Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. Not that I haven’t been posting, because I have… but I haven’t actually written anything new. I am right in the thick of it in nursing school right now and fortunately had the opportunity to prep a ton of posts before starting. Still, this feels weird! I thought that it had been a bit since I posted my last life update post and decided I didn’t have any school work I *should* be doing instead, so here we are! Here are my 12 things for November 2021!
12 Things: November 2021 – Life Update
ONE
Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I am so grateful to have my family, friends, and puppy. I am so grateful for Danny supporting me through all the stresses I go through in nursing school (even when I am not the kindest person I could be) and offering to help out where he can. Also, I am thankful that I live close enough to spend time with my family and see them almost every day during this time in my life.
TWO
Thanksgiving dinner as a vegan can be tough. Most of the food has milk, butter, or meat in it and there are limited options. I have never been the biggest fan of Thanksgiving food, to begin with (hot take). This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s house and she always does her best to make food that I can eat or provide an alternative! It is not something I expect because it’s my choice to eat that way and it’s difficult to adjust everything so that I can eat it when there are 15 other people who aren’t vegan. But, I am just really lucky to have my mom want to do that for me!
THREE
I brought some of the desserts to dinner. My go-to baking recipes are always from minimalist baker. Everything always tastes so good when I use her recipes! I made the ‘best vegan apple crisp’ which you can find here and then ‘the world’s easiest sticky buns’ which you can find here. The sticky buns were a lot more time-consuming because you make the dough from scratch and it needs an hour to rise. I ended up cutting the rolls too thick and needed to make a second batch of dough. It took a long time, but they are reminiscent of monkey bread (which was something we ate every Christmas when I was a kid), and they were very good. I am going to be making them again during Christmas and adding pecans inside of the rolls since I just followed the recipe last time and had them on top.
FOUR
I am already almost done with this quarter of nursing school. We are going into week 10 and I can’t even believe it. I’m excited for next quarter since we will be going over psych nursing and oncology, however, I’m nervous about it because it’s the last quarter before my senior practicum. I’m not too sure about what the practicum is, but I think we will be working 3 full (or close to full) shifts in the specialty of our choosing. We don’t have too many classes or assignments and it’s supposed to transition us to actually working.
FIVE
The best thing, so far, that I’ve been able to do in clinicals this quarter is put in six IVs. I was able to put one in last quarter, but the opportunity wasn’t really there. I have a couple of blog posts on clinical and what to expect coming out soon for my pre-nursing readers.
SIX
This quarter I haven’t really been able to get outside too much. Before every quarter I always say that I am still going to hike on the weekends. Then, I end up getting so overwhelmed by the amount of work that I need to do. During this break, I managed to get out and take my dog, Juniper, to Moulton Falls. I was wanting to go to Bend, but it’s really just too busy to do anything overnight since we have multiple Thanksgivings to go to and a lot to prepare for. However, over winter break I think I will be able to. I also have a Vancouver, Canada trip and a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho trip planned for next month.
SEVEN
My puppy’s birthday was on October 30th. She turned one and I guess she isn’t really a puppy anymore. I don’t think that the puppy energy is going to be burning off anytime soon so I think it will still feel like she is a puppy. She is a Belgian Malinois so her energy is crazy high. I am mostly looking forward to her 1.5 year milestone. At that point, I will be more comfortable taking her on hikes and am going to start running with her because her bones will be fully formed and she is less likely to be injured. She was spayed really young and so I haven’t wanted to risk it by running or doing intense hiking with her this young.
EIGHT
I currently have a new theme that is in the process of being set up on the blog. It’s the first new theme I have had in 3 years. However, I am just doing it piece by piece, so it looks like a hot mess express right now. So far I think I like it, but if you have any thoughts I would love to know!
NINE
Now that Thanksgiving is over, Danny and I are officially going to set up for Christmas. I am the kind of person who likes to set up for Christmas a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Danny, on the other hand, is a strictly day-after-Thanksgiving kind of person. So, instead, I have been channeling my excitement for the Christmas season into holiday movies and Christmas music. If you haven’t seen Love Hard on Netflix, and you like cheesy holiday movies, you need to watch it ASAP!
TEN
Today I am going Black Friday shopping with my friend, Lexus. We don’t have a complete game plan or anything yet but I think we are just going to a couple of typical places like Target and Macys. I would love to finish my Christmas shopping since I started earlier than ever this year. But, I have mostly been shopping online at places like Etsy so I don’t think I will find the things I want to get for most people in stores right now. Danny and I will be going to get a couple of things for ourselves though, like a drill so that we don’t have to borrow one from my parents every time we need one.
ELEVEN
A couple of days ago I finally received the Bark Box Super Chewer in the mail for my pup. I signed up during the extra box for free promo. There were a ton of treats, chews, and toys in it. The box was Thanksgiving dinner themed so there was a stick of butter toy, mashed potato squeaker toy, pumpkin pie treat dispenser toy, turkey soft toy with a football hard toy on the inside, and wishbone nylon-type chew. I chose the box with an extra toy each month and it’s $45/month.
Juniper chews up toys in an instant, but the super chewer toys last her a lot longer and give her something to play with. We still have some super chewer toys we bought at Target months ago that she hasn’t destroyed. They are also $15 each in store so getting a box with 3 toys, 2 chews, 2 bags of treats, and not having to go to the store is a better deal. If you want to try the Bark Box, they are always running great promos!
TWELVE
I heard that it is going to be difficult to buy some gifts this year due to the supply shortage. If you’re still figuring out what to get loved ones if you’re doing gifts, I will attach some of my gift guides from past years. I was thinking about just doing one more this year since past ones are still relevant. They are affiliate links. So, if anything is purchased using the links I get a commission. However, this doesn’t affect the price you pay and it helps me keep this blog up (since I do pay for my domain, web host, theme, etc.).
Okay, that’s all for my 12 things, those are my little life tidbits lately. I am super excited for the upcoming content that I have planned, so stay tuned!
Thanks for catching up with me! 🙂
