Jan 14, 2012:201 days until I turn 30

Hey it’s been about a week and some changes to my plan have been made. Up until this point I was under the impression that due to Doug being in the military we would be able to get in state tuition wherever I we were. After calling the school at duty station Doug is most likely to get next I realized this is not the case. You have to claim the state you are in as home of record for a year before you can get in state tuition. Not only that but you cannot be attending school during this period! Thanks a lot for serving our country right lol. Well this would mean that we would have to pay double for me to go to school. This would take our debt at the end of school from about 30 thousand to about 60 thousand!

Discovering this caused us to take some things into consideration. Our ultimate goal is for this to be our last duty station. Doug has two years left in the military and this next position is a two year position. Doug told me that in 2 years I would still be in school with likely 2 years left to finish before getting into the job market. We would have already added 20 thousand dollars to our debt load with more to come.  In this scenario it would not be plausible to get out of the military and jump into the job market. Now in our revamped plan I will have been working for 2 years and putting my salary towards the debt we already have and building up a substantial savings. In this scenario Doug would have a cushion to fall back on while he looks for a job and I would already have employment. So our new plan is for me to go straight to work.

When I finish school in April the new plan is to take the little kids out of daycare and go back to being a stay at home mom for a couple months. Then when we move to the next duty station hit the payment and start looking for a job. I am actually excited about this bc the thought of being done with school at least for a while is a weight off my shoulders. Once we are established somewhere and I can get in state tuition I may look into school again.

So this week a couple of us stayed after school to practice blood draw. I was terrified. I had not held a needle in months. It all came back to me. I got four sticks with blood on the first try every time.  If I do this once a week I will have the sticks I need to test for my phlebotomist license (25 blood draws and 5 capillary sticks) by the time I finish school. I also started reacquainting myself with the order of draw. This is much less confusing now that I know what the tests mean and they are no longer just meaningless abbreviations.

I have been doing amazing with my diet. I was not even temped (well a little) when Doug wanted Chinese food for dinner. I said no and he ended up getting a salad for himself so we both did well on our diets.

I have been listening to the daily audio bible on the way to school every day and also doing my chronological bible study at night.

I also started crocheting again the burnout is wearing off. I have 2 orders thanks to my best customer Miss Betsy Willet. That is another good thing about not going back to school that is good. I really want to build up my etsy store and I won’t be able to do that if I am in school.

Jan 7, 2012: 208 days until I turn 30

Ok its day 2 and I already have a follower. Thanks KristaJ. I thought of another goal. This is to be a clean freak and not just a neat freak. I am continuously straightening my house, but the dust continues to accumulate. That is another thing that is terribly different. As a stay at home mom it was easy to stay on top of house work and laundry but now it piles up. For the first few months I was in school the guest room became the communal closet. We would do the laundry, fold it and then set it in different piles for each person on the guest bed. That problem was alleviated when Doug’s grandparents came into town. We had to put it all away so they could have a place to sleep. So it got put away then and we have been pretty good about it since then. This week has actually been a good week for cleaning I cleaned the house from top to bottom on Tuesday. I have set up a schedule so that I am not doing it all in one day anymore I think that will keep the motivation flowing. As a stay at home mom I could choose a cleaning day and dedicate that whole day to cleaning, but now I only have a couple hours each day at night to get it done.

That is the other adjustment. I have to find a way to make the time with my children quality because we no longer have the quantity. It is so easy to get into the rut of pick the kids up, come home, cook and eat dinner, baths and stories and then bed. Now with Cole being in kindergarten we have to squeeze homework in there.  I find myself doing subtle things that make it more quality. My kids all help me with dinner now. Evie sits on the counter and talks to me and Cole and Sebby help me by adding the ingredients they can. I find myself letting one of the kids stay up a little later than bedtime for cuddles. I realize it’s a process and so far my kids are doing great they love the preschool they go to and they are learning so much.

Here goes my update

Fitness;

I did not work out yesterday (blush). I got caught up on doing laundry and then when the kids got home we spent the afternoon playing outside. I did however drink 3 liters of water and stayed under my calorie intake goal. As of this morning’s weigh in I am down 5 lbs. I realize this is just the head start and I will start to plateau, but I am definitely happy with this early success.  I am expecting to have an average of more like 2 lbs. a week. 

Spiritual: I listened to Jesus at 2am which I would totally recommend! That is if you are interested in the history behind the bible. It gives such a different perspective on what you are reading when you start to really understand the culture of the people at that time. I also read genesis 3 and worked through lesson 1 in the chronological bible study. I did not start the Beth more study only because it is audio and will probably start listening to it on my way to school

School: really nothing new to report there I did not start making index card for studying for seminar yet but plan to start that tonight. I have got to start those TG&C and order of draw. If I say now change again tomorrow someone comment and yell at me!

JAN 6, 2012: 209 days until I turn 30

Well here goes. With the new year having started I have realized several things. First though I have loved being a stay at home mom, with entering the work force looming closer and closer I feel completely unprepared. I have basically been home for 6 years with only the company of toddlers. In a world of adults I sometimes feel completely inept. As a stay at home mom you can hole up in your house with your little ones if you feel unsocial. As a stay at home mom if you don’t get along with someone you don’t have to see them. As a stay at home mom you are basically in a bubble of other moms and most of you friends are married and have basically the same lifestyle as you. It is a totally different experience interacting with people who are single or don’t have children. What do you talk about? Though one of my problems is I always feel like I have to have something to say so I find myself talking just to talk. Most days I feel like a teenager trying to hang out with her mom’s friends. I feel stunted. I entered my house as a 22 year old and came back out as a 29 year old. Mentally however I still only have the life experience, professionally anyway, of a 22 year old.

The second thing I have noticed in my twenties is that I have gone up and down constantly with my weight. Though I could blame having 3 kids in my 20’s I have to say that is not the cause. I spend 6 mos. losing the weight and then 6 mos. gaining it back. My goal is to get back down by 30 and then never look back.

Speaking of goals here are a couple I have. Number 1 is to feel my age. I want to have the confidence I should have and stop feeling like a little girl. I honestly don’t know how to do that but there it is. Secondly I am going to get back into shape and stay that way. Then there is the spiritual aspect of it all. Since I started school I have become an occassional church goer and I hate it. After being gone all week it so easy just to hole up in the house and stay in pajamas all day on the weekends. Well that stops here. This year I am going to study not just read my bible. I found a podcast yesterday called Jesus at 2am. I also started beth moore's a year to freedom as I pray through that I am going to focus on my insecurities. Well there it is my plan for gaining confidence ask God to give it to me!

  

 About fitness

Work outs: everyday

Eating: below my calorie intake goal everyday

Water intake: 3 liter at least daily

About school:

I am doing well academically but still feel uncomfortable in the lab. I get nervous with the application part of it. Even if I know what I am doing I still feel so inadequate.  That I am sure will come with time. I also need to work on my study habits. So far school has come so easy to me. I listen in class and study the night before the test and make A’s. I know that when I get into a nursing program it is going to require more than that.

 I have some practice ahead of me. We just got our study hand book for certification. I plan to study this daily this is definitely not something I will be able to study the night before.  I also start seminar in February. I need to get my TG&C (trade names and generics of drugs), and order of draw to stick. These next couple months are going to be big but they will be good practice. I need to really get organized. I'm going to need it. After we leave here I plan to start nursing school and minor in nutrition.