California Dreamin

I just accepted a travel nurse position in Long Beach California. I start at Long Beach Memorial Hospital on January 14. Details to come :)

like a rhinestone cowboy

We went over to the stockyards, we tried to make it in time to see the longhorns cross the street but we missed it so we are gonna go back so we can see that! it is fun out there, very low key, and just fun to walk up and down the streets! we ate at a steak place called Booger Reds (i think) could have been H3...actually yes the restaurant is H3 and the bar was Booger Reds..it was good, at the bar area every other bar stool or so was a saddle...kind of cool.
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We walked around for a while, in and out of the shops so then we went to Billy Bobs, and that was cool! They have hand prints of all the stars that have played there or been there,..Loretta Lynns hand prints! yay!! Ringo Star had been there, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson of course...all the great country music people and then some random rock bands too..it was very neat!

It was apparently free line dance lessons there at Billy Bobs, so we learned the watermelon crawl..it was hilarious! but lots of fun! They also instead of having a disco ball at the top of the room, have the saddle (all glittery) that was in Urban Cowboy with John Travolta. It was very cool looking! They also have an arena off to the side where on teh weekends they have bull riding..its neat...very very country/texas-ish

Anyways so that was lots of fun, good food, good times, we are planning on going back there to eat some more! I hope you are all doing well. I am doing good. Been running alot down by the lake,and reading for fun, which i havent done maybe ever in my life. I am close to making my final decision on whats next. And its leaning toward being back at home. I know how I talk such a talk about all this fun stuff and things I could do or this or that, but the good thing about being young and single is im allowed to change my mind! but when it comes down to it, at the end of the day, my heart is at home, with the people i love and the places i love.i definantely think sometimes you just need to get away for a little bit to realize how much a place or the people really mean to you. and obviously better to do this crazy stuff while im young than 20 years from now. i hate that i didnt "get away" for a bit sooner, i was always tied up working at the drugstore during my summers or school or internships at the hospital, so i guess that put off me doing things that i should have done back then, but oh well, its never too late i suppose. Like i said before i left, this will be just like summer camp! and it has! and i learned and i was gonna stick with it, then i wasnt, then i was again, and now here i am! I have learned alot this summer and its been good to have lonely quiet times so that I could hear in my head and heart exactly what it was saying! Anywho...I think its good sometimes to be a little flighty and off the handle...it keeps life interesting! stressful, but worth every minute!Anywho..yall give me a call!! I LOVE YALL!

awake at 541 ...that would be AM

So....I have been working night shifts and that leads me to now sleep most of the day and then i cant sleep at night..which leads to alot of thinking and reflecting and quiet time, which i have mixed emotions about! me and thinking lead to all kinds of crazy ideas and plans...my recruiter is being kind of not so available at the moment and we are supposed to start looking for new positions...which, apparently i am learning that this is not a good time of year for travel positions...and then also up to the plate...the clinic i work for Dr.Sethi has come to me again to come to work with her full time. Lots of decisions to make...and how crazy and silly am i to be worrying and anxious..GOD IS SO GOOD, i have opportunities coming at me to the right and left, my cup runneth over! Now its just which way to go. Home is never a bad decision. Home is familiar, people i love are constantly around, and even when im lonely at home, its not lonely like here. Travel on the other hand..opens up all kinds of doors and windows. My heart at the moment is kind of tugging me home. It has been for the past couple of weeks. Its so nice to know no matter what, I have a job at home if i want it full time, or part time till i get a new travel position. So anyways....thats whats going on at 541 in Dallas with me.

On another note my friend Sumon, and his roomate and girlfriend are all coming in town this weekend for the Dave Matthews Band concert and I am so excited to see them and to see Dave Matthews in concert!!! it should be a fun weekend!

mamas dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys

So we went to the mesquite rodeo! it was so much fun!! we got there right as it opened and they have this BBQ restaurant attached to it, and its a huge buffett,i swear it was some of the best brisket i have ever had! anyways so we ate bbq, got cowgirl hats..ha(a must, apparently it was cool bc everyone was wearing hats), then we watched the rodeo, it was mainly bull riding, then some wagon races, then bronco riding, they let the kids or well i dont know if they let them, but they strapped these kids to some sheep and would see how long they could ride the sheep before they fell off and it was hilarious! i met a real cowboy at the end, so that was neat....and i guess officially i have done the texas western thing! im kind of ready to be done with texas now, over it. we are going to go eat at joe t garcias sometime soon,and the stockyards..and hopefully hit up billy bobs and gilleys. some of my friends are coming this weekend for the Dave Matthews Band concert,so that should be exciting! i went in to work tonight, and got there and they said i was not on the schedule for tonight but i was for monday tuesday and wednesday night...so it kind of worked out bc i kind of felt blah and sinus sick so i got to go home! its been a good weekend!!

heyyyy

hey, its been a while. i went home last week to move out of my apartment with linda. very sad. my whole life is now at nanas house upstairs in dads old room or here in D with me, or at the house with mom and dad..im scattered and officially a gypsy now. roots and wings. crazy. home was good, i stayed at my home and went from couch to bed..thanks to john i got to sleep in his room(my old room) most of the time, so that was sweet of him. i know they were all tired after the weekend from helping me move and such. friday night me and clint did a tour of the jackson night life...we went to the new pan asia which was fabulous and the floor lights up in the bar area which could create all sorts of fun...we then went and met up with linda at amerigos for dessert..key lime pie...with a unimaginable amount of whip cream..probably bc i screamed it out that i wanted alot! we then went to the bulldog for 2.5 seconds..and were quickly over that..then went to old venice where we sat in a booth in the other room bc we felt old in the main little room.....too much!!! friday i went to lunch with Jaime at La Cas always a good time. Saturday i slept way way late, then had supper with Jill and Rob, then another supper at the house which was SOOO good..good ol home comfort food..my mom is the best cook in the world i think..then i went to Kimsey and Alans house and just hung out and had a lazy night with some of my best friends, i love times like that..no need to dress up just good ol tshirts..maybe even pajamas...and just the people you want to be near with when youve been away for a while.

i am sooo ready to figure out where i am going next, but Eliza my recruiter says we cant start looking till about august 20....and apparently orders are low due to hospitals having low census' so i pray that whatever assignment is out there for me, is a good one, bc it will eventually be sick season wherever this next one is and i hope that its a decent place. i am getting more and more comfortable at CMCD, i love the renal floor and b6 the other general peds floor...i never thought i would like the neuro floor but i have learned alot up there.....so i guess its good...we saw Ella, one of the nurses from UMC who transferred out here, she was my favorite Drs nurse at home, Dr. Baliga(nephrology)..well he was one of my favorites..i loved all the doctors at home....they were way more personable but i guess i cant really get to know people well out here bc im a traveler and i think they think im stupid or something!

last night me and leigh went to the rangers yankees game, i was hoping madonna would be there watching a. rod, but she was not. they inducted Charley Pride into their draft team or something...anyway it was some big deal and Nolan Ryan presented him with some UGLY black rangers cowboy boots...but it was neat. i ate a unhumanly amount of park food..but you all know how i love me some fair food/brandonday food/sporting event food- cheese fries, hot dog, and nachos! yup thats right and a coke and some water! :) moving on....i need to start working out hah!

this weekend we are going to go to the mesquite rodeo and somewhere new mexican to eat....please pray i end up in a good place next! i.e.-NYC, San Diego, San Francisco, DC,-i would prefer NYC next then san diego, maybe hawaii, then ending in boston/as close as i can get to capecod/marthas vineyard!!

anywho...LOVE YALL

lions and tigers and bears oh my!

Today I sweated like a flippin pig and tortured myself at the zoo! I went around 300, it was so dang hot! Most of the animals were hiding so i pretty much went to the closeby exhibits then got the heck out and went home to jump in the pool for a bit. The highlight of the zoo trip was seeing the kangaroos doing it. There were some grandparents with their grandkids at the kangaroos when this was going on and we were all laughing as the kids were looking pointing and confused as to why we were all giggling. Craziness, apparently not too hot for the kangaroos! After the animal pictures is a picture of me and Jen-she is a traveler from Rochester New York, the guy is her personal trainer she invited him out, i called her, so we all three ended up together, like all things out here, very random. I feel like this whole adventure i am on is just one big random time. but anyways!! Hope you all are doing great! LOVE YALL!

follow the yellow brick road

I went home this past weekend for Martha McDonalds wedding, so on my way over and the night before apparently i caught some virus, so i had to go to the Dr. the first full day back home, where i recieved to IV bags of fluid..craziness..i have a huge bruise but i like it, bc its my battle scar and i can show the people out here and they will believe me for not being at work. Marthas wedding was sooo beautiful! She was a great bride, and everything went so well. I had so much fun catching up and hanging out with best friends that I havent gotten to hang out with in a long time! After the wedding we all(cricket, kayla, perry)-then friends from UMC met up and some of my guys from brandon went out to Schimmels to hear the Subway Band and then as always i made a stop at old venice just to wrap things up! Got to go to church sunday am so that was really good to be with my church family, then hung out at the house for a little bit, then headed on back down the road. today was a blah day out here i guess bc i just am a little homesick and sad im not with all my friends and family anymore..but oh well..ILL BE BACK!!!!!!!!!!! anywho...hope yall are doing great! ,LOVE YALL

god bless america

Yesterday Leigh and I went to Fair Park for the fourth of july stuff out there....they had all these different music things going on, and the museums were all open for free...we rode the swans in the pond and then we sat along the little water fountain whatever it is thing and watched the fireworks...the symphony played before the fireworks and tehy played all the patriotic songs and stuff..then the fireworks went off to music so that was pretty cool...its fun out here, everything is definantely bigger and more of a production but its neat. i did miss my family and friends yesterday bc all my family was together,and all my friends were together but oh well..i know i am out on my own right now for a reason...........anywho! I am coming home to brandon this week for marthas wedding a good visit..i will prob. leave wednesday night after work!! so excited! its the first big road trip for me and the new car!!!LOVE YALL!

OH Mexico

Tonight me and Leigh went to Primos Bar and Grill after i worked all day, and so far its been the best chips and dip of the trip, i have been going to different places trying the chips and dip out and so far..this is the winner. and apparently ever since i went to destin with Jill this summer, fish tacos are my new favorite and apparently i have been told out here its a very "west coast" thing to get. anyways...so i just get those everywhere adn am comparing. they werent the best at primos but they werent bad, i still havent found any as good as seaside this summer at that little mexican shacky thing. Primos is on McKinney Ave, which has a ton of little restaurants, and shops and bars and places to hang out. the trolley runs through it too..but sadly i dont have the advantage of using the trolley bc i live by the lake..which is apparently not where you really want to live if you are out here...but its ok..i still got to start going walking/running out there but havent yet. And I must say that the guys out here are sooooo metrosexual its not funny, i dont think they know if they are gay, straight, cowboys or indians. I have never seen so much spiked hair and fake tans as here. craziness!!!! its just different i suppose,.....not for me though! anywho..........hope you all are doing great!!! Happy 4th of July!!! LOVE YALL!

does fort worth ever cross your mind

So today i went to Fort Worth to see where I was born and my first home and the hospital I was born at. I got to see my cousin Susan too, who drove me around and took me everywhere, we ate at this cute little burger place called Kincaids, and it was soo good...i think i like fort worth more than dallas, it just seems a little more calm than it is here.......it was a good day and i will definantely be going back to see the Stockyards and maybe spend the night with them!!! anywho LOVE YALL

we didnt start the fire

Today I went to the 6th Floor Museum at Dealy Plaze to see the JFK stuff. It was so interesting, and it really made me wish I was in DC!! I am going to have to go there on an assignment! I just get so caught up in learning about it and seeing actual things and documents and its so cool to me! I learned that Lee Harvey Oswald bought the gun he shot Kennedy with for 12.78! how crazy is that....what a horrible end result for 12 bucks........after the museum i went outside and took pictures of the x's on the road, adn then back up towards the building to get the view of the depository and the windows..of course got pictures of the grassy knoll...and me in the grassy knoll! haha....anywho.......hope yall are all doing fabulous!! LOVE YALL

are you ready for some football??

Today I went to take a tour of the Texas Stadium, home of the Cowboys, but not for much longer bc they are building a new stadium katy cornered to the rangers stadium. anyways...it was fun, i felt kind of dumb taking pictures by myself, but i also didnt pay 20 bucks the tour guide was trying to con people in to buying the cd of the pics he was taking, i just let people take my camera and take the same pics he was taking...im not totally dumb! it was fun, got to see their lockers, and play on the field, went into the stadium club room which Lyndon B Johnson and Bush(old one) have both hosted parties...got to pretend to be a professional cheerleader for a moment in one of the dudes poses....and then there is a picture of this sign about personal conduct and at the bottom someone wrote in with sharpie 14. dog fighting...which made me laugh. little kids were out their at flag football camps playing around.....possibly future cowboy players? you never know........anyways then i went to the cotton bowl and got a picture of that...no worries rebel fans we will be back there one day! GO NUTTS...HOTTY TODDY!!! LOVE YALL!