moving to Alaska

I am going to be a BYU graduate very soon. Soon as in my last class ever for my nursing degree is on Thursday. Talk about crazy!

While I am very happy about this, I am also filled with this weird sense of dread... What does graduation mean? It means that I have to grow up and get a job. No more fun classes, rushing to get homework done, BYU stuff, seeing Brian on campus, etc etc. Once I walk out of the classroom on Thursday, that's IT. I think I am going to feel very weird.

So weird, in fact, that I am already planning on attending some of Brian's future classes with him. NERD ALERT! Can you believe that I don't want to quit going to college?

But I am excited to get paid. Real excited.

looks like fun!

It will be so nice to not have to live off of our savings anymore :) Now we can start saving for cool stuff like children and ... dental school. I read somewhere yesterday that the average dentist gets out of school with $100,000 of debt. Yikes. That is better than the $400,000 that I heard somewhere else, but it is still a kick in the stomach.

Brian came up with a genius plan to get out of debt after graduation. MOVE TO ALASKA! Not only does the government pay you a bit extra to live out there, but salaries are a bunch higher. I decided to do a little investigation and found this nifty website. The subsidy isn't as great as I expected and apparently the cost of living is rather atrocious. But hey, it could still work! Anything to get out of $100,000 of debt, right? Nurses there make over twice what they make in Utah it seems....

Now, to be clear. We have not decided to move to Alaska and that wouldn't happen until Brian graduates from dental school - which is in at least 5 years. But, we're keeping it as an option!

this doesn't look so bad!

this does, however. BRRRRRRR!

I could get a pet moose!

Or at least a wolf puppy :)

GREAT NEWS!

 Just loving this week before Thanksgiving! I am really excited to go and be with Brian's family for Thanksgiving. We are planning on heading out to warm(ish) St. George and party with a lot of his extended family.... so much extended family, in fact, that we can't even stay in the house - we have to pitch a tent in the backyard! It will definitely be a Thanksgiving to remember :). I am sure there will be tons of delicious food. Ironically, we are in charge of bringing the olives and I detest olives... haha! I am just happy that other people will get to enjoy them! Brian's family is so great - it will be fun to get to know them a little bit better considering the last time I was around them it was for our wedding and things were so crazy busy.

I cannot believe that school is almost over. I graduate in less than a month! Then I have to be a grown up and get a real job and stuff... which leads me to my next news -

I think I'm almost for sure going to get a job in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit where I am doing my Capstone! WAHOO! It is such a relief to feel like I probably have a job.

The nurse I have been working with this whole semester (my now good friend Becca) went on a "bathroom break" and left the babies to me. When she got back she had this huge grin on her face.... "Hey Rach, I just talked to Jeani (the nurse manager who is in charge of hiring)."

"Oh really? How did that go?"

"Oh, you know... she wants to hire you."

"What?!!"

"Yep. I went in and she said she'd been expecting me to come in and talk to her about you because two other nurses already had. She said she couldn't hire anyone until January and she said that was PERFECT because that's when she was planning on filling the positions that are open!"

So of course I got really excited and had her tell me every detail of the conversation :) They think I'm a great fit and are impressed with the work I've done there so far (and I have tried to work so hard and make a great impression - I'm just grateful it looks like it will come to something!). They love hiring Capstone students because we already know the unit and the nurses can recommend us first hand. Yay yay!

So, I marched straight to her office and gave her my resume while telling her that I have loved my time in their unit and would love to become a part of it. After asking a few questions about when I graduate and such she said, "Well, that shouldn't be a problem. We'll stay in touch until you pass your boards!"

Relief!

Major relief!

I'm tired of living off our savings and plasma money (yes, we are still selling plasma for some extra cash... And I have the bruises to prove it!)

I really really love the NICU. It is very specialized and that worried me a bit because I won't be able to get as broad of an experience as I was envisioning in my head, but if I love it, then why not go for it? I can transfer to another area of nursing later on in my career... especially because getting a job anywhere in Utah is so difficult right now.

So... in a few months I'll be Rachael Pearce, RN at the NICU! :)

Now let's just hope it all works out like it seems like it will. I plan on applying elsewhere as well just in case something goes wrong.

And, for your enjoyment... here is a little video my daddy sent me - I think it's hilarious!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!