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| Photo taken on March 28th, 2013 - St. Croix River (boarder between Minnesota & Wisconsin) - still so much SNOW! |
March 2013
This month has been very busy, stressful, and a slightly frustrating, but I made it through. Time certainly has not slowed down and I cannot believe it is already April tomorrow (my birthday month!). I think there is truth to the saying that time doesn't slow down for anyone, with each month and year as I have gotten older I feel like life is moving so fast that sometimes I just want to press a "pause" button. As I enter into the transition between a college student and young adult, a transition to preparing for the next steps in my career, truly growing up it can be intimidating and overwhelming. I have now realized that I have to prioritize and understand that I can't do it ALL, ALL of the time. March 30th (yesterday) marked 2 full years of blogging (crazy!) and I love it, I love that it still is a space I can write of my journey and still be able to share and reflect both for myself, friends, and family (and maybe others!). I know in the past year my page-views have significantly increased, I have been writing more consistently, and a few more comments have popped up. I still am not asking for advertisers or sponsors, that's just not my thing. This space is a special place where it is available for those who want to engage but is also there to let me share. I hope that this blog continues to be a safe-place to share and connect with people and myself.
Lasts: day of my GSJ course {here}, hopefully (fingers-crossed) snow of the winter season,...
Firsts: taking lab-draws from a patient, placing an IV, running with the hospital's IV team, spending clinical time in an Emergency Department, going for a night away with my mom to Hudson, Wisconsin, time during the school year where I spent more time in a hospital than in a classroom, real feeling of nervousness creeping in regarding transitioning into young-adulthood, going on meal dates one-on-one with everyone in my family in a one week span, paying off a credit card bill (or maybe that was last month...can't remember),...
What I've learned: this isn't the first time I've learned this but certainly has been come back into my life is how complicated and messy life can be and how imperfect we as humans are and with that there are some things that we will never be able to fully comprehend or understand, faith in a God that is bigger than human complexity but it doesn't always make it easier, patience and the way you approach all situations can be of the utmost importance, I need to hold close those moments and people that have entered my life that remind me regularly that nursing is the career for me and that I am smart and capable of getting through this transition and starting out my career, the little things are so important and that it is important to be able to slow life down just enough to notice those little things in life that make a huge difference,...
Looking forward to: nursing pinning, graduation, seeing where I'll be in 6 months from now// 1 year from now, change and transition into being a young-adult, all the snow melting!!!, post-graduation life...
What I'm missing: the sun (too much snow!), the warmth of spring and flowers and changing of the season, less stress, knowing what to expect, routine...
Faves: Spending time with my family over spring break and having all five of us in the same house again, going to Hudson with my mom, getting to spend time really being in the hospital and daily grind of it all, advancing my skills by learning how to do lab-draws and start IV's, the sun setting after 7 o'clock at night...
**See past installments of monthly re-cap {here}
** See the entire series of posts regarding my GSJ course and my time studying abroad in Zambia, Africa {here}
You know what's awesome, how faithful God has been to me even when it doesn't feel like it in the moment. I am still reflecting and thankful for Sarah's March 6th post {here} and lead me to {here} of her testimony and journey in her life and health. Life has been hard for me, (no not-open-heart-surgery-hard), but hard this month and this year in general. Sometimes it's hard to see where I am headed and that I am still on track. Then I read posts like Sarah's, I talk to a person at church, interact with a new patient at work, or I hear a song on the radio and it puts life in perspective. I truly believe God has a plan for my life and is control so much so that anything I could dream of is not even going to compare with what God has for me. I am really praying and trying to follow a path where I take life one day at a time, and be deliberate and honest with myself and others who join me on that journey. Life is fragile; working in nursing I realize this more and more every shift I spend in the hospital, and I want to live my life to the fullest depth and capacity it has to offer me.
Happy Easter to everyone!
I am thankful for the sacrifice and reason for this holiday night.
