About time for a post update!

My new "home away from home".




Hanging out with those crazy Bennor's! :)


Our family picture this Christmas season! :)

Hi everyone! So sorry I haven't kept up on my blog... for a while nothing changed, and then, all of a sudden, everything started changing!

My last post was on November 3... since then, I continued applying for every job I could through my travel nursing company-still with NO results; no phone calls, no interviews, NOTHING. I continued praying and wondering what on earth God was up to... didn't He know how much I needed money to be able to go to Sierra Leone? Why was I still living at home with my parents and without a job?

Well, with the encouragement of a friend and feeling I had given my first travel company enough of a chance to find me a job, I applied with a new travel company- Medical Staffing Network (MSN)-the InteliStaff branch. I applied with that company, going through that entire process once again, and was moving towards working per diem for hospitals in the Twin Cities from now until I left for Mercy Ships Feb. 17th. There was one contract job that I put my name in for in Albany, NY when I first applied, but I didn't expect to hear from them, and actually forgot about it during the hustle and bustle of starting up in the Twin Cities.

I knew the last possible day I could have time to be hired to finish out an 8 week contract position would be Wednesday, Dec. 8. So, what does God do? Shock the socks off of me and throw my plans back into my face! On Tuesday, Dec. 7th, I got a call from the nurse manager at the hospital in Albany asking for an interview. After about 15-20 minutes, she offered me the job and asked, "When can you start?" WHAT??!!!??!! I was SHOCKED! "As soon as possible" I answered. The 2 days following were a whirlwind of phone calls, emails, signing and scanning documents, and finding out about my housing arrangements when I got to Albany.

Thursday night, after a Christmas celebration with the family, I packed my car, and Friday morning I left at 5:30am for Grand Rapids, MI (my half-way goal) where I got to stay with the Bennor's. After that 15 hour driving day, I only had 11 hours left to go on Saturday and arrived at my extended-stay hotel in Albany at 11pm. I have a couple of pics of the room- it's perfect. Small, but has everything I need- compliments of MSN (as part of a contract. NICE, I know!). Whew! So I've just been finding my way around Albany, stocking up the cupboards and settling in, waiting for my first day of orientation tomorrow (Wednesday). I'm so excited to be working again!

Thank you SO much to all of you who have been praying for me these past few months.. it has been a very challenging time for me learning faith, trust and patience to a degree I never imagined. I'll keep up better now in the days and weeks to come, so stay tuned! :)