Mission Field

Today I shadowed in Dialysis. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. First of all, I was only there from 7-4 which made it feel pretty short. That last 3 hours is hard :) Second, after transplant, I have a special love for kidney patients and feel like I got to see the whole process from pre-transplant assessment to follow-up during my rotation in school but I had never seen dialysis. So today I really got to see the entire process.

And the nurse I was shadowing was great! He had worked everywhere--literally: on the floor, agency, MICU, trauma, CVICU, neuro ICU, and now dialysis (I left some off). So he was able to tell me about all different units and give advice and he was a great teacher. He really talked me through what he was doing at all times. He asked what I was interested in long-term so I told him all about my love for transplant and why I thought it was so great. After lunch, he takes me up to the transplant floors and transplant ICU to meet some of the nurses. He introduced me to the Patient Care Coordinator in the ICU and put in a good word for me. Yay! While we were up there, he saw the Chief Nursing Officer (pretty legit. It doesn't really get higher than her) so he goes over and gives her a hug and introduces me to her also. I'm pretty stoked!

But none of that is why I'm writing this post. I was there for 9 hours- basically a step or two behind him at all times so we were able to talk. A lot. About everything. At one point he saw a coworker walking through the unit and so he started to tell me about how this guy used to invite him to church all the time. So then he started talking about religion. His wife is a Christian and takes his children to church but he isn't. He goes into the reasons why. While he's talking, the Holy Spirit is telling me to say something to him, but my mind is going through all the reasons why I don't want to. So after he gets done telling me all this, he says "I can see your mind spinning. Go ahead and say what you want to say." Sometimes Jesus gives me the little nudge that I need! So I talked to him about the gospel... about having a real relationship with Christ... about love versus obligation and a check off list. As I was leaving for the day, I thanked him for shadowing me and told him that I learned a lot from him. He said he learned from me too and learned that he doesn't really know everything. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm praying that no matter what I said, he heard Christ through me and that I at least planted a seed in his life (or help water one that was already planted...) Pray for him. He is one of those people that knows all the "facts," but from our conversation I feel as though Jesus is just knocking on the door to his heart trying to get his attention and waiting on him to open the door.

As I was leaving the hospital, I thought about my sweet d-group girls. On Sunday, we read some articles in Voice of the Martyrs and prayed over some of the men and women who risk their lives every day for their faith. We talked about how the worse thing we have to face is rejection. I am so thankful for the opportunity to talk to this man today. I have been praying for situations just like this one. It was also a sweet reminder that this is more than just a job. I will come in contact with so many patients, family members, and coworkers and this is my mission field!! I'm excited to work with this mindset and see who the Lord is going to put in my path. Keep me in your prayers!!

Go Green

Go gray. Go team all the way!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! No seriously, it is. First of all, I love St. Patrick's Day!! Secondly, it was like 80 stinkin' degrees outside today which was glorious and I may or may not have laid out in my backyard and read for a while :) I also saw the first tulips of the season which always brings a smile to my face. It's high school state time and the station is back AND March Madness has begun! Like I said- most wonderful time of the year!!

So back to St. Patrick's Day... my love for the holiday started in high school. State tournament starts this week and in high school we were always there-and always won. It was like this holiday was made for us! So little Spartans, if you are making the trip to the 'boro tomorrow to watch The Station take on Craigmont, head over to your favorite store and stock up on all the green items that will be approximately 70% off waiting on you to snatch them up!

2004: After our 3-peat performance

2008: Being a hardcore fan... You can't truly appreciate the shamrock headband I'm rocking.

St. Patrick's Day will forever be associated in my mind as a Spartan holiday. After all, THIS IS SPARTA!!


**I just went over my to-do list for tomorrow AND made out my schedule in 15 minute increments. Bring on the productivity!!

The Methodist Way

Today was my first day of orientation. 8-4:30 talking about infection prevention, safety, corporate compliance, and HIPAA- no bueno! And then the last hour was about benefits and all that adult business. I was doing really well at following the health insurance plans and dental and vision and all that stuff, but then we got into life insurance and retirement plans and that went way over my head. So I'll be taking the whole packet over to my parents so my dad can help me :)

We do have some pretty sweet discounts and programs though. Some of the things I'm most excited about are the wellness incentive program, the home store, and the zoo and grizzlies discounts. We also have an adoption assistance program that I'm pretty excited about. I know I won't be using it soon, but it's good to know about for the future.

But sorry to all the friends that I have ditched the past 2 or 3 days. My body is taking a little while to adjust to this new schedule...

Hydrate or Die

I'm home- and still alive. I finished! 13.1 miles under my belt. And it was so much fun! I know that's crazy, but it was. The first thing I said when I crossed the finish line was, "so, St. Jude in December?" There are always things that I could have done differently. I could have trained better. I could have actually followed the training plan. I could have eaten better and hydrated more. There were probably times I could have pushed myself harder, and maybe times when I should have held back some. But overall, it was amazing! It still doesn't seem real that I did it.

The course was pretty flat and straight and the scenery was great which made it a lot of fun. It started in Seaside (at the post office) and we ran down 30A through Watercolor, Santa Rosa, and Grayton Beach and then turned around and came back. Some people didn't like the turn around thing, but Sally and I had trained our long runs on the greenline and so it was actually nice for us. The race started at 7 on Sunday morning. The weather predicted thunderstorms all day Saturday and Sunday. It rained overnight on Saturday but the sky was clear on Sunday morning. The rain cooled it down some and it was about 50 degrees-perfect for the race! So those of you who know me at all know that I don't really do music, but my mom let me borrow her ipod in case I wanted to use it. When I told Sally the morning of the race, she laughed at me. We hadn't been training with music the whole time so I left it behind. There were people along the course that had their cars pulled up with music playing and one man that had set up a table with speakers outside his story. And the music really did give me an extra burst of energy and motivation so maybe next race I'll try listening to music (with only one earbud of course!) Maybe not, we'll see. Sally and I pretty much talked the whole time (which probably means that we could have pushed ourselves harder, but oh well). I got tired at about mile 10 or 11--not like hit a wall, I'm about to die, I can't go anymore. Just tired. So then I start talking to Sally about it because I'm trying to figure out what part of me is tired, but she tells me that we can't talk about being tired for another 2 miles so we keep running. FYI I decided it was my muscles that were tired. My lungs were still doing okay.

So fun times on the course... during the MRTC Winter Cross Country Series I looked like I wanted to die in the pictures, so for the half marathon whenever I saw a camera I ran really big with a huge, cheesy smile plastered on my face. Here are some action shots. And here are some of the pictures that I took...

Packet pickup!

My number: 2706

Before the race. Ready to go!

And after! Notice the Vera Bradley totes!

And this is pretty much how Sally and I spent the rest of the day after the race

Other fun things on the race: high-fiving Katie Wertz as she breezed passed me (By the time she went to register, the race was full so she just ran it for fun. She's just that hardcore!), cheering for Diana as she passed, singing and dancing as we passed all the music stations, making friends with other racers and encouraging each other along the way, passing--and beating--the three runners that we ran alongside the entire race, belting out "O-o we're halfway there. O-o living on a prayer!" as I leaped through the turn around, and listening to other runners conversations. My favorite was a husband and wife around mile 8 or 9. Husband to wife, "How are you feeling? Do you need some goo?" Wife's reply: "No. I need some oxygen!" Hilarious!

On that note, here are some of my favorite shirts seen during the race:
- Run Pretty
- In my mind, I'm a Kenyan
- We run hard so we can party hard!
- If you find me on the ground, drag my body across the finish line
- I thought you said this was 1.31 miles!
- Let's go out slow and taper
- That's not sweat. It's your fat cells crying

So now I'm taking a little break from running--at least long distance running. I think there are four 5Ks in April that I'm interested in doing. Now I'm trying to decide on what I want to do next. It's between Crossfit and P90X. Any suggestions?

The New Town... The Old Ways

Tomorrow I leave for the beach! I'm really excited and nervous all at the same time. I love Seaside!! It just may be on my top ten list of places that could be my second home (other places on the list include Birmingham and, of course, Branson) Maybe I should clarify that statement... By second home I mean I know it so well that visiting feels like home, not that I want to actual move there. Except Seaside, because I would move there. Anyway, Seaside is one of those places that just feels like home and I can't wait to get down there tomorrow. But I am also getting anxious about the race. Hoping for warm weather and a great trip. I'll post all about it when I get back!

Resolution Updates

February is over. Time to see how I've been doing on my New Year's resolutions...

1. Start a blog-Check!

2. Coffee dates twice a month- Not as many as last month, but check! Sweet times with friends (none of which happened over coffee)

3. Share the gospel/Disciple monthly- Discipleship this month consisted of setting the foundation and building relationships with girls. Excited to continue to form relationships and pour into them.

4. Take more pictures-Okay so I didn't do so well in February, but I will make up for it in March!

5. Buy a dog-This is still going to happen. I just don't know when.

6. Get certified to teach Zumba-Certification class is on the 12th. I'll post all about it!

7. Workout 4-5 times a week- So I kinda sucked at this in February. It happened one-maybe two-weeks. One of those weeks I was sick and one week I was studying for boards and doing nothing else.

8. Earn 2011 Activity Points-Well since I wasn't really working out, I wasn't really getting activity points (see above) so this is not doing so hot. Total APs: 227- about 100 behind. Still trying to meet this goal, but I think it's going to be hard!

9. Run 500 miles- Total mileage: 91. Still about 9 miles ahead of schedule.

10. Run a race every month- Check! The MRTC Winter Cross Country Series 10K was in February. It was a hard race. Hot and hilly, but I made it and the race was a good confidence boost for the half marathon.

11. Read 52 books- Boards kinda messed this up too. I read one and a half books, which means I'm going to have to be a reading machine in March! :)

So looking back, on average February was not very successful. BUT in ways that are not measured by this blog, February was a hugely successful month... check!! and because I'm keeping track of things monthly, I know exactly where I need to pick up the pace and catch up on some of my resolutions.