About one post a year isn't bad, right?!

Lots of things changing for us this year. Again. Last time I updated, Reagan had just joined the family and now she's over a year old! She's great and we're glad to have her.

In other news, I'm still doing mobile MRI. Thankful to have a job.

Nathan has had many changes this last year. He's no longer attending St. Olaf and no longer working at Northfield Urgent Care.

St. Olaf was a great school, but we unfortunately learned that the degree they offer (B.A.N-Bachelors of Arts in Nursing) is not the degree that the Army accepts. They want a B.S.N (Bachelors of Science in Nursing).

And that's his main goal, to be a nurse in the Army. Along with that, his dream is to work in a war zone like Afghanistan. Believe it or not, I'm ok with it. More about that later.

The Army is a little confusing, but our B.I.L, Parker is a nurse in the Army, and has been really helpful in navigating our way around. We really appreciate him.

So this is where life gets crazy.

He's been accepted to a nursing school in Louisville, KY that starts in May. It's an accelerated program and it's the degree he needs. Also, Nathan's sister and her husband (Anna and Parker) live down there right now so we'd have family there! :)

But in the meantime, Nathan's applied to the University of Minnesota to their Master of Nursing Program. This is our first choice for sure. One, it's a masters program, so he'd get a higher level degree. The one in KY is another bachelor degree.

It's also accelerated at 16 months. There are a lot of benefits in him going to the U as much as I'd love to get out of state for a while.

We won't find out about the U until March or so. He first needs to get an interview and then from there, it will be decided.

The program is very competitive. They take 300ish applicants. Interview 100ish. Accept 64. Yikes!

We do have hope though because he's very qualified for the program and being a male can only help our cause.

If Nathan doesn't get into the U of M though, things will happen very fast. He won't find out about the U until March or even April and Nathan starts class in Louisville May 9th. That may mean I have to stay behind for a while getting things together. Thankfully, we've been invited to stay with Anna and Parker while we're down there which is an amazing blessing for us.

So...we wait. It's much easier typed than done. We're trying to stay busy. Nathan's working on getting some prerequisite work done for the U and I'm always very busy with work. Nathan's working at Apple Valley Medical Center now where he's worked in the past and he enjoys that.

I'm also trying to get in touch with my crafty side. I've finished a lot of unfinished projects in the last 6 months or so. Knitting, scrap-booking, sewing, organizing.

It helps. And gives me that sense of control I feel I need. ;)

This sounds a little pathetic, but I really feel like this is one of the biggest tests of my faith as well as for our marriage. We've had some curve balls thrown at us in the past, but this seems to top them all.

I do know that God is good and He has a plan, but it's very hard waiting. Especially during which I'm at a job I don't love or even like most of the time.

I am very much a planner and I can't do any of that right now.

I know there's reason for it and that good things will come from this time of the unknown.

So that's our life right now. Confusing. Fun. Stressful. Exciting.

I know this is very common verse, but I cling to it during this time.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give

you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

.love.

Ok...I'm back...for now.

Hello!

Yes, it's been since September that I last wrote...I seem to be more of a Facebook girl now. But I'll try to update.

Since September...hmm....I guess I a lot has happened.

We're still living in our amazing townhome in Northfield. I should put some pictures up.

That's all going well. Nathan is still working at the urgent care partime. However, this last January he started going to St. Olaf for nursing! It's very exciting for him. School is right around the corner from us. It's completely different from the U so he loves that. Much smaller class sizes and a much smaller campus. He'll graduate May 2012.

I am still working for Shared Medical Services doing mobile MRI. I've been really blessed in this job over the last 7 months. A truck was just based at the Allina clinic in Northfield! So 2-3 days a week I drive up the street to go to work. So awesome!

The funnest update for us since last time is that we got a puppy! We got Reagan, a vizsla, new year's day! A perfect way to ring in the new year. She is so sweet and we love her to pieces! She's around 4 months old now. She's a great addition to our little family.

Other than that, the same old stuff! Busy with work and school.

Hope you all are doing great!

Love!

Sorry...there I go again!

Of course, I fell off the edge again and have failed to post for a while now! So the last post I think said that we were going to move...and we did!

We moved into a great town house in Northfield. And also since then, Nathan has started full time at Northfield Urgent Care...and big surprise...I started another new job. I had been working full time at Northfield Urgent Care, but then an MRI job became available.

I had applied at the company: Shared Medical Services back in January, but they decided to not fill the position. But then in July, I got a call, and there was an opening. And I pretty much had to take it because of the educational opportunity. And it also means more money in the future.

So I was offered the job and took it. It's a mobile company out of Wisconsin. So the MRI scanner is in the back of a truck and we travel around southern Minnesota to small facilities. It's very interesting and unique.

THEN, in August we moved and that's been really great as well. It's so nice having a house now. Spare bedroom, double garage, deck, and a lot more room! It's been great!

Well, that's all the big news for now! I'll try and get back in the groove of things and write more!

Love you guys! :)

WE'RE MOVING!

That's right!

We're moving to Northfield, MN.

We haven't signed the lease yet, but we found a great townhome to rent down the street from the urgent care. And Nathan just got hired on there as well. He's just on-call right now, but we hope he can get more hours once the clinic has been open for a while.

I'll write with more details soon!

Things

What is it about "things?"

Items. Materials. Stuff. Clothes. Furniture. Jewelry. Cars. Houses. Electronics.

All of it.

What is it about these things that make us jealous?

Covet?

And so many other non-brag worthy feelings?

What is it about these things that will make us live outside of our means to get it?

And it's all the social norm.

Why is it that I love materialistic things that only fade away?

What is it in our human heads that gets us so excited over materialistic things?

I'm not saying that "stuff" isn't OK. I REALLY REALLY like stuff. And there's a lot of cool stuff that helps us make more time for the more important things.

I'm sure it sounds like I'm stating the obvious here.

But I guess I find myself getting very frustrated for wanting so many things when I know what God has to say about it.

1 Timothy 6:9, 10

9. However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.

10. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.

1 John 2:16, 17

16. Because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. 17. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.

Those are such straight up verses. I love them. These just show how simple this truth is. These materialistic loves do not come from God. And even more, they don't last.

Like Dave Ramsey says, money itself is not evil. Neither are any of the actual materials we desire. They are indifferent. It's the attitude and feelings that WE have about money and materials.

It's interesting at how our culture looks at material things. We want them so bad that most of the things we have, we don't even own. We borrowed to get it. So it's not even really ours.

Some of us make so much money, but we buy more and more of what we can't afford. So really, we're worse off than the less wealthy person making a quarter of what we make who has no debt.

Weird to think about.

Well, there's my ramble. I'm done now.

Northfield Urgent Care Is Open for Business

Why the picture of Tim Pawlenty? You'll find out further down...haha


My job has officially started!

The Northfield Urgent Care is officially open!

We opened Monday, April 20th and it's been surprisingly busier than we thought.

We've been averaging about 10-12 patients/day which is great for a small community.

I'm really enjoying it. I've only done 1 x-ray, but I've been training in on the front desk and also on rooming patients. So, hopefully soon, I'll be able to do just about everything! I can't wait!

This is our logo. It reminds me of a sign for a sport's bar! haha Whatever works, I guess!

Things are really good for us. Not a whole of new information. We are starting to entertain the idea of moving down to Northfield. We haven't found a whole lot of options yet, but we're still looking. Ideally we'd find a townhome with a washer/dryer in unit! Oh what a luxury that would be!!!!

Well, I hope all is well with everyone!

Oh yeah. The Tim Pawlenty picture. Nathan and I sat next to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty last Sunday in church which was super crazy! Super cool! We hope you run in 2012, Tim!

This was an old post I forgot to put up from a few weeks ago....

We went to the capitol. Walked around. Took silly pictures in the governor's office. Tried to sneak in the senate chamber (unsuccessful: the door was locked, ha). It was a blast.

Then we went to Mickey's Diner. It's a super old dining car that's kind of famous, I guess.

Totally random. So fun.

It was great because there are so many things we haven't done here in the metro even though we've been here for a few years.

So this our way of knocking some things off the list.

We probably won't be around for a whole lot longer. 3 years at the most, probably. All the D.O schools are far away and then if Nathan becomes a nurse: the military.

Gotta soak it all up while we're here! Mpls/St. Paul is actually quite kickin.