WE'RE DONE!!!!!
(Tristen didn't quite make it through the ceremony) :)
3 1/2 years. Unbelievable. This has definitely been one of the most intense, exhausting, hard, but rewarding things we've ever done. This past week, we said multiple times that if we knew everything we would encounter, we probably would have run in fear and never given Nursing School a shot. But, as we sit here, renewed and passionate about our calling in life, we know the intensity was well worth it. The financial burdens, the separation every week, the never ending homework, the pressures weighing on our shoulders as we tried to raise children throughout it all.....it's all worth it because we've never been closer to the Lord and have learned SO much in the last 3 1/2 years.
We've never been so humbled in our lives.
Just a timeline to put it all into perspective:
Jan. 2010: Moved to Mankato on a whim. Aaron had to take prerequisite classes to even apply for the Nursing program. He was going to apply for an Accelerated Program that would have been 18 months.
March 2010: Found out the Accelerated Program that we were banking on was cut. We then learned how competitive the regular Nursing Program was at MSU. (Only 48 students each semester)
April 2010-Jan 2011: Continued with the prerequisite classes and prayed Aaron's grades would be good enough to get accepted! Tristen was born, I quit my job to stay at home, Aaron's job got cut
February 2011: A terrifying month financially since we had no jobs and a newborn in tow. We also found out the competitive Nursing program was even more competitive with only 24 students being accepted for the next semester.
March 2011: Tax refunds are awesome :) We forgot we filed in January and our money came through the day before our mortgage was due. Aaron got a job AND by the grace of God, he was accepted into the very competitive Nursing Program. I mean, seriously, it was only through the Lord that it all worked out!
September 2011-July 2013: Clinicals in Minneapolis every week and holding down the fort at home with our 2 kiddos. We got used to the time away from each other but I now know what we were missing out on since we've had the last month together. Wow....time is SO important for marriage. I've just loved having my husband home every night! There was so much that happened during this time....just super intense, constant changes, instability, etc. We're still trying to catch our breath from last summer.
*Whew* I would do every part of this journey over again though. In a heartbeat....even the really hard times and incredibly scary times (even the uneasy, unknown phase we're in at the moment). I've learned so much. Maybe even more than my husband with his BSN :)
Thanks for reading all these years. In the future, I'm hoping to have more things to write about (our desire is to get a house with lots of land and character-meaning it's probably going to be a fixer-upper which we are excited to do again!), the lessons learned through this experience (things that were too close to home to write about at the time-i.e. money and the interesting things I've learned about it, struggles, etc.), and some preschool lesson plans (my hope is to start home preschool with Tristen this fall/winter)
What's next for us? Good question :) We're making a Plan A, B, C, and D. We're hoping that once Aaron passes his boards, he'll get a job that will help us know what to do next. Until then, we're staying put and taking one day at a time.....it's been interesting to not be able to commit to anything since we don't know where we'll be. It's been a good lesson of how to give up control. I've thought of any and all options of what to do if we're unemployed for a good deal of time and am planning on subbing if need be. Thank goodness for that Education degree that I stuck with. :)
And, yes, before you say it, I'll say it for you, "But, aren't there nursing jobs EVERYWHERE!?!" Yes, for experienced nurses. We just need to get our foot in the door to get that experience. Don't always believe the media.....they have glorified the "Nursing Shortage". But, something will pop up and we're confident of that. We'll let you know when that something pops up. Thanks again for all the support in this time of life! We so appreciate it :)
