I’m a passionate Mom of 2 wild people and wife to one of my best friends. We live in the Southeast and enjoy being outside with our Dog, the plentiful hikes and scenery our area has to offer, and cooking/eating good food. My family is my greatest inspiration, my most treasured blessing, and greatest source of chaos. My daughters are both VERY opinionated but mostly sweet bundles of energy and boundless conversation. We enjoy running around the outdoors, playing board games (till the oldest tries to swindle someone, gets called out, and stomps off in a huff), wrestling with the dog, and laughing till our bellies hurt. My husband and I enjoy dancing, telling and listening to wild stories, movies of all sorts, and daydreaming about our goals. We pretend to hate but secretly love shared projects. The more opportunity to paint, cut, or install together, the better. It brings us closer together and also gives us funny things to discuss down the line. Remember that time we ran around the basement like the 2 stooges “barricading” Aka screeching and slapping at a very angry squirrel, trying to direct it outside? Me too, like it was yesterday. Hilarious.
Personally, My biggest and most important vocation is to raise my kiddos to know that I love them, to be kind and loving to to others, and to hopefully leave the world a better place than they found it. And to be one half of the dyanmic duo that is my husband and I. We work together to create a safe home for our children, and support each other as we journey through life. I love that I get to hang out with him each night and laugh about some ridiculous thing our children have said (or repeated), and that when it’s time to wrangle some snakes out of the basement ceiling, I’ve got the 7 year reigning Southeast Snake Wrangling Champion by my side. He is equal parts silly, hard working, and committed. I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am for the 3 of them and our pooch.
Academically, I’ve taken a bit of a scenic tour to get where I am today. I studied Political Science in the typical High school to college trajectory, with little thought to what my career would be after graduation. During this time, I studied abroad at Oxford and soaked in as much of the rich and vibrant culture and history as I could. After I came back, business continued as usual and graduated with a plan to attend Grad school for Social Work. After several significant personal losses and some eye opening realizations about the profession, I realized it wasn’t a good fit and finished the semester, then returned to my college town. With $6,000 additional dollars in student loans, I now had to find a job in 2012. After much searching and many applications, I worked at a local wing joint to pay the bills and waited for my successful, high earning job. It didn’t really come. But a random Public Safety role came available, which I applied for and got. Here I learned about my passion for serving the community and working with families. After a couple years there, I realized I was ready for something new and went back to school as an OLD LADY (27). Over the next 3 years, I completed my prerequisite courses and got a ASN in Nursing, thus beginning my Nursing career.
One thing I knew about myself, but thought I could overcome, is that I, dear friends, am frazzled under pressure. I deluded myself into thinking that I could work through this and, with time, it would improve. I was a diligent, thorough, and passionate bedside nurse, but I was FRAZZLED. Hair on fire, crying in the bathroom, wipe your smeared mascara off your face and emerge with a smile frazzled. While I am a great Nurse, God did not make me to work in acute care. I would wake up at 3 am in a cold sweat wondering if I had started those antibiotics, call the night shift nurse to check on a mutual patient who seemed to be declining during the day, and worry myself sick over things I had zero control of. Chronic understaffing meant high ratios, frequent turnover, and very high acuity patients with little to no help. After a couple of years and a pandemic’s worth of wear and tear, I decided it was time to get out and find something new.
I entered my Home Health era, optimistic and ready to make a difference in people’s lives. And to be frank, got my arse handed to me but a confused patient who didn’t no better than to wallop me in the back of my head during a dressing change. Record scratch.
Thus, I entered my clinic era. God took pity on a tired soul and I found an opening to be a patient educator for families and did work I loved with a patient population I greatly enjoyed. My brain was a bit scrambled from Covid and my 2 month stint in Home Health so I had to do a lot of inner work to get my personality and confidence back but I did. After attaining my Masters’ in Nursing, I decided it was time to use it and found my way into Nurse Case Management.
This is where i found my SUPERPOWERS. Where I was previously a competent nurse who was (probably) lovingly described as neurotic, feisty, and a mess, I am now thriving. I have harnessed the power of neuroses for good! I am a professional Nag, which I happen to be very skilled at. Instead of it being annoying, it gets things accomplished. My penchant for revisiting unresolved issues is a key part of setting and reaching goals. My tendency to flit back and forth between tasks is perfect for Case Management, since you have a million tasks to complete and interruptions to interrupt your interruptions. While I will admit to anyone at anytime that I crack in life and death situations, I am a ROCKSTAR for the kind of stress Case Management brings. My point in this ramble is that you may think you aren’t cut out for something, or perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong career field. But I am here to tell you that there is a niche that will make you shine and stand out. Instead of being ashamed of your personal quirks, leverage them to find your fit.
I enjoy meeting and talking to others and hope to find common interests and share stories here on my blog. I look forward to getting to know you and appreciate you taking the time to know me.
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash