First blog of 2009... WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28th, 2009

I went to sleep at 10pm tonight and now am awake at 1 am and not quite sure why but just felt the need to blog. Quite odd but oh well here goes.

So, today has been a very BIG day for the Bueschers...here on the west coast and in Athens, Greece. Most importantly my baby sister Erin got married today (well technically yesterday since it is now 1:13 am). The ceremony was held as a courthouse wedding, in normal attire and performed by the Mayor of Athens. Stratos' parents were there, and two of Erin's friend's and family who live in Greece attended and provided a great support to them. The ceremony was sweet and focused on the two coming together moreso than the common craze that comes with most wedding ceremonies. Nothing about it was a performance or show. HOW FRICKIN ROMANTIC CAN YOU GET???!!! I've always said this kind of idea would be my own dream...something under 20 people. Anyway, I'm so happy and proud of her. The experience came with many laughs as well. No matter how "right" two people are for each other it's always a scary thing to enter into such a covanent and they both experienced nervous energy and we got many laughs out of it!!

They exchanged very simple gold wedding bands (also ideal) and Greek words that expressed the love in their hearts and the commitments of their lives. The Mayor talked about the two now becoming one, picked some things from the Bible (to their surprise) and even discussed the importance of working through their problems TOGETHER rather than going to friends or even family to help resolve their "couple" challenges that are inevitable in every marriage.

I'm so proud of my baby sis, and we are more than thrilled with the new addition to our family. Stratos is a GEM!! He's mature, gentle, kind, fun, funny, calm, wise, and loves God with all of heart!! There isn't a man more perfect on this earth that I would want for my sweet baby sister!!! Woohoo!!

Secondly, and less of a big deal but so exciting for me is that I passed my Family Nurse practitoner national board exam this morning!!! I think I'm still in shock. I finished graduate school four years ago and since I never wanted to practice as a FNP I never wanted to go through with taking the boards. But, the "unfinished" business always felt like a grey cloud over my head just following me everywhere I went and kind of hindering everything I did. Make any sense?

So, my sweet friend Mary who finished FNP grad school kind of knudged me to study with her and take boards. It's funny because I remember encouraging her to go to FNP school after I had already finished and that proved to be beneficial for me in the end as she was the one who egg'd me on to finish the deal!! I'm so thankful for her and she is a sweet and cherished friend! We studied for awhile until I balied and went to Greece...typical! When I returned she took and succeeded at boards a few weeks after all the while I hadn't opened my books for at least 6 weeks! Ugh, frustration? YES! So, I already paid to take the test ($400) and only had three months to take the test or the money goes to waste and that three months ended for me at the end of January, 2009! I've always been a procratinator when it comes to school stuff. I remember doing my entire thesis in grad school 2 nights before it was due...i work well under pressure, got an A on that but also almost had a stroke! Similar to this past week!

I tried to get out of taking the test! I called ANCC and Prometric center to try and get a postponement...but no. They wouldn't frickin budge! So, it was take the test or lose $400 for nothing! So, I crammed in the most intense amount of info into my teeeny weeeny brain for 1 week straight. Ha! Last week I was scoring 49% averages on my practice tests!! With a week straight of 10+ hours of studying a day I started scoring in the 90% range all to be blown by a unrecommended test score in the 60% range the NIGHT BEFORE! I showed up for the test anyway (and remembered Mary had a similar experience). During the test a man wouldn't stop making LOUD comments (I think he was taking some Lawyer test) like, "Ahhh, come on!" and in between his disruptive comments he was coughing, burping, and even pooting...no joke! I had several periods of discouragement throughout the test as I felt like I was answering all these obscure research questions incorrectly. Then, the computer is supposed to tell you your score at the end but mine just shut down. So, I had to ask the lady to print it out and she informed me that I passed and even got a decent score!! WHAT THE HECK!! The only thing I can think of is that God did a miracle today in enabling a Buescher girl to agree to the marriage covenant and enabling me to pass my test! I am so thankful for today. I'm so thankful I woke up and wrote it all down. I'm so thankful that I don't have that stress and self inflicted pressure I put on myself last week...that was horrible!!

So, now it's back to refocusing on IM training!! San Francisco Kaiser Permanente half marathon this Sunday and how I am looking forward to running HARD! I miss running! I miss marathons!!!!! Ugh!

I'm hopeful that things are moving forward in my life and I will find my way. I'm excited for what is to come!

Enjoying success!

J.Buescher MSN, APRN