The Traveling Kind

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...

Well we're slowly but surely drinking our way through ALL the Denver breweries! Needless to say we're having a good time and Ryan's not sure if he ever wants to leave. Ha! The craft beer here is amazing! Ryan is working at the grocery store by us as a deli man so on the few days off we have together we like visiting breweries, driving through the mountains, and taking the dogs to Washington Park, a huge park with two lakes and miles of paths. We've made great friends here too! There were tons of travelers in my orientation group so we hit it off right off the bat. I love having friends to play with on my days off! We've also gotten to visit with our friends Kevin and Jen that we've known since high school. We haven't seen them in probably 8 years and we got to meet their kiddos for the first time. I love all the opportunities travel nursing has provided us in reconnecting with old friends or seeing friends we've met in a previous assignment again. Ryan...

Well y'all, we've made it to Denver. We left Chicago right after I got off work and drove straight through the night to maximize our time at home with family and friends. We got to spend about 5 days catching up and on Friday we started our trek Raton, NM our midway stop. We moved in on Saturday and by that Monday I was sitting in the first day of my week long orientation. Then, by the time I got home Ryan was already asking if we could extend here. Ha! I hadn't even been on the unit yet. But I have to agree, Denver is pretty amazing. There are so many craft breweries here! In fact, there's two right by my hospital, and one or two right by where we live. Convenience. Ha. Our first 9 days here consisted of moving in and work. The last few days we've really gotten to explore our area a little bit. Yesterday we ventured to the front range of the Rocky Mountains and drove the Lariat Loop which is a 40 mile scenic loop through the mountains. The little mountain towns her...

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...