I'm Official

I PASSED and am employed!!!  Wahoo!  Hello paycheck!  Well after weeks of spending my days studying I am relieved to say that I passed the exam and as of Wednesday I will have an official license!  I took the test on Thursday and had to wait til Saturday afternoon for the results.  I was a nervous wreck for 48 hours.  I was relieved to receive a phone call on Friday from Mercy hospital.  I had applied to a RN position in the C/T SICU or Cardiothoracic and Surgical ICU.  This is a position that I have been hoping for and knew there were going to be limited opportunities for new grads to be placed into them so I have been trying my hardest.  I was offered and excepted the position and I start on October 3.  I cannot wait!!  Also, I did receive my diploma in the mail so I guess it is truly official from the U of A as well.

Now all I need is a frame because Bryan says that my diploma cannot sit in a folder.  I guess it is time to go shopping!  Thank you to everyone for all of your support and patience during the school time and study sessions.  I greatly appreciate it and while I hope to love my job I hope to never see any of you in my unit! (unless you come visit me!)

The Big Red Experience

After my return from Arizona, Bry and I tried out a new restaurant.  We have tried numerous new places however this place had some of the largest rice krispie treats I have seen.  Plus, they were delicious!

I also experienced my first Nebraska Husker football game.  It was an experience to say the least.  I have never seen that much red in one place!  It is unreal and the pictures do not do it justice.  We scalped two tickets and ended up getting them for less than face value and were in the 49th row.  Not bad.  We walked through campus, saw the Beta and Chi O houses, visited the bar Bryan worked at during undergrad and ended at the massive stadium.  It holds more than 85,000 people.  Unreal!  During tailgating, they hand out balloons for everyone to release when the Huskers score their first touchdown.  Then everyone in the student section takes off on shoe and raises their shoe in the air like we raise and jingle our keys.  The first time it happened it made me laugh cause it looks silly. 

The elevators at one of the places on campus

Seriously unreal how much red is in the stadium!

The boxes.  Can you believe they are actually building more?

The game was great!  Nebraska won and the whole experience was very cool.  Just in case you were wondering, I actually wore Nebraska gear to the game.  I am sure that will be a rare occurrence!

Here comes the future bride!

For five days I headed out to Arizona to celebrate Sasha's wedding shower!  I flew in Friday night and while I was on the plane I received two voicemails to set up interviews!  It was an awesome way to start the weekend.  I spent the night with Moody and Maggie.  It was so great to see my friends and just hang at their new apartments/condos.  On Saturday we went to the shower!  It was hosted by a family friend of Sasha's and she did a wonderful job!  She made tons of finger foods and desserts that were delicious! 

We played a few games and watched Sasha open her presents.  It was a fabulous afternoon and I cannot wait for the wedding in San Diego in November!  After the shower we decided to go bowling.  None of us are professional bowlers however we definitely survived without bumpers. 

The restaurants in Arizona got the coolest new Coke dispensers!  It is all touch screen and once you pick your base pop you can then choose to add all sorts of flavorings such as cherry or vanilla.  You then push a button and it dispenses into the cup.  Very high tech!

 Sunday Moody and I headed up to Cjo's apartment and laid by the pool.  Her place is great!  They have cabanas by the pool, multiple grills and these couches to lounge on.  We laid in the cabana then decided to grill out for dinner. 

The Chelseas at the "new" cabana

Maggie and Sash joined us for dinner and a fun night at Cjo's apartment.  I stayed with Cjo and then went to Janis' the following afternoon.  It was such a wonderful break from my long study days and I always love visiting my friends and the Fitch's.  After a fabulous 5 day vacation I headed back to Des Moines.  The great news is that I will see Moody the last week of September as she is coming to visit me before we to Chicago for a few days of fun!  Then I am looking forward to Sasha's wedding and to spending a weekend with the greatest friends in San Diego!

Des Moines Locals

Well life in Des Moines is starting become more routine.  My apartment is completely unpacked and the couch was finally delivered at the beginning of the month.  Bryan and I have continued to explore the city.  We found a cute ice cream place called Snookies that is right off the Drake campus.  It reminds me of some of the places in Michigan because you walk up to a window outside to order.  Also, it is only open during the warm months so it is sadly closed for the season as of Sept. 19.  We each ordered their specialty item which has soft serve, melted chocolate and a topping of your choice.  Little did we know that they were huge!  It was like 24oz of ice cream.  There are tons of tables and chairs outside so everyone just sits on their patio to eat their treat. 

Another awesome find is Gray's Lake.  The lake is about a 3 minute drive from my apartment and is open from 5am-midnight.  There is a 2 mile walking/biking trail that surrounds the lake and there is a park too!  You can rent boats to take out on the water and they host a free wine tasting with live band on Friday evenings.  I love the trees and it is so green!  It gets insanely busy on the weekends and from 5pm-7pm but has been so nice to walk during the day, especially for a study break!

This is one of my favorite spots on the trail