Complete and total awesomeness!

Can I get a WOO HOO, AW YEAH, YEE HAW, WHAT UP, THAT'S RIGHT!?!?!
Life just keeps getting better and better. I found out yesterday that I got the apprenticeship that I was hoping to get over the summer. Actually, I was hoping for anything and this FAR exceeded my expectations! I have been looking at hospital internships and programs that I can do over the summer. Any nursing student who does this has quite the advantage in the real world once they come out (from under the rock that is school). I have been determined to find one, interview, and get it! But all the ones I found are in different states :( I really wanted to go back HOME for the summer and be with my Sissy, family and friends. I started at the closest hospitals and then moved farther and farther away from my house, still no luck. Most of the internships were for science, microbiology, or cardiac based. I would take a cardiac if I had to but it is not my favorite. You learn to read ECG, Eco's, and a few other things that I can do by myself during study time. Maybe I just have a bad taste in my mouth for cardio because of the ego inflated x-ray tech's I have worked with who seem to ALWAYS get offended at everything! Seriously? grow some confidence and don't be such a pain in the butt to work with.
Anyway, back to the awesomeness! Here I am looking for anything when it dawns on me, Why have I not been looking for a job that I actually want to do? A job that I am totally passionate about? Duh Julie! Midwifery. That's when the pieces started falling together. I started interviewing with a midwife from the valley over the phone, and she offered me a few different options. Then I investigated learning from her and finding out what would benefit me the most for the three months I would be there. Long story short...
I am going to be A MIDWIFE APPRENTICE over the summer!!!!! And during this time I will be taking classes with a Doula so that I will be able to be a CERTIFIED DOULA by the summers end! This is exactly what I have dreamed of! I am going to have another stepping stone to add towards my dream. This will also open up the avenue of working through school and hopefully taking clients. This is going to be the best summer! I am going to learn so much and I can't wait! Darn it's only February!!! Well I will just keep on learning all that I can until then. We put in IV's today, so fun :) I really like IV's but they still scare me. They scare me only because the IV's that I have done have been extremely easy, and that's not always how it is in the real world. People can be in bad shape and their veins can be next to impossible. I pray that this will be a skill that I am the absolute best at. I need to be! I will be putting IV's into fragile infants, and I WILL be the best, no matter what it takes. I want mothers and babies to feel that they receive undoubtedly the best care possible from Julie Ann.
I am so happy and my life is So blessed. I hope that I am thankful enough for all that heavenly father has done for me.
Mesa, Midwifery, loved ones,
I am coming home:)

I am ready for it to be Summer

Well i have been ready for it to be summer since the first chill back in October. I have discovered that I really don't care for the cold. I am a Mesa girl through and through now. I miss my warm home. I am loving nursing school and am tollerating Cottonwood:) Once I made up my mind to like it here I have really started to see the good in it. I like...

-that everyone waves at you as you pass by in your car,

-people make eye contact and say Hello,

-I have a favorite sanwich guy and he knows my order,

-I actually know my neighbors,

-It costs 5 buck for the local theater,

-I get fresh eggs everyday from my ten pet chickens. I have 2 favorite chickens named Phoenix (she is dark red and absolutely beautiful!) and Spitfire (she chases me around and is the fastest, meanest, funnest, chicken we have)

This is Phoenix
And this is Spitfire

Those are just a few things about Cottonwood that have grown on me:)

I have not had much time to blog because I have not had much time to do anything but go to the hospital, study, sleep, and eat. Sleeping is optional at this point. I never thought that I could go without my sleep but I am doing it. It's only because this whole experience is so Worth it! I was able to be in the Operating Room this last Tuesday and I loved it. I got there at 6:30 am and literally did not sit down for ELEVEN hours! Not kidding! I thought my knee caps were going to fall off. Usually students get to see two or three surgeries at the most because it it so long to stand. I saw FIVE! Aw it was so freaking awesome! I observed a hysterectomy, a lower anterior colon resection, a cholecystectomy, exploratory laparotomy, and a hip nodule excision. I was so high after surgery that it made me want to go to Medical school....Mmmm

Medical school would be sweet but I don't think that it is what I really want for my Career. Being a MD would restrict my patient relationship in a way that I am not willing to accept. The Doctorate of Nurse practitioner would be a MUCH better fit for me:)

I have dreams of working through a Midwifery clinic and having all the skills required to bring as many wonderful babies as I can safely into this world.

My heart overflows with Joy when I think about children and babies. The miracle of birth is something that I cherish with my whole soul and I look forward to the day when I can begin delivering babies for others and hopefully (far in the future) delivering my own:)