Traveling News!

So...the big news first, then I'll move on to what I've been up to the past 10 days or so. I have found my next traveling position :) I will be starting on April 28th in Berwyn, IL, which is just 10 minutes West of Chicago! That is about all I know for now about that position, but I will continued with the updates once I know more. My assignment here is finished April 18, so I will have about a week back in Muncie to get my house packed up and moved into a storage space, but I'll be around if anyone back in that area wants to see me. Not that it is so super important since my next assignment is so much closer!!! Shawn is going to be moving with me to Chicago...he is looking for a job now that is in his field, so we may be staying in that area for awhile. We shall see...

Only 4-1/2 weeks left!

So, recently we've been busy busy doing touristy stuff! We went on 3-7-08 into D.C. for the day. We went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. We had gone there once earlier in our trip, but we didn't spend much time there and there was a ton more to see so we went back. We took lots of pictures of planes for Grandpa Manning (some are included in the slideshow today) plus we went to the iMax to see the showing of Figther Pilot. It was a really good movie, but is funny how differently Shawn and I enjoyed it. It made me very thankful that my job doesn't require any time in the air doing spins and flips and stuff...whereas Shawn was ready to enroll in flight school as soon as it was over! Haha! We thought about stopping in at the planetarium that is in that museum as well because the area of the museum devoted to Space and our Solar System was so interesting, but we ran out of time. The Museum Store was also quite fun! I got some gifts for the family...but they will have to wait for that! After we left the museum we walked up to the Capitol Building. The sun was starting to set and the view was beautiful! On the way to the Capitol building we heard a bunch of sirens and to our surprise the Presidential Motorcade went by! Shawn's video camera battery was dead so we tried to get a few pictures, but it didn't really work out well. It was still pretty neat though! After a break at the Capitol Building sitting out in front enjoying the sunset, we walked to a little restaurant that my Aunt Colleen and Uncle Michael suggested. They had eaten there on a recent trip to D.C. and had enjoyed it, and we did as well. By that point we were exhausted and ready to call it a day, so it was time for the Metro ride home. We got on at a different station that usual and I was really amazed to see the number of homeless people that were already sleeping in the station entrance. I hadn't seen that yet, but I had heard about the huge homeless population in the city. It is really a wakeup call when you see something like that.

I've also been able to catch up with a couple friends from high school too! Shawn and I had lunch with my old friend Jonathan. He works here in Alexandria so we picked him up one afternoon and had a really nice time! We are going to make some more plans soon to get together at a time when we can meet his wife as well. We also went Swing Dancing with my friend Sara! That was such a treat! There is this really interesting place in Maryland that used to be an amusement park but the buildings now are all used for different things. One building is a ballroom and every Saturday a dance studio called the Jam Cellar hosts a Swing Dance. The first 30-45 minutes is a short lesson for those (like me) who have no idea how to Swing Dance (or just minimal experience anyway). Then there is a live band until midnight and people of all ages and experience Swing Dance! It was amazing! We of course we totally amateurs, but we had a blast anyway. Of course for anyone who knows me at all you know that I have a thing about control and it is difficult in Swing Dancing because I was not supposed to control the dance...I was supposed to follow Shawn. I improved by the end of the night, but is was REALLY hard for me! I told a few of my friends from work about it and we're gonna try to go again before my assignment is finished here. Sara's sister was supposed to be coming in for Spring Break and she was going to go Swing Dancing too, but the crazy March blizzard that hit Ohio kept her from getting here in time. Stupid snow! Haha. Seeing my friends from high school has brought back a lot of memories, especially since I will be having my 10 year high school reunion this summer!!! CRAZY! Not sure if I'm looking forward to that or not.... I have until August to decide :)

Last week I went home to Indiana for a 5 day visit. Eric and Sara were on Spring Break from school and Mimi flew in from Texas for the week as well! Dave was planning on taking a vacation as well so we were all home together! We didn't do anything worth a mention, except that we were all together and we loved it! On the flight out I noticed that there was a great view of D.C. from the plane, but my camera was stowed carefully in the overhead compartment! So, on the flight back I kept it in my seat but it was kinda cloudy. I did get a couple of pictures but they aren't very good. I arrived back in Alexandria around 2pm on St. Patrick's Day! Shawn was ready to go when he picked me up from the airport all in green with a green carnation for me :) We went out in Old Towne Alexandria about an hour later with my friend Jennifer from work and my friend Megan from work met us a bit later. We went to O'Connel's Pub first then to Murphy's. Both were fun, but Shawn and I didn't stay out too late. Too much traveling and a bit too much vodka for me :) Anyway, now it is back to work!!

Ok, Ok...I know!

Ok...so I know it's been way more than a week since I've written, but in my defense I have been a busy bee! I have been working a lot, plus I was sick. So...now that the formalities are out of they way.

Work has been getting better. I am finally back working night shift (thank Heavens!) and I am so much happier about that! It is still busy at work, but at night I actually have time to talk to my patient's, which is one of the things I like most about nursing. I am getting more used to the hospital in general as well, but the more I get used to it the more things I find that I feel need to be changed. It is one of the drawbacks of traveling. I won't be here long enough to actually see any changes implemented, but at least I can do my part and tell management what I believe needs to be changed to make the hospital a safer and more efficient facility. Also, I have started working with my recruiter on locating my next assignment. I will be done here on April 18 and it looks like we are shooting for a April 28 start date for my next assignment in Chicago. I have been submitted for a few positions in Chicago and I have already heard back from one, but nothing is for sure yet. I will keep everyone posted on that as soon as I know! I will be home in Muncie for about 5 during March because Mimi is coming to visit for Eric and Sara's Spring Break, so if you're in that area and want to hang out let me know!

Only 7 more weeks to go!!

So, what have I been doing here? Besides being sick for a week (boo...I am feeling better now though) Shawn and I have been doing some fun stuff still. We went last week to a Washington Capital's hockey game. They play at the Verizon Center in D.C. and that night was the game against the NY Islanders. That night was also a tribute night for people in the armed forces, so we all got free camo hats with the Capital's logo on it. Plus...Shawn and I were gonna buy tickets when we got there and as we got in line a guy came up to us and said he had 2 extra tickets that we could have for free. They weren't great seats but whatever! They were free!! So that was pretty awesome. We hope to get to go to another game before hockey season is over, but it's not looking likely. However, since it is almost time for baseball season (woohoo...Go Cubs!) I have already started trying to figure out when/where I can go to Cubs games. The Washington Nationals have a new ballpark this year and I was really hoping to get to go to a Cubs game there, but they don't play the Cubs until the week after I leave. I did find out that the last weekend I'm here the Cubs play in Philadelphia. So I got tickets for Shawn and I to go to the Friday night game against the Phillies, and we are gonna plan to go up early in the day and do some sightseeing too. Neither of us have ever been there before, so that should be fun!

Last night was my friend Mike's birthday, so we met him and some of his Law School friends at a bar in Chinatown. The bar is called the Rocket Bar and it has a kind of college bar feel to it, so it was really fun. Plus it was great to hang out with Mike and his friends all seem really cool. They have their Spring Break this coming week, but we are planning on hanging out after he gets back a few more times before I'm out of this area. We met Mike for dinner a couple of weeks ago in D.C. and then went to a house party a friend of his was having. We didn't stay long because I had to work the next morning, but while we were there I got to play Guitar Hero (which I am totally addicted to thanks to my little brother!!) His friends were quite impressed with my skills (ha!) and last night Mike was telling another friend of his that I'm really good at Guitar Hero, so apparently this friend and I are going to be having a Guitar Hero tournament after they get back from Spring Break! That should be interesting....especially since I can't practice before then! Oh well...I will let you all know the results. Here are some pictures from the hockey game and Mike's birthday. Enjoy and I miss you all!!

Busy Busy

We have been doing lots of stuff in D.C. this past week. We went to the Smithsonian Air & Space museum (but we'll need another day there - plus there are several interesting iMax movies there now that seem really interesting!). We also went to the Holocaust Museum the other day...that we intense! I was incredibly depressed the whole rest of the day but it was totally worth it. What an interesting experience. The main exhibit was so informative and vivid. There were lots of videos from the time plus lots and lots of pictures. The pictures and stories were a little hard for me to take at times, especially when they involved children, but I made it through. We only did the main exhibit, but I'm planning on going back for the other exhibits. We went yesterday to The National Archives to get a look at the Charters of Freedom, unfortunately the Constitution isn't on display right now due to some remodeling in the Rotunda area where they are all displayed. We did get to see the Declaration of Independence though and that was neat! We were gonna try to go back to some of the memorials that evening to see them all lit up, but it was WAY too cold. So we're gonna put that off until some warmer weather!

Work still sucks...I did have one good day this past Saturday, but it was a fluke! It was the only day so far that we were appropriately staffed, which is why it didn't suck. I had an appropriate patient load so I actually had time to talk to my patients! I didn't have to run from one room to another! My patient's had access to me if they needed me, and I liked that! I don't see it happening very often though. I'm a total sucker though...they called today to see if I would pick up an extra shift tomorrow and I said I would (I know, I'm pathetic! Overtime pay though...might be worth it!) I'm still stuck on dayshift and I'm afraid I'll be on days longer than I would like. They are staffed better at night and so that'll make it difficult for them to put me on nights :( We'll see.

Only 10 more weeks to go!

One week of work down...

So...I worked my first week on the IMC unit at Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital. Unfortunately, I don't like it very much. It isn't terrible, and some of the people are nicer than others, but I miss the babies :( The other travelers are really great though and there are quite a few of us on this unit right now. Another thing that kinda sucks right now is that I'm stuck working day shift. Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I hate that!!! Plus with the traffic around here and all the stop lights I have to leave my apartment by 630am to get to work on time which I HATE! That is too too early for me! Anyway, I work 3 days in a row this past week and I survived. I will hopefully be moving back to night shift at the end of February, so I'm looking forward to that!

Only 11 more weeks to go for this assignment!

I had this weekend off of work, so Shawn and I did a little sightseeing again. We visited a few more of the memorials in Washington D.C. on Saturday. We walked along Pennsylvania Avenue, walked by the White House then checked out the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Those two memorials were really neat. I really enjoyed the FDR Memorial. The weather isn't nice enough yet for the memorials to have the water or fountains running yet, but I'm hoping to check out all the memorials again before I leave at night and when the weather gets nicer. Shawn and I made a list of the all the stuff we want to do while we're here. We posted it up on the fridge and are crossing things off as we do it! Still plenty of stuff to do, that's for sure! 

 Today we went into D.C. again to meet a friend of mine from high school that I've not seen for a very long time! Sara has lived in D.C. for several years now and suggested we meet up at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden to go ice skating. I guess it is a large fountain that is converted into an ice skating rink in the winter. It was really fun! Not only was it great to catch up with her but ice skating is always fun! I still haven't seen my friend Mike yet, he goes to Law School out here at GWU, but seeing as he's in Law School he's pretty busy! We are watching the Superbowl now, but I'm not really all that into it this year and the commercials have been pretty lame, so I decided to update this blog and post some more pictures for all of you instead!

Hopefully this week at work will be better! I miss you all!!!

Monuments & Memorials...

So today Shawn and I decided to go into Washington D.C. to do some sight-seeing. We took the metro in, which was really convenient, especially since my foot has been hurting a lot of the past few days and a lot of walking irritates it. We started out walking near the Capitol Building, but we didn't get very close to it today. There is so much stuff we are gonna go back a few times. We walked along the National Mall, past all the Smithsonian museums and other museums too. There is one of the Smithsonian museums that has a sculpture garden outside. It is full of really neat bronze sculptures. We took some pictures in there, especially since Shawn and I like to take goofy pictures and that was a good place for that! We made a list last night of all the different Smithsonian museums that we want to go to while we're here, because there are a bunch are we'll want to give a day to each, but we bypassed them today.

We moved then onto the Washington Monument. We didn't go up in it today but just standing at the base looking up is breathtaking! The sky was just beautiful today. Clear blue with minimal clouds. It was a gorgeous day, but it did get windy at times.

The World War II War Memorial is really interesting. There is a fountain in the center, but it wasn't turned on yet this year. The walkways of the WWII Memorial have a lot of etchings of different scenes of wartime. There were too many to take pictures of all of them, but I did get a picture of one. We walked along the Tidal Basin next up to the Lincoln Memorial. That was really interesting too. The Gettysburg Address was on one wall and Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address was on the other. I didn't realize how large Lincoln really was in there! 

The Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial's were both really beautiful but sad as well. Anything like that about war depresses me and the Vietnam War Memorial was terrible for me! Just walking along the wall with so many names...I just have such a hard time dealing with that level of death. I know that is weird coming from a nurse who deals with death on a fairly regular basis, but war is different. I just don't deal with that well.

We were gonna head to the Jefferson Memorial next, but my foot really started hurting a lot so we cut the day off then. Hope you enjoy the pictures! We'll be heading back out there soon! I start working in the hospital this week on Wednesday, but I have to work dayshift this week (boo)! Hopefully I'll be back on nights soon. Looks like Shawn got a job so that's a huge weight off of his mind too. Ok...I'm gonna go make some cookies now!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of Old Towne Alexandria! Enjoy! I think we're gonna go into D.C. this weekend maybe or early next week...so there will be more pictures coming soon!

All Moved In!

I left home about 6am Friday morning and arrived in Alexandria around 4pm. Not too bad...especially considering we stopped for breakfast and lunch and we got lost trying to get into Alexandria! We weren't lost very long though...but I did have to stop and ask directions and buy a local map (and anyone who knows me at all knows how frustrating it is for me to be lost and have to ask for directions!)

My apartment is really nice. It's not huge, about the size of my last apartment in Bloomington, but plenty big for me. There is a nice sized bathroom and a walk in closet. The furniture they provided is pretty nice too. It is also a gated community, which is really nice. You have to have a key to open the gate to get onto the property even if you're walking. That is a nice perk. I think it'll do :) Alexandria is really nice too. The apartment complex is right across the street from a shopping center that has a Barnes and Noble, a Target, a BestBuy, a Starbucks, a Dunkin Donuts, an Old Navy, a grocery store, etc. I'm all set! We went yesterday for a few hours down to Old Town Alexandria. It is a really nice area in the center of town where most of the buildings from the original settlement are located. I forgot to take my camera though, so I'll be heading back to take some pictures. There was a really nice guy working at the visitors center who gave me a lot of good information. I have several area maps now and a long list of stuff to do in Alexandria and D.C.! I'm ready to get started! The Old Town area has a lot of cute shops and restaurants. There is a lot of different ethnic food restaurants too. I'll be able to try several kinds of foods I've never tried before. The end of the main strip of Old Town is a pier/dock on the Potomac. There is an old Torpedo factory there was that was converted into an Art Center and there is an Archeology museum there as well. There are boat rides along the Potomac offered there too, and several parks and walkways are right along the river. I think there is gonna be a lot to do here. I promise I will take some pictures soon...I think we're gonna go back tomorrow and take some pictures, so keep watching for those!

I start my job Tuesday, but the first week in just orientation stuff so I won't be actually working with any patients yet nor will I meet any of my coworkers. I have to learn to use the computer system and other stuff like that. Plus all hospitals have there own policies and procedures that are pretty important, so they'll need to go over all that kind of stuff. I did drive out to the hospital today so I could make sure how to get there and take a look at it. It doesn't look very big, but that is fine with me! I'll have more to update about work next week. Anyway, I made it out here safely and I'm all settled! My adventure has begun!