Bon Fire/Group Therapy

So, the day after graduation a few friends and I had a bonfire. Purpose: purge our lives of unwanted textbooks/notes/scrubs/etc. We burned everything from Nursing Fundamentals study guides to BYU scrubs to Abnormal Psychology textbooks to Biochemistry notes. It was incredibly cleansing.
We took pictures of us commanding the fire, which actually look pretty scary looking.
The 5 of us had a grand old time. With the help of a little lighter fluid (thanks Dave) we had a pretty decent fire. Unfortunately, we learned that too much paper can prevent the wood from really ever catching fire. It took a while to get the wood burning, but such is life.
Afterward we joined up with another friend and went to IHOP. Our waiter's name was: #. Yes, that is correct, #. When we asked him his name he said "Pound". We kept asking his name and he stuck with his answer. It was all very peculiar, like he was part of a huge scam, and we were the victims. Weird. I think he is part of the Witness Protection Program, or is an ex-con. I am not sure. But either way, he was nice. Random: a year or two ago I went to IHOP and my waiter's name badge was a 5 digit number, you know, something like 49382. Also part of the same mysterious group as above mentioned waiter. Do you think they have to pay taxes on their wages if they don't have a real name? If not, should I be tipping them? hmm. Or, maybe he is sort of like The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, again known as Prince. Maybe one day he will be the IHOP waiter formerly known as #. Then I will be able to say "I knew him when..."
p.s. sorry for the blurry bonfire pictures, I guess that is what happens at night with a bright fire. They kinda look cool, if you ask me.

Graduation Day

I officially graduated on Friday! Yeeaaahhh!
Graduation ceremony was great. My brother, Chris, surprised his wife and walked with me at graduation. His wife, Liz was super super excited about it. My sister-in-law Hilary was also there with my little niece Annie, as well as my parents and my nephew, Connor. It was great to have everyone there. My dad is proud of the fact that he will never have to come to BYU again. He is not a BYU fan.
After the commencement I made my family walk down to the infamous "The World is Our Campus" sign to take a picture. The reason for this is that my dad always says "the campus is our world," which really is quite true of BYU. So, we stood in a very long line to take pictures in front of the sign. I plan to use photoshop to alter the picture and switch the words around. Wait for it... I just did this.
If only I could make it say "The Campus is My World".
So anyway, we had a lot of fun on graduation day. I am glad I did it. It was worth all 6 years at BYU. Good thing I finally found a major I like.
Now I just have to put all my energy into studying for the NCLEX which is the big nasty licensing exam I have to take. Lucky me :)

I added more pics to the slide, check them out. As promised, I am the one in black.

Semper Fi(delis)

So, my friend, Diana, and I were driving to Provo yesterday, and saw a car with the bumper sticker: Semper Fi. I had heard of it, but neither of us knew what it meant. However, deductive reasoning caused us to determine that since it sounded like simplify that must be what it means. I know, you are all probably in awe of my naivety. So, I got home and wiki'd the topic. Apparently, semper fi is short for semper fidelis, and means always faithful in Latin. It is good enough to have been chosen as the motto for at least 19 organizations from cities, to high schools to families, to Jericho (?), to senators, to the US Marines. Now, I am not super familiar with biblical languages, but I don't think the people in ancient Jericho spoke Latin. Oh, wait, keep reading Wikipedia, Andrea. Apparently it has nothing to do with ancient Jericho, but was the title of an episode of some show called Jericho. There you have it, semper fi is very well used. Now you will be much smarter when conversing with your friends in Latin. I do this all the time. So everyone. Semper Fidelis.
Oh, and my favorite latin phrase: Carpe Diem. I learned this one, thanks to Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society. Funny, Wikipedia claims that it means Seize the day which we all know, but that a better translation is Pluck the day. So, from now on when I sing Newsies, I will sing "Now is the time to Pluck the day, send out the call and join the fray..." This is going to be fun.

GRADUATION

The day has come. The hour is near. I am graduating. Finally. Friday is convocation (I think that is the word). That means I will officially be signing my name: Andrea Johnson, BSN. Give me another month or so and I will be signing my name: Andrea Johnson, RN, BSN. It is all very exciting. So, I get to wear a funny looking cap and gown, and walk in straight file to receive a diploma. A fake diploma. Apparently the real one doesn't come for a couple weeks.
Wikipedia says that I should be soberly dressed underneath my gown. We will see how that goes. For my high school graduation they told us not to wear thongs. I took them seriously, and did not wear thong-style underwear. Nevertheless, when I showed up in my flip-flops, it was quite the issue. I, along with 90% of the other graduates, was wearing flip-flops, against the supposed suggestion of the vice principle. So, the vice principle decided to choose me as the person to attack and interrogate regarding the choice of footwear. I, the one who caused zero trouble in high school was getting busted at graduation. She told me I needed to trade shoes with my mom. I said no, and walked away. It was really frustrating, and actually ended up ruining the day. So, this time, I will dress "soberly" in order to avoid unwanted conversations with the dean.
Look for me on graduation day, I will be the one in the cap and gown. I will be smiling. It will be a great day.

DC or SLC....the big quandry

I have been trying to figure out where to live. The trouble is, it is very complicated. My choices: Washington DC, or Salt Lake City, Utah. I would love a new adventure, but life is established here. I have a job in SLC that I will LOVE, I have friends, family, everything. DC would be an adventure and awesome experience, and I would get to live with my bro and sis-in-law. I would have great training and opportunities by living there. I hear the singles wards are great, which is a plus. However, my very extensive pro/con list is getting complicated. I don't know what to do. I was leaning very heavily toward DC until this week when everything switched to leaning very heavily toward SLC. So, I have no idea what to do, and I am very confused. I am hoping that I figure this out soon. I need to make a decision and get things set in motion for my license this week. So, we are down to the wire. AAAAAHHH. What do I do? Any suggestions? Bleh. I don't like being a big person. I don't like real life.