Well, since my husband seems to have (slightly) caught the blogging bug, I decided for us that we should have a combined blog with two authors… so, I did just that! From now on we’ll both be posting on our new combined blog. Seems fitting since we are in fact married! 
I hope you enjoy it! Don’t mind the not-so-pretty design right now… I’m still working on it.
One of my friends from college was posting in her blog about her niece, Emmalee, that was born a few weeks ago. The little girl had a rough start and ended up passing away a few days ago. It is such a sad yet amazing story… the parents of this girl held fast in their faith in the Lord and trusted that their little girl was now in the arms of her loving Father. Oh it is such an incredible story… please take a look at their blog if you get the chance. I don’t even know these people but their story has definitely struck a cord with my heart and deepened my faith.
Well, here’s my last update on the nursing job hunt (a quick one at that). And sorry for my lack of actual deep posts lately, or interesting ones. Being a month from graduating college is understandably taking away all my time/energy for now, and that will probably be the case until graduation comes. But come to think of it, most of my huge assignments/tasks were this week, so perhaps I’ll have more time to post now. Who knows, every time I think that things will lighten up, they don’t…
So the update! I officially got the job today at the hospital I wanted to work at! They had many choices of units and shifts that I could pick, but most of them weren’t exactly what I wanted. Ideally I wanted an orthopedic floor with day/evening shifts, but that was taken by someone already working at the hospital (yay unions…). So, I actually ended up going for the float pool! I’ll have an awesome nurse manager, since she was the one who interviewed me, so at least I know I have a good supervisor already. Also, I’ll go through a 9 month orientation to the many different units in the hospital. Otherwise I’d probably freak out being a new graduate AND a float nurse. If you don’t know what a float nurse is, it pretty much means that I’ll work wherever they are short nurses. Could be just about anywhere, except possibly the ICU and ER, I think. I should have asked that… oh well, I’ll find out! The shift will be days/nights… so I’ll work a few days and a few nights, but never back to back. That would be torture! The one added benefit to this position is you get paid a little more to be a float pool nurse and you also get a little more for working nights. That’ll help with the student loans/debt…
So I’m really excited about it! I think it will be a tough job but also very challenging and rewarding. It’ll help me discover what area I want to go into, if I choose not to stay a float nurse. Also, it’ll be fun to be able to meet lots of other nurses in the hospital and sorta feel out the whole place. And if John and I decide to go to China in the near future, it will be good to have a broad background of experiences and also for when we come back it will be easier to get started again! Can’t wait for it all to start on July 21, 2008! Time to start another countdown…
That’s been my new bed-time the past two nights. And that’s the number of pages (15 of which were single spaced) that I’ve typed with my poor tired fingers during those two nights…
Oh how the end of college (38 days) is the hope that is getting me through this… and finally being a nurse of course. I’m excited to change the name of my blog to Newlywed Nurse! By then I won’t be much of a newlywed I suppose. So, will I just be, Nurse? Hmm… I’ll have to start thinking about that. 
Funny thing is that tomorrow I have to wake up at 5am… it will definitely be interesting to see how messed up my body gets with this healthy sleep schedule!
Two weeks till we move to St. Paul!
Scatterbrain much, am I?
I got the job!!!! The interview went pretty well, clearly better than I thought it did, because I got a ‘tentative’ job offer for United Hospital! YAY!!! The hospital’s float pool nurse manager who interviewed me doesn’t know quite yet what unit I will be on, since she has yet to know what will be open this summer, but apparently there’s a spot for me! She’s going to try and put me on an orthopedic unit since that’s what I’ve been used to, but otherwise I could really be anywhere they need me. I’m fine either way! And I know that God already knows where I’ll be! It’s exciting to know where my nursing career is going to begin and that I don’t have to apply anywhere else! Apparently this hospital has a lot of retiring nurses (so nurses like to stay there), so if I like it, who knows I could be there for many many years. I’m so sooooo excited to be a bedside nurse and care for people and become much better at it. Anyway, just wanted to update and share my excitement with you! Thanks for your prayers!!
I already got a call today asking for me to come in for an interview for a new grad nursing job!! AND, it’s at the hospital I want to work at in St. Paul!! And…. I didn’t even have to bug them, they called me! YAY!!! So exciting!
The interview is on Friday morning… pray for me!! And thanks!
I hate to make an excuse for my lack of motivation, but it is difficult to do really repetitive/boring homework assignments, knowing that in about 45 days you’ll be home free for the rest of your life. Sometimes this thought produces mass amounts of motivation, but that’s usually not while I’m actually doing the work. How inconvenient. I hate to complain about all the homework, but I guess since I’ve been in school 9 months of every year for the past 17 years, I have the “right” to feel unmotivated and sick of it, wouldn’t you agree? (Btw, I don’t particularly like the new fad of everyone having the “right” to whatever they feel is right and good for them… where do these apparent “rights” come from anyway? Off my soapbox…) Also, it doesn’t probably help that I now got my husband started on wordpress and am a bit (no, super!) excited about it. He’s on his second blog post of the night right now! Yippee! If you’re reading this, you must promise to at least click on my blogroll link to his blog and if you feel the urge, comment too! I know that would make him (and me) happy. And shouldn’t we all just do what makes us happy? Ha… I laugh.
And with that, I return to my 13 page “multiple patient analysis of nursing care” paper… and expect to see the clock read 5am at this rate.
Well I jumped into the “real world” this week by applying to a bunch of hospital nursing jobs for this summer after I graduate at the end of May. I’m hoping for one hospital, but I applied to 4 total, one of which I applied to 10 jobs in that hospital, so really I have no idea where I may end up. It’s a little strange how when I’m at my nursing clinicals at hospitals and have to sort of shadow a nurse for a day how I usually tend to not like what that nurse has to do by watching her, but if I imagine myself doing it by myself, I can see that I might love it. Hard to explain, but I guess it’s just weird to sit in someone else’s office and feel like you could be doing what they’re doing without imagining your own office with your own things and having the autonomy for once (something I’ve never experienced as a student!). Anywho, I am excited that now it is in God’s hands, even though it always has been and always will be, but now I just have to wait on the Lord and see what he brings to me for jobs. I’m planning to give the hospitals a call at the beginning of next week to let them know (aka bug them) that I really would like the job and would love to have an interview. I’ll admit, the thought of an interview right now just freaks me out, because I’ve never had an interview for an important job. I don’t think American Eagle Outfitters or Chipotle counts…
Please pray for me to get a nursing job that fits me well… and pray for my own wisdom and patience that only comes from the Lord… thanks!
(I know my titles are a bit odd, but I’m trying to be creative… I’m going to be a nurse, not a writer, k? Just remember that.)
So my post today is about the show Oprah. I can’t make this long because I have things to get to, but today I watched a very very interesting show about a true story of mistaken identity. Two girls were in a serious car accident two years ago and the coroner made the mistake of identifying the killed victim as the wrong girl. So, the girl that survived was then actually thought to be someone else, since her real identity was now thought to have died. (sounds confusing, sorry).
It ended up being a much better show than I expected. See I used to watch Oprah quite often back when I lived with my parents growing up, because my mother watched that and Dr. Phil (before it was just plain trash) quite often and I didn’t think anything of it, in fact I enjoyed them both. Since growing in my faith in Jesus over the past few years has led me to desire to rid myself of my old self and not fill my mind/spirit with things of this world, I’ve lately been trying not to watch the show anymore. Oprah’s new-age spirituality is becoming a big focus of her show and magazine (and the world it seems), so I’ve tried to stay away from letting it seep into my life. But, this show really did catch my attention and I allowed myself to watch it (risky, I know.)
Near the end of the show I was very pleased to see and hear the two families that were there, along with the girl that survived, speak of their faith in Jesus and the forgiveness and mercy they’ve received from God through Jesus. This was their answer to why they don’t feel so much bitterness and anger toward God for what happened. I was super surprised that Harpo didn’t cut that part out, because Jesus’ name was definitely proclaimed! Another one of the guests actually quoted scripture! For once truth was told on a show that seems to be going in such a bad direction. The funny (not really) part was Oprah’s responses to anything mentioned about Jesus or Scripture…. she would just make a general overarching feel-good new-age-y statement that didn’t really respond to them clearly pointing to Jesus as their source for their joy and peace in such a difficult season.
So I was pretty stoked about this and my next thought was “I wonder if the oprah website actually put those words on their little show feature and didn’t take out the name of Jesus.” Hmmm… so I took a look. Of course, not to my surprise, Jesus’ name was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it said this: ‘Newell says. “I know it’s because of the forgiveness that we have experienced through our relationship and our faith.”‘ Relationship to…. who? Jesus!! I immediately found a way to send a comment to whoever would receive it at Oprah.com and mentioned the inaccurate recording of that man’s words. I doubt they’ll change it or that they’ll even respond, but at least I’ve done what I can. Only good thing I noticed was that they did include the bit of scripture that the other guest said.
I probably won’t watch this show much at all anymore, but I’m sure glad perhaps some (millions) of viewers this afternoon heard the truth of Jesus as one true mediator between us dirty sinners and a loving, merciful, holy God. And it always a good reminder how God can use such a worldly show (much like how we’re still sinners, prone to wander from our Shepherd) for His glory.
Upon arriving home from my nursing clinicals at the VA today I hoped to finish reviewing my resume and essay for a new grad nurse program, print it all out–along with my transcript–and bring it all (plus my recommendations and the actual application) to the post office before they closed. I hurriedly did this, even reading my essay aloud over the phone to my sister in less than 10 minutes to check for any unseen mistakes… then frantically printed it all out on the lovely (and overpriced) resume paper, drove (too fast) to the post office…. then, noted that I was 30 minutes too late. I could almost swear they always closed at 5:30… nope, not anymore. So there’s my April fools joke on myself. Guess I’ll have to wait another day, and probably anxiously read over my essay 5 more times, and send it off to Minneapolis tomorrow. And then wait… (and call 4 days later)
