Washington

I just realized the other day that I have not blogged once since I have been up here in Washington. So here it is, my first WA blog!! I actually felt like my time and experience in WA never really started until a few weeks after I moved up here. It started off not so good. I got here the weekend before I was supposed to start working, as I was driving up to WA the bad news came that my WA license hadn't gone through yet, so I wasn't able to start work yet that coming Monday. I was hoping it would get processed quickly and I would still be able to start sometime that week. Nope, that didn't happen. It didn't get processed until the end of the week, so I was going to be starting the following Monday, one week later than I was supposed to. So I should have had a whole week to enjoy exploring the area and being in WA, right? Well, unfortunately that whole week was very chilly, cloudy, and rainy so I didn't get to do a whole lot of exploring. I drove around Everett some, got to work out a lot, and got to know someone a little better! Tiffany, my friend and roommate, got a contract up here with me, so she arrived and I helped her move in and we did a little exploring together. Overall, I don't really consider that first week worth much in terms of having fun in WA.

Near Everett, in Mukilteo

Then I finally got to start working. I did three days in a row, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. They were supposed to be orientation days, they ended up not being like any other orientation I have had. No hospital orientation, just straight to patient care. That's ok, it worked out alright. Everyone I worked with seemed helpful, but that didn't matter much since I was going to be on nightshift.

View from work, unfortunately I don't get a chance to go down and catch the sunset very often, but this time I did, it was very pretty!

The next day that week I was headed to Oklahoma for a week. This was a trip that was planned after I signed the contract to WA because a certain someone was going to be home in Oklahoma from Italy for only two weeks whom I really wanted to see. It was a great trip to Oklahoma. I feel like no matter how much I try to leave Oklahoma in my past, I am always brought back to it. It has nothing to do with Oklahoma really, but the people there. I have many friends and connections there, they made it possible to actually enjoy my time in Oklahoma in the past, and I am sure in the future as well. I got to surprise a couple people, it was so fun! My friend Danielle picked me up at the airport and we drove to a restraurant where I totally surprised Jeremy. He didn't think I was going to arrive at the earliest until the next day. After hanging with his family for a bit, we went to surprise Kylee after she got off work. She didn't even know I was coming to OK so she was completely taken by surprise. It was the best look ever!! I love her, and it was great to see her so excited to see me! I got to see my little baby "nephew" Clark a few times. It had only been about a month since I last saw him but he was already so much bigger! They just grow up so fast!

Clark Goodson

Jeremy has a lot of family in the area so we spent a lot of time with them. It was very hot, too hot, so we tried to stay entertained with indoor activities. We went swimming one day, which was great! The water felt great with the heat outside. We went to the science museum. Pretty cool museum, I don't think I have been to one since I was little. We met up with a couple other friends to play some volleyball and catch up! Always a good time playing volleyball. One night we met up with my friend, Emily to hang out in OKC. Never a dull moment with her, she is so fun to be around! She makes my stomach hurt we laugh so much when we are around each other. Got to go camping one night. This is an interesting experience in Oklahoma as well. So hot even during the night, but open air camping on an air mattress is fun, really in the outdoors!! My aunt and uncle live outside of Norman, they got goats more than a year ago so I finally got to go visit them and see their goats and cows. Their goats are very pretty. They used to milk them but haven't for a while, it is a lot of work. I was looking forward to trying some goat milk, but I am sure I will survive with not trying it! We also went to this completely Podunk Okie town in Lehigh, Oklahoma to sing Karaoke. It was like a two hour drive to this place. Not sure why we wanted to go so far. It was very interesting. I definitely felt like I was in Oklahoma! It was alright, didn't suffice my need for some Karaoke! It felt like it wasn't to busy of a trip, but at the same time we were busy, and very sleep deprived! It was great though.

Date night, last night, in Oklahoma

At Uncle Richards and Aunt Mary Ann's

Addy, she is adorable!! She was entertained by looking at herself!

Karaoke at Lehigh!

Face Painting, she did her own left cheek, not bad for a 3 year old!

When I got back from Oklahoma I worked the night I got back and the next three nights. Then I had two days off where I was finally able to go and do something in WA!! My first day off Tiffany and I did a hike to Twin Falls. Not too long of a hike, but it was gorgeous and I was finally reminded of what it is like to live in the Pacific Northwest. Dense, lush forests with great hiking trails and waterfalls! I love hiking up here, so much fun.

Twin Falls

The next day I hiked Mount Pilchuck. I didn't even think about how there was probably going to be snow on this hike, so I was wishing I had worn my better hiking boots, but it was still fun. It was a decent hike. Cloudy at the top, but I got some good views. Then I went to do some rock climbing later in the day. That was great! It was outside and great weather, good climbing. I got some nice blisters on my fingers, but totally worth it!

Encountering snow on my hike up Mount Pilchuck

View from top of Mount Pilchuck. From what I could see it was gorgeous, I was lucky the clouds cleared up a bit, but I want to hike it again and see if I can catch some better views!!

Hello down there!

After working another chunk of days, I had four days off in which I went to Seaside, OR to visit old coworkers. The family I stayed with there are so great. Always a good time with them. The day I got there was the youngest's third birthday, Gabby. So we had her birthday party and then we had a bonfire on the beach later that night in which I got to see some other people. I got to go to the hospital to see a few people, do one of my favorite hikes, and go on a bike ride. Didn't get to see as many people as I would have hoped, but it was kind of last minute for people to be around and available to hang. I enjoyed getting to go back and visit, I am so glad I got to spend a good amount of time in that area!

One of my favorite hikes, Cape Falcon

Bonfire on beach with Izzy and Gabby!

Had one more day after I got back to WA where I was able to go biking and hang with some friends. We went mountain biking and then went to Seattle later that night to hang out. I finally got to eat some wild huckleberries! I didn't realize they are a very small, round, red berry. I always thought they were bigger and more raspberry looking. They are very tasty though!

Rattlesnake Lake (not sure the reason for the name!)

Pretty views while biking

Yummy Huckleberries!

I just finished working five in a row, which is not fun at all!! Very hard to do when you can't sleep during the day, but I survived!!

Finally I feel like I have experienced WA a little bit and taken a bit more advantage of living up here. But there is still so much to do and so much to experience! Can't believe I am already almost halfway done with this contract! Crazy!! Better get busy, oh wait, I have been busy!! Time goes by fast. Not good a lot of the time, but sometimes you do want time to go quickly if you are waiting for something exciting to come in the future.

One final note, on August 8th I received some of the most amazing news!! I found out I am going to be an aunt. I have awaited this news for some time and am very excited not only for my brother and sister in law to be parents, but for me to have a niece or nephew! I can't wait to have a baby in our family again!!

10 week ultrasound

Next up: Trip to Vancouver and Whistler, Canada!!