Time flies

I don't really see why I even try and keep this blog updated anymore. Whenever I do go on to update it I look at the last time I posted something and think "oh that's been ages, not way will I ever manage to write about all the stuff that has happened since then" - so I simply don't. However I am going to give it a bash this time. My four weeks with the Diabetic Specialist Nurse Team is over and it's has been a fabulous 4 weeks. Even though I thought I did; I didn't know much about the diabetes before I started. I realize I probably still don't know all there is to know, but that is OK. I think I need to start accepting that I will never learn everything there is to know. Even though it's hard. My mentor was brilliant and kept on quizzing me. I have not have a mentor who has been that interested in teaching before. It made all the difference!
Today I had my first placement with the Urology outpatient department and it seems like I will once again have an amazing placement. I wonder if I will ever find an area of nursing I'll hate.
This weekend Connor has been up here in Stirling. It has been amazing being just the two of us with no deadlines, essays or exams ruining our time together. Over the weekend we finished watching Firefly, went up to the Wallace monument, went to the pub with Stephanie and slept and ate tons. It was a lazy and really nice weekend. I am really looking forward to Connor being on his summer holiday so I don't have to share his attention with Heriot Watt University.

In other news; on the 8th of May it is not only is it Connors 21st, it is also approximately 3 years since we started dating. So that calls for a wee holiday to Paris. Hotel and flights are all booked and now all I am waiting for is my current placement to finish to we can get going! It is going to be mine and Connor's first ever holiday together where it is just the two of us and this makes me even more excited. Last time I was in Paris was with my sister in 2010. She got me a holiday for my 18th and I cannot describe how amazing it was. I really hope I'll have an equally as awesome experience with Connor. Here are some (of the many) pictures from last time I went

We are staying at a hotel called Hotel 19 Lepic for four nights. It has good reviews and was fairly cheap. Not that the hotel matters much as I am assuming we'll spend most of our time exploring the city. The hotel is located in the center of old Montmartre, so the location is brilliant. If I'm not completely wrong me and my sister didn't stay very far away from Montmartre last time.

Ready for another placement

My bag is packed; my uniform is ironed; my alarm is set; my lunch is made. I am very excited to start my placement with The Diabetic Specialist Nurse Team tomorrow! Now it would be great if I could actually sleep. In my last blog post I wrote about my elective placement in semester 8. I might actually have found somewhere to go and I've just started applying. So fingers crossed I can scrape together the money to go. I'll share a bit more information about this later. Not much has happened since my last blog post. The most exciting thing that has happened is me buying myself a brand new bike. It might even be the most exciting thing to have happened in 2013 so far!
I better get back to trying to get some sleep before placement tomorrow, I might actually manage to fall asleep now =)

Anywhere in the world

Today I went by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Edinburgh to pick up my new passport. The Consulate is in Rutland Square and is TINY! I wound never have been able to find it if it was not for Google maps and the Norwegian flag hanging outside the door. It felt strange Speaking Norwegian with a stranger in the center of Edinburgh just like that. Today has been an absolutely beautiful day; so beautiful I actually bought a McFlurry, laid down in Princes gardens and soaked up the sun. I really feel like I need to make the best of the few sunny days we have here in Scotland. My mum has always said "you know you're getting old when you actually start looking like your passport photo"; however my passport photo ended up being a lot nicer looking than I expected. This made me incredible happy as I'm supposed to have this passport for 10 years (I'm not even going to show yous my previous one, ugh).

This week is pretty much a full on study week. We were in for half a day on Monday for a skill session and apart from that we're "off". Next Monday we have a group presentation and then the week after that we start placement. I am really looking forward to my placement. I was on the phone yesterday and they seem really nice! In the skill session we were to care for "Terry" who was supposed to be a 45 year old man that had had abdominal surgery 3 days ago. Terry is (as you can probably see) not a real person. I personally find it really awkward caring for a robot. I can't take it seriously and I forget to treat him as a real patient (probably because he's not..)

In semester 8 we have something called an elective placement. That means that we can choose where we want to go. This means pretty much anywhere in the world. I have been trying to get a placement at the A&E in Oslo, where my mum works, but they don't have the capacity to accept any more students than the ones they already have. So now I'm sitting here and thinking; I can go anywhere in the whole world! I'm not sure where I would go, or how I'd manage to arrange it, but I could if I wanted to go anywhere. To be honest, I will probably end up just doing the placement in Norway or in Scotland, but it's always nice to dream =)

Back to School.

So I went back to uni ages ago. There has been a lot to do and nothing interesting to write about; so I simply didn't write anything. I have been on a few nights out that has made my wallet hemorrhage money; I have also been shopping a bit with the same results on my financial status as my nights out. My sister and I had made plans for her to come over and visit me; that did not work out like planned and I decided to go home to Norway for a weekend instead. I passed my semester 4 essay resit and my semester 5 exam. It's safe to say that I am extremely happy about that! The last few days my wisdom teeth have been bugging me a lot. The only good thing about it is that now I actually booked an appointment with the dentist who I am going back to on the 26th of February, hopefully then they will be able to give some more info on what to do with these painful teeth of mine. So far semester 5 is going really well. I have a lot of work to do but I am feeling very optimistic. For my placement this semester I have a split one; something that means I'll spend 4 weeks with the Diabetic Specialist Nurse Team and 4 weeks with the Urology Out Patients. I am really excited about this. My weekend home in Norway was amazing. I didn't do much apart from hang out with my family, but there is truly no better way of spending my time <3

Adventures in Morocco

On Friday we got back from a week in Marrakesh and oh my it felt good to be home in Scotland again. I loved being home in Norway and I loved our holiday to Morocco, but there is nothing quite like coming back and getting ready to work again. Had my first day of semester 5 today and our lecturers did a great job scaring us half to death! We have tons to do and not all that much time to do it on. However this is going to be a great semester, I can just feel it in my bones.
Back to Morocco; I had a great time while being there and seeing a culture that is very different from ours (both British and Norwegian). I suddenly also realized why it takes a generation or two to adapt to our culture. I guess you can say it opened my eyes in a way. Marrakesh was more or less exactly what I had imagined it to be; some beautiful buildings and really cool markets but still had a lot of poverty all over. We spent most of our days in the Medina and saw most of the things worth seeing. I didn't know much about Morocco at all before I went and I really regret not spending more time researching the city before I got there. Jack had a bad reaction to some of the food and that made me reluctant to try anything new. I was going to try a camel tagine though, but they were currently sold out. Words can not describe my disappointment. It was an exciting city to be in, but a week was a bit long. A long weekend or 5 days would have been enough. We went to a square called Djemaa El-Fna where during the day there were snake charmers there who scared the crap out of me (I hate snakes) and people with monkeys in a chain for you to take a picture with. Before I went to Morocco I was told by the person who gave me my vaccines to NOT touch any of the cute (or not so cute) animals, as they tend to carry quite a few nasty bugs about. I kept this in the back of my mind and stayed clear of any monkeys. During the night there was a lot of interesting shows on. However, it just didn't feel safe. Some thing was just not quite right and when I guy was arrested tings got really uncomfortable and I was dead sure a riot was going to break out, so we stayed clear of that place after dark.

Also in the Medina there was the Souks. This was like a huge market. It was very magical the first time we went there, but we would never have found our way out of there is it wasn't for Connor's map on his phone. The place was huge. The sales men in there were very pushy and always tried to rip us off. Being a foreigner there pretty much meant that they would offer you things at British prices. Luckily my mum used to take me to flea markets as a kid and bargaining is my thing. Even when I ended up paying one tenth of their original price they seemed pretty satisfied when I left. I bought tons of earrings and a tagine plus some souvenirs for my family. They sold the strangest of things there and I really wish I had taken the time to buy a camel leather bag, just because that would be awesome.

Everything was in French (just like you'd expect from a previously french colony). Luckily Connor and Jack both did french in School and we could kinda make out what most things meant. It made ordering things in restaurants a bit harder though. We stayed in hotel Hotel Assounfou which was really nice. They say they have a pool, but was empty the whole time we were there and did not really seem worth going to. There was also only wifi in the reception area. It made my bragging on facebook quite limited. Everywhere we went there were orange trees and so much sun! I loved the holidays despite it's flaws. New experiences are always welcome and I am already looking forward to going somewhere else and explore the rest of the world!

Oh sweet Christmas

On the 16th of December Connor and I went to Norway. On the flight we met Heidrun who I've not seen since I moved home to Norway after my exchange year. It was great seeing her again. Our flight was 50 minutes late and Heidrun missed her train to Drammen and ended up spending the night at my house in Oslo. To add salt in the wound someone also took her luggage and it took ages before we actually got out and managed to get to bed at home. She left early in the morning to catch her flight to Tromsø. On the 17th Connor, Tobias and I went to see the Hobbit. We had a spare ticket so we phoned Sandra and forced her to join.

 

To be honest apart from one wine night with Sandra and one night out with some friends from High School it was mostly family parties and nights spent on the sofa. It was freezing outside so most of the time we tried to stay indoors. I'm not going to bore you all with long stories so I'll just add the pictures =D

I now see the point of updating my blog everyday. That would really help when it comes to the end of the holiday and I wont have to try and remember everything that has happened and then writing it all out.

Pre-Norway

I am back in Edinburgh after a lovely time at home in Norway. Connor and I went to Oslo on the 16th and spent a great few days there. Connor was introduced to my dads side of the family and has now officially met all my cousins and aunts and uncles on my dads side. There is a lot of tings to write about and not a lot of time doing it on! Tomorrow we're heading to Morocco and tonight I need to sleep. Well, I guess I better start where I last left yous; my last day of placement. After my last day I had a lot of things to get organized. Worst of those things was the packing. Trying to balance between winter clothes for Norway and summer clothes for Morocco and not dying because you have too heavy bags was very hard. I ended up thinking fuck it, I'll just suffer with heavy bags. and oh man did I suffer! It's strange how I just never learn. The day before we went to Norway Connor kidnapped me and took me to the German market in Edinburgh. After about a ton of hot chocolate and sweets we went home and finished packing (for me more like repacking, but oh well)

and then we went to Norway =D

Half way there

Today was my last day of semester 4's placement. I am now half way through my education. It feels very strange knowing in one and a half year I'll be a fully qualified nurse. My placement at Alva Medical center was great. I had so much fun with the staff and I feel like I have learned a lot. It's been great being there and I am really going to miss the staff and a lot of my patients as well. It's always sad leaving a placement, but it also feels really good knowing that another step is over with. Tomorrow I'm going up the university to get my vaccines for going to Morocco after Christmas, then I'm heading off to Edinburgh for a few days. On Sunday Connor and I will get our asses on a plane and go to Norway, where we'll stay over Christmas. I have so much to look forward to (apart from the -20 degrees at my parents house in Norway). Life is really good and filled with blessings at the moment

December loving

The worst thing about having a boyfriend is that I now have two families to buy Christmas presents for. I realized what this actually meant yesterday when I went out to do my seasonal shopping. It not only took twice the time, it also cost me twice as much. Luckily for me, a boyfriend also means twice the presents and twice the love and attention! 1st of December really sneaked up on me this year. Only reason why I even noticed was because of the Cleanliness Champions online deadline I had to do by 12pm on the 30th of November.
The Christmas lights are up in Stirling and yesterday the city looked really beautiful. I got up early to go shopping (like my mum taught me to do as a kid) to avoid the chaos that comes with thousands of people also wanting to shop. Two thumbs up for mum. I went to the thistle center at 10am and by the time I was done around 3pm the place was so packed it took me 10 minutes to leave. The only people left on my list that I've not got present for yet is Connor and mum. A non-christmas-present-present for mum of course. Today is wrapping day, and hopefully some inspiration on what to get for Connor and mum will fall into my lap as I am doing so.
I've also used up all my storage space for this blog so you'll have to settle for one picture for now.

Countdowns

It's a little bit funny how I always count down to something. Some of the countdowns are stressful like exams and others are great like hanging out with Connor or going home to Norway. I always imagine that the moment I reach that specific point in the future, I'll be completely chilled out. My most resent experience with this was the essay that was due on the 20th of November. The moment it was handed it I felt more like a deflated balloon and was ready to cry than chilled out and relieved. It is pretty ridiculous. I guess it has something to do with holding all the stress in for that long and than all of a sudden it's over. My countdowns at the moment is for the 16th of December, when Connor and I go home to Norway for Christmas. A very happy countdown indeed! My second countdown is also very exciting: Morocco the 28th of December. Only 32 days. Life is good. November is always a great month. My sister and my best friend's birthdays and all the Christmas decorations are coming up in all the shops. The Christmas lights have been put up in Stirling and it is truly beautiful. I'm excited to walk on Karl Johan (main street in Oslo) and see the lights there. That is one of the things that gives me a true Christmas feeling.
I took a few pictures of the decorations in Stirling, but none of them turned out all that nice so I'm talking this one of a website

Happy times

Life is truly good. Placement is educational and I am getting along well with the staff, my laptop is back in business and I have caught up on all my work for university (apart from the essay due on Tuesday). With 28 days before I go back home to Norway there is nothing in my life that can bring me down. Not even that 3000 word essay that is due on Tuesday. Last weekend I was in Edinburgh having a quiet weekend like I usually do. Connor fixed my screen like a true hero and now it's as good as new. That we went out for James' 20th and it was a great night out. It was mostly his friends from college and there was a huge age variety there. Connor and I left early when the group went to Tranent for a karaoke bar. We grabbed a Chinese and went home around 12.

The whole week I've been stressed out by the thought of my upcoming essay. Not that I have actually tried to do anything about it. To not gross everybody out I wont go into further details than that my essay will be about necrotic toes and diabetes. Connor came up to Stirling yesterday and we went to see the new James Bond movie Skyfall. I loved it. It had stepped away from the really serious James Bond that we saw in Quantum of Solace and more back to the old James Bond that gets a girl or two or three during the movie and jokes about a lot more. They did this without making the movie cheesy and making the fighting scenes horrible. The best thing about it was that when I left the cinema I wanted to go home and watch the old ones again. After our 007 adventure we went back to my flat and made Chiken curry. We ruined the rice but the rest was lovely. Connor took the last train back to Edinburgh and now I need to get this essay on a roll. Fingers crossed I don't fail! 

(Smashed computer; Connor fixing it; how it looks like now)

One born every minute

On Saturday morning I walked to the train after my last night shift on the labour ward. It has been quite an adventure and so far it's been the most exciting placement I've had. While I was on the maternity unit I got to see a lot of stuff. My favorite part was witnessing a birth. I have truly never seen something so wonderful before in my life. My dream has always been to become a midwife and after my first shift on the labour ward I was sure that was what I'd end up doing after finishing my nursing degree. However after 3 weeks I've realized that it's not the direction I want to take in life and I am very relieved. So far I've loved everything the university has taught me and all areas of care I've been sent to has had something about it I loved. All of those are still on my list of things I would like to specialize within. It's good to know that I can cross midwifery off the list. Don't get me wrong though, if I get the chance to, I'll definitely take another shift on the labour ward. While I was there I got to see 5 births. I cried at every one of them. It was very emotional and I am so happy I got the chance to see that. Words can't really describe what it is like to see a human being entering the world and being put to it's mothers chest. I could not be happier. It has been the most inspirational 3 weeks of my training so far. One thing I will not miss though, is the very early mornings and very late nights

On Monday I started my first shift at Alva Medical Centre. When I phoned up my mentor from my first placement picked up the phone and I was so relieved. It is always easier when you know someone there. Unfortunately I managed to smash my laptop screen (well, actually it was my phone that had superpowers and got jealous of all the attention my laptop has been getting lately and decided to "get rid of it" by flying at the speed of light into the screen and by doing so becoming my only source of entertainment), so I had to go down to Edinburgh and pick up my old laptop, Mr. Craptop, and leave my new one there. Luckily for me I am going out with the future Tony Stark or Bill Gates (as long as it's something to do with technology and he'll make a lot of money I'm good) and he can fix it for me. He also made my old laptop not as terrible as it used to be, but his resources are limited and he doesn't preform miracles so it's still terrible compared to my new one. I am suffering my way though this blog post with a slightly broken keyboard and no enthusiasm to look over my spelling as that only makes me depressed. My new placement is great and it good to be able to refresh the skills I learned on my first placement only now I actually know why we are doing the things we are doing and I can contribute a lot more!

Baby world

So my first week of maternity placement is over and I have absolutely loved it! Pregnant ladies and newborn babies everywhere. I have learned a lot over the last few days. There is so much I didn't know about before starting this placement. The thought of getting pregnant scares me a lot more now than before, but I also want to steal all the cute wee babies and bring them all home with me. Mixed feelings much. Next week I have a few shifts on the labour ward and I am really looking forward to seeing a birth and maybe also a Caesarean section if I am lucky! I'll keep yous updated on my progress. Now it's time to clean Connor's room (if I can be bothered) 

Placement 4

I'm just back in Stirling after a long weekend in Musselburgh. It was weird taking the half past seven train back again. When I stepped of the train I almost went on and got the bus to Uni. Time has passed so quickly since our first placement that I sometimes forget that I live in Bayne Street now and not in AKD. I am glad Bayne Street is more quiet than AKD, because placement was hell when I was forced to listen to the rest of the block party all night and go to bed when I was getting up. The life in Murray Hall was tiring as well. It was quiet but it did not feel like home and I really found it hard to sleep there. All I wanted to do was to be in Edinburgh with Connor. All my friends had moved into their flats then in the center of town and I felt a bit lonely up at campus. My 3rd placement wasn't all that great either, so that might have contributed to it. Whenever I go on placement I turn into a zombie that hates humans that are privileged enough to do things like sleep or eat proper food. 3 weeks dealing with women in labour and newborn babies can't possibly change that. I wish I got the enthusiasm from my first placement back. This time all I want is to get it over and done with. Hopefully I'll be filled with energy and all that tomorrow morning at 6:30! I am happy to get a maternity placement, but I wish it came with a bed and not much work at all. Oh well, I knew what I signed up for so here it goes. I'll try and post a wee blogpost tomorrow after placement and let yous know how things went. I'm writing this from under my covers and I am about to fall asleep. Right now I need to go to bed!

Im so smart. s-m-r-t

On Tuesday we had yet another dreaded exam on our hands. I had revised a lot, but I still felt very lost. When I got to uni I had stayed up all night reading over my notes and drinking energy drinks that only made my stomach hurt. I sat next to Lorraine who was really hyper. I honestly wanted to give her a good slap across the face. She didn't make it any better once she told me that the eye was one of the topics for the exam. Guess who had no idea? Yeah that would be me. Luckily I had revised the other topics in great detail so I still passed the exam! (and Lorraine left the building slap-free) Oh happy days! Like Stirling uni's student nurses' tradition the exam was followed by a night out in Dusk. The day was also filled with other good news. I found out I passed my semester 3 essay. Unfortunately I did not get the grade I hoped for, but a pass is a pass :)

Next week we start our placements again. I am really looking forward to going back out there. Lectures is really boring and I honestly feel like I learn a lot more by being on placement. However, I've still not been able to get in contact with them, so I'll just show up on Monday morning and hope for the best. I am with the Rose maternity team, which is a community midwife team. I am really looking forward to that as becoming a midwife is my dream.
Apart from uni life has been very stressful the last few weeks, and with a lot on my mind the blog ends up being last on my list of priorities. Sorry for that, but family and education comes first ;)

Over and out

Lets go to the beach

I have an exam on Tuesday and of course that means that it's time for me to update my blog in a desperate attempt to avoid revising. Not that I'm not revising. I've been sitting since Monday with my head buried in notes and all I've wanted to do was to run away from it all and never look back. Who cares about becoming a nurse anyway? Unfortunately I do. So I have to spend a lot more time revising the whole of semester 4 to pass this damn exam. Great times. My next placement is a split one. I'm going for 3 weeks in a maternity unit then 6 weeks with district nurses. I am so happy I got maternity!
To make it seem like I live an interesting sporty and healthy life I'll post some pictures of when I went for a walk along Musselburgh beach the other day. Image is everything. Can you imagine if I didn't inform all types of social media of my active lifestyle? What a waste of a walk that would have been :P