Ever since January I have been looking for a part-time job for when I graduated. I knew that I wanted something 1-2 days a week at the most, and I wanted benefits if I could get them.

So, I talked with St. Luke's (the big big and only health care chain in Twin) and they had me do a bunch of clinicals with them so I could get ready to start working for them. It seemed promising, and as long as you work 16 hours a week they gave full benefits. It seemed perfect.

Meanwhile I was also doing clinical hours with a guy from my ward who owns an urgent care in town. He also said they could use someone 1.5 days a week.

So I thought I had my bases covered.

As the semester went on though, I still hadn't gotten a solid offer from St. Luke's yet. I kept bugging them but they said that they had to work out the reimbursement through their Boise office, and kept saying that an offer was coming.

Meanwhile, another part-time employee at the urgent care quit his other part-time job and had asked the urgent care if he could come on full-time. They said yes. So there I went.

I did have one solid job offer from a previous clinic site I had worked at. However, for reasons I won't go into, I didn't know if it would be the best place for me.

I graduated, and started studying for my boards. I told St. Luke's and my one job offer that I needed to have a decision made by May 25th.

On May 20th I got an email from the Nurse Practitioners of Idaho group I belong to stating that Dr. Sara Johnson was also looking for a part-time NP. I emailed my resume, and had an interview on May 22nd. Dr. Sara Johnson impressed me from the first time I talked to her because her lab coat said "Sara Johnson MD and MOM." She said to me, family comes first around here, so if something comes up ever you let me know, and we work it out. What a relief to hear...someone who understands how like should be! They called me 5 minutes after the interview while I was still in the car driving home, telling me that I had the job if I wanted it. I told them that I would let them know by May 25th.

May 24th-27th Clark and I headed down to Utah for a weekend in Park City that my parents gave us for graduation. We had dropped Kyson off at my parents and headed into Salt Lake for the night. I was mad because it was May 25th and St. Luke's had still not contacted me. However, we had gone to a temple session earlier that day and felt really good about the job with Sara Johnson. So at 3:00 pm right before we went into see the Hunger Games, I called Sara Johnson and accepted. When I got out of the Hunger Games I had a message on my phone from the Medical Director at St. Luke's. I waited until we got to City Creek and found a quiet corner and called him back.

He said that he had a job offer for me...but they wanted me to work full-time for a year as a sort of "residency" and then I could drop down to part-time. What a liberating feeling it was to tell him that family comes first in my life, and that a full-time job would not allow me to put my family first. He said he respected me for the decision, and I thanked him for the call.

I have now started working 16 hours a week for Sara Johnson. So far I have loved it. (Besides the fact that I feel so dumb. I was such a smart confident nurse...and now I feel like the world's dumbest NP:) They have been so flexible with me. If I can't come in on a day, it is fine. If I need to leave early, that's fine. They know I'm having a baby and seem very willing to work with me as far as taking maternity leave, and then just working a couple hours a week while my baby is still young.

We've been able to work out a schedule so that Clark is home on the days that I work, and I am home on the other days so he can do his window washing business.

So...I feel very blessed that something so great worked out for us, and know that for now, we're doing what we are supposed to be doing!