Month of visitors...

Ok, it's been awhile since I wrote... lots to tell...
First, my mom and sister Kelly came out with a surprise package... Kera (complete with her salon supplies)! We had a great visit with them, sightseeing and celebrating an early birthday for Tommy. Then a couple days later our friends Scott and Adria flew in, which gave us a great excuse for driving to the Jack Daniels distillery for a tour. Then a couple weeks after that, Mark's mom came for the weekend, and we celebrated Tommy's 5th birthday. Whew! Lot of fun...
Since Tommy turned 5, he decided he was too cool for training wheels, and demanded Mark take them off (while I was at work- not ok!). He then proceeded to take off, on his own, down our gravel road full speed and come to a skidding stop to check out the sweet skid tracks! I think BMX may be in this kids future. Andrew is growing up just as quickly, and besides pretty much keeping up with Tommy on his Spiderman bike, is now almost completely potty-trained. Diapers only required at night... score for daddy and mommy! It's amazing the huge sense of accomplishment this gives us! I cannot express how much love fills our hearts for these boys. I asked Andrew for a butterfly kiss the other day, and he flapped his arms and kissed my cheek...
We have had dozens of day trip adventures this month, including visits to state parks, waterfalls, caves, trips to Nashville for the farmer's market, Loveless Cafe (amazing biscuits), the Pfunky Pancake (griddle in the center of the table, and spatulas for everyone), Andrew Jackson's Hermitage plantation, touring the Grand Ole Opry with my mom and sisters, downtown honkey-tonk music, and Mark's new-found love.... thrift-store shopping.
Even with all this fun, we have had plenty of "chill" days, usually the day after I work, that look like this...
Boys wake us up around 6:30. We tell boys to go visit quietly in their beds for awhile longer. Stay in the warm covers till boys come back and ask to snuggle. How could we resist? Boys systematically get all their stuffed animals and blankets arranged around themselves and their parents, and finally snuggle for about 5 minutes before they start playing steamroller in our bed. Mommy and Daddy get out of bed and make coffee and Pioneer pancakes (if this mix is available in Colorado... get it). Boys play in their playroom while we watch the news and drink our fill of coffee. Activity books or reading with the boys. Snuggle on the couch to watch a cooking show. Lunch and naptime, each of us sleeping with a kid. Wake up after a bit, get cozy on the couch to read and thumb through Martha Stewart magazine. Boys wake up and go ride bikes or play outside. Maybe work out, maybe sit on the deck for awhile. Cook dinner together (maybe the food we watched Giada make earlier). Eat together. Build fire in fireplace and make s'mores together. Boys to sleep. Discovery channel with Mark. I know, it's sickening... how are we every going to go back to real life?

And "The Catch" Is...

Work is... challenging. As in, nausea on the way into work. I feel that I am beginning to catch on to the systems and charting at the hospital in the last couple weeks, but it is busy. Basically, it has verified in my mind that I want to work at Avista hospital in Louisville, CO until the day I die (shout out to my Joints ladies!!). As a travel nurse, you have to be prepared to hit the ground running, get dumped on with difficult patient loads, and know how to work independently. I knew this in theory, but here is what I am used to... A small community hospital with a gorgeous Rocky Mountain backdrop, knowing well everyone I work with, and working one princess shift per week. Now I work about 13+ hours with a 20 min lunch break (maybe), and the entire shift is a Richard Simmons speed-walk workout. Can you say "cankles"? On the up side, I work with some amazing girls that are truly so kind and helpful to me, and if you have to run your tail off, it may as well be alongside a good team.
I have decided it is all worth it. I am loving our quiet life. I love my time with Mark.. he is such an incredible husband (and is now a pro at foot massages). Watching him with the boys is amazing. Just this morning I watched him sit on the floor with Tommy and patiently teach him to tie his shoes until he could do it on his own. There is an abundance of quiet time by the fire to read and pray and think about our life and what we want it to be. We are overwhelmed with thankfulness that the Lord brought us to this cozy quiet place for this time.
The pics here are of our outing to Chattanooga (great city, awesome children's museum), a pic of the boys on their night at the Motocross races, and, of course, some Giada food!

Our Extended Vacation

An extended vacation is what this trip should really be called. Most days that I am not working we wake up to the sound of little boys playing, and sleepily ask each other, "What do you want to do today?" Then we drink coffee and search online or look at a map
and choose-our-own-adventure. We spend
a lot of time in the car, because everything is a bit of a drive away and
because we love the scenery. It's gorgeous here. This
weekend we had a "storm" that put the entire state in a panic. (3-4" of snow). Granted, it is icy and most people don't have the vehicles we Coloradans have! The next morning, every stem and every blade of grass was covered in a
layer of ice. It was a sparkling wonderland. So far ours are the only tire tracks that have come out of our pocket neighborhood,
but since the sun is out today, I am
thinking people will be back to work tomorrow!
As you can see from some of these pics,
we have toured a cave, found parks, found our fishing beach, visited the Gaylord Opryland Hotel botanic gardens (Mark has decided it is so amazing that he wants to work there-ha!), hiked to waterfalls, shopped, and have been trying to duplicate some of the wonders we see on the Food Network- I want to be Giada!
Since our boys have only each other,
they are quickly becoming the best of friends. They play together all day long, and crack each other up on our long drives through the country (all the while hitting and punching each other, tattling, apologizing, becoming best friends again, and starting the whole cycle over). Tommy started an AWANA club program at a little Baptist Church (no shortage of those around these here parts), so he can keep up with his club back home. Andrew is potty-training (sort of), and he got his first big boy bike- SPIDERMAN! For Andrew, nothing could be better. He has spend hours in the freezing cold on the back porch going back and forth in circles with Baba (Tommy). I love those boys!
We have tried a couple of churches, and it is so great to feel at home in God's church, worshiping Him with His people, even though we are miles from home. We miss everyone, but we are loving this time together with our little family. Much love from Tennessee!

What goes up...

3 funny stories...
Day of departure 8:00am- We drive away from my parents house for the 20-hour trip. 10 degrees outside. Drive to Target in Westminster for coffee mug for me. Drive over speed bumps in parking lot. Both of us comment, "Wow, we are so weighed down we can't even feel the speed bumps!" Mark drives faster over the speed bumps. Mark goes into Target and is done in 5 minutes. Mark exits Target and looks for our white truck, thinking, "Huh, that truck looks just like ours but without the loaded bike rack." Mark opens door of our truck, "The bike rack is gone." "WHAT?!" We drive back to the speed bumps. Rack is on the sidewalk; moderately damaged 3 bikes, one stroller, and all snowboard gear still tied to rack which is now laying on the sidewalk. Lady with missing teeth comes out of TJMaxx and tells Mark he should drive more slowly over speed bumps, and then asks me if he is mad. Mark gets back in car to breathe. 10 degrees outside.
Day of departure 10:00am- After one trip to Ace Hardware, a return trip back home for repairs and yet another emotional goodbye, we are finally on I-70.
10:15 am- Mark and I think about the whole situation and crack up

First night in our place:
Andrew's first night in a real bed, 1am: Crash- Andrew is on the floor and crying

Third night in our place:
Tommy's third night in top bunk bed, 3am: CRASH! 2 kids screaming bloody murder. Tommy fell the 6 feet from bed to floor landing first on Andrew and then the wooden rail that didn't do it's job. Mark wonders how his neck isn't broken.

Queen of The South

I have decided to "blog" my new adventures as a travel nurse. I have never blogged before, but my mother has always said I am a writer, and so even though my mom may be the only one who reads this, here goes...
I have dreamed of being a travel nurse since school, and my husband (Mark) and I decided it was time to pursue. So we sold our house and began to think of all the amazing places we wanted to see in this great country... surfing in sunny Hawaii, clam chowder in coastal New England, snowboarding in Steamboat Springs, sampling wines in Napa Valley.... ahh, the options were endless. So we loaded up our truck with our two kids, Tommy age 4 and Andrew age 2, and all the stuff that would fit into the back.... I mean ALL the stuff, including a bike rack atop (I include this detail for later laughs). We then set out for our great adventure in.... Tennessee?
I don't think I have ever thought twice about TN prior to 3 weeks ago. (That's where Nashville is, right?) And let me assure you, there are no sunny beaches and there is not a drop of Cabernet Sauvignon to be found in this dry county... But when my nurse recruiter tantalized us with pictures of a "chalet" in the woods one mile from gorgeous Center Hill Lake, we couldn't resist.
Perhaps I should fill you in on "travel nursing"... Recruiting companies find jobs for you in places that are in need of nurses quickly and for a period of about 13 weeks. If you are accepted for the job, the recruiters provide you with housing, pay your utilities and travel expenses, and a decent pay rate.... not a bad gig.
Ok, back to the chalet... it is a newer vacation rental home surrounded by woods and complete with fireplace, hot tub, and the best part (if you ask Tommy and Andrew); bunk beds. It really is gorgeous here. The boys can play Daniel Boone endlessly on the property around us, and we have a 56" TV with cable (this is a big deal to us who have never had cable! How did we live without HGTV? I know, it's sick, if we aren't fixing up a dumpy place of our own, we are watching someone else do it!) We are about an hour outside Nashville, in a small town called Smithville (complete with a Walmart, of course). Cookeville is about 45 min away, and that is where the hospital is that I will work for... but that is for another posting.
So, here we are, wintering in this gorgeous house with nothing to do but go to work 3 days a week (at which time Mark stays with the boys). What will the next 12 weeks hold?