Grocery Dash

So Natalie came over last night so that we can make our meal plan for body back. I was very excited about this because I just came home from 3 days in Arizona of eating crap. I knew Body Back was starting on Monday so I figured, eh what the heck... I will just eat all of this:

 Bean Dip

 Chicken Tacos

 Pepsi

BBQ'd Ribs



So by Sunday night I was very ready to start eating healthy.

However, everything changed as soon as I started trying to write my meal plan. I realized that I will be eating chicken every single day. There are not a whole lot of food options on the body back plan, so I was already getting bored just making my plan. I have about 30 dinners that I make for my family, so I think after this 8 weeks, I will be soooo over chicken.

I toughed through making the meal plan and headed off to sprouts. Here is what my meal plan looks like for the next 2 weeks.

Things just got uglier from here. Not only was I shopping at a new grocery store, but I was forced to buy things I didn't even know what it was, like Kale and Flaxseed.

As Natalie and I headed through the store, our anxiety levels and frustrations began to rise. We were both on a strict budget and everything felt like it cost $5.00 per item. I began to check things off my list that I would just get at Winco.... I seriously can't get away from that store, its so cheap.

Little miss Cassidy decided to throw a little bit of fun in there too as if we weren't having enough, she was whining, crying, begging for yogurt, and asking to put bags on her hands, lol.

About halfway through the store, we had our chicken (which was $1.99 per lb :) ) and our full cart of produce. We started thinking that maybe we should just go to Winco, and this is where we absolutely lost our minds. The conversation went a little bit like this:

Amanda: Maybe we should just ditch our carts and go to Winco, I know we can get everything we need there for half the price.
Natalie: Well how are we going to leave the carts?
Amanda: We can say we have a family emergency.
Natalie: How are we going to say that with a straight face?
Amanda: We can say we forgot our wallets at home, and ask them to hold the carts for us, and just not come back.
Natalie: Both of us left our wallets at home?
Amanda: We can just tell them that their prices are ridiculous and walk out.
Natalie: We could, but I really want to buy the chicken
Amanda: Me too.
Natalie: Come on, lets just go buy what we have, and we can finish tomorrow at Winco.

All the way up to the checkstand, we were crying about the meal plan, the grocery shopping experience, and Cassidy.

We loaded up our groceries and got in the car. Natalie rolled down her window and said "See you at 5:15 in the morning" .... I cringed.

Today, I feel like I am in a better frame of mind. I am off to a good start with the meal plan and am about to leave to finish my shopping at Winco.

I know that we can do this, and I am going to be so proud of us when we do. I just hope we can keep our sanity!!! :)

This is my first Body Back breakfast (at 4:45am I might add)



Wow, I'm really outta shape...

School is winding down now and we are coming to the end of this semester (Thank God). Me & Mandy decided today was the perfect day to get back to Stroller Strides since they were having a field trip to the fire station! We were both really excited and ready to get our bodies in shape :) Fast forward about 3 minutes into class and my thighs were burning during the warm up. Yes, I said warm up. By the first "station" we were giving each other the "wow, I cant really breathe" look and Mandy even said "Body Back is harder than this?". We were feeling pretty out of shape to say the least. Then it was station 2 and let me just say, I HATE jumping jacks! I always have....it seems like no matter when I need to do them, I always realize I should have gone pee first. Each time I jump I pee just a little bit......multiply that by like 50 and that little bit really adds up. Nice, so not only am I outta shape but I'm peeing my pants while exercising. Station 3 is pretty much a blur of arm exercises while lunging, Im pretty sure I lost consciousness sometime during that station! By the end of class we were soaked from sweat, I know really attractive, right? Once it was over we felt so glad that we did it and proud of ourselves for doing our best! Its nice to have someone there with you who knows exactly what you are thinking with just a look! Needless to say we are getting pretty nervous about Body Back. I'm glad we can get a few classes under our belt before beginning the really tough stuff!

Mandy

  

Me - Wow, nice hair.

After class we headed to the fire station. The kids were so excited to see the big fire truck. The firemen gave us a tour, let the kids sit in the truck, and even put on their uniforms for us.....wait I mean for the kids! Overall it was a great field trip and the kids had a blast!

By the fire truck!

 Me & Cassidy

Mandy, Aaron, Cassidy

Testing, Testing 1 2 3.........4

Test days are the worst... there is so much tension in the air, every second of the day leading up to the test you feel like you have to be studying, and you just feel like "this is the test I am gunna bomb, I just know it."

In nursing school you have to get a 75% in the class in order to move on. In nursing 1 we had 16 tests during the semester (usually about 1 per week) so it was okay if you "bombed" a couple, because you would still have a good grade in the class. In nursing 2 we only have 4 tests that make up 75% of our grade in the class, and one final that makes up about 25% of the grade in the class. So needless to say, one bad day and you are screwed.

Last Friday, Natalie and I mapped out our plan to study for the weekend. It looked a little bit like this:

Friday:
330-500pm Clean the house
500-600pm Make Dinner
600-800pm Study
800-900pm Give Aaron/Cassidy a bath and put to bed
900-1200am Study

Saturday:
700-800 Wake Up
800-1100 Study

You get the picture....

So we pretty much had zero time over the weekend to do anything but care for our family's and study. Its pretty exhausting when you know for like 4 days you will have no life. :(

We pretty much stuck to our schedules with a little bit of change here and there.... we had a horrible time studying on Sunday. We were distracted at Chipotle, starbucks, the comfy bed in my mom's house, and then of course... my mom's chicken tacos. Instead of studying at my mom's house Natalie and I took fat pictures... lol. None of which I will be posting!!

 Studying on Friday

Natalie just couldn't help herself. 

So Monday morning, bright and early started with me waking up 50 minutes late (why do Monday's always SUCK). I got to school around 6:50am and Natalie and I had our typical test morning conversation....

Natalie: "Are you ready sister?"
Me: "No, not at all, are you?"
Natalie: "NOO, I feel so jacked!"

So then the cramming began.

We studied for about 3 hours, went to pre-clinical, and then came back home and had lunch with Corey, Natalie's husband. Well, I more gave the stank eye every time Natalie would make a peep cause I was trying to study. My favorite part of lunch was Meka driving up saying, "Who's this guy?" Probably thinking we had another stalker on our hands.

2:00pm was testing time, and as we walked in the room I could feel my heart beating in my throat. We sat at the front of the room, which I hate because I get so distracted with everything that is going on around me. I said my prayer, told the girls good luck and started the test.

15 minutes later Natalie is done... lol. Okay, maybe not 15 minutes but DAMN she is always done so fast.

1hr and 30 minutes later I am done. I don't know what my problem was but I could not focus during this test at all and it took me forever.

We went home and I was in such a funk all night, cause I wanted my score and I was dreading clinical the next day.

Received texts that grades are up....... ugh.



Me: 87%
Natalie 87%
How do we manage to do that?

YAY!!!!!!!!! We are very proud of these scores considering it is so hard to get a high B on these tests. Finally we can relax for the week and start studying for the final next week!!!

Here are some more pics of nursing school!

Putting an NG tube in. 

 Cleaning the pins from a broken arm

 Only the best instructor ever. 

 Natalie turning the baby. 

 How creepy is this kid??

 All of our babies!

 Class officers

 Natalie and I caring for our baby. 

 Turning the baby. 

Clinical group - Pediatrics

The Last Year

Our first day of nursing school was August 30, 2010. We had no idea what we were in for. We heard from previous nursing students that it was time consuming, you have no life, blah blah.... well we found out really quick that they were not kidding.

Our first semester was very hard. We had at least one test every week, clinicals twice a week, lecture 3 times a week, block lab once a week, care plans that had to be done, 108 lab hours that needed to be completed, and we had to study on top of that. It was exhausting. On the upside, we got to meet some pretty great people. It's amazing how in such a short time frame (4 months) you know everything about your classmates. It was nice to know, on the nights where you just can't do it anymore, that there are 60 other people doing the exact same thing.

Nursing 1 was fun because we learned tons of basic skills: how to change a bed, bath a patient, feed a patient, isolation techniques, and much more. Our instructors were great and we learned so much.

Nursing 2 has been a little more difficult. We know more now, so are expected to be able to perform up to par in the clinical setting. We have learned how to put in foley catheters, NG tubes, change IV tubing, adult, newborn, and postpartum assessment.

 Oh the things we do for nursing school... lol!

 Learning how to prime IV tubing. 

 We were so scared for competency. 

We only have about 3 weeks left in this semester and we are counting down the days. We have had some great moments and some really bad moments this semester. We have cried over grades (multiple times), threw up over tests, laughed at all the crazies on campus, played some very "questionable" games... lol, and got to know each other so much more.

We are so thankful to be in this program together to be able to support each other through everything we do. I think we have come to the point now where we can't do anything without each other... including go the bathroom!!

This is us on a normal day. 

Our clinical group

 Meka meeting her baby for the first time. 

 Our first night out with our nursing buddies!

Yeah, she didn't look nervous... :)