“There is no part of my life, upon which I can look back without pain” --Florence Nightingale

I was attributed with being the founder of modern nursing. I was born in Florence, Italy, in  May of 1820 to wealthy English parents while they were on honeymoon. I am the younger of my parents two children with my older sibling being my sister Parthenope. My mother always wanted me to follow in her footsteps and follow the social "norms" as in be a socially respectable woman. I was supposed to go to all the parties and marry young just like my mother and sister; I however didn't find that future too appealing.

While growing up I studied under my father, a respectable Cambridge scholar, as well as many of my nannies. I learned seven languages in my youth and wrote an autobiography by the age of ten. During my time, nursing was looked at as a non-respectable profession. Prostitutes, women who were drunk in public and homeless women were the "nurses" of my time. I wanted a change. I felt that people's lives were worth more than just an afterthought for the laywomen of the time. So, against my mother's wishes, I began to study nursing, going as far as Germany to do so. When I returned home from Germany, I was put in charge of the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen on Harley Street in London until the Crimean war began.

The Crimean War was fought in Turkey with the Russians in the year 1853. There was a horrid war hospital in Turkey that a few other nurses and myself went to assist in saving the lives of thousands of patients. There was over two times the amount of patients in that hospital than was the said capacity. When I arrived there was a fatality rate of over 60%. My fellow nurses and I brought that down to 1%.

I believe that because I wrote my book "Notes on Nursing" it is going to help change the face of nursing for the future. I hope that one day people will think of nursing as more of a "calling" than a "job".

--Florence Nightingale

"In the childhood memories of every good cook, there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and mom" --Barbara Costikyan

My mom and I are going to make cookies today. Its something that we love to do. We have to make cookies for Santa every year. He will get hungry going from my house to the next with out having a cold glass of milk and some of my mom's homemade frosted sugar cookies. Even if Santa has been on a diet, he has never turned down my mom's cookies.

Yesterday, we prepared the dough to get it ready for today! My mom and I gathered up all the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly as it said and I have been waiting in anticipation since yesterday to bake them today! See, in order to make the dough cut into the cool shapes, we had to put it in the refrigerator over night to cool it way down.

My first helper job is to get the flour and spread it all on the counter to make sure the dough doesn't stick to it. If I didn't put the flour down, it would stick to the counter so bad we would have to use a giant spatula to scrape it off. If we tried too hard to get the dough off the counter it might fly up and hit the ceiling and then we would need a ladder to get it down! So that's why my mom says we use flour. We have to put some on the rolling pin to so that way we can roll the dough even to make perfect cookies for Santa! My mom does most of the rolling though, I'm not very good at that part. The part I am good at though is picking out all the cookie shapes that I just know Santa will love this year! I am in charge of cutting them out of the dough sheet and placing them onto the cookie tray.

After my mom and I made as many cookies as we could out of the dough, we place the cookie trays into the oven at 400 degrees. I'm not allowed to do that though because my mom said I can burn myself and I don't want to have to go to the hospital. As I sit outside the oven watching them rise, I can smell the warm, sweet goodness coming from inside the oven. Just as the cookies start to turn a golden brown, the kitchen timer goes off telling my mom its time for Santa's cookies to be ready for cooling then frosting.

I just know that the Santa will love the color frosting I picked out for him. He might love them so much, he might ask for them again next year!

Santa's yummy cookies!!

Frosted and ready to eat!!!

"A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are" --Anonomys

My best friend, Ariana, is the most insanely wonderful person on the planet.

I met her my freshman year in high school in our freshman physical education class. Although I knew her name my freshman year, it wasn't until a year later in our ceramic class that I began to grow close to her. Throughout a class where you had such creative freedom, we realized that we had a lot of things in common as well as many differences that made being friends exciting.

Typically she has short, bright blond hair, but recently she likes to switch it up on me and do some dark colors. She always has the best make-up on and it always looks like a professional applied it. Ariana is always well dressed, because a girlie-girl like her has to be. Well, with the exception of those early morning classes where us college students choose to sleep in that extra hour or so and go to class in our pj's. She is about 5'4" 5'5" but her short height is no match for her big personality. My best friend is straight out of New York, which makes me love her even more. I always knew she had the accent of a New Yorker but I never really quite understood how "New York" she was until my first time eating over at her house on "Macaroni night" or spaghetti as most of us West Coast people call it. If you go there and call it spaghetti, you are wrong. No negotiating that one. It is not "spaghetti" it is "macaroni". Anyway back to the first dinner with the family. I remember sitting there at the table with Ariana, her sister, her sister's boyfriend, their mother, father, grandmother and aunt. Let me tell you, if there ever was a time where I was ever hit with culture shock, that would be the time. I remember sitting there eating my "macaroni" and all of a sudden the whole family gets into an argument about grocery shopping. I don't remember who brought the topic up or why, but it was the most entertaining nights of my life. The epic battle was over should you write the prices of your groceries next to them on the list so that way you can tally the total cost up on paper, or should you just do it in your head. I don't mean argument in the sense of scowls and stern tones of voice. I mean F-bombs every other word, dropping of forks onto the plate and just all out anger. I am sure my eyes were popping out of my head in shock. After the argument was over (I don't remember the outcome of it), the family went back to normal like it never went down. That's when I knew, she would be my best friend for the rest of my life.

Ariana is like my "sister from another mister". In high school I would always go to her house every night or right after we got out of class. We used to go on "epic adventures" to the best food places in Arizona at least five times a week. She is so amazing, she even got me my job at Hallmark. She and I are so close that we could go weeks with out talking, and then out of the blue just call and nothing is ever out of place. She cares out people who respect and care about her. If, however, you are one of the unlucky ones to cross her, watch out. She is the friend I turn to when I have had a bad day, or when a crazy ex of mine calls me up at two in the morning causing me to go into a panic. She is the one to be my rock when a break up ends badly. She is the only one of my friends who is allowed to just waltz right into my mother's house unannounced because she is so trustworthy and wonderful.

Now that we are growing up and in college now, almost 6 years from the first time I met her, I still can say every time we get together we still have as much fun as ever. I may not see her as much as I used to or as much as I would like to, but that doesn't make her any less of a best friend or any less of a sister to me.

Ariana, I thank you for being there for me through thick and thin and I hope you know I am always there for you whenever you need me. Love you!

"Live is a handful of short stories, pretending to be a novel" --Anonymous

Hello!! Hmmm...where to start? Well why not with the simple stuff first. My name is Chelsee and right now I am currently a nursing major at the Downtown campus. I work for ASU at their Downtown Bookstore and have been there for almost two years. In addition to my bookstore job, I have been working at a Hallmark store for almost three years. Hallmark is the job where I get to have my fun. I get to have Christmas for six months out of the year! Who wouldn't love that? I am a fun person who is passionate about life. I always try to smile at least once a day. On that same note, I don't put up with stupidity. I stand firm in what I believe in and I stand up for what I feel is right.

I have a LARGE family and I love them all. I am the only girl out of six children between both my parents. My family is spread out between three states and sometimes it gets frustrating. My father lives in Kansas with my stepmother and three of my younger brothers. My brother closest in age to me, Michael, just left for basic training for the United States Air Force. Words cannot express how proud I am of him. My brother Chester, 17, has Autism but that is not what defines him. He is a mellow boy with a wonderful heart and every time you look at him he makes you smile. My youngest brother in Kansas, Weylin who is 16, is developing into a wonderful young man.

From left to right: Weylin, Me, Michael and Chester

I have an older brother named Brett who is living in Tucson. He is a fun person to just sit and spend time with. I may not talk to him everyday, but he is still my big brother and I will always be there for him. Four of my cousins live in Tucson named Josh, Mackenzie and her son Luke, Sydney and Mason along with my Uncle Teo. My Aunt Michelle is an officer in the Army and is stationed in the great state of Texas.

I live in Glendale with my mom, dad and brother. My brother's name is Hayden and he is 11. What can I say about him? He is a little brother, so yes he gets on my nerves, a lot, but I love him dearly. I can't wait to see what he chooses to do with his life.

My mother is a big part of my life. She doesn't know just how much I appreciate her or how much I take inspiration from her.

I love Elephants. I love everything about them. They are beautiful, majestic creatures that have big floppy ears. They are big, grey and wrinkly but yet beautiful.