La vie Après l'Université (Life After College)

So...I don't even know where to start...I guess I'll begin with my dilemma. I don't know what I'm going to do. I realize that this is the case with most post-college graduates, but I'm already terrible at making decisions (ask my family on this one...), so this is extra hard for me! I mean, this is quite possibly the biggest decision I will be making for a long time. It can affect the rest of my life. Seriously. So...I think I'll just start out with some pro/cons for current location options:

St. Louis, Missouri
PROS
-Home near family
-Lots of friends in STL
-Could live at home for a while so I could be financially stable
-I would be able to do the DNP program at Mizzou
-Already talked with a couple of friends about living together
-It's a comfortable environment
-Obtaining a nursing license would be so much easier in MO
CONS
-I'm too comfortable with it
-I want an adveture and going home wouldn't be too much of one
-The safest place to live is the suburbs and I want to live near people my age
-I would move home, whereas I'd love to be independent right off the bat
-A lot of hospitals are either on hiring freezes or aren't accepting applications until April/May (I would like to have a job by then!)
-Am I settling? Would I ever move away if I did just go to STL?
-Starting pay is less than Dallas
-I'd have to drive to and from work everyday--no public transportation

Dallas, Texas
PROS
-ADVENTURE!!!
-New city, new me
-I've already found a great area to live in: The Village. It's 14 apartment complexes in one big complex! It's huge and totally accessible to all major areas in Dallas
-I would live in hip downtown, which is actually safe
-I have a few friends there that would be willing to help me move/get my feet on the ground/search for jobs
-Lots of opportunities for internships (what nurses usually start with)
-Great starting pay for RNs
-There are graduate programs for nurses at Baylor Nursing School and University of TX-Arlington
-Trains run from the apartments to hospitals, so I wouldn't have to drive to work
-Cost of living is equivalent to STL (depending on where you live)
-Warm weather!! (Mostly year-round)
-Our good family friends live there, so I'd have a second set of parents right there
-Most hospitals will pay for me to move down there

CONS
-The DNP at Mizzou is so readily available, but I wouldn't be able to do it if I were in Dallas
-Would miss family and friends
-9 hour drive to and from STL
-Already turned down from internships because I'm not from Texas...it's almost a disadvantage that I'm not from Dallas
-I probably wouldn't have a roommate
-Might have problems making friends (maybe, maybe not)
-I would have to move everything down there
-Wouldn't be able to be close to family during holidays if I have to work
-I don't speak Spanish, which is a huge percentage of the population...I'd have to learn some.
-I'd have to figure out where and how to obtain a Texas nursing license

Houston, Texas
So...now one of my friends really wants me to think seriously about Houston. I don't know much, but here's what I know:
PROS
-I would already have a roommate and an apartment...I wouldn't have to deal with any of that
-I have family in Houston
-There are tons of opportunities and great hospitals

CONS
-Same as Dallas pretty much
-It's extremely hot there!! And humid.

So...what do I do? What do you all think I should do? There are great reasons to stay in St. Louis, but there are a lot of reasons to move to Dallas. I guess my best option at this time is to apply to jobs in all three cities and see what the Lord gives me. It's the best I can do at this time.

If you all have any suggestions (or connections *hint hint*), I would gladly take them!

Au Revoir for now,

xoxo Betsey

Le Premier Examen (The First Test!)

Here it comes! The first test of the final semester.

What's it on? Eh, I don't really know.


....just kidding. This is the test about cardiac: EKGs, arrhythmias, vasopressors (a medication and a hormone), about 15 other meds, and cardiac diagnositic tests. Should be fun. Well, maybe not. Ask me AFTER the test.

So here's to nothing! Wish me luck :)

Au Revoir for now,

xoxo Betsey

***Neige (Snow)***

With February comes love, and what I love is SNOW!

Well...usually...

See, I love when I can sit inside my house, by the fire with a book, and watch as the world outside gets covered with a blanket of fresh snow. There's something peaceful about snow. Maybe it's the realization that each flake is uniquely designed, the beauty of the trees covered with that white powder, or the graceful dance as the flakes fall to the ground. There are a number of things that make snow so delightful!

However...there are even more things that make it very UNdelightful (is that even a word??). Take for example: the entrance to my apartment complex is a hill (smart design, huh?), so I watched as a four car pile-up took place. Later I heard it ended up being a SIX car pile-up. YIKES!
Another reason: it's cold (DUH). However, when you're trying to get to a friend's apartment (in the complex next door mind you), it's not a fun adventure in tennis shoes! Needless to say, I fell once, almost twice, on the ice on the way home.
One more reason: despite inches of ice and snow, my university NEVER calls off school! It's not like I had class today anyway, but it would be nice to have a snow day for my friends. I'm interested to know...did you go to school today??

In a time like this, I can dream of owning only one thing: Michael Kor's boots. They're GORGEOUS and look oh-so-warm with the shearling on the sides and inside! They're also high enough to cover my entire lower leg, which would be nice in this "feels like -8 degrees" weather.

With the hefty price of $298.00, I think I'll stick with my Fuggs (fake Uggs for those who don't understand the slang). Yes, I admit to wearing the Fuggs, which I think are the UGLIEST shoes ever made, but hey, we gotta stay warm somehow, right?? Wish I didn't have to wear 'em, but they're in my price range. For now, I'll just have to keep dreaming of trudging through the snow in Michael Kors. *Sigh*

Au Revoir,

xoxo Betsey

Malade :( (Sick)

Three weeks into the semester and I'm sick. Yeah...not cool. It all started Friday night:

I went into "work" that night (aka went to do a 12 hour shift for my practicum...no paycheck for this work!) feeling great! I felt well-rested, ready to get started, but just a little nervous for the night shift. I got to the MedNeuroSurgical ICU, met my preceptor, and we got down to business. Not 15 minutes into work, and I started feeling a tickle in my throat. Where else would we have been except a patient's room, right? So, mid-choking, I excuse myself from the room and begin hacking up a lung in the hallway. Great start, huh? As I'm standing there coughing into my sleeve, my preceptor takes me to the clean utility room and shows me where I can find water. As soon as the tickle went away, I said to him,

"Man...I don't know where this is coming from! I feel fine, but sometimes I just get these tickles that won't go away. I always get them at the most inconvenient time! I get them during tests sometimes."

And he replies,

"Oh, well I guess sometimes when you're anxious you can get those."

So of course I explain to him that I'm not anxious, I'm excited for this experience! We go back to work.

Ten minutes later...there I am hacking up a lung again! Come on throat! Cut me a break! I actually started praying that God would spare me the coughing...sad, but true.

Luckily I made it through the shift successfully. I woke up Sunday morning feeling stuffy and having coughed all night. I think the lack of sleep awoke something in my system, because honestly, I felt fine on Friday! I did! I wouldn't have gone in if I didn't. Which is what happened Sunday night. I called in sick. So now I'm just recovering from a small cold. No fevers, no chills, no aches. Just cough and runny nose. Nothin' a little Dayquil and Nyquil "Cough" won't fix! I'll be back before I know it.

Here's to feelin' better and vitamin C!

Au Revoir,

xoxo Betsey