Spoiled

So the number one way I was spoiled was not having a job. Do you remember those summers before you had a job and all you had to do was sit around, except for it wasn't that great because you couldn't drive. Well, after I knew I had a job, and even before that to some extent, that is what my life was like. I slept in, watched TV, read everyone's blogs, made lunch, worked out, went shopping, looked at condos, etc. all day long. It was great. That doesn't happen so much now that I have a job. But, before I also had no income.

That was not such a big deal however. See, I live with my aunt. That has a variety of benefits. I don't pay rent. I don't pay utilities. And, on most occasions, I do not pay for food. We eat out most nights and weekends. I do pay for some groceries so that I can attempt to eat a well balanced meal at lunch. But, when you consider that the only other thing that you pay for is your cell phone bill. That sounds pretty good. This is also about to change however because I started paying for car insurance, the car I do have is starting to cost too much money for how old it is, and my 6 months grace period on my school loans is just about up. It is a good thing I have that job that is taking up all of my free time.

TiVo. A great way to be spoiled. I would tell you to get one, but I think that might also cause the demise in some of your most valued friendships. I love TiVo. It is the end of commercials, but with the end of commercials also comes the end to the conversation during them. But you can go out to eat and miss the first half of the program and no biggie.

I have my own bathroom. I have never had my own bathroom except for the short amout of time that I lived at buck fifty all by myself while Rachel was still in the UAE. This is also changing. My cousin is back for the summer. So far so good. It is really great to be able to talk to someone my own age. It is also good to go to church with her. We were able to talk about the service with her boyfriend Bobby and have a REAL conversation about something that means something. I am not saying that I don't have real conversations on a regular basis, but when I get the opportunity now, I am more thankful for it.

Closet. I think my closet that I have here is about one third of the size of Rachel's bedroom. I have to say, it is pretty great. Even though about a third of the things in the closet do not belong to me, it doesn't matter. There is still plenty of room to house all of my belongings.

Wireless internet. My cousin Brandon is a computer guru. He set up the wireless internet business before I got her. I can type on my computer and watch the TiVo at the same time or sit on my bed and blog. Isn't life grand.

I house sat for a lady my aunt knows. Not only did I get some much needed cash, I also am the beneficiary of her recent move. The woman wanted all new stuff for her new place. I cannot say that I blame her. New house, new stuff, it makes some sense. But, I do not have the funds to be buying all new things. The problem with that is that I don't have anything to begin with. Problem solved. I know that I am getting a coffee maker, microwave, dishes, bedding, and even a table and chairs set. Woo hoo! It is better than the Good Will.

Ok, I must go to bed. I have to work early in the morning. But, keep me accountable blog friends. I still need to tell you about how my job is going and the hard parts about being down here. You didn't think it was all good did you? I did want to start you off with the good stuff though. There is more good stuff. It is all yet to come.

And, if you are still reading, how do you feel about the layout change?

Wow

Holly -- [noun]: A dance involving little to no clothing 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

18.75 %

My weblog owns 18.75 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?

I am pretty sure one is true, and the other is false. You can decide.

I don't have pictures

Ok. So I don't have a digital camera. The picture phone just does not do anything justice. So, I will have to borrow my aunt's digital camera someday. I just have to figure out how it works. I think it is also sitting in her office right now. She was right on top of technology and probably was one of the first people to have a digital camera. Unfortunately, that means that her camera takes disks, floppy disks. But, I will eventually get photos.

Phoenix
So far, I love Phoenix. If I am telling to truth I would have to say that it took a little time to get used to. When we first drove up it was at night. My aunt showed me her house and it is great. The front yard had rocks. That didn't really surprise me. All the yards had rocks. Then we went to the back yard. More rocks. I knew that it was coming, but it is kinda hard to sink in. You never realize how much grass and green and trees that aren't cactus make home feel like home.
When we were driving to Sedona with my uncle I really had the thought, "I knew there were cactus, I just didn't realize there were this many!" I know, I live in a desert I should know better.
That is not the only thing that doesn't quite feel like home as far as just looking around. The houses are completely different. Most are what we, Iowa people, would consider Spanish style. Stucco, tile roofs, and they are all painted desert colors which is basically some neutral shade.
But after a few weeks, you get kinda used to it.
I actually appreciate some of the achitecture and it is kinda one of those things where you start to notice the differences in some things that all looked the same. Side note: none of those houses are those houses are the house that I live in and I am probably violating some copyright law by stealing those from a real estate website.
The weather is beautiful. I have a membership to a gym, but sometimes I go for a walk to just enjoy the weather. Where I live is also beautiful. There is a man made lake and a park very close. There are palm trees and ducks and water features. It looks like a resort on most days. Which leads to my next point.

I am spoiled

....to be continued. I was distracted and I will finish this later, but I am not all talk. :)

Overdue

Yes, I am way overdue for a real post about what is going on in my life besides what is playing on my mp3 and fish cake. My goal is this week. Details about what it is like here, how I feel and the like are kinda hard to put in words. It will be a long post I am sure. Would you all prefer a big long post or several shorter ones over a few days?

This tastes a little funny...

Last night my cousin and his wife came over for dinner. My aunt made a ham, green beans and mashed potatoes. It was all good. Very good, infact. After that we were sitting around and my cousin's wife joked about dessert. Just the day before, my aunt got a microwave rice cooker from Pampered Chef.

These are great. I don't know how well they cook rice or what it is like when you cook it. But get this: they make a cake in 9 minutes. No joke. It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. You mix up a cake mix as the directions say, scoop in some can frosting, zap it for 9 minutes, let is cool a little, flip it on to a plate and presto cake.

Well, last night I thought: I can go get a cake mix and show them how great this is. Not to mention that I love cake.

When we were eatting it, it tasted a little funny. I thought it was the oil. It kind of had an old oil taste. I am familiar with this taste, because being a single lady it can take a long time to use up a bottle of oil.

After discusing it for a few minutes, my uncle says that the oil might have been recycled from cooking catfish. Seriously. Needless to say, we dumped the rest of the cake. I'm not sure when I will want to eat another microwave cake. Sick. Oh well. It was HILARIOUS!

I LIKE this!

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.

How am I feeling today?
Lester Leaps In-Count Basie's Kansas City Six
did get my Arizona insurance today, productive, non working day. also, my nursing license is official!

Will I get far in life?
Believe-Newsboys

How do my friends see me?
I'm Not In Love- 10cc

When will I get Married?
Keep Your Hands To Yourself- The Calling
i for sure do say "don't give me no lines..."

What is my best friend's theme song?
Sing To The King-Candi Pearson

What is the story of my life?
The Scientist- Coldplay
"no one said said it'd be easy, no one said it would be so hard. i am going back to the start." i played this song over and over again when i left japan.

What is/was high school like?
Good Man- Burlap To cashmere
"he was dancing to the bright lights. he was dying for some love.... his school bells were his only song."

How can I get ahead in life?
Something that I can't read because it is in Japanese-Some Japanese band- Blue CD from Mitsuru, is this a sign that i have a lot to learn about getting ahead in life or that i need to learn japanese?

What is the best thing about me?
Come Together- The Beatles

How is today going to be?
Perhaps She'll Wait- Bebo Norman

What is in store for this weekend?
Into Jesus- dcTalk
appropriate for every day, but especially Resurrection Sunday

What song describes my parents?:
Track 05- Japanese for Busy People
really, you think??

To describe my grandparents?
Yet another Japanese song by a Japanese band, Track 13 from the blue cd from Mitsuru

How is my life going?
Mind's Eye- dc Talk

What song will they play at my funeral?
Who's Lovin' You- The Jackson 5
"all i can do since you've been gone is cry." sad funeral

How does the world see me?
Angel of Harlem-U2
not bad

Will I have a happy life?
Back When- Tim McGraw
hm...i hope i don't look back on my life a lot and say i miss back when.

What do my friends really think of me?
This Day- Stephen Curtis Chapman
cool promises put into song here. rock on scc. i know you can be in the "i am embarrassed that i listen to you" category, but seriously some times, you need a good scc song.

What should I do with my life?
Melt Me- Jake

Will I ever have children?
A Home- Dixie Chicks

What is some good advice for me?
Walking Man- James Taylor

How will I be remembered?
Ko-Ko - Duke Ellington And His Orchestra

What is my signature dancing song?
Rockin' Me- Steve Miller Band
definitely!

What do I think my current theme song is?
Some Days You Gotta Dance- Dixie Chicks
shouldn't this be my signature dance song?

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
You're Everywhere- Third Day
zimbabwe, japan, phoenix- i suppose how this could be seen as everywhere, but i'm not omnipresent

What type of men/women do I like?
Spring of Life- Ginny Owens
sure :) same song as one of amanda's, cool.

I think the interesting thing about for this survey for me has been how I felt when I took it. It means absolutely nothing, but sometimes I would get excited about what it said. Or sometimes disappointed. Other times I would get kinda nervous about what song would pop up next. Oh Holly, why do you put so much weight into something that means nothing?

The Details

The floor I will be working on is the pulmonary/endocrine/family medicine unit. So what that means is I will be taken care of mostly people that have problems with their lungs, but also people that have issues with their hormones, and some people that are in the hospital because their regular doctor wants them in the hospital for some reason. Basically it is your general run of the mill medical floor. It should be a great place to start my career.

No one left the floor for 5 years. The only reason that they are hiring is because they moved to a new floor and needed more nurses. Several of the new hires are new graduates, but there are a lot of really experienced nurses on the floor as well. I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet people my own age and learn from the older nurses. There is even a mentorship program that I can take part in to help my transition from nursing student to nurse.

I am starting out on the night shift. They gave me the option of what shift I would like to work. All the nursing shifts are 12 hour shifts. So, since I am working night shift I will be working from 7pm to 7:30am. I did both days and nights in my internship and I liked nights because the hospital was quieter. And I get 15% more to work nights. That makes a big difference over the year.

Speaking of money, the money is good. It is better than any of the other places that I interviewed. But that is not a big deal, because they all tend to adjust to each other, because if there was a big difference then all the nurses would leave one hospital to go to the other. On that note, one of the hospitals that I interviewed at called me today disappointed that I had taken this job. They asked if they gave me more money if I would consider going to their hospital. I had no idea that kind of stuff really happened.

I am not sure what I wear. I think that I just wear scrubs. I think I can wear whatever I want, even different color pants. At UIHC I think all the nurses and NA's have to wear white pants. I just have to make sure about that. I have to buy my own scrubs though. No big deal. I bought a special new first day of work outfit today. I bought white pants just in case. I will post picture later.

My first day will be on April 24th. I have two days of general hospital orientation. I would start earlier, but I am still waiting on my nursing license. I will start on that day anyway if I still don't have my license, I will start anyway. I would official start as a nurse extern, but that basically just extends my orientation.

I have to sign papers and stuff tomorrow. I might get my name tag that day. Perhaps I will make sure it says Miss Holly RN.

I'm Employed!

I have a job. I have been decisive about one thing in my life. Woo hoo!

Feel free to check it out. Click here.