I have a bone to pick with Nashville drivers today, so I thought I would rant here in hopes some of those Nashvillians with road rage will read this and be put to SHAME.

Picture it. Sicily. 1942. No, really (but I hope you get that reference to Golden Girls). I was driving on one of the most busy roads in Nashville, because where I was getting my oil change happens to be on this road. I attempted to get into the left turn lane, because I needed to make a left. However, there were so many cars in that lane already going the OTHER direction, I was only able to get part way into the lane. So the people behind me go around me using the other lane. Totally understandable. It's what you do when you realize the person in front of you is in a bad situation and can't get to where they want. Well, this redneck (may or may not have been...I tend to see all the people in Nashville I get angry with as rednecks when I recount my memories) proceeds to lay on his horn and shout things out the window. What did he think I was going to do?? I had nowhere to go, and he was just being rude.

Here's a little lesson on how to use your horn, y'all (that was thrown in so even the redneck could understand). One should use their horn if someone is drifting into your lane or doing something that may well kill you if they don't stop. I even think it's acceptable to do a quick "beep" when the person in front of you is on their phone and doesn't see the light turn from red to green. Thus, the unspoken rule is that if you lay on your horn out of anger, you are automatically a jerk.

That being said, I want to thank Nashville for even being willing to stop in the middle of the road in heavy traffic to let someone turn. I, being from St. Louis, have to remind myself you do this here and of course I want to play by the rules of your culture and not look like the aforementioned jerk. Unless it's rush hour. Then, I am vicious and stop for no one...which I also expect from everyone else rushing home. That's another unspoken rule. You can be kind of selfish during rush hour.

So since my post is road/traffic/car related, I had my oil changed today and I appreciated they didn't try to BS me about needing repairs or anything. Thank you very much. Also having a car stinks. Maintenance, gas, parking fees, insurance (thanks, Mom...I'll take that one up soon)...some of my best friends live in Chicago and have no cars. I would miss the convenience of having a car, but it's all a moot point anyway because Nashville would be impossible to navigate without a car. Well...not impossible but you would have to sit at home every night and live close to your work. I walked to my voice lesson at Vandy from Matt's apartment today, and it's such a gorgeous walk through cute little residential apartment areas. I would love to live there, but it's SUPER pricey. I also wouldn't feel hipster enough...by the way, I love thinking about the new apartment Matt and I will live in (!).

So there's my rant. If you ever pass through the Nashvegas, avoid West End or Hillsboro Pike at all costs...

Hello again, blogworld! I guess it's about time for my seemingly monthly post (definitely don't do that purposely!). Currently, I am watching the new movie version of Sherlock Holmes...not because I've heard it's any good (I've actually heard terrible things), but it was supposed to be shown at the park on Wednesday and I LOVE going to free, new activities like that. Speaking of this park (it's my favorite in Nashville), there was a shooting there a few weeks ago. This surprised me and shook me up a little, but, as Matt pointed out when I told him this, there was an execution-style double murder at a Steak n Shake right by my house a couple years ago. You just never know. Anyway, that was the only free Movie in the Park I could have made it to. My luck is such that I work EVERY Wednesday the rest of the month when they show them, so that's great.

Speaking of my job...I was in the last group to self-schedule for the month of July, and it ended up terribly for me. I now know that I need to schedule right at the stroke of midnight and need to have ALL my days I want planned out. Oh well, I guess I learned this time. I'm just frustrated, because I unfortunately ended up with EVERY Saturday night in July. Great. Also, I'm working when Matt's family comes down to go to the Smokey Mountains, so I obviously cannot go, and Matt's friends from college are coming down a weekend in which I work every day. Great. I don't want to sound whiny, because obviously only working 3 days a week has its perks (such as my 8 day vacation last month without using vacation days), but sometimes I wish I weren't awake and bored at 1:30 AM on a Thursday.

Bored isn't the right word. Lately, I've felt really...restless. I'm not really sure why. I crave for an adventure...to do something new and different. I don't even know what. I know I just moved to Nashville 6 months ago and started a job, but I still feel this way. I feel this need to do something new everyday. One of Matt's books he's reading for class said something about feeling restless. I can't remember now, but it was something negative and meant your soul is missing something. I've thought maybe I need a creative outlet back in my life...I need to look more into taking voice lessons. I would really like to audition for the Nashville Symphony Chorus, but I don't think it will be possible for me to get off every Tuesday night for rehearsals. Maybe I need to find some way to volunteer? I applied to volunteer at the Red Cross, but all the orientation training dates don't work with my night schedule.

The things most on my mind lately have been the wedding, Criminal Minds, and money. I'm excited to go home for the 4th of July weekend, because we're going to look at about 6 potential places to have the reception. Matt, both of our families, and I are going, so I'm excited to have everyone's input. I want everyone to be happy, and I'll be more excited about someplace if everyone else is, too. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing after picking the reception site. I also L-O-V-E fireworks, so therefore I love the 4th of July. Anyway, I have become obsessed with Criminal Minds, and it is Matt's fault. We have rented some seasons from the library. Thanks to that and ION TV, we might have seen them all soon. I'm kind of in love with Dr. Reid, but don't tell Matt ;) As for money, this is super dumb, but I have to start paying back my student loans starting this month and I'm starting to worry about money. It's daunting to know I'll be paying off something for 10 years. Matt has been worrying, because he doesn't get his stipend during the summer, so maybe he's making me nervous, too. I don't know. Weddings are a big expense, you guys, but I know that money is not all that matters so I need to stop worrying. Like right now.

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and not feeling restless like me :) I did forget to say that I bought a groupon for a makeover over 4th of July weekend, so maybe I'll have to put pictures up later! Love you all.

One of my friends wrote on my wall the other day he was so happy to see I'm keeping up with my blog. I think he may be crazy, because I feel like I haven't updated in forever! All the times in my life where the most is changing, I don't think to update because the amount to update is so overwhelming! I'll try to think of some highlights.

I am officially off of orientation. I'll be all on my own starting Monday. I'm nervous, but I hope I can handle everything. The good thing is there are always people around to help out. I'll never be truly alone. I might have a lot of responsibility (oh, just you know, people's lives in my hands), but I have people to ask questions of and to help me. I look forward to the day when I can repay them and am just so efficient that I have time to help them out, too.

I think I struggle with a lot of things other new nurses struggle with (maybe this can help any nurses-to-be out there). We're told it from the beginning, but prioritization is one of the biggest. No day is like another, and there are always new needs to juggle. It's difficult when something unexpected happens or conflict occurs (which seems to be almost inevitable almost every single day) to know what to do. It's difficult to get out of a patient's room who is a talker. This one was difficult for me, because I feel like a lot of patients just need someone to talk to and listen to them. Unfortunately, if you did this, you would neglect the rest of your patients. It's difficult to know when is appropriate to contact a doctor and whether it's appropriate to call them at 3 AM to tell them something about a patient. Most of all, I have had to learn that I am not superwoman and am not going to save all of these people's lives. I come into their lives, and I do what I can to help. I cannot do everything for them. I have nights that are extremely stressful (they are getting fewer now), but I go home happy knowing that I am doing something meaningful and something that is helpful in this world.

This summer has been super fun so far. Matt's out of school, and it's so nice to have more time to hang out! It's also so nice to hang out with Matt when no serious homework is looming over his head. It's funny how much of a difference it makes. He did really well last semester. I'm proud of him. Part of me wishes he were finished with school soon, so that I could always hang out with super fun Matt! He's taking a class this summer where he gets to go to parts of Nashville he and I don't usually see and see what urban ministries are occurring here. He's having a blast. Basically, we've just been watching wayyy too many episodes of Criminal Minds (thanks ION TV for the marathons) and eating too much Jet's pizza.

Last weekend was really fun. Matt was out of town, so I was determined not to just sit around on my butt in my apartment. I hung out with my friend Kendra who works at the children's hospital. She's really great. We watched "Say Yes to the Dress" and went to this BBQ place one of my patients was raving about (it was pretty good). I hung out with Jaye, who is starting her master's at Peabody next Fall. I hang out with Matt's friends down here, and I suddenly realize I am the only one not pursuing a master's (yet)...though I do have more degrees ;) It's nice to be making money, though!

I discovered last weekend there is a Plato's Closet here, and I introduced it to Jaye, who LOVED it. I think she and Matt's sister have similar tastes in clothing. Matt's family is coming up the week Harry Potter comes out in July, so I am preparing to buy us midnight tickets to see the final installment(and it won't even mess up my sleep schedule)!!

But before that, Matt and I are planning on seeing Bridesmaids this weekend. I've heard really good things about it, and I'm excited he actually wants to see a chick flick...or is it even a chick flick? It's about weddings and has Erin from "The Office" in it, so I'm in!

I need to start writing in here more, because I want to have more time to write about the little things in life that make my day :) I love reading about that kind of stuff in my friends' blogs. Until then!

Here I am, awake at 4 AM, not able to sleep. I looked out my window. There are no lights on in other apartments. It's kind of a strange/peaceful feeling. I have a basic arrhythmia test tomorrow, but besides that, I'm free. I hope I'll sleep after it.

Matt came over when I woke up to make some chicken parmesan (obviously not really chicken...plug for Morning Star), and I got some spinach/artichoke dip from Trader Joe's a coworker was raving about. It was surprisingly good, but nothing compares to the dip from The Duck at DePauw (maybe it's all the memories that come with it, though).

I haven't been able to get enough of Matt lately. I'm a little bummed I won't be able to see him tomorrow (our schedules are a lot different...good thing I only work 3 days/week). Maybe it's because I'm still feeling a little insecure at work, and I'm looking for comfort in other aspects of my life. Two of my nursing school friends wrote on my wall they missed me, and it made me miss having friends I can be "real" with who are going through the same things as me right now. The other two new residents on my floor are great girls, but I haven't really gotten to know them well yet. I'm meeting with another nurse resident soon for some Sweet Cece's soon, so I'm excited for that and to hear how things on her floor are going. I'm going to Sweet Cece's on Thursday for the birthday of one of Matt's friends from home. I think I am officially obsessed with froyo!! Oh, and Jet's Pizza...Matt and I seem to have that about every other week. Oh gosh, I'm realizing how healthy I'm sounding...

I had a patient last night who was really scared of needles, and unfortunately, her IV wouldn't draw and I had to stick her. I was literally shaking, because it made me nervous she was nervous! I was so excited when I got it on the first try, though :) I was looking through a notebook I started keeping of quotes I like, and I thought this one fit that occasion and, really, almost any occasion I have at work: "We learn to swim by swimming. We learn courage by couraging." I'm just going to keep on couraging until everything comes naturally. Where are all those acting skills I supposedly acquired from DPU? ;)

I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife...more like devoured its 500 pages in a few days. I'm not sure if I should read more books like this one because they're just so fun, or if this stuff is too close to what I would think romance novels would be like. Or maybe I've just had time to read educational books for the last few years, and now it's weird to read things for pleasure and I feel guilty? Who knows. I guess I'll go back to studying this basic arrhythmia course book and hope it puts me to sleep soon...

Sooooo, since my last blog, I have been matched. We wrote a little blurb about our top 3 favorite units, and I honestly couldn't choose between the cardiac unit and one of the general medicine units that also administers chemotherapy. I had Matt edit my blurbs about them so it would sound like I liked them both equally. I decided to leave it up to the fates of the unit managers, and I figured the floor that had more positive feedback about me and wanted me more would choose me. Welllllll, I ended up on the general medicine floor, and I am so far really happy. If you're wondering what a general medicine floor deals with, it's a little bit of everything. We get patients who are not critically ill enough to be in ICU's (although I have been told our general medicine floor is what an ICU would look like at surrounding hospitals), and they come in through the ER, from the clinics, outside hospitals...we even had a few surgical overflow patients the other night. I think it will be a valuable experience for me to be introduced to so many different disease processes. I'm thinking I want to be a nurse practitioner in the non-acute setting, so I think it will help me to be familiar with and recognize everything.

That being said...it can be a little overwhelming to be introduced to everything at the same time. I remember one of my professors in nursing school telling us that most of learning how to be a nurse is done on the job. I thought that was a ridiculous statement, because we were learning so much in nursing school, and I figured there couldn't POSSIBLY be more to know than this. However, he was right (which is unfortunate, because he was kind of full of himself...I think he would admit to that, too, so it's not too mean). I went into nursing, because I wanted a job where I would be learning new things all the time and never get bored. I also wanted a job where I felt like I was making a difference everyday. Now, here are the problems with that and being new: I am too not bored. In fact, I am pretty much overwhelmed from beginning to the end of shift (granted, it is already getting better, and 3-4 AM can be a little slow). I feel like my job is so meaningful during those times patients thank me or I know I was able to do something to make their lives a little better. Sometimes, I don't have all the knowledge or the resources yet to help them as much as I want, and that can be a little upsetting. As I said (and I know Matt's told me this, too), I can tell things are already getting a little easier. However, I have to come to terms with the fact that things are not going to be perfect overnight. Gosh, I struggle with that word "perfect." I will never be "perfect." I will, though, eventually be a great nurse. This is going to have to be a process, and I need to accept that.

I think I need to say that again. I am not going to be a great nurse right away. I will try my hardest, but I am going to have to be easier on myself. I will be honest and say there have been a few days where I come home and cry. I just cry about how incompetent I feel at work and how I don't feel like I am an asset to this floor's team. I am stronger than that, though. I can and will accept constructive criticism and will find strategies to improve the way I function at work. I realize that, for the time being, I'm going to have to write down EVERYTHING so that I don't forget. I haven't had to deal with remembering everything that happened during a 12 hour shift with all 5 of my patients and everything about their medical histories. I can't wait until the day it just all seems to click.

From talking to Matt and my mom tonight, I found the strength to finally come to those conclusions and not ignore everything and hope those feelings went away. I love them and don't know what I would do without them :) I've also realized that I need to take time for myself do things I really enjoy. I was brainstorming some things that really make me happy. Obviously, music makes me happy, but it's kind of a more complicated relationship now that I've studied it. I have to turn off my knowledge about it and just appreciate it. That's hard to do sometimes, so I thought of some other things that really make me happy. Exploring and traveling make me happy (I think this could apply to Nashville as well..doesn't have to be international or anything). Trying new restaurants makes me happy. Candy and icecream make me happy (maybe more than a few of these deal with food...hahaha). Reading novels makes me happy. Hanging out with friends makes me happy. I hope I can find many more hobbies and maybe even volunteer opportunities here that make me happy. All I know is that I want, no NEED, to spend more time doing these things when I'm away from work. Jaye and I are going to a gourmet popsicle place tomorrow and watching some Big Bang Theory tomorrow (super excited!).

Beside that, last weekend was fun. That bar I talked about in last post was fun...I tried some beer that almost had a Fruit Loop aftertaste. I have no idea what it was called anymore. We watched Inception with some friends, and it was definitely better the second time knowing what was going on. It's so funny being awake right now on a Thursday at 2:30 AM. I peeked my head out my window and saw some lights on at other apartments. I always wonder what everyone else is up to and why they're up. They either work nights like me, are students studying late for a test, or maybe insomniacs. Those are my theories :) I'm just more perplexed by why the birds are chirping right now...

Hello again, blogging world! I'm sitting here at the library with Matt while he does his homework, so I thought I would take this opportunity to write about what's been going on lately.

So a few weeks ago, my friend Jake came into town from St. Louis, and I showed him around Nashville. We walked around the Vandy campus (because the weather was gorgeous! much like today...), went to the Pancake Pantry (this place is seriously worth the 1 hour wait to get in on weekends), went to the Loveless Cafe (supposed to have some of the best Southern comfort food around, but I really think it was a big disappointment), and we went to see Spring Awakening! It was an amazing musical, and I love the musical and the content. I was a little disappointed by how Act II wrapped up so quickly, but I had some super high expectations going in as my old roommate from DePauw, Lauren, talked about it ALL THE TIME.

The next weekend, I went home (Matt did, too). We were planning on talking to the Magic House about having our wedding and/or reception there, but it didn't work out. We went up there, and Matt showed me the general set up for wedding receptions. I think it would be a really unique and fun venue. There's a lot of natural light, and people could explore the new wing of the magic house during the reception (we have some kids in both of our families). I really like how you can look down from a balcony on the second floor to see the festivities going on on the bottom floor. People could walk up there and chat as well. The place where they take tickets by the main entrance can also be converted into a bar. We really like this venue, because it is special to us (Matt works there) and the friend who introduced us (shout out to Carlie!) used to work there as well. It sounds like it would be all on us to basically figure out all the rest of the details and set up and tear down everything by ourselves. We still have to figure things out. It's about a year out in June, so we have a little time, but I get anxious about these things.

While we were home, we went to a trivia night at my church. We didn't win, but it was a lot of fun. I also ended up buying (quite impulsively) a small organ/keyboard from a silent auction. It's pretty awesome, and it sits in my living room now. I'm sure my neighbors love it...

The next weekend, my parents came to Nashville to visit, because it was Doug's spring break. Yes, I've had a lot of visitors lately! We checked out the Opryland Hotel. There was a Twilight convention going on (no comment), and the hotel was gorgeous with its indoor garden. We walked around Centennial Park (my fave park here), went to Sweet Cece's (I can't live without their fro-yo now), and went to a couple malls. We had a lot of fun.

This week has been a little more back to normal. Matt surprised me with a date at a nice restaurant here with AMAZING food called the Germantown Cafe. We have plans to go to a bar tonight with his friend called the Flying Saucer that is supposed to have 150+ beers. Should be fun. A couple of nursing friends and I went to the Greenhouse Bar on Thursday, and this bar is literally a greenhouse. It was kind of neat.

I'm basically avoiding the biggest thing weighing on my mind this week. We're getting matched to our home units on Monday, and I'm a little nervous. I feel like I could be happy and learn a lot anywhere, but it's still stressful to think they are deciding where I will be working for a minimum of 1 year on Monday. I hope everyone is happy with the results of our matching. I know some are set on certain units. I am SO ready to just start orienting on one unit and getting to know the same people every week. They're announcing where we're all going at a ceremony on Monday, and there will be cupcakes (yay!). Luckily, we get emails beforehand, so we can process where we're going before we have to face other people if we are disappointed. This whole residency has been a positive experience for me, and I am very glad I ended up here at Vanderbilt. I know my job is going to be difficult a lot of times, but I'm hoping I'll learn a TON about medicine, dealing with people on an everyday basis, and coping with everything I see.

I can't wait blog about my adventures of my first job on my new floor! Miss you all.

I just found this and liked it...real post to come soon!

All of us in the medical profession are asked to walk many thin lines: between not taking our work lightly and not internalizing the inevitable and necessary weight of it. We must be strong for our patients but not so strong that we lose our capacity to empathize. It takes a special constitution to show up to work daily and perform with excellence the tasks that are required of our work.

So I just realized a little post here is overdue. February is going by so quickly. I can't even believe it. I'm half way through the rotation part of my residency and have only 3 more units to go, and when I went to pick up my first paycheck today (BIG event in my life...biggest paycheck I've ever gotten), they were already interviewing for the Summer residency cohort! Crazy.

So far, I've been to the renal dialysis and transplant floor, ACE (acute care of the elderly...basically a general medicine floor that gets most patients over 65), and myelosuppression. I still have a cardiac stepdown unit and 2 different general medicine units to go. Unfortunately, I will be spending time on those units on the night shift. The upside is that I will get paid a little more, but I'm anticipating it feeling like I'm living in a constant state of jet lag. I'm kind of excited, though, to see how night shift is versus day shift...will be a new experience. I put up the new curtain I bought myself that is supposed to block out 99% of light, so hopefully that will help me sleep better. I LOVE that my apartment gets so much natural light during the day, but for this situation, not so great.

Let's see...now that I have a full time job, I feel like my life has gotten a lot more boring. But maybe it's always been that way and I'm just noticing now, but anyway...I'm having a blast so far. I have weekends off (for now), so Matt and I have been hanging out a lot (and other friends, too!). I should probably make more of an effort to hang out with other nurse residents outside of work/class, because they are awesome people but it's hard when I don't see Matt very often anyway. Also, I have no idea who I'll even see once we get matched to our units. Anyway, since the 31st...hmm...hard to write down everything exciting I've done. I'm trying to remember, because I want to go back and look at this and remember all the experiences I've had. Kind of like my study abroad journal...only I'm not living in as cool of place as Vienna. I applied to the Nurse Education Loan Repayment Program recently, and I REALLY hope the lovely government will help me out with my loans in exchange for taking care of my lovely patients. A lot of Matt's friends from Divinity School, Kendra, Jaye, and I watched the Superbowl together. We also walked around Centennial Park a little that day (it was gorgeous...like today).

The next week, I attempted (yes, only attempted) to go to a Zumba class. However, Nashville got 3 inches of snow and flipped out. I got one block in 20 minutes and decided the traffic was not worth my time. The next morning, although there was no snow overnight, the roads were still not cleaned off and were pretty much the scariest roads I've ever driven on. I had to stop at one of the 1000 stop lights on Hillsboro Pike (of which none are synced up just right), aaaand I couldn't get my car to start moving again. FREAKED me out, and after a hysterical call to my mom, I lived and was only 5 minutes late to work. Oh, the joys of being a nurse and having to come into work even when other working adults get "snow days." I look forward to the day I get to sleep on an air mattress in the hospital for the next day's shift...some of my friends in the program did that!

Let's see...Matt and I had a very chill Valentine's Day. He bought me a box of chocolates (because he knows I always like having chocolate around), and we just watched TV and ordered a couple pizzas. We have GOT to stop this eating an entire pizza for ourselves thing. V Day was kind of lame, since it was on a Monday, so we went to an Indian buffet the Saturday before. It was actually pretty good, and we went to the employee celebration at the Vanderbilt women's basketball game the next day. It was nice. They gave us a free t-shirt (made me laugh hysterically when it was a t-shirt from the event they had in 2009(!)). We got a free bottle of milk (?) and a popcorn and soda. The game was going pretty well, but apparently it went downhill when we left, because they had a 10 point lead when we left and they lost. Oh, I also went to my friend from DePauw's (Allyson) choir concert before the game. It was cute...songs from musicals. I wanted to check them out and see if I would be interested in maybe auditioning and singing a little bit again. Speaking of music, I bought tickets for me and a few friends to see Spring Awakening next weekend!! I am beyond excited, and I cannot believe I am FINALLY seeing it. I hope it doesn't disappoint!

If you're wondering how I am liking the floors, it's difficult to say. We only get 2 days on each unit (granted, no other program does this and I am grateful for this aspect of the program), but it's difficult to gauge if I will fit in and like it there. My preceptors have for the most part been AMAZING. I am so impressed with Vanderbilt, and I think I will love working there. The patient to nurse ratios are a lot better than some places I've seen, and the units seem to have excellent team work. I don't want to go into too much detail here about the different units, because who knows what will happen on match day. All I know is that I will have some difficult decisions to make when ranking them...

2 "firsts" for me today: my first parking ticket (by the way, Beth, a friend from nursing school got some coffee with me today on her way to Auburn to visit her son...she's so great. I missed her), and my first paycheck! Woohoo!!

First Day of Work!

So before I talk about how my first day of orientation at Vanderbilt went, I wanted to talk about this crazy weekend a little bit. Some of the girls from the divinity school and I went to a town south of Nashville to do a little shopping. When we got downtown, it was a little crowded, but we didn't think anything of it. We went in all the cutesy (and expensive!) shops, and when we came out later, the entire street was blocked off. Apparently it was a big day for Franklin, as their theater that first opened in 1937 is being renovated and it was the day they were going to light up the sign! We had fun snacking on all the free food, popcorn, and champagne. However, when it came time to leave, we realized we were very close to the theater and barricaded in. All of a sudden, everyone had a very strong opinion on how we should get out of there and were either very angry at us for making them move to let us leave or rushed to get a cop to help us out of there. Oy. It turned into an interesting day, and it was a good time!

So today I had orientation at Vanderbilt. It was very organized, and everyone seems very nice. It really seems like they want our transition to be as smooth as possible. I had to get my blood drawn for a titer for chicken pox, so that was a little scary. I'm such a bad nurse...I dread blood draws...even though I know the entire drill! It's ridiculous. Anyway, I got my ID today, and it made me feel very official :) Can't wait for more orientation tomorrow and talking to more cool people!

This is my last Friday off!! Haha...that's what I'm telling myself every day this week. I start working on Monday! I can't believe it! I've known I've had this job since November, but it's actually going to happen finally! I'm super nervous, and I hope all the nurse residents are nice and we have a good community. I was looking at all of my health insurance stuff the other day, and I made big girl decisions like choosing my dentist. Eeeee! The only thing I need to do is get my diploma from Goldfarb and send in all my stuff to get a Tennessee nursing license. I got my Missouri license number today, so that was exciting.

So this paragraph is especially for Olivia ;). The Adventure Science Center was a lot of fun! I especially enjoyed the grossology body exhibit (did you know we replace the snot in our noses every 20 minutes?) and the space exhibits. They also had animatronic dinosaurs there which made me think of the science center at home :) One neat part was climbing up a tower to see the Nashville skyline and then sliding down a big slide to get back down. I, however, had to face this alone as Matt and Kendra are afraid of heights!! They gave us drink tickets, and we ate mini tacos, nachos, and cheese cubes so it was a fun time.

I had my first dinner guest over on Wednesday. Miss Jaye (omgsh, I think that's the name of the cross dressing man on ANTM) came over, and we ate pasta and salad (I'm sure my next meal will be more complicated. I know Karina right now is like, yeah right). We had fun, and she introduced me to one of my new tv show obsessions: Pushing Daisies. How did I not find this before? Especially since Cheno(Kristen Chenoweth)is on it...

Matt's taking me out tonight...to Cici's. We've just been craving it, and I still like saying he's taking me out even when the place is, well, a pizza buffet. It should be fun, because it's in a part of the city we haven't seen yet and then we plan on going to the Nashville Night Market afterward. Tomorrow, I might go shopping with Matt's div school (they think they're cool for calling themselves that) friends. I'm pretty happy with how my last weekend before working is going to pan out :)

So this week is my last week off before I start my big girl job (super excited to get a paycheck!), and I'm celebrating that fact by watching an ANTM (America's Next Top Model) marathon. Tonight, I'm going to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville with Matt and a new friend in the nurse residency program. It should be fun! It's for 21+ only, and you get a couple drinks and to play on the equipment with no kids around, lol. I'm looking forward to it.

Since I have passed the NCLEX (!), I have been selling off my books on half.com. I only have one left to remind me of that torturous year. It actually wasn't torture. You guys know I'm a nerd and love school and can't wait to go back fro my Master's...although, watching Matt go through all of this reading and papers, I begin to wonder...

I got a library card yesterday, so that makes me feel more like a Nashvillian. I checked out the first season of Pushing Up Daisies, because my friend said it's really good. I also checked out a whole bunch of exercise videos, because I'm hoping I'll be more likely to exercise if I can do it in the comfort of my apartment. We shall see...so I thought it was interesting that everything is self-checkout at the library and that it was the way of the future, but Matt told me Kirkwood's library has done that for years :P

Matt got me this nursing calendar for Christmas, and since I'm starting my job as an RN soon, I thought it would be fitting to share some of the quotes from the pull away calendar that amused me:

It's entitled "The Advantages of Working Nights, Sleeping Days, and Never Having Two Days Off in a Row."

-Avoid rush-hour hassles and traffic jams, plus be able to find great parking spots.
-You can use your work schedule to get out of almost any undesirable invitation.
-You'll save money that you might otherwise have spent on weekend outings, holiday gifts, or social affairs that you're unable to attend.

I love it.

NCLEX...check

Hello everybody! I'm back after a short hiatus where I crammed for the NCLEX (the test for RN licensure). I took it yesterday in Brentwood (a cute suburb of Nashville), and I really hope it went well. I may know by tomorrow what my results are if 48 hours includes non-business days. Of course, they require to you pay a fee before you can get your early results. It's kind of stupid, because it's a completely computerized, multiple choice test, and they could tell you the results right away. Anyway, I'm trying not to think too much about it. I wasn't nervous during the test (even when they were giving me a palm vein scan and taking all of my fingerprints). Matt said he got a pat down to make sure he had nothing on him, so at least I wasn't subjected to that! They also video and audio recorded us during the test, so it's intense. I wasn't nervous until after the test, because I was thinking, it's all out of my control now. I thought about how I didn't even have one math question on the test and how I couldn't even recall many specific questions. I'm distracting myself this weekend from obsessing about the test by having fun :)

As my Nanny reminded me on the phone yesterday, I only have one week from Monday until I have to start being a working adult. I'm sad all this fun is going to come to an end...well, hopefully not all the fun will come to an end. Since my last post, I went to a spinning class with my friend Jaye, and it kicked my butt! Even the middle aged ladies in the class had more energy than me. Last night, Matt and I went to a Mexican place in Nashville everyone says is amazing, and it was really good! It's called Taco Mamacita, but it's not traditional Mexican at all. I think one of my tacos had mangos in it...the guacamole was amazing. Matt and I watched Persepolis (which is a beautifully made movie about the Iranian revolution), and we're going to a concert and comedian at the Divinity School tonight. Should be fun!

If you haven't seen yet, I have pics of my apartment up on facebook. I love it. I love how the sun shines into my apartment during the day, and I don't even have to turn on any lights. I don't think I will like it so much when I have to sleep during the day. I also don't like having to kill my own bugs. They make me want to cry. At least they aren't crickets, though.

Right now I'm enjoying my time being lazy and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer...oh how I miss you 90's. I'm going over to the little gym my apartment has later.

I forgot to tell you some exciting news (at least to me!). So when I was a senior at DePauw, I bought tickets to go see the musical Spring Awakening with my roommate and to come home and everything from Indiana that weekend. Well, I ended up having a concerto competition that weekend and had to sell my ticket to a friend. Well, guess what!! Spring Awakening is coming to Nashville next month!! I am so excited about it! There's one good thing about moving to a new city...I thought I would have to wait until the tour came back to St. Louis in a bajillion years. I'm hoping to buy my tickets soon!

Free Museums and Fun with Friends :)

Matt and I ventured over to the Country Music Hall of Fame yesterday, and it was pretty fun! I was upset at first when I saw the sign saying you had to have a valid Tennessee license to get in for free, but it ended up working out after some explaining of my situation. There was some neat things in there. The inside of the building with the foyer and the staircase is cool, and they have a ton of stuff in there. It was fun, because I like more modern country and country/pop/rock crossover stuff, and Matt likes more of the old country like Johnny Cash and all that jazz (not the genre, haha). You could spend a lot of time in there. I enjoyed the 24 karat gold plated piano that once belonged to Elvis and also a car painted with crushed diamonds. There was also someone's car that had handguns attached to various parts of the car...weird. Anyway, I got to see Taylor Swift's pretty dress she wore at the CMA's in 2009. I would put pictures up, but there was no flash photography, and my pictures are blurry. I was thoroughly disappointed at the lack of Dixie Chicks anything in that museum. I asked a volunteer about it, and he smugly said they used to be there, but not anymore. I don't think anyone has the right to try to erase something from history just because they don't like it. Get over their ideology, people.

We also went to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (also free) with Jaye and Peter. The building is really cool, and it was a fun time. There was an Impressionism exhibit, and while I know nothing about it, it seemed thorough and well done. Everything I learned about art history was in Vienna, so I only know about Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical artwork...and definitely nothing about French art, because Vienna had a rivalry with their royalty. Oh well. I'll wait for an exhibit on that!

Matt and I went to a Presbyterian church today. It was kind of cool. They have a house where board young people out of college while they volunteer for a year at a nonprofit in Nashville and figure out what they want to do with their lives. One of the people that did the program actually studied abroad with me in Vienna. Small world, huh?

I have now taken pictures of my apartment. The problem is that my cord that connects my camera to my laptop isn't work, so I'll have to wait until Matt can upload the pictures to his computer. Bummer.

I got my fingerprints digitally today. I did it back in St. Louis as well, and it was in this super sketchy building in a little room where the guy insisted on shutting the door. He wasn't very nice either. This was a totally different experience. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the people in Nashville are nicer. Here's hoping. People walk by me on the street and smile, and I'm like, what are they smiling about? It's kind of nice.

So Nashville has a new mayor. His name is Bill Haslam. I know absolutely nothing about him. All I know is that as part of the festivities for the weekend, many of the museums in the area are free tomorrow. I'm really excited for that. I'm trying to plan a trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Tennessee State Museum, Belmont Mansion, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts to see some impressionism. I know this is a little ambitious, but I'm excited.

Here's a little tidbit about Nasvhille i found online today: The other conspicuous element in Nashville's make-up is religion. There are over seven hundred churches, more per capita than anywhere else in the country...I guess I should welcome myself to the Bible belt ;)

Here's a little realization that makes me freak out every time I think about it: I'm taking the NCLEX one week from today! Ahhh!

Also, here's a little information from a recent Vanderbilt Nursing Newsletter:

WELCOME NURSE RESIDENTS - WINTER 2011

95 Total Nurse
Residents

15% ASN
80% BSN
5% MSN

Pediatrics: 25
(3.58 GPA)

Adult Critical Care: 43
(3.60 GPA)

Adult Medicine: 19 (that's me!)
(3.50 GPA)

Adult Surgery: 6
(3.58 GPA)

Psychiatry: 2
(3.71 GPA)

33 States

54 Nursing Programs

New Friends

I would call today a pretty productive day. Maintenance came today and fixed everything. I set up my wireless router, so now I don't have to do a very difficult maneuver to try to plug in my computer on one side of the room to charge and to ethernet on the other side. I cleaned up my apartment a bit, because I'm having one of Matt's friend's wives over tonight. We're going to go to Fido's for dinner and coffee. They are supposed to have some of the best coffee in Nashville. I trust her pick, because I know her husband is like THE coffee connoisseur. Jaye is so sweet, and it will be nice to have other friends to hang out with beside Matt (not that I don't love you, Matt ;) ).

I went to lunch with a few of the nurse residents today. They were so nice, and they seem like such interesting and great people. One is here all the way from Seattle, and two went to college here in Tennessee and have kids. We went to the Mellow Mushroom, and it was pretty good. We walked around Vanderbilt, and it made everything seem more real. I hope all the other nurse residents are as chill and sweet as these people. Lina said 300 and something people interviewed for the program, and 90 got in. Wow. I didn't realize how blessed I should feel. I have a good feeling about this whole experience. :)

Tomorrow's adventures will include getting my fingers printed and a date (wow, I know, right?) with Matt.

First Post from Nashville!

Greetings from Nashville! I am having so much fun so far. I moved into my new (and first!) apartment on Saturday, and it's so much more space than I've ever had before all to myself! I want to send a big thanks to my family and Matt for helping me move in, because it's a lot of work. I don't want to move for a long time, haha. I'm dreading that. Anyway, I'm almost fully decorated and almost have everything set up how I want it, and I will take pictures as soon as I get to that point!

So my apartment complex is very large, and it's really nice. I live in the actual city in a neighborhood that is pretty well off called Green Hills. I'm right off of a really major road in Nashville, but I'm not close enough to hear all the noise of it or anything. I'm literally right down the street from a recycling center (Nashville must be a little bit behind on having recycling in apartment buildings). Right down the street are also a couple gas stations, a mall, a Walgreens, Trader Joe's (my new favorite place), and that's just what I've ventured out to explore so far. I think the location is pretty fantastic. There's something else that surprises me about this apartment. It's nothing like a dorm!! I have barely seen anybody in my building, and I never hear them. I feel super loud when I even turn on my TV, because I wonder why I don't hear anyone around me!! Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain about it being quiet here!

So, as you probably know, I don't start work until the 31st, so I'm basically filling my time with studying for the NCLEX. I'm taking it in 9 days! Eeek! I need to stop writing this post and get back to studying for that. I've been hanging out with Matt as much as possible. He got off of school yesterday, because Nashville got a few inches of snow. I thought I moved here from St. Louis to get away from snow! ;) We have a great thing going where he cooks for us, and I do the dishes. Good deal to me!

I had an interesting time when I moved down here. I realized half way through the trip I left my wallet in my friend Laura's car the night before when we went out to dinner. It freaked me out, but everything is now fine, and I'm just waiting now for maintenance to come and fix my sink, garbage disposal, and blinds. I hope this isn't an indication of how long it takes for things to get done around here.

Matt has class (interesting adjusting to him reading nonstop) and work until late today, so I'm entertaining myself. I'm thinking about going to a Zumba class, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it, lol. Otherwise, I'm just going to make a Target trip and clean my apartment some more. Oh, and study...ugh. I am so overwhelmed with all the events in Nashville...I just want to do everything here!! I'm having a blast so far and I miss you all.

Last night was the last time I will ever be sleeping in my old room(!). Today will be full of packing and getting all of my stuff out into the moving truck. My dad keeps saying it doesn't look like it's going to be that bad, so I hope he's right! I'm going to Doug's basketball game today and then out to dinner with the family and to the Melting Pot with friends for dinner. My mom thinks I'm crazy for going out the night before I leave, but honestly, I haven't been able to sleep for 3 nights now. I'm so excited!! Oh yeah, I already have a coffee date with some other nurse residents on Monday!!

I am getting so anxious! I'm moving to Nashville in 3 days!!! This is insane. I've known since November I would be moving to Nashville in January, but for some reason it's unreal. I hung out with Matt and his sister today, and we got our hair cut. I figured out I should get it cut before I go to Nashville and don't know who to trust with it. Matt's leaving to go back to Vanderbilt tomorrow, and that will officially be THE LAST TIME WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP (obviously you don't know what life brings, but for the forseeable future anyway). I feel after 6 years (minus summers and the first 9 months we dated), I could write a book like this.



Although, this book would probably be a waste of money, because there really is no secret other than commitment. Oh, and you have to be willing to talk...and often. I think the next resolution I will have will be to include more pictures in my blog posts. I'll try to put in ones I take as much as possible.

We were sitting in the hair salon, and this little old lady comes in with her walker and literally plops herself down on the seat next to me...uncomfortably close almost. We talked with her a little, and she looked over my shoulder at the magazine we were reading. Good thing she was cute. I asked her about her rings, and she was wearing one legitimate looking ring and 3 plastic ones she said she got out of boxes of some kind. They looked like little kid rings from a Cracker Jacks box, and one was even missing its little plastic jewel but she didn't seem to notice that.

I gave Matt a few boxes to take with him to Nashville. I am officially starting to move out!! I'm reading up on my benefits and such, and I feel like I need to read a whole book about setting up retirement funds and such. Ugh, adult stuff.

Everyone's status is about studying for the NCLEX, but I haven't started yet. I should probably be freaking out, but I figure I'll have a week or so to study with no distractions in my new apartment. I can't wait to decorate it! That's the most fun part about moving I think. :)

Some of my high school friends are getting together for dessert at the Melting Pot on Friday to say good-bye to me. It's really sweet of them to plan that. I am going to seriously miss having old friends around. Love you, friends!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! It's 2011! That is so crazy! While I was in nursing school, I thought the end of 2010 would never come. Now that it's here, I'm wondering where the year went!

Matt, Christy, and I went to Chicago for the second annual NYE bash. Matt and I spent a couple of days hanging out with one of my best friends from college. He took us to some really good restaurants, and we went shopping on Michigan Avenue (I'm totally jealous it's within walking distance of his apartment). We met up with Carlie and Christy and returned to our favorite coffee shop, admired the Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo, and, of course, had NYE dinner. Don't we all clean up well?



Carlie has a 4 month old kitten, and he was so much fun to play with. He was definitely a little ball of energy. We just wished the energy turned off when we were trying to sleep! He had too much fun randomly attacking our feet in the middle of the night.

Visiting Carlie and Darein in their own apartments got me all excited to move into my own apartment!! I'm moving in 6 days...wow. I'm almost finished packing...except for the big stuff. We're loading the truck up on Friday and leaving early Saturday morning. I am NOT looking forward to lugging my furniture all the way upstairs. This has been my room for 12 years (minus the stints at college). So. weird.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to keep my apartment cleaner than I did my room here at home. I have good intentions at least!

I'm noticing on facebook that a lot of my nursing school friends start their new jobs tomorrow. That is so crazy. I am excited for them but glad that I have a break until the 31st to gather my nerves together and study for the NCLEX. I honestly haven't been studying lately, because I discovered Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. These books are so good! I am resolute to start studying when I get down to Nashville and pass those boards!

I have officially graduated! All of my family and friends have now left, and overall, I think my graduation and the party afterward were perfect and how I wanted them to go. I now have a second bachelor's degree! I am 23 years old and have two bachelor's degrees. I graduated summa cum laude in the first and magna cum laude in the second (missed it by a hundredth of a point!). I worked hard, and I'm proud. Perhaps I am going to be a degree collector? I don't know exactly where I'm going in life, but I always want to be learning new things EVERY day.

I sang the national anthem at graduation, and although I didn't get a starting note, I think it went really well! That song can be killer if you start too high...anyway, my classmates cheered for me when I went up there, and that meant a lot to me. I don't know how I would have gotten through this year of crazy fast nursing school without them. They kept me sane for sure. This was the first time a lot of them had heard me sing, and it meant a lot to me that they said I gave them goosebumps. It makes me glad I didn't get a music degree in vain ;) So now I can say I have sung at Powell Hall (thought maybe not for the occasion I had envisioned, haha. I'll leave that part out). The decorations there were so pretty and Christmas-y. Weddings have obviously been on my mind lately, and I was thinking it would be such a gorgeous space to have a wedding. I don't think they do that sort of thing there, though. I'll look into it.

We had lots of food and stuff afterward, but I was really excited about the cake. It was my graduation, but I felt like I was stealing Dad's thunder because it was his birthday as well. So we got a cake that said Congratulations Emily/Happy birthday, Neil. He was definitely surprised. The cake was good, too!

I bought my closest nursey friends (that's what I like to call them) books that are supposed to encourage you through your first year of nursing. I got some really nice cards from my family and Matt's family. I felt really loved. :) My parents also bought me a watch I've been wanting, so I'm pretty excited to wear it. It's so bling-y. I'm going out tonight to hang out with some old friends from high school. I haven't seen them since I've gotten engaged, so it will be nice to catch up.

Also, tickets to Chicago to see Darein and Carlie are officially bought! I canNOT wait. This will be a blast...and also one of the last holidays I will probably see as the lowest nurse on the totem pole...fantastic!