Some of my favorite photos others have taken at my wedding.
Hello blog land!
It’s been a heck of a 2016 for me but now I can officially call myself Mrs. Spencer!
I married my best friend on May 29th. To be honest, all the planning, stress, etc. . . . . came and went.
I also turned 28 this year. What a birthday it was for me!
It has been 156 days of the craziest emotions this year. I know what it’s like to cry until you couldn’t cry anymore, to laugh without a care, to love so deeply, to feel so angry to tears, and to hurt like you’re the only one in the world.
I know you are probably thinking, “Well, everyone goes through those emotions.” That is true, at whatever stage in life that the person may be in. However, it’s like all of those emotion, thoughts, feelings, etc. were turned up a notch this year for me.
These vast range of feelings/thoughts/emotions have guided me into what I call unknown waters. Stepping into unknown waters can be tricky, especially when trying to navigating the ocean of life. The main thing to do is to not drown or sink under. In order not to drown, you need to know some basic survival skills. Let me explain.
In the middle/end of wedding planning, for whatever reason, I thought it’ll be a great idea to take a medical surgical certification exam. This exam was the second most expensive test I’ve took outside of my NCLEX. I needed to pass this exam in order to apply for a promotion I’ve been seeking for a while. Smart me, I brought a test review book but barely studied it. I had good intentions but my heart was not truly invested in it. I also waited until the last minute (which I recommend no one to do) to try to re-schedule but after talking to a test representative, it was too costly to do. Oh! By the way, did I mention that I was the sole financial provider during this time and paying off this juggernaut of a wedding? Stress level over 9000!
I talked it over with Adam, who frankly told me that I invested my money into this and that I should go through with it. He basically told me my pay equaled my say so everything (wedding, test, etc.) I vested in, I should through with. I admit, it’s not what I wanted to hear but needed to hear.
Long story short and reluctantly, I went in to take the exam. In the end, I reasoned with myself, if I failed it, at least I’ll have an idea to know what to study for the next time. I just prayed to God that I did what I could do in a very short amount of time and I pleaded to at least try to guide me in the best way He saw put. I’m so glad I listened to the counsel of my husband. I went into the exam thinking “I’ve done this before.” It’s true! I passed my NCLEX on my first try and almost every single case study on the exam, I thought of all of the patients I’ve taken care of the past almost 3 years of my nursing career and applied the knowledge and skill to answer the questions. After nearly 3.5 hours of test taking, silently praying, and nervous movement in my seat, I finished the test and PASSED! I’m so grateful to God I passed because that exam and the NCLEX are two exams I never want to take again in this lifetime! So how does relate to walking in unknown waters?
First, even though I had no experience taking the med surg exam, I’ve had plenty of experience taking other nerve wracking exams. Thank you nursing school! Seriously, the one thing to survive the waters, you need to assess if you have been in a similar experience before. If so, apply those lessons, tips, tricks, etc. and see if it could help you. As I described in my test taking example, my prior patient experiences and NCLEX experience helped me get into the mindset to complete and pass the exam.
If you don’t have a previous experience to dwell on, seek counsel sooner rather than later. Don’t be like me and wait until it’s too late. If you do so early, you can get others to help you on your quest.
Lastly, remember that if it’s not okay, it isn’t the end. If it’s the end, it’s okay. If you start to tread and start to drown, you can start to float as long as you keep your head above water. Don’t give up or don’t give in. There have been plenty of times were I wanted to give up on the test and just click anything so it’ll be over, or just postpone or cancel the wedding because of my stupid mistakes but I’m so grateful I saw it to the end. The wedding was beautiful, my groom and I were able to spend time with each other, and now, I’ve aligned myself in a good position to get promoted.
I hope you all will learn from these lessons of mine. I’m so grateful I am able to share with you all on this platform. I am hoping to start vlogging soon and I may re-launch my blog to do so. I will have more details coming soon!
Three things-
<3,
Barbara
It’s been a heck of a 2016 for me but now I can officially call myself Mrs. Spencer!
I married my best friend on May 29th. To be honest, all the planning, stress, etc. . . . . came and went.
I also turned 28 this year. What a birthday it was for me!
It has been 156 days of the craziest emotions this year. I know what it’s like to cry until you couldn’t cry anymore, to laugh without a care, to love so deeply, to feel so angry to tears, and to hurt like you’re the only one in the world.
I know you are probably thinking, “Well, everyone goes through those emotions.” That is true, at whatever stage in life that the person may be in. However, it’s like all of those emotion, thoughts, feelings, etc. were turned up a notch this year for me.
These vast range of feelings/thoughts/emotions have guided me into what I call unknown waters. Stepping into unknown waters can be tricky, especially when trying to navigating the ocean of life. The main thing to do is to not drown or sink under. In order not to drown, you need to know some basic survival skills. Let me explain.
In the middle/end of wedding planning, for whatever reason, I thought it’ll be a great idea to take a medical surgical certification exam. This exam was the second most expensive test I’ve took outside of my NCLEX. I needed to pass this exam in order to apply for a promotion I’ve been seeking for a while. Smart me, I brought a test review book but barely studied it. I had good intentions but my heart was not truly invested in it. I also waited until the last minute (which I recommend no one to do) to try to re-schedule but after talking to a test representative, it was too costly to do. Oh! By the way, did I mention that I was the sole financial provider during this time and paying off this juggernaut of a wedding? Stress level over 9000!
I talked it over with Adam, who frankly told me that I invested my money into this and that I should go through with it. He basically told me my pay equaled my say so everything (wedding, test, etc.) I vested in, I should through with. I admit, it’s not what I wanted to hear but needed to hear.
Long story short and reluctantly, I went in to take the exam. In the end, I reasoned with myself, if I failed it, at least I’ll have an idea to know what to study for the next time. I just prayed to God that I did what I could do in a very short amount of time and I pleaded to at least try to guide me in the best way He saw put. I’m so glad I listened to the counsel of my husband. I went into the exam thinking “I’ve done this before.” It’s true! I passed my NCLEX on my first try and almost every single case study on the exam, I thought of all of the patients I’ve taken care of the past almost 3 years of my nursing career and applied the knowledge and skill to answer the questions. After nearly 3.5 hours of test taking, silently praying, and nervous movement in my seat, I finished the test and PASSED! I’m so grateful to God I passed because that exam and the NCLEX are two exams I never want to take again in this lifetime! So how does relate to walking in unknown waters?
First, even though I had no experience taking the med surg exam, I’ve had plenty of experience taking other nerve wracking exams. Thank you nursing school! Seriously, the one thing to survive the waters, you need to assess if you have been in a similar experience before. If so, apply those lessons, tips, tricks, etc. and see if it could help you. As I described in my test taking example, my prior patient experiences and NCLEX experience helped me get into the mindset to complete and pass the exam.
If you don’t have a previous experience to dwell on, seek counsel sooner rather than later. Don’t be like me and wait until it’s too late. If you do so early, you can get others to help you on your quest.
Lastly, remember that if it’s not okay, it isn’t the end. If it’s the end, it’s okay. If you start to tread and start to drown, you can start to float as long as you keep your head above water. Don’t give up or don’t give in. There have been plenty of times were I wanted to give up on the test and just click anything so it’ll be over, or just postpone or cancel the wedding because of my stupid mistakes but I’m so grateful I saw it to the end. The wedding was beautiful, my groom and I were able to spend time with each other, and now, I’ve aligned myself in a good position to get promoted.
I hope you all will learn from these lessons of mine. I’m so grateful I am able to share with you all on this platform. I am hoping to start vlogging soon and I may re-launch my blog to do so. I will have more details coming soon!
Three things-
- I’m a wifey!!
- Coming out of the storm
- Getting back on track!
<3,
Barbara
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