Thursday, April 25, 2019

A Nursing Student's Prayer


Dearest Father,
Our hearts are so full of gratitude today.
We are grateful to have made it to the completion of this program,
and for the careful guidance from our instructors along the way.
We are grateful for Mrs. K who answered every question,
patiently listened to every concern, and always offered encouragement.
She is an amazing cheerleader and first year instructor.
We are grateful for Mrs. Yarrish, she has been the perfect second year instructor.
She pushed us to go farther than we ever thought we could
and was always there with a smile to praise us for a job well done.

We are grateful for the countless lessons we have learned
about bodies, processes, and most importantly—relationships.
We are grateful for the friendships we have made,
and the unforgettable memories we have shared.

We pray that we can pay it forward to those who come behind us.
As we begin our journey into this field of nursing,
we pray that we can listen to everyone who needs to be heard,
notice everything that needs to be seen,
and speak clearly everything that needs to be communicated.

We pray that we can be compassionate with others,
even when they test our patience.
We pray for safety for ourselves and all we come in contact with--
especially those we have the privilege of caring for.
We pray for strength to continue on through
shifts to come that will be physically and emotionally draining.

We pray to have the ability to let go and forgive ourselves
when a patient outcome is not what we anticipated.
We pray to remember we have a voice,
when we see that something needs to be said.
We pray for perseverance when we are faced with great challenges at work,
and for careful hands when performing intricate tasks that have life-saving potential.

We pray to listen with openness of mind and thoughtful consideration
when others offer advice for our improvement.
Most importantly, we pray to never forget the reason why we chose this profession;
to have gratitude and show respect for life,
to be observant of our surroundings,
and always offer help when we see a need,
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nursing School

Well, I am one week, two assignments and two finals away from finishing a Registered Nurse Program. It has been a LONG road. I decided I wanted to be a nurse in the fall of 2002, yes, that was almost 17 years ago! Then, life happened and just kept going. I put school on hold for so many other things--saving money to go back, getting married, changing jobs, and most importantly--having four darling children.

Three years ago, I felt strongly that it was time to go back to school. It has been an emotional roller coaster, for sure! I am so grateful to be this close to the finish line! I feel I am now walking proof that if you keep doing your best and never give up on your dreams--eventually they do come true. You just have to be patient and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

My pinning is in a week and a couple days. My class wants a prayer, so I get to be the one to offer the prayer. I feel weird about pre-preparing a prayer to offer... but I have written down what is in my heart. Now I just need to edit it and shorten it a little. I will share my nursing student prayer in a separate post.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Never Give Up!

Well, I am ashamed I have gone a whole year without posting a single thing.
I will admit: I am better at typing than I was a year ago.
I am in my second semester of nursing school. Last semester I typed my very first 17 page paper. I have struggled with typing since I lost feeling and some movement in my left fingers, (fall 2010). It has been a long struggle. I think I am finally figuring out how to maneuver my fingers on a key board and bumping minimal extra keys! Yay!!!

Last semester, my first semester of nursing school, the focus was on the Fundamentals of Nursing and the Nursing Process. I practiced assessing people a lot. This semester I started my clinical rotations at the hospital. I thought I was pretty fast at assessing a patient. I shadowed a nurse last Saturday and realized I am as slow as cold tar in the middle of winter in Wisconsin. I need more practice! I also realized how nice it would be to have feeling in both of my hands... that is worth a prayer and some faith. :) I know miracles can happen! It truly is a miracle that I am still alive.

My point to this post is a reminder to never give up! I gave up typing for a while, but when I rallied and worked at it a lot, the skill is finally getting easier and coming back to me! After 15 years of dreaming of becoming a nurse, I am finally in a program! I almost gave up. I am so grateful I am married to a wonderful man who sometimes picks me up, puts me back on my feet, and encourages me to keep going. Life is a learning process. It is important to never give up!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Less Personal Philosophy, more life experiences...

This post was a long detailed explanation about a very small experience. I think I want to utilize this blog more as a record of joys that happen in my life. ill try and add pictures with events too. :)

Sunday, January 17, 2016

It has been a while

I have had a hard time sitting at computers ever since my hand accident...
I have decided it is time to get over this issue that I have.

As I spend each day of life observing my surroundings and taking it all in, I have realized it is really easy to nit pick things apart and be negative. I do not want to be a negative nit picker. I want to start blogging again and post all things that are positive, uplifting and exciting from  my life as well as things I am thankful for.

I read "The Proclamation to the World: The Family" today. I am so thankful for clear wisdom from my elders. I am thankful for families and the great support system they are in my life. I am thankful for my husband and the support he is to me. When I get frustrated and have to put myself in a timeout, I am so thankful when he is home and can take over with our kids. I am so thankful for my children! They constantly keep me on my toes trying to keep up with them & on my knees trying to figure out the best way to take care of them. I am thankful for all of my siblings. I can call anyone of them randomly, and each of them will offer an ear and any free advice that I need at the time. I am one blessed woman!

I hope anyone who reads this will think of three things (s)he is thankful for.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Brycen's 7th birthday--first friend party

Brycen's birthday was last Saturday, but we were at a family reunion... So we held his birthday party today. When I sat him down to write his list of friends he wanted to invite, the first three people he listed were all girls. Then he decided on some boys to invite. We made the invites and passed them out. I laugh that he first wanted to invite girls because when we talked about what he wanted to do at his party, he said he wanted to do an "army theme". We ended up with 4 girls and 9 boys.
  Well, I talked him into having a "marshmallow war". I bought a stick of 1/2" PVC and Ryan cut it into 12" lengths for me. Then I measured about 3/4 C. of mini marshmallows for each kid and put them in a bag. I placed a dozen marshmallow blowguns and a dozen bags of "ammo" into a box. I wrapped it to play "pass the parcel"... When wrapping I lost count of how many times I wrapped it-- I ended up wrapping it 15 times. :P I had 13 kids come, including Tucker and Eliza. We played "pop the balloon" and I used balloons that had been blown up for a week... It was awesome! The kids had a hard time popping most of them. Some of the boys did full body dives trying to pop the balloons. After that we played "pin the deer". The kids had fun telling each other whether they were hot or cold as they got closer to the deer. Then, we watched Brycen open his presents, had cup cakes in an ice cream cone with ice cream on top. It was a nice easy clean up!
After cake, we passed the present and everyone got to unwrap a layer, including grandma Nay, and Brycen got to do 2 layers. During this time, Eliza got stung by a huge black bumble bee on the back of her neck. It was very crazy and unexpected, but she survived! Once the package was open all the kids got their shooter and ammo. They spread out all over our homemade backyard "war zone" and they shot marshmallows for probably 40 minutes. We had two casualties. Grace Chamberlain got hit in the eye, and Sariah Heaton was attacked by too many people at one time. Thankfully the tears did not last too long, and injuries were not severe.

All in all, Brycen seemed to have a wonderful first birthday party with friends. :)