What's happening

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted to the family blog site. Usually I'm posting some corndog story on my "Fluff" site, but tonight I wanted to write an update so that you can have a better idea of where Jamie and I are at on this journey towards becoming a missionary family.

On the aircraft mechanic school front: Since January I've been studying and physically taking apart aircraft engines ranging from small piston engines to jet engines on old Air Force jets and Army helicopters. There is nothing more empowering than to dive into a course of study without any prior knowledge or experience and later waking up one day realizing that you could now overhaul your truck, much less a Teledyne Continental A-65 4-stroke horizontally opposed engine. That's where I'm at now. I completely finish maintenance studies this June and will begin flight training, starting at Instrument (learning how to fly without looking outside.

On the Chad and Jamie are moving back to the Everett area front: Well, I guess I just summed it up there. Recently Jamie was accepted at Seattle Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and will be starting early this April. This is a huge blessing for her because 1. She's always dreamed of working with pediatrics and 2. the PICU is pretty much as good and complicated as it gets, so this is definitely an awesome step up for her that could help her immensely overseas. No, I'm still not entirely sure what I think about the prospect of having a long distance marriage for 2 months, but I guess its a consolation that we'll have weekends together. And the fact that I'm not being deployed for 4 months to 2 years to the eastern sandland. While Jamie is orienting and learning her new job, I'll be working to finish my powerplant mechanic studies. Once the middle of June rolls around, we're hoping to have found a place to live around the Everett area and will be packing up once again to move once again. I think your prayers would help us a lot during this time of transition. Not to mention, I will be selling the house I co-own in Tacoma during this time. I would be lying if I said all this doesn't raise our stress bar a bit. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't learning the true meaning of casting all of my cares, burdens, concerns, and even my very life into the hands of our Living God who created us, ordained all of our days before the creation of time, who holds us, is near to us, knows our every thoughts, loves us more than we love ourselves, and can move every mountain and flatten every valley before us for the price of a mustard seed sized portion of faith in His mighty and powerful Name, which is above all names, that at that name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is God. (I know that was a bit of a run-on sentence, but I got passionate)

Well, I guess that sums it up pretty well. We have life changes happening in very short-order of time. I'm going to try to figure out how to post some pictures too. I'll see if I can get Jamie to help me out with that since I'm getting older and computers just don't seem to have MSDOS or 3.11 anymore so I can't keep up ;-)

The hard things in life

I started this week thinking I would go to work, finish up my last 3 night shifts then enjoy my time off at home, feeling like a productive wife and person. My chest cold has been lingering so work was a chore anyways. Monday went as usual pretty slow, nothing eventful. Tuesday started the same we got 6 admissions by midnight and I thought it would slow down. Around 1230am Tuesday morning I heard the one thing we always dread hearing over the intercom... "Code 55 3 south room 326" WHAT?? That is three doors down from the room I just walked out of. (code 55 by the way means cardiac/respiratory arrest). I ran right in the room to hear "get the code cart" I ran as fast as I could and so did the code team they arrived within 45seconds and cpr was started on this precious 4 month old baby. I continued to run around getting things that were asked for. Eventually they needed another nurse to perform cpr. I have always thought that I would be scared when the day arouse that I would be in a code but instinct and training kicked in and I walked right up to the crib told the nurse of that patient I will take over and I began cpr on her small body. I never realized what hard work it is, I began sweating and my hands began to cramp (with infants you used your thumbs with hands wrapped around the ribs to do cpr). A few of us rotated chest compressions for the next hour as medication after medication, line attempt after line attempt, shocks and all were given. Her heart never beat again and we never got oxygen to her brain. You see she had a congenital heart defect and for whatever reason the vessels that go to hear lungs clamped down so tightly that blood could not reach them. But we worked as hard as we could. The parents arrived about 20 minutes into the code, they went to get some sleep because she was supposed to just be in and out for a quick heart cath in the morning. But it turned into the worst night of their lives. They were strong until the end when the doctor put his hands on top of mine and said "it's ok Jamie you can stop now" I looked up met eyes with the mother and she screamed and cried on her husbands chest. I turned off the monitor and walked right of the room where I cried. I thought I was ok until I left that room. The last 6 hours of my shift were awful because I was exhausted from the physical and emotional demands of an hour long code (and my first code and first time doing cpr and my first time seeing a baby die). I was blessed to be able to print her feet and mold her hand for that parents so they could have memories of her. And I walked her to the morgue with the chaplin. But I made it through, talked with my manager after and came home and prayed and prayed for that family. I am sure I will continue to see her face when I close my eyes for a couple of days or relive pieces of that hour for a while. I am so thankful that I know that Lord and I know that that precious baby girl is now dancing with the angels in her no longer broken body. How lucky she is to be face to face with our Maker, our Lord and Savior.

March brings snow and Chad's birthday!

So you would think that being March things would begin to warm up a bit at least above freezing ...well not in Spokane. We got snow today...supposed to be 6 inches by tomorrow not a TON but still its MARCH!! Tomorrow our high is in the 20s, I'm not a fan. Chad is itching to get his motorcylce all fixed up so he can ride it again but can't really work on it in the snow.

Chad's birthday was on Saturday... I unfortunately forgot to charge the camera so I have no pictures... I feel so terrible. But it was a good day. I slept a few hours after work then got up to get the house ready for the little gathering. Some friends of Chad's from school went out to dinner with us and then we had ice cream cake (he has to join this tradition). I put all 27 candles on the cake, he blew them all out in one blow...strong lungs!

I am recovering from a nasty head and chest cold that is what working with sick babies will do to you. I'm hoping Chad doesn't get it. If all goes well and according to plan I should start my new job at Seattle Children's in the PICU on the 13th. Things still need to be finalized and I'm just hoping that the "economy" doesn't cause my position to be cancelled. But I'm hopeful! I will be traveling back and forth between Spokane and Seattle for a few months and hopefully Chad will make it over a few times as well. Lots and lots of changes coming for us... we'll keep y'all up to date.

Keeping it in the family!

Since I met Chad he was always talking about how much he wanted a gun or how much he wanted to collect guns. Well this year my dad gave him his very first shot gun. It was my dad's first gun. It was so special to Chad. He has gone out shooting a few times, this weekend our friend Josh came into town and they went shooting. Here is a picture of Chad with his cherished gun!

Its fixed

The video of Chad can now be viewed..sorry about that. But it is pretty funny!