Winding Down in the Windy City

Welp, another three months have come and gone. Ryan and I have approximately 15 days left here, 6 of them I will spend at work, 5 will be spent with my mom when she visits for Christmas, and the rest will be filled with purging, packing, and cleaning. I can't wait!! This is seriously the best and worst part of traveling so often. I'm just getting used to the unit I'm in and getting comfortable. Friendships I've made are easier and more natural feeling instead of new and awkward. I know I always say this but after three and a half years of traveling, leaving new friends never gets any easier.

On the flip side, I'm getting so excited for our next adventure! I actually secured this next assignment way back in September before I even had a job in Chicago. After a week long trip in Central Texas for Christmas with the Sladek's, we will be making our way back out west, in the land of mountains, skiing, craft brew, and legal pot! Not that the last part really applies to my life, it's basically there for shock value. Ha! For our next assignment we will be traveling to the lovely DENVER, CO! I'll be working in a 20 bed PICU at Rocky Mountain Children's Hospital. We'll be living in a neighborhood called Cherry Creek which is about 3 miles from my hospital and downtown.

photo cred:http://www.laytonconstruction.com/PresbyterianStLukes.html

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In the weeks since my last post we've been cramming in time with Cameron, seeing the sights, and seeing friends that came into the city for one reason or another. 

We met Alyssa in LA, we hadn't seen her in 2 years! 
Getting a Christmas tree into a high rise apartment. 
First time seeing Tara in 2 years, we met her in LA as well. She came to see her sister but we got to see her too! 
November 20th and the only real snow we've seen. I'll just pretend it's Christmas. 
Chicago's Christmas Tree!
Hiking at Starved Rock near Utica, IL. We met Theresa in Baltimore and got to see her again!
Illinois River
Where we take the dogs to the park. It only about 4:30pm in this photo.
Twinsies
Gwendolyn hosts a mimosa special in the bar area of our GROCERY STORE. We go see her on the weekends to make grocery shopping a little more bearable. And we just love her.

The ants in the pants are in full force. We can't wait for our next adventure! We sure are gonna miss Chicago but we're looking forward to seeing family and being in Texas for the first time in 9 months. Then it's off to the Centennial State!

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