Holidays, houses and progress!

What a blessing this year has been: I married by best friend, continued to learn more and more at my job about how to help people become well, brought a puppy into our lives, and now have just purchased our first home. I also just accepted a job in the Critical Care Unit at my home hospital Battle Creek Health Systems. A couple more weeks til Christmas and then we move, my new job starts, and I finish my first semester of grad school. Since the end of this year is almost here I've been doing a lot of thinking about things I want to work on for next year. I have never been a fan of New Years resolutions, except for I probably work out more often in January than any other month of the year. Here's what I'm wishing for this year:

I wish I was more crafty, more patient, more thoughtful, more considerate of other's feelings. I wish I was a better listener, less of a talker and that I could say my actions always reflected my true feelings. I wish my relationship with God was closer, and that I woke up for church more often. I hope this year to find a home church where both Glen and I feel comfortable, where we can meet new friends and have fellowship with others.
I hope that I can truly relate to my patients and their families this year. I hope to be more patient with their needs, and roll my eyes less when they ask me for little favors that I often feel too busy to help them out with. I hope that my studies continue to go well, and I honestly hope to find a mentor for my practice. As I venture further into the ciricculum, its become apparant to me how little I know about what I ACTUALLY want to end up doing.
I hope Glen and I can continue to stay as close as we are, and that our marriage will continue to fufill us.
I hope our families continue to be healthy, and blessed.

Thats a lot to ask for, but hey, go big or go home right?
~Abby

Tired and cranky

So I worked last night my normal shift 5p-5a and got home this morning wide awake..which is a first for me. I tried and tried to fall asleep but once Glen was up and moving around I really couldn't rest at all. I decided with the puppy coming that maybe after shifts I should try and get in a workout, do some housework, etc. and then later take a nap in attempt to be a little more normal on my days off. I think the dog is going to SERIOUSLY require close supervision during the day and I'd feel bad having him be cooped up alone while I was sleeping away. No more sleeping all day.

I'm going to have to mourn this time in my life. I think this might be it for my lazy days. I really have had it easy for the past 2 years since graduation: work 3 days a week, no real responsibilities on days off except for shopping of course. So with the pup coming soon and school starting in 5 days (YIKES!) I am saying "farewell" to my "me" time. It's been so lovely. See you at retirement!

Everything else is going well with us. We're looking forward to having my family over for a Labor Day Sunday bbq! Even Jim and Angela are making the trek over from Detroit to stay with us overnight and also visit some of their GR friends.

Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday!

Welcome to bloggin? Let's see how long this lasts...

So I haven't blogged since the days of Xanga circa freshman year at GVSU straight from my dorm room in good old Weed Hall (great name for a dorm). Hopefully this venture be more successful than the potted plants I insisted I would take care of. Now I just let the rain do the watering and hope Glen reminds me to water the inside plants before they turn brown and start smelling.

News from our house mostly includes our new addition! No no no..I am NOT having a baby, nor do I intend to until after grad school. We are getting a little cockapoo puppy! He is a 1st generation toy cockapoo (mom is a cocker spaniel, dad is a toy poodle)! We found him on puppyfind.com and fell in love over the internet. Last week Glen and I took a mini road trip up north to the middle of nowhere michigan also known as Mio, MI to take a peek at the little guy. At my first glance of him all I could say was "Where do I sign?" The breeder is a really sweet lady who loves her dogs and breeds periodically. The pup is only 20 days old and cute as a button! He's white with some tan spots and we've decided to name him Enzo. Name inspiried by the absolute best waiter on the face of this earth whom you can visit anytime at the 28th Pizza Hut in GR. Greatest guy ever, very friendly, considerate and always keeps your lemonade glass full! (He even gives you extra marinara free of charge) I later googled the name Enzo and found it means "Master of the house" which seems fitting since I'm sure he will soon take over our lives but we couldn't be more excited!

School starts back up for me next week. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I finished my first class during a one week residency on campus the 2nd week of August at Spring Arbor where I learned tons about using technology in a way to help further my education, career and the practice of nursing. I thought it was great and really enjoyed meeting my classmates. My next class is completely online and I'm sure requires lots of research, writing and online discussion forums. Good thing I'm becoming so very tech savy. I can even SKYPE now! Who knew one week away at grad school would turn me into a techy geek. Glen's proud but patiently waiting for me to end my love afair with my laptop. (Get comfy honey, it's become an extension of my body!)

Work is the same old thing, lots of complaining patients, lack of staff and GSW's this summer. Battle Creek seemed great growing up however now seems a lot more like Detroit than the streets I ran around as a child playing hide and seek type games called Bloody Murder. Name seems fitting now seeings to how so many young people seem to be attempting to solve all of life's problems and arguments with deadly weapons. I'm still appreciating ER for the experiences I've had and all that I've learned. My contract is up a year from this Christmas and I'm eager to move on to something clinically different and excited to find a job in the same city where I live. Driving is getting annoying. I'm trying to decide what area to work in next. I figure I have 3 years left of time as a Registered Nurse before moving onto Advanced practice (which I'm so pumped about). Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe surgery. We'll see.