"Can we get some more wire cutters?"

Last night my sister, Madeline and I went with her two best friends to see the movie, War Horse. 

We got our tickets, bought our popcorn, sat down in the empty room, and thought "Oh yay, we just might get the whole theater to ourselves!" Wrong! 

According to the theater's website, the movie started at seven.

According to our tickets, the movie started at eight! 

 No wonder the cleaning lady looked at us like we were crazy! Since we had an entire hour to wait, we did what all teenage girls do and left our popcorn with the concession stand lady while we went to get milkshakes next store!!

Unfortunately, I have no proof that Ale' was there since some people think taking pictures is too tour-isty! :)

The Start of Something New

I awoke this morning before dawn and really wanted to go back to sleep. Five AM came early and I had to partially drag myself out of bed. But then I remembered what I was supposed to do today: I was to observe at the Surgery center with Marci! I quickly snapped awake and rolled out of bed. Once I'm awake there's something I love about pre-dawn mornings especially when I have a reason to be up early: The stillness, the darkness, the quiet, and the undisturb-ness...
I finished my morning routine and drove to the surgery center ... I love my small town where I can drive around at 6:15 and find very few cars on the roads! I quickly changed into scrubs and a hairnet. And the day was off to a start ... Marci showed me around the OR and walked me through her pre-op routine. Before I knew it the first patient was lying on the table and the real fun began! Nothing about this little guy proved to be easy or "normal." Many tries later, they finally got an IV placed! I was able to see the tiny tubes in his eardrums thanks to a high-tech microscope and a kind doctor who let me peer over his shoulder while he worked! The next patient was a cute little girl who needed her adenoids removed. Thankfully her case proceeded quite smoothly and she was out of the OR in about 14 minutes! And I had a birds eye view for the whole procedure! It was pretty awesome! I observed another ENT surgery before watching a pre-op for a shoulder. A colonoscopy was next up on the agenda and I had the opportunity to observe two of those: one bad case and one "normal" case. Let's just say that a colonoscopy is just plain gross!! It was kinda neat to see, but certainly not something I want to willingly do again! Yuck!! I finished out the morning by watching an orthopaedic elbow surgery, as well as, the shoulder from earlier that morning. Both were pretty cool considering they were sterile and required me to wear a mask in the OR! Yes, I'm a new nursing student who still thinks wearing a mask and hairnet is pretty awesome!!


After today, I have so much to think about in terms of where I want to go with my nursing career!! I'm excited to see where God leads me in the months and years ahead! And I'm pretty sure today was the start of a whole new life in the medical field!!

Speak, O Lord

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You 

To receive the food of Your Holy Word.

Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;

Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,

That the light of Christ might be seen today

In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.

Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us

All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,

Holy reverence, true humility;

Test our thoughts and our attitudes 

In the radiance of Your purity.

Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see

Your majestic love and authority. 

Words of power that can never fail,

Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;

Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us-

Truths unchanged from the dawn of time

That will echo down thro- eternity.

And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,

And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.

Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built

And the earth is filled with Your glory.

~Keith Getty and Stuart Townend