Second week of those many weeks at school

     Finally my mind came back from the Southwest to piles of school stuff. WOOHOO!! Thanks to my peers at school who have been studying since school started. Man. Nursing school is definitely stressful, but the peer pressure is worse than that. I actually have gotten more pressure from my peers. Sometimes, pressure is good. It may help motivate us to go forward. But too much pressure will probably will take me to one of the psy sites for nursing students to observe and study.
     Anyway,I am still glad that I finally get my head down to the piles of schoolwork. I immediately fell behind since school started. Tons of readings are waiting for me. Wish I could read faster and remember at least half of them. It seems like a game. I am always catching up with all kinds of the assignments. It is not the best feeling I am telling ya...
     Putting away those readings, I really love nursing school. Yesterday I was at one of the psy site. It was 8 hours long but I did not want to leave by the dismissed time. I really enjoyed listening and talking to the patients there. Before I had this clinical, many students told me how scary people can be at the psy sites. I got scared, to be honest. HOWEVER! Patients at this site didn't scare me at all. Being a nurse should not judge anybody by appearance or by disease. Anyway, I really like what I am doing except school works. haha. Is there any way to become a nurse without taking all these classes? No way maybe. :P
     I have been back to study at different coffee shops since school started. It is a good feeling. My coffee needs gradually is becoming bigger and bigger. I don't actually think it helps me stay awake BECAUSE!!!!! I always fall asleep in classes...LAME! I really can't help it though. It is not because it is boring. It is useful and fun. But why I still fall asleep? Anybody want to open my brain to find out the reasons?
     Several people are telling me that I have too much social life compared to normal students. So probably I really need to isolate myself from the real world before I catch up with reading, which probably won't end till this semester..OR! Don't listen to them..hahaha..Maybe I should.
     Going back to hospital to pick up a patient and have a nice long night for prepaperwork.
     Blog written at Starbucks.

This is the time of the year...

     Summer is gone...School is here...
     Not sure why I had such a hard time to start this semester..probably because my summer was too good! OR...my heart, my mind, and my body are just not ready.  @.@
     Ready or not, this is second day of school. Yesterday, I had six hours lecture for two classes. Apparently, lectures are longer than last semester. So are the clinicals. I had psy clinical today. It was only orientation, for 6 hours. I didn't meet any patient yet. Somehow, meeting patient is my favorite part of school, even though I do not always know what I am doing. Well, that's why I am still a student. So don't freak out. I will be very professional one day.
     The good part of going back to school is seeing all the friends I made last semester. It is so good to see all of us made it through to the higher level class. Also, I already feel the stress from my peers. I am a good student, but a procrastinated one. Sometimes, I really really want to know why I feel sleepy in any class. I try to keep awake by pinching myself..(sounds like very torturing.) Usually it doesn't work. Any caffeine stuff doesn't work for me either..Man. am I human?
     Illinois has been nice weather also. Nice and cool. My dear friend Hannah helped me move all my junk into my little nest at school. It was so nice of her. She is always very sweet :) She is a few of my good friends in this country. I am really thankful for our friendship and everything. Her family is moving to another state soon. I will miss her tons.
     One thing for expecting in this year is fall season. That's my favorite season when all the trees are colorful, falling leaves everywhere, harvest time, and pumpkin festival. :)
      Life is so good.
     
   
   

Summer over

    

     There are so many things probably we do not like, but we have to face them, such as saying goodbye. Time to say goodbye to these lovely couple, this friendly town, and everything. 

     Today was my last time to walk around downtown. Actually this was my...third time wandering around downtown, maybe? On this trip, I mean.. 

     Was sick for a couple of days. Seriously? Got sick on the lovely trip?!?! That really sucks. Missed out so much. And also caused so much inconveniences. Jo took care of me very well during these days. It was very touching. All I can say is thank you, thank you, and thank you...

     Tomorrow I will go back to the heat first (Phoenix), then day after I will go back to the humidity (IL). Who will miss the humid weather? But I'd better keep going. 

     Going back to reality. Need to move back to the dorm. Need to buy some school errands. 

     Study hard. Play hard if it is possible. 

24

     SO! I successfully aged to 24, almost a quarter of a century. It was a blessed day by all my friends. I feel loved :)
     It was a wonderful morning at the courtyard. Breeze, sunlight, birds, and friends. Eric and Jo took me out for lunch. There's a place called Diane's where Jo wanted to take me to, but it was closed. BUT! I was not upset at all because there are tons of good restaurants in this town. So we went to the restaurant where we had new year's dinner last time. It is Curious Kumquat. It is a very neat restaurant. We sat outside and enjoyed the breeze. I met our waitress Shannon who I was impressed by last year at the Square Dance in downtown. She is a very delightful person. So I had beef and fish tacos. They were very tasty. AND! I had a chocolate cake with moose as dessert. The chef is specially good at chocolate dessert. Eric is going to supervise me of making moose someday while I am here. We will see how it turns out. Oh well, it can't be bad because I have a supervisor. :P
     After lunch, Jo and I went to grocery and had some girl's talks. :P And met a very cute and friendly local nursing student. People here are just friendly and nice. Wherever you go, you always have people to talk to. I wandered around the downtown in the afternoon. There's no reason to be shy here. Walked into a shop and spoke up. I enjoy knowing random people here. Plus, artists at the shops always have interesting stories. I bought a hat at the Old Post Office. Lots of people here walk around with hats on. Sunlights are very strong. In China, many people carry umbrella with them.
     We had a yummy steak, grilled fresh mushrooms, bak choy, fruits, and red wine for dinner. Have to say that Eric and Jo are great cooks! I enjoy every meal they make. So during the coming semester, I will bake the mushroom with cheese and some jalapeno. I've learned so much new stuff here. My goal of next semester is to make healthy food instead of eating fat food all the time. Need to keep myself energetic and healthy. So eating is very important part! Today I learned to drink something new. Sparkling water with strawberries, lemon, cucumber, and some vinegar. It is very easy and healthy. I need to cut down the number of soda I usually drink.
     Overall, it was a fabulous birthday. I enjoyed it. ^^

     Today we went to Deming Museum, Pony Hills for Indian carvings, and Hatch. The museum has many good and old stuff donated by people. They even have a medical room, which is interesting to see what the gears look like back to years ago. Have to say that the chile in Hatch is sooooooo good! Had green chile cheese burger. It filled me up for a whole day. :P
   

     Having such a great time here makes me not want to go back to school. Maybe because I am kind of nervous about new semester? I am actually missing studying at the coffee shops and on my routines, even though it sounds very boring. haha. 

     

while the days are off...

     While the days are off, I headed out to the southwest and now I am visiting Silver City, NM. People always ask, "what's there?"
--"my wonderful friends." This is always the answer. It is a nice place to visit, but my friends Eric and Jo make the place more wonderful.
     I was here last winter for a whole month. It was such a relaxing and lovely trip. It made me want to come back here while it is summer. And, the decision was right. Summer here is very very pretty. Silver City is about 6,000 feet so it is not too hot while Phoenix or Tucson is like being cooked. The sunlight is strong, but there is still nice breeze, which makes it enjoyable.

 No kidding, these pictures are all from my phone. The weather is absolutely perfect. The blue sky seriously takes my breath away. The clouds are purely white and always seem very close for us to catch! Can't help taking pictures again and again, even though there are tons of pictures in my phone are the quite similar. BUT!! it is never enough. The sunset is so gorgeous! It covers the land from the east to the west with its golden color. Seems like the land was painted to a shiny layer. 

     We went to the Cliff to have quite authentic Mexican food for brunch today. They were so good! I love those fresh beans, tamales, grilled chilly pepper, rice, and horchata. I didn't finish all my lunch probably because my stomach is being on and off during these traveling days. (had a long time of Chinese buffet, suddenly switched to American food, now Mexican food.) I like Mexican salsa. I think Mexican food is pretty healthy and yummy.

      Eric, Jo, and I had coffee at the porch today. It was a a very lovely morning for sure. Their house has been done so much. There are so many cute details in this house. I like the southwest style houses. This little town, it is filled with all kinds of pretty colors. There are many artists here. Jo is one right here. :) I got to see her studio this time. So awesome to see how the arts are formed. It is such a privilege to hear how an artist thinks and how the ideas come from. Two kinds of people in this world make me admire: artist and photographer. 

     When I was younger, I always loved to draw. I drew a lot until I went to middle school. I don't really think I was creative enough (I am still not.). I could copy something similar, but not from my own mind. Anyway, no more drawing after middle school. Probably I could pick that up after I retired from being a nurse. Who knows. :P I had a couple of dreams when I was younger, as far as I remember. I wanted to be a chef, a barber, an artist, a doctor, and this is it. Although my teacher encouraged us to be a scientist or whatever big...probably I knew I wasn't smart enough for that.. :P 

     Anyway, this is just a little bit about childhood. OFF the topic again..........as always. :P

     OK...back to Silver City.

     Silver City is a great place for artists and those who love arts. There are many galleries, unique architecture, AND! good foods! Love a lot of restaurants here. Lots of them have their own themes and characteristics. I love the coffee shops here. They are all different from each other, but one thing that they are in common is--they are all very cute!! I like starbucks, but I like local coffee shops waayyyy more. This town is really a great place to wander around. You can always go into a shop, or window shop, or just literally walk around and enjoy the architectures. 

     Today we also were home watched Grey's Anatomy. I guess I am addicted to it now. There are TV shows I like: Psych, Heartland, and now Grey's Anatomy. Heartland is a TV show about people and the horses, which makes me love horse now! 

     It is just sooooo good to see Jo and Eric here. They are always blessings in my life. Thankful to meet them in my life. Really.