Back In Action

The Cochran's are officially back in action after our awesome vacation!  We arrived to sunny Bradenton, Florida around noonish on Saturday after spending 16 long hours in the car. We spent a majority of our week going to the beach or pool, eating, playing cards, eating, putt-putting, eating, relaxing, and did I mention eating?  Ben and I both really like seafood, so we were more than happy to indulge ourselves with any type of fresh seafood that we could get our hands on!  We ate dinner with my dad and step mom, who also happened to be vacationing in Florida, at our favorite restaurant, The Sandbar.  If anyone is passing through the Anna Maria Island area I highly recommend making a stop at The Sandbar, they have the tastiest food!  Enough about all of the wonderful food we got to eat (by the way, the Cochran's are going on a diet starting this week after all our gluttony), lets move on to some pictures (insert Hallelujah chorus here that I actually took pictures!)  We ventured to Anna Maria Island a couple of times before I finally remembered to bring my camera, so here are some of the pictures.  I'll post more when I get them from my step mom.

I especially enjoy this picture due to the fact that most city halls don't have such a colorful sign!

This is the Magnolia Inn.  It's a mom and pop hotel that my Uncle John and Aunt Sarah use to own right in downtown Anna Maria Island.

Here is a side view picture of the hotel rooms.

Me & my love

"I got my toes in the water, toes in the sand" --Zac Brown Band

Florida

I only find it fitting that while composing this blog post I listen to the Beach Boys because the Cochran's are heading to Florida this Friday and I'm getting myself pumped for the occasion.  Ben's grandmother travels to Florida during the lovely, cold, winter months of Ohio and has invited us to come visit.  We'll be driving the 18 hours it takes to get Bradenton, Florida for a short 5 day stay.  Unfortunately, our trip has been cut short because I have a mandatory meeting for nursing school.  However, we couldn't be more excited to escape this ugly weather and get some sunshine.  I'm bringing my camera with me and hoping to take some pictures, but we'll see because as my mother can attest to this, we are horrible about remembering to take pictures on such occasions.

In the words of Sheryl Crow, "I'm gonna soak up the sun..."

A Police Officer's Wife

When I was in college I told my parents that I could never be married to a man who was either in the armed forces, a doctor, or a police officer.  Little did I know that I would be eating my own words.  Since we started dating, we didn't exactly get to have the "normal" dating life.  At the time, my husband was working 3rd shift and had Sundays and Mondays off so we would spend most of our time cooking dinner together and hanging out around his house or my apartment before he had to go into work.  Now my husband enjoys working a lot, a quality that I might add I love and adore so dearly, however he was working ridiculous amounts of overtime.  He would pull a double and work on his days off on a regular basis.  He soon became like a zombie to me.  When he switched departments he was given 2nd shift with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off.  His current employer only allows officers to work 4 hours of overtime per day unless its special duty and officers aren't allowed to work on their days off.  I was glad to find this out because he would be able to get into a regular routine.

Since we found out that I would be going to nursing school, my husband has really stepped up to the plate and has so willing worked overtime 3 out of the 5 days per week.  Most days it doesn't bother me because it's normally during the week and I'm already asleep since I work 1st shift.  However, sometimes when he works overtime on Friday or Saturday night, I get a little ticked off because that's my time to spend with him.  I feel really selfish for saying that, but he is my husband and I want to spend every moment with him that I can.  I would rather have him at home with me instead of being with the inmates who don't deserve anything especially my husbands time away from me.  I feel like this feeling is a weekly or bi-weekly struggle for me.  Most days I can except eating dinner, going to family functions, or doing all the chores by myself, but sometimes I hate "the job" for making my husband absent in those things.  I know that I am welcomed to eat dinner or do things with family and friends, but I feel like a burden because they have their own lives and don't need me tagging along.

I was browsing online for anything that could be helpful for me and I found this:

Dear Lord, please give my husband courage and wisdom~

Be his eyes and ears and guide his steps throughout this day~

And most of all send your angels to protect him and keep him

sympathetic and kind in your ever loving way~

I'm asking you for your blessing for my husband

as he proudly serves you and his fellow man~

And when he feels as though he's failed,

I ask you to help him understand~

May he be a brother to all police officers,

an example to his peers~

Keep him free from harassment's

and protect him from all fears~

May he know through my prayer

that I love him and he is my life~

And whatever he has chosen to do or be,

I'm proud to be his wife~~

1992 Patty Temple

Great news!

I received some excellent news last week! I'll be attending nursing school next month at Ohio University in Chillicothe.  Over the past few months I've been turning in all of the necessary papers and even took a pre-assessment exam at the end of November and it all paid off.  Since I've completed all of the support courses, I just need to finish my nursing classes and clinicals and in 2 years, I'll be able to sit in on the NCLEX-RN exam and if I pass, I can become an RN.

When I graduated from high school I was torn between staying at home and attending nursing school at the Mount Carmel College of Nursing or go to Ohio University in Athens and major in something in the healthcare field.  While I am happy about all 4 years spent at school in Athens, I sometimes wished that I would have gone to nursing school, but I figured that I would be able to just move on and get my Masters in Public Health, however that wasn't the case.

On April 28, 2009, my grandfather was involved in a very serious car accident.  He was life flighted from Berger Hospital to OSU Medical Center (at the time I was just hired as a new employee to the admissions department) and came in to the ER as a "trauma" patient.  Little did I know that all of this was occurring right under my nose until my mother called me as I was leaving work.  She had told me what happened and that the entire family was waiting in the ICU.  When we finally spoke to the doctor, he said that most people don't survive from car accidents that my grandpa was in and that it was going to be a long road to recovery and boy was he right.  After a halo, 2 surgeries on his cervical vertebrae, tracheotomy, 4 weeks in ICU and one emotional roller coaster, my grandpa was finally ready for his 2 week rehab program at Dodd Hall.  During those weeks, I was able to help my grandpa with whatever he needed, whether it was moving his pillows to make him more comfortable, help get rid the fluid in his trach, or just talk to him during my lunch breaks.  It was then that I realized where my true passion lies and I would be unhappy if I couldn't obtain it.

When I walk thorough the floors of the Medical Center, sometimes I'll see the various nurses that my grandpa had during his stay and I smile because I know how well they took care of him and how supportive and caring they were to my family, especially my grandma.  I can only hope that one day I'll be able to have the same impact on a family.