Nursing School Graduation

So on December 14th 2012 I graduated from nursing school and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by...Seems like just yesterday I was stressing about whether or not I would get in to SUU's program and now I'm finally finished. I thought I would be nothing but happy once I was done, and that's partially true...but I had some mixed emotions when it came to graduation day. First and foremost I really was happy, second I was sad that I wouldn't be seeing my classmates again because everyone really was so awesome, third I have been scared ever since graduation about actually having real patients on my hands and not having another nurse there to guide me, and third as much as school sucks sometimes I really did love it for the most part. I like to have structured learning and once you've been in school for so long you just kind of get good at it and know what to expect. Now I'll be thrown into a whole new whirlwind of crazy but I guess, if nothing else, it will be exciting. I recently got accepted into the nurse residency program with Intermountain Healthcare and it's been awesome so far but super challenging. It's been hard to adjust to three 12 hour shifts a week but I guess the four days I have off to do as I please is worth it. I will interview on Monday to find out what floor I'll be working on so I'm a little nervous about that but wherever I go I'm sure it will be fine. I'd way rather be at Cedar's hospital though just because it's not fun waking up at 4:00 in the morning so that I can get to St. George by 6:00! Anyway on a lighter note, I PASSED NCLEX ON SATURDAY! I can't really explain what a relief it is to finally have that out of the way. After I graduated everyone kept asking me how it felt to be done with school. Well, it really didn't feel like I was done with school because I still had one last test to take and now it's finally over and I can actually guiltlessly watch the Bachelor any time I want because I don't have that nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me that I should study every second (every student knows that feeling haha). Anyway, sorry this was such a boring post! But this is my journal so I needed to put this stuff down. I have a TON of blogging to catch up on so hopefully in all my new found time I will catch up asap!

This picture is of me getting pinned at our pinning ceremony. Yeah, no one knows what a pinning ceremony is besides nurses I guess because I had never heard of it in my life.

This is our class picture. Backrow left to right is Jennifer Riedel, Garrett Stewart, Keller Sanders, Kristy Twitchell, Mandie Tupou, Taylor Stevenson, Alicia Harris, Dyllan Almond. Front row left to right is Andie Kelley, Bryn Wood, Heather Beus, me, McCall Gillins, Angie Edwards, Ali Nielson, Megan Barney, and Sonnett Anderson. Oh the stories I could tell about these people haha...We laughed together, fought together, and mostly...vented together.

These pictures of me, Taylor, and Heather pretty much sums up nursing school. I would not have made it through without these two. They not only helped me get the grades, they ALWAYS kept it entertaining and there was NEVER a dull moment with these two. They both moved to Salt Lake right after graduation but I'm hoping to join them up there in a year and a half or so!

And of course...Nate and I. Nobody listened to me complain more about school than he did. I can't tell you how many times he has cooked and cleaned up the house when I was just too stressed out to do it. He has been awesome...

And last but not least...my mom and I. She came all the way over to Cedar just for my dinky little graduation and took me to Cafe Rio after. What else could a person ask for? Her and my dad have been nothing short of amazing. I would never be where I am right now without them and I don't think they'll ever realize just how much I appreciate everything they have done for me. Sorry this post has been so boring but it needed documented!