No more classes this quarter, but I still have three finals. To celebrate, Giselle and I went to Victoria Gardens. We originally went there just to eat, but of course we ended up doing some shopping. After browsing and splurging a little, we ate at Lucille's. Aah, protein overload. I don't care. It was delicious!

Over the past couple of days I've gotten at chance to do some reading for pleasure. I have four books that I'm trying to read, but it's taking me a long time to get through them. I appreciate that I've had the time to read. I probably should be studying for finals, but I need a break from school.

It's time to do more reading for pleasure. =D

Kristina and I got to go to the Hotel Cafe Tour at the HOB Anaheim. Most of the performers were unknown to me, but the reasons I went were because of Cary Brothers and Ingrid Michaelson. Both of them sound so much better live. I melted when Cary Brothers played "Blue Eyes." Ingrid Michaelson sang a new song called "The Chain" with two other girls. I loved it! She was really funny and entertaining. I definitely got my moneys worth that night. =D

The Chain


So for every Monday in March, Chipotle is giving away free meals to every LLU student. I went yesterday, and the line was so long. It went by quickly because no one had to pay. I wonder why they are doing this for us. I'm not complaining, I just want to know. Free Chipotle is always welcomed.

Tonight Kristina took me to Bikram yoga. I underestimated how hot and humid the room was going to be. It was 90 minutes of humid fun. While doing it, it was like torture, but after I got out of the room, I felt so good.

Now I'm going to read a David Sedaris book and drink my hot chocolate. It's dark chocolate because I hate normal hot coco. =D

My week just got a lot better. Today I had a patho test which did not go very well for me. I only started studying last night, and my focus was everywhere else but my studies. Even during the test I had a difficult time focusing. After the test, our teacher has the answers to the test, so I calculated my grade. It wasn't a horrible grade, but I was not pleased. A few minutes ago I looked online for the final results, and it turns out that she dropped a few questions which bumped my grade up 7%. I also got all of my homework done for the week so I can just focus on writing my Advance Directive paper. I am quite the happy camper. =D

It was a horrible, horrible, horrible week. HORRIBLE! Even though it was a long weekend, I was still stressed out. We had our Psych midterm this past Wednesday so I spent all Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday studying. Each day I studied for about 8 hours, and when I took the test, I was still unsure of myself. Here's the thing about this class, it's not like any other psych class. It's not like general psych or developmental psych. No, this is NURSING psych. Everything you learned in life and the logical thinking you do must be thrown out in order to pass this class. My entire class was really worried about this class because you think an answer is right but it's not. We have taken quizzes in class where the entire class misses a question and tries to argue it. But the teachers have this whacked out rationale. I do appreciate the communication skills, but most everything else I think is crap. On Tuesday night I got less than five hours of sleep so that I could study more for the test. I did get a little break on Tuesday night when Monica and Kristina came to visit, but that's all. After I took that test I was worn out. My test was from 8 to 11, and I still had class from 1 to 8. By the end of the day I was so tired, but I couldn't sleep because I had my psych processes recording due the next day. And today I had clincials from 7 to 4, where I played volleyball for two hours, do psych write up from 4 to 6, then class from 6 to 8. I was so tired that I drove to class. After my last class of the week, I was driving back to the dorm and Giselle and I just started screaming and yelling in the car to blow off some steam. I felt a lot better but still tired. The highlight of my week was getting Chipotle for dinner tonight. I am pooped. The week only lasted three days, but it was the most intense and anxious week I've had in nursing school so far. Oh! On Tuesday, for my gero clinical, I got to go to senior water aerobics and chair aerobics. Man, most of those seniors were more fit than us students. That's pretty pathetic for us, but it was fun to swim and do all that.

Happy pink, red and white hearts day! I spent a majority of it at the Chemical Dependency unit for my Psych rotation. It's the unit where people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs go to detox. Most of the people there didn't really want to talk because they were having withdrawals. Best Valentine dates ever! One of the things I got to do on the unit was get acupuncture. It's mostly for people who have chronic pain due to detoxing. The acupuncturist placed five needles on each ear. Each point was supposed to help a certain organ or part of my body. At first it didn't feel like anything, but as time progressed, I was so calm and relaxed and could block out everything around me. For the rest of the day I was in a calm and relaxed mood. I still am. =D
During lunch, our clinical instructor gave us Valentine presents, which included a chocolate covered fortune cookie. Somehow everyone went around the table reading their fortunes.

Brian: My fortune says, "Cling to a love like a the last petal on a flower."
Drew: Well that sucks because it's dying.

I'm not a big fan of the Valentine's Day, but my roommate is. Right when I woke up this morning, she greeted me a happy Valentine's Day. It's her favorite holiday. She said "Happy Valentine's Day" to me more than all of the other people combined.

I'm still pretty relaxed and don't want to do any homework. I think the four day weekend I am having also contributes to that.

The past 7 days have been really fun due to the fact that it was my 21st birthday. Celebrations started on Sunday when Briggitte randomly came to my dorm and took me out to eat at CPK. We watched the Super Bowl half time show there then went to Monica's apartment to watch the rest. Three-fourths into the game, we thought that it would be a good idea to pick a team to root for. We picked the Giants because they were the underdogs and the Patriots had that whole cheating scandal. It was a good pick. After the game, Brig, Giselle and I went to eat at Ocean Blue for a pre-birthday dinner. They have really good gyoza. It was nice to reunite the LSU roomies. All we were missing was Connie.
The next day was my actual birthday. Thanks to everyone who greeted me. =D Pathophysiology was my only class, and we learned about the heart. I would want to be a cardiac nurse. I think I would kick ass in it. It was a beautiful day so Giselle and I took some pictures outside of the dorm. It took us forever to get a shot we actually liked, but it pumped us up.
For my birthday dinner, I went to Cheesecake Factory in Riverside.

It was really fun. There's no need to elaborate any further. =D

The birthday wishes were still trickling in as the week progressed, and tomorrow is my birthday dinner with my family. But we will be celebrating a lot of things besides my birthday, like my parent's 35th anniversary (which was on my birthday), my cousin's birthday, and my aunt's birthday. February is always a big month for my family. I love it.

It has been a great day! I did well on my pathophysiology test, finished all my psych video assignments, found out gero clinicals is canceled tomorrow so I have absolutely nothing tomorrow, found a site with all the Scrubs episodes, and got to go to Panera Bread. Apparently Panera Bread is the new study spot, at least in Loma Linda it is. I've been there numerous time, but never to the one near school. Not many people go to Starbucks, but Panera gets really packed. I saw a bunch of LLU people there today. I really like their food there and their hot chocolate. Normally I am not a big fan of hot chocolate, but there's is bomb.

Chelsea: I didn't get all of my information for the Client Report Form.
Drew: BS it. Just make it up.
Chelsea: No. I'm an honest person.
Drew: Me too! I honestly make it up.

It has been a short week. Psych clinicals was the highlight of my week. I got to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and introduce myself. "Jennifer, student nurse." "Hi Jennifer. Welcome." I've only seen it on TV, but it's so different experiencing it in real life.

My family came over today, and my cousin got a Pleo. I don't know why she got it, but she did. It's cool but kind of creepy.

Now it's time to do more studying.

This long weekend was nice. I got to relax a lot and also got to do a lot of homework and studying. It's the most productive I've been since I started nursing school.
I had my geriatric clinical today. I feel so useless. By the time I get to my patient, she is dressed and ready to go. I just end up talking and watching TV with her for three two hours. Today we watched Nash and Walker Texas Ranger. After clinicals I made some macaroni and cheese. Mmm... It made me feel like a little kid again.

I'm loving this quarter so far. Seriously. Nothing has really changed since last quarter, but it just feels like a better quarter. Pathophysiology is increasingly becoming my favorite class. Disease processes, ah yeah! I think that Nursing Psych is going to bore me, but the clinical should be fun. This Thursday I get to play volleyball, and next Thursday I get to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Today I had my first geriatric clinical. I like my patient, but I anticipate a lot of sitting around.
I think that having a roommate makes a difference. I go out a lot more, even though it's not with Giselle. It also got me to cook more. Mmm tapsilog.
And this quarter has a lot of off days, like this Monday. Four day weekends!

Since I have no class tomorrow, I decided to watch one of Giselle's Filipino movies. I watched The Promise. The stupid movie made me cry. I hate things that make me cry, even if they are tears of joy. I hate crying. I don't usually cry in movies, even Filipino movies which are the most dramatic and the easiest to cry to. But for some reason I did for this movie. Stupid crap. Yes, I'm very bitter about this. I'm going to watch something funny and eat a piece of chocolate. Hah.

I think it's funny that some of the new nursing students spent $500 to $700 on books. We kept telling them that they don't need all those books, but some are just really paranoid. Just borrow your books. It's the best thing you can do.

I have neglected my blog over break so this entry will recap my vacation. 26 days of vacation have come and gone, and now I'm sad.

The first few days were slow because everyone was still in school so I just ran a bunch of errands. But then the weekend came along, and things started to move along. I spent practically every day with Jenelyn. And it wasn't like we saw each other for a couple minutes each day. We spent hours together. We had many adventures together. A couple days before Christmas, we had our annual Christmas party and gift exchange. It was a very long journey for Jenelyn, Kristina, and me to get to the party.
This year's party was exceptionally loud due to games and watching "Two Girls, One Cup." I didn't watch it, but here are some reactions of those who did watch it.
Mark was really grossed out, to the point of almost throwing up. But Gian actually threw up.
It was the biggest Christmas party yet, with several additions to the group. This is most of the people that attended.
This picture of Dennis and Michael really creeped others out, but it's just so funny.
It really didn't feel like the holidays this year, and I know I'm not the only one who felt this way. Christmas day just felt like another family gathering, nothing special. I killed time trying to take pictures of myself in the Christmas ornaments.
My cousins' dog was worn out from all the running around, so we started putting random stuff on top of him. =D
The day after Christmas was spent with Bryan and Megan. We went to Pink's and waiting in line for about an hour.
I think it was worth it.
After getting our food, we hurried over to the Arclight to watch Juno. I love that movie! "That's one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet." I'm very excited to get the soundtrack. After the movie, we headed over to Sprinkles.
Look at that sugary goodness.That night Kristina and Jenelyn came over to watch Once. It's a wonderful movie with amazing songs.
The next day we went to the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) to experience more culture. Downtown LA really needs to building more parking structures because it was horrible trying to find parking. I finally parked at the Public Library, which was about to charge me $36.50 for three hours. Thankfully I had a library card so it went down to $7. As we looked through the different works, I realized that I don't get contemporary art at all. Haha! I'm more interesting in "old school" works of art. This Jackson Pollock painting didn't mean much to me.
But there were works of art that I thought were cool. We went down to the reading room, and it had this cool red wall. Kevin and Kristina did their own work of art.
All of us were pretty hungry so we went to Japanese Village. Then we went to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA to see the Murakami exhibit.
His stuff ranged from cute little figures to erotic images. It was strange, but I liked most of his things.
New Years Eve was pretty lame, as I mentioned in my previous entry. But I did get to hang out with Bryan and Megan. We watched Enchanted. Megan was very engrossed in the movie. It was OK. I think people over-hyped it for me. A bunch of us were trying to figure out what to do to ring in the new year. Jenelyn and I ended up having nothing planned, so we went to Starbucks. Then we went back to our homes and had a lame 2007 ending. Oh well.
I spent New Years day with Masaki and Jenelyn at Japanese Village for their New Year festival. They had a lot of inexpensive things.
This past Wednesday some of the girls and I went to Geisha House to eat dinner before we watched Wicked.
This eggplant dish was amazing!
Kristina had a lot to drink that night. Haha! ;D
Jenelyn and I baked Sprinkles cupcakes that Kristina and I were supposed to bake in September. They did not taste like Sprinkles cupcakes, but they turned out OK.
Mmm frosting...
For Jenelyn's last day on Saturday, we ate lunch at Green Leaves Vegan. Everyone was pretty skeptical about eating there, but it turned out to be excellent. Khaing, Kristina and I went shopping at Old Town. We stopped by this chocolate store which had really good hot chocolate. Yum.
Now I'm at the very end of vacation. I have unpacked into my dorm, and so has Giselle. It's a little strange having a roommate. It's going to take time to adjust to it since I really enjoyed not having one last quarter. I am thankful that I don't have class until 1 PM and that I get to sleep in. Eleven more weeks and sixteen more quarters until the next break.

This little girl is adorable!

I haven't blogged in a while, which is unlike me. Since it's New Years Eve, it's time for the obligatory end of the year survey.

1) Where did you begin 2007?
with relatives in Glendale, I think.

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
single (and ready to mingle.. not really)

3) Were you in school? (anytime this year)
yes

4) How did you earn your money?
saving up money and living off my savings. Whomp =(

5) Did you have to go to the hospital this year?
lots of times, but never for myself or anyone I knew.. clinicals is fun!

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
yes.. it was not a pleasant experience, not because of the police though

7) Where did you go on holidays?
relatives houses

8) What did you purchase that was over $1,000?
does my 500 per unit tuition count? Technically I did purchase it with my money that I will pay back later =D

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
yup.. this year seemed to be the year to get married

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
not anyone close to me, but there were people I knew of

11) Did you lose any friends?
I thought I did, but I guess I didn’t. And honestly, even if I did, it wouldn’t have mattered. Haha, sorry.

12) Did you move anywhere?
loma Linda?

14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
yeah! Wicked, avenue q, mae, LA Philharmonic, I think there were more but I don’t remember

15) Are you registered to vote?
yes, since last summer =D

16) Who did you want to win Big Brother?
I don’t watch it

17) Where do you live now?
when I’m in LA, I want to be in loma Linda. When I’m in loma Linda, I want to be in LA =/

18) Describe your birthday?
I went with some of the girls to Goofy’s kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel for brunch.

19) What's something you thought you'd never do but did in 2007?
certain things that I would prefer to keep private, haha

20) What has been your favorite moment?
there are so many, how could I choose?

21) where did you go on vacation?
Canada.. I really didn’t think it would be that much fun

22) Any new additions to your family?
not that I know of

23)what was your favorite month?
September and December are tied

24) How much have you partied?
a little too much

25) Made new friends?
yes, all of my married/engaged/children-having loma Linda nursing friends.. so weird.

26) What did you do for 4th of July?
went to kristina’s for a pool party and watched various fireworks shows on the ride home

27) Favorite Night out?
too many to choose from

28) Name the instance in which you had most to drink.?
happy birthday Giselle and ardrin, haha!

There you have it, my year in one survey. It's been a fun year. I can't complain. I accomplished my goal to get into Loma Linda, which was a huge feat for me. I also survived my first quarter of nursing school. This year all of the major things were school related, except finally getting my own car. 2007 was definitely one of the best years I've had, I think it was because I had a lot more freedom.
I hope 2008 will be better than 2007, but I know that the months of April to early June will kick my ass academically.
This New Years Eve kind of sucks because I'm not doing anything exciting or doing anything at all of that matter. I did get to go out today which made this eve less lame. I wish I was doing something cool right now, but the greatness of 2007 compensates for this lackluster evening.

Have a safe and happy new year!

Fin.

I have survived the first quarter of nursing school. My schedule for next quarter is awesome! I don't have class on Fridays again, I don't start classes on Mondays until 1 PM, and on Tuesdays I am done at noon. Wednesdays I'm in class all day and Thursdays I have clinicals all day. My weekends will be extra long because I can go home Thursday afternoon and come back Monday at noon. =D

But now it's vacation. wOOt!

I really want pho.

This week made me happy. I only had a few classes this week because some ended last week. For one of my classes, our instructors treated us to pizza. I only had one day of clinicals because the other day was used for our patient presentations. The presentations were fun because we had a breakfast potluck, and we were all acting kind of crazy. My last day of clinicals was kind of disappointing because I didn't get to do much, although I got to D/C and NG tube.

Last night my clinical group decided we should all go to BJ's for some pizookies. We had been talking about them for the past quarter, and it was a good way to end our time together.


I really should be studying for my life-span development final which is in about two hours. Ah, I guess I'll do that now.

Oh, what a week. It was an incredibly hectic week. Although I didn't have class on Monday, I still had to get my patient information from the hospital. We had to start doing a more detailed patient information. It was really confusing because no one explained it to us. Tuesday was a very difficult day for our nursing class. We had due on Wednesday:

- resume
- cover letter
- assessment of the job market
- research paper on an influential nursing figure
- seminar folders
- incident report
- quantitative nursing research assignment

And to top it off, we were unable to turn in our research papers on time due to the LLU website. I was really happy when I finished all of those assignments, but my stress was just beginning. I had my head-to-toe assessment today. I planned to study and prepare for it during Thanksgiving break, but of course that didn't happen. Last night I was going to prepare for it but fell asleep. So basically, I had this morning. It was my own fault. I was stressing out the whole time. While in class, I wasn't playing attention because I was preparing. My friends told me I looked stressed. Arlette happened to have a stress ball in her bag and let me borrow it. The person who was observing my assessment was 30 minutes late, which did not help my anxiety at all. Luckily she was really nice, and I think the fact that we were both Filipino helped. =D It felt so good to get that weight lifted off my shoulders. Honestly, 50 minutes for a complete head-to toe is pretty difficult for those doing it for the first time. And the fact that someone is watching your every move while you are assessing the patient is really intimidating. But from here until the end of the quarter, it's going to be smooth and steady. I only have one paper due, but it's a reflection paper.

4 more days of class... 2 days of finals... =D