My intentions were good to keep up with the blog during the school year, especially since I figured I'd be encountering some intriguing people and subjects and debates (you're guaranteed some disagreements in a class of 40 people!). However, here I am, on my Christmas break, thinking that maybe it's about time for an update.
The year 2010 has been eventful to say the least. In some ways, it seems like January 2010 was really 12 months ago while other times it feels like it was just yesterday. The only resolution I ever make is to somehow try and reign in the passage of time; to wield my power to slow it down somehow; to treasure those moments worth treasuring. I'll keep working the Jedi mind power and let you know how it's going. I get the impression it's gonna be a fruitless effort. The year started out in pretty much the same fashion as the end of 2009; Jeff was driving long haul and I was holding down the fort here in New Brunswick. Pretty much the same deal as Halifax, only a bit more happening in the relationship department. We were beginning to think a bit more seriously about my starting school in September and planning in the direction of Jeff coming off the road around the same time. You may remember that the long haul trucking was intended to be a temporary deal and when I started school full time, he'd come off the road to be home more so that the day-to-day up keep of the house and cats and the newly acquired responsibilities of school wouldn't be so overwhelming. Quitting day came a lot sooner than we had expected.
In mid-February, after quite a few "smaller than usual" paycheques and getting "stuck" in cities with no loads for days at a time, he decided that it was time to move on and the search began for other trucking jobs in the area that were more local in nature. The job he found right away had a lot of promise but fell flat very quickly. So that job forced yet another job search; this time with a larger company. In the lean time, Jeff was able to help an organic farmer friend with some basic building he needed done (some shelves, a couple of cold frames, and a resourced cabinet). I was helping out with packaging and weighing the produce to take to the market so we were both able to help out in our respective ways. Not long after that, Jeff was hired at the company he is currently working for. This job, unlike the previous two, he likes very much. They treat him really well and have been accommodating with emergency trips to the dentist or doctor's appointments. There's opportunity for him to work extra hours should he want them on Saturdays and holidays.
The months on March and April were rather skinny in the wallet but we were able to save enough for me to make a short trip to Calgary in May over the long weekend. With the help of some passes from my flight attendant sister, I flew out to Calgary to have some photos taken of us siblings that we wanted to give Mom & Dad as an anniversary gift. Even though it was a whirlwind trip, we did go to the Body Worlds exhibit at the science museum since it wasn't a very nice day for the zoo. (The zoo was my first choice but it was a chilly, windy day so it wasn't the most pleasant of conditions for exploring the zoo. Besides, just gives me something else to look forward to next time we visit.) The pictures were taken by a professional photographer at the church that my family goes to. She did an excellent job and the pictures turned out great! I was afraid that it was going to be too posey-posey but that's not her style. She told us at the start that she wanted us to just be natural and not focus so much on the camera. We were able to pull Mom and Dad in for some family shots and she also got some really nice individual shots of them as well. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I very much enjoyed the little bit of the city I was able to see and the visit with the family.
After I got back from that trip, I needed to dive headlong into full time work at the coffee shop. Some days, it was really challenging to get up and go to work as it was a rather warm summer, reaching highs that I hadn't felt since leaving South Carolina. Fortunately, we had a line on a really great swimming spot on the local river so that helped wash away the excessive sweat. The goal was to work and save money through out the summer so that we could continue to build up the savings we have for my schooling. Not a very exciting summer but we knew that would be the way it worked out for this past summer and the one coming. Jeff did surprise me with a small anniversary trip to a town about 3 hours from here. It was truly a surprise. He had it planned and even let a few other people in on the secret and the cat was never let out of the bag until he let it out. Anyone who knows Jeff knows that he usually can't keep a secret long. He tells you he's got a surprise for you and then tells you what it is. :0) He succeeded in his secret keeping this time. We had a really great, relaxing time. I did manage to take a day to meet up with my mom while she was visiting east in July and that was fun too!
The summer flew by and before I knew it, school was getting ready to start. I knew it was going to start sooner or later but it sure crept up on me. I'm usually much more prepared for these things but it didn't dawn on me that I might need things like school supplies. I don't usually pay attention to that stuff 'cause I'm not a student and I don't have kids in school...oh, wait! I am a student this year! Oi! Guess I better get some school supplies! School started and I felt about as nervous as all the 5-year old's heading off to kindergarten. What if I don't get there on time? What if I forget my lunch? Will anybody like me and want to be my friend? What if this nursing stuff is too hard and I flunk out on the first day? Is that even possible?? Yeah...my imagination's a little overactive! Suffice it to say, I was a little nervous. That nervousness quickly dissipated and as with anything new, we settled into the routine of things and I began to find that I was really enjoying learning about anatomy and physiology and the hands-on skills of nursing. And even more surprising, I was making really good grades...like closer to the top of the class than the bottom. Wow! Maybe this really is what I'm supposed to do. So the classes rolled along and we had a few ups-and-downs but we're no worse for wear. Then came time for our first clinical. (Cue thematic music) That's the part of the show where we show whether we've actually learned anything in class and lab but this time, we're not just practicing on our class mates. We're working with real, live people who may be with or may not and may be able to roll over to their side or may not and they may be able to tell you when something hurts or they may not. AAAAHHHH! I was excited but crazy nervous on my first day in clinical but we made it through and enjoyed the experience. My next clinical will be at the same place but it'll be a lot better the second time because I have some idea of how things work there.
After our two weeks of clinical, we were back in the classroom for the remaining two weeks of the school year before Christmas break and that was the toughest two weeks we have had yet. We had a couple of large projects that we due and a couple of big tests. It was a tough week to stay motivated and push through to the end. We made it and now I'm almost done with the Christmas break. Hard to believe that classes start back in one week.
It has been a relatively quiet holiday season but we have managed to stay busy leading up to it. In October, we hosted a Pampered Chef party which was a ton of fun! Normally it is mostly women who interested in that kitchen-y stuff but we have many friends who asked if their husbands could come too 'cause they like to cook too. So we had a co-ed party. What a hoot! A couple of weeks later, Jeff took a week to drive down to South Carolina to clean out our storage unit and bring what remained of our worldly possessions that were still down there back up here. It was a pretty quick trip but he was able to connect with a few people along the way, including his family, whom he hadn't seen in about a year. Soon after he got back from SC, the Christmas parties started for his work and mine. Mine didn't allow me to bring a guest so I opted not to go. His, on the other hand, were. The big corporate shindig rented out several rooms in a hotel that they gave to their employees free and a fancy dinner and lots and lots of prizes and gifts. The local Christmas party was mostly paid for except for your drinks but it was still fun to go and meet some of the folks Jeff works with on a daily basis. We were also able to have two of our closest buddies (more so Jeff's closest buddies since they're guys) come and spend the weekend with us, one of whom we hadn't seen since he helped us move to Fredericton over a year ago.
The events in our life over the past year have been fairly mundane and "normal"; nothing out of the ordinary. Our emotional lives have been a rollercoaster. I will have to let Jeff share his story since I wouldn't do it justice but let me summarize it: he has had some pretty major breakthroughs in some areas of his life that God has been trying to get his attention. In the course of his journey, he has shared some of the same teachings with me and I am beginning to see that I need some of those same kind of breakthroughs in my life. I have been running on my own steam and now I'm worn out. God didn't create us to live life on our own strength but through Him. Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of that very deed. We tell God to point us in the direction we want to go and then take the reins. It's no wonder we get lost and turned around. God's the one who invited us along for the ride and now we're telling him how to to get to where he's taking us! Ouch. We've been working through a lot of the teachings from Jack Frost and also from David Baldwin and those have been proving invaluable. If you would like more information about either of these ministries, we'd be happy to pass that information along.
I've never been much for resolutions...never keep them anyway so why bother making them? Instead, I look forward to what God brings our way in 2011. I'm sure it will be an adventure. May you also have an adventurous 2011! Here's a picture slide show for your enjoyment!
