Vanderbilt career?

I mentioned Vanderbilt in the last post, but I wanted to elaborate a little more on what it's all about and the thoughts I've been having about it. Vanderbilt was the only hospital that got back with me about having a tour there when we visited. There are other hospitals outside of Nashville that I would love to check out, because the traffic in Nashville is kind of crazy. I'm not used to driving on the expressway to work, let alone be in bumper to bumper congestion on my way to work. I like to have a peaceful drive, jam to some tunes, and get ready for the 12 hour work day I have ahead of me. I feel I would be more stressed getting to work than actually at work, which, for me, is A LOT of stress already. That's really the only set back I can think of about working there. They have awesome benefits, will pay for school, are super flexible with schedules, have great discounts at tons of places, and it's a Magnet hospital (one of the top hospitals in the world--attracts nurses because of all of the great perks). I did get a call back from Centennial hospital and I have tours set up there when we go back down at the beginning of May. Now, if I can just get Middle Tennessee Medical Center/St. Thomas to call back, then I'll be able to see the whole picture. I've also been applying like crazy to all of these hospitals for any callbacks at all. I'm also having a hard time figuring out what type of unit I want to work in. It would probably be best to work Med/Surg if I want to go back to Nurse Practitioner school, but I really do love working with babies. So, that's another God thing I suppose. Hopefully he will give me that "painfully obvious" blatant understanding in that decision as well. And, I already applied to get a Tennessee nursing license. We really are putting a lot of effort into this state and hopefully it pays off. But if it doesn't and we end up somewhere else, we are happy for that too. Wherever God wants us to be, we'll be there. We are putting it in his hands and letting him do his thing.

Tennessee Adventures

Tennessee is an absolutely beautiful state! I was so excited to see all of the green and to experience the warm weather. Brent and I left for Nashville Monday, April 5th and headed back by Thursday, April 8th. It was a short trip, but very busy and packed with tours of hospitals, elementary school stops, house dreaming, and you can't leave out fun with friends and family! We stayed with Keri and Jeremiah in their super cute apartment and were able to have dinner with Meghan and Jacob one night. It's so refreshing to hang out with a group of great people that we get along so well with. We have friends we get along with great in Michigan, but to know that we have people near the place where we might be living is exciting. That will probably be the hardest thing for me --to leave all of my family and friends here. I wish I could take everyone with us when we do have to move, but I know that isn't realistic. We will just have to take plenty of vacations to Michigan and get all the frequent flyer miles we can get AND we will have to have a big enough living space to have lots and lots of visitors :) OPEN INVITE RIGHT NOW FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO VISIT! We would love to have you as guests in our new home :)

Brent was able to stop at 7 different elementary schools near Nashville and drop off his resume. He also has a friend from high school that works at one of the elementary schools. She was able to send him a link of the open positions in Rutherford county that we didn't even know about. Brent was able to get his resume e-mailed to those schools before the deadline--praise the Lord :) We are planning on going back to Tennessee in the beginning of May for a teaching job fair in Murfreesboro, so hopefully those resumes will make an impression on the principals. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't want Brent as their kid's school teacher? :) I may be a little partial.

I was able to take two tours when we were down in Nashville of Vanderbilt--one of the main campus and the other of the Children's Hospital. What a phenomenal and gorgeous facility! AND they would pay for my Master's in full after I worked there for 15 months (12 credit hours/year which is definitely a plus!!!). The Human Resources Nurse Recruiters were phenomenal! I can't say enough great things about both of them--they were so helpful and nice and really went above and beyond what they had to do to make me feel welcome. They had wonderful southern hospitality :). Not only did I have a tour at the main hospital, but the recruiter set up an impromptu interview with one of the managers of a unit that had an opening. I was so glad we could make that work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Vanderbilt is where I can start working.

And, I can't say this enough, but Keri and Jeremiah are awesome hosts! They feed us dinner and let us stay with them all the time, even when they have to work the next day :) We had so much fun with them painting pottery, driving around Nashville, looking at houses in Murfreesboro, and watching movies. It was like we were still neighbors at Waterside--we just picked up right where we left off. We would LOVE to be neighbors again someday.

We also found this cute little restaurant on our way home from Tennessee called Willie D's Cafe in Indiana, just outside of Madison. They had awesome food--especially their potato soup--and it was family owned! I love supporting local businesses. I'd much rather give my money to the mom and pop shops than the huge chains out there. We will definitely be visiting that establishment more often on our trips.

I'm sure we will have many more Tennessee Adventures to come! We will keep you posted :)

So Many Changes...

Okay, I have a list of things I need to write about--they may not all make it on this post, but they will eventually! Here's the line up:

1-Complimenting Doctor

2-Tennessee Adventures

3-Vanderbilt Career?

4-Precious time

5-Puppies!

6-A-ma-za-zing friends

1-Complimenting Doctor

From all of the not-so-nice things that have been said to me by doctors, I actually have an amazing life changing compliment that was given to me a few weeks back. First, let's rewind--I started working on a surgical floor in December. It has been a rough transition to say the least and I was starting to wonder if nursing was really what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I was considering going back to school for another degree or maybe going on for my masters, but I wasn't sure what degree specifically I should get. Nothing really stood out or was helping to guide me in the right direction. I had been praying A LOT regarding this conundrum and I specifically prayed that God would tell me and make it "painfully obvious" what I was supposed to be doing so I wouldn't have any doubts in my mind what exactly he wanted me to do. I prayed the "painfully obvious" statement for a few weeks and I knew it was going to hit me in the face eventually. So, lo and behold, I was working one day doing some charting on a computer and a doctor was sitting next to me doing the same. We said our pleasantries and were chit chatting and the topic of school came up. The doctor asked me, "So, are you in school right now?", and I was thinking he was talking about RN school. So I responded with no, that I graduated a year ago with my bachelors. And he said, "No, I mean for your Masters? Are you thinking about going back for that?" The idea of going back has crossed my mind, but with Brent finishing up school it just didn't seem like the right timing. So I said no, not right now. And his response to my statement blew me away and I wasn't expecting it at all. He said, "well, I don't tell many nurses this, but I think you should definitely go back to get your Masters. You see the whole picture, you are a pleasant person, and you would make a great Nurse Practitioner. And what a better time than now to do it, since it's going to be made a doctorate degree in 2015." Really? Wow, I NEVER thought I would get a compliment like that, especially from a doctor! Most of the doctors yell at me for something that I didn't know to do, or laugh in my face for asking a question, or scoff at me for not knowing what to do in a particular situation. This was such an extreme change from the norm that I knew it had to be from God. This was my "painfully obvious" request!!! That doctor didn't have to say that to me. He could have just went on his way, going about his ridiculously busy day and could have just passed through without saying a word to me. But he did talk to me and said one of the nicest things anyone could have said. I was very grateful that he helped me out in more ways than he'll ever know.

Ok, I need to go make dinner for the hubster. Maybe I can tackle another topic later on! :)