to those who care

It's now been a whole month since I've started working at my new job. I get asked all the time how my job is going, so I thought I'd just write down a little update.

All in all, I'm LOVING my new job.

The hospital is so nice. It's a brand new facility. I don't have to worry about the water heater going out every morning, there is temperature controls for each room, the call lights work, we have these cool little Vocera phone things we carry on us so everyone can get ahold of us, and all the supplies are pretty well stocked. It's a great building. (Not to say that my old place was terrible. I loved Heritage, but I can't deny that it was an old building.)

My co-workers are all really nice so far. It's different working with a lot of nurses on the floor with me. At my previous job I was the only nurse on my floor. I got really close with my CNA's. But this job is great because I always have an army of nurses to ask for advice or help. The CNA's are good too, though I think my Heritage aides could work circles around the hospital aides. I miss them. The doctors I work with are really nice too. I love having the Hospitalist on the floor all day. I love having a pharmacist on the floor all day. It's a nice change to have all these people there all the time to ask questions.

The work is great, just like always. Most of the time I love being a nurse. It's a great job that really is very selfless in nature. I'm glad I picked a career that is so service oriented. I'm so happy to be where I am now. I am even more grateful for starting my career at Heritage. The knowledge I have from everything I did there has helped me so much.

I finished my training last week and I've now been on my own for 4 shifts. I really like being let loose on my own. It's great to train with my awesome coworkers and see how they do everything, but really there is nothing better than being able to do your own things on your own time and organize it your own way. It's been great.

Oh, and did I mention the best and worst parts? The best part: the shift starts at 7:00am instead of 6:00, and I don't have to wake up in the 4 o'clock hour anymore. I can sleep in until 5:45, take a shower, and drive to work with ample time to spare. The worst part: I get out of work at 7:30pm and sometimes later. So It's kind of a good and bad thing. I think the good outweighs the bad though. I'm loving sleeping later.

And that's that.

run!

Running Update:

Well, I still love running. Its great.

I finished the winter running series that I started in January. It was hard but it really motivated me. I have now completed a 5K, a 10K, and a 15K race! Pretty neat.

The 10K was my favorite by far. The weather was cold, slightly windy, and foggy. I'm not really sure why, but I was super motivated that day. I ended up running the entire thing without stopping! Yeah, I'm sure some people could walk faster than I ran parts of it, but I never stopped jogging along. It was great and it really made me love running more.

The 15K was miserable. We started the race with clear weather, and then 3 minutes into running, the wind and snow started. It was freezing cold, dark, foggy, and snowy. It snowed about 3 inches or so on the road while we were running. I was so cold for parts of it. I also stopped running the second half. I walked very fast, but I couldn't run. It was so hard and terrible. Every time I started to run again, the snow would blast me in the eyes and I would be blinded by the snow and by my pure hate for Utah. It really was miserable. I think that I will never want to run in the snow again. 

But I got my medal! It was great. It was worth it. If anything, this race series was worth it just so I could finish the races and figure out that I can finish them, even if I don't run really fast. 

What's planned for the future of Mindy's running? I'm hoping to find a half marathon pretty soon to do. I'll have to really train harder. It's been hard to keep up the running during the week. I want to find a marathon to do this summer. And then the 50 in October is still calling my name. Wish me luck and super human abilities.

I sure love running.

Dear Eligible Males,

Dear Eligible Males,

I'm here to talk to you about my roommate. You should marry her. Here are some reasons why.

She's a nurse. That's right! She's finished her four year degree. She has a full time, well paid position at a hospital that she loves. Benefits, YES! Health, dental, 401K. She's got that all taken care of. She's well off in the money department. She's got a pretty new car too, fellas. Marry her, and all this can be yours too.

Remember that four year degree? That means she's smart. But not just any degree. She's a Registered Nurse. She has a license to give drugs and stab people with needles. She went through the torture of nursing school and testing and she came out victorious. She's intelligent, can carry on a real conversation, and has a brain. All things lacking in most unmarried gals. 

Oh, and did I mention that she's trilingual?? Yeah, yeah, you went on a mission and learned Spanish? She can freaking speak English, Ukrainian, and Russian. 

She's pretty amazing when it comes to church things too. She's had 5 callings at once before. She's served a real mission, she is knowledgable in the scriptures and gospel, and actually likes going to church. She'll make intelligent comments in Sunday School. 

She's talented, oh man, is she talented! She plays the piano, mostly self taught, and can sing like an angel. She can cook amazingly difficult recipes and makes frozen yogurt. She MAKES it. She crochets, bead-works, and quilts. She was an interior design major for a while, so she's got an eye for making things beautiful.

She's funny. She's got an amazing laugh, she likes cheesy movies, her favorite color is purple, and she listens to mostly good music.  She even likes video games. The whole package, fellas.

She's beautiful too. She's addicted to chap stick, so you know she's got some great kissing lips!

Downside: she doesn't like chocolate or cheese. She's not into ice cream all that much either. But give her a frozen yogurt or something fruit flavored, and she's yours.

Seriously, dudes. How could you not be drooling right now?? 

So, get your acts together. She's the real deal.

5K

A few weeks ago my dad, the legendary ultra runner Davy Crockett, told me about a racing series this month that he was going to do. It started out with a 5K today, a 10K in two weeks, and in four weeks it'll be a 15K. Now, all these races are pretty optimistic for my actual ability, but after thinking about it, I decided to sign up and convinced my roommate Annalie to sign up with me.

Our reasoning behind this is that we need races to keep us going and to keep us motivated to improve. Like I said in my other post, if I quit now it will be so hard to start again, so I'm just never going to stop. I have to keep it up.

Today was our 5K. I was EXCITED all week for this. I knew I could do it, even if I had to stop to walk here and there, and I knew it would be exciting to run with other people. 

We ran at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. It was a warm 31 degrees this morning. (Warm for me! We have been running in 19 degree weather some days outdoors. I was happy it was so warm.)

Running was good. For the most part. It was a foggy foggy day and I was breathing a lot harder than normal. I ran pretty well! I stopped a few times for about 30 seconds or so, and then kept going. I ended up finishing about 38 minutes or so. Not too bad. I'll try harder next time.

It was fun. I'm excited for the next race in two weeks! Wahoo!

 

 

Bittersweet and Big

I am so excited to announce that I have accepted a position at Riverton Hospital on the Med/Surg unit. I probably literally danced around a whole bunch the day I found out. I'm so excited to continue in my career and learn more of what being a nurse is about.

I have loved my job at Heritage. Really and truly, most days I would come home and I would think about my patients and really care about my job. At first my job was so stressful and I would come home and just dissolve into tears, wondering if it was worth it. Then it became worth it once I knew what to do and how to do most things.

We had a nursing class reunion a few months after I started my job and I was able to talk with a bunch of people in my class about our jobs. I was THE ONLY ONE who could honestly say that I loved my job. I was so nervous about telling people I worked at a Care Center while they all worked at fancy hospitals. But guess what? I actually loved what I did. I felt so lucky.

Of course I didn't love every day. Some days were too stressful to remember and others were boring. There are things I wish I didn't have to worry about (like water heaters, supply deliveries, putting admits in the computer, answering phones, etc.) but I have learned to figure things out very quickly.

I always thought it would be the end of the world to work at a care center when I was in nursing school. But now I couldn't imagine a better start for my career. I have learned so much, used almost every single skill I've ever learned in school, and I've learned to rely on my team, my knowledge, and really care for patients. I've also learned to handle stress better than I ever have in my life.

What I'll miss most of all are my co-workers. I had the best managers, the most amazing CNAs, and some of the funnest conversations ever. I hope we'll all see each other here and there and I hope we'll work together one day. I met the best people ever. Like LaChelle, Sarah, Rebecca, Valeriia, Andrea, Chad, Jennifer, Greg, Nate, Aubrey, Brandy, Mandy, Lacey, Q, Val, Amy, and so many more that I know I'm forgetting. Amazing people. I can only hope that my new co-workers are half as awesome as these ones were.

I'm sad to leave. But I'm happy also. It's bringing a lot of thoughts and emotions. But all in all, I'm excited for my life. This is a huge change. Huge.

:D And I'm happy.

 

Obsessed

I found an obsession. 

In a million years I didn't think I would ever get obsessed with running. Wait, a billion years. 

Running and I have never been friends. We've been enemies since I can remember. Those mile runs in elementary school around the playground, playing soccer and the coach making us run a few laps around the field, running drills in basketball. "Fun runs" in jr high. So I picked swimming, a sport that didn't require any running. Until high school, when our team captains loved to torture us with runs. 

I think the farthest I ever ran and pushed myself in high school was a quarter mile. It was an "Indian run" that nearly made me throw up. 

I had knee problems in high school with swimming and so I didn't have to run anymore my senior year. I still worked hard at swimming and swam at state. But I was always so sad that I could never run.

My dad became obsessed with running in 2002 or so. His midlife crisis. Suddenly he was a trail runner and ran crazy distances. I thought he was crazy. I would mention it to friends and people I knew and they were amazed. Sometimes I even met people who read his blog and treated him like some sort of running celebrity.

In college I wanted to try running again. I signed up for the ROTC class and quickly learned that is was possible to throw up while you run. It was hard. I was embarrassed. So I bought a gym pass and tried to work out a couple more times a week in preparation for the Friday runs. I still couldn't do it and I knew I would fail the class, so I dropped out. I failed. It was depressing.

During nursing school, Annalie and I took up running for a bit but started out doing too much too soon and so I hurt my knees and stopped running. I had gotten to the point where I could say that I actually liked to run. But then it was too hard to start up again.

This last October, Annalie and I went to the Pony Express Trail 50 and 100 that my dad puts on. It was fun times camping and cheering. But we were sitting at the finish while people older than us were finishing 50 mile runs. It was inspiring to see how accomplished they felt afterwards and to see their determination. 

Annalie and I joked about running 50 next year. And in the middle of our joking it became a reality and the next week we laced up our shoes and headed out the door, running 45 second intervals to get us up to 10 minutes only four weeks later. 

Now that I have some specific goals and races in mind, like a 5K in a week and a half marathon in June. And of course, the 50 in October. I am obsessed with motivation for racing.

I live and breathe motivation. I'm not sure if its because I'm terrified of not accomplishing my goals. I really want this more than I've wanted anything in a long time. And failing is just not an option. I am not going to get this excited about something and start out with this much momentum and then quit or get set back or fail. I cannot do that. It would be the worst thing. 

I want to run. I want to keep running. I want to be a runner for good. This could be the best thing that has ever happened to me. It feels amazing.

So I'm obsessed. I have to be. I'm so happy at my progress and can't wait to keep going.

Dear Mindy

Dear Mindy of January 2012,

Oh hey! How's it been going? Oh yeah, I totally remember.
You were SO ready for 2011 to end. I think it was one of the most stressful years. You ended that year not feeling like yourself and feeling a bit lost.
Well, I'm happy to report that you will become a lot better. In fact, this year is fun. It flies by. But you do a lot and learn a lot and love a lot of experiences.
Work towards your New Year's resolution of going out of the country. But, if you don't succeed, it's going to be okay. You'll do it next year for sure. (I sure hope so, Mindy of 2013.) You sure do try though.
Visit Cyann in February. Take pictures. I know you think you will, but it would be the pits if you came home and realized you only took a few pictures and never got any of you, Annalie, and Cyann together. So, take pictures. Other than that, just enjoy your best friends and their adorable kids.
Go to church. I know you like to sleep, but church is really important. You always have a great testimony, but it helps to keep going to church and trying. Read your scriptures. It'll give you strength because a lot of things in life sucks.
Work takes up most of your thoughts, time, and worries. It's tough some days, and some days you come home wondering why in the world you do what you do. Hang in there, remember to breathe, and find comfort in your co-workers. They are awesome. Welcome change. Don't hold grudges or take things personally. Do what you know you should do and do it your best. You might even learn that so many people depend on and appreciate what you do. And you might even be employee of the month. Don't get discouraged when you think you're not good enough. You are doing the best you can. Love every day even if you don't want to.
Make time for trips. You are going to have a lot of fun exploring the west coast. CA, WY, ID, UT, NM, AZ.... You get around! Be open to new experiences, get excited about going places, and make it a priority. It's important for your sanity.
You buy a car!! You finally figure out you can do it and you make the plunge and buy a very amazing and cute car. It's pretty, it's awesome, and it's your favorite thing ever. Make a good choice.
You move quite a bit this year. Out of Provo, some where not expected, and then to a really good place. Moving gives you the opportunity to start new and bring about change.
Change is good. You become a different person than you were last year. It's a really good thing. The important things about you stay the same, but you're smarter and stronger.
You can handle a lot of things that you didn't think you'd have to handle alone. Find peace in your strength, don't dwell on the things you don't have, and have faith that things will turn out for the better.
Your family is amazing. Take time to get to know them better individually. It will truly add to your happiness.
And when you and Annalie decide that running 50 miles next year is actually not too unrealistic, don't let anyone tell you otherwise and get out there and run! You LOVE running! Miracles happen. And next year, when Mindy of 2013 tells you about the race, you will not be surprised at how it went.
Keep on keeping on, love yourself, take time to go on adventures, and have faith.
2012 was so much better than the year before. And it can only get better from here.

Love,
Mindy of January 2013.