Author Archives: Brandy

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About Brandy

I'm a wife to my amazingly talented writer husband, Gabe, and a mom of two, Aiden and Olivia. In my free time (ha!) I'm a registered nurse. More importantly than the rest, I am part of an Apostolic Pentecost church and am currently a Sunday School teacher. I care deeply about my service for the Lord and part of that is being a modest woman. Modesty isn't just part of my religion, it's my life and how I live every day, but being modest doesn't mean having no fashion or fun. And that's what I want to show you here. I hope you come along for the ride.
Jan26

Passing the Time

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Studying.  That’s what I’ve been doing.  All the time, every day.  It feels like it’s never ending but an end is truly in sight.  May 10th will be my last day and I will walk in my graduation ceremony May 17th.  It can’t get here quick enough.  Sometimes it feels like all I do is go to school/clinical, go to my small part-time job, and come home to study.

Gabe and the poor kiddos are awesome to put up with me but I know it’s not easy.  Last night we went to a local bounce house/game place so the kids could run off some energy.  I sat and did medication calculations and studied while Gabe made sure the kids didn’t run in to anyone during all of their joy.  See, I told you he puts up with me.

Today I have a ton of housework to do, things to clean, stuff to organize, and yet I’m sitting here studying for nursing once again.  This week brings the first two tests of the semester and lots of homework to turn in.  The one frustrating thing in all of that (as if there’s only one thing!) is my silly printer is out of yellow ink and because of that I can’t even print in black and white.  The consequence of that is no printing the moment I need to print, which ended up turning in to me having to go to my awesome mother-in-law’s house late Monday evening to print out things I needed for Tuesday.  Yep, really annoying.  I even took a few minutes to write to one of my favorite blogs – The Consumerist – about it and they printed my frustrations!  Check it out HERE.

So that’s how I’m passing my time these days.  Studying and complaining about things that hinder my studying/schoolwork.  If you need me, just look for the woman with her head buried in a book.

Jan11

Cleaning Out the Cobwebs

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Wow, so it’s been a while since I posted.  And I mean really posted, not just a quick blip.  You may be wondering why I disappeared so easily.  I have two words for you – Nursing.  School.  Because WOW.  This second year of nursing school has been kicking my butt!  Obviously nursing school is never going to be easy but man, last semester was rough and of course the final semester, which I’m staring down the barrel of now, is going to be just as challenging.

That’s not to say I don’t miss this space.  It’s just that when it comes to priorities this space ends up taking a back seat.  I have Gabe, the kiddos, church, school, my home, etc, etc.  See, tons of stuff!!  So, even though it’s almost mid-January I’m still going to do a 2012 breakdown, if for no other reason than to remind myself everything we survived in 2012.  So stay tuned!

Nov21

Bad Ways to Fund a Holiday Party

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So I’ve been AWOL (I blame nursing school and that’s just the truth) but the holidays are upon us and it’s time for a few posts!!

Today there was an article written by the awesome Alison Green of Ask a Manager regarding holiday aggravations at work. Please go read it, it’s fabulous.

I have to write about this because I experienced #10 just last year. One year ago last week I was “laid off”, which basically means I was let go due to outsourcing and not for cause. They let go our entire transcription department, hiring one of the women for a new role but leaving the rest of us without a position at the hospital.

That was fine (a hardship but not a shock as we had a few months notice) until the first week in January when the hospital posted photos of their “holiday party”, which was a lavish, catered affair where awards were handed out. Now that was a slap in the face. We were all told about the hospital having financial issues and that they were outsourcing our department to save money. And then they spent umpteen thousand dollars on a holiday party.

So yeah, to all the companies out there thinking of doing this, it’s probably better NOT to post pictures of the event on Facebook. Unless slapping the laid of employees in the face is the point.

Sep9

Four Awesome Years

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I wish I could put in to words what the last four years have meant to me. Four years ago today my baby girl, Olivia, came in to this world and I was forever changed. She is sweet, sassy, silly, and strong willed but there’s nothing about her I would change.

She added something special to our family of three and made us complete.

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To say she is our princess would be an understatement.

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Happy 4th birthday sweet Livi!

Aug30

Breathe, Sometimes I Feel It’s All That I Can Do

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The title of this post is from a song that I love. MercyMe’s song “The Hurt and the Healer” talks about loss and not understanding. It talks about the only healing coming from the Lord. I believe in that from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I believe it because I have lived it.

Ten years ago today I lost my dad. He had struggled with kidney failure for 2.5 years but his death was very sudden. He succumbed to congestive heart failure, a complication of the kidney failure.

I was devastated. He was 46 and I was 22. I never expected to bury my dad before I had children, before he retired, before he got to finish living his life.

Following his death I went through a period of depression, which is normal but so very different than my everyday personality. I wasn’t sleeping and very little of life brought me joy at that time. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my faith brought me out of that time and helped me want to live life to the fullest again.

I still miss my dad every day. I look at my children and grieve because he would have loved them so very much. I know that they would have had a blast with their papaw Max and I hate that they have missed out on that.

One of my very best memories of my dad is on my wedding day. I have a picture* in our dining room of him walking me down the aisle.

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I love this picture. It really was a beautiful moment. I’m glad I have this but it’s another picture*, one that’s not in a frame, that truly captured the emotion of the day.

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I almost cry every time I see this photo. Our photographer somehow caught this moment, raw with emotion and so quickly fleeting. To others it might mean nothing more than an “ugly cry” in a picture. To me it means the world.

Our ceremony was over and we were greeting people. There was laughing and congratulations. It really was a happy time. When it was my dad’s turn he wrapped me up in his big arms and told me how much he loved me. He choked back tears and that’s all I could take. I cried as I hugged my dad, knowing he didn’t want to let his baby girl go. As he let go the photographer caught my face and a glimpse into a deeply personal moment between a father and daughter and for that I will forever be grateful.

Today, ten years after his loss, the breath still catches in my throat at times and I can’t believe so much time has passed since I saw him last. I still go to visit him but it’s here.

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I know this isn’t really where he is but the dad that I knew, the body that I hugged, is there. It gives me comfort when I know I can be just a little bit close to that body again.

I’m sad today and having a hard time but I’m thankful I had my dad for 22 years. He was a good man and a good dad. I love you dad.

*Please ignore the quality of the first two photos. I didn’t have the energy to scan them so I took a pic with my phone. I know it’s not the best but it’s what I could offer today.

Aug18

The Mountains Look A Lot Higher From The Valleys

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Monday will mark the official start of my second year of nursing school.  I haven’t talked about it a lot here but I am currently in the middle of my Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program.  One year left and I will be eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to officially become a registered nurse.

With less than a year left (really only NINE months – WOO HOO!) it actually feels like this goal is in sight.  The next two semesters are not going to be easy but it doesn’t feel as overwhelming as it did last year.

Last year it felt like I was flying blind and felt like I was learning a whole new language.  Now it feels like I have the basics and just have to build on them.  I was looking through my old notes (yes, I keep all my old notes and just about everything else and it drives my husband INSANE – love you babe!) this week and came across things I wrote down on the first day of class.

These may not mean anything to anyone else but to me these are a victory.  I have conquered APA style (I still don’t like it but I can ROCK it) and have no problem writing anything in this format.  I know what PPE (personal protective equipment) is, how to use it, how to remove it, and the rationale behind it.  ROM (range of motion) seemed scary and intimidating and now I could do ROM exercises on any patient that needed them.  I passed every “check off” (completing an assigned procedure in front of an instructor) on my first try and would feel comfortable trying anything from a catheter removal to starting an IV (I did get to do both by the second semester and couldn’t have been happier).

The first day of class felt like I was looking at a mountain that I might never get over.  It was intimidating and overwhelming.  Now I look back at how far I have come and I’m proud.  I can’t say that the mountain didn’t knock me down a few times (there have been very real breakdowns in the hallway after a test) and send me sliding down just when I thought I was making headway.  I can say that looking up the mountain doesn’t seem nearly as high and that I know I will make it to the summit before I know it.

If any new nursing students or prospective students come across this blog please keep your head up, even when you get knocked down a little, and know that if you keep going that you will have your victories too.