A Toyota or a Porsche?

Not a whole lot has been going on with us lately, just living life. Last Friday Joel and I went to the Nursing Job fair they had at the University for all of the nursing students. We walked around, learned about different hospitals and possible employers for the future. There was some very interesting information that we got from the VA (Veteran's Affairs), which was the possibility of them paying for Joel's continued education. He has always known that he doesn't want to be a nurse forever; he would like to go on and become either a PA (Physician's Assistant) or become a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). He has really gone back and forth between these two career choices over the last year or two, seeing the pros and cons of each. The biggest pro for CRNA is that they make more money, but the actual job of a PA seems to be more interesting to Joel.

Skipping to a slightly different subject for a moment; we had Stake Conference this weekend and it was a Regional Broadcast. There were a lot of good talks given, and one in particular talked about a friend who made a lot of money in his new business. He bought a nice sports car, a Porsche Boxster, but his friend, who was even richer than him, had a nicer sports car. He wanted the nicer sports car for awhile, and was getting caught up in the lifestyle. Anyway, to shorten the story, the man ended up selling his sports car and buying a Toyota. He was happier for it because he changed his focus from money and possessions to simply being happy with what you have. He said that when you have a Boxster, you then want a nicer Porsche, and when you have the nicer Porsche, you want a Ferrari.

So, this prompted some thought for Joel and he said to me, "Do I want to be a Happy Toyota or an unhappy Porsche?" PA being the Toyota, CRNA being the Porsche (not that we could actually buy a Porsche, it's just a metaphor people). :) I don't think he would be unhappy as a CRNA, but it's probably more likely that he would be happier as a PA. cJoel has seen CRNAs and PAs in action, and from his observation PAs do so many more interesting things. Also, PAs can go into many different areas that the possibilities are nearly endless. So after saying all of this you may be wondering what the question really is? Well, we then come back to the fact that CRNAs do make quite a bit more money, and that's a hard fact to ignore.

So these have been our questions lately, and I can tell that Joel is really feeling the pressure about choosing. I will be completely happy no matter what he chooses. I just want him to be happy in whatever job he chooses to have for the rest of his life. PAs certainly make enough money to support a family on, so that is not a concern of mine. But I know that it's a lot of pressure for Joel to feel the weight of his entire life in front of him. I never had to make the choice he is making. I always knew I would be staying at home with the children, and if I have to work now and then that's fine, but it's not like I'm making career choices that will effect my entire life and the lives of my family. Joel, since I know you read all of my posts I just want to tell you that I love you! And that no matter what you choose I know we will be a happy family! I only want you to be happy, and I will help and support you through anything!

As you can see that has been the main thing on our minds lately! On Sunday after conference we went to Joel's Aunt Gwen's house for lunch/dinner with all of Joel's cousins and their families. We had a great time, and I always love hanging out with family and friends! Gwen also gave us a couple of boxes of clothes that her daugher Mary has outgrown. Every so often she will hand down some clothes to up that are usually perfect for Jenna. It's so much fun to go through the boxes, and last night Jenna ended up wearing quite the outfit that she put together from the box. It's too bad I didn't get a picture of it. The best part was that there were snow boots that fit Jenna perfectly, and since her old boots just came apart at the soles last week, the timing was perfect! I'm glad we hadn't bought more yet.

Since this has been such a long post, I will throw a picture in. We got Jenna's school picture back last week, but our scanner doesn't work. This is just a picture of the picture, and it didn't turn out well. But you get the idea. :)