WARNING: This journal entry was started July 20, 2010 and not finished until August 17, 2010
I think that it is time for me to update my journal since the last time I wrote was June 12, over a month ago. Let’s see….
Work is great. It is very hard, but very rewarding. I am one of four white people in the ER department, and I’m pretty sure there aren’t many more in the hospital. However, all of the people that I work with are very loving, helpful, and full of laughter. They are constantly cracking jokes, but working hard at the same time. They accepted me right away and I feel closer to some of them than I ever did to any staff member I worked with in my entire nursing program. I have seen some more incredible things, like a man who nearly chain-sawed his hand off, a foot that had broken off the leg, completely twisted 180 degrees and then was shoved back through the leg. I have had multiple cardiac arrests, heart attacks, and other things. My job is not easy. It is pretty stressful to have 5 patients who are all experiencing an emergent situation. A lot of the things I see are not natural. Some are gross, others thrilling, but in the end, it’s rewarding when I hear “thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Derek is loving his job. He comes home everyday exhausted, but dedicated to his work and maintaining a professional, but good relationship with those he supervises. He has already grown a ton. His boss told him the other day that he already has a job for Derek to start on when this project is over. I am so proud of him!
We finally moved in our apartment!!! I will have to take pictures once I get everything unpacked so that you can see it. It’s a 2 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, with a living room, dining area, and sun room. I really like it! It suites Derek and I great! I almost wish we could have a small computer room, because then it would be perfect! But we are very thrilled and happy. At this point, we are trying to save our money, get out of debt, and save so that we can buy a house in a year or two. We do live in Stone Mountain and are in “the hood” as a girl from work informed me, but we don’t really feel threatened. We like the apartment complex. It has 3 pools, an indoor, outdoor, and outdoor 21 & older pool. It has racquetball, tennis, and basketball courts, a fitness center, and a running trail! I’m really pumped.
This week(now it was a month ago), Derek and I headed up to Blue Ridge/Mineral Bluff Georgia so that we could spend a week in a cabin that Derek’s parents rented for all of his immediate family to stay in for a family reunion. I came up Wednesday night after work (which was really nice because I had a horrible day at work, so it was nice to be able to leave and start my vacation). When I arrived everyone, including myself, was pretty tired. So after socializing for just a few minutes, we all went to bed. The next morning I woke up, got ready for the day, and then all of the girls took a trip to “The Mark of The Potter” (a pottery store that all of Derek’s siblings really like). It was 1 ½ hours up and 1 ½ hours back. I had a good time, but I was SO tired that I really had a hard time enjoying myself. So, when we got back, I took a nap. When I woke up it was time for dinner. Derek was supposed to make it to dinner, but he ended up having to stay late at work and then also ran into horrible traffic on his way up here. Jaclyn made tortellinis for dinner which were way yummy. After dinner, I headed to the store to buy some ingredients for the dinner I was going to make the following night. When I got home, Derek had finally made it.
That night we all played Rook and socialized. It was a nice time, but I was really excited for Jennifer and Dave to arrive. Friday, Jaclyn, Derek’s Mom and Dad, Josh, Isaac, Derek, and I all went tubing while Dionne watched Luke and Ethan. It was really fun to be able to relax. Derek’s mom and I were able to have a good talk as we strolled down the river. We also spent some time going down in a tube-like caravan. That went well until Derek’s Mom saw a snake on a rock we were passing and started screaming “SNAKE!” Jaclyn, not knowing where the snake was, jumped into the water while at the same time sustaining two Charley-Horses and a bad bump on her shin. Derek’s mom continued to scream for an additional 100 yards down the river and Jaclyn was left holding both of her knees as she glided along with two charley-horses. Meanwhile, everyone else was laughing their head off. It was a good memory. That, as well as hearing the story at least 4 more times as Jaclyn and Derek’s mom retold the story. Haha J
After tubing, Derek’s mom, Jaclyn, and I went to a quilt shop. There were some fabrics that I thought were really cute, some not so much, but none of them really tickled my fancy, until I saw the Christmas quilt. It was SO cute! I wanted it SO badly. But the cost was outrageous. I wasn’t about to spend that kind of money. But I couldn’t stop looking at it. When we got home, I had to immediately take a shower and get started on dinner since it was my time to cook. Jennifer and Dave arrived right before dinner was done which was nice. We all ate dinner, I got some compliments, which were very nice, and it was a lovely dinner. That night we finished by playing games (of course).
Saturday, we went shopping in the little shops around the little town. Surprisingly, they were SO nice! I really liked a lot of the stuff in there. They were not just a bunch of junk with a few sparse treasures here and there. Well, after talking to Derek about it for a long time, I got the quilt! Derek and I also got some Chacos (expensive shoes that Derek swears by), and I also got a Rooster and Hen to help decorate my apartment.
Saturday night Derek, Jennifer, and I went into the hot tub and stayed up passed 1am, so I was the only one of the three of us going to church that next day. I missed church the week before, so I wanted to go to church since it had been 2 weeks since I had partaken of the sacrament. The ward there was very sweet to us and sacrament meeting was nice. They were very warm and receptive.
Monday was the white-water rafting. It was absolutely killer-awesome. They were emptying the Ocoee dam that day and so the rapids which are usually a class 3 with a couple 4’s were now 4’s and 4+’s. We were SO stoked. We all got drenched, and we even lost Josh at one point in the trip. I ALMOST fell out when Josh did, but Dave kept me in the boat with his paddle. It was AWESOME. That night, we all played games, which was nice.
Tuesday, I went and got a massage for the first half of the day. And then I think we spent the last half of the day taking pictures and then we went out to dinner. Then the Gillilands left. I was sad to see them go since I really feel close to them. Sad…
Wednesday, Derek headed off to work and I headed back home in the early morning. Thursday Derek’s family (minus the Gillilands) came over to our apartment. Of course, it was in shambles… I’ll have to get pictures up here soon of our apartment. *sigh* We said our last goodbyes to the Robinsons, I could tell it was really hard on Derek and Dionne, which was very sweet.
Saturday evening Jaclyn, Ethan, and Derek’s dad came over for a little while and we played games which was fun.
Fast forward: Derek has been called to be the 1st counselor in the Young Men’s Presidency, I am a Nursery leader and am in charge of one of the two nurseries. And we are really enjoying getting to know our ward. There is a LOT of room for missionary work. In fact, every Thursday so far Derek has gone out with the missionaries. Wednesday Derek has YMs, Thursday I work and he’s going out with the missionaries, and Friday I am going visiting teaching and we are both going out with the missionaries. It’s a lot of work but we are happy to do it!
Joel came over 2 weekends ago and Derek spoiled him rotten. They watched at least 8 movies, drank pop, and ate junk food practically all weekend…*sigh*. It was really fun though.
We adopted a dog this weekend. Actually, she was already partially Derek’s to begin with, but Betsy is now going to be our’s since Derek is going to have to start traveling soon. Betsy is going to be my companion. She is a really good dog. Even though I have wanted to kill her at times, she is very loyal and it’s nice to have someone to come home to that is so happy to see me. Haha.
This weekend my family is coming over before Cheri goes off to college. It’s our last time together before she heads out. It’s crazy! I’ll miss her tons!
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