motivation, or lack thereof.

The thing I don't like about being in school (or should I say, ONE of the things), is that when you think in terms of "semesters", it's easy to get in a slump. I feel like there is a point in every semester where I hit a wall, and it seems like every time I find that wall, it's harder and harder to get over.

I have two weeks until I finish nursing school. TWO WEEKS, people. A year ago today I was still living in Columbia, packing up my life and saying goodbye to my fabulous coworkers from the past three years. Now I'm getting ready to graduate with my second degree (in as many years). I find that to be insane. Most days I'm not sure how I survived.

Now I just need to get through the next two weeks of school and then a few more preparing for and taking boards and THEN I will hopefully:

*Get to start a job
*Actually see my family & friends for more than 30 minutes at a time
*Take Bella & Albert for daily walks
*See Sam for more than a weekend at a time (stay tuned on this one!)

Lots of exciting things are happening, and I just have to take a lot of some deep breaths and know that everything happens for a reason.


In the mean time, I'm going to leave you with this little gem:

...something to think about, isn't it?...

pre-test randoms

Tomorrow is our first exam of the semester, so you know what that means... time for 10 random thoughts in 10 minutes! I technically haven't started studying for the test yet, so I am not really taking a study break, but oh well.


1. Right now it is 60 degrees (and the sun is almost down!). So unseasonably warm for Missouri this time of year. 11 months ago we were buried under 2 feet of snow (literally) in what was to be known as Snowpocalypse 2011. I have my window open, my mom is grilling, and Bella and Albert are running around in the backyard and if I close my eyes, I can make believe that it is May 12, 2012 and that I am done studying for tests for school (and just have the NCLEX to worry about!).

2. During my shopping trip with S & J to the Plaza, we hit up Anthropologie and I scored this adorable mug...

...for only $4! What a steal. It is so cute and I wish now I had bought them for everyone I know to give out on their next birthdays. I also wish that I had more than one name so I could have at least 3 or 4 of them.

3. I never did a Christmas/birthday post about everything I was lucky enough to receive. I'm so fortunate to have the money to by myself things I NEED throughout the year, and receive things I just dream about during the holidays. I got everything on my list (did I mention how blessed I am?) including some pretty fly rainboots that I'm really excited about:

4. My brothers are funny.

5. I rented "Friends With Benefits" to watch while studying (super conducive to studying, right?) and now that I know JT is engaged to JBiel, I'm kind of wondering if it'll ruin the onscreen chemistry for me between Mila and Justin.


6. I read The Hunger Games trilogy over break...in 3 days, to be exact. SO GOOD. Not quite HP standards, in my opinion, but if you know how much I love Harry and his friends, you're probably not surprised by that. It was leaps and bounds better than Twilight though. Not hard to do. Don't get me wrong, I am totally on the Twilight bandwagon, but let's face it: not the most well-written story in the world. And Katniss is such a BA heroine (albeit the weird name) , whereas Bella is pretty wishy-washy.

7. My hair is getting to the length where I stop wanting to grow it out and instead want to cut it to this length:

YUCK. This is also maybe the only time my hair has been shorter than S's.

8. I get to see my second true love, Andrew McMahon, sing live w/ my BFF A in 15 days.

 
9. If I spent as much time studying as I do writing pointless blog posts or reorganizing my closet/bookshelf, I would probably get 100s on all of my exams.

10. Yesterday I overdid it a little bit when I was running, and I thought I was going to have all of my muscles cramp up at night. Lesson learned. Only do what I'm ready to do.

Time to study!

instagram: the finals version

I remember about a year and a half ago when I rejoiced because I had just taken my last finals! ever! no more college finals! hooray!!

what. a. joke.

I somehow overlooked the fact that I was going to nursing school. And here we are again. Finals week.

I will admit that nursing finals compared to Mizzou biology finals are way, WAY easier. I am pretty sure there were a couple of classes at mizzou where I seriously contemplated "tripping" down the stairs in our apartment so I would spend finals in the hospital with a broken leg instead of sitting through 2 hours of Organic Chemistry and drawing pictures on my exam because I had no clue what the eff I was doing. I'm pretty sure o chem was more painful than a broken leg would be (granted, I've never broken a bone, so I could be wrong). Anyway, I survived organic (barely), so I know I can survive these two finals too.


That doesn't mean I want to study for them though. So instead, I bring you my instagram version of finals week. I'd rather take pictures of my study material than actually study it.

What a cute study buddy!

I know this isn't Instagram..but she's too cute not to include.

Essential writing utensils.

A 57 page study guide on the left and a 32 page study guide on the right.

Post-its to mark all of the topics.

Argyle socks and my favorite sweats

Getting in the holiday spirit with my favorite Christmas movies

A knitting project as a study break. 

To those of you who are studying for finals, good luck! I hope you're persevering.

To those of you who are not: I'm jealous.

It's December! It's December!

Helloooo to my favorite month!

December is FULL of great things..in date order:

Nick's birthday

Sam and I's anniversary (three cheers for five years!)

 A visit from S & J!

Christmas Eve

Christmas

My birthday

 New Year's Eve

With so many wonderful things, I can overlook the fact that I also have to take finals, boo. Hope your December will be as magical as mine :)

Random Sunday

I have a huge test tomorrow morning, and naturally instead of studying I'm doing all other sorts of things.  Therefore, I'm reimplementing the "10 random thoughts in 10 minutes" posts and getting some things off my mind.

1. It bothers me when others don't mind if things aren't organized. I like for everything to have it's place, and it bothers me when it's not in that place. The other day I opened up our "phone book drawer" in our kitchen, and there was SO MUCH STUFF in it: takeout menus, birth certificates, price lists for various salons around town, rulers, scissors, etc. Guess what WASN'T in it...the phone book. Drives me INSANE.

2. Albert smells like vanilla. Apparently he got a bath right before my parents picked him up, but seriously, he smells like Bath and Body Works "Warm Vanilla Sugar". Not a super masculine smell.

3. I despise studying. Considering I've decided to become a professional student, one would thing I would learn to enjoy it. Not so much.

4. I have this thing about books. It's really hard for me to get rid of them, even if I hated them. I can usually find some good in every book, but there have been a few in recent years that I thought to myself "Why are you putting yourself through this torture?!" on page 15. That being said, I never get rid of them when it comes time for a garage sale. Why do I do that? I barely have enough room as it is for the books I DO like. I need to remember this next time I'm purging my room.

5. I need to learn how to crochet. One of my childhood friends make super cute crocheted hats and sells them, and then donates 10% to a different charity each month. Even better! (Check out Crochet4Cause on Facebook).

via iHeartOrganizing

6. I bought some really fun knobs from Anthropologie (the blue one in front) when I was in Houston (which reminds me..I still haven't blogged about Houston. Sorry Anna!) with the intention of having my dad hang them up for me so I could hang my necklaces on them. Haven't done that either. They are currently taking up space on my desk. Sad.

7. Jackie and Sara come visit so sooon! One month and 5 days.

8. Literature reviews are super lame.

9. Potty training a dog is not fun. Especially when your mom says "here, watch him real quick while I get dressed" at 6:45 in the morning, and the next thing you know the dog has peed all over your comforter. Awesome.

10. Snail mail is underrated. I LOVE snail mail. Let me know if you want to be pen pals :)


What's been on your mind lately?