I actually have a free minute!

I have been incredibly busy lately. :( Between school, doctor's appointments, kids, and life in general, I have been neglecting my blog. I guess I win the bad blogger of the year award. Oh well.

So, school is great. We are almost done with our orientation semester. I cannot wait to get to the good stuff in the fall. We are done with the patient care section. Thank God! That was pretty boring, but necessary. I am doing really well in Med Term which doesn't surprise me because I have always been really good at memorizing things. We just started chest procedures, and that is what we are doing for the next 2 weeks. Then we get a 2 week break, and then get thrown right into clinicals. I cannot wait!! Did I mention that I am excited? lol.

I had my Nuclear Medicine procedure done last week. It wasn't bad at all. I even fell asleep during the scan. I had a follow up appointment with the Endocrinologist yesterday. Other than taking 2 hours, that appointment went well. All of my results were within the normal range. That was a huge relief to hear. So, for now, we aren't doing anything. My vitals are fine, so it's really not a huge deal. He wants me to go back in 3-4 weeks to have more blood work, and I will probably have to do that a couple more times because if it goes hypo, I will need to take some hormones until it levels out. He also wants me to go back for another ultrasound in 6 months to make sure the one "nodule" hasn't grown. He is very confident that it is just postpartum thyroiditis since my thyroid had actually shrunk since last time. All in all, it was GREAT news!

We went to the informational meeting on foster parenting, and learned a whole lot of stuff that I had already learned through my own research. But, we got the packet of application stuff, and the registration paper for the classes. I sent the registration for classes in today. I'm really hoping that the August classes aren't full already because they are the only ones we can go to. I know that it is way to soon to get excited, but I just can't help myself.

The future is in God's hands, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for our family. It is all so exciting. I cannot believe all the ways that God is using me. I am still having a little trouble distinguishing between His wants and mine, but I'm getting there. I am working on leaving it all up to Him. It's really easier said than done. I know though, that if things don't work out this time, it just isn't time yet.

In other news, we bought a suburban. It's huge! I love it. The car was dying, so we decided we should replace it before it completely died on us. We worked it out so that it would work perfectly with our budget. Two days after we bought it, it started leaking water. Turns out that the radiator needed replaced. It was not something that could have been seen or prevented by the dealer. We actually had a mechanic look over it closely before we bought it. It was just pure rotten luck. The bill was $550!!! This totally didn't work with our budget at all, but we had no choice. I was not terrible stressed about it because we have been in the situation before, and I have learned that stressing does no good at all. As a matter of fact, just a couple years ago, we were barely squeaking by paycheck to paycheck, so we are very familiar with the situation we were in. There was really NO WAY we were going to make all of our bills for the month. But, when Jared went to make a payment on the suburban, he told the dealer about it, and he decided to credit our next payment take some off the total that we are paying in 3 weeks. I knew that God would work it out, but I was totally NOT expecting that. It is so awesome considering it was not the dealers fault at all, we bought it "As Is", and the general reputation of used car dealers. I would recommend him in an instant. Another "Thank you, God" moment.

Last thing, I promise! I have lost 10.4 lbs in 5 weeks!!!!!! I am totally super happy about this. I have struggled with my weight since I was 11 or 12 years old, and it has always been tough for me to lose weight. It seems to be going well this time. I am not looking forward to the dreaded plateau though. I know it is coming!

Proverbs 3:5-6

5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I would gather children.

I Would Gather Children

Some would gather money

Along the path of life

Some would gather roses,

And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children

From among the thorns of sin,

I would seek an ebony curl,

And a wide and toothless grin.

For money cannot enter

In that land of endless day,

And roses that are gathered

Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children,

As I cross the sunset sea,

And the gates swing wide to heaven,

I can take them in with me!

~Author Unknown~

I'm still alive!

So, it's been 2 weeks since my last post!! This is what always happens, I start to fizzle out. But, I am determined to keep this up this time. Life has been super crazy since I started school. With that and my thyroid thing and looking for a new vehicle and everything else, I just haven't had time.

I am loving school. It's actually a lot of fun. I really can't wait to get into the actual stuff. Right now we are just learning the equipment and patient care stuff. It's important, but not very exciting. I am taking a class online that has absolutely nothing to do with my major called Religion and Culture. I am only taking it because I needed 3 more credit hours to get my financial aid. Anyway, the prof is AWFUL!! He does not explain himself, he doesn't answer our questions, and he doesn't know how to work the online program well at all. It is really frustrating, and I am thinking about auditing it. I just don't want to end up with the financial aid problems I had the last time that I audited a class. That was uncool.

One of my friends husband is in Haiti this week. I got to hang out with her and her 4 kids on Monday, and just her 4 kids on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. On Monday night I met one of her neighbors who is a foster mom. I talked to her a lot, and probably annoyed the crap out of her with all my questions. She was great though, and gave us a lot of useful information. I am very excited about this whole thing, and really hope that we will be allowed to do it. The only thing that would keep us from it is our income. GRRR...

We own a suburban! We decided it was time to cut ties with the malibu before it took a dump on us. It was to the point were we didn't know if it would last 6 more months or 6 more hours. So, we got $400 on trade for it, and got something that will fit all our kids plus any more that might be coming to stay with us in the future. I really like it, and Jared is thrilled because he got his truck.

As far as my thyroid goes, they ordered a thyroid uptake and scan to rule out Graves' disease. I am supposed to do that on Tuesday, but I'm not sure now since insurance is saying it is probably not a covered procedure and it costs $900-1000. I can't really afford that, so I am going to call the dr on Monday and figure out if there are any other options for me. The NP that I saw was 90% sure that it's just thyroiditis, and not Graves'. So, I don't know what to do really. I'm thinking we should just proceed like it is thyroiditis and see what happens. 

Life is good, and I can't complain. I am exhausted, but oh so blessed.

I will try to keep updated more often.

Proverbs 3:5-6
⁵Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  ⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

What a week! *ANNOUNCEMENT*

I have been a SLACKER! lol. Sorry.

My first week of Radiography school was a whirlwind. They throw so much information at us all at once. It is a little overwhelming actually. Monday was super boring because all we did was read through the handbook. Tuesday we got to tour the department at the hospital, and Wednesday we got to tour the whole hospital. Thursday we all got our ID badges. That was pretty exciting. Then today we started learning patient care. I have had 3 Med Term quizzes already, and one other quiz. I have 3 quizzes to do by Monday. Yeah, it's that crazy. Plus, there is this Religion and Cultures class that I am taking so that I can have 6 credit hours so I can get financial aid. AHHHH!!! So, this is why I haven't posted in a few days. We have had policies and procedures thrown at us all along the way too. It's just craziness, but I love it.

So, that has pretty much taken up most of my time recently. It'll get better when I can get into a routine. I have done so awesome on my diet this week. My 2 weekly goals that I set were to drink at least 64oz of water everyday, and to exercise 30 min. at least 4 times during the week. I totally accomplished those goals. I actually exercised 5 days for longer than 30 min each time. Tomorrow morning is my "weigh in" day. I hope the scale is nice to me. I am not prepared to share my weight with everyone, but I will tell you what I have lost, if anything. This week, I am keeping the same goals, just bumping the 30 minutes up to 40 minutes. Plus I am adding a new goal this week, to only drink 3 cans of pop total through the whole week. I only drink diet anyway, but that is also really bad for you. This goal might be a challenge for me, but I'm up for it.

Jared has to work tomorrow, but he gets Sunday off for the holiday. That is so exciting! I don't know what we are going to do this weekend. We might just hang out at home. We are usually last minute planners, so you never know what we might decide to do.

So, here's what you all have been waiting for.....Jared and I have decided to take the required steps to become licensed foster parents. We are going to an information meeting on July 22nd to see if we will even be able to given our income. There is a guideline that says we cannot be receiving any state aid. The kids have Medicaid and WIC though, but the woman I talked to didn't think that those counted. She said that she thinks it's just food stamps, TANF, section 8, and stuff like that. Makes sense. So, yeah. You are all probably thinking we are crazy right about now, but this is what we feel a calling to do. We will be pretty selective to protect our children, so we might not have a match very often.

I had never even considered fostering before. As many of you know, Jared and I have had our hearts set on adopting internationally for years now. I am not sure now if that is God's plan for us. So, for now, we are following His callings. We are excited and scared all at once. I know that there will be a lot of negative reactions to our decision, but it really wasn't our decision to make, it was God's. All I ask is, if you have something negative to say, please keep it to yourself. We realize that there are people who already think we are nuts for having our children so close together in age, but again, that was God. Everything is done in His timing. If He thinks we are not ready, it won't happen. He will never give us more than He thinks we can handle.

So, that's the "big announcement" everyone has been anxious to hear. So, if you could pray for us, that would be awesome. :o)

Job 19: 25-26
²⁵ I know that my Redeemer lives,
       and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
       yet in my flesh I will see God;