twenty-five things...

Life in Portland has been pretty quiet these past few weeks.  The hospital went "live" with their computer charting (which is the reason why I am here). I must say it went fairly flawless, they were very diligent about getting their staff educated and experienced with the new computer system and it made a huge difference.  I can also tell a difference in the staff's attitudes, the must have been really stressed about EPIC because they are so much nicer now that the "go live" has commenced!  I had a nice stretch of days off, unfortunately I came down with norovirus, so I spent all my time off on my couch and in my bed. It was not pleasant, but not nearly as bad as my patients act when they come to the emergency room.  Since I do not have any pictures or sightseeing adventures to post about, I thought I would do a "get to know me" blog.  Here is a list of 25 things you might not know about me!!

1. I hate to sweat
2. I am tone deaf
3. I spent 4 years in marching band never once playing my instrument while marching because I had to focus on keeping the pace marching ( I couldn't do both).
4. I am an online shopping junkie, I hate going to malls
5. My favorite color is pink
6. I love sequins, sparkles, and glitter
7. I absolutely have no desire to have kids and I don't feel bad about it
8. I love to watch tv
9. Sleeping is in my top 5 favorite things to do
10. If people talk to me for to long and its not a topic I am interested in, my mind turns to a screensaver
11. I have 5 tattoos and would like more
12. I love gay guys but lesbians intimidate me
13. I don't understand the mullet hairstyle and who are they going to that is recommending they keep that hair style
14. If I wasn't a nurse I would be a make-up artist
15. I loved living at my parents house the past two years
16. I think the book "The Catcher and the Rye" is one of the worst books I have ever read
17. I totally judge a book by the cover, if it has a cute cover, I am going to read it
18. I currently do not have a tv, I am watching all of my shows on the internet and I love it
19. I love all the "die hard" movies and can't wait to see the new one
20. As a nurse, I have decided that the general population is truly stupid
21. I went camping one time and liked it and have been wanting to do it again, which is amazing since I hate the outdoors
22. I think having an iphone is the closest I will get to having a personal assistant, I would be lost with out it
23. I spend way to much time on facebook and should be embarrassed by how much time I spend on facebook, but I'm not
24. I attempted to go hiking a few weeks ago, made it 5 minutes on the trail and turned around, went back to my car and read a book while my friends finished the trail
25. The older I get the easier it is for me to be honest with people and to speak my mind

This was way harder that I thought it would be!! Thursday and Friday of this week I am going camping with some of the other travelers down in Tillamook, OR.  The campground in on the beach, I am really excited, and the weather is suppose to be great!!

Picture day

No worries, this isn't like when we were in school and had to look our best for picture day.  I have more pics of my Oregon adventures to post.  These are just  a few...enjoy

Another one of Multnomah Falls.  It is one of the most beautiful places I have been.  There are actually trails around the falls you can hike.  I made about 30ft on the trail and turned around, hiking is not for me!

 This is Mt. St. Helen's.  I wish my pictures were better.  It was a cloudy and rainy day and this was as close as I could get up the mountain.  In Oregon and Washington you have to have chains on your tires to get to certain places and this is one of them.  I do not have chains for my tires so I was unable to get up the mountain.  Both Mt St Helen's and Mt Rainier are on my list of places to return before I leave.

 This is downtown Portland

 I have yet to actually visualize Mt Rainier, this is the national park that surrounds it.  I went to St Helens and Mt Rainier in the same day. By the time I made it to Rainier it was dark and I wasn't comfortable driving through the national park by myself!! This was as far as I went!!

 For anyone who read "50 Shades of Grey" this is the Heathman Hotel where the two love birds had romantic moments.  I thought if I stood outside for awhile I would find my own Christian Grey, unfortunately, one never came along ;-)

 This is on the Oregon Coast at Hug Point. I highly recommend the Oregon Coast as a vacation destination in the Summer, especially Cannon Beach, it truly is a beautiful place

 A cave in the coast line

I went to the coast on Monday with some of the other travelers.  While I was at Cannon Beach a sneaker wave came up and almost whisked me away.  Thankfully, I held my ground, however my flip flop was not so lucky, or so I thought.  After I had walked back to the car to get some other shoes, one of the girls I was with found my flip flop up on some rocks!! It was a great day on the coast, we ate lunch seaside and drove through a national forrest.  The scenery out here is great, I'm just not an outdoorsy kind of girl.

Portland...Whoa!!!

I have always considered myself a cultured country girl.  I have lived in big cities and never really thought that I could be shocked by my surroundings, boy was I wrong!  I have been in Portland for a month now (my apologies to my 3 readers for just getting around to updating :-) ) and I have decided that the people here march to their own beat!!  To say that Portland is laid back is an understatement, the people here care about the environment but don't care that people are walking around half dressed.  This is the land of the hippies and I understand why.  My poor conservative background wants to run from this city screaming!

My work schedule is fantastic.  I usually work several days on, then have a block of days off, which I use to sightsee.  So far, I have been to the Oregon coast, Mt St. Helen's, Mt Rainier, Multnomah Falls.  I have also been learning my way around Portland via public transportation, which I love.  The hospital I work at is very similar to Carle in size and patient population.  The ER has fewer patients and the patients are not nearly as sick as I would see at Carle.  I am grateful for this on my first assignment because it has given me the chance to adjust to being so far from home without the stress of work.  The staff have also been incredibly kind, welcoming and helpful to the travelers.  Most of the Oregon hospitals are switching over to a computer charting system through August, I have yet to decide if I want to stay through August.  I have a couple of weeks.

My mom and I had a great time on our road trip out here!! She was a great navigator and kept me calm through the mountains and I kept her calm going over the bridges throughout the city.  The bridges in Portland are like none I have ever seen, but I have never been to New York or San Francisco.  Even I had anxiety the first few times going over them!!  There are many reasons I think my mom is the greatest, but spending the week with her, made realize how special and rare it is to have a great mom and a best friend all in one.  I have really missed her being so far away, but we get to facetime via our iphones and it makes the distance short when we can see each other.  My nieces love to facetime too, and I love seeing their cute little faces!!

Portland is famous for its beer and microbreweries, and I am not ashamed to say that I have been indulging in the different flavors.  IPA is big out here and it is my least favorite type of beer.  In fact, I would say that I really don't like an IPA at all.  IPAs are a very hoppy beer and in Portland, they love their Hops.  They love to shove as much hops and possible into the beer and just when they have enough, they shove more in.  Being a wheat beer girl, I am having a hard swallowing all the hops, literally.  It is like freshman year in college when I was acquiring a taste for beer, now I have to acquire a taste for hops.  As a beer lover, it is distressing to me that I am not adjusting well to all the hops!!  I have 9 more weeks to get it together!!!

Here are some pictures I have taken since arriving

For movie lovers, this is the Haystack, it can be seen in the movie Goonies.  It is in Cannon Beach!!

 Multnomah Falls, my pictures do not do it justice!! It is beautiful there.

Voodoo doughnut is an Institution in Portland, a must see and eat!!

 Classic Portland, they are everywhere!

2 days and counting...

I can't believe I am a mere 48 hours away from hitting the road.  I still have so much to do.  The anxiety has not set in yet. I am sure that will come on Saturday when I am peeling out of Hoopeston.  My co-workers made my last shifts at Carle amazing.  There were lots of hugs and good byes.  I love my Carle co-workers and will miss them dearly.  They taught me so much about emergency nursing and I will cherish all the education that was given to me by them.  I have also been blessed to be able to have some really goodbye dinners with all of my loved ones.  No matter what happens on this journey it is so good to know that I am loved and that there are people at home thinking and praying for me to have a successful adventure over the next weeks, months and years!!  Off to more laundry and packing...

Moments that change your life

There are moments in everyone's life that change the way you think, feel, behave and how you view the world.  I wouldn't be getting ready to start this new adventure if I hadn't been on vacation this past fall.  I am just a short 10 days away from hitting the road and I can honestly say that if I had not vacationed in Grand Cayman this past October, I might not be taking this chance in life.  I am posting a verse from a healing healthcare class I took several years ago, that was also a life changing moment.  I still have my starfish and I carry it with me most days...

HE STARFISH STORY

Once there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing? "The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die." Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!" At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

Adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley 

6 weeks and counting

I have a little over 6 weeks before I hit the ground running to Portland.  I am starting to feel some major anxiety when I stop and think about all of the things I need to do before I leave.  As of yesterday, I have every piece of paperwork and test modules I needed to complete, turned in and signed off.  This is a huge relief, I have been running all around 3 counties for the past month getting medical records, drug tests, legal documents all turned in.  Now all of my attention can focus on my Christmas shopping, saying good bye to all of my loved ones and packing up my car.  I actually started a packing list. This is completely out of character for me, I am the type of girl who wakes up the morning of and throws a bunch of stuff in boxes or suitcases and hit the road.  I am actually putting a lot of thought into what I need to take because I don't want my mom to have to mail anything 2500+ miles.  My packing list includes the bare minimum when it comes to moving. Four plates and four bowls, a set of pots and pans and bake ware, four bath towels, four washcloths etc...where I am having the most difficult time ( and I know no one will be shocked by this) is deciding on clothes and shoes.  All these questions are going through my mind, what's the weather like, how many pairs of shoes do I need, which of what style shoes do I take, what color can I wear to work, do I take going out clothes, and casual clothes, should I just take every piece of clothing I own ( the answer to this is no, I am not hauling 20 baskets of clothes across the country or up and down stairs every time I move)!!!! I guess I will figure it all out closer to the time I leave, if not, I will fall back on my old stand by motto...Just go buy new ;-)...

My mom is, to put it nicely, less than thrilled that I am moving to Portland.  In order to ease some of her anxiety on me leaving I have asked her to drive out with me and then she will fly home.  Hopefully with her spending some time in Portland she will feel better about me moving there for 13 weeks.  This vacation for her has prompted me to do a lot of research on Portland.  Portland is the 3rd safest city in the Continental US, it has an amazing public transportation system, the median temp for winter is about 50 degrees and it hardly snows (of course I am trading snow for rain), and it has all of my necessary stores, MAC, target, trader joes, many many many microbreweries, and people keep telling me you can smoke pot out there too ( not that I know anything about this).  Everyone I talk to loves Portland, it wasn't my first choice but I glad that I am going and getting to spend time in the Pacific Northwest for a few weeks.  I have so much I want to do while I am out there, I hope I can fit it all in!!!

Hitting the ground running

I have decided to follow my dreams and my heart.  I am quitting my job, packing my car and heading west.  First stop...Portland Oregon.  I am starting travel nursing and have always wanted to go to the Pacific Northwest, Portland needed nurses and everything else just worked out.  I am nervous as hell and more excited than any kid on Christmas morning.  My last day at my current job in 1/2/13 and my first day at my new job is 1/14/13.  Each assignment is for 13 weeks, I figured I can do anything for 13 weeks!! So stayed tuned and see how my new adventure unfolds....