appreciation day for milspouses and nurses!

Today is military spouse appreciation day.

This is for the husbands and wives who wake up early when their soldier leaves for PT.

This is for the fathers and mothers who hold their children tight when they cling and cry for a parent overseas at night.

This is for the men and women who avoid the news, watch the news, or are glued to the news every day for months on end, hoping for good and not bad.

This is for the cooks who learn the gobbledygook acronyms and threaten to serve MREs if they are faced with a caselot sale on a payday at the commissary again.

This is for the lovers who touch photographs and hold back tears.

This is for the actors who put on a happy face when their soldier takes one more look over a shoulder while the transport is moving out.

This is for the comedians who crack jokes on the phone over webcams, just to see their soldier smile thousands of miles away.

This is for the tired whose hearts break at the thought of just one more day alone, much less several more months.

This is for the strong who keep moving when they all want to do is stay under the covers and curl up in a ball.

This is for the "dependents" who know that a greater oxymoron was never coined, who rise to the call of independence in order to keep the house running smoothly, or to move it across the country alone.

This is for the proud, whose hearts are full to bursting as their loved ones step off that plane, that bus, that boat to stand in formation and affirm that they have served and will continue to serve their country.

This is for those who also serve, by making their own sacrifices and supporting their military loved one on the homefront, giving them assurance that all is well and that they can focus on the job at hand until it's time to come home.

This is for us, military spouses! Appreciate yourself today!

Today is also national nurses day, and May 6th-May12th is national nurses week!

We would all be worse without a nurse.

Nurses are more than just people in white;

They are mediators between human suffering and human wellness;

Where what they do goes far beyond what is seen.

Happy national nurses week!

I am a REGISTERED NURSE!!

That explains why I've been on a mini hiatus :)

I took my NCLEX on Monday morning and I'm not going to lie, I thought the test was AWFUL. I studied SO MUCH from the time I finished my NCLEX course until the time I took the test, and to me the NCLEX was a mind game! I left the testing center certain that I failed. I wanted to cry.

There is a thing you can do called a Pearson Vue Trick, or PVT. After you take the exam, go home and log into Pearson Vue and try to register for the NCLEX again. There is a "good" pop up and a "bad" pop up. The "good" pop up says something like "Our records state you have recently scheduled this exam. Please contact your board of nursing for further details. Another registration cannot be made at this time." That supposedly means you passed. The "bad" pop up takes you straight to the credit card page, which supposedly means you did not pass. The page has to say "delivery successful" before you can try the trick.

Waiting for it to say "delivery successful" was maybe only about 30min, but it was an agonizing wait. When the status changed, I went into sympathetic nervous system overdrive!!! But I got the good pop-up!! The PVT is said to be 99% accurate, but I still wasn't convinced.

Pearson Vue also gives you your "unofficial" quick results, which are still accurate, 48 hours after you test. The only reason why it is "unofficial" is because Pearson Vue doesn't actually issue the license - the BON does, and sometimes the BON is slow with updating their records. Not all states participate in quick results. Thankfully Texas does. I just got my unofficial results and I passed!!!! I am an RN, FINALLY!!! Those dog days are over ;)

Aside from studying my butt off the NCLEX, I was also busy with some other things as well:

1. I met with some friends from the sorority I used to belong to - they are my "family" (my big, my grandbig, and my twin) and we ate at Rocknes. It was really nice to be able to catch up with them :)

2. Saturday I met with the church pastor to discuss ceremony stuff. I also told him that E and I already got legally married in December, but we decided to keep it quiet from pretty much everyone except for our parents and some friends. I was afraid that would change something, but he said that's fine - he usually has at least one couple/year who does this and they are military :) So that made me feel better! He said they will just make some subtle changes in the actual ceremony, but nothing really noticeable. The vows will sort of be like a renewal (saying that we will CONTINUE to promise, etc etc etc).

3. Mama bear and myself spent Monday addressing, stuffing and stamping all of those invitations. That took FOREVERRR. I never want to do that again. If I have a daughter, I'm telling her she's on her own with her invitations lol (probably not). We mailed them out on Tuesday :)

This Friday I am meeting with my florist at the church to discuss options on decorating, as well as for the bouquets and boutonnieres. I just hope she does not go into anaphylactic shock on me!!

She has a problem, and docs can't figure it out. Between January and now, she has gone into anaphylactic shock at least 11 times and has been in and out of the hospital. They can't isolate the cause. It's so bad that she'll be driving and then she'll stop breathing. My big from my sorority and this girl are best friends which is how I know her. My big was explaining to me that doctors are trying to rule some stuff out...and she couldn't remember what they were trying to rule out, but if it is what the doctors think it is, then this girl probably won't live past 30. She's like my age. We're hoping it isn't that, but regardless, it doesn't seem good. The doctors suspect it is some sort of autoimmune reaction that is causing her to go into anaphylactic shock so many times...it is just so strange.

Some big things I can cross off on my list of shit to do. now I can focus more on wedding planning, as well as working on my resume! And so the job hunt begins!

:)