archangel records

i know, i know

i'm the worst blogger ever

boy oh boy have i been busy

this past week not only did i work six 12 hour shifts in a row, but i was performing in a 2 day concert in Orange County for archangel records.

victoria and gary produced an album featuring multiple artists. it's even on itunes.

how cool is that??

so, the first day of the concert was Friday, December 16th

we sold about 250 tickets. not a bad turn out.

Saturday, December 17th was day number 2.

around 500 tickets sold. a very nice turn out.

even got to see my very favorite high school choir teacher, mr. elg (i'm kicking myself for not getting a picture with him. what a joy it was to reunite)

overall the concert was a hit. not only did i get to sing, but i got to see tons of people who've supported me over the years. love them all.

a huge thank you to those that came to the concert. my sister, blupid blore, for doing my hair and make-up for both days. she even stuck with me through my rehearsals. david, for taking us all out to dinner afterward, and aldy for driving all the way from temecula and bringing me flowers.

outfit #1

outfit #2 (a bit more casual)

duet with tandy shields . . . "put you under my tree"

haven't seen ms. alison in over 6 years. she's the exact same. . .cute as ever!

david, me, and blupid blore. they're the best.

aldy drove all the way from temecula to come support me. best branch member ever!

beautiful lillies.

so so tired after the concert. this was at like 11 pm. probably shouldn't have had a full meal at bj's that night.

our dessert

thirty seconds after the dessert came to the table

and ps. . .

here's a little video for those who couldn't make it to the concert. it's almost like you were there :)

special sister presents

emma gave me her surprise xmas present.

a special card and a dollar bill.

"merry xmas and a happy new year"

how special.

my sister knows me too well

gigi knows the way to my heart

best brother of the year award

this letter was waiting for me to come home from work. so sweet.

my 15 seconds of fame

padres v. dodger game

vip field seats near dodger dugout. ps. field seats are definitely the way to go.

kemp hit a home run on his bday giving the dodgers a win.

and. . . . look who was on t.v!

can you see me?? blue striped shirt and padres cap? that's my brother sitting on my right, and one of our friends.

p.s. i am obsessed with baseball hot dogs. i swear they taste better at the game than anywhere else. i had to physically stop myself from getting another because they were just that good.

day 1 of career job

of course i have to document my first day of work like a 1st grader would do.

7 am - 7 pm.

not bad right?

i'm still pinching myself that i actually got the day shift. how on earth did i get so lucky?

off to save lives, i go.

uhhh scusi, bopadaboopi?

my sister picked out this italian chef's hat from a local italian store so of course we had to perform the infamous family guy episode of "scusi bopadaboopi" . . . needless to say i can never do anything without laughing. the videos are proof.

08.28

had such a good and relaxing time at maggiano's for my birthday dinner. there's nothing like enjoying family, delicious food, and amazing weather at the end of summer.

me and blabs

duck face. i can't do it without cracking a smile. she's a pro.

profiteroles and the big 2-5

linguine con vongole

chicken parmigiana e rigatoni

birthday boa from gram

my brother's a model :)

the boys

g-ma and the cousins

this describes me so well

the cat's out of the bag now

I GOT A JOB!!!

I thought the day would never come. After applying to literally 40 different new graduate positions I finally was hired by PPH in Escondido, CA.

I work the DAY SHIFT (still don't know how I landed that!), and I am full time on the Medical/Surgical Oncology Floor!


here's the story for journal purposes . . .

***About four months ago I was having breakfast at OHOP with a friend. As we were about to leave, I hear a voice say, "Rachel?" I turn around, and it's my previous preceptor from PPH who helped me during my days as a nurse intern. She helped me gain confidence as a nursing student with my skills. There was some small talk and she asked me if I had found a job. I told her about my difficulty in finding a position because most hospitals stated that I had not enough experience (even though I was applying as a new graduate). She told me to not worry, but to focus on studying for the NCLEX. She asked for my number and I nonchalantly handed her a napkin with my name and number written down, thinking that she wasn't going to call....(i don't think it was by chance that I ran into my preceptor on a weekday at a local restaurant at 8 AM. I definitely see the importance of me being at that restaurant at that specific time. I'll never forget how helpful she was in my quest for a j ob)

About a month and a half ago, I received a call from my preceptor saying that her nurse manager had sent out an email to the staff notifying them of 4 open new graduate positions on their med/surg oncology floor . . . the same floor that i had been a nurse intern. My preceptor told me to go on the website and apply, and that she would talk to the nurse manager. Sure enough my preceptor, as well as some of the other day shift nurses that I worked with, talked to the nurse manager and spoke about my time as a nurse intern on their floor. My preceptor and the nurse manager told me to apply to all four positions online. There were 3 night positions and one day position. Once the positions were available to the general public, I went online to apply only to find that there was 1 night shift position available. I was so bummed. Night shift? Oh well, I guess every new graduate has to put in their dues with a night shift position. So I applied to the only night position available. After I applied to the night shift position, I called the nurse manager to ask her why the other positions were not available online. There was some technical error. I asked her how I would be able to apply to all of the rest of the positions and she said, "Oh don't worry about it! I already put you down for the day shift position because your mentor is going to be your old preceptor and she works days! So just come in to the hospital tomorrow and we'll have a quick interview and I'll tell you all about the program!" Shocked I told my dad that I thought I got a job, but the manager didn't say the actual words "You have the job" so I didn't believe it.

The next day I went in for the "interview" and the nurse manager said that she received so many good referrals from the day shift nurses on the floor and they said that the nurse manager had to hire me onto the team. She mentioned the dates that she would like me to start working, and sent me on my way with her business card in case I had any other questions. She was such a pleasant lady and I'm looking forward to working with her more.

After hearing from HR today after receiving a generous offer, I can actually officially say that I have a full time job as a registered nurse at a hospital. It's going to be a new change and experience for me, but I'm excited to start my career. I've worked so hard in school for this, and I'm ready to get started. I'm working at the older facility currently, but in 6 months our floor is moving to the brand new hospital (PMC WEST) in Oceanside. It's going to be incredible and is already labeled as the "hospital of the century". So neat.

if there's one thing that i've learned from this experience is the importance of patience and perseverance, and TIMING. this is the most perfect timing.

picture this . . .

(this picture doesn't do it any justice)

you're styling your hair 30 minutes before you're about to leave for work

you've just blow-dried your hair and now it's time for the round brush

you section off some hair and roll it around the round brush

as you try to remove the round brush . . . it does. not. come. out.

so in order to remove the brush in T Minus 15 minutes, your dad decides to spray detangler.

not working.

mom thinks pouring the whole bottle of conditioner will remove the knot right?

not working.

mom thinks vegetable oil. . . of course! why didn't we think of that? so now at this point I have in my hair. . .

1) detangler

2) conditioner

3) vegetable oil

not working.

by this time i'm going to be late for work. so what did end up removing the knot?

breaking the handle of the brush, cutting the brush, and chopping off quite a bit of hair.

never again will i be round brushing my hair.

papa's cimenos (chee-main-oh-s)

(gram tells me as a little girl I couldn't say "tomatoes" so I said "cheemainos")

you can seriously get lost in these plants. grandma threw a tomato party for family and friends this past weekend. she told me that we have been having this annual party for at least 20 years. what happens is once the tomatoes are ripe enough, we pick them, clean them, and package them up for people to take home and make a marinara or insalata. i've never been a fan of fresh tomatoes, but i'll make a fresh sauce any day. there really is no comparison to the store bought tomatoes. they're just not the same.

the menu must always include a pasta with marinara sauce to showcase the tomatoes. this time we did a baked penne with tre formaggi. buona let me tell you. we also had red pepper, onion, and sausage sandwiches (a typical food item that you can get from a street vendor in italy), swiss chard and cannellini beans, an insalata del balsamico, and some biscotti.

basilico. mamma mia, there is no question that this plant is flourishing.

pepperoni

have you ever seen a hot pink and orange cactus?

bodaboopi's bj's party

the gang at bjs

mr. bodaboopi had a going away party at bj's. he is relocating to utah to attend the U of U, and is currently single fyi. message me if your interested. LOL.

the "married couple" and nicky

love these boys

bodaboopi, sefra, and bodaboopi

bodaboopi's book of remember moments and a carrot cake bundt cake

i think he loved it

in boca al lupo in Utah!

it's official!

all that hard work sure has paid off because. . .

I'm a REGISTERED NURSE in the state of California!

jigga's wedding

the wonderful thing about going to salt lake city for your friend's wedding (besides the wedding) is eating at all those places that you've missed and loved so much.

take for example kneaders. my word i don't think i've tasted better french toast in my life. i even went back for seconds and that never. happens. oh well. sooo worth it. then i got to try moochies (guy fieri's fav in slc) and ordered a philly cheesesteak. . . the bomb. of course we also had some costa vida and the cocoa bean. best cupcakes EVER. i swear im sounding like the biggest fatty, but im a foodie. . . what can i say :)

jigga 1 and jigga 2 (by association)

amanda and brad

love this one of her. totally captures her personality.

it's always a joy and honor to be asked to sing someone's wedding song.

pizza out of a vending machine???

did you know that you can now get a freshly cooked pizza of your choice in only 2.5 minutes??? genious. this product let's pizza was on how it's made and how it works is purely fascinating. the machine kneads the pizza dough, adds tomato sauce, cheese, and select other toppings and then cooks all under 3 minutes. plus, the pizza only costs about $5. you can even satisfy your pizza craving in the middle of the night. sounds like a deal to me. i'd like one of these in my area. so far i think these machines are only in europe and asia...

http://letspizzaamerica.com/