Did you know it takes 200x the force of gravity to break the forehead bone (supraorbital rim)? Yes, this is what I'm learning. Mom brought to my attention last night that many of you may not know what my fellowship is or what I'm doing. In nursing school we are taught to think like nurses. We learn how to assess and determine what course we think a patient might take and what might be needed to stabilize and improve the condition of the patient. At least that's what I think we were supposed to learn. They also teach us how to do procedures like start an IV, draw blood, insert catheters and NG tubes, how to give various types of meds, etc. But mostly we're taught how to think. So all new grads, when they start working in the hospital get some form of orientation to the unit and are taught how to be a nurse. Some orientations are relatively short, others are much longer. For example, a general medical-surgical unit might orient for 12 weeks whereas an ER might orient for 6 months and an OR might orient for a year. As I am in the ER, I orient for 6 months. So between now and December I will have class for 8 hours a week, online class for 8-16 hours a week, and clinical training for the remaining hours. In a few weeks I will be assigned a preceptor. I will work that preceptor's schedule and during that time will be required to pass off a number of skills. My whole orientation should be complete in April and then I will be responsible for taking my own patients. That whole program is called a fellowship. There are 12 of us, all girls, that all started together. Because of the size of our group we are usually divided up for our clinical days. I really enjoy my group. I think I have found "my people". We are all slightly irreverent and find humor in things others would be horrified or at least nauseated by. We can talk about secretions at lunch and nobody gags or loses their appetite. Apparently most ER nurses have a similar sense of humor. Last weekend I worked my first night shift. I actually did far better at night than I do most days. The interesting/funny thing was, at some point, everyone got a little punch drunk. It was perfectly okay to be giggly or to call your co-worker the "Purple Power Ranger" (one of the techs nicknamed me due to my purple scrubs). I loved it and had the perfect excuse to sleep all day.

As for the social life. I am making friends and have already found a few people that I really enjoy. Last night I went with the ward to the Children's Hospital to play with the kids. There were 20+ of us and about 5 of them. My table, who included family favorite Mike Hill, played with playdough. Afterward 9 of us went to a diner called, no kidding, "The Diner" in DC. The food was fantastic and it reminded me of the diners you see in TV sitcoms. Sunday night I attended an Apple Fest - featuring treats made with apples. Saturday was a quiet day and then a friend came over to watch a movie. Tomorrow I'm going to a Halloween dinner and Saturday night is Fall Festivis (everyone prepares a dish using an ingredient they've never used before). Overall, I love it here. I miss my family tremendously but know I'm right where I need to be.

Since then...

Oct. 3: Date night at the DC Temple with Ty then birthday party for unknown girl. Met loads of new people. Mostly a blur.
Oct. 4: General Conference at Ty's house. Fajitas between sessions then a quiet night of unpacking at home.
Oct. 5: General Conference at Ty's and a Crepe Party. Met loads of new people.
Oct. 6: 1st day at Inova!!!! Spent the day in the classroom learning about how fantastic working for Inova is. After work, FHE. A member of my ward spoke about the economic crisis. He works for the Treasury Dept and was instrumental in writing and proposing the package passed by congress. Yes, he is single, very smart, and seriously cute. Oh, and met new people...
Oct. 7: Institute: we're studying Jesus the Christ. Delightful.
Oct. 7-10: Orientation at work.
Oct. 10: Pick up car, which arrived significantly later than planned but arrived no the less.
Oct. 11: Crabbing in Chesapeake Bay, MA. Absolutely beautiful and so nice to be outside and near the water. Enjoy the photos. Met new people... After a day in the sun we went back to Ty's house for dinner and the BYU game. Again, met new people...
Oct. 12: Dinner at the Utah St. Girls house. After dinner we played games.

Week of Oct. 13...
I started working in the Emergency Dept (ED) this week. The ED has been experiencing a large number of mislabeled specimens going to the lab. This is a safety issue. So my fellow fellows and I have been stationed at the tube system charged with the task of checking every specimen before it goes to the lab. We also get to observe 10 blood draws per day. So fun. Not really. It's very, very boring. However, I try to remember I am actually getting paid to sit and chat with people as they bring their specimens. Plus, we get loads of sympathy. Today I was "rescued" by one particularly kind nurse. She asked me to help her transport her patient up to the ICU. Her patient with c. diff. If you don't know what that is, it's a highly infective intestinal infection that gives its victims horrible diarrhea. Ahh, lovely. But at least I got away from the tube system for a while.

So now I get to stay up late so I can start prepping to work all night on Friday night. I'm currently watching the Presidential Debate. Are these guys actually saying anything?

Enjoy the crabbing photos...

As Promised...

Photos of the family. I miss you all!!!

The move...

I was planning on extending my CA visit to Wednesday before heading to VA, but come to find out, I have to have my pre-employment physical done on Wednesday so I flew out to VA today. When I arrive at the rental car place to pick up my car (who knows when mine will actually arrive) it's softly raining. When I finish my paperwork and walk outside it's softly raining. When I arrive at my car (50 feet away) it's a torrential downpour. I'm soaked through by the time I finish putting my luggage in the car. So I bust out my new GPS and map it for home. About 5 minutes later the battery dies. So I'm on some freeway, somewhere near Dulles airport, in a downpour, with no directions. And no pen. So I pull over and scramble to the trunk (confident I will be run over by an 18 wheeler) to try to find a pen in my luggage. Once located I called my friend who directed me home and invited me to come watch him play basketball. Ohhh, fun. But I'm a sucker for socializing so I did. He arrived 30 minutes later than I expected so I sat on the stage with a bunch of sweating guys I didn't know. I'm pretty sure they thought I was some kind of stalker freak/desperate social retard. Seriously, who goes and watches church basketball on Tuesday night?! It was pretty funny and I was very happy when he finally showed up and demonstrated that I was not quite as big a loser as they may have thought.

So tomorrow I start unpacking. I have way more stuff than I realized but I think I have enough space for it all. My roommates seem really nice - they've done so much to make this move manageable for me. I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

P.S. Last night my family had a combined Family Home Evening at Dave & Crissie's house. It was so much fun and I loved watching my nieces and nephews participate in learning the gospel. Listening to them sing "I am a Child of God" about made my heart burst. I hope they take the message to heart and always remember who they are and how much they are loved, both by their Heavenly Father and their earthly family. I don't know if there is anything I wouldn't do for those kids. I miss them dearly when I'm not there and leaving is always painful. On the happy side, I took a ton of pictures, some sweet ones and some funny ones. I'll post them soon so come back and check...

Leaving CA...

I had a bit of a breakdown on Friday night. I just wasn't ready to start my new adventure in VA. I wanted to stay in CA, visit with my family, read, go to the river, and just relax after the stress of graduating, planning the move, studying for and taking the NCLEX, and then fixing my disastrously botched move. I just needed a break. So I changed my flight to go on Wednesday. Today I called to reschedule my physical (required before I start working next week) and they said, "oh no, if you don't come in on Wednesday we'll have to reschedule your start date." Such is my life. So after some scrambling I managed to get on a flight for Tuesday. Yea for me. So today will be a whirlwind of packing and highlighting my hair. Yes, I started highlighting my hair last winter and while I love having my bright blond hair back it makes me a bit sick to have to dye it.

Other than that, last week I took the three nephews on our "date". My favorite activities when I visit are my dates with the little boys. I usually take J&J out together and C out by himself. In the past we've gone to movies and Chuck E. Cheese (my favorite). So this time I really wanted to take them to the climbing gym and introduce them to my favorite sport but they wanted to go bowling. Bowling. Yes. Okay. I picked J up from school then the other J. Little J started preschool this year and loves it! He was so excited when he came out - he's going on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and just HAD to call his mom to tell her all about it. Darling. We jumped on the freeway and headed for Livermore to get C. About 10 minutes later Little J asked if we could go home. I said we were on our way to get C and then to go bowling. He said, in his little 4 year old voice, "but I have to go pee-pee and I can't hold it." Panic. So we got off at the nearest McDonald's. Whew. We picked up C and headed for the bowling alley. When we got there Big J promptly (though accidentally) slammed Little J's fingers in the car door. I hear this little voice, "open the door... open the door... open the door." I think I was more freaked out about it than he was. He was not about to go home and since his fingers weren't broken... So we bowled and played video games and got bouncy balls and were generally loud and crazy. Then headed over to McDonald's for dinner and more playing. We were all disappointed to go home. The boys were so cute and so good. I think I heard more giggles over pee pee and underwear than a gaggle of 12 year old girls could produce. I tried not to encourage it but it was pretty funny. I just love those boys. They are so delightful and loving. I miss them so much when I'm not around!

I AM AN RN! Couldn't have done it without the love and support of my family and friends. Thank you!

Good boys become good men...

I'm babysitting my darling nephews and tonight the oldest (age 6) said the bedtime prayer, "Please bless me to grow up, and go on a mission, and get married in the temple, and be good."