Summer is Here!

Thank goodness for summer! It has been almost a week since I left school and I have spent much of that time with my family. I may have had an over-indulgence in self-care this last week – I went to the public library several times, re-organized my room, did a bit of spring cleaning, and snuggled with my pup, Echo. I am so happy to be home!!

 

The end of the semester came more swiftly than I would have ever imagined. Preparing for exams was a lot less stressful than it was last semester, although knowing I had to pack everything away for the summer was taxing my concentration.

 

Taking the HESI this semester was quite an experience. We were told that there was a focus on mental health and pharmacology, both subjects in which I excelled. The exam itself was more difficult than I anticipated and it was disturbing how unprepared I felt for it. Considering it started off finals week, the unexpected results shed a pall over the second semester students. As if we needed more excuses to drink.

 

Despite the challenge finals posed, it was such a relief to be able to pack and move on my own. Usually my parents come and help, but… sometimes three is a crowd. I was fortunate enough to find storage nearby the campus. After my last final I hastily packed up my things and, with the help of several friends, moved them into the storage unit. Neither my things nor us movers sustained damages, physically or otherwise.

 

Before I came “home” home, I was able to have drinks with my traveling aunt and help my cousin with a graduation speech. I adopted for the summer my friend’s fish and was even able to bond with it slightly before making the long(-ish) journey home.

 

Now that I am home, I am waiting on my CNA license to come through to practice at a local clinic or hospital. The licensing process, however, is taking much longer than I expected. I may end up job-shadowing for most of my summer, but in any case I would rather that than random summer activities. I will be traveling a bit this summer for various reasons which I will explain at a later date. In any case, I will be blogging more frequently and hope that each post will be interesting enough to spend a few minutes of these long summer days reading.

 

(P.S. I passed all my courses, in case anyone was wondering.)

 

 

Seaside, Oregon

 

The first day at Seaside… Awful, but not bad enough to keep me away from the beach!

This weekend I had the opportunity to join my godmother and her friend for a trip to Seaside. The mini-vacation was much looked forward to as it fell the weekend after the first week back to nursing school. Though I had to prepare for the trip by studying additional material for the following week, it soon felt worth the extra efforts.

 

The drive over was long, to say the least – at one point we were stuck in the same spot for an hour. It was ample time to get on good terms with my godmother’s friend who had known me since I was little, but with whom I had never really had a conversation. We discussed many things, ranging from books we loved to pet peeves. As strange as it sounds, I felt like an adult. Not a student, not a youngin’, but a proper adult.

Of course I ordered pancakes!

When we arrived, a full-on storm was raging and we hastily rushed to our room for cover. Though it was late, none of us had eaten in a while so we arranged a motley dinner for ourselves. Unbeknownst to us, such diverse dinners would be our specialty for the weekend.

 

The next morning I arose early enough to read a book, watch the news, study a little, and make breakfast for myself. The weather had not much improved from the night before, but I ventured out for a run – and came straight back to a hot shower. Eventually we dragged ourselves back into the outside world for dinner and a shopping trip (it did not last long).

 

My excitement could not be contained…for long.

One of the things I was most grateful for was the easy-going spirit of my godmother and her friend. For instance, when trying to decide where to eat dinner, I half-heartedly suggested Pig’N’Pancake, a restaurant I remember going to with my family. I figured the women would want to try something a little more upscale and would not go for something more… traditional. To my surprise and delight, they both agreed to indulge me. One may imagine how thrilled I was.

 

Our dinner that night, however, was a little more low-key. It was Mediterranean-themed with and abundance of grapes, hummus, bread, hazelnuts… and triple chocolate chip cookies. What can I say? I do not mind being healthy once and a while. Honestly, it was a fun, chill night. We sat in the warmth of inside, listening to the storm while we watched This Is 40. Although I enjoyed it, neither my godmother nor her friend liked it so we immediately moved on to Kate and Leopold, a film we all knew we liked.

A beautiful last morning of vacation.

Sunday was a wonderful day. I had a proper sleep-in, rising after three snoozed alarms and reading in bed for half an hour. The morning was bright and sunny, perfect for a walk to a coffee shop with the anticipation of a beautiful, steaming cup of espresso (as well as fast wifi). Mass was relaxing and put me in a great mood to go for a long run. My run was only shortened a few minutes by the appearance of clouds on the horizon and forceful gusts of wind, swelling the sand around my feet, foretelling the inevitable return of Our Great Hydration.

With the decline in forecast and my early-evening departure by bus, we decided to make our way over to Astoria in the afternoon to do a little sight-seeing. In actuality, we made it to one pier, took some pictures, sat and drank some coffee, and shopped for antiques.

 

I cannot express enough how pleasant and refreshing the weekend was after the shock of returning to nursing school. Although nothing terribly difficult or horrible occurred during the week, my mindset was a little boggled and I needed the extra time away from campus to settle myself back into the groove of studying, critically thinking, and caring. The weekend allowed me to catch my breath before diving back in to the chaos that is nursing school.