Fire Season is in Full Effect

img: cbs8.com

This is a photo of the 300+ acre fire that is going on over at the Pala Indian Reservation, which is less than a couple miles from my home. I've never been this close to a fire before. I'm a veteran when it comes to Fire Season, however. I grew up in California and this is nothing new to us. Fires and Quakes, it's what we do.

I'm not going to lie, this time it's a little different, and I'm a tad stressed out. Not only do I own my house that is so close to this burning monstrosity, but I also have dogs to think about now, as well as finals to prepare for.

img: latimesblogs.latimes.com

I basically did a drive by at school today. I went in, gave my presentation (by the way, thank you to my classmates who were gracious enough to let me go first so I could get back home in case of evacuation; your kindness is much appreciated), and then I took off. I left my house at 0630, and here I am home by 0900. Now, to sit an wait. I'm hoping the fire gets contained. As of 0630 it was 60% contained, and as of 0800, 40% contained. So, we are making progress. But, I've been living here long enough to know that any kind of unfavorable wind and we could be back up to full blaze again. I will relax when it's 100% contained. 

My plan for the day: Keep the air on because the air sucks, soot and ash doesn't smell good, and it makes a mess with open windows & focus on studying for finals with the news on in the background so I can keep updated with what's going on environmentally around here.

Have Some Class

Source: weheartit.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Anxious

I loathe getting up in front of people to speak. I would rather sit in a room full of bugs, and if you know me, that really is saying a lot.

Today I have to give a presentation in front of my Med/Surg class about an Organization called Michelle's Place. It's a great organization, but with my speaking (or lack there of) skills, I'm not sure I will do it justice.

Tomorrow, it's on Autism to a class full of about 60 people, which is DOUBLE the class size for today's presentation.

I don't know how I will survive the next couple of days!!!! AHHHHHHH!

I have a theory

Img: St. Agnus School of Nursing

Whenever I have something super important to do, like prepare for finals or a presentation that's due the next day; I'm always super productive around the house. Take for example today:

I slept in until 11 (thank God, I really needed it), then I woke up drank two cups of coffee, hubby and I split up to do team work; he did the yard work while I made breakfast (a tomato and mozz egg bake), then I went to the store while he cleaned up the house. Now that I'm home and everything is done, I felt it uber necessary to make home made granola to keep in stock so we would have it for our yogurt this week, and then I doubled the recipe so that we'd really have a lot!

Necessary? No, not really... but, I'm being productive!

My Thoughts on Friendship

I'm sure that we've all had, you know, that one friend. The toxic friendship. You know, the one that takes more out of you than is even worth putting into it? Maybe they all didn't start out that way, but they sure all ended up that way. I couldn't honestly tell you when this all started happening, but it happened, and now it's over. I can honestly say, the only regret I have, is not ending it sooner.

I spent months being nice, just for the sake of being nice. Why? Because I don't believe in being rude to people, especially people I consider to be friends. Maybe I even believe that sometimes friends can be annoying; it happens. Then it passes, and things go back to normal... or not. I'm not even sure when the point happens where you realize that the annoying phase isn't going to pass, but you eventually realize it.

Here's some tips that I'd like to document, so that for one, my bloggy friends won't find themselves in the same situation and for two, I won't forget the lesson I learned today.

10 ways to know your friendship is over:
1. Your friend talks more about his/her own life, than he/she is willing to listen to you about yours.
2. You do more for your friend than they are willing to do for you.
3. Your friend is rude to you, then blames it on XYZ and doesn't take responsibility for it, on a regular basis.
4. They don't trust you.
5. Your friend is incapable of taking constructive criticism well.
6. Your friend is unwilling to compromise.
7. If you ever call your friend, he/she is too busy to talk to you, on a regular basis.
8. You feel like your friend is always being rude to you, and you can't figure out why.
9. Your friend pretends they are not upset with you just to avoid confrontation.
10. Your friend suddenly can not form his/her own opinions without checking the opinion of their significant other first.

Seriously, learn to look out for these signs, and you too can avoid getting screwed over by friendship.

Jane Wayne Day! Dun Dun Dun...

So, for those of you who are not familiar with this event, it's a day where you get to experience life as your husband. So, as you know, my husband teaches recruits to shoot. So, I thought yay! I get to stand around and watch people yell at recruits. (Insert annoying buzz here!)

Apparently, I get to become like a recruit, and experience this:

Oh what have I gotten myself into? I've even been told that I will be enjoying an MRE for lunch. EW!

Wordless Wednesday

Available for Purchase Oct. 1
http://sarahvanleuven.scentsy.us

Just a bunch of randomness, and a photo!

Today, I took my last exam for peds. Now I am all done, except for finals. I have approximately two weeks to prepare for two comprehensive exams, and I feel good and I'm confident with the rest of the semester. There's no doubt in my mind that I will complete and pass both classes this time around. Sept 21st I start my final semester of RN school, and I couldn't be more excited. I am ready to start working, and ready to move onto grad school. Done and Done!

Now, I did mention something about a photo, didn't I? Let's see if you can figure out what's wrong with this photo. I stopped through base on my way home from school to get some gas and some Starbucks and I came across this and the first thing I thought was "EPIC FAIL!"

In case you didn't catch it, they misspelled Corps. That's one of my pet peeves. A Corp. is an abbreviation for Corporation. The last time I checked, the Marines were not in any way, shape or form a corporation. One of my other pet peeves are wives who plaster their vehicles in military stickers; I just think one or none is enough, this happened to be one of those vehicles, so... two strikes for you lady (or man). I didn't happen to see who the car belonged to. Either way, learn to spell!

Medifast FAIL! or... maybe WIN!

So, the third time is not a charm. I kept cheating on my Medifast diet, the cravings for other foods were just so unbearable. I stopped and restarted so many times, and I'm just over it. It's just not the diet plan for me. Here's what I think. It's roughly about 800 calories a day, and you do get all the nutrients your body needs so you do not get malnourished, however, 800 calories is not enough for the energy required to basically be a human being. The cumulative effects of lethargy I felt at the end of the solid month that I did stay on it, just was not worth it to me. I lost 20 pounds, and I'm happy for that and haven't gained any back, but I did not enjoy that I couldn't even make it through a low impact twenty minute workout. Something about that just doesn't seem right to me.

So, what I've been doing the past couple weeks that I've been off the calorie starved diet is working out four days a week, sometimes five if I have the time for roughly an hour each and burning up to 600 calories each time. I feel better, more energized, and less stressed. Exercise and healthy eating IS the way to go. Powdered food, is not! My long term success will be greater if I do this the right way; the eat healthy and exercise way.

Today's workout: 60 minutes on the elliptical which burned a total of 570 calories
Today's Breakfast: A bowl of whole wheat cheerios with non-fat milk
Today's Lunch: Turkey with provolone on whole wheat with low fat mayo.

and for dinner we are having 99% lean ground turkey tacos on corn tortillas.

This is the way to go, it's the way I used to live when I was thin and in my early 20s. Eat right, be active. The End. None of that other crap works, at least not for the long term. Being healthy and fit, it's a commitment. One that I have finally made for myself. So, I may have failed at Medifast, but I think I learned a great lesson about feeding and fueling my body. So, in the end, I WIN!

Big news, I've finally made a decision

As nursing school comes to a close for me, I am starting to look at options to further my education. I've been looking into options for grad school- which I can do with an ADN because I have a Bachelor's in another field. Over the past few months I've been contacting various schools, inquiring about programs and requirements, cost, etc. There's just so much to consider.

Originally I had been debating about going to NP school, or getting my MSN in Nursing Leadership. I have my BS in Leadership, and I thought maybe I might be interested in doing something similar for my Master's program. So, I have decided that an MSN in Nursing Leadership it is.

I've found an awesome independent study program, an online public, non-profit university with reputable and accredited programs that I think will suit my needs well. It's also fairly affordable- honestly, grad school isn't cheap, but as far as grad schools go, this one isn't too bad. Their tuition combined with my GI Bill benefits, will make getting my MSN a fairly painless experience on my pocket book.

I'm stoked, in a few months not only will I be an RN, but I will also finally be able to call myself a grad student. HOORAY!

A Cup of T at Disneyland

One of my very wonderful and dear friends, who happens to be another California girl married to a Marine as well (I introduced her to my husband's friend. hehe); stranded in Maine, came home to visit for a week and we had a chance to hang at out Disney. It was a blast. I just wanted to share a couple of awesome photos.

You can check out my gal pal over at A Cup of T.

MilSpouse Friday Fill in #52

1. Give a man fish, and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and....
He'll eat for a lifetime.
2. It is amazing what you can accomplish...
If you just believe in yourself.
3. If you can't stand the heat...
at least shut up about it.
4. What lies behind us and what lays before us are tiny matters compared to...
what is happening now. Focus on the right now.
5. Well behaved women seldom...
drink an entire bottle of wine on a Friday night.

Super Stressed & Frustrated

So, here I am sitting here extremely frustrated. Let me take you back to Monday- so, I have my lab at 10am, and then lecture at 1pm, during lab my lecture instructor came in to make an announcement. She said that we would be put into groups of three and given a topic from the afternoon's lecture and that we would be teaching ourselves about GI Disorders. My first instinct was that this was going to suck and I should just go home, however, I carpool and I couldn't just leave, so I stayed and tried to have a more positive outlook on the afternoon. I mean, maybe people will do a good job teaching because they have an interest in learning too, right? WRONG!

I learned nothing. Some people did a good job, but the majority of the presentations were too hard to hear because people spoke too softly, or I couldn't take notes because the student was talking so fast I couldn't tell if they were speaking english or french at me. Then, we got to the lady who is from Russia, and don't get me wrong, I do like this woman, but she is so hard to understand! She may as well have been up there teaching us how to make cupcakes for goodness sake!

So, here I sit, confused as heck with no idea about anything that I need to know for the test on Monday. This is so not like me. Once I read and hear the lecture, I get it. It's not hard- you learn what manifestations go with what disease and what interventions you should do and why. Right? Simple! Well, simple if you know what all of those things are. Sure, they are in my book but it's so darned tedious.

I just feel like lecture was a waste of my time. Instead of sitting in class for four hours trying to figure out what everyone was saying I could have been at home for four hours reading my book and actually learning something. UGH!