Dog Days of Summer

Not much has happened since my last post, other than signing up for a half marathon in October and the 4th of July, and doing some shopping (I bought a pair of Hunter boots.. they're so useful!). It's kind of crazy that I decided to do this, because I've NEVER done more than 4 miles at a time, but I guess it's now or never! I've always said I wanted to run in a half, and now is the time to train since I'm not super busy and fall semester is our easiest semester in the program! Tomorrow ends "week 1" of the training program I am using. I am using Hal Higdon's Novice 1 program! It's going well, except Thursday I had a little too much fun in the sun and I've had 2 painful runs since then with lots of cramping and heavy legs! I hope to finish the race in 2:37 or less.

Other than running, I've been babysitting a lot, as well as working at my full time nannying job. The 4th of July was Thursday, and that was fun! I went to my friend Dana's party, and after that, I went and watched fireworks with my friend Amanda and her boyfriend Zach, as well as her mom, aunt, niece, sister, and her sister's boyfriend! Then Amanda and Zach and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I indulged a little (OOPS!) and I came home.

Today I woke up at 6:45 and ran 3.1 miles. I was supposed to do it last night, but the run wasn't going very well so I cut it short (by 1.5 miles... oops! Haha) and ended up going to Dana's to hang out! After eating breakfast and showering, I've just been lounging around, using my foam roller, stretching and icing in preparation for my long(er) run tomorrow. I'm excited for it! I'm going to my old friend Allison's in a little to lay out and enjoy the sun. I haven't seen her since March, so I'm really excited!!! Tomorrow I babysit and I have my long run, so wish me luck! I have a good feeling about tomorrow's run though :)

I've been slowly preparing for the big move! I move my things into my apartment in about 2 and a half weeks, and I move for good in a little less than 5 weeks! I'm so excited. I have just about everything I need, other than shoes for clinicals, and I've even been doing a little bit of crafting (picture soon to come!). I am so excited to move to Durham!

Is it possible for summer to be flying by, but moving slowly at the same time?!

In one sense, I can't believe it's already June 17th. But I'm also over here thinking... is it really ONLY June 17th?! June is almost over, which is really exciting, but I still have to get through July. This is going to be difficult for me, because I'm so anxious and excited to begin nursing school! Lately, all I've been doing, beyond working, running, and online shopping (a bad addiction I can't seem to kick... thanks, Ruelala!) is preparing for nursing school. Applying for loans took up lots of time and energy (both physical AND mental energy), and after that, I had to take care of things for the apartment. Today, I officially got the electricity taken care of. Thankfully, there is no deposit to be made (THANKS PAPA!) which saves my roommate and I some money! I'm all about saving money ;)

I also had an advising appointment with a financial aid counselor at Duke this morning. I am amazed by how much personalized attention we all receive, and I absolutely love it. I'm not used to it, coming from a huge public university, and a fairly large public high school before that... but it's really nice that they take an interest in their students. It's a pretty big change from what I've experienced in the past! The financial aid counselor spent over 30 minutes on the phone with me, and catered the advising session to ME - it wasn't generic at all. You could tell she had spent a lot of time going over my record and my finances. She was so helpful in guiding me towards a personalized budget. Afterwards, I thought of a few more questions that I wanted to email her, and she responded to me almost immediately afterwards. I am so appreciative of their hard work and dedication. Figuring out finances is one of the most difficult parts of preparing to enroll at Duke, and she made everything so painless and easy for me, along with explaining everything to me in an easy-to-understand way :)

This week, I am off, besides babysitting Friday night. It's really nice to have the week off, especially since I had to stay with the boys Thursday night AND Friday night, and some of Saturday morning last week! My best friend Stef came to visit Saturday, and we spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday at the beach. Last night, I purchased my parking pass for school, which was incredibly exciting. It made everything seem a bit more real!

As for this week, I don't have any particular plans, other than going to Gainesville on Thursday to take care of some paperwork, as well as bring up some stuff that we will be moving to Durham.

I'm really excited to not have anywhere to be at a certain time this week. It's going to be WONDERFUL!

I feel like I have to apologize for some of the grammar mistakes in my blog, as my mom called attention to this last night. Sorry for the bad grammar y'all! And mom, if you're reading this, don't worry... I plan on making more of an effort to use proper grammar even though this is a casual thing ;)

Here are pictures from some of the important things that have happened the past few months :)

Pictures from my Duke interview! The first collage is of the chapel. They showed us

the chapel during our interview and let us go inside and take pictures. The second picture

is at a restaurant in Downtown Durham called Dame's Chicken and Waffles.

It was really good!

Not only did I receive admission to Johns Hopkins, but I was offered the Fuld Leadership Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University!

The day I was admitted to Duke :) I'll never forget it! I was on the 5th floor at Shands, and I was waiting for an elevator. I had been making copies in nursing education, and afterwards, I had to go all the way to the ground floor and take the tunnel to the hospital across the street (to the building we call the "South Tower"). I  was so anxious to find out if I got in, and as I was making copies in nursing education, I started to get this feeling that I would get the email while I was in the tunnel, and I wouldn't have service to check my application status! As I was walking to the elevator with my copies, I decided to check my email before I lost service. THE EMAIL HAD ARRIVED! I put my papers down on an empty bed in the hallway, logged in to check my status, and waited with bated breath. I remember shaking as I typed in my log in info. When the page pulled up, I thought I was going to pass out. CONGRATULATIONS! was written across the top of the page, with a letter to welcome me into the program. I had gotten in! I was so excited and so were all of the people around me waiting for the elevator as well, hence the silly picture above. It was one of the best days of my life :) 

A night out at Balls with my best friend Stef!

Stef and I visiting our friend Vicki at UF's Dance Marathon in April

Emily and Kelsey and I at my last Techno Tuesday as an undergrad :( love these girls so much! We've had so many fun times together and made so many memories the past three years. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them, especially during football season! "SportsCenter on SportsCenter on SportsCenter"!

ESG 12-13 Exec Board at the 2013 Spring Banquet! Loved working with these ladies. I'm going to miss this lots.

Stef and I at Balls... AGAIN! This time for AYCD from 6-8! It was our favorite bar this year :)

Graduation pictures with 2 of my best friends, Amanda and Stef :) thanks to my wonderful friend and roommate Ashley for taking them for us!

My good friend Sarah and I at a going away party for some of our teachers :)

Stef and I waiting in line for our LAST all you can drink at Balls as undergrads! It was a fun night!

My friend Ashley and I waiting to graduate!

Right before walking across the stage :)

Sarah came to watch me graduate! I love her. I'm going to miss her so much :(

Amanda stayed in town for 2 extra days to watch Stef and I walk! Love her lots :)

My sweet friends and roommates, Ashley and Melissa, made me this :) they were amazing roommates and are such good friends to me. I'm so sad we won't be living together anymore, but I'm happy because I know we will stay close friends forever! I'm also lucky to know that their hometown is only 30 minutes away from mine, so I can visit them whenever we are all back in town :)

Kelsey turns 21! And her sign reveal :D

We went to Univeral/IOA/Harry Potter World and City Walk for Kelsey's 21st!

Stef, Emily, Kels & I before dinner and going out

Memorial Day!

Back home in Melbourne for the summer, drinking by the river with my friend Sandy and her boyfriend Taylor

So, it's been awhile since I last updated, and lots has happened, such as the end of my internship, graduation, and moving back home for the summer for a full time nannying job. However, as most of you know, I have heard back from every school I have applied to and have decided that I will be attending Duke University's School of Nursing in the fall!

I'm so excited and I can't wait to update my blog regularly with pictures and stories. I didn't do the best job of it due to how busy my spring semester was, but I promise that I'll do a better job when I move to Durham!

On a different note, even though the excitement is building and I'm anxious to begin my new journey, I am dealing with a completely different animal in preparation for the fall start... I have to apply to PRIVATE LOANS. It is scary and quite daunting! I am also preparing for my first "big girl" apartment. You may be wondering, what makes this apartment different from the ones I've lived in in Gainesville? The difference is in these apartments in Durham, nothing is included. You have to get the electricity turned on without the help of the apartment, as well as getting the cable and internet hooked up. For some people, this is normal, but this is very different from anything I'm used to. Finding an apartment that also had a washer and dryer was way more difficult than I expected! I guess I was just spoiled by "college living" apartments!  I'm also preparing for the big move by renting a Uhaul (for my furniture).

This move is one of the craziest things I've ever done, but I'm loving that I'm venturing out on my own and trying something new. Duke may not be as far as some of the other schools I had applied to, and may still be in the same region of the country as my undergrad school, but I am confident that I am still breaking out of my comfort zone by moving 4 states away, and that this will be one of the best experiences of my life!

Interviews, internships and more

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had wonderful Christmas holidays, and a happy New Year's! I haven't updated in awhile because I've been so busy. A lot has happened since I last wrote! First of all, I started my internship in the PICU at Shands Children's Hospital, which has been amazing. I learn so much every day, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity! I've even gotten to go to the OR and watch an open heart surgery! :)

Some of my HEB friends and I on the first day of our internship at Shands

Since I last posted, I received news that I have been invited to interview at Duke's accelerated BSN program, which is so exciting! They have selected 42% of their applicants to interview, so I feel pretty blessed to have gotten this far in the application process. I can't wait to interview there! I invited two of my best friends, Amanda and Stef, to come along with me to North Carolina! We will be driving as it is only a 7 hour drive from where I am right now, and they will keep me company and explore Duke with me! I'm so excited! I will also be hearing back from Penn, Marquette, and JHU within the next few weeks. I'll actually be hearing back from Penn this week! I'm very nervous, but very excited as well. I can't wait to know where I'll be living for the next few years, and to start planning out the moving process.

Anyways, hopefully I'll have more to update y'all on after this week! Wish me luck as I wait to hear back from Penn! Some prayers would be nice as well ;)

Life on Christmas Break

So it is Christmas Eve, and I've officially been on Christmas Break for 3 weeks now. This is something that I never expect myself to say, but I end up saying it every long break... I'm slowly beginning to miss school! It's funny because during the semester, all you can do is talk about how badly you want a break, and once you get one... you don't know what to do with all of your free time! I can't wait for next semester. I'm so excited to begin my internship in the PICU. My Hello Kitty scrubs are just DYING to be worn ;) and of course, I'm ready to be one step closer to finding out where I'm going to be going to school next fall, and one step closer to obtaining my BSN and MSN!

Throughout the break, I've went to my old dance studio, caught up with some friends, babysat, went shopping, worked out, went to a close friend's graduation party, watched TV shows on Netflix, and SLEPT! It's been pretty uneventful (aka BORING), but I think that's a good thing since next semester is going to be a VERY eventful one!

Me hanging out with my mom's new puppy, Kaylee

Watching the sunset from the beach before a workout... so pretty! Sometimes I just absolutely adore Florida.

Cherry, raspberry, blueberry and lemon yogurt covered pretzels at my FAVORITE grocery store back home!

Me with one of my best friends Sarah, at her graduation party - CONGRATULATIONS SARAH! Love you!

And finally, a collage I made for Instagram! My mom is really big on doing "themed" trees, with a color scheme, and this year's color scheme was pink, white, and gold! I wanted to get some good pictures before we took the tree down next week :)

And tonight is Christmas Eve! This morning, my family ate breakfast together. My mom made crepes with Nutella, strawberries and banana!

After this, my mom and I ran last minute errands. We had to go to Target, Barnes and Noble, and Publix. I saw so many people that I knew while I was out! Part of growing up in a small town, I guess :) Then, we came home, and attempted to bake cookies... The plan was to use cookie cutters, bake them, then decorate them. First, the cookie cutters didn't work out very well, which was a little upsetting. And then, unfortunately, the cookies came out pretty burnt :( Every batch we made came out burnt, even when we left them in for only 5 minutes! We have no idea why! After that, we ate dinner and watched Meet the Fockers! And now, I'm sitting in my bed, being lazy. Good night world, and MERRY CHRISTMAS! <3