Hittin' the Books... again

 In May of 2009, I graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in Marketing. Never in a trillion years did I even think about stepping foot in a classroom ever again. I had put in my four years, earned my degree, and I was DONE.

So, have you ever heard that saying... "If you wanna hear God laugh, tell Him your plans"? Well, obviously, I'm living proof.

As you can tell from the picture above, I am immersed in science classes... 16 hours of science classes {and labs}. Thankfully, I'm at my local community college and while the classes are challenging, I'm not dying... yet.

In college, you could always pick out the "old people" in the class... You know, they attended every single class, asked questions, always had their homework thoroughly completed, and were dressed in decent clothing- you know, something other than an oversized t shirt with a hat covering bedhead. In an auditorium/classroom of grungy half-awake college students {me included most days} they stood out to me, and I thought to myself, "Thank God I'm young and getting this done now." Ha!! I crack myself up. While I am still "young" and graduate school-aged, I still feel like an old married nerd ;) in my classes. But what's so amazing is that, I couldn't imagine not attending class, not looking halfway decent, with my homework thoroughly completed! It's amazing what a few years of maturity will do to your mental state and realizing that there is a purpose to the material you are studying.

What is my purpose exactly? Well, all of the classes I am taking are pre-requisites to the University of South Alabama's accelerated nursing program. There are tons and tons of reasons why I've made the decision to start taking steps toward nursing school and I'll share a few of them with you...

- I've grown up surrounded by physicians and nurses my entire life... my parents, aunts and uncles, mother in law, etc. and I have always soaked up every "medical" thing I hear them say. It's just in my blood! {pardon the pun} I love to learn about the human body. So much so that Aaron {with his complicated shoulder issue} nicknamed me the "Ortho-parrot" because I would always talk to my Dad {an orthopaedic surgeon} about his ailments and then repeat exactly what he said... and then sometimes, I would come up with my own theories about why his arm was feeling a certain way and discuss them with Dad to see if he agreed. I love it. {Aaron might say I love it too much.} ha! He's glad I love it too much because where would he be without his own personal "nurse" to help him recover from his many surgeries and procedures?

From surgery #1 until now he's been trying to convince me to become a nurse, and I've finally given in!

{yes, that clear line hanging down his shirt is a pain pump that's hooked inside his neck... he is a trooper.}

- I'm not interested in a full time job as of now  because I enjoy being with Aaron all year round and no amount of money could take me away from him for 6-7 months. But, one day I very well may be ready to work part time or full time and in an economy like we have now, there isn't exactly an abundance of flexible, good-paying, "working mom" marketing jobs out there. {If there are, I would love to know.} As much as I love the medical field, the practicality of it is the deciding factor to me. I'm all about practical.

- And last but most certainly not least, I have found that there is nothing more rewarding than helping people when they can't exactly help themselves. I have loved interacting with all of the patients while working at my Dad's clinic during the off season and I thoroughly enjoy scrubbing in to watch my Dad "in action" in the OR. I have also enjoyed listening to all of my sister Jessica's nursing school stories {the good, the bad and the ugly}. {She's also been trying to convince me to bite the bullet and do it!}

So there you have it- a few of the many reasons why I'm making moves towards going to nursing school. The program that I would like to get accepted into is an accelerated program for students who already have degrees. It only takes 12 very intense months to complete and you get your BSN {July to July, or January to January}.  I would love to have another degree in my back pocket before the young 'ns start coming :) but we will see how it all plays out with Aaron's career and everything.  His dream is just as much my dream.  The thought of missing out on an entire baseball season makes my stomach sick but God is in control, right? He will lay everything in place for us and I know I shouldn't waste time worrying about how we will make it happen.

Oh, and only one {hard} year of nursing school actually sounds appetizing to me now. Three years ago, I would have never believed it... Once again, I've learned firsthand that if you wanna hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!!