Pinning Ceremony

On May 28, the Westminster School of Nursing and Health Sciences had the annual Pinning Ceremony for that year's graduating class. It was an amazing event held in St. Marks Cathedral in downtown Salt Lake City. The family members congregated in the chapel and in a cultural hall of sorts. The students sat in the very front facing the audience. This was really it. I had finally made it! I was so emotional. To think that I probably wouldn't see very many of my friends and acquaintances again after this event made me sad. But I realized that we were moving on, and we had all achieved our dreams - we are nurses! Several of our professors and classmates spoke. There were some good inside jokes passed around, including the fact that Gail Nelson is now "passing the banana" on to one of us to become a nursing professor (Gail hates the smell of bananas and banned them from her classrooms). After the speaking, our names were called and we were pinned by one of our professors. I was pinned by Sherri Tesseyman, an amazing woman who teaches Advanced Med-Surg Nursing and Intro to Nursing. Then we all stood and read the Pledge of Nursing:

I solemnly pledge to practice my profession faithfully

and conscientiously. I will do all within my power to

maintain and elevate the standards of my profession

and to continue to pursue my educational endeavors

throughout my nursing career. Using the knowledge

I have gained, I shall continue to upgrade the quality

of care of my clients. It is with honor that I shall

devote myself to the nursing profession.

We then walked out the way we had walked in, with

bagpipes accompanying us (!!!) I was SO happy!!

"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive

devotion as hard a preparation as any painter's or sculptor's work; for

what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared

with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one

of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of fine arts." - Unknown

Afterwards, there was a reception in the cultural hall. These are my very close nursing buddies. From left to right, Des Faull, Channa Goodman, Amy Cummings, me, Natalie Sanaty-Nya.

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do,

in spite of all we go through, is to be a nurse." - Rawsi Williams

"Nursing is viewed as a caring practice whose science is guided by moral art

and ethics of care and responsibility." - Patricia Benner

Finals

Just a quick update...Jordan had a final today, a take-home test to turn in tomorrow as well as a final, and a final and 20-page paper due on Wednesday. Then he is done!! Yay! I have a final on Thursday, one this Friday, and one next Friday (the 7th). I also have a required national review of all things nursing that I'm attending the first week of May. I have my pinning ceremony for nursing students at St. Marks Cathedral on the 28th, and graduation for Jordan and I is the 29th at the E-Center. I then plan on taking the national test to become a nurse, the NCLEX, sometime in June, but I have to register for it first. Until then, I will be working as a Nursing Apprentice (essentially a glorified CNA). But I will be making $2 more per hour and get to pick up all the shifts I want. Yay! It doesn't bother me. I'm going to be studying like crazy for this NCLEX. I really really REALLY want to pass it the first time and I'm going to make sure that it happens! Otherwise I have to pay for it all over again...something I don't really want to do. It costs about $200 for each test. Anyways, thought I'd catch you all up on our crazy life. We are literally in a whirlwind, which is why I named the blog that :D

papers...boo!

I have so many papers to write and I don't want to! I only have a few weeks left until the end of school and then I'm done! Jordan has been taking a ton of tests lately for all his classes too. He is worried about this semester and what it is going to do to his GPA. We had better get in to VCU :) I have a really good feeling about moving there, and I think we will get accepted soon. I have been looking at houses and apartments, jobs, and everything that is fun to do in Richmond. We plan on selling my car before we leave, driving across the country with our few things, and getting an apartment for a few months while we go house hunting! It is so exciting. I am so so excited!! I will work here until the end of July hopefully and then we will move. I'll start work again at the end of August/beginning of September and work on the house. Jordan has been thinking recently about becoming a neurosurgeon - basically doing brain surgery. Wow, my husband is way way smart! He loves the brain, it is his favorite organ. My favorite organs are the kidneys :) haha, now everyone will think I'm weird. That's ok though, because I'm a nurse and I'm allowed to have a favorite organ. Oh, and I haven't have bad chest pain since the day after the ER visit, so I'm happy. Our insurance is covering part of the CT scan, so we hope they cover most of the ER visit. Ok, wow, I'm really procrastinating. We will keep you in the loop!

Countdown

We only have 31 days til this semester is over!! I am so excited. Jordan is very excited to be done with Physical Chemistry. :) Unfortunately, he thinks that P-Chem has destroyed his love for Chemistry, but I don't think so. Every time we have a conversation about anything - ANYTHING - he brings chemistry into it and tells me how certain things work. He really does love chemistry...just not p-chem.

I am excited to take my test to become a nurse - after that test, I will be free. No more papers, no more late nights studying. Ahh. I will be able to read a book for pleasure, play the piano again, and join a yoga class. And do them regularly :)

Ok, really I'm writing this because I'm procrastinating. I will get back to my paper - and finish it so that Jordan and I can finish watching a hilarious movie called Gentleman Broncos, filmed by Jared Hess, the same guy who did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Oh how I love this man's movies! They are hilarious :)

On an awesome note, our nephews and sister/sister-in-law are in town and we are so happy to see them! We haven't seen them for 3 months and had a great time playing with the little boys last night. We love our nephews :)

Ok, ok. Back to writing.

The. End.

I am finally done with Nursing Leadership and Capstone!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Now I just have to wait for my final grade to come back. I already know that I have almost 100% with the assignments, I just need to know what the grade for the final was. I really want to have as high a grade as possible. I'm barely hanging on to my 3.501 GPA and want to keep it above water! We got information about graduating and the pinning ceremonies we are going to have in May today. I can't believe how fast time is flying...I can remember my anatomy and introduction to chemistry classes in freshman year, and how HARD I thought they were!

For anyone who is ever considering going into nursing - just be sure that it is what you really want. It is extremely tough work. I'm not one to minimize pain, and trust me, nursing school is painful. Especially in the senior year. Things never get easier in school, hence the reason the classes go from level 100 to 200 to 300 to 400. You have to really love nursing to go through this. It is all for our patients we care for and the work that we do. As a nurse, you have people's lives in your hands. It is intense and scary at times, but is always rewarding.

This spring break I'm going to have some major major major reorganization. I love organizing :) it is one of my favorite things. I recently read a book called Getting Things Done and it was inspirational! Read it - it will give great tips on how to organize your entire life and how to keep it that way. I love it when things are not in disarray.

I'm also going to be hanging out with friends during this week-long break. I have not hung out with ALL my friend for fun since sophomore year, so I think it's high time. Girls nights are awesome! My hubby is probably going to be going on a road trip with his best friend so I will be able to sleep over at my friends house for girls night :) we are going to watch movies and talk and go get breakfast at IHOP. Mmm.

I'm also going to be making some major headway in my business. We just announced that we are going to be able to save people money on their gas and electricity bills at the end of this year! As well as offer digital phone service to small businesses! I'm so excited about these improvements. Imagine getting paid when people flip on the lights...or take a shower...or text their friends. I LOVE my company!! Visit www.melynacuthbert.acnrep.com for details.

I also can't believe that it is the end of February. This year is 1/6 of the way over!! Crazy. Kind of sad too. But I have been able to continue to work on my goals that I set up at the beginning of the year, and that is not something everyone can say. So this year has been fulfilling thus far. Let's all make 2010 the best year ever for us! Anything is possible!! Here are some great scriptures that I read this morning that relate :)

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." - Ether 12:4

"Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." - Ether 12:6

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." - Ether 12:27

"Wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive inheritance in the place which though has prepared." - Ether 12:32

Birthday!

Today is Jordan's birthday!! He is 24 today, which is really weird. It seems so old :) We are not going to be really celebrating his birthday though because his parents are out of town and he has a quiz and a horrid test today. His teachers have tried to ruin his day, but we won't let it. I'm throwing a party at our house tonight with the two of us! I'm going to buy balloons and party decorations and make a cake. Because I believe that birthdays are special, no matter how old you are. When I lived at my parents, I would always be the decorator for every party. I love it! I'm so excited to see how surprised he is tonight :) he gets home at 8:00!

On another more sad note (for me at least), I have had zero motivation to complete my papers, projects, studying for tests, etc. I am done with school in less than two months and am sick of it. Seriously. I can't even study at our apartment hardly because there are NO comfortable chairs and our landlady listens to the TV so loud that we can't even hardly talk to each other! I have about 5 papers due by tomorrow, two tests, a group presentation in class tomorrow, and an evaluation with my clinical instructor. Bah. Just let me graduate and let me be a nurse. I already know what I'm doing! Not really, but I'm just so fed up. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox.

We still haven't heard from any medical schools. Jordan sent updates on how much he would like to get into schools a few weeks ago. Like I said before, we are supposed to hear from VCU on March 15. We just keep praying and fasting for good news but also to be aware of Heavenly Father's plan for us. It is hard to pray for that but we need to show our faith in Him. I heard a really good quote this weekend: "Faith and fear essentially come from the same place. They are both believing in something that hasn't happened yet. The only difference is that one is positive and the other is negative. So choose to believe in the positive." - Danny Bae

Schedules!

Sometimes I love to be super busy. I love the feeling of accomplishing a ton of stuff in one day. If every day was lazy, it would get boring pretty fast. Here is my schedule of this day thus far:

0545 Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready

0700 Clinical at U of U

1500 Make calls for business

1540 Work out

1640 Make more calls

1800 Study

1900 Read books

2000 Dinner

2030 FHE

2130 Shower

2200 Conference Call

2230 Bed!

I don't like looking at my schedule but it really isn't bad when I go through it. This is because I give myself time for things I enjoy - working out, reading, and spending time with my husband. I also manage my time so that I spend the majority of it on items that will help me accomplish the goals I desire...i.e. the Pareto Principle. If you spend the majority of your time on the top 20% goals, you will achieve 80% of the results you desire. This has been proven over and over throughout history. This was a really random post :)

It's Been a Long Time Coming

Meaning this post...I've been so bad these past few months! Here is another quick run-down of what we have been up to since November.

Jordan: Had his second interview at the University of Utah which went very well! He finds out in the end of March/beginning of April about whether he has been accepted there or not. We hope so! He also did good in all of his classes last semester and then had a very relaxing Christmas break playing video games and computer games all day every day :) On January 4th, he had his interview at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and it went well also! The only thing that was interesting was the hotel he stayed in...it was scary and had a bidet in the bathroom. Random. He was able to see the hospital and the school campus and really liked them both. The interview was TWO hours long! Wow! But he feels good about it. We should find out from Virginia whether he is accepted or not in either February or March. So soon!!! He is taking lots of interesting classes this semester including comparative physiology, p-chem, and something else that I can't remember the name of :) Only 3 more months until we are done with finals and only 4 more months-ish until we graduate! Hallelujah!

Melyn: I was sooo happy to finish Community Nursing last semester. I did well in my classes and am still hanging onto my 3.5 GPA - thank goodness! I found out that my capstone/nursing leadership course clinical would be in the inpatient psychiatric floor at the University of Utah, otherwise known as 5 West. The capstone course is where you spend your clinical time in an area of nursing that you love. My loves in nursing are oncology and psychiatric ;) heck yes. I'm loving my capstone and my preceptor, the nurse I work with the majority of the time, is amazing. Most of the nurses up there are Westminster Alumni, which makes it a little nicer. The course work doesn't seem to be that strenuous for me, although some people have complained about it. I think the reason I think it is easier is because I'm no longer taking and general credits along with my nursing courses. I can focus on just my nursing - not history or art. My teacher is a crack-up and I really enjoy her teaching. I have my first midterm test next Thursday so we are moving through the course quickly. My business has been growing well and I'm set to hit the next promotion this month! That will be awesome :) I've also been working on my goals for this year voraciously and am loving it. I love goal setting and truly believe that any goal can be achieved as long as you do the necessary things to achieve it. It is essential to PLAN for success, not just dream about it. As some of my heroes have stated:

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. - Moliere

God does not manufacture junk. Success is your birthright!! - Larry Raskin

Nothing will work unless you do. - Maya Angleou

If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams. -Les Brown

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. - Elaine Maxwell

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press On" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. -Calvin Coolidge

Christmas was also great this year. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Jordan's family. It was so nice to not worry about having to attend every family party and to be able to spend quality time with family and friends.

Oh, and for those of you who haven't noticed, I have been wearing glasses a lot in the past four months. My right contact broke about four months ago and I have had to live with the torture of glasses. This week, the glasses will be no longer. I am soooooo excited to be going to the eye doctor this Tuesday to FINALLY get contacts! I will look like myself again and be able to look at things without squinting (because the glasses aren't even my correct prescription)!

I will continue to update you folks about our lives, and won't let the blog get this far behind again!!

A Break (finally...)

Since Wednesday, Jordan and I have had Thanksgiving break. Ahhh...peace. All we have been doing is simply relaxing and taking a break from everything related to school. Jordan has been playing video games and computer games and I have been watching House :D and lounging. It is such great fun. I love not having to worry about school.

Updates on school: I have only one assignment left which is still about a third of my grade and two tests left. Yay. Jordan says that, "School is ok. Hard, but not bad." He is so smart. He interviewed at the University of Utah about a week and a half ago and needs to do one re-interview because the first one was so weird. Ask me about it if you want details. The interview at Virginia Commonwealth is in the beginning of January and we are just waiting to hear from other schools. Please pray for us :)

Updates on our life: we went shopping today, Black Friday, and got almost all the rest of our wedding things that we registered for that we didn't receive, which was so nice because we have in-store credit so the stuff was basically free! We have just been up to the same - school at Westminster, working at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital, building my business, and trying to magnify our callings as visiting and home teachers, ward building cleaning coordinator, and Relief Society pianist.

That's all for now...not very exciting, I know. I will let you know when our life is better...after graduation in almost 6 months!!!

Nursing School

Nursing school is seriously killing me. If anyone wants to know why I have been such a hermit lately, it is all because of what torture my professors have been putting me through. Let me explain:

14 hours of clinical every week

6 hours of class every week

15+ hours studying every week

Extra out of class projects, including: group community poster project and 4 page paper, interactive process recording equaling 28 pages, attendance at 2 12-step programs, and 2 papers due every thursday. I probably forgot something.

In addition to all the nursing crap (which learning material I actually enjoy - psych nursing), I am taking a photography class for my last general. This class is required for me to graduate. Why did I choose photography? I thought it would be great, but I did not take into account the fact that I would spend about 2 hours each week developing film and making prints.

The reason I am talking about this is not to make you feel sorry for me - I just wanted to explain why all I do is study, go to school, spend time with Jordan, and work. It is all I have time for! I have my final tomorrow morning, so wish me luck!

For the next 7 weeks of the semester, I will be in Community Nursing. My clinical site will be with a local agency Symbii Home Health. I enjoy spending time with elderly clients, so this will be an interesting experience. However, I have heard that Community is probably worse than Psych when it comes to work-load. I am so excited to graduate in...21 weeks!!!

Relaxation

It is official. I am going to get a massage once Psych/Mental Nursing is over. I am so excited for fall break starting October 15!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only 2 more weeks!!!

E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D

SCHOOL!!!!! Holy cow, I don't think either Jordan nor myself have ever been so busy with so many things.

Jordan: applying to medical school, taking 16 credit hours at school plus, extra lab time, research twice a week, volunteering at the Road Home, volunteering for Hearts for Hospice, running XC with a meet every other week...ahh!

Melyn: taking 16 credit hours at school, 14 hours of clinical every week, studying 3 hours a day, working my business as much as possible, trying to sleep 8 hours a night, working at least once a week, trying to tie up loose ends with the wedding (grr)...

I know, I know. Jordan is SO much busier than I am, but I feel like I'm going crazy! If it literally were not for the fact that I don't do anything on Sundays besides take naps, go to church, and visit family, my mind would freak out and die.

Ranting is good. Ok, I'm done. For a while :)

The beginning...

Well here I am, trying to do a million things at once...once more!

1. School

2. Wedding

3. The Celebrity Apprentice (probably the only thing I'm REALLY thinking about)

4. ACN

5. Cleaning

6. LDSSA

7. Studying (which prolly falls under school but I'm trying to create a long list :)