I am NOT the Person I Was a Year Ago

I have not blogged for a while partially because I have been busy finishing nurse school and because I have not had a lot to say in the past couple of months.

                Life is a little crazy  at the movement as I make the transition from student nurse to registered nurse. The fact of the matter is I am not the person I was when I started nursing school, I have grown and evolved and have become a better version of myself. I have no idea where I will be a year from now, however I do know that I am going to be exactly where I need to be according to what is right for me. I am currently preparing for the NCLEX exam while also researching and preparing for new graduate nursing programs. It is such an exciting yet overwhelming task that I am currently undertaking. I have no idea where life will take me in this next year however I know that with hard work, determination, and faith in the process will allow me to get wherever I need to be. In the past year I have become the best version of myself that I could be, I have made amazing lifelong friends who I absolutely love and adore, and I have accomplished more goals that I ever thought possible. I did not get these things by simply wishing for them but I had faith in myself and my abilities and worked extremely hard. Believe in yourself because you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Life is not always perfect, you will struggle and will have times where you think that you cannot go on however you must always have faith in yourself and with a combination of faith and hard work you can accomplish what you want to. Looking back I had a really hard time specifically in 2012 where I lost my faith and began to doubt myself. If I could only go back and tell the person that I was then that everything was going to work out beautifully. It is now my time to leap and land in the place that is best for me, although I do not know where that is at this point. What I do know is wherever I end up it is meant to be and through these experiences I will continue to grow and become and even better version of myself than I already am. Even if you are struggling and feeling as if you cannot accomplish anything don’t give up because you CAN accomplish what you set your mind to!

 

                                       The start of the nursing program in August 2013

                                              The pinning ceremony with my family!

 

Discovering Who I Was Meant to Be

As I prepare my mind, body and soul for the holiest day of the Jewish calendar I can’t help but look back on the year that has been and reflect on the year that is to come. There have been so many things that have occurred to me in the past year, some of them were amazing and life changing while others I would rather not talk about or even think about. At the beginning of the secular year I was searching for something and I had no idea what it was until one day I was driving by TBI. I had no idea what made me stop however I immediately pulled in the parking lot and sought information about membership. Growing up secularly I never experience the blessing of belonging to a temple and I had no idea how simply walking into the synagogue that one day would change my life forever. I was told before I join I should check out a couple services first, I agreed with that and since it happened to be a Friday I went to my first Shabbat service later that night. Nervous and not knowing what to expect I sat towards the back a bit isolated until a family walked in and invited me to sit with them towards the center of the sanctuary.

After this warm embrace the rabbi and cantor both came up to me and welcomed me to the sanctuary. The service went on and despite it being my first service ever I enjoyed every minute of it and that night I went home and signed the membership paperwork. I continued to go to services weekly and always looked forward to my day of rest and celebrating the Shabbat. As the weeks went by I gained so much more than just a place to call my temple, I gained an extended family, a place I could feel safe to be myself, and a relationship with G-d. A little while later, I was driving in my car one day listening to Holy Holy Holy and I started crying because of the beautiful relationship I now had with G-d. I had found this after not knowing I needed this living as a secular Jew.

Since that time I have continued to go to services every week, joined the sisterhood as well as a variety of other groups. As I prepare for the Day of Atonement I participated in Tashlich last week with my community. This is a ceremonial casting of our sins into a body of water, I found the experience beautiful and cathartic in a sense, the wind was blowing in my hair and I felt a sense of calm and peace come over me. Although I made mistakes in the past I knew that I could learn from those experiences and become all that I was created to be. There is no doubt I will still continue to make mistakes as the times go on however I know that I can only learn and grown from these mistakes. As I prepare for Yom Kippur I purify my body to then help purify my soul from the sins of this past year and create a new beginning for myself. I will fast for 24 hours Friday evening/ Saturday from both food and water, abstain from anointing perfumes or washing the physical body to help purify the soul among other things. I am looking forward to my experience and it will help me realize all that I can and need to be. This journey of mine has been life changing however I would not trade it for anything in the world. I went from a person looking for something in my life to having everything I could ever want spiritually. I am so thankful for this experience of mine and enjoy growing in my community with my family and friends      

Evolution

It is hard to imagine only one year ago I started nursing school, in that time I have grown so much both professionally and personally. As I complete the final semester of my pre-licensure curriculum I see the tremendous progress I have made in such a short amount of time. Things that I found incredibly hard to complete a year ago are very easy to do now and take very little time to complete. I know where I was a year ago so as a “senior pre-licensure” student I really enjoy helping the new students with any questions they have. I really enjoy passing on my own advice so the new students can be successful in the nursing program. 

As I prepare for boards early next year I can’t help but reflect how far I have come. This progress that I have made only came from a great deal of hard work, determination, and strength. My next goals are to pass boards, get hired at a hospital, and begin caring for patients as an RN. I know I can complete these tasks because I have the knowledge and skills due to the education and training I am receiving from my school. Through my “evolution” I went from someone with very little knowledge at the beginning of the program with a psych degree to an individual that helps to educate the new generation of nursing students.  

Through this journey I learned that you can accomplish all you set your mind to. I have been through countless tests where every answer is correct however I need to figure out which answer is THE best one. I have been through so many clinical hours. I remember in the first semester we started with an 8 hour clinical day which at the time I thought was difficult, now when I am working 12 hour shifts I hit the 8 hour mark and I have an incredible amount of energy and laugh that I used to be tired  at this point. I have done so much in the past year and truly am so grateful for the journey. I can only dream of what is to come in the future.

 If you have a dream stick to it because you WILL be able to accomplish it. The power of the mind is incredible and when we truly set our minds to something we can accomplish it. Don’t ever give up on your dream and ambitions.

Money Saving Post- The Humble Homeowner

Welcome to the last week of my Money Saving series! I hope you learned a lot in the past month on ways I as well as some of my fellow bloggers save money in our lives! This week Amanda from We & Serendipity is featured! I love learning about her daily adventures on her blog and all of the fun things she and her husband participate in! She has a great heart and is one of the sweetest girls I know! I hope you enjoy her money saving tips!  


Hello! My name is Amanda. I blog over at We&Serendipity.  Alia asked me to guest post about saving money, and I couldn’t help but to instantly write down a few small things I do that end up saving me money in the long run.

I compiled a list. I get asked a lot about our budget, and how we stay in the budget. The thing is…we don’t really have a set budget. Our lives are extremely busy and there isn’t really a “schedule.” My husband is also self-employed, so the paychecks are always different. We could have a $2,000 week or we could have a $400 week. It always depends.

First, I thought about the little things I do to save money on groceries and other purchases.
 

1.       Do it yourself. 

Do you know how many things are cheaper if you just do it yourself? For an example: I am currently signed up for a gym membership paying $22/month. Though I don’t have every machine at the gym, I have a lot of it. If I dropped $200 dollars, I could have enough to work out every muscle in my body. I could run outside and be set. In my opinion, you can teach yourself more than what personal trainers can. Another example? Car washes. If I didn’t have an obsession with the car wash and get intrigued by those awesome little scrub brushes here and there, I would wash my car myself. You must also consider convenience. With some things, it might be A LOT easier on our schedules to just purchase it. But may we not get lazy, people!

2.       Couponing & Price Matching. 

I will be the first to say that I hate couponing. It takes way too much time, people get WAY crazy (especially in the state of Utah), and sometimes, the product you’re wanting to purchase with a coupon won’t even be there. However, there are some fabulous apps out there that are extremely convenient and great for people with time-crunch schedules. The two below are particularly apps I adore.

• Checkout 51 (app): This is my fave. It is fairly new; therefore, there aren’t a TON of products on it. But I find myself buying at least one item on the list every time I am at the grocery store. It’s easy peasy! Download the app. Sign up. Take a photo of your receipt. Add the products you purchased. Get cash back! It’s so easy and great! I’ve even got my sister hooked on it.

• RetailMeNot (app): This app is a great one. One tip is to be sure to check the success rate. That will save you a lot of time. When you’re shopping online, most websites will have a place for a ‘promo code.’ If you search RetailmeNot for that particular stores promo codes, there will usually be one pop up. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased anything online without using at least one promo code. Whether it be free shipping, or 15% off, you will save some moolah.

 

3.       Remember my philosophy. 
“If you’re wanting to purchase something you want and not need, don’t buy it unless it’s on sale.”

Next, I thought about where I put the money I receive.

Mr. Schroeder’s (that’s my husband in case you didn’t know that) business gest paid on a weekly basis. At first, paying the business, then paying us, and everything in between was SUCH a thinking process. But once you get a process down that works for you, it is so convenient.
 

1.       Count up all of your bills for the month and then divide it by how many times you get your paycheck. 

As far as bills go, this is what we have been doing throughout our marriage. It has worked pretty well. Like I mentioned before, we get paid once a week. Let’s say that we get paid weekly. Then, we add up all of our bills. From our mortgage payment, to the average amount of utilities, to car payments, life insurance, everything! Then…divide that by 4. If you get paid twice a month, you would divide all of your bills by 2. Catching my drift? If our bills equaled to be $2,500, we would divide $2,500 by 4. That equals $625. Therefore, $625 out of every pay check should come out. This has worked WONDERS for us! Some weeks, we don’t really have much money left. Other weeks, we have a lot of money left and we can save more!

2.       Put the important things first. 

Some people say this is common sense, but I would disagree I have a friend who will shop shop shop. Then, the first thing she’ll do when she gets her paycheck is pay her credit card off. Mr. Schroeder and I will put the important things first. For an example, since we are self-employed, we have to set a certain amount of taxes aside. We also pay 10% of our earnings to our church. That being said, if we pay ourselves $1,000 on Week 1, we will set aside 25% of that to put in taxes, and 10% of it in tithing. This is the BEST way to save money, too! If you’re wanting to begin saving more money, set aside a certain percentage every time WITHOUT fail.

3.       Have more than 1 Savings Account.

This was a really great decision that Trevor and I recently made to have together. There are so many things we are saving for. Whether it be a vacation, a baby, a vehicle, or our future home, there is always something to save for. We opened 3 savings accounts. If something is a little lower on the priority list, and money is tight for the month, we might skip putting money in that particular account once or twice. The best thing you can do is set goals, set aside a percentage, and follow through.

I’m sorry for the novel; however, I hope that at least one of you can benefit from one of my techniques! Be sure to stop by We&Serendipity sometime! I always love new readers.

Pennies and Parenting

I am so excited for Lauren to be taking over the blog today! She is a phenomenal blogger and person. I actually encountered her older blog Kisses from the Mrs. and fell in love with her newlywed adventures. With the birth of her daughter, her blog evolved to become The Best of F Words and I fell in love with that as well. Lauren is amazing and has the power to really capture your attention while she is telling her story in her blog posts.  She is a great mother and both her daughter and husband are so lucky to have her in their lives! I will now turn the blog over to Lauren!


I feel blessed to say that when I was growing up I never really thought about money. If I wanted to go to a horseback riding camp for the summer or take violin lessons after school, I didn't worry about the financial implications. Granted, I'm sure there definitely were financial implications - I don't want it to seem like my family was abounding in excessive wealth. But my parents didn't let me in on any stress they may have felt as they provided a comfortable life for me.

I'm sure I'll never know what sacrifices they made to keep me oblivious in my younger years. And yet, as I got older, my mother and father gave me the opportunity to become more financially aware as certain finances become my own responsibility. So, by the time I graduated college, I was completely financially independent from my parents.

This was a huge blessing for me as I began my adult life! And then, when Chris and I were married, I realized this financial responsibility was a bigger blessing than I ever thought it was. We were able to have adult conversations about our finances and were comfortable in our situation as Chris was going through school, we bought a home, we moved across country, and the list goes on. 

But now that we are parents, I'm realizing just how much effort my parents really must have made to give me a comfortable upbringing in which I was oblivious to financial matters. Because, goodness, children are expensive. The birthing process alone cost us more than I ever imagined. And Chris and I pride ourselves on the fact that we aren't excessive in our purchasing of baby items but our basic necessities - car seat and stroller, diapers, day care - took and continue to take a huge toll on our finances. 

Thankfully, we've been able to use a few strategies to keep our heads above water while still providing all things that are needful for our child. First and foremost, we research and compare costs on just about everything under the sun. And truth be told, cheaper isn't always better - we look at costs versus longevity of the item, the quality of the product, and so forth - BUT sometimes it is. I have no problem saying that many of the things we have for our baby (especially clothing) is second hand. Then, we plan far in advance so we can prepare ourselves for any big expenses and adjust accordingly. After purchases are made, we keep track of our receipts and keep a spreadsheet with all of our expenses so we can see exactly where our money is going. 

All of this takes work, it takes effort. Sometimes it is stressful; usually, it is time consuming. But it is worth it. Why? Because I'm optimistic that if we hold true to those strategies Brielle will be able to grow up knowing that the world is her oyster without having the worry of being a financial burden. I want her to know that Chris and I will provide great opportunities and give freely and open doors for her and I don't want her to stress over just exactly how we do that. And then, when the time is right, we can introduce her to financial responsibility so she can do the same for her children. 

Matters of money shouldn't be on a child's mind. In order to make that happen, a parent's mind should definitely be focused on matters of money.

Do you have children? How do you plan to provide a comfortable life style for them? If you don't yet have kids, have you thought about how you will pay for their needs (and their wants!)? Do you think this tactic we have in place is a good one? I've heard some parents argue that children should work for everything they get so they are responsible and aren't spoiled; I can understand that perspective but I personally think kids only get to be kids for a few short sweet years, they have the rest of their lives to work! Am I silly to think that? I'd love to hear how you save money with kids or plan to save money when you have them!

With love,

http://thebestfwordsblog.blogspot.com/

Money Saving Strategies-Steering Clear of Pennilessness

Welcome back to my money saving August feature! Today Mercedes is sharing her wisdom on how she saves money in her life. I met her through the blogging community and immediately fell in love with her blog. She is such a sweet person and always gives great advice in her blogs and shares amazing life stories. I highly recommend her blog and would love to have a blogger meet up with her sometime in the future! I will now turn over my blog to Mercedes!

 

To this day it still surprises me but I have always been quite frugal. I remember saving my lunch money, allowance, birthday money, and eventually employment money. Here are a few of the ways I have gone about saving money:

1. When carrying cash I prefer to carry a larger bill (i.e. A twenty versus smaller bills) because spending a buck here or there in the short term doesn't seem as bad as spending a twenty right off the bat. 

2. Carrying cash can new helpful because you can physically see how much you are spending. When you use debit or credit cards you don't instantly see the decrease in your account until you look.

3. If you have credit cards use them sparingly and pay them off. Also set up the text or email alerts that tell you when you account has decreased to a certain amount. There are also text alerts for other account activity that can be very helpful.

4. “Can we go thrift shopping?” You may have heard Macklemore’s hit song “Thrift Shop” whether it is your style of music or not it has a great meaning about not spending outrageous amounts of money on merchandise simply because it's limited edition or name brand. Plus you can find amazing things at thrift stores, I found two Hale Bob dresses ($250 a piece) for $20. I've also found great housewares of great quality that were much cheaper than buying from a chain store.

5. Just like you can bargain shop for clothes and housewares you can go to farmers markets for great deals on food particularly produce. You can also go to a local butcher shop to get better quality meat for cheap while supporting your local economy.

7. If you have an income source work on taking a percentage of it every time you get paid to put into savings. Keep a budget sheet whether you create it in excel or use some kind of software because when you see where you spend your money it can really help change your attitude about saving money.

I am not perfect at saving money and have had countless slip ups but I have learned from those mistakes and these tips are just a few of them. You need to budget and find a balance among your finances if you want to save money.

 

XOXO- Mercedes

 

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Money Saving Strategies-The Single Girl- Making Ends Meet in Graduate School

Graduate nursing school is filled with many things including studying, going to clinical, and finding some “me” time to keep yourself sane. The underlying matter however is that in order to do things you need to have money to pay tuition, rent, groceries, bills, and all of the other essential items needed to successfully get through school. If your school is a private school like mine, money can really be tight. I have learned a whole lot in the past school year about a thing or two about saving money. I have coined myself the bargain queen because I can always find the best deals on stuff in the market I shop in and have applied this money saving strategies to other areas of my life not just in the market setting! If you're in graduate school then I hope these tips will help you manage your money and allow you to save a dime or two for your future…or your student loans!

1) Shop at farmers market type stores like Sprouts- Try to avoid supermarkets and specialty stores. If you shop at the large chain store you will actually pay more for less items. When I used to shop at big chain supermarkets I would spend a fortune for produce. At Sprouts I can get so many fruits and veggies for a really great price such as 3 sets of green onions for a dollar, a bag of carrots for 97 cents, and other great deals. They also have great deals all throughout the store and I generally get out of the store with a ton of foods for about $25-$50 and this food lasts me 2-4 weeks!  

 

2) Be aware of manager’s specials- Sprouts (again) is excellent about this. Every week I find manger’s specials on meats and fish. I absolutely love manager specials! This is truly the highlight of my market trip it is like an expedition and the specials are my treasure! I can get meat and fish that is close to the sell by date at a reduced price. Where I live salmon is expensive around $14 a pound but I can get it via the manager special for 2-3 dollars and even cheaper than that. This is also found with ground beef/turkey and all sorts of yummy items.

 

3) Save change- Many people think nothing about change however when you actually save change, it quickly builds up and you can use it in case of an emergency when you are low on cash. I make it a habit to save my change and dedicate it to my “student fund” kind of like a piggy bank for school. I set money aside and it is only to be used for school related manners.     

 

4) Try to limit shopping to essential items and pay with cash not a credit card- When I was   younger I loved going to the mall and shopping for clothes, after a year of graduate school when I do shop for clothes I really get uninterested after the first store. I already have so many clothes that shopping for them is pointless to me. I am at a point in my life where I only buy what I need even if it is just a new toothbrush. If you buy things you don’t need then you wasted money especially if you do not have the money to begin with! In order to really do this make a list before you go to any store and stick to it. The beauty of paying with cash is you cannot buy extra items you do not need or can afford.

 

5) Document Every Purchase you make in a month- This step may sound extreme however it really shows how much money you are spending and where it is going. This really allows you to see if you need to cut back on one area of your budget and if you can allocate funds to another area.

 I hope you are able to utilize these money saving tips that I use in your life. Every Saturday from today until the end of August I am going to feature wonderful bloggers that will share their tips on how they save money in their lives!

 

These lovely ladies include:

 

                                                    Amanda from We & Serendipity

 

Lauren from The Best of F Words

 

 

Mercedes from It’s a Harr Life

 

 

 

What do you do to save money feel free to comment below! I would love to hear your thoughts!

What Do You Think? What is the Purpose of Reviews?

As I am studying for my finals this week I have been getting some food cravings which always happens during finals. First I thought I wanted some Thai food but then I decided I wanted to get some Chinese food. In true finals fashion I am feeling lazy so I look what restaurants will deliver to me and I then I naturally go and look at the reviews about the restaurants. I didn’t end up ordering anything but instead I looked at reviews and was shocked about some of the things I read. Despite countless good reviews some places had some reviewers that were trashing the place and had nothing positive to say about the restaurant. I completely understand that sometimes people have bad experiences however from reading these reviews I get the impression that these individuals are not writing to inform others in a helpful manner, rather they are writing to trash the reputation of the restaurant and establishment and to seek some sort of revenge from their bad experience. I honestly do not understand this. Some reviews I saw mentioned that the food was not how the person liked it, or the sauce tasted different from how the person expected it. What people fail to realize is all restaurants do things differently and the cooks cannot read minds. Many people have expectations in their heads about how food should taste because of how they personally prepare it and when this differs from what the person was expected the food becomes disgusting and is wrong. The way you cook may be completely different from how the restaurant cooks however this difference should not define the restaurant and how someone else sees it.

 

The other day a friend came over and we cooked dinner together. We started with a fresh salad with green onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers. When I went to take a bite I noticed the cucumbers still had the skin on them, normally I take the skin off so I simply mentioned this to my friend and he acknowledged it and we finished eating the salads. Although this is a simple example this is easily something that can happen in a restaurant. I personally like to peel the skin of the cucumbers but my friend likes to keep it on. This is a totally personal choice however it is nothing to complain and trash a restaurant for. This got me thinking why people write bad reviews over trivial things. I read some reviews and I scratched my head because they no longer become reviews but really just complaint boards that do nothing to actually do with improving the restaurant and instead seem like the only purpose is to trash the place. Our world is so full of individuals that complain and go out of their way to hurt others which really baffles me, I wish we can build each other up as opposed to bringing each other down.  At the bottom of things everyone has a right to their own opinion however just  remember, the restaurant cooks do not go out of their way to provide a negative experience for their guests so why do reviewers go out of their ways to ruin the reputation of these establishments?

What do you think about this topic? I would love to hear any thought about this topic!             

Searching for Strength

I have not blogged as much as I have in the past, partly because I have been busy studying for my classes and because I have been running to and from clinical two days a week. Another reason is I have is I have been having writers block and I was not inspired to write anything. If I am not inspired by a topic then writing is not going to happen, and if I try to write the blog post will be subpar. This week has been strange, it has been full of ups and downs and honestly I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride full of inclines that drop immediately after I reach the top. The week has been extremely strange and some days have felt like a dream. Although there have been many lows and highs I am looking at the lows as a challenge.

Life is not always going to be easy and perhaps this week is a test of my faith. Yesterday was particularly tough, just like every Friday I went to Shabbat. During the service we have an opportunity to read the text or use the prayers of our own heart. I took this opportunity to thank G-d for all that I do have but also to ask for the strength to get through this strange time. Throughout this time and the whole service I felt a sense of peace that everything was going to be okay and ultimately I just needed to have faith.

I think the events of the world are getting to me as well, I just wish that everyone could get along, if we take away the social constructions of gender roles, differences in religions, and perceptions of ethnicities at the root of everything we are all human beings and we all deserve peace and love in the world. I wish world peace was possible and I pray that one day we can achieve it.

Through everything that has happened this week I still have faith that everything will work out and I just need to take this challenging time one day at a time and continuously think of all the blessings I do have in my life.     

Have you ever had a challenging time in your life? If so how did you overcome it?