So what's really going on around here?

Since I last blogged in October of 2008, our lives have dramatically changed. Yes, there is the obvious thing that I am no longer a full time student, but its so much more than that. If you want to know how our lives have changed, keep reading. :)

Hal is no longer swinging shifts like he used to! Before he was working a night and day shift rotation. If you kept up with my blog before, you know how hard that was on me. I never got used to it, and it seemed to only become harder with time. Well, there are two parts of good news to this story. First, Hal moved to Michelin's North American headquarters in Greenville (so he's no longer working in a plant) AND he is now working 8-5! This was such a welcome and wonderful change for him, and he's been at Michelin HNA for about 18 months. His job now is as an Account Coordinator for Sam's, Costco, and BJs. He loves it. There are a lot of opportunities for him to move up in this position so we are very happy the Lord blessed him with this new job! There is the chance that we may have to move out of state in the future, but I am totally supportive of wherever this job takes us.

The timing of the new job came perfectly, just after I started nursing school. He was home more and we were able to spend a lot more time together.

As for me, school was finished at the end of November 2010. I officially became a registered nurse at the end of January this year, and was offered a job the same day I found out I passed my boards. What a blessing! I had been working at the hospital for about 8 months as a PCT (patient care technician aka nurses aid) so the transition into RN wasn't all that difficult. I was so lucky and blessed to be offered a job in the unit that I had been hoping and praying for, CVRU. CVRU is the Cardiovascular Recovery Unit, where patients come directly after open heart surgery. I started my training there in February, then switched to night shift back in May. Night shift has been a challenge for many reasons, but ultimately I love it.

The one thing that I have really regretted is the fact that Hal and I are back on opposite shifts again. Thankfully, I only work 3 nights a week, so its really not that bad. The very first night that I left for night shift, I cried the whole way to work because I just felt so bad for leaving him! I have gotten more used to it now, and it works out okay. Although my seniority will likely allow me to obtain a day shift position in about a year, I may continue to work nights.

I do have aspirations of going back to school, but that is something that I am praying about right now. I want to make the right choice for my career and for Hal and myself. My current plans tentatively are to be putting my application in for graduate school by the time I turn 30, which will be in 3 years.

We are still living in the same house, and probably will be for a long time. We have talked about, prayed about, and decided not to have children, so our house seems perfect for the two of us right now.

Layla is still as sweet as ever, and more than spoiled rotten. She usually sleeps all night with Hal and all day with me. We call her our "lousy" dog because all she seems to do is sleep!

I hope that I can get back into blogging on more of a regular schedule. I want to be able to look back in the coming years and read what is going on in our lives now. I can't wait to see what our future holds!