Wedding pics!

I need a new camera. And I need to teach my mom how to take pics. And I am officially obsessed with weddings.

Happy November!

Hi! I hope everyone had a good Halloween last night. I don't know what it is with Vancouver + Halloween but apparently it = fireworks! Starting friday night, all you hear outside is fireworks going off... apparently it's the thing to do for Halloween? Interesting..... haha. Trauma and surgery was super busy Halloween day and night as kids are more prone to getting into accidents and I'm sure these couple days we'll have a lot of kids in with alcohol poisoning and what not -__- I love seeing the kids, their costumes and their Halloween spirit! It reminds me of when I was little and got so excited about things like this. And as I was coming home from work, I realized that I can still celebrate Halloween with the years to come. Like seriously, you are never to old to wear a costume! I'm sad that I didn't do anything this year... instead I was stuck at work during the day and was very lightheaded/ nauseated/ tired during the day and by the time I came home and showered... I felt so sick I passed out on my bed in my towel -____- haha. Seeing the crowds of people dressed up on Granville Street screaming and posing for pictures really made me sad though because I wanted to dress up sooo bad! Halloween can be REALLY fun if you AND your friends have awesome costumes ... I feel like its been soooo long since that. In college there was always midterms, clinical or papers and I always swore to myself that when I started working I wouldn't have those obligations so I wouldn't have an excuse but I kinda feel like I wasted my chance this year. I know if I was healthy and at home with Alice we would probably do something extravagant and fun hehe. Oh well... I'll indulge in the post-Halloween celebrations like buying all the sale candy and maybe picking up some sale items for NEXT year's Halloween hehehe.

My trip home was short and sweet. 5 days passes by way too fast. It was weird being home but it felt sooooooo comfortable. It was sunny and warm the whole time and it just reminded me of how much I love California. How did I ever leave this place? Everytime I come home I am reminded how LUCKY I am. Yes there are millions of amazing places on this earth but I have to say that California is in my top 10. My time was really rushed with the wedding, wisdom teeth pulling and errands but I still got to hang out with my family and good friends for a bit which made me happy.

The wedding was so romantic and beautiful. The Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay is such an elegant and classy place to have that special day. The sun came out and the weather was pretty much perfect. Rehearsal the day before was sooo gloomy and overcast and cold we were all wondering what the actual wedding day weather would be like but it turned out great. I was really tired the whole day but it was so worth it. Seeing Michelle so happy and looking beautiful as EVER was one of the best things ever. I loved the bridesmaid dress and Ashley and Katie (the other two bridesmaids) were so fun to hang out with. The food was amazing... I loved the frozen lollipop station and the wedding cake (duh) sooooooooo gooood. Anyways now I am addicted to looking at wedding pictures, wedding dresses, rings, flowers, cake... EVERYTHING! It's horrible. People say I should find a guy first. Hahaha... it's ok... let me first pick what type of SHOES I want to wear....

I'll post pictures next! <3

Life is precious.

I just finished a set of 4 nights in which I only had 1 day off before that set and I had worked 3 nights before!! SO I basically almost worked 7 nights in a row. omg. So. Tired. I only have two days off before I do my next set but hopefully it won't be that bad. Because then I get to go home! YAY! But as tiring as my last set was, it was good because I met this amazing little girl.

Ok she's not that little, she's a pre-teen but anyways she was the sweetest girl ever. She asked me the cutest questions like she was trying to get to know me and it made me feel like I was a little 13 year old girl making a new friend. She told me about how she was super excited to go to the Diwali celebration party this weekend and talked to me about how much she loved dancing and which genres she preferred. Honestly, I was super busy at this time so I didn't really have time to talk to her but you know when you're in those moments when someone keeps talking to you and asking questions and seems to be really enjoying themselves and you're just like... yeah I don't really have time for this right now but you politely just go along with it and wait for that right moment to go yeeeeeahhhh so I have to go now... haha yeah it kinda felt like that. It wasn't like it wasn't enjoyable, I was just in a hurry to do other stuff too. Anyways, we finished our conversations and I was about to leave and she goes "WAIT! I just wanted to say that.. I think you're the best nurse. Don't tell anyone out there! And I DON'T say this to everyone, I promise!" I just thought how sweet she was and was a little happy inside. She asked me if I could be her nurse again tomorrow and I told her that's not up to me and that I didn't even know if I would be on this unit tomorrow so I really don't know. I said she could ask the day nurse tomorrow who is working the night and maybe she could ask for me if I was on cardiology again. Then she fell asleep for the rest of the night so I pretty much didn't really get to talk to her again. The next night, I came back for my shift and I was on cardiology again yay. I like consistency. Anyways during report when they got to me the charge nurse says "apparently she LOVES you and this is for you" and hands me a MVP nurse card from the patient!! It's soooo adorable. It says "she made me a heat pack in the middle of the night and warmed it up for me each time it got cold. she stayed with me the whole time I had pain in my arm and stayed there until I didn't have it to help me feel better." My heart literally melted! HOW CUTE. Anyways apparently if you get 5 of these cards you get a special pin! Yay!

Something special about this girl is her medical background. I won't and can't say too much but basically she's only 13 and she's already been on life support two times, had multiple heart transplants, basically had a heart attack at age 9 and has gone through SO MUCH in her life already. She typed up her medical story in plain words and has it laminated at her bedside so health care providers who don't know her can read it and understand her medical history more. When I read it, I had tears in my eyes. I know I sound so emotional -_-. But the last paragraph was something like "I want to thank my parents and all the doctors and nurses and surgeons that took care of me. From all this I learned that life is precious and it is a gift and I have something to be happy and thankful for every single day. I am going to make everyday count." I just thought it was SO MATURE for a 13 year old!! Sigh. <3 I learned something from her that night and I hope that whoever reads this learns something too.

And let's be real here. All that matters in life is that we have healthy children. :D

愛如潮水

Thanksgiving = over. Fall weather = here. Happy late Canadian Thanksgiving! I have been in a food coma for 3 days straight from eating the food that I cooked as well and from tonight's feast at Ariel's place. I'm so blessed to have such amazing family friends in Vancouver...... =) I feel so so so so fat though. Ugh. I haven't worked out in FOREVER (unless you count work as a form of exercise.... which in a way it really can be) but I haven't been to yoga since the end of last month and I'm scared to go back because it's going to be PAINFUL. I think I'm going to cancel my monthly membership because it's too expensive and considering I'm gone half the month of October and haven't gone this month at all..... it's so not worth it at this point. Ok I really need to start making use of the gym at my apartment. Like, seriously.

So tonight I realized how happy I am for a friend who finally found *the one*. When she was telling me how it all started and how it all worked out, it just reminded that little part of me that true love is out there (as sappy as it sounds). Every girl deserves a guy who will go all out for her and do whatever it takes (within his limits) to make the relationship work. A guy that will drop everything for the girl he loves. I think the moment of her story that touched me the most was when I asked about the TIffany's necklace she was wearing. Apparently the dude brought her to Tiffany's in Taipei 101 saying that he needed to buy her something because he hadn't given her a gift since they first met. And he insisted on buying her something so badly and she had no choice because she was making him look bad at the store just standing there being like "no, it's okay!" (what a humble girl..... I would have been like....REALLY?! ok let's start at the diamonds collection...... lolol okok maybe not diamonds but yeah) WTF right?!??!! WHERE CAN I FIND A GUY LIKE THIS PLEASE? I am waiting for that guy that special orders that engagement ring from the original Tiffany & Co on Fifth Avenue. It happens in real life. I just hope it happens to me LOL. Sigh. Anyways and on the way home, her mom said something that really made me go siiiiiiigh. Her mom said that he always thinks of her first. Sigh. That is so important. We deserve a guy who thinks of how his actions/decisions affect us and think about how we would feel in every possible situation. <333

愛如潮水 is my entry title because this song is the epitome of the perfect man. Someone who doesn't care about anything except loving you and making you happy. I want my hubby to sing this song to me HAHA.

So yeah... that's what's on my mind for now. So here's a little message to the girls who read this: he is out there somewhere and if you haven't found him already, he will find you and you will know immediately. because he will take care of you and do anything and everything just to make you happy. end of story.

10/10/09

Well it's October 10th... and life will hopefully just continue to get better from this point on. I can focus more on ME, what I want to do in my free time and how I can continue to learn/improve at work. I can't believe how fast time flies... and it's fake Thanksgiving this weekend! YAY! Speaking of that, I went to Safeway today and picked up tons of groceries to make my Thanksgiving more festive. I wish Ivy was here to feast with me... but at least she's coming back to Vancouver soon. I bought a turkey breast, stuff to make scallop potatoes, STUFFING (buy1get1free YESSS!), corn, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. And I can't wait to make my PUMPKIN BROWNIES! I'll try to make my food pretty and post some pics maybe. I still need to send pictures to my mom of the food I make to make her proud HAHA. Maybe.


Anyways... kind of excited to go home at the end of the month! And excited for the months ahead... :)

GLEE.

So many of us have fallen in love with Fox's new show Glee and I'm not gonna lie.... as a past choir/ acapella group girl and as a girl who just loves singing, music and musicals.... this show is sooo freaking good. It takes me back to high school and think about what I wanted to make out of high school, what my passions were/are, what kind of person I was in high school and what kind of person I am now. Honestly when the lead girl sings... I get CHILLS. I am sooo like drawn into her emotions and her voice... hahahahaha yeah, I LOVE IT!!

I'm also loving Private Practice, Grey's and House more and more because now that I am working... I pay wayyyy more attention to the medical sides of these shows because I realized that I can actually learn some stuff! Aside from the fact that these shows are totally unrealistic and do not show the different roles in health care accurately... you can totally test and use your knowledge during those 45 minutes.

Okkkkkk I gg. bye.

22!

So I wanted to blog about my birthday and it's quite overdue since it's pretty much been a week since the date but OH WELL! :) So I already shared about my eyelashes (which I'm still loooooooving) but the other major highlight of my birthday was MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!! You've probably seen it on facebook already or if not I've probably personally showed pictures to you because I am that obsessed with it. Well, what can I say.... it was the epitome of the perfect Andrea birthday cake :)

4 layers of heavenly, delicious, light colossal chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing. And look how accurately detailed the font is. LOVE IT! SO did not want to cut it.

It was basically something from my DREAMS. When it was delivered to my apartment, I literally stood there in shock and I swear I was unable to breathe for a couple seconds because I was SO AMAZED. Thank you MOMMY for ordering such an amazing amazing custom-made birthday cake for me!! I'm sad she wasn't there to share it with me... :( Well, I definitely ate her share of the cake for her HAHA. Anyways, the picture is my desktop and on my aim, msn, twitter, facebook, gchat.... HAHAHA I just can't get enough of it. Sighhhh. Teeheee.
All in all, my first Vancity birthday was pretty awesome. A lot of nurses were able to make it out to high tea and it was really fun seeing everyone dressed in normal clothes and not super tired. High tea was yummy but nothing extremely special. I do want to go back and try out this famous chocolate buffet though!! Thank you to all the girls who came out to celebrate with me. I hope we have many more fun times in Vancouver together!! The weather was perfect that weekend and it was perfect.

I LOVED my dinner with Ivy at Goldfish (one of my new favorite restaurants in Vancouver). Jack, Ivy's friend works in the kitchen at Goldfish so we got special treats and extra special treatment.... the finale birthday dessert platter was AMAZING (for a lack of a better word.... i need a thesaurus haha). Anyways, the fried banana in cinnamon sugar and coffee cheesecake was .... exquisite.
I felt so spoiled haha. And all my friends definitely made me feel really really really special. Thank you so much Terrie for sending me the Coach keychain..... haha I think I was close to tears you beezy, I was soooo surprised, it so made my day! I LOVE YOUUUU. I loved all my little gifts this year, everybody was so thoughtful! Thank you for all the texts, tweets, phone calls, fb messages, emails and cards! <3


Well, after that special princess day, life has resumed back to normal with work and studying! I just finished my set on Cardiology and it was a tough set. Cardiology and respiratory are my weaknesses... and they scare me. I don't know if asking for more shifts is more scary or beneficial to me haha. I'm bad at facing my fears... maybe being on the NRT will help me overcome this? Anyways everyday I'm starting to learn that nursing is so much more than a job... and being a nurse is so much more than a title.. it's like a lifestyle. Anyways... enough deep thoughts. Today I wanted to slack in yoga because it's that time of the month and I'm in PAIN but the instructor paid soooo much attention to me and kept pushing me so I was like GRRARRR. Good thing there was a treat in the fridge for me to reward myself with when I came home :) That is all.


Current countdown:
12 more days X____X

Birthday update #1.

Today is my official 22nd birthday! :D :D The day's not over so I'm not going to do my full and complete update YET but I'd like to blog about something spiffy. This year, I treated myself to a visit to an eyelash extension as my birthday gift to myself. I had been thinking about it for a bit after seeing advertisements in the Japanese magazines but when I saw my friend Bonnie with her new long and gorgeous lashes, my hesitation was blown away and I decided this would be something fun to do for myself instead of buying myself something! So I booked my appointment at Noir Lash Lounge in Yaletown - Vancouver's one and only lash-only bar salon and went in the day before my birthday to get them done. The place is suuuuuuuuuper cute, and set up in a very trendy with a vintage an relaxing atmosphere. The girl doing my lashes was pretty funny in beezy way and I loved it haha. When she asked me what I wanted, I basically told her that I have pretty long lashes already but I just wanted to make them thicker and look more full. So 1 hour and 15 minutes later, these were the results:









Pretty natural looking I would say, right?!! I was really happy with the results although I wasn't used to it at first.. I thought they were a little too un-natural but today (1 day post) - I think they are perfect! Nobody at work last night said anything about them so I'm happy because that means they look really NATURAL! I'm so happy I did this and I would advocate EVERY GIRL to try this! Regardless of whether you don't have many lashes or you have pretty full ones already, I like it and I think it's worth it
I was told that as a first-timer, mine would last up to three weeks. For regular lash-lovers, they can last 4-6 weeks! Hmm but I'm not sure I'm THAT high maintenance haha. And it cost $60 which is a regular and decent price for this service but I'm still deciding whether or not it's actually WORTH it. Definitely for important events - weddings, birthdays... but yeah not for everyday :P I'm not THAT princess.

Ok, heading out to my little bday dinner at Goldfish now :) More birthday updates later

xo

Fall.

Well, summer is officially over and all the little kiddies have returned to school and I think for the most of us that are now graduated and are not going back to school... it's so bittersweet. As much as I couldn't wait to get out of Mac and move on to bigger and better things, when I actually kind of miss going back to school. This time of last year, I would have been going to my classes, catching up with all my friends about their summers and trying to enjoy the last of the warm weather. But this year, it's like I'm at the bottom rung of a new ladder. Living in a new place, making new friends, adjusting to work life, adjusting to REAL life of bills... bills... and bills... this is bittersweet as well haha. I miss my friends, sigh.

Other than that, my weekend was really no weekend at all as I spent the whole weekend in a course but it was good learning so I'm really glad I took it. The clock is ticking so I really gotta get my shit together! Booooo... and Wednesday is validation day where we do like a mini-osce type thing. Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh kill me now.

Other than that, I don't have much to update on......

GOSSIP GIRL TONIGHT!

Current Song:
Whatcha Say- Jason Derulo

Update!

Wow, I haven't blogged in awhile. SORRY! I've been soooooo busy with work, adjusting to the new place, getting to know my roomates... life has been kind of crazy. Well, mostly work is just crazy. I just finished a set of 3 days and I just want to say that 3 12 hour shifts in a row SUCK. Especially when they are all weekdays. Especially especially weekdays after a LONG WEEKEND. It's like all hell breaks loose.... I have had the three busiest days of my life in the hospital. The good thing is that I learned A LOT. So many skills and just learning more about what nursing is really about. It was pretty overwhelming but I think the past three days have been good preparation for the future. Yay for NPWs and insertion of NG tubes!

Anyways... enough nursing stuff. I've been hanging out with one of my new roomates Ivy a lot! I think we stayed up until 230am talking the first couple nights I moved in. She's Taiwanese and basically an ESL student here to learn English but I think her English is really good for a fob hahaha. She's realllllllly cute because she's soooooo fobby but I love it obviously so we get along SUPER SUPER well. We have started to cook dinner together and now because of her, I am eating more nutritious and yummier foods. Yay! My other roomate, Tina is also super friendly and nice and super artsy/creative and fashion driven in a very unique way. She reminds me of my friend Melody.... because she sews EVERYTHING and makes tons of stuff. She literally has a closet stocked with fabrics, ribbon, sewing machine, threads....EVERYTHING! Anyways, they're really nice and I love the apartment. Sighs.

Well I'm super busy this weekend, got lots of stuff to prepare for and things to study for validation day :(

More updates later..... I'm too sleeeeeeepy.

September 14th!!!

HOT.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

A as Queen B!

Today, Chelsea, Kylie and I took the Skytrain to Yaletown and spent a nice afternoon there and had an early dinner since we all have day shifts tomorrow. OMG, let me start off by saying how much I LOVE THE SKYTRAIN. Well, specifically the brand new Canada Line. So basically, in Vancouver there's a subway system very similar to the Toronto TTC or Taiwan/HK MTR and it pretty gets you around Vancity pretty fast. They recently finished building a new line in light of the 2010 Olympics called the Canada Line and it runs all the way from Richmond to Downtown Van! It's SUPER SUPER fast and SUPER CLEAN since it's brand new. When I was on it.. it almost felt like I was in Taiwan or HK... it was almost as if I could get off at Taipei Main Station (haha, I WISH!). Anyways, that is my little blurb on appreciation of public transit.

Yaletown is beautiful. It's full of skyrise condos, lofts, and shopping include adorable boutiques, jaw dropping bakeries, very yummy restaurant eats and in general presents as a pretty wealthy area. It would definitely be a nice place to live if you had a very high paying job heh. Anyways, today as I put my outfit together, which is also my *special outfit for tomorrow evening* *crosses fingers*, I realized that my outfit reminded me of Blair Waldorf. Yes, Blair Waldorf. So when I'm bored, I like to cruise through ONTD or other celeb gossip websites, I tend to save pictures of celebrity styles I love and someday hope to dress like. Obviously, Leighton Meester wears THE best clothes on Gossip Girl and I am obsessed with so many of her outfits. Well, as I looked in the mirror today I realized that I did a pretty good job at copying Queen B's outfit! Let's take a closer look:

Loooooove her ruffly top and pink clutch. Her high waisted style is always so feminine and elegant. Sometimes a little too overly preppy but I love how girly her outfit is here. Her shoes also reminded me of my Jessica Simpson ones...












And then there's me! You can get where my entire outfit is from and the only purse I use these days is my Longchamp. Didn't bring my Speedy or any Gucci's to Vancouver with me :*(. I miss them. They rest peacefully at home until I return. At least the Longchamp is waterproof for the rainy days!






So I'm obviously missing a beautiful designer pink clutch and her flower bracelet but it's pretty close don't you think?! I do have a flower bracelet of my own but I decided not to. Sighhhhhhhhhhh I love her style. Anyways, that is my exciting blog post of the day. I love Yaletown and I can't wait for Gossip Girl to start again! Do you think I did a good job with Queen B's style?! My comment bar isn't working :( :( :( so you'll have to tell me personally hahaha.

Current countdown:
5 more days until I officially move into my new apartment! :)

Coach!

So I am rarely attracted to Coach items these days... I haven't seen anything that's really caught my eye in months? years? Not sure I'll ever buy another Coach purse in my life but I saw this yesterday and I WANT IT. IT'S SO FREAKING CUTE.



Ahhhhhhhh. I want. Oh yeah some of you have been asking for my new address, I got a PO BOX so its:

68 W. King Edward Ave
PO BOX 38015
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4L9
Canada

Now let's all be pen pals!! Don't forget my birthday is in like 3 weeks? Don't worry, I'll act surprised ;)

♥

Moving!

First thing's first! Soo if you've heard, I finally found a new place and i'll be moving on September 2nd!!! I'm super super excited the more I think about it because it meets all my requirements and even more!

Pros:
- Own bathroom
- Queen size bed
- Balcony view of downtown Robson St
- PRIME LOCATION - 2 minutes from all the downtown shops including LV, Tiffany's, Aritzia, BCBG......... and everything else you could want basically
- Right across from a major bus stop where I can hop onto the 17Oak that takes me STRAIGHT to work =)
- 2 girl roomates who seem super nice!

Cons:
- Expensive rent
- The bed kinda takes up the whole room so I'll have to go to Ikea to figure out how to fit a little desk for my laptop and printer
- No microwave or TV (ok I honestly don't get how these girls live without a microwave!! I guess they just heat things up by stove? Or never have leftovers?! Its ok, I'm willing to buy a microwave. TV won't be too big of a deal, I'm super used to watching stuff online after college but I'm spoiled now and have cable so it'll be a teeny adjustment)

That's pretty much it...haha :) YAY! I'm just super glad I don't have to worry or stress about it anymore.

Well, I finished my first independent set of shifts Thursday-Sunday and it went REALLY well. I got really lucky and was on the oncology unit for the whole set and never got called for a LOA (leave of absence). I don't get it.. why did they hire all of us if they don't have the hours?! Well now the hospital is on a hiring freeze and school is starting soon and we will probably get more busy because kids catch all sorts of things at school.... haha. I got to know my patients really well since I had basically the same ones a couple days in a row... I became really good friends with one girl, B. Little B is super cute but has quite the attitude. She was pretty mean to me the first day but definitely warmed up to me towards the end. I think we bonded one night when her mom couldn't stay so I kept her company in her room as much as I could. We watched Ni Hao Kai Lan and talked about ponies, kitties, bears and bunnies. Her mom also opened up to me a bit and even our small talk 5 minute conversation was eye opening. Sometimes I forget how much these children and families are going through. Especially in oncology. It's like.. this is not the ONLY thing going on in their life and it's already this huge stressor. It makes everything else seem so small and makes me so proud of these kids. They are so so so strong.

My other patient, S, was the CUTEST little girl I have EVER met. She had the brightest smile and cutest voice. She told me she was a strong princess (all these little girls are princesses... maybe that's why I love them so much HAHA). She called the IV machine "Mr.Beeps" and one time when I came in to check on the machine she goes, "I don't know why Mr.Beeps keeps beeping!" AND she likes Hello Kitty and when I showed her my keychain she thought it was so cool. She was going home the next day and kept telling me how excited she was to go home. I wanted to melt when she said "Do you know what I'm going to do tomorrow? I'm going to make a wish in a pond! And see the clouds in the sky! The sky is just so beautiful." I think that's when I wanted to pick her up and hug her. This little four year old girl with cancer can appreciate the clouds, sky and flowers and ... I don't even care half the time. Sighs. She also told me her big secret which is that she wants a unicorn costume for halloween. I LOVE KIDS!!!!! Sometimes I wish the parents weren't always there so I could play with them and talk to them lots without feeling awkward.....LOL.

Well, yesterday I spent the whole day in Richmond with the twins and I had soo much fun. We had lunch at Pearl Castle - really good Taiwanese place with yummy chicken and pmt, we walked around Aberdeen Mall (this really cool asian mall with DAISO <3), sang karaoke at their house and had a really delicious home cooked dinner! It was fun hanging out with their family... it made me miss mine. Sighs. I just miss my mom's home cooking teehee. OH! We went to visit the Olympic Oval in Richmond where speed skating and other events will be held for the 2010 Olympics... here's a pic!


I went back to BIkram today and..............died. I realized that this takes commitment because if you don't go for...5+ days the next time you return it feels like the first time you went in your life. Which is nauseating, dizzy and painful. Yup. So I really need to keep this up and go at least twice a week. But I found out that today was my 11th class of the month so that makes me pretty happy that I'm making use of my monthly membership.

I also need to seriously diet..... I'm getting fat and indulging in too much pmt. The wedding is in like 2 months.... OK I HAVE TO BE SERIOUS AND GET SKINNY :( I realized that one of my life goals is to be skinny and fashionable. Sighs.

Hahahahahaha I can feel people rolling their eyes. Ok end of post BYEeeeeeeeeeeeee <3.

Current Guy Fashion Advice:
I think all guys should invest in LV jeans. They're only $400!! That's like only $100 more than full price R&Rs! So if you are a dude and buy brand name jeans, why not spend a little more and look like the ultimate baller?!
http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2006/05/31/louis-vuitton-jeans-shorts/

argh.

i'm at work and we had an extra long break today and i couldn't even sleep. grrr stupid very strong vietnamese coffee!! i hate going on first break but sometimes i'm just too shy to say it. the pregnant nurses deserve first pick at breaks so... yeah HAHA.

maybe it's because of the coffee why i couldn't sleep. or maybe it's because i was thinking about what i did, what i didn't do or what i have to do. or maybe it's because ever since last week, my mind has been MAJORLY distracted by moving and finding another place to live. it's taking over my mind and my actions... all i do is go on craigslist/kijiji and today chelsea even brought her bike/rollerblades so we could go out and look for vacancies and call all of them. the more i think about it, the more frustrated i am. now i'm starting to think that it's too much and maybe i should just stay in my house a little longer, be a little more patient, save a little more money and move out in December. but then that's winter and with the winter olympics coming i feel like it'll be tough. UGH. it's like no matter when i choose to move, it's not ideal. right now, it's competing with the students. later it'll be with tourists or people moving to the city. i really wanted to wait until after October... maybe i should still do that. cuz i guess i have to say that there aren't any great deals screaming out to me right now...

i know i'm picky and with my requirements it narrows the search down a lot... but i really just want a place where i can come home to and truly be comfortable. i don't want to buy furniture... i don't want to REALLY want to sign a lease (yet) unless i am obsessed with the place... i don't want to live in a basement... i don't want to live with a random guy... why do so many effing girls have effing cats... blah.

i think i'm going to just see how things weekend goes and make my final decision then. maybe if i can ask my landlord how her search is going and get her to lower the rent i will stay longer. that way i can save more money and then hopefully a perfect opportunity will come up by December. but then i kind of feel like all the searching i just did will have gone to waste... but maybe that's better than rushing into something now that i might regret later? maybe if there was one thing that was NOT happening in my life it would make this so much easier. oh well. can't do anything about it now!

okay i have like less than 4 hours left on my shift and i have tons of stuff to do so hopefully time will pass by fast. sigh sigh sigh.

goodnight.

made me smile.

this is not a proper update but i just want to share.

at lunch yesterday with my loverly family friends, i was talking about my work schedule...

me: well usually if i work a set of 4 shifts then i get 5 off, for example this week i'm working thursday, friday, saturday and sunday then i get monday through friday off!
my friend's bro: ...*counting the days* ... so when does the hospital close?

sooooooooo cute. it made all of us laugh hehe.

never been to happy at 0639 EVER.

first independent shift is officially over.
the kids are alive.
everyone is stable.
i survived a crazy busy crazy nerve-wracking crazy abnormal shift.
it's almost time to go home to sleep.
5 days off here i come...

the last 12 hours were hell and I WANT MY BEDDDDDD.


blogging from work so byebye. real update later.

Grossed out.

I NEED TO MOVE OUT ASAP.
UGH and EW.
I hate nasty, dirty, uncourteous people.
I can't do this.

that's all i'm going to say. here is my set criteria for my future place:

1) Clean, responsible and friendly female
2) Own bathroom
3) Apartment (unless the suite is super nice)
4) Adequate living space

and those exclude the obvious like no pets, no smoking, safe area, basic furnishing, accessible to work, reasonable rent etc...

RAHHHHHHH. let the search continue... or begin in all seriousness. well i did check out a suite today, and it's pretty nice. the girl is really nice and is a nursing student. she's really clean and into things looking nice and neat. the only thing is our rooms are right next to each other, we have to share the bathroom and it's kind of basement-y and on the small size. but it is pretty close to work, rent is decent and it's BRAND new so its suuuper nice. but yeah, ahhhhhhh i don't know. it doesn't meet requirements 2 and 4. if it was bigger then i would probably take it. hm. i'll ponder.

i have found a new shopping hobby which is.... used book shopping! chelsea introduced me to this pretty amazing used book shop on Broadway and it has soooooo much selection and the books are like....good as new! we also went to the Lululemon outlet today~~~~~ eeeeeeeeeee!! LOVE IT! it's not too big but they do have a pretty good selection. i only wish they had the bathing suit in my size :( oh well. life goes on.....

friday is my first INDEPENDENT shift and i'm kind of freaking out inside. omg. so nervous. i just don't want to forget everything... i probably won't even be able to sleep on my break. i'll be worrying like crazy probably AHHHHHHHH. why can't preceptorship be longer...haha. at least afterwards i get 5 days off to recuperate! 5 days to think about how the hell i'm going to be on my own......forever.....omg X___________X

ok i'm having frustrating stomach pains so i'm going to go lay down and read soon.
hope everyone's week is going well :)
and if you are reading this and know someone in Vancouver looking for a roomate....HOLLERRRR! <3

current book:
Shopaholic Ties the Knot

昨天晚上...

你不問卻是因為你不想知道
可是說實話我都在想你

Crossing the border...

so today after orientation, kylie and i went on our first adventure to WASHINGTON. hahaha so we are only like 200 something miles away from Seattle but that wasn't our mission today. i really just had to go to BoA to take care of some stuff and since the border is only like a 35 minute drive away, kylie was down for driving me as long as we could go shopping =) the Washington border is SUPER SUPER close and i think crossing the border/ getting through immigration takes even longer than the drive there. but whatever, it was a good time.

we went to a small mall in Bellington, WA and it wasn't bad considering i got to go to Victoria's Secret and TARGET (stores that i am deprived of in Canada...... so sad, i know) haha. i didn't buy too much because shopping was not my purpose but i did get some super cheap and nice plain tshirts to wear to work (yes, work is so casual that we don't even have to wear scrub tops, we can just wear tshirts that match our scrubs ^__^), some VS undies and random stuff at Target.....including SPICY CHEETOS!!

now i'm exhausted and it's only 9:45pm and i have 2 day shifts on onclogy ahead of me. we didn't really take pics today but posted one lame one... just to prove that i did indeed cross the border today LOL.

current debate:

yes? no? ehhhh.....idk. -.-

就讓這首歌 on repeat.

所有的痛　就讓時間來破
電影散場之後　就在那回首處
你別走回頭路　我只能頭也不回的藏住感觸
我真心為你祝福
有沒有那麼一首歌會讓你很想念
有沒有那麼一首歌你會假裝聽不見
聽了又掉眼淚卻按不下停止鍵
多少個夜就這樣開著燈到另一個夜




就讓逭首歌今夜一直重複　我們都沒錯
只是看清楚原來不懂的事
沒有什麼好說現在先不要說　就讓我們沈默
最後的擁抱　愛情的終點

是分手的時候就讓我們自由　回憶一幕幕
就像一場電影原來一直感動
電影終要結束結束難免痛苦　心中留下傷痕
就讓這首歌縈繞在耳邊

August.

i can't believe it's August already.... crazy!! it's been a good weekend with lots going on. it's a long weekend (monday is BC day) but it doesn't really make a difference to me... i seriously believe that the only people who care about 3 day weekends are people who work in business. the M-F 9-5ers get an extra day hehe. anyways, saturday was the final celebration of lights show - CHINA! it was soooooooo amazing. chels, kylie and i watched it from Kits beach and it was soooooo much less crowded and more calm than downtown. but downtown is definitely a great experience that everyone should go to at least once in their life. unless you're claustraphobic (omg i actually had to look up how to spell that HAHA -_-). so yeah the fireworks were really good but downtown English Bay is definitely the front and center view. before the fireworks, we spent saturday afternoon at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. it was funnnnn! i have a new love and appreciation for BALUGA WHALES <3 sooooo cute. i wish i was a water sea animal. swimming around freely, without a care in the world... get fed... float around...tan... seriously, what more is there to life?! hahahaha okok. apparently the famous 2 holding-hand otters are from the Vancouver Aquarium!!!!! but i don't know if they still hold hands or what happened because... i didn't see them holding hands when i went =( maybe it was a phase.

here's a pic from the China fireworks show :) fireworks make me happy. they're so pretty and....romantic. ugh. anyways. today, chelsea and i went to watch Les Miserables!! i think the first time i saw Les Mis was high school..for french honor society? i can't even remember but i do think i still have my t-shirt. anyways, it was a really good show and i loved hearing all the songs again- i dreamed a dream, on my own, lovely ladies, master of the house...... hahaha. why can't life be like a song? music makes life so much better. afterwards, i went to my first bikram yoga class since.... two summers ago? OMG. ok so i didn't want to die nearly as badly as when i FIRST did it but it was pretty brutal. its ok though... i know it's so hard when you first start and it's normal to feel dizzy and nauseated but i really hope i can get better. i love my mat and yogitoes towel though =) just seeing it makes me happy right now HAHA.

so now i'm listening to Les Mis music... there was a definitely a point in today's show where i was like omg... i'm going to cry, but i didn't. why am i still hurting? why can i relate to this character? i'm so annoyed with myself sometimes i want someone to slap me. i have so many more important things to be thinking about. ARGGGGGGH.

anyways, that's it for today, ttyl.

the city goes to bed
now i can live inside my head.

current excerpt from Shopaholic that are basically the EXACT thoughts in my head:
"We swing round a corner- and my heart gives a swoop of excitement. Tiffany's. It's Tiffany's, right in front of me! I must just have a quick peek. I mean, this is what New York is all about. Little blue boxes, and a white ribbon, and those gorgeous silver beads... I sidle up to the window and stare longingly at the beautiful display inside. Wow. That necklace is absolutely stunning. Oh God, and look at that watch, with all those little diamonds round the edge. I wonder how much something like that would... And for awhile I really try to concentrate. But it's no good. I can't listen. I mean, come on. This is Fifth Avenue! Everywhere I look, there are fabulous shops. There's Gucci... and oh God, look at that window display over there! And we're just walking straight past Armani Exchange and no one's even pausing... what is WRONG with these people?"

old friends...

i had this weekend off and i gotta say i love my days off. work makes the week go by pretty quickly... can't believe it's already monday tomorrow! i had the most boring shift of my life thus far on friday night. it was so calm it was... weird. i had finished everything i was supposed to do by like 10pm and all i had left was hourly checks... those are the times when i am so thankful for my lovely lovely wonderful iPhone. it saves me from boredom.... until i abuse it until it runs out of battery HAHA =(

on saturday, i met up with michelle and tina :D! their cousin took us out to eat korean food and then we watched fireworks! so every summer, Vancouver hosts the HSBC Celebration of Lights which is basically an international fireworks competition over the English Bay. this year's participating countries include Canada, South Africa, UK and China. so saturday was South Africa and it was pretty amazing. in justin's words, "South Africa just kicked Canada's ass." hahahaha. dinner was soo good, i haven't had DUKBOKI in hellllllla days. soooo yummy yummy yummy. then we had Qoola for dessert (frozen yogurt place) and it was actually REALLY good! it tastes like a medium between pinkberry and red mango.... like tart but kinda creamy... i think i need to eat it plain to judge it more accurately but i think it will definitely satisfy my random pinkberry cravings when i'm here. it rained the whole night and we had NO umbrella so we basically got soaked while watching the fireworks but it was so worth it. i just posted some pics on my facebook so i'll post a video here:

i'm so glad i went. i'm excited for next saturday's show (since i can't go to wedneday's because of work booo) but saturday is the finale so its supposed to be extra good. i will cross my fingers for nice weather...

today i met up with ian ~ a super old friend from good old hong kong beacon hill times! it was kind of funny how he thought i grew up with him all the way from primary school but really... i was only there in 5th grade LOL. anyways, i think i have found a new shopping buddy. this guy wears gucci shoes, gucci wallet, D&G jeans, LV belt..... and doesn't shop anywhere cheaper than AX! LOL <3 he is a self-proclaimed and unashamed brand whore. i love it. we had dinner and drinks at Cactus Club and it was a good time catching up on our lives post-5th grade! on the way home i realized how lucky i am to have friends all around the world. i used to hate the fact that we moved so much whether it was from country to country or from this house to another house. but from living in Toronto, HK, California and now Vancouver... i've met people from all those places and kept friendships that have lasted 12+ years!! and friends kind enough to take the initiative to CONTACT me after 12+ years without even knowing whether or not i even remember them or even knowing what kind of person i am today. anyways, i now appreciate moving around during my childhood and making cool friends! and each and every one of you are one of those people so :)

current quote:
"Turns out it's not where you are but who you're with that really matters."

改變自己

one more night shift on neuro/surg and next is oncology! i had two pretty good shifts since my preceptor was interesting and my patients were... interesting as well. my preceptor was this...huge british man who definitely had a british accent and it took me 15 minutes to start understanding what he was saying. i got used to him saying "pomp" = "pump", "me" = "my" and i counted that he said "bloody" 34 times during the 2 days i was with him. well i still have one more shift with him tonight so i guess my count's not over. he walks so fast and sweats........ and smells. ew. i try to make sure there's some distance between us haha. but he's been teaching me a lot and makes the shift interesting. as for patients.... i learned how to communicate with whiny, sensitive, bossy, attitude-y, drama queen teenage girls and i consoled a little 7 y.o. crying girl with a cherry popsicle. i had a pretty cute baby who had a hip dislocation so she came up to the unit after her hip surgery. the poor girl was in a hip spica cast which totally restricted any movement of her lower body and her legs were like in this spread position.... poor baby. i would constantly cry if i was her! anyways... one more 3R shift to go.

i made pierogies for lunch today and as i ate them with sour cream (LOW FAT) i realized it was quite plain so i looked up sauces and i'm going to try to make it next time! or i'm so going to add onions, garlic, mushrooms and peppers to it. mmm.. OH YEAH i've also discovered kimchi salad and i like it.

sigh. well it's kinda hard for me to blog because i can't pretend like everything's okay when it's not. all i can say is i'm learning to stay positive and keep my head up and move forward. when life gives you lemons, make an arnold palmer right? hahaha sigh.


i think i'm going to post a current thing after every post. today's will be.....lyrics!

current lyrics:
我們都接受
一定是彼此不夠成熟 在愛情裡分不了輕重
誠實得過了頭 不能退後也無法向前走
愛是一個自私的念頭 把寂寞消除的理由
剩下的那些感動 能記得多久

該這麼說。。

你不在　當我最需要愛　你卻不在
無盡等待像獨白的難捱
你不在　高興還是悲哀　你都不在
我受了傷再偷偷好起來　但你不在　不在




難過。 我要加油。

1 more day off!

these 5 day offs are quite long. i feel pretty relaxed. i'd almost rather have some work because at least then i get paid. but i guess my 4 days in row will be tiring and stuff so i'll be happy when that's over. my landlord's probably don't even think i go to work since they see me around so much. LOL -_____-

ugh i did not wake up for lululemon yoga this morning because i got such bad sleep last night i just couldn't get myself out of bed at 9am. i suck haha. i could've done some laundry too... but i didn't. instead i went to the beach and read Shopaholic. so funny. once again, it is really sad that i can identify with some of her thoughts. and i made my first ASIAN meal - i'm kind of proud of myself. well ok... i didn't really MAKE anything. i more like boiled some 水餃s, added spinach and an egg and some kimchi on the side. yeah..... but it made me happy! i took a pic and sent it to my mom so she won't worry about what i'm eating all the time haha. sigh. growing up sucks. i want to live at home so i eat free food and not pay rent. i clearly have a lot to learn about managing money... which is why i bought THIS BOOK:
hahaha yeah i haven't started reading it but i will soon! well hopefully it will give some good tips and if there is anything that especially intrigues me i will post it here for all you girlies to read. :)

i had really good day yesterday though - i went to Taste of the City with melissa and vince (my new richmond friends YAY!!) and it was really fun. a bunch of Vancouver restaurants set up a little booth and organize a small menu and you can order small plates/samples of their dishes. and they're pretty big so you can share between like 2 people and just try lots of food. afterwards we went halfway up a mountain (i forgot what it's called) where we could see the WHOLE city of Vancouver basically and it was sooooooooo pretty. you all probably saw the pics in my facebook album so i'll just post one of my favorite pics.

the most PERFECT cloud! and afterwards i had a very spicy but delicious taiwanese dinner at Estea before going home. so satisfying.

i like this city a lot... though i probably won't like it as much when it starts raining a lot, but i think for sure it will be better than dealing with snow and -20 weather and ice and stuff...>_< i am generally happy here although of course i do miss all my friends and family in california and toronto. but thank God for texting and skype or else i would die. but i wish i could put all my friends on a plane and have them here with me. then i would have people to do stuff with. i think that's my main thing... i have sooo much i want to do/see but i need people to do them with. like who is going to do all the fobby things with me?! who?! sighh. haha ><

today when kylie and i were driving home from the beach and i was searching for radio stations for her. suddenly 21 guns came on the radio and i stopped searching and let the song play. then kylie started to talk about something excitedly but all i could hear was the song. and i thought about you. it was like one of those moments that you see in movies where someone is talking to you, trying to tell you something really exciting but it's totally blocked out and sounds like gibberish because you are only thinking about one person. it was one of those moments when i realized once again...this is so hard. sigh. imy.

shaking in my boots.

so a lot of people have been receiving their CRNE results lately......as of yesterday and i'm so freaking nervous waiting for that letter. i check the mail everyday and think excessively about whether the letter is gonna be fat or skinny. it makes me sooo nervous omg. i don't even want to think about it. maybe i'll just face the reality when the letter actually comes instead of stressing about it while it's on its way........ X____________X

well i had my first night shift on wednesday and it was a good shift! nights can go either way... everyone can be sleeping and it can be very peaceful OR everything can go wrong and it could be crazy. thankfully it was one of those more peaceful nights where i was able to look up some policies and procedures and do lots of stuff for my patients as well. they were SOO cute, i love little toddlers. <3 but honestly in pediatrics, the parents are there like 80% of the time and it's great that they participate in the care but sometimes i wish they weren't around so often because i just want to hold their baby LOL. i'm not crazy, they're just SO CUTE! but one significantly cool thing from night shift is that.... THERE WAS A PATIENT FROM CUPERTINO!!! i was like O_O haha so apparently this kid got really sick while camping in santa cruz and they didn't think much of it. then the following week, they came to Vancouver for a family trip and he started getting worse... poor kid. when i looked at the file and saw Cupertino, CA i was like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! haha and of course they were asian. :P

chelsea and i had dinner at banana leaf the other day and IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. we got a 7 course prix fixe menu and it was SO yummy. especially the fried banana and ice cream dessert because the bananas were HUGE and i haven't eaten that in FOREVER! i love that this restaurant is pretty close to me so it's super convenient! afterwards we walked to Granville Island to hunt down the cute lunchbox store but we couldn't find it. but there's an indoors farmer's market and i bought some yummy blueberries! the weather was gorgeous that day so we got such good exercise walking everywhere.

today is my 2nd out of my 5 days off and the weather is GORGEOUS. yesterday kylie and i went to Kits because i wanted to check out the bikram yoga studio and we ended up shopping on W. 4th and eating the CHEAPEST SUSHI OF MY LIFE. i got 24 pieces (3 rolls, 8 pieces of each) and a miso soup for $6!!!!!!!! i was so amazed. the sushi was good too! nothing extremely special but what do you expect, it's freaking $6. i'm really excited because if i do join bikram yoga, i'm gonna get food from here all the time because it's literally right nextdoor :] and the place is super cute...it's called Broadway Sushi and it's a little cute family-owned sushi restaurant. the parents make the food and the little daughters work the cash - SO. CUTE. and then after sushi, kylie took me to buy watermelon (because i refuse to WALK HOME with a watermelon from safeway....way too freakin heavy) and it is delicious. yup, i just pretty much wrote a whole paragraph about food. i'm such a fatty.

well, today me and kylie are gonna try to hike it up to Grouse Mountain - one of the biggest most popular mountains in Van. this was kylie's idea because she has "never been to a mountain before". HAHAHA so we'll see how this goes. i'm scared. i'm gonna go read Shopaholic while i wait for her.

oh yeah! i got my first paycheck today =) it's nothing special or big though... it only covered 3 days of orientation -_- but still yay money! i'm excited for when the bigger checks start rolling in... HAHA $$ cha chingggg!

here is me at the Aritizia base on Robson St <33333333333




yeah, i think Vancouver is going to turn me into an EXTREME aritzia/lululemon slave.... hahaha :P






i miss you all <3

Survived my first two shifts!

so i had my first two official day shifts on friday and saturday and i can say that they went well. i was pretty tired during the shift... it's re-adjusting to waking up at 6am and being awake and active for 12 hours.... -______- i am so exhausted after my shifts that i just want to shower and go to SLEEP. clearly during the days when i have straight shifts in a row, i will not have a life.

it's a bit sad working at a children's hospital because you see all these poor kids with health conditions, problems and diseases and you just feel bad that they're going through so much pain at such a young age. after working with the adult and geriatric population for awhile, you kind of become insensitized and assume the fact that a lot of their health problems were brought upon themselves from lifestyle choices or what not. but when you work in pediatrics, you realize how many health issues are actually just congenital or even related to social determinants of health that aren't of choice by the children and families... i love seeing the little month-old babies and holding them! SOOOO CUTE. and then you have the 15 year olds with attitudes and just want you to leave them alone. just from the two days of working, it's very clear that there is a lot for me to learn.... not only clinical skills but also therapeutic communication and lots of basic principles of child and family centered care. >______< i should probably buy a pediatric textbook.

after work on saturday, kylie & i went out for dinner and some WINDOW shopping on Robson. the weather was SOOOOOOO FREAKING NICE, it was too bad that we were stuck at work all day :( but we made a deal to go out after work even if we were really tired. so we ate at Guu (japanese tapas restaurant) which was pretty yummylicious. i really liked the kimchi fried rice, jellyfish & shark fin salad and grilled pork belly. i can't wait to go back to try more stuff hehe.

well this week should be pretty sweet. i have workshops monday and tuesday and my first night shift on wednesday! then i have 5 days off - lots of time to catch up on reading, run errands, learn to actually cook SOMETHING other than instant noodles and explore! hopefully the weather will be on my side and i'll be able to do some outdoorsy things.

i picked up my lululemon pants today and i LOOOOOOOOVE them. i swear, it is an unwritten law to be required to own and wear lululemon if you are a resident of Van. after i picked them up, i went to Blenz Coffee (i like their strawberry tea latte!) to do some research, use wifi and people watch. i live pretty close to South Granville and i explored some of the shops around there. lots of cute shops and yummy looking restaurants. excited to try some of them in the future.


downloaded 范范 and 阿妹's new albums today~ hopefully i will enjoy them... but my song of the moment is still 紅豆－ 方大同

xo

new rainboots!

can't wait til they come! i hope they look cute. haha :) ok, a real update later.

xo

it's official!... or is it?

hello! :]

One significant thing that happened during orientation today: we received our photo id! i feel all professional now. hahaha, it's like getting handed your diploma... it's official! it even says REGISTERED NURSE! ...yeah... let's not celebrate that until we find out for sure. -_- but heres a pic of it! it was printed kind of...un-centered but i'll get over it i think. i'm a perfectionist about these type of things... if it were up to me, i would reprint one until it was perfectly centered >__<

i was so sleepy during orientation all day. i was just looking forward to crawling back into my bed. but as i was walking home from the hospital, i was thinking about the weather and i realized something. it's July and i'm used to it being SUPER HOT and i realized that if i was walking the same distance at home in California right now... i would probably be sweating and so uncomfortable. but today, it was mild, some barely light rain and in the 70's and i wasn't cold and wasn't hot... and it was actually really comfortable walking home in this weather. so i'm starting to appreciate the weather here and like it for what it is. i swear, everywhere i go, i slowly realize how blessed California is with its amazing weather but in some small ways i start to appreciate the different weather i experience in other places.

tomorrow's my day off and i'm working friday and saturday. i'm going to dim sum (YESSSSSSSSSSS!) tomorrow morning with Uncle Dennis and Uncle William (two of my dad's bffs) and hopefully it won't be too awkward. i'll probably go to Ikea with Jen to pick up some things... and i'll have to do some reading and prepare for my first shift. dear god, i hope i can fall asleep the night before...

so i've been hanging out with Chelsea and Jen (both girls I graduated with from college) and we've been having some fun when we have time to get together. hehe i can tell we're going to have many more adventures to come.  i'm glad i have these girls here ... we have a special Mac bond because we know exactly what each other went through the past 4 years to get to where we are now... so we can be each other supports here :) here we are at kitsilano beach trying to spell MAC haha. also please note my latest summer dress that i LOOOOOOOOVE. yes, love. it was the last one, EVER from the warehouse. <3 

well that's it for today! 1 more day......

Orientation so far

well, today was my 2nd day of orientation! today was a lot more interesting than yesterday as it was more nursing related and specific to the staff working only at the Children's and Women's hospital. yesterday was literally an orientation to PHSA (the motherboard agency) and it was pretty boring... nothing interactive at all haha. but today i met a lot more people and generally everyone is super nice. only a few are from Vancouver and the rest of us are all from different places! lots from Ontario, one from Australia, New Zealand, London (UK) and other places but generally it's pretty diverse. age and experience range as well... i would say that 35% are new grads like me! i met this girl who was a competitive swimmer and we were talking about the possibility of doing masters swimming? hahaha ugh i'm so completely out of shape that my body probably doesn't even remember what muscle is. but it's nice to know i have someone to go swimming with. anyways it's been pretty cool meeting everyone and it's amazing to see how people from all across the world with different backgrounds and experience all come together for one thing: to be a specialized pediatric nurse at BC Children's. 

the nursing resource team (NRT) that i'm working on, consists of 17 of us. hopefully we get to work with each other often and become good friends... i'm getting trained on three units including: renal/metabolic and endocrine, cardiac and neuro surg. i'm excited to get a variety of experience and then hopefully pick a specialized path and work regularly on a unit.... but yeah we'll see how this goes. everything's new so ahhhhhhhh! i think i'm more freaking out about my first shift which is this FRIDAY. i forget what 12 hour shifts are like........ >.<

it rained like all day today. i really need those rainboots and a cute rain jacket. i don't have anything waterproof in my wardrobe... other than this one tna vest. how is that even possible? i think it's time to hit the lululemon OUTLET (thats right beeeeeeeezies, OUTLET!!!). ok not until i make some monies. haha. dude i was walking home and i watched these two guys get SOAKED by this huge SUV that drove by SUPER fast SUPER close to the curb.....omg they were soaked from head to toe. i kind of laughed inside but felt so bad for them. but i know for sure one day that's definitely going to happen to me........-___-

well, what can i say... there is the good and the bad. hopefully i can focus on all the positive things and forget about the things that hurt me and make me sad. thank you to my friends who read my blog and comment/ email me... i love you and miss you guys sooo much.

pic!

ahh i was going to write about my first orientation day but i'm too tired now and honestly, it wasn't anything too exciting. picture isntead :)

this is Kitsilano Beach. see the city and mountains in the distance? love it :)

So I'm here!

well i've been in Vancouver for a couple days so far and so far i'm liking it. the weather's been super nice but it's going to start getting kinda cloudy/rainy into the 70's starting today. hopefully it doesn't rain too much because i don't have any cute rainboots yet haha :P

Vancouver is a beautiful city... i love how you can see the downtown city buildings with the mountains in the background. i went to Kitsilano beach yesterday and it was so cute! the beaches here are so different... well i think there are several different types of beaches. ones right along the ocean coast, some along the bay and some other bodies of water that feed from the ocean. Kitsilano beach has a swimming area sectioned out as well as a HUGE outdoor swimming pool that is filled with salt water and it's right by the ocean so you can go lap swimming and like...still be at the beach! i like that Vancouver has the city life for those looking for the busy things and exciting-ness but offers such beautiful nature to enjoy outdoor activities and sporty things. 

we went to Robson St yesterday too- SHOPPPPPPING! went to the first Aritzia store hehe. let's just call yesterday a success as i located the Aritzia base, Tiffany & Co, Louis Vuitton and found Japadog! i'm also happy to report that the mall super close to me (Oakridge Mall... kind of ironic because there's the Westfield Oakridge Mall close to my house at home in Norcal hehe) has Lululemon and Aritzia!! Super EASY ACCESS. :]

hmm... what else. oh where i'm living. so i'm renting a room in a house in Shaughnessy (gorrrrrgeous) temporarily until i pretty much find out my exam results, how much i like my job, how stable my job is and how long i think i'll be staying in Vancouver. my room is a good size, it came furnished with a full size bed, desk, closet, drawers etc. and a tv (with cable!). haha ok the tv with cable is probably the only thing i would call an *upgrade* from my life at home. i also have a small patio and one wall is all glass windows so it lets in all the sun during the day/afternoon and fresh air. i plan to sit there during the day to read/study/eat and stuff. it's good extra storage space and a good little area. oh, i'm sitting here now as i type this haha. the only thing i don't really like is the bathroom. i have to share with the other tenants (2 guys, 1 girl) and from what i see, the guys are dirty and the girl is clean. but there's this nasty smell...ugh. i'm going to buy air fresheners. i think it's because the house is kinda old... well, other than that i don't really have a problem. i think this will just take a lot of getting used to. hopefully i can move out soon. but then again, i am saving a lot of money living here so... i guess i'll just have to see.

adjusting has been rough. orientation starts tomorrow and hopefully i'll meet some more new grads like me and not feel so lonely. i lost support that i used to have and i think that makes a huge difference for me. i'm adjusting to my new beginning, new job, new city, new people and ... other changes. one thing continues to hit me the hardest and it's always in the back of my mind no matter how hard i try not to think about it. i thought i would be able to handle it okay... i thought i prepared myself and i was ready... obviously i am not. i know it'll take some time  but it's so painful crying everyday. i don't want to but sometimes it's like i can't help it. i want to not think about it and not let it bother me but it does. and i don't know what to do. i think i should listen to Better in Time on repeat.

it'll all get better in time.

what's left?

dear blog, sorry i've neglected you. so may things have been happening...

the exam has been over and done with for awhile. sigh. let's not speak of it and just cross our fingers.

i'm graduated. yay...!

and we're just friends.

just friends.

the two words constantly repeating in my head everytime i think about you, talk to you or mention you.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." 

i can't decide whether to smile or to cry. i want to do both.

here comes goodbye

here comes the last time

here comes the start of every sleepless night

the first of every tear i'm gonna cry

here comes the pain

here comes me wishing things had never changed

that she was right here in my arms tonight

why does it have to go from good to gone?

before the lights turn on, and you're left alone

here comes goodbye.

i'm worried.

so i barely studied today. i spent half the day with my parents, helping move/clean and doing other errands. 

when i decided i was really going to study i got distracted by craigslist and spent HOURS looking for a place to live. 

and then when i decided it was REALLY REALLY time to study it was dinner time.

and now everybody's online so....... really what am i going to get done. -___-

well, i discovered some new kelly clarkson songs i like. and one of them is called "Already Gone". it makes me really sad because i guess i can kinda relate.

Remember all the things we wanted

Now all our memories, they're haunted

We were always meant to say goodbye

Even with our firsts held high

It never would've worked out right

We were never meant for do or die

I didn't want us to burn out

I didn't come here to hold you, now I can't stop

I want you to know that it doesn't matter

Where we take this road someone's gotta go

And I want you to know you couldn't have loved me better

But I want you to move on so I'm already gone

Looking at you makes it harder

But I know that you'll find another

That doesn't always make you wanna cry

Started with a perfect kiss then we could feel the poison set in

Perfect couldn't keep this love alive

You know that I love you so, love you enough to let you go

I want you to know that it doesn't matter

Where we take this road someone's gotta go

And I want you to know you couldn't have loved me better

But I want you to move on so I'm already gone

I'm already gone, already gone

You can't make it feel right when you know that it's wrong

I'm already gone, already gone

There's no moving on so I'm already gone

Remember all the things we wanted

Now all our memories they're haunted

We were always meant to say goodbye

sigh. it hits me right in the spot that makes me go :( and breaks my heart a little.