MishMash

I just got on my blog today for the first time in a very long time and was slightly shocked to see that it's been a whole 3 months since I last posted.  Not that that is really very shocking because my blogging occurrences have waned greatly over the last year.  Sometimes I think I should just stop it all together, but a part of me wants to keep it for when the baby comes.  I need to have something to keep me somewhat accountable to document the life of our child, because I don't do well with that in any other aspect of my life. So I'll just keep on dropping by every once in a while to leave an update and maybe sometime after the baby is born I will start posting more regularly.  We shall see!

So what's new?

Work:
I officially passed my boards (way back in June) and am practicing as a Registered Nurse! I work at Carle Hospital in Champaign on a Cardio-Pulmonary Med-Surg Floor. When I first started in August, I was thinking I would most likely have to work nights, but I the Lord opened a door for me to have a day position!! that way once the baby is born, my life will still be somewhat normal!  I do plan to continue working full time (three 12 hr days/week) at least for a while after the baby comes, in order to gain more experience as a new nurse.  Some days that looks very overwhelming to me, but I just always remind myself that it won't last forever.  I have many willing family/friends who have offered to help babysit, but if anyone else is interested, let me know!

The Husband:
Last February, Kirk started taking an EMT-basic class.  He finished that in August, took and passed his state test and is now volunteering as an EMT.  Just last week he started an EMT-intermediate class, which will keep him busy through next Spring.  So between me working, and him going to class and studying and being on-call, we don't always have a lot of time together, and our supper time together around the table has become few and far between.  I'm thankful though that I don't have to work nights on top of everything because then we would rarely see each other.

The Baby:
Baby is doing great! I'm almost in the last trimester!  Hard to believe! Time is passing so quickly.  3 short months away until we get to meet this beautiful blessing that God has created for us!  I think I get more and more excited with each passing day.  Not that it doesn't completely freak me out some days when I think about being a mom.  But I just trust that God has a plan and He will provide exactly what we need when we need it.

Since I haven't blogged at all about my pregnancy, I thought it would be fun to document a little! Sorry for those who don't care or want to know...you can just stop reading!

How far along:  27 weeks

Baby is as big as a: Cauliflower

Gender: It's a......SURPRISE! Your guess is as good as mine!  We both think it's going to be a boy, because that's pretty typical with the Steidingers, but I'll be excited for either!

Names:  All picked out and ready to go... well except for the middle names...we still debate on those every once in a while.

Movement: Every hour!  I think that has been one of my favorite things about pregnancy so far.  It's such an amazing feeling to feel the baby moving on the inside and on the outside...and to watch it move!  It makes it seem so much more real and it awes me to think about a little human being growing inside of me! The miracle of life...soo amazing!

Symptoms: I'm feeling great!  Well besides the fact that I developed an itchy rash all over my body from a reaction to some type of allergen that I have yet to discover! But thankfully it doesn't affect baby, so I will do my best to endure it!

Baby equipment:  The crib is all set up, just awaiting the mattress and accessories. Baby stroller and car seat has been purchased and progress is slowly being made on the baby room.  Colors have been decided and some of the fabric bought.  Still looking for a dresser that I can turn into the changing table.   Little by little we'll get there!

Food cravings: I have yet to really crave a specific food, it's basically just food in general.  All. The. Time.  Eating has never been a problem for me this whole pregnancy.  Especially sweets.  So, sadly, the weight gain hasn't been so pretty...but I just blame it one the baby! ;)

The Bump: Just a couple shots of my baby bump...growing each day! (don't mind the messy room...)

20 weeks

25 weeks

That's all for now.  Maybe I will post again before Jr. makes his appearance...but no promises!

it's been a while...

A lot has happened since the last time I documented on this blog!

College is officially over.  Graduation is behind me.  And boards are still looming ahead of me.

I started my new job at Carle!  I've gotten a lot of questions about what I am doing.  Right now since I am not an official licensed RN, I cannot orientate as a nurse, so I am orientating as a Healthcare tech (with some extra privileges) until I take my boards and my license is posted on the IL website.  So even though I'm not really working as a nurse yet, I am still really enjoying my job.  I love that I get to work as a HCT starting off because it breaks me in slow and it will help me to respect the HCTs more when I am a nurse - they work hard!

Hopefully I will be able to start orientating as a nurse by August, that way I'll have about 4 or so months of orientation before December comes and along with it another new journey!

We just never know what God has in store for us! :)

And because I kept telling myself I was going to do a graduation post...but never did...here are some pictures from my Pinning.

I wore my mom's dress from when she graduated from LPN school! :) And so thankful for this girl who went through it all with me!  Couldn't have done it without her!

And we couldn't have done it with out these guys either! ;)

These lovely ladies had a delicious meal prepared for us after the ceremony.  Thanks so much!

endings & new beginnings

24 days. 
3 weeks.
12 hours of lecture.
11 trips to Champaign.
6 tests.
3 clinicals.
1 presentation.
1 project.

That's. It.

Then I get to tell Parkland goodbye.
And say hello to Carle Foundation Hospital!

Can't believe I'm to this point already!

Oh...and there's the whole Boards thing that I'll have to do at some point... ;)
And then RN here I come!

Thanking and Praising God for His grace and strength each day and for His leading!
All Glory goes to Him!
I didn't get this far on my own.  And I most certainly won't be going any further without HIM.
By HIS Grace...

Procrastinitis

What I thought was going to be a stressful, time-crunched, studying-cramming week has just turned into a relaxing, snowed-in 2 days of bliss with oodles amount of study time, therefore why not put it off and write a blog post instead?!

A typical day-in-the-life of college student, Jeana - "oh I have plenty of time to study...later!" as I indulge in any kind of food that I can scrounge up to satisfy my cravings d/t bored-ness and by passing my time doing anything that isn't school related! (okay, so not all the time...but I definitely need to work on my time-management skills and unhealthy eating habits!)
I believe I have a very severe case of procrastinitis d/t its comorbidity of senioritis.

*Sigh* only 3 more months or 13 weeks or 88 days until graduation! - Enter gigantic-ly huge grin :D! -

And since it's been a while since I've updated this blog...I'll give a little recap into what's been going on in our life the past month.

- Took a "2nd" honeymoon to Riviera Maya, Mexico over my college break.  It was a much-needed get-a-way and we thoroughly enjoyed it even though it rained every single day we were there!  We did enjoy a few hours of sunshine our last day before heading home!

waiting for our plane and hoping our flight wouldn't get cancelled!

There was always some sweet looking design on our bed each day!

Last day before heading home...notice the sunshine!

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- Had the pleasure of spending part of a day with this special girl from CT!

K & T joined us for lunch.  Little did I know they were all keeping a secret from me! ;)

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- Spent a fun weekend in January with the Eisenmann's at the Old School Center in Farmington, IL.

Guess the word game

Service projects

Lots 'n' Lots of V-ball!  An Eisenmann fav...

Kirk & Kurt played their fair share of pool...

Relay games - my team had the tallest & strongest tower! Go us!

We also had the longest bridge!

~~~~~

Spent a Saturday Skiing in WI with some of Kirk's siblings. 

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- Kirk had the FLU virus over valentine's day so instead of going out to eat, I decided to cook a fancy meal in.  Here's what it amounted too!

Choc covered strawberries for appetizer (some of them came in the mail as part of my Valentine's Gift!)

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo, oven fried veggies, and cheesy garlic-basil bread - delish!

The other part of my gift was a dozen roses in the mail!  First time to have flowers delivered by UPS!

And Creme Brulee for dessert!  Double-yum!

While life has been a bit stressful and I could find many reasons to complain, instead I'm thankful.  Thankful that I can go to school and learn.  Thankful that I have the health and strength to get out of bed each day and go about my daily duties.  Thankful for a husband who has a job and provides for our family.  My heart goes out to those who have recently lost loved ones.  A dear mother & grandmother, and a dear son & brother.  We just never know what tomorrow may hold, but we do know who holds the future, and for that I'm thankful.

year in review -- 2013

2013 flew by...literally.

So much happened...so much changed...so much stayed the same.

January brought another semester of school - teaching me an incredible amount about Mental health and general med-surg information.  It wasn't one of my most favorite semesters...

February came and I said goodbye to a dear man I helped care for for many months, ending my part time income which came in handy.  I also traveled to OH for a wedding...spending time with some wonderful friends.

 March came with a trip to KS to surprise a dear friend and a trip to OH again for invite-a-friend...which began with a unexpected text bringing a whole new dimension into my life with a proposal. The end of the month my whole family spent a long weekend at a house in Cincinnati with a day at the Creation Museum.

April held lots of time in prayer, seeking God's word, doubting, learning to trust, freaking out, stepping out in faith...etc. And an amazing long weekend spent in OR for invite-a-friend.  It was extremely good to get away, spend time with new & old friends, and take a little break.  I returned home with more very clear signs that God was leading me on this new journey and after a couple more weeks, numerous more signs from the Lord, and a certainty of God's leading, I gave my answer back.

The first weekend of May a group of girls and I traveled to Taylor, MO for a little get-away.  It was interesting keeping my engagement quiet with a few of the girls knowing about it and a few not.  The next weekend brought our Engagement. And thus began my journey of getting to know a man I hardly new but with confidence that he was exactly the man who God had chosen for me.  

June was a frenzy of wedding preparations, showers, shopping trips...I think you get the point. I enjoyed a Mystery Weekend with a wonderful group of ladies in St. Louis...thankful for the memories. We also found a house to rent, which we were and still are very thankful for and took engagement pictures.

July we began moving stuff into our house after some painting and cleaning.  Showers continued with many more wedding preparations.  The end of the month I was able to go on one last vacation with my parents and lil bro to Washington state.  While it was different than many of our other vacations due to a certain man who I left back at home, I was still able to enjoy our time together very much and am very thankful for the memories we made.  I flew home a few days early to spend a birthday with my fiance and start tying up all the loose ends in preparation for our wedding the next weekend.

August, of course, brought a very beautiful wedding weekend for us.  We spent a few days in a cabin in Gatlinbury, TN.  And came home to a week full of "settling in" before I started my third semester of nursing school.  

September we spent a night with some married friends in WI Dells...school continued with lots of studying.  It was interesting trying to learn how to balance all of my new tasks and school together, but we managed!

October we traveled to OH for a friends wedding.  School continued.  Spent some times with friends. Took some family photos.

November brought more school.  The end of the month was filled with lots of family time and thankfulness. We welcomed a new, absolutely adorable niece, Ellie Anne. And took some more family photos.

December brought FINALS! which I couldn't have been more happy to see.  Took some more pictures. And Winter break which was full of Christmases, catch-up, organizing, relaxing, shopping, and so much more.

Looking back 2013 was filled with so many blessings.  A year ago today I could have told you of what I had planned for the year.  But today I can look back with the realization that my plans and God's plans can be very different.  And while this past year didn't hold what I thought it would, one thing is for certain; God has been faithful and for that I am so very thankful.

While today has been a day of reflection, it has also been a day of wondering.  Wondering what this new year has in store for us.  I could create a list of many things that I think 2014 will hold...like graduating from Nursing school...taking my boards...getting a job...and so forth...but I know that the list would be incomplete.  Instead of beginning the New Year with expectations or a list of what-I-think-I-will-accomplish-in-2014, if I just leave it in God's hands, I know that this year will hold so many blessings, learning experiences, growths, and most importantly - exactly what God has planned for my life.  I wouldn't want it any different!  So here's to another year - 2014!