WordLess Wednesdays-InkSpirations

Waaaaay Back In The Day...Seriously?!

New grads or old school RNs alike...Take a look back at the history of the nursing profession.
I found this list @ carenurse.com It demonstrates the "Day in the Life" of a Nurse day in 1887—before routine charting was even invented. Enjoy!!!

1887 Nursing Job Description:


In addition to caring for your 50 patients, each bedside nurse will follow these regulations:

1. Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient’s furniture and window sills.

 2. Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day’s business.

3. Light is important to observe the patient’s condition. Therefore, each day fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys and trim wicks.

4. The nurse's notes are important in aiding your physician’s work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.

5. Each nurse on day duty will report every day at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m., except on the Sabbath, on which day she will be off from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

6. Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.

7. Each nurse should lay aside from each payday a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years, so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month, you should set aside $15.

8. Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop or frequents dance halls will give the director of nurses good reason to suspect her worth, intentions and integrity.

9. The nurse who performs her labors [and] serves her patients and doctors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years will be given an increase by the hospital administration of five cents per day.

Baggage Fees

I am a person that is huge into metaphors and symbolism. They have always helped me in times of crisis. Over the last several years however this big part of how I heal myself has been stifled. But now I am heading back to the person I really am. So recently I was drawn back to the inspiration of  my safe place...metaphors. Allow me to explain...I jus recently ended a very serious long term relationship that was full of life changing situations and emotions. So for the first time in a very long time, I was jus looking to go out and have some fun. But as we all know, life usually has other plans for us. As they say "We plan and God laughs." It is even written in song, "If you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans." So, unlike what I had planned for myself, life brought me a new relationship a few months ago. It happened alot faster than I had ever planned...I guess I should have expected it though...All of the most memorable relationships in my life have fallen in my lap when I was NOT on the lookout for them. This time around I decided that I was going to try something new. I did something very uncharacteristic for me. I gave up control (which those of you that know me, know is the hardest thing EVER) and just went with it. I chose to let life just...well...happen. And it has been an AMAZING experience thus far. My new beau and I have a spectacular time together. He enriches my life in ways I never thought anyone could. He and I communicate on a deeper level than most other people I have ever met. One of our first conversations drifted to the fact that I was so fresh out of a long term relationship, and if my heart was ready and open to love again. We talk about the past alot because both he and I have been hurt and in turn have " Emotional Baggage." But I made a very personal choice after my last relationship came to an end. I made a conscious decision to not allow my past to dictate how my future would play out. I think I have done a pretty good job of treating this relationship as a brand new experience, and not bringing my "Emotional Baggage" with me.

And now for the metaphor...I have always been fond of the comparison of all the hurt and pain in your past and the scars it has left as "Emotional Baggage." It makes me think of airports and baggage claim.
I view each new relationship like a new and exciting flight to a brand new destination. Just like any new adventure you want to enjoy it to the fullest, sooo you buy new outfits, and luggage, and plan on seeing and doing things that you have never experienced etc. But unlike an exciting new trip, new relationships can be very scary and can cause us revert back to what is safe and comfortable for us. We in turn bring our "Emotional Baggage" into an otherwise awesome new venture. Doing this often ruins a budding new romance. And that is a very sad byproduct of allowing the scars and pain from the past to creep into your present and your future. It is very hard sometimes to not allow yourself to relive previous negative experiences and punish a new love for old wounds. I refer to this as "Baggage Fees." I don't think most people realize the cost of bringing "Emotional Baggage" with you as you live your life.

I myself am guilty of allowing "Emotional Baggage" at times to change my future and influence my choices. There are so many people that are on the merry go round, or "Baggage Claim Carousel", if you will, for the second third or fourth time. Why do we embark on a new adventure and go back to the baggage claim to retrieve our old luggage when we get scared?! Well, I refuse to be one of those people anymore in my life. New adventures deserve an open mind and a heart that is fully open to all the amazing possibilities. Though my heart has been broken before, and has visible scars, it is an awesomely resilient part of me. I have left my "Emotional Baggage" at the airport, and I'm plunging into my future without it...Someone else can claim it, cuz I'm done with it!!!

WordLess Wednesdays-The Boy:Hard At Work

Yup, It's OK...# 9

1. To think that Shamrock Shakes and Frozen Strawberry Lemonade from McDonald's are almost orgasmic.

2. To be slightly embarrassed to tell new people I meet how much reality TV I actually watch. And that I love all the drama on the shows!

3. To wonder why so many people think its cool to wear sunglasses at night. What's up wit that?!

4. To be obsessed with Instagram and Anything "As Seen On TV!"

5. To looooove booze, shoes, and tattoos!

6. To have a BFF that is under 20 years old!!! There is nothing more pure than the love of a child.

7. To eat Ice Cream for B-Fast. My G-Pa always said "Life is short...Eat dessert first!" I think that counts for B-Fast too!

8. To think Starbucks is a food group!

9. To enjoy tanning, but draw the line at people who look less tan and more like they were rolled in Doritos...

10. To forgive, but never forget.

Life Is Too Short To Be Anything But Happy

It seems as though since I turned 29  my life has done some dramatic changing!!! Change can be scary. I have always feared change and avoided the unknown at all costs. But all that changed for me  over the past few months. I wish I had an explanation for my sudden onset of clarity and contentment found in life. But whatever it was I am thankful for it, because it has allowed me to FINALLY take a good hard look at who I am, where I want to be in my life, and what's important to me. I have made some very tough, life changing, choices recently. But my new found inner peace has allowed me to become the person I have always wanted to be. It was easier and more empowering than I could ever have imagined it would be. Who would have thought there was such a bad ass chick underneath all the sarcasm and insecurity masked by a BIG personality?!

I saw this quote and immediately began to reflect on my life, the decisions & choices I have made, and the lessons I took away from all these experiences:

There was a time in my life that was full of anger and resentment. I lived only for myself...And without the slightest bit of concern for anyone else. I was hurting more than I care to remember. And because of that my life took a certain path and I hurt many people I care very deeply about. Nearly 10 years later, and with a recently acquired new outlook on life I feel all of the pain and hurt leaving my life, and spirit. I am rebuilding relationships that were strained in the process. I am lucky that sooo many people are understanding and love me enough to offer forgiveness for my selfish weaknesses.

But...I can honestly say that I am thankful for each and every experience I have had. I would not be the happy person that looks forward to the future without fear without ALL of the things I have been through.  It has taken an enormous amount of soul searching and evaluating the person I was to bring me to a point of inner peace. I have a bright outlook on life and cannot wait to see what the next 10 years has to offer me!!! Bring it on 30!

Choice, Chance, Change...

I found this image a few months ago as I was trolling Pinterest. I saved it thinking it just might be useful or speak to me in the future sometime. I didn't realize at the time how powerful these words would be. Back in September/October I wrote 2 very emotional and personal blogs. They touched on a subject that I never thought would be a part of my life...Domestic Violence. And here I am less than a year later still reeling from the emotional toll this whole experience has had on me. I must admit that I can't ask for any sympathy this time due to the fact that I made the same mistake that sooo many women in situations such as mine make. I allowed the man that had caused me so much pain in the past with his abuse, to talk his way back into my life and my heart. I know what everyone is thinking...Stupid right?! Yea, it turned out to be one of the worst decisions I have ever made in my life. I let him charm me into thinking that everything from the past was, well, the past, and that we were going to forge a new relationship and be partners this time. Oh boy was that wrong! Everything was AMAZING for a few months. He was everything I wanted in a significant other and I was thrilled! I actually fell head over heels in love with him all over again, and I truly believed that it was gonna be different this time. But then everything started to fall apart...just like it had every other time before that, Big surprise right?! He became worse than I even remembered.

So, of course I began to question my decision to give the relationship another shot. I hated myself for ever thinking that it could be different or that he was ever gonna change. And now I found myself back in a very bad situation. A situation that I swore I would never ever be again. But this time it was worse than last year because at least at that time, I was living with my parents, so I had a safe place to go home to. He and I were living together, and in essence I was more trapped than I had been before, and I was unhappier than I had ever been in my life. I couldn't even lean on my family because I had been hiding EVERYTHING from them for a very long time. I was suffering in silence. So, I woke up every day with one goal in mind...to find a way out of the mess I had created for my life. I knew I was the only one who could dig myself out of the hole I had created. He was not going to leave our apartment or my life peacefully. He made that very clear. And I was unsure if I had the strength to put up the amount of fight that it was gonna take to rid my life of all the poison I allowed him to bring in to it.

Like the image at the top of this post says, "You must make a CHOICE, to take a CHANCE, or your life will never CHANGE." So when the opportunity for me to finally make the right decision for once presented itself, I took a leap of faith...I ended the relationship. I found strength inside myself that I was unaware was even there. Now, I can happily say that it was, by far the best decision I have ever made. It was remarkably easy to walk away and not look back. It just goes to show you when you FINALLY reach your breaking point, ENOUGH Is Really ENOUGH!!! Now don't get me wrong, I still mull over the last 6 years. I think alot about the past. But doing this makes the future seem so bright for me. It took all of this to show me how strong I really am, exactly what I want and don't want in a relationship and a partner, and that the life I've always wanted is waiting for me! I can honestly say that I am thankful for all the experiences in my life. They have served to teach me lessons that would otherwise never be learned.

This experience has taught me sooo much about life, love and most importantly, about myself. I am now happier than I have been in a very long time. Since that fateful day, the last day I saw or talked to him I have begun mending the relationships that were fractured by my toxic relationship with the lying/deception that came from hiding my pain from the people who really care about me. I am a very lucky girl to have such an amazing and understanding support system. My family is unlike any other. And my friends are amazing. Everyone has forgiven my shortcomings and allowed me to be imperfect. It's amazing that we can pick right up where we left off! I am also forging new, healthy relationships with a renewed sense of who I am and what I want out of life. I guess I should be jaded, or harbor some sort of resentment or anger about the whole thing, but...I don't. I think my new outlook has allowed the healing to happen much faster than I ever thought it could. In the end, faith brought me the strength to see that I had a choice. I made a choice, took a chance and made a change, and my life will forever be changed for that reason.