When we think of Pioneer Day or pioneers in general, we generally think of those who walked hundreds of miles and suffered greatly to escape persecution and live in a place where their beliefs could flourish. While Pioneer Day is celebrated primarily to honor these amazing, stalwart individuals, I also like to think of all those other pioneers throughout history who have suffered and risked something to promote what they know to be true. I do not intend to diminish those brave souls who gave so much to settle this state in any way whatsoever--I'm am INCREDIBLY grateful for what they did so I can live in such a beautiful place where I can practice my religion without fear; however, I do want to expand our minds to other important pioneers throughout history.
I am just finishing up a book called Medical Firsts by Robert E. Adler which is a book full of the innovators of medicine throughout history, many of whom gave and risked their way of life and their honor to stay true to what they knew. Because of their persistence, mankind has been able to relieve pain, suffering, and loss of life by leaps and bounds.
My biggest surprise while reading this book was how some very good things that are now widely accepted and commonly practiced were once controversial, namely anesthesia. Did you know that some physicians thought pain was necessary for healing? Some clergy even went so far as to proclaim anesthesia a sin, even going so far as to quote the bible "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" to claim that if God wanted childbirth to be pain free, he would have made it pain free.
So, here's my Pioneer Day shout-out to pioneers everywhere, both those who are paving the way today and those of the past who have forged the way to bless so many. What is viewed today as strange, wrong, or even unfathomable today may well be the way of good in the future.
24 July 2012
25 June 2012
Update
The last month or so has been riddled with changes!
At the end of April, I moved into Sparks Apartments with Janessa. It was crazy at first because I moved in halfway and then went to stay with an elderly woman for 10 days while her daughter was on vacation. It was so hard to pack everything, move it, and then pack up again before even unpacking all the way. I felt homeless for awhile because I wasn't settled anywhere. Some of my belongings were at my parents' house, some were at Sparks, and some were at the house where I was staying. Even worse? My food was spread out over all three places too which made it really hard to make anything because each location only had some things.
It felt so lovely to settle once that job ended!
On May 5th, I officially graduated from nursing school! It was such a fun day and I really appreciate all of the support I received from everyone! It was crazy to look back over my time in the nursing program--I couldn't believe how fast it went while at the same time I couldn't believe how long ago that July day seemed when I first opened my acceptance letter. I have changed, learned, and grown so much in that time! Sometimes I like who I am now but sometimes I miss who I once was. Certain aspects of life back then were so much more carefree.
After graduating, I began to cram for the NCLEX. I don't know what the NCLEX stands for exactly, but for all you non-nursing folks out there, it's the name of the national test that allows nursing graduates to become licensed to actually work. You are not officially a nurse until you successfully conquer the NCLEX beast. At the end of May, I faced the beast and came off conqueror. It felt wonderful!
Employment happened almost concurrently with passing the NCLEX: the first place I got hired was with Mollen Immunization Clinics. They are a company that sets up vaccine clinics in retail locations during the flu season so although I've accepted a position there, I won't actually start working until August. The position is seasonal and goes until November. How it works is Mollen posts clinic needs on their website and their nurses can sign up for the ones they want to cover. The second place I was hired at was the hospital unit where I worked as a tech/PCT/CNA for the last year. It's a full-time nights position so once I've oriented for a couple of months, I will be at the hospital all night three nights a week. While I'm orienting, I work two nights on the floor and spend the rest of the time in residency classes or doing computer orientation.
I feel incredibly blessed to be so richly employed right out of school! I have so much to learn still so I'm also very nervous, but I'm excited at the same time. I am currently adjusting to the major life changes that accompany it: staying up all night, working full time, and pretending to be an adult! Before I graduated, I had this crazy idea that I would have free time once I finished school. Nope! I think life is even busier! This has been really frustrating to me but I'm gradually adjusting to the idea.
In the fall, I plan to attend UVU. I have a couple of prerequisites that I will complete and then I hope to enter UVU's nursing program starting in January to earn my Bachelor's Degree.
Rehearsals for My Fair Lady are going well except for I've had to miss a lot of them already due to work. I feel so bad because work obviously takes precedence, but it's still not fair to those involved in the show; I just wish I would've known what I had in store before auditioning back in March. Regardless, it's going to be an amazing show, everyone involved is SO talented and is giving so much to make it a success. We open in July and you should definitely come see it.
At the end of April, I moved into Sparks Apartments with Janessa. It was crazy at first because I moved in halfway and then went to stay with an elderly woman for 10 days while her daughter was on vacation. It was so hard to pack everything, move it, and then pack up again before even unpacking all the way. I felt homeless for awhile because I wasn't settled anywhere. Some of my belongings were at my parents' house, some were at Sparks, and some were at the house where I was staying. Even worse? My food was spread out over all three places too which made it really hard to make anything because each location only had some things.
It felt so lovely to settle once that job ended!
On May 5th, I officially graduated from nursing school! It was such a fun day and I really appreciate all of the support I received from everyone! It was crazy to look back over my time in the nursing program--I couldn't believe how fast it went while at the same time I couldn't believe how long ago that July day seemed when I first opened my acceptance letter. I have changed, learned, and grown so much in that time! Sometimes I like who I am now but sometimes I miss who I once was. Certain aspects of life back then were so much more carefree.
 |
| All my lovely family and pseudo-family who came to the ceremony |
Employment happened almost concurrently with passing the NCLEX: the first place I got hired was with Mollen Immunization Clinics. They are a company that sets up vaccine clinics in retail locations during the flu season so although I've accepted a position there, I won't actually start working until August. The position is seasonal and goes until November. How it works is Mollen posts clinic needs on their website and their nurses can sign up for the ones they want to cover. The second place I was hired at was the hospital unit where I worked as a tech/PCT/CNA for the last year. It's a full-time nights position so once I've oriented for a couple of months, I will be at the hospital all night three nights a week. While I'm orienting, I work two nights on the floor and spend the rest of the time in residency classes or doing computer orientation.
I feel incredibly blessed to be so richly employed right out of school! I have so much to learn still so I'm also very nervous, but I'm excited at the same time. I am currently adjusting to the major life changes that accompany it: staying up all night, working full time, and pretending to be an adult! Before I graduated, I had this crazy idea that I would have free time once I finished school. Nope! I think life is even busier! This has been really frustrating to me but I'm gradually adjusting to the idea.
In the fall, I plan to attend UVU. I have a couple of prerequisites that I will complete and then I hope to enter UVU's nursing program starting in January to earn my Bachelor's Degree.
Rehearsals for My Fair Lady are going well except for I've had to miss a lot of them already due to work. I feel so bad because work obviously takes precedence, but it's still not fair to those involved in the show; I just wish I would've known what I had in store before auditioning back in March. Regardless, it's going to be an amazing show, everyone involved is SO talented and is giving so much to make it a success. We open in July and you should definitely come see it.
28 April 2012
Thoughts on Recycling
There is a tremendous amount of waste going on and, in general, Utahns have views that are very...how do I put this? Non-green. I've noticed that people who move here from other states often have a hard time with 1. How little we recycle and 2. How inaccessible recycling is.
How can we change this?
Somehow we need to make recycling a habit for our children. It needs to become part of our culture. I grew up in a home that always recycled our aluminum cans and now I have a very hard time just throwing them in the regular garbage. I can only imagine how hard it is for out-of-state folks who are used to recycling most everything! If recycling becomes more accessible and we put forth the effort to do it, it can become part of Utah's culture too.
How can we change this?
Somehow we need to make recycling a habit for our children. It needs to become part of our culture. I grew up in a home that always recycled our aluminum cans and now I have a very hard time just throwing them in the regular garbage. I can only imagine how hard it is for out-of-state folks who are used to recycling most everything! If recycling becomes more accessible and we put forth the effort to do it, it can become part of Utah's culture too.
25 April 2012
Tithing
Up until the last year or so, whenever I would pay my tithing, I would suddenly have more--the Lord made it easy for me to gain a testimony of tithing. One of my favorite things about tithing is that it's one of the most straightforward commandments out there--give 10% of you're income to God and God will bless you with more than you gave. If you want to gain a testimony of God, pay tithes to him and see what happens. It's one of the few commandments that you can live 100% and KNOW that you're living it 100%.
This last semester changed my perspective on tithing though. No, I take that back, it didn't change it but rather added to it.
I was SO poor. Each paycheck had to be carefully budgeted out or I wouldn't have enough. And each time I would hope to have a little extra dough the next time payday rolled around...but I never did.
One day my sister Janessa was telling me how blessed she was because she paid tithing. She currently has a full scholarship for school AND gets PELL grants on top of that--basically, she gets paid to go to school. It really upset me because it made me wonder what I was doing wrong: I was paying tithing but couldn't figure out why I was so incredibly poor. And then several days later it hit me: you are poor but you are making it because of tithing: your bills are paid, you have food to eat, a place to live, and clothes to wear. I know that it was tithing that made that possible. I was making so little and every penny had to be budgeted but it always played out that there were enough pennies to meet every necessary expense that came my way.
This last semester changed my perspective on tithing though. No, I take that back, it didn't change it but rather added to it.
I was SO poor. Each paycheck had to be carefully budgeted out or I wouldn't have enough. And each time I would hope to have a little extra dough the next time payday rolled around...but I never did.
One day my sister Janessa was telling me how blessed she was because she paid tithing. She currently has a full scholarship for school AND gets PELL grants on top of that--basically, she gets paid to go to school. It really upset me because it made me wonder what I was doing wrong: I was paying tithing but couldn't figure out why I was so incredibly poor. And then several days later it hit me: you are poor but you are making it because of tithing: your bills are paid, you have food to eat, a place to live, and clothes to wear. I know that it was tithing that made that possible. I was making so little and every penny had to be budgeted but it always played out that there were enough pennies to meet every necessary expense that came my way.
24 April 2012
15 April 2012
On Life and Death
Recently I met a woman who was 101 years old. Each time I was in her presence, I felt as if I should be bowing instead of just saying hi. I had a great grandmother (Grandma Great) who lived to be 101. We were pretty good buds and I have a few very endearing memories of her even though she passed away when I was only four years old; I'd like to think that my love for the elderly began with her (which is one of the main driving reasons for me to choose nursing as a profession). Until I recently met this 101 year old woman, I never realized just how many years that is. It astounds me to think how much she has lived through: major historical turning points, pain, joy, and experiences galore!
One can only imagine...
If she were born 101 years ago, that means she was born in 1911. She would have been a teenager in the roaring 20s. She would have been old enough at the time to remember women gaining the right to vote in the United States. She probably would have married at around the start of the Great Depression and began raising her children around then. She would have had teenagers during WWII, possibly been grateful that they weren't old enough to go away to war but also nervous that the war would continue when they were old enough. Around 1950, she would have been sending her kids out into the world. Watching them go to college, get married, bless her with grandchildren, make poor choices, and learn how to survive in the world. Maybe some of her worst fears were realized when one of her children went to war in Korea. She probably watched in wonderment as man walked on the moon for the first time 1969. In the mid-seventies, she would reach retirement age. She would welcome more grandbabies into her family, and then begin to welcome great-grandbabies. She would also begin losing those she loved to the other side, ones that she may have expected to outlive her: her husband, dear friends, and then even probably her own children. Great-great-grandchildren would probably be welcomed to earth. (By this time, she probably would be having a difficult time keeping track of her own posterity.) Life would continue and maybe she would possibly wonder, 'Why haven't I been called home yet?' Did she feel blessed to live so long? Or did she want the pain, sorrow, and hardship that inevitably comes along with this earth life to end?
This is all very generalized and brief...think of everything that really could be experienced in that amount of time. It absolutely astounds me.
Death, at least of those closest to me, has left me alone for much of my life. My earliest experience I remember with death was my Grandma Great and, as I said earlier, we were pretty close. I have a few very poignant memories of her, especially for a four-year-old. I remember she loved to watch conference (which I didn't understand at the time)--she would re-watch taped sessions much of the day. I remember giving her Fruit Stripe Gum (known at the time by me as Zebra Gum since I couldn't read) and after a few minutes, she'd stop chewing so I'd offer her another piece. And then another. And another. Finally, my grandma (who was Grandma Great's caregiver) realized what was happening (the gum was just sticking to her mouth) and that was the end of that. My Grandma Great was also the person who taught me to pray, at least as far as I remember. We had a "sleep over" one night and I remember her teaching me to kneel down at the side of the bed and pray before we went to sleep. I remember praying for her on the other side after she passed away.
When I was 11 years old, death touched me again--my maternal grandmother was hit by a car and killed. I don't really remember what emotions I experienced at the time, I remember it sort of as matter of fact. In high school, two deaths hit me hard: a kid who committed suicide who was in some of my classes, and my cat Mocos who was hit by a car. With both of these deaths, I remember feeling very angry as if some great injustice had been done.
Lately, I have a much more positive view of death. True, death is a very sad and difficult thing for those left here on earth but to the soul departing, I can only imagine that it is an indescribably glorious experience. I often think about what the day will be like when I go home to be reunited with my maker. I can only imagine that it will be a wonderful day (provided I am prepared). This life is like camping--it's fun and all but going home is always greatly anticipated. The difference in this life is that we think what we have is wonderful (which is is) but we forget that what we have to look forward to is SO much better.
At the start of this year, two people I knew who were in their 20s passed away unexpectedly. It was hard and I still can't believe they are gone but I am happy for them because they have moved onto something better. Their passing made me realize that we must always be prepared to be called home because we never know when it is going to happen. It also made me realize that we need to truly appreciate those who are with us now because we never know when our time will be cut short. (This is much easier said than done, by the way.)
My work and life experiences have made me realize that there are many things worse than death. I suspect that my thoughts on death will continue to evolve and deepen as I experience more of this life and embark on my new nursing career.
I can't wait to go home but I'm definitely not ready yet!
One can only imagine...
If she were born 101 years ago, that means she was born in 1911. She would have been a teenager in the roaring 20s. She would have been old enough at the time to remember women gaining the right to vote in the United States. She probably would have married at around the start of the Great Depression and began raising her children around then. She would have had teenagers during WWII, possibly been grateful that they weren't old enough to go away to war but also nervous that the war would continue when they were old enough. Around 1950, she would have been sending her kids out into the world. Watching them go to college, get married, bless her with grandchildren, make poor choices, and learn how to survive in the world. Maybe some of her worst fears were realized when one of her children went to war in Korea. She probably watched in wonderment as man walked on the moon for the first time 1969. In the mid-seventies, she would reach retirement age. She would welcome more grandbabies into her family, and then begin to welcome great-grandbabies. She would also begin losing those she loved to the other side, ones that she may have expected to outlive her: her husband, dear friends, and then even probably her own children. Great-great-grandchildren would probably be welcomed to earth. (By this time, she probably would be having a difficult time keeping track of her own posterity.) Life would continue and maybe she would possibly wonder, 'Why haven't I been called home yet?' Did she feel blessed to live so long? Or did she want the pain, sorrow, and hardship that inevitably comes along with this earth life to end?
This is all very generalized and brief...think of everything that really could be experienced in that amount of time. It absolutely astounds me.
Death, at least of those closest to me, has left me alone for much of my life. My earliest experience I remember with death was my Grandma Great and, as I said earlier, we were pretty close. I have a few very poignant memories of her, especially for a four-year-old. I remember she loved to watch conference (which I didn't understand at the time)--she would re-watch taped sessions much of the day. I remember giving her Fruit Stripe Gum (known at the time by me as Zebra Gum since I couldn't read) and after a few minutes, she'd stop chewing so I'd offer her another piece. And then another. And another. Finally, my grandma (who was Grandma Great's caregiver) realized what was happening (the gum was just sticking to her mouth) and that was the end of that. My Grandma Great was also the person who taught me to pray, at least as far as I remember. We had a "sleep over" one night and I remember her teaching me to kneel down at the side of the bed and pray before we went to sleep. I remember praying for her on the other side after she passed away.When I was 11 years old, death touched me again--my maternal grandmother was hit by a car and killed. I don't really remember what emotions I experienced at the time, I remember it sort of as matter of fact. In high school, two deaths hit me hard: a kid who committed suicide who was in some of my classes, and my cat Mocos who was hit by a car. With both of these deaths, I remember feeling very angry as if some great injustice had been done.
Lately, I have a much more positive view of death. True, death is a very sad and difficult thing for those left here on earth but to the soul departing, I can only imagine that it is an indescribably glorious experience. I often think about what the day will be like when I go home to be reunited with my maker. I can only imagine that it will be a wonderful day (provided I am prepared). This life is like camping--it's fun and all but going home is always greatly anticipated. The difference in this life is that we think what we have is wonderful (which is is) but we forget that what we have to look forward to is SO much better.
At the start of this year, two people I knew who were in their 20s passed away unexpectedly. It was hard and I still can't believe they are gone but I am happy for them because they have moved onto something better. Their passing made me realize that we must always be prepared to be called home because we never know when it is going to happen. It also made me realize that we need to truly appreciate those who are with us now because we never know when our time will be cut short. (This is much easier said than done, by the way.)
My work and life experiences have made me realize that there are many things worse than death. I suspect that my thoughts on death will continue to evolve and deepen as I experience more of this life and embark on my new nursing career.
I can't wait to go home but I'm definitely not ready yet!
24 March 2012
Trials
Lately I've been thinking a lot about trials and have come to the knowledge that God will never let us experience a trial that we can't handle. Think of how AMAZING that is! Sometimes we look around at others, see what they're going through, and think: that is SO tough, I really hope I don't have to go through that! We then get really nervous that we might have the same trial in store for us but if we realize that we can handle whatever comes our way, this will bring us a great deal of peace no matter what we have in store. We probably won't have that trial that we were fearing, but if we do, we can handle it. And what's even better? The fact that trials only make us better--without them we stay just the way we are. So, come what may! I will do my best to love it while knowing that I can handle it and that it's worth it.
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