A Few New & BIG Happenings

Well, I took a little hiatus because the Lacey household got a little busy the past month or two. I know I still wrote a couple posts regarding food recipes but I never shared any of the exciting news! So here we go from March! (Told you I am behind.. I'll try to make it quick)

In March we went to Florida for a visit with family, a birthday party…. and to house hunt. Yes, you read that correctly. Matt decided he wants to retire from the military so we can start our lives together, build a family, and focus on what he wants to do in life outside of the military. While the military has provided us a great beginning to our future, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time (and still does even at times it is a little nerve-wracking).  Well, we quickly got ahold of an AWESOME  broker through the VA to help us along on our first-time home buyer experience. He set us up with a relator in the area of Florida where we were looking to buy. We looked at a total of 7 homes.  The 6th home we looked at, felt so right. It was close to both of our parents and other family members, in a good school district (thinking about that future, ha ha), good size house - not to mention MOVE-IN READY!! Scary, we took the plunge and told our relator we want to put an offer in. It was a foreclosure so we were hoping to get lower than asking price. Offer came back, they hardly budge. So, again - another offer. Hardly budge again.. we weighed our options and discussed what we could afford, and decided to say okay to their second offer. WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!  From there on, there were a lot of papers to be signed, documents to be read, papers to be faxed, money to be sent.. but about 30 days later, we were signing the official documents out in California (we flew back) on April 24, 2013. We were then new homeowners. It felt so great to have a house of our own that we could call a home. A home that will have our future pet and kids. A home where family can come over and celebrations can happen. A home where we will always be together! It seriously is still one of the best decisions I think we have made as a couple thus far.

Our last month, May, in the house on base felt like it dragged by. During that month: We ordered a fridge for the new house, I quit my job, I sorted out items for a yard sale, We both enrolled in school in Florida, and we started to prepare for our move by canceling services.
Yard sale day came the weekend prior to us moving.. it wasn't that huge of a success as I thought it would be, so I ended up packing it away for a yard sale in Florida.

and relaxed a bit

Moved out of base housing and began our move on Fri, May 31. Along the way we stopped and stayed with my sister, nieces/nephews 1 night. We arrived at our home on Mon, June 3. We made really good timing, and again - it was a nice road trip but we were so happy it was over too, haha.

Matt has not retired yet from the Marines, so he was on leave for a couple weeks to help with the moving process. During his time, he helped unpack boxes once the movers arrived, fixed the hose connection to the fridge, fixed the dryer connection to the wall, installed a garage door opener, fixed the  dishwasher and sink.  We went to get office furniture and set that up, as well as a few items for our home and set up all of our services. He really did help out a lot. I wanted him to stay because we just moved in but he had to go back to California for 3 more weeks (he will be back in 4 days now).

So, since my husband has been gone from June 10 until now June 28 I have been busy doing something every day. It has been exhausting but since he's left: Our fridge arrived, I bought and installed blinds, decorated the house, organized the bedrooms, bought a china hutch, changed the layout of the living room, sprayed the yard to start killing all the weeds for removal, and ordered curtains to hopefully have up before he comes home. I do have the picture frames laid out for him to hang when he returns! Haha, what a fun project (rolls eyes)

Not only the house stuff was accomplished. I managed to apply at 5 nursing facilities for a CNA position. I went on one interview, got hired on the spot but after further thought and research, I declined and decided I would rather take my chances to keep looking elsewhere.  Then just the other day, I got called in for an interview. I got hired on the spot, again. I accepted and so far I am happy with the decision I made. I will go in for orientation sometime soon and then start work.

VICTORY!

Split the V (clap, clap) Dot the I (clap, clap) Swirl the C (clap, clap) T-O-R-Y, T-O-R-Y....VICTORY (clap, clap) VICTORY (clap, clap) VICTORY!


Yes, I still remember a cheer back from when I was a cheerleader years ago. And I just LOVE how it still fits in perfectly when things in life go so well...especially, today.

I PASSED my CNA state exam. That means (drum roll) I'm an official Certified Nursing Assistant!

Passed Written

Passed Skills

Equals 1 happy Bridget

So, from now on, I would like to be called either CNA Bridget, Nursing Assistant Bridget, Bridget the CNA, Bridget the Nurse Assistant, or Bridget will still be acceptable too :)

Day 8 Military Challenge

30 Day Military Challenge - Day 8: Post your favorite deployment picture (a picture of "see you later", him coming home, or him deployed) and tell why it's your favorite.
I have more than one favorite homecoming picture from this past deployment but I will only post one.

This was our first hug. I love it because even though you cannot see my face, the smile on his face says it all.

Yesterday I got a large envelope in the mail from the college I am attending. I opened it up and inside was a letter congratulating me about completing the CNA course and also a certificate of proficiency. 

*Click to enlarge letter and certification.

Con-Graduation Day

Like how I mixed congratulations and graduation into one word? I know, clever. This afternoon was my "graduation" at the facility site where I've been training at for the past 6 weeks, 3 days a week. I feel like I do have an idea of what it's going to be like when I get a job and that I will hopefully have enough information to help my patients or residents to the highest quality.

waiting for graduation to start and families to arrive.

Reading a Nursing poem. Standing up to receive certification of completion and hugging instructor.

Half of our class (other half was at a different facility.

Looking back, 8 weeks went by fairly quick and I am happy that I made this decision to become a CNA. So far, I have enjoyed working with all some of the residents. I like that I am able to help others who need the help and the fact that this job requires a lot of talking on the job, ha ha.

Suzie and I. Matt and I. Karin, Suzie, and I after graduation.

Cake. Food. Suzie cutting the cake.

I decided already that I do NOT want to be a CNA forever. I rather become an LVN; which, can take up to 2 years. Heck, who knows.. I might even decide to be an RN but only time will tell for that one since the husband and I have decided maybe sometime in the year 2012 we will want to start a family, so if I cannot become an RN right away (which currently there is not a high demand for RN's as they are for CNA and LVN due to the economy) then it's okay, it's still something I can do in the future once the kids are in school. So the answer to #40: If I will make this a career? Yes, I will.

I am finished with CNA nursing school...next: state exam

You can blow up the pictures by clicking on them. It's so much easier to see and the pictures look a lot better!

• My overall grade for the class was a 96 A. (I received no less than 90 on a test and 100 on quizzes)
• Final exam I got 101 out of 100 (There were bonus questions.)
• I got a 25/25 for my oral presentation. The professor let me know that it was the best presentation she has seen in a long time and she thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot.
• My evaluation for Clinical was all satisfactory and I have nothing to improve on, just to continue doing what I am doing. My instructor feels I can go all the way and make a difference in people.

Countdown to State Exam: 1 week 1 day.

Bring On The May Flowers!

It is guaranteed to be a busy month for me. I have a lot of school-related-stuff going on. Also, this is the month Matt will finally be coming back home from WTI. I have a few friends out here (mil. wives) whose husbands are also coming home this month from overseas. So, that's exciting! One of them actually lives right next door to me. So, we might pop over for their party that she invited us to.

Here's how the month of May looks as of today:
May 2- Test/ Lab hours
May 3- Quiz
May 4-6 Facility (also Matt comes home sometime around here)
May 8- Mother's Day (remember to mail out something or call)
May 9-Test/ Oral presentations due/ Lab hours
May 11-13 Facility
May 16-Final exam
May 18-20 Facility (20th is half-day working, other half is graduation - YAY!!)
May 28- State exam a.k.a. the-cloud-that-is-always-hanging-over-my-head (it is most important thing this month it's simply either pass or fail and I'll know right then. So that will determine if my Memorial day weekend will continue to be good or not)
and if that's not enough - in between all that, I am reading, studying, cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and loving the hubby.
Insert: big kudos and props to my Mom for going to college and getting her Bachelor's degree while holding the fort down at the house with three kids while my Dad was away overseas or training. Talk about a full work load. 

Of course, there are a few birthdays in this month; which, means I will be mailing things off and find time to gather items up and send those off that I've been meaning to do for months now. Sorry to those people, and those people will know whenever they do get a package from us.
On a side note - I am LOVING Britney Spears new songs. Go Brit! I just may need to update my ipod soon, but that's definitely on the back burner.

And if you felt that I made this post because I was procrastinating about studying and re-reading for my test tomorrow, then How Dare You!.......you are absolutely right. Ha, ha. So I now will close this up by saying that writing out this month's schedule actually helped me realize how little time I have and  to prepare myself for what could be the start of my new career!

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!

What A Week!

Sorry for the lack of posts. But somebody in our household started school. Yep, me.  I started class Monday. First day was really overwhelming. My brain hurt so bad. I actually had called Matt to cry to him about it. I'm so thankful that he believes in me whenever I don't believe in myself and is there to encourage me through anything I feel I cannot do. I just hope that this is a career for me and I will enjoy it. I'm feeling worried about it right now.
The Second day of class was not quite as overwhelming, but still a lot of information needs to be learned. Thankfully, the professors gave off Wednesday and Thursday.

I am using these 2 days for reading, highlighting, note cards, and studying. First quiz is on Friday morning and then I have my first test on Monday morning. Talk about fast-paced, huh? That's not the most shocking part. The shocking part is that the test is over 11 chapters; which, is 179 pages. Yes, I counted. I honestly am unsure of how I'm going to be able to retain all that information and be able to maintain it all in my brain. If only there were a way to borrow a brain for extra memory....hm, maybe I should check craigslist; the website does have everything, ha ha.
I use to think that the days went by too slow. But now, they are going by too fast and I wish I had more time off. Funny how that works out.

Saturday I am running a 10k early in the morning. Donations are still being accepted. The deadline is on Friday morning. So please help support this cause. The money that is being donated in my name is giving me motivation to really run well that day.  Click here to donate Currently I am halfway to my goal.

All You Gotta Say is La De Da

Not much has been going on the past couple days. I have, however, been doing a lot of scrap booking. I've had most of these projects on my "to-do list" for awhile.
Other than that, I have been trying to keep up with a running schedule, but it hasn't worked out that way. I only have about 1 week left of training for this 10k before I want to stop and give my body a rest so it's not worn out by race day on April 2nd. This past Wednesday I ran 5.1 miles, so that leaves me with 1 more mile to add onto the 5.1 miles I recently ran; which, I think is possible. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into but I know it's for a good cause, it keeps me in shape, and afterwards, I get that awesome feeling known as: accomplishment

And on that topic of accomplishment, school is coming up soon. This week is spring break, then next Monday I have my first day of CNA class. I'm starting to get nervous about it but I'm really excited to get a move-on with my career, in hopes that I have actually found the career to stick with. I do feel this could be it!

Curious about my post title? Then check out this video on YouTube. I never heard of it until a few minutes ago when I was searching for a different video. It's not something I would normally listen to, but it sort-of has a catchy tune to it... ha, ha.

Say Cheese

I feel very accomplished today. I have been slacking on going up to the college to get my parking permit, student ID, Books, and asking a few questions. But today I told myself I cannot wait any longer because sooner than I know, spring break will be here and then I'm in trouble since school starts the next day!
So, I forced myself out of the house to go to the college.

Well, I got my parking permit!

And my student ID!

I went to the bookstore to purchase the two books I need for the course but only one was available, so next week I'll drive back up to the campus and just purchase both of them at the same time. It seems easier to me.

For now, I'm all set until school starts on March 28th. Yay college. It came up quick!