Catching up :)

So, we finally got Molly spayed on the 7th, and the poor girl had one heck of a time recovering from anesthesia! I got her home from the vet and she immediately gave our carpet some special attention! I guess the car ride home just put her over the nauseous edge because not two seconds after I got through the door Molly Puked! And I am not talking about just a little bit...I am saying ALL over the carpet!...You just had to feel bad for the poor girl, but personally I was feeling pretty bad for me that day having to clean up this greenish/brown liquid! Anyways, the next day Molly was back to her usual self... Happy, running around like nothing had even happened the day before! Dogs recuperate so much quicker than humans do!

Today, I took Molly to the vet to get her stitches out. I think we let her run a little too much while she was healing because her incision looks horrible. Its all swollen and red and to be honest I am not 100% sure that it would not open back up if she really got to running full speed. I really did try my best to keep her from running but, me and Morgan are just not home all day every day! I am going to watch her like a hawk for the next couple of days and hope to God it heals a little better without the stitches in it.

This coming Sunday is me and Morgan's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!! MAY 24, 2009!
We are going on a Cruise to Key West and Belize. Cozumel, Mexico was going to be one of our stops, but Royal Caribbean canceled because of the Swine flu fiasco! We are going with Morgan's whole family to celebrate Cadi's graduation from High School. It just so happens to fall on our anniversary. Can we say. . . Second Honeymoon!!! :) I am so excited! We are leaving for Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday and we board the ship Monday. 5 Days of Sun, Sea, and Fun! Be back on Saturday! I will write again before we leave :)

Mothers Day Conversation with MOM!

Lynda: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!
Mom: Thanks dear! Happy Mothers day to you too!
L: Huh? Mom, Im not a "mom" yet! lol
M: Well, You will be soon :)
L: Oh, Reeeaaallly? You know this... how?
M: Oh..!?!?! Ummm....I Mean, You have Molly and Lucy!...You are their MOM!
L: Ok, Mom...lets not get carried away with the "Grandparent" idea! :)
M: *Silent Pause*. . . Well I do have 2 wonderful Grand-doggies!
L: Yeeaaah, well they will have to do for now :) I will talk to you later, LOVE YOU Mom!
M: *Mom obviously smiling on the other end of the phone* Ok, Love you too, Bye! . . . ~CLICK~

Cinco De Mayo!!! a.k.a Morgan's B-Day!

Happy 23rd Birthday! Whoo- Hoo! We both had to work, :( but luckily though I was able to come home around 5pm instead of 7 because I was in a class all day rather than on the floor taking care of patients' :) Morgan's friends at work took him out to a late lunch at a Mexican place. Morgan could eat Mexican 3 times a day for life so I knew he would love eating there. On the other hand he did not like wearing the birthday sombrero! lol

I already knew I wanted to make Morgan a cake for his birthday, but I still had to hurry home and make it! I made him his favorite cake... Yellow cake with Chocolate icing! Then to add even more calories to the cake I put mini chocolate donuts all over it! MMmm!

I may not be able to cook well, but I sure can BAKE!

When Morgan got home he drooled over his cake until I was ready to go to dinner. We went to Jim and Nicks BBQ...Kind of random, but he had already eaten Mexican and we are on a budget! I was craving some BBQ so it was not a problem for me!

Earlier in the day I had invited my mom, dad and Morgan's family to come over and eat the wonderful cake I had made. Morgan said he had a great B-day even though this was the first birthday ever that he did not get to spend with his twin brother Gregg who was studying in Tuscaloosa for finals. {Geez, I am so glad I don't have to ever worry about studying for those again!}

What was left of the cake! :)

Morgan's commercial series grill he got for his Birthday!

And his super cool grill cover! lol Happy Birthday Morgan! I LOVE YOU!

Lucy-Lu's New hair-do!

Well since the weather has been getting hotter and a lot more humid we decided to trim Lucy's fur. We do this every year because her hair gets pretty long during the winter and she practically lives in water during the summer months! She knows its coming and I like to think she enjoys it..lol. I only think this because she doesn't try to run away :)

Anyways, here is her before picture!

And here is her after picture...Kind-of hard to tell much or any fur is gone, but she sure does hold her head a little higher!

And here is one of Molly, Yawning! haha

Work updates!

I'm a little bit late on this, but I just wanted everyone to know that Morgan took his FE {Fundamentals of Engineering} exam back in April. He took it once last year before he even graduated just to see how he would do. He did not pass the first time but he thinks he passed this time around. He had been studying for it after work EVERY day until about 10-11pm every night, then he would come home, eat dinner, go to bed and have to wake up at 5:30am the next morning to be at work again. So needless to say, we didn't not exactly get to spend a lot of time together :) So this time he took it he said that he felt a lot more prepared and feels like he passed! I'm sure he did fine, but prayers are still very much appreciated as we do not get the results until mid-JUNE! I thought I was about to have a heart attack having to wait 2 days for my NCLEX results and now, poor Morgan has to wait 2 months!
As for me, my job is going GREAT! I am shocked that I ever had doubts about working on the L&D floor! The people are so nice and they really do want to help you learn. My preceptor {the person teaching me everything she knows} is the same age as me and we actually graduated Prattville high school together! I have been trying to learn everything and anything I can and at the end of the day I cant feel my legs anymore from all the walking/running I do up and down the halls. Its a fast paced, high stress job, but I am sure I made the right career decision!

Fun in the SUN!

It has been so pretty here lately and HOT! On my days off I have been laying out on a blanket in the back yard {trying to get some sort of tan}. I have been finishing up reading "Are you There, Vodka? Its Me Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler. Its such a funny book and I definitely recommend reading it if you have some spare time. So after a few days of relaxation under the sun, Morgan and I decided to get the girls {Molly and Lucy} a pool and a fun sprinkler to play in while we are gone to work since the temperatures have been reaching the mid to upper 80's!

Molly and Lucy seeing the doggie pool for the first time!

The awesome sprinkler that we bought at WalMart for $10! Its just a hose with a bunch of little tubes coming off of it and they squirt every which way! The dogs love it and it does a great job of watering the lawn!

Morgan mowing the lawn!

Weekend in Atlanta!

Me and Morgan went with some of his family to Atlanta this weekend for a little mini vacation before I have to start work on Monday{Tomorrow}. In Atlanta we stayed at the "W Hotel" It was so nice and Very Modern! That was the first time I had ever even seen modern style. It was so neat! lol Anyways, on our first night there we ate at Legals Seafood. I ordered a steamed lobster and they brought me a WHOLE lobster...head and all! I had to ask the waiter how to eat it! haha The next day{Saturday}, we went to the Atlanta Aquarium. I was definitely a little kid with my jaw down to my chest in Awwwh! If you have never been, You need to go! Also inside the aquarium we went saw a 3-D show and walked through the Titanic exhibit which was really neat! After that we went to the Coca*Cola factory. That was a lot of fun to seeing how coke is made and bottled. At the end of the tour we got to try all kinds of different soft drinks from all over the world. My favorite was one from Thailand called Fanta-Apple-Kiwi! MMmm! I wish they made some of that here in the U.S. :) We had so much fun and I really cannot wait to go back one day. Atlanta is a lot of fun!

Our super modern room!

My Whole Lobster! It was SO good!..as soon as I got rid of the head! Ick..

At the Aquarium

Coca-Cola Factory! So much fun!

P.S. WORK STARTS TOMORROW! YAY!

Just a day at the park.

I have felt bad for Lucy and Molly lately. They have not been outside much in the last couple of weeks since I was studying for NCLEX and the weather has not been so great. :( So for the last 3 days we have been going to Pratt Park in Prattville to get some exercise and mingle with ducks :) Behind the park there is a decent sized creek where people can go swimming{when it is warm} and bring their dogs to play in the water. The last couple days that I have taken the dogs to the park there have been a lot of people there. But today when I went there was hardly anyone at the park. So I brought the dogs down to the creek and let them off the leash to swim and run around. Lucy LOVES water so as soon as I let her off the leash she was fully submerged in the water! I thought Molly didn't like water so I did not expect her to get in, but she did! She was a little bit weary at first, just watching Lucy go swimming, but then she just went right in like it was nothing! haha It was so cute to see her go swimming for the first time. They had so much fun running and jumping in the water. The water levels were up in the creek after all the rain we have been having so it was pretty deep in some parts and there is a current, so I got a little bit scared for them at times. About half way through their swim I realized I didn't bring a towel with me! I had to let them air dry! :) Here are some pictures from our day. I hope you enjoy!

Lucy swimming!

Molly watching Lucy. . .

Molly swimming!

Having Fun!

Air Drying!

Sun Bathing :)

By the way. . . me and Morgan's family are going to Atlanta this weekend for a mini vacation before I start work on Monday! We are planning to go to the Aquarium there. I cant wait! I will post again on Sunday when we get back!

xoxox

Lynda, Morgan, and the Pups!

I am an R.N.!

Well last night I was still "going crazy!" I was so tired and wanted to go to bed early so 8am would get here this morning even quicker! Just like Christmas when you are a kid. lol The thing was that I could not bring myself to actually go to bed. I was too nervous to lay down, so I cleaned the house, did some laundry, washed the dishes, and took a shower. I also was checking the Alabama Board of Nursing website religiously! Just in case they decided to update the results early! I was literally going NUTS waiting! No one should ever have to wait 48 hours to find out how the rest of their life is going to play out!...Anyways, I finally did fall asleep around 1:30am and woke up at 7:20am to Morgan's alarm clock.. My first thought was, "Crap, I am not going to be able to fall asleep again for 40 more minutes. So half asleep I checked the website anyway. Its was there! I passed! YAY! So now I am a Registered NURSE! I am so happy to not ever have to take another test ever again! It feels so good! I seriously thought I failed, and I passed. I cannot be happier right now.
Tonight, Me and Morgan's families went out to dinner at Longhorn steak house to celebrate. It was so much fun!
Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and "my nerves" lol
Love you all!

L. Garner, R.N.

This is ME Geeking OUT. . . Hopefully over nothing!

I took my NCLEX this morning! I got a good night's sleep and even ate a little something for breakfast. I wont even try to explain to anyone reading this the way the morning went for me while I was actually taking the test, but I will say that right now I feel like PUKING and cannot wait for Saturday morning at 8am to get here. That is when my results are posted. 75 questions is the minimum that I could have taken and 260 is the maximum. The test determines how many questions you get by the way you answer the questions. The test cuts off after you have "Proved" you can be a safe, effective nurse or when you show that you cannot be a safe, effective nurse. The test cut ME off at 90 something. I don't even know the exact # that it cut me off at. I just know that right now I am freaking out because...I really do feel like I FAILED!....What's new! We will see on Saturday!...:(

Job Update

As you can see from my earlier blogs, it has been a little bit difficult for me to decide where I would like to work! lol I decided late last week that I really needed to re-visit the labor and delivery unit at Baptist East in Montgomery since my first experience wasn't at all what I expected. So today I re-met with the nurse manager and I must say that it was a much more pleasant experience. This time I did not feel rushed and she actually took the time to go over the computer system with me. She showed me all the rooms and talked about all the equipment. She even introduced me to some of the staff and they were all so nice. I really liked was I saw!
I will say that even before I went today I had already decided which job I was going to take! I spoke with one of my friends that works in L&D and she was so honest with me about the unit. She didn't sugar coat anything! She definitely played a huge role in my decision and after visiting the unit today I can officially introduce myself as the NEWEST staff member of Labor and Delivery! I start on March 23rd with 2 weeks hospital orientation, then I start 13 weeks of orientation on the unit. After 13wks of orientation I will be working night shift {all by myself}. I am definitely not a fan of the "uniform" {I have to wear light BLUE} lol. So much for all the scrubs that I already have...NONE of which are Blue...:) oh well...
Anyways, please keep me in your prayers. I take NCLEX on Thursday...bright and early in the morning! And I am sooo nervous! I will hopefully find out on Saturday how I did on the test. I will write again then.

Lynda

Decisions, decisions. . .

This is going to be a long one so be patient :) . . . So today I went on two more interviews and I must say they went SO much better than the very first one I had last week. They were both at Baptist South in Montgomery and they went VERY well!!

The first one today was for Pediatrics and the other was in the Emergency room. Like I said before, I just have never really thought about doing anything other than labor and delivery, but after today's interviews that may have all changed and not for the reasons you may think.

My first interview was at 1pm and since it is a big hospital I decided to get there early. I got there (early like I said) and the nurse manager was not back from lunch yet so I was asked to wait in the "play room." I took one look at the little 2 year old size chairs and decided to stand outside the play room instead. After all I was wearing a dress. haha. In the time I was standing there, about 5 nurses came up to me and asked if I had already been helped. That alone was impressive to me! The woman interviewing me for the pediatrics position was your typical peds manager. Very bubbly, talkative, approachable, and so kind! She wanted to know EVERYTHING about me! She asked me almost everything about being in the military, when I was married, where I see myself in 5 years, and why peds? After this, she told me everything that I could have ever wanted to know about the unit and more. I can tell you that I was incredibly impressed, not just with the unit, but with her and her staff as well. She then gave me the tour of the unit and talked to me the whole time. It was just so different from the very first interview that I had. It actually felt like she wanted me to be a part of her unit and not just a person to fill an open position. Then after 50 minutes, when the interview was over, she actually walked me down to the Emergency room and introduced me to my second interviewer! How amazing is that!

The emergency room nurse manager was just as great as the peds nurse manager. She told me that as soon as she spoke with me yesterday on the phone she could see my smile and knew right there and then that I was going to be just what she wanted for her unit. Then she said "So tell me about Lynda?" haha. I loved that. After I told her about me, she told me about the unit and the staff and actually referred to the unit as a "family." That was really nice to hear too. She also gave me a tour of the unit and almost everyone of the staff members said hello to me. Again, so different than the very first interview I went on! Then she told me that she was going to put in the recommendation for hire to the nursing recruiters as soon as possible because she knew I was looking at other areas of the hospital and she really wanted me to come work for her. I have not received an offer yet, but do anticipate one very soon.

As soon as I get home the phone rings and it is the nurse recruiter with job offers! She offered me the L&D position at Baptist East that I interviewed for last week and the Pediatrics position at Baptist South. I told her that I was really not ready to make a decision yet and would still like to go on some more interviews so she said that I can just let her know in a week where I stand. :)

Now, for my dilemma . . . Like I said before, again, and again . . . I have ALWAYS pictured myself working as a labor and delivery nurse, but after comparing the interviews I had today to the one in L&D last week, there really is no comparison. I want to work somewhere where I feel wanted and I just did not feel that there. The nurse manager in L&D really turned me off from wanting to work on her unit and that really is sad, because I only met with her one time and maybe she was just having a bad day that day, but still . . . first impressions are everything! I know a few people who work there and I think I have already picked their brains for just about everything L&D related, but I would still really like to talk to them and see how she is on more of an everyday basis before I completely rule this out. My heart is very torn right now for what to do. She definitely did not turn me off of L&D by any means. If I do not do L&D soon, I will one day. . . after all it is my dream job! :)

Thanks for reading! Pray that I can make a decision soon! Also please pray for me because I take my NCLEX on March 12...NEXT WEEK! Agghhh! lol

xoxo
Lynda

SNOW!!!

Sorry I am just now writing about this past weekend. Its has been a crazy few days around here. Well we had some pretty crazy weather around here this past weekend. It started out beautiful on Thursday in the mid 70's and then turned to tornado weather Friday and Saturday with a lot of heavy rain and lightning. Then on Sunday..SNOW! It was amazing how the weather changed so fast! That's Alabama for you! :)

Sunday, March 1st . . .
Morgan and I woke up around 7am and opened the blinds to a winter wonderland. The look on Lucy's face was PRICELESS! She perked right up and started whining and wagging her tail. It was so cute! Molly had no clue what to think, she just looked at Lucy like "whatcha lookin at?" So we hurried up and put on some sweatshirts and shoes and headed out side.

The puppies LOVED the snow. They immediately started playing and eating it. haha! We stayed outside for about 20 minutes before deciding to come back in and drink some HOT chocolate. It was such a wonderful relaxing morning. We then loaded up the pups and headed to Morgans parents house to have a little breakfast and play in the snow some more :) At breakfast, Cadi and Natalie {Morgan's younger sisters} came up with the wonderful idea to attach a pool float to the four wheeler and have Morgan drive us around over the snow! There were a lot of wipe-outs and I think we all have a few bruises we could talk about, but luckily no one was hurt, and we all had so much fun!

It was like a blizzard sometimes!

Snow Flakes on my nose!

Molly taking a much needed puppy break inside while we all played in the snow. She was watching us out the window while we rode on the float :)

So much fun!! This was Morgan driving, Cadi on the back of the four wheeler and Natalie hanging on for dear life to the float.

Fingers Crossed . .

Well I had my first real job interveiw today for what I would consider to be my dream job! It was at Baptist East in Montgomery in Labor and Delivery. I think for as long as I could remember I have wanted to become a nurse and help deliver babies. So naturally after I graduated I decided to apply for L&D and ONLY them. Since that is what I want to do! So it would be a huge blessing if I could actually get the job. I already have a scholarship though Baptist hospital so I have always known that I would have to work for them after I graduated. Anyways, back to the interview. . .The interview itself was nothing like I thought it was going to be. Normally you would go in there and the person already has your paperwork ready and the first question out of their mouth is, "So, tell me about yourself . ." Well, like I said before this is my first "real" interveiw, so I am just going off previous interviews I have had for little jobs. Anyways, I get there and she cannot find my paperwork and decides to wing it with just my first name misspelled on the top of a note pad. She did not ask me anything about myself. She just asked a LOT of questions about various scenarios and how I would handle or react to them, then she gave me the tour of the unit and it was over in all of 20 minutes. I think I did great considering, but I still left there not really knowing where I stood. Well regardless of how I "thought" the interview went, she told me it would up to 2 weeks for me to hear anything. So please keep your fingers crossed for me! In the mean time I think I will apply for a couple more jobs around the hospital. Just in case :)

I also just wanted to mention that Morgan and I have been married for 9 months today! I usually do not think twice about keeping up the time we have been together, but today I just thought about it. I cannot believe that we have been dating for over 6 years, and now we have almost been married for a whole YEAR! I have heard people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and so far I honestly can say I have no complaints. We have been blessed so immensely with our two wonderful families. They have made this first year so easy for us! We are so thankful!

Well enough for tonight, sorry so long :)
xoxox
Lynda and Morgan

Scrapbooking wannabe

Well, this is my first attempt at this thing called blogging! I always thought that I would scrapbook. In fact, I already have just about everything you would EVER need to actually make a scrapbook. But, I have never even used the stuff. I think this would be a great way for me to "scrapbook" in a sense, and for our friends and family to follow along in our journey of marriage, careers, and our tiny family of four. I hope you will follow along and enjoy!
All our love--Lynda, Morgan, Lucy(pup), and Molly(baby pup)