A Message....

A couple days ago I went out to lunch with my preceptor. It was there that I received my message from God via fortune cookie.......

"Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you."
(I tried to take a picture of my fortune but it would not show up on camera)

Three months from the day I received my message I will:

1. Learn that graduate school is not for everyone.... (that I was not meant to write prescriptions for Amoxicillin on a daily basis, but at least I will be free from doing homework on a nightly basis :) )

or

2. I will graduate with my degree as an Advanced Practice Nurse!!!

I hope for the sake of the bank (who we borrowed student loans from) and my husband's sanity that the latter rather than the former is true! 3 months and counting.......

The Tradition Continues...

The Stangeland family has a long history of running Cross-Country. It all started with my grandfather who started the Cross-Country program in Ponca City and coached many successful teams. It continued with my dad and uncle running in high school, and my dad running in college. So it should have been no surprise to me that when I failed to master softball (only hit the ball once), soccer (never even kicked the ball), volleyball (I ducked anytime the ball came in my direction), and well basketball (I didn't even bother trying)... that my dad strongly suggested that I try Cross-Country. My thought 'this shouldn't be too bad, there is not a ball, and really how hard can running be'. I quickly learned that cross-country is a very difficult and challenging sport and I loved it! So once again there was a Stangeland runner on the Ponca City Cross-country team.... soon my sister Melissa was running, and my cousin Laura, then my brother Bryan....

Dad and I at the Tulsa Run in 1997

We were very excited when my cousins Brianne and Michael decided to run Cross-Country this year, and enjoyed watching them race! The tradition continues on....

Grandad, Michael, and I
Brianne and I after her race...

The Best Cake Ever!

Although we have taken so many fun trips lately, the past two years have not been easy. Especially the past couple of semesters, with working, clinical rotations, and homework. Matt has been the absolute best. He has been such an awesome support to me from ironing my clothes, cleaning house, cooking dinner, running errands, quizzing me before tests and never once complaining! This time though he really went above and beyond..... the past week or so I have been craving cake. (No, I am not pregnant- I have always had strong and crazy cravings, just ask my past roommates). Well yesterday evening after getting home from clinicals (It had been a long week with work and clinicals for the past 6 days) and Matt surprised me with dinner and a chocolate cake that he had made just for me in our tiny gas lit oven!

California 2009

The last two and half weeks Matt, my mom, my grandpa, and I were in Palo Alto, CA for my clinical rotation at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. (The second week my sister and Dad joined us). I spent two weeks working with the pediatric pain team (which included a full time golden retriever- an official pain and palliative care dog). It was an incredible clinical experience, and of course we managed to have fun on the down times as well!

Lucille Packard Children's Hospital

One of our favorite things to do in the evening was to walk to the outdoor Stanford Mall.

Of course we would always visit See's Candies for our free sample! Yum!

Stanford campus at night.

One of the best things about the trip was getting to spend time with our good friends Lailah and Ryan! They took us on the best sightseeing tours! On one of our trips we stopped off at a Maze, which were lost in for a good 30 minutes!

The Beach at Half Moon Bay!

Playing in the Ocean!

Racing the waves....

The first weekend we were there, Matt, my mom, my grandpa, and I went to San Francisco for the afternoon to visit Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge!

We were having a great time eating seafood and walking the streets of San Francisco.... until we got back to our car..... We soon found out that someone liked our car so much that they decided to break in and steal Matt's backpack...

Of course that didn't stop of from having fun!

Having a picnic at the park...

Watching the Black Swan at the Stanford Theater!

During the day, while I was working hard at the hospital, my mom, Matt, and grandpa would head to the beach to look for sea glass.....

Matt and I talked about how fun it would be to live out here, but we decided that this is probably the only house we could afford...

Eating dinner at haunted restaurant on the coast of Half Moon Bay...

Playing in tide pools at the beach in Monterey......

The second time we went to San Francisco Lailah and Ryan took us.... We had a blast visiting Union Square, Golden Gate Park, and Haight Ashbury...

Although it got a little chilly....

Another evening spent at the Stanford Theater watching William Holden in Picnic and Sunset Boulevard.....

Our last weekend was spent at Monterey playing in the ocean....

Melissa, Mom, and I on Cannery Row

Watching the sunset...

It was an awesome trip and we are so thankful to have this experience!