Christmas with the Fallers

I have a lot of catching up to do... Or maybe I'll just pretend that I posted this on Christmas rather than over a month late.

I had to work the night before so played Santa at work, wrapping presents after the residents went to bed.

Got home, cleaned up, arranged presents, and went to bed because in a few short hours, I knew my kids were about to wake up.

Much to my surprise, I woke up before the kids. That. Never. Happens. I brought the kids into our room, and ran downstairs so I could record their faces when they came around the corner.

Christmas Eve, we had nothing under the tree. Not a single thing. Christmas morning, there was a nice array of presents under the tree and the kids were amazed when they saw everything.

Santa was the hero this Christmas.

......


Okay, in the end, Christmas was fantastic. Church was great and only an hour long (Hooray!) and then we were up to my brother's for dinner.

Aaand if I had actually posted this around Christmas-time it would have had a lot more details and pictures instead of me posting this on March 2 and just retroactively dating this to December 25 as if I were actually on top of things. Meh. Such is life, apparently.

I Really Have Some of the Cutest Kids Around

The other night, my mom took us out to celebrate after I had passed my program exit exam with flying colors. Well, naturally, the kids wanted to ride with my mom so we packed them up in my mom's Suzy and when Thomas put Aiden in the car, he told Aiden, "You be good for Grandma, okay?"

Well, we headed out - my mom back home with the kids while Thomas and I went to The Chocolate (amazing, by the way) for some dessert. Well, right as we were parting ways, we realized that we forgot someone with my mom so we flagged her down and pulled up next to her and we were talking to my mom, we see Aiden's little window roll down.

He then proceeds to poke his little head out, starts to wave his little finger and he looks right at me and says,

"Momma, you be good for Daddy, alright?!"

Kids crack me up. Especially now that Aiden is getting to the age that he knows how to act older.

Celia has also officially hit the age of being a little girl that loves to change her outfit.

17,483,903 times a day.

The Beginning of a New Chapter

Remember in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (new one with Johnny Depp) when Charlie came home with the chocolate bar and then found out that he received the last Golden Ticket? Remember Grandpa Joe's reaction?

He jumped out of bed, hopping like a maniac, yelling,

 "YIPPEE!!!!!"

Well, that was my initial reaction yesterday when I finally saw my score on my Nursing School Exit Exam. This test also gives you a "likelihood to pass the NCLEX" conversion score and apparently I have a 99% percent chance of passing my boards on the first try. BRING IT ON, BABY!!!

It has been a long awaited time in my life. The last 18 months have been beyond hard and my little family certainly has been put through the refiners fire and have come out on the other side better because of it. My family has been incredible throughout this. My husband has been patient, supportive and simply amazing. My kids have been way more understanding than I ever thought when I put on scrubs to leave - 6 days a week at least. They have been strong and stalwart and I couldn't begin to imagine what life would have been like if I didn't have them to be my buffer from the stress and emotions building up within me.

To the last 18 months of my life, I will forever appreciate the person I have become in the end

But good riddance!

There are a lot of things to which I am looking forward.

I'm ready to have the time of day to do all the steps of laundry - wash, dry, fold AND put away all in one day. That hasn't happened in 18 months at least. Generally, I have been getting dressed out of the dryer for a year and a half. At least they were clean!

I'm ready to be a nurse and I'm ready to pay off bills.

I'm ready to not worry day to day about all the incredible amounts of what if's that could arise for which I would be utterly unprepared.

I'm ready to love my job and feel a sense of accomplishment when I put on my scrubs because I am a freaking NURSE!

I'm ready to be an actual mom again in action and not just title.

I'm ready to go to church activities and not feel guilty about neglecting my family even more than I already do.

I'm ready to go out to lunch with friends just to catch up without the worry of what else I should be doing with this time, money, etc, etc, etc.

I'm ready to work for a company that is a well-oiled machine.


I'm ready to take my kids to the park and enjoy the time there without thinking about the homework I should be doing.


I'm ready decorate my house.


I'm ready to have regular date nights with my husband because we can.

I'm ready to move on.

Relief Society Teacher

The time has officially come: I have to teach Relief Society tomorrow. So what am I doing instead of polishing off my lesson? I'm blogging about how I should be polishing off my lesson, while actually avoiding said act. I'm a genius.

I was excited at first because I love to teach, and become more excited to find out I was just a substitute and generally won't have to worry about it on top of the rest of my crazy life, but now I'm just nervous.

It dawned on me that since I live in the same house as when I was young, some of the ladies I will be teaching remember me when I was a little girl and looked exactly like Celia. That's kind of crazy and nerve wracking.

Well, train of thought was lost. I guess we'll see how it goes. As for now, I need to go to bed.

As for putting the final touches on it? Meh, it can wait until tomorrow. Especially since church does start until 2:30 PM!!

29 Days and Counting

As of today, I have 29 days until I take my exit exams from school and pass on the first time (if I keep saying that, maybe it'll come true, right?) then become eligible to take the NCLEX.

On the one hand, I celebrate every little achievement that brings me closer to that date - last capstone, last pediatric clinical (and subsequently, last clinical hour of my nursing school experience), last paper to write, last test to take in a particular class (which, technically, I haven't taken... yet. I will in a few days), so on and so forth. It's surreal that it's so close to the end.

And then horror sets in.

With all these little achievements means I am that much closer to the deadline of knowing absolutely everything I need to know in order to pass my exit exams and, ultimately, my boards.

It means I only have 29 days to pick the brains of the teachers I respect in order to have a better understanding. It means I only have 29 days to get my butt into gear and not allow myself to become too overwhelmed. It means I only have 29 days to figure out what I am going to do after school. Ya know, little things like getting a job.

BUT! That also means only 29 days until I am a registered. freaking. nurse. Well, kind of. I need to take boards to get that official title of RN, but I'll be a graduate nurse in 29 days.

As much as my current stress level is making me want to quit school and work at Micky D's for the rest of my life because that's the easy road, I am really excited to be done. I can't imagine my life without school taking up so much time. I can't imagine being able to have the opportunity to be the mom I want to be without being stressed out of my mind due to all the incredible amounts of homework I have looming in front of me. I can't imagine having the choice to go to church activities without feeling guilty because doing so would be neglecting my family even more. I can't imagine being able to tell people that I am a nurse - that I hold a position in society that is well respected and NOT a low-wage job that most people have straight out of high school.

So I guess all in all, I'm ready for the next 29 days to go by. Heaven knows my family is ready.



Just make it a kind of slow 29 days.