ring link-up!

Mrs. Yellow Ribbon is doing a "Show Me Your..." link-up and this week...it's RINGS! I love looking at everyone's rings :) Here are mine:

the center diamond is a princess cut but rotated on its side. they call that style a baseball diamond.

I'm wedding band-less because I have teeny-tiny size 4 fingers, and the original band that E bought was a size 8. Jared told us they can't size the ring down that far, so I had to order the band in a smaller size. They told me it was supposed to come in the beginning of February. I'm still waiting -_- But, here is my band (click to enlarge):

The two rings will have to be cut and flipped around then re-sautered together so that the curve goes inward and matches better with my ring...my ring has such a weird curve to it that it's hard to find a band that looks good with it without having to do a custom, which for one band would have been $1700 (which is outrageous) and for two, over $3000 (even more outrageous).

Did you look at rings together?

Actually, no. I did send E pictures of styles that I liked. We shopped for wedding bands together, though.

Do you like your ring? Did you from the beginning? ...Be honest!

I loved my ring from the beginning and still do! It was a different style than the ones that I showed him, and his choice blew me away. I also love what he did with the center diamond because I have never seen a ring like that before. He told me he saw it and didn't like it, then told them to rotate the diamond on the side. I absolutely love it! And I get a lot of compliments on it, too :)

How often do you wear your rings?

I don't wear them to work (I am thinking about buying a either a plain band one or one with a few diamonds) because I'm so scared that something will happen to it! I also don't wear it when I shower. Otherwise, it stays on!

Do you clean your rings?

I have jewelry cleaner, but I usually just have Jared's clean it when I'm in the area. I also get it checked every 6 months and I also check it myself by holding it up to my ear and lightly "tapping" the band. A friend taught me that if you hear a little jingle or clanking sound, that means something is loose. One day I did it, heard something and sure enough it was loose!

What went through your mind the very first time you saw your ring?

It's so pretty and sparkly!!! And also too big lol (the size, I mean! I actually got it resized twice since I got it lol)

what's your song link-up, round 2!

Hosted by Goodnight Moon :)

This week is "Perfect Two" by Auburn (same artist who sings the song La La La).

It's another love song that reminds me of E.

I think the lyrics are so cute!

You can be the peanut butter to my jelly

You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly

You can be the captain and I can be your first mate

You can be the chills that I feel on our first date

You can be the hero and I can be your side kick

You can be the tear that I cry if we ever split

You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin'

Or you can be the sun when it shines in the mornin'

Don't know if I could ever be

Without you cause boy you complete me

And in time I know that we'll both see

That we're all we need

Cause you're the apple to my pie

You're the straw to my berry

You're the smoke to my high

And you're the one I wanna marry

Cause you're the one for me, for me

And I'm the one for you, for you

And take the both of us, of us

And we're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

Baby me and you

We're the perfect two

You can be the prince and I can be your princess

You can be the sweet tooth, I can be the dentist

You can be the shoes and I can be the laces

You can be the heart that I spill on the pages

You can be the vodka and I can be the chaser

You can be the pencil and I can be the paper

You can be as cold as the winter weather

But I don't care as long as we're together

Don't know if I could ever be

Without you cause boy you complete me

And in time I know that we'll both see

That we're all we need

'Cause you're the apple to my pie

You're the straw to my berry

You're the smoke to my high

And you're the one I wanna marry

Cause you're the one for me, for me

And I'm the one for you, for you

And take the both of us, of us

And we're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

Baby me and you

We're the perfect two

You know that I'll never doubt ya

And you know that I think about ya

And you know I can't live without ya

I love the way that you smile

And maybe in just a while

I can see me walk down the aisle

'Cause you're the apple to my pie

You're the straw to my berry

You're the smoke to my high

And you're the one I wanna marry

Cause you're the one for me, for me

And I'm the one for you, for you

And take the both of us, of us

And we're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

We're the perfect two

Baby me and you

We're the perfect two

Military Monday Bloghop! and Miscellaneous Monday

1. I finally caved in and took the Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam. It's a requirement for licensure in Texas. I could have taken it any time but I will not receive my license until I do. It seemed very intimidating because there was a "study guide" page with lotsssss of information. You have 2 hours to take it, there are 50 questions, and you're allowed to have other windows open and use the BON to look up answers. If you fail, you can take it again but have to wait 7 days.

It was all about nursing law, the NPA, board rules, etc.

Some of it was blatantly obvious. Like for example:

As a nurse, which of the following should you NOT do?

A. feed your patient lunch

B. dispense medications

C. kill your patient.

...okay not QUITE but you get the idea. Others were tricky. It took me nearly 2 hours, but I passed! One more thing I can cross off the list. Now I just need to take and pass that damn NCLEX! :)

2. We had some crazy thunderstorms last night. I love storms, but not when they rob me of my sleep. I'm working 12 hours today, which I haven't done in awhile (11a-11p)...either it won't be too bad or it's going to suck. Either way, I'm really tired.

The past 2 times I worked wasn't bad at all. I got floated to the overflow med-surg unit (which is located on the ICU stepdown but of course the overflow and stepdown don't "mix" with each other...unless you walk by and see a patient climbing out of bed or something lol). The overflow has 8 beds and usually 2 licenses (at least one RN, obviously) and usually a support. A majority of the patients were ambulatory. By the end of the evening, we had 5 patients. There was only one patient who was kind of a problem (he was climbing out of bed *AND* at the very end of the hall...I suggested moving him closer to the makeshift "nurses station" that way they could keep a closer watch on him instead of making him a sitter. It was such a long walk down to that room lol). Overall, I did some vitals...helped someone to the bathroom...pulled out some heplocks...ran some 24hr pee to the lab...and that's it. Most of it was sitting and BS'ing with the nurses lol.

Saturday I only worked 4 hours and got floated to sit with a patient, who fell, broke her hip, had it repaired, and is confused. She was a handful. Her family was very nice. The last hour was the worst, though. Very confused. Kept saying she had to go home and tend to her kids and dogs and if I called her neighbors, they can bring her keys so that she could go home and drive, etc etc. Kept trying to get out of that chair to leave. I kept advising her not to bend over because of her hip (and she was very well approaching that over 90-degree mark!) but like that did anything. She is also borderline. I kept reorienting her and trying to empathize with her her frustration for wanting to go home but can't and at one point she said to me, "you can either do one of two things. you can either SHUT UP or help me get out of here." She then apologized, but still asked me to help her get home.

Finally she decided she wanted to go on the "couch" (her bed) so I had the RN and the aide who was replacing me help her back. It took us about 20 minutes (all she had to do was take a few steps) but we finally did it, and then she started to settle down...except for screaming at the other aide telling her to "stop making so much damn noise and turn those damn lights off because I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" and then telling her she had a pretty outfit. lol. Never worked with a borderline patient before. They can be quite a challenge.

3. I'm almost hoping I can sit again with a patient (I don't care if I'm sitting for 12 hours!) so I can get some studying done. It's crunch time! I need to pass my NCLEX on the 1st try! Everyone else I talked to passed. And I keep reading about people on allnurses.com failing 2, 3, 4, 5 and even *6* times. That makes me nervous.

4. My enhancer for my engagement ring still hasn't come in yet. Jared's told me early February. I'm getting nervous that it won't be here on time for the formal wedding!

5. I finally decided to change my earrings yesterday. I bought some cute black/silver/grey dangly ones for $4.99 at Target lol...so I went home and wanted to try them on. The earrings I had on were very comfortable, but the back isn't like your standard earring back (with that funny looking stopper to go on the post). I was able to get the right one off pretty easily but the left one was jammed in there - I thought I was going to tear my ear lobe! I definitely hurt my ear a bit trying to get that one off. I decided to not put those back in for fear of having a hard time getting them back off so I just stick in some princess cut cubic zirconia posts instead :)

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #31/Five Question Friday!

1. Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful

Being able to keep our friends and family close due to all of the moving around the military makes you do.

2. Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army

Probably a lot. I don't know. This is such a random question lol

3. If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To

I would still want to be a nurse. if I couldn't be that, then I would be a photographer, cake decorator and a food critic lol.

4. Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don’t what would you get? submitted by The Squid’s Accomplice

I wouldn't, because I hate pain and needles and I know I would regret having a tattoo later. but if I absolutely HAD to get a tattoo, I would obviously get something Army-themed. I just don't know what.

5. Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose? submitted by To The Nth

a photography or cake decorating class!

Head on over to Wife of a Sailor's blog to participate!

And now time for Five Question Friday!

1. Can you drive stick shift?

I can, and I'm pretty decent at it, too, I just can't "take off fast" or take off like a normal person would lol. I have to go slow. Therefore, if I'm pulling out of a parking lot or something onto a main road, I have to make sure there isn't a car coming for awhile so I can make it out on the street lol. Once I'm there I'm fine. I don't really have problems stalling, I just have problems going. And I don't clutch dance that much, either!

2. What are two foods you just can't eat?

Olives. and condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup...YUCK!)

3. Do you buy Girl Scout cookies? What is your favorite kind?

I haven't bought any this year (I don't NEED them!) but my favorite is the Thin Mints!

4. How do you pamper yourself?

I really don't haha.

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?

Mel. And I'm not really sure how I got it. I remember I got it during elementary school but one of my friends just decided to call me that, and it stuck. My mom will sometimes call me Missa, which I don't mind. I *HATE* the name Missy, though (thankfully no one calls me that!). My other nickname is Melosaur, and E gave that one to me. Don't remember when, maybe it was when we were watching The Land Before Time? hahaha

ATT...and cake!

I got my ATT today! Finally!! Apparently the finger prints went through this time! I checked on the TX BON the other day and saw that they received my background check so I was thinking I was going to get my ATT soon...and lo and behold, I was sitting in my class this morning and got the lovely e-mail!

I also scheduled my test. I'm not telling anyone when I'm taking it, because I don't need any false reassurance and if I end up failing, I really don't want anyone to know about it. All of my other friends have passed so far so we'll see! I scheduled my day and even though it's not for awhile, I'm already stressing out and feeling very sick to my stomach. This test will determine if I'm competent enough to be an RN. Although it won't be the end of the world if I fail, I'd rather not pay another $200 to Pearson Vue just to take the damn test again!

But now that I have a date, I feel like I can focus more. It's crunch time now!

I also sampled cake today! We went to The West Side Bakery, which apparently is the place to go in my area! They allowed us up to 4 flavors to sample. I loved them all except for the hazelnut torte with chocolate ganache (too dry, but I realize that style of cake is different than the other three)...but the almond cake with raspberry preserve filling blew me away. The two went so well together and the cake itself had a lovely almond flavor. I decided on the design:

it'll be up to a 4 tier cake (depending on how many people come) with buttercream frosting...basically what is shown above but with dark/light purple calla lily flower accents. I gave them a fabric swatch of my bridesmaid dress colors to try and match up with the flowers on the cake. The flowers in that picture are buttercream but I'm trying to see if they can do marzipan flowers instead. They said they can, I just don't know how much extra it will be. Calla lilies are less intricate than other flowers (like roses or mums) so to make them out of marizpan (which is similar to fondant) shouldn't be that much more expensive, and I'm keeping the flower accents similar to the those in the picture - so it's not like there will be a ton of flowers. I haven't decided if I want to keep the top with just flowers or some flower accents and a cake topper. we'll see. but needless to say, I am very excited about this cake!

Another thing to cross off my list :)

Wordless Wednesday

ABC survey

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: twin bed at my apartment and full at home

C. Chore you dislike: washing dishes

D. Dogs: none yet :(

E. Essential start to your day: coffee.

F. Favorite color: purple, pink & light aqua blue!

G. Gold or silver: silver.

H. Height: 5'2".

I. Instruments you play(ed): started out on clarinet and played that throughout middle & high school for wind ensemble and played it for marching band one year, played in pit band for marching band another year (bells...I moved and this was after everyone went to band camp so I couldn't learn the sets lol), played mellophone for the last 2 years of marching band, played oboe one year for pit band (musical: Anything Goes) and played french horn another year for pit band (musical: Meet Me In St. Louis).

J. Job title: technically now a "graduate nurse" but I'm a nurse tech. I get to do everything the RN's do except assess and pass meds...and I can't do anything with central lines.

K. Kids: none. Not for awhile, at least 5 years lol.

L. Live: currently in Ohio. moving to Texas in May!

M. Mom’s name: Ann

N. Nicknames: Mel

O. Overnight hospital stays: I don't think I have ever stayed overnight at a hospital.

P. Pet peeve: ohhhh lots...people who don't perform their duties at work, dayshift nurses who think night shift does nothing except sit on their ass all night, people who always think they are right and can never admit when they're wrong, people who smack their food and chew with their mouth open, slow drivers, people who double park, people who mix up their your/you're and there/they're/their's, tailgaters, when my roommate leaves week+ old coffee in MY travel mugs and then they get all moldy and gross, people who cut me off...I could go on and on!

Q. Quote from a movie: "stay frosty" - Cpl Hicks from Aliens (I love that movie!)

R. Righty or Lefty: righty

S. Siblings: an 29-yo brother.

T. Time you wake up: depends...9-9:30am is my usual time, though.

U. Underwear: sporting some ones from VS pink :)

V. Vegetables you don’t like: mushrooms, olives

W. What makes you run late: I'm usually always on time or 5-10 minutes early. It is unusual for me to be late.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, right hand

Y. Yummy food you make: spaghetti squash with sauteed eggplant, zucchini & onions :)

Z. Zoo animal favorite: pandas!