Breath before the Back-to-School Storm

Summer semester begins tomorrow and as my Adult 1 course is posted and gradually fleshed out online, I am having an overwhelming urge to print, highlight, organize, and all-around prepare myself for the semester. I only wish this drive would last past the first two weeks of each semester. I'm one of those sick people who get excitement upon entering office supply stores... pens, notebooks, dividers, planners, and sticky notes all hold a strange fascination to me and the beginning of the semester brings this fetish to a high point. The disappointing thing is, unlike my classmate Erica (ha, sounds like we're back in grade school) who, with boundless energy, color codes and tabs every reference page offered her, my organizing enthusiasm has a very specific inverse relationship with how long I've been in each course and by the end of the semester all I have piled in front of me is a loose stack of papers with no color or markings anywhere on them. Each semester I vow to change that and so far my vows have not come to fruition. But regardless, I try and try again!

So here I am entering my first semester of grad school with clinicals. Everything from this point on is officially downhill until graduation at the end of next summer. Four semesters down, four to go. I am excited to start my clinical experiences because that is where I really learn what it is to be an ARNP and begin my career but I am also insanely nervous because despite feeling prepared on some levels, I feel extremely ill-prepared in others. My pharmacology class was a joke. Everything I know I learned in my bachelor's level course or on my own on the floor. I went back over my pharm powerpoints the other day to see if it was me, my lack of dedication to a class that required so little in submission when another class was demanding all of my attention. But upon opening those slides I discovered that no, I was not the one who failed that class, it was the professor who failed me by only 'teaching' the bare minimum and not educating us on why an NP would prescribe one drug over another. And thats incredibly disappointing as pharm should be one of the most informative and challenging courses of this program. I am hoping clinicals, along with a decent amount of self-study on my own, will give me the real-life application I'll need in my future practice.

But there is life outside of school, a fact I sometimes have to remind myself of. I am home in Tallahassee for the first time in 5 months and here for Mother's Day for the first time in a number of years. Its been good to have this refresher with family prior to returning to the real world. Sleeping in, home cooked meals, old canopy roads and late night talks with my mom can do wonders for the soul. Plus we had a rope climbing/ziplining adventure you'll hear about in my next 30 Before 30 post!

Also, my amazingly talented boyfriend recently premiered as Brick in Tampa Repertory Theatre's production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. So far the show has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. You can read Creative Loafing's review of the show here. The cast is talented and the setting very intimate, definitely a show that will have you mulling over the conclusion long after you leave. 

And now I am off to enjoy the rest of Mother's Day with the fam before returning to the real world of Tampa tomorrow. I hope everyone enjoys a relaxing day of celebrating their family today!

Love,

KayCee

As 2012 ends...

 Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone had as wonderful a day as I did! I worked the few days leading up to Christmas, Christmas Eve included, but I made it home just before midnight and in time to wake up to Christmas morning with my family. Our tree magically went from barren of any presents (due to our concern that my family's many animals would...well, eat some of them) to the sight you see to the left overnight. Yes, my family is generous and ridiculous all at once. But would you believe many of the presents were for our pets? If you know us well, you probably would. We had a leisurely morning full of family bonding, coffee cake devouring, and present opening, promptly followed by a few naps and Christmas dinner later in the afternoon. 

I am excited to announce that a few of 

the gifts I received will help me cross some things off my 30 Before 30 list. I have two more Disney movies to put towards my collection, books 3 and 4 in the Song of Fire and Ice (aka Game of Thrones) series, and a very funny how-to knitting book! I'm very excited to put these to good use. Also, I've decided 2013 is going to be my year to donate monthly to 12 different charities or causes. Some I have already selected because I have donated or been involved with them in the past, but I definitely don't have all 12 picked out, so I'm taking suggestions for causes you feel strongly about. I will say for sure that in January my donation is going to World Wildlife Fund. I wasn't going to post too much about my donations, but I think I might post a little blurb about who I'm donating to each month in case anyone wants to get involved with me!

New Years Eve (my favorite holiday) is coming up on Monday and I can't wait to go out and celebrate with some friends. I may also be particularly excited about a pair of gold glitter Fergilicious (no joke) peep-toe pumps I bought for the occasion. But one of the reasons I love NYE so much is I feel like its all about starting fresh and getting a new beginning. January this year is going to start a whole new chapter in my life as I go back to school and begin training for a new (well, advanced) career as an ARNP. I also like to make at least one new years resolution and see if I can stick with it. Any advice for me? Suggestions? I've only got a couple of days to decide this!!

Well, I am off to bed to prepare for my last day of work of 2012. I'll leave you with a few pictures of my sweet family and I on Christmas.

Love,

KayCee

 

(C'mon, you didn't think you'd make it out of this post without at least one Christmas picture of my boys, did you??)

Chi-town escape

I've had a busy couple months lately, with little time to write, but that time has been littered with lots of mini vacays and escapes so its been a nice break from the blog world. Currently, I'm home in Tally celebrating Mother's Day weekend and visiting family. It's been a busy, but fun weekend. Gorged ourselves on some yummy mexican food Saturday night and a delicious brunch Sunday morning. Got the title of my car (which is officially paid off and MINE) put entirely in my name. Introduced my family to Game of Thrones and watched most of the first season. But the best part of the weekend was my sister's mother's day gift to my mom. Instead of dressing up in spring dresses and doing something classy, we put on older clothes, grabbed a bottle of wine, and went to Painting with a Twist. What a better way to spend the day celebrating mom than getting a buzz while painting your pet, right? None of us are particularly artistic on our own, but with the help of two instructors, I think we got some pretty good results!

A few weeks ago I took another mini vacay...to Chicago! I had been there once before when I was 12, but I was so anxious to return and get to experience the city as an adult! I went with my roommate and coworker and we met with my roommate's friend Kelsey that she met while they were living abroad in Australia. We got there early in the morning on Thursday and didn't leave until after 8 pm Sunday night so we got a full 4 days of fun and boy did we pack every second of it!

We spent an unnecessary amount of time shopping, if I'm being honest, but we did so much authentic Chicago sightseeing as well. We spent the first day walking around downtown, seeing where Kelsey worked, walking through Millennium Park, and taking pictures in front of the famed 'Bean' before going to a Speakeasy that night. Friday was spent working up an appetite on Michigan Ave and then gorging ourselves on some authentic deep dish pizzas! Chicago food at its best. That night we got dressed up and spent the night at one of Kelsey's favorite downtown bars, Rockit. Saturday was the day we all had been waiting for: the Chicago Cubs game and visiting Wrigley Field! I grew up a Cubs fan so I was super excited to put on some red and blue and cheer on the Cubbies against the Cincinnati Reds. I was not let down, Cubs won! We ended the evening frequenting a few bars and having some drinks in Wrigleyville before calling it an early night. Sunday was our last day and we wanted to make the most of it, so Tiffy and I packed up our stuff early so we had all day to finish sightseeing. We walked around downtown a little more and then went to the top of the Hancock Building for some views of the city. Last stop on our city tour was Shedd Aquarium. We had such a blast seeing the otters and belugas and penguins but the best part was walking out afterwards: we had the most breathtaking view of the city! We must have stood there for 30 minutes having our own mini-photo shoot. It was such a fun, amazing weekend and definitely a place I would love to visit again! Here's a few snapshots from the weekend:

in front of the Bean

Tiffy and I before our first night out

Meagan and Kelsey with their deep dish pizzas

the whole group in front of Wrigley Field

cheering on the Cubs!

view from the Shedd Aquarium

So two fun weekends down, but I've already got 3 more mini getaways planned for this summer! In June I'll be spending 5 days in Orlando with my family celebrating Father's Day and my sister's 23rd birthday. I have a tentative weekend planned to Vegas (my first time!) for the end of July to watch Tiffany's national figure fitness competition. And then I'm planning on renting a condo in August for a long weekend to celebrate my birthday with a few friends. So many things to look forward to!

Love,

KayCee

Weekend in Review

Easily one of the best things about my job is that I only work 3 days a week. There's a lot of negatives to counter that, which include often having to work weekends or holidays, but being free to do absolutely anything my heart desires 4 days a week on the regular is certainly a blessing. Rarely do those 4 days occur in a row but this weekend I managed to have 4 consecutive days off and fun plans scheduled for every one of those days.

Thursday was one those fantastically lazy days that just take their time and roll by slowly. I spent the afternoon participating in one of my favorite free-day activities: reading and surfing in the internet at Starbucks. After spending a good 3 hours there finishing my book and people-watching, I went home to clean up a little and spent the evening walking around downtown Tampa enjoying some new company and trying a wine bar I'd never been to before. Perfect refreshing day.

Friday I was a bit more productive. I begun spring cleaning around the house and managed to clear out and organize a few problem areas that had been getting on my nerves; in particular two sets of shelves in my closet, my sock drawer (hey - I like fun socks!), my bathing suits, and my shorts. I must admit that one of my favorite things about clearing all that out is knowing I have a decent excuse to go out and buy more fuzzy socks and bathing suits, ha. 

That evening I gathered my good friend Diana and 3 of my favorite girls from work and we had a night out in Soho. I love my friends at work, but when we're there we're all wearing pajamas (i.e. scrubs) and have our hair back and little-to-no make-up and are varying degrees of fun depending on how taxing our patients are that day. So I absolutely love having Nurses Night Out every now and again and getting to see us look presentable and let loose with a few drinks and great conversation. 

Me, Kiersten, Laurin, and Tiffany at MacDinton's

Saturday the weather was gorgeous so I was determined to do something outside. The pool was the original plan but then I learned that the first annual Gasparilla Music Festival was being held in downtown Tampa. So I spent the afternoon drinking possibly the biggest lemonade I'd ever seen, sitting outside soaking up the sun, and listening to all sorts of live bands play. Even tried some organic nachos with black beans and pulled pork that were delicious! Add some good company and it was pretty much the perfect spring afternoon. 

Today was a busy day. First of all it is my dad's birthday and he turns the big 6-0!! So happy birthday Daddy!! After growing up in a very masculine, sports-oriented home, he grew up to, alas, have only daughters. And as he likes to tell it "even a female dog!" So to honor him on his birthday, here is a pic of him being a saint, yet again, surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and our friends on his way to attend a Taylor Swift concert.

Since I couldn't be with my family today which had originally been the plan, I decided to spend part of the afternoon with one of my other families: some of my good friends from my accelerated nursing program. There was a group of 7 of us that were particularly close during that year and a half and 5 of us regularly try to get together when we can. So every couple months I try to make it back to Orlando to catch up with everyone. So much has already happened. Last summer one of them got married and this April another one is due to have her first baby! These girls were such a blessing to me during that time in my life and I really want to continue to put in the time and forethought to continue relationships with them in the future. 

And finally, I have to end with one other particularly exciting piece of news that happened today: FLORIDA STATE WON ITS FIRST ACC CHAMPIONSHIP IN BASKETBALL!! We went into the game ranked #17 and beat the North Carolina Tar Heels (ranked #4) 85-82. I am so completely proud of my Seminoles!! I believe I may be watching March Madness this year!

Now back to the grind tomorrow. But after this weekend, I really can't complain :)

Love,
KayCee

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my mom's birthday, and no I won't say how many years so she doesn't kill me, but I wanted to take a minute to celebrate her. Both because she's one of my favorite people and also because without her I wouldn't be here! So happy birthday Jane and thank you for being the most amazing mother a girl could ever ask for.

One of my favorite pictures of my mom and I at my first UCF graduation, 2007

And at my Nursing School graduation, 2010

So I'm back on the cooking a new meal a week wagon and while I had planned to tackle Mexican Lasagna last week, my roommate selfishly decided to go see her brother after he returned from 8 months in Afghanistan instead of hanging out with me (ha), so I decided to make a meal that didn't require her hollow leg to help me finish eating. So instead I tried some chicken thighs and artichoke hearts with feta cheese. Turned out pretty well! And super easy. All it requires is a bit of time to marinate the chicken and artichokes together and then about 20 minutes to broil!

Here's the meal ready to enter the oven:

And the finished product, topped with some feta cheese:

And by now you see that I am by no means a chef with presentation talent or a food photographer, but I do my best. I love that I'm discovering healthy meals that are both easy and leave enough leftovers for lunch!