2001

David’s long awaited graduation from anesthesia school had finally arrived!  He looked at positions in California as well as Texas, but didn’t find much at the time.  That search led us to Louisiana just across the Texas border.  So, we said so long to So Cal and made another long hard move across states.  Unfortunately, being fresh out of college and being showered with the first really good paying job in our lives, we turned to material possessions.  Our first search was a home.  We found a large home on lake Toledo Bend.  We were blinded by the beauty of the land and wanting to posess a home that proclaimed David’s hard work at school.  So, the home we purchased was large but outdated which we planned to change quickly.  Our dream home didn’t come without struggles.  We somehow got convinced it was okay to buy the home without an official inspection.  Bad move.  The septic tank was broken and expensive to repair.  The fireplace was set up to blow hot air, which we loved once as it got fixed, but David got his chance to crawl through tiny attic spaces to try to figure that one out.  I know there were more issues, but I can’t think of them right now.  I just remember that it wasn’t as golden of a find as I thought at first.  However, the neighbors and people of Louisiana were extremely nice and the serinity of that place was amazing.

I had hoped that I would be able to stay home with a baby by that point, but apparently, that wasn’t happening.  So, I took a position at the local hospital working as nurse educator, infection control, and employee health.  This also brought in a bit more money for us to spend.

Since we had owned our first little fishing boat earlier in our lives, we longed to get back on the water to waterski (wakeboard for David).  One of the first purchases David wanted while living on the water was a wakeboard boat.  Of coarse, that came with an expensive boat lift to take it out of the water when not in use!

The boat on the right belonged to my parents, but they left it there as we had the extra lift and so we could ski or fish anytime we wanted.  There were fish and turtles that would come up to the dock and you could easily feed them by hand.  We also had a duck named Hector that loved our pug dog!  I miss Hector – he was a good duck…

We finally had money for vacations.  We went on a cruise with my parents to celebrate David’s graduation.  The beaches of the Carribean are breathtaking!

We had just about everything we wanted.  But, my body still longed to be pregnant.  We found an infertility doctor in Shreveport and began testing and treatments.

I do not write this today to make you jealous or to brag.  In fact, David & I are quite ashamed of how frivolous we spent money during that time in our lives.  I remember all to well the frustrations I felt when we were newlyweds and I would just wish Publisher’s Clearing house would show up with a big check, or that we would inherit a bunch of money from an unknown distant relative.  Anything to make paying the bills easier.  I thought everything would be good if I only had some more money.  However, we were blessed to have the chance to experience financial stability, but that did not bring true happiness, just more worries and responsibilities.