Reflecting on 2018

I'm sitting at my laptop strictly fueled by the raging of my boyfriend's nephew sitting on the couch playing Fortnite on my PS4. My boyfriend is also raging in his game room playing PUBG (I think) on his PS4. That being said...FREE TO GOOD HOME! 24 year old male and about 10 year old male, they come with their play stations and you only need to supply GREAT WiFi. They'll return home for food, I'm sure. 😉 Totally kidding, I'll keep them here and spare you all the screaming.

So, without further ado, here is my 2018 in review!

January

The beginning of January brought me two job interviews, and a new job. I accepted a CNA position before school started, and continued to work every other weekend and picked up random days throughout the week. It was also the "start" of my junior year of college, and throughout the months I was able to complete this year! Nursing school brought on the maternity and pediatric clinical rotations. Throughout these rotations, I learned that I am not really sure that pediatrics is where I want to end up as a nurse, so I'm still waiting to see where the rest of my nursing student career takes me!

February

February was a rather slow month, but it brought me a photography opportunity! My dear friend, Drew, along with his girlfriend, Becca, asked me to take some pictures at their gender reveal. On that day, we found out that Becca and Drew were expecting a baby girl. Later that month, my boyfriend, Dusty, and I tried out a virtual date from some company (it was free and I'm a sucker for free). The food wasn't that great, but it was fun to struggle through directions and attempt to make a new meal together!

March

March was a busy month! Drew and Becca's baby was born, so I got to go to the hospital after classes one day to meet her. What a precious little girl! A couple days later, Dusty and I celebrated one year of dating. We didn't do much, but one year is an accomplishment! I also planted some vegetables thinking that I could start them inside and transfer them outside within a month or two. They ended up getting pretty big in the house before the weather improved enough to move them outside. My car also started doing funny things, but no one has been able to diagnose it yet. I'll have to keep searching. Lastly, I invested in some new CNA shoes since the original ones are from when I originally took the CNA class, my feet feel so much better in the new shoes!

April

April was a rather slow month. Not much happened, but it did snow. As far as I can remember, this is the latest that it has snowed. I didn't mind the late snow because it meant that I got to finish up my brothers' senior pictures with some snowmobiling ones! Around the end of the month, I made a solo trip to Green Bay to go to my dad's cousin's wedding. My grandparents on that side of the state were kind of sick, but still welcomed me to stay with them for the weekend.

May

May means high school graduation, which means my brothers graduated! I had the honor of decorating both of their graduation caps. May was also the month of fishing for Dusty and I. We spent a lot of time in the Warrens area at the cranberry marshes.

June

June brought our first trip to a beach for the summer. I get so excited about going swimming because I look forward to the nice tan in the summer, but I'm not always lucky enough to spend much time outside with my jobs. June also means the Tomah Tractor Pull! I was able to get off of work for the first night of it, so Dusty, his friends, my brothers, and I decided to go. I look forward to the tractor pulls every year, but my work schedule doesn't always allow me to attend so I was glad that I was able to swing it.

July

July brought about a lot of fun! Obviously, the Fourth of July is a big holiday for Dusty and I, so we got all dressed up for that. Dusty also took me catfishing for my first time. We also made a trip to Mason, Michigan because my brother's high school trap shooting team made it to nationals, so we went to support him. I also got my second tattoo, and the next day I participated in the Dragonoboat Races for another year. I took an online photography class to improve my shooting skills. Around the end of the month, I spent my last time milking cows at my grandparents farm. Another blog post will be made about that when I am ready.

August

August brought about some adventures. Dusty's nephew spent the weekend of the Hillsboro tractor pull wiht us, so I convinced the boys to come with me and watch the pull. I got to spend some more time at the beach and soak up the sun. The end of the month brought about dropping my brothers off at college!

September

September brought along some firsts, and a second. My little sister passed her driver's test! We met and swapped cars so she could use mine for her test, then we celebrated with lunch! Later in the month, Dusty and I went catfishing again, but this time I got bit by the catfish. (Now you know one person who has been bitten by a catfish because apparently its a rare occasion.) Towards the end of the month, I FINALLY got my first cherry tomato from the plants I started way back in March. It was delicious, and I only ended up getting two more before it froze and the plant died.

October

October was a pretty slow month, but that was fine by me. It was nice having a break in the chaos. Dusty and I got a "new-to-us" couch. It's been passed around my mom's family, and now it has settled with me. It's not much for looks, but it's amazing and still very comfy. Later in the month, I got the turbo replaced in my car! It would occasionally throw up codes indicating a need for it, but it only occasionally affected my car's performance. I went to an auto clinic for a different issue, and ended up getting referred to get my turbo replaced. On the bright side, my turbo was still under warranty so it was free, and I got to borrow a 2019 Chevy Equinox. I only had to loan it for a couple of days, but I enjoyed riding a little higher than my car. Some day I'll get something a little bigger, but that day will come after this car is paid off, and probably when children are in the near future.

November

November was another slower month, but it's like the calm before the storm. I made time to go hunting with my little brother. On my last night out, I dropped a doe. My brother and I were texting my sister who was telling us where she could see deer in the field in front of the house, so we walked to where we could see them. I was in the middle of a trail, and the doe spotted me, so I had no choice but to pull up and take a standing shot. It was hard, and I've never taken a shot completely unsupported, but I was able to drop her! At the end of the month, my siblings and I made a trip across state to spend Thanksgiving with my paternal grandparents. It was nice to spend a bit of alone time with them.

December

December went out with a bang. With this month being my last official semester as a junior, my cohort had the "Junior Nursing Pub Crawl," so Dusty and I got a hotel room in downtown and spent the night out with friends. Early in the month, I celebrated by 22nd birthday. It was a pretty uneventful day, but Dusty and I hung out after my class in the morning. Later in the month, I accepted a CNA position at a new job. I'm very excited for the future and advancement opportunities. There were so many Christmas parties to attend, between both my parents and Dusty's parents being divorced, we get stretched pretty far during the holidays. At my dad's extended family's Christmas, Dusty and I; and my siblings and I got pictures taken. I also took some pictures of my brothers and Dusty for a fun little project they're thinking of doing. Dusty and I finished the year driving around the Tomah Rotary lights. About half of the lights were off, but I still enjoyed the effort and the fact that he asked, "Do you want to get out for pictures?" He truly knows the way to my heart.

Mental Health & Suicide

Mental health and suicide are two pretty "taboo" topics to talk about, right? They are also two topics that need to be discussed more than anything.

A couple of months ago, I got off work at 10pm and headed downtown to meet Dusty and some friends at the bars.  During the night Dusty introduced me to one of his friends who had lost his brother to suicide.  We all danced and drank for hours.  At the end of the night, I saw Dusty and that same friend sitting against the wall in deep conversation.  As I got closer, I realized that they were talking about the memories of the friend that had passed.

The longer I listened to them, the more I realized that everyone goes through tough times.  We are all handed different cards in this life, and no one's life story is exactly the same.  Some people go through the exact same situation, but no one handles the situation the same way.

It broke my heart when the brother asked Dusty if he thought that his brother was in Hell.  Christians have convinced the world that if someone commits suicide, they are condemned to an eternity in Hell.  I never agreed with, nor understood why, Christians believe this.  Dusty clearly explained to his friend that his brother had done nothing that would send him to Hell, and he even had a dream about him where he was happy and in Heaven.  Dusty's friend said that other friends have told him about similar dreams of his brother in Heaven, and he said it was very comforting.

Mental health is so important, but it is often overlooked in our society.  We need to step up and check in on our friends and family.  Notice the signs and take action.  You never know what someone else is going through, so check in every now and then and ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS!

One Step Closer...

I am two papers away from my final semester of my junior year of college! There are two days left of finals week and I have one paper due each day. Monday and Tuesday were exam days. Monday's exam did not really matter, I did the math and I could have gotten 0% and still passed the class. That's a great feeling! Tuesday's exam was a little different, after doing the math, I discovered that I needed to get 72% on the final. I got my exam grade back today, and while it may have been my lowest grade all semester...I passed!

Here's a Link to my Last Clinical Experience this Semester :)

Now, to end my procrastination and get back to these last two papers...

Where has the Time Gone?

It seems that January rolls around every year, and we set ourselves up for big plans and adventures.  Resolutions or bucket lists are made, and we look ahead to the possibilities of the future.  Sources have found that about 80% of resolutions fail by February, and that only 8% of people actually keep their resolutions.  It's the end of June, and I have accomplished five of my resolutions (pay it forward once a month, track migraines, blog post for photography sessions, monthly date night, go to the beach).  On the bright side, within the next month I will (hopefully) be able to cross two more items off my list: road trip to Michigan and getting another tattoo.  There is only one resolution that I really can't cross off anymore: monthly blog posts.

Working a full-time job and a part-time job have caused me to re-evaluate my priorities.  Both of my jobs require weekends, so I don't have too much free time.  I've had one weekend off each month since I started my second job in January.  My current schedule is working PM's at the nursing home Monday, Wednesday, and every other Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday; and working days at home health Friday, and every other Saturday and Sunday.  Up until earlier this month, Dusty had been working Monday through Saturday on AM's, so we really didn't get time to see each other.  Even when Dusty was able to work just Monday through Friday, I was still working Saturdays so we were limited on our time to be together.  We aren't able to take long trips and it's really hard trying to sync up our off days.  We don't get to plan our our weekends.  Most of the time, we have to plan a month in advance, or make plans the day of.

Since the spring semester ended, I have prioritized my brothers high school graduation, and their party, fishing, time with my family and time with Dusty's family, and the Tomah Tractor Pull.  You could also say that I prioritize both of my jobs, since most of my summer is dedicated to them.  It's so complicated being in this phase of adulthood because you have to work to pay your bills, but you don't want to drown in overtime.  On the other hand, you also want to take vacations and enjoy this time in life before having kids.  I have two months left of summer, and I'm trying to make the most of it with the few days available to me.

What are YOUR plans for the rest of the summer?!?

First Semester of Junior Year

Well I'm a little over halfway through my first semester of junior year in nursing school, and it's been pretty hectic.  I am a full-time student with the minimum of 12 credits, I work between 4 and 13 hours per week at one job and 24 hours per week at another job.  Between school and my jobs, it gets hard to fit in a social life.

This semester's clinical experience has been in maternity and pediatrics; and for the most part, I've been enjoying it.  My favorite experiences have been in postpartum!  During most of our hospital clinical experiences, we wear the hospital scrubs, so it has been kind of fun to experience what real nurses wear instead of our traditional scrubs.

Finally, my job at the nursing home has been a bit of a learning curve.  I think that a lot of the time, we have ideas about what it should be like in the nursing home, but actually being there is so different.  I have many thoughts on nursing home staffing and work environment that I will dedicate a post to later on.  On the bright side, the dress code isn't strictly enforced so I've been able to wear some fun scrubs instead of making sure that I wash my work scrubs every night after I work.  Also, I finally got my official name tag!

Dreaming Of...

It's the end of February and it's pretty much the middle/end of winter.  I'm dreaming of being on a beach somewhere warm and sunny.  Spring break is coming up in less than two weeks, and I'm going to spend it in Wisconsin.  I'll be working, and just enjoying the time off from school.  My next hope for being on a beach somewhere warm and sunny is this summer.  My dad's family has a vacation planned for July.  The plan is to spend Saturday on Shawano Lake then have a bonfire at my grandparents.  I also know that I'm going to have a "girl's day" at Lake Wazee with a friend, or a couple.  Other than those two days, any other sunny beach day will be by surprise.  Hopefully Dusty will take me back to the place pictured above, and this time we'll load the bed of the truck (maybe a new one!) with pillows and blankets and enjoy the sunset together. 💖

30 Burpees for 15 Days

At the end of December, I was looking for some sort of activity to get me eased into working out, but not something that required a half hour dedication with a full meal plan to follow. I ended up stumbling upon a pin on Pinterest about doing 30 burpees every day for 15 days. The lady who did it there said she did 3 sets of 10 burpees. For the first three days, she rested for 1 minute between sets, the next three days 45 second rests, the next three days 30 second rests, the next three days 15 second rests, and the final three days there was no rest.

After reading about it, I decided that it was something I could do. I did 30 burpees for 15 days, and here's what I found out...

1. Burpees are not the kind of move that get easier the more you practice them.

Don't get me wrong, they do get a little easier over time, but they are still a challenge. The first three days weren't too bad, that one minute break between sets really helped. Days 4-6 also went pretty well, and Dusty informed me that 45 seconds is the recommended rest period between sets. Days 7-9 got a little harder, 30 seconds did not seem to give me enough time to catch my breath between sets. Days 10-12 were difficult, if I didn't stand next to my timer, my break would go about 3 seconds too long. Days 13-15 were the hardest, I'm not sure I will ever do 30 consecutive burpees for any reason in the future.

2. Burpees are truly a total body move.

By day three, my obliques were hurting and I don't even understand how they are involved in this move. Throughout the 15 days, I had next-day soreness in my thighs, shoulders, and abdominal muscles.

3. I had more energy.

Most days, I did the burpees first thing in the morning. Some days it required a commitment because I had to be at work at 7am. When I was able to do the burpees before work, I felt much more energized on my drive to work and throughout my 10 hour day. Yes, a couple of days I pushed them off until evening (hello New Years), but I still got them in.

4. They're not the move if you're looking for a "quick fix."

I had no intentions of changing my eating habits, or even watching what I ate for the duration of this. I also didn't have any other supplemental workout, aside from walking around, which wasn't any more than normal. I'm not one who pays much attention to the scale, but I figured it would be cool to see how my body weight fluctuated over the 15 days. I started December 27, 2017 at 163.0 pounds, and throughout the challenge I ranged from 162.8 pounds to 168.4 pounds. When I finished the challenge, I weighed pounds 164.4 pounds.

My "Before" on the left and "After" on the right. Each picture was taken in the morning before I had done anything else.