I'm Gradu-ma-tated!!

That's a word my friend Bonnie and I used when we graduated from high-school....and I finally get to use it again!! :-D The pinning ceremony was last night, and was so amazing!! It was awesome to be the one on the stage with the gown and name being called and congratulations from instructors, classmates, family and friends! So fun!! Now it's like...um, okay, it's all over...now I have to WAIT some more to take my NCLEX review class the first week of June to prepare for the *the test* (cue dooming music)...then take *the test*....then wait for my results...THEN (hopefully) I can add the initials RN to my name!! :-D :-D

My co-workers threw a graduation party for me this past Tuesday, which was so much fun!! My preceptor, Catherine, was the one who put in most of the work (and I imagine $$ too!) to pull it off, and it turned out so great!! I don't have any pictures, but I hope to get some eventually from some of my co-workers who came prepared with their cameras! I think the coolest thing there was a basket of stuff labeled "Night Shift Essentials". Here's what it had in it: Reynold's Wrap (to cover the windows), a cute sleep mask, a "restful sounds" CD, Dr. Pepper and Red Bull (caffeine!), Tums and Aleve for inevitable issues due to an awkward schedule, Smart Water, Bubble Gum, Tic Tacs, several types of energy bars...and I think I'm forgetting a few things...but it was so cute!! Catherine gave me a cute PJ's set to go along with the "night shift" idea. Hehe! :-) And very thoughtful of all of them to put together for me! All the night shift girls signed the card for me, too! I've never worked a night shift at Mercy in my 3 years of working there, so it was really sweet of them to think of me like this and welcome me to their shift!! I won't be switching for a couple more months yet, but I am excited to get to know all of them better! MUCH thanks goes to Catherine for putting the pot-luck and party together for me! YOUR'E THE BEST!!

As if this month isn't busy enough already, tomorrow is my birthday!! This is my last day to be 22!!! Where has the time gone?? I know 23 isn't old, but when you're a kid and thinking about being an adult, it seems SOOOO far away...heck when you're 10 even 18 seems like a lifetime away...and for a 10 year old, it practically IS!! When I turned 18 I thought I was so old and mature (old in the sense that I was proud to be an adult...and SO much older than my 16 and 17 year old friends! Lol.) Old and mature....HA! Now I think, wow...18? That was 5 years ago. FIVE YEARS!!! Really, already? I didn't know ANYTHING back then! I wonder what I'll say about myself at 23 five years from NOW. *Sigh* I don't know what I'm trying to say. No I don't feel old. But I don't feel 23 either. The number doesn't match how I feel or think of myself at ALL. I suppose that's how it's always going to be, huh? *shrugs* Twenty-three, here I come!! Please don't go as fast as your predecessors?? Please?? I would like to enjoy and savor every minute of you. Thank you Lord for the opportunity and blessing of another year!! I wonder what and where this new year will bring me?

On the HOME front, we are almost entirely moved in. In fact, I spent the majority of the morning doing routine cleaning...not the move-in type, that was done a couple weeks ago...but you know, the "this has to be done every week or so" type of cleaning, the type of cleaning that makes it feel like you actually live there. *Happy smile* I was cleaning MY house!! :-D :-D So by ALMOST entirely moved in, I really mean that the only thing we have left to do is declutter the guest room. The miscellaneous boxes were all stacked in that room, so we need to sort through those and put stuff away, but other than that...we were done within a couple days of moving in (thanks to all our friends and family who helped us!!)! We even hosted two dinners the weekend after moving in. The first was my grandpa and my family, we wanted to have my grandpa over for dinner before he took off back to Montana to escape the heat (which he did a few days later...), and the second was a big Mother's Day get-together with my whole family and most of Scott's family. It was a lot of fun! And I made a Teapot cake to celebrate the occassion. :-) I will do a picture post one of these days....maybe...or you all can just look at the pictures I post on Facebook...it's easier to do it there.

ANYWAY, it has been a busy few weeks, and then next few are going to be just as busy: birthday, working full time again, CPR renewal, a wedding shower/wedding for a friend, another family birthday, weekend trip to California, then my NCLEX review class....

Don't be suprised if you don't hear much from me for the rest of the month!! I will do my best to throw in a couple of updates, but I make no promises! :-)

~Abigail~