*inspired*

i have been inspired by one of my best friends...sumer. she became a new mommy in april and started a blog that is very cute! i LOVED reading and catching up on hers and decided i needed to try to keep mine up better! although...i dont have a child, so i dont have quite as much to talk about, but im gonna at least try!

life as travel nurses is kinda over for now! lil update...after we left san francisco in july, we went to DC. we were there for 6 weeks and absolutely hated it! we are now back in san fracisco and very happy! we are both back at marin general hospital working per diem (basically we make our own schedule and only HAVE to work 1 day a week...and the money is great!). it's a pretty sweet deal! of course we are working more and really enjoying it! after our horrible experience in dc, we decided traveling was getting too complicated and unpredictable, but we arent ready to settle down yet! we love san fran and there's soooo much to do in california, so we decided to come back. i also made some great friends here!

we were able to be home for about a week and half before we came back out here. we left dc on sept 10th and it was a total God thing because that is the morning my grandmother passed away. it was great being home for a lil while. we are dying to get back!! we are both working christmas eve night and flying home on christmas day!! we will be home for 10 days!!

we signed a year lease on our apartment, so we will at least be here for a year. i think it will go by very fast bc we have lots to do and see! both of our families also plan on coming to visit! im also hoping my cousin sara and some of my friends are able to get out this way! we have settled in nicely and made it our TEMPORARY home. it does feel like our 2nd home! HOME is definitely on the lake in alabama with all of our closest family and friends.

speaking of friends...my best friend jamie (who is more like a sister)...had her baby a couple weeks ago. her name is lauren reid and i sooooooo proud to be her aunt bet! i am DYING to see her and cant wait to get my hands on her! i told her i would find her a good souvenir!

it's hard not being home for the holidays, but we are enjoying being together and will make the best of it. we ALWAYS get a real christmas tree, but this year we went to target and bought a cheap rinky dink fake tree. it totally works though! we have already put it up...i needed to get in the spirit! ive been trying to do some shopping, but it's like pulling teeth trying to figure out what everyone wants. i think its definitely gonna be different here for holidays than back home. ive been hearing of friends and family back home already putting up decorations and listening to christmas music. none of that here...except for department stores...its kinda weird! we are sooooooo excited about going home!! we plan to make it home more frequenly next year! i feel like im missing way too much!

so...i think ive rambled enough. thats mostly what my blog is! when i think of more things to ramble about i will update! hope everyone is doing well!! love and miss you all!

*sunny and sweet*

well...it's finally hot here! it was a nice 85 degrees today and beautiful! i enjoyed some quiet time by the pool with a jamba juice in hand. i am addicted to the razzmatazz flavor! i wanna start one in gadsden! it's healthy, all fruit smoothies!

the drama of the day...i took molly to get groomed. i took her to a place called perros grooming. a friend at work highly recommended these people bc they do a really good job with her lab. well...now i know not to take advice from someone with a large dog. molly's hair is a disaster! i literally had tears in my eyes after picking her up! she is notorious for her top-knot and hair bows. she now has NO hair between or around her poor, large ears. i took her in there top-knot and all and told them to trim her. they barely cut her body and then destroyed her poor lil head. i feel so sorry for her! she still her cute self, but im praying that her hair grows really fast! definitely a downside to traveling. i loved the girl that cut her in san antonio!

speaking of san antonio...i have really been missing texas lately! i miss the cowboy boots, country music, cowboy hats, hill country, texas wine, steak n taters, grapevine...pretty much everything about it! i dont miss it more than home but i miss it a lot!

i do get to put on my cowboy boots tomorrow though!!! my wonderful husband planned an amazing date for us! we are going to bodega bay...about 45 minutes north of here on the coast. we are going horseback riding!! i LOVE horses but dont have a lot of experience with them. i might be a lil nervous but im hoping i love it!

we are hoping we can extend our assignment here only because there is sooooo much to do here! we definitely wanna go to the redwood forest before we leave. we would also love to go to yosemite. there's just not enough time to do it all!!

this post is just a bunch of random thoughts, but hey...at least i updated! i will try to update about our horseback riding experience!

our lives lately...

so...i guess you could say that our life is pretty exciting! we moved to san francisco on april 7th and we took our time getting there! we had a great time on our road trip and saw a lot of beautiful scenery! on the 2nd day of our trip we stopped at the grand canyon! it was an incredible experience. we definitely wanna go back when we can stay longer and arent so tired! everyone should make the drive across the country once in their lives! we saw desert, mountains, snow, green grass and huge trees, 17 degree and 80 degree weather...all within a couple of days! it was quite exciting.

we currently live in san rafael, california (marin county). it is a beautiful place! we are surrounded by mountains and water. we are about 20 minutes from sonoma, 30 minutes from napa, 20 minutes from the beach and san francisco, etc. there's lots do do here!

we work at marin general hospital. it is a small private hospital so it's not quite as exciting as uab! the people i work with are great! it's kinda nice coming into a smaller environment...i have gotten to know everyone so well and so quickly!

i know i have been bad about updating this thing! we have been quite busy since we moved. if we arent working or sleeping, we are out sightseeing and having fun. i will definitely try to update with our exciting adventures! thanx for keeping us with us!

next stop....

SAN FRANCISCO!! it's official. our next assignment will be at marin general hospital in green brae california. it's about 20 minutes north of san francisco. we will be living in san rafael! we have heard that it's a great area. we will be living pretty close to the bay and we will have the pacific ocean on the other side! just wanted to get a quick update in. i will try to update more later!!

where do i begin...

i've been a slacker on keeping my blog updated! sorry!!

i finished up my assignment at cristus santa rosa children's hospital on march 12th. it was bittersweet! im really going to miss all of my friends there! they actually gave me a very nice going away party! i didnt expect it at all! i have made some wonderful friends here!

we've had to make some hard/complicated decisions within the last couple of weeks concerning our jobs/future! we were told that nicholas could have gotten out of his assignment if he simply gave a 2 week notice. what his lovely recruiter didnt bother to mention is that we would have to pay the large cancellation fee. we have had a really hard time with this agency and will NEVER work with them again! we asked them to give us a few days to try and figure things out and they did...luckily! we started praying extremely hard about what to do! we have seriously learned to put our total faith in God!! He is definitely taking care of us!

God answered our prayers this past monday! i was offered a job in green brae, california and a day later nicholas was offered a job at the same hospital. the start date is april 26th. he will continue to work here until april 20th. i have no idea what i am going to do with all of this time off! the hospital has been wishy washy within the past couple of days with my assignment. they think they over-estimated their nicu needs, but they havent given my agency a definite decision yet. we are hoping no news is good news! PLEASE pray that it all works out for the best!! that Gods will would be done!! so as of right now we will be moving to california at the end of april. green brae is 20 minutes from downtown san francisco. it is in between the bay and the coast. from what we understand it is a very nice, wealthy city. the hospital is marin general. a small private hospital. i am more excited about going than i am nervous! it is VERY far away from home!

i know people wonder why in the world we are doing this and sometimes it's even hard for us to understand why we are doing this BUT we know we are where God wants us to be! we are having a great time! we are seeing and doing things we would never ever do! we do miss home and we miss our friends and family more than anything in this world! we appreciate all of the LOVE and support they give us daily! i dont know what we would do without them!

thanks for all of your love and support!!!! we need all the prayers we can get!!

texas hill country...

amazing, relaxing, beautiful, wonderful, tasty...just a few words to describe our weekend in the hill country. we had the greatest time! me, nicholas, suz, and heath spent the weekend at a bed and breakfast in comfort, texas. suzy and heath arrived in san antonio on thursday, january 27th. we went to dinner at la mettierra, a mexican restaurant at the spanish market downtown san antonio. it was very tasty and lots of fun! they had great margaritas! that began our wonderful weekend of very tasty food!! we started the day of friday with brunch at the guenther house downtown. it was the best breakfast i have ever had! it is part of the old pioneer flour mill. they have ginormous biscuits and fresh jams...it was great!

after breakfast we headed to the hill country. comfort, tx is only about 30 minutes from where we live. we stayed at Riven Rock Ranch, an amazing bed and breakfast! it was up on a hill overlooking everything! we rented the 'east wing suite' in one of the cottages. it was great because we were the only ones in the whole cottage the entire weekend. we had the whole thing to ourselves! we each had our own bedrooms and shared a huge bathroom! it was beautiful! when we arrived to our cottage we were greeted with a large cheese and fruit tray with a bottle of wine from one of the local vineyards. it was a great way to start off our adventure! we enjoyed a glass of wine and took a lil walk around the b and b. there were deer EVERYWHERE...hundreds of them! each day we would see them standing or laying on the patio right outside our door. it is like a dream home!!

after getting settled in we decided to begin our wine tour. we started with comfort cellars which was just minutes from the b and b. the boys were quite hyper...when they get together the laughter never ends! it made for a very funny experience. after that we headed to sisters creek vineyard. we actually got to tour the winery...it was cool! after that one we went to singing waters vineyard. it was beautiful also. it was out on a large farm...the wine maker was there and he was very nice. it was actually just right up the road from our b and b. after visiting there it was about 6:00 and the sun was about to set. we made it back to the b and b in time to watch the sunset. it was amazing!

oh yea...i forgot to mention that of course molly was along for the trip as well. when we got back to the cottage we let her outside off of her leash...bc we were the only people there and there was lots of room for her to play. when we let her out the door...she took off and there just happened to be 2 deer standing in the backyard. when they saw us coming of course they took off and of course molly ran after them. i screamed at the top of my lungs and luckily she froze. i think i scared her pretty bad. after that we made sure there werent any deer around when we let her out. thank goodness she obeys pretty well. it scared me to death though.

we had dinner reservations at the restaurant there at the b and b that night. we had a special surprise for the birthday boys. we relaxed for a lil while and then got ready for dinner. the restaurant was beautiful. when the weather is warmer it is all open to the outside. they had an awesome outdoor fireplace...and of course they had a great fire going. they also had it all enclosed with heaters everywhere...it was quite chilly!! we had a great dinner! me and the guys all had steak, mashed sweet potatoes and cabbage. suz had pasta with shrimp...that were VERY tasty! it was all VERY good! we ended dinner with the waiter bringing out an incredible birthday cake for the boys. suzy ordered it from a local bakery and someone from the b and b picked it up for us. it was white cake, with strawberry filling and cream cheese icing. it had about 24 chocolate covered strawberries on top. it was literally the BEST cake i have ever had in my life!!!!! it was 100 times better than any wedding or birthday cake i have had! i might drive all the way back up there just to get a cake! we had an incredible first day! after dinner we went back to our cottage and crashed! we were all exhausted!

the beds were amazing! each room had a queen size bed with chocolate truffles on our pillows! they had robes and slippers for each of us...i must say, nicholas definitely took advantage of those! they also had bowls, treats, and bottled water for molly as well. molly loved having all the space in the cottage to play! we also took advantage of the fireplace. it was soooo cozy and warm!

i couldnt wait for breakfast on saturday morning! nicholas and i had never had the b and b experience before. we were treated like royalty! we walked to where we had bfast so we could take some pictures along the way. we were the only people at bfast both mornings! we started off with hot tea, coffee, orange juice, fruit with yogurt, and the best home made muffins and breads. our choices were an omelet (with lots of stuff in it), or eggs, sausage, and french toast. we got each and shared. it was amazing!

after bfast we went back to the cottage and finished getting ready for a long day of wine tasting. we headed to fredericksburg, texas. it was a beautiful drive! we began our day of tasting at about 11:45 am. we visited about 7-8 great wineries! we started the day off with our favorite...chisolm trail winery. home of jackass blush wine!! it is my favorite! we ended our day with a lil shopping and dinner at the brewery in fredericksburg. it is the cutest lil town! we got back to the b and b that night and decided that it might be a good idea to get in the hot tub. keep in mind...it was like 30 degrees outside, there's lots of wild animals, it was dark and we were basically in the middle of nowhere. to keep a long story short...the hot tub was definitely not hot. suzy was the first one in...she thought it had to be hotter than it was outside. it was a lil warmer but not much! nicholas and i followed and i regretted it big time! it was not warm enough for the 30 degree weather. heath was the smart one that didnt get in at all! it was a hilarious experience! i dont think we've ever laughed that hard in our lives! heath ran back to the car to warm it up and one by one we got out and ran as fast as we could to the car. it was the funniest, most perfect ending to a GREAT day! we slept like babies that night!

sunday...our last day! it was depressing having to get ready and pack our bags! none of us were ready to leave! once we were all packed up we headed to wimberly texas. heath and suzy took us to a couple of places they visited on their last trip to the hill country. they took us to one winery where they had tons of olive trees and they made fresh olive oil, preserves, and other things. it was really neat...the people just werent very friendly! after that we went to driftwood vineyards. that place was beautiful! thier vineyards were very large...i would love to see them with grapes on the vines! the winery is up on a hill overlooking the vineyard. i must say though...they had the best sweet red wine ive ever had! it was great! our last stop of the trip was 'the salt lick'. its a barbecue restaurant close to austin. there we celebrated heath's birthday! they have the BEST barbecue i have ever eaten!!! it was a great experience!

as you can see...our trip to the hill country was one of the best weekends of my life! we had an incredible time and had many great adventures! we will definitely go back one day...when we can stay longer! i strongly advise to at least go for 3-4 days! there is soooo much to do and see! the trip was short but i actually felt relaxed and rejuvenated when it was over. usually i feel like i need another vacation after a trip! we laughed soooo much! we were sad to see suzy and heath go! we have the greatest family...they go out of their way to come visit us!!

as of right now...LIFE IS INCREDIBLE!!!

bored....

so im sitting here at work bored out of my mind!!! i have one baby that required very little attention! i have been holding her quite a bit though because she is so darn cute. she's a former preemie so shes tiny! hearing babies cry around me reminds me that i do not want babies for a long time!!!! work is the best birth control by far!

anyways...nicholas surprised me with a new camera yesterday! we have been talking about getting one for a while and he decided the time was right. we have already seen a lot since we've been traveling and will see so much more! we needed a good camera to capture all of the special times! we got a nikon d3000. we have lots of learning to do on how to use it! nicholas is a great photographer...he will probly use it the most!

oh yea!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best hubby in the world!!!! today is his bday, but unfortunately he has to work. i got off on his birthday and then he let his unit schedule him for it. he's silly! its okay though. the big celebration will be this weekend. we are going to the texas hill country to spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast with my sis and heath! we are soooooo excited! heath's bday is the 31st so we are gonna just have one big celebration! dont worry...im sure there will be lots of stories and pictures to share! cant wait for suzy and heath to get here thursday! we plan on having dinner thursday night for nicholas. friday morning we are going to have bfast at a place downtown that used to be an old flour mill. suz and heath have eaten there and they loved it! we plan on spending some time at the riverwalk that morning and then maybe hitting some wineries on our way to the bed and breakfast in comfort, texas. saturday we plan on hitting several wineries on our way through fredericksburg (the greatest place ever). ending saturday night with dinner at the salt lick (it's near austin). we may have a couple of small surprises up our sleeves for the boys while we are there! i hope its a fun birthday celebration for them! it was all heath's idea! cant wait to post about it! well...actually i can because then it would mean the trips over!!

the ViRuS from....

you know where!! the past couple of days have been rough!! my last real meal was tuesday night and that was the last time i was hungry! i havent been sick in a long time...or at least since my surgery! i forgot how horrible a stomache virus could be! we had planned on going to corpus christi on wednesday. we were so excited to about taking molly to the beach, but thats the morning i woke up not feeling well. we were also both very tired. working night shift does a toll on ya! i really knew something was wrong when i woke up and i wasnt hungry. i ALWAYS wake up hungry...basically im always hungry! i couldnt keep anything down. not even peanut butter...it's my favorite food! lets just say that i wont be eating it for a while!! anyways...i have the most incredible husband in the world!! he always takes care of me but he definitely did a great job of it the past couple of days! he got me cold washcloths, crackers, whatever i thought i could drink, he went to cvs thursday morning to get me pedialyte, sprite, and popsicles, he also convinced me that i didnt need to go to work thursday night bc i hadnt eaten in two days and i was very weak. i felt horrible having to call in and not go to work, but he was right. i could barely stand up i have been so weak. i tried some potato soup tonight and ate most of it. still havent felt hungry but i forced myself to eat. i do feel a lil but better, but not 100% yet.

if i do feel lots better by saturday i may try to work. it will put me working 4 days in a row though...i hate doing that. my sissy and heath are coming thursday though, so i think that thought might get me through an extra night. the bad thing about missing a night of work, is that we have to pay for part of our housing for that week. i know...it's really complicated. so basically i have to pay my agency for that night of work.

i just want to reiterate how amazing my husband is! he has been so understanding and so comforting! he has let me just lay in bed pretty much all day for two days...i feel like a horrible wife. thats the only place i could get comfortable. he has taken great care of molly. he even cut up my popsicle into lil pieces like my parents used to do when i was little. he's had to pretty much fend for himself. molly has been kinda confused, but i think she realized on thursday that something was wrong with me. i felt sorry for her. anyways...i do feel much better tonight! im still pretty weak though! nicholas and the Man upstairs are really taking care of me! that's all a girl needs!

knock on wood...

as of right now...life couldnt get any better! my license issues have been resolved and luckily i only had to miss 2 days of work! i absolutely love working at cristus santa rosa childrens hospital! everyone is very nice and my assignements are never too bad! they are very good to their travelers and they really appreciate us! at uab, i was used to having the sickest babies all the time! i do fear losing some of my skills but i really dont think i will! i do miss working at uab and cant wait to go back in a couple of years! nicholas is really enjoying working at the methodist hospital as well! we are excited that we are now both working steady/guaranteed hours, and that our paychecks will reflect that! now we can really start saving some money!!

molly is awesome!! we had to leave her for 12 hours for the first time last week and to be honest...i cried! i felt soooo bad leaving her! she is the bestest dog ever! she has a new favorite toy that she LOVES to squeak! its a soft bone that has pink hearts all over it with pink furry stuff around the edges. she is sooo smart too. she knows the name of all her toys...she always brings us the ones we ask for. i think she is getting more used to the apartment life now. shw doesnt really bark very much now. she does get very restless during the day when we have to sleep for work! its quite frustrating sometimes but we deal with it. she actually bothers nicholas the most when we are trying to sleep...lucky for me! she's always sitting on his pillow scratching him in the face. she will be going on our trip with us the end of this month to the bed and breakfast! i guess she will go wine tasting with us! she is soooo rotten! im too scared to leave her with a babysitter! i need to leave her at home with her nana and papa next time we go! they would love it!

we plan on going home towards the end of february for me to go to the doctor...just a check-up! so we will definitely be ready to see all of our friends again! it was great getting to see most everybody at christmas but it was really just a tease. it made us miss everyone sooooo much more! we will probly try to have everyone over or go to dinner or something!

we spent most of the day friday getting everything together for our california license. there's still a couple of things we have to do but they have been applied for, so please pray nothing holds up the process! we did have to send in fingerprint cards and thats what held up my texas license. since im a nurse...i wash my hands a whole lot and apparently i washing my fingerprints away. the lady that did them here sent a letter with my card saying that im a nurse and thats as good as my prints get, so hopefully the fbi will be understanding and just accept them! we plan on going to cali when we get done here. i really want to go somewhere beachy!! i really need a tan! we will obviously go wherever God leads...we just want to be prepared!

we miss our families TERRIBLY!! i am excited about getting to see my sis and heath on january 28th!! thats the hardest part about this experience! i am such a mommy and daddys girl...it's really sad! of course i talk to them everyday but it's just not the same! as far as we know everyone is doing great! we just miss and love them all sooooo much! all of you just know...we are having the time of our lives! i know i had a hard time in the beginning, but once i decided to grow up and be happy everything has been great! we are loving just being together! we are able to work the same nights which is great! we plan on going to corpus christi and austin on days that we are off! we are getting to do and see things we would have never done!

BY THE WAY...i have the most beautiful drives in the mornings and at night! the sunrises and sunsets are ALWAYS beautiful here!!!! they always remind me of the GREAT GOD that i serve!!