Nurse Staci...Got a Nice Ring to it

I am happy to say that I GOT IN to the nursing program at UVU! I am so excited to get started. It is so nice to finally know what I'm going to do this fall! I have spent the last year bored out of my mind and now I finally get to start real studying again. I'm sure once I start I'll be begging for just a few hours of nothing to do. But for now I can't wait to start! I'm sure these next three years will go by in a blurr so I'll try to enjoy them the best I can. Thanks for everyone's support and prayers!

Bigger and Better Things.....Not Yet

This Monday marks the beginning of my pursuit to adulthood, to a real profession. UVU's nursing applications are now open. I applied in December for the spring semester program but sadly I didn't get in. After crying away the rejection, I started to think about what I was going to do if I never got into the program. I've consider a few professions I'd be okay with, like nutrition or history but nursing is truly the only thing I can think of that I'll forever enjoy.

So on Monday when my lovely phone alarm went off and reminded me of open applications, I had mix emotions. I really want to get in and start the process but part of me is dreading the long hours and hard work all of this is going to take. I don't know if I'm ready to dive back into the full time student life. Most of all I don't know if I'm ready to be a grown up! It scares me to death to think that I'll have a real job that I'll do for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong it'll be nice to actually have a career and earn some decent money but I've always seen that as so far in the future. Now it's staring me right in the face! Now I have to actively do things that will make nursing a reality. Although this is all really scary I have realized that it's necessary. There will just always be a little bit of fear in the back of my mind.

The point of all this was to tell you about my adventure in trying to get a voucher to take an entrance test. First of which I think is completely unnecessarily. Why I need I piece of paper that says I can take a test is beyond me!! Anyway, my counselor e-mailed me and explained that I had to go to her office to get the voucher. In the e-mail she leaves no clue as to where her officeis located so I look up where the counseling offices are and decide to venture down to UVU on my day off. Ha yeah apparently they've changed where the offices are. The UVU website told me they were in the WB 147. So find the WB 147 office and walk in without really looking whether or not it's the right place. Don’t worry, as soon as I looked up I realized I was in the wrong place. Apparently that office is now the international office. Pretty sure I was the only white person in that building! Everyone in the office was looking at me like I was the stupidest girl ever. After that most embarrassing moment I decided it would be smart to ask someone where the counselor’s offices were. I swear it was an "everyone thinks Staci is retarded day" because this guy I asked looked at me like I was crazy. He did tell me where to go but not with out the "duh" voice. I decided that it was just not my day and that I’d try another day to find this non-existent counseling office.


My first UVU adventure was on Wednesday and Thursday I had a work meeting and then I had to clean my apartment for cleaning checks so I didn't have time to retry on Thursday, that meant I HAD to go Friday. I wake up Friday morning and rush out the doors because the people were coming to check my apartment at 9 and I didn't want to be there. So figure that would be a good time to try again. I rushed out of my apartment so fast that I didn't realize that was not dressed in rain appropriate clothing. So I have no clue where this building is that supposedly has the counseling offices so I just park and decided that I’ll just walk around until I find it. There I was walking around in the rain wearing sandals and no jacket with no clue where I’m going. But I was determined to find this building and to get my voucher! After wondering around in the rain for about a half hour I finally find the building I was looking for! By this time I was wet and freezing to death. To top it all off the secretary at the desk was totally a brat to me about everything. I really wanted to give her a piece of my mind but I needed her help so I tried to smile and be polite. But I did get my voucher and now I get to spend fours taking a test that I find pointless! Let's just say this has definately NOT been my week!

I PASSED!

Yes this week I had the dreaded cleaing checks! I really don't mind cleaning at all but it's kind of stressful because if you fail they charge you $5 for rechecks and then if you fail those, they charge you $50 an hour to hire a maid. The other hard thing is that they hire a bunch of students to do the cleaning checks and some pass you if it looks clean and some put on their white gloves and check every little nook and cranny. You never know what you're going to get so you have to clean like you're going to get the white gloves! Luckily the girls that checked my apartment were ones that just looked and passed us because it looked clean.

I wasn't planning on spending a ton of time cleaning. I started at about 6 pm and didn't get done until 2 am. The reason it took me so long was because i got a little ambitious and decided to clean the tile grout, something i will never try to tackle again! By the time I had done about a fourth of the floor it had been an hour and I was so sick of working on it. At that point i decided to not be as meticulous and did the rest of the floor in about another hour. It didn't turn out the way i wanted but it was 1 AM at that point so i decided to just be done! Don't worry i do have a few pictures of the wonderous event.

Tile Before:

Tile After:

This is how dirty our kitchen floors were! This is just from walking around when i was cleaning the fridge!



Yes i tried to fit in the fridge!! i know the self looks like it's going to break but i just had to try and fit in it!! :)


These are the After pictures! I was so happy to be done!

Canadian Tenors/ St.George

A couple of weeks ago my roommate introduced me to the Canadian Tenors. Instantly I fell in love with them. As we were obsessing over them we wanted to see if they were ever coming to utah. Sure enough they were scheduled to come to st. george the next weekend. I've been planning on gonig to st. george to see a couple of my old roommates for some time now and just haven't had the opportunity. But when i saw that the canadian tenors would be there I decided that this was my opportunity!The concert was monday so we didn't head down until saturday morning. My old roommate Krista was kind enough to let us crash at her apartment so we spent most the weekend hanging out with her and her cousin.

A couple of months ago my old roommate Karalee came home from her mission so saturday i went to dinner with her and we caught up. It was so good to see her again. Sunday we went to church and took the day to relax. Monday my roommate and i took the opportunity to making it a shopping trip. I haven't gone shopping in WAY to long! I didn't realize how much i missed it but man did i miss it!!!

Monday night was the big night! My roommate and i were SO excited. We got all dolled up, just in case we actually met them! :) When we got to the theater we were a little confused. Everyone around us was 60 or older. We sort of walked around wondering if we were in the right place. We decided we better double check with the ticket office and sure enough it was the right place. I'm pretty sure we were the youngest people in that building! Below are a couple of pictures of what i'm talking. Well the concert was AMAZING!!!!! As soon as they started singing i was hooked! Every song was so beautiful and i couldn't help but smile with every song. They are so much better live!! The elderly crowd was a little dull but it was still great. So i've been trying to post video of them but i just can't figure it out so i'm just going to give you a couple of links from youtube and you can check them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tubL9EaiztM&feature=related : this one is when they were on oprah and she surprised them with celine dion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zDkVjvwI7w&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJvXivCY8zE&feature=related


I had to take a picture of the lovely people we were surrounded by! Sort of felt like I was at work.

Color Me Mine

A few Saturdays ago a few friends and I went to Color Me Mine. It was some of the most fun I've had in a long time! I was a little skeptical about this because I'm not really the creative type! I had no clue what I was going to do. I sort of just started painting and in the end this mug is what came out!

Before:




After:

IDAHO

So I've been meaning to blog about this for a long time but just haven't had the time. The last weekend in January my roommates and I decided to venture up to Rexburg, Idaho. At first the reason we were going was to keep my roommates friend company while she went up to visit her boyfriend. That plan sort of fell through but we decided it would be nice to get away anyway. We stayed at my roommate Kari's cousins apartment. We headed up friday and came home sunday. Kim and I have a friend from high school that lives in rexburg so friday night we went to visit her.

After our lovely reunion we were at a lost of what to do in the small town. So after much thought we decided to do the same old, dinner and a movie. We went to Wingers and the went to When in Rome. Wingers was so busy so we had to wait forever!! But once we got our food it was delicous!! When in Rome was actually a pretty cute movie! I didn't love the ending but i still thought it was good. Friday night my talented roommate Kari did glitter toes for us all. They are starting to come off but i've LOVED having them!! It's been so nice to not have to worry about keeping up my toenails. Saturday was great! We slept in and spent a good chunk of the day lounging in our pajamas. Saturday night we went to a resturant called Craigo's. It was so good!!! It's a pizza, salad and pasta buffet. I think i paid 6 bucks to get in and i got so much food!! I was wishing that provo had something like this and then upon leaving i read a sign that said it is in provo but is called Pizza Pie Cafe. So if anyone has been there they know who good it is!

To my surprise and excitment both friday and saturday were snowless! I was almost convinced to move to rexburg and then sunday it snowed! It didn't just lightly snow, it was like a white out!! Thankfully that reminded me that I would be miserable in a place that got that much snow! Below are a few pictures of the trip!



I had to take a picture of Blackfoot








This is what it looked like driving home on Sunday

DMV Adventure

This cartoon is exactly how i felt as i waited in line at the DMV. After my experience i truly felt like i'd been to the slaughter house!

So this month i turned 21 and it was sort of exciting. 21 means a lot of things but one that i was unfortunately forced to participate in was that i HAD to get a new drivers license. I can't tell you how much I have been dreading my trip to the DMV. They now require so much paperwork and information! For those who don't know you can no longer renew your license through the mail, just my luck! You now HAVE to go to the DMV and show them your social security card, drivers license and two pieces of mail that verify your address. I knew in order to avoid long lines and unplesant people i'd have to get up early and go. Everyday after my birthday i made a goal to get up early and go. Anyone that knows me probaby knows how well that went! For some reason i have this inability to get up early. The only way i can get up is if i have somewhere i need to be, somewhere urgent. I finally gave up on my goal to get there early and just got up when i felt like it. I went and to my surprise the wait was over TWO HOURS!!! I was not about to sit with a bunch of strangers waiting for something that just wasn't that urgent! So i turned around and left. I promised myself that after seeing that, i'd make sure and get their early the next time i try.

So about a week after that i tried REALLY hard to get up early but i just couldn't! When i finally got my lazy butt out of bed i showered and got ready. I knew that long lines or not i HAD to get my licensed renewed. I decided I wanted to beat the odds, i wanted my dmv picture to look amazing. I took my time getting ready, making sure my hair and make up looked perfect! Embarssing as it is to admit, i even practiced the kind of smile i wanted to be in my picture. This was the photo that would represent me on every legal record for the next FIVE years. I was not going to let myself look bad, not this time! Once i got to the dmv the sign on the door said it was about an hour wait. I figured i could wait an hour. Alsot the prospect of having to prep for another day at the dmv was not appealing to me. I got to the dmv took my number, filled out an application and took my seat. When i go there they were on number 630, my number was 663. I tried not to think about the long wait i had ahead of me so i pulled out my book and tried to read. At first i thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad but typical of the dmv there was this SCREAMING baby! Usually i can handle a little crying from a baby but oh my goodness i have NEVER heard a baby scream that loud and for that long! I wanted to pull my hair out! Once the baby finally stopped crying i thought that maybe i'd finally be able to sit in peace. But no that was not in the cards for me. This lady and her mom decided to sit next to me and have the loudest conversation ever! I ignored them the best i could and waited and waited and waited for my number to be called. After about an hour i still had about 15 people a head of me. As time past i was beginning to get nervous. I was suppose to work at two and it was getting closer and closer to the moment when i'd have to give up and leave. About the time i was going to give my number to some lucky stranger, they called my number.

The whole process too a matter of seconds. In my excitement to finally get this over with, I completely forgot about the fact that i was going to try and actually look good in my picture. As soon as a sat down and faced the camera i froze. I forgot all the things i was going to do so i didn't look compeletly horrible. Before i could regain my composer the picture was already taken. In my picture i actually looked dumb founded, like i had no clue there was a camera taking a picture of me! My resulting picture was so bad it made rosie o'donnell look like the most beautiful woman in the world. Needless to say i will guard that picture with my life and as soon as i can i will DESTROY it! Ever since the experience I want to run and hide everytime i see a camera. I don't know why i put myself through this kind of stuff but i'm just glad i won't have to think about it for another five years.

I like this cartoon because my face literally looked like some of those people on the shirts!