Archive for Travel

The beginning of a dream come true…

March 26, 2009 · Filed under Good times, Random, Travel · Tagged , ,

Every time my phone has rang this week, I jump and run to it expectantly hoping that it is the hospitals in OKC…and every time, I’d been disappointed! UNTIL TODAY…11:30 this morning my phone rang. Since I was working I didn’t have my phone with me…but later (about 12:30) I heard the “beep” alerting me that I had a missed call. I went to check it not really thinking it would be Children’s OU hospital in OKC…BUT IT WAS!!! While I listened to the voicemail left by the nurse manager of the NICU, adrenalin was gushing through my body! I called them back right away and accepted the offer for the job! Then I ran to tell all of my co-workers and at that point was literally screaming (I think the entire hospital could hear me…I might as well have gotten on the intercom and announced the news!)! I AM SOOOOO excited, thrilled, ecstatic, happy, and thankful! This is what I have always wanted to do ever since I graduated from nursing school. My dreams are becoming reality right before my eyes. Praise the Lord. He is SO good!

Tonight, I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to sleep. I’m stilled wired! I’ve texted or called all my friends and co-workers who weren’t working today and my Grandma. I am to start my new job on June 1st…it can’t come fast enough! But really that’s only 2 months away!

I am going to try to get some sleep as I am to return to work again tomorrow. However, I’ve heard that we are to get a HUGE snow storm and possibly a blizzard (if the winds keeps up like it is now!) tonight and tomorrow. So…getting to work or getting back home might prove to be a bit of a challenge. The crazy weather and the new job…that’s just about too much thrill for one day in a nurse’s life!

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Pins and Needles!

March 24, 2009 · Filed under Good times, Life in general, Random, Travel · Tagged , , , , , ,

That’s right! I’m still on pins and needles waiting to hear back from the hospitals in OKC! I hope to hear back soon. They said it might be one to two weeks. So I just might have to be on pins and needles for a while longer. All three of my interviews went well and it’s going to be a difficult decision to choose which hospital. There are pros and cons to all of them. I guess I’ll see which one offers me the best job! 🙂

Let’s recap this past week a bit. After getting back from the city Wednesday late afternoon, I unpacked and got caught up with the family on some things. Bright and early at 6 am Thursday morning, Dad, Serena, and Krissa left for the loooong 15 hour drive to Lexington, KY. I think they had a pretty uneventful drive until Krissa’s TomTom led them astray for a short little bit…but thanks to Dad, they quickly got back on track. 😉 Friday, they unpacked the van and PT cruiser which was piled high with MY bedroom furniture and Krissa’s other million things! Krissa found some living room furniture for her apartment in Lexington and took care of a few other random to-do’s. Saturday morning, Dad and Serena headed home and made really good time as they arrived back home about 8:45 pm. I don’t think they took any detours on the route home. 🙂

As for me, I had the entire house to myself for about 3 days. It was quiet but nice. Thursday I spent reading through some of the hospital material given to me during the interviews, getting caught up on some emails and things around the house, and chatting with some friends. Friday, I worked. And Saturday, I swept and mopped the kitchen floor, emptied all the trash, took out the garbage, did a load of laundry, cleaned and washed out Lady’s bed and blankets on the porch, played with the baby kitties (they were lonely with Serena gone!), laid out in the sun for about an hour (and ended up with a sunburn!)…amongst various other things. I felt like I accomplished a lot even if I was home alone. Every day, I also had to go out and water all of the cattle tanks and “check the cows.” The extent of my checking on them was pretty much just making sure they were still alive! And I was pleased to tell Dad that we even had another healthy baby calf while he was gone (thank goodness the mother didn’t have any trouble…). At least the weather wasn’t freezing and I didn’t have to break any ice in the tanks…! I’m not sure Dad would have left if that were the case. I don’t think he has THAT much faith in me.

Sunday was church and I had the responsibility of teaching six 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. They were fun and there was never a dull moment in that one hour! Most of that afternoon, I found myself looking at apartment furniture on the internet! YAY! I’m having soooo much fun and am definately addicted now. I LOVE some of the contemporary modern syles now, especially the black bedroom sets! But I also don’t want to get something too trendy because styles change over time and I intend to have this furniture for a while. There are so many choices though too…I don’t know how I’m ever going to decide! AHHH!

Yesterday and today I also had off work and have mostly been at home. It has been horrifically WINDY! I often feel like I’m living in the dirty thirties again (although I never lived then…). For a while yesterday afternoon the winds calmed down very nicely while it changed direction and so I took advantage of it and went out for a jog. It was splendid! I went to Dodge this afternoon and did the grocery shopping for the week…but I thought I was literally going to blow away.

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Oklahoma City

March 16, 2009 · Filed under Nursing world, Travel · Tagged , , ,

Yes! The week of interviews has finally arrived. I’m soooo nervous but I’m soooo excited too! I was up and running about 6 am this morning…packing and getting some paperwork together for my interviews. Then I hit the road right after lunch and arrived in the city about 6pm. (I had to take like a 30 mile detour along the way…the cops had a road block up and I’m not sure what was going on. But the detour took me through the middle of nowhere it seemed…all I saw for miles was red dirt!) After I checked in at my motel, I drove around northwest OKC for a bit and even made a quick trip to Wal-Mart! 🙂 I’m trying to familiarize myself with the area and I surprised myself by not even getting lost. 😉 I’m imagining living here…and I simply CANNOT WAIT! It will be a huge change, a wild adventure, and so much fun (until I get stuck in traffic for hours…then I might be wishing for Ensign traffic! lol!).

I worked yesterday and although the day wasn’t horribly busy, it was emotionally draining. Days like that are just so exhausting! After I got home, I was informed that my little sister was probably going to be taking my bedroom furniture to Kentucky…because Miss Krissa thinks I have all the money in the world and can buy my own new bedroom set. HA! And since Dad, Kris, and Serena are leaving early Thursday morning for Lexington and I won’t get back from OKC until Wednesday evening…I quickly had to transfer all of my clothes and stuff into the furniture in Krissas room. Plus, Dad took my bed apart and so I’m just sleeping on mattresses on the floor. My room is quite the disaster at the moment and will probably stay that way until I move…why clean it up all tidy when I’ll be moving in 2 months anyway!? But the clutter is going to drive me bananas until I’m  moved and settled in my new apartment.

My first interview is tomorrow morning at 10:00 am at Mercy Hospital. Then, I interview with Integris Baptist Hospital at 2:00 pm in the afternoon. I think I have everything set. I’m going to bed early to get some good rest. I’m feeling only slightly stressed right now…I’m sure I’ll be slightly more stressed in the morning! Pray for me!

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A bit of it all…

March 14, 2009 · Filed under Life in general, Random, Travel · Tagged , , ,

I should have blogged before now I know. It’s been like a week and a half. I guess I have been out of the ‘blogging mode’…but I’m getting back into it now, I think…I hope. 🙂 Does the fact that my last paycheck has over 100 hours on it count for anything?

Although I have been working a lot and although it’s been super busy and crazy, I love it. I love my co-workers. I love my patients (most of them anyway…). I love feeling needed. I love being able to help others. I love the challenges that the medical field brings. I love nursing. I’m so glad to be a nurse and wouldn’t change it for the world.

Krissa just returned back home yesterday from spending several days apartment shopping in Lexington, Kentucky. I do believe she found a very nice apartment and is really looking forward to moving down next week, getting settled, and starting her new job. Being jobless and moneyless isn’t very fun for very long! I think she will do well and sometime in the near future, I’ll have to make a trip and visit her. I do think that OKC would be a few hours closer to Lexington than Ensign. 🙂

My moving plans are coming along. But I’m so confused about furniture…what brand, what company, what style, what color?? There are simply too many choices out there and it has my mind boggling! Bleh! I’m so indecisive anyway and the more I look the more confused I get! Most of my furniture buying anyway will be in May after I’ve relocated to OKC…but I want some kind of idea of what I want. But as of now…I haven’t a clue!

I’m still waiting to receive my OK nuring license in the mail. Thank goodness that my background check came back saying “no records found.” 🙂 Whew! I sent in the large stack of paperwork for licensure endorsement a few weeks ago. I’m just anxious to actually see my OK license and hold it in my hand!

Next week, Monday through Wednesday, I’ll be in the big city for interviews. YAY! I’m so nervous and so excited at the same time! Briann already accepted a job offer in the Pediatric ICU at Children’s OU Hospital. So…if I don’t get a job, I told her she would have to support me for a while! 😉

The kittens are getting so big but they are still so much fun. Very playful and full of energy. I think they drive their mother crazy sometimes! They are about eight weeks old now…so we have to think about giving up two of them. 😦 Sniffle…sniffle. We are planning to keep one…Snickers or Reeses or Scamper…we can’t decide. Scamper is the only girl. But Reeses is my favorite…he is super sweet and looks like a fluffy teddy bear! We already have homes for whichever two we decide to part with…sadness.

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This week in a nutshell

February 28, 2009 · Filed under Good times, Life in general, Travel · Tagged , , , , ,

This week has been incredibly busy. I’ve felt like I’ve ran all week and not been able to take a breath until today. WHEW! But…it’s also been fun in many ways. So here’s the run down of my week…what I remember anyway. 😉

Started the week Sunday and Monday by working both days twelve hour shifts (which actaully with the report time and the drive makes for a 14 hour day).  Sleep, work, and eat is pretty much all I get done on those days. So…I was hoping for a day to sleep in on Tuesday (I usually do this after I’ve worked a couple of days) but nope, had a dentist appointment bright and early at 8:40 am. While I was in Dodge, I also got some other errands accomplished like grocery shopping and getting a passport photo taken for my OK Nursing License application. Got home about noon, only to change clothes real quick and go into work 1:00 to 7:00pm for another nurse. No sleeping in Wednesday either as I returned for a day of work in the Pharmacy. Thank goodness, I was able to leave about 4 pm so I could still go to church for Kid’s Club that evening (especially since Serena was gone). Thursday morning, Dad and I attended the funeral of a lady in our church. Although she was elderly, she and her family are special to me because I took care of her husband in the nursing home for several years when I worked in Dodge and prior to going to nursing school. He has been deceased for a number of years but I will never forget her faithfulness to him.  Then, Thursday afternoon, I drove to Shawnee, OK to Briann’s on campus apartment at OK Baptist University. I arrived about 8 pm and we stayed up until about 1:00 am talking about apartments and moving to OKC, apartments and moving to OKC, apartments and moving to OKC…I think you get the picture. Friday was the big apartment shopping day! We were up at 7 am and arrived in the city by 10 am. Our ‘shopping’ was successful and although we visited about 5 different apartment complexes, the second one was the *perfect* one. Yup…we pretty much knew it right away…we both chimed together “THIS IS THE ONE!” Great location, right price (within our nursing budgets :)), gated community, and included all of our ‘must-haves.’ So then, after the running around was over, we found a seat at the lucious Cheesecake Factory and talked about the Sycamore Farms apartments (our soon to be new home!) and all the details. I left OKC that evening about 5:30 pm and arrived back home by 11 pm. I didn’t fall asleep. I didn’t hit any deer. And I didn’t even wreck my car! 🙂

Finally this morning, I slept in until about 8:30. YAY! The cats and Lady don’t like it though cause I always feed them when I get up. I went to my Grandma’s for lunch and spent part of the afternoon with her and my Uncle and Aunt nearby. It was great to get caught up on some things…especially since my Grandma and I have missed our lunch dates in Dodge recently.

I had to play with the baby kitties some this afternoon and then I felt like a ‘Merry Maid’ the rest of the evening! I put on some music…then got to work – doing laundry, sweeping and washing the kitchen floor, cleaning the bathroom sinks and toilets, and finally, scrubbing the bathtub. I feel great now that it’s all done! Serena would be proud of me…but she won’t be home until Monday. 😉

Thank goodness that Krissa has been home this week to do the cooking and such since I’ve kinda not really been here…with working or in OKC or running around somewhere. Thank you Kris! She’s still on the job hunt…hopefully she’ll know something for certain soon.

My new home…(minus the furniture):

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the kitchen

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utility room with washer and dryer!

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living room and balcony

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dining room

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master bathroom with garden tub

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main bathroom

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walk in closets! YAY!

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master bedroom

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living room

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Traveling sisters…

February 18, 2009 · Filed under Life in general, Random, Travel · Tagged , , , ,

Right now, I’m sitting in front of the tv with my laptop watching The Long Shot. It’s about a little girl with a special horse and as with an good movie, it has a romantic twist. I have watched the DVD before but it has been a while. I LOVE romantic movies but I also love comedy so both combined makes for the perfect show…better know as chick-flick movies!

Krissa is in Lexington, Kentucky interviewing for a journalist job at Hobby Farms magazine. She drove all the 14 hours by herself yesterday, had an interview this morning, and will drive all the way back tomorrow. According to her text message earlier today, her interview ‘went well.’ She’s spent soooo much time in her PT cruiser driving literally from the east coast to the west coast, she ought to be able to drive it with her eyes closed. But I wouldn’t recommend that anyway! Within less than a year she has been from South Carolina to Kansas to Alabama back to Kansas to Florida to New York to Pennsylvania to Kansas again to California to Kansas yet again to Kentucky. I’ve probably missed a couple states in there somewhere too! By the time she manages to get a job, she’ll have probably visited nearly every state in the US. We’ll see…. She’s definitely the journalist on the move and on a mission: to find a job.

Next week, we all will be traveling…well, except Dad. He gets to stay home and hold down the farm. 🙂 Serena will be going to some sewing convention in Washington State for most of the week. Krissa is going to a friend’s wedding in St. Louis, MO next weekend.  And I will be going to Oklahoma City Thursday and Friday in search of apartments.

Enjoy these new photo shoots of the kittens. They are SOOO photogenic!

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One Year Anniversary!

February 7, 2009 · Filed under Life in general, Random, Travel · Tagged , , ,

This month…actually the 1st of this month, was the 1 year anniversary of my new blogging adventures on A Lily Among The Thorns. YAY!! Although I cringe when I think back about what happened to all those tons of posts on my former blog and how they have utterly vanished! I never thought anything could completely vanish from the internet world…but unfortunately I was grossly wrong! Next time, I’m not taking any chances. 😉

I was off work this weekend but haven’t done anything very exciting nor do I have anything exciting planned for the rest of the weekend. But that’s okay I guess. Although I was suppose to work at the hospital yesterday, I came down sick with the flu Thursday evening and had to call in sick on Friday. I felt really bad because they were super busy at work. Believe me, I would have much rather been working! By yesterday afternoon, I was feeling worlds better but just wiped out and sad because it was so nice outside and on any other day, I would have gone jogging. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly up to that quite yet…but I sure was today. It wasn’t quite as warm but about 65 degrees and just perfect for a 4-mile quiet jog down the country road. Lady shadowed me (or at some points led me…) all the way. She apparently found a rabbit leg in the ditch somewhere along the way and carried it all the two miles back home.  Then I think she buried it in the backyard…!

My little sister is off to sunny California tomorrow…the Portersville Recorder to be exact. But I’m thinking it’s actually cloudy California right now. Anyhow,  sunshine or rain, she has an interview with the newspaper on Monday. She’s been calling rental car companies today so she will have some means of transportation while she is there. Her tad bit of worry has turned into a huge “uh-oh” because there is a car show going on in CA this week and so all of the rentals are already taken. Hummm…she is afraid she’s going to be stuck driving a huge stick-shift clunky truck, a rusty old topless tractor, or something without a motor at all! A bicycle or a horse might be her next best option…! I just hope she makes it onto ABC news if she’s caugh dressed up in a suit riding a horse or bicycling on the streets of Portersville dragging her luggage behind her! 🙂 I would have to laugh! As funny as it would be, I certainly hope she doesn’t have to resort to that. I really would feel sorry for her then…(but only after I laughed about it!).

Skittles’ kittens are getting so BIG! They are soooo much fun! Curious. Playful. Cuddly. Just plain adorable. They’re just over three weeks old. I love their lack of coordination still and their rolly-polliness!

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