Officially on Spring Break!

Today could not have come any faster. I am so happy to be still considered an "undergrad" only for the pure joy of still having a "spring break." I will be flying to Memphis to be with Patrick for 10 days! This will be the longest I have stayed in Memphis. I am so excited.

I wanted to share with everyone so exciting news. But of course I must share the story leading up to it....

Thursdays are my long days. I am in school from 8 am until 7 pm. This morning I had my last exam before spring break and after that my mind was shot. I stayed up until the wee hours cramming every last bit of information I could the night before. So during my 4 pm class (6 hours later), the last class until I was officially on spring break, I would say my attention span was completely gone. I was looking at one of my favorite blogs thekitchn.com and to my excitement I came across a photo of my brother's in one of the articles! You can find it here:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/conscientious-cook/put-down-that-winter-tomato-it-was-picked-by-a-slave-078029

Not only was it in thekitchn.com blog I did some further investigation and found out it's actually in the March addition of Gourmet Magazine! Gourmet Magazine!

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03/politics-of-the-plate-the-price-of-tomatoes

Unfortunately they spelled his name wrong. But that did not stop me from being the most excited, proud sister ever. I hope you all take time to find these articles, the stories are actually quite amazing. I am so happy Scott is able to get the attention he deserves.

I will end with one of Scott's photos from his trip to Tanzania, Africa this past summer.

OR Nursing

This semester I am in the medical-surgical I & II (that's why it's considered "accelerated") clinical rotations. It has been a way better semester in the hospital. Especially today. Today I got to experience life as an OR nurse. But even more exciting I got to see a total hip replacement! Wow!

I was thinking to myself this morning on my way over to Tampa that if the charge nurse (the nurse in charge of all the other nurse's) gives me a chance on what type of surgery I wanted to see I was going to pick an orthopedic case because of Patrick's desire to be a Orthopedic surgeon. (I honestly had no desire coming in to be a OR nurse and I knew it would be one of my only chances to see a bit of what Patrick might be facing) So I got my pick and a total hip replacement it was. I won't go into the details...don't worry Cori.

But I do have one little funny story to tell. Just as the surgeons were making their first set of cuts a phone started to ring on the desk opposite the table. It was the surgeon resident's phone and he asked the OR nurse to pick it up because it was his wife. (This triggered a flash forward to my future with Patrick). She just wanted to know if he had given the dog his medicine that morning. So even in the midst of cuts and flesh...life does go on and I will remember this story next time Patrick's at work (however, maybe only with emergencies).

Spring Break is right around the corner and I will be flying up to Memphis to spend 10 days with Patrick! We are very excited to take our video chat study session to face to face study sessions.

Thank you guys for all your cards, phone calls, emails, etc. Your support means everything to me right now.

I decided to dig up a picture from highschool during my trip to Honduras because today reminded me of just how cute Patrick looks in scrubs!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Patrick and I got to spend some much needed time together this weekend. He flew in to Tampa Thursday and will be flying back to Memphis today (Sunday). For Valentine's Day we had lunch at the Florida Botanical Gardens right next to where I live. Here are some photos from yesterday...

Patrick really liked this palm tree. It's palms were really huge! This picture doesn't do it justice.


This photo reminds me of a picture Scott has taken before:
We saw a gator!Pretty Agave plant.
Happy Valentine's Day. We miss you all very much!

Welcome!

First post on my first blog...Welcome!

A few reasons I decided to start this blog:
1) Stay better in touch with family/friends I don't see on a regular basis. (So basically everyone else but my school friends and my current family - Sharon, Mike, & Nikki).
2) To develop my creative writing skills. (I know mom, I hope you were sitting.)
& 3) because I am obsessed with all the blogs I read. (We won't go into how many.)

I will do my best to update this blog as often as I can...but I make no guarantees due to nursing school overload.

Because every post needs a pretty picture:

Current Obsessions:
1) Google Reader
2) the singer Erin McCarley
3) My new blog!