Proud to be an American?

No. At least I'm not. Not today. My heart is very heavy, and I am grieving for what our country lost last night and what we have asked for. I shudder at the thought of the "change" that people are crying out for. Without God at the center, without following his direction, any "change" that may come about will be futile in the end. It may temporarily get better (maybe), but if we as a country continute to elect leaders who promote abortion and gay marriage and other immoral acts than as a nation we will not prosper and will eventually be destroyed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. It may not be within our lifetime, or it could be today. But it will happen. My prayer today is "Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do!".

On another note, I AM proud to be an Arizonan. Not only is John McCain one of our own (and his speech last night was incredibly gracious!), but I couldn't be happier that Prop 102 PASSED!!! Thankfully there are still enough people in Arizona who stand up for marriage between one man and one woman ONLY. Praise God, and thank you Arizona!!

Today is "haircut day"!! I know exactly what I'm going to do, I found the perfect picture in a scrubs magazine at the hospital last weekend and so I asked if I could take it home so I could show my hairdresser and they let me take it. :-D The girl in the picture even has a cowlick just like mine and the cut is EXACTLY what I've been picturing and wanting! The photo in the previous post is close, but not exact and she certainly didn't have a cowlick...

Anywho, I will go now...must shower and such before heading off to my hair appointment. One last thought for the day:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great could of witnessess, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

~Abigail~

Happy Halloween!!

I am DONE with my psych rotation!!! YAAAAY!!! I survived, lol! :-D He even let us out FOUR HOURS early today, I was so happy! We then headed over to the hospital that we will be starting at tomorrow so we could pick out a patient for tomorrow. We have to choose someone who will (obviously) be there tomorrow (won't be discharged today) and then go introduce ourselves and ask their permission to help take care of them (cause we're students). The guy I chose just had a CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) surgery and was very welcoming when I asked him if I could help care for him tomorrow. His wife was in the room at the time and they were both like "of course you can! I can use all the help I can get!" That relieved my nerves and made me feel good. Hopefully tomorrow goes well. I am excited! :-)

Tonight we are having Matt and Angela as well as Scott's sister Susan over for a movie night. We're watching Young Frankenstein first, then I'll probably go to bed (have to get up at 4:15am...) and the rest of them will probably watch a couple more movies. I didn't want to spend the money on candy this year (not that we don't have it, I just didn't feel like "wasting" it on candy...) and plus I didn't want to be interrupted from our movie a kagillion times to answer the doorbell and hand out candy. So we're just going to keep our porch light off....the doorbell is already broken (I think it just needs a new battery?) so that won't be a problem. I know I know, we're not very fun. We'll be more fun when we have kids to go trick or treating with (if we even decide to do that with them....I guess it will depend on the neighborhood we live in and whether or not we think it's safe--obviously). Anywho, we will have fun tonight, just not in the traditional "halloween" style. I'm not much of a dresser-upper anyway. Hows that for a new word? Lol. I'm feeling kinda random today...

My Melaleuca order arrived today. Must have been delivered pretty early because I left the house at 5:20 this morning and Scott usually leaves at 8:30ish and the box was on the kitchen table when I got home at 2:30. Scott must have discovered it at the door when he was leaving for work. I am so excited to be starting this!! I can't wait to use up the products we currently have that are not Melaleuca so I can "convert" the house to these non-harmful cleaning products and personal care products. Here is what I chose for this first order:
1. Alloy For Men set (shaving gel, aftershave lotion, antipersperant/deodorant, shower gel, soap bar)---these products are scented especially for men. I love the scent, I hope they are okay for Scott's skin--he's the whole reason we're doing this in the first place! But if this scented stuff doesn't work for him then there is also non-scented stuff as well. But everything is made from natural ingredients and oils so it should be okay....guess we'll see.
2. Body Satin facial scrub and cleaner/astringent--for me, I'm going to use the cleaner/astringent as a make-up remover and then the scrub
3. "Renew" Lotion (especially for relieving problem skin--9x better than Eucerin)
4. Lemon Brite dish liquid (compare to Dial or Palmolive, only made with natural ingredients and very concentrated).

I think that's it this time...next time I want to order and try their vitamins and haircare products as well as a few of the household cleaning products. I'll let you all know how everything is as we try it!

I guess that's it for now!
Happy Halloween!
~Abigail~

Hair Appointment

Well, I finally scheduled a hair appointment for next Wednesday the 5th. It's been over 3 months since the last time, and I had to find a new hairdresser because mine moved to Philadelphia!! The girl I am going to go to is the sister of one of the nurses I work with. But now I have a decision to make: just trim, or cut it shorter? As I posted early in September, this is the haircut I'd LIKE to have, but I'm not very brave and my hair doesn't grow super fast so I'm afraid of chopping it all off and then hating it! What do I do??? Decisions decisions!! I know it wouldn't look just like this picture on me because my face is a more round than hers and also I have a cowlick on the right that would make the bangs lay differently, but I like the style.

Any votes would be appreciated!! I hate making the "to cut or not to cut" decision, but I also don't want to be boring and have the same hairstyle for years and years!!

Alright, I'll stop rambling. Give me your opinions!!

Something New

Hola! I am still here!! I've been busy with psych and the tons of homework our psych teacher likes to give us. Luckily this week he has foregone (sp?) making us do careplans because "I don't want to read anymore, so you guys don't have to do it." NICE!!! Maybe he is an o-k guy. :-) Anyway, this coming Friday (yes, Halloween) is my last day of psych clinical. I am SO happy to be so close to finishing psych!!! And I'm super excited about starting my hospital rotations. I'll be on the Medical/Surgical floor, Telemetry, Medical Imaging, and the Emergency Department during my 10 clinical days from Nov 1st thru Dec 12th. I'm really excited because we can finally do almost anything for our patients so long as we're with the nurse. No more of "no sorry, I can't do that yet". Instead it will be "sure, as long as you're with me!" YAY!! I'm mostly excited about me ED rotations because I'm hoping to get a lot of practice with IV's. :-D

Today I joined a company called Melaleuca. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but was waiting for a month when we had a little extra $$ in order to start it up. The main reason I decided to join is because of Scott's sensitive skin, and also I like the "organic" idea and not having harmful chemicals around the house. Also I wanted to have everything switched over before we started having kids just in case they inherit Scott's sensitive skin. (Don't freak out Mom(s), that won't be for at least another year!!) Most household products aren't good for you simply because of the chemicals in them. My mom was a member of this company several years ago and I liked the products we used. The only downside is that you have to purchase 35 points worth of products each month (~$50 worth), but there is no "contract" so you can go month by month and drop your membership if you need to. And it was only $1 to join because they were having an end-of-the-month Sign Up special. Considering they have everything from ALL household products you could think of to personal care items to vitamins and candles and cosmetics I'm sure that 35 points a month won't be a problem. If anyone (especially my moms) want to try any of the products just let me know and I'll add whatever you want to my order!

My good friend Bonnie is coming over after dinner so we can catch up and make cookies. I'd better get off the computer, get the kitchen cleaned up and start dinner for me and Scott. :-)

~Abigail~

In answer to my previous post on the election...

Someone made a comment on my previous election post ("A Plea to Conservative Voters") and I just read an article on someone else's blog that answered their questions to me as well as addressed the whole 3rd party candidate option. Go read it, it is an AMAZING article!! Share it with as many people as you know--email, blogs, myspace, etc...

It is long...but please read the whole thing. It will only take five minutes...
http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2008/10/im-not-voting-for-man-im-voting-for.html

~Abigail~

Two Years

Today marks two years of marriage for me and Scott. :-) Lets see...that would be 24 months, 104 weeks, or 731 days...hehe. I cannot believe it has been two years already!! We celebrated by spending one night at Marriott Canyon Villas in Phoenix. We went to dinner at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa which was across the street. It was SO yummy!! Probably the most expensive dinner we've EVER had, but so worth it!! They started us out with a chickpea "salad" which was served in a little spoon, like something you'd see on Top Chef. It was cute (but I had NO idea what was the "correct" way to eat it, lol--I ended up using my fork, while Scott ate it in one bite right from the spoon)!! We also got some gourmet bread with a special dipping sauce, olive oil, two kinds of olives and a marscapone butter. MMMmmmm!!! I ordered a green salad as an appetizer, and Scott had stuffed calamari. For the main course I had Veal Ravioli with white sauce, and Scott had the Rack of Lamb (wasn't really a rack, but that's what it was called). I sipped on a Passion Fruit cocktail (it had Orange Vodka, Coconut Rum, Pineappe-something as well as something else I can't remember...), while Scott enjoyed a glass of White Wine. The waitress suprised us with a complementary dessert after I had asked her to take our picture because it was our anniversary. The dessert was a trio: the first item was a chocolate-fudge like thing on top of a crunchy-peanuty bottom, the second was creme brulee with berries on top, and the last was some sort of minty/nutmeg tasting "ice cream". They were all so yummy! I had never had creme brulee before, and it was AMAZING!!!

Today we're just hanging out at home and enjoying having the whole day off together! On our way home from Phoenix we went to Jared and got our rings cleaned (just like last year)...this will most likely be a traditional anniversary-day thing that we do every year. :-) I want to go back to the Canyon Villas, maybe next May for my birthday/graduation present. It was so pretty!! We didn't get the chance to go swimming (I wasn't sure if the pools were heated, so I didn't bring my swimsuit. I should have known that resorts always have heated pools...oh well.) and the rooms were so nice! It would be fun to go back sometime for more than 1 night. :-)

A happy wife,
~Abigail~

A Plea to Conservative Voters

Okay. SEVERAL people I know are still confused about who to vote for. The indecisiveness isn't between Obama or McCain, but rather whether to vote for McCain or a 3rd party candidate. Here is my plea:

I KNOW that McCain is a rather liberal Republican, and I do not agree with everything he stands for or wants to do. However, if we do not give McCain our vote, that will only make it easier for Obama to win by default. Think about it. Every vote that McCain loses to a 3rd party conservative candidate is ONE LESS vote that Obama needs to receive to beat McCain. So essentially the conservative voter who chooses not to support McCain is in a round-about way giving Obama the upper hand. Even though I do not agree with everything McCain stands for (as I already mentioned), he is most definitely the lesser-of-two-evils. One of them is going to be our next president. Please, let us vote for the one who is going to do the least damage (lol!). At least McCain believes marriage is only between a man and a woman, and that unborn babies are just that: babies!! Personally, those are the two things I look at first...then comes the economy, healthcare, etc... Oh yeah, and McCain wants to double the child-tax credit!! All the better reason to have lots of kids, right Scott? (hehe, just kidding) ;-)


I've read a few articles about "Because I'm a Christian, I cannot vote for McCain". Fine, give your vote away to a 3rd party candidate who isn't going to win anyway, "just to make a point". In the meantime, by not voting for McCain you are pushing Obama one vote closer to the presidency.

Think about it. Pray about it. Please.

~Abigail~

(FYI--I really don't care about McCain's child-tax credit increase--I just wanted to tease my husband) :-D

Blessed

I just have to share something real fast. Part of the benefits I get at work is a program called Creative Benefits. This is an account that I can use for medical expenses for the entire year, and a specified amount (that I choose ahead of time) is put into that account through PRE-TAX payroll deduction. However, I have access to the entire year's amount on January 1st rather than as I make it. This has come in quite handy this year, as I had surgery in January and owed roughly $1000 all at once and simply used this account to pay for it instead of putting it on a credit card paying $100/month (for example). Very nice. Well, last month I submitted a claim (that's what they call each expense) for the ultrasound I had done last November (pre-surgery). Because it was an expense from 2007, they did not accept it and so I have to reimburse them $252. Apparently any claims from before 01/01/08 must be submitted NO LATER THAN 03/31/08 in order to be accepted. Well, it wasn't my fault I was almost six months late submitting it, as my insurance company didn't pay as much as they originally told me they would and that is why I got a bill dated 9/3/08 for the $252. There is absolutely no way I could have submitted this bill by 3/31 because I DIDN'T EVEN GET IT until 9/3!!! I argued this, but they still aren't accepting it.

SO (I know, this is turning into a long story) I now have to repay them the $252 out-of-pocket. I've known this for the past few weeks, but have been waiting for a certain paycheck to come in before writing the check and sending it off to them. Well, about ten days ago I got a random deposit in our checking account for exactly $250. It was from Catholic Healthcare West (my company), but it wasn't anywhere near payday and I didn't have any idea why we had gotten it. I figured it was a mistake and that the "pending deposit" would dissappear once they figured out what had happened. But it wasn't a mistake, it was an unexpected bonus that everyone got and mine happened to be EXACTLY the amount I was needing to pay this stupid medical bill that got rejected by Creative Benefits. How awesome is that?? God is so good!! I give all the credit to Him for that one, it was so totally unexpected and perfect timing! Yes, I could have payed the bill using $$ from our savings account or from this coming week's paycheck, but I thank God for his provision and PERFECT timing and I am humbled that he would bless us like this! We do NOT deserve his blessing right now (not that we would EVER deserve anything!!), we do not tithe right now and I personally feel farther away from Him than I ever have before (both of which make me very sad). I owe it to the choice I made to attend a nursing school that meets on Saturdays...which forces me to work most Sundays (due to the weekend requirement). I need to go to church, I need the fellowship and the spiritual growth....and I'm not getting it right now, and haven't been for over a year. I know it's just a season, but it is saddening. My only hope for a change in this schedule is switching schools in the Spring. I pray that I will get into MCC for Block 4 so that I can work Saturays instead of Sundays.

Anyway, there is much more I could say, but the main point of this "fast" entry was to say that God is so good to us! He provides, even when his children couldn't be any less deserving of his blessing.

~Abigail~

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm going to go insane, I know it. I want to go on record saying I HATE NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!! Love the outcome, hate the process!!! I feel like SCREAMING right now!!!! And I don't scream!!!!! They treat us like children, don't tell us ANYTHING until the last minute, expect us to know EVERYTHING, (and I quote) "I want you to act like you've been a nurse for 25 years and pretend I'm not even here watching you" (what an instructor said before we had to individually perform skill competencies). NEWS FLASH: I'M NOT A NURSE YET!!! I DON'T HAVE 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AND YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO ACT LIKE I DO!!! How am I possibly supposed to measure up to those type of standards if they set them that high?? I'll always come up short! Give me at least a goal I can REACH for crying out loud! I thought the stress would taper off after finals....I WAS WRONG!!! No, they freaking want us to be petrified of doing the SLIGHTEST thing wrong and expect us to know EVERYTHING!! I'm so sick of it and today was my breaking point...and now I have to go work on a stinking care plan for tomorrow morning (that's the best pronoun I could think of that is appropriate to post---but I'm thinking other not-so-appropriate words to describe care-plans!!!). I'm probably only going to get 4 hours of sleep tonight (if I'm lucky). ::smoke coming out of my ears::

Believe it or not (after the above rant), last weekend went very well and psych isn't as bad as I anticipated. Hopefully tomorrow doesn't change that...(we did something entirely different today...I'll explain in a separate post when I have time again...might be awhile).

I'm done fuming now. Well, not really, but I'm done venting about it on here...

218 days until graduation---(I hope)---it couldn't come soon enough....

A very perturbed and fed-up nursing student,
~Abigail~

A New Chapter

Sorry for my few day absence...I've been busy working and reading (a "fun" book for once...), and now that I'm done with my books I can write. :-) You see, I've been waiting until after finals to delve into the Twilight series, which everyone at work and several of my friends and family have told me are AMAZING. And they are. I purchased the first two in the four-book series on Monday night at Wal-Mart (they were like $8 each), and immediately started reading. I finished them both by last night. Forty-eight hours to read over 1000 pages? Not bad for me! (if you know me very well at all, you'll know that I only pick up a book to read "just for fun" about every other year, lol) They are a really easy read, though, so my speed isn't as impressive as it may sound. While there isn't any real substance to these books, they are very intriguing and captivating. If you're looking for depth or personal growth, however, these are the wrong books to read. Like I said: they're "just for fun". And now I can't wait for the movie to come out next month (it will only cover the first book, though)!! Still need to read the other two books...

Finals went quite well. I managed an 89% on my Process final, which I really didn't study much for (I reviewed for about 4 hours on Thursday for that test). I got an 88% in Pharmacology. That test I DID study for, and it's a good thing! It was a HARD test!!! As I was taking it I didn't know if I was going to pass (I needed a 61%). But it's all behind me now, and I could feel the load of stress lifting off of me...like I could finally BREATHE again. Finally. Now it's on to clinicals...

I have my Psych rotation first, which we will be doing at the VA hospital. I'm not too excited about that. October is going to be interesting. Med-Surg clinicals begin November 1st. I just can't wait to be done. I like clinicals to some degree, but really the only type of nursing I ever want to do is Maternal/Child. NICU, Labor & Delivery, Postpartum....I'll do any of those ALL day long every day!! I know I need to be knowledgeable about all the other stuff, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it. ::sigh:: Seven months left....I can almost taste it....

After finals on Saturday we went to a Diamondbacks game with our friends Matt and Angela. We were in the experimental "all you can eat" section and it went great! We had access to hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, soda and water--as much as we wanted! :-) And to top it all off, the D-backs won! Woohoo!

Have I ever told you how wonderful my husband is to me? He's amazing. :-) On Sunday (while I was at work) he cleaned our house for me. Not just picked up, but shampooed the carpets (including the stairs), did the dishes, washed laundry, and changed the cat litter. Of course the MAIN thing was cleaning all the carpets (which needed it SO bad!!) and I was SO happy!! A special thanks goes to his mom and sister for helping with the process. :-) He moved one of our couches out into the garage in order to clean the carpets, and ended up leaving it out there. I like how the living room looks with only the one couch. It's SO much bigger! And I don't think I even want to move the other one back in.

Sunday night Matt and Angela came over and Angela and I went swimming while the guys played video games for awhile. Later we all played Dance Dance Revolution for a couple of hours. We all have a blast with that game!! We have three mats, so that we just rotated one person out at a time, which worked great as a little "breather". Angela and I put it on Difficult mode partially for a challenge and partially because it's SO funny!! Some songs are doable on Difficult, but others are just downright impossible (for us, anyway)!! We end up using our hands, each of us controlling two arrows just to try and beat the thing! It's hilarious. :-)

Yesterday was Scott's birthday! Yay for twenty-three!! It seems like only last year that we were celebrating his 19th birthday at MCC (we were both taking classess at the MCC Red Mountain campus at that time)...how time flies! I know I say that like every other week...but I wouldn't have to if the weeks would just SLOW DOWN!!! Then again...I wouldn't mind so much if the next seven months flew by...lol. Guess I can't have it both ways. Is it true that the older you get the faster time seems to go?? If so, a whole year is going to feel like a single WEEK by the time I'm 30!! Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Scott (yesterday)!! We will be celebrating this Sunday with family and friends. But I did make a special dinner for him last night. Oh, and cookies. :-)

Well, I'm gonna go hop in the shower.

Later!
~Abigail~