Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!!!
This is what July 4th looked like for me this year. It was spent out at Camp Kanuga. It was a pretty fun gathering of campers and adults at the Kanuga Lake Dam.

First Date

While at Youth Week last week I was able to meet several awesome people. I have really enjoyed my time out at Kanuga Conferences and Youth Week was no different. I was able to stay at the conference center where Youth Week was being held so that I would be available any time that the coordinators needed me.
It was during the first night, after all medications had been given out, that I decided that I should go get my stuff out of my car before it got too late. I decided to be lazy about it and just cut downstairs and out the hall to my car. Once I exited the staircase I realized that I was on the boys only floor and was met with 5 counselors and such. I tired to play it cool and introduced myself as the nurse for Youth Week. They allowed me to go through on the account of that I had probably seen naked middle school boys before if I was a nurse. I went out and got my bags of stuff and decided that I could quickly make it back through the hall without much commotion. One of the guys then said to me, as I was walking down the hall, "Jannette I hope you won't be causing this much trouble all week." My response- if I was the biggest of their worries then they would have a pretty easy week.
The week progressed and that same guy, whose name I figured out to be Xen, would go and round up the kids from JYP and bring them my way for their breakfast and night time medications. He made my job so much easier. He would stay awhile and chat and then be on his way. It wasn't until Friday morning, the last day of Youth Week, that he finally came up to me and asked if I would like to go out to lunch with him some time. Of course I said yes and handed over my phone number.
Well today is when we got together for lunch. We met at TGI Fridays in Greensboro on my way back out to camp. I know that I can say for myself that I had a great time getting to know Xen a little bit more outside of Youth Week. We had great discussions on what we were doing, school, family, religion, Youth Week and so much more. After spending just about 2 hours at lunch we decided that we would like to do it again sometime. For the next date it might take a little bit more planning because of the fact that I'll be at camp for the next month but hopefully we'll be able to work something out.
For it being my first official date I would have to say it went well. I really enjoy spending time with him and he's so fun to be around. Here's to a possible 2nd date. 

Kumbayah

Kumbayah

Today I came home from my first sessions of camp. I will be returning in about a week. I remember being terrified about going out there. That I didn't know enough to help kids out there. What if there was an emergency? Could I handle it? What if I didn't know what to do? What if I didn't like the other nurse that I would be working with?

The first week I was at Camp Kanuga Saturday- Sunday. It was a good intro into what camp nursing was. Not too many things happened that needed at lot of attention. We did send one camper to the ER after his counselor stuck him with an epi-pen. He thought that he was stung by a bee but it turned out that he ate a peanut and he was allergic. So the camper, the camp director and I all headed up the area hospital. It was quite the experience. Other than that it was just a bunch of little things that kept Patti and I busy all week. The infirmary is pretty much new and it kept itself very cool without any a/c. It has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 office, 1 living area and a kitchenet.

Then it was off to Camp Bob, Monday- Friday. The room smelt like mold and it was not a very fun infirmary to be at. The kids that come to this camp are from low SES families. They don't have a lot and they are sponsored to come to camp so that they can have a camp experience. The kids are super nice most of the time and they really want to be there most of the time. I was able to have a day off this week. But unfortunately it was the same week that I got sick. Just a head summer cold but towards the end of the week I was miserable. Saturday was another day off for me due to one camp being over and the next one not starting until Sunday. Patti wanted to set me up with her soon-to-be son-in-law Brandon. I started texting him and we had some very good but very long conversations. It was fun to get to know him a little bit at a time. He plays baseball at Lander University- he's their pitcher.

Week #3 was spent at the conference center, Sunday- Friday. I was there to help take care of Junior Youth People (JYP) and Senior Youth People (SYP) for Youth Week. The best way to describe what it was like would be EFY meets Youth Conference. This was grades 6- recent high school graduates. It was a very fun group of kids. I wish that I had had the opportunity to spend more time with the kids doing their activities but I wasn't able to. This was the week that I was going back and forth between Youth Week and Camp Bob again. There was a counselor or something that always helped me round up the kids from JYP that needed their meds. He was also the same person that asked me what I was doing down on the boys floor the first night of the conference. It was fun getting to know him a little during the week. This morning he asked if I would like to go out to lunch with him one day. I told him that would be great and gave him my number. We'll see if he actually carries it out. Brandon has stopped texting me at this point so really I didn't see any harm in giving Xen my number.

As busy as I was and as much as I probably complained in the last 3 weeks I have really enjoyed myself. I have had to step up and be the nurse that I've always wanted to be. I've had to make my own decisions and carry out what I thought was best. It has been a great start to my nursing career.

The people at Youth Week kept telling me all week that I had been the best nurse they've had in years and that they wanted me back next year. I'll have to see if there is any way that I could possibly swing doing that. They even went so far as telling Bethany, my boss, that I had done good work and that they really appreciated everything that I did for them.

I was also able to go the Hendersonville Ward for church every Sunday. They have some very interesting people in that ward. Testimony meeting is not the meeting to go to on your first Sunday anywhere because it is a definite that the weirdest people will step up and bear their testimonies.

Here's to looking forward to the next couple of weeks of camp.

I'm excited to have a week off though. I need to catch up on sleep and get over this cold finally.

Blessings come in all forms

For anyone close to me knows that the past 6 months have been quite stressful. The beginning of the job search was fun- it was cool to look at all the possible places that I could end up. However, rejection after rejection the fun of job searching turned sour. After traveling to other states, coming up with more hospitals to apply to and talking to friends to see what hospitals they suggested I ended up applying to about 50 positions. From Idaho to Florida. From Texas to Connecticut.
A couple weeks ago I had a job interview at Duke in the PICU. However, it wasn't meant for me to get it. The job search continued.
Last week I was offered a position as an RN at a Christian summer camp in Hendersonville, NC. This position would give me a couple weeks of an income in June and July.
This past Monday I had my second interview. This time at UNC. This time it was meant to be. I got offered the job today.
I am so blessed with the opportunities that are coming my way. I will probably never get the chance to be a camp RN again after this summer. So I am so glad that I will be able to do this for this camp. It will be so much fun to hang out with the kids this summer. I am blessed again with a full-time job now as a RN at a children's hospital that I truly love.
What I am trying to say is that not only have I received the best blessing of now having a job that I have worked so hard in getting but I also have other blessings that come in the form of going to camp this summer.
I am looking forward to the many things that I will learn, the mistakes that will make me a better person and nurse and all the fun times that I will have both at camp and in the hospital!!!

I love to see the temple

I'll go inside one day.


Tonight I went to the Raleigh temple with my ward to do baptisms. It's sad that I can say what I'm about to say, but it's almost been 2 years since I last went to the temple. I had forgotten how good it feels in there. There is a sense of peace that you can only find in the temple and seeing everyone in just white is amazing. Guys in suits is my weakness, however, guys in temple clothing- close second. But I digress.
I think I was hoping to get some sort of personal revelation to guide me in what my next step should be in life. But all I got was a feeling of peace. I can't help but feel like it was the first of many stepping stones that I need to take to get back on the path that I should have been on for a long time but I have always found reasons to not go. I was busy with nursing school, I had clinicals, I had clinicals again, I had tons of homework, I had an exam to study for, I didn't want to go alone to a new temple.
This past Sunday I felt that it was time to overcome all that and I decided to just go with it. I'm glad I did.
How can I expect things to go right in my life if I'm not doing all the things that I should be doing? I can't and I shouldn't expect that. Hopefully with doing more of the right things in my life more blessings will come- possibly a job.
If only I could bottle up the feelings that are felt in the temple to feel them anytime I wanted.
I am so grateful for temples around the world and for being within 15 minutes of one again.

Are you there?

Speak, he is listening.

Sometimes, just sometimes I wish there was a room where I could go inside and have a two-way, face-to-face conversation with Heavenly Father, where I could hear His voice.
Today would be one of those times. I just wish that I could hear Him tell me that it was going to go be ok, that He is watching over me and that He is leading me on this path that I am on and that He knows best.

There have been a few times in life where I have felt stagnant. Where I feel like whatever I do isn't good enough or will do anything to help me.

This isn't supposed to sound negative at all, it's just me venting over what has happened in the last couple of days. I just want something good to come my way.

It's Been A Hard Days Night...

... and I have been working like a dog.

Working to find a job that is.
Today alone I applied to 11 job openings. Yes, you read that correctly. 11 jobs. Just today. These openings are everywhere across the US. Ohio, Philly, Florida, Texas, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Dallas, Indiana and New Haven. This is just a partial list. The list is longer if you include the places that I looked at but they didn't have any job openings.

This job searching thing is getting a bit overwhelming but I'm keeping my chin up.

**Update- thank goodness I spent all day filling out all these applications because I didn't get the job at Duke that I interviewed for.