Life's Changing

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since I posted, yes- But good news! I closed on my house January 18th!! I CLOSED ON A HOUSE. I have to type it in capital letters because I'm still trying to get used to it. Right now, I'm sitting in my office. Yeah. My office. I own it. Well, technically the bank owns it, but I will own it in 30 years! Woot! I've been drastically busy, but having so much fun renovating and decorating the house. My weekends have still been spent working Fridays-Sundays, and my mondays-thursdays have consisted of either:

- Packing
- unpacking
- cleaning
- painting
- spackeling (sp?)
- cutting things
- staining wood
- applying stained wood to wall (well actually my dad did this- I'm not allowed to hold big machines that nail things to walls)
- Cleaning some more
- making to do lists
- moving furniture
- cleaning said furniture
- taping painters tape
- untaping painters tape
- cleaning things I've already cleaned, again
- applying floor tiles
- buying a lot of crap
- making a lot of friends at Lowe's
- buying a lot of magic erasers
- cleaning some more with those erasers
- making a lot of decisions
- painting second coats


...And it goes on and on. Getting up early and staying up late, every day has been full! But FUN!
 I know that these are the days I will cherish and look back on in ten years. I will marvel at how far I've come in comparison, and cherish the memories I'm making with my dad and my boyfriend as we renovate. It's been hilarious, fun, and a tremendous learning experience.

For example, here are some small, some big, all useful things I've learned in this whole experience:

- It's not that hard to buy a house, especially if you're a first time buyer like me. A lot of the stress comes from selling a house. Buying a house isn't terrible once you've picked it out and have the money to do the down payment. The rest is thousands of phone calls and a shitton of paperwork and deadlines, more paperwork and a lot of signatures. But its no big.
- It's not as hard as I thought to paint. But everything needs a second coat.
- I'm not a good enough painter to not use a drop cloth. *sigh*
- Almost anything in your home can be fixed with the right amount of money and sweet talking with employees at Lowe's and Home Depot. And asking nicely.
- Always sample colors before you buy in the gallon size. But I've noticed the samples are sometimes just a twad different from the real thing so be prepared.
- I learned how to stain wood!
- Always let the stain DRY before you try and touch something with it on, and try not to let it get on your bare skin, its really not fun to get off.
- Make sure your ladder is definitely sturdy before getting on and off it a million times. Like don't use the one you found in the garage that was there when you bought the house.
- Keep track of how much improvement money you are putting into the house.
- If you think a room is small, just put on and take off painters tape around the perimeter of the room, on the ceiling and floor. Your perspective will change.
- Make getting blinds a first priority!
- Rome wasn't built in a day.
- It takes 24 hours for spackle to dry.
- Don't take painters tape off until you're certain whoever painted what they painted definitely did their second coat.
- LABEL BOXES when you pack, it will make it SO MUCH easier to unpack and maybe your box with the silverware won't end up under 20 boxes in your office or bedroom.
- ITs your house, don't be afraid to be daring and create your own ideas/designs. Think outside the box!
- If you hear a noise, go check it out. Make peace. Learn about your house.
- When you hire any time of professional, follow them around and learn about your house and what they are doing. That way you know more about your house and you know how to do what they did. Ask questions!
- If you think you may have a ghost, make friends with it on day one. I got mine some pumpkin seeds and she loves it.  I'm only partially kidding.
-Almost anything can be cleaned with a magic clean eraser.
- Its not the end of the world if you get paint on the molding, trim, ceiling, etc. Either it wiples off easily, or you can go back with touch up paint.
- Just give in and get the MyLowes card. Preferably not on your last visit to buy paint...


Anyway, I'll probably add some learning experiences as I continue to work on the house. We're still not done painting, we need 40% of our furniture yet, and still so much CLEANING. I honestly never thought I had it in me to clean this much, but I guess you grow up a lot when you have your own house. I first noticed myself caring about cleanliness when I had my very first dorm room in college. I had a single, so it was all up to me to keep it clean. If I didn't, I always was mortified when friends stopped by and saw my messes. So I finally understood why my mom was always so adamant about cleaning the house when company came over. But then by the time I was a senior in my single dorm, I really didn't care about my rooms appearance. I would *maybe* clean it for my boyfriend HA! Just kidding, I would let my boyfriend clean it, lol. Then after college I moved into an apartment with a roommate and I noticed again that I cared about it being clean. I thought, hey wow- I'm actually paying to live here, I should keep it looking nice. Now in the house, my house, its worse than ever. Get this- I used to think people that insist you take your shoes off when you enter their house were being overly meticulous and afraid of dirt. Now that I'm the one that has to constantly clean/swift/mop up trails of mud and dirt around the house, I totally get where those people are coming from!

But anyway, 2013 will be a huge year for me. I've got to learn how to start cutting coupons and paying attention to sales. I've got a friggen mortgage now, which is scarier than anything. I've always been the kind of girl that's afraid of commitment, and having a 30 year commitment to anything is nerve wracking to me. But I'm ready for it. This feels right. I fell in love with the house when I first saw it, and I plan to put a lot of love into it.


Look for more updates on the house, more to come! Maybe I'll tell you my ghost story.


- With love,



~ WNB


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It's a State of Mind

I believe I am most sexy/beautiful/pretty and I feel most confident when my hair is in a messy bun or curly around the shoulders, I am sitting in my studio painting with my oversized painting shirt on, and there is paint everywhere- including on me. I love those days.

-WNB

Laughing With Him

Hey all! So, a couple weeks ago, upon leaving work, I picked up the paper. Since leaving away out of state, I miss the paper from back home (near where I work). So I'm reading the paper (or more like glancing it over) and I just miracously happened to notice that there was a "bloggers night" for bloggers of my area that night! Woo!! So I cancelled all my plans and went.

At this blog night, I met so many new wonderful people! Editors (of that local paper I love), publishers, writers, and.....obviously, bloggers!! It was very exciting and I was so glad I gathered up the courage to go!

Here is a list of bloggers that came, if you wish to check out bloggers local to me. I owe many of them a huge favor as they have linked over to my blog and gathered me quite a bit of incoming traffic (yay!) over the past couple weeks, so I owe them the traffic back.

• http://savethekales.wordpress.com/  (Healthy eating, love)
• http://lehighvalleywithlove.com/   (very funny!)
• http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/  (informational, interesting, political)
• http://johnnysized.com/ (new blogger, determined to lose weight- great blog)
• http://cornerseatblog.wordpress.com/
• http://www.neighborsofeaston.com/wordpress/
• http://noisenation.wordpress.com/
• http://molovinskyonallentown.blogspot.com/
• http://wmdonovan.wordpress.com/
• http://lvpoliblog.blogspot.com/
• http://noroomforseconds.com/
• http://rememberlv.wordpress.com/
• http://www.bloggleverse.com/
• http://fromherenow.wordpress.com/
• http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/tony-rhodin/
• http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/joe-owens/
• http://blog.lehighvalleylive.com/parenthood/

I am missing one blog out of that list, because I am including it right now because it deserves extra attention. I met this blogger that night and was immediately interested in his case. Shane Burcaw is the sweetest, nicest, logical and strongest person I've met in my life thus far. Diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which will eventually kill him all too soon, he has this contagious unique way of laughing and always looking at the glass half full. How many of us have way less problems and look at the glass empty? We should all be taking a huge lesson from Shane.


Visit Shane's blog, "Laughing at my Nightmare", at Laughing At My Nightmare.

Anyway, Shane-with the help of his cousins- is starting a Nonprofit Organization, sharing his blog name, "Laughing at my Nightmare", in order to raise awareness for Spinal Muscular Atrophy , and to generate the general theme of laughing at your problems with optimism. I think this is a wonderful organization just starting out and I was immediately interested. As soon as I got home from the bloggers night, I went to his blog first. It was then I saw they were looking for a logo for the new NPO....So I thought, well- It would be cool to make one but I've never done graphic design or any logo before. But, after giving it some thought for a couple days, I thought- what have I got to lose? I definitely wanted to do my best to be a part of the organization lifting off the ground, even if it was just to donate a design.

So, out of the last three days, I generated two logos I like:

The Start, letters stenciled.

Adding colors.

Coloring in

End product.


When creating the vision in my head, I didn't just want to create a simple string of letters. I wanted it to be symbolic for the cause he was trying to generate. So I made the "Nightmare" look like hell (which I can only imagine Shane feels like he's going through at times), coupled with the moon lower right. Then "Laughing" was designed with different font to look more jovial and playful, as laughing usually is, (and how Shane appears to be).

 However, upon finishing and looking at it for awhile, I realized, again- that I knew nothing about graphic design. So I tried to think of other famous logos out there. What can I gather from them? They are simple. They get the message across. They are easy to replicate in a jiffy. They represent the company. So I tried to think simpler (word?).

Result:

Overall I think I like this one a lot better, as it still represents the "fire" of his nightmare, but still incorporates the playful morals the company represents with my little stick figure.  Its simple, smaller.

I like them both, but again, I know nothing about graphic design. Nothing. No classes, ever. So this is all going by knowledge gathered by watching other companies.


So I just submitted them today. Even if they aren't picked up, I won't be sad because I know it was my first try at a logo. I like it, and thats what matters. Regardless of whatever logo they end up picking, LAMN has WNB's neverending, fullfledged support and I wish him the best. Be sure to go check out his blog and watch his hilarious videos, they will make you smile- I promise.


~A Writer in a Nurse's Body


PS-

Again, the link: (in case you missed it)

Laughing at my Nightmare





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Just can't help myself...

I'm the kind of girl that sees a wall with a "wet paint" sign on it and then touches the wall to see if it is actually wet.

It usually is.






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Reaching Out

Hey!

So my mind has been out of blogland lately....I've been trying, oh yes- But nothing in my mind has been posing itself as extremely blog worthy. However, if you miss WNB greatly, check out some of my pages above, I've been updating those here and there :)

It's been an....interesting...couple of days. I guess I can't blog much because all the topics right now I really just need to talk about, like just write and write and write my thoughts with no fear of anything....I can't talk about on here. Friends have suggested journals, but, I'm seeking a stranger to just vent to, I think. Like someone that is completely unbiased, someone that knows nothing already. Someone I don't know and never will know and therefore can't judge I guess...sort of? And if they do judge you, then you move on to another stranger. I guess thats the lure some people find in internet relationships? I've never done that but I can see why people do it.


But anyway, I feel like I'm trying to literally just do so many things at once right now, now that I'm not bogged down with overwhelming amounts of homework and I am "free" (kind of), I have so many projects I am trying to tackle. So for my own sanity and your entertainment, I'll try and list everything:

•  re-organize my room and get it ready for moving out this fall (YAY!!!) But this is seriously a huge project
• get all my writing in ONE PLACE. I'm really trying to get a major start again on my strongest novel, and I'm getting so excited about it because I'm getting so many thoughts for its planning and I just want to WRITE IT!! So, yeah. Thats another big project.
• Art, Art, Art. Not only just the drawing- that comes next. But painting too! I want to finish a painting I already started....and I want to try a new abstract style of painting that I can sort of visualize how its going to work in my head....I also want to start working with a new watercolor kit I bought to try and help teach me Watercolours. Yay!
• Drawing! Not only do I have like 2 huge architecture type drawings I want to get started on, but I have a lot of other random collections I want to do and finish. Amazing! Ahhh. Also, I want to start a real "exclusively Pixar-disney" portfolio, by taking screenshots from favorite movies and practicing drawing disney scenes.
• I want to try to put together, somehow, a LARGE portfolio, of ALLLL of my best photographs. So that they are all in ONE place. I'm sick of digging through computer files to try and find the one I'm looking for. So how am I going to do this? I don't know. There has GOT to be over 5,000 of these "best photos" between my high school shots, college shots, disney shots, Europe shots, random shots, etc.....So....yeah. Have to put some thought yet into this.
• I am swamped lately with photography work, mostly photoshoots for actors/actresses and some other random photoshoots. So lately I have been trying to do some work on renovating how I do photoshoots completely, but thats going to take a lot of work. I also want to renovate how my website is formed, as well as my photography facebook page. Whew!
• I am also trying to be a better nurse. Granted, I am a brand new nurse, but all the more reason to be the best one I can be. I am desperately still trying to read up on nursing literature in my spare time because I find it interesting (I really do!) and I truly do want to be a super-nurse.
• I really, really want to learn Latin. Seriously, though. I do.
• I need to friggen learn how to *actually* be a photographer.  

So basically, I will never be bored within the next...5 years?

I feel like so many things are within reach...but I am trying to be so many different people and by doing this, I can only do a so-so job in all. I am noticing myself slacking lately in photography, so I am only a so-so photographer. Only a so-so writer. So-so blogger. So-so artist. So-so nurse. But if i just had the time...if I could just pick one of these personas and stick with it, I could master it, but then I wouldn't be me anymore. I like that I do them all.....i just need about 16 hours more per day to do it all.  I want to be the super nurse, but does the super nurse have time for everything else I'm trying to do? I want to be an actual writer. I want to have this book written by 2 years from now. I want to be a professional photographer. I want to be an artist. And I don't even have KIDS yet! What's going to happen then???? I'll be a nurse and a mom? Or, stay at home mom and artist maybe? But I don't think I could let go of the medical side of me. I love it. I am beginning to really love medicine and I wouldn't ever want to let all that knowledge just dissipate. I want to make a difference in the nursing community. I have a feeling that I can do huge things and go really far.....I just have to reach. I feel like I can reach, but I'm not reaching. Because I'm afraid of failure? Afraid of success? Afraid of the unknown?


So...thats life right now. Wish I could just talk about the other 5,000 things on my mind right now. Yes, there is even more on my mind than everything i just gobbled out..


I really miss Thanksgiving. I am so, so, so so drastically ready for the winter. I miss cold. I miss snow, so much. I miss so much.........



Needless to say, this year is going to be very, very Interesting......In so many ways.



~WNB




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Bringing the Right Side Back

I still have it grained into my brain that I should be studying. Well, I should be studying for the NCLEX but i'm not doing that hardcore until after Europe.

But this is how my thought pattern goes:

Wow this T.v. show is great, but I feel guilty for watching it because I should be studying. Oh wait, I graduated.  Or maybe, I'm gonna draw! I am so gonna draw! I am gonna draw til 4 am! I am gonna draw EVERYTHING i see! I am gonna draw that banana. I am gonna draw my windowsill. I am gonna draw that picture. Oh wait, none of this is a good idea, because I really should be studying something academic related. Oh wait, I graduated.

I tell you, its like I have a 5 minute memory. I keep thinking I should be studying, and I have to remind myself I really, actually have no homework. Its creepishly weird.

I can read books again. For FUN. WHAT? When I'm not working, if I want to kick back and watch mindless t.v. for 8 hours, I CAN.

But more importantly, I am fully charged to bring back the right side of my brain. My artistic side is coming out again ready to go. I think partly to getting a new camera lately in preparation for photography in Europe, mixed with photography apps on the iphone, mixed with drawing, painting....I love it all. This week is all about packing and working but after I get home--And wind down from all the European excitement- I am so gonna draw everything I see. I'm going to draw so much so much so much that I am going to get so much practice and be as good again as I once was. I want to paint again, too! And Not make orange people! I actually think I am going to paint something really abstract. That way you can't tell exactly what it is--and you won't be able to tell that there are orange people or things look weird, because its abstract. OoOoh. With like...shapes, and weird colors in place of people and trees, and things. So, yeah. Art!

UNEXPECTED DELIGHT of today!

I was in Barnes & Noble today, doing my "after I sit for two hours drinking tea and reading The New Yorker- browse walkthrough through the store picking up random books and look through them and want to buy them but know they will never be read so I put them back-  kind of thing when I graced upon the travel section. Obviously, I checked out Europe, and the countries I'll be visiting in particular.

Call me really stupid, insane, unwise, pathetic, unworldly or whatever, But I am not exactly highly knowledgeable about sightseeing in Europe. I'm really not. In fact, I'm not really highly knowledgeable about sightseeing in America, so don't ask me anything. I've even been across most of my country.

Anyway, besides knowing some major cities in each country and knowing each countries major tourist attractions (i.e. Paris=Eiffel tower), I really don't know much else. Now you'd think, If I were really smart- I would like....research....these sorts of things before I went there so I could get a feel for what I would really like to see. But thats not the way I'm doing it.

I'm actually just gonna wing it. Because for me, just walking down the streets of Italy is enough of a tourist attraction for me. I could take 1,000 pictures of just the street. So It really doesn't matter to me if I hit the "must-see" tourist traps attractions. Also, I hate  getting "typical" tourist shots that you could just as easily find on google and save yourself a boatload of memory space on your camera and computer. I'll obviously get a shot of the Eiffel tower, but I do not need 30 different shots of the tower. Instead, I will find some way to make shooting the tower different. Like no other photographer yet. I'm not sure how. But I will.  I like to get shots that you could never find on google- or anywhere else- Like of an old couple enjoying ice cream sitting on a park bench or by an Italian fountain or something. Or of kids playing in the street. I'm the one taking shots of everything else but the tourist attraction we paid money for that everyone else is taking pictures of.

HOWEVER, my unexpected delight of today- I was flipping through a book about Italy. And I turned to a random page- and it happened to be about Juliet's house. Then I realized that this was in Verona (If this is really really common knowledge then I greatly apologize for being so drastically under a rock), and I am SO GOING to Verona! SO this is one of TWO tourist attractions that I MUSTTTT visit!!!   I already knew Verona would be amazing, but this- this I have to go to. I am SO excited to see Juliet's house. The other one I have to see is FLorence Nightingale's Nursing museum in London somewhere (I have to find it). Other than that, I'm just gonna go with the flow. I have nothing on my must-do list besides those, and I think its better that way. Because without any expectations, you can't be disappointed.


I sat in B & N today with all my  Barne's & Noble's language phrase books, and sat there in the aisle mouthing silently all these European phrases. Some phrases I am trying to learn in all the languages I'll need: (German, French, Italian) are:

- I am an American (even though I'm pretty sure they will already know this without me having to tell them).
- I can not have food with milk or cheese.
- Where is the toilet? (everyone in my group will so thank me for this).
- I like your shoes. (brownie points).
- I'm lost (I know I will need this).
- My name is...
- Thank you, please, hello, goodbye....etc.

I've heard that Europeans kind of hate Americans because we are all fat and ugly. And that is understandable because a lot of us are and the typical tourist with their fanny packs and sunglasses that NEEDS mcDonalds everywhere they go and push people around....I would hate them too. But I assure you, we are not all like that. But if silly Americanos come to my country and asked me stupid questions In English, I would throw a rock at them too. But I also hear that tourists are treated a little nicer if they make at least a small effort to blend in and speak a little of the native language. So that is what I am trying to accomplish....whether its via Iphone translation, having a phrasebook in my hand or just literally throwing a couple syllables out there and hope they form a word in that language- I'll figure it out.  ONE WEEK!!


~WNB

P.S. - Ciao! Au Revoir! Auf Wiedersehen! Sin seveder! Pfueatti!

copyright - picture taken from going to google and typing in "Eiffel Tower" and then i clicked on the prettiest one (naturally) and then it said it was taken from www.dailycontributor.com so this is my fancy schpeel of a copyright.

Rainy Days, Flooding and Painting

Picture of the week time ! I didn't forget :)  Except, I have two installments. One set of pictures today, and a special version for next week that is similar but much cooler. Instead of POTW- ITs more like "Picture Album of the week" because I have so many. But its like buying someone a gift. Its SO HARD not to give it to them when you already have it for them and its SO GOOD and you CANT WAIT to see if they will like it. Well, I recently took all these photos at once and I don't think I can give you one at a time over a span of one-a-week because I would go crazy. Maybe this should be a common occurrence and this could be "Picture of the month" ? Hmm. Well, enjoy. :)

This was taken when my father and I took a drive down to the Delaware river on the most recent 2011 flood, and...

 ...And it was interesting and all, but not very photogenic. I know photogenic when I see it, immediately. And then this dog just appeared, came up to us and we pet(ted?) it for a little, and then it went to where it is in picture....and suddenly it became photogenic.

Same doggie, same day, different picture

This picture is *not taken by me* but taken from my twin separated at birth (but not really-just psychologically), Mellie, and I fell in love with it. I fall in love with a lot of her pictures, usually of her girls (shown in picture). I'm not even sure if she knows/believes how good of a photographer she actually is or could be if she really wanted to.

 But anyway, I saw the picture and fell in love, asked for permission to picture, and revamped the special effects, and thats why it is here today. But it was never taken by me.

This was one of those pictures that you don't even have to set up....you just see it, and you snap the picture...even though it looks like I totally set that there.

This was taken at a friends house I visited over this winter and I was immediately drawn to her paint set- and it was just gorgeous and lovely and especially with the tone I put on the picture in the effects dept. , it screams "Sad, lonely painting day with music on while it rains-pours- outside your window" type of day. LOVE.

Another picture of her paintset. LOVE.



Paintbrushes in the windowsill

 So...As for an update on my life today....since yesterday....I babysat all day today. I could write a whole other blog on that....Basically, toddlers are SO HARD to work with/please. They require so much patience. And then I think to myself, Gee- If they are causing me this much anguish- How come I still really, really, really want to have kids one day? And my answer in my head was this- A lot of the anguish that arises while working with these kids comes from having to please the parent too. 1) everything is done in the parents/kids environment.  2) I can NEVER find anything, and its usually something the toddlers are screaming for 3)things are just done differently there 4) Its second nature for me to always have the kids back to the parents in the same condition or better than when I got them in the morning. In addition to the condition of the house. I always clean. I always sanitize everything. (I'm becoming OCD). I get the kids dressed and do their hair, feed them two meals, etc. But when we do activities  like painting or playdough, I am constantly stressed because I don't know "the rules". WHats allowed to get dirty? Can their clothes get dirty? How important is this table to you? Do you want me to put protective paper down? Is this paint even washable? Whereas if I were the parent and will be someday, I would first buy washable everything and then get them into painting clothes and say GO FOR IT. But this isn't that type of household...So, Its hard making up your own rules as you go along and making sure they fit into the households rules too. Its a long day! But, as hard as they can be at times, they are Truly adorable and surprise me every day with how smart they are or how kind they are. I do look forward to seeing them =]

THats all for today.....Off to the hospital to work tomorrow, Maybe I'll get a good blog entry from there?

Too-ta-loo...

~A Writer in a Nurse's Body

Last Years Resolutions

So this post is going to be about reflecting on last year's resolutions, posted on this blog, on December 31st, 2009. No need to post the link, because I'm going to put them in this blog, for you. :-) My bold font will be talking (typing), in modern-day. Just so you don't get confused. And tomorrow, I'm going to make a post about this year's resolutions. I don't have any yet but I'm going to work really hard tomorrow and think of some good ones.

Last Years:

I want to Learn Chinese!! I actually want to learn every language (at least 10) and Chinese has always fascinated me, so good place to start. I know a lot of Spanish and a tid bit of French, but I'm ready to take on China. And Sign Language is a very close second.


Okay. So. It turns out that I didn't learn any new languages. New Year's Resolutions are funny because when you make them you are SO SURE that you are going to follow through, so sure! It does not seem illogical in any way, shape, or form, and you are completely sure you are going to do it. I was totally sure I was totally capable of learning 10 languages this year.

Turns out, I even went to Barnes & Noble and was all like, "I'm gonna buy Rosetta Stone. It's going to be totally awesome and I'm going to be fluent in 10 languages by 2011 because Rosetta Stone is awesome and I'm going to be able to travel anywhere I want and talk to anyone I want. In case I haven't already stated, I thought it would be totally awesome. Instead, I was all like......"Oh, hey I found Rosetta Stone. This looks nice. I'm gonna buy it. Oh wait, It costs HOW MUCH? .......o_0.........WHY?"

So I didn't buy it. And, I didn't learn any languages.

Sorry Rosetta Stone. Don't sue me. You already have enough money. Clearly.

I need to continue my weight loss regimen, so I guess this is and isn't a "resolution". Its been a rocky road in terms of losing weight but at least it's a road at all and best I can do with the new year is to keep trying. I need to be 20 pounds less by next year!


Again, with the whole failure to make a realistic goal....20 pounds? Maybe If I had Jillian Michaels living in my house. I lost like 5 pounds. Over a year. Awesome.

I need to keep better control of my finances…big time. Its not that I spend a lot of money, but the money I do spend I spend without keeping track of and then I get my bills…and I just feel out of control. I don't know where any of it possibly went. But I guess that's a typical part of life…but I have to try. It will never be perfect, but I need some sort of system…any ideas?

this failed miserably. Totally miserable. I tried apps on my phone. I tried not spending anything ever. Then I realized I needed food. And like...gas. I tried only spending a certain amount every day. I tried writing everything down in a little notebook but I got depressed that I was spending significantly more than I was making and it made me sad.

I need to stop biting my stupid fingernails!!!!! Enough said.

I never stopped :( I bite them when I'm nervous/anxious. I've been nervous/anxious a lot this year. Thats my excuse.

I need to do a heck of a lot better in my studies. I haven't been good enough. Have to keep trying. Med surg is coming this spring, and it will be the hardest class yet. I have to put every ounce of effort I possibly have into this course.

Well. Med Surg 1 was ridiculously hard. I did well...but not great. I expected it to be hard. And it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. But, I was prepared for Med Surg 11 and It went a little better and I passed everything YAY. YAYYAYYAY I DID ONE RESOLUTION YAY.

I need to focus on being happier with living in my skin. I have been very on edge lately and I can't place why. But that's another blog, like I said.

I have been a LOT happier. I think I've just had a different spin on things and have been looking at things differently. I have learned a lot. I have updated on this blog a lot more, and that has helped the happiness factor. I have found inner happiness within myself, by myself, and it is all happy everywhere.

I want to read more!! And paint more!! (Summer activities).

I have been reading a lot more! Mostly nursing books. But thats okay. They were excellent. And I painted a painting and I thought it was really, really good but then a couple months later I came home from school and looked at it and I was like.....crap. This painting is not good. Then I started another one and it has been sitting....half drawn, half painted....with all the paintbrushes and crap on top of it in the corner of my room...since I started it. So, um....this resolution was sort of accomplished?

Epic fail. I used to think it was good. Until I re-assessed the situation and realized I made him *orange*.

I need to keep my room clean as I can.

I have significantly improved on the room-cleanliness factor. Its not perfect, but significantly improved.

I need to keep my car as clean as I can!! It makes me sad to drive it.

This. DId. Not. Happen. I'm sorry, dear car. :-( This was not a realistic goal. Not for me.

I need to focus on de-stressing more, because this has been ridiculous! J

HA! I ended up in the hospital because my colon was too stressed out. HA! So, this was not realistic.

 
 
I really don't even know what to say about these resolutions. No comment. I plan to update this later and put pictures in. I think? Maybe.
 
~WNB.

Painting

It's fall break. I passed my test. I have a week off. What does that mean? I can relax a *little* and just...paint. Keep in mind this is the FIRST photo. FIRST. I just started this one today. I'll post updates :-)

The whole left side is going to be B&W and will drift slowly into color in the water .