I Want a Vacation!

:-)

My Sweet Boy

Look at that cute little smile. :-)
Snagged from J's Fuzzyshot
xo

Options, Options

So, I'm thinking about different things lately. I love my job at MCCG, but I still want to check out more of my options. The variety of career paths is why I chose nursing to begin with, and having tucked my first year of experience away I am ready to begin considering new journeys. I want to see more of the world, and our country alone offers many places on my must-see list. California, upstate New York, Seattle, Hawaii, and the list goes on and on. What better way to do that than with travel nursing? I've grown to love orthopedic trauma, so I may stick with it at MCCG and/or explore the Atlanta-area hospitals that offer the specialty unit in the future. I am drawn to the ICU environment, and also think that physician offices and urgent care centers would offer an easy work schedule when I am ready for a break from shift work. I have lots of ideas - I think this is a good problem. Nursing is so flexible.

I am also considering furthering my degree, especially now that GCSU is offering an entirely online RN-BSN program. I still think there are too few incentives to obtain a BSN vs an ASN, but in the meantime while I consider the master/nurse practicioner track, a BSN couldn't hurt. And it wouldn't over-qualify me for the hospital positions that I currently desire. So, like I said...options, options.

Totally unrelated - I am seriously craving Sonic! They are bombarding me with commercials tonight! Yummy :-)

Silly Cute Love

A clip from spring of 2007, recorded during our Spring Break trip in Greenville, SC. We rediscovered all kinds of video clips when J finally repaired our Flip video camera. Score!

Hotel

Getting ready to go out for REI, dinner, and the concert.
Good times!

Labor Day Weekend, Family Style!

First, a long weekend away for a great mountain visit with J's Dad & Sharon, who treat us like royalty and are always fun to be with! After returning home, it was off to my parents' for a cookout and pool party with my cute little cousins. I don't think the holiday weekend could have been better :-)

Also, I can't forget what happened on this day in 2001. I still remember exactly what I was wearing, the high school history class I was sitting in when we first saw the news coverage before all the TVs were cut off, and how my mom hugged my brothers and me extra tightly when we got home from school that day. Everyone aged in some way on that day...I remember.

Yeah, We're a Bicycling Couple Now! :-)

So, J has found a fabulous new way to stay in shape, and now I am completely into it too! Of course, the journey has already been horribly rocky after he was hit by a car less than two weeks after purchasing our fancy bikes, but he recovered well and has been brave enough to get back on the bike, back on the road, and back to his commitment to health and fitness. We have a sweet set of Treks - Lance rides a Trek, too!

We had a great time cycling the trails in Townsend, Tennessee during a wonderful family visit with J's dad & Sharon. That was my first feat - 10 miles. A few days after that, I successfully completed and actually enjoyed a 20.9 mile group ride with the cool dudes from The Bike Store. I even kept up with the boys! :-) Since then, J and I have been out together for a challenging yet fun 15 mile ride in a less trafficy section of town. Now, hubby has been doing these crazy 33+ mile rides, but he's a machine! I just hoping to keep improving - cycling is so much more fun than running, and it's nice to be outside while the weather is nice, rather than indoors at the gym.

So, if you happen to be driving around our town and see a bike, or several bikes, please be cautious and feel free to wave hello! :-)

Let's Go Back

Missing the beach already...

Sweet Siesta Key, FL.
May 2008.

Day Five: Home, Sweet Home

Made it home safe and sound, pulling into the driveway around 3:00 pm. We shared the driving duties, traded off iPod time, and traveled under a cloudy gray sky for the entire 350 miles home. That type of icky weather made it a tiny bit easier to leave Florida behind, but already I am accosted by calls from work with scheduling questions, have unpacked us both and started a load of laundry, and J washed the car. Blah - we're back to reality. But it was a BEYOND SWEET trip and we are always thankful for safe travels. I already can't wait to get away again soon, but it's nice to be back to our own bed for now. We enjoyed lots of amazing seafood, fine adult beverages, beautiful beach memories were made, and we discovered Siesta Key together, which is now officially on my list of top beach destinations. It was truly swoon-worthy, refreshing and recharging. And now we are relaxing on our couch catching up on the American Idol season finale: home, sweet home. The End.

Update: Yaaaaaay, David Cook! We were so sure this finale was not going to go the way we hoped, but it did! :-)

Day Three: Rain and More Rain

Anniversary Day!

Our anniversary started off with a fantastic breakfast of eggs benedict at First Watch, my first visit to Whole Foods, and some shopping in downtown Sarasota - used books for J and special anniversary earrings for me - our tradition. :-) We drove through St. Armand's Circle, but it wasn't as easy to appreciate it's bevy of beauty through the torrential downpour. We circled through, pointed out all the things we would have liked to see and do, and turned back toward Sarasota. After an enjoyable and extended pitstop at Borders, we left with a sack full of books and got soaked outside once again. A light lunch at The Hub/Baja Grille with draft beer, salad, chips & queso was just what we needed as we waited the rain out, and now we are back to the room where I am ready to hit the beach despite the little rumble of thunder that just sneaked through our hotel walls.

Just like the day before, the clouds parted by late afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun until it was time for it to depart. I lounged on the beach for hours, walked with J to the rocky point at the end of the shore and collected more shells until he grew jealous of my seashell obsession (indeed, it's a new favorite thing of mine!!) and retreated inside to clean up for dinner and read books. I stayed outside a bit longer, checked out the pool for a few laps, then showered up for our nightly ritual of cocktails and sunset appreciation before dinner. The clouds that had rolled in parted briefly for some final pink sun rays and then the hazy and lazy neon-glow gave way to the gorgeous full moon that accompanied our entire trip, and we made our way back to St. Armand's to dine al fresco at The Columbia, which never fails to wow. We split a famous "1905 salad" with the mythically tasty crusty cuban bread, tapas for two, and a side of Valencia rice. This "light" alternative to full entrees was far more than enough food for two people, and we made a pact then and there to share more food since it's often wasted with the gigantic portion sizes that are the unfortunate norm. We strolled the circle and stopped in at Kilwin's for a cone of banana-fudge-pie ice cream that rocked my world before heading back for one final night at our beloved little beach resort. This area of Florida intrigues me - we've run into families today from both England and Germany, and our hotel neighbors have interesting European accents that I can't quite place. And I thought our drive was a long one... :-)

Day Two: Rain, Rain Go Away/Rainy Monday

Huge storm rolled through around 4:00 am and woke us, but it's fury passed quickly and we were able to sleep in until Starbucks called and wanted us to donate to their cause. And we did. Mmm, caffeine. :-)

After a lazy morning, we decided to hit the beach and got all suited up only to discover it was drizzling outside. We decided to wait it out a little while before giving up, and parked it in the cabana with books in hand. After taking a couple of polaroids and reading exactly 1.5 pages, the small but mighty swarm of mosquitoes chased us back in to our room. We changed clothes again and decided to do some driving and sightseeing in our dry, bug-free car. There are tons of beautiful sea-mansions around here, and lots of them for sale! We scouted out a few more places to eat dinner, checked out Siesta Key Village, and headed into Sarasota for some shopping. I got the awesome pair of shoes I've been pining after for the past week at Dillard's while J browsed a cool kitchen store, and after a couple more shopping stops, I grabbed some Rain-kissed Leaves lotion and Dancing Waters body mist from Bath & Body Works (perfect beach purchases!), and we set out to find lunch. Sweet Tomatoes was our pick today, and I was in veggie heaven. Rows and rows of salad stuff, soup, pasta, and bread with nearly zero meat in sight - yay! I loved it, and took pictures to remember it by. By this time the rain had ceased, and we could see little patches of blue sky...but my heart didn't sing for long, as the drops started to fall again as soon as we turned in the direction of our hotel. Still, this weather makes for a nice afternoon siesta, and I'm starting to understand why they named this key so aptly. Maybe my sunny dreams will come true when I wake, and I can finally lay on the sand...until then, yawn.

Fast forward to about 4:30 pm:
Beautiful afternoon on the beach, breezy and sunny = perfect for tanning! I picked up a gazillion shells, each more lovely than the last. J retired to the room a bit earlier than me to browse photos and such, but I stayed out until my skin started to turn pink, then after showering up, purchasing postcards (loved ones watch your mailboxes!), and enjoying some super-delish mixed beverages, mango rum (for me) and Maker's Mark (for J) , we returned to the beach for sunset pictures and enjoyed the sights. Dinner at S.K.O.B. - that's Siesta Key Oyster Bar for you non-locals ;-) It was fabulous! Grouper bites with buffalo remolaude, a Vampiro for me (a margarita with lots of bells & whistles, including hibiscus and ginger!) and a Lobster Pot Pie, with LongBoard on draft for J and a jerk-seasoned shrimp & scallop skewer dinner that looked great. Yum-O!

Anniversary Trip Journal - Day One: We Made It!

(To catch anyone up to speed who doesn't already know, J and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary in Siesta Key, FL.)

Loooong drive for us both, due to my lack of sleep and the fact that J's drive actually started in TN, making it a 12-hour trip. Still, we enjoyed the ride, shared the driving duties, and are digging all the space in the CRV.

We stopped by ABC for some goodies before arriving at our destination, the lovely gulfside Tropical Shores around 7:30pm catching a couple of sunset rays on the way to check in. It's beautiful here! Our room is nice and clean, very cute with it's little kitchen and lighted cabana out front, complete with a giant grill, table, and decorative jungle setting. I highly recommend this place - great rates and a great place to stay. Yay! :-)

Dinner took us to Captain Curt's for Crabby Red draft beer, crab cakes, fried shrimp for J and a yummy Cheese-Snapper-in-Paradise sandwich for me. Cute atmosphere, and within walking distance. After dinner, we walked down to the beach and J laughed at me as I snatched up beautiful seashells. Tonight we greeted sleep early and eagerly, in preparation for the fun to come.

Mountaineers

Travelers on the Road to Nowhere.
Bryson City, NC.
April 2008.