Susan, BSN

This was an exciting weekend for me! My graduation was from nursing school was on Friday, so my boyfriend came in for the weekend, landing on Thursday. I was also being inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor society, and that ceremony was Friday morning. Of course, Chicago was hit with a huge snow storm beginning on Friday morning and lasting into Saturday, so it took over two hours to get from my house in the suburbs into Chicago! I missed the "orientation" part of the honor society induction, but many other people were late so it ended up being fine.

Here's a picture after my induction into the honor society:


Sigma Theta Tau provided us with a lunch for us and our families afterward the induction, which was catered from a place called Pompeii. Hence, we had pasta, salads, and cannolis! Yum. We had some time to kill before the graduation ceremony in the afternoon, so I gave my parents and James a tour of the school. The school is rather small and is pretty much only on two floors of the building, so it was a rather short tour.

We headed over to where graduation was to be held, and it's a good thing we got there when we did because the seats were a hot commodity! My class only had about 64-65 people in it, so it was a small ceremony. I had applied for an award/scholarship, and I won it, so I had to stand in the front of the room where they read part of my application essay! I do not like being the center of attention, so it was nerve-wracking for me even though I didn't have to say anything! However, the award came with a nice check, so I was able to grin and bear it. We selected one of our fellow classmates to give a speech, during which she captured what we learned throughout the year, as well as highlighted several funny moments which had the room all laughing...excellent speech! It was then time to get our diplomas and nursing pins!!

Here's me with my diploma, pin, and honor cords post-ceremony:












This diploma is a bit smaller than my one from Maryland, but that's not an issue! I ended up graduating summa cum laude, which means I was pretty much at the top of my class! I studied so hard for the past year...I definitely earned it!

We went out to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate, and I'm going on a Carribean cruise at the end of the month with my boyfriend, during which I will be in full relaxation mode! I can't wait to get out of the cold and into the 80 degree weather! In the meantime, the job hunt is in full force!

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Okay, that was plenty of life updates...yay! I didn't run on Friday because I was so busy, and no run on Saturday either because it snowed most of the day and the roads weren't clear at all! We probably have about 8-10 inches of snow on the ground, and we supposed to get 1-3 inches more tomorrow...

I did get a run in today after I took James to the airport.

Sunday, 1/11
6.08 miles in 46:51, avg pace of 7:42

The neighborhood roads are pretty much clear of the snow, but my running routes are limited because the sidewalks on the major roads are covered in snow. Today's run was good with each mile getting faster than the one before, not on purpose, but I have a tendency to do that...

We're supposed to get our annual January deep-freeze later this week, so we'll see how that unfolds...