Leaving A Comment

To those who are either following our blog through e-mail, subscribing, or just stop by to visit and read, I thought I would show you how to leave a comment to the post you read if you are unsure how.

1. Read blog entry.
2. At the end of a blog entry, there is a link labeled "Comments". Click the word "Comment". (Sometimes it will have a number in front of it; that is how many comments were already left for the specific post.)
3. After clicking comment, you can see the ones that were left by others (if any), and then a box where a new comment can be written. This is where you would type in whatever you like to say.
4. Once you have written your comment, underneath the box says "Comment As: Select Profile". This is where you would click the arrow button to select a profile. For those who DON'T have a Google account or any of the other accounts listed, you can select the profile "name/url" where you would just simply type in your name so we know who wrote it. OR select "anonymous" and then write your name at the end of your comment, unless you do want to be anonymous.
5. Then click "Post Comment" to post it instantly after you verify a code (to prevent spammers) or select "Preview" to preview what it will look like before it's posted.

That's it. Just 5 simple steps. It's even easier than you think; I just elaborate so the steps are easy to follow. So, Happy commenting :)

School Update:

I am trying to get as much completed as I can ahead of time, so that I have less to deal with as we are nearing the end of the course. Especially, since Matt will be home in about a week, I would like to maybe have a day to slack off, although, we will see about that.

From the test on Monday, I got a 96%. That is my highest grade yet! She surprised us by having it all multiple choice; which, at first I was really not liking that idea since some of the questions are tricky, but it turned out - I did way better than I thought. I guess that always being the last one to finish a test can pay off. (No seriously, I am always the last one by at least 10-15 minutes....I'm just not a test taker, I over-analyze everything.)

Then, on Tuesday, we had a quiz and OF COURSE, I got a 100%. Ha, ha.

Happy Easter

For once in the past 3 years, Matt is home in the states for Easter....and YET we aren't able to spend the day together.  It irritates me! I am extremely thankful that he is in the states, safe, and that we are able to see each other rather than him being deployed but it just gets to me! It's not fair that he has to keep going to all these trainings and still can be deployed at any time. Since he got home in the very end of September, he has already been on 4 trainings; total weeks (at the end of this training) will equal up to 14 weeks! That is a little over 3 months. Thankfully I am able to see him throughout each training, but c'mon Marine Corps.
End of rant.
So back to my Easter post - I decided to cheer myself up since I am spending it alone with no family around, so I made myself an egg salad sandwich which was able to get me into the Easter spirit. I also picked up some almond mounds and marshmallow eggs. I guess you can say that was my "Easter basket".

Now that Lent is over, I can say that I finally stuck to my goal of what to give up and what to start and that I am able to cross it off our list since it was one of the things I have wanted to keep up with for awhile. I felt great praying each night to God to look over Matt and I and to always give us the strength through separations, to always try to do the right thing, and to somehow find a way to show each other how much we love each other each day whether we are together or apart. I am going to continue doing that every night.

This past week I've just been doing my normal routine of school and the facility site. I actually tried to get ahead of myself so I have less to do in the next week. I prepared my notecards for next week's quiz and test, as well as, already written my paper that is due this coming up Friday. Go me!
Last week's test was my worst grade yet; I got an 88.75%  I'm not a fan of "B" letter grades, I much rather have A's. Thankfully, our lowest test grade will be dropped by the end of the class, so let's hope this will be the one dropped. On the quiz last week I got a 100%. On the group presentation I got 18.5/20 points which is a 92. I got points marked off because I read the powerpoint, eh whatever.

Happy To Share

Today in class we had to present our group presentations that we got assigned about 2 weeks ago. Our group had 3 people (that's including me). Our presentation was over soft/mechanical soft diet. It was overall fairly easy. I didn't put too much time into it. It took me 3 hours to research plus make the powerpoint. ( I think it was the best one!) We also made a poster and brought in food samples for the class. Food samples were bananas (cut in half..I was even able to cut some into 3's) and then applesauce.
I think our group did great. It's graded individually too, so not as an entire group.

How the soft/mechanical soft food fits into the my pyramid chart

Nothing new has been happening around here. Same thing each week - reading, highlighting, studying, testing, facility site, and missing the hubby.

(yea, that's notecards for 1 test over 11 chapters.)

Speaking of the husband, here are some recent pics of him that he sent me via phone that I'm happy to share

Countdown to possible coming home: 3 weeks

(random side note: I realized I've used the number "3" a lot in this post.)

Another Week Down

I don't have much to write about for this week. I have completed another week of the CNA program. It's going fairly well. This was the 2nd week being at the facility and I think this week was better than last. Wednesday through today (Friday), we had our own patient.  It's really not so bad. Although, I still get really nervous and always feel like I have no idea what I should be doing.  I have 5 weeks left of the facility, so hopefully that will change and by next week I will be more confident. Plus, I am going to go to the open labs on Monday to get more practice. Not only will it help for when I'm at the facility, but it definitely will help for the state exam which costs quite some money and I absolutely do not want to fail - I would be so pissed if I did.

From my test on Monday, I got a 94% and my quiz from Tuesday I got a 100%. Go me. Ha, ha. I have been studying hard. Except this week I've slacked a bit but I'm sure tomorrow and Sunday I will make up for it and study all throughout the day so I can get a good grade for the test Monday. Plus I have a group project to present Monday.

I survived!!

This week was my first week at the clinical site we are training at. So that means I was actually working with real patients and residents, not just other classmates! I was so nervous this week. Monday and Tuesday was school like normal. But Wednesday through Friday are the days I work at the facility.

Name tag, Stethoscope (the thing around my neck) and my gait belt over my shoulder (used to help transfer patients/residents. It's wrapped around their waist)

I have never worn so much white in my life! White shoes, socks, scrub pants, scrub top, white top under scrub top, white watch. jeez. Sometimes I feel like a psych ward nurse/doctor from that movie "Shutter Island"

Wednesday we didn't get to actually be in the facility that long because OSHA (occupational safety and health administration) was there surveying and checking out the facility. we got a tour of the place that day. Thursday, I followed around another CNA to see how she works with patients. She really wasn't that friendly..or hardly talked. But like my professor said, they didn't get hired to teach, they got hired to perform as a nursing assistant.

Friday, I actually got assigned a resident. I was partnered with another girl, but she ended up helping out another patient for half the evening. Then when we got back from break, she joined me again. I learned a lot today and was able to perform quite a bit of tasks. It really wasn't AS nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. Most of the stuff is pretty common sense and things that I would want to do to myself.
I would have to say, the highlight of my day was feeding my resident. I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the feeding part.

Oh I got a 100% on my quiz from Friday and I got a 95% on my test I took on Monday!
I am really proud of myself. Studying is really paying off. I make at least 180-200 note cards each week. I cannot believe next Monday will be my 3rd week in this program... only 5 more weeks to go!

Matt is doing good. He's getting really tan from working outside all the time, or at least that is how it looks from when he sent me a picture of him via text message. I miss having him around, but we got 1 more month left. Halfway finished!

Rewarding And An Accomplishment

This past weekend, I ran in a 10k race. It was held on Saturday, April 2, 2011 in San Diego. The race was raising money for military families with autism kids.  So, Saturday morning I got up at 5a.m, and got ready to leave. I arrived early so I could pick up my bib number and chip for my shoe. Lined up at the start line and just waited to hear the gun go off for the race to start. It was a windy day and cloudy, but that didn't stop all the people, including me, to go out and run for a great cause.

looks like a person running/walking

There was no line up for the start line, so you basically stand wherever you want. I was near the front. The gun went off. Everyone darted off so fast and I was easily passed up by half the people that were standing in the line in front and behind me. I felt so slow, but then that 1 mile marker came up and it came up so quick, I felt great! I felt even better when I saw some of those people who darted off in the beginning, have either stopped to walk or slowed down and I passed them up because they had wasted all their energy on the first leg of the race.

Mile 2 came up. I couldn't believe I was already 2 miles down. I wasn't tired, didn't even think about stopping. There was a water stop break at 2.5 mile. That was my chance to pass up others who were ahead of me since they had stopped for water.

isn't this such a gorgeous view to run around? The entire island was just filled with this and water surrounding me. There was also a camp site, so I saw some campers sitting outside their tents watching. Some were fishing. It was really neat.

View ahead of me

Mile 3 - Half way to the finish line!

check out that big built up dude behind me.. yea, i passed him up and didn't see him anymore after that!

Mile 4 - more than half way, I'm getting there and can do this. I'm not even tired.

Mile 5 - Basically 1 more mile left to the finish line. I cannot stop now.

Mile 6 - Wow, that came up quick...  just the last dash to the finish line.  I sprinted so fast that I was able to pass up 6 people before I got to the finish line. WOOO!

I was so happy to pass up that girl. I was in front of her in the beginning, stayed together for about 2 miles, she passed me up for about 1.5 mile, then at the end I ended up passing her back up!

cute face, huh?

Wish Matt could have been there with me.

Results:
8th place out of 22 for my female age division (20-24)!
Overall, I placed 173 out of 286.
Chip time was 1:02:53. That's about a 10 minute mile pace.

How cute is this shirt design?

I am so proud of myself. I didn't stop ONCE. During my training, I stopped multiple times and something about that day, running for a great cause, seeing everyone else running around me, my adrenaline going... I just didn't feel the need to stop. I asked myself after I cross the finish line if I could have gone further? Yes.. yes, I could have if needed to. That's what made me happy.
Until I got home, then my knees killed me that day and the next day. Monday, I woke up and knees weren't bothering me anymore. Success. Another goal completed.