Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Being Married to a Night Shift Nurse

       Lately I have seen a lot of articles about nurses.  They highlight the sacrifice and hard things about the profession.  Nursing does require long hours, caring for difficult patients and families, multi-tasking and great time management.  That being said, nursing is such a rewarding career.  More often then not, I care for sweet appreciative children and families.  I have great co workers that pitch in and make the shift go as smoothly as possible.  There are many perks including only working 3 days a week and helping patients and families adjust and deal with a stressful situation.
     Over Christmas I was able to be off for 5 days without taking any time off.  Upon returning I went to work 3 in a row while my husband went out of town for business.  The first few days weren't bad because I was at work or sleeping all day.  He was only supposed to be gone one more night when his trip was extended.  I ended up having 2 nights in a row without seeing him (that's on top of the 3 I didn't see him while at work).  Anyways, it got me thinking.  Everyone talks about the sacrifice nurses make for their jobs.  I started thinking about the sacrifice the husband, wives and families of a nurse make.  As I sat eating cookie dough and missing my husband, I experienced what he has 3 nights a week for the last 2 years.  I stayed up almost until the sun came up because the empty bed did not look very inviting.
     I am a night shift nurse through and through.  I am a night owl by nature.  I love not ever having to wake up early.  I sleep so well during the day.  I love my co workers on the night shift.  I enjoy the fact that night shift (not always) tends to be less chaotic.  While I still keep busy, I am not bombarded with admits, discharges, doctors, procedures, visitors, meals and so much more.  I have worked day shift but found that I do not enjoy my job as much.  This leaves my poor husband alone and feeling what I have been feeling the last few nights without him.  Sure he enjoys having his alone time and finds things to keep him busy, but 3 nights a week he goes to sleep without me by his side.  Working nights means starting every vacation right after a night shift to maximize time.  My husband has experienced a wife falling asleep at sporting events, in the car, on subways, and even during a Broadway play.  Walking around big cities all day can be exhausting on a normal amount of sleep.  When done on little or no sleep in can make for a cranky tired girl. Vacation can be tough on someone who is used to being most productive at night.  Vacation is often the only time I have to wake up early and to an alarm. 
     Then there are the lovely holidays.  Unfortunately people don't stop getting sick around the holidays.  As a nurse it does stink to be expected to work holidays.  However, when I picked my career I knew what I was getting myself into.  The families and spouses are affected too.  My husband gets most holidays off.  He finally gets 3 day weekends and breaks from his 5 day work weeks.  This Thanksgiving was spent with a wife that slept the day away.  We may get New Years Day off but I am going to need to sleep in to prep for work and leave him alone at 6.  Weekends are frequently interrupted by my working or sleeping.  The time he is guaranteed off, I am often working, preparing, or recovering from a shift.
     During the week its a battle of getting too much sleep or not enough.  After my last shift I have to try to balance how much sleep I get.  If I sleep too long I am not ready to go to sleep when John is.  If I sleep too little, I am falling asleep on one of the few nights we get together. 
    Then there is the dreaded, "Hey babe, my work is having a Christmas party in two weeks are you off?"  This is a frequent occurrence.  There is a party, event or game that my husband wants to attend.  If he doesn't ask 2-3 months in advance (because that is how far my schedule is set for) its probably not going to happen.  Statistics will tell you there is a 57% chance that I will have that night off.  Experience will tell you 100% I work that night.  It will be near impossible to get off.  Many social events are passed up on because of my schedule.  Often the invitations to do things stop all together because you are known as the couple that never comes anyways.
    I don't know what the purpose of this post is.  Really it is just a result of me missing my husband.  The last few nights have given me a glimpse of the sacrifices that he makes with me being a night shift nurse.  I appreciate his patience with his narcoleptic wife.  I appreciate how he is so kind.  It can't be easy waiting all day on a Saturday for me to wake up so we can play.  Then while he has been awake for hours, have to  wait for me to perk up and being ready for human interaction. I appreciate how he doesn't complain when he frequently has to fend for himself.  I have not mastered  how to make dinner between shifts or before I go to work. 
    Every job has its pros and cons.  Each individual, regardless of where they work, experience different stressors and must make sacrifices of some sort.  Many of these articles say that you should hug a nurse.  I want to take it a step further.  Hug the families of a nurse.  They sacrifice so much as well.  I love my job.  I love my husband.  Life is so good. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!! I am excited for a new year.  This last year has been filled with adventure and love.  Can't wait to see what 2014 brings.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Howdy from Dallas!

        I'm sure most of you now know that we moved to Texas! We knew we were not always going to live in Los Angeles. We loved living in Los Angeles. The weather was the best! There was always something to do and places to explore.  We had planned on living in LA for another year or two.  Turns out it was time to leave sooner rather then later.  John and I have had a list of cities that we thought it would be fun to live in.  We ended up with jobs in Dallas.  So before we knew it we were packing up our first apartment. It was kind of hard to do.  We loved our first place. We were excited about the prospect of more space in Texas though. We made a stop in AZ on our way to Dallas. My cousin and I (mostly my cousin) threw Amber a baby shower while we were there.  It was so fun to be able to be there for that. I am so excited to be an Aunt.... again.  After spending some time with the family we drove the next 2 days to Texas.  Amber joined us in our drive. Thank goodness!! Poor John had to drive by himself, but I had great company.  We had loaded our cars to the max so loading and unloading them a few times was a treat. I love that the help I brought was 29 weeks pregnant and not allowed to help:)

        Texas is so much better than I imagined. I didn't know what to expect.  I imagined horrible heat and humidity.  Now I realize we came at the end of summer but its not nearly as humid as I imagined.  It is so green. Gas is cheaper, traffic is nothing compared to LA, housing is cheaper and the people are so friendly.  We have been busy enjoying finger licking BBQ and college football. We stayed a week at an extended stay hotel while looking for a place to live. We ended up finding an area where there were a couple apartment complexes on man made lakes.  We lucked out and seriously got the best view. Its a third floor apartment (to keep us fit). This is the view we get to enjoy.
          Our last Saturday in LA we went to the beach.  It only made perfect sense.  We have spent a lot of time at the beach over the last 2 years.  We met at the beach.  We had gone with the same group of friends to play volleyball. I remember walking along the boardwalk with some friends and John was waiting by this very light pole for us.
I was excited about meeting this new guy.  We actually met 2 years ago this month. What an amazing 2 years.  When we were dating and I lived in Westwood (just 4 miles from the beach) we would go to Santa Monica all the time.  There were so many evenings that we would be find ourselves at the beach.  Love the beach at night. Love the ocean breeze! There were bike rides, hikes, frisbee, sand angels and so many of my favorite memories. So anyways our last Saturday we picked up some donuts and spent a couple hours soaking it all in.  We talked about all of our fun memories and what we were looking forward to in Texas.
      I have been jumping all over the place in this post!! Sorry!  John is enjoying his job very much. He loves his short commute  and working more manageable hours.  I am in a travel contract at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. Hopefully I will be able to turn it into a permanent position.  We feel so blessed with the opportunities we have had and look forward to a bright future. If ya'll are ever in Texas we have an extra room!


Monday, July 29, 2013

Summertime

This summer has been a lot of fun. One of the great things about living in California (besides the weather) is that it is a typical vacation spot for most people! That means friends and family stopping by. We love having people come and visit. John's sister Molly and her hubby Jacob and their adorable baby Jackson came a couple of weeks ago. They stayed for almost a whole week. It was so much fun. One night we went down to Venice to watch the sunset and explore the shops.
I took them to the popular hiking trails at Runyon Park. There weren't any celebrity sitings but everyone loved seeing a baby on the trails. Here is a picture of the Dixon family with Los Angeles in the background.
On Saturday we took them to Paradise Cove. That is a beautiful beach and where John proposed to me. We just love it there for so many reasons:)



Is that baby not the cutest:) Being an Aunt is so much fun! Can't wait for Amber to have me another nephew:) John looks pretty cute holding a baby too don't you think?
This is a picture of us outside the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It is such a cool looking building, We went to a symphony concert. It was a cool building on the inside as well. There was a cool looking organ and the seats went around the entire stage.
One of my best friends Erin and my favorite little girls were in town the following week. They were staying right on the beach in Newport. I went down to spend the afternoon with them. Erin started a game where we would write math problems in the sand for Issy. She had to solve them before the water came and washed it away. I love this picture of her concentrating!

Cute Ellie would write letters and numbers in the sand. When did they grow up?

Erin's mom watched the girls so Erin and I could go get some lunch and catch up. I just love this girl! We have been besties since the 8th grade!
The fun is going to just keep on going. We are heading up to Utah this weekend for my brother-in-laws wedding followed by a visit from my sister-in-law and family!





Saturday, April 13, 2013

Where Does the Time Go??

    Seriously where does it go?? I can't believe it is the middle of April! I meant to post this last weekend but it just didn't happen. So last weekend marked one year from when John proposed. It has been the best year. We can't really remember life without each other so I guess it feels like it's been even longer. I love waking up to my best friend. Wish I could say every morning but the life of a night nurse doesn't allow that. It just makes me appreciate our time together that much more. So a couple of weeks ago John's brother and girlfriend came out to LA. We absolutely love having visitors. Especially since we don't live near any family:( We did a lot of fun things. I don't know if you know this but LA is so fun:) We went to Santa Monica beach and did some tandem biking. I can check that off my bucket list. I actually didn't really like it. Riding on the back I felt like I had no control, not to mention couldn't see where I was going. It was a fun thing to do with this handsome guy though!

I went to my first ever soccer game while they were here. It was fun. Talk about a low scoring sport. The fans kept things lively. Here is our soccer team photo.
Since we were coming up on our year engagement anniversary we were telling them about Paradise Cove where John proposed. It is up in Malibu and so pretty. You actually go on a little hike and then walk down some stairs into the cove. They wanted to see it so we went. That place will always have a special place in my heart.
Here is us a year ago:)

Here is us a year later:) Just love love this boy:) He will tell you I love to annoy him...which is also very true!!
Later that evening we checked out the LACMA, a museum with a super cool light display. 
Thought you might enjoy some kissing. Too much? Too bad. So that is life as of late. With me working nights and being gone a lot during the week and John working lovely busy season hours we make the most out of every weekend! I sure do miss being closer to family but I sure am grateful for my own little family here in Los Angeles.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Procrastination at it's Finest

So this week was the start of my online Bachelors program. I made my study plan at the beginning of the week. Things have not gone as planned. I have actually been really productive. My house has been kept clean. I made a meal plan for the week and even prepped some meals to freeze and cook later. Grocery shopping done.  My legs are shaven, not just half way (yes my poor husband, this isn't as frequent of an occurrence as it should be). I have also done a few other miscellaneous tasks that are usually neglected. I am writing a blog which doesn't happen that frequently. Hmmmm this could be a problem. Now that I am out of things to do it's time to start studying:) Wish me luck.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Happy Holidays:)

 

December was a busy fun filled month for us:) We started off with a trip to Utah for Jessica and Ty's wedding. I went up a couple days early and got to spend some quality time with Jessica as we got ready for her wedding. We were a little concerned when it snowed the whole night before the wedding. However, everyone was able to make it to the wedding safely and the fresh fallen snow could not have been more perfect for pictures. They got married in the Brigham City temple. It was beautiful!!

 
One of the great things about the wedding being in Utah was being able to visits John's side of the family in West Haven. With the three of us girls getting married this past year and other trips, we have been able to see both families a lot!!!

After the wedding we had one work week in between our next mini vacation. We were able to drive to AZ to spend Christmas with my family. Christmas Eve we went for lunch to one of my favorite places Zupa's. I went there all the time in Salt Lake and they just opened one in Mesa. I got my favorite mango berry salad. There we discovered just how allergic John is to mangos. He had a reaction from my plate or some cross contamination from the people that made my food and spent the afternoon in a benadryl induced coma. I love mango flavored anything and was not convinced that I needed to give them up based on his allergy. I have learned my lesson. We went and saw the temple lights, played some intense Phase 10, had a gift exchange and ate lots of yummy food.







We made the trip back to LA for another short work week. John's brother Matt and his girlfriend Lindsey came down for a visit. We had so much fun with them. Matt got us free tickets to Knott's Berry Farm.


 For New Year's since Vegas is on their way home we decided to bring in 2013 on the strip.  I was a little hesistant about the idea but it turned out to be a blast. They shut down the strip to cars on New Year's so we were free to roam the streets. For the countdown we were standing right in the middle of the street with firework shows all around us.


 Getting back to the cars was interesting with people trying to head in both directions. We made some friends as well as some enemies as we got up close and personal trying to make our way to the car. Getting back to our hotel, which was not on the strip, also proved to be quite the challenge. John and I ended up napping in the car for a couple hours before getting on the road.  New Year's Day was a lot of fun. I have been to Vegas a few times but realized I have only seen a small part of it. The inside and outside of the Bellagio hotel is my favorite. We ate lunch at the Paris buffet which was amazing. We went and saw the water show La Reve which was awesome as well. So I guess you could say the holidays were pretty awesome. It was fun to reflect on such an amazing year. John and I are very grateful for finding eachother and sharing the joys in this life together. We are counting our blessings and looking forward to an even better 2013:) We hope you all had a Happy Holidays!!
 Inside the Bellagio
 Outside The Paris..... We plan on getting a picture of the real thing this coming May!
New Years on the strip:)