Planning a wedding

Planning a wedding is hard work. You have to find something old, something new, something borrowed, and yes, something blue. You have to decide who should be in your wedding and who didn't quite make the cut. You have to decide what colors, what kind of cake, how the programs should look, who to invite, where to have the reception. There is a lot to remember!

I am five months away from my wedding. The save-the-date cards are sent. The wedding dress is purchased and hanging in my closet. The wedding invitations are picked out and ready to be ordered. The photographer, reception site, organist, band, and church are booked. My future mother-in-law is helping me with my flowers. I am currently talking with a baker about my cake options and we have looked at rings for my fiance.

Sometimes I feel like I am on top of my game and that I am right where I should be with the planning process. Other days I feel completely overwhelmed. There are just so many things to think about. Programs, toasting flutes. decorations, dress fittings, hair appointments, party favors, rehersal dinner, menu items, playlists, etc. etc.

I am the first child in my family to get married, so it makes it especially hard to know what I am supposed to be doing. I am very excited to be married, but the planning process for the ceremony and reception is ridiculous. It is stressful and overwhelming. I try to take it day by day and gradually get things done so that hopefully 5 months from now I will be ready to walk down the isle and begin my future.

Word of advice to those who are engaged, start planning early and take it day by day. And allow your fiance and family to help, it is too big of a burden for one person to handle alone.

Thanks for reading!

NCLEX

So, I don't know how many people know about the NCLEX. It is the National Council Licensure Exam. This exam is the biggest exam in a nursing student's life. Once a nursing student graduates from college she must pass this exam in order to become a Registered Nurse.


I was not looking forward to this exam. I graduated on December 12, 2009, which was a wonderful feeling after 4.5 years of college. However, unlike most college graduates, I still had to spend my days preparing and studying to pass an exam before I could begin my career.

I spent almost two months studying NCLEX review books and rummaging through my nursing notes. I took a review course and spent every available minute preparing for the biggest exam in my life. It was basically all I thought about or talked about for two straight months. All I have ever heard about this exam ia negative things and how hard it is, so of course I drove myself crazy preparing. I am also a sort of negative person, not in a bad way, but I'm not one to look at the bright side of things. I was convinced that I would fail this exam and never be able to practice medicine. These were probably the worst two months of my life.

This exam is cruel. I went to the testing center, had to be photographed, fingerprinted, palm printed, show ID, and basically strip searched to enter this room. I couldn't even bring chapstick inside. The exam is on the computer and each one of us was inside our own little cubicle to take the exam. By the time I sat down to take the exam my hands were shaking and my palms were sweating. I starting answering questions which calmed me down a little. With this exam, you get a minimum of 75 questions and a maximum of 265. The computer shuts off when you have either passed by a good margin or failed. I was finished with my exam an hour into the exam when my computer shut off at 75 questions. This was not a good feeling.

Now all I had to do was wait. It takes two days to find out if you have passed the exam, and all I had to do was wait and find out what my future had in store for me. After frantically checking online every twenty minutes for two days, I finally discovered I had passed. There really isn't a way to describe how I felt seeing my name with an RN license number behind it. Absolute joy.
So for any future victims of the NCLEX, the only advice I can offer is prepare and hope for the best! Thanks for reading!!

Catching up

Wow, so it has been over eight months since I last blogged. I don't know why, but somehow time has gotten away from me. I will catch you up on what has happened to me these last eight months.

Last summer I spend a fair amount of time planning my wedding and working at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls at an internship. I also attended my annual Minnesota Twins baseball game and spent a few weekends camping with my family. It was a nice summer, and like any other summer it was over much too quickly.

I just finished my last semester of college at SDSU in December. I graduated with a degree in Nursing. After 18.5 years of school, it is a strange feeling to no longer be in school and have to study. I am finding it difficult to keep myself busy as so much of time used to be consumed by school and studying. I am used to saying "I have to study" or "I am a poor college student" and now neither phrase applies to my life. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be done with school. No more homework, no more studying, and no more expensive tuition. However, being in the real world can be a little intimidating in that now I have to think about things such as health insurance, life insurance, a 401K, figuring out if we can afford a house, and marriage.

Being an adult is wonderful in many ways, and also a lot of work. Sometimes I think being a college lifer would be the way to go. Once you graduate college, there are no more spring breaks, no more christmas vacation, and the social networking shrinks down a little. So all of you who are still in school, enjoy it because time flies by and before you know it you will be in this place called the "real world".

Even though there are things about college I am going to miss, I am very excited about my new job! I was lucky enough to have a job lined up for me at Avera McKennan before I even graduated. I work on the Orthopedic Floor and I am currently on week two of my eight week orientation. I am learning a lot, feeling overwhelmed, and really enjoying my new job.

This pretty much brings me up to today. I am working at my new job and planning my wedding and showers and all that goes along with the process. My wedding is 5 months away, and will be here before I know it! So life is going pretty well right now. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, hopefully I can get back on track. Thanks for reading.