The Traveling Kind

We're four weeks into our second go-round in Nashville. Honestly, since you've heard from us last we've been recouping from our month in Texas/Italy (in monies in the bank and hours in the sleep). So we've been laying low for a bitty bit. Luckily in Music City, there is a surplus of things to do regardless of budget. From honky tonkin' to hiking, we've been entertaining ourselves with live music, beautiful views of the city, and friends. On the work side of things I've been enjoying getting to know my day shift co-workers and the new feel of the unit. On the extracurricular side of things I've been enjoying finding new music and spending time with friends. More fun info - if you can handle it! I snagged my next assignment! (I shirt you not, autocorrect wanted me to edit to "asssignment") I swear my grammar isn't that bad. Ha! Shirt! Maybe it is! Ohhkay...in typical SWYNA fashion, here comes a photo dump and then info on our next assignme...

Man, oh, man am I so glad to have those night shifts behind me! Ryan and I have finished up our time  in Nashville and are currently on our way to the Lone Star State. We'll be hanging out in Texas visiting friends and family. Then, we're heading out of the country for the first time ever (for me)! Our good friends from college are getting married in Italy and we get to go help celebrate. After our month off we'll the be heading back to Nashvegas for another three month assignment. This time on day shift! I'm super stoked to get to know my day shift coworkers a little better and also start feeling normal again. Our last few weeks in Nashville were a blast. We did more exploring and got to show some Texas friends around town. -Barbara Mandrell's log home- It was the largest log house in the world at the time it was built in 1988. It's now owned by two of the biggest music managers in country music. They are so big I don't remember their names. Ha. ...

Man, this assignment has been rough. I really want to moan and complain about how much I hate night shift and it makes me grumpy and sad and wahwahwahwah. But nobody likes a Negative Nelly especially ones who didn't have to endure a hurricane and a week of rain and flooding. So please excuse me while I.... ***ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT*** Alright! First, let me say how thankful I am that all my family and friends on the Gulf Coast and in Houston are safe. My heart aches with those who have been displaced, lost belongings, houses, vehicles, animals, and everything else that has value whether monetary or emotional. We got a little, tiny taste of Harvey tonight as it rolled through Nashville and the tornado warnings alone were enough to send into an anxious crazy person-and it's only been here a day! I just can't even fathom what it must have felt like to sit and wait and watch and worry day after day after day. And then! while it was still raining some of y'all were alrea...

Wow y'all, what a crazy, stressful, difficult 8 weeks. The whole traveling thing is pretty dang great most of the time, but let me tell ya, it's handed us our hineys (not a word I guess) . We LOVE living in our new home but it has been a HUGE learning curve. That, along with an unplanned month off, car trouble in OKC, a dead smoking car in Little Rock, and then having to trade in said dead car and buy new used car from 5 hours away has completely maxed out my stress-o-meter. We finally arrived in Nashville the day before I was supposed to start. As it would turn out I didn't get the call to start until Thursday at noon and I went in that night for my first shift. I haven't worked nights in about three years and am driving the night shift struggle bus. The shift itself at the hospital is fine. My mind and body just do not deal. I'm surviving (I realize this is a first world problem, yes I'm thankful I have a job) but I'm sure Ryan would appreciate all the p...

SO MUCH has happened in the last three weeks! I finished up at East Tennessee Children's, we packed up and moved to Baltimore, taking a few days to stop and see friends and family, and I started back on 9South at Hopkins. As much as I love bouncing around and going to new places every few months it's still so hard to leave friends. At ETCH I feel like I connected with my coworkers really quickly and really got to enjoy working with them versus being anxious about what I say or do or what they think of me. We also got to reconnect with an old high school friend and it was such a great surprise since we had no idea she had just moved to the area. Wonderworks Ryan and Wesley playing at Wonderworks! All that being said it was SO weird coming back to a city, apartment, and unit that we'd been to before. I LOVED walking into the unit the first day and be greeted by so many familiar faces and big hugs! We already know where our grocery store is and how to get around o...

First and foremost, let me introduce y'all to June Carter Cash Sladek! She's our precious little chewy new angel puppy and we LOVE HER! Pearl's getting to like her too. Pearl is super excited to play with her in the mornings but when it's time to go to bed and June's still biting her ear she gets a little snippy. Ha! *** Our first family outing was to Ijams (pronounced Iams) Nature Center. It's a park on the Tennessee River with lots of beautiful hiking and biking trails. It was June's first hike and long walk on the leash. I have to say she did pretty good but both her and Pearl get pretty darn distracted, they probably added like 30 minutes to the walk. We need to do some leash training with both of them. Tennessee River First full family photo! Boardwalk on the trail along the river *** Turns out one of our high school friends lives 45 minutes away! Wesley came  up for the day and we did a little sightseeing. This photo was taken ...

Well y'all we made it to Knoxville! And they were so kind to welcome us with some severe weather. I haven't had to worry about that since we left Texas the first time and it was pretty scary to say the least. Pearl especially hates bad weather. She shakes so hard it's visible from across the apartment. We really like our new apartment, it feels smaller than our San Antonio place but it comes with other perks like a "resort style" indoor pool and jacuzzi AND a washer/dryer. You never realize how great it is to be able to do your laundry in your apartment until you have to live without.  I would say on average this is about the size unit we're usually placed in. Ryan and I are actually the first people to live in this unit after it was remodeled, so that means new kitchen appliances, new flooring, new granite counters, and a new washer/dryer. It's a little mini one that is the washer AND dryer in the same small machine. It's pretty neat, I haven't se...