Missing Nashville

At the beginning of our marriage, I was extremely homesick.  I know, Bham is only a short 2 1/2 hour away from "home", but considering I was a wuss and went to college in my hometown, I had never been away from family and friends for more than a week at a time.  While I have grown out of my homesick phase, there are days when I get slightly nostalgic, and wish I was home.  And yes, I still call it "home".  I mean give a girl a break, if my dad occasionally still refers to Memphis as "home" after being away for 20 + years... I'm doing ok.

Here are the things I am specifically missing today:

1.  Obviously my family.  What's a Sunday lunch at the Smith compound without mom running around frantically in the kitchen trying to get everything done on time?  Or staying up late watching movies with dad, going to Buddy's soccer games, or Ash and me yelling at the TV whenever the Titans are on.

2.  Our friends.  Some of my best friends have actually moved away from Nashville as well, so they understand my "pain".  Love you Bug, Heath, and Ashleigh.  But the rest of my crew is still in the good ole' Ville having fun without me :)  I'm extremely blessed to have such an incredible group of friends, most of whom I have been best friends with since middle school.  God is good.  Not to mention, that all of Matthew's best friends also live in Nashville with their wives.  Thankfully, we get to see them fairly often.

Not all of us.. But this was the most recent picture I had with the most of us in it.  Sad part, it was Speight's wedding and she isn't even in the picture!  Sorry Speight!

But.. here we all are, back in the good ole' days of High School. 

We'll be hanging out with these guys not this weekend but the next in Gatlinburg!

3.  Harpeth Hills.  While we have been incredibly blessed to find a great church home at Homewood COC here in Bham, with an awesome young marrieds' CORE group... I sometimes still miss being at Harpeth on a Sunday.  Not just because I'm biased to my dad's preaching...which is so true by the way.  I also miss seeing familiar faces, being involved with happenings going on there, and obviously church camp.  :)

My senior year at Harpeth Hills, where we won 3 Trunk or Treat competitions in a ROW!

4.  Gerry House and the Big 98.  Can I tell you how depressed I am that this man is retiring before I even got a chance to move back?!  Radio in Nashville will never be the same.  After listening to him day in and day out on my way to school every morning in high school and college, I can't believe he's about to be gone!  I may be inconsolable for months!

You sure Gerry?

5.  Eating out.  I still CRAVE Baha Burrito, Satco, Puffy Muffin, and the Coop.  Thankfully, my mom is the greatest, and almost always has take out Puffy Muffin for us on Saturday for lunch whenever we come home for the weekend.  Another tradition we have started is to stop and get Baja Burrito on the way up to Lexington...we've done it almost every time.  We love Moe's, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it, it's not the same, not even close.

2 chicken fajitas with a side of queso dip is calling my name!

That's all for today... Excited about a weekend at home and my good friend Lindsey's wedding this weekend!  Oh by the way... I've been off for the last 3 days... Jealous?  I know my hubby is :)

75 Questions Later...

I PASSED!  I have officially taken and kicked the NCLEX's tail.  I could not be more relieved. 

Throughout nursing school, we all talked about how there was no way that the NCLEX could be that horrible, we would all do fine, etc...   This all changed when I started hearing horror stories from my classmates who were lucky enough to take it before me.   After reading a 1200 page NCLEX textbook, reading another prep book called the Hurst review, and taking over 1500 practice test questions... as I sat down to take the test, I still felt unprepared. 

I'm usually a fairly calm test taker.  I get anxious beforehand (I told my dad an hour before I took it that I felt like I was going to vomit), but after I sit down and start taking it, I'm fine.  Thankfully, this was true for the NCLEX, and after about question 5, my heart rate had slowed, despite the fact that I could still hear it beating loudly through my head phones. 

So this is how the test works.  You start out with fairly easy questions, and as you get them right, the questions get harder.  If you get them wrong, your questions get easier again.  Eventually, if you're doing well, you should be getting questions that you have NO IDEA what the answer is... this happened to me.  The minimum amount of questions you can get is 75.  So, if your test cuts off at 75, you either did really well, or really bad.  As I was sitting there about to submit my 75th question, I kept thinking, "Do I want more questions, or am I good enough to be done?".  It didn't matter, my test cut off at 75.  My heart stopped. 

I called Matthew as I was leaving the test site, and told him that I had absolutely no idea how I had done.  I know that I had at least 20-25 "select all that apply" questions, which people had told me that when you get those questions, it means your doing well...but honestly, how do they know?  Why they can't give you your results right after the test is beyond me.  It's torture.

There is apparently a trick to see if you passed that you can do early before you get your "official" test results 48 hours later.  You go onto the testing website and try and re-register to take the test.  If it takes you to the credit card page, then you know you failed, but if a message pops up saying "Contact your member board", it supposedly means you passed. 

I was too nervous to check this out myself, so I called M to see if he would do it for me.  He told me he would call me back in 40 minutes to let me know.  An hour or so later he called me and didn't say anything about the test but said, "I think I'm going to come home from work early today".  At this point, I know something's up.  His tone is off, and I knew he was busy that day at work...no way he needed to leave early.  I immediately ask, "Did you check it?"  He replies, "Well, I dunno, I'm not sure, I...."  At this point, I'm on the verge of a full blown panic attack and said, "JUST TELL ME WHAT IT SAID!".  He tells me that when he tried to submit to re-register it took him to a page that asked what test I wanted to register for.  I'm still freaking out, so I hung up on M and called my friend Erin to ask her if that means I failed, or if I was supposed to go back through and do the whole thing all over again.  Long story short, M didn't go far enough into the process.  I eventually got the message telling me to call my member board.  Lesson learned...Man up and do it yourself next time.  My poor husband had no idea what to do when he thought I had failed... bless his heart.

At work two days later, I officially get the results on the Alabama Board of Nursing website.  There I was...Andrea Lynn Hardison, RN.  I finally got to sign something in my patients chart with RN after my name later on that day... sweet.  You can see it for yourself, https://www.abn.alabama.gov/apps/lookup/verification.aspx  Just type in my first and last name, and there I am :)

I'm off for the next 3 days.  This 3 days a week thing is the best thing since sliced bread.  5 days a week is for the birds...or everyone else in a normal profession.  But the best part? (Besides my first paycheck that I got last Friday)  I don't have to study when I get home from a 12 hour shift.  I'm done.  I was straight up crazy when I contemplated starting back to school this Fall.. no thanks.  Not the spring either.  The earliest this girl will be hitting the books again is next summer...the earliest.   I'm enjoying being a normal, working, adult.  Hello real world!

Sincerely,

Andrea Hardison, RN, BSN

If I Have To...

So, I turned 24 on Saturday.  Please, hold your "happy birthdays".  I'm not thrilled.  Birthdays used to be fun and exciting.  As you got older, you got more responsibilities, like riding your bike out of your mother's line of sight, going to the movies with friends sans parents, getting a cell phone, learner's permit, driver's license, being able to vote or get a tattoo without parental permission (I didn't take advantage of that last one), etc...  What happens at 24.... a big fat nothing.  Sure, more responsibility, but most definitely not "fun" responsibility, like remembering to feed your pet goldfish. 

I know I know, I'm really not at all old.  There are plenty of people older than me, don't hate.  I just know that next year I will officially be mid twenties, as in closer to 30 than 20.  Fortunately, there are upsides...If anything, being 24 has been an even better reminder to put on my anti-wrinkle cream at night and my sunscreen on during the day... I refuse to have bad skin. 

Now instead of wondering what I'm going to wear to Homecoming or formal.  I worry about 401k's, Roth IRA's, student loans, car payments, or even better how we're going to pay for our future children's college education.  No fun! I remember thinking adulthood was so glamorous :) Luckily, there are a lot of things to look forward to as well...focus on the positive!

 Thanks to all who made my bday great!  It was so fun being in Nashville to celebrate mine and Ashley's birthdays.

Dinner at Sperrys.

 

 

So I have been dying for a pair of Ray-Bans.  But, I accidently got my mom to order them in the wrong size... Bummer.  Now I'm having a change of heart, and don't know if I should stick with my Aviators (in the bigger size) or get Wayfarers.

Wayfarer

Aviator...All my fashion-forward friends out there.. Help!

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, there was a Pi Delta Alumni Breakfast.  Yay for seeing old friends!

My pledge class...7 out of 13.  Not bad.

Thanks Dad

Most of you who know me would assume that I received about 90% of my genes from my mother.  Well, I'm here to tell you, that although I am almost completely a mini me of good ole' Vick the Chick.. I have a lot of my Dad in me as well.  We're both night owls, love history, sports, and reading pretty much anything and everything, have bad vision, share a love for old black and white movies, especially anything by Alfred Hitchcock or starring Jimmy Stewart, and we're two of the more frugal ones in the family (ahem, Ash and Mom).  Unfortunately, I didn't receive his rationality, levelheadedness or patience, but I mean hey, we can't win 'em all.  But I was lucky enough to get his....Allergies.  Awesome.

While my mother usually gets to enjoy this time of year, the rest of us spend our nights hacking and sneezing.  When people ask me what exactly I'm allergic to, my response is everything.  I'm not kidding.  According to my allergist, mold is worst for me, along with pollen, ragweed, grass, and pretty much anything green or growing outside, plus dogs that shed and of course cats.  I'm still scarred from allergy shots.  I began taking them when I was little, and the only thing I remember was running around the house screaming, while my mother most likely chased me around with a needle... not open of course.  In high school, I was the only kid I knew that had to go downtown to Baptist after school to get not only 1 allergy shot, but 3.  Not to mention, that you have to wait 30 minutes after your shot to see if you had a reaction to it.  Who has time for that?  I loved the weeks that I could convince my dad to be a rebel and leave before we got checked.

Currently, I'm sleeping on 3 pillows, trying to prevent myself from coughing and keeping my husband up at all hours of the night. I've taken more than enough Zyrtec and Benadryl.  So now I'm wishing I was still taking allergy shots, but if I can't give them to myself... I'm not interested.

So thanks Dad.  Appreciate it :)

So Long Black Beauty

So long

We sadly ecstatically got rid of our good friend Black Beauty this past Sunday.  Matthew and I bought a new car!!  I'm sorry Black Beauty, your worn out AC just wasn't cutting it anymore.  Your time had come.  Now, you can rest in the great car heaven in the sky, or the dump, either/or.  I wish I could say that you've been a great car, but in all honesty, you were sort of a headache, or a wallet ache.  I wish Serra Hyundai/Kia/Mistubishi/Chevy/and whatever else they sell the best of luck in selling you...

Matthew and I had been eyeing the 2011 Hyundai Sonatas for the last month or so, apparently they have been rated the "best" car for your money the last couple of years, plus it looks pretty.  We had decided to wait 6 months, save up a little more, and then take the plunge.  This all changed when Matthew found an ad in the paper saying they would give $4500 for any trade-in.  Obviously, Black beauty is not worth a dime over $1500, so we opted to go check it out, vowing that even if we fell in love with a car, we would "at least" go home and sleep on it.  5 hours later we walked out with our lives and any valuable organs signed away to a car loan :)

On a side note, if anyone needs a great haggler, you are free to borrow my husband.  He stuck to his guns and said he would not pay a dime over a certain price, even when the guy basically begged.  The car guy wanted $10 more a month, which I thought was reasonable... but not to M.  Through all the negotiations, we got the car for about $8000 off the sticker price.. have no idea how that came about.  I clammed up in through the negotiations (I feel awkward in confrontations), so I excused myself to go "study" for the NCLEX.  All I know, we're the new proud owners of a car that will hopefully survive for a VERY long time.

 On a side note, as if I needed any other reason to be glad I got a job at UAB.. I was shown this little jewel in orientation today.  I've gotta meet this guy. 

Year Two

And then there were two...years that is, two wonderful years married to an amazing beautiful woman. I was planning on doing a long post and I still may do an addendum later this evening depending on the schedule (right now the power is out and my computer has to be plugged in to work), but due to un-for-seen technical difficulties (it took about 6 hours longer to finish the video and get it on the blog than expected) this will be more brief than originally planned. I will simply say this, after two years of marriage I have it all figured out. The secret? The big mystery behind such a lengthy marriage? Realize you are not as important as she is, or as important as the two of you are together. Be constantly aware you married up and hope like crazy she doesn't figure it out. Be thankful every day for your time together and know when who cleaned the kitchen last is not worth arguing about. Also, flowers, jewelry, and the occasional surprise from Chick-Fil-A or Milo's doesn't hurt either.

Enjoy the video that is a definite joint effort between M and A. Also, Ann accepted and will start her new job on Monday, but I will let her blog about the job drama that has finally, and thankfully come to a close!



Year Two
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I Almost Forgot

Remember that time I graduated 3 weeks ago? The thought almost escaped me on the blog, I know I promised pics of the big event, but the excitement over the cruise masked the real reason we were celebrating. I'm DONE. Peace out UAB School of Nursing. It's been real. I'll catch ya on the flip side.. but seriously... please accept me into your graduate program (if I decide to go there) I promise I'll be a good nurse.. the best in fact. I will make your NCLEX passing rate statistic proud... I hope.

I learned a lot in nursing (state) school. Like the simple fact that teachers outside my Lipscomb bubble do in fact curse in the classroom. That NO subject is off limits, and that in the "real" world, you apparently can get away with cheating.. not me, obviously.

In all seriousness. I am super grateful for the stellar education I received this last year and a half. (No alumni association, I'm not ready to give you any money). I would like to take this moment to thank several people: my wonderful husband for putting up with me through everything, my awesome parents, brother and sister for being there to hear me complain :), my incredible in-laws for being ever-supportive, and the ever-giving Stafford Loan peeps..without them my education would have never happened. I promise I will pay you back...with LOTS of interest :)

Enjoy the pics from grad weekend.

Sincerely,

Andrea Hardison, BSN

Last day of school.

Right after my last final.

Girls Night celebration

Pinning Ceremony

Best friend since Day 1. We've been through it all together.

Sweet friend Jessica.

Hooray!

Thanks fam for coming!