Following Our Calling One Day at a Time: A different kind of busy.,.

It has been so nice to be out of school, to not have to worry about homework or deadlines, to be able to relax a bit... I don't get to sleep in since I have to get Claudia ready for school in the mornings, but then I have the rest of the morning to myself... somewhat. Even though I am not in school right now I have been busy!

Much of my time lately has been spent in my gardens, getting them ready and planting new things. I still have a lot more to plant and fix up nicely but it is kind of fun and relaxing although it is hard work. I really hope that the gardens look good this year and grow well. I have a bad habit of killing plants... I'm working on it! Unfortunately it always seems to be the more expensive plants that I kill.

This weekend I officially became a graduate nurse. First I had the nursing graduation ceremony. a bunch of my family and friends were there to support me, it was so great to see so many people there. Jason and Claudia were there too and she was pretty well behaved for having to sit still for so long. Jason did a great job with her. I was humbled that my classmates would nominate me for an award. I was the recipient of the Marilyn Hurlbutt award for clinical ability, compassion, perseverance and dedication to the profession of nursing. I was so surprised and even got a bit teary eyed... it takes a lot to bring me to tears in public but my classmates almost did it! I feel so honored and blessed. I cannot believe that nursing school is over, it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. I never imagined that nursing school would be so hard, or so rewarding. I look forward to a rewarding career in nursing, I have no idea where it will take me, but I am excited to find out.

After the nursing graduation, Jason and I went out to brunch with the other nursing graduates, it was a nice time. I had to get back to the school for the college graduation after brunch. The nurses get their own graduation ceremony but we still get to walk at the college's ceremony as well. It was a good ceremony and I was glad to have gone. Several nursing students attended the second ceremony and we were by far the loudest and most enthusiastic group of graduates there! The nursing students are a pretty tight knit group of people since we have been through so much together.

After all of the graduation stuff was done Jason and I went home and met up with our friends Ike and Rebecca. There came over to watch Claudia for us while we went out to dinner with Jason's parents. We are blessed to have such great friends! Jason and I had a nice dinner and Claudia was well behaved for our friends, she was even asleep in bed when we got home! How awesome is that!?! It was a very long but rewarding day. I felt so loved!

This week Claudia has her first cardiology appointment so we can get a better idea of how well her heart functions and if she will need any interventions in the future. She may have to miss the whole day of school because the appointment is an hour away and i have no idea how long it will take. Claudia has a long weekend this weekend having Friday and Monday off from school, I really hope we get some nice weather and can do something fun! Jason will be working on the roof of the main house this weekend and has recruited a lot of help. Hopefully this part goes a lot faster than the last!

Things have been pretty busy around here but I can't complain. Things are going pretty well and will be even better once Jason finishes our roof.

Here are some pics from graduation: