Jumping through the hoops.

Welp, just paid $48 bucks to take a pee at the doctors office...that's one more item off the todo list. Next is FASFA and scholarship applications. 

I'm getting really excited for our next chapter, this one has been great and we've learned a lot about ourselves and each other. For instance, Alicia and I both thought we would flourish living off the grid raising animals, growing food and fending for ourselves. We have learned that while we love all these things, we love/need community even more. Glad we learned this lesson before we bought some land in the middle of nowhere. 

All that to say I'm excited for the new community of people we will flow into in Denver. 

Just a little over 3 months til classes start and I'm way stoked to start. I don't exactly know what to expect, and I kind of like that. Gives me that sense of an adventure!

I'm in!

So, after much waiting and anticipation, I recieved news from CU Denver that they want me to join the program this summer! Woot woot! It feels like just getting all the ducks in a row for and accepted to a nursing program is half the battle of becoming a nurse. Feels good to have that all under my belt, and I'm feelin really pumped start the next phase!

With all my prereqs out of the way I'm excited to have a break from classes until June. My dad and I are coming close to finishing up this whole house remodel we've been working on for the last 15 months! That should leave us a little time to get out of Dodge for a couple weeks. We're looking into volunteering as mission builders at a YWAM base. What ever we end up doing, it will be refreshing to take a little journey. I've been feelin the travel itch for a while now. 

Jesus is coming!

It's almost Christmas, the time when we remember the birth of the savior. This year my wife and I have been reading bits of the story of the birth of Jesus and the prophecies preceding him over the last few weeks. I've been trying to put myself in the sandals of those 2000 years ago patiently waiting for their savior. Man, I can only imagine the excitement they must have felt when the news of his birth spread! I want to celebrate Christmas with that same kind of anticipation and excitement! 

Merry Christmas! Let's dance til we get holes in our socks! Our savior has come!

Finals!

Statistics and pathophysiology finals are tomorrow and then I'm DONE! At least for this year...since it is common for different schools to have slightly different prerequisite classes, depending on which school I am accepted to I may or may not have to take a couple more prerequisites.  

It's been nearly 3 weeks since interview day at CU Denver and I am very eager to know if I will be accepted or not. As of tomorrow I will have all my prerequisites done for CU, so if they accept me I'll have this spring off before jumping into nursing school in June. If I'm not accepted I will need to do a chemistry and history course this spring to complete the prerequisites for UNC in Greeley. Not the end of the world, but if would be nice to have a little break before nursing school starts. 

Pathophysiology has been a great course. It's one of those classes that is only a prerequisite for some schools, but I am glad I'm taking it reguardless. CU for instance does not require it as a prerequisite, but it is one of the first classes you take in their program, so I feel I will be well prepared for it and will not feel so swamped during the first couple semesters. 

It's a nice chilly December Sunday today, great for studying. I better get back to it!

Interview Day!

So yesterday was the big day. I planned ahead and got there about a half an hour early, but to my surprise there was already a line of people about 80 deep waiting to check in! Can you say eager beavers? All in all the 5 hours flew by, I met some great people and I had a great time. It was a very informative day and the interview portion was even kind of fun. I can now relax knowing that I have done my best to show who I am. It's now out of my control and I am at peace that The Lord will show me the next step when the time comes. "Rejoice in The Lord always, and again I say rejoice." Philippians 4:4

Serious anticipation...

So I'm still not quite caught up to real life on the blog, but this post should bring it up to speed. I left off last post having applied to UCD and waiting to hear back. I have since received an email invite to their interview day. I am very curious as to what this day is going to look like. I have gathered that they split the applicants into 2 sections, a morning and an afternoon session. They said there would be presentations, interviews with faculty, and opportunities to interact with potential future classmates. I'm hoping it's more of a get to know each other and see if this is a good fit kind of interview, and not a lets eliminate a ton of people interview. With something like 135  spots to fill, I can't imagine how they would have time to interview many more 150 people in one day.

Well anyway, the interview day is only a couple days a away now, so not much longer and some of my curiosity will be satisfied. Though I do imagine there will be yet another waiting period while the results of the interview day are tallied.

In reality, I am just stoked to have made it this far, and trust that God will guide me through all this since it was his idea in the first place :)

Oh and on a side note, I met a guy this evening at a wedding who finished his BSN at  UW (University of Wyoming) last spring. He chose to skip to Wyoming to avoid some of the nursing school bottleneck here in Colorado, and it was a great experience for him. He said he was getting job offers before he had even graduated. I have also heard that Colorado residents get a good deal on tuition there. 

Just thought I'd throw that out there while it was still fresh on my mind. 

The journey to Nursing school so far.

For the past year I have been knocking out various prerequisite courses so that I can apply to a nursing program. If you are not familiar with the process of getting into nursing school I will not bore you with all the details right here, but feel free to contact me if you're looking for some wisdom on all the options. I have chosen to pursue a BSN (bachelors of science in nursing). I chose this route because I had a few semesters of miscellaneous college credit and applying towards a bachelors makes the most sense at this point.

I considered applying to some out of state universities, but came to the conclusion that an in state school makes the most sense financially and for my family. I live in Colorado and there are a number of excellent schools here including Regis, UNC, CU Denver and others. After extensive research looking into prerequisite classes and other aspects of the many nursing programs, I decided to focus on UNC and CU Denver. 

Over the past year and a half I have been taking my remaining prerequisite courses at Front Range Community College in Longmont. I have taken A&P I and II, microbiology, pathophysiology, nutrition, stats, human growth and development and intro to soc. all at Front Range. I did my various other prerequisite classes at a few different universities a while back. 

Sooo, here I am at the critical time of applying to schools. I applied to CU Denver (UCD) about 2 months ago and will apply to UNC in a few weeks. Both schools are competitive entry as opposed to wait list entry programs. Seems like the wait list is a  thing of the past. UNC bases admission strictly on GPA. They have something like 70 spots per year, so the top 70 GPAs are accepted and that's that. UNC looks like a great program and I would be excited to go there, but UCD is my top choice.

This brings me back to UCD. They look at GPA, a personal essay and an interview to make their decision on admission. I hope this post isn't too long... Oh well. So As I said, I applied a few months back and have been eagerly waiting to see what happens. 

Back to the blog for a new adventure!

Well, looks like it's been over three years since the last post. We are still alive and well. I got inspired to start blogging again as I'm about to start a new adventure and thought this could be a good space to express my thoughts. 

So stay tuned and come along with me as I follow God on this journey.

happy july

It's July. We are still at Canaan Farms enjoying our days here.
Each day is so different as things happen much slower here. The intern house that is being built is almost in completion & we're anticipating moving in within this next week!
Living in a mud hut has it's challenges but overall it's a great experience to live out of your comfort zone. Just remember to always where your shoes because the mud floor has many hidden dwellers... :)

One thing we look forward to is cold soda/pop whatever you want to call that sugary drink but it's oooh so good when you haven't had a cold drink in weeks. Last night we went into the village and found ourselves a cold Coke for Alicia and a fruity pop for Vern. (I forgot the brand)

I (Alicia) have been reading through the book of Isaiah and it's been super powerful & awesome. Read it.
Vern has been leading a bible study with the farm boys on MWF and it's been a great challenge for him. He's been focusing on establishing a bibical marriage as many of the men are newly married. Pray for him as he ventures into sharing the Word with these men & that culturally differences would not interfere.

We love all of you who read this! And I guess those who don't.

love until it hurts today & then love some more.

Vern & Alicia

We are loving Uganda!!

Our time has been such of an adventure! The last 3 weeks on Canaan
Farm have been life changing. The joy, friendliness, and generosity of
the Ugandan people has suprised us in trip best way possible! They are
so genuine!

We are currently in Jinja Town for the last few days that the big team
is here. I am currently watching them bungee jump over the Nile river!
It's incredible!

They will leave tomorrow morning and then we will make our way back to
Canaan Farm.

Our time with the big group has been so fun and the enegry has been
contageous. There has been much progress on the intern house and we
hope to move in next week!!

I'm hoping for great things to come in the next months as we develop
relationships with the famlies on the farm.

Love y'all
Vern and Lish

africa here we come

today is the day!
we leave in 45 mins. for the airport.
we also were notified that british airways (which we're taking all the way to Uganda) is on strike. so.....our flight schedule has changed a bit. we're flying to London and then to South Africa and then up to Uganda. please be praying for us & that we eventually get to our destination! :)
we send love and thanks to all of you who have supported us along the way.
we will hopefully be updated our blog as soon as we can.

vern & lish
aka Chris & Alicia

time keeps ticking

time has a way of flying when you are running around.
but thankfully chris & i have been blessed with great friends & family who have helped us along the way.
we are eagerly awaiting our flight out on this wednesday! we still have lots to pack & accomplish before that but i am hopeful that the Lord will grant us grace and see us through this hectic time.

we had an awesome time at our going-away party this past Saturday. thank you to everyone who came out.

we are very blessed with a solid support system here in colorado & iowa. :)


love to all of you!

leaving on a jet plane

We are leaving in 19 days! We're super pumped & quickly approaching a very busy time getting ready, packing up our apt., hopefully selling our van, & most importantly packing for Africa!

Read Is. 61
Let it rock your world.

love big today,
Vern & Lish

ECHO http://www.echonet.org/

WOW!

This is excellent!

Explore this website and you will find some great insight and ideas!

investment (but we're not talking about money)

Chris & I have been among the city folk of Longmont, CO for the past few months. We will only be here for a few more. So what do you do with only a "few months"? Do we seek out a full investment into where our feet are planted for the moment, or do we keep one foot in your homeland and one in some far away dream you have?
I'm beginning to realize and hopefully understand the power there is in investment with your surroundings. Knowing someone when you walk into the local coffee shop has this weird and great feeling. I'm not just a face in the crowd. I have a connection. A friend.
But to arrive at this encounter takes the effort to have both feet...here.

I've always been among the crowd to have my feet (& my heart) in two different places. But I've decided no more. (and I'm tired of doing the splits)

Investment. What does that look like? I think it starts with seeking out relationships by being involved in whatever opportunities that you come across. But there's a catch. Most of the time, well let's just say all the time, it takes effort and putting aside time for all this to happen.

I decided to volunteer at our local outreach center to encounter more people within our community & a chance to give back. I have received such a joy from being a part of such a great endeavor for the community. I now know some really awesome people. (Who I would have probably never met)

Investment. Do it. Right now. No matter where you are or how soon you'll be leaving your current spot. Make it happen. You won't regret it. Unless we're talking money. Then that's a whole different story.

Yobel goin GLOBAL!

Our Friends at YOBEL Market are trekking through Cambodia, Thailand, and India all this month visiting places where the poor, the marginalized, and the captives are finding true wealth, solid relationships, and freedom.

They'll be visiting projects such as the Sak Saum Project in Cambodia where women who have been involved in or are at-risk of becoming involved in human trafficking can find refuge. The project provides much needed education and vocational training as well as solid counseling. The women of this project produce beautiful silk products.

They will also be visiting NightLight project in Thailand which reaches out to sexually exploited women and children.

Keep them in your prayers for the next month as they travel and build relationships.

Thanks for lookin us up!

Hello, to anyone who reads this.

You are here most likely because you got our letter and took the time to look us up. That's awesome!! Thanks for your support.

Also, shoot us an email with "sign-up" in the subject line to vern.lish.mcroberts@gmail.com and we'll keep you updated via e-mail.

Garbage Warrior

You must watch this Doco!

We are alive and well in beautiful Pennsylvania!

Here's a little video we recorded at Niagara Falls on Alicia's birthday.

One Month!!

Yesterday, Alicia and I celebrated one month of marriage.

She is my queen, my bride, my partner in crime!