Cruise to the Caribbean 2017

We went on a cruise to celebrate graduations/passing the NCLEX and just for fun!

And fun it was-we had the time of our lives!

First stop was to George Town in Grand Cayman. This was our first stop so we were a bit hesitant to go too far away from the boat but we did get to be tourists and eat some delicious fish and chips! Grand Cayman is a beautiful place!

The next day we went to Mahogany Bay in Roatan, Honduras. Such a beautiful place with amazing scenery. We got off the boat and got on a bus to travel to the location for our underwater scooter adventure! Get this-they do not have speed limits nor signs on their roads! You can get around the whole island in about an hour if you wanted so most people just walk to where they need to go so they don't really have a need for it. So it was crazy (and heart wrenching) to see cars zoom by or barely stop before cutting in front of the bus. Poor Nate got his hand squeezed a few times more than he would have wanted haha! We finally made it and got onto a small boat where we went out about 15 minutes till we made it to our destination. Our group was rather big so they split us up in two small groups which meant we got to snorkel while we waited! I had never done that before so it took some getting use to only being able to breathe through my mouth piece and not going down too far because I learned real quick how salt water tastes lol. But oh my goodness was the view worth all that salt taste. The gorgeous white sand, so many varieties of fish, and the clear blue water. My eyes could not believe it! Nate and I were in heaven!

Then after we got our turn to go and do the underwater scooters. So fun to be down below the surface and seeing the sea life up close! Also it was hilarious to see each other in those helmets! Super fun experience!

Off to Belize for our next adventure! Today we hopped on a bus and drove about and hour and a half to go cave tubing! We got grouped up and hiked up to the top and then we floated down-we had the best tour guide ever! We had some Mayan tacos for lunch-they were unbelizeable ;) Belize was such a fun time-you better Belize it ;)

Last port was Puerta Maya, Cozumel, Mexico. This day was definitely one of our favorites!

We got to tour the port a bit before we decided to go to one of the private beach/resort. So much fun, we got to snorkel again and this time the fish were so used to visitors that they swam right next to us!

We got to enjoy fajitas, nachos, and some virgin daquiris!

Soaking up the sun and swimming in the ocean is our favorite thing ever!

 This cruise was amazing! We had the time of our life and we can't wait to go back! Nate has a whole list of spots he wants to go and visit now ;) All our friends were right, cruises are amazing!

NCLEX

NCLEX

The 5 letter word all Nursing students dread to hear. It is the test we prep for that determines whether or not all our sweat and tears were worth it.

One would think since I took the NCLEX when I graduated from my LPN program that I would know how this process goes and be a bit more prepared for it. WRONG. It felt as if it had been 20 years since I registered for the NCLEX. I need to applaud the work of the BATC LPN program because they helped make this transition so easy the first time around. I may have leaned on them a bit too much back then because this time around I was so confused. Weber being a university has a different way of doing things such as posting final grades and getting your transcripts so that was an adventure. But we got it all figured out and I got my test scheduled-thankfully I was able to schedule it before our cruise because there was NO WAY I was going to be studying on a cruise ship haha!

So January 10th I drove down to Ogden and found the testing center (random room in some business building). But I actually arrived a bit early (maybe an hour or so haha). But it gave me time to calm myself down and say some prayers ;) I finally decided to go into the room to at least check in and found the room empty (which is completely opposite from my LPN exam). The lady at the front desk asked me if I would like to just go back and get started since I was early and they had an open spot so I said sure (wasn't going to learn anything new at this point haha). So I went back and prepared for the worst, the test itself was not as bad as I expected which was nice. I do believe having done this before did help here. I went in with the expectation of getting all the questions (265 or something of that sort) so that helped me stay focused. But boy was I shocked when the computer shut off! I still hate that. You go to click on the next question and BAM the screen goes blank and you think you broke the computer! First you panic you broke it and hope you don't have to start over. Then it sends you to the completion screen where you then begin to bargain with this screen for just a few more questions because you are sure it cut off because you failed and if you only had a few more questions you could prove you knew the information. Then comes the realization that it is over and you have to get up and get out. And if you are me, you try to get up quietly and then hit everything in the way. Oops. Well I went outside, felt like a zombie. Went to my car and called Kristie (nursing classmate/friend) and she goes "well that was fast, must have went well". I love Kristie for her optimism. Because I responded with "nah, they probably cut it off because they didn't want to deal with me and my wrong answers anymore haha". Thankfully I have Krisitie in my life. 

The next 48 hours were the longest of my life! Thankfully I kept busy with getting everything ready for our cruise but that didn't stop me from checking the Department of Licensing website every free second I had haha!

Thursday morning as I was getting Nate ready for work, I decided to check it even though I figured it still wouldn't be up this early to find this:

I about FREAKED....okay scratch that I FREAKED!!!!! Nate wasn't quite sure what was going on as I showed him my phone and he saw that photo. So I told him I passed-I am an RN now! He was super excited, gave me a big hug and said we'd celebrate when he got home. I then attempted to go back to sleep...haha that didn't work too well so then I texted and called people to share my excitement with them! I was so happy to finally have achieved my dream. It is crazy to believe that I did it, I am a registered nurse. :)

2016 Recap

Well here I go again. My attempt to blog about our adventures! First to give you a recap of our 2016. This year we had a lot happen between gaining a new nephew (Brady), turning 25, graduating nursing school and celebrating not only 7 years together but 3 years of marriage! I love this man of mine-he sure is my better half! Although this past year was challenging, it definitely taught us a lot and brought us closer together! There is no one else I would rather have by my side on this crazy journey!