NCLEX

its a bigger day for some of us than for others...

OMG

life has TOTALLY been kicking my butt. FOR REAL. i'm going to take a minute to get you all caught up...at least a little bit. where to start?? i had a job all but set up in the unit and hospital i wanted to work in in Columbia, but then the HR department implemented a personality test into the interview process and....i failed =(. it was incredibly depressing and infuriating. INFURIATING. then life tried to go on - i focused on finishing school and kept thinking life would calm down and even out. then i graduated and got a job in a TEEENY TINY hospital in a town near columbia, but didn't start right away. then i took a week long kaplan prep course in Kansas City, threw Lainey a bridal shower, had lots of friends in town (SO FUN) and tried to get some R&R in. then i started working at the TENNEY (7 patients in the whole place) hospital. it was ok, but from the beginning i could tell it wasn't what i needed out of my first job - i need lots of experience and training at a large hospital. if i don't get that as a new grad it is going to be really hard to get it later. ever since the university fiasco happened i had been searching out jobs in STL and KC. nothing real serious, but i kept looking and applying. i happened to submit an application real quick one afternoon to St Louis Children's Hospital's NICU. They weren't currently hiring, but always accept applications.

Shortly thereafter I got a call from HR asking me to interview - which I bought a new outfit for - drove over and completed two one hour interviews on a Friday afternoon. Then they asked me to come back a few days later for a panel interview. I was nervous, but WAY excited! Grant and Olive came to STL with me the night before so I could prep and not have to get up too super early and drive all the way from Columbia that morning. It went well - I thought. Later that evening we were sweating it out in the Hyundai on our way to Kansas City (without AC in 95 degree + humidity heat) to see She and Him when Children's hospital called to offer me the job! SWEET! we were so excited. SO excited. The opportunity is amazing. The hospital is one of the top 5 pediatric hospitals in the country and they have great perks and benefits.

I'm not going to lie - it has been one of the most stressful times in my life trying to juggle a marriage, working in a different city, finding an apartment, the dog, preparing for boards, staying sane. BUT we think this is going to be the best thing for us in the long run so we are going to make some sacrifices now. AND there are some pluses... STL has tons of delicious restaurants - we have already had so many more ethnic dinners here than we could ever have in Columbia. and things are starting to fall into place... this weekend I will move into an apartment with another new nurse in the NICU so I can avoid perpetual hotel living. The ultimate goal is for me to work in STL 3 days/week and then be in Columbia 4 days/week, but we will have to see how it all works out.

Do you understand why I haven't been blogging?? I really can't tell you how insane life has been - too insane for this girl to handle! Hope to be back soon with pictures from the last few months! love you all!

PS... can you believe monday marked two years since this?? how the heck did that happen so fast?!

SMS

There is a cause important enough that I had to take a moment to let you in on. I adore Ryan and his blog Pacing the Panic Room - he speaks from the heart and his pictures are amazing. His son, The Littlest Buddy, has a condition called Smith Magenis Syndrome that we need to learn more about. Hence, the new charity album to benefit the study and research of SMS! You can listen to the tracks in the widget and buy the album from iTunes which is linked to above! Please help if you can!

Graduation SURPRISE Getaway

Still trying to get caught up - the weekend after I graduated (July 30th - August 1) my sweet husband surprised me with a weekend getaway! We had so much fun and I loved not knowing what to expect next! Friday night he drove me to Hermann, Missouri, an old little town settled by Germans with lots of little shops and wineries. We spent the night in a cute bed and breakfast and enjoyed wine tasting and dinner at a local winery. Really what we enjoyed about it was each other...the food/wine wasn't so impressive. The next morning I was treated to a massage and breakfast before we headed off to our next destination! 

A few hours later I woke up (I ALWAYS sleep in the car) to find myself in St. Louis and we were pulling into a mall parking lot. I was so confused. Grant just told me to follow him and we walked to the food court to find Lainey and Dan waiting for us! We ate at Obama's favorite pizza place and enjoyed delicious pizza and Oregon beer. 

we loved this restaurant and really want to go back soon! (those earrings were handcrafted by the one and only Jenni McCord! I wear them all the time and everyone LOVES them!)

Next we headed to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery - apparently St. Louis has made beer for a LOOOONG time. It was really fun and interesting to see how the beer is made and to learn about all the history. That place is HUGE and has been around forever! 

it is crazy...they make SOOO many bottles every minute and there were only like 2 or 3 human workers...kind of sad, really...



we like videos - i know they are dorky, but they make me laugh.... 

we spent the rest of the night at one of our favorite restaurants enjoying delicious food and company. can you believe i didn't take ONE picture while the four of us were there?? i was kind of annoyed so G and I had a little photo shoot when we got back to our room. 

the next morning we headed over to the St. Louis Zoo which is surprisingly FREE to get into - I love seeing all the animals, but it also makes me kind of sad that they are in captivity. It was an extremely hot day! 

We ended our weekend with a stop at the Arch - it is such a huge structure! we considered going up but the line was like a million people long and I'm not all that into heights so we passed. We were thinking about going to the cardinals game that afternoon, but honestly it was SOOOO hot we couldn't bear the thought. 

Thanks for an awesome celebratory weekend, babe! I keep thinking our life is going to calm down...hopefully in a few months we will be able to take a deep breath and relax! 

Finally Done!

July 28th was my LAST DAY of NURSING SCHOOL EVER! It was a very good day for a lot of reasons, but one of the best was that we got to go out to pizza with friends and my sweet hubby surprised me with this awesome cake! Isn't it impressive?? It was only like $30! His co-worker makes them for a hobby - I was uber impressed! 

Me & Lainey SO happy to be done and ready for a sugary band-aid to celebrate! We were lucky to have even more surprises later that week...

Camping Round 2!

About a month ago we went on our second camping trip of the summer. The first time we went to the lake with Lainey & Dan. This time two other couples joined us and one even brought a boat! Isn't Olive so cute all hot in her crate? We dropped her off at the doggie resort on the way down so that she didn't have to be left alone while we were on the water all day. It was also over 100 degrees (like it always is in Missouri..) and she doesn't like that so much.

We were the first to arrive so we enjoyed a smooch and the view... 

That night we all got settled, made some burgers and hung out around the campfire. SO.MUCH.FUN!

Saturday we spent all day on the boat in the water. It was awesome - I got a little sea sick (as usual), but everyone else loved it! This is Grant trying his hardest to get up on those darn ski's. 

We stopped and parked the boat to get some lunch - this is the whole gang! 

Later in the day Grant was able to successfully knee board - looks fun, huh?? I'm not one for water sports so I opted out! 

The rest of the weekend we spent doing more of the same - grilling, campfire chats, and some more boating - although it rained on sunday making the latter a bit difficult. We are REALLY hoping to get at least one more camping trip in this year so we can bring Olive with us...we'll keep you posted!