The Traveling Kind

I know it's been a while since my last post and that's mainly because I GOT MY JOB BACK! Yep, that's right. I was hired right back on into my exact same contract that was canceled. I don't even know what all my recruiter had to do to make that happen but I'm sure glad she did! Since it is the same contract I'll be ending November 8th, but we are still hoping to stay through the beginning of January. So come November I'll be at the mercy of Dell again. But fingers crossed that things work out and I get word of an extension soon. Ryan has also secured a job through the holidays. He works at an Austin apparel/gift store that's right across the street from our apartment building called Austin Rocks. There are only 3 other people that he works with so he's had a great time getting to know them. We've also already benefitted from his awesome discount! The past few weeks we've just been settling into our new jobs and continuing to see friends. T...

Well I think everyone knows by now that my contract with Dell Children's Hospital was canceled by the hospital. That was 12 days ago now and I still don't have a new job. Normally what would happen if a contract was canceled is that my recruiter would submit me to pretty much any available PICU day jobs throughout the country and I'd go to the first one that offered me a job. However, a decision we made in regards to our housing and the fact that we want to stay in Austin is kind of limiting my options. Lucky for me, (hopefully not for bad/sad reasons) a traveler currently on contract with Dell is not going to be able to finish his/her contract. This led to the the Dell director contacting me again and asking if I was interested in coming back and finishing out that contract. Of course I said yes but due to all the junk that has to be done between my company and the hospital I don't have an official offer yet. I could still potentially not start work again until next we...

WARNING: Boring picture dump ahead... But there's a story about a bidet...so that's not something you see everyday...whose idea was that anyway?? Ryan and I did the trip from Denver to Thousand Oaks, CA in three legs. Our first day we drove from Denver to Moab, UT. How beautiful that drive was. First, we started out in the snowy mountains where the temps were in the 40s.  Then, as we slowly made our way to the west side of the mountains the snow disappeared and the temps rose. The landscapes were so vastly different but so beautiful in their own ways. I just can't believe that if Ryan and I would've chickened out that day 4 years ago we could've missed this. We would've spent our yearly vacations on a beach somewhere and completely missed it. Moab is the cutest little ol' town. There are a few national parks nearby with loads of hiking, biking, and ATV-ing, a river for rafting, and there's tons of stuff to do in town. We DROVE through Arches, st...

No big life decisions here, don't worry, we're not settling down or anything. I mean an ending in Denver and beginning in Thousand Oaks, sillies! We've only been in Thousand Oaks for about a week but it feels like an eternity since my last shift at Rocky Mountain Children's. We spent our last days in Denver finishing up our bucket list, drinking the rest of all the beer with friends, and seeing Kacey Musgraves in concert! We spent a day in Breckenridge seeing the mountains and catching up with an old Texas friend. Our last snowy weekend in Denver, we were dunzo with the snow. Spring had sprung! And then snow happened...and is apparently still happening. On our way to Mount Rushmore we saw signs for Oregon Trail wagon ruts and had to stop by!  For some reason or another Ryan decided to look to see how far Mount Rushmore was from Denver and it turns out it's only a 6 hour drive! Knowing that the wind never really seems to blow us in the direction o...

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...