Thursday, March 31, 2011

Theres No Place Like Home

So many reasons to love going home:) Catching up with the parents! Good food! One of the first things my parents ask when they know we are coming to visit is "What to you want to eat?" Honestly my parents always cook something good so most of the time I don't even bother requesting. This time got spoiled with bisquits and gravy, pork chops with mashed potatoes, indian fry bread. So yummy. Now its back to mac and cheese, chili stacks, and cookie dough. Its not that I can't cook but hard to find the motivation to cook for one.
Amber and I had a mission on this trip. 4 babies in 4 days. A couple of our friends were recently blessed with bundles of joy. So we did what we do best....went to visit, and snuggled those cute babies. Here is Beckys sweet girl. That tongue sticking out is the best!
Next stop Karen's place. She was blessed with not 1 but 2 bundles of joy. A boy and girl. How perfect is that. I'm sure they are going to be a ton of work but the snuggles and love make it all worth it. Amber and my favorite part about this stop... 2 babies means we each get one. No waiting for the other to stop hogging the baby. Anyone that knows us knows we can be quite the baby hogs and don't share well. My favorite part about a newborn? You can put them in any position you want and they snuggle up and go to sleep! 
One of the best things about going home is visiting best friends. You know the people that know you better than you know yourself? The people that would drop anything to be there for you. Know your faults and your weaknesses and choose to be around you anyways. The people that would never judge you. The people that support you even when they don't agree with you. I have been super blessed. I love that some of these people I get to call sister, some cousins and some friends. One of my friends, her husband and of course(here is the 4th) baby came into town last weekend. So it was a great excuse to get together with some good friends. I've known Daria since we were in 8th grade. I thought she was crazy when she planned her wedding date to a boy 3 years her junior. We were 13! I remember her decorating her binder saying Jeremy and Daria with a wedding date of some ridiculously far date into the future. Well here they are...13 or so years later. She married that boy she said she would in the 8th grade. They sure made a cute baby!
I love getting together with my high school girls!! Natalie I met my junior year. The first night we hung out we had a sleep over at Daria's place. That girl made me laugh so much koolaid came out of my nose on at least three occasions. She has kept me laughing ever since. Natalie has a 6th sense for when people need her. I can't count how many times she has called at just the right time. In fact after my last breakup, when I didn't hear from her within a day or two after, I thought maybe she had lost her touch;) Not possible! Natalie is one of the most positive people I know. She has also been cutting my hair for so long that when I have to go somewhere else I am speechless when they ask what I want done. I don't know, call Natalie she just knows!

Awww we are missing someone here. My bestie Erin. We were so sad she couldn't make this trip. Erin and I go back to 8th grade as well. Miss the days of high schoold football games, sneaking out so she could meet a boy (will I ever cease to be the 3rd wheel?), dancing around to Goo Goo Dolls or the oh so hot 259! I miss being so close to Erin. Most days off in Utah were spent with Erin and my girls. Erin and I can both go on forever about boring random stuff and not be bored with eachother at all. She thinks my single drama is entertaining and her stories of motherhood are most definately entertaining. Thankfully she is going to join us in Chicago when we go to visit Daria and Jeremy in May! Hmmmm that post went a different direction then intended. Now I want to go on and on about my wonderful sisters and why they are so freakin amazing!!! That will have to be another day:) Don't want to bore you guys! Blog, journal its all the same right?

Awww there we all are. I am not allowed to do the kissy face... I always look angry. They told me to do the I have a secret face. Don't know if its any better. LOVE THESE GIRLS! I won't say how long we've been out of high school... but love that we are all still so close!


Top 5 Favorite Things About Denver (so far...in no particular order)

1. Living by myself. To be honest I was scared to live by myself. Everyone knows I am a little bit paranoid. But thanks to my double dead bolt front door, 3rd floor apartment, and pepper spray, no worries here. If its a mess...its all mine, sing in the shower?..don't mind if I do, dance awkwardly to myself...LOVE IT!!! Cookie dough in the fridge at all times and no one to complain about it??? Ok I need someone to complain about before I gain 20 pounds:)
2. Weather! I mean its not Arizona and 80 degrees, but its not Utah stuck in the 40's either. Sunny skies everyday, 60's and some amazing spring days that hit 70:)
3. Sand Creek ward.... so much fun. I went to institute my first week here and instantly had a moving crew to help me the next day. Since then its been volleyball twice a week. We rock out to music and play til we are exhausted at midnight. I have enjoyed game nights, institute, bowling and more. I thought I was gonna be alone with my Netflix and cookiedough everynight...Nope I have met some awesome people here! Gonna make it hard to leave.
4. Qdoba burritos. I didn't even know I liked burritos:)
5. Work:) So I heard some horror stories about people not like travel nurses. We take thier hours, get paid more ect. I could not have come to a more welcoming staff. I'll admit I was a little concerned when the first thing my manager said to me was "I hate tall people." But they have welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New place

So anyone that knows me know that when it comes to electronics and technical things I suck. I am known to make the computer freeze, or make a simple setup complicated. My dad always asked if it was a "user error" to which I would roll my eyes. Well I am happy to report that I set up my cable, internet and printer all by myself!
Here are some pics of Colorado! The first was the prettiest canyon we drove through on the way here. Glad I was awake for this part. The next pictures are from Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Went with an old friend Joe whom I haven't seen in years:) It was pretty cool!



New Adventure:)

So as most of you know I started into the world of travel nursing. That means I signed up with an agency that will send me to different hospitals throughout the United States for 13 week assignments. They set me up in a furnished apartment, give me a quick orientation to the facility and then I am on my own. After 13 weeks I can try to extend my contract, or pack everything I can fit into my (what has never felt smaller) Mazda 3 and I am on my way to a new destination for another 13 weeks. So in talking about this to people I have had mixed reactions.  Some people find it exciting, adventurous, spontaneous and cool. It can also be lonely, scary, challenging and crazy. I have had a few comical responses to which I would like to respondJ One Bishop said “But how are you supposed to get any roots that way?” To which I responded, “Do you know where my roots are supposed to be Bishop? If you know, I would love for you to fill me in!” A concerned cousin asked my sister if I was going through a midlife crisis.  Since when is 26 considered midlife? I cannot confirm or deny the possibility of a mid 20’s crisis. What a way to spend it though! Another concerned cousin asked how I was supposed to date someone if I was always traveling. I love my cousins and all my concerned family!! To that I have a few responses and I hope I don’t come off sounding too cynical.
  1. Who says the man of my dreams in in Utah?
  2. Who says I should wait around somewhere hoping to find someone when I can travel to new places every 3 months and meet new prospects ;)
  3. Not to say I am writing off dating at this point, but lets just say been there, done that. I have loved and I have lost. I have given people the benefit of the doubt, worked and fought for someone who in the end simply chose not to make a decision, overcame trust issues only to be betrayed, and so on.
So I am not given up on dating….. At the end of the day I am still a girl. Every girl has the dream of Prince Charming coming along and sweeping her off her feet. Travel nursing is super flexible. I could always extend a contract to see if things could work out or find a local permanent job. I am simply taking advantage of the fact that I am single and can travel. Travel nursing is something I always wanted to do when I started into nursing. I thought… How awesome to get paid to travel and meet new people. I never imagined I would still be single and have enough experience to do it. So in January I was newly single, had just enough experience to apply, and had been in Utah exactly 2 years. That last part was significant because when I got the job in Salt Lake the last thing I wanted to do was move to Utah but it was an awesome job opportunity that I couldn’t say no too. I said, fine….I will give Utah 2 years of my life and then I am coming back. Funny thing was, as much as I missed AZ, it didn’t feel right to go back there. So that brings me here. Denver, Colorado to be exact! Why Denver? I went on a family reunion to Colorado when I was younger. I fell in love with the mountains, green grass, streams along the roads ect. I vowed I would go to college there. Well that didn’t happen. So here I am. Denver is a little far from the mountains, and I see more brown dead grass than green; but I have heard great things about the city and have already made great friends!