A new sense of normal, whatever that means...

Hello again, all! My apologies to you! I've never really been great at keeping up with the blogging world. And now it's been 5 months since I last wrote. What a 5 months it's been, too (though I don't so much mean that in a good way)... Nursing school is quite busy and stressful, and it can take a lot out of a person. Add a new job on top of that and your free time really starts to become scarce! I honestly don't know how people do this while raising children, I commend them beyond what words can express! In spite of the craziness, I did complete the semester with a 4.0! I was pretty stoked about that, and about the 3 month break from school that felt like would never arrive!
However, my excitement was brought to a screeching halt by a single event that would change my world forever. Unless you've been under a rock for 3 months, I'm sure you all know about the devastating EF-5 tornado that ripped through my hometown on May 22nd, killing 160 people and injuring hundreds of others, as well as destroying thousands of homes and businesses in its path. Around 5:20 pm the first sirens sounded that we were under a tornado warning (nothing out of the ordinary here in these parts), by 6:00 the tornado had torn through town and was still on the ground moving southeast of Joplin, though the size and intensity had weakened.
Whenever something like this occurs, you can't help but feel sort of shell-shocked. I mean, we see these things all the time. It's in the papers, on the tv... But they don't happen HERE. Yes, we're in tornado alley. We're used to watches and warnings all the time, especially in May. But in my entire life, there has never been something like this to hit Joplin. Basically the bad ones have always fallen somewhere AROUND Joplin, never actually IN Joplin. For the longest time I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing every time I drove through town. All we could do was just hug our friends and family, tell each other "I love you" and "I'm so glad you're okay!" We all shared our stories of what we experienced that night and the days and weeks to come. If we go out of town and someone asks us or sees where we're from, we get that inevitable look of concern and sadness. Often people that weren't even here ask to hear the stories from those of us who were.
For Matt and me, it was just a regular Sunday afternoon. We got up from a nap and were preparing to head to my brother's and his wife's house for a cook out. We didn't think too much of the sirens going off the first time, to be honest. Didn't think too much of it at all. There was something in me, though, that said we need to at least look at the tv while we have power and see what's going on. It said we were in the path of  some potentially very volatile storms. My mom called telling us to stay put, and then called back a few minutes later to say if we hadn't done so we needed to take cover. This tornado was rain wrapped from the beginning, so you couldn't see it was an actual tornado coming at you. After hanging up with my mom the second time I could see and sensed a very serious change... I knew we had to take cover. I looked to Matt and told him we had to go NOW, and we ran into his parents house (from the guest house) and jumped in the closet with the rest of the family. As we were running for cover, Matt saw the wall of rain coming at us, and within seconds of shutting the closet door we were hit. It was a terrifying thing to live through, yet as I'm sharing my story I know so many others were not anywhere near as fortunate as we were. We had a lot of damage, but we were all safe, even the furry babies. Most of our stuff was spared, too. They said afterwards that it was probably F-2 or F-3 status as it came over us, then as it moved east it got much stronger. Many people were left with nothing and are still trying to rebuild their lives. 160 people left behind loved ones still trying to cope with their loss. People lost houses, jobs, cars, etc... Health care workers and officers that were in the hospitals or helping on the streets had to see and do things that one should never have to experience. Now is the point in time when the signs of post traumatic stress come out after a disaster like this. I know the world has moved on, the media has long been gone... but I ask you to please remember Joplin in your prayers. So many people still need that greatly.
As next Monday marks exactly 3 months since the tornado, I return to nursing classes as usual. I am less and less shocked as I drive through town. It saddens me to think I'm actually becoming desensitized, and what I see now is merely our new sense of "normal." Much of the debris has been removed, Joplin is beginning to rebuild. But we will never be the same. My heart is so full of gratefulness and pride in this community, in all who have come from miles and miles to help, donated their time and money and other resources. There cannot be enough thanks said! I'm also so thankful for the miracles of God that protected so many in a storm that could have easily taken thousands of lives. I don't know why we were safe when others weren't, but I have to believe it was an act of God that many more lives weren't lost. And I am so thankful to see how the Church has risen up in response to such devastation. Thank you Jesus, for giving strength to the weak and hope to the hopeless! His mercies in the midst of such darkness are far beyond measure! His faithfulness endures even when this life hits us with the worst. Please keep praying for His mercies on this city and that more people would continue to see His glory as we recover...
Well I have to return to orientation for school tomorrow morning, so I must bring this to an end. There really isn't much more to say about this summer. I'm still working in ICU and picked up extra hours while not in school, so that's taken up the majority of my time. Hopefully I'll have some more exciting, and hopefully happier, stories to share in the near future. Until we meet again...

So glad it's Spring Break!

Okay, so there's not a great deal of exciting news to report from the past week or anything, but since I'm trying to get back in the swing of the blogging world here I am! We are finally starting to get settled in to our new rental home, so slowly but surely the boxes are disappearing. Now don't get me wrong, we still have a lot of things to go through (some of which we will have to get rid of)... but at least this is starting to feel like home. I've been pretty sad about the whole thing, when I wasn't in denial that we were actually moving AGAIN. We worked pretty hard and endured a lot of stress to get moved the last time, and we were totally expecting to stay. And we were quite comfortable there and happy to stay there for years to come. But alas, these things happen when you finally get your butt in gear and decide to go full steam ahead to get through school. This was one of the big sacrifices we had to make, and I'm so thankful for all of Matt's hard work and support through it all. And I'm glad we've made it through the worst and it's all finally settling down and becoming a home for us.
I'm also so thankful that I've gotten to spend the last couple of months focusing only on school. Going full time again has taken a lot of adjustment, and nursing school is quite demanding. So it's been a blessing to focus all my energy on that for a little bit. Now, I did also have 100 hours of CNA clinicals in there, too, so keep that in mind before you label me a slacker! This week was our last week before spring break, and boy am I ever so glad to see that it's here! This week we had our group presentation, a quiz, a pop quiz, and a unit exam... and now I can catch my breath (sorta). Now as much as I would love to have the luxury of focusing on school and school alone for the duration of my education, I know I must get back to work. Matt added me on his insurance and we're paying a FORTUNE for it, so I need a pay check!!! I applied and got called in this week to interview this week for a Student Assistant position in ICU at one of our hospitals. This is pretty much perfect, as I will need critical care experience if I want to get in to Nurse Anesthetist school. The interview went well, so I'm just waiting to hear back. Hopefully I'll get a call next week and I'll know!
This week also marked the big family (and a few friends) Girls' Night party with all the ladies on Matt's side of the family. I can't mention names or details, since the rule at the door was "what happens at girls' night, stays at girls' night"... But let's just say I love each and every one of them and I am so thankful they include me. Lots of great food, TONS of laughs, and just many unforgettable moments. These ladies are just hilarious. One very special part that I think I'm allowed to mention was a devotion given by one of the family friends. She spoke about how in her younger years she would read her Bible as a task, primarily to say she did it, to follow the rules... yet she knew so little about it and had not allowed it to transform her life. Then she got older and finally realized what it meant to have a real and intimate relationship with Jesus. I related so much to the things she said, especially after spending 3 years in Bible college. It becomes a task, because you have to do it for class! And as amazing as my time at Ozark was, I always struggled (and still do) with not seeing it as a task to be done. I seem to fail to get the most out of it, when I truly do want to have that intimacy with Him. I don't want to be the imperfect mess that I am, I want to be and to look more like Him. I want to be transformed by His Word and His Spirit. Thanks be to God that no matter how big of a mess I really am, His grace is sufficient and His mercies are new every morning! Anyways, it was such a sweet time with these ladies and I am so thankful for Helen's message.
So now I sit, on spring break, lacking any motivation to be productive... yet pondering all the things I have to get done. I have a big quiz and 2 unit tests as soon as we get back to school, on top of things I'm still working on from the move. So I guess I need to unplug and start getting some more things done :)
Misadventure for this week: mommy hurting poor little Chewy (our terrier mix) when trimming his nails and bathing him last night. I tried so hard to make sure I was clipping and leaving them long enough that I didn't cut him. Well, about halfway through I somehow got one of his nails too short, and it was a bleeder. I felt so awful for hurting our sweet boy! I told the hubs I'm not attempting it again without him...
Extra addition for this week: Movie reviews!
I somehow caught up on a few movies over the past week and thought I'd share my thoughts....
"The Adjustment Bureau" - This is the new one with Matt Damon about the idea of fate and predestination. Matt picked it because he thought it would be more suspensful and exciting. It was actually more of the love story between MD's character and Emily Bloom's. For me it was an interesting storyline, so I would give it a 3 out of 5. I'm a girl so I like love stories, but I was expecting to see more spirituality in this kind of a story than what I felt I got of out of it. But then again, it's a fiction movie...
"Unknown" - Love Liam Neeson, and I loved him in this! His character suffers a head injury and then tries to figure out who he is when everyone, including his wife, claims to not recognize him. I give this a 4 out of 5 simply because it really sucked me in and kept my attention the whole time. Some elements were predictable, but a lot still had me guessing... or at least going back and forth trying to solve the puzzle. Very intruiging and a lot of action.
"127 hours" - I have to give this a 5 out of 5, basically because James Franco is just a stud. Maybe he's on drugs, maybe not, but as an actor he's just flat out brilliant - especially in this movie. This story, about Aron Ralston's canyon accident in Utah in 2003, is a true tale of perserverance, survival, and the strength of the human spirit. Great story, great movie...
And that's all for today, folks... more than enough I'm sure. Hope you have a great weekend! Til next time!

Hellllloooooooo world!

So here we are, some 5 years since I (hannah) last wrote an acutal blog entry. (Anyone still remember when Xanga was the "IT" site?!) And as if I honestly have time enough to spare, I thought it may be a fun thing to re-enter the world of blogging and meet up with other friends doing the same. Maybe it's because our life has recently just gone through some major changes at every turn... perhaps this will be theraputic and help preserve my sanity! Here goes nothin....
Allow me to first introduce myself. My name is Hannah. I love Jesus and need his mercy and grace every hour of every day. I stumble and fall all the time, am far from perfect (contrary to popular belief... haha!), and could never be deserving of His grace... but I'm most definitely hopeless without it. I'm from the midwest and have been here most of my life. I have one brother and his wife, as well as my mom and stepdad, that live here in town. My dad passed away almost 2 1/2 years ago. Miss you all the time, Daddy! I just returned to college part-time a year ago after a much too long 6 year break. Now I'm a full time nursing student with big plans! Long term I want to push myself through grad school to become a Nurse Anesthetist. I'm a black and white, formula driven, by the book kinda person. I hate life's many shades of grey, and as boring as it sounds I do much better with a lot of structure and a decent amount of predictability! So I honestly believe this would be the best nursing fit for me (providing I can manage the stress!). I'm married to a very wonderful man named Matt, who will hopefully share in this blogging journey so that any of you who follow can enjoy his wit, humor, and just overall greatness! He's far better with words than I, anyhow :) We've been married for just about 3 1/2 years and have 2 dogs and 2 cats as our babies! Only the Lord knows if and when we'll be able to bring actual humans into our little family... Matt comes from a family of 7 kids. We are moving, as we speak, onto his parent's property to rent their guest house so we can both survive being in school (he's going part time). We have been so very blessed in so many ways, in spite of the great amount of stress that has come our way at times during our marriage. We are just so thankful for God's provisions.
And there you have it. Just a little introduction to our world. At some point I shall figure out how to post some photos and I will try my best to get the husband in here. For now I sit at Starbucks as I wait without a car... Misadventure for the day: Front driver's side tire has been leaking air and I take my car in to get fixed, without an appointment. Equals waiting for 3 1/2 hours before said car will be ready to drive again. Fun! But I shall be staying put, as I felt like Frogger earlier when I had to walk across a very busy street to go in search of food. I should be utilizing every second possible to study, as the nursing school load is getting preeeetty heavy. I'm sure having a hard time finding motivation, much less the ability to actually concentrate!
Well, I think that is quite enough for a start. Til we meet again...