Day 6 of 30!

Day 6 of 30 random things!

What's the hardest thing you've ever experienced?

This is a really difficult question for me.  In all honesty, I don't think my life has been that hard.  I've had some tough stuff to deal with; family drama, meningitis, surgery, bitter arguments with friends...  But I can't say any of that was the hardest thing, it's just life.  So, the hardest thing I've experienced that I didn't really HAVE to do, was moving to Louisiana.  I could have stayed in Pennsylvania and kept my job and lived in my apartment.  But there wasn't anywhere for me to go.  I was making just enough money to pay my bills and live, and not enough to go back to school.  I loved my friends there, but I felt like they were all moving on with their lives and I was stuck.  Louisiana was a HUGE life change that at any moment I could have said "Nah, this is too hard, I'll stay here."  I'm glad my sister encouraged me to do it.  I was scared about where to live, where to work, if I could afford it, etc.  But my sister and brother-in-law, my Louisiana "mom and dad" (John and Marie), and their awesome church family, made it a worthwhile experience.  It was hard.  I went through some serious culture shock.  And I'd never been that far from home.  I went to college only 2 hours away, so while I lived at school, I could go home at the drop of a hat.  But if I hadn't moved to Louisiana, I never would have had that first job that I hated so much and ended up leaving and started working at my first medical job.  Then I never would have even tried to go into nursing.  I never would have learned about family (especially family that's not blood).  I learned so much about being there for the people you love, no matter how inconvenient.  Finally, my sister never would have told me about her best friend's little brother.  And I never would have flown to Oklahoma to meet him.  And I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now.  So, moving to Louisiana was incredibly hard.  But there are no words for how glad I am that I did it.