Hello From Andrew – Passion? Me Time, and a little bit more

Hey everyone!!!  So Janae is out of town and I volunteered to write a little post so you’ll have to meander through my writing today.  I’ll apologize now…. writing and my English are not my strong skills. It was by far my worst scores on my ACT, GRE and in college.  Anyway, everyone is still happy while I’m on dad duty.  Everyone probably has more sugar than normal and the house might or might not be a little messy not even 24 hours after Janae left, but she is in a different country right, so I’m 100% in charge.

Before Janae left, I kept asking her what would happen if she came home to a new truck or mountain bike.  I planted the seed, so when I have to ask for forgiveness later this week it won’t be so bad…. Skye and I went on a date to the mountain bike store and did not buy anything….. yet.  We still have a few more days before Janae is back haha and hey it might make for some GREAT content.

So I asked for some questions to answer and I got some really good ones so I want to answer them in this post.  I was trying to think about what to write about before I asked for questions and I had a topic that kept coming up and Erica asked about my favorite form of self care/me time as a dad.  This is something that Janae and I have talked about a TON recently.  I feel like this is a two parter question…. First what do I love to do in my spare time:

I like to mountain bike and I especially love that Knox and Brooke are getting to the age where they can come and be with me in the mountains.  I have been mountain biking for years. I wish I still had the “no fear” attitude that I did in my teens/early twenties, but I still get myself into some fun predicaments every now and again.

Although I find myself complaining about how much time it takes to remodel our house, build intricate “toys” for our kids, or the countless hours of working on our yard, I actually like seeing change and making things better.  I love seeing change and learning to make my surroundings better.  Another reason why I LOVED traveling and doing humanitarian work for so many years before.

I love to be outdoors.  All my ideas of vacations are more like outdoor adventures that I want to do.

Every now and then, I find myself wanting to push myself, get uncomfortable and sign up for races that I don’t properly train for.

I love animals, especially my dog Beretta.  She turns 8 years old in two days.  I can’t believe she has been with me for so LONG.  Years ago I wanted to have a farm – I think I can get Brooke on board for this.

So in around about way I answered what I like to do for me time.  I know some of those pictures includes family, but those are some of the things that I love to do.  Now the second part, Janae and I have been talking a TON about passions.  Being married to The Hungry Runner Girl has really shown me passion and dedication towards something.  I really admire how Janae has progressed in her running throughout the years and how she dedicates her time and energy into SO MANY things, but running has gotten her through a lot in her life.  Not only have I seen this in her but in many of you too, how much you put into your goals, PRs, health or hobbies.

I don’t specifically have ONE main passion, or self care, like running is for Janae.  But at times I think about should I have something like that?  Is a passion developed?  Do you just need to learn to love things?  Does time=passion?  Inherent?  I would love to hear what you think, below in the comments.   I feel like my “self-care” is like a squirrel,  I have a million things that I like, but I don’t develop them far because I’m torn between various things.  Well 2020 is my experiment, if  there was something that I would want to become “more” of a passion it would be mountain biking. I am going to spend more time doing it and see how it goes this year.  Thanks for listening to my ramble… I hope it makes sense??

Another question that I got was the difference of being a dad to a boy versus a dad to a girl.  I grew up with 4 brothers and 1 sister (she was the oldest, so she was more like mom #2).  I feel like I was more versed in “boy-dading,” and I had MUCH to learn with being a dad to girls.  One thing Janae will attest to is that some things don’t change between the both off them.  I tease and tease and tease… and tease them all the same and way too much.  When things get serious or dad gets emotional I don’t know if everyone knows how to act. Things I have learned about myself about being a dad to girls-  I’m scared and VASTLY unprepared for when they become teenagers, let alone when they start to date.  Janae reminds me often that I need to let them feel what they feel.  I have 2-3 emotions in my repertoire, so I’m learning everyday.  I am a tad bit rougher with Knox and I’ll roughhouse him all the time, I learned my limits with the girls – but don’t get me wrong they are tough and I must be on guard at ALL times.  Brooke loves to wrestle and initiate things with a huge smack (Don’t worry, she only does it to me… don’t judge haha)

I love being a dad.  I love most activities with them.  I like the dangerous ones, like making Knox and Brooke jump me on their bikes, skiing, just about anything.  The thing that I don’t like…. I don’t like traveling long distances on airplanes/hotels.  Sometimes I get too stressed out about being an “inconvenience” to others because we are too rowdy, too loud etc.  I have learned to not sweat this as much and let the small things go.

Janae and I LOVE FOOD.  We mostly like the same things, there is one HUGE disagreement and it is below this sentence.  Janae left yesterday and guess what was for dinner tonight:

There was a question about why I chose healthcare and why I chose NP school instead of Medical School or PA school.  Below is my 3rd Bachelor Degree, yes I have three.  Exercise Science, Spanish and Nursing.

Why Healthcare?  This is a loaded question but I’ll be concise so I don’t ramble… I am already rambling.  To be short, I find joy in helping others.  I love to leave others better than I found them. Am I better than anyone…. NO WAY, I just find there is so much worth in every single person and I find that I am happiest when I helping others.  I can make a difference every day, where people are quite possibly at their worst lows.  Can you help people in other professions of course, but I just like how I feel in healthcare.  Secondly I hate to sleep.  It’s weird.  I love to work 3 days a week and play the rest of the time.  I’m not a person that likes a 9-5 schedule.  Another reason is it is a recession proof job.  Growing up I have seen how the economy can wreak havoc on families and finances. I know there will always be a need for healthcare.  I love dependability.

Part two of the question.  Why NP school?  So initially I planned on medical school.  Would that have been more efficient than 3 Bachelor Degrees?  Yeah probably… life didn’t really go as planned on a few things.  I could do a whole post on that.  My grades weren’t perfect and right before I was about to take the MCAT and during the toughest semester ever I was hit by a car.  Many things led to another and I found myself as a single dad needing a new career.  Medical School and PA school didn’t seem within my grasp, but nursing felt right and I could still maintain a job, be a dad, pay a mortgage and go back to nursing school.  I told Janae on our first date that I was going back to school and I was surprised that it didn’t scare her off.

I love nursing.  I love how much time I spend with people and how I answered above – I find joy in helping others.  NP school just makes sense in my mind.  There is some more independence for NPs that PAs don’t get and I can’t imagine going back to school full-time as it would be required to go to medical school and I can’t relocate.  There are so many options when it comes to NP school and I can continue to develop my career in that path.  If I could make a bit more money as a nurse – I would stay at the bedside the rest of my life.  I hope that answers your question!!

Thank you all for for listening to me.  You are such an amazing group, I love hearing from you and hearing your stories.  Let me know something about  you and what you enjoy doing in the comments!!

I want your take on what I talked about above.  Is a passion developed?  Do you just need to learn to love things?  Does time=passion?  Inherent?  I would love to hear what you think, below in the comments.

What is your current career?  How did you get into it?  Are you going to stay?

What is your passion?