Monday...

Still jet legged I did not sleep well, but I was awake to see an amazing sunrise and take a quiet walk on the beach. We spent most of that day swimming and later bummed around the near by town of Kailua and watched some kite surfers.

My Hawaii Ohana!

On Sunday afternoon my former coworkers from the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii came over for a cookout and catching up. It was so good to see them and felt like it had not been that long. Which is weird because one was still pregnant when I left and now as you can see has two children. Bernice (left) and Jill (right) are two of the greatest ladies I have ever worked with. There was a lot of laughing and goofing off in that office! Good times!

In case of tsunami: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

After being picked up at the airport on Saturday we went and grabbed a bite, drove by our old apartment complex then headed over the mountain to our cabin at Bellows. Halfway there I get a phone call from my friend/mission companion from the North Shore. She informed me that there was a tsunami warming in effect. Turns out there was a 7.7 earthquake in British Columbia and the waves were headed our way. It was not scheduled to hit until 10:30 pm so with 2 hours to spare we decided to get rations from our cabin (on the beach) first.  We past a ton of cars trying to fill up and get back home on our way there. Once at the gate we were told they were not letting anyone on! Mom told him that ALL of their stuff was in the cabin. They made a call and we got the clear to pack up some stuff and leave. We got the important stuff, as you can see, plus matches, etc, and a big knife to help us defend our loot in case things got crazy. Then we made our way for high ground and found a nice spot in a neighborhood right by Castle Hospital. It was a cool night so we opened all the doors and tried to relax while listening to tsunami warning sirens going on and off periodically. Mom and dad laid out a blanket on the ground until it started to rain. It was 2am Sunday morning when we got the clear from the Mayor to return. What a way to start a vacation!
Mom and dad chilln' on the lawn.

Aloha!

Arrived in Honolulu at 6:50pm Saturday and as I was walking through the open air airport I instantly felt that I was home. It's strange but it does not feel like I have been gone for over three years. Mom and dad were there to greet me and even brought me a kukui nut lei!

Professor Mangum

Glasses really do make you look smarter.

At the mall...

Nathan kept trying to push Bob off. It was pretty funny.

Status Update

Well, I have been a nurse now for seven months. Time has flown by so fast and even though I still have so much to learn, I feel I'm getting the hang of it. I love the hospital I am at, but I don't plan on staying here forever. As an Army Brat I have a constant supply of "ants in my pants."
Our schedules are in periods of six weeks. I keep going back and forth between night and day shift. Everyone on both shifts keep telling I'm crazy for going back to the "other" shift. But I like both for different reasons. Days I have more chances to do certain things like blood transfusions, starting Foley's and what not. On the other hand days are so busy with running around it is easy to get burned out. Night shift you have more time for patient education and you actually have time to sit down. But on the other hand it can get REALLY boring and there is more time for drama between co-workers. After six weeks of one shift I am so ready to go back to the other. And on that note, I have one more week of night shift before six weeks of days. Pretty excited! I miss the sun.

Graduation!

Mom, dad and me on the night I was pinned a nurse. Mom dropped my pin while dad tried to get me to pose for a picture in front of the entire room. Aww, memories! :)  Dec 16, 2011

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 at the Mangum's

Time to play some serious catch-up on the blog. I got to spend Memorial Day weekend at Rachael and Brad's house. Lots of good food and fun!

Mary Westhoff, RN

Yesterday, at 7:30 am, I entered the testing center in ABQ, NM. After finger prints, palm vein prints, a photo, turning my pockets inside out, patting myself down, taking my watch off, and locking all my stuff away...I started the NCLEX! I was freaked out the minute I got the first question. It was pretty hard. As I was taking it the test stopped and offered me a break. This made me realize that two hours had already past. Raised my hand and waited for the proctor to come a get me, walk me out, check my palm vein print again, and then I was able to go to the bathroom. I stretched in the hall, had a bite of my granola bar, few sips of water, had my pain vein read again, was escorted back to my computer, (which had a picture of me on the screen), put my ear plugs back in and continued on. On question 89 or 90, the test stopped and told me I was done. I started to freak. I had only been in there for 3 hours. The test could run 75 to well over 200 questions and last up to 6 hrs. I did not know what to make of it. After a panicked call to my mom, I decided to go to the temple. It was great and just what I needed.

The day before I had a job interview in Grants on the way to ABQ. I really wanted it and knew I had to pass the NCLEX to get it... or any job for that matter. This morning I was babysitting Nathan and got a call from them. They told me the job was mine pending I pass the NCLEX ("We mean WHEN you pass."). I knew then a lot was riding on my test results. Plus, I was not expecting to hear about the job till next week.

In New Mexico you have the option to pay $10 to find out your unofficial results two days after the exam. Then it could take weeks to post and be official. Then and only then can you legally work. Well, this afternoon I happened to look at my phone and saw I had an email from some person I did not know. I hesitantly opened it to read it was from a woman at the New Mexico State Board of Nursing office. "Congratulations you passed your nursing exam!" I could not believe it! "You have officially been issued a NM license. It can be verified on the NM Nursing Board website at http://www.bon.state.nm.us/ with in 48 hours." A friend and classmate tonight told me I was already on the website and here is the proof! I still can't believe it.
Thank you to my family for your love and support. Most of all thank you to my mom and dad! Thanks for believing in me even when I did not! Love you guys!
(and note that the license is a multi-state compact!)