First comes LOVE...

(This post has been a few months in the making. I know I should have written it at the time everything was happening, but hey, life gets busy!)

"Aaron and Holly sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

First comes LOVE.

Then comes MARRIAGE.

(then comes a few years to enjoy said marriage…)

THEN comes a BABY in a baby carriage!"

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I feel like life as a young adult is just a constant ache/rush/longing/pressured feeling to get to "the next stage of life." 

Whatever that stage may be.

Aaron and I got marriage fairly young, he had just turned 24 and I was 22. But we were in love and we were ready. I mean, we dated all those years. 

It seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong (don't, I'm not), but when you are in a serious relationship, everyone wants to know if and when you will get married. 

But then there's a new level of annoyance. Once you are married, people start asking when you plan to start a family.  I believe the first of those questions began right after we returned from our honeymoon. No joke. I think it was my grandparents ;) BLESS.

My mom likes to say, "people mean well" and most of the time I can agree with her. 

Aaron and I have talked about babies since high school. How we hoped they would look like us and what our house would look like.

We've talked about babies for 4.5 years now. Adding to and changing our (ever-changing) list of baby names, what sports they might play, schools, where we might want to raise them, but how we weren't quite ready for them. (I can say that the pressure to actually have a baby increases rapidly each year you are married, from SOME people (it's not your life, folks!), but not ALL people. That's another rant for another day.)

But, we've only REALLY talked about babies for the past several months.  When was the right time to start trying, what about insurance, where would we live, would we have family close, what about new/bigger cars, etc? 

One day my sweet, wonderful, loving, crazy, dreamer of a husband looked at me and told me he thought it was the right time. So we talked about it some more and prayed about it and decided to just see what happened. 

I took a pregnancy test the morning of October 9th, 2015. That was the day we had planned to go look at a car for me (see previous pos: thttp://tistheseasontobeholly.blogspot.com/2015/12/rainfall-scratches-and-growing-up.html). It had been a little while, well a little while is relative, I should say it had been an appropriate amount of time and I thought that if, by chance, it was positive, we could celebrate that day since he already had the day off work and we were going to be together all day.

It was negative. 

I was surprised (at myself) how it actually took me a few minutes to compose myself and to go tell Aaron the news. My first and only pregnancy test I had ever taken was negative, which I knew there was a 50/50 chance it would be, but it REALLY bummed me out.  We knew there was an obvious chance that it could take a while to get pregnant, but just seeing the little word on the stick bummed me out for a few days. 

Thankfully, my awesome husband was encouraging and I was able to bounce back to my old self and change my mind set. Still praying and trusting God through the process.

October 21st rolled around. I had been feeling a little sick to my stomach the past couple of days and I told my husband that I was going to take another test and if it was negative, I was going to the Dr because I believed that I had caught some "bug"(there's always something going around) at the hospital. So the morning of the 21st rolled around, Aaron left for work, and I worked up the nerve to take another pregnancy test. 

I left the bathroom and went into the kitchen to fix breakfast for myself and turned on the TV. Several minutes went by before I could muster the courage to walk back into the bathroom. 

When I finally did and the screen said POSITIVE, I kind of flipped out. My poor dog could not figure out what was going on! (He still can't figure out what's going on actually)

I kept the secret ALL day because I wanted to tell Aaron face to face, but I didn't think that I should tell him he needed to come home early or anything.  We even had dinner with one of our couple friends and I was proud of myself for not slipping up in front of them.  

Once we finally got home, we decided to watch a little tv before we went to bed for the night.  I was just sure my face was going to give me away, but I told him I'd be right back and went and got the pregnancy test.  I was on the verge of (happy) tears, so instead of melting into a puddle in front of him by trying to be cute or clever, I just handed him the test.

The look on his face will be one of my favorite memories. :) We were so excited and in our prayers that night we thanked God for our little blessing.

:) we are VERY blessed

Tis the season!

-Holly

Rainfall, Scratches, and Growing Up

Friday, the 9th of October, is a day that will "live in infamy" in the Nicholson household.

Let's start from the beginning, or really, about 6 months ago.

Aaron drives a Toyota Prius. We LOVE the Prius. But it's "ode" (as my brother Joshua would say) and it has over 200,000 miles on it.  We have made a lot of good memories in that car.  A. LOT.

The Prius has been acting its age this past year.  It is having issues with the oil, with the speedometer, and TURNING ON AND OFF.

Yes, you read that correctly. The dang car will sometimes not turn on and will sometimes not turn off.

WHAT THE WHAT.

Needless to say, we (by "we" I mean "Aaron") have been looking at cars (24/7) and trying to make a budget so that we may be able to smartly purchase said car.  Our 2nd biggest purchase with the first being our house, but our first biggest purchase without any "help" from our families.

So fast forward to this past week.  Aaron got ALL excited because he had found "The Car," had been watching it for a couple of weeks, decided it was worth checking out, and called me at work to tell me about it.  Of course, I don't normally have my phone on, so he left a voicemail, and when I saw it on my lunch break, I automatically assumed something was majorly wrong. :|

He tells me about "The Car" and how he has decided to take off work on Friday and have to two of us drive up there and check it out.

This was Tuesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, he has talked to our bank about financing and has it all lined out.  The boy does not waste any time. He also had put down a (refundable) deposit to "hold" the car for us until we could check it out in person.

Friday morning we headed to Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Yes, OKLAHOMA. It a little over 3 hours away, because, we live in Arkansas.  And "The Car" is in Oklahoma. (insert eye roll #1)

Oh and did I mention it was RAINING? (insert eye roll #2)

OH. OH. Did I mention that Aaron we rented a car to drive up there? Because we were worried about taking our actual daily drivers (mainly the Prius) on a long road trip. (eye roll #3)

I love my husband. :)

So we get to Muskogee, OK and your stereotypical car salespeople are out front, and a few of them are smoking…in front of the door…the entrance to their business...I mean really? But that's another rant for another day.

We meet the salesman that Aaron has been in cahoots with communicating with all week.  He pulls the car around and it is beautiful. But my husband, being ever so picky thorough, walks around and around and around the car, gets on the ground by the car, mashes all the buttons in the car, and asks the salesman as many questions as he could think of.

I am so thankful that he was so thorough.

We both test drove "The Car" and, no surprise, it drove like a dream.

Then Aaron requested to check out the car OUT of the rain (gasp!) and to see it dried off (gasp!).

You would think he would have asked them to cut out their kidney. We waited and waited and waited.

They finally called us back to the back garage to see the car.  Aaron walked around and around and around and laid on the ground to look under the car (yes, I regret not taking any pictures).

Guess what we saw?

SCRATCHES.  The whole back bumper. Superficial, but still. Not the point.  Aaron was NOT having that.

He went into competitive deal maker mode. I love seeing that side of him.  I know that we would be in good hands because my Aaron David is not going to make a financial decision that he is not 110% sure about or that he can't afford. He reminds me of my Dad in a lot of ways. ;)

Long story short…because believe me, it was a LONG day in Muskogee.

The dealership manager came and talked with us, because we were going to walk away from "The Car," and said he would refer us to his personal body shop (eye roll #10 at this point) and that he would personally take care of whatever repairs necessary that the body shop could do to fix this car for us.

We went to McDonalds in Muskogee (never again) and talked it over. We decided to just go get an assessment at the body shop, and if they couldn't give us what we wanted, we would walk.

The body shop was the highlight of the day. They were surprisingly friendly and wonderful and by the end of our 3 hours there (yes 3 hours), I was best friends with the secretary and she told me ALL about her family and her two dogs and showed me ALL of her pictures on her phone.

Aaron was in the back with the workers, so I don't really know what all went down, but I do know that when my husband walked back in the front door of the body shop, he had the biggest smile I had seen on his face all day, heck, all week. That's when my attitude went to slightly bummed about probably not getting "The Car" to slightly optimistic.  Aaron told them exactly what he wanted done and somehow got it all fixed and all expenses were covered by the dealership. "The Car" looks brand spankin new.

Oh, wait, didn't I say long story short? ;)

We got the car.  I will spare you any more details.  Just know that I am tickled that Aaron is so tickled and I am thankful that God has provided Aaron and I with two great jobs and that we were able to get a great deal on "The Car".

I'm pretty sure that dealership will never want to rumble with Aaron Nicholson ever again.  I love my picky husband.

Here's to growing up!
-Holly

The Dreaded NCLEX

My sophomore semester of nursing school, we started prepping for the NLCEX (our state boards) by taking an exam called the HESI.  It's a precursor to the NCLEX and helps you understand the format of the exam and the style of questions you will have on your NCLEX.  The HESI is hard.  It gets harder each time you take it (or at least it did to me) because the questions are at a higher level.  We took one as sophomores, one at the end of our junior semester, and the final HESI earlier on in our senior semester.

When you take the HESI as a senior, you get 4 chances to pass the test, and it counts as a pre-requistite for graduating.  Thankfully, I passed my first HESI my senior semester.  I had friends that didn't pass the first time, but some passed the second time.  I had friends that didn't pass until the third time. I had friends that pass the fourth one right at the end of the semester.  "They" (being the teachers) said it was an indication of how well you attempt at the NLCEX would go.  I'm proud to say that all of my group of nursing school friends passed their NLCEX the first time, so take THAT nay-sayers! ;)

I graduated June 15th, and had already submitted my application to test (authorization to test or ATT for short) and applied to get my temporary license.  Due to the fact that so many nursing students graduated in april/may/june/july, processing application requests took a little time.  Anxiety set in for most, including myself.  I didn't know how to plan my study schedule until I knew the date of my test. In early July, I finally got my ATT. After a few days of prayer, I scheduled my exam for August 14th at 8am.  I studied and prayed, and studied some more. I really buckled down in the last 3 weeks before my test.  You kind of have to when your nursing career lies in the balance.

The week of my test, I prayed and told God that I was giving Him all my stress, all my anxiety, and that I had done what I could to prepare and the rest was in His hands.

Of course, being a human, and being Holly, I struggled that week. I prayed that prayer, but didn't quite give all my stress and anxiety away until the last days before my test.  Let me just tell you, when I finally let go, what a wave of peace that washed over me. I mean, it's hard to quite put it into words.

I arrived at the testing facility 30 minutes early, as I was told.  I prayed and listened to some good jams on KLove and just sat in my car, with total peace. I texted my husband and my parents to let them know I had made it safely and that I would let them know when I got out of the test.  There is a strict "no phones allowed" policy, in fact, the whole process is a very high security ordeal. So, I left my phone in the car and only took in my drivers license and a black ink pen.

We had to check in and scan our palms in the waiting room. Then we had to put what belongings we had in a locker, then palm scan again to get into the actual testing room.

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I recognized one girl from my school, but didn't know her name, and the rest of the people in the room were taking their LPN state boards.

As soon as my number was called, my stomach flip-flopped a bit, and I was seated at my computer.  The next two hours are kind of a blur, even still.  I said a prayer before I started, a prayer before every questions, and a prayer of thanks when I made my decision before I submitted each question. The test automatically gives you a break at 2 hours, and it just so happened that I was at question number 74 when it did. With the NLCEX, you can take a minimum of 75 questions, and a maximum of 275 questions. So after I submitted number 74, I said a bit of a longer prayer, and clicked "no" when it asked me if I wanted to take my 2 hour break, took a deep breath, and started question 75. After I had decided on my answer, I clicked submit.  I held my breath. It felt like a long time passed, but in reality it was probably more along the lines of 5 seconds. My screen went blue and it told me that I had finished my exam.  Then I had to fill out a review and submit it before I could leave.  I had a LOT of SATA (select all that apply) which is normally a good indication, since those are higher level questions, but I couldn't believe that I only took 75 questions. I was so relieved and so tired at the same time, that I felt numb about the whole experience. But I felt like a huge weight had dropped off of my shoulders. It was done. I had taken the NCLEX.

I called my husband first. Then I talked to my mom and dad. I met my husband for coffee, then met my dad for lunch.  I was mentally drained and was ready to get home and take a nap.  That's exactly what I did after we were done with lunch.  Then the waiting began.  It usually takes 48 hours to get your results, but since I took it on a Friday, I knew I would have to wait until at least Monday morning.

It was a LONG weekend.

My husband tried to distract me, bless him. We went to Fayetteville and to the farmers market and he bought me flowers. My family tried to distract me on Sunday. Monday morning rolled around and nothing had posted. I checked all day long. NOTHING.  I prayed and tried to stay calm, but that's easier said than done.

Tuesday morning, my bladder woke me up before my alarm went off. It was probably about 4:30 in the morning. I decided to take my phone with me, just in case.  I checked the two sites that I knew my license would post on, just in case. I saw my name and my RN license next to it.  I wanted to jump up and down and scream, but again, it was 4:30 in the morning. Then my phone buzzed, it was my friend Brittany texting me congratulations, because she was getting ready for work and wanted to check and see if my results had posted too!

I crawled back into bed and nudged my husband, who smiled and said congrats, wrapped me in a bear hug, and promptly fell back asleep. Bless. :)

It is a huge accomplishment and I can say that God helped me through it, along with lots of prayer and encouragement from my friends and family, and for that I am so thankful.

  ( Also, I NEVER want to take that test again.)

Be blessed,

Holly Nicholson, RN

OBU Homecoming & Tiger Tunes 2015

OCTOBER

One of my favorite months of the year. Why? Because October at OBU = Homecoming + (more importantly) TIGER TUNES. 

Tiger Tunes (for those living under a rock who do not know) is an annual event at Ouachita Baptist University where the "social clubs" put on a song and dance show all in the name of raising scholarship money for students.  About three weeks out, the clubs, having decided on their themes at the end of the spring semester, learn the routines and songs and practice practice practice.  Then the shows are performed over a a four day span, Wednesday through Saturday. Awards, like "Theme & Lyric," "Best Costume," and "Choreography," are presented each night and then the winners are announced in the final show on Saturday night. 

It is SO FUN. 

I may be a little biased, because I participated in Tunes for 3 out of my 4 years at OBU.  We try to go to at least one show every year. My husband seems to enjoy it too, unless the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing. ;) 

This year, my youngest brother is a freshman at OBU.  I thankfully had the weekend off so my family made plans to drive down to Arkadelphia and attend the Homecoming game and Tiger Tunes…oh yeah, and to see Clark. (LOL)

Aaron and I got the game a little early because my social club the EEE's have a Homecoming Tea before the game every year. I was able to run into some old sisters and some of my pledge sisters that I haven't seen in a good while! It's always nice to be back on campus, considering that it was my "home" for 4 years. 

I hope that Clark will enjoy his time there as much as I did. But anyways…

Aaron is obsessed with the hamburgers at the OBU games, so he was tickled to get not one, but TWO burgers. Basically his trip was made right then and there. 

me & my cute, little mom

I always "need" to go find my name on the sidewalk on campus

Clarker

Joshua

Love my Dad

It's always fun to see these friends!

we had a great time at the game!

We found my family and sat with them during the game.  It was tough, but OBU pulled out a win over Harding University! We went to a late lunch and then my parents went to the early Tunes show, Joshua went to hang out with Clark in his dorm room, and Aaron and I roamed around campus and posted up in the student center to watch the Razorback game before the late Tunes show started. 

Tunes was wonderful and my EEEs made me really proud! They didn't win, but it was still a great show, and I think the group that won really deserved to win. We didn't get home until 1am but I think we both thought that it was worth it because we had a wonderful Saturday at my old stomping grounds!

BOTH of my pledge sisters are recently engaged!

Just a few of EEE PC '08

Go Tigers! 

-Holly