Hello and welcome
My name is Victoria and I have been both knitting and sewing off and on for 20+ years. I am self-taught, using books and written guides primarily at first, then going to watch instructional videos on YouTube. I have always enjoyed diving into something and learning hands on. While I do have many more hobbies, this blog will focus on these two. Even though my life hasn’t followed the plan I had in place, and it has changed a lot. These hobbies have helped be a constant in my life.
Finding My Plan
I originally created this blog as a way to learn WordPress. It’s been a long journey to get here.
Hopeful beginings
In 2004 I had a plan. I was graduating high school and wanted to be a Doctor. Then I was going to go to community college, transfer to university and then eventually medical school.
From 2004-2007 I attended Blue Ridge Community College and got my A.S. I took a year off and then attended WCU from 2008-2009. For the 2009-2010 school year I was unable to get the funding and was no longer able to attend and the plan changed.
In 2011 I went back to school for a single semester course to learn Phlebotomy. Now my goal was to get a better paying job so that I could go back and finish my original plan in 2-3 years. Phlebotomy put me there in healthcare as well. Time moves fast and 3 years had come and gone, and my plan changed again.
Plan Changed to Having a Home
I decided I needed to get my life to a point where I could cut back on work to focus on school. Part of that involved getting all expenses down to the bare minimum.
There never seemed to be enough money. Every time one of us made a little more it seemed like our bills went up. My partner and I could pay the bills and afford some things, but savings were slow. Cutting the budget only went so far.
By 2014 I had decided that one of the best things we could do was buy a starter home. By March 2015 we closed on our new home. At the time, we were paying about $200 more a month than we were at the apartment. It was unfortunate but I knew that it would pay off eventually. My plan changed again as I knew I wouldn’t be able to even think of going back to school soon.
That time my plan changed to nursing
By 2018 our income had increased a good bit, and our housing cost had stayed the same. We still seemed to only come out even, but I was glad at least we weren’t struggling with paying higher rent plus all these other bills. I had decided that trying to go to medical school at this point would be difficult. There would still be a need to finish my bachelors, take the MCAT and apply for medical school. After thinking about my options, I decided instead I would go to nursing school. Once a nurse I could work to become a nurse practitioner. Nursing school is 2 years, and you can work while continuing higher education.
Thinking ahead, I decided to take any class I could that would count towards the program. During 2018 and 2019 I did just that. I was also saving money aggressively. My partner revealed he had around $4k in credit card debt. So, I tasked him with putting his extra money towards that while I built up a financial cushion.
Tragedy changed trajectory
Fall 2019 didn’t have any classes I needed aside from CNA. Unfortunately I missed the in-person sign up for the evening class due to having to work. It turned out to be for the best as tragedy came about several times in a short amount of time.
My partners grandma passed away. Then less than 2 weeks later I got a call that my mom was injured. She needed surgery on her knee right away. My mom had been trying to contact her own mother prior to surgery. When it had been hours without hearing back, we asked my aunts, to go check on her. They all live on the other side of the state. We got a call back that my grandma was found passed away in her home.
I felt horrible. It had been years since I had seen her. I had been talking about wanting to plan a visit to see her while at the previous funeral. I decided I was tired of waiting for things to be perfect or a good time to do things with my life. And then the plan changed again.
Life Plan Changed by COVID
2020 hits and the pandemic is upon us. Working in lab medicine just got way harder and dangerous. Even with PPE I decide the best thing to do is to isolate myself away from my family since they are all high risk. The issues my partner and I have had for nearly a decade are amplified in the isolation and I have to make a choice. Stay a few more years while I try to get through nursing school and my mental health continues to decline or save my mental health, leave, and give up on school.
I chose to leave.
He tried to stop me, even finally admitted to all sorts of things he had done through the years. He even informed me of where all his money was going. It turns out we were fine, and I could have gone back to school years prior. He said he was concerned that if I started making more, I would leave him.
Our divorce was finalized in November of 2021.
New Beginings
2021, I’m happier, I’m dating, I meet my current partner Zach.
By the end of 2022 he’s encouraging me to go back to school. I tell him I’m burnt-out from healthcare, COVID ruined it for me, and I don’t know what else I want to get into. Most all my family works in either healthcare or unskilled labor. Zach works in tech, so he suggests I start exploring options there.
I end up going with him on a couple of company retreats his employer did. During these retreats, I meet several people he works with, including developers. We talk about my current job some since COVID is still a hot topic. I ask them questions about their jobs and what they do and if they like it. It sounds interesting and I decided that is something I would like to look into.
The Current Plan
After looking at my options for learning, I finally decide that I have the time and opportunity for structured classroom learning for the basics. AB Tech has a program and well that’s how I got here.
I’m set to graduate May 2025 with an A.A.S. in Software and Web Development. It’s been a wonderful program, and I would recommend it to others. Aside from learning how to hand code everything, they do want to be sure we are keeping up with current technology that employers are looking for. Like being able to use WordPress.