Messy Hair, Messy Room, Organized Life

I admire the girls who show up to class or work with the perfect hair and makeup. Really, I do. I've never been super into doing my hair and makeup, or keeping up on the latest fashion trends. But these girls always look so put together even when they don't have to (or when they're …

Free is my favorite word!

While I may be a bit of a logophile, my favorite words are not always the most...sophisticated sounding. I love how the word "moist" seems to make a shiver run up some people's spines (my internship preceptor absolutely hated it!). I am fascinated by "syzygy," because no word should ever have that many y's and …

Adulting 101: Health Insurance Basics

It's that time of the year again! This is the first year that I have joined the ranks of working adults across the United States participating in Open Enrollment for benefits. Typically, Open Enrollment is a limited time frame when employees (or just citizens, if you're purchasing health insurance privately) are able to sign up …

Adulting 101: Health Insurance Terminology

These are some common terms that you may come across in your journey to signing up for health insurance. Take a look and let me know if you want any more info on any of them...I'd be happy to help! 🙂 Benefit year/benefit period: the time frame in which your benefits will cover you. I …

First Midterm ✓

I officially have survived my first grad school midterm! Woo hoo! It wasn't my first grad school test, but it was my first stats test in grad school. Considering I was the girl in high school who told her dad she wouldn't pick a career that involved math (and then continued on to nursing school …

Night Shift Sleep Schedule (and I’m back on Days…)

Suffice to say, I am tired. I have been back on day shift for the last two weeks, and only had 4 night shifts between this stint of days and my last one. Despite having worked the last two days and having been exhausted when I came home, I woke up at midnight after only two …

Long time, no see!

I have thought about this baby blog over the last month every time I wanted to do something different (and not school/work-related), but quite honestly I never had the brain energy after a 12+ hour shift to sit and write. After work -- which, let's face it, is never only 12 hours long in nursing! -- …

Why I Quit Freelance Writing

I wrote freelance articles as a ghost writer for an online financial website contributor for about a month before I came to a big realization: it is hard to balance freelancing enough to make real money with a full-time job and family life. I have read probably a hundred posts and articles online that have …

My First Student Loan Payment!

Last Friday, I received my first nursing paycheck (for a recap, you can find the post here)! It was amazing to see my bank account jump in size in comparison to when I've received my nursing assistant paychecks in the past! When I figured out how much I was paid by my employer -- and that …

Exhausted Already

Well, I have officially completed the first 4 weeks of my 12 week work orientation. Woot! I worked almost all 3am to 3pm shifts, with a few "class" days (hospital -required computer classes and orientation) from 7am to 3pm. All in all it wasn't too bad...I got used to waking up at 1am in order …