ecstatic jabbering and random thoughts

so, hello guys.
warning...i have been awake since 4am (early clinicals) and i have just downed a grande cinnamon dolce latte from starbucks. so...kinda sleep deprived and kinda hyper! yay! ;)

i have come to a new mindset today. that is what this semester of school has been...new mindsets. like everyday. haha!
but anyway, new mindset. i was talking with a classmate and my clinical instructor today about the anxieties and stresses of school and how completely overwhelming it is just thinking about it. like, if i fail out this semester of nursing school or have to withdraw a few things would happen...
#1. if i fail it would lower my GPA quite a lot. to the point where if i wanted to reapply i possibly couldn't get back into the nursing program because i wouldn't have a high enough GPA.
#2. if i withdraw or fail it would affect my financial aid. i probably wouldn't be eligible for aid anymore.
#3. if i withdraw or fail i would need to reapply. and they only take so many people back per semester (like two or three-ish). no guarantee on getting back in.
#4. if i withdraw of fail i would graduate late.

and that is my list of woes.
so today my clinical instructor said that if you go into a test with all of that^ anxiety on your shoulders and that much stress to pass then you will mess up...it's kind of inevitable.
yay...
so my new perspective on nursing school:
if i fail/withdraw the world will still be turning. my life will not be over. i can always reapply to my school's program. but there are also many more schools out there who have great nursing programs. many many options.
so from now on i will be going into tests with this new mindset. no more freaking myself out and having test anxiety about passing. no more thinking about having to graduate late. it will happen and in God's timing. and it's okay to have a plan b.
(p.s. this is not why i'm ecstatic...though i'm pretty peaceful about this decision.)

and then today! today i was prepared for a super super long day. like i said, i've been up since 4 this morning for clinicals, which ended at 12:30ish. then i had tutoring for pharmacology (test tomorrow!) from 2-3:15. and then studying tonight. hence the coffee...must stay awake!
my pharm class has been online this semester. which, in so many words, has been kinda stinky. but today started a new tutoring session with our teacher and it went so awesome! like, i came out of there just so happy and hopeful that i could pass the test tomorrow.
(this is why i'm ecstatic, by the way)
granted, the hard parts of this semester are not over (finals week = 3 finals Wed. - Fri. ....dreading!) but i have a bit of hope now.
so. that is all of my jabbering gibberish.
thanks. :)

i'm ready to DO

{okay so third consecutive blog post in one day... actually gonna use today's date this time. haha!}

Nursing school is hard.
Really hard.
And I wasn't prepared maybe...
1st semester was great.
I kinda loved it, in fact.
2nd semester.
Well... It's hard.

So here are my thoughts on life after the difficulties of failing tests and scraping by with C's and still working part-time and trying to maintain some type of life...

4/3/14

Hello God,
  I feel like I've just awakened. Just now opened my eyes. Not my physical eyes; my soul eyes. And I'm ashamed it's taken me this long to really SEE. But it's time to move on from all things in the past. All bad habits and laziness and procrastination and selfishness. Because laziness is a sin! And if I don't DO something I am selfishly throwing away the best opportunity for success you've ever given me. I'm ready to DO. I'm ready to be a DOER! Help me when I fail though. Which is, unfortunately, often. Give me wisdom and strength. Help me stay awake when I need to pull an all-nighter to study, because I like sleep a little too much. Help me stay focused and undistracted, because I like books a little too much, and netflix is a pit of darkness that is hard to crawl out of.
  You know my weaknesses (all too well, I'm sure). And now I recognize them fully...or, rather, more than I did a few weeks ago. So I'm ready to take your all powerful, steady arm and move forward without looking back.
  Sure, I'll make mistakes again. Probably several before the day is over. But I am going to FIGHT. I'm going to fight the sin inside my flesh. Because things have to be different. Starting now.

Love you,
Katie

My beautiful friend, Bethany, sent me this devotion the same day I wrote that^ in my prayer journal.

"Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Luke 8:25, NIV
  Is there something you are facing - whether in your outer circumstances or in your inner character that seems impossible to command? Something that has baffled you and outwitted you a thousand times, and appears that it will win over you in the end?
  Don't despair. Don't shrug and give up.
  Our Lord - your Lord and mine - can command even the most difficult, unruly thing that seems as if it will never be commanded.
  Let His word "even" be comfort to you. He who commands even the winds and water (and they must obey Him) - He can say to that "even" of yours, "Peace, be still."
  And there will come for you "a great calm" (Mark 4:39).
  Remember that there is nothing you are asked to do in your own strength. Not the least thing, nor the greatest.
  Isn't that amazing?
  How utterly foolish it is to plead weakness when we - even you and I - may move into the stream of that power. If only we will.
--Even This... by Amy Carmichael

So, onward I go. Onward I fight. This hard thing called nursing school...I can do it, with God at my side!

random update with lots of not very good mobile photos.

{i love how you can get on blogger after not being on for months and months and set the date back to make it look like you've been posting more regularly than you actually have. yeah...that's what i'm doing. (the date is actually 4/7/14...and this is my second blog post today...haha!)}

is anyone else totally in love with this movie? don't be ashamed...i'm twenty years old and have watched it a million times and love it more every time. child at heart? i think so.

and nursing school continues on! this is me a few weeks ago practicing my IV tubing while everyone else watched the super bowl. way more exciting than football, let me tell you. now we are on to NG tubes. oooo fun!

taking selfies in the mall...'cause we're cool like that.

my sister is the best. love love love her.

current playlist includes:
-high hopes by kodaline
-100 years by five for fighting
-let her go by passenger
-landslide by fleetwood mac
-more time by needtobreathe (and basically the entire "the heat" album)
-called me higher by all sons and daughters

current reading list includes:
-passion by louie giglio
-the fault in our stars by john green (oh my goodness. no words. can't wait until the movie releases!)
-this star won't go out by esther earl
-and of course books like medical surgical nursing vol. 1, mental health nursing, and pharmacology.

current movie/tv show list includes:
-thor: the dark world (i found it greatly improved from #1...really loved it.)
-frozen (as mentioned above, may be a little obsessed. i have every song memorized.)
-castle
-once upon a time (little bit embarrassed about this one...no judging, haha!)
-grey's anatomy, friends, and the ellen show reruns
-youtube videos on easy ways to understand ABGs and acid base (nerd?)