Saturday, March 26, 2011

Jumping on the bandwagon!!!

Truth: my life is really not that interesting.  But I still wanted to start a blog because I know I'll look back and regret not at least attempting to keep tabs on what I am doing with my life (even though I have no clue where I'm headed half the time).  So this blog will probably be a hodgepodge (sp?) of a bunch of different things going on in my life.  Currently I am in Toledo, Ohio adjusting to being out of college (womp, womp), having my first nursing job (eek!), and being in a new city and not knowing many people).  The day to day of my life is pretty regular.  I work 3 nights a week on a hem/onc/med-surg floor at University of Toledo Medical Center.  The days I have off I am enjoying getting back to random things that I used to have time for such as cooking, sewing, and reading books NOT related to school.  I am also loving going on random day trips or weekend trips to visit friends. In the past 6 months I've been in the following cities: Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh, South Bend, Corvallis/Portland/Eugene, and NYC.  I am planning a trip to Las Vegas with some nurses I work with this upcoming April as well as Upstate Michigan, Baltimore, and Bethany Beach this summer.  Needless to say, I'm loving being able to travel with this job.  Only having to work 3 nights a week has its perks!!  Even though 12 hour night shifts are long, tedious, and very hard on your body it all evens out with the things I get to do having 4 days off!
What else do I do with my time? Well, I am adamant about staying healthy and very much so enjoy working out.  Getting up early to work out after working from 7pm to 7am (more like usually 8am after everything gets done!) is easier said than done.  BUT I am determined to keep stay healthy, especially when I am trying to promote health while at work.  If I am not setting a good example for my patients by keeping myself healthy then it will go in one ear and out the other.
I have been a swimmer since I was a baby.  Seriously, my mom has a picture of me in a mom/baby class at the ymca.  I'll try to find it and post it here.  I swam until my senior year of high school and miss it dearly.  I can't wait until the weather gets nicer and I find an outdoor pool to do a few laps in.  Running came when I moved to Columbus for college.  It is so stinking flat there that running made sense to at least try.  Let's just say an in shape swimmer does not equal an in shape runner.  I was awful.  Actually, I'm not "good" by any means now.  I definitely enjoy it a  lot more though.  I have done numerous 5k races and completed 2 half-marathons so far.  I don't think I'll be stopping it any time soon. Unless I get hurt again...crossed fingers that doesn't happen please!!!  Last summer I started biking more consistently to complete my first triathlon at the end of July in Cleveland. I have always wanted to do one, it was just a matter of having time to train.  I finally had the time after passing my boards (yay for being a real nurse!).  My days consisted of running, applying for jobs, biking, applying for more jobs, swimming, applying for more jobs, working as a nurses aide, applying for jobs (see a pattern here), and living up my last summer without having real responsibilities.  I trained my butt off and enjoyed it so much.  I realized after finishing the race I needed to get a new bike at some point if I wanted to do another one at some point.  Fast forward to 1 week ago and you would find me in a bike shop in sylvania, ohio buying a 2.1 trek.  Jarvis is his name, and he is black and red.  He is my new lover, basically.  I have already done 3 rides on him and can say I have never made a better purchase ever.  I will update you with my rides a little later.  For now, though, those are the basics of my life. Work, working out, cooking, and traveling a bit.  And just getting used to being a grown up. Sort of.  I'll repost soon! For now, time for food before work!!