May Day

Before I begin a new week I like to look back at what we've accomplished recently. Fortunately, for me these days, this is a quick process. I can say we've got outside the last few days, enjoying this nice "spring" weather (living in Kansas forces me to use the " " mentioning seasons).

I can't complain though. Thanks to Mark we accomplished many goals around the house...like yard work, 

...and painting the infamous purple basement (*sob*)

...and filling fruit baskets, with the hope that we'll have smarter snacking options

because I need to stop eating these sneaky little things...

darn you pepperidge farms!

I am excited about the next few weeks though. This week I conclude my last week of classes, and a week from tomorrow I will be taking my last Final of nursing school! Unbelievable. It's funny but the time really has flown by. I can recall my first day of clinicals. Walking up to St. Francis hospital in my crisp, clean white and purple scrubs, thinking to myself, "this is it!" I had been so excited because it had taken so much just to get to that point. Little did I know the journey that lay before me and the challenges to meet me. But somehow I got through them. Mark wrote a beautiful blog entry about our journey, and I couldn't be more thankful for him, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here, getting to this conclusion today. 

I was reading my journal entries from the past few years (yeah, that's right I write in other places too...you'd think my head would implode with all this external monologuing I do). I have just started coming to the realization of the great sacrifice nursing school can involve. Taking time away from your family, friends, hobbies and everyday joys like playing outside with your kids. I can't wait to have it all back again. I've been robbed for three years now, and am looking forward to everyday freedoms. I will not take advantage of them, that you can be certain. Last semester I helped our class come up with a motto for our t-shirts. It said, "Take a break from life...attend nursing school." It couldn't have been said any better. 

I hope you can take time to appreciate joy in life. Look for it in all of life's little secret places.

I assure you, once you start looking you'll never stop finding what is right in front of you. Pure, simple, raw joy.

Want to know what we do to start our week?

Sunday evenings we eat breakfast for dinner. Because that's the secret to a good week, a hearty breakfast to get you started.