Happy New Years Eve!

There is no better way to wake up than to be greeted with just out of the frier apple cider doughnuts (a few people headed out to 'civilization' to get breakfast and coffee).  After everyone got their carb on, we played rounds and rounds and rounds of Scattergories.

Feeling the cabin fever, Dan and I headed to Shenandoah National Park for a quick hike.  We tried earlier to pick up one of the trails by the house, but it was a total bust.  The temperature might have been in the low 40s, but it was barely noticeable once we hit the trail.  We arrived at the second overlook as the sun began to set.

We might be in the woods, but everyone got dressed for the occasion.

After the ball dropped and everyone got some champagne, Erica brought out a surprise for us, paper lanterns.  Her family writes a new resolution/wishes on a paper lantern and then send them off.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2014!!

A Glamping We Shall Go!

Well the crew of urbanites finally got their act together and will be spending the next three days in the woods.  One of the major concerns ... was there going to be an outlet to plug in a blow drier?  

The answer is yes and the house comes with many of the creature comforts of home including lots of hot chocolate and some NYE supplies!  Fingers crossed, the same number of glampers who enter the woods, leave the woods.

What Would Your Badge Picture Say?

‎"Because in the end it has almost nothing to do with the bike and everything to do with setting out to accomplish something that is intimidating, that is unknown to you. Something you know you have a good chance of failing at but doing it anyways and slowly but surely proving yourself wrong."

While the quote comes from the intro video of Project Pedal, it definitely pertains to my experience in nursing school over the past 17 months.  Talk about being able to complete some thing that was completely intimidating and unknown.  During graduation last week, the accelerated speaker, who wrote an amazing "commencement" speech, told us to take a moment and compare the person who we were in our badge picture with the people who sat before her.    

As we stepped into orientation, glowing from summer tans, plenty of sleep and of course excitement about the journey before us, very few of us knew what we were about to begin.  The first sign offs were terrifying as we had to demonstrate everything from taking a manual blood pressure to hooking up IVs to dropping NG tubes (let me tell you the last is way easier on a plastic man).  During our first clinicals, we mastered making beds with patients still in them and tried to discern which each lab value meant and its impact on not only the medical diagnoses, but the nursing diagnoses. IPOCs became the bane of our existence and only seemed to grow in length as the semesters went on (my last one for OB was over 35 pages).  

Taking care of critically ill patients at first seemed terrifying, especially coming off a psyc rotation, but somehow we got through it and actually grew to enjoy a patient's complexities.  Drugs became easier to pronounce and mechanisms of action began to roll off our tongues as the weeks seemed to fly by.  Giving injections became routine, quite the opposite of the racing heart/sweaty hands reaction when I gave my first.  SBAR reports and big medical terms became the norm.  You would have to remember to talk about normal person things during lunch with non-nursing friends as cool medical procedures and the color of poop are considered taboo topics.  

Somehow we survived the summer semester which was 30 hours of clinical plus another 12 of lecture.  The other 126 hours of the week were spent studying, studying, commuting to clinicals, studying and attempting to squeeze in some sleep.  While biking across the country was one kind of marathon, the summer semester was a whole other beast we had to conquer.  After weeks of no contact, my parents were worried I might actually be trapped under a stack of nursing diagnoses books somewhere in the undergrad library.  Thankfully I was one of most who passed all the classes and decided to continue as a full time student.  

From there, and after a three week break, we could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We had discovered how easy peds medication administration could be with brightly colored stickers and seen everything from a baby's first breaths to a patient's last.  Our public health rotation would be a breeze and because I was excited about my transitions placement, back to back to back evening rotations would be bearable (I actually love working the overnight shift).  

Throughout all of the hours of class and clinical, I came to realize more and more I was in the right place; who wouldn't want to join the ranks of the most trusted profession.  The last few years have taken me all over the place, but I am convinced it got me to where I was supposed to be.  The patients and their families truly made the experience and their stories, medical histories and more importantly their faces will be with me for years to come (one of the joys of being a student is you have fewer patients and get to spend time hanging out with them).  While I may not know everything out there, orientation will help fill in some of the gaps and as a life long student and lover of all things bookworm I am excited to continue my education.  

And so there you go.  While the person writing this post may have some dark circles under her eyes, and not be glowing as much post graduation, she is completely different than the person in that original badge picture and changed for the better.  Want to get an idea of what the last few months have been like, check out the 30 stages of nursing school from start to finish.

. 

Merry Christmas From Me and Mine to You and Yours 2.0

One of the great things about family traditions is you know exactly what you are going to be in for year in and year out.  For my family, Christmas is not a major holiday and the day could resemble any other Sunday dinner if you did not look closely.

Tradition #1: Instead of a real tree there is a small LED one on the kitchen counter.  As kids, Elise and I would scour the lot for the perfect tree, but when we head down to the sunshine state there is not a (real) evergreen in sight.  Once upon a time there was a small tree which was brought out out every year, but that was lost one of the last moves.  Here is a really cool one made up of recycled bike parts to make up for our little one.

Tradition #2:  When opening presents with adult family members it is usually done after breakfast and caffeine have been ingested.  Your internal alarm clock does not wake you up before the crack of dawn.  Instead, family members let the dogs loose in your room and no one can say no to a puppy.  You also know you are an adult when Santa brings you socks and you get pretty excited about them.

Tradition #3:  Dinner is always served at 2pm and there is some kind of disagreement over how long to cook the prime rib.  This year Memere and I prevailed and were able to get a solid medium-rare.

Tradition #4:  Everyone eats some pie for dessert and we watch movies in our post food stupor.

I hope Santa was good to all of you!!

Graduation!

Well it is hard to believe after months of class, clinical and sleepless nights the big wigs at Hopkins decided to let us graduate.  While we might have lost a few people along the way (either they dropped out of the program or became a part time student), the majority made it through to the end!  You can play the Where is Emily game.

The Dean pulled a few strings and had a bagpiper lead all the graduates from Shriver Hall to the reception.  We were all intrigued, but she wanted the entire undergraduate campus to know the newest generation of nursing students had arrived.  The only downfall ... most of campus had left for winter break.

We made it (and so did our fancy lab coats)!!!

The parental units were even able to make it down.  

Let's be honest they would not have missed it for the world. 

The 2013 Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog

I stumbled across this thanks to a friend of a friend on FB.  As someone who enjoys perusing the Williams-Sonoma catalog (this is the closest I can get to having some All-Clad in my kitchen), I could totally appreciate this author's point.

For instance:  The Bread Project Assorted Muffins, for the low price of $50, will provide you with eight handcrafted English Muffins.

The author's response: "That's 50 bucks for eight muffins. They're not even monogrammed."

Great Falls Hike

Sundays are best for adventure days.  After a quick brunch (I am back in DC after all), Esman came up with the idea to out for a hike.  As a result, the three amigos bundled up and headed out to Great Falls Park.

Before we hit the trail, we took the time to film a dance video (only a few more opportunities to film)

There were a couple of crazy people kayaking and surfing the waves of the Patomic.  

I would hate to imagine how cold the water was!  A wet suit can only do so much.

Playing Tourist - Christmas Edition

Every year the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor brings in tons of ice for their Christmas ice spectacular ... think more ice hotel than ice dancing.  Alex and I headed across the river and lined up with all the families and their children (the two of us have the habit of being outside the "normal" age range for most adventures we go on).  

This year's theme was 'Twas the Night Before Christmas so each room had a couple lines from the story and corresponding ice sculptures.  

Group shot to prove we were both there. 

It is too bad you could not see the crazy blue jackets we were given.

The big kids even got to act like little kids by going down the slides.

There was an insane Santa and reindeer sculpture.

And before you know it, we were at the end.

Next stop on the Christmas tour: trip to US Botanical Gardens with Dan.  While their holiday train set up has nothing on the display at the Bronx Botanical Gardens, all of the structures here are made from branches, leaves, bark, etc from all the USBG plants.  It was also nice to get out of the cold and rainy weather.  I completely forgot to take any pictures so here one stolen from the interwebs.  

Now it would to be a true holiday weekend if there was not at least one holiday party attend so we wrapped the evening at Sharon's for Cookies & Cocktails.  

Nursing Student OUT!!!

 

And with that ladies and gentlemen, I can say I survived nursing school.


The last 17 months have been filled with class, 900+ hours of clinical time and even more time studying. I have been humbled by seeing a baby's first breaths, mourned a patient's death with family members and probably learned just as much from my patients as I did from my professors. I could not be more excited to begin my career as a nurse! 

THE FIRST FALL ACCEL CLASS HAS SURVIVED AND WE ARE READY FOR GRADUATION/OUR PINS! 

Transitions is a Wrap

After 156 hours I can say that transitions is a wrap, which also means that all of my clinical hours as a student nurse are over as well.  The universe knew there were only 12 hours between me and my new found freedom and slowed down all 720 minutes to a snail's pace.  Seriously, I think this is the slowest shift I have ever had over the last 17 months.

As I was leaving the hospital at 0730, I was doing an internal happy dance much like this Hugh Grant gem in Love Actually (it seems appropriate as the holiday season is upon us).

The only thing that stands between me and graduation is a presentation and take home final!

Monday Gosling Meme

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like ...

WINTER!!

Just 72 hours ago the sun was shining, the thermometer ready 68* and I was walking around town in shorts!  This morning afternoon, after a much needed power nap post over night shift, I awoke to 4 inches of snow on the ground with more on the way.

What better way to shovel the walkway than with some flip flops?

Truth be told I was too lazy to go upstairs to get some socks and dig out my snow boots. 

It looks like the bad weather couldn't keep nursing students out of the library.  

At least they got outside for a while!

Sadly most of it has turned to freezing rain, but at least we had a few pretty hours.  

Viva La Evidence

Over the years, and degrees, I have had to take several statistics and research based classes.  No matter how many hours I have sat in class or studied for the big exams, statistics and I have never gotten along.  Multivariable calculus no problem, but statistics is a no go!

One of the benefits (or just a strange quirk) in going to a nerdy school is things like the below video are frequently shared with students.  While this little ditty would probably not be enough to pass a final exam, it would have served as a good distraction while studying for said exam.  Enjoy!

Hampden's 34th Street Holiday Lights

Another one for the bucket list!  Unbeknownst to me I actually visited the lights last year, but thought it just happened to be a very festive street.  Apparently the tradition started in 1967 and every year the families create a real Miracle on 34th Street.

This year I saw them by day and by night - two VERY different vibes

Natty Boh and Utz

Feeling in the festive move (and having a pocket full of cash thanks to some babysitting) I decided to pick up a tree of my own.  It is little, but that is city life for you.

Monday Gosling Meme

Great Eggspectations

We all know I am a lover of puns, so what better way to catch up with SUS 12'er/med student Meghan than a place called Great Eggspectations (with every kind of egg imaginable).  As if the name was not enough, they scored major bonus points with their wine bottle Christmas tree made with my favorite wine.

Meghan: Only 19 more days until semester 1 is a WRAP!!

Chicken and Waffles

So I have been sitting on this article for quite some time and for today's post it seem appropriate to pull out of the archives.  On last summer's bike trip we had Marcus, our token Southern gentleman who the end all, be all on everything related to the South.  One of the great debates, probably between to ghost towns, was whether or not chicken and waffles was a southern thing.  I, a true Yankee, believed this combination of breakfast and lunch was in fact Southern and he had never heard of such a concept.

A few months after the trip wrapped up, The Salt set out to debunk the myth and it turns out chicken and waffles is southern dish, "but a Southern dish once or twice removed from the South."  While Jefferson brought back the waffle iron from France, jazz legends like Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole would order the combination in Harlem after playing.

Now to bring this all together, before I left town today the whole family headed out to Durham to check out Dames Chicken and Waffles.  My father's mind was pretty much blown as he, just like Marcus, had never heard of the pairing.  The only thing better than some fried chicken with sweet potato waffles?  Fried chicken, sweet potato waffles and a side of grits.

After lunch I rolled myself into my car and started the long journey north.  When I hit Richmond I decided to take a quick stretch break and head over to Blue Bee Cider, Virginia’s first and only urban cidery.  Their building is located just off of the James River in a fantastic old building which used to house a coffee roasting company.  I got to the shop just in time for a quick tour and then it was over to test the five ciders they currently make (the company just started selling their product about six months ago).  In honor of Small Business Saturday, I took home some of the Hopsap Shandy which is cider fermented with some hops.

From there it was back on the road and back to The Greatest City in America.  

Adios November!

It was another crazy month, but with graduation so close these busy weeks have made the time fly!

19 days until graduation!!

MANGIAMO!!!

While a good chunk of the American population was out scoring some of the latest and greatest sales, Scott and I hit the town for a different kind of shopping - breakfast at the local food co-op and then around town to pick up all the ingredients for pasta, sauce and meatballs.

After the meatballs were done, Scott got to work on the pasta.  Half way through we discovered there were not enough eggs so the peanut gallery was sent to pick some up.  It would not be a family meal if someone was not sent to the store to pick up some key ingredient mid cooking job.

After everything was rolled out, lacrosse sticks and brooms were set up as we were running out of counter space.  My dad pipped up that he wanted a selfie with the pasta so we compromised on this gem instead.

With everything cut we just had to wait for the water to boil and then it could be time to mangiamo! 

The next major task was pouring all the sauce, meatballs and sausage from the "two small" pots into the one larger one (we needed somewhere to cook the pasta).  I was in charge of scooping into the ladle.  While there were no major spillage issues, the running commentary would have been good to get on video.

A few hours later lunch was on!  You would think from this picture we did pretty well, but there is still another pot of pasta which was barely touched.  

There are going to be leftovers for days and days and days (being down 8 family members does that to the numbers).  No complaints here as I will get to take some home with me!

Bring on the Turkey!!

MY MOST FAVORITE HOLIDAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!

The men headed outside to take care of all things turkey.  It was probably the safest crew around to make sure the house did not catch on fire - a firefighter (papa-dukes), a head of safety guy and my uncle.  The lady folk stayed inside to make everything which went with the turkeys including the most amazing sweet potato rolls.

Turkey success (1 of 2)!

A table for 15 was quickly fashioned with some styrofoam padding and two large boards of wood.

Dinner was fantastic with lots of good stories and reminiscing.  The only thing missing was a screening of It's a Wonderful Life which did make my bag, but never got popped into the DVD player.  Instead the afternoon was filled with more stories and for some, a nap.    

The food tradition continues tomorrow and will be filled with homemade pasta and meatballs.  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving from me and mine!

May your plates be filled with turkey and simple carbohydrates with a side of heavy power napping.  But more importantly, may it be a day with the ones you love!

(or at least can tolerate with a bottle(s) of wine)

Arrived In Tar Heel Country

With no work for the next few days, it is back in the car for another adventure.  This time it is just a cool two states south to meet up with the family for Thanksgiving in Chapel Hill.  I was determined to beat the traffic and left the Charmed City promptly at 1100.  It was smooth sailing to Alexandria and then we were stop and go thanks to bad weather and a couple of accidents.  It took four hours to go 84 miles ... you do the math.

Never fear.  The one good thing about heading through VA ... WAWA's everywhere!!  There is nothing better than seeing this glorious sign on a road trip (lots of good times and bagel sandwiches).

8 hours later, I finally arrived and was promptly whisked away for some Mexican food!