BSN Countdown

December

2010-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't written to everyone in a long time, and for that, I apologize. It was due to some circumstances not exactly under my control. As of now, I have 3 more days until my last final....that is, if I pass it the first time. Those dang ATI tests stress you out beyond belief. Anyhow, I miss all of you guys (friends and family) and hopefully I will be able to get a chance to visit with you over Christmas break. The good news is...Edward and I have survived just about a year in another 3 weeks, of being in the middle of Illnois. And other remaining good news, looks like I have made the honor list another semester. Only one semester to go, and depending on how high the gpa is this semester, I may graduate magna cum laude. Just what I always wanted! Well, you know, got to make up for the bad times at UCI. Oh, and I have more good news! *cough cough*

The countdown to graduation is now 154 days. Wooopeee!

Classes!

2010-02-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

So I just wanted to show everyone, cause I think it's so awesome, the future classes I am going to take if I manage to get a 3.0 or above this semester.

Summer: 16 units

Adult Med Surg (5)- aka Nursing of the Adult Client

Pathophysiology/Pharmacology II (3)

Mental Health (5)- icky, get er done quick!

Gerontology (3)

Fall: 16 units

OBGYN (5)- aka Nursing of the Childbearing Family

Pediatrics (5)- aka Nursing of the Childrearing Family

Perioperative Nursing (2)- this was the elective I got to pick =)

Nursing Research (3)

Spring: 17 units

Nursing of the Client with Complex Health Situations (5)- which is basically every pt. in the hospital!

Nursing in Community Health (5)
Nursing Leadership and Management (4)

Nursing Seminar (3)

Anyhow, I know its's only Monday, but you folks have a great week =)

The countdown to graduation is now 443 days.

Being Open and Honest with Myself (Proceed with Caution)

2010-02-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today I had a lovely clinical day and our instructor, Cindy, is so nice. I am actually really thankful that I have her as our instructor. It is so nice to end the day (and I think for all of us) with positive feedback and compliments on the things we did well. Clinical can be stressful...and so it is really great to have a positive resource involved in that learning process.

I want to write more, but I have been thinking about something a lot lately on and off, and today I just wanted to get if off my chest. I know that I am risking borderline inappropriateness, but all that matters to me at this point is being open and honest with people. With patients....thats another story...the bottom line there is honesty and neutrality. So, here it goes:

Jaimes, I wanted you to know that I am no longer angry at you. In fact, I cried today....not for you, but for me. I miss the relationship I had with my brother. I know you like to be dramatic, and so this behavior suits you. However, today I thought of something perfect on how to describe your behavior so it makes sense to me. You know when you're a kid and your sister pinches you and it hurts? That sucks, right? Well, normally, kids try (because of their anger) to hurt the other sibling much worse in return (like punching them out). This is known as revenge. Adults, you know, they know how to overcome this (their emotions) and get one living their life and still loving that sibling. Anyhow, my point is that in the long run, I would like for you to know that you are only hurting yourself. I realized that I can live without one brother...even one who was dear to me, but how long can you live without your whole family?

The countdown to graduation is now 450 days.

Dentist Trip!

2010-02-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

So I got the most adorable pictures today of Landon and Alivia and their first trip to the dentist, so I had to share them!

Aww...oreo cookies and all! =)

UV information

2010-02-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

So I was reading about UV radiation in my books, and a lot of this stuff I did not know about, so I have decided to share it with you guys.

First of all, I think all you guys know that there are 2 types of radiation, UVA and UVB. UVA is the one that can go deep in the skin, and cause all that fun stuff like photoaging (massive wrinkling, breakdown of your elastic fibers, and yellowing/thickening of the skin). UVB is the one that goes into the epidermis but no deeper.

BOTH UVA and UVB can cause DNA damage leading to basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, both types (malignant and benign) melanoma, and actinic keratoses.

UVA can penetrate glass, UVB cannot.

There is no clear evidence that sunscreen protects against melanoma or basal cell carcinoma!

So, the big question is now...how do you save yourself from UV rays?

There are 2 types of of sunscreens, organic and inorganic. Organic sunscreens absorb UV radiation and then disperses it as heat while Inorganic sunscreens act as a barrier by scattering the radiation before absorption into the skin.

If you buy an organic sunscreen, it has to contain a large mixture of compounds in order to be effective against the UV spectrum. However, it MUST CONTAIN avobenzone or the product is basically dysfunctional. The only products on the market that have this compound in it are Aveeno (continuous protection), Neutrogena (ultra sheer dry-touch), Coppertone (sport), and Sea & Ski.(advanced sunscreen).

If you buy an inorganic sunscreen, it HAS TO CONTAIN titanium dioxide AND zinc oxide in order to be effective.

Ok, so now some info about the SPF factor. SPF is like an indicator of the protection of radiation from UVB only. It does not include information about protection from UVA rays. SPF is basically determined by shining UV light on someone's skin on a protected area (with sunscreen) and on an unprotected area (without sunscreen). Then the time starts ticking. The time is stopped per area when redness of the skin is noted. For example, if your skin gets red after 10 min w/o sunscreen, and your skin gets red (on the other part) with sunscreen after 150 minutes, then you would divide 150/10 =15. So the SPF of that sunscreen would be 15. So you can see, SPF is not precisely analyzed. Since the methods are so diverse that companies use to determine the SPF, products with the same SPF do not provide equal levels of protections!

Also about SPF. SPF and amount of protection do not have a linear relationship. What I mean by this is, SPF of 30 does not provide twice as much protection as an SPF of 15. Instead, if you really want to know, as SPF increases, the increment of protection decreases. For example, SPF 15 specifies 93% block of UVB, while SPF 30 specifies 97%, and SPF 40 indicates 98%.

More about sunscreen...and the water/sweat resistance:

If a sunscreen advertises for water resistant, it means that it must retain its SPF for at least 40 minutes of water activity. If a sunscreen says it's very water resistant, it means that it has to retain its SPF for at least 80 minutes of water activity.

Why don't they tell us these things?!

*Infomation obtained from Pharmacology for Nursing Care, by Richard Leyne, 7th Edition

Recipe for Deliciousness

2010-02-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

To all <3

I had dinner with a friend (yeah, i can make them up here) after helping to paint her living room a beautiful green. Actually, its kinda like mum's house, just a bit lighter. Anyhow, she made the bestest salad (besides taco salad) that I have ever tasted (oh, you know, the glazed walnut strawberry one prolly compares too...). So here's the recipe so you and I don't forget!

1 giant bowl

fresh spinach

1 can of corn

1 cucumber

1 container of roma tomatoes

1 container of chopped mushrooms

1 pkg of fresh ref. chicken tenderloins

a lil of honey, and a lil of bbq sauce

1...as much ranch as wanted/needed
if you wanna make it even more delicious, add avocado!

Cut the chicken and cook them...or you can cook and then cut them. Whatever works for you. Anyhow, when you cook them, put a lil honey on each one and in the pan and then let it sit for a few and then put a lil bbq sauce on top until they are thoroughly cooked. Take out the chicken (and cut it up in medium small pieces if you haven't already). Oh, I like the chicken in medium pieces cause I like chicken. >.>

So then throw in the chicken, a cut up cucumber, all the mushrooms and tomatoes, heat up the corn in the microwave and throw it into the spinach greens too. Then add ranch and stir (but not too vigorously). Eat and enjoy!

Btw, one giant salad serves me....twice.

January 26, 2010

2010-01-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well, its a big yay today! I passed my first exam (in Fundamentals of Nursing) and second test out on vital signs. This included counting respirations, pulse, taking a temperature, taking an accurate blood pressure, and knowing where/how to take a temperature/blood pressure/pulse in the case that there are other medical things going on with the person. This can include but is not limited to: surgery on the arms, catheters coming out of all kinds of places, unconscious people...you know, the normal stuff you see in hospitals! Oh....and one really important thing....don't ever ever ever let go of the RED thermometer cause you might not be able to get it back! (red = rectal)

So I know I have been lagging, and I apologize, things have been so "heckit" here (I am not even sure that's a real word). Tomorrow I have another exam and another quiz. The first quiz was on APA formatting....since apparently if you're a nurse and want to publish something exotic like say an article, you better darn know how to APA format your paper. Exam is in pharmacology (that's the hard one) and quiz is in Health Assessment. On Thursday, we are instructed to wear "loose-fitting" clothing since we are going to get a lot of practice bathing and putting each other on bed pans. I guess I am just thankful I do not have to be naked and put anyone into neurogenic shock. This Friday, we are all trotting down to Champaign/Urbana (where I live) to learn about the computer programs at Carle Hospital....that's where my clinical is. I will have to be sure to post pictures of that place. Oh and by the way, Champaign and Urbana are basically the same city. They should have the same name. They are just abutt to each other and you really can't differentiate when you are driving through except for the nice signs they post on the freeway >.>

So about that one day it really snow stormed...I have to clarify some misleading things I said before. I remember saying something about watching out for California/out of state drivers. Ahem. ahem. Actually, it's the wonderful in state drivers you have to be careful of because they are the ones who are so used to the weather that they think they can handle it. By the way, there is no way of "handling" black ice. So as I drove to go get my books two weeks ago and then drove to back to school in Danville to show proof of my TB testing, I counted 26 cars on the side of the road.

And as a few of my fellow Michigan friends put it, "They think they can go anywhere with their trucks and SUV's. It don't matter if they got four wheel drive, they are still gonna end up in the ditch!"

Anyhow, Illinois has this great economic way of dealing with cars that go floating across the road. They've built these fabulous ditches that can basically stop even a semi (yes, I saw a jack-knifed semi and a bus on the side of the road too!). They work perfectly to save the lives of people going the other direction, however, they are muy muy muy mal for your car (in english, very very very bad). All the cars I saw had huge indentations and had at least one broken windshield (front/back/sides) due to the impact and push back effect of the um friendly ground. Here's another great example:

Hmm, I probably should have zoomed a little on that one. But I wanted to respect their privacy (no license plate). So, onto bigger and better things!

My next area of fun filled pictures for you guys includes pictures of Edward. I went to Petsmart and bought these severely overpriced booties for him because his little legs were shivering when the temp roughly hit 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The following are the "please take these off before I shoot you in your sleep" photos.

And yes, he does walk like a duck in them. I wish John and Judy could see, oh man it is soo funny. I should have posted the video on youtube.

And yeah, they are extra large because his paws are GiGantique!

Here, he is begging for me to remove them. It's ok, Edward!

Ah yes, the tree for next year. I'm plotting already to drag it home to San Diego.

LOOK TOBY! IT'S THE GRISWORLD FAMILY CHRISTMAS TREE!

Welllll, I miss all you guys very very much. I meant to call Kristi and tell her that if she ever wants to take those black and white old barn/building photos, there are some great places out here to do that! Ooo, and I am gonna have to go visit the real Amish town they have out here. Perhaps I'll drag mum out for a day trip...

The countdown to graduation is now 470 days.

Second Week

2010-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the third week of class. For this week, you have two quizzes, two exams and a test out by Thursday. Good luck! >.>

I feel sort of behind. All this reading and not enough time to do it in. Ok, let me rephrase...17 books of reading and I do not have the quick reading/absorption skills to learn all of it that quick. I guess I have to find out what is really important. Note to self: always read for pharmacology, read ATI books for Fundamentals, read chapters for Health Assessment so you don't end up like last semester's class (half of them failed), skim over Medical Terminology and Foundations, practice test outs, practice test outs, practice test outs and drug cards, and don't forget to research for your Theories and Issues in Nursing class, and be sure to practice 35 NCLEX problems a week! There, hopefully I clarified for myself. I will try to write more about happy stuff tomorrow =)

First Week Memoirs

2010-01-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

I just kept thinking this week, and it took me forever to get started, “This is my last free weekend before all hell breaks lose. I won’t have any more free time….is this okay with me?” And I spent hours…no wait, it was days, contemplating this and the many questions surrounding it. The fact is, many of us spend too much time thinking, and not enough time doing. Life is about doing. You have to do to accomplish. You can think on the matter later. I mean, to some extent thought is good. You want your doctor or nurse to think before they assign you some lab test. But the fact is, it is their thinking that has become automated, like a machine, because of so much practice from studies and from clinicals. This type of thinking is ok. It has become an instinct, an instantaneous thought based on research and experience. I have yet to think of a better way to classify it. The type of thoughts that inhibit actions, the ones that can take up more than a few minutes, or hours…now those are the ones that we have to be careful of. Those are the ones that inhibit our ability to accomplish. Anyhow, my thought process came to a conclusion when I realized it is time to work. I concluded that life is all about the Plan B. Watch out, those mice are working hard!

There is no calendar big enough to write out all the stuff I have to do and where I have to be every day, so I decided to make two. I finally posted all my important events on a large calendar from Staples to hang up on the wall…so I will not forget where I have to be every day. I then put all my homework, projects, essays, tests, and quizzes on my little weekly planner that my mum gave me. Aw, to be organized! At least, for this profession, it’s mandated! For those of you whom I have not talked to, it adds up to roughly 19 chapters a week, at least one quiz, one test, one project, and one essay a week….but sometimes there are 2 tests a week. I can tell you right now, those are the weeks I am going to be pulling my hair out. It was wonderful to come into my Pharmacology/Pathophysiology class and hear the teacher say, “You will not get an A in this class…It is simply too hard.” Well, what a way to start off the semester! Especially when you need to get a B in the courses to pass….and a B is a 85-92, and an A is a 93+. This applies to all classes across the board. The school has a standard for their grades, like any other school, perhaps. I mean, it makes good sense, you wouldn’t want your nurse to only sort of know how to put in a foley catheter >.>

This week I get to have a skills checkout for putting on sterile stuff (gloves, mask, booties, hair net, apron). This means you are tested on doing a certain skill. These are the things that worry me because although they are very important, if the instructor thinks you have compromised the sterile environment, you fail! And you only get one more chance to pass, otherwise you fail the course. Yikes!

And by the way, it also has been very hard to post because my internet is very crappy this weekend, so I will have to show you guys some pictures later. Sorry about that.

Well, it has been a long thoughtful weekend, soaking up all of the free time I have left…and technically it’s borrowed free time. I seem to have caught another lovely cold, so I am thankful for wanting to work in surgery, because that will keep me protected from catching everything and their mother.

Happy Birthday Jaimes!

The countdown to graduation is now 479 days.

Long Day

2010-01-11T19:20:00.001-08:00

It's been a very long first day of class. I will have to write about it tomorrow. The scary part is, I will be giving medication within four to five weeks. Can you guys trust me? I hope I do not disappoint.

Snow day!

2010-01-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Today was, really not exciting....but I'll enlighten you. Maybe....

It was snowing...really snowing, and so Edward and I tried to stay warm. We wrapped ourselves in blankets like burritos and sorry but Edward says I'm not allowed to show you those humiliating pictures of him. I looked out the window last night and got a few cool pictures.

So yeah...there's some snowflakes...

There's my car starting to get covered...and some more pretty snowflakes!

Look up at the light, you can kinda see how hard it is snowing!

Ok, I know, it's boring, but try to strain your eyeballs to see the snow!

So in the morning, my car looks like this, and I'm not so sure I can go anywhere. Plus, it's still snowing pretty decently. Actually, I really want to post this video of this weird noise I heard this morning. It sounded like yapping little dogs, you know, the kind you would like to punt from here to Timbuktu. However, when I went outside with Edward, there was tons of squawking geese flying around in the sky! It was very amusing. Um, wait, I was very amused....easily amused.....nevermind. I still have not figured out how to post videos yet, darn it. I may have to put them on youtube....but that's not my first preference.

Here's another incredibly interesting photo of my car. I'm trying to show you numbnutts what 4 inches of snow overnight looks like! And no, thats not a ghost driving my car, I think that's just a reflection of me taking ridiculously pedantic photos.

Edward was adorable today. He spent most of the time looking out the two windows I have watching the snow. Then he viewed the snow-plower guy come down the street and then the same guy use the snow-plow mower (if there is such a thing) on the sidewalks. Tonight I drove around a bit in the snow to get a feel for it. Apparently you are not allowed to drive with chains around here because it ruins the streets. The highways are decent, they plow and salt them often and so they remain pretty clear. What you have to be careful of is the exits! And all the other roads inbetween as they are not really plowed and are very very snowy. At least most people drive really safely and give you lots of space. I can say with a certain confidence that Illinois drivers are not tail-gaters. However...if you see a California driver here, run! I mean, drive away!

I still have yet to mend the roommate situation. I know I shouldn't be letting the "public" view this kind of info, but the night I moved into the apartment, I came upon a very uncomfortable situation. Let me just put it this way, she is a partier and I am not. Simply put. Basically now, I am trying to remedy that by moving into another available apartment in the complex, but the office was closed today due to the snow. Hopefully, I will be able to move by tomorrow because the smell here is almost unbearable.

Well, I love you guys, and I hope you are all doing well. Taking Edward for some walks today in the snow reminded me of some Yosemite trips and how peaceful everything seems when the weather outside seems brutal.

The countdown to graduation is now 485 days.

Orientation Day!

2010-01-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today was a rigorous day, filled with excitement and anxiety. Orientation started at 9:00am this morning so I decided it would be a good idea to get up at 6:30am. I took a lot of time getting ready, deciding how it was possible to look business casual in -3 degree weather, as it was this morning. I decided to wear the slacks, but definitely am not fond of cold feet, and so I went with the Vail black boots that mom swears are snow proof. Well, snow-proof or not, they are warm and that's all that matters today. I honestly do not have a lot of collared shirts, and come to find out, I have none with will fit over an undershirt. So I guess someday that will have to change. It's not that they are skin tight, because for those of you who know me, I don't like that skin tight stuff much. It's just that it makes my shoulders a little more broad than they should be....well anyhow, its hard to look professional (unprepared) with long underwear on. Or...maybe it's just hard to feel professional with long underwear on. I get these funny thoughts when I think about long underwear. Makes me think that I am on of the Whoosits or Whatsits from Dr. Seuss's books that wore colored long underwear that covered their cute hands and feet, and went right up to their necks.

Anyhow, I didn't realize how long it would take me to get my car running in the morning. The good thing was, as I have been saying, that it started. Always a relief. The unfortunate part was that I did not leave much time after straightening my hair and fighting with the long underwear to scrape ice off my car. It barely snowed last night. But the snowflakes that did come, fastened themselves heartily to my windshield. I figured they were secretly laughing at my foolheartedness for being so fascinated at their visible symmetry on the glass. And yes, I tried to take a picture, but no, my camera is not good enough to capture snowflakes. After ten minutes of scraping, and I have to thank my secret Santa (Rachel) from Jesse's family for that very basic necessity. It took roughly 45 minutes to get to school....not too shabby, and not a bad drive at all. However, I was in a rush because I looked down halfway through my drive and saw that I was sporting a dog fur coat on top of the nice black coat I had gotten for Christmas (thanks again mom!). I panicked and considered for a moment the mere shock that I might cause people for being in nice business attire with dog hair everywhere. That would probably not make a good first impression. I stopped at Circle K (yes! can you believe it, a circle K!) off the highway, but no luck. I thought quickly, grabbed my phone, and gps'd the neared grocery store, figuring they would have one. And, they did, yay me. I didn't manage to get alllllll the dog hair off because I was slightly short on time, but the coat looked less like something Cruella de Villa would wear, and that was good enough for me.

Orientation was .....long. I knew they were going to be throwing lots of information at us, but the day also just dragged on with important speakers. They were very kind and hospitable though. When we arrived, we got a free lakeview bookbag, and were with provided donuts and orange juice for breakfast, and papa john's pizza and lemonade for lunch. Their standards are really strict though. You cannot fail more than 2 skills tests, or you are dropped/failed from the course. You only have two chances to pass the ATI test that they give you at the end of each semester otherwise you have to retake the course it is affliated with. Passing equals= level 2 profieciency or better. Their are tests and papers and projects and quizzes every week. Only 1 or 2 weeks out of the semester (first and finals week) will there not be much to do. Basically, the school is really good at making sure you are keeping up with your studying. I expect this to be challenging. I also expect this to be fun. =)

The countdown to graduation is now 486 days.

Pictures on the Road

2010-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

Look how nice the bathroom is! (oh, these are the pics from Richfield hotel)

Holy crap, did you know those beds are $2000 a piece? (at least that's what the front desk lady said)

This is the view out of the window.

This is the little tree outside the window. Not much to see here, just thought it was kinda cute.

This was the sun rising in the morning.

More views...

Edward munching on my leftover breakfast bacon. Yummmm!

See look! The lobby is really nice too (and to think this is in the middle of nowhere)!

More snow and mountains!

Front of the hotel

Just getting on the road after Richfield...

More views...

Some pics of the detour to go find gas...

Wait...cowboys and cement trucks?! (or maybe those are tractors...)

Beautiful Colorado (I think)

Too bad I couldn't get any eagles in these...

Can you believe it? He wasn't even shivering!

Edward loves the snow....

View without people

He really burrowed his snow in the snow hehe!

Lot of snow in Colorado

This is for all you perverted people out there (especially Erin). Whoever created this had some kind of sick sense of humor cause they are all over Utah and Colorado!

Couldn't they think of anything better for a rest area?

Love the train addition

Snowing in Kansas

This is basically Kansas...minus the sign "2nd Friendliest Yarn Store in the Universe!" and the attraction for the world's largest prairie dog, six legged bull, and five legged cow. Sadly, I didn't get to stop and see those.

This is the scenery from the gas station where I got stuck in Kansas.

Guess this sign was self-explanatory.

Look Erin, a Carl's ....wait, what the heck!? Hardee's?! At least they still have cheeseburgers!

Missouri

The St. Louis arch!

Aannnnnnnnnd, the Mississippi River! (sorry it't not a good pic, there's no place to pull over)

Here's a pic of my school and more to follow!

That's the Samaritan Hospital in the background.

The sign...very interesting

The front of the school. Looks exactly like an old brick house!

Edward's on the trail now...for fat squirrels AND deer!

So many trails, so little time...

Look! An old building in the middle of the park!

Seriously, it's just a freakin' icicle but I get excited.

Factory in the middle of Danville

These "forests" are all over the place. Kinda spooky looking.

See? More creepy trees.

Edward doesn't want to be left while I go to breakfast!

Look Ted! It's right in front of our hotel in Danville!

Took few pictures just today 1/5/10. The town is pretty much like this on the outskirts.

The hotel I am staying in from a distance (Sleep Inn).

The view out the side door where I take Edward to go potty.

There's barren places surrounding the factories all over the place.

En Route Troubles

2010-01-05T09:10:00.000-08:00

I just want to start off by thanking everyone (family and friends) for their support in my adventure out here to get a higher education that will be useful and beneficial to help me attain an virtuous career.

Well it was an interesting start to getting to Danville, Illinois. Luckily, Jesse drove with me. It was peculiar how the scenery and culture changed so drastically after Kansas. Let me explain, the first few states went like this.....California-normal, Nevada-normal, Utah-normal, Colorado-normal, Kansas-mostly normal, Missouri/Illinois- what the heck happened here?!

The first hotel we stayed in was in Utah, in a small town called Richfield, which by the way, only has two exits. In the morning, Jesse tried to start the car while I checked us out. I came out to the car to find that it couldn't be started and made a funny clicking sound when it tried to turn over. SO...we did the only logical thing and called AAA, thank goodness for roadside assistance. I was really panicky and thought something was wrong with the alternator, but as it turned out, I was wrong. Apparently the car had been packed so full (thanks to me) that the back did not shut properly the night before when I had unloaded some stuff. Therefore, by the morning, the car was dead as a doornail. This incident was confusing because when I tried to start the car, the lights and radio still came on....that is why I thought it was the alternator, or perhaps the 15 degree weather outside. Well, thanks to AAA, we were back on the road in no time and our next exit was 30 miles away. We were slightly below half-tank so I mentioned that we should definitely stop for gas at the next Chevron. Well as it turned out, there was no Chevron at the next exit, and then a sign suddenly appeared that it was over 120 miles until another gas station was available. This is the part where I smack my head against the steering wheel repeatedly, reprimanding myself for thinking Chevron's were plentiful across the United States (or at least en route to IL). We took a detour on the next available exit to somewhere in order to search for a gas station (we were at 1/4 a tank by this time). We did find gas, but only after taking a backroad to no where which actually did end up somewhere. The first small town we came to had one gas station, but it was closed because it was New Years Day. So, we continued on. The next gas station that we came to was 14 miles from there and all the tanks said out of service. Fortunately, there was one gas station that was catty-corner to the other broken tank one that looked more like a market, but it was not closed for the holiday! After this, we headed back to the 70 East, noting that we had detoured over 50 miles total for a tank of gas...lesson learned.

The second hotel we stayed in was in the small town of Limon, Colorado. The next morning was awesome because the car started. Seriously, we were very excited about that. We saw two bald eagles flying alongside our car and a live coyote eating something beneath the snow on the side of the road. I have never seen a bald eagle in the wild, but come to think of it, I did think it peculiar that there was a sign a few miles back that said, "CAUTION, eagles on road." We hit Kansas in no time and when we stopped for gas the second time, the car did not start. Now let me tell you that we did know about having to get a new battery because the factory one was still in my car (from 2002), but we figured...er, I figured I could just get a new one once I reached Danville. What the heck was going on? NOW the battery decides to act up!? None of the lights had been left on from doors being ajar (I had made sure of that myself). So then I resorted to calling AAA for the second time, frustrated that I was going to waste my 3 roadside assistances in the first few days after the New Year. It had started snowing while we were waiting for the AAA guy to get there and the car temperature quickly dropped. While waiting, we swore to ourselves that we would stop at the next Walmart and get a battery no matter how vile Walmart seemed to us before. When the guy finally arrived (approximately 45 min later), Jesse and I had on all our heavy clothing, but all three of us (including Edward) were shivering. It was a lovely 6 degrees outside, and God only knows what the windchill was. We immediately looked up on our phones the closest Walmart and 60 miles later, we stopped and got a new battery that came with free installation (thanks Walmart!). I also grabbed some long underwear and shampoo, conditioner, and body wash because I wasn't about to go digging in my car for those things in the freezing weather. This just goes to show...you have to prep a small travel bag that you can remove easily from a fully packed car. That day, we almost made it completely through Kansas, but stopped in Topeka for the night.

We were very happy, again, that the car started in the morning and continued onto Missouri. I was surprised to see that in Missouri there were adult stores every other exit. What the deuce?! Anyhow, when we hit Illinois, we noticed two dead decapitated deer in the median at roughly 20 miles apart. I figured that you need to be really careful driving here at night via the 2 lane highways since deer crossings seem a lot more common here than in previous states.

Having left Las Vegas on December 31st at 6:30pm, we arrived at our destination in Danville, IL at a Sleep Inn at 4:30pm on January 3rd. For those of you that are unfamiliar...Danville is approximately 2 hours south of Chicago, and 1 hour and 40 minutes west of Indianapolis. Danville is an incredibly poor town with an unemployment rate of about 15%. After much investigation into the rentals available in Danville, I have safely decided to live in a gated community in a Urbana, a town about 45 minutes (30 miles) west of Danville.

The countdown to graduation with a bachelors of science in nursing is now 487 days.
(Thank you to http://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?m1=1&d1=5&y1=2010&m2=5&d2=11&y2=2011 for helping to calculate this information)