Update

Oh my, how time has flown since my last post! And I seem to remember promising to post more often ; )

Since Christmas, our (i.e. my) main focus has been wedding, wedding, wedding. I feel like there is so much to do and time keeps going faster and faster. Alex reminds me every so often that majority of the wedding is planned, which it really is. But at this point it's all about the details. Wedding/reception/rehearsal dinner decorations, wedding favors, centerpieces, flower bouquets and corsages, jewelry, hair...and the list goes on! I am trying to cherish these wedding planning days while they last, but I'm also very much looking forward to our honeymoon. We booked a week-long vacation at the Dreams Riviera Cancun, which is located just south of Cancun, Mexico. It is an all-inclusive resort with lots of day activities and most importantly, a great beach. We are also looking into getting certified to Scuba Dive before we go, that way we can go out for a day and dive somewhere nearby. So exciting! Sadly, I think this will be our only big trip for awhile, so I say milk it for all it's worth!

Our latest endeavor with the house has been the second bedroom. Alex's parents came up this past weekend and helped with scraping the first layer of wallpaper/paint off the wall. It's turning out to be just as tough as the last room, so we were extremely thankful to have an extra set of hands scraping! I will post pictures sometime of our progress, but let's just say it looks an awful lot like the other bedroom-1940's wallpaper and all! I'm really hoping we can buckle down and finish this project so that we can move on to our next one, which will hopefully be the kitchen. The kitchen will be a HUGE project, but so worth it. Such a bittersweet excitement.

As for Alex and I, we are doing fine. Alex is still trucking along (pun intended) at his job at MHC Kenworth, which I will remind you is a heavy trucking dealership. Again, he is an Inventory Control Manager and keeps track of every single part that comes into the company, and every part that goes out. He absolutely loves the people he works with, but is a trade off because he works extremely long hours with minimal vacation time. He is, though, getting to the point of being a pretty well respected member of team because of his knowledge and experience, so we're hoping that someday that pays off for him :D So at this point I think he'll stick with what he's doing and hope someday its gets better in one way or another.

I, on the other hand, have made a change, and for the better I might add! I am working in a different unit of the hospital called Post Anesthesia Care Unit, or PACU. It is the place where people go immediately after surgery to "recover," as we in the biz like to call it. Basically, my job is to make sure the patient's pain is at a quote unquote tolerable level, and to make sure they are stable enough to move to another area, whether it be the med-surg floor (such as East 7, my old unit) or go home. This area is considered critical care since we deal with fresh wounds, heavy anesthesia, and complicated illnesses. I have always had an interest in critical care and think that this area is a perfect mix of an ICU and surgery. So far, the people I work with are incredibly supportive and have been helpful whenever I have had questions, which makes ANYONE's job much funner : ) And actually, I just finished my orientation this last week, so I am on my own, again, feeling like a brand new nurse! Oh, and the hours. I went from working 6:45am to 7:15pm (or much later, as on most days) 3 days a week, including weekends and holidays, to now working 4 days a week Monday thru Friday, 10:00-7:30. I do take a decent amount of call, (which I experienced for the first time this past Saturday night) but get paid graciously for it if I do come in, which makes a little more tolerable ; ) So all in all, it has so far been a great move for me. I am learning so much every day and am loving being able to have more regular personal life.

Well, I think that is enough for today. I'll try to keep ya posted on the progress of our other bedroom. Toodles!

Emily