Currently Listening I Do Believe By Gaither Vocal Band Now More Than Ever see related

A year in the making...

Wow - over a year has passed since my last entry...

A lot has changed in that year, mostly that I've been working as an RN, and am just hitting the one year mark in which we transition out of the "new-grad" state.  I'm loving my job - although there are days I'm sure my hair will begin turning gray and falling out in large chunks at any given moment.  (LOL LOL)

The weather is beautiful today (80's with refreshing breeze) - it's harder to enjoy days like this here in town and I long for the country more every day - Sarah (my roomate) and I went for a drive out into the country last evening just to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the lush, green, rolling plains.  But of course, we had to crank up the stereo when we first hit the outskirts of town and sing at the top of our lungs to "We're From the Country!(and we like it that way!!!!)"    Never thought I'd miss seeing the cows come home lol lol..(even if when they do we lose all water pressure at the house hehehehe....oh well!) I'm looking to this weekend when I can go home and spend a couple days with my family out at the farm - and celebrate Mother's Day too, of course! 

I'm also in the process of gearing up for Mercer Community Vacation Bible School again - I'm so excited!  We're doing SonForce - similar to JoyTrek, which was, I think, my favorite Bible School of all time growing up.  I'm doing the music again so I've got some memorizing and moving around to do - the kids do such an awesome job of learning all the words and actions in a week...I'm always so proud of them.  And, of course, the best part is that we are able to share the gospel with them and see them grow in Christ!!

Anyway, that's just a quick update.  Take care and God bless.

Shell

Currently Listening ELV1S 30 #1 Hits By Elvis Presley see related

- Stuck On You

I feel good......

Howdy all!!!

Wow - I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've written!  Guess crazy life just gets in the way sometimes.  Thankfully, my now crazy life will be shifting gears to another kind of crazy in approximately 19 days :)

Yep, that's right.  In about 19 days I'll be graduating from Medcenter One College of Nursing with my BSN - then all that's left is to take my boards and I'm officially an RN!!  Woo Hoo!!  I have terrible Senioritis right now - I never used to procrastinate, but I'm hitting the "don't care" stage and am finding I have less and less motivation for school.  The fire for school has officially died and I am BURNED OUT!  :)  lol lol...at least I know that Sarah (my roommate) feels the same way and so does pretty much every other person in our entire nursing class lol lol....

My last rotation has been mental health - been everywhere from the State Hospital in Jamestown to the acute psych floor at MCO, to the state pen. - and then at YCC (the state Youth Correctional Center.)  Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed YCC - I don't know if I'd want to ever do nursing there full-time, but for some reason, II don't think I'd mind doing it part-time someday....Go figure...the nurse we had their as a preceptor was awesome too - I really enjoyed talking with her about different issues, as well as the independence she allowed us in caring for the kids their and doing the various nursing tasks. 

I've recently begun to enjoy life again the last 3 months or so....I've been able to hit Bible Study on Sunday eves more often lately and I've actually been able to hang out with some of my friends!  Valentine's Day we got together with all our friends from Bible Study for a lasagna dinner.  On President's Day Barb, Sarah and I were had some fun playing a couple of the guys in tackle football - they won (barely - it's along story), but we had a good time anyway.  Of course, we owed the guys supper after this so the Friday before Spring Break (the day after we got back from the State Hospital in Jamestown - and no we weren't patients - we were there as students from the college lol) we cooked the guys steak and baked potatoes, spinach with cream/vinegar topping, and homemade cherry pie.  Talk about spoiled!!!  :)  lol....we also went on a "treasure hunt" and made them find all kinds of crazy things - each team (guys vs. girls), had 1/2 hr. to find 10 items on the list the other team had prepared for them.  We found some interesting things - lol...I mean, did you know that gas stations GIVE AWAY the little match books?  Yeah - you shoulda seen the look I got when I asked the clerk if I could buy 1 match book - he was like "Umm, they're free."  lol lol  - oh yeah did I feel like a dumb blonde lol lol... oh well, live and learn!! 

Anyways, it's been such an awesome blessing to hang out with Christian guys who don't mind the fact that we're a little weird lol lol - and who obviously are on fire for the Lord.  They even get "Flower Power" notes on their vehicles every once in a while...keeps them on their toes.  We're still waiting for their retaliation lol lol....

I've officially put in my notice at work for them not to put me on the schedule after May 6th - I'm really going to miss working at TL - I almost cried when I put my notice in the book - I don't think nights will be the same without DeAnn and our crazy conversations and laughing at all the stupid things we do...and of course, I don't know what I'll do without Aron - who's going to attempt to throw whoopee cushions under me in the middle of the night, put "kick me" signs on my back, decorate my car antenna with thread, put depends on my steering wheel, etc. etc....and then who's bag can I stuff big blue pads in or send on treasure hunts that lead to to "tagged" double D bras hanging from the top shelf of the magic closet???? lol lol....And of course, I'm going to miss all the laughs with nurses Aileen and Shirely and all my other coworkers that I've come to be friends with over the last 4 years.  Sounds crazy but I'm really going to miss them all - and all of the residents too, as weird as that may sound.  You kind get attached to them and miss them when they're not around anymore. 

I actually graduate May 12th at 3 PM - and I start work on June 2 - I might let the TL hospital know I'm available a few days in between there if they need me - but I'm going to be busy moving into our new apt. (Sarah and I) and studying for the NCLEX Exam (state boards/licensing exam) - and then the week of Memorial Day I'm going to be helping with the Mercer Community Bible School again.  I'm super excited for that - but this year I hope the music comes with actions so I don't have to spend many nights making up my own  - (imagine what I looked like dancing around the room doing actions by myself when I was making them up lol eiyayei hahaha ).

Anyways, I have to finish some work - I have just a few pics to put into the church booklet yet so I better get that done - and then I need to finish some of the trivial homework I have.  I pray the Lord is blessing you all and that you recognize His presence.  Take care and hope to hear from you soon!

Love Shell

Psalm 86:11

"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.'

Currently Listening Common Creed By Wes King see related

- Life Is Precious - -

Hello all...

Just wanted to say hello and how're ya doing to everyone....not much up here - I'm working of course, but have also found time to do some fun things like paint Aunt Lydia's tire with lumpy gravel paint (long story lol lol) (and of course be treated to a cool can of Black Cherry pop while I was at it lol)...spend some time with my family on Father's Day (how's that sunburn, Case?? hehehe), and hang out with some friends on a couple different occasions. 

I've also managed, of course, to have quite the interesting couple of weeks at the hospital. The black cloud over my head is headed elsewhere I'm hoping lol...you see....

We just got a new whirlpool tub at the hospital, but the trick is that you can't fill it up until you have the patient in (cuz you have to open the door) and you can't open the door until it is completely drained.  So yes, of course, I managed to open the door and "WHOOSH!!!"  out came a bunch of tub water, which ran not only out the tub room and into into the hallway, but also down the hole in the floor (that our maintenance man hadn't filled in yet) and straight on through the basement lab floor.  Yay...but the buck doesn't stop there!!!....

A few days later we were making popcorn, and of course, the microwave decides to malfunction and burn it, and set off the fire alarm in the middle of the night lol....I swear it was just waiting for me to come on shift...grrr....

And then, a few days later, (yes, there is more), I'm driving to work (Nights), and half way to Mercer my headlights suddenly go out, my interior lights dim on, I lose power and my speedometer says I'm going 85 and I'm really going like 10.  So I drive to the church, call my folks, and let the hospital know I'm going to be late because my car just died.  lol......turns out I needed a new alternator.....they say bad things come in 3's and I'm hoping I'm done for a while now......haha oh my....

This coming weekend is Mercer Centennial www.mercernd.com  and I'm going to make the most of it...I'm especially excited to sing in the Community Choir that's performing for the community church service on Sunday...I miss choir and singing as much as I used to...hopefully once I'm done with school I can do more of that again!!!  :)  I'm also looking forward to the parade and the "Old Time" music that's going to be going on...oh hahaha and I can't wait to see the lawn mower races!  Mercer probably has the best track in the country by now!! lol

Which reminds me....my dad managed to hit his head with the post pounder the other day while pounding posts for the lawn mower race track (he doesn't know how he managed that one!) and knock a nice sized gash into it.....no stitches, of course, as he was to stubborn to go to the doc to have it looked at, but I guess it bled pretty good for a while and now he's fine...eiyayaei...really I wish he could tell you all the story cuz it's terribly funny when he tells it but praise God we can laugh and that it wasn't more serious. 

So let's see now...Spent the last 3 eves working....yesterday (Sat.) was absolutely nuts, I can't even explain how insane it was...and when the confused, already agitated residents fight, whoa baby!!!  look out!!! lol....  It's worse than a cat fight...:)

I've got the day off tomorrow...(yep, a day off!!! They do occur so if you need to get a hold of me don't give up hope- lol lol) ...so I'm going to do some cleaning, maybe mowing lawn if it's dry enough...we had an awesome thunderstorm tonight with tons of bolt and cloud lightning that completely lit things up...but it also dumped a ton of rain on us so we'll have to see how long it takes for things to dry up.

I had to laugh tonight because as I was sitting here I had one of those "revelation" type deals...ok not quite that dramatic but something similar to that...it never ceases to amaze me how one simple word such as car, or a simple object like a hat can set off an entire set of interesting realizations...haha I'm sure I sound nuts....but it was just one of those weird things that happened and I just started laughing because the way it happened was so dumb lol lol...anyways, if you want to know what the realization was, you'll have to ask lol lol...

Well, I guess that's all for now.  Praying that each of you will be held in God's arms this week...take care and hope to hear from you soon!

In His Joy,

Shell

Currently Playing Revelation By Joe Nichols see related

- What's a Guy Gotta Do to Get a Girl In This Town?

Well hello all...

Yep, I'm at work and it seems like an eternity since I"ve actually made normal contact with you all, so here goes!  :) 

Not much has been going on here in ND.....school is absolutely nuts of course:  I'm getting research-papered out, so I'm thrilled that the end of the school year is coming fast...in fact, it's about 53 days or so according to the Senior's countdown calendar.  Yay!!!

I'm looking to spend my summer at home (probably my last there)...I'll still be working at the hospital...but doing an internship there 3 or so days a week and aide work 2 days a week if all works out as planned. 

Thursday nights I"m still attending a women's Bible Study which is totally awesome...it's a bunch of gals around my age getting together for the study...right now we're going through Max Lucado's Experiencing the Heart of Jesus....totally love it...I recommend it if you're looking for something to help get you more into the Word...it's actually set up to do one section each day, but we only do 2 sections a week, sometimes only 1 depending on the week everyone has ahead of them...but anyways, it is an awesome study and the girls there are great...it's so awesome to get together with other believers and learn more and more about the character and love of Christ.

Other than Thurs. nights and work, I don't really get out much right now.  We try to take a break each day and go for a walk...outdoors if it's nice, but if it's not, we go mall walking (yep, like the old folks hahaha)....it's just feels so good to get a break, expend some energy, and get a change of scenery for awhile.  I'm looking forward to this summer when I may actually have some time to do other activities besides studying...In July my mom, my coworker and friend Deann, and her mom have already made plans to go up to the state fair and see Tim McGraw, Big and Rich, and Montgomery Gentry.....we are so "Gone!"  :)  for those concerts!! We're all skipping out on Terry Clark, as she's not a favorite...just don't like her music style I guess.  But anyways, that should be fun, and I'm excited to get to some more concerts again....

Which reminds me....the Newsboys are coming to Bismarck in March so Sarah and I are making plans for that....tickets aren't on sale yet but we're going to be getting them when they do....seeing as the month of April is nuts with school and we won't have time to actually celebrate our birthday's, we're going to go the concert and make that our birthday celebration - a month early, but oh well!!!  :) 

We've had a beautiful couple of days here in ND....the air has just been so fresh and invigorating....it's been in the 50's, and when you step outside, you can just feel the light crispness of the air seep into your lungs...and it feels so good.  We decided to take our Thurs. walk down at one of the parks in Bis and it was so great....like I said, the weather was so beautiful and we were so blessed to have been able to enjoy it! 

Let's see...any other interesting news??  Oh, lol....yeah I totally sliced my hand the other day....I was washing this glass and all of a sudden it just broke and my dishwater turned red.....so I bled for like 45 minutes before I finally got it to stop, and then nicely bandaged myself up lol...of all dumb things to happen.....and it would happen to me too...eiyayeiyayei..lol lol

Oh...and a quick update on my grandparents...

Great-Grandma Helen is doing well and is being sent to stay at home with my Grandma Marlys and Grandpa Harley.....she can't put any pressure on the broken knee for at least 4 more weeks but the doctor says for now she can stay with my grandparents and do her therapies there...we are continuing to pray for her strength, health, healing, and good spirits.  She is such a positive person and she knows God is right there by her side....

Grandpa Harley is going to start radiation treatments in April....the radiologist who looked at his test results is afraid there might be slight metastisis to some of the small cells around the prostate, so he wants to do radiation to erradicate it....we are continuting to pray for his healing, strentgh, and encouragement....the Lord is the maker of miracles and we know that he is in ultimate control of everything...

To all of you who have been praying for them...thank you so much..it means a lot to know that you have been praying for them and it is evident in their healing and attitudes that the presence of the Lord is there and that people are praying for them....

Anyways, I guess I don't have much else to say at the moment....I pray that the Lord's presence is very real and very close to each of you and that you will experience the joy of His peace and strength as you go about your week...take care and God bless!!! 

Shelly Marie

Currently Playing Infectious By Go Fish see related

- Take Me Away

Just a quick note!!  Hope everyone is well....it's been a crazy few weeks here at MOCN but then again, what's new???  Anyways, hope you all are great and just wanted to say "Watch the movie The Notebook!!!"  It's great...they could've left out a couple scenes, but other than that it's great...and the blonde haired, blue-eyed guy in the movie doesn't hurt things either lol :)  I know, I know - I'm a sucker for the blonde blue-eyed ones - what can I say???  lol lol....anyways, have a good week and God bless ya!!

Shell

Romans 15:13