Sunday, December 23, 2012

Finished Vanity!

While we finished this project ago, I've forgotten to post the finished product. We finished it at my last break, so that was approximately 17 weeks ago. Oh well.

Our original plans were to go get a granite countertop with a bowl sink and this awesome rustic farmhouse spicket-looking faucet. My parents also decided to list their house at that time and it wasn't worth the money to spend that to then turn around and sell the house and the next owners get rid of it (needless to say, I'd be pissed knowing they also got rid of the vanity seems as how I put so much hard work and time into it!). So we decided to get a pre-fabricated sink that (mostly) matched our original ideas and put the faucet back in that had been in the old antique vanity sink.

Without further ado, here is the finished product. I also got a nice little lesson from my faja in how to hook a sink back up ;-)

 Dad and I putting putty in the sink and applying the "backsplash"

 The not-so-original idea sink
 Dad with the finished product
The finished product....LOVE IT!!!

A few more DIY projects will be coming after Christmas....since I made them as Christmas gifts ;-)

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Nurse Pinning

Yesterday, the longest and hardest year of my life (and a decade's worth of chasing my dream) culminated in my nurse pinning ceremony.

The pinning ceremony is a special ceremony in which undergraduates are pinned with a pin specially designed for that nursing school. It's a welcoming into the nursing profession. A welcoming that included a whopping 10 seconds on stage receiving a pin the size of my thumbnail ;-)

My family was able to be there, which was amazing, as they have been my support system and my rock through it all. A hard, indescribable year that I couldn't have done without their support.

Some schools have you choose a mentor within the nursing community to pin you. Our school allows us the choice of anyone we would like to pin us. I chose my father, as he has turned into one of my best friends, my mentor, and inspiration. Growing up he has always been involved in my brothers activities, coaching, mentoring, etc. He has turned into my DIY partner and my partner-in-crime for trouble-making. It was my honor to ask and have my father pin me into the beginning of my nursing career. 

 My father and I before the pinning 

  
My nursing pin....which is actually silver but looks gold in this picture
 
 The best picture I have of my father pinning me

 My parents and I after the ceremony 

My family and I after the ceremony 

*For the record, everyone take note, I am wearing a skirt!!! And lace, and ruffles, and high heels, and flower earrings. This never happens!! And I look the most professional. A moment that will forever live in history ;-) 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Finale Nursing

I.Am.Done.With.Nursing.School!!!!!!

I actually finished last Friday but I've still been incredibly busy between starting to move stuff out and helping my parents decorate their house for Christmas and catching up with several different friends.

I don't think the reality about being done has fully set in yet. Or that NCLEX will decide my life at the end of January. Or that this year is really over. It's been a crazy whirlwind that is inexplicable to anyone outside of the program. There have been tears, laughs, exhaustion, rewarding moments, confusion, clarity, stress, relaxation, and so much advancement in knowledge and self that I have no idea where to begin.

But I sit here, in our living room, with Christmas music going as Anno cleans her bathroom, our living room dwindling down to the remains of the couch, tv, and my side-tables from the place of life it used to be, my bedroom nearly cleared out, and I have a sense of sadness that it is ending. Despite the hardships, I enjoyed living with my roommates, I enjoyed the unique experiences we got during this program, and I enjoyed working towards my career goal finally. Obviously the road and the journey are just beginning but what a BEGINNING this has been!!

I will miss seeing my classmates and roommates in class but I'm sure I will see several of their faces as colleagues. 

There's no looking back, only forward, and striving towards bigger things and actually tasting the sweet relief of enduring towards this goal for the past ten years of my life.

My mind is heading a million different directions, as it has been this whole past year, so I am going to go see what I can find for my hands to do for now to keep me busy :-)

 This is only 1/3 of our cohort, the 36 of us in the same tract.