Hello ol' friend!

Long time no talk.. which is something I feel like I have said multiple times on this blog, but it is especially true this time. The last time I have published a post was back in ~gulp~ October!! It's a whole new year now, I am on a new contract in a new city.. but most importantly, I am back on good ol' day shift (yay for no more night shift!).

I gotta say though, some of my most favorite friendships are with people who I don't see all the time, but when we do see each other, it's as if nothing has changed. We are able to catch up and jump right back in where we left off. Here's hoping our blogger/reader relationship can be like that. Can you forgive me for being MIA for so long? I can recap "here's what you missed on glee" style?

I did a pretty decent amount of travel (shocker, I know). Some of the highlights included Hershey Park, Philly, Pottstown, Charleston, Manhattan, and back home for the holidays.

I collected plenty of moments with Mr. Sun (again, shocker..). The biggest thing I miss about night shift, that I called out in my last post, is the surplus of sunrises I was able to appreciate while walking out of a shift. I am definitely a sunset girly, but there is something so special about watching the day begin while your shift is ending. There are not a ton of windows in hospitals, so I often have to scope out an empty patient room or hope that one of my patient's has their blinds open. While I wasn't awake for sunrises very much unless I was leaving work, I did catch a very cool one in Manhattan to celebrate my dad's birthday. The sun rose right in between two buildings and made for quite a pretty view and is apparently a phenomenon that only happens a few times a year!

While the sunrises are just about the only thing I'm gonna miss about my night shift gig (alright, there are a few gems of coworkers too of course), I sure am going to miss living with my bestie. Special shoutout also goes to my four-legged roommate, Oakley! I was lucky enough to have a visit from another bestie to start out this contract-- and enjoy first day ice cream with-- but I am unfortunately left to live alone this go around (although I do have a guest room if anyone is trying to visit!!).

This next contract has taken me to Charlottesville, VA! Don't worry, Virginia Tech friends, I'll maintain my loyalty for sports, just let me work at UVA for a bit in peace, please. In deciding the location for this contract, I had realized that I had skipped Virginia in my galavanting down the east coast. I have worked in every other state from PA to SC, how rude of me to not pay my respects to Virginia! I am already liking that I am back at a big teaching hospital, but I've only barely started, so I guess stay tuned for my full facility review. 

The same kind of goes for Charlottesville as a whole. I definitely experienced my fair share of weather from nice and sunny (already capturing quite a good sunset view or two I might add) to torrential downpour on orientation day 2 to a decent amount of snow! I have found myself taking advantage of the Charlottesville Ale Trail which is a collection of 18 different breweries and distilleries in the area. The idea is you check in when you're enjoying a beer at each of these locations and when you have collected all 18 stamps to fill your passport, you get to redeem a free hat! I'm always down for a good scavenger hunt, but I more so just like exploring a town one IPA at a time. So far, I've been to Rockfish Downtown and South Street. Two down, plenty to go! 

Ya know, I think I got sidetracked and never really finished my "here's what you missed.." on account of I barely even touched on the multitude of holidays that have happened since I last posted!!

I last posted in early October, so I'll start with Halloween.. where I dressed up as a nurse and handed out meds at work instead of candy at home. This past Halloween was very close to a full moon.. I'm not superstitious, I feel like the patients are often a little nuts regardless of what mr moon is up to, but it's sometimes nice to have something to blame. In fact, according to my "nurse schedule app year in review," I worked 6 full moons in 2023!

The one time I was pleased to work night shift was into Thanksgiving. I still got holiday pay after midnight, but got to be off Thanksgiving night meaning I napped in the morning and then could enjoy all of the food and booze my heart desired (and took an excellent post-turkey nap). I celebrated Thanksgiving with my bestie/roomie and her husband, but we expanded into a little friendsgiving style day with some of her work friends and my built in bestie, aka my sister! There were lots of sleepy bodies, but I do declare that we all had a lovely time.

The next "holiday" was Dad's birthday which I kinda touched upon earlier when I mentioned the magical New York sunrise. It's more affectionately known as Reverse Manhattanhenge where the sun rises directly between the buildings. The regular "Manhattanhenge" is right before the summer solstice when the sun sets between the buildings and might be something I need to come back to witness! It was so fun being able to celebrate the whole day with the whole family.

I had to specifically request off of work for the NY trip, but I only unofficially request off for Christmas and New Years. As a travel nurse, I often don't get much of a say regarding my schedule, but I do regain control when it comes to when my vacations are between contracts. I SO look forward to spending time with my family during the holidays and am so grateful that I have that flexibility. I am very grateful for the health care workers who sacrifice their family time to be taking care of other people's families, and I have been one those health care workers in the past (and likely will be them in the future), so I'm taking advantage of the time and flexibility I have now!

Full honesty, I truly just care about having Christmas off.. I don't care so much about New Years and actually slept through the "extravagantly notable" transition right at midnight, I did enjoy reminiscing on the past year. Specifically, my sunsets! I captured over 100 sunsets in 7 states, two countries outside the US, and plenty from the window of a plane (top priority is always a nonstop flight, but you best bet I'll pick the flight near sunset time if I'm between two). This is my second year making a recap video, and in 2022, I either pared down my sunsets and only put the best of the best in, or I was better at editing.. 2023's video is closer to 2 minutes, but I find it a very relaxing 2 minute watch if you're interested. (click here to watch)

I'm sure my days will continue to be full of plenty of chaos and adventure, but I'd like to find more moments of stillness and calm in 2024 and be more intentional in my actions and purpose. I'm not a big fan of resolutions, but I like the idea of a fresh start just as much as the next guy (especially when the fresh start is a first day and comes with first day ice cream, am I right?!). I've seen lots of different takes on the start to the year. Between vision boards, ins/outs, bingo boards, key words, and traditional resolutions, there are plenty of ways to set yourself up for "success" (or whatever that looks like for you) for the new year. I hadn't committed to any of the above, but what I did promise to myself is that I would continue to chase my happy and I hope you do too. 

Until next time!