Introduction

“You grieve you learn, you choke you learn, you laugh you learn, you choose you learn, you pray you learn, you ask you learn, you live you learn.” – Alanis Morissette

So I’m going to dive in and get my first post over and done with. First and foremost, you are amazing! Thank you for reading, skimming, or just clicking through my blog. I want you to know that, even if we haven’t met face to face, I appreciate you and hope you’re having a great day. If it’s a not so great day, I hope you are able to find something good in your day. I’m home today with a constant, dry cough and a sick Nora jamming to ABBA. It’s been lots of hot tea with honey and eucalyptus oil for me and breastmilk, cuddles, & tears for baby Nora. My toddler, Stella, has had a sweet streak in her today and I’ve taken TWO (accidental) naps with Nora. Before each nap I’ve been reading Stella books. She then has proceeded to demand  request that I close my eyes while she read to me. The first nap I woke up to, what appeared to be, the aftermath of a toy tornado in my living room, the second I woke up to find Stella napping on me. Welcome to mom life.
Anywho, most of you know that Justin is in the Army. I don’t feel like we really had a timeline of how long he’d be in the army, but it has moved us all over the United States.  He lived at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) the summer we were engaged while I stayed in Missouri (2012), we moved to Fort Benning GA for a year, then to Fort Campbell KY from 2013-2016, and are currently at Fort Huachuca AZ (pronounced Wha-Chu-Ka).
When he went to JBLM, we figured I would finish my bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) while he moved to GA and then wherever the army sent him after. Well, plans changed, we got married, I quit school, and moved to Georgia.
 

In Georgia, I got a job as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), at a nursing home and decided I would most definitely go back to school and become a registered nurse (RN). Not six months later, I started taking pre-reqs online at a community college close to where we would be moving in Kentucky.
 

We moved in May, I got my acceptance letter in July, and started nursing school in August. In October we received an amazing blessing – we found out I was pregnant and due in July! Perfect timing for nursing school since I would be on summer break, but I went back to start my third semester of nursing school when my baby was only 3 weeks old. Up until that point I wanted to work in an Emergency Department at a trauma hospital and get enough experience to become a flight nurse. Plans changed after Stella was born and I decided midwifery would be my end goal instead. After much pumping, dealing with engorgement and clogged ducts, and the general hellish nature of nursing school, I graduated with my ADN and passed my NCLEX in May. By June I had accepted a position at a local hospital in the well baby nursery and in August was working nights in labor and delivery (L&D) department. I became pregnant with Nora in January, Justin deployed around April-May, I quit my job (since I couldn’t work nights with a toddler at home by myself) and accepted a hospice case manager job. In August I graduated with my BSN (did I mention I went straight into school again?) and in September Justin got home, Nora was born, and we got orders that we would be moving to Fort Huachuca AZ.

I started applying for jobs while enjoying my time home with my girls and got a phone interview with a hospital in Tucson for a day shift L&D job and in December we packed up and headed to Arizona. Whew, that’s a lot of typing! So as you can see, lots of twists and turns in my once simple plan for college and life.
Our plan was for Justin to get out of the army this year, but, as things usually happen with our lives, we decided to change course. He decided he wants a more outdoors based job once we move to Colorado and we would love to own a little farm, so he wants to learn about cows, horses, goats, chickens, etc. to give us a better idea of what we can handle. So in the army he stays so he can get his second bachelors paid for. We know for certain that I will be going back to school for my midwifery degree once we move to Colorado, so financially, this is the route we’re taking. We figured two kids (maybe more), while paying for two degrees, on one nurse (potentially part time) income may be more of a financial challenge than we want to face.
Lots of people did not agree with my plan along the way. I was an honors student and 3 varsity athlete in high school, I wasn’t ‘suppose to’ get married, quit college, and move away. Then when I got pregnant, I was told many a time that college and a newborn would be too hard, much less nursing school. I want to let you know that if I can do it, anyone can do it. Just because things aren’t going the way everyone thinks they should doesn’t mean you won’t end up where you’re meant to be or want to be.
See why I chose the blog name I did? It certainly feels like we are “making it up as we go”. It’s challenging at times, but I wouldn’t trade our highs and lows for anything.  Until next time!