Just Some Random Thoughts

1. I hate goodbyes....I would rather just sneak out....or holler see ya later as I'm walking away:)
2. Colorado summer is beautiful, I'm gonna miss it
3. I am officially homeless as of tomorrow, staying with a stranger for a bit in LA until I can find a place.
4. I have too much stuff and my car is too small.
5. Who thought it would be fun to move every few months? I mean come on packing? Goodbyes? Cancel the cable, transfer insurance, cleaning, driving (A LOT)...
6. How cool that I get to start over every few months?! New goals, new friends, new adventures, lots to learn:)
7. Excited for the beach, sand volleyball, Disneyland, California sunshine, surfing!!!! If anyone is anywhere near LA this summer you  better hit me up:)
8. My sleep schedule is SOOOO messed up. Love working nights....not a fan of what it does for my schedule, or my social life for that reason.
9. I hope there are cute boys in my new ward who don't have commitment issues, are dating machines, and goal is to marry me but not stay in So Cal (does that exist? might just be a fairtale)
10. This next week and a half is going to be AWESOME!!! Salt Lake to visit friends, hiking, swimming, Zupas, Studio 600 COUNTRY SWING!!!, AZ, 4th of July, FAMILY, new job and returning to my California roots (kind of). I remember when I was a little girl asking my mom "Mom  is a California girl blonde hair and blue eyes(mine have since changed to green)?" She thought about it and said yeah I guess that is the stereotype. I remember pumping my fists and saying "YES!!!!"
Just thought I would share....My California bucket list is yet to come.....Could still use some ideas. Thanks:) I would love to do a coastal drive up to Oregon. Whos down???

California Bucket List!!!

So I ran into this girls blog and I thought it was an awesome idea. Basically she got this idea from her Aunt and its similar to what on of my good friends Helen does. So there are alot of advantages and disadvantages of being single. Some of the advantages being the ability to travel more, spend your free time however you want, financially have less obligations ect. So basically she made a Bucket list of things to do while she was still single. I want to make a bucket list for each assignment I take. They don't necessarily have to be big things but it will be a good way to see and do as much as possible. They can be as simple as a bike ride or jog on the beach, getting a guys number at the gym, to going to Disneyland and things like that. I have a list started which I will post at a later time but I wanted to get ideas from everybody! I will also blog about my adventures. Hopefully it will be a good way to get out there and meet people too!! I am gonna need that for sure because the closer I get to leaving the sadder I am about leaving the amazing poeple I have met here in Colorado:)

I am a SpAzMaTaZz

So recently I realized something about myself.... I tend to freak out when it comes to making decisions. I freak out the most when it is something good and right. I get all worked up and crazy. I realized this when I was making the decision for my next travel assignment. I have been wanting to go to southern California for the summer. Laying around the beach on my days off just sounds amazing. I was looking for San Diego when a job offer in LA fell into my lap. Its a childrens hospital (which I miss), stepdown PICU (which is great place to learn and experience a ton), started when I wanted it to, and is at an awesome childrens hospital which happens to be moving into a brand new facility. Anyways I interviewed thinking I don't want to live in LA. Traffic, smog, gangs, ghettos, traffic, need I go on? After talking to the manager however I found myself wanting the job. They offered it to me despite me not having the travel experience they were looking for. I told my recruiter I needed to think about it. I spent the next weekend weighing out the pros and cons. Depeneding on who I was talking to I was either excited or scared out of my mind. When the day came to tell my recruiter I told her I would accept. That night I talked to a lady at work who lived in LA for years. She spoke super positive things about the facility but then talked about the smog, commute and dangers. AAAAHHHHH. I freaked... told my recruiter I didn't want to go there anymore. She was awesome and said she supported me whatever I wanted to do. Then she talked about all the travelers that were there and how much they love the facility and all the fun things there are to do in that area. So I reconsidered. I ended up finding a lot of people to talk to who have lived there or are currently living there. Suddenly it didn't seen so bad. The funny part is my sister and 2 of my best friends laughed at me and told me they knew I would go all along and it was right. GRRRRRR.... why do they get to know its right and I freak out??? I started thinking about it and basically I have done it with any big decision.... the decision of when to go back to nursing school, moving to Utah, moving to Colorado, breaking up with boys... with all of these things even though in hindsite they were without a doubt the right thing to do I fought it, freaked out, overanalyzed and doubted. Dang fear and its power:) I am so grateful for supportive friends and family who smile and nod and let me come to the conclusion myself! So basically I leave here in 2 weeks, drive to Salt Lake and visit there for a bit, home for the 4th of July, then off to LA on the 6th til the end of Novemer:)
So I am enjoying my last 2 weeks in Colorado. Its gonna be hard to leave. I really like my job right now. I have been spending alot of time in the NICU lately. Gotten kind of attatched to some of the sweet babies and their sweet parents. I love my ward. I have met some awesome people here. Gonna miss playing volleyball til midnight twice a week. Gonna miss the mountains. Spring has been beautiful here. Colorado has certainly been good to me. Great place for my first travel assignment. I feel like I was in a rut that last little while in Utah. I loved Utah and miss my friends there but a fresh start in a new place was just what I needed. I'm a little nervous about California. Gotta find a sane roomate, gotta commute to work, gotta find a safe neighborhood, gotta try to be trendy. Excited for new friends and new learning experiences in nursing. Anyone is welcome to visit. I hear its nice there in the summer!!!

So I have been hiking a few times here in Denver. Every time we drive at least an hour away and everytime we get snowed on. Hmmmm that kinda thing wouldn't happen in AZ. This hike was on Memorial day. I think it was actually high 70's back in Denver but we decided to drive into the mountains and freeze. Hiking in the snow can be fun and the mountains are beautiful. This is my friend Jason that I went hiking with:)

Family visit and more of Colorado:)

I have the best family!!! My siblings decided to come and visit me in Denver. We had so much fun. The weather threatened not to cooperate with my outdoor plans but everything worked out in the end. The first day we visted Golden Colorado. It is just a cute town. We ate pizza, walked around main street looking at the shops and took pictures.

The next day we went to 6 Flags. As kids we always had season passed to Great America in California. Love roller coasters!

Sunday we got to go to a place which I have heard alot of people talk about in Denver. Its called Red Rocks. Its an big ampitheatre where they have outdoor concerts and movie nights in the summer. It was so pretty there. There are also trails to hike around there. These pictures will show you one of the reasons I love Colorado.

 

The last night here Jeff wanted to get some night shots of the city. We had fun taking cool pictures. The following pictures show Jeff's AMAZING photography skills.... and some of the Buchanan's great modeling skills!

Love Denver at night!!! So basically we had an awesome weekend. I am so lucky to have some of my best friends be my siblings. Poor Jeff must have been tired of all the girl talk by the end of the weekend but he was a good sport about it!!!

Chicago:) The windy, rainy, foggy cold city!!

 The building to the right formed ice at the top of the building and would melt it down inside the walls to cool the building down. Look at the size of that building. Skyline to the right.

So a couple weeks ago my friend Natalie and I got to go visit our friends Daria and Jeremy in Waukegan, Illinois. For those of you that have never heard of it its about an hour out of Chicago. We had a ton of fun things planned. The weather however did not cooperate. That worked out for the best though cuz the real reason of going was to hang out with Daria, Jeremy and their adorable little girl Annabella:) So we started out doing a architectural tour of the city. This was awesome!! We hopped on a boat and rode up and down the river that goes through the middle of Chicago. We learned a ton of fascinating information and saw some incredible buildings!! The picture above is right after the boat ride. We figured out real fast that our hair was going to be crazy the whole trip and there was nothing we could do about it.

We didn't want to do much driving in the city since the people there drive like maniacs. So the first day we got bus passes. We were trying to find Sears tower. The bus driver said he would tell us when to get off. Well he didn't... so we got a little lost but found an amazing italian bakery where we got pizza and this yummy canoli:)                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 We didn't have anything to split it with so we went Lady and the tramp style:)



Luckily I thought to throw the Monopoly card game in my suitcase last minute because we spent hours playing! It was so much fun we even had to play a few rounds before Natalie and I had to leave. Jeremy had to play until he won. Well he finally won and he definately monopolized the game and took us for all we had.

On another day we took the pretty drive to Wisconsin. We checked out the cheese factory there. We got a little cheesy as you can see. Even the baby got in on the fun. We also checked out the Jelly Belly Factory. It was cool they give you a free tour on a train ride. We got to see how they came about and how they are made.

Lets see what other cool things did we do? We went to the aquarium. It was awesome. They even had dolphins there. We went almost to the top of Sears tower. Its where you can step out in a glass box from like 90 strories up. Because of the fog however there was zero visibility so it just looked white. We ate lots of good food. We had Chicago style chili dogs and the best pizza I've ever had:)



It was an awesome trip. I love traveling to new places. Love that after all these years since high school these guys are still my best friends. We missed Erin on this trip, next time. 



Drum roll please.....

So I know everyone was dying to know after my last post where I am going on my next assignment....It was a hard decision and now has turned out even more perfect than I could have imagined. So Thursday night I was at institute. I was looking around at all my new friends. Afterwards we played volleyball which happens to be one of my favorite times of the week. I started thinking about the last 2 months and how content I have been! I have been enjoying work, my apartment, my ward, my friends. I love my institute teacher. I love the lessons, talks and testimonies at church. I just feel like I am in a really good place in my life. So why mess with a good thing. Sure I could run off to San Diego and chill on the beach everyday but what if I don't find friends as quickly. What if they don't play volleyball twice a week, and ultimate frisbee, all that fun stuff. I have heard such good things about summers in Colorado. So I started talking to people. One girl loves to go hiking and they have a group that goes every week. Another girls parents have a boat and she said we would most definately get some boating time in if I stayed. So suddenly I wasn't ready to leave this place quite yet. 3 months seemed like a long time to extend, and would pretty much take me to the end of summer. So I talked to my manager and we decided on 8 weeks. She called yesterday and they are only gonna need me for 4 more weeks. Works for me. So I am staying in Denver until end of June. I am excited to not have to worry about moving just yet. So heres to 8 more weeks in Denver:)

Downtown... The Mountains....Colorado

So I finally got out and about and saw some things in Colorado. I only have 4 1/2 weeks left in this contract so I better get out there. They did offer me to extend my contract. So I am in the middle of making big decisions. Right now I am looking at bay area (looking to spend some time with family up there), San Diego (looking to spend a lot of time in the sun, on the beach), or Colorado (exploring the mountains, enjoying the mild weather and spending more time with the good friends I've met here). Any input would be appreciated!
So last week I finally made it downtown!! My friend Maren was in town from Salt Lake so she ventured down there with me. We went to the 16th street mall. Neither of us like to shop so we went in all the Colorado souvenier shops and scoped out places to eat. I am trying to think of a good souvenier to get from all the places I go. Suggestions?

Love the buildings! When we were looking for a place to eat we saw a Doner Kebab stand. Both of us spent some time in Germany so we were so excited. We weren't hungry at the moment so we decided to go back later and get one. As we were going back I was like hey, why is the stand moving?? They had just hitched it up to the truck and were driving away:( So sad. Guess that means I gotta get back down there for one later.

It was fun to people watch, look at the cool buildings and just see what was there. I saw lots of restaurants I wan to try. And this next picture just shows why I could never be a ballerina:)

I went to the aquarium here too. I just love aquariums. Love sealife:) Hmmmm San Diego? I don't know

Isn't he just so cute?? So I heard Josh Gracin was coming into town. I love Josh Gracin! So I rounded up my friend Natalie to go to his concert with me at a local country bar. We had so much fun. He played all my favorite songs. We did a little country swing and had a blast. Too bad I didn't get a picture of both of us but here is a picture of me getting ready to go:)

So when I moved to Colorado I pictured the mountains being close by, everything being very green, a river running next to the road. Well thats the Colorado I saw on vacation as a kid anyways. I still love Denver but the mountains are very far away, its finally starting to get green, and no river running next to the road. So I have been wanting to go hiking and do some exploring. So when my friend invited me on a day trip to go hiking I was so excited. We actually drove almost 3 hours to get there. We were expecting it to be in the 50's and chance of rain. So we are driving up there and we pass through this....

And I'm thinking I did not dress for this... they said not to worry where we were going there shouldn't be snow. We got to the place and it was oh about 38 degrees and raining not snowing. So we set out. It was an absolutely beautiful hike. It was cold but the sites made up for it!! Heres some pics!!

Talisha, Jason and I starting out:)

Love the snow on the moss:)

This makes me think of Twilight... I don't know why... but where is my Edward... actually it was cold I needed Jacob:)

You can't see them but we were catching snowflakes on our tongues:)

Hanging Lake... Destination reached!





So it was an awesome trip. Afterwards we warmed up in some natural hot springs, enjoyed a burrito from Qdoba and made the long drive home. Thats the Colorado that I was wanting to see! So I need to stay over summer and see more? I don't know... who wants to make the choice for me?? So thats life lately:)