Officially an Adult

Although I turned 21 in February, I officially got the "i'm an adult feeling" when I got my first real paycheck, and almost a third was taken out in taxes. I knew because I would be making more, more would come out, but I didn't realize exactly how MUCH more. Its somewhat depressing really. 20 hours of work all gone before I ever saw the paycheck. The really new thing for me is health insurance. Because I'm from Canada, health insurance isn't something we ever had to go buy. It was just there. Of course I never saw the huge tax deductions from paychecks that my parents have, but it seems so silly to me to pay an insurance company tons of money when they hardly cover anything. I finally had to bite the bullet and go to the dentist today. My teeth have been hurting for a couple months, but since dental isn't covered at all on our health insurance, I put off going until I was making enough money to afford it. I went to the dentist every 6 months of my life until I got married, with only one cavity ever. Its been a long year and a half with no dental care. The outcome wasnt the rotting decaying teeth I had anticipated, only 2 cavities. One is very small and the other is a little bigger. But still....it will cost me almost $400 to get them fixed. Can I just go back to being 16,care free, having no taxes taken from my paychecks, and having my parents insurance cover anything I ever needed? This "adult" thing isn't all its cracked up to be.



On the other hand....

I love having a "real" job. I am really enjoying the mother baby unit. My boss asked me the other day if I will orient to do labor and delivery. I had to hold myself back from jumping up and screaming "YES!!" I have always wanted to do labor and delivery. It is the main reason I went into nursing. I thought I wouldnt have the opportunity to orient to L&D for several years, but my boss needed someone sooner, and so I get to do both! I calmly told her that I would absolutely love to. She walked off and I called Devry right away to tell him the great news! I start orientation in January for L&D. I can't wait!



Other exciting events....

Well, other then work and the few classes I am taking, not much is new. I was very excited to find out that I won an IPOD at work. I had entered a drawing for attending a meeting, and was one of the 3 that won! I was going to get one for Christmas from Devry, but now he can find something else to get me. :)



I am officially an Aunt of six now. Devry's Brother Joe and his wife Lisa had baby #3 today. A little boy they named Nolan. Devry's other brother Dan and his wife Rachelle are going to have their 3rd in February, which will be grandchild #7. Here is a picture that was taken in May. With new baby's coming all the time, family pictures will never be up to date.

Loving my Job!

I made it through my first week of work, and absolutely LOVE my job! I was a little nervous about it, but I was put with a preceptor to show me around and mentor me for the first 2 months of work. She is a great nurse who has taught me a ton already! I am catching on really quick, and can ask all the questions I need to. I love taking care of the new moms and their babies. I have to confess that holding those sweet babies all day makes me a little baby hungry...but I will have to get my baby fix at work for now:)

I got my license in the mail, and maybe because Im just a little to excited, I took a picture of it, along with my name tag.

So now Devry and I are both working out butts off..trying to make some money to survive while he finishes school. I am doing school this fall parttime, to continue working on getting my bachelors. Life is fun right now. I am trying to get lots of things done and organized around the house, so I feel a little more in order. Our dogs are growing everyday. They are a ton of fun, but make more mess then any kid! They drag all of their toys out of the basket and leave them everywhere. Dash always steals socks. He never chews them up which is good, but he will just grab them and walk around the house with them. They are cuddle bugs, especially dash.

I was cleaning my bedroom this morning, and when I came out to the living room, I found Daisy and Dash laying on top of the pillows from our guest room. I had just made the bed a little while earlier, and I guess they decided they wanted the pillows, cuz they had dragged them out. I had also cleaned this room, but as you can see in the picture, they dragged pillows, toys, and blankets all over the place. At least with kids you can eventually teach them to clean up after themselves! Not with dogs though.

I survived!

We are back from Las Vegas and had a very fun, exciting, yet stressful trip. We drove to Utah the first day, and stopped in Salt Lake City, where I got to have lunch with a good friend who graduated from the nursing program a semester before me. It was great to see her, and a comfort to know she made it through boards and is now a confident and competant nurse. Maybe I have a chance! We then went on to spend a night with the Brooksby's. It is so great to visit them and see how much they have all grown. The next day we took off and drove to Vegas. We stayed in the Brooksby's condo, which was nice except that there was no power, so no Air conditioning. The power was off because they are selling it next week. We bought a battery powered fan and enjoyed the luxurious spa and pool that all the condo residents get to use. We did a lot of shopping! I found some great deals on clothes at out let malls. They even had an outlet scrub store, where I bought 6 new sets of scrubs! Very cute ones too! We relaxed, and tanned. I also studied every day for boards. We stayed in a hotel the last two nights, at the stratosphere. We had booked the hotel for monday and tuesday, when the price was less than half of what it was on the weekend. We enjoyed the air conditioned room! We went and saw the show "American Superstars" which was an impersonation show. It was really good! After a relaxing and fun time in vegas we drove back to Utah on Wednesday and stayed with the Brooksbys one more night. I began to get very stressed, knowing I had to take my test the next morning. I eventually got to sleep and had nightmares all night about my test. At 11:30 wednesday morning I got to the testing center and the worst 4 hours of my life began! I could have gotten anywhere from 75 to 265 questions, and I got 240. As I read through each question, I felt less and less confident with what I knew. I tried to stay calm and concentrate on the questions, but it was so hard! By the end, I left with absolute asurity that I had failed. I began planning out my next steps to retake it and try to find another job. Devry kept saying "you passed, I know you passed!" I tried to believe him. I was told I could go online and pay a fee to get my test results after two business days, or wait 3 weeks to get it in the mail. Who in their right mind would torture themselves for 3 weeks waiting for those results??!? I woke up at 1202 saturday morning and went online to check if my results were there. They werent so I thought I would have to wait another 2 long days until monday. Luckily I checked later that afternoon and saw that my results were available. I called Devry to come into the kitchen and demanded he give me his credit card. He probably thought I was nuts! I was shaking so much I couldnt even tell him why i needed it. Finally he came over and saw and immediately handed me his card. I spent the next few minutes trying to type in the credit card number with shaking hands. That was hard! Finally I got there...I clicked to open my results and all it said was - "status: Pass". I read it 4 or 5 times to make sure that it really said pass. Then I made devry read it to make sure. When I was absolutely sure it said pass, I started crying! Devry was like "Chelsey, you passed, why in the world are you crying?!?!" I was just so overwhelmed and relieved I didnt know what else to do! He was so sweet, he came over to me and gave me a hug then said..."guess what...you are an RN." Then of course he threw in "I told you so". Anyways.... Finally...the 2 hardest years of my life paid off. I went to the hospital today to set up my schedule and I start my three 12 hour shifts a week on wednesday! I am so relieved to be done with school and big tests like that, yet so excited and nervous to be entering practice. I am so glad I am in the post partum unit. I wouldnt want to start my career anywhere else.

A Few Favorites

Now that I am out of school, I have a little more time on my hands. I have many projects completed, and many more on my to do list. I have been trying to make an organized menu so Devry and I avoid having the "what do you want to eat? I don't know, what do you want to eat" converstation every day. I have found a few items that we love and thought I would share them.

Devry isn't much of a breakfast eater, unless it's muffins. I found these great Betty Crocker muffin mix's that are quick and easy, and just as good as if made from scratch. His favorite is the blueberry mix, which has a can of real blueberries inside the box. They are simple to mix up and throw in the oven.

Another great find was gossner's milk products. This great company processes their milk at higher temperatures, which makes it have a shelf life. The problem Devry and I have run into is that we are sporadic milk users. Neither one of us drink alot of milk, but we will have it on cereal and in baking. If I happen to bake more one week then another, we run out very quickly, and I have to run to town to get more. If I don't bake at all, we often have 1/2 gallon or more expire. Gossner's milk is pretty much the same cost as regular milk, but you can leave it on your shelf for up to 2 years without it spoiling. Once it is opened, it is like any other milk, and will expire quickly, but it comes in smaller containers so you do not have to use a gallon at a time. It also comes in small "juice box" sizes, and has many different flavors. A few favorites are Hershy's chocolate, cookies and cream, banana, and root beer. And yes...it does taste like regular milk!Great for food storage!

Another easy and delicious meal! Green Giant frozen stir fry. Basically, you pick a meat, cook it, add the bag of veggies and package of sauce (included in the bag), cook a few more minutes and eat! I am all for easy meals, and this is definately one of them. It tastes great and saves time. Devry doesn't eat many vegetables, and he will eat this, and likes it! You can make some rice to go with it, or I have been using Rice noodles.

Las Vegas

So Devry and I are finally going to take a break and go on a mini trip. We were supposed to go stay in Vegas for our honeymoon, but Devry's boss decided to start planting early so he had to stay here for work. We have been trying to go ever since, but between school and work we have never had the chance. I decided that since I have to go to Utah to take my boards for my RN license, we might as well go a few hours more and have some fun. We will be driving to Utah on the 7th, staying with the Brooksby's (the family I nannied for), then heading to Vegas on the 8th. We will be staying with some friends for a few nights, then in a hotel for a few nights. On the 14th we will head back to utah, and I will take my boards on the 15th in Ogden. Devry has never been to vegas, and I am excited to show him where I lived for a year. I just recently loaded a bunch of pictures from the year I spen in vegas, so I am going to post some of them. It was a great year, and I learned a ton!

A Girls best friends!

So once we moved into our house, we decided we would get a dog. Devry wanted a bulldog, and I wanted a golden retriever. We talked it through and since Devry's parents have a bulldog that he can see anytime, we decided to get a golden retriever. We got her in January of this year when she was 12 weeks old. We got a great deal on her, but I was sad that we missed the little puppy stage. We named her daisy. At first she was so great, then she became a little defiant and pushed the limits alot. She is so smart, almost too smart. She would run off and wouldn't listen to us. Alot of the problem seemed to be that she was locked up by herself all day while we were at school. I think she got bored...so what was our solution?

Daisy and Devry taking a Nap Together

Another puppy. Yes...we went out and bought another Golden retriever puppy, a male this time who we named Dash. He was only 5 weeks when we got him, and just a little fur ball.

Since we got him, Daisy has completely changed. With the help of a shock collar for only one day, she listens to us all the time now. She is turning into such a great dog. Dash is an adorable and smart little puppy. He was potty trained after 1 week, and can do tricks already.

He follows us around everywhere, and will sleep on my feet while I cook. Daisy and Dash have become best buds and play together all the time. I am home most of the time now and they are so great to have.

Graduation!!!

I have finally graduated from the nursing program! I am so happy to be done and ready to work. I have a job at Madison Memorial Hospital (Picture on the left), which is in rexburg, about 15 minutes from my house. I will be working on the mom/baby unit, taking care of the postpartum moms and their babies. It is the part of nursing that I have a great passion for, and exactly where I want to be. I have been doing orientation this week, and then I have a few weeks to prepare and take my boards, then I will start work on the 18 of August.

Graduation was not something I really cared much about, because my family was not planning on coming. I had decided not to walk, and only attend pinning. Pinning is the special nurse's ceremony where we recieve pins. It is more personal then graduation and we get to walk there. I could invite as many people as I wanted, so it seemed logical to just attend that. Well, the day before pinning Lindsey, Candice and I went and got massages, and had a sleep over. When i came home the next day my dad and his girlfriend Elizabeth were standing in my living room! I was in shock! I think the first thing that came out of my mouth was "what the heck are you doing here?" They had decided to drive 3000 miles and suprise me for graduation! Devry knew all about it....actually everyone did, except me! We went to pinning that night, and it was so wonderful to have my dad there. I thought about walking the next day, but decided I would rather just spend the time with my dad. We went to Yellowstone National Park and stayed in Devry's boss's cabin. It was a lot of fun, and much better then sitting through a graduation ceremony. They only stayed a few days, but it was so nice to see them and have my family here to support me as I graduate.

Dad, Elizabeth and Me at pinning.

Devry and Me

Yellow Stone was a lot of fun! I had never been ,so it was a new experience for everyone except Devry. It was absolutely beautiful!

Well, maybe now that I am out of school I can actually blog more then every 6 months! Devry and I will be taking a mini vacation to Vegas in about a week, and I will take boards in Ogden on the way back. It will be nice to get away and have some fun before starting work. Devry has been working non stop on a farm. He is such a hard worker and I appreciate him so much for that. He is off school until January, so he will be working alot.