My week in bullets

This week is shaping up to be crazy busy and with the hectic schedule comes a snapshot post... So here is what my life looks like this week:

• Spent the weekend visiting Jon.  He had President's Day off and was granted a long weekend.  I, on the other hand, was not given the same luxury (silly GA school rule) but made the trip to see him anyway.  Oh, the things you do for love... (insert cheesy sigh)
• Clinicals, clinicals, oh and don't forget clinical paperwork! 
• In between the clinicals and the 4+ hours of clinical paperwork you will find me studying for my Thursday Med/Surg exam. Spending the weekend with Jon meant that I didn't get nearly enough studying done this weekend and am trying to stuff it all in my brain at once... (insert exhausted sigh)
• After the exam on Thursday I will have lecture till 4pm followed by a research study time for an upcoming research project... If anybody ever tells you that research is easy and doesn't take that long THEY ARE LYING!
• Friday I will leave bright and early in the morning to travel once again to see Jonathan in Columbus.  He will officially be half-way through officer candidate school (OCS) and Friday is his branching ceremony!  This is when we will find out what job he was given and where his training will take place for the next 6+ months.  Stay tuned for info!

That is all I have for now - short. sweet. to-the-point. 

Sunday Stirrings

One of the things I love about Sundays is church and the questions that stir in my heart the rest of the day.  Lately I feel like the sermons have been speaking directly to me and situations in my life.  The church I have been going to is currently conducting a series on temptation and the different ways we are tempted into sin.  Today focused on safety and how God's will isn't always the safe option but it is always the good option.  This concept resonated with me on a number of levels.

First, when starting nursing school I thought I would really enjoy working with people who struggle with mental illness and that I would be able to help them and could empathize with them.  I have mental health clinicals this semester and every time I leave clinicals I have a feeling of discomfort in my heart.  I have been interpreting this feeling as "this area of nursing is not for me" but maybe it is something different.  I know I am very new to mental health nursing and I haven't found my comfort zone in the field yet... maybe that is how it is suppose to be...maybe it is good that I don't feel 'safe' in this area of nursing and maybe you are not suppose to... maybe that is what makes good mental health nurses.  What I do know is that I find myself reflecting on my experiences in the mental health unit for multiple days after clinicals.  So maybe I won't count it out just yet and maybe this is a place where I can do the most good.

Second, lately I have been recognizing a fear in my heart that I usually try to suppress.  The fear that once Jonathan and I finally get to the point of starting our lives together, it will be cut short.  (wow - feels weird to write that out loud...) 

    [Here is a little history - Jon and I have been dating for over 4 years and most of our relationship has been long/short distance.  He deployed for the first time about 3 months after we first started dating; when he returned he found a job that took him across the state of MN for 3 years (so we did short distance dating = 4 hours apart).  This was all followed by his acceptance into the active duty army officer training program and my acceptance into graduate school.  Currently we are both living in GA but still maintain our 'short distance' relationship.]

We try to make the most of every minute we get together but sometimes I find myself waiting for our life together to finally start.   Here's the point of all of this - I know the life Jon and I are choosing is not the safest choice, Jonathan's career may will offer many difficult and fearful situations, and sometimes I let my fear get the best of me.  The sermon this morning was a great reminder that it is OK to not always feel safe or comfortable and many times living God's will may be unsafe but His will is also always good.  It settles my heart to know that no matter where we go, what we do or how much time we get together, as long as we stick to our faith and follow where God leads then we will have joy and peace.  There will always be things that scare me in life but I don't want to miss the adventure just because I fear the outcomes.  

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." ~ Acts 20:24

There you have it folks, a little bit of my heart and the life lessons that have been marinating in my thoughts and prayers today.  I hope this post finds you fearless and joy-filled today.  Take care.

Answered with Ruth

Last week was a trying week for me, I was exposed to some tough stuff and it really had me questioning why I was here.  Why did I go across the US just to go to school?  Isn't life suppose to be about loving the people around you?  And if that is true, then why did I chose to leave the people that I love and that love me just to better my education?  It seemed silly to me that I have been putting so much emphasis on achievement when in the big scheme of things, does it really matter?  As I was dwelling on all of these questions I stumbled onto a passage in Ruth and decided to get creative with it.  Here is what I came up with:

This passage spoke to my heart and even though I know that God is with me wherever I go, I needed the reminder.  I needed to be reminded that you can find God's community of believers wherever you go (or stay) and that there is a purpose for every adventure. 

Side note:  Since moving down here I have found a group of people that I enjoy spending time with and I know that they love me and support me while I am so far away from family.  I am blessed to have met them and have enjoyed that I get to take on the rigors of school with them by my side.  Thanks friends! :-)

A little late, but never gone

It has been 2 months since my last blog post... time has ran faster than I can keep up.  Here is a rundown of my 2 month sprint:

• Fall semester finals completed!  Only three more semesters to go!  I have 10 months and 11 days until graduation - not that anyone is counting. ;-)  This last semester was definitely a transition back to school but I am proud to say I have finally adjusted and found a rhythm. 
• Jonathan graduated from basic training. Going to his graduation was my first exposure to military ceremonies and it was a great experience.  There were reenactments and smoke and imitation gun fire -  I can see why there is a sense of pride for our country and our soldiers that chose the military lifestyle. 

After graduation - isn't he hansome!

•  Spent Christmas break with Jonathan (he had just over 2 weeks off!!).  Break was such a blessing! We got the opportunity to spend time with Jonathan's family, my family and even got some brief moments for the two of us.  The only hard thing about getting so much time with my man was having to say goodbye.  It was so easy to fall into a routine of getting to spend every waking moment with each other and taking the opportunities to love on each other and then you have to say goodbye and it is like having to part with a part of yourself.  Goodbye is what I classify as 'sad day'.

Phone photo - not the best quality but we are enjoying Christmas and New Years at the cabin with my family. :-)
We try to take a photo every New Years - I love the silly hats/headbands!

• Jonathan returned to Fort Benning to start officer training.  He has been in training for 3 weeks now and it is safe to say he is thriving.  I am so proud of him and I am pretty sure he has more athleticism in his big toe than I have in my entire body.  True story.
• I officially started my spring semester and am thriving as well.  We have clinicals 2 days a week, I love every minute and am learning a TON.  My clinicals are currently in mental health and telemetry (cardiac) and I am physically and mentally exhausted after every shift but it is soooo good.  This semester is definitely more time consuming than last semester but the learning curve is astounding!  I feel like I am actually starting to think like a nurse and am understanding why and how diseases happen in patients.  Plus, I have realized that I love learning about the heart!  This semester I feel like a sponge - through lecture and clinicals I am absorbing so much information - This is what makes me  love school! (I know, I am a complete NERD) 
• MLK Day - Jonathan and I both got the day off so I drove down to Columbus, GA to go see my man.  We spent the day getting supplies he needed for his living quarters (doesn't sound like fun, but it was great to do it together) and we tried our hand at geocaching.  I equate geocaching to a 'big kid scavenger hunt'.  People hide 'caches' and you use the GPS coordinates to locate them.  Here are a few photos of our adventure - I am not the best self-portrait photographer with my cell phone... 

 

Our first find!



Enjoying our day at the park in the sunshine - what a great day!



There you have it - my last 2 months in a nutshell.  This semester is already incredibly busy but I want to try to blog more than I have been.  I am currently sitting in the library enjoying a cup of coffee and flipping between Matthew West and Nora Jones on my pandora stations.  I do not have clinicals or class on Friday - I use it as my day for studying and catching up.  I am making a promise to myself to take the first hour of my Friday as a mental health moment and an opportunity to catch up on my blogging - it is therapeutic.  So stay tuned for next Friday's entry.