Bout of Books Readathon 4.0

I'm super excited to participate in my first ever Read-a-thon! I love to read and haven't had the time to read as much as I would have liked over the past two years. This read-a-thon runs from May 14th-May 20th and you can set your own goals! This is actually going to be a pretty busy week for me because I'm taking NCLEX classes, graduating from nursing school, and celebrating my 25th birthday, so I don't know how much I'll get done. However, I always try to fit in some reading during those little quiet breaks I get from time to time.

My goal:
-Read at least 3 books. Three is not a lot for many, but it will be for me, especially considering I've only read 11 books so far this year. Awful, I know, but life happens!

These are the books I will be reading for the next week. I have already started Promises to Keep by Jane Green and will count that towards my challenge of at least three books!

Promises to Keep-Jane Green
After-Amy Efaw
Unearthly-Cynthia Hand
Die for Me-Amy Plum
The Fault in our Stars-John Green
Insurgent-Veronica Roth

I am most excited about diving into Insurgent by Veronica Roth!

Updates:
5/14
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:

5/15
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:


5/16
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:


5/17
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:


5/18
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:


5/19
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:


5/20
Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:

Bachelorette Party + End of Nursing Pub Crawl

Annnd it's official! I'm done with nursing school!! It is such an amazing feeling to realize there is nothing I have to study for and no homework that has to be completed. Well, besides studying for that darn NCLEX!

Last night was such a fun night because there were two celebrations! First, we were celebrating my nursing friend's bachelorette party...then headed out to PB (Pacific Beach) to celebrate the end of nursing school with a pub crawl! Lauren's bacherlorette party was 80's themed, which just made it that much more fun!

We started the celebration for Lauren's bachelorette at Lips. If you've never heard of Lips, it's basically a restaurant ran by drag queens aka Drag Dining. Your servers are drag queens, and there is a show/performance put on by drag queens. It's really funny especially if you have a darker sense of humor. They like to insult people and poke fun, and it's all incredibly funny! They do impersonations and some of them are so wonderful! My only complaint is they try to upsell like crazy and they definitely overcharge. It's definitely something fun to experience, but not a place I would frequent regularly or else I'd be broke!

Here's a quick pic of some of the nursing girls at Lips.

We ended up leaving a little early and headed to Firehouse to start our pub crawl. There were at least 15 of us and was the perfect way to celebrate the end of nursing school. I love going out in PB because the drinks and cover fees are so inexpensive. I bought 5 shots for $24 while in Vegas I bought one drink for $17 :(. I hate overpaying for things! 

After Firehouse, we all ended up getting separated and ended up at different bars. In my case, I was roaming the streets with a couple girls for a good minute because we got lost. Luckily, we stayed safe! I haven't uploaded pics yet but there were definitely a lot of funny ones! The night ended when my wonderful boyfriend came to pick up me and three of my friends. Sad to say that my camera ended up breaking...I didn't drop it or anything...it just randomly started saying lens error and shuts down, so I'll have to send that in to get fixed. Major bummer, I love taking pictures of everything!

Back to work tonight...and the search for a job continues. I just feel so blessed that I made it through school and have a temporary job to pay the bills until I find that coveted Registered Nurse position.

I'm almost done!

There are literally less than 6 hours that lies between me and my freedom! I will be taking my last final of nursing school at 8:00 am and then I am DONE! This has been an amazing but stressful journey, and I cannot wait to have my life back! I haven't been able to enjoy my time as much as I would have liked these past two years, and I am so excited that it's finally over!

Honestly, I haven't been able to focus on studying for this exam at all. I guess I should have been more dedicated but I have mentally checked out. I will have to dedicate time studying for the NCLEX, but that's different because it will be for my actual nursing license!

I am happy to say that these past few weeks have allowed me the opportunity to enjoy life a little bit more. Some things I've been catching up with include:
-Hiking
-Kayaking
-Vegas
-Bachelorette Parties
-Cross Stitching
-Reading
-Catching up on tv shows
-Spending time with my friends, boyfriend, and family

There are so many things I look forward to doing now! I'm a little stressed because I have not yet found a job, but the market is tough and all I can do is keep trying. Here are some things I long to do:
-Find my first RN job
-Hike more! Try new trails!
-Cross stitch more
-Read more
-Disneyland
-Sea World
-Wild Animal Park
-Grand Canyon
-Santa Barbara
-Pay off my credit card debt
-Get back in shape and lose 30 lbs! I will, damnit!
-Run 12 5ks this year (I still haven't ran one)
-Try out new groupons
-Titanic Exhibit
-Cinepolis
-Try new things and live life to the fullest! Life is a gift and I intend to take advantage!

Also, I really hope to blog more. I'm going to try now that I don't have any school assignments looming over me!

Valentine's Day 2012

Since I haven't blogged for quite some time, I want to write some posts "reflecting" back on things that have happened in the past two months. I'm hoping to blog daily from now on, but it is always nice to look back on memories from the past!

This Valentine's Day, Anthony and I decided not to exchange gifts. It is a stressful time for me and we are both trying to save money. He is trying to buy his first new car, and I am trying to get by with working as least as possible due to my busy schedule.

I had a meeting at school in the morning (of course) but I woke up to roses and a card.

 Not to mention those little buggers!

We decided to try a new restaurant (after all, my goal is to try 100 new restaurants this year!) so we headed to Kensington Grill.

We started off with some tots,

I got a Strawberry-ginger champagne which I didn't love, but Anthony did.

I ordered the Salmon for my entree, and Anthony got the Lemon Linguine.

Overall, I enjoyed the ambiance and the food was pretty good. It wasn't amazing, and it was a little pricey for what it was, so it's not on my top list of restaurants.

After dinner, we decided to head home because I was so exhausted and Anthony had to work a 24 hour shift the next day!

Busy, busy!

It seems that there is a continuous pattern with my blogging habits. I get really excited about blogging, plan out posts, and then...I get too busy.

While I have been incredibly busy, I'm sure I could have taken out 30 minutes out of internet surfing time to blog. I've also been lazy. Every free minute I get, I just want to relax because I feel constantly exhausted.

Here's what I currently have on my plate:
-Work
-ED preceptorship
-Unpaid nursing externship
-School (clinicals + lecture)
-Volunteering
-Applying for new graduate positions
-Studying/getting ready to pass the NCLEX

This is all stuff I have on top of my regular routine! Housework, taking care of the pets, sleep...it's all in there too.

While I am loving my time in nursing school, I am so stressed. I have managed to gain weight because I'm constantly eating my stress problems away. One reason I want to blog again is because I hold myself accountable when I blog. I want to eat healthy and work out again...I haven't signed up for any 5k's yet because running is one of the things I gave up in the name of time.

Another concern is that I think I have sleep apnea...which increases your risk for getting hypertension, heart disease, and strokes. I have a physical next week so I will ask my doctor about that.

Today consists of studying my little heart out. I have a critical care test that I am absolutely terrified of not passing. I do plan to take a break to watch a movie with the boyfriend, read for fun, and workout at the gym. My goal is to get through 3 lectures, which is approximately 9 hours worth of material. *Sigh*

New Year "Resolutions"

I've made my New Year's "Resolutions" for 2012! I hesitate to call them resolutions because in my case, they are just fun goals that I want to accomplish and/or experience.

1. Graduate nursing school! (Scheduled for 5/18/12)
2. Get a job as an RN in a hospital.
3. Visit 5 new places I have never been before. (Austin, TX will be the first place for this goal, and I leave in 4 days!)
4. Read 100 books this year. (I ALWAYS make this goal and always fall short. Last year, I only read 35. I hope to have more time to read after I graduate school!)
5. Try 100 new restaurants. (This is a fun goal for me.)
6. Watch 100 movies I haven't seen before. (Do you like the theme of 100?)
7. Run at least 12 5k's! I'm signing up for my first one to be in January. I'm excited!
8. Pay off my credit cards.

That's all that I have for this year! I just really want to enjoy myself and live life. 2012 is going to be a great year and I'm so happy to have rung it in with the love of my life!

Back From Philly

I had a wonderful and safe trip to Philly and now I'm back home! I will definitely recount my "adventures" but right now I have to cram for a test tomorrow. Ah, the life of a college student!

I am really excited though because yesterday I booked a trip to Austin, Texas, with one of my best friends for January! It should be a blast, and I can't wait to start planning.

The only downfall is I'm starting to run low on money and I have some credit cards I NEED to pay off. That means I'm going to work like crazy these next few months, especially during winter break when I don't have school! I'm going to schedule myself for 5 12 hour shifts a week, and one 8 hour shift. I'm sure I'll get called off, but I'm looking to pick up lots of work and make some extra money!

I ran/walked 2 miles yesterday...for a total of 2 miles this week. I didn't work out at all in Philly and I ate a lot of bad food. It definitely shows in my pics. Oh well, today I'm going to have a healthy lunch and am crock potting it for dinner tonight. Home cooking is always better!

Off to study...Philly update to come soon.