Checking In!

Not a long post tonight! I have to get to bed for Children's Hospital Orientation tomorrow, but I'm hoping tomorrow night to get up a post! Hopefully about my first week in the NICU (LOVE.) and my first bridal party this past weekend! :)

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this heat! As for me, I'm about ready for fall! ;) Not wishing away the time, but this is extreme!

Learning Curve...

Hi all!

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but life is so busy right now! Wedding planning, moving, and starting a new job have just taken over.

This is what the majority of our house looks like:

And this is what it will all look like, little by little:

Man, I just love a clean kitchen :)

This past weekend, David and I went to the lake to spend some time with his family. Scott wanted to come too, so he drove down from Raleigh! It was a packed house! David's parents were there, Pop and Valeria, me, David, and Scott, and Uncle Evan and Aunt Delane. David's parents brought their dog Georgia and cat Blackberry and we brought our cat Jovie. (Marley hates the lake, so I left him with my mom, but I have SO missed him this week :( I get him back on Friday though!) Oh, and to top it off, David's cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Katye spent all day Saturday with us! I didn't get any good pictures, but the guys thought it would be fun to swim across the cove to another dock thinking it would be quite easy for them all. Boy were they wrong :) They huffed and puffed all the way there-- and back!

I started hospital orientation on Monday and these have really seemed like the longest.days.of.my.life. I have really gotten used to sleeping in, haha! Today started a week of nursing orientation and we had to clock in this morning. Well...this girl forgot to clock out. Yes, I am that person! The very first day and I forgot to clock out. I realized half way home and it was too late to turn around and go back so I'll have to fill out a form tomorrow....it's going to be a learning curve, haha! Hopefully it will be okay since it was the first day and all...

But, on Monday, I had David take a "first day of work" picture of me :) My mom always took "first day of school" pictures so I thought I'd add one to her collection.

Tomorrow is the first day we can wear scrubs since we have our badges now, so I will be all over that! I got Grey's Anatomy scrubs and oh.my.word. are they comfortable! I'll never be able to wear anything else ever again. I did order some pediatric tops today so they should be in in about a month. Hopefully they are as cute in person as they are in the pictures! No fear, I'll probably have a picture of my "first day in scrubs" too ;)

I start on the NICU unit next Wednesday and I'm so excited. This has been my dream since my sophomore year of high school and now I am actually getting to live it! I just hope I get to live it with air conditioning...

Unfortunately, our A/C has been acting up. It's about 500 degrees here and our air won't seem to cool past about 80 during the day. They've been to fix it about 3 times now and supposedly "fixed" it, but I'm thinking not. David is going to Germany for a few weeks and I just know that thing is going to poop out on me while he's gone! How in the world do you fix an A/C unit??!

Anyway, I feel kind of ridiculous about not clocking out so I'm going to go lift my spirits with a little Pinterest searching. Love that thing. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Comments!

A HUGE "thank you" to Ashley for pointing out my comments are messed up! I changed my comments to a pop-up, so hopefully that has fixed the problem! If you read this, would you mind leaving a comment just so I know the comments section is working?? Thanks! :)

What Have I Been Up To?

I haven't updated in a while! I have thoroughly been enjoying my nice break. No worrying about passing the NCLEX, no worrying about finding a job, no worrying about homework...it's been nice! So what have I been up to?

• I've been doing a lot of this: My mom and I have been watching all of the Harry Potter movies to get ready for the last movie coming out in July. I think I'm pretty lucky to have grown up in the world of Harry Potter :) (I used to dress up in my mom's black graduation gown and play with a pointer as a wand...I am not ashamed.)
• My mom and I also started working on wedding programs...I can't believe my wedding is less than 3 months away!
• I am loving Pinterest! I didn't understand it at the beginning but I can't get enough of it now! I found a very cute nail style using newspaper clippings and it didn't turn out fantastic but I think with some practice it will be very cute! I couldn't get a picture of it, though. Ugh.
• Not only am I loving pinterest, I'm loving the styles I've been finding on there! I've decided I need a huge shopping spree, haha! I loved all of the yellow and gray outfits so when I was at Target and ran across a cute yellow cardigan with rosettes...I had to buy it! This is what I wore today: I loved the white shorts and how the yellow and gray looked! I might need some cute jewelry though... :)
• Marley has been busy napping today. Doesn't he look precious? His ears stick up even when he sleeps, haha.
• I also took pictures in all of my "party" dresses so that I can match up my jewelry and also make it easy to look for jewelry when I'm out shopping. Having a picture of the neckline will hopefully make it easier to find jewelry that will match!

The power has gone off twice while I've tried to update blogger, haha! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! :)

A Story for the Books

This is a story that I just don't ever want to forget. I have worked so hard to get where I am and everything all seemed to just come together all at once! It may not be interesting to you, so I won't be offended if you stop reading now, but it's a story I want to remember! :)

Last Friday (06-10-11), I had an interview for a position in the NICU. My dream job. I worried and prepped for that interview for days on end! I was supposed to meet the nurse manager (NM from now on) downstairs in the lobby of the hospital near the piano, so when I arrived 10 minutes early, that's where I stood. I made the mistake of standing right next to a huge sign in the shape of a teddy bear and people were asking me all about it! I had no idea what it was for, but one man in particular kept up a conversation with me and come to find out, his wife worked in the ICU unit I did my internship in last summer! She ended up coming down to meet her husband and I got talking with her and found out she was great friends with my preceptor, too! Such a small world :) I was still talking to them when the NM walked up and the man just kept saying, "Oh, she'll hire you, she'll give you a job!" I think I was mortified, ha! I had never met the NM in my life and here is this guy telling her she'll hire me! I was so embarrassed....not a great start to the interview, I'd say!

I came prepared with my resume and she asked me a bunch of questions and even though I had prepared, I was still a nervous wreck! I had some questions for her and then she gave me a tour of the unit. I could not read her at all. As she was walking me out she made the comment, "I have 5 positions, but I don't think our budget will allow 5, I will most likely only be hiring 2." I pretty much took that to mean...."don't be offended when I call you and tell you you didn't get the job!" Ha! She told me she had interviews all the next week and I could expect to hear from her either way sometime the week after that. Like I said in my last post, I rehashed every. single. thing that went on in that interview--poor David! :) He assured me I was fine and that I did great and I just convinced myself otherwise.

Flash forward to yesterday. I had an interview in the MS-ICU where I did my internship last summer. My granddaddy drove me down, just like he did for my interview last year. I interviewed with my NM boss and nurse educator that I worked with! I hate to admit this, but I didn't really prepare as much for this interview. I knew that they wanted me (NM had been e-mailing me quite a bit and kept saying he "couldn't wait for me to be a part of their team" and they had been "waiting a while" for me to graduate and pass etc.) and I had already prepped my answers from my last interview. They were just as friendly as I had remembered them and they asked me 2 PAGES worth of questions! And they both wrote my answers down! What?! I had my answers ready, but I couldn't believe they asked me 20 questions, haha! I figured that once they were finished, I would hear from them pretty soon.

Pretty soon turned out to be right after the questioning was over. The NM told me they already knew they wanted to hire me. I could. not. believe. it. I was being offered a job on the spot. Fortunately, the NM is a great guy and he knew I had interviewed with the NICU and basically told me he wanted me to be 100% sure if I chose to come to the ICU. In his experienced opinion, if you entered a job with any doubt in your mind that you may have wanted something else, you won't be happy. I agreed and he gave me until Monday to give him an answer.

I was ecstatic...I had a job if I wanted it! But I didn't know what to do about the NICU position. I knew I wouldn't hear about that job until the following week and I wouldn't have enough time to find out if they wanted me. I had a long talk with my granddad on the way home and we thought it would be good if I went ahead and e-mailed the NM of the NICU who I interviewed with. So when I got home, that's the first thing I did. I basically just told her that I had interviewed and received an offer from another unit in the hospital, that my passion was the NICU and I didn't know how to handle this situation, but I was wondering if I was being considered for a position in the NICU.

In my head at that moment, I really thought I would hear back from her in a few days and she would either say, " I'm sorry, I can't share that information with you" or "I'm sorry, but we are looking for someone else." (Would make my decision an easier one, though!)

In REALITY, this is what happened: I sent the e-mail. Literally 2 minutes later, I got a phone call from the NICU NM and this is how the convo went:

- NM: Can I please speak with Erin?

- me: This is her. (The period seems to serious, the exclamation point seems to excited...I was somewhere in between, haha!)

- NM: Erin, this is _____. I just received your e-mail and I was calling to tell you, you better stop interviewing for jobs, haha! I want you here in the NICU with us! I am officially asking you if you would like to accept an offer to work in the NICU.

-me: Oh my gosh! Thank you so much (smiling and jumping up and down as quietly as I could....)!!! That is wonderful!

-NM: Your interview was phenomenal, by the way.

-me: Thank you so much! This is so great!

After that, I started freaking out a little bit and asked her if I could just have the night to get my thoughts straight and I would call her tomorrow to let her know for sure. She was so kind and agreed.

This morning, at 9:30am I ACCEPTED my first ever nursing position in my dream job after having two people really, really wanting me to come work for them. I am just in shock. I have worked so hard for this and I am so excited to start this new phase in my life! When I spoke with the NM this morning, she said, "I told ____, I can't do anymore interviews until I know we have Erin! We really need her!" I guess I did better on the interview then I thought--and David loved that he had been right all along ;)

To say that I am humbled is an understatement. I just can't believe all of this happened to me in a 24 hour period! I can't wait to see what the future holds!!

Will I Get a Summer?

Things have been moving right along for me! I think it's because I spend the weekdays in Charlotte and the weekends in Greenville. I've been taking a load of my stuff down each time I go so the end trip won't be so much of a big deal! And it seems that the "big trip" may be coming sooner rather than later.

I headed down to Greenville Thursday because I had my NICU interview on Friday. I got a phone call Friday morning from the MS-ICU (where I did part of my internship last summer) and they wanted me to come in for an interview as well! I made plans for that interview for Wednesday (tomorrow).

My interview went as well as can be expected I think! I couldn't read the interviewer at all so I have no earthly idea if she liked me, wants me, or anything! Of course I rehashed everything after I left and there is nothing I would have changed about what I said so if it's not in the cards for NICU then they were just looking for someone else :) She did happen to give me a tour of the unit and oh my gosh. Those little angels! After seeing the unit, I have no doubt I would enjoy it. Hopefully I will hear from her after Monday of next week.

I got home a little before David did and when he walked in the door, he had these little pretties for me:

Isn't he amazing?! I was rehashing every little detail with him and he was so sweet to pick me up some flowers on his way home :) I am a lucky girl!

I also got my first ever mail at David's house- my official certificate that I passed the licensure exam and I really am a registered nurse! Officially official as I like to say.

David works as an electrical engineer for BMW and because it's a german company, there are a lot of germans who work there. One of David's co-workers had some of his "group" over for dinner Friday night and we went! It was so much fun! They cooked out pork, had potato salad, some vegetable dish, and a delicious salad. I spent a lot of the time trying to decipher what they were saying, but they were all very kind to speak to me in english :) For dessert, we had espresso and home-made tirimisu! I wish I had some right now, it was so good! David has already decided we need to have them over for dinner once I move down--I think it sounds like a wonderful idea!

Always in some kind of soccer paraphernalia! :)

Saturday David watched the movie 300 and I learned my way around Pinterest! Y'all, I am still not 100% sure how to use it, but so far I am loving it!! We also took a trip to the mall and I found my dress I'm going to wear on the plane to Hawaii!!! I wanted a cotton maxi-dress for the plan ride and some cute wedges--found those too! The only thing left is a cute jacket to go on top in case the plane is cold :)

That evening, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings with another co-worker of David's- Phil, and his wife Emily. I had never met them before, but they are a very sweet couple. After dinner we saw Hangover 2 which in my opinion is equally just as hysterical as the first one! I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard!

This picture just cracks me up. I guess Marley hadn't had enough attention over the weekend because he came and sat right in my face when we got home!

I headed home sometime in the afternoon on Sunday and while I love coming home, I sure do miss David. I am about ready to be in one spot and not going back and forth every weekend! And hopefully, fingers crossed, one of the 2 positions I have interviewed for will want to hire me and I can make my final move to Greenville! :)

PS- Monday afternoon, we went to the graduation party of a kid mom had in 1st grade and someone I used to babysit! She had 2 of the 3 kids...crazy. How in the world are kids I babysat old enough to go to college??! His younger brother (2 years younger) couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that I was drinking a beer and said, "at my graduation party, make me a deal that you won't drink there...that's too weird!" And my mom promptly looked at him and said, "she may not be able to drink at your graduation party!" They fist-bumped that comeback and I started planning baby names, ha!

Short Post!

Hi all!

Short post today! It's been quite a busy day and it's not over yet! But I just wanted to check in:)

Today I:

• Okay'ed my wedding party favors!! They are so cute! I don't normally keep things I get at weddings...they don't really mean anything to me because they don't have any relevant info for me! (I mean, it's not my wedding date...it's yours??) So I wanted something that represented us, but that people could use. So...David and I decided on shortbread cookies in the shape of bells!! (Our last name will be Bell...well, his is already...mine will be.) The icing is cream colored with purple trim and our monogram initials in the middle! I love the way they turned out! We are going to put them in clear bags and tie them with purple ribbon :)
• I also went looking for my bridesmaid gifts! I know what I want, but the store didn't have quite what I was looking for. I looked through their catalogue and the lady was so nice! She ordered one pair of each thing I was looking at and when they come in she is going to call us to come look. Then I can choose my favorite out of those :) I am so excited that things are moving right along!
• I also received a phone call from the hospital in Greenville about an interview for the NICU!!!!! This would be a dream job for me and my interview is on Friday at 2:00pm. If you happen to think of me around that time, I would be so thankful if you would send up a prayer for me! I'm not getting my hopes up but it is still very exciting :)
• On top of that high, I also received an e-mail from the nurse manager I worked for last summer in Greenville! (MS-ICU) He told me he wanted me to apply for 3 positions he is posting so we can get that interview process moving along, too! Oh my gosh y'all, I am over the moon that in one day I have 2 potential places of work! I loved working in the ICU last summer and while NICU would be my first choice, I know I would love working in the ICU as well so I am hoping that one of these 2 will pan out for me :)
• And tonight, I am going with my mom, aunt, cousin Amy, and close family friends, Mrs. Wanda and Karen to see the movie Bridesamaids. I am so excited because I've heard it is good!!

Last, I would love it if you would say a prayer for my sweet friend Mandy. Sunday morning, her long-time boyfriend went into cardiac arrest and passed away. He was only 30 years old. I am so heartbroken for her and I can't even begin to imagine what she is feeling right now. I know it would mean a lot to her to know so many people are lifting her up in prayer! Thank you :)

Now, I hope everyone has a wonderful hump day tomorrow! Anything interesting going on in your lives?? I need to live vicariously through you now that I have nothing going on!! :)