What's up?

I have declared today to be a lazy day. I have only 3 days left of Christmas break and I feel like I have spent most my days worrying about what I was going to clean or working. Of course Christmas fell in between that too and for the most part it was a success minus the eating too much and feeling bloated for days. I am not kidding... my Christmas day meal consisted of a lettuce salad because the weekend prior we spent time with the Heinsens at the cabin and Auntie Michelle, Danny and Cody brought us a lavish lunch of lasagna. The girls received a slew of wonderful gifts and have enjoyed watching their new favorite movie Brave, it plays every morning.

I had the best intentions to run on the treadmill 3 days a week and pick up yoga again. I did run on the treadmill a total of 3 times and I have no idea where my yoga mat is. I thought I would take the kids swimming at a local hotel but my days to do that are numbered. We did venture out to the Children's Museum last week and after all my dismay about the ride down and whining about how tired I was... it was a wonderful day filled with learning and growing. We rode along with Shanessa, Laurie, Nevaeh and Parker.

But it is almost over and soon I will be haunted by assignments and iCal reminders ringing. This coming semester is filled with two classes one on the young, the other on the old. I also get to finish up medical surgical nursing, a 3 hour class that is interesting but often I find myself doodling because my attention span can only handle an hour of straight lecture. I also have two clinical days in the hospital in Little Falls, 8 hour shifts, which requires me to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. My schedule leads me driving somewhere 4 days a week which is one more day than last semester leaving me with Tuesdays off. I am trying to stay positive as I am blessed to be able to go to school full-time and work when I can around my schedule but as most of you know school requires your 24 hour attention and it seems to always nag at you, just when you cross an item off the list you can't help but think of the next thing that needs to me crossed off. Really the list isn't gone until the semester is gone. I also added a A&P II class that starts in March, it is an 8 week online class, a pre-req for the RN program, of which I need to get my ducks in a row and keep my fingers crossed I get in in the fall. If not, I have thought about getting my EMT license. And, I have already thought about the NCLEX exam, that scary thing I need to pass in order to become an LPN and move on into the RN program. I can take the exam in July along with a couple summer classes, comp II and dosage calculation. The reason I can't take the exam until midsummer is I have clinical 3 for a month of so after spring semester before I am officially done with the LPN program. Are you lost? Well I sometimes find myself lost too but after the fall semester I maintained a decent GPA considering you need a 94% for an A-, my average was above a 3.5 with 2 A's, 1 A- and 4 B+'s. In order to obtain a B+ I needed 89% to 93.4%... so if this were normal grading like, I would have all A's because my B+'s were all above 90%, one was actually 93.75% but that class didn't round up. Ugh... but it isn't about the grades, it is about passing and that is 80% and I am thankful I didn't have to ride close to that line at all. All nursing programs maintain an 80% or above to pass and we should be thankful for that, right? Who wants a nurse that only knows 70%? Not me, I guess... however when we learn we retain for a short time and we really learn from experience.

So I can chalk up my break to a calendar with something on it everyday except 4 days. Many days were filled with MLHS, 14 days to be exact.

But it was nice...  I now know the words to the title song in the move Brave, which I have heard to many times to count. But is cute because Hadley loves it and sings it out loud...
It is kinda relevant to my life...

When cold winds are calling,
And the sky is clear and bright,
Misty mountains sing and beckon,
Lead me out into the light.

I will ride, I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky,
I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky.

Where dark woods hide secrets,
And mountains are fierce and bold,
Deep waters hold reflections,
Of times lost long ago.

I will hear their every story,
Take hold of my own dream,
Be as strong as the seas are stormy,
And proud as an eagle's scream.

I will ride, I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky,
I will fly,
Chase the wind and touch the sky.

And touch the sky.

Chase the wind, chase the wind.

Touch the sky.