End of an Era

This post is dedicated to my BFFaeaeaeaeaeae4L (do you guys remember doing that in school?), Nat! Our days as travel nurses came to an end a while ago and we both have been talking about doing a last post on this blog. Today is a rainy day. Perfect day to write down some thoughts.

The day we left. 

Throwin it way back to nursing school days. This is Ron and Opal. 

One of our trips back to Florida to visit family.

It was the early morning of October 1, 2013 (or was it? the date may be wrong but I'm sure Nat will correct me) where we hugged and kissed our families good bye and drove away in Nat's tan Toyota Corolla, Ron (I believe that came from "Parks and Rec"). I was a young 26 year old and Nat was an old 26 year old. We talked about how we felt like Bilbo Baggins "going on an adventure!" Little did we know that we were not only going on a fun-filled adventure but we would encounter loneliness and some depressing days (mostly during the holidays). The great thing is, we had each other! (Nat may not be so quick to feel the same). We were able to feel lonely together, depressed together. We literally spent our time 24/7 together. One car. One home. One job. It became more than a friendship. It became a marriage. That's why we started out in California.  Noooooo, but seriously, it became a sisterhood. 

Our stop in Utah at Temple Square

Travel nursing was so much fun. And challenging. The great thing was you worked there for a few months and then you moved on. The bad thing was you were thrown onto the floor with little to no orientation and you had to quickly gain rapport with the staff because you needed them to have your back at times or lend a helping hand (which wasn't too difficult, most people were very helpful). Our first assignment was in CA in the bay area (near San Francisco) and we had already seen so much on our drive out there. When we left Florida, we drove up to IL (did some sightseeing) and then across through MO, KS (the worst drive, SO windy!! I was for sure Ron was going to blow right off the interstate. Thankfully we had a lot of heavy luggage in the car.), CO (stopped to visit with my friends, Robin and Ryan), UT (stayed the night, what a beautiful state! all of that red rock was something I had never seen before), NV (first time I went 90+ mph!) and then drove across the border into CA and was able to drive along Lake Tahoe (I will NEVER forget those views, absolutely beautiful!). We did a lot of traveling in CA. Went from SF to LA and made some great memories along with A LOT of inside jokes. We were starting out learning about each other. Afraid to tell the other how we were feeling or what we needed to do (know where I'm going with this? hehe ;) ). 

17 Mile Drive, Monterey Peninsula, CA

Then came our next assignment in WA state. The northwest. It is a green place. I love the trees and landscape. When I came back to FL to visit the first thing I noticed (yes, was the humidity) so really the second thing I noticed were the trees. It's so different. I know, strange to keep talking about it, but seriously. If you travel from the northwest to FL look at the trees. We also did quite a bit of traveling in WA mostly to Seattle which is one of my favorite cities! Was so sad to say goodbye :( We went into Canada and visited small towns and eventually made our way to Vancouver. Traveled to MT, ID and OR. WA is where we made great friends and many more great memories. And I think we ate much more in the northwest. Man, we learned what it meant to eat GOOD food.

Our first day in Rathdrum, Idaho (WA assignment). First time I experienced snow like this AND driving in snow!

Forced best friend photos. Kerry Park, Seattle

Our first trip into Canada! (my Caaaaaaaanaadah)

Visiting friends in Portland

I can't believe all we did in a short amount of time. I can't believe how much growth we both experienced in such a short amount of time. There is so much LIFE (friendship, loneliness, depression, happiness, healthiness, body image acceptance, faith, dating, love, hate, anger, deaths, hurt, forgiveness...) we lived in that one and a half years. Right, Nat? 

Oahu, Hawaii

Then I moved. And now our relationship is in shambles. We need help. Just kidding! We like to say that was the end of that chapter and now we have started the next one. I gained another sister out of this and love her dearly. She is so goofy but has (Nat, I actually wrote 'some' but then deleted it haha!) rbf so it's hard to see it at first. She is hilarious! And she is one of the best nurses I have ever worked with and has some strong intuition. I would trust her with my life. Just wanted to throw that tidbit in there. If you ever have her as a nurse. Because I think I may have joked that she could kill you or something like that.

(This one was for our favorite career consultant, Charity, at Medical Solutions).
I LOVED working together. Some of the best memories. Love you, Nat Nat Bear :)

Thank you to those who followed our blog, thought about us and prayed for us! It was much appreciated!! 

Finally, a new post!

It's been over a month since our last blog. Cannot believe how quickly the time has gone! It may seem like we are ALWAYS having a good time but we have been working quite a bit and we are on complete opposite schedules. Travel nursing has definitely had its challenges and we have overcome the most brutal part (the first month) and feel more confident today than we did when we first started. 

Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we have been doing on our days off. 

We spent Thanksgiving with a family we mentioned in one of our earlier posts. This is the day after Thanksgiving. Nat made a legit, traditional, American dinner. Sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, turkey, stuffing, rolls and 2 tbs of mashed potatoes (literally), homemade apple pie and cranberry sauce. Everything was delicious!! She is constantly nagging me to make up for this meal. (She just said, "I think you still need to make up for it. Like make more butter chicken.")

We had a day off together and decided to go to the city (SF) and visit Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. We walked around and saw the sea lions. They were very loud and smelly. Some looked dead (don't worry they weren't, they were just sleeping on top of each other.)

Fisherman's wharf was packed with street vendors selling delicious smelling seafood. We took a taxi back to Union Square and walked around.

Christmas tree in Union Square

Nat and her obsession with Disney. (There was a huge Disney store in Union Square, any child's dream).

Our 'lil Christmas tree and our first stockings (presh!) over the fireplace. 

Friends of our family that I was able to meet up with. Shivangi ben was so hospitable and welcoming. I loved spending time with her two outgoing sons and (hard working) husband. She made me homemade chai! Such a sweet family. They even got me a birthday cake and sang to me the last time I visited with Nat. 

Birthday surprise from Natalie after getting off from work! Such a great roomie.

Another birthday surprise! Bought me breakfast from Starbucks. I have never had this much coffee since living with Nat. (I told her not to expect the same from me. Ha!)

This was on 17 mile drive. Such a beautiful scenery. The west coast is more rugged with more of a scenic landscape than the east coast. LOVED this day. 

The Pacific Ocean! Our first time walking on the beach of the PO.

No idea what I am trying to do with my arms. 

Met this really hot guy.

Watched the sunset on the beach in Carmel, CA.

Went for a visit to my cousin's, Pranoti ben, and her husband's, Raju bhai, home. They were so gracious to let us crash over at their home. Loved spending time with them, sitting by their gas lit fireplace catching up. Am so glad we had the opportunity to see them. She told me she would hook me up with some Indian groceries, told her to not go all out and the above picture tells you she did the complete opposite! Love her giving heart. Told her I would beat her if she ever did this again!

Christmas dinner. Made homemade butter chicken (per Nat's request since I owe her from Thanksgiving) and chickpea curry, naan (courtesy of Trader Joe's) and basmati rice. Kept a simpler dinner. It was pretty good ;)

This past week we went to Sonoma, CA. We went to a winery called Gundlach Bundschu (pronounced "Gun-lock Bun-shoe). Everything was dry (including the wine hehehehehe) but I can only imagine how lush green it is during the spring and summer. We decided to take a last minute wine cave tour and was given a tour by one of the owners. I didn't realize wine making was so scientific. Annnnd during tours every time you stop you are offered a sip(s) of wine they make. We stopped 6-7 times! 

This was at the end of the tour. We hung around and sat outside to take in the beautiful views. 

We finished up early and decided to stop by IKEA in Berkeley. It. Was. Huge.

This assignment is coming to a close very soon (Feb 1). In the beginning I thought it would take a really long time (a few assignments) to adjust to this whole travel nursing thing but I think we are getting the hang of it (for now...). Thank you so much for all of your prayers, thoughts, text messages and support through this transition!

I leave you with this. 

A Day in SF!

We feel like we should start out tonight's post by emphasizing that we are definitely feeling a little better these days.  Bela still definitely HATES day shift and never wants to work another day shift in her life after this contract.  Ever.  Never.  (Those are all her words, btw)

This week we took a day trip into SF!

^^^We came upon the Golden Gate Bridge a lot more quickly than we expected, and then didn't know where to go after that.  We ended up in Sausalito, and because we were STARVING (translation: I was starving) we stopped at a diner there. 

^^^I had a Greek omelette, DELICIOUS!

^^^Bela ate raw eggs.

Actually, it's french toast with a fired banana and candied walnuts and powdered sugar on top. 

^^^Then we drove to Muir Woods, where we got to see giant redwood trees!  Yay! 

^^^We went back to the Golden Gate Bridge to take pictures (of course we sang the Full House theme song!).  It was SUPER windy, and turns out that we were under some pretty strong wind advisories that day and evening.  This picture was as presentable as my hair looked all day.  It was actually blowing all over the place until this second.

^^^Bela in front of the bridge. 

^^^We walked the bridge!  So cool!  And again, SUPER windy!

^^^Here we are on the bridge. 

 ^^^And we went to Philz Coffee!  Seriously the BEST coffee I have ever had.  And that's saying something because I am a coffee connoisseur!  They grind the specific brew you ask for and make each cup freshly, and even make their own half and half!

^^^And this, dear friends, is Bela enjoying the wind in her hair.

The Reality of Travel Nursing

We have been feeling a little down lately. Having a rough week. Travel nurses are not treated the same as regular RNs working on the floor. We came off of a high after traveling and spending time with family and friends.  We have settled into our apartment, and are done with orientation. We were excited to start, but our 2 days of orientation on the floor feel insufficient preparing us for working on our own.

This afternoon I (Bela) got off of work and felt just like this picture below...

{I (Natalie) woke up from sleeping after work to Bela laying on the floor in her room like this.  We were both sad.}

This picture is EXACTLY what I did when I got home. I went into my room, laid on the ground (because I still had my scrubs on) on my belly, took off my glasses and was in the same position as this dog. Expression and all.

I usually work night shift and picked up day shift and evening rotating 8 hour shifts for this assignment. I remember now why I hated working days!

We are definitely feeling a little discouraged this week.  After Bela got off work tonight, we decided to take a nice walk at a beautiful park just a couple miles down the road from our apartment.  The fresh air and beautiful scenery did us some good, and now we are sitting at a Starbucks, sipping peppermint mochas, enjoying the Bing Crosby music playing in the background.  Right now it's the simple things that are comforting.  We both definitely know that this is where we are supposed to be, but it's also a little hard right now... and on top of it we don't have the support system we are used to.  We're turning our brains off and seeing Ender's Game tonight at the theater.... we'll deal with reality tomorrow!

First Week in Castro Valley

Hello!  Today will complete our first weekend as travel nurses!  And boy, did we need the break.  The past week and a half has been an overwhelming whirlwind of traveling, sightseeing, orientation, meeting new people, moving, unpacking and re-packing, and very little sleep on top of our bodies being three hours ahead.

So we are somewhat recovered now, and back to give another update.  We started out our weekend Friday night by taking the Bart into SF!  We didn't really know what we were doing and just decided to pick a stop to get off at.  We didn't know where we were going and may have ended up in a somewhat sketchy part of the city.  Anyway, we found our way to Union Square with a little help from friendly San Franciscans (people here are NICE!) and walked around.

Here we are on the Bart, super excited! 

Saks and Tiffany's.  What!

So we went into Saks Fifth Ave and decided to check out the fur coats.  Here I am holding a $60,000 fur coat.  Ridiculous.  I was afraid to try any on, but Bela wasn't!  (SN: I would never in a million years buy or wear a fur coat!)

I (Bela) totally look hot and would buy fur coats all the time. (Just kidding) 

(No she's not)

Waiting for the Bart home.

Natalie back again.  We went and saw Thor last night, because we just felt like we wanted to do something normal and relaxed.  And it was!  It was SUCH a good movie and you all should go see it!  Team Loki for life! 

So, the Bay Area is always super cold at night.  Which makes for cold floors.  Somehow, the cold here is different than the cold back home.  So we decided to buy fuzzy slippers to wear around the apartment.  Ain't they cute?

 Eating lunch on the floor yesterday.  Our furniture rental will be delivered this week.  Both of us feel like we could do without furniture, however.  Well, we might want to have beds... and a couch.... and a chair.... but y'know, otherwise we could do without!

So, we are pretty much all settled in here in Castro Valley! Bela's cousin and husband were very gracious enough to already invite us to over for thanksgiving! And we actually met a really awesome family this week (long story as to how) and they go to the church we tried out today.  These are, hands-down, among the nicest, most open people we have ever met.  Almost as soon as they met us we already had open invitations for Thanksgiving and Christmas (something we had specifically prayed for) and we are set to go to their house this evening for a dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  We are so grateful to have met them.  They already feel like family, and have opened their home so willingly to us.