"How did you end up here?"

It's midnight, now Sunday morning, and I'm about 12 hours away from bedtime. My first night shift is tomorrow night, so I'm trying to reverse my sleep schedule. Thankfully, Cory is already a night shift pro (even though he hates it), so the two of us are planning to hang out all night together, go to church at 9:30am, then I'll go home and go to bed around noon to wake up at 5:30pm and get ready for work at 7pm. Actually, now that I'm looking at the plan in writing, it sounds like a really bad one. I think sometime between watching movies and TV, playing xbox (yeah, really.), drinking coffee, eating snacks, and surfing the web, I might need a nap. And maybe I should try to make it to bed sooner than noon. We might be rethinking church, unfortunately. In the meantime, here are some random facts and opinions I've discovered since living in Alaska. 4 weeks already! 1. It's really weird being surrounded by mountains and seagulls at the same time. I've nev...

My goal was to write a post every weekend, but it's difficult when you work 3 12-hour-shifts in row and still have 1 more tomorrow. I've worked 5 days altogether officially as an RN since my last post. I definitely feel more confident than I did a week ago, but the learning has only just begun. I had one preceptor, Anita, for the first 2 days who has been a nurse for many years (also know as a "seasoned" nurse) who was very patient and willing to teach me anything. She also randomly bought me a chocolate chip cookie one day, so she officially won me over. I have had a second preceptor for the past few days named Michele. Also patient and welcoming and willing to teach me whatever she can. She graduated from nursing school just a year ago, so we are on more similar playing fields. This has been great since she was in my position more recently, and it's really encouraging to see what a confident and skilled nurse she has become in just a year. I still ask tons o...

I will only have 3-4 months to gloat about the weather up here, so here goes... I couldn't have asked for better days to kick off my stay here! Low 70s to 80s during the day, low 60s at night, 20+ hours of sunshine. The natives say that it's been 7 years since they've had a summer like this. And they keep saying how hot it is. Makes me laugh. I think I brought some Phoenix heat here with me. I will hold onto  as long as I possibly can! Perfect for hiking :) So this nursing thing. It's pretty great. The past week of orientation had its boring moments that paralleled nursing school with power point presentations, classrooms, paperwork, and practicing skills, but the huge difference is that I got paid for it :) I did get to see my first set of patients on Friday while I shadowed a nurse for half a day. I still felt like an out-of-place student, but the nursing staff has been so welcoming and encouraging. There's still so much to learn and so much that I...

It's hard to believe that I've been an Alaskan resident for a week now as I recall the events of the last 4 months: graduating from nursing school, passing the state board exam to be registered as a nurse, turning 25, landing my first nursing job, and leaving Phoenix to live in Anchorage (near Cory who has 2 1/2 years left at Elmendorf Air Force Base. It's a thrilling endeavor living outside of Arizona for the first time, although so many changes all at once are a little overwhelming, to say the least. New city, new address, new roommate, new career, new car, new relationship phase...it's a lot take in. The climate alone is drastically different than the dessert that I've grown up in, but luckily this "summer" weather (60s and 70s) has been pleasant to adjust to. I had a small taste of winters to come when I was here in April when it got as low as 5 degrees, which I know is just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended), so I will soak up these 20+ hour sunlit...