My life in a nutshell

Dear blog family and friends-
I've been preoccupied for the past couple of days with last minute preparations to take my board exam for nursing licensure. I would sure appreciate it if you could take just a moment tomorrow, July 14, 2010, to join me in praying that I pass the first time around.
All of my life I dreamt of being married with children. I wanted to stay home and raise my kiddoes and love them unconditionally and be the model wife who keeps a "Better Homes and Gardens"-neat home (complete with daily scrumptious home-made meals and desserts and fresh cut flowers on the dining room table) and wears sexy clothes and is active with all sorts of volunteer organizations, etc...I think you get the picture. Up until now, I have worked only part time, and still been there to serve on the PTA, teach Sunday school and drop off and pick up kids from school and extracurricular activities. My husband has been a real trooper and advocate for my staying home; however, our financial situation is rather grim. Hubby picks up extra shifts and signs up for overtime hours as often as he can, but he simply can't do it all by himself. I have a bachelor's degree in Family Studies from Texas Women's University from some time ago, and I loved all of the coursework. As my advisor liked to say, it entails human development from womb to tomb. I took classes in child development, sociology, psychology, nutrition, human development, etc. As the name suggests, though, there's only so much you can do with an undergraduate degree in that field. I selected Social Work as my minor thinking I could always get a Masters in Social Work and go into counseling if need be. Meanwhile, I figured the degree in Family Studies would help me since my main agenda was to be a stay at home mom anyway. Right?
Well, after college (the first time around) I ran off and joined the Peace Corps and spent 2 1/2 years in Honduras, Central America. I worked with local nurses and midwives as a rural health educator. One of my few material possessions was a copy of Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. I marveled at the birth stories and the lives of the midwives. I wanted a piece of that natural childbirth world!
After I returned home, I met my husband through a mutual friend and married him and worked full time and had my kiddoes (both at home with a midwife) then quit my job and attempted to settle in to my life as wife and mama. I thought about pursuing a "direct entry midwife" certification. This is where you apprentice yourself with a practicing midwife, take courses, attend a certain number of births as an assistant and then a certain number of births as primary caretaker. Finally, you take a certification exam. The downfall to that approach was that your schedule has to be such that you're available to attend births around the clock. With small children at home and a husband who works from sun-up to sundown at times, that didn't seem to be the best option for me (not to mention you have to build up a clientele, so steady income was not a sure thing either).
From a financial standpoint, it has been an uphill struggle ever since I quit working full time after my daughter was born. Even though my Hubby and I are both very frugal, and we try to live within our means there just never seems to be enough money in the bank. I do not regret the sacrifices we choose to make everyday, but I do wish there was "a little extra" to do fun stuff with the kids and with each other.
So, for a while I floundered between education and nursing, with nursing being a means to get to the wonderful world of midwifery eventually. I decided that nursing entails quite a bit of education, too, and there's always the option to teach nursing courses somewhere down the line. Three years ago I dusted off my backpack and enrolled in nursing school. I had to take all of my science courses and a couple of other prerequisites-chemistry, microbiology, anatomy & physiology I and II, speech and P.E.--before I could apply to the 2-year program. I just graduated May 18, 2010.
Now, here I am about to take my board exam. I need to pass because I need a job. I thank God for the past 12 years of being able to be home with my kids. I also thank Him for helping me make it through nursing school. Now, I'm just praying for the faith to "believe and receive" the blessings God has in store for me. Won't you join me? Thanks! Until next time...