These are some of the flowers Melanie got. Notice one is in a pink purse.

Good to be back!

It is a good feeling to be blogging again. The last couple weeks have just been crazy, but things are going to slow down now. Really, they have to...

I finished up my last final exam a week ago Friday, April 30. Got all of my final paperwork, evaluations, etc. wrapped up and had a couple days to breathe again. I was able to enjoy the weekend, spent some time with my sweet hubby, saw some friends, helped my cousin with some yard work.

On Wednesday, May 5 - I had surgery.  If there are guys reading this, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph. I've had "female problems" for years - really, since I first started getting my period. It started affecting my life more as a young adult and tried various treatments with limited success. Eventually, I started taking an injectible hormone every 12 weeks which worked well. My first hubby and I weren't trying to have kids so it wasn't a big deal. Six years ago, I began to have heavy bleeding, abdominal pain and pressure. An ultrasound revealed a grapefruit sized tumor on my uterus which thankfully was benign. The surgeon was able to remove the tumor and told me that my ability to have children shouldn't be affected. So... when Mark and I got married, we didn't anticipate any problems. Unfortunately, pregnancy didn't happen and my bleeding problems returned and worsened. It got to the point where it was affecting not only my personal life, but my professional life as well. Because Mark and I were hoping to get pregnant, it made things difficult. Any treatment would affect fertility. After fertility testing early last year, we decided that pregnancy was not likely to happen and started to pursue adoption. I had more fibroids removed last year, but continued to have problems. This spring, I began to see a new GYN who finally offered me the option of a hysterectomy. I posted very vaguely about this after my appointment with her. It was such a relief to finally feel that my issues were real and legitimate. I asked to see the same surgeon who had performed my first surgery and he reinforced that this was the right choice, actually told me that most women would have been in his office years ago demanding surgery and that I had tolerated the problem much longer than others.

So... Wednesday was surgery. Mark and my mom were at the hospital. My sweet hubby stayed overnight with me which really was a wonderful gift! The nurses are good but they can't be in the room 24/7.  So, he was there for anything I needed. Thursday morning, I felt pretty good and maybe overdid a little because by noon, I was feeling pretty rotten. Got discharged Thursday evening and have been laying low since then. I can not say enough about how awesome Mark has been. The first night, he got up with me every time I needed to go to the bathroom - making sure I was steady and safe to move around. He has his alarm set to go off when I am due for pain medication, he takes such good care of me. I am truly blessed!!

And for those of you who know how much I love purses, this wonderful husband of mine came home from a quick trip to the "grocery store" yesterday with an adorable purse filled with beautiful flowers!  Since he is always suggesting that I get rid of a purse (or ten), it means even more. I'll have to post a picture of it later.

I'm starting to feel a little more human again - I'm not a good patient, it's much easier for me to be a caregiver. But, I am trying to allow myself to be cared for by others for a change. 

And it feels good to be back here, catching up! 

Finally...

It was a good weekend!  That sounds wrong...I don't mean finally...it was a good weekend like my weekends have been bad. But, this weekend??

I took my last final on Friday. School is finished!!  Unbelievable!  I still have my certification exam to take - probably towards the end of June or beginning of July, but school is done! There were times that I thought this day would never come, times that I wanted to quit, and have a life again - see friends again. But, I made it. As of next Saturday, I will have a master's degree in nursing. And the ability to think about things other than school.

I'll start studying for my certification exam soon, but decided to take a short mental health break before then. Mark offered to take me out to celebrate, but all I wanted to do was stay home and spend some time with him. It was so nice!  Yesterday, we ran errands together - something I haven't felt good about doing in a long time. Last night, we went out for dinner with friends - I could do that without feeling guilty about neglecting schoolwork.

Today, we took a quick trip up to the cabin. It survived the winter well. I was able to get a little cleaning done while Mark mowed the lawn and collected wood ticks. He accumulated at least 5 during the course of the day.

Chocolate chip pancakes for dinner tonight - what more could a girl ask for?  Life is good!  BTW - I sure hope our child loves chocolate chip pancakes as much as I do!

Saturday night

Saturday night we had Brad and his kids over. His sister Vickie and son Brandon came too.  We had a great time doing a stirfry on the deck. Then we played a game called Imaginiff.  Was a fun game and Melanie won. We also did a Mentose and diet Coke explosion.  Then rootbeer floats for desert

Mark

Saturday adoption workshop

We went to a workshop on Saturday. It was an 8 hour long class to help us find a child to adopt.  We found we were doing most of these and the the few things we are not doing are not in our comfort zone.  There are two things we may do, but we need to think about it. The first is a web page, but we have a blog already. The second is to pay money that will get us more viewers to look at our profile.

mark

Thankful Thursday

I know... I said I was going to post last week about how my interview went. I left feeling that it had went "ok.' I didn't feel bad about it, although there were questions that I didn't answer the way I would have liked to. I definitely felt everyone's thoughts and prayers with me, though!

I think that I have shared before... I am NOT good at waiting, not good at the unknown. Tell me what's going on and I can deal with it. I may have a meltdown initially, but then I dig in and manage. After the interview the wait began. I was told that I would probably hear one way or the other this week. So... in spite of knowing better (and knowing that God's plan and timing are perfect), I was impatient Thursday night. Yep... same night as the interview.  On Friday morning, Mark and I were at the dentist. I had just got seated in the chair for my examination and had my mouth wide open when the phone rang.  I KNEW that this was the call. Really, the only person who calls my cell phone during the day is Mark and he was in another exam room so it couldn't be him. That was the LONGEST hour that I have ever spent in the dentist chair.

I waited until we were both finished and out in the car before I checked my messages. Yep, it was HR requesting that I call them as soon as possible which of course, I did. And yes, I am happy to be able to report that I was offered the job!

Another thing that I am thankful for today is F*irmont Medical Center. This is where I have been completing my clinicals. My preceptors and the staff have been wonderful to me. They believe in me enough that they have offered me a position as well. I have come to know and love many of the patients - they feel like my own. Anyway, yesterday was my last day of clinicals - 750+ hours total. Another thing checked off my list. It's getting shorter!  Scary and exciting at the same time.

I am so thankful for God's presence and the support of my family and friends over the past 2 1/2 years - without them, there is no way I could have done this!  

the weekend

This weekend was a full one, Melanie did some homework on Friday & Saturday. On Friday my friend Brad & I went to get the RV so we can get it set fot the cabin. (we use it as a guest house). Saturday again with Brads help I moved some dirt to our flowerbed/strawberry bed/weed garden. depending on what we get planted this year. Sunday after church we went to Melanies mom & dads to set up a pig pen. They have plans to raise two pigs this year.

Next weekend we will be going to an adoption workshop to learn how market ourselves to potential birth moms.