Lucky Girl

Getting my diploma in the mail for my Associates of Science in Nursing made me think about all the work that went into that degree.  The past two years have been crazy.  I have had a lot of people tell me that I'm crazy.  I just wanted to express my gratitude to the people that helped me get through nursing school.

Tacy was born 5 days before I started nursing school.  She was actually due the second week of nursing school, but after talking with my doctor about school and trying to have Tacy on a weekend or something, my doctor offered to induce me 3 weeks early if her lung functions were great.  Tacy was obviously very ready to come because her lung functions were 10x better than what they needed to be and she weighed 7lbs 15oz.  Thank you Dr. Harrison for helping me to have this little girl early, helping her to be healthy and helping me to have a great pregnancy and delivery with no problems.  Gosh I'm gonna miss my doctor when we move to NC.

The first few weeks, probably months of nursing school were hard.  I had school Monday-Friday from 8:30-3:00.  I had a new baby who I had to leave behind in the care of family.  I'm grateful my mom helped us out that first week of school.  I'm so grateful Brad's job was flexible with his work schedule so he could be with Tacy every morning and that Jody could watch Tacy every afternoon.  I'm really grateful for all the help Jody was watching Tacy during nursing school so that Brad could go to work and I could go to school.

I could not have gotten through these past two years without Brad.  Seriously, he was amazing.  I probably cried on a daily basis that first month.  I was so stressed with school, a baby, trying to study and trying to be a good mom.  I felt like a horrible mother and worried Tacy would have no idea who I was.  Brad was there to listen to me, calm me down, and take care of Tacy in a different room while I studied or did homework.  I quit my job the day I went to the hospital to have Tacy and didn't work again until I finished my first year of nursing school.  So for 9 months Brad was the sole provider for our family.  He worked hard, helped to manage our budget, and found alternate ways of making money to help us buy gifts (thank you surveys for amazon gift cards).  That first year was really hard, but we made it.  Brad is a great Dad and a terrific husband.

I'm so glad Tacy was a great baby.  She sleep trained at 4 months, she was happy almost all the time, and did not care what bottle she drank from.  Tacy is a great kid, and only throws her tantrums for Mom and Dad, so people who watch her love her.   I'm also really glad we have been able to be with my in-laws so we have had a lot of family close by to help with Tacy.  Plus, Tacy loves all of her family so much.

Finally, I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father.  I know He helped me so much to get through school, handle being a new mom, and helped us so much with finances and helping ends meet.  I know that without Him I would not have done so well in school or passed my boards.  

We have been truly blessed these past two years.  Life may not have been ideal, but we got by and are happy.  Now hopefully we can continue to be blessed and survive Brad's PA program.  One day Tacy won't have a parent going to school :)

East Coast Here We Come!

Brad started the application process for PA school again because after receiving a 'no' from every school but one (who put him on the wait list) we decided we should start up everything again for next year's programs.  So once again, Brad set up times to go shadow one of the PAs I used to work with.  Monday (June 16th) he went to do a day of shadowing, while Tacy and I hung out at home.  I had just worked three days in a row after coming back from a trip to California to see my family/be at my sister's baby shower.  So I was tired.  Around lunch time Brad calls me up.  What does he tell me?  He just got a phone call from Campbell University telling him that someone had dropped out and asking if he was still interested because they had an opening for him in their program!  Granted Brad was in shock when he was talking to me so he had no emotion in his voice at all.  For a second I thought he was just not excited about this.  But Brad said he was shaking so bad and trying to get over the shock of the phone call. 

So what does this mean for us?  Well it means that Brad starts a 27 month PA program in Buies Creek, NC on August 7th.  It means that we have 6ish weeks to plan and get already and moved to North Carolina.  It means that we are now hunting for housing across the country and I'm applying for multiple jobs a day.  It has been a crazy week!  We have at least gotten a moving truck booked (and for a great deal thanks to Brad's Dad).  We will be towing our Honda behind the moving truck and I will be driving the Mazda with Tacy.  So a fun drive for our family.  Some of Brad's family might be able to drive with us so we can have help (I'm mostly concerned about keeping Tacy entertained).  The nice part of the drive is that we will be going through St Louis (where Brad served his mission) so we can stop and see some of his old friends. 

Basically we are planning on splitting the 32 hour drive up into 4 days of driving (with 1.5 days in St. Louis area).  So right now we will leave the end of July and get to North Carolina that weekend.  We are going to try and drive the longest the first two days and then drive shorter amounts the last two days (when I'm sure Tacy will be done being in a car).  St. Louis will be a great break point so Tacy can run around at the St. Louis zoo, play, whatever with people Brad knows before we finish our trek.

Brad is flying out to NC in 2 weeks to go house/apartment hunting.  We have looked online and found some places we really like.  But I still want at least one of us to see them before we sign a contract.  It's cheaper for just one of us to go, and well I make more working right now than he does.  So he is going while Tacy and I stay here waiting for his calls and pictures.  It's all very crazy and overwhelming.  We feel very blessed to have the opportunity for Brad to get into PA school.  I will be putting off my BSN for a little (since you have to live in the state of Utah to be in Weber's program).  Hopefully I can get into a program out in NC or an online one so I can get that (as most places really prefer nurses with BSNs (sorry a bachelors of nursing). 

That is the current crazyness of our lives.  We are trying to spend time with Brad's family since we now only have a month left here.  I know that Tacy will miss all of her aunts, uncles, and cousin (plus the 2 on the way that we could possibly completely miss).  We are going to throw an early birthday party for Tacy since we are moving right before her birthday.  

We are excited for this new chapter of our lives.  I'm excited to go back to NC since I haven't been there for 15 years.  We joke that by the time Tacy is clearly speaking english she will have a southern accent.