Woah Baby

My last blog post was 8/20. That was almost 2 months ago and I feel ashamed.

Shortly after writing that last post, my back began bothering me. I assumed it was just the normal pain I have dealt with every few months or so since starting nursing school. Basically, in Kindergarten, I had an accident where I flew off the end of a slide and bruised my tailbone. It didn't start bothering me until I started clinicals in nursing school where I was having to lift and transfer heavy, elderly patients. It usually bothers me every 2 months or so, but if I ignore it, it usually starts to feel better after about a week if I continue my usual activity.

Well, I tried continuing my usual activity. I went to put my socks on for work the day it started to hurt and there was some resistance (per usual when those muscles tighten), but I pushed past it. When I got to work, it hurt a lot more and was spasming a little. I worked though it, got home, went to bed. The next day I woke up at 4:30am in EXCRUCIATING pain. I had the worst spasms in my lower back that would exaggerate with any small movement of my legs. I called in to work that day and instead registered as a patient at Urgent Care and was given some Flexeril (a muscle relaxant) and told to take it easy and it should heal. My sister moved into college the next day and I felt like a bum not being able to help (or hardly move for that matter).

I went to work that Monday-Friday and worked per usual except I tried to use proper body mechanics more and limited my lifting. I also went to see a chiropracter twice that week and thought I had turned a corner. I was starting to feel a little better. Granted, I was sleeping on the couch because my bed would cause worse spasms. That Friday at work, I bent forward slightly to answer the phone and my lower back completely gave out. I continued to work because I was already there and there was no one else to come in. By shifts end, I felt miserable and I had to work that weekend.

I woke up Saturday morning around 4am in the worst pain of my life. My whole back was spasmed so tight that I could barely move. Every inch I tried to adjust to get up would result in falling back into a leaning position on the couch. I called in sick to work that weekend (not an easy task when you are the only RN scheduled and are the only nurse that can do the infusions that are scheduled) and went to the ER Saturday morning. As a nurse (at the Urgent Care, which works in connection with our ER), I was extremely dissatisfied with my care at the ER. I felt stupid for going in anyway when there are people worse off than myself, but the doctor that saw me did not even examine me. He literally stood on the other side of the room and asked question after question (and scrutinized my decision of seeing a chiropractor and said that was probably why I was in so much pain in the first place). I was given more Flexeril and told to take the week off of work and discharged.

So, I didn't work for ONE WHOLE WEEK. I literally sat around, laid in bed, iced my back, took Flexeril, Ibuprofen, Aleeve, and Tylenol almost 24/7 and did some gentle stretching. I still had some pain returning to work that following Monday, but enough to manage.

Luckily, my back now feels 98% better. It is worse than when I started out before the pain kicked in at the end of August and I think it will probably always be that way. I have more trouble with my left sciatic nerve now and have to be super conscious of every move I make and every time I bend. My fellow nurses know that this is very distracting and hard to remember. I can definitely feel when I've had a busier day or if I spent a lot of time bending or tried to lift something heavy.

Having to deal with this has given me a new prospective of some of our patients that come into Urgent Care with lower back pain. I know how horrid it can feel. My anxiety level is through the roof pertaining to being paranoid about my back. If I feel a sharp twinge, I freak out that the pain is starting up again. My blood pressure sky rocketed (for me, anyway) during my bout with the pain, which stressed me out even more.

I also have come to grips with the fact that I probably will never be able to work as an inpatient nurse unless it's in pediatrics or the NICU. My back would not be able to withstand all the lifting that could be required.

Basically, this isn't a sob story for you all and I don't expect that you may have even read it because it's probably pretty boring. But I thought you should all know why I have been absent the past 2 months. I have been keeping up with reading some of the blogs though!

Hopefully, I start blogging more soon. Give me some ideas of what you'd like to see around these spaces! I need some inspiration. My #1 goal is to revamp my desk space to make it fun to be at for blogging purposes cause right now it's a disaster zone!

Plans for this weekend: Tomorrow is my sister's 21st birthday so we are going back to our hometown to celebrate with family and her friends and I am pumped. We'll be posting to social media under #hannahturns21 so follow our night if you want!

I love you all and hope you are enjoying fall so far!

Summertime

And a month and a half later......

I have gotten so bad at blogging and that is NO BUENO! I always think about typing out a post, but, like before, can't think of anything I want to blog about. My life is pretty boring so there's no adventures of flying across the US to meet with friends (although this may happen, keep reading), no blind dates (although if you know a single guy....), no drunken escapades. Seriously, boring.

But since I haven't updated you all on my life since the beginning of July, I figured I should do that since the last month has actually been a lot of fun.

I've had an extended vacation back home, a trip back down to Decorah & Luther College, two outdoor country music concerts, two trips to county fairs, lots of shopping, lots of working.

Trip to Decorah

Shopping

Betsy Johnson handbag.

Nine West heels

American Rag vest (looks SO GOOD over maxi dresses!)

Old Navy shorts

The last four items came from my newest addiction, Poshmark. I have a ton of items liked that I really, really want but I'm trying to exhibit a little self-control and not buy them.

County Fairs/Country Music Concerts

I went to both the Olmsted County Fair and the Freeborn County Fair. Thomas Rhett was playing in Albert Lea, MN at the Freeborn Cty Fair and he was SO GOOD. Highly recommend seeing him in concert if you get the chance.









So basically I ate too much fair food and drank too much beer throughout the month of July....

Also in July, Charlie Worsham played a free concert for Down by the Riverside in Rochester.





Story behind the pictures: we got down to the park and it was sunny. Concert started. 10 minutes later, the sky opened up and it started sprinkling which then turned into a downpour for like 5 minutes. We were soaked, but Charlie continued to play and we stayed in our seats. So much fun!

And, yes, we used our one and only umbrella to cover up our purses. Priorities here, people.

Crafts

I glitterized my empty wine bottles and made an old pair of jeans into a skirt.

Work

Still have those absolutely CRAZY DAYS where you just need to go home, sleep, and not think about anything. Still love my job and my co-workers (who tried to find this blog last night, UNSUCCESSFULLY. Investigative FAIL.)

Randomness

Best part of this summer and going home so much was all the puppy cuddles. I miss my baby!


This was outside my apartment building at the end of July. Seriously, my neighbors are whack and this place is becoming more sketchy.




Went through a box of my elementary school stuff.


Wine + candle + Lifetime Movie Network.

I received a $15 rebate for FishEye Wine from BzzAgent (um, they obviously know me too well), so I ended up paying a whopping $1.50 for this huge box of wine. And, let me tell you, it is YUMMY!


Oh, I almost forgot. That trip across the US to go see friends. Two of my absolute best friends since the 9th grade recently moved out to Colorado. I miss them like crazy and need to plan a trip out to see them sometime in the (hopefully near) future. So maybe I'll have some crazy last minute trip to update you all on!

Finally, I also updated my books page with what I've been reading + I've added a TON of new clothes to my Tradesy page to sell (to make up for all the buying!), so go check out my page here.

So that has been my summer in a quick, to-the-point recap since the beginning of July. What have you all been up to?

Oh hi

Remember me? The blogger who hasn't posted since June 3rd. No?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't blame ya: I am a slacker and just haven't had any motivation or creative thoughts for blogging. Which is not to say that I'm "over it" and no longer enjoy it. Because I still absolutely love it and still identify myself as a "blogger". I just couldn't face a blank white page because I didn't know what to write. I feel like a lot of the bloggers I love are having this sort of crisis recently, which makes me feel a little better. I guess you just have to pop that screen up and write whatever comes to mind AKA TODAY'S POST.

 Literally, right now. Boy Meets World, open windows and doors, iced coffee, and blogging time.

I thought I would update you all on my summer so far because I have been busy. Literally, almost every weekend throughout June and July, I have had something going on: either work or fun activities.

What my summer has included:

Surprise birthday party

My Grandma turned 85 back in the middle of June and we all planned a big surprise party for her.

Rain. Buckets of it.

We have gotten so much rain this summer. The Mississippi River was above flood stage and we were under a Flood Warning for practically a month. Lake Winona (across the street from my apartment) was super high. There was a ton of sitting water in the baseball fields and park across from my place. Oh and did I mention that our work parking lot floods no matter how much it rains? So basically this is what was outside our employee entrance for the longest time:

 Happy Summer! To: Me, From: Me.

I bought myself.....wait for it......an iPad Mini! They were like $100 off or something crazy like that at the beginning of June at Target and I knew I needed to get one. Since, ya know, I have a steady income now. Unfortunately, the Target in Winona and both Targets in Rochester were all sold out because everyone and their mother had the same idea as me. This is where the wonderful world of ad match at Walmart comes in.

I absolutely LOVE my iPad. I find myself turning on my computer maybe once a week (which also is contributing to no blogging) because I can do everything on the iPad and it's more portable and easier to use (and faster!).

Sipping that pimp juice

...or iced coffee. Whatevs. Everytime I go back to Rochester, I need to get my favorite coffee: Moka! They have some in La Crosse (like a half hour drive from Winona), but no car = no Moka for Breanna. They also just opened a Dunkin' Donuts in Rochester last week, which is the first one in Minnesota since 2005. I had to see what everyone is talking about when they say the coffee drinks are delicious and they did NOT disappoint. Super cheap for the amount you get and super tasty. And I treated my family to donuts cause I'm just that sweet.

I've become addicted to coffee-house drinks and walked 20 minutes each way to go down to Mugby Junction for some yumminess. Let's just say....I think I'll stick to going to Target for Starbucks.

 I think Moka's pretty cool too.

Here's comparison drinking for ya: Mugby Junction's large iced mocha with carmel is 20 oz for $5.13 with tax. Dunkin' Donuts medium iced carmel swirl latte is 24 oz for $3.29 with tax. AKA MUGBY IS A RIP OFF and letsbehonest not that good. #coffeesnob

Work it

I've also been working a lot. I've had some crazy long stretches lately so having a day off today is awesome. I've been working as a registered nurse now for a little over 3 months and I can still say that I love my job, I love my co-workers (most of the time!), and I love what I do (even though some people are crazy). I finally feel in the swing of things and, even though I sometimes still have questions, I know what I'm doing more often than not. Of course, I still have those days where I am over it and do not feel like dealing with people and putting a smile on my face and working. Everyone has those days though and I just push through and make it by venting with my co-workers. 

One of our providers had Dairy Queen decorate this ice cream cake and brought it for us a few weeks ago.

 HOME

I've been going home every single weekend that I don't work because I've had stuff going on! Surprise party, Fourth of July last weekend, vacation this weekend, Charlie Worsham concert the last weekend in July, Thomas Rhett concert the last Thursday of July. After work this Friday afternoon, I am home free for vacation until next Thursday afternoon. That's 5 1/2 glorious days of no work, shopping in a town with actual places to shop (sorry Winona, but it's true), and spending time with family. On Monday we're making a trip down to Decorah (my college town). I haven't been back there since May 2013 for the pinning ceremony, so it will be nice to spend time around town and on campus. Living in a college town like Winona makes me miss Luther so much sometimes!

New & much needed hair

View at dusk from my apartment balcony.

So that was a long-winded update on my life over the last month. Any questions?

Hopefully I keep up a more routine blog posting schedule?

Friends: The Post-Grad Dilemma

I have a totally legit question for all you college graduates out there: how in the heck do you make friends after college? This doesn't make me sound like a complete loser, does it?

In college, everyone is desperate for a group of new friends. You become close to your roomies, the other people who live on your floor, and people in your classes. You become friends with their friends and soon develop a close knit circle that stay with you for those 4 (or more) years.

Then you throw those hats up in the air and are left to your own devices.

 

Most of the time, you end up working in a different town from those friends you made. You enter a workplace where friendships have already been established or the people you work with are much, much older than you. Married, kids in high school or college. Or just becoming parents.

Nothing you can relate to.

So how do you develop new friendships outside of relying solely on those college friends who are no longer a 5 minute walk away at all times?

Don't get me wrong: I love my co-workers. They make going to work fun.

But they're all at a different life-stage than I am and I can't really relate. They're in their 30's-60's and they all have kids and/or grandkids, are married. They're all from around the town I work in.

I'm not married, not dating, don't have kids, am only 25, am a new nurse, from a different city.

So back to the question: how do you make friends after graduation? How do you make friends outside your work? Did you or do you have this problem?

10 Things To a Newly Graduated Me

Since it is graduation season, I thought I would write advice to myself when I graduated from college. I wish I would have been a little wiser or would have heard these things from others. Not that I would have listened. It's all about needing to figure it out for yourself, right?

• Take every opportunity and interview that comes your way, but trust your heart when it tells you that something may not be the right choice. Your heart always knows best.

• Stretch your comfort zone. Search for jobs outside your immediate area. Opportunities arise where you least expect them.

• Not getting an offer from somewhere you interview does not make you less of a human or less of a nurse. 

•  Being jobless/taking time off for over a year isn't such a bad thing. That time off can give you life experience and give you time to find your direction.

• Never lose your thirst for knowledge. Just because you aren't in school doesn't mean you have to stop learning. Even though you didn't get a degree in something, find a way to integrate that passion into your career.

• Being an adult doesn't mean you can't have solo dance parties in your apartment. Or that you have to stop listening to Hannah Montana.

• Having a blog doesn't have to be embarrassing. In fact, a lot of people will think it's pretty cool. (Still working on this one.)

•  Listen to people's stories. They will change you for the better.

• Don't apologize for something you shouldn't. Stand up for yourself and stand firm in your beliefs and actions.

•  Be irresponsible with your money once. Spend an ungodly amount on clothes and other things you probably don't need.

What would you tell yourself if you had to graduate again?
 

Currently...

#blogslacker

That's me. I always come up with one or two ideas to blog about, but then I sit down after (or before) work to actually write them and lose all motivation and decide to nap or watch Netflix or call my mom instead. Therefore, no posts. But I thought I would do this short little post that requires absolutely no thought. 

Reading: "After Silence" by Nancy Venable Raine. Definitely not your light, summer read. In fact, it's one of the heaviest books I've read and I need to take breaks while reading it. But it has a lot of good information!

Listening: Days of Our Lives is playing in the background. I just haven't changed the channel yet. The air conditioner also just kicked on - perks of living on the top floor of an apartment complex with a black tar roof that soaks up the suns rays.

Thinking: I signed up for a webinar that starts in fifteen minutes, but I really want to take a nap...Also, that I have spent WAY too much money in the last week. My checking account is sobbing in the corner. Luckily, I get paid tomorrow!

Wishing: I wish it would cool down a little bit or there would be a nice breeze so I could open my patio door and windows instead of using the damn air conditioner.

Loving: My co-workers, the blackberries and raspberries and mini pears and watermelon that I have sitting in my fridge from my weekend at home, removing stitches and/or staples at work - it's probably my favorite thing to do, the clothes I just bought from Old Navy.

Wanting: To have a repeat of this past weekend. Here's the lowdown on what I did:
Friday: Worked until 8:30pm (and we were SWAMPED), then went home for the long weekend.
Saturday: Went to Starbucks, shopped at Costco, Pier 1, Scrubs & Beyond, and Michaels (where I bought $30 in supplies to glitterize wine bottles). Went to lunch with my mom at Jimmy Johns. Went for dinner and drinks with my mom, sister, and aunt at Wildwood.
Sunday: Went to Moka, took my Grandma shopping for flowers, went to Aldi and Costco (again - my sister is working there this summer). Took a nap. Ordered pizza in for dinner.
Monday: Went to Old Navy, Target & Starbucks with my sister. Found a sweet vintage/antique sale at the Plummer House. Went for lunch at Nupa (YUM!). Came home and did my laundry, packed. Grilled out for dinner. Went back to Winona around 6pm.

AKA MY WEEKEND WAS FULL OF SHOPPING, EATING, AND PUPPY CUDDLING.

Feeling: Tired. Woke up at 5:30am for work and I haven't had to do that in over a week.


Please tell me you have bloggers block or feel like you are majorly slacking at posting lately too?

Life Update

I am horrible at blogging.

I have plans to write a post about "real life" friends and acquaintances finding your blog posts & everyone and their mother reading and sharing a post. This happened to me last week with my post about Luther.

I read Erin's post the other day about how she hasn't been blogging much lately because she has been busy with life and blogging is something she would do to replace things she didn't want to do. This is me. I blogged a TON, almost every day, over the past year and a half. During that time, I was jobless except for nannying part time and didn't really have anything else to do. Blogging was my go-to.

Now, I have a part time nursing job + living on my own and keeping up an apartment, bills, etc and I've found that sitting down in front of a blank screen to write a blog post is the last thing I want to do after a long shift.

I still do love blogging though.

Today, it is a beautiful 70 degrees with a light breeze. The sun is shining & there's not a cloud in the sky.

I work 4-8pm tonight.

My friend from nursing school who works in North Carolina  (& whose hometown I work/live in now) was home visiting this past week, so she came over today and we caught up on life. I haven't seen her in one year and we picked up right where we left off. It's amazing how much we've both grown as nurses. We walked down the street to the drive-in diner and then walked by the lake.

 

I'm going home tomorrow night after work for a long weekend. I don't work Memorial Day and I don't work until 4:30pm on Tuesday, so I'm staying home until Monday night. I even bought my dog & cat presents to bring home with me because I miss them SO FREAKIN MUCH!

I expect to do lots of shopping, lots of coffee drinking, and lots of hanging out and I can't wait.