Life Update: 5 months in Georgia
Hello friends! I’m going to do something a little different this week….I thought it would be nice to give you a more personal life update. The world is a crazy, topsy turvy place where time seems to being standing still but moving ahead at full steam at the same time. And we are definitely feeling the effects as well.
Georgia
We have been in Georgia for 5 months now so a little life update seemed in order. We moved at the end of November 2019, just after Thanksgiving, and Brian started his new job immediately on December 2nd, 2019. Brian’s job here is quite different than it was in Illinois. He works with a large group who take turns rotating to cover 3 hospitals and an outpatient surgery center. In Illinois he was part of a much smaller group who only worked at one hospital. As with any new job it took a little while for Brian to get used to and comfortable with the new work flow, but he’s really settled in now and is thriving in this new environment!
The biggest adjustment has been the 24-hour in-house call shifts required at one of the hospitals. It wasn’t completely foreign to Brian because he had to work shifts like that in residency, but it was totally new to our relationship and me. But it’s our new normal now and those 24-hour call shifts at the hospital are a great excuse to have a really slow, lazy, hangout day the next day when he gets off call.
Jaye Update
As for me, I have still not found a pediatric nurse practitioner job here in Georgia. And to be completely honest, I haven’t checked the job postings in a while. I had several interviews and applied for a bunch of jobs when we first moved. But I definitely got discouraged at the lack of PNP job opportunities here and have kind of given up. There was one job I was really interested in but didn’t work out because they didn’t have adequate physician to nurse practitioner ratios at the time. One job had awful, inflexible hours that would have caused Brian and I to have no time together. And a couple of promising postings never came to fruition.
We’ve discussed all the pros and cons many, many, many times and have decided it’s better for me to not work than take a suboptimal job. For us, it just works best for our lifestyle for me to not work outside our home right now. And that has been a much bigger adjustment for me than I could have imagined! This is really difficult and personal for me to share, but I want to be open and transparent with you as much as I can. So I’m sharing all this in the spirit of friendship, vulnerability and community. Not to complain or whine or be self-serving. I feel so lucky, blessed, fortunate, and grateful for the life I live. But no one, and nothing is perfect.
The Good and The Bad
I love being home more. I love not worrying about leaving our dogs home alone for 12, 13, sometimes up to 15 hours at a time. I love having more time to plan and cook dinner. I love having more time to focus on my personal health. I love that I don’t always carry at least some degree of anxiety about whether or not I did the right things for my patients the last time I was at work. I love that we don’t have to worry about whether or not our schedules are going to match up this week. I LOVE all the extra time Brian and I have been able to spend together. I love the flexibility of being available to any of my family for anything at a moments notice.
But it’s also been really hard at times. I miss regular social and professional interactions. I miss my friends in Illinois. I miss my career. I miss my patients. I miss sharing our financial responsibilities 50/50. I miss having small breaks from our dogs that I love dearly but also drive me insane sometimes.
Even before the move we had discussed the probability that I would stay home after we started a family. But that was a couple of years down the road. And right now, sometimes I feel kind of weird about being home and not going out to work. I do know I am making important contributions to our family, but I still feel sometimes like I’m mot. And those are not fun feelings to have. I’ve done a lot of soul searching and personal reflection lately. And I’m really starting to come into my own and embrace my new role. But it’s taken time, and been an adjustment. And that’s ok.
What I’m Doing Now
I was a healthcare professional for 8 years. First as a bedside nurse, then as a nurse practitioner. I’m used to working long, hard, emotionally and mentally draining hours and then still having home and family responsibilities. This is a completely new territory for me. So I’ve had to give myself grace and time to find my new routine and new normal.
In that grace and time, I’ve found my passion for this blog I started and renewed my passion for essential oils. Those two things have become my outlet for continuing to build relationships with and help others. I have a deep passion for health and wellness and helping/caring for people, which was part of what drew me to the nursing profession. I’ve had more time lately to focus on improving my own and health and wellness and to learn more about what contributes to, supports, and undermines overall wellness. And I love that I’ve been able to share more of what I know about essential oils and how they can play in to that!
I’m also a big girly, girl who loves shopping, makeup, clothes, fashion, skin care, shoes, home décor…you know, all the fun things! And this blog has been my outlet for those things and my need to be creating. Two of my favorite posts so far have been about the basics of essential oils and a spotlight of a few of my favorite small businesses to shop! I also plan to share more content related to my professional background and knowledge in the future.
Life in Quarantine
Just as we were starting to settle into our new life and routines…along came Covid-19. We’ve lived in this new town for 5 months but have spent the past 1.5-2 months in quarantine. We had just started to get our footing and become more social when everything went on lockdown. I was getting comfortable at my Barre studio and as a regular class attendee I was actually getting to know the other clients and instructors. We had joined the local climbing gym and had started indoor rock climbing once a week. We were starting to get together with some of Brian’s new colleagues socially and start making social connections.
The pandemic lockdown has been a rollercoaster of emotions and stress for our families and us. Brian’s parents were in the Philippines for January and February. And their proximity to the epicenter of the pandemic at that time was very unsettling and concerning for us. Luckily, they made it home to Chicago in mid-March before things got too crazy. Thankfully, they both remain healthy! On my side of our family, there is at least one person in each household who is a healthcare worker and has continued work as usual. Again, thankfully, my parents, my sisters, and my brothers-in-law have all remained healthy!
Brian has taken care of some Covid-19 positive patients at one of his hospitals so we have tried to be extra careful and limit even our grocery store trips. A few weeks ago there was talk of the anesthesiologists helping more in the ICU to give the ICU physicians some rest if the Covid-19 patient population exploded. Thankfully, the patient load in our area has remained manageable and Brian has not needed to provide extra ICU coverage. And Brian and I have both stayed healthy so far!
The Woes of Covid-19
Unfortunately, because of the quarantine and businesses closures, we had to cancel my sister’s Las Vegas bachelorette party. Brian and I also had a trip planned in mid-April that was canceled. So Brian had to spend his vacation week quarantined at home.
Aside from being worried for everyone’s health, one of my biggest concerns/stressors throughout the quarantine has actually been my sister’s upcoming wedding. Tory and Taylor are supposed to get married on June 6th. We are now 5 weeks away from their wedding and still unsure what will happen. I am so sad and mad about the joy and excitement this virus has stolen from my sister regarding her wedding festivities. She has outwardly been so brave and positive about the circumstances but I can’t imagine how she is actually feeling. But she is handling it all really well. I’m just hoping and praying she will be able to have the wedding of her dreams as she had originally planned for on June 6th.
Silver Lining
We have been able to find some positives during this crazy time though. Brian and I have had even more time to play through our board game closet and discover new awesome games. Columbus has actually had really beautiful, fairly mild (for southern Georgia) weather so we’ve been able to spend a ton of time sitting out on our back porch. We have really explored our neighborhood and have been taking the dogs for more regular and longer walks. We completed our pre-marriage counseling via Zoom. And, we ordered our wedding save-the-dates! We’ve also had weekly Zoom chats with my family also and my grandfather.
Lots has been going on the past few months. This is just a brief life update about how we’re adjusting to life in Georgia amidst Covid-19. I hope you all are staying healthy and finding your silver lining in this slower paced life of quarantine. I’d like to leave you with this beautiful message I saw on Instagram Stories this morning:
“Jesus, thank You for the season I am in right now! I know that within each season You are refining me, teaching me, growing me and strengthening me into who I was created to be. Even when I don’t understand all the moving parts, I believe and trust that You have great purpose in it all. Thank You for today, whether it be a day to plow, plant, uproot, or just be, that You will guide me every step of the way. You are right on time, Father, so today, I choose to rely on Your calendar, not mine.”
That is from a daily Scripture Devotional Card set you can find at www.cleerelystated.com.
XOXO, stay well friends
Jaye