It has been a WHILE!

     I don't know where to start since it has been so long since I've blogged!  We have been here in Wisconsin for about a month and a half and are feeling as settled as we can be.  I have so many things that I could update on but I am going to try to just do a brief overview of what it is like here and then try to do Riggs 18 month post, it will just be a month late.

     We are settled into our new home here and are starting to feel the chill in the air as the high is 60 the rest of the week!  I'm already cold and I ain't seen nothing yet;)  It is really pretty here and I feel like it is a lot different from home.  Just small things that are different but add up.  The roads and stop lights are different.  There are tons of parks and sidewalks on EVERY road which we have really enjoyed.  We could go to a different park every day for a week all within 5-10 miles of our house. Because of that, every time Riggs sees a playground he says "pay, pay" (play) over and over again! 

     Riggs is going to an inhome day care with a lady that keeps three other children and he is adjusting well.  He is growing up so fast and is really enjoying the time there with craft time and music time.  He comes home wanting to dance:) 

     I have one week left of orientation and then will be on my own floating between two hospitals in the ICU.  One is a trauma ICU and the other is a cardiac/open heart ICU.  My experience with the hospitals have been good so far. They are alot smaller than the hospital I came from but seem to be very up to date and have a lot to teach me! 

     Andrew is enjoying his internship experience so far.  He is at a prison and a place called Wisconsin Resource Center right now.  He could explain what they each are an entail better than I could but I'm sure it would be an act of God to get him to write on my blog:).  He feels that he will get good experience at both locations to hopefully land him where he feels called when all this is over with. 

     We have been attending the same church called Pathways the past few weeks.  We started doing Financial Peace during their SS hour and hoping that this will allow us to learn more about budgeting and saving as we are trying to save what Andrew makes this year and just continue living off of my income.  We also went to small group last Sunday afternoon and enjoyed time with a few other couples our age that all have small children.  Hoping and praying to find some friends here soon! 

     We are looking forward to some friends and both of our families coming in October and November!!!  It will be great to have company and show them what our life is like here now.  We are definetly having to adjust to our new normal as Andrew has never had to be gone full time and has had a really flexible schedule and we have had LOTS of time together and now he is gone 7-5 every day.

     That's all I have for now, but hope to be updating more soon and being more consistent to keep track of what's happening in our lives and on Riggs 18 month happenings as I take him to the doctor next week.

We Made It

After 14+hours of driving for Andrew and mom and delayed flight twice for Riggs and I, we are all in Wisconsin. Sadly, the moving truck is not scheduled to get here until Wednesday! But, so far things have gone really smoothly. I usually look forward to redecorating and organizing but something is a little different this time. The town home we are renting is good enough for us for the year but it is not "nice" by any means. We could have had the bigger, updated with large rooms, tile floors etc and payed $400 more a month but we chose to choose the simpler route. The simpler route means not as big, no updates.. All carpet and linoleum floors. This gets me thinking though, where do I gather what I think I need to have? I know for me it is from comparison(the sin of comparison). Thankful for my husband who balances me out and reminded me that is far more worth it for us to have the minimum and save a large amount each month for this ONE year! So here we are, Appleton wisconsin. No matter how it looks, it will be or home because it is where my sweet little family is and we will maKe it a home! We have already met several nice people, been to the largest grocery store I have ever seen,eaten cheese curds, gone to a beautiful park and playground on the river and realized that this will be a fine home for this appointed time in our lives. I will post pics later. Now, off to bed on my comfy air mattress:) (please excuse the long run on post,I'm blogging again from my phone and it's too time consuming to check punctuation etc.)

It's Here

The day has arrived...MOVING DAY!  The movers arrived at our house about 9 o'clock this morning. Andrew and my mom leave really early in the morning. Their plan is to drive to South Bend, Indiana where my moms cousin lives and stay the night there and then drive from Indiana to Wisconsin on Wednesday.  I fly out with Riggs on Thursday evening.  So, we officially will be residents of Appleton, Wisconsin!  The only thing we are dreading is the fact that our stuff is not scheduled to be there until NEXT WEDNESDAY!  That means living out of a suitcase and sleeping on an air mattress for almost a week!  I posted on facebook yesterday that I am trying to have an attitude of thankfulness rather than giving in to feeling sad and "feeling sorry for myself."  We have SO much to be thankful for.  Just these past few days have been evidence of that, as we could not have done much of what we have without giving, faithful friends and family!  So, our journey begins.

New Words

So, I just realized that this is my 100th post! And I am blogging today from my new iPhone so we will see how this goes. Just a short post to add to my list of remembering my baby boys growing vocabulary. He is about 161/2 months old and is saying something new every day. There are a lot of words that he will just repeat us saying but will not say when we ask him to. With that said here are a list of his most recent repeats and new words:) Pool,bath,home,please,thank you,Elmo,Gigi,Papa,Unca(as in Unca Tanner),ball and the list is daily growing. It amazes me to watch him learn! (I was going to post pics from our trip to the splash park today... Does anyone know how to add pics to blogger from the iPhone?)

Sad to go, yet grateful!

Today was my last day of work at Kennestone.  I have worked there in Neuro ICU for the past 5 years!  I was definetly sad as I drove into the parking deck for the last time today, walked through the tunnel, remembered that is where my baby boy was born, etc.  I am so thankful for what a great place and great people I have had the opportunity to work with. 

I have learned so much about the clinical aspect of nursing critical care patients.  But besides just that, I have learned alot about life and death, pain and suffering, and the joy of seeing someone recover and come back see us months later.  I have learned to talk about the end of life more than I would like, to cry with families going through a difficult time, to comfort an eldery person because they have recently had a stroke and can't speak.  I have had the feeling of complete sadness and joy at the same time as I realize that a patient is brain dead but will be able to save the lives of many others!  I am so grateful for the opportunites and "divine appointments" that remind me why I have been called to do what I do.

As I think of what lies ahead in my new job I am both extremely nervous and excited.  I will have the opporunity to learn and grow my skills working in a Cardiovascular ICU as well as  Trauma ICU. You see, after working in Neuro for this long I know NOTHING about open heart/cardiac patients and my trauma experience is limited to mostly head/spine trauma.  I am looking forward to learning and growing and having many more of those moments where I know God has called me for a specific purpose to this specific place!

Family Fun Weekend

We went home to spend some time with both of our families for the last time before we move and we had a great time. I am so sad to realize how long it will be before I get to see all of these sweet babies again! They grow so quickly and I hate to miss out on it all. With that said, we are so thankful for both of our families and what they mean to us. Here is a picture dump from the weekend!

Bittersweet

As the end of July approaches I am filled with all different emotions.  I am excited, anxious, scared, thankful, expectant, hopeful, nervous and the list goes on.  I think the two most prominent right now would be sad and thankful but I know once we get there the excitement for this new journey will kick in.

I am so thankful right now for the Lord's provision and faithfulness to us!  He has provided above and beyond for us.  We have place to live that will be great for our first year and hopefully only year in Wisconsin;), He has provided me with a job that will not only provide me with more opportunities to learn and grow as a Critical Care Nurse but I will also be making more $ and excited that this will allow us to pay off my school loans this year and also save.  And, I found out today that we finally have renters for our house.  It's so good to see and remember God's faithfulness even when we are unfaithful.  And also to see the fact that He is faithful to give us FAR BEYOND what we even need!

In the midst of my thankfulness I find myself really sad at times.  Last week we gave Sadie to a girl that I used to work with because we can't have animals in the house we will be renting.  She will have a great home with 2 little girls that already adore her but it was much harder than I anticipated.  I also go to do things and realize that it will be my last time to do and see alot of people here.  I can only hope and pray that I have left an example of Christ in the places that I have gone and that when my name comes up they will remember positive things about my character and who I am.  I know there are MANY people here that I will definetly keep up with but it's sad to think about the reality that it will be a long time before I get to see them again!

So, these next two weeks are going to FLY by and I hope to embrace this change and use it as an opportunity to learn, trust, and grow in my relationship with my husband, family and with my God.