excited

the past several days ive been in the community that ryan and i are moving to in just a few weeks. 

im so excited about our future here. 

not only is it beautiful!

the people here are so great. genuine. sweet. welcoming. and full of love. 

i can't wait to move. 

im excited about our new house. our new church. and our new community. 

i started my clinicals today-- down the road in black mountain. 

and it was a wonderful day. 

i loved the clinic site. the patients. the providers. the other office staff. 

really-- its just a different way of life here. 

slow. genuine. care-free. relaxed. caring. kind. 

i really, realllly like it. 

i think i just love mountain folks. 

there is just something different about them that i love.

im thrilled about the next chapter in our life. 

our life in the mountains. 

as a pastor's family. 

in the country. 

with cows as our neighbors.

casseroles in the fridge. 

rocking chairs out front. 

a swing in the backyard. 

and lots and lots of sweet tea. 

im pretty sure i was made for this. 

mowgli.

we have a dog.

his name is mowgli. 

monday he will be 11 weeks old. 

he. is. awesome. 

almost completely crate trained ((on day 2!))

only pooped 2x inside. 

and always pees on the pee pad if he can't make it outside in time. 

he is sooooo cute. 

knows "no" already. 

chews on his toys and is learning not to chew on the rug (good thing it was 10$ at target and already completely worn out)

and he is great at meeting people!

we also saw our new house this past weekend and met lots of church folks. 

we are reallllly excited about the move. 

but more on that later. 

last 12 hour shift tomorrow! i can hardly believe it!!

love & peace

the final countdown::

2.5 more work days until my retirement. 

now thats its nearing-- 

im getting a little sad. 

my job sucks-- but at the same time it is incredible. 

i see things no 20-something kid should see, i cry with patients, i cry after i get yelled at and harassed BY patients, i get frustrated with the health system, i do cpr and save someone's life, i do cpr and witness a patient's last breath. 

if you want to see a real life roller coaster come follow me for 12 hours in the ER. its definitely life changing-- and after my 2 years of working in the ER im definitely a different- but better nurse and person. 

in case you were unaware our hospital is in a low income underserved area. our patient population is very poor people who don't have insurance, healthcare or money to take care of themselves. its a frustrating job. but at times its incredibly rewarding. 

and.... im going to miss that. 

plus a few of my coworkers are pretty amazing people. 

and im going to miss them. 

so. the countdown ticks away-- and next tuesday i say goodbye to my first 'real career' and continue on my journey to my next career. hmm. i wonder how many i'll have before i'm 30! haha. 

in other countdowns: 1 month until we move!!!

the office is totally packed. 

a lot of platters and unused dishes/items are packed. 

sheets/towels/unused items packed. 

did i mention the office is totally packed? 100's of books. ew. 

oh and multiple more loads were taken to goodwill. 

so its going well.  

off to class tomorrow. 

woo. 

love & peace

bort

espanol.

hola.

so im in spanish this summer.
i was quite worried-- due to my lack of spanish speaking in oh say 5 years. the last spanish i took was sophomore year of college--- luckily i know some pretty decent splangish and do a fair job of communicating with my patients at work. today i had my first clase de espanol. i was a bit worried (preocupado) but. luckily. i knew everything we talked about today in class. i knew the verbs & the vocabulary. thannnkkkk goodness. i am fairly certain i know more spanish than most of the class--- but don't get me wrong. im going to have to study a lot! i don't know ANNYYY medical spanish. we didn't cover any of that today. so that part is going to be tricky. luckily i have a good foundation. and a HUGE desire to speak fluently.

it should be an interesting summer no doubt. 4 classes. moving. driving to durham from canton every wednesday. 2 days of clinical rotations each week. while getting settled in a new house. and running two races. oh and my brother gets married. annnnd my grandma turns 80 and we are having a big throw weekend long throw down. ((the last two things im pumped about. they will be super awesome. and im really excited about moving)) but oh geeze. its gonna be a doooozy. oh yeah. and i have a job. i go back to work tomorrow. but.... only 6 more full days of work before my retirement. thats going to be marvelous. one less thing to worry about!

welp. adios.
 amor y paz.
d

filled up.

wellllll. we are back from colorado. 

after an INCREDIBLE week with my husband- that FLEW by-- we are home to hot and sunny north carolina. 

we had an incredible time hiking- playing in snow- touring breweries- exploring new towns- went to a meadery (honey wine. mm)- walked a million miles- stayed at an INCREDIBLE bed & breakfast, saw ginormous mountains- saw more snow that i dreamed- laughed- played- and enjoyed life. 

but now--- today--- back to school for me. 

i sat down and went through all my syllabi and am getting caught up on work from last week. 

i got seriously organized though-- and put all my dates in my calendar. 

from an empty month that looks something like this: 

to a month that looks like this: 

full of school, work, meetings, and every assignment in between. 

bring it on. 

(and thats just one month. and doesn't include clinicals every thursday & friday)

july & august look equally as full. 

time for some espanol. 

love & peace--

colorado.

well.
its beautiful here.
we saw the rocky mountains yesterday.
today--- we saw snow. lots of it. in fact since 8am its been snowing and has not stopped.
we went hiking anyway.
around 6 miles! saw some incredible sites. waterfalls snowed over. 20 foot snow drifts. we hiked on a snowy trail that was only 'paved' by other hikers. it was single file. and over the bridges the snow was higher than the rails on the bridge. it was insane.
most incredible snow ive ever seen.
but kinda sucks.
1. you get wet.
2. its cold.
3. there are no incredible views.

tonight we are cuddling up in our cozy cabin.
the snow is falling outside and we have some movies to watch.
should be a lovely cozy night.

love & peace from snowy colorado!

lunch in tajikistan..... or any amaziiiing tea house