Wedding Samples and Quickie Update

What an INSANE MONTH.

I've been working my ass off like CUH-RAYZEE. On top of that, I was sick as a dog all last weekend and continued to work through it all (When I go hard, I go hard.). I'm finally on some antibiotics, feeling better and am still putting in 38 hours at the hospital/CIGNA on top of my full time school schedule. I go to work early in the morning, grab some lunch and head straight to clinicals til 9pm and then I come home and pass the eff out. And do it all over again the next morning at 5:30am. All in the name of a particular dress..... that I SAID YES TO! :D That's right! I found THE ONE! I had a rare afternoon off a week or two ago and on a whim just shimmied myself up to Conshohockon, Pennsylvania and found the dress of my dreams. I had seen it advertised before but wasn't really a fan. I am telling you brides out there: You just don't know until you try it on. SO. FREAKIN. TRUE. I had grabbed this one off the rack with doubts and BAM! Fell in LA-HUV. Butterflies, magical moment, my girlfriend getting teary eyed when the veil was on -- the whole nine yards. It's a bit steep on the price (still way cheaper than I would expected) but I'm still doing the sleazy thing and price shopping at several boutiques. I have not put in my down payment for two reasons: 1) I want to have the money in cold hard cash -- no credit card thus my recent bout of workaholicism and 2) most boutiques will measure you AS IS at the time of down payment. Which I completely understand. But I have every intention of losing 620 pounds so I want to hold back for a few more weeks. Speaking of weight -- I am back on my dieting trend and am shedding pounds again! Woo hoo! It helps that I have two part-time jobs now along with a non stop schedule in general so I barely have enough time to consume any legit calories. It's called the working-yourself-to-death diet. And it works like a charm. :P Anyways in more wedding news, I got some more wedding invitation samples! They are from an Etsy vendor called Beacon Lane and their stuff is adorbs! Here's a little teaser:

Okay, I guess it's not really a teaser because I'm pretty much sure I'm not going to order either of these samples. While I think they're quite cute, I just don't think they capture the "essence" of the wedding. I have a few more samples coming in the beginning of next week and I am SUPER excited about one particular vendor's.... I know! The suspense is killing you guys! Can't wait to finally get the invites out!

Brian just bought his plane ticket out here in November (I told him October would be a crazy one) and I'm excited to take some time off from all this madness and spend some fall times with the lover. I know that he's been feeling pretty neglected with me working like a maniac lately. But he's been keeping pretty busy at work lately (which is good because I told him he should ask for a raise/expect a bonus) so I know he understands. :)

Next week I'll be working most nights til 11:30pm so I'll do my best to at least put some short little posts up during the week. Please forgive me for my lack of bloggerism. I promise things will slow down and I'll be back to my blogging self shortly!

Peace and love.

Legit Grace

I love this picture.

Grace Kelly



Too gorgeous for words.

All work and no play makes Gina a sh*tty blogger...

My deepest apologies. I've been working like a mule because I'm so desperate to start ordering and shipping out invites!

I pretty much hated the sample invites that came in through via Wedding Paper Divas so I've moved on to some Etsy vendors that sell some BEAUTIFUL invitations (at least, that's how they seem online). I've ordered a few samples so hopefully they'll be in my eager little paws sometime next week.

As for my wedding dress search, I tried on some more gowns at Jennifer's Bridal Boutique here in Delaware and really found one Pronovias gown quite stunning. But alas, my heart thinks that it's not the one for a few reasons. Number one: it's totally not a traditional gown (which is what I personally like about it) but I don't think my parents nor Brian would be impressed by it. IN ADDITION. Let's just say feathers are difficult to pull off on a wedding dress. And I'll just leave it at that.

I'm really excited about an upcoming appointment I made at a boutique in Pennsylvania for Tuesday. I think I'll like a lot of the dresses they carry but we'll see when I get there! Keep your fingers crossed!

Okay I know I could blog on about a million more things that are going in my life but quite frankly I am just pooooooooped. I worked a 7am to 3:30pm shift at the hospital and then went straight to Cigna and worked until 8:30pm. So yes. It was a long day. Plus I have a raging headache (which I NEVER EVER get). It hurts to blink. :(

So this little lady is hitting the sack.

Updates to come when I can freakin' catch a break!

Remembering September 11, 2001

I was in the middle of Home Economics class during my sophomore year of high school. We were taking an exam when an administrator came in to talk to our teacher. I remember her gasping and putting her hand over her mouth and then the administrator left. We only had a few minutes left of the class but I could hear the kids near the front of the class whispering amongst themselves. The whispering eventually got back to us and my friend who sat next to me stated that there was some sort of bombing at the White House. The bell rang and I headed to my US History and government class where kids were already crowded around the teacher's desk. He got us to sit down and told us that he didn't have all the information but apparently a couple of planes were being hijacked by terrorists out of New York. Two or three kids immediately became upset and began taking their cell phones out. They stated that they either had family up in New York right now or that a family member was flying out of or into New York. One of them began sobbing because she had just received a text saying that were not able to reach her father yet and wasn't sure if he was okay. The teacher excused these kids to make phone calls in the hallway. He also announced that there would be no lesson plans today because the school was being evacuated and everyone was going to be sent home. Me being unable to grasp the gravity of the situation was ecstatic about the prospect of being able to go home for the day and my girlfriend and I giggled in excitement. Sure enough, announcements over the intercom began dismissals and I came home to see that my brother had just gotten back with two of his high school friends (We attended different high schools). We all grabbed some food and huddled around the TV to relax and have a casual afternoon. All we could see on every channel was smoke coming out from one of the twin towers. We weren't originally intending on watching the news but every single channel was following the attacks in New York. Within minutes of us turning on the TV, the second tower was hit. This was a bit of a reality check for me. I was thinking, "Holy shit, are they going to come down to Delaware and start crashing into our buildings as well?" We continued to stay glued to the screen and hear the reporters shocked reactions live and obviously our disbelief deepened when the towers began to collapse. It was surreal and I felt as if we were living in a movie. None of us in the room said a word. At one point the reporter began to call these series of events "The worst attack on Americans in history" and I remember thinking, "I can't believe I'm experiencing this. This is the kind of stuff I study in history textbooks." My brother's two friends eventually were being called home by their parents and my mother and father shortly arrived. They were particularly stunned and affected because New York city had been their home for ten years. My parents spent the rest of the afternoon calling all their loved ones in New York trying to make sure that they were okay. That evening, we gathered around the kitchen table and my mother asked us to join hands as she led us into prayer for those affected by the attacks. I spent the rest of the evening wondering why people would do such a horrible thing to us. If this was some sort of war-related attack, why were innocent civilians being targeted? Were the attacks finished or were there more on the way? I was so confused. I kept getting the feeling that somehow the world was now changed and it scared me. That night, I got up and knocked on my brother's door. He was awake as well and told me to come on in. He turned on his computer and we watched episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel-air that he had downloaded. As sleep finally began to creep in and blanket my perplexed mind, I gave up trying to make sense of it all and closed my eyes as Carlton busted out his famous dance moves in the perfect land of TV -- where planes were not hijacked, buildings did not collapse, and people did not die. Unlike many others, I would have tomorrow and many more days, God willing, to figure it all out.

Where were you on September 11, 2001?

Warning: Bitchy rant ahead.

What a god-awful week it was. Like honestly. I totally could relate to the people who go on those random shooting sprees in public places. That's how bad it was.

Here I list my reasons as to why:

- I was overworked.
- I was sleep deprived.
- People be crampin' my style.
- PEOPLE BE CRAMPIN' MY STYLE.


Okay so this week was my first official week of clinicals at the hospital which wasn't bad at all. It was a 1:30pm to 9:30pm shift Wed, Thurs, Friday on the maternity floor. It was easy-peezy. Clinicals didn't add much stress to my day except elongate my stay at the hospital.

Working on the pulmonary floor which particular persons is what sucks beyond words (Well I will attempt to describe it anyways).

This week I worked an 8 hour shift on Sunday and Tuesday and then proceeded to work 4.5 hour shifts Wed, Thurs, and Friday. That's right. So on Wed, Thurs, and Friday I was scheduled to be at the hospital from 7am to 9:30pm because of clinicals. Lucky for me, clinicals ended an hour early on two of those days so I got to go home around 8:30pm. Needless to say, it wasn't easy. And I'm an idiot for scheduling myself that way. Never again.

Anyways, in my last post I sounded like my usual cheery and enthusiastic self about my new position and how I was absorbing knowledge like a sponge and how everyone was great and nice and sweet and smelled like daffodils, etc.

Well let me amend and update some of those statements.

A particular SOMEONE who I will call "JEMIMA ON CRACK" has single-handedly unleashed my inner rage. Jemima was assigned to be my trainer on Tuesday and from what I heard from other employees, she was a trip. No one would go into any details but one statement made was "If she's still working here, then don't worry about getting fired." I assumed that this meant that Jemima was a lazy worker. That was fine. I could deal with that. I could be lazy myself at times.

Tuesday came along and I was already off to a rough start. I clocked in two minutes late. Crap. You're only allowed to be late 3 times before the hospital fires your ass so I wasn't too ecstatic about it. Anyways, I met up with Jemima and she was nice enough. She told me to start getting vital signs and go around checking blood sugars which I did. I got the feeling that she was gonna make me do all the work which was fine since I wanted to try to be on my own more anyways. But every time I came out of the room, Jemima had a new task for me:

"Room 7 needs his sheets changed. He just soiled himself."
"Room 10 needs ice water."
"Room 11 needs to be turned to his right side."
"Room 2 needs to be bathed."
"Room 4 needs a bedpan."

And what did Jemima do? She just sat the the nurse's station chatting away with the other staff. I was a bit annoyed at being her perpetual gopher but I took it in stride and stayed on my toes. During lunch, one of the patients had to be fed. He was one of my faves (we'll call him Mr. Wilson). Mr. Wilson is a sweet 87 year old man who suffers from expressive aphasia (which means he can't talk) and he communicates by signaling thumbs up for yes/good or thumbs down for no/bad. He's the cutest thing ever and I loved going in there and sitting with him. Anyways, I was in there feeding him his soft/liquid diet when Jemima comes storming in the room. She says "What are you doing? There's a million things needed out there. Someone just pee'd themselves and needs to get changed." I reply "I'm feeding Mr. Wilson. He can't feed himself and he has to take it slow because he has swallowing issues. I'll be out there in a few minutes. We're almost done." And can you believe what Jemima does? She storms over and yanks the spoon out of my hand and says that we don't have time to be feeding every damn patient that can't help themselves and we for damn sure can't be giving them a hundred tiny bites. She spoons up a massive scoop of oatmeal and shoves it into Mr. Wilson's mouth. I swear to god, even before he has a chance to get it down, she spoons up another massive scoop and shoves it into Mr. Wilson's mouth. OF COURSE, he begins to choke and cough. His eyes bulge and he tries to lean forward. Jemima tells me to get up and grab a wash cloth and that she'll handle feeding him herself. I am reaaaallllly starting to dislike this woman now. When I bring over her washcloth I try to tell Mr. Wilson that I'll be back in a bit to check on him and Jemima swats me away saying that there is a person that needs to be changed and that we're not here to socialize.

Okay deep breath here. This lady obviously has been working as a tech way too long (She's been doing it for 15 years). I figure that I'm just going to have to suck it up and survive the shift with this lady and I'll be on my own in no time so it's not a big deal. No use in starting drama.

Towards the end of the shift, I find out some HORRIBLE news. Jemima overheard me asking the clerk how to sign up for the remainder of my week's shifts and Jemima took the LIBERTY of helping my manager sign me up for the rest of my shifts. And guess who she assigned me to? That's right. Jemima assigned me to herself for TWO MORE SHIFTS. I wanted to die. This bitch was making me her freakin' slave for the rest of the week.

I'd like to say the rest of the week got better. But it didn't. The next day was WORSE. Jemima thought I was spending too much time in each patient's room so she began timing me. She timed my patient baths AND she decided that she was going to "REVAMP" every skill I had learned thus far. So she would stand over me and watch me take vital signs and blood sugars and apply lotions, etc. But Jemima would never just watch for long. Without fail she would find one reason or another to stop me and do it "HER WAY." She would have this STUPID saying: "Girl, you gotta work SMARTER, not HARDER." In other words, she would find some shortcut or other to make the skill get completed faster. For example. if a oxygen monitor wasn't found in the room and I would go attempt to get one, Jemima would shake her finger at me and say "Girl please, we don't have time for that nonsense. If it ain't in the room, we ain't gonna check it." Um HELLO? We're on a PULMONARY FLOOR. These people can't BREATHE. They have OXYGEN DEFICIENCY. WE SHOULD BE CHECKING THEIR OXYGENATION LEVELS REGULARLY. And by "regularly" I mean once every FOUR freakin' hours! Geez!

Ah. WOOOOOO-sah.

Okay. Now I understand everyone has his or her own way of doing things. I get that. But this lady is freakin' brutal. It's DEFINITELY her way or the highway. But she is a snake. She would try to be my best friend and pretend to be looking out for me. Jemima would constantly reassure me that she had my back. That was the worst part. Every chance she got she would pull me aside and say "Baby girl, let me tell you something. I hear what everyone says out here and they all be sayin' some things about you that ain't pretty. I don't know if you're gonna make it. So you just do what I tell you to do because I've been here a long time." Of course this stressed me out to the max. Like how the HELL is that reassuring??? So by the end of the second day, I was ready to snap. I decided to ask my manager whether or not what Jemima was telling me was true. Of course it wasn't. My manager gave me a wink and a smile and said that I had nothing to worry about and that they loved having me so far. She also told me that I shouldn't let Jemima get to me too much and that trainees had complained about her before so they were aware of how rough she could be.

What a relief.

After that, working with Jemima wasn't as bad. In fact, I began to feel sorry for her in my head. She had no clue what people said behind her back. I'm not saying that I'm perfect or that I know better than she does but I think everyone has a right to determine what works best for themselves and I'm going to do just that.

Anyways. I was pretty much on my own yesterday and the day went great. I didn't have too many patients so I was glad that I was able to ease into it. I work a four hour shift tomorrow and an 8 hour on Tuesday but I don't plan on cramming in anymore crazy 14 hour days. The stress is just not worth it. And it really isn't fair to the people I love around me. I haven't been the happiest gnome in the garden lately.



In non-WORK/SCHOOL related news:

News #1: My brother left for Australia and just confirmed that he's safe in Brisbane! That lucky dog! He plans on living the life out there for the next three months. I think his course of action includes trying to get a work permit in order to extend his stay out there but in the meantime, he's just going to enjoy the ride! I'm so happy and just a tinge jealous of him!

News #2: My sample wedding invitations came in the mail!!! They're really cute and I have 9 to choose from but I like them all so I might have to start a random poll. I'll put some pics up when I get the chance!


Here's to a better week! The best thing about weekends is that you can start all over with a clean slate and fresh mind! :D

Student Nurse Extern Extraordinaire!

So tonight was my third night on the pulmonary floor and so far it's been a blast/dirty job/learning experience.

I've taken care of a whole array of patients. You name it, I've probably cleaned their poop.

So far, it's been a pleasant orientation and I know for certain that I won't ever want to work on a GI disorder floor (No offense GI ailers). I had the pleasure of having more than a whiff of GI bleed bowel movements and geez LOO-EEEEEZE is it unlike anything I've ever encountered before. Anyways, let me stop myself before I am in breach of any privacy policies out there.

Most everyone on the unit has been gracious and generous with their knowledge and I am grateful to be on a floor full of a fairly younger crowd (meaning early to late 20s). I am still three shifts from being on my own but I'm pretty much getting the hang of things. The job is really not difficult at all and it's a matter of being able to prioritize your tasks. Pretty much like every other job out there.

I feel so welcomed!!!!

The best part of the job has to be the patient interactions. It's great to meet people that appreciate and need your help because it really makes me feel as if I'm doing some good in the world. Yes I'm getting paid to scrub your back but I also am wholeheartedly hoping to assist you in your recovery. It's probably the best feeling in the world knowing that you're brightening up someone's day just by offering to brush their bed matted hair or help them put on some makeup, etc. It's amazing to see how much the little things mean to patients, especially the ones that are admitted on the floor long-term. It's no wonder that the majority of hospitalized patients have comorbid depression and anxiety. I would HATE to have to be cooped up in a bed with sickly, dying patients all around me. Sometimes it's depressing just working there!

Since I'm still in training and paired up with another extern, it's easy for me to catch some extra social time with the patients. I'm sure this won't be the case once I'm on my own and having to take care of double the patients, but while I'm orienting, I will take full advantage of the extra time on my hands and work on the humane aspects of care such as engaging in genuine casual conversations with people. This seems to make almost any patient happy. Most people just want to know that you're really LISTENING to them and not just another item on a to-do list. I don't want to call any nurses out but I am 100% sure that I never want to be hospitalized EVER and if I ever am, I want a friend or family member to be with me at ALL TIMES. I'm talking like, NEVER LEAVE MY BEDSIDE. I understand nurses are busy and have a ton on their plate but honestly, a lot of the nurses I've watched seem to be a bit... too nonchalant. They've seen it all so nothing ever phases them, nothing ever incites them to immediate action, which is good sometimes but other times it just means that these nurses are going to take their sweet ol' time doing anything. Which sucks when you're a 90 year old man that just wants assistance getting to the toilet because he's going to crap his pants. I swear the average wait time between you pressing the call bell for assistance and you actually getting someone to step into your room is like.... 10 minutes! Yeah. Painful!

Anyways, that's enough of that rant. There are some really good nurses out there and I'm going to strive to be one of them. And that's all I got to say about that.

Gifts from a dear patient. I was so touched!

Anyways, I get a day of rest tomorrow and will spend it doing glorious NOTHINGNESS.


I love life. And am thankful for my health.

My newest toy and FIVE more dresses!

Dude. I am totally converted.

I am obsessed with my new french press thermos (Thank you fabulous future sister-in-law).

So. Pretty.



Essential for my mornings at the hospital.

 Definite recommend.

So yes, I am back to my busy bee little self. I had an orientation this morning at a veterans' hospital for the psychiatric ward there and then I had the rare occasion of having the afternoon off so Anneliese and I decided to hit up a bridal boutique for some more dress try-ons! Yayyyy!

For your viewing pleasure:

I forgot the name of this brand but the company not in business anymore anyways.

A very popular Maggie Sottero dress.

Don't remember the brand but it was my first taffeta dress!

Such lovely details!

An older Maggie. Twas vintage-pretty.



Honestly. Mags has the BEST destination gowns!

 I think this brings my dress count total to.... around 80ish? I've tried on a CRAPLOAD of dresses! HOLY MOLEY. I am still feeling like I haven't found "THE ONE" but just like the whole venue searching fiasco, I'm sure I'll cave at some point and pick a dress that I'm content with and slowly fall in love with it more and more as we get closer to the wedding date (I'm ECSTATIC about our Vancouver Art Gallery venue now!). All I have to do in the meantime is start saving up for my gown down payment!


Other exciting wedding news: The first wave of invitation samples are being sent to my house on Wednesday! SOOOOOOOOO looking forward to picking out the PERFECT invite and getting them out to my guests. Brian is working on the catering options and we've pretty much narrowed down our choices to two caterers (Culinary Capers and Savoury Chef). I'm leaving it up to Brian and Mama Gregg to do the tasting honors and determine which is better! Hopefully the menu will be setttled upon within the month and I will be able to get the invites out no later than November!!! We are well on our way! :)

Tomorrow will be GRUELING. I work the morning 7a to 3:30p shift at the hospital and then have to trudge on over to CIGNA for a few more hours. It's pretty much gonna be a minimum 12 hour work day. Whelps. Gotta start makin' that dough in order to supplement my painfully fabulous tastes!  Cheers to makin' that PAYPURR. Let it rain! :)