Chicago, Boston, New York, ...and other East Coast schools. So, we are preparing ourselves to move around August of next year, but we won't really know until probably March or so. He is applying to very competitive schools, so we will see where he gets accepted and who has the best offers. I am getting excited about moving - some days I wish I was moving now!! I need a break from OC I think...
  
• As for wedding planning, we have most of the big stuff done. We decided on a caterer at the end of September and we are excited about who we went with. We also finally met with our florist and are still deciding on bridesmaid dresses. We feel really good about everything and where we are at now. :) Oh, and the honeymoon is pretty much booked - flights, hotels, etc. We are flying into Barcelona, then going to Lourdes, France, and then to Italy! We are SO excited!!
• As for my family, everyone is doing really well. October events:
  --We celebrated my mom's birthday by having a picnic at Irvine park. We had sandwiches, played games, went to the zoo, and had a potato sack race. It was a lot of fun - brought back some childhood memories!
  --My sister and her family moved into a condo right around the corner from her old apartment and it is really cute. By the time I went to check it out (about 2 weeks later), it looked as though they had been living there for months...or even years! They (Luis) had painted the entire house (many different colors) and everything was in place. I was impressed!! Here is a pic of me and my sis:
  --My dad's birthday is on Halloween, but we celebrated a week early at my sister's new place. We had dinner (Luis' yummy enchiladas) and played some Wii together, which was fun!!
• Over summer, I signed up for a little side job - it was mostly in case my externship didn't work out, but I decided to try and do it even with my current school load (of 16 grad units!). I am doing obesity assessments in kids. I work with registered dieticians and we go to preschools, elementary, middle and high schools to assess kids for obesity. We measure height, weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, and sometimes there is a doctor there to do physical assessments. The doctor may decide they need a referral to their primary care physician or they will be referred if they are overweight or have a high BMI. I wasn't scheduled much for September and October, but I really enjoyed the experience doing it! I never went to a high school - I think the oldest class I did was 6th grade - most of the kids I assessed were preschoolers. This program is through St. Joseph's and during Nov-Dec, the RDs go and teach the kids about healthy foods and habits and then we go back in Jan-Feb to assess the kids again. Then the next couple months I think they do kickboxing or some fun activity and then in May-June we go and do our final assessments. I just got my first paycheck yesterday, which was so exciting. Although it wasn't much (especially since taxes weren't taken out and they don't pay for gas), I still am happy to have a little job...something I can add to my resume!
• Since I am not busy enough (haha!!!), I am a volunteer for the Orange County Medical Reserve Corps and I have been signing up to give flu shots/nasal sprays (seasonal and H1N1) at schools and clinics...but I haven't done any yet, since the shipments haven't come in. But this Saturday I will be giving them. More experience!
• In addition, I have been taking any other side jobs that I can. I have had the opportunity to watch an elderly woman and help prepare her meals. She is so sweet! It is nice because I am able to get some schoolwork done when I am there too. I am still babysitting whenever I can and of course housesitting as much as possible. These little jobs help me pay my tuition (which went up a lot recently) :( , so I am thankful to still be able to do these!

I know this was a long update...and long overdue, but I am glad that I finally had time to post something. I hope you are all doing well!

Fun Video

Sorry this link hasn't been working. I will have to try it again. It was such a fun video!

Just had to make this! :) Click the link below...
MorphYourself

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6 Wonderful Years!!

Today is my 6 year dating anniversary with Brian! :D To celebrate, we had our first food and cake tasting for a potential wedding caterer. The food was absolutely amazing and the people were soooo nice. It was fun to have a fancy dinner for free and we left stuffed!
Although this picture was not taken today, it is a recent picture of us. This was taken on my birthday when we went for a day out on my dad's boat. I used my new camera that Brian and my nursing school friends got me - I love it!! :) Thank you to all those who contributed - it truly meant a lot to me!!

Re: 1st Night Shift

Well, I think I have finally recovered from my 1st night shift, but it did take a few days. I wanted to let you know that it went very well and I had a great experience - this whole externship will be a wonderful experience! I really like my preceptor, Kelly; she is really nice and always willing to teach. I told her at the beginning of my shift that I wanted to just observe to just get the feel for things again, but before I knew it, I was giving meds, charting, taking vital signs, etc. So, I think my instinct just took over and I jumped right in, which was good and I am glad I did! Being there and doing so much really helped regain my confidence in myself. I actually like the night shift a lot since it is so calm (without a lot of family, doctors, therapists, etc constantly in the room), but I just need to work on figuring out my sleeping schedule a little more. Anyway, it was a good night and I am looking forward to the next shift on Tuesday. :)

1st Night Shift

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! Since then, I finished summer session and started my fall semester and I turned 26 (and got a new camera!). Other than that, not much is new. I am doing an internship (we call it an externship) this semester at St. Jude in the oncology unit. Tonight is my first night shift ever and I am looking forward to it (although my body is a little thrown off). It is a class that we get credit for and it is an unpaid position (I will be working with a nurse), but I am just excited to get back in the hospital since I haven't had clinical since early December! I will let you all know how tonight goes!! :)

Marriage Prep

We "graduated" from our "Marriage in the Lord" workshops that we have been attending every Tuesday night during July. Brian and I LOVED these classes and are sad that they are over already. We are looking forward to attending retreats or workshops like these in the future. They really spark up a whole new/deeper level of communication and really brought the two of us even closer together. We had the largest small group and had a lot of similarities among each other. One girl is in nursing school (a LVN to RN program) and her and another girl both have Dutch fathers, just like me! :) And our moderator couple goes to San Antonio too. All in all, it was really neat hearing from/about other Catholic couples; for instance, I enjoyed hearing about what traditions their families have had and what they would like to keep/start with their new family. These classes were very beneficial and I think all couples preparing for marriage should go through something like this!!

Help Fight Hunger #2

I love going to thehungersite.com and taking about 10 seconds to help others just by clicking each of the "click here to give" under each tab (hunger, breast cancer, child health, literacy, rainforest, and animal rescue). I encourage you to try to click daily - it only takes a few seconds out of your day.

Another great site is http://bhookh.com/, which will donate a cup of staple food to a chronically hungry Indian.

Gordie Brown

I received the pictures from Kimi's camera, which had most of the pictures from our Vegas trip, so I thought I would post this one from when we went to the Gordie Brown show.
He is really talented (comedian, musician, artist) and we had a blast, especially since Kimi was the highlight of his show! We were able to go backstage and meet him, which was so cool, but we did feel a little weird about it too. Anyway, this was the picture we took with him.

Where did July go!?

Wow, I can't believe today is July 22! I noticed that I haven't posted much in a while, so I thought I would write a short update.

• School is school and it is crazy busy as usual. I cannot even wait for this semester to end, but after registering for the fall semester, I am not looking forward to starting that. I am looking forward to my externship in the fall though, which will be at St. Jude's. :)
  
• I went to Vegas over the weekend with a few girlfriends which was loads of fun. (Kimi turned 21 earlier this month). It was soooo nice to get away for the weekend and relax and have a good time. I'm not a big gambler, but I played some slots and won a whopping $7! :) Hey, it's better than losing, right?
  
• I'm currently housesitting 2 puppies in Anaheim Hills (till tomorrow). The family has only had them for about 2 weeks, so I have found myself spending much of my time training and cleaning up after them. It is not fun to come home to some nice "puppy presents" everytime I leave and I sware the 2 of them team up on me on purpose. Anyway, they are really cute dogs and I have enjoyed having my own place for the week. :) I will try to attach a picture soon.
  
• My dad was in the hospital for a few days for a bowel obstruction, but he went home this afternoon. I visited him a couple times and realized how much I would probably hate to have him as a patient! He actually told the student nurse that she could not take out his NG tube and that he had seen a little too much of her! Poor girl! I probably would have cried. :P Glad he is home though.
  
• Lastly, my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. He is turning 81 on Sunday and as of right now, he will not be getting any surgery or treatments because of his age. Please keep him and my grandmother in your prayers.

I think that is really all that's new. Also, please keep my friend Tiffany in your prayers - she lost her husband today.

Reception Site

Today Brian and I booked our reception site. It was very exciting for us and we are very happy about it. After much searching, we are glad we found the perfect place that represents both of us (although, this was the first place we looked at). I can't wait to celebrate our big day at the Fullerton Arboretum.