Moving…Again

Eric and I are moving out of my mom's house we've been renting over the last year. She is getting married and preparing to sell the house. Plus, Eric and I's belongings have been sitting in storage over the last year and it's time to pull them out again and be among our own stuff again! We didn't want to buy a house just yet because we really don't know how much longer we want to stay living in Alabama and are trying to keep our options open. Ideally Eric and I would like to move back to Idaho…so if the opportunity presents itself we'll take it. In the mean time found a super nice 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in Spanish Fort, AL. that we are moving into next weekend. We have quite a bit of purchases that will need to be made because we sold most of our larger items before we moved cross country from SLC, Ut. to Daphne, AL. We need a new TV, Chairs for our dining table, and a washer and dryer. We also want to sell our couch and buy a larger one…thinking a nice comfy sectional. We also are in need of a second car, so we've been car shopping too. Eric has been driving my dad's car for the last few months and we are ready to return the car he so graciously lent us and get Eric a good reliable car. He has his heart set on a truck or SUV, which I would love too! Since we already have a smaller compact Toyota corolla that gets great gas mileage, and Eric could literally walk to work from where we will be living. Plus having an SUV would be good for our outdoorsy lifestyle. We need a larger vehicle to toe bikes, kayaks, and whatever else. We are looking for a good deal so if you know of any let us know. Other than that my new job is going well, other than the complete information overload I have been experiencing. Eric is always busy with work as well, and works a lot off the clock at home now too. We are looking forward to listening to General Conference next weekend. We listening to a prophet's voice.

I have attached some pictures of the model apartment that we will be moving into. The apartment is beautiful. We will be on the 3rd floor over looking the pool and will be steps away from the awesome fitness room, wifi internet bar, and beautiful clubhouse. We can't have our own grill there due to safety code so its good we will also be right next to the pool area where the brand new gas grills are for us to use.

This is a picture of the pool, which is amazing and has one of the beach walk ins. I also like this picture because our apartment we are moving into is the one on the top floor overlooking the pool. I'm also excited to be on the top floor because we get to have vaulted ceilings. 

This is a view of the living room if you are standing in the sunrrom…yes we have sunroom!!! How cool is that!!! It is just an extension off the living room but it has lots of windows and a lot of natural light!

A glimpse of the opposite side of the living room and sunroom

The kitchen and dining room isn't as big as some of the other apartments we looked at, but it is still a good size, and since we get a discount on rent because of where Eric works, we get this brand new beautiful apartment for the cheapest price in the entire area of 2 bdrms available.

The Master bdrm! You have the beautiful on-suite bathroom, super high ceilings which I love and huge walk-in closets!

The guest bathroom! excited to have 2 full baths. In our last apartment we only had a 1 bdrm and 1 bath…and you had to walk through the master to get to the bathroom which was awkward when we had guest. So we are happy with the extra full bath.

The 2nd bdrm is massive and almost bigger than the master!!!!! I love it!!!!! It also has huge windows, high ceilings and a walk in closet as well. It also has an on-suite bathroom! Ooo la la!

We are excited to move!!! With a second bdrm we will be ready for visitors in no time…that reminds me…hahaha we need to buy a second bed hahaha…oh man!!! If furniture wasn't so expensive!!! hahaha

Keep Calm & Nurse On

It's official!!!! Lesley Nicole Hale, RN, BSN! That's right….I have initials after my name now!!!! I took my NCLEX last Tuesday, which is the National certification test for all nurses! The very next day I think I checked the website every 5 minutes. I kept checking but the results had not posted by 9 AM like I heard they would be. I walked from my bedroom to the kitchen to get a glass of water and then back to the bedroom. In a matter of a minute or two, I already had 2 missed phone calls and a text message from a friend congratulating me! I freaked out called my friend and she told me she just checked the website and saw my name pulled up as a registered nurse!!!! I just screamed I was soooooo excited! $25,000 dollars for one year of school all relied on me passing this test! It was such a relief to know it had all been worth it! I will never have to experience the stress of studying for and taking the NCLEX again because its a National Cert. If we move back out west eventually like we want to, I just have to send in paperwork and pay to be licensed in that state.

I also really need to pass this test because I recently just landed a job at the only Trauma 1 hospital in our area, The University of South Alabama Medical Center. I was hired as an RN for the 3rd floor, which is a "VIP" Med/Surge floor, but basically we get all the post-op cardiac patients, post-op Bariatric patients, and all other different patients. The staff on that floor are GREAT! Lucky for me while performing my practicum at this same hospital in the Burn Center, I was pulled to the 3rd floor one day to work, and I got to experience what this floor had to offer! My nurse manager is wonderful and I am so excited to be working for someone I like so much. I have completed all my drug and background checks, and filled out lots of paperwork and just got my badge made on Thursday. I start orientation tomorrow and will spend the rest of the week in it. The following week I will begin orienting on the floor I'll be working on, and get to start working with patients again! I am so excited to get to improve all my nursing skills!

I am so grateful to my husband and family who made it all possible for me to go back to school to advance my education! I never thought I would end up going the nursing route but I have been so blessed throughout the last year, and I am so excited to start bringing in the big bucks hahaha… well big bucks to me! Going from two incomes to one income the last year was very hard and a huge sacrifice for the two of us, but we are definitely seeing our hard work and sacrifice turn into things that are honorable. I am so grateful to a Father in Heaven who has been watching out for me and guiding me down this path! He definitely knows whats best for me and my little family, and I hope now that school is finished Eric and I can begin the next chapter of our lives and be able to expand our family by two feet soon! :)