Amanda Ellington, RN at your service

So here is the thing... I took the NCLEX or the nursing state boards on June 15. That exam was cruel and unusual punishment for someone who just got done with nursing school... & I am sure all of my nursing girls would agree with me. It is a pretty hateful thing to make someone take this exam after that. ANYWAYS. When I got my authorization to test, basically permission to sign up for the test, I kind of wanted to puke. I wasn't nervous until the moment I opened that email and realized it was my turn to sign up for this dreaded exam. So with a lot of persuasion from Adam and my mom I signed up for the closest date, June 15 in Columbia, SC. That was TWO WEEKS AWAY! What the heck was I thinking? Was I going to be ready? Were the 2 NCLEX review classes enough to prepare me for this torturous exam? Was reading through an additional NCLEX review book going to help? Or doing thousands of review questions REALLY going to prepare me how to read these nclex style questions? 

this was my life for the 2 weeks before the exam..... all yours ashlyn fowler!

The day came & went like every other day. Honestly, it was kind of a blur. I got to the testing center and had that "I am going to puke" feeling & thinking holy crap I am not ready to take this thing on. Luckily, I have an amazing husband who was there with me all the way & reminded me of the amazing priesthood blessing he gave me the night before & I felt better... for about 2 1/2 minutes. It was time for me to go into the testing room and begin the exam. When I got to the computer I immediately wanted to burst into tears and get the heck out of there... no seriously the computer wasn't even on yet & I had tears in my eyes. Anyways. I got to the first question & thought "crap wth is that?" Good indicator of the rest of the exam. I finished with 75 questions in a little over 2 hours & it was done. BEHIND ME! Hopefully for the rest of my life. The rest of the day I felt like a zombie.

The rest of the day we celebrated. Adam bought me a cookies & cream milkshake from chic fil a & we also went to the temple since we were in the area! After that, we went to the big mo, the drive in, and we watched the Avengers & ate Doritos locos taco's from taco bell. It was pretty awesome! 

The weekend dragged on & on. Every day I had to wait the more I convinced myself that I failed miserably & the "NCLEX lady" didn't think I could possibly answer any of her questions right. WELL.... Adam & I were checking the board of nursing website religiously all weekend and TODAY around 130 or so I saw my name with a license number next to it. !!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly... I stared at it for a few minutes to make sure it was real & then I cried a little... tears of happiness of course... :) Definitely one of the happiest moments of my life. 

So its official..... I now have fancy initials behind my name. Amanda Ellington, RN, BSN. BOO-YAH

 From this point on I can craft, read FOR FUN, hang out, & start working on my bucket list for real without worrying about studying:) It's a very strange feeling


I never could have gotten to this point without the support of my husband, family, & friends! Thank you so much for putting up with my crabbiness, anxiety, & weird dinner conversations for the past 2 years. I am truly blessed :)