Post # 0.5 - And so it begins...


Well, here we are.  The first official "unofficial" post of this blog.  After staring for awhile at a blank screen I find myself with no further insight into how to write a blog than I did when I first opened the page.  I suppose ultimately writing a blog is, in many parts, simply about writing the various thoughts, musings and opinions I might have on whatever topic I am to write about.  Yet despite this understanding I find myself filled with an uncomfortable sense of trepidation.  I don't often, nor easily, share my innermost thoughts but I feel as if keeping things to a superficial level would be a disservice.  I suppose only time will tell how this particular project goes.

I suppose the first order of business is an introduction.  Those usually tend to go over well.  As far as I've noticed people tend to like introductions and knowing who is speaking to them (or writing as the case may be).  Silly things like wanting to know a person, I know, how demanding right?  My name is Lisa Evans.  As the title of this blog might suggest I am a nurse, currently an LPN, though my career path is really just getting started.  While I am currently working on the initial courses I must have, I am intending to apply to the advanced placement nursing program at Glendale Community College.  That's the immediate goal.  Long term is slightly more involved.

Apparently, I decided to see how much of a masochist I could be because after I get my RN Associates, I intend to take a bridge program to get my BSN.  Oh but the party doesn't stop there!  No, rather I intend to go further still and get my Masters and Nurse Practitioners degrees.  But wait!  Yes, that's right, there's more.  After seeing how thoroughly I can make my brain melt with schooling through the aforementioned paths, I intend to go another step and work on my PhD in Nursing.  So the 'end goal' so to speak is to end up as Doctor Nurse.  Amusing, I know.  While the career path I have stretching in front of me feels as though it's looming like a never-ending tidal wave of doom, I try to think of it in terms of small steps.  Keep things to steps and it makes it a little more manageable.

Ultimately, my desire for taking this path all the way to a PhD has to do with the research aspects that become more readily available once I reach that point.  While with my Masters and NP I would be able to participate in research studies, with my PhD I would have more control over creating the research myself versus having to be brought onto a project by someone with a PhD.  The reason I specify the importance of research has to do with my desire to study the human brain.  My family has experienced the devastation of Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's Dementia and unless you've seen the impact or felt it on your family yourself it's a terribly difficult disease to truly put to words.  That is what drives me however.  Though a good deal of humor and self-deprecation along the way helps too.  Always good to keep things light when you can.

At this point, though it may be entirely too late for this, I feel I should apologize.  You see, I'm what you would call 'summary impaired'.  Which is a nice way of saying I either talk or write too much.  It's true.  In high school, from seventh through twelfth grade, I participated in writing competitions.  At the main 'event' of the competition two students from each grade participated in three word dashes - a 40-word, 80-word and 120-word timed dash with different requirements for each.  For whatever reason the creators of this thought to make the 40-word dash the one in which each student had to describe an object.  In 40 words.  I found this thoroughly impossible.

For the sake of brevity, and my complete lack of it, I'll attempt to be a tad more direct at this point.  I have been married for nearly ten years to a wonderfully supportive man named Dan.  I am from Memphis, Tennessee originally and lived in Chillicothe, Ohio where my husband is from for ten years.  Finally in December of 2015, we moved to Peoria, Arizona.  I work 16 hour days on Saturday and Sunday in a long term care facility in Chandler and every weekend I rip my hair out and stress and ache and then promptly go back and do it all over again the next weekend.  Nursing is one of those interesting careers where you can both love and hate your job at the exact same time.

I am a self-anointed nerd.  I'm a bibliophile, since April when my husband got me a Kindle Paperwhite I've read over 300 books.  I'm thinking it's pushing closer to 350 now but I stopped counting after 300.  I love science fiction and fantasy, really I enjoy any book that has depth of characters and well-detailed worlds.  The best feeling to me when reading a book is a feeling of connection to the characters where I feel I have to keep reading, I just have to find out what happens next, how is it going to turn out, etc.  I'm a gamer.  I play online roleplaying games.  This particularly appeals to me as it allows me to be creative and as wordy as I want to be.  And the more descriptive I am the better.  Clearly that's a forum I do well with. 

So there's a small bit about me.  Yes, small.  I'm 34 years old, it would take a post significantly longer than this one admittedly already is to really give any great depth as to my life and personality and odd quirks and habits (there are a lot of odd quirks).  There you have it.  Perhaps anyone who reads this will find it interesting.  Perhaps they'll have moments of chuckling to themselves from my awkward humor.  Who knows?  I suppose people will just have to see what comes next to find out.  Stay tuned.