life updates, running, + summer plans! 🏃🏼‍♀️☀️🫶🏻

hi friends, happy May! this post is going to be a bit of a random jumble of various life updates, but if you're into that sort of thing or just curious, stick around, haha.

living in limbo

tbh, I have felt really uninspired and unmotivated to engage on social media lately. I generally loveee creating videos and posts that are fun and encouraging, but I have felt like a "bump on a log" as I tell Justen.

a lot of this I think has to do with feeling majorly in limbo in my life right now. I've been out of school / done with my last semester of grad school for a month now, and I don't really know what to do with myself. I've been maintaining a basic routine and doing "work" type tasks like life admin, adult to-dos, keeping up with my youtube schedule, catching up with friends, and casually reviewing content for boards in between our packed travel schedule -- we were in town only 3 out of the 7 days of the week each week in April if that paints a picture for you.

the limbo feeling has really been exacerbated by two big things as well:

1. waiting to get the okay to schedule my NP board exam
   

2. and waiting to finish negotiating for my dream job

I know the second one is like WOAH, exciting!! but let's chat about the first one...

how it works to become a nurse practitioner is you have to finish your academic semester, get all of your required clinical hours in, pass your comprehensive exam (big exam at the end of the program that is like a fake boards exam), have your school send in your transcript + proof that you met clinical competence, get the go ahead to apply for boards, apply to take boards (exam that certifies you as a nurse practitioner in your specialty), and pass boards.

right now, I'm at the step of waiting to have my school give me the go ahead 🙃

I've finished all my classes with flying colors, have my hours in, did super well on my comp exam, and feel genuinely pretty ready to take boards, but I have no idea when I'm taking it because school hasn't sent in my materials to the organization that gives the exam.

there is literally nothing I can do about it, and it's kind of driving me crazy....

I like to think that I've grown a lot in the discipline of waiting well and trusting God's timing, but if I'm being honest, I'm feeling pretty frustrated and confused. I'm SUCH a planner and am very deadline motivated, so not having a date for this exam has me feeling very unmotivated to study. I am reviewing things, and I feel good about what I've reviewed and practiced so far, but I'm delaying any hard core studying until I know if I'm taking the exam in a week vs 6 weeks 🙃

anyways, not trying to rant or complain, but if you're in a weird limbo / waiting season with something that is totally out of your control, just know that you're allowed to feel frustrated, and I see you!

alright, now the second one ;)

I'm not going to go into a ton of detail just because I haven't signed a contract yet, and I want to maintain the privacy of the practice, but I did get an offer with my absolute dream NP job 🫶🏻 it's been such a cool God story, and I'm literally dying to share about it, but I'm making myself wait until I've signed a contract before posting about it. (you know, trying to be adult and all, lol). but I do think it would be helpful to process some of it here.

I've never had to negotiate for a job before, and as a recovering people pleaser, I still really struggle when it comes to authority figures and wanting them to like me. so when I got my formal offer, I was so scared to ask for other components, but I'm really proud of myself for asking for more and advocating for things I'll need as a provider! that being said, the email I sent was very long and detailed, so it is taking them a while to get back to me, and I've gotten really in my head about it thinking that I'm going to lose the offer or something, even though everyone in my life who knows about it has reassured me that that rarely happens, and that the worst they can say is no to my requests and stick with their original offer!

I'm hopeful that it will all get sorted out in the next week or so, and I'll get to sign my contract and finally share about this position and what / where it is. I'm trying to just stay as calm and in the moment as possible, but it's been hard!!

running

okay, so, I was originally going to do a Nashville trip recap post but decided against it because I thought it wouldn't be too interesting 😂 the original purpose of our trip at the end of April was for Justen to run the rock and roll marathon and for me to run the half marathon. we've both always thought the rock and roll races looked so fun, so we figured we'd make a trip out of it and see some of our friends who live there, too.

as our wedding and honeymoon came and went and we settled into the end of winter / early spring, we kept getting sick over and over again. whether it was a cold or the flu or covid or a GI bug, it was like we couldn't catch a break!

while all of this was happening, Justen and I also were evaluating our relationship with running and whether it was adding stress or relieving stress. and through many conversations over several months, we realized that in this recent season, running was just adding stress. I was in my last semester, on the job hunt, and not getting a ton of sleep, so I decided to pull back from the race and it was honestly such a good decision.

I love running, and I really want to run another half marathon in the next year or so, but taking that stressor off my plate helped me breathe a bit easier.

exciting summer plans!!

y'all, being married to an academic has its serious perks 😂 our exciting summer news is that we are going to both SPAIN and DISNEY WORLD for conferences that Justen is presenting at!! not only are these places so amazing, but most of the trips will be paid for because he's going through his work!! we seriously feel so blessed and so grateful that this is even an option for us right now.

depending on what's happening with my job and his job, we may be taking a week after the Spain conference to explore other parts of Europe before heading to Disney -- yes, the second conference is just two weeks after the first, lol.

we mapped out all the things we want to do and see, and I made us a mock budget, and we booked our main hotels this week!! I am SO EXCITED.

here are some pics from the last time I was in Spain (fall in Salamanca and Madrid!) -- this trip is going to be a totally different vibe with it being summer :)

see y'all next week!

much love,

emily