GPC for me?

"Well it's back, back, back to school..."

For those that don't know, I dropped out of college before our wedding, intending to return in the spring of the next year. However, Jamie was offered a job millions of miles from home and we relocated. And I didn't seek out a school to finish once we did move...

So, today was a spent trying to collect as much information as I needed before making a decision to apply for Georgia Perimeter College. http://www.gpc.edu/ (Yup, the same school Kimby, my sister-in-law, is currently attending). I spoke with an adviser today and she was very helpful in answering my questions and confirming my desire to do this... I'd always considered GPC as an option for me in the distant future. They have a Sign Language Program and it's close enough to us that it could have been a "down the road" option for me going back to school.
Several things have stacked up to make this down the road happen now perhaps...
1. A friend of mine from church is currently in the program. She's been a great source of encouragement and information as I sought to find out "if it was for me"
2. Since our move this past September, I'm we've closer to campus now by far!
3. It seems around every corner there is someone asking me "what I'm going to be doing" with my life, or now that Matthew's older or where am I working...
4. I'm not content doing jobs just to get by anymore. I'm tired of working meaningless jobs. I want to have something I can count on. Something that though may take a long time to achieve, in the long haul it would be the best outcome financially when work was available. Serving food or selling candles isn't going to cut it for me.
5. In the past several months, I've been put in situations where signing has been helpful and received warmly. It's moments like those that make me know this is my calling.
6. Why not??! -- will we ever be "ready?" There is help out there. And, I can take it one class at a time, a semester at a time until I get there. Right? Right... well, almost right...

While talking to the adviser today, I realized that actually if I want to be Nationally Certified to Interpret (which I DO) then that has to happen before 2012. Here's the game plan: I will hopefully start classes in the fall to complete my pre-requisite program, take and assessment test on my current Sign Language skills and hopefully begin their Sign Language program. If I can get through the program and then tested and accepted by the National Certification by 2012 that will be wonderful. If I can't, we'll be in trouble as instead of just an associate degree, the Nationally recognized certification will then require a BS--which I wont have... So, we'll see what I can do between then and now. The adviser said if I did start in the fall, I SHOULD make it in time. (No more fooling around-- this is IT!) Jamie printed me out an application for me to fill out tonight, which I did after dinner, along with the requests for my transcripts from the previous schooling. I've also spent near over an hour online and on the phone filling out my FAFSA. Shoo! It's on!

Before I close, I will ask for prayers~ Please be in prayer with us if this is truly what God would have for my life-- really for our lives. Also please pray for any scholarship/financial aid that's out there to come our way! Please pray that we can work out all class/scheduling for what's best for Matthew as that may come our way. I covet these prayers. Thank you. I'll continue to update this as things progress!