Of Marriages and Maids [part one]

On December 26, 2012 my sister asked me to be her Maid of Honor.

Well, technically it was December 27, 2012 seeing as she called me at 1:00 in the morning after her fiance proposed. I offered something along the lines of a guttural grunt of consent when she asked me the question, but to be completely honest, I don't remember most of the conversation due to my sleep-induced delirium and may very well have agreed to trade myself in for a goat or become a bondservant for the next seven years. 

Regardless of whether my future liberty is in question, the wedding planning is coming along well, and I couldn't be happier to support my sister in all of her bridal preparations. 

Yesterday completed my first major MOH responsibility - the bridal shower. I am quite possibly a tad bit more than an perfectionist and most definitely a lot more than a overachiever, so my mom and I were busying ourselves for weeks to get ready for the party, keeping my sister in the dark about most of our plans all the while. (After all, shouldn't the bridal shower be a surprise?)

It was more than worth it when everything pulled together that afternoon, and I watched Emily enjoying herself with the friends and family who came to celebrate with her in this exciting new change. After the party was over, she tried her veil on for the first time and I could picture her the way she will be on July 20. It just seemed right somehow, like breathing in a sigh after unconsciously holding your breath for a while.

Nearly 40 people squeezed into our living room to fellowship with our family. We ate fruit and cake, listened to Emily tell stories about Chad (always my favorite part), and played two shower games: the Price is Right, Bridal Edition and a memory game where we hid the bride from sight and the guests had to recall details about what she was wearing during the party. 

And next, of course, came the presents! With 40 people to give gifts, there were so many bags and boxes packed around our feet that we couldn't move, but each one was admired and appreciated with time to spare. 

Frozen lemons in the ice cubes for the lemonade, and mint leaves in the ice cubes for the iced tea

Chocolate Cinnamon fruit dip
(makes approximately 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
2 tbsp. Nutella
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix ingredients together well. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

Honey Vanilla fruit dip

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
cinnamon to taste

Mix ingredients together well. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

Bridal shower favors

Friends for 22 years, and favorite sisters for just as long

All of the girls from both families - Mother of the groom, bride, Mother of the bride, and sister of the bride!

Next up on the list: Bachelorette party. 

The 'rette party and my NCLEX exam are in the same week. Here's to hoping I come out the other end alive.

 

Welcome back

Here it is.

My first blog post as a college graduate.
An IWU alumna.
The holder of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

But not a nurse quite yet. One more monumental obstacle remains.

The NCLEX-RN 2013.
The mother of all nursing exams. The test for which my graduating class has been preparing since we arrived on campus sophomore year, with bright eyes and brighter hopes because we were now NURSING STUDENTS. No other test has even come close. Not Sloan's Crit Care cardio test. Not Reed's Adult Health II final. Not even Wolgemuth's Pharmacology exams, aided by cheat sheets crammed so full of minuscule handwriting they were nearly illegible.

Notice how I've said "remains." Which means I haven't taken it yet. Which is why I haven't written anything in five weeks. When I first arrived home after graduation, I used lots of excuses to avoid cracking books for this test. Once I realized that this was probably not the study method that would lead to the most satisfactory results, I wised up and began reviewing information.

and information.

and information.

All of the information. From the past THREE YEARS.

Needless to say, everything else kind of lost its significance. Studying for a test that has the power to dictate whether or not you can practice where your passion lies really messes with your emotional stability.
On good days, I feel like Supernurse:

"Step aside, people. I can start IVs in one attempt on dehydrated veins with only my non-dominant hand and STILL maintain sterile technique. (Oh, and calculate titrated drip rates in my head at the same time.)"

But on bad days, you'll find me curled up in the fetal position on the floor as I slowly dissolve into a puddle of inefficacy, eyes fixated on that one point in space which will keep me from flying into a thousand useless pieces.

All that to say, I've been pretty preoccupied. Hopefully I will take the NCLEX before the end of the month, and this will all be behind me.

After the end of the semester, I was home for less than 24 hours when I told my father, 

     "Dad. I want to re-paint my room." 

And he said, 

     "Okay."

And I said,

    "But I'll do it all myself and...wait, what? Really?"

So for seven days, twelve hours a day, I completely immersed myself in Project Pinterestify April's Bedroom. It was fun at times, ridiculously hard work at others, and I pulled some life lessons out of it, which I can tell you about some other time if you're interested. Anyway, voila! The (almost) final result.

Eventually, the various paraphernalia on the floor will be on the walls. Eventually. 

Currently, my life consists of just four things: NCLEX prep, job applications, pursuing time with God, and helping my sister. I have one sister. One's all you need when you've got the best one.

She's getting married this summer (to a ginger by the way), and asked me to be her maid of honor. I've never been a maid of honor before, never even been a bridesmaid before, but goshdarnit I am going to be the best maid of honor there ever was for the best sister I've ever had.

We ran a 5K together this morning (um, yeah we're that cool), and I am so proud of her. So. much. fun.

More races in the future, yes?