Me! :) It's my birthday. My party isn't until the 8th....but for now I'm planning on going to see a movie and out to dinner. I have been sick but feeling a little better today so hopefully I'll get to have some fun. :) I can't wait until the 8th though. It's going to be a fun one.

I am very sorry the man got hit and I do hope he's alright. I happen to think he was asking for it though.

Man Attempts to Recreate Frogger, Gets Hit by SUV

It's true. I have four of them so I should know. However my recent story is about a birthday party my little girl attended. For all of you guys out there, and I know some of you have kids, have you realized how catty, nasty and cruel little girls are to each other? You might be best friends one week and the next you are the outcast they are all ridiculing and putting down. This is one thing about little girls that isn't so sweet or nice.

My complaining is because of my 10 year old. She recently attended a birthday party. It was the 11th birthday party of a friend. Well during this party each girl went around the room telling what "boy" they had a crush on. Yes...at 10. Well my daughter has a crush on a little boy and has for some time. The girl who had the party then stated she had a crush on him too. So what did she do? She called him and asked him to be her boyfriend while my daughter watched. That's right. MEAN. I just don't get little girls. At times like this it would have been nicer to be a boy!!! haha :)

Not quite. But I do love to shop. I never have seen that movie. I figured it must be about me. OK. Kidding. I do love to shop. I wish I had an endless supply of cash to support my habit but that won't happen. So I just enjoy the opportunities I have to actually just shop when I can.

I have to go buy another dress for a wedding this weekend. I have a Holiday (Christmas) party after that. So it will be a busy weekend. I could do without all this freaking snow though. Yes it's so pretty. I live in Illinois. It gets old. I can't just walk outside to my van. I have to walk outside through mounds of uneven hard frozen lumps of snow. It's only December and it feels like January. I am NOT dreaming of a White Christmas this year. I am guaranteed it unless it hits 40 degrees for a week! This will not happen. Right now we're lucky to hit 20 degrees. I will live somewhere warm one day!

I am excited to go buy the dress though. I am going out with a friend when this is all done. I have a good friend Denise who I very much love to party with. She has a friend that I just met this past weekend for the first time. He seems sorta quiet. We'll have to fix that. :) I can't wait for Saturday!!!!

Here I am, front row, in nursing mode :) I love what I do. I am so excited that my senior year is upon me!!!

We took this pic after our last day on OB clinical. I got great final evaluations from my teachers. I will miss spending time with those babies up there. I had a great time. My final day I got to work with babies all day. It was a great day. I cannot believe this year is behind me. I have had more tears this semester. There are days when you just don't know if you can do it anymore. I am doing it though! I cannot believe I'm getting near the end.

And no I do not mean elderly! No senior discounts for me but I am finishing up my junior year right now at the college of nursing. I have finals next week. My last class was today. I am so excited yet not wanting to study at ALL. I have to study obviously. There are no options.

Starting in January I will be in my final year of nursing school. I love saying that. It sounds so amazing. I have been in school so freaking long people. I took a break while I was sick but I'm not going to say that was a really restful break. I had cancer and a baby. So yeah. I'm still having a girls night out this weekend AND studying for my Psych final. I can do both.

So excited that Christmas break is so so close :)

Did you all have a good one? How much weight did you gain? Yeah well, I know how you feel. It's time to put away those left overs and be good! I love the Holidays and I love spending uninterrupted time with my family.

Next weekend is girls night out. I am thankful for that too! I need to get out and relax. Finals are coming up. I am pretty nervous about it. I need to study study. I have some more of that to do today as a matter of fact. So I hope you all have a great Sunday!

One year from December 18th (or I think it's that date) I will graduate from the college of Nursing. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I have had plenty of stress and doubts but I'm making it through this thing. I am so excited. I am in shock. I did this for myself. I finally did something for myself. I got married very young. I had all sorts of plans and dreams but you know how it goes. I made a choice. I got married at 19. We are still together. We have four children! Yeah that's right. Four. In this day and age that is a TON. For the record most people are surprised I have four. I am a small person so people just don't think it's possible but that's ok by me. It's true. My oldest daughter is taller than me. :) haha She is 13.

I went back to school in 2005. My youngest at the time was about 3 1/2. I was able to put her into preschool and then my journey began. I was a mother, a wife and now a student. My husband was traveling for work at the time. I was pretty much always alone. I hated it, for the record. It will never happen again. *mild tangent there* OK. Anyway, towards the end of 2006 we decided it was time he come home for good. It wasn't working. So he did. He got a site (same company) that kept him home. However, it meant we had to move. So I got myself signed up with a new college. We moved, hubby was home, all was grand. There was one minor detail. I wasn't feeling well. I felt really bad actually. I was having trouble breathing. I couldn't sleep lying flat. I was winded speaking two words. The phone was a nightmare. I felt like my neck was going to explode at any second. LITERALLY. I could go on, but the point is, I wasn't right. I then found out I was pregnant. I cried. I hadn't planned on more kids. Why had my life continued to go off in a direction that I didn't plan?? I was on BC. I missed a couple of weeks because I switched docs and therefore had to wait for the pills. I thought I was too sick to have a baby.

Fast forward two more weeks. I found out I had cancer. That's right. Pregnant. Three kids. Wife. Student. Cancer Patient. I managed to finish off that school year anyway. I got really really sick just before the final. Since I had A's anyway, they didn't make me take them. Nice. That was a good thing.

So in a nutshell? I had surgery, chemo, baby, radiation. In that order. I delivered a healthy baby. I am in remission now for almost 3 years. My baby? She just turned 3 November 17th. Me? I went back to college the summer of 2009. I finished my prerequisites. I started Nursing college January of 2010. I am now just about done with this semester. In January of 2011 I will be a senior. I will graduate in December of 2011. I think I deserve this. After all I have been through it's time I had something for ME. It is for my family too but my life, sometimes I feel has been way out of control. So much has happened and I have no power to stop it. This I have control of. I will work my butt off. I will get what I want. My eye is on the finish line.

Well at least some of the time. It has been a fairly warm November for Illinois. Up until this past week I had no complaints. That is until I froze my butt off on my way to school yesterday morning. Yikes I hate cold mornings. I don't know if there is anything much worse. It takes so long to warm up. Coffee is my friend in the mornings!

I am getting very near to the end of my second semester in nursing school. Starting in January I will be officially a Senior. :) I'm proud of my accomplishments. I've come a hell of a long way. I've managed to do the married thing, have a few kids, go back to school, have cancer, go into remission, go back to school again (have yet another baby during all of that) and now I'm on my way to graduating! Not too shabby. :)

My hair is feeling amazing. I'm loving this Nioxin! I will post a more elaborate update later complete with pics. I have been studying for a big Psych test all day. I'm not going to get much sleep. At least I have Tuesdays off....sort of. I still have to go to the hospital to get my patient info for the following day. My schedule is insane!

My hair is really soft. I have noticed much less hair in the drain after I wash my hair. I love how my hair feels. I still love the tingly, minty clean feeling it gives me. I think my hair feels instantly thicker. There is a lot about this product I love so far!


On a side note, my big Halloween party is tomorrow! I cannot wait! Party time!! :D

So, lately I have noticed more hair than usual falling out when I wash/comb my hair. This has sent me into full on panic mode. I noticed my ponytail was a tad thinner than usual. My hair stylist doesn't think it's bad, but hey I notice it. I had my thyroid levels checked since it's always been a little wacky. I don't want to have thin hair so I looked around and found Nioxin. I am not sure if it will work for me and I have seen mixed reviews. Some think it's awesome, others don't like the tingling sensation it leaves on the scalp and some can experience scalp redness.

I know my thyroid is messed up so when I noticed my hair just seemed to be falling out more than usual I didn't waste time. I started taking a multivitamin because I have been anemic a few times. Vitamin deficiency can cause hair loss. I like a full head of thick hair (on myself) so the Nioxin was a great product for me to try. I got it at my salon and no it's not cheap by any means. I'm still using my Redken products too. I love them.

I thought that others might appreciate my own experience one day while googling. I hope that it does help.

Day 1. I love the tingly feeling on my scalp! My hair DOES seem thicker instantly when I blow dry. I loved the soft feeling. I however do not like the smell. It's a little to medicinal for me. If it works I'm okay with it though.


As you can see, my hair isn't thin, but I noticed it's THINNER. There is a difference. I did just go a lighter blond too. I think I may like it more with the darker streaks but I don't know. It's hard to decide. We'll see. I like to change things up all the time. :D

Stay tuned.

I went out to a Halloween contest last night...didn't win. :( Had a great time though. I have my own big Halloween party on Saturday. Looking forward to it. More pics will come from that party as well. Stay tuned!

My costume had to change. The costume I had was just too big on me. It was a size small and the smallest one they had but that cute little skirt was a dress on me and those gloves came up to my armpits. So now this is my costume:

Gonna wear it to a Halloween costume contest tomorrow night....then for my big party on Saturday of next week. So excited and I'll be posting pics.

I'd write more on my blog but I'm so insanely busy with clinical right now. I'm doing Psych and OB right now. The past week I have sat in on Group Therapy sessions and dealt with patient who had various mental disorders. These are much more common than people think and range from severe anxiety to depression to bipolar. I have also watched a c-section and natural birth...tended to a baby who had to be admitted to NICU...and take care of infants in nursery. I have been busy. This is not counting the family things and all the tests and paperwork I do. I stay busy!

Now I'm supposed to be doing paperwork. I really don't want to but it must be done. good night all!

I love getting into costume. I absolutely WANT an excuse to dress up. So I have a Halloween Party each year. I wasn't sure if it was gonna happen this year. I think my solution is to have it the week after Halloween. I just have to do it and I found the perfect costume! If you remember my Halloween pictures from the past I have been a Lady Bug and a Naughty Nurse.

This year I'm going for Burlesque. :) I found the hottest costume ever. I can't wait to wear it. I will absolutely get lots of pics from the party.

So what do you all think of dressing up for Halloween? Just for the kids? Or adult fun too?

I should be doing homework but I'm watching this movie again. I actually am going to force myself to get off of here and go get some studying done but I really do like this movie. It's a total chick flick so I am not sure the guys would get into it too much. My favorite scene is probably when Cameron Diaz's boyfriend admits to cheating by saying "Yeah, I slept with her. Are you happy now?" To which she replied "did you say am I happy now???" and then punches him the face. It was great. LOVED that scene. :)

So now here I am on a Saturday night getting ready to study for my pediatrics exam on Monday that I hear most people fail every year. I am so not in the mood for this.

This past week I've been sick. I probably would have cranked out a few blog posts but when the flu knocks you out, it knocks you OUT. I don't know what I have for sure but I figure the body aches, chills, fever, cough, sneezing, running nose etc are all a great indication it was the good old fashioned influenza. I am feeling better minus the hacking painful cough I have. This chest congestion is free to check out any time now!! I can't stand it.

Other than this I am doing alright. I am doing a lot of homework tonight. I have not wanted to do it since I've felt so crappy but it must be done. September is a big month for me. My wedding anniversary is coming up. Would you believe I have been married for 15 years? Yeah it's crazy. It's hard to believe we've made it so far but we've done it. It's not always easy let me tell you. Anyone that claims marriage is easy is either lying through their teeth or smoking something. Regardless, here we are and we've decided to take a trip to celebrate. I am pretty excited. I need to get away. It's not until the end of this month so I have to wait for a bit yet. :)

Can I get my blogger readers to click this link: http://polldaddy.com/poll/3694021/ and just vote for Tyler Frisby? He's a local kid. He deserves to win and it's like seriously neck and neck here!! Vote and share the link. I don't normally post these things but you know it would be really cool if I could get him a few votes. No signing up, no working through pages to find it. It's right there. Click the little dot and submit. Pretty easy. :D

Let me know if you voted!!

Oh and it's for Athlete of the Week! Football related ;)

 I love both but no, not at the same time. I love homemade cooking. I really do, but I don't know. There is something about sitting down at a nice restaurant, enjoying some friendly conversation, sipping a coffee or a margarita, maybe even a glass of wine if the occasion calls for it. I love being waited on. I love going to a place where I am pretty much guaranteed it will be a good experience. I love it. It's like the high light of my day when I can go out and enjoy a nice meal with friends or family.

I am pretty sick of fast food. I used to like it in  my younger days but man it's the same old thing for like....um.....well....many years!! lol The burgers are the same, no matter what else they put on top of them. The fries are still the same old fries. I like a finer dining experience. It doesn't have to be 5 stars but I like nice. By that I mean I enjoy any place I can sit down, be served and treated well by the staff. I have had experiences where they weren't as attentive. It always boggles my mind that a waiter or waitress would expect a certain percentage of tip when they aren't providing excellent service. I think there is a certain percentage that should be paid. For excellent service it goes up. For bad service it DOES in fact go down. If you don't do a damn thing for me why in the world would I tip you for that? Yet some do expect it.

Anyway, on to the reading thing. I am a reader. I love it. I don't get to do it as often as I like. I did enjoy several books over the summer which was GREAT. However now I am reading a book called "The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. This is a book I am required to read for my Ethics class. I have to say it's started off pretty depressing. Especially since the whole thing is about death and dying. Oh well. I am working on it. I can't say it's a bad book. I haven't read but 20 pages at this point. I am finding it really hard to not get distracted though. That can't be a great sign.

Join Chilli's mailing list. It does have a place to put in credit card info for more deals or something. Just skip that part and click print coupon. It's not necessary for the coupon so I don't know why they did that. Regardless here's the link:



http://chilisemailclub.com/?imm_cid=9O-9C

Enjoy :)

I start school on Monday. That's right. It's back to the Nursing School grind. I will be busy again. I hope this year isn't as bad as last year, but I have a feeling it will be. I am preparing myself mentally for the lack of sleep that is sure to come. I even got an assignment already! My teacher sent an assignment that is due the first day of class. I guess I'm not meant to enjoy my last few days of summer vacation. *sigh*

I decided that I'm going out this weekend. I deserve a last moment of freedom I think. I want to eat somewhere nice and then maybe sing to my heart's content somewhere. I entered an Idol type of contest by the way. I am not sure if I'll be in it yet because it only takes the first 20 applicants. This is a local thing. I'll find out if I am in it about 5 days before it starts which is the 27th. Crazy!! I'll keep you updated. ;)

It seems to be kicking in tonight and I need it. The stress of school starting is getting to me. I'm not talking about just me either. My kids are also a consideration in this. I have a lot on my mind. I lay down in bed and feel this lump of anxiety in my chest. I am one of those women who after lying in bed starts thinking of the MILLIONS of things she has to do instead of the most important one. SLEEP. I'm kind of still doing it. I am a diagnosed Chronic Insomniac. I used to fall asleep during the opening credits of a movie. I used to lie down, tired at night and conk right out. Those days ended sometime in 2004. I had a sort of odd rash on my eyelids. Turns out it was like eczema. Sexy right? OK so not so much. The point is the doc prescribed Prednisone. It got rid of the rash. Of course it also made it so I NEVER slept. I could run marathons at 3 a.m. on this stuff.

When I stopped taking it the rash came back. I started using a prescription cream that cleared it up. Turns out that insomnia and odd rashes/itching are both symptoms of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Rather typical ones as well.Were they signs? I happen to think so. The insomnia never really went away. The ambien will help but it's never guaranteed to work. I have learned tricks to make sure it does. One of those is a very empty tummy. If I have carbs in my tummy from cookies, breads, pastas, just forget about it. I won't sleep. Another tactic is to get the tummy nice and empty. 4 hours or so since eating then turn on the food network channel. Start droooooooling. Then take the ambien. Always works better.

Trust me. 6 years on this medicine. Other than birth control it is the only thing I take now. No more rashes.....nothing. After the cancer the insomnia is all that stayed. I'd like IT to make it's exit anytime soon by the way.

This past year has been a rough one. I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer in December, just 2 days after Christmas and just 2 days before my birthday. Between that and then going to nursing school it was just overwhelming. I had to go to school and study the very things that killed my dad. Some days in class were almost unbearable. One of those days was the day we went over grief and mourning. It was still so fresh to me.

The point of this is my birth mom, whom I was never raised with, is not well. The confusing thing? Well it's a long story. Start from the beginning? My mom left me when I was just 13 months old. Well she left my dad, my older sister and myself. She came back around when I was 5. She had left and gotten a job as a stripper. Yeah I know. Anyway my dad was the Sunday school teacher. We lived a life around the church. We went 3 days a week you know. My dad was strict. He was very very firm. My mom was carefree about nothing but having a good time. She came back around and to me my step-mom was my mother. I have been told I cried and didn't believe her. My older sister Donna remembers living with my mom and says she remembers me crying and crying for food at night when my mother would leave us alone while my dad worked 3rd shift. I'm glad I do not have these memories. She remembers feeding me popcorn from the trashcan because of my crying.

Ok. Moving forward our mother comes back into our lives and gets visitation rights. She gets us like every other weekend. She doesn't show up much of the time. I loved being with her though. She was like a friend. We never got in trouble. Compared to my dad's strictness, she was like a weekend of fun. I guess as a kid that is the way you'd see it. When she didn't show our hearts were broken.

Fast forward again to being an adult. I saw my mom on occasion. She'd come visit now and again but she did the same thing. She's make promises to come. You'd get all ready for her then nothing. She just wouldn't show up. So I stopped telling my kids grandma was coming. I didn't want her breaking their hearts too.

More fast forwarding. I got sick in 2007. I was pregnant and I had cancer. I was told at 10 weeks pregnant I had to start chemo now because I wouldn't last 3 weeks to the second trimester at which time it was considered "safer" to do. I couldn't breathe. I was coughing up blood. I spent time in the hospital etc. My mother borrowed money from my grandpa to come see me. My aunt let me in on the surprise but unfortunately my mother didn't know that. She thought I was unaware and kept that money for herself and never showed up. After that I was done. She tried to connect with me but I wanted no more of it. I just didn't have the care anymore if you know what I mean.

Eventually I talked to her a few times off and on. I never went to see her. She would call on the rare occasion. She stopped by unexpectedly a couple of times. In the past few years she got herself hooked on pain meds. She became hard to understand and began doing odd things. She would go through my friends list on myspace and add my friends. It was embarrassing and weird. She wrote me notes and made little sense. It has saddened me more and more. My grandmother has Alzheimer's so I don't know if I can blame any of this on possible Alzheimer's or it's all the meds. I don't know. We finally had no choice but to admit her to a nursing home for full time care. She had fall a few times and hurt herself. She is out of control as well. She needs constant care anymore.


Well the nursing home called tonight. For a few seconds my heart sunk and I feared the worst. I thought she was gone too. I realized then that I still cared. I can't help it. I was so scared and I don't know why. She's hurt me numerous times yet I can't be like her and just not care. I'm going to take my sister and we're going to go see her this week. This whole thing leaves me confused because I still care.....and yet this other part of me asks why? I don't know the answer to it. I just realized I have to be who I am. I am a person who DOES care. My relationship with her could have been more, had she tried. I mourn for whatever that may have been. I mourn the loss of my father. I am thankful for my sisters. I am thankful for my step-mom.

As for my mother? She fell and hit her head. I was pretty scared before they said she was ok. I realized then it's not so easy. I obviously still love her and I don't want this on my heart, whenever she does leave this earth. It's all so confusing.

To the truck driver who sped up and BLEW through the red light today. Up yours. That's right. Some moron was coming up to the intersection really fast. We had a green light for several seconds but noticed he was flying. I would say he was going about 55 to 60 in a 45. The hubby slowed and said "hmmm...I don't think this guy is gonna..." Then sure enough that truck gunned it and blew through a stop light. I mean that light had been red for awhile. It's not like he was trying to beat a yellow light. I'd also like to say thanks to the hubby for having the sense to see it because I wasn't even paying attention. I am glad that we aren't road kill right now!

He would have slammed into us on the driver's side. Me, my husband and three of my girls were in the van. How would he like to be responsible for that mess? Yeah. Well I hope he didn't blow through that one and then end up hurting someone else. I just hate idiot drivers.

School starts on August 17th. I am not ready. Well ok fine I can do it. I am fully "capable" of being ready. It's just this vacation has been SOOOOOOO nice. I love having time off. I love sleeping in. I love going out and not worrying about the homework I need to do.

It's back to the grind. I have two clinical days this semester and they are FULL days. I have Peds and Pscyh the first 8 weeks. After that it's OB and Pscyh. Kinda excited...kinda nervous. I am ready for graduation NEXT December. It's all worth it in the end. I know it is. In the mean time there is a lot of hard work to do.

So I think this means I absolutely am required to go out and party this weekend. What do you think?

 I have spent some of this summer working on my tan. I just REALLY want a tan. I have the slightest color but most people would still call me pale. lol Oh well!!! I wear my bikini but I hate my scar. That's my biopsy scar. It's just a part of me now. You can see it in this pic. I'm kinda used to it until I see it in a picture. Ugh.


This weekend we're heading to Six Flags with the kids. We haven't had much traveling this summer so I'm pretty excited. I love the traveling part. I miss it! It's been way too long. I've promised my oldest to hit some of the roller coasters with her. I remember getting on The Batman ride about 50 times on my Senior High School trip. Yes it's been around that long. Ha! I don't even know how long it's been since I graduated. Hmm 15 years??? No....wait. Make that 16. Sheesh.

Oh well! I had fun then and I plan on having fun now. I also like traveling to find new places to eat. I LOVE the Food Network show Diners, Drive In and Dives. It's got to be my favorite next to Iron Chef. I love seeing good food being made. Presentation means a lot! Eating it is even better. I love finding a good restaurant and enjoying something new and exciting. I hope I find that on this trip.

I have tried to not think about it. I've been enjoying my vacation WAY too much but there is no more ignoring it. My second semester of nursing school starts next month. I encourage myself with the thought that my final semester will be at this very time next year. It's hard to believe how far I've come. I'm pretty excited but NOT looking forward to the heavy workload that will be coming way soon.

I've enjoyed my summer. I haven't taken any massive vacations like so many of my friends and family have. At this point we just cannot afford it. We're paying a lot for my medical bills still. They mount up with those daily expenses. I'm 2 years in remission but will be paying my bills for a long time to come. I still have appointments every 3 months and those aren't free either. We have a copay for each appointment plus the out of pocket expense for each appointment. It's crazy but it's my life.

This semester I'll be working in Pediatrics, Psych and also OB. I'm excited and pretty nervous at the same time. I'm not sure which scares me more....Pscyh.....or Pediatrics!!!

First of all, I really hate a badly done tattoo. Like the above. *shiver* Have you seen this yet? How awful for the person who got it. Yikes.




I have three tattoos. Yep. It's true. I love them each. They all mean something to ME. However not all tattoos need to have some heartfelt deep meaning. I don't think that's true at all. Some people (usually those with no tattoos) think that if a tat doesn't have some major deep hidden meaning then it's a bad tat. I have to get something straight here and now. I want to clear the air over a couple of things.

1. Just because a girl has a lower back tattoo does NOT mean she is a tramp. First of all I had mine way before Wedding Crashers came out. Do not gather your words of wisdom from movies that have Will Ferrell in them. I have a lower back tat it's true. I love it and chose the location simply because a.) I find it sexy. b.) It was the best location on my body that if I want I can cover so I can go to work. People only know I have this tattoo if I choose to expose it. You would NEVER know it's there otherwise.


2. Not every tattoo has a deep meaning. I have covered this before. Ironically all of mine do mean something to me....the last one I just had done, has the most meaning for sure.


3. Finally the third thing please STOP telling us how it will look when we are old. We do not care. Your ass will sag and get wrinkly when you're old too. (No I have no ass tats and never plan on that) We don't care if it gets faded when we're 70. We don't care if the words are harder to read when we are 85. Honestly aren't we all gonna be wrinkly old bags anyway??? So who cares?


I do not have plans to get anymore tattoos. I have three and I'm done. I can cover each one so that no one will ever be able to see them when I work. I show them when I want, and expose them when I want. It works for me. So how about you? Any tattoos out there?

Yesterday I drove home trying to beat a storm quite literally. The skies were dark and cloudy. Yet the cool thing was how this storm presented itself. It was dark and cloudy under me and behind me. Towards home it was blue skies and pretty much gorgeous. There was yet another storm behind it I think. Regardless it looked pretty cool. I got some great shots of it I think. It caught up with me as I pulled up to the house. The lightening was pretty amazing too. The clouds were so low. You could literally see each bolt clearly across the sky. It was gorgeous.

I love tomatoes. I planted some this year. I don't really do the garden thing but I wanted tomatoes so bad. With my dad now gone, I don't know who will give me all the tomatoes I can eat. He always did. I miss him. I couldn't stand the idea of a summer without tomatoes so I just took it upon myself. So far I have gotten 3 red ones. I am pretty excited. I can't wait until I get more.

Other than the excitement of fresh garden tomatoes, things have been good. I have gotten out a few weekends in a row and had a great time. My oldest daughter has actually babysat for a short period of time twice. I love that I am beginning to be able to trust her with that responsibility. We are thinking of doing a Poker Run this weekend. I'll have to hire my usual sitter for that one. It's a long day on the bike. I absolutely love it. I haven't gotten enough time on the bike since about 2007!

I also had the opportunity to go to a local fair. That was a good time too. I do NOT want summer vacation to end. I am holding on to the last pieces of it until August 17th.....when nursing school will be calling me back. I do Peds/OB this year which will be cool. I also do Psych. We'll see how that goes.

Have a great one to all my blog readers out there. Not sure yet what I'll do tonight. Hoping to see some fireworks somehow. What are your plans? Cookouts? Anything good happening?

I have been wanting a violet ribbon since I became a cancer survivor. I went through a lot and this was sort of my own symbol of beating it...winning the fight. It's a reminder of all I went through. When I was diagnosed they didn't think I would last 3 weeks without treatment. It was a difficult time combined with the fact that I did indeed feel like I was dying.

I came back, kicked cancer's ass and here I am today. I got my tattoo, spent the day on the Harley and even got a rather funny looking sunburn to top it all off. It was a good day. I had a great time out singing at the end of the night with my favorite local Karaoke DJ, Dennis.

I'm proud of what I have accomplished. Now I'm going to be starting my second semester in Nursing College. Who knew 3 years ago that I would be here today?

I do miss my dad though. He lost his battle. It's so wrong that he lost his battle right after I won mine. It's like cancer is there to remind you, that though you won, he can still take your family....your friends....and yeah even come back for you. It's always there. My dad's ribbon is almost identical to mine. Mine is violet, his is purple. So I got the tattoo for both of us. (And no my dad did not approve of tattoos, just so no one thinks he did haha) But I got it anyway. I wanted it as a tribute to him with his initials and birth year and the year he died. On the other side, is Survivor 08....the year I was declared in remission. Yeah it means a lot to me. I have wanted it for a long time and now I am so happy to finally have it!!! :)

Yeah I'm moving up in the world. Finally my mouth is feeling a bit better. It's not perfect by any means. I still can't open it really wide and it's still very sore, but I am managing to eat food with a little more substance to it. I also blew my diet all to hell last night by eating a donut. It was amazing and totally worth it. Now I may have to add an extra 5 minutes on the treadmill or something.

All of this pain due to having my wisdom teeth removed. I have more pain to come when they surgically remove the bottom wisdom teeth. Fun! I am just glad I'll be knocked out for those.

I didn't do much this weekend. I hung out with my sister and her family. I just didn't feel up to going anywhere with all of this mouth pain. I think next weekend I will get out and have a good time one way or another!!!

Oh and we got a new family member yesterday. It was just meant to be. As soon as I saw her, I just knew. I want to call her Aurora Rose. She sleeps ALL the time. I feel this name is fitting for such a sleepy head cat. :)

I ate the smoothie for lunch today since my mouth is still sore. I wanted something good and filling, but soft and nothing to really chew. This was it. I wasn't sure how great it would be but wow. I loved it! Awesome. I am glad I bought it. I am not doing a review for anyone here. I am just putting this up because I felt like it. I was happy and plan to buy it again.

Now onto the Burger King ribs. I perhaps am making this post MORE because of the ribs than the smoothie. I was SO disappointed. I decided to get them for my hubby as a surprise. I didn't know they had them and it was kind of a surprise you know? I saw this amazing picture of these beautiful looking ribs. They were long and juicy looking. At almost $8.00 for the combo I hoped they would be worth it. They were not. The taste was ok according to my husband. When I looked at the ribs though I thought it was a joke. They were tiny looking dry ribs. They came with a barbecue sauce that you HAVE to use. My husband was needless to say still hungry after eating them. I hate it when companies lie by showing us pictures and then delivering a product that looks nothing like it. I mean you may fool us at first, but eventually people will start talking and see that you were lying and it pisses us off. So, perhaps you should just either give us what you advertise or take a picture of the TRUE product.

Just found a GREAT picture online of what the ribs look like. I claim no rights to this photo. Just did a google search and it's so accurate!

Most of my family can't see it but I sure can. My cheeks are swollen. Puffy. I feel like a chipmunk storing things in her cheeks. My mouth is sore today. Maybe even more so than yesterday. I hope this passes quickly. I am ready to just feel normal again. I am getting the bottom two wisdom teeth out probably later this summer thankfully surgically. I am glad they will be able to put me out for those!

I won't be wanting to go out or do anything until I don't feel like a puffy cheeked dork. Again I think I notice it more than anyone else. Still though, it's really hard to feel attractive with puffy cheeks. Maybe it will go down within the next couple of days. We'll see. I'm so ready for a drink.

Had two wisdom teeth pulled today. I put the whole story on my other blog if you are interested. (Pregnant With Cancer) I am in pain. I think I'll survive. However I'm pretty hungry and not sure what I can really eat without a lot of pain. I had some chocolate pudding...but I'm still pretty hungry.

I have actually been working out a lot the past two weeks. I decided my butt and thighs need some firming up. I am not a big person...on the contrary, my usual weight is between 102-105. I however noticed my thighs and butt just didn't have that firmness to them I used to see. So I have been doing Pilates and running on my treadmill every night. I already seen an improvement.

I miss it but haven't had a lot of time with school to work out. I am sure I need to keep it in my schedule no matter how jam packed it may be. I am not getting any younger and it takes work to keep my body tone!!! I'm skipping Pilates tonight though due to extreme mouth pain. The treadmill however will be seeing me in a few.

Check out the tornado that hit 20 miles from us tonight.

I think it looks like the one from the Wizard of Oz! Lots of damage from this one. Praying for the people there. I have friends there. There was a lot of action in Central Illinois tonight. Hoping things calm down so we can all rest peacefully through the night. It's always the worst when a tornado hits when it's dark. You can't see it coming.

You know you live in a state with tornado warnings being a common occurrence when you  hear the sirens go off and everyone is outside watching the skies. There are lots of tornadoes tonight all around us. The sirens have gone off a lot. I am hearing a lot of thunder. I see a lot of wind, and a bit of lightening but so far it doesn't look like a tornado.

I love a good storm. I don't want to be blown away by a tornado but I do love to watch a great show in the sky. A little hail is pretty cool as long as I am not outside in it!! Now off to watch the skies again.

There were varying degrees of intensity depending on where you were but I heard about tornadoes touching down in various places. I haven't heard of any significant damage. I heard about quarter sized hail.

The local fire department then posted these pics these to their facebook page. It was a little ways outside of town!

It was about 95 degrees according to the thermostat in my van yesterday. I believe it's supposed to be hot again. We got a wicked storm late last night complete with pea sized hail. I absolutely LOVE those kinds of storms. Around here it's always possible to turn into tornadic weather rather spontaneously so of course, you want to be on the alert. However for the most part it's just a good show.


My body by the way can't seem to compute this whole, "I have nothing to do" thing. I feel like I should be working a deadline here. What's wrong??? I can't just let loose. I mean, my brain is telling me I have homework and then I have to keep reminding myself it's summer break. It's hard to let go all of the sudden when you've been so insanely busy for so long. Crazy I tell ya.

I can't believe I made it through the semester. Next semester I'll be doing Pediatrics, OB and Psych. All three could present their own kinds of challenges. I am ready though. I can handle it....albeit with stress of course. haha


Now today I'm going to get a couple loads of laundry done and perhaps go take my financial info down to the college. I have to somehow PAY for this next semester as well. It's not cheap. I had trouble last semester so I hope it all falls into place again.

Started off the first night of summer break partying it up with friends. A guy friend, Dave, graduated from school to be a nurse no less! Of course, most of my friends are nurses why not the guys too right? It's a pure coincidence. I have a good friend who is a teacher. They aren't all nurses!

Anyway we got a party bus and we had a GREAT night. I honestly didn't get drunk really. I wasn't in the mood to feel sick so I paced myself. I had a great time. Now I am sitting on my BUTT and loving it. I do not have my nose in a book and it's great. :) I am going to try and really enjoy every second that I have off this summer.


Pics for your viewing pleasure:

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted. I am trying to finish up this semester of school. Finals this week so studying has left me a little INSANE. You will get too much of me in about 1 week. I'll be done with school for the summer. Can't wait to get back to blogging!!!!!!

I get shocked when I realize how many different people read my blog. I guess I KNOW people read my other blog. Especially family members. However I do get surprised when I find people read here. I know my sisters do which is cool. I am still surprised when I find out others do since I don't really promote it much. I used to. I stopped. I had to censor what I say too much. I used my blogs as a place to write what was on my mind. In some ways I feel I can't do that to a certain degree. I don't want to offend anyone or actually make anyone take anything the wrong way you know.

Then again I haven't really used this blog in that way too much. I really just like to post what I have done....be it study for classes or maybe get drunk after a night out. It may happen....though RARELY. haha That's the kind of thing I felt I had to censor or my real feeling on a situation, be it true or not. Then again I guess that's the trouble we all run into. We have to hold back to a certain degree. Do you find you have to do that on your blog?

You ever notice some of the seriously horrible movies on Netflix? There are of course the good ones...but what about the ones that suck? Like for instance, Cannibal The Musical. The hubby was watching this last night as I sat in horror, my mouth hanging open. I am all for a comedy...or a scary movie. They are two of my favorite genres. I could only take about 10 seconds of this movie. I mean, I realize it's meant to be "funny". You know though....it's not. It's dumb.

That's my observation for the day. ;)

Yes I have been pretty busy lately with school, but I refuse to make one of those posts about how I haven't had time to post lately because I have been so busy. I won't explain to you that I have had test after test and "proficiencies" to do (which is performing something I learned while a teacher watches and waits for me to screw up).

No I won't do that. I'll just tell you that I am doing well and almost DONE with my first semester of nursing school. I can't believe it at all by the way. I didn't have any summer classes so I am free! Yes I'll be back around here irritating you all as usual.

So, this weekend is my friend Christy's birthday. We are having a girl's night out. I think some pics could be in order. Maybe I'll manage to get some video too. We know how to have a good time and I can't wait. I really need a day to just relax and not worry about anything!

Thinking a lot about an online friend today. So sad. Read her story by clicking the picture above. This woman lost custody of her daughter due to vicious lies told by her ex. She was threatened through e-mail yesterday around 3:00 p.m. She posted a comment about how if "anything happened to her in the next few days" we would know what happened. She was afraid of her ex. The courts had given her daughter to this man. She had little visitation and became very depressed. She was fighting and raising money to go to court. Last night about 5 hours after the threatening e-mail Kodi passed away. It is believed she took her own life, however I find the circumstances VERY suspicious. Read her story and show her family some support during this unbelievably hard time.

Is it April already? Insanity. I am telling you this semester at school has been so hard and so busy that I barely realized I was half done. I will finish my first semester around the end of May. I am not sure of the exact date but I was thinking something like May 17 or so. I cannot believe how fast time has flown.

This past week I had my very first patient. Ironically it was a lymphoma patient. That's about all I can say, but that is the cancer I had. Mine was a different kind of lymphoma but boy can I relate to my patient you know? I was glad for the experience, learned from my inadequacies and complimented by the fact that the patient wished I was there all the time!!

Other than that I have been studying, writing papers, doing tests, etc. I do like to get out to relax on the weekends. It's hard to do with the amount of homework I have. But yes I am getting out tonight. I am going to see a band that my hubby's got a friend from work in. We'll see how good they are. I won't know anyone there which kind of dampens the excitement a bit for me. Nothing like going out with my girls. My friend is having a girl's night out birthday party this month. I want to go. Think I am too. We'll see. Last year's girls night out was a TON of fun!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Well my spring break started off good by celebrating the hubbies birthday with some friends. We had a great time but now it's back to the grind.

School is boring though so how about that health care reform thing? Yes I said THING. What is your opinion on it? I myself am worried about it. I'll be the first to say I am the most unpolitical person you'll meet. I find it boring and full of big babies. Politicians are babies and of course my hatred for confrontation could have something to do with it. Regardless this is something that will affect us all.

OK. Here are going out pics. Enjoy!

I had a huge "test" that I had to pass yesterday. I put that in quotes because it is actually called a proficiency and it involves a series of hands on tasks. I had to learn how to do a focused cardiac, abdominal and respiratory exam. Then I had to learn a basic exam on top of this. Then when I went in I would choose between the three focused exams blindly, not knowing which I would get, then I would perform that exam on a fellow student with my teacher watching. If I failed I would have to do it again after two practices and have a teacher watching and possibly video taping it. Then the teachers would all confer together and decide if I should pass. If I didn't, I failed the class.
SO you can understand this was a stressful freaking week for me. My friends and I have been crazy this week. I have been giving exams to my pillows!!! I tell you, it's very difficult learning all of those from start to finish IN order. But I did. Yep. You heard me.

I PASSED!!!! I ended up drawing cardiac, the one I really wanted. I started practicing it first and it's the one I wanted. I have been so nervous because at the end of the actual exam you did the full basic exam too, then you have to the write up an entire report based on subjective material, the objective material including results of the exam. Like what heart sounds are heard where and where they are loudest, if you hear murmurs etc. But I did it. I passed and yeah I am freaking out.

Spring break this week and I am soooooo partying tonight!!!!

Literally they are flying by for me. I have so much to do. I am really busy with school these days. Sometimes I feel like I can NOT do this. I must be insane. Other days I am really excited and feel this is exactly what I want to do. Things get hard, but I guess that is life. I don't want everything handed to me. I want to prove myself not just to others but myself. I need to do this.

Today was busy and tomorrow isn't looking different. I have class then a Meds practice and then a Health Assessment practice. My dad will begin at 8 a.m. and end around 5:30 p.m. Well, the class part. Then I come home, study study study, homework, etc. I have to do so many things that I won't even bother trying to explain it.

Eventually this blog could turn into "Advice, From Nurse Sandi" Ha!

You know, even though I know it will irritate some people I am going to say it anyway. I am one of those people who is used to being "the nice girl". I hate confrontation, avoid it at all costs. I don't like to argue, disagree, fight, blah blah blah. I enjoy my blog as a forum to post my complaints but truly I rarely do it to someone's face because truly I loathe arguing. What's the point? You won't convince me. I won't convince you and most likely you're just pissing me off and then I am in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

I have to fight this type of behavior. I want to be liked. I like to make people smile. I like to make others happy. I want to make those in a bad mood smile. This doesn't always work out for me. Example one: I recently saw a Twitter post in which someone said they were going to kill themselves. Regardless of my thought that it was a ploy for attention and also wondering why I was following a person who described themselves as emo, that good side of me had to say something. I simply said I hoped they were kidding. I figured if they needed someone to vent to, I would try and help. They replied they weren't kidding and blocked me. Nice. So much for trying to help them out.

Today I saw someone cussing up a storm on Twitter about something. I figured 40 f words in a row was humorous, regardless of how angry you are. If you type that out, you are hoping for a response am I right? You want people to say something. You are trying to get attention. So, I just replied with an LOL what's wrong? I got a reply along the lines of "Glad I could fucking amuse you." Or something like that. I have zero clue how to respond to messages like that. Are you on twitter to fight with strangers? Do you think everyone who replies is trying to start a fight with you? Before you jump to conclusions you might want to realize that perhaps it is just breaking the ice for you to vent. I am a good listener. It's what I do. Vent away and I'll offer helpful advice. Attack me and I guarantee the last thing you'll see is my ass as I turn away.

I don't fight. I don't argue. I dwell on it and it's no good for me so I just leave the situation. It's easiest for me. However when someone truly doesn't like me I guess it's confusing. I'm agreeable....friendly....maybe that's what it is. Maybe I piss the mad people off. Which of course, is incredibly funny to me!!! It reminds me of an episode of The Golden Girls. Yes I like that show. And no I won't argue with you about it! On this particular episode a man who works with Rose just does not like her. She's too happy and bouncy for him. She just does NOT get it and wants to do anything to make him like her. The rest of the episode is about that. She is trying to get him to like her, which only further ticks him off. Funny stuff. I don't want to be that girl so I just learn to leave the angry people alone. If you don't like me, your loss.

Now, back to the books!!

I am watching the news right now, wondering if Hawaii is going to get hit like they predicted. It's not looking like it. That's a relief. Hope it stays that way.

It's crazy that there was an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile not long after the one that hit Haiti. It's crazy out there lately. There was actually a minor one right here in Illinois in the past two weeks. I did not feel it however one friend said she did in the middle of the night. I have felt it before. There was one in 2004 or 2005. I forget now but it was a few years ago. You do NOT expect that sort of thing around here. I was just starting to fall asleep and felt some vibrations. I woke up and noticed all the windows were rattling....everything was. I thought a big truck was going by and then thought it was lasting too long for a truck for one, and two, a truck wouldn't cause all the windows to shake. I walked from room to room and noticed all the rattling, confused still sleepy then it stopped. I went back to bed. The next day they said it was an earthquake.

It's creepy to think there could be an earthquake in Illinois. You do not growing up fearing those here. Tornadoes yes. We are ready for those but not an earthquake.

Well, back to the news!

Too much school. Too many classes. Too much homework. Too much reading. Too much studying. TOO MUCH! I am a little studied out do you think? I have learned a lot though. I love learning. I love hands on stuff but I hate that it takes away from my personal time.

So my sister called and asked me to have a party tomorrow. So you know what? I am! Food, drinks, friends and fun tomorrow night. I can't wait. I will be singing a little karaoke. I'll put up some pics.

Until then, check out the new do! I got my hair done.