goodbye to the dingle

The dingle was a time of laughter and good memories, we will forever remember every moment spent in that piece of crap. RIP dingleberry, some parts of you will be missed, not including the broken door handle and the whistle in the air conditioner, flashing seat belt sign, the torn roof top, the life threatening passenger seat belt, the go-cart sound you made just sitting in park, or the haunted house sqeeking door noise when you turned the steering wheel, but to top it off, i will never forget your sensual mildew scent that made all of us gag in enjoyment.

We love you<3

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.

it's official!

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

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

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/

a great mother's day

look at her long red hair. here's some of the family skyping.

the tag :)

patty's duck face!

thank you to whomever developed SKYPE. chatting with patty on mother's day was the greatest ever. we got to chat for 51 minutes and we could have chatted for even longer!

she said she LOVES the area and hopes her brazilian visa gets lost on the way to to North Carolina :) the visa IS on it's way to NC and she should be off to Brazil very soon. she mentioned that they've had a lot of scary weather storms and was even caught in a small tornado.

patty's mission call!

on friday, August 20, 2010 patty's mission call finally arrived in the mail!

i went to the mailbox, called patty at work, and she told me she was about to throw up because she was so nervous.

she called everyone she knew in our area to come over our house to watch her open up her call.

we bought food, made dessert, and had a little party before she opened it up in front of family and friends.

we don't look it, but we're seriously all so nervous.

korea?

russia?

colorado?

who knows.

(please excuse the screaming, crying, and shaking. . . what can i say, i was a little excited)

. . . . . . . .

look at how cool. brazil sao paulo interlagos mission! does anyone know someone who served there? i need to know what i need to send my sister while she's away!

i can't believe she's going to be speaking portuguese. amazing. i'll have to learn via rosetta stone while she's gone.

personally signed by the big man himself. tommy.

it's all about the baby part II

there's still time.

get your copy here.

http://vixmusic.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=5719802

it's all about the baby

check out

http://vixmusic.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=5656868

here you can purchase a christmas cd featuring tons of great artists (one you just might recognize :)

the cd is only $11 and trust me is worth it.

i can't tell you how hard victoria has worked

this lady writes ALL of her songs....let me say that again....ALL of her songs.

Do you know how hard that is?

i find singing all day long extremely exhausting, but imagine sitting at a piano for months writing one song, trying to get the lyrics and melody perfect.

so in need of a christmas present? head over to her website to purchase this dream of victoria's and i promise you, you won't be disappointed.

Newsweek's Top 1500 High Schools

so excited to see my alma mater, Mission Viejo High School, make Newsweek Magazine's Top 1500 High Schools nationwide. we just so happened to be ranked #325!! go diablos.

went to ash's graduation from Great Oak this week. more on that later....

travelcostamesa.com

my debut. look who's makin' her way to the top! foodnetwork here i come!

p.s. sisters, i think we're even now.