I feel like The Bachelor

Little stressed today. I am supposed to give my answer as to which job I will take. I have called several people, talked, and prayed quite a bit. I honestly think I will be happy at both places, but I just don't want to question "what if" and so I am dying for a very certain answer. Hasn't come. I will keep trying though.

I was just talking to my wonderful sister telling her about the situation and realized this is what the Bachelor must feel like.

He gets down to the last two women and has no idea what to do. Wait, what? How can you not know?! You think you love both of them! Now I understand this. It is because he doesn't really know either one of them. I haven't worked on either of these floors and don't have the experience to ask all the correct decisions. I bet if I had experience on both for a month the decision would be much easier.

This realization gave us a great laugh. Eased the stress quite a bit.

Minutes left to decide and I am still floundering...But I guess that is why they call it a leap of faith.

Let's just hope I don't mess up like the bachelor did...

Stuff in your pockets

Don't you love it when you wear a coat or anything you haven't worn for a while and you put your hands in your pockets and find something you didn't expect? I love that. Like some money, or some little sample axe body spray things I just found in my pocket that I got at the Jazz Sixers game. Money is obviously better, but I needed to illustrate my point. Don't you love that?

We are on our way to NYC for the Holiday on a double decker bus. Sweet. We are meeting Julie's brother and his wife there. Gotta love how close all of these cities are back here.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New posts below.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Seeing blogs in a new light

So I haven't been that interested in blogging. I get tired of seeing all the cool things people do and feeling a little left out. But I have realized since moving away from family and friends what a great tool blogs can be. It has been so fun to know what is going on in people's lives even when we are so far away. So up front, my life is great, but we are still learning how to live with one another. That can be frustrating, exasperating, and I am tempted to question myself and say "what was I thinking!"But that really, for the all those times, I would never change having someone there supporting me 100% of that way. Anyways, enough of that.
So I will be blogging periodically from now on and hopefully Eli doesn't mind me writing every once and a while.

So here is what I have been thinking about:

Honestly, Thanksgiving is not been my favorite holiday. I really don't like turkey (unless it is my dad's and is Cajun fried). Not a big fan of stuffing. Mashed potatoes are okay. I really enjoy the rolls, but that is about it. So when November comes around, I have always find myself wanting to forget the turkey and move on to Christmas. However, I realized (when reading my sister-in-law Shawni's blog) that instead of focusing on solely on Thanksgiving day, I really should be thinking about giving thanks all month.

This really dawned on me when driving to "work" this last week. On days when Eli does not have any appointments I am lucky enough to drive. On Thursday I turned right onto Capital South to get on the freeway to Virginia and there was the Capitol surrounded in this mist of fog. I starting thinking how cool it is that I get to see this beautiful building everyday I drive to work. I then realized that the rest of my commute is pretty fantastic as well. Once on the freeway I pass by the Washington and Jefferson monuments as I cross into Virginia. I get on the 66 where I am literally feet from the Pentagon. I also see the Air Force memorial which is very cool. Then heading north I pass the Iwo Jima memorial and get to see the rows and rows of headstones from the Arlington cemetery.

How lucky am I to see such beautiful sites on a 20 minute commute to work.

Another thing I am thankful for right now are beautiful sunrises. This month I have been working quite a few night shifts. Often we give a few medications at 630 right before shift change and right as the sun is coming up. I work on the 6th floor and looking out the window on that sunrise is just incredible with all the fall trees.

Lastly, I love books. I just read this book Left to Tell. (Once again thank you to Shawni-or Saydi-can't remember) Fabulous. It is the story of a woman caught in the middle of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. It made me question my relationship with God and how much power I could and should be utilizing from prayer. You should read it.

Basically I love nature right now and feel so lucky to live where I am and that Eli has a job.

Happy month of giving thanks!

Don't forget to read Eli's new post below!

P.S. Just found out about 2 minutes ago that I got a job! I interviewed at Children's National Medical Center and got the job on the Heart and Kidney Unit and the Hematology/Oncology Unit. I feel so lucky that I will get to get to work in such an amazing place. I seriously feel so humble, because even though Eli says I am the world's best nurse, I realize that I have so so so so much to learn.
Now the extremely hard part is deciding which one to take...

around

love this place. any time you can see stuff like this…. (mind these were taken with my iPhone, I can’t find my camera charger)

 

the smithsonian. i think you could go everyday for a couple years and still not see it all. This is the tunnel between the National Gallery of Art and the East Gallery (modern art), pretty awesome moving sidewalk ride.

I think I will always be in awe when I walk past this place. This is the pinnacle of all of the incredible architecture here in dc.

somebody was really thirsty. 40 gallons is worth a picture. She was looking right at me, but to me, you are asking for pictures when you have this much milk.

drove past this on a street in maryland while driving to a school. i can’t get over the leave here. we are still hanging on to a few of them, but winter seems to be trying to take over.

I went up to a conference outside of Philly at Penn State Abington. whoa it was beautiful up there! A little campus of old rock building surrounded by leaves like you can’t believe. i wish we could have had the conference outside.

The next week, I went back to Philly where Noah was kind enough to join me for an awesome day of work and meetings with the School District of Philadelphia. We conveniently planned the day of meetings with day the Jazz were in town to play the Sixers. Julie came up from DC and met us in time for dinner and the game. We went to Buddhakan, one of the coolest restaurants I have ever been to, not to mention incredibly tasty. Any time there is at 10 foot Buddha statue in the place, it’s gonna be good right (well, this was the first time I have experienced it, but I am 1 for 1 cause it was sweet). We then headed over to see the Jazz take it to the Sixers. It was awesome to be there rootin on the Jazz…even though they started up a little rough, but I think they are hitting their stride!

DC is an amazing spot full of great stuff, weird stuff, awesome people, peculiar people. One of my favorite things about being here is the great ward we are in. The Capitol Hill Ward is full of fascinating people who I am sure we’ll be learning a lot from. We’re excited to get to know everyone better. Today one of the lessons was on Service. It fit this time of year very nicely. Thanksgiving and Christmas should go hand in hand with service. We read in Matthew 25:31-40. Read it through slowly and think about it.

  31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

  32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

  33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

  34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

  40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

I think that when we serve (in any capacity) it is one small way that we can repay (or at least attempt to) our debt to the Savior. In a sense we get to be an extension of Him and do what he did. What does it mean to you? I am going to try to apply this more in my life. Really, I mean think about it, when we are sad/stressed, a lot of it is because we are spending a lot of time think about ourselves. Then think about how happy you are/the smile on your face during and after you have the opportunity to help someone, no matter how big or small the act. Thoughts?

philly.

I had to go to Philly last week for some meetings and it turned out Julie didn’t have to be in the hospital those days, so she came with me. I’ve been in Philly a lot this year, so it was fun to have Julie there to show her some of my favorite spots.

Philly is such a cool city. It is where everything started. There is such a diverse crowd of people there, and the city itself (architecture, food, layout, all that) is pretty awesome. At the center of the city is the MASSIVE city hall. According to the handout there, it is even bigger than the US Capitol Building. At the time it was built, it was supposed to be the the tallest structure in the world. It took them longer than they thought, and by the time they finished, the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower beat it out. The statue of William Penn on the top is the tallest statue on a building in the world. I have to give Julie credit for this first picture, she has quite the eye. That is the masonic temple on the left.

Then going out in all directions from the city hall is an awesome city. Some incredible architecture. We made it out to the mecca of cheesesteaks. Geno’s and Pat’s King of Steaks…the never ending debate as to who makes the better steak. Nothing like a little beef and cheeze wiz. They were both really good. I think we give the edge to Pat’s though. Geno’s was a little flashier. Pat’s had an inscription on the cement marking where Rocky stood during one of the Rocky movies. These guys take their steaks serious. It was a little intimidating to order in the right way.

Got to see the Liberty Bell and go on a tour of Independence Hall. It is amazing to hear the stories, and think about all the incredible minds that worked together to break away from England and establish this great country. Here in Independence Hall, these men basically signed their lives away as they were committing high treason. I am so glad they had the guts to not only sign the Declaration, but to make it happen.

Good times in the city of Brotherly Love. Talk about Phillies Pride. We were there the night the Phillies lost game 6. Everyone was out in every restaurant watching. Even though they lost. The loyal fans, from business men, to delivery guys still had their Phillies paraphernalia on the next day.

You’re probably wondering why the water is green…they are just having some issues with water there, and it even comes out of the tap this color. Well, actually there was some promotion thing going on so they dyed the fountain. Had you going though huh? Julie is pulling her second 7pm-7am shift in a row tonight. It amazes me because she is not what I call a night person, but she just does it without batting an eye. Julie Eyre = world’s best nurse.

the national arboretum

DC in the fall is so so pretty. On Sunday, even though it was a bit rainy we drove to the National Arboretum… a huge open space/park in the Northeast. It is absolutely gorgeous. You turn in, and you are transported and you feel like you are in the middle of the forest. With all the trees there on fire with autumn, it was so so pretty. Here are a few pics.

One of the coolest things there are these pillars. These are the pillars that graced the of the US Capitol until 1957 when they did some remodeling/expansion to the front. Someone had the idea to place them here in the middle of the Arboretum.

The rest of the Arboretum is just rolling hills with roads like this meandering through.

There was also this awesome bonsai and crazy flower garden.

 

There’s something new around every corner here in DC. Julie and I are loving it. Autumn is in full swing, and we’re coming up on the greatest time of year. The Holidays!