Canada and more...

Praise God!!!

Do you like your life? Life is meant to be enjoyed, so go out and enjoy it!! God has given us life and a wonderful world to live in. It is meant to be experienced. I was walking through the Cascade mountains today thinking about all that God has given me and thanking him for his blessings. God does amazing things, we just have to learn to trust in him. We may not understand what he is doing in our lives or be patient enough to wait, but he is always loving us and guiding us. We just have to learn to listen...

Last week Tiffany and took a trip to Vancouver and Whistler, Canada. Kind of a last minute, not very planned trip. But it went very well and we had a great time!! We almost forgot our passports! Luckily Tiff's grandma reminded us right before we left the apartment. For some reason is wasn't really sinking in to me that we were going out of country. We even got through the border and stopped at a gas station and I forgot about having a new currency! The border crossing went very quick but then we got stuck in traffic outside of traffic for almost two hours because there is a tunnel that went from at least three lanes of traffic to just one. It was horrible. But we made it to our hotel, then set out for dinner. That was an experience! Tiffany was driving, and the one way streets and bridges in Vancouver can make it very confusing to drive around the city. We spent a long time looking for the place we wanted to eat. Crossed a couple bridges quite a few times, drove in circles a few times. At one point Tiffany thought we had turned into wrong way traffic, flipped a quick U, which then made us turn into wrong way traffic so she flipped a U again. Happened so fast I didn't really know what to think. So then we are sitting there at a stoplight and next to us drives up three cops on Four-wheelers. The funniest think I have ever seen. Luckily they didn't see what we did. It was very strange to see four-wheelers in the middle of the city!

Looks like a little plastic city huh? It's real!!

Didn't snap a very good pic, but these are the cops on four-wheelers!

The next day we walked around town a little, over some bridges, under some bridges, and over to this cute little island with some good stores and food. Then we went to Stanley Park. I thought this was where I had been before in Vancouver where there a lot of statues throughout the park, yeah, wrong park. But is is a gorgeous and big park! It was nice. Then we headed up to Whistler.

On the bridge looking towards downtown

The runner statue

The port. Ported here before on a cruise with my family to Alaska after my brother graduated high school.

Lighthouse in Stanley Park, was kind of disappointing

The drive to Whistler is absolutely amazing and breathtaking! You follow the water along the mountains quite a while. Awesome views!! Tiffany tried to get some pictures as I was driving! We made it to Whistler, got some information on things we wanted to do, then found the best camping spot right along the river, great for falling asleep to! Tiffany wasn't sure about the whole primitive camping experience, but she ended up enjoying it, I think. There was a porter potty there, so not that primitive. Much better than the huge campsite option closer to Whistler.

Tiff and I along the drive to Whistler

Chilling by the river by our campsite

The next day we drove into town and I dropped Tiffany off to go zip-lining while I set off for some awesome mountain biking single track. It was a little tougher than I expected, of course, it was Whistler after all. Whistler is highly known for its winter activities, but most avid mountain bikers know it is an awesome destination for biking as well. I didn't do the take the lift up and downhill ride down because that is not only intense riding, but would also be more enjoyable with someone else. So I experienced a lot of the trails in the valley area. It was tons of fun. I had to walk a lot of just blue rated trails and did small sections of some black. It was tough at times but a lot of fun! Can't wait to go back.

This was supposed to be a blue trail. They really expect me to bike over this rock? I think not!!!

After meeting back up with Tiffany we hiked to and around Lost Lake with some nice views of the lake and Whistler and Blackcomb mountains in the background. That afternoon Tiffany talked me into going to a Scandinavian Spa. The idea here was to go from hot, to cold, to relaxation. You spend about 15 min. in the hot, then a short time, maybe 5 min. in the cold, then you relax for at least 15 min. The first was a eucalyptus steam room. It smelled amazing, hard to breathe at first, but got used to it. Then into a cold bath, then lounging and reading. The second was a hot bath, then the cold, then laying in a hammock. I kind of drifted, but don't think I totally fell asleep. Then a warm bath again, cold bath/shower, and layed and took a nap. This was a long relaxing time for me because I really think I fell asleep. I kept drifting in and out of sleep in the hot bath times and relaxation times. I guess the idea to relax you really worked on me!! I finished it up with a short time in the steam room again cause that was my favorite part. Not sure if it totally worth the money, but it was definitely relaxing and a good memory, plus it was gorgeous!!

Whistler Mountain

Scandinavian Spa

That night we went into Whistler Village to hang out and experience a little nightlife. It felt so good in town. Definitely a great summer destination! As well as winter destination. I could and definitely want to spend at least two weeks here in the summer and in the winter!

Canadians have some kind of fascination with this rock formation or something. Not sure what it means

The 2010 Olympic rings!

Driving back from Whistler we had to wait a little longer crossing back in to US, but not too long, maybe around 45 min. Then I got back and worked four nights straight. These nights did not suit me well. When I worked five in a row, I slept decently between my shifts. This time I was lucky to get 4-5 hours of sleep. It's so hard, and I feel like such an ineffective nurse because I am just trying to do my best to stay awake. I don't feel like I am living up to my potential as a nurse. Whenever I finally stop travel nursing I really hope to get a day position, I just can't do this night stuff. But I will survive!!

This week I only had two days off. Today was an awesome day!! I went to Index Peak, it is east of Everett. I was going to do this great hike I read about called Blanca Lake, but the road to the trail was washed out, and I would have had to go 45 min around to do an alternate route. So I decided to do Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls instead. It was awesome!! The weather was so great today. Actually, as I was headed down it started sprinkling a bit and I couldn't figure out how it was sprinkling, the sky was clear! Just a few clouds, not rain clouds. It was weird. But wasn't anything much.

There was a road closed sign way before this, but kept driving. Then I ran into this, guess the road is really closed, had to turn around :(

Lake Serene

Some girls I met jumping in, I went afterwards! I was cold, but I have been in colder...

Bridal Veil Falls

Looking down from Bridal Veil

Today, I remembered and reflected on how much I love the Pacific Northwest. Many times I hate it because it rains so much, but when you catch those gorgeous days and get to take advantage of it, it is the best day! The temperatures are so perfect, maybe some humidity, but nothing ever much. And there is so much to do out here, it is never ending!! Now, I have never spent a winter up here, and dont really care to. I would love to live up here if it wasn't for the winters and so far away from the rest of the country.

Thank you God for the experiences you give me!!

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!!

Back Home

I finally made it to Oklahoma City after about 48 hrs of travel since leaving the apt in Naples arriving to Kylee's house in Shawnee. I was ready to be home, and not moving around everywhere constantly with a bunch of luggage and off an airplane, but very much looking forward to visiting Kylee and her new baby! He is adorable. Very strange seeing one of my best friends as a mommy. I never her got to see her when she started showing when pregnant so it was hard to imagine. But after spending a few days with her and Clark, I now see her as a mom! He is the cutest little baby! Pretty good too. I love them both! Got to do a lot of cuddling and kissing and holding!

Mommy and son!

Admiring the snoozing baby

Isn't he adorable!

I was very lucky in my travels to not have much problems with the flights or airlines. Until my flight from OKC to Denver. Thought I was going to be good altogether and then, no, the very last flight and it gets cancelled!! Couldn't believe it. I was very lucky though in the fact that I was travelling alone because most the people on my flight had to rebook for the next day but I was able to wait to try to get a standby flight for later that afternoon. Praise God I did get on it and made it back to Denver at a decent time with mom, dad, Luke, and Jackie waiting for me! Luke and Jackie flew in the same day that's why I was really hoping I wouldn't have to wait another day.

I got back to CO the day before Father's Day, so dad was really excited to have all his kids around for his special day, doesn't happen often! Nick didn't go with us, but on Father's Day, Luke, Jackie, dad, and I all went rafting. The river was running at 3500 cfs or so. It was so high! That wasn't even the high water for the season, it was still going up. I have never rafted with it so high. I actually got kinda nervous. No need, it was awesome. Not as crazy as I was expecting, I have been on crazier. When the water gets so high lots of rapids get washed out, some get more intense, just depends. Dad was so funny rafting, but I enjoyed getting to be with him. And it was the first time I have ever gone with Luke, or Jackie, so that was fun.

The next day Luke and Jackie hiked/ATV'd to the arch where Luke proposed to Jackie in honor of their five year anniversary! So of course, I was not invited! Haha, they hid a geocache up there too so guess I will have to go without them sometime and find it! So I spent the day job searching. Talked to a lot of people, lots of options. I wasn't too worried about finding something. And then the next day, after one day of job searching I have a contract! It was fast. Unfortunately, the start date wasn't quite as early as I wanted, but that's ok, just time for more fun I guess.

Luke had a couple other geocaches he wanted to hide. The first he wanted to hide above this lost cabin that he has attempted to find two previous times near the Sand Dunes with little success. So we set off to backpack determined to find it this time. We had an idea of where it was and a thoughts of the perfect spot in the trees it should be. As we hiked closer and closer we see it right where we thought was a good location! Seemed very easy, but of course, Luke had done a little process of elimination two previous hikes. It was a cool find! We explored the cabin and the area around determining where to pitch camp. After walking around the area some more, setting up camp, and eating, dad, Luke, and I went to sit outside of the trees in this spot perfect for overlooking the valley. It was awesome. Amazing how many lights you could see in an area we didn't think there was much. The colors on the horizon were awesome around the mountain peaks. It was a good moment! Nick brought his dog, Rose, along on the trip also so she was fun to have along with us!

See the Sand Dunes in the background?

Taking a break...good time for a picture!

Tired?

Think Nick is having a serious conversation with Luke. Or just a prolonged explanation of something!

Luke, Rose, and I in the lost cabin!

Next day, we hiked up a ways from the cabin and where we camped to find a good place to hide the geocache. We found an awesome place overlooking Mt Lindsey and Blanca Peak. I think I need to hike Mt Lindsey sometime soon! It was a very gorgeous spot! After hiking back to the car, we headed off to the cabin to meet up with mom and Jackie.

Mt. Lindsey behind me

Luke with his geocache

Luke's plan for us going to the cabin was to hike West Spanish Peak and place another geocache. It was a great day and a good hike. We were a little slow moving, all of us not having hiked a mountain in a while or being in that altitude. We rode our bikes up a little ways then set off on foot. It was a fun hike. The top was very rocky and steep, slightly challenging and slow moving, but we did it, and no storms or injuries!! Great view from on top! Had to wait a long time for dad to make it off the mountain, he is very slow moving going downhill due to his sore knees, but he did it! It was a good time!

Taking a break on the steep rocks

Luke, Jackie, and dad

Such a cute couple!

At the top, waiting for the rest of the group

Made it to the top!

We can get a little crazy! Or just high off the altitude

Luke hiding his geocache

Jackie enjoying the view while waiting for dad to make it down to where we parked the bikes

On the way back to the car on our bikes we stopped to find a geocache and enjoy the view of what we just climbed!

West Spanish Peak

That was the last of our big hikes while Luke and Jackie were home. Dad, Luke, and I did one more hike up Agnes Falls near the house, found a geocache there, played frisbee golf, then went to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. It was fun getting hang with them both, as always! I'm so glad we were able to be home at the same time.

I had a little more than a week left before I needed to head to my next contract. I got to hang out with the family and a few friends. I met up with Natalie and Tessa, and their cousin Ariel to hike Agnes Falls again. They wanted to hike it because Natalie's dog, Agnes, is named after the waterfall. It was tons of fun. I miss getting to see Natalie; my life long friend since we were babies! After the hike I took them to find this geocache off the side of the road. Their first geocache!! Good job!

Agnes Falls

Tessa, me, and Natalie

Friends forever!

With our geocache!

One weekend I went to Denver to see Megan and do a hike around the area there. Megan and I went to a Rockies game the Saturday night before the 4th of July, so we got to enjoy fireworks after the game! The Rockies won, already a great night, then the fireworks were amazing! One of the best fireworks shows I have been to. They were right next to us and synchronized with the music. Fun times. The next day before I went off to go hiking she took me to see the Red Rocks since, unfortunately, I had not been there before. Such a great area, can't wait to go to a concert there someday!

Megan and I

How full the field got with people watching the fireworks, this was just one section of people from the stadium whose backs would have been to the fireworks, so many people!

Red Rocks Amphitheater with people getting their workout in running up the stairs

Then I went to do a hike with my friend Ben just outside Golden in the mountains. It was a fun hike. We thought it was going to be a very busy day with hikers, but it wasn't bad. Beautiful day and weather, as well as some good mountain views. Can't go wrong very much when hiking in CO!!

View of the Front Range mountain peaks

This year, for the 4th of July, did something I have never done before...went snowboarding...on the 4th of July!! It was awesome. It was ridiculously crowded, but so fun. I wasn't going to go at first, due to the fact that it was a little pricey for them only having a few runs open and knowing how busy it was going to be, but it was totally worth it. Not just for the joy of riding, but also for the joy of the great weather and entertaining people. It's a good day on the mountain watching the craziness of others!

The line at the mid mountain chairlift! Such a long line, people had to entertain themselves so they decided they would throw snowballs at the people on the chairs riding up

This was the start of the day, by the end of the day I was in a tank top and shorts, awesome!!

Zack with his homemade rocket on his helmet. He acquired the name rocket man by the end of the day from others on the mountain. Too bad it wasn't real...

The rest of my time home was spent finishing up paperwork for my next contract and getting all packed up to head to Everett, WA. I wasn't going to be at this contract alone this time. My ICU nurse friend, Tiffany, from Oklahoma got a contract as well so we will both be there! On my way driving to WA I stopped in Salt Lake City for two nights to visit Brea. Fun times as always. The night we got there we played some vball and watched some people dressed up in medieval costumes sword fighting. Very interesting. The next day while she was at work I went biking and hiking. I got to see a nice view of SLC.

The drive up to WA was very long and boring, but not too bad. Went by smoothly and I didn't get too tired. Made it by about 6:30 pm. Spent the weekend unpacking and looking around Everett. I had received some unfortunate news driving up that my WA license had not gone through yet, so I couldn't start work Monday. Not cool. This whole past week I have been in limbo waiting to hear when I could start. A very slow process later I am finally getting to start work this Monday! Only a week later. So I had to resign a new contract and will be here a week longer. That's ok I guess. The past week has been a mixture of cold rainy days and nice days. Hasn't gotten over 70, a lot different than most the country! Haven't hiked yet, but hope to soon! Tiffany made it up also and got all moved in! Look forward to all the new experiences and memories that will form here in WA!!