Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the disappearance….again. Between school, moving into my new home and working I have had zero time to come here and write about my adventures and what has been going on in my life! We’re already almost finished with December and into the year 2023! It’s amazing and crazy to see how fast time flies sometimes. I hope everyone has been enjoying the festive holidays and keeping safe and being healthy. I just wanted to stop by and hopefully write more in the next upcoming weeks! Until next time (:
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Nursing School
Second Semester is kicking my butt
In April I started my second semester of nursing school and let me tell you, it’s kicking my butt. Having a 5 class course load, two part time jobs and doing my military duty is A LOT. Not to mention finding time to actually sleep, eat, workout and blog! While these classes take up most of my time, I know it will benefit me in the end. To keep track of all my assignments in my classes I use my planner religiously. So far it hasn’t failed me and I’m staying on top of all my assignments. In addition to nursing school I updated my blog a little bit. I decided to give it a makeover and make it look a little nicer and user friendly. June always seems to be a busy month for me, and it’s even busier now with school.
Do you have any summer plans? If so let me know in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by!
My tea always has the nicest and heartwarming quotes. 💚
“Your greatest strength is Love.”
– Yogi Tea
New things
Fresh February
New Adventures and New Learning Experiences
February was a month of learning and expanding my brain. Part of this month I went on my Navy annual training at Camp Pendletons Hospital. I’m rated as a general Corpsman (medic) which means I don’t have a specialty and I can float around where they need me. This time they needed me in the anesthesia department. Needless to say, I was a little nervous because I had no idea what they would want me to do. Not to mention I have basically zero experience in that department. Fast forward to day one of training and besides being nervous, I am ecstatic. I’ve never set foot in an operating room before! It was super clean, shiny, bright and had a level of organized collective chaos. I dove headfirst and learned everything I could as fast as I could since it was a little understaffed. I was allowed to prep patients in pre op for surgery, learned the restocking methods and was even able to watch a handful of the surgeries that were performed. The days flew by and when I wasn’t working at the hospital, I was out exploring sunny San Diego.
Exploring the tide pools and enjoying the ocean.
Tide pools at Shell Beach in La Jolla.
San Diego was a breathe of fresh air. I was able to explore and adventure around with one of my good friends that actually was training with me. She had some friends that knew cool food places to eat at and beaches to visit. I even managed to spend a few days hanging out with my brother. We tried to eat somewhere different everyday and to keep it local. Down in Encinitas we came across a delicious bakery and an amazing gelato shop.
This was delicious and the staff was so friendly! She gave us a loaf of bread for free! Add them to your list!
Go visit at night! Has amazing flavors of gelato. Fun, cozy atmosphere and only a few blocks from an ocean view.
Instead we found ourselves at dessert and snack shops than actual lunch or dinner places. It kind of kept the surprises of food on a working ”vacation.” I mean we had as much fresh seafood we possibly could have had, we had old school Italian food, amazing pizza and beer too. I also had to try ”the best coffee” that the San Diego area boasted. The coffee shops are called Better Buzz Coffee and they are scattered around SoCal. Since I’m a caffeine fiend, I of course had to stop in. I wanted to try their Horchata Iced Latte, but sadly they were sold out. I opted for their Mint Infused Iced Coffee instead and let me tell you…It was delicious! Not overly sweet, just the right amount of mint and the coffee was strong. It was great. If you ever find yourself in SoCal, give them a try. Here’s a glimpse at their MENU.
Such a fun atmosphere. Kick back and enjoy a nice coffee.
Now I think my favorite dessert place we found which ended up being on our second to last day was called Parlor Doughnuts. These are fancy home made big croissant/doughnut delicacies. I tried the Caramel Turtle and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shortcake. They were decadent, and not overly sweet. I wish I had more time to bring them back home with me from the trip.
This annual training with the Navy actually turned out to extremely insightful to my job and fun. I managed to learn a lot of new information that made me curious enough to do my own research. I was able to spend time with new friends and went exploring out and about in a newish city! The best part of all though I think was being able to try all the new delicious foods and spend time at the beach to really enjoy it. I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I enjoyed writing about it. 💚 Kat
“I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves.”
– Le Testament d’Orphée
That’s a Wrap
We’re a third of the way through the year 🌼
April is on its way out and were ready to bring in May. This year is definitely breezing by and, I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. While in some ways I do enjoy seeing the months pass, I also realize that the year is ending and I need to keep getting my life in order. May is the month to take care of your mental health and its Military Appreciation Month too. This year and last year has been an extreme rollercoaster of emotions that has in some way, affected all of us. We have fought through everything that has been thrown our way and we have to try to take care of ourselves. Mind, body and soul.
May is where I will be taking care of my mental well being. These past couple of months I have put it on the backburner. I am learning to find things that reignite my soul and mind. A few ideas are hiking, gardening and learning more about crystals, rocks and plants. I’m drawn to these things and when I learn about them it sends peace through my body. I am also being more diligent on what I eat and working out more with no excuses. Making it through April to May and actually keeping up to date on my Bullet Journal was an achievement. Around month 4, I always seem to give up and get into a rut, and stay in that rut. This time though, I was able to get out of the rut, with some help and stick to my goals.
How do feel so far through this year? Have you taken up any new hobbies or had any new ideas? Keep staying strong, being smart and being safe. If you have any new things you think I should try, leave them below in the comments. I would love to read them. 💚 Kat
“If you are losing your leisure, look out! — It may be you are losing your soul.”
― Virginia Woolf
March 31st 2021
“You never get tired unless you stop and take time for it.”
-Bob Hope
March 14th 2021
“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.”– Nicholas M. Butler
February 21st 2021
Sunday
Today was a day to relax and recoup after the last day of military drill. It wasn’t too bad of a drill, a lot of trainings and meetings, but nothing to bad. Afterwards I ran errands and started getting ready for the work week. Usually I’m working at my EMT job but that changes on drill days. It’s nice to have a little change of pace and enjoy my Sunday and get everything ready today instead. After drill and errands I did my plank, did a quick Yoga session, filled out my journal, ordered myself some food (which is a treat now) and sat down to watch WandaVision with Chris.
I hope everyone has a wonderful start of the week. Be safe, be happy and enjoy yourself!
💚
If you are looking for a nice quick energized boost.
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
– Etty Hittlesum
February 18th 2021
I have to remind myself that it’s ok to have bad days. Not every day will be good. What I have to work on though is, not dwelling in the bad day and having it follow me into the next days. What I find helpful in not letting it spill into the next day is writing and music. I’ll write in my journal whatever im feeling and then let it roll off my back. I try not to bottle up my feelings. Its not healthy and it can be pretty stressful sometimes. Just my random thought of today.
It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
– Dale Carnegie
Happy Saturday!
I hope everyone has had a great first week of February. My week started off how it usually does, work early in the morning. After work I normally would just relax and do a little bit here and there, but I have been changing that habit. After work I try to get a one mile walk in with Rex, which will benefit both me and him. Then after dinner and little odds and ends I can finally settle down into the new routine I’ve started for myself. I set my uniform and lunch up for the next day, get comfy in bed, turn on my calming music playlist talk with Chris and then start my journaling. After I journaled my thoughts of the day and my habit tracker I either play on my Switch or read my current book which is: American Gods. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks and so far I like the change. I hope that I can keep it up.
What my Saturday looked like today:
Started off with an early grocery shopping trip. The earlier the better. After that, I cleaned up the house, had my breakfast which was just a bowl of oatmeal. Took Rex for his walk and we were lucky to have enjoyed the nice weather. Made a nice cup of coffee and then sat down to take care of some work. Planned out homework that is due for next week, wrote a quick “quote of the day,” finished up some paperwork then sat back and started working more on my blog. Also couldn’t forget, that I had to fill up my vitamins for the next week. While working on my blog Chris thought it would be a good time to catch up on a few movies that I’ve been missing out on. We decided on Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain Marvel, then decided on a snack and more coffee. After watching the movies and writing my blog I will be doing a self care Saturday night with a nice face mask.
I hope everyone had a lovely week and a relaxing Saturday. Let’s try and do great things in the upcoming week. Here is to positivity, fun, relaxing and amazing thoughts. 💚 Kat
“You never know. You hope for the best and make do with what you get.”
– Nick Fury Avengers: Age of Ultron
Katie Writes 