A Calling

Stephen and I have been married for 4 years now. That is 4 years to grow, love and connect on a much deeper level then I though possible.

God has placed something on our hearts.

It started on my first day working on my own as an ER tech. I wasn't prepared for the situation I was about to encounter. I turned the corner to see a commotion going on around room 20. I peeked my head in as saw a lady sitting in the corner, an overwhelmed look on her face. In the arms of one of our night nurses was little boy. He was maybe 15 months old. He was only wearing a diaper and cover in what looked like exema, chicken pocks, hives and poison ivy combined (It turned out to be cat scratch decease that has gone untreated for months)  At first I though he was having some bizzar allergic reaction, then I noticed his hair, brittle and matted, it was blonde and looked filthy.
I was suddenly so angry and the lady sitting in the corner. How could she let it get that bad. How could she just sit there while her son was obviously in pain.
I asked what was going on and if she was his mother, to my relief she said "no, I am a foster parent, I got a call at 2am, him and his siblings showed up an hour later, I didn't realize it was this bad and brought in right in" I felt instantly relieved.
He itched from head to toe, you could tell he was in so much pain. We had to tape socks around his hands so he wouldn't break open more of his skin, they didn't help that much. He itched so bad for so long he had scabs covering his body where he has tore his skin open from itching so much.
He didn't want to be held, he didn't want to be comforted, fear filled his eye every time someone entered his room.
I knew this was not normal behavior. I asked his foster mom what condition they found him in, this is what she said, "He was found on the floor with rats, cockroaches, cats, even cat poop. His older siblings talked about getting beat every night before bed, not eating for days, and being left alone in the house for hours on end" She went on and on and my heart broke for the little boy on the bed. She said flat out she felt like she couldn't do it, it was to much to have her own kids, him and his siblings, but there was nowhere else for him to go.
I stayed with hime for 6 hours constantly rubbing anti itch cream all over his body, trying to give him some sort of relief.
I wanted to do more, I wanted to take him home, care for him and show him God's abundant love.
Thats when I really started researching how to become a foster parent. I found out that Midland and Odessa are incredibly short on foster families, to the point where they are having send the children all they way to Dallas!
But thats it, all I did was read... I never did anything about it. I found reasons, selfish reasons why we shouldn't do it.
God knows me, he tugged at my heart strings for 10 months, child after child came into the ER, sometime brought my their parents and others by foster families. Most of them had major physical and physiological damage.
I finally had enough. After talking it over with Stephen and praying about it for 10 months we finally contacted a foster/adoption agency.
It has been a long process. We are finally only a home study away from being certified foster parents!
We still have concerns, it's not an easy road, but we know that this is what God wants, he won't give us anything we can't handle. We may not say yes right away, we get a call and have 30 min to make a decision, I know God will guid us and prepare us for whatever lyes ahead.
Pray for strength and guidance as we do our best to answer this call.

Greater things are yet to come

I find out in the next week or so if I got into nursing school or not....
This is a really big deal for anyone, let alone me. I was not the best high school student and after I graduated I took a few basic classes at the community college for a year. I was then married and moved off to TX.  School was put on the back burner as I worked two jobs to support Stephen and I while he played baseball for Texas Tech University.
As much as I always wanted to be a nurse I never thought it was an actual possibility. It's my ultimate dream job, who gets to say they are doing the one thing in life they always dreamed they would be doing. My theory is that we spend most of our lives working, if we aren't doing something that we love our lives would be pretty miserable.
So I started plucking away at my prerequisites about a year ago, taking 14-18 hours at a time. With Stephen working here in Midland my choices in schools are pretty limited, and each school requires different prerequisites. I catered mine to Midland College. Texas Tech has a P.A. program there and we would share a simulation lab, which is known to be one of the best in TX!
I applied for the spring program (2014) I find out in a week or so if I got in. This will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.
I had a little scare last week finding out that the only program I applied to lost their accreditation (which is a huge deal) you wouldn't want to go to a non-accredited school no matter how good their simulation lab is. Like I said this was only a scare, they ARE accredited, the national accreditation program made a mistake.
So as the excitement builds I am reminded of the many blessings God has bestowed on my life. I am filled with joy knowing He is with me no matter where I go. Every blessing in this life comes from Him. It will be His will whether or not I get into nursing school, whatever the decision is, I am looking forward to seeing where God will take me.

One Year! Holy Moly!

Has it really been a year since I have written anything? Life has been so crazy
Stephen and I have lived in midland for a little over a year now. We have lived in a hotel, an apartment, a trailer, and finally a home.
A little explanation for all the moves... if you haven't heard Midland TX is booming, like Alaska gold rush booming. People are literally having to live in hotels, trailers and right outside of town they even have a man camp! I won't go into detail about how crazy it is living here, you can google it.
Stephen is working as a supervisor at a oil company here in town, he absolutely loves his job! I am working in the ER as a tech, and given the boom, I get to see a LOT of crazy things.
We bought our house about 6 months ago now. We rent out rooms to a few boys who can't find a place to stay or can't afford it (a one bedroom apartment has a 3 month waiting list and is about $1,300 a month...) being in their shoes only a year ago we took pity on them, and given they work in the oil field they are gone all the time anyways so it seems like they are never here anyways.
I am also going to school working toward my BSN, I find out if I got into nursing school sometime this month (so pray pray pray!)
We miss our families and our hometown, but we have been so blessed while living here. Our dream is to move home one day to be closer to our families and back in our beautiful Washington. But considering the fact Washington is not drilling for oil, we will be here for a while. I trust God's plan for us is to be here, at least for now, and knowing that brings me much needed peace, I just need to be reminded of that sometimes.

Nursing!

I have always wanted to be a registered nurse.  As long as I can remember I have had a heart for mission work and thought what a better way to help people then medically.  As the years went by my dreams started to change, I adore children and was given an opportunity to volunteer at Madigan Army Medical center in their NICU.  I fell in love, and although I still have a heart for missionary work, one of my biggest dreams is to become a NICU nurse.  One day I plan to go to Africa and work with sick chlidren and their families, but for now I am working on becoming a RN.  I have one class to finish before I can apply to nursing school (hoping to get in fall 2013) and am working on some nursing classes outside of the program to try and get ahead as much as I can, I have also just been offered a job in the ER as a Nurse Aide and am very much looking forward to starting this October.  Im excited and proud to be pursing my dream and can't wait to see where God takes me.

Trip home (March 2012)

I know this post is a little late but considering this blog is mostly for me anyways I don't really think it's a big deal.  As you may know I have an older brother and younger sister, Mandy and Steven.  My brother is married to Ashley (whom I love) they had their first son in December 2010.  His name is Kaden Wallace Jones.  Mandy gave birth to baby Jack in March 2012, he looks exactly like his mamma! So cute.
These two little boys mean the world to me.  I absolutely love being an aunt.  Kaden is full of surprises, he's growing up so fast, and baby Jack is rolling over now.
I flew home about a week or two after Jack was born (same with Kaden.)  I got to spend about a week back home and although it was not exactly how I had expected it to be I was still overjoyed to be able to spend that time with my family.  Family is the most important thing I have, and even though Stephen and I will be starting our own family in the next few years I will always be a daughter, sister, and aunty Im so blessed to have such a wonderful, loud, thoughtful, ever surprising family, I couldn't ask for anything more.  I love you all.
Here are some pictures of when I flew home to meet baby Jack!

Life In Midland Texas

Well here we are in Midland Tx.  I never thought I would call Texas my home, but the Lord has blessed Stephen with a great job here.  So for the time being this is our home.  It has been a roller coaster ever since we moved here.  We lived in a hotel for about a month and a half (which is very common here) housing is very limited so finding a place to live was a challenge.
It's a miracle that we are living where we are now.  A friend of a friend was relocated for work and our friend called about this apartment.  Luckily we were the first to call because later that day he had over 50 people interested.  We moved in about a month later.
Stephen works just about everyday.  He is working for a company called ProPetro.  It is an oil servicing  company here in Midland, he is currently working in the cementing department.
I decided to go back to school as of this January.  I took one class in the spring while working full time, it was very hard to juggle work, school, baseball and a new puppy.  So as I continue my education working toward my nursing degree I have cut down my work hours and am now just working as a nanny three days a week.  This way I am able to take more classes and focus more on school, Brandy and being a good wife.
There is not much to do here.  When we are not working or in school we take Brandy to the dog park. I finally have time to sketch and play guitar again.
Stephen's baseball buddy from Tech moved in last week (Nick Popescue) and is working in the same department as Stephen.
We are still looking for a church and may have found one last Sunday.  We have plans to come back to Washington for the Christmas holiday and are very much looking forward seeing our friends and family again.
We are thankful for great jobs and school, to have a roof over our heads and friends close by.

Family.  So many people view "family" in different ways.  For me family are people you can not picture your life without, people who are there for you threw out  the good and the bad, who support you and help you in your time of need, who give you advice, and share some in some of the most intimate moments of your life, giving and receiving grace, forgiving and letting go without looking back... loving unconditionally.  I have been blessed with the best family anyone could ask for.  I have been raised is a God fearing and loving home, with morals support and discipline.  Growing up I never would have dreamed those things would mean what they mean to me today.  I would never take any of it back and am thankful for the lessons I have learned.  We have been blessed by the time we were able to be in Washington, spending time with our close friends and family.  We went camping with the Hagen’s at West Port, and camping the the Jones’s at Dash Point.  We love you all!