And So It Begins

Yesterday was the first day of classes. We spent most of the morning getting oriented with the lab and simulation center. The afternoon was spent in lecture that began with our first day's exam. I am pretty sure I aced that exam though. They have us in a math class that my 6 year old niece could do very easily and luckily it only lasts one hour. I haven't felt much pressure yet, thank goodness, but I know that it is coming. I have 2 exams this coming Friday that I have to go prepare for but just wanted to check in. 

The Cats out of the Bag

Oh where to even begin. Well I guess I can start with the fact that I had a car wreck last month. I hit a deer (dumb dumb deer) and nearly totaled my car. Well I finally got it back a few weeks ago from "being repaired" and yet I find there is still damage that was never even touched. I called my dad and we got it worked out where I don't have to take my car to New Mexico to get it fixed. I will try to take it up there tomorrow to see how long it will take to repair.
With school starting this coming Monday, I have a lot of stuff I need to do. I have a test on Monday and one on Friday that I need to be studying for as well as I need to go to the bookstore and buy a few more things they are requiring me to have. This is one expensive program for being so cheap in tuition. It will be worth it all in the end though.
The cat is officially out of the bag on school. Everyone in my family knows now and I don't have to try and hide it anymore. I really am not sure how my dad found out but oh well. I think it will be better that he knows because I am not good at hiding it. I'm getting very anxious about school! Bring it on!!!
Also, I went to the gym last night with Richelle and luckily I haven't felt too sore today but I probably will feel it tonight when I go to the gym again when I get off of work.
The best thing that has happened to me lately is church. I have found a place I really feel like I could belong. I am really enjoying the crossover class and their small groups. It feels so good to have a place that I can go, be myself, and feel like I belong there. We studied this last week about what it truly means to be a disciple and what it meant in Jesus' time to be a Rhabbi and a disciple. Man, I want to be a true disciple. I want to have the dust of my Rhabbi's feet all over me. Its time to stop making excuses and start living the life I am called to live. I am called to be a disciple to Jesus Christ. He has told me "Come, follow me. Do what I do." and its time for me to answer that call.

Oriented and Diving Right In

Well orientation was a success. I surpsingly learned quite a bit from one speaker, the rest were pretty lame. I don't know what it is but for some reason I am feeling super confident about this attempt at nursing school and I know I am going to be successful! I felt a little awkward because it seemed everyone seemed to know each other already and were already buddied up and then there were a few like me who were just there. Hopefully that will not last long. I am already having to prepare for a test for the first day of school and another test for the first Friday. I want to make sure I do good so today I made the notecards to study for the first day test and even though I am at work, I am about to start reading my book to prepare for the Friday test.
Speaking of books, I went and bought my books yesterday and holy cow! $1300 later and I still dont even have them all yet. Its going to definitely be a rough year financially. I have to go spend between $120 and $150 on scrubs that are required too. I did however speak with a nursing recruiter for the hospital I want to work for and we have been in contact about me working as an on call CNA while in school that way I can be making some money, and more an hour than I make at the hotel. Hopefully it happens!
I am just at this point of where I am nervous about it all but also super excited and ready to dive on in. I just keep telling myself "yes its going to be a hard year but its only one year and it will be very worth it in the end."

Get Oriented!

So I am standing here at work, impatiently waiting for my shift to be over, and thinking about how I really hope that I can get to sleep tonight when I get home. I have orientation for school all day tomorrow. Here is the funny part. They sent us an email having the schedule on it for everything we are going to be doing tomorrow and they made sure to put in the email that we need to be wearing the right kind of underwear to try on our scrubs... first of all, what is the "right" kind of underwear. I don't want to be trying on any kind of scrubs in front of people. I better be changing in like a bathroom or something. No one needs to see that.

For some reason, I feel my stomach getting in knots about tomorrow though. We are going to have to get our books and they are giving us our first weeks assignments for classes even though we don't technically start for two weeks. I hope that the books aren't too expensive and that maybe I have some of them at home already so that I don't have to buy them again. Tomorrow should definitely be interesting and I will be sure to get on here tomorrow night and tell you all about it. 

One great thing about tomorrow though is that a good friend is coming into  town. He just moved a month or two ago to San Angelo and I haven't seen or talked to him in a while but he will be here tomorrow and we are going to hang out tomorrow night so I am really excited about it. It is always a good time to be around Mr. David Robbins and tomorrow should be no different! 

Bring on tomorrow! Its time to GET ORIENTED! 

This Is the Stuff

My nerves are starting to really get the best of me today. I'm very nervous about everything I have coming up and I'm very frustrating because things just are not going right at all. Then God intervenes and sends me a message through a song. I have to sit back and think... God you are in control and you know what you are doing.... I just wanted to share the lyrics of the song that made me realize today that I don't need to worry and I need to change my whole attitude.

This Is The Stuff- Francesca Battistelli

 

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

45 in a 35
Sirens and fines while I'm running behind
Whoa

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff
Someone save me
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
And I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

Good Morning!

Today has started off great. I guess I was too excited to sleep this morning and I am not really even sure why but I woke up at 7 and couldn't go back to sleep. I finally rolled out of bed and got ready for church. I actually got to go to a bible class today and I actually really liked the class, even though today was about politics and government. They are studying the book of Romans right now and the class is made up of people my age in the same walk of life that I am in. Jordan and I talked about it and we think that we are going to make this our new church home. We feel like we can really get involved at this church and that it can really help us to grow spiritually.
The day before yesterday however, I was not in such a good mood. I recieved a letter on my door saying I had violated my lease for having another dog. Before I got Chloe, I made sure to read through all the paperwork to make sure that I was going to be okay about getting her. Apparently, they say that the pet deposit is per pet and the pet rent is per pet. If that is the case, I don't know what I am going to do because I cannot afford to pay that much money again. I'm still paying on the first pet deposit. It has me stressing out pretty good. And to put the icing on the cake, I got a letter from my financial aid people saying that I wasn't getting as much money in student loans as I had originally been told, and now I am freaking out about how I am going to pay for rent without working. I am enrolled in 9 classes this next semester and am going to have to work extremely hard to maintain the grades they expect you to maintain. Working would be extremely hard to do with all of the workload school is going to be giving me. I am not sure what I am going to do and I don't like not knowing. I am hoping that I can go talk to financial aid in person on Tuesday morning before I have to go to work. If not I will have to go Wednesday or Thursday. I have my root canal on Friday and then probably work the rest of the weekend and have orientation on Tuesday.
I am just ready for everything to get figured out and get everything started. I'm ready for this new life to begin and I just pray that I stay strong through it all!

Birthdays, late nights, and doubts

So yesterday was my 24th birthday. I had so much to do yesterday. First thing, I had to be at work at 6:45 in the morning and I also had to get all of my nursing paperwork in before noon or I would sacrifice my spot in the program. Luckily my boss watched the desk for me so I could get that paperwork turned in. Then they gave me a copy of the classes that I would be taking and it stressed me out even more. 9 classes, 18 hours. Its not like I haven't taken that many hours before, just never that many classes at one time so this year I am really going to have to be organized and plan everything out. After work, I went and put my checks in the bank and paid my rent. I hate doing that. LOL you get your money and 2 seconds later its gone. I took a small nap and headed out to my soccer game. The game went horrible! We could not get a goal to save our lives, and our passes were absolutely horrible. After the game, a lot of us went out to a bar called Chips. We played pool and shuffle board and my friend Richelle bought me a birthday cake. They got me Elmo plates for the cake too. It was quite funny being in a bar with Elmo plates. In the end the waitress loved us because we shared our cake with her :) I haven't stayed out late in so long and I stayed out til about 2 or so last night. It was really hard to get up this morning and I have been so tired all day long. Last night showed me that I am happy I don't stay out like that anymore. It never fails though, nights like last night always get me thinking or Jordan and I have our deepest conversations. I wrote earlier that I wanted to stop being a luke warm Christian and start being a Radical Christian! I want my life to be lived for Him and I want to have no doubts. I am sick of not liking myself and who I am and am ready to make the changes that need to be made. Going to get healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually. Its time to start living for me and start living for HIM. Bring it on world, its on like donkey kong!

New Beginning

I was talking to Jordan last night and she really got me thinking. I love the verse Romans 12:2 but I started realizing how I am not living it. We were talking about how we want to stop living luke warm lives but start living radical ones. In part of our conversation, we were talking about how the world is telling us things that are okay and things we know God says is not okay but with the world telling us it is, sometimes its really hard to feel that its not. We are letting the world conform us and that is exactly what we dont want. I told Jordan that I am interested in trying out a different church and trying to find a bible class since we never go to one at the church we are at now. I want to be more involved in a church and I want to grow. I am ready for school to get started and I really want to either quit my job or tell them that I can only work one day a week so that I can have the opportunities to go to church or a small group. I'm ready to live a radical life! 


I don't wanna be I don't wanna be a casual christian.
I don't wanna live I don't wanna live a luke warm life.
I just wanna light up the night, with your everlasting light.
I don't wanna live a casual christian life.