Graduation Picnic

Today UTM hosted a picnic for the graduating seniors. We also had a graduation walk and graduation practice. The picnic and walk were far more fun that the practice! Here's some photos from today!

The Clarksville girls made it to graduation in one piece!

The Last Real Day of School

This is one of many posts to come in the next few weeks of "lasts" and "firsts." Today we had Nursing Excellence Day which was a program put on my senior class for our senior project in my Leadership and Management class. I am so glad it's over! It was also the last real day of school left in my college career. For some people this would have been a sad day, but I was very happy. I'm not sad to be graduating. The past 3 years of school have been difficult, stressful, and demanding, with none of the fun time that college students normally get to have. Sometimes I feel like I got cheated out of a great college experience, but then I think about my new job, my sign on bonus, and the fact that I have a solid future and I'm not so depressed! Most of my other friends who majored in easy stuff don't have a job yet or even the prospect of one. God has definitely provided for Erik and me, and we're both ready to start a new life in Texas. What's funny is that Erik is really starting to get excited about law school. Nerd.

My favorite cookbooks....

Lately I've been frequenting some blogs that emphasize frugal living and cooking. That inspired me to write about my favorite cookbooks and cooking shows. While I now consider myself a cookbook collector, I really only use a few of them on a regular basis. One is The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook that I received as wedding gift from my great aunt(Hi Aunt Betty Jo!). This book is great because these people at America's Test Kitchen have already done the hard work for you. They have tested out every single way to cook a dish and then put the best results in the cookbook. One of Erik's favorite recipes is the blackberry cobbler. So good! Another cookbook I use all the time is the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook. I mean, this is food that gets into your soul, especially if you're from the South. While it's not a cookbook, another great resource is foodnetwork.com because you can type in any dish you want a recipe for and 9 times out of 10 you can find a great one there.
Cooking to me is a great skill to have. We all have to eat, and we all want to eat something that tastes good. I get great joy out of people enjoying my food. Pretty much as a rule now I give cooking tools as a wedding gift along with a recipe that I love. In Martin there is almost nowhere to eat unless you want fast food, so the majority of the time I cook at home. It can be challenging finding new recipes to try and trust me I have made some duds (Paula Deen's Mexican chicken casserole-yuck!) but the majority of the time I have success. Happy cooking everyone!

Digestive "Issues"

This SNL is extremely funny, especially for those of us with digestive issues who have tried Activia before.

Tales from the Kennel.....

Last night I had a terrifying dream (nightmare?) that I was back working at the dog kennel that I worked at during the summer before college. I took this job thinking, I love animals, how great would this be to work with them all day? Little did I know that my summer would be filled with poop, poop, and you guessed it, more poop. Don't get me wrong, this was a swank kennel that housed not only dogs but a cat room and a grooming parlor. Unfortunately my job was to come in at 7 am sharp, take out all the dogs to do their business in the big grassy lot by the kennel, clean up the business the dogs left in their runs, and feed them. I did more cleaning that summer than ever before. My boss was seriously OCD about everything and he fired people left and right. I was scared the whole summer that I was going to get fired and I didn't even go on my youth group's mission trip out of fear of losing my job. I have lots of horror stories about dog poop that I could tell, but I'll spare my reading audience. Needless to say, when I was dreaming of being back at that job last night it was disturbing. Funny thing, I moved on from dog poop to people poop in about one year's time!

Nearing the End...

Tomorrow is my last clinical of nursing school. I cannot express how happy that makes me. For three solid years I have been to nursing homes, rinky dink rural hospitals, large hospitals, mental health facilities, senior centers, health departments, and even to people's home to care for them. Three years of getting up before dawn to be at a facility so I can change beds, attend to patient's GI needs, give medications, perform assessments, and do whatever my instructor tells me to. I remember my first real patient from sophomore year. Keep in mind that I was a 19 year old college girl with no experience whatsoever. I get assigned this 70 something year old black man with dementia who was combative and dug in his diaper. Can you believe that? That should have been a warning sign of the years to come! I have had some great patients and great experiences, but I am not sad at all that tomorrow will be my last clinical experience as a nursing student. By the way, I will be getting up at 4 am to go to this clinical site!

The Fuquas are Going Green...

Well, sort of. I'm not a crazy "going green" kinda girl but I am up for recycling and using safer cleaning products in our home. I started making my own all purpose cleaner by combining vinegar, mint-scented rubbing alcohol and water. I mix these in whatever portions I feel like that day. I use this in a spray bottle and when I mop the floor. When we move I plan on making my own laundry detergent to decrease the chemicals on our clothing. Roxy even got excited about it and decided to "go green" after Erik mowed the lawn this afternoon!

Capitol Hill

Today my nursing class went to Nashville's Capitol Hill for a legislative summit for nursing students and TNA members. It was kinda boring and the speakers longwinded, but at least we were able to GET OUT of Martin and enjoy the day. Here are some pictures from the day.