New Digs

We are currently in the process of moving from a beach front one bedroom studio that is less than 300 sq feet to a 900 sq foot 2 bedroom apartment a 1/2 mile from the beach 30 minutes north.

We have about 3/4 of our stuff in the new place.  We need to bring up the fridge (apartments in our price point don't necessarily come with a refrigerator ..you'd think that paying over $1500/mo would mean you would get a 'fridge!), pack up the kitchen at the old place and move the last 1.5 loads into the new place. Oh, and completely clean the old place and the new place.

The Best Man and I are so excited to have a bigger place AND to have our first year lease together. Ever. We have been together for 6 years and have been married almost 2 years.  I can't believe we will be in one place for 12 consecutive months!

I am most looking forward to having furniture, friends and a place to call home.  I'm hoping to find a gym here soon. It has been hard to stay in shape when I haven't been able to run.  We haven't been making an effort to go to yoga class either.  I'm hoping to drive the 30 minutes south to our yoga studio to use more of our classes before they expire in August.

In the mean time, here's what we have planned:

Hawaii for my 30th birthday (next week!!!)
Disney and an Angels game for our 2 year anniversary (the week after we get back from Hawaii)
In-laws visit at the beginning of June
Then we are hoping to go to Joshua Tree to camp and hike at the end of June

So many exciting things coming up!

Obligatory New Year Post

Well, it's a New Year.

This past year I lived in Texas and California.  On New Years Day we drove from my in laws to my sister's place in NC.  We ate all the "lucky" food she could think of to give us all luck over the course of the year.

We then stopped in Memphis, were amazed by Graceland and underwhelmed by Beale St.

The drive then took us through some boring states to end up in big, 'ol "Everything-is-bigger-in" Texas!

The Best Man and I lived in Fort Worth Texas for about 7 months.  We lived "downtown" and loved walking to restaurants, shops (well, I did anyway), and the local trail system for running and biking.  The two of us got more into running and ran several races (a couple of 5k's, one 10k and two 1/2 marathons).  We made some really good friends with my local co-workers including other travelers.  The Best Man also found some local work and really liked have co-workers (especially local ones) for a change.

Some how we survived the summer in Texas, though it was not a pretty sight!

We then packed it all up at the end of the summer (including my new cowgirl boots!) and made for California.  Along the way we went to Monahands State Park and sand dunes, hiked the highest point in Texas (Guadalupe Peak), explored the caves of Carlsbad Caverns and wondered at the bats, hiked along and under the rim of Bryce Cannyon, hiked Angles Landing and the Narrows in Zion National Park, stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and hiked to the bottom and back up to the top of the Grand Canyon with hundreds of pictures, a few scraps and just as many new friends and one scorpion sting to show for it.

We've been living in California for the past 3 months.  The weather is perfect.  There is so much to see and do.  We have only been down to San Diego a couple of times, however have plans to continue exploring the city and the surrounding area.

Here's to 2013 and more adventures to come!

More Shoes

I really want to buy a house.

So I can buy more shoes.

I only have 11 pairs.

Valleys and Canyons

Yesterday we went through the Valley of the Gods and then Monument Valley.  Valley of the Gods, appears to be the less known or at least less visited of the two.  We went "off roading" on a cinder path through the valley.  The enormous orange and red structures jutted out of the ground haphazardly.  It was neat for the first 3-4 miles.  It was a 17 mile journey.  We stopped half way and had lunch then bounced and rolled out of there. 

Monument Valley was a complete and utter zoo.  There were hundreds of tourists, most of them foreign.  It was funny to see how different cultures pose for pictures.  Though I'm sure The Best Man's handstands and my jumping for pictures were amusing to them.  One of the tourists tried to cut in front of everyone in the bathroom line.  When it was my turn.  This did not go over well with me.  I told her there was a line and she apologized in broken English.  I'm going to assume this was a cultural difference and not that she meant to cut in front of 5 women in line.  We got our pictures at the viewing spot and left because we didn't want to deal with another 1-2 hour drive over a dirt road.  And this time with more people.

Then we ended the day in Bryce Canyon.  We didn't have time for a several hour hike, so we opted to go out as far as we were comfortable before turning back.  Looking down from along the rim provided the best view of the canyon, though it was interesting to see the "hoodoos" up close as we made our way to the bottom of the canyon. 

The next morning we started our day with a run along the rim trail.  We logged in just over 3.3 miles and got many stares from old travelers huffing and puffing as the leisurely strolled along.  Next stop, Zion.

Though it is only a 2-2.5 hour drive between Bryce and Zion the weather changed drastically.  We were so cold over the night and had to keep moving to stay warm during our morning run.  When we arrived in Zion, I couldn't change into less clothing fast enough.  First, we found a campsite, The Best Man set up the tent while I made lunch.  After eating we did a 3 mile hike that included some waterfalls (minimal water, but tall in height).  We just had a gourmet dinner of Chef Boardi Ravioli.  Such is camping life.  We have several more days to explore Zion.  Then it's off to the Grand Canyon before heading to California! 

Please note, the first part of this post was written yesterday.  I do not have the battery power nor patience to correct the wording. 

Cinders and Aspens

Today was my favorite part of the trip thus far.  It was a great way to end our first of three weeks galavanting around the southwest.  I awed and oohed over the caverns and enjoyed the view from Guadalupe Peak.  However, today's train ride quickly rose to the top of the list for best of this trip.  We arrived in Durango yesterday, pleased again to have even colder weather.

We woke up early today to catch our train from Durango, CO to Silverton, CO 45 miles north.  The train has been running this route since the early 1880's (I'm not sure if it was 1881 or 1882).  The built the track in 9 months, including building the steepest part in the dead of winter.  The owner apparently burned the records of the cost (and lives lost) to keep the outrageous number from his investors, so the story goes. The Best Man and I opted for the open air car. We were able to enjoy the weather (and flying cinders and smoke) and take unobscured pictures.

The views were absolutely stunning.  We sat on the right side of the car after reading tips suggesting to do so.  The tracks followed the Animas River up the mountain, with the river to the right for much of the trip.   The river waters were greenish-blue, which is a nice contrast to the brown rivers we were used to in Fort Worth and in Richmond.  While we were still leaving town we saw a doe and a buck running along side the tracks.  We weren't quick enough to snap a picture.

As the little train began to climb higher and higher into the mountains we noticed the famed aspen trees were starting to turn yellow.  The higher in elevation we went, the more yellow aspen trees we saw.  It was beautiful.  I can only imagine what it will look like in 2-3 weeks time.

Once in Silverton, we had lunch and walked around the shops.  The town has around 600 residents, only 200 of which stay for the winter. Silverton was once a mining town.  Silver and gold mining were the reason the town existed.  With the mining over, the town now relies on tourism.

Instead of taking the (slow 3.5 hour) train back to Durango, we opted for the bus tour (1.5 hours).  Our guide, Lester, told of the towns history and showed us landmarks.  The views were again breathtaking on the ride down the mountain.  I saw three doe just as we started down the mountain on the bus.  I was on the look out for other wildlife, however we didn't see anything other than birds and marmot (is the plural marmots?).

Overall, despite the cinders in my hair and my now sooty running shoes, I had a wonderful day and now have a love affair with Colorado.  Too bad The Best Man says it gets too cold to ever live here.

Carlsbad to Truth or Consequences.

Yesterday we drove from Carlsbad, NM to Truth or Consequences, NM.  The Best Man and I stopped at The White Sands National Monument along the way.  We were too hot and hungry to enjoy it much.  We had a picnic in the car then continued our drive.  We enjoyed the hot springs several times during our stay.  The best was soaking in the tub at night while star gazing.  I'm still not used to being able to clearly see the Milky Way.  It's breath taking.  After soaking this morning we got on the road to Arizona.  On the way we stopped to see The Very Large Array or VLA as it's called.  It was crazy to see just how big these satelites are and read about all the research going on in the area.

We stopped on a corner in Winslow, AZ for some pictures, then made our way just to Flagstaff.  Thankfully on the way here I spied a sign for a KOA, so we ended up here instead of a hotel (money saved = smores!). The weather has definitely cooled off quite a bit.  The Best Man and I are both excited to be going to sleep when it's cold instead of blazing hot.  On the road again tomorrow to Durango, CO for a few days.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

So, we lived in Texas for almost 8 months.  The basic run down is as follows:
- Loved the food (I really can't believe I ever liked the "Mexican" food I've eaten in Virginia all my life), co-workers, and job (until it got too busy)
- Lived in Downtown Fort Worth, hardly used the car except to go to work or travel out of town.
- Got back into running, ran several 10ks, a couple 5ks, and two 1/2 marathons.  I am now planning to run my first full marathon this spring in California.  More on that another time.
- Actually started catching up on my scrap booking.  Be on the look out for some extra pictures in the mail soon.  Okay, not soon, but maybe sometime this year.  

Run down on Texans:
- Very Texas-centric- to the point that most couldn't understand why I would ever leave.  Here's a (not very well kept) secret: there are 49 other states in this beautiful country.  I want to see them all. You should too. Many of the locals and some transplants from states close by think certain thoughts, trends or what have you are normal and the rest of the country MUST do/think the same.  For example, chicken tenders are served with gravy.  Now, I've never been a fan of gravy, but coming from Virginia, it makes sense to me to have biscuits with gravy.  But chicken tenders?  With gravy?  Why?  To me, the only thing I eat with chicken tenders is honey mustard. Just because I prefer chicken tenders with honey mustard does not mean I emphatically believe everyone else must agree.  For example, The Best Man would prefer BBQ or ranch with his tenders.  In Texas, no one can comprehend that the rest of the country may eat chicken tenders with a different condiment.  In contrast, several co-workers didn't believe that the large chain Texas Roadhouse could be anywhere other than in Texas. 
- Friendly, talkative.
- Many carry guns.  It was unnerving the number of times we ran across signs that read "We don't call 911" with a gun hanging below. Sick sense of humor if you ask me.

Overall, we really enjoyed Texas and all the wonderful people we met while there.  But, we could not delay our quest to reach the West Coast any longer.  We are in the process of moving to Southern California.

For the next 3 weeks we will be slowly making our way from Texas to California.  Stay tuned for more posts and pictures to come. 

The Old Dominion

I'm back in the Old Dominion. We are 20 minutes from "town" which consists of 2 realtor's offices, 3 cafes, a library, a craft store, two jewelry stores and a really good Thai restaurant.

The drive into "town" is definitely worth it because we are living on the water. Again. This time, the "rivah."

I have a few shoddy pictures from my phone. More to come soon. I timid to use the Best Man's data as we are having to use a MiFi which only has a certain amount of data in the monthly fee.

The Best Man is trying his hand at fishing- with nets, pots and rods. Hopefully, he will catch something decent sometime this week that we can fry up for dinner!

I've only worked two days so far. Day one consisted of watching videos and reading policy manuals. Day 2 I got to ride along with another therapist. This week I have at least one more ride along and computer training. Nothing terribly exciting to report at this time. Besides the fact that it's beautiful here. Words can not describe the serenity I feel while sitting on the dock watching the water drift by.

Moving back to Ol' Virginy!

Next stop: trying my hand on the home health circuit in Eastern VA!


As we made our tour of good ol' VA over the past week, we stopped for a day to look for housing. The first stop was an older home. Very quaint (ie small) with new paint and a new kitchen. It was just off the main road. This means it was 4 miles from town, which consists of a real estate office, a craft store, 3 cafes which serve as bars in the evening, a thai restaurant, and several store fronts that were for sale. We were invited to church and Sunday school in under 10 minutes.


We had time to kill before our second appointment, so we drove by to see if it was legit. There were 4 homes, each consisting of two town homes, a couple of them with a small apartment (maybe the size of a garage?) on either side. They looked nice from the outside and were about 1 mile from The Food Lion. When we got a tour later in the afternoon, we were unfortunately surprised to see that the inside does not match the outside. The townhome was very spacious, however extremely outdated and greasy. This one was quickly scratched off the list of possible choices.


Our third option canceled as they decided to rent to someone for a year, which is understandable. However, this left us with only two options.


The final appointment wasn't scheduled until the evening, so we drove around looking at other places to snoop.


We drove by the one apartment complex in town that offered a 6 month lease. It was similar on the outside to the townhome, however it was hard to tell how many apartments were in the large box like buildings. The grounds and homes were very run down and two of them were even boarded up. The cars in the parkling lot were all old and run down as well. We nixed this off our list.


The Best Man had spoken to an older gentleman on the phone about his "fishing cottage." We didn't have any pictures to go by, so the gentleman spoke with The BM on the phone for a good 17 minutes (to be exact). His "cottage" is 3 inches off the ground on cinder blocks. There was a flood back in the 80's. He didn't think it would flood anytime soon, but you know, wanted to mention it, "just in case." There was a community dock near by and you could see the water on both sides. The gentleman repeated several times that it was an older place and needed some upgrades, which lead us to nix this without even making an appointment to see it. However, we did drive by to snap a picture or two. . .

We drove down a sand road and passed other cottages. Most of them had out houses out back and even in one case a port-o-potty.




After seeing the home itself, we were pleased to see our intuition hadn't steered us wrong.

Now, up to this point our only option is the small home just outside of town. We had one other home to see, however it was more expensive and would be a longer commute for me. We drove by to get an idea of the location, length of commute and scope out the exterior prior to meeting with the home owner later in the day.



This home is located on 3 acres on the water. Complete with pool, hot tub, private dock, crab pots, and a guest house. We were interested in renting out the guest house. Our jaws dropped the minute we pulled into the drive. A majestic weeping willow greeted us as we entered, veiling part of the house. Behind the house green lawn could be seen, as well as the pool and the guest house. We giddily drove back to town discussing our options, weighing commute distance, internet availability, rent, water access and peace of mind.

In the end, before we even saw the inside of the guest house, we decided there was decent internet access for The Best Man, we'd do it.



We headed back to town to eat and kill some time before going back out to the property to meet with the owner. We went to a local cafe and got some sweets to snack on while we worked on our lap tops. The cafe had free wi fi, local art, and sweet treats! I foresee this being a hangout spot for us during our stent in the area.



Then, we went to dinner at the Thai restuarant downtown. It was amazing. We split our favourite dish, Panang curry, medium hot. It was fantastic. The BM, overheard one of the owners mention "a honeymoon in Thailand." When she came to refill our water, he asked her about going to Thailand for our honeymoon. She was thrilled to talk and mentioned a few "must see" cities. She spoke of how cheap it is to visit, the most expensive aspect is the plane ticket. She said "you must go for 2, 3 weeks, at least. No 5 days." Online, I'd seen that certain types of the year are more rainy than others, so I was surprised when she said we could go whenever. March and April are the best. She mentioned that the air prices are more expensive when "the kids get out of school." She suggested going after that time. Later, when we went to leave, she said she'd contact the Embassy for more details on traveling there. She'd let us know when we returned she said. She must know their food is amazing because of course we will be returning.



Finally, we drove back out to the property on the water. The pool house, if you will. I jokingly cursed the home owner, saying she picked the time of the appointment to coincide with sunset to seal the deal. When I knocked on the door I was startled to hear a dog barking and see the place was filled with furniture. I had been under the impression the studio was unfurnished. We were instructed to give ourself a tour of the big room. Although it was one large room there were separate living areas for the "kitcken," "bedroom," and "living room." The large bathroom had a walk in shower, titled with one inch stone tiles. Also located there was the washer and dryer, which would be staying there.



One of us tentatively asked about the furniture. "When would you need the place? Next, week? Well, I'll some how get my but in gear and get it out of your way. I have too much furniture to fit in my new place. I need to sell most of this." We suggested she could leave whatever she needed right where it was as we have no furniture. She seemed pleased with this idea. Next, we had a self guided tour of the grounds. The hot tub abuts the guest house, with the pool located in between the two homes. Past the big house, the private dock juts out into "the rivah." I was in too much shock to take pictures of this gorgeous place. Needless to say, we threw money at the home owner and pictures will be had when we move in next week! I should mention, that the home owner if good people and we are really looking forward to getting to know her.

North Carolina

Phew, that flew by! I'm already done with my four weeks of working here in North Carolina. I now have the next three weeks to attempt to relax while living here. Most of this time will be spent catching up on wedding planning (flowers, photos, music, all the big stuff) and scrapbooking. I'm finishing throwing together my high school scrap book. I'm almost done and then it's on to making a "VCU" book as well as a "Greenville" book before making a vacation book and then finally a "traveling PT" book. I also have scarves to finish and earrings to make. Lots and lots of busy work.

My crazy cat lady former CI and her husband came to visit this past weekend. We had some tasty food and some relaxing times on the beach, as well as good conversation. Can't beat that! Later this week, some old friends will be coming for a visit, then early next week we are back to VA for an doctors appointment and then family time in Richmond and Arlington prior to heading to MD for the first VT football game of the season on Labor Day. Then, its back down here for a few days until more visitors arrive. Then we will be packing everything up and heading back to VA to live.

Don't ask me where. Don't ask me how long. I have no clue. Details to follow as they are made known to me. At this point I'm busy with phone interviews and dreaming up honeymoon plans! :)

Take this job and shove it! I ain't workin here no more!

My two year contract for my first job out of school is up next Wednesday. I managed to weasel my way into having my last week of work off with PTO and flex days. I'm DONE!

I'm tired of not getting respect. That's what it all comes down to. I didn't go to school for 7 years to get two degrees and $80,000 (before interest) of loans to be disrespected. I think the worst part of it all is being told things like "you are too compassionate."

Are you kidding?

This is health care for crying out loud. What would I be doing here if it weren't for my compassion? I sure am not in it for the money.

My older co-workers tell me "it's like this every where."

If that's the case I will change my job every year until I find people that do not accept the unacceptable.

What it comes down to is this: If you allow people to walk all over you they will time and time again. I refuse to be a doormat.

I will continue to stand up for my patients and what is right. That's the kind of clinician I am.

In closing, I'd like to sing another song:

Kiss. Kiss this. And I don't mean on my rosy red lips!

Aaaand, on that note, I'll be having dental surgery tomorrow and then moving to the beach on Sunday! Whoop whooop!

Life

Life has caught up with me again. I'm running full speed, trying to get it all done and enjoy it at the same time. I have 7 more work days left, before having dental surgery, packing up and driving (hopefully not too drugged up) to NC.

I will begin my traveling career with an assignment in Morehead City, NC, on the coooassst!. We will be living in Emerald Isle, which is also on the coast, a short drive away.

I've been busy trying to purge all the material stuff I don't need. I can't count how many trips to Goodwill the BM and I have made! There is still too much stuff left! We are hoping to sell some furniture, the washer and dryer, etc. I hope to get some more things packed over the next few days so come surgery time my car will be all packed up! I've also got lots of jewelry making to do. Several nurses on the floor are asking for earrings before I leave. Also, I've had a request on my site today for 5 pairs of bridesmaids earrings- from someone I don't know (this is a first!).

I must get cracking!

Hopefully, I'll be chill enough and not running around crazy when I get to the beach that I will be able to update more. But, its also likely I'll be busy playing in the sun and sand!