Ketchup

And by "ketchup" I mean catch up. Where did we leave off?

Ah. Yes. We did a lot of this our first few mornings in Fairfax (except, you know, not in the car). Mom is probably a 12 on the 1-to-10 scale of happiness that I posted this picture of her. We got into town last Saturday night, and my movers didn't come until this past Wednesday. The gap between arriving and moving was actually a blessing because it gave us a chance to relax every morning, run a few errands, and do some cleaning in the apartment while it was still empty. We even made it into DC one afternoon with Andrew!

Big surprise that my only picture from the afternoon and the American History Museum happens to be of Julia Child's stage kitchen. Never apologize!!


And now, for the sake of brevity, a list of other important updates between then and now:
1. Uncle Julio's proves to be an acceptable location for Tex-Mex out here, which is a nice surprise since I expected Tex-Mex to be completely out of the question.
2. The cool air feels AMAZING, and it's blowing my mind that "summer weather" doesn't actually start until late May.
3. My new Whole Foods is super great.
4. The new apartment is also super great - and big! (Pictures of the empty place to follow eventually! I took them on my real camera, and I'm not sure where I put my cord to upload the pictures)
5. I have infinite amounts of packing paper in my possession.

Even so, there were a few casualties from the move: a broken foot on one of my nightstands, broken hinges on my bookcase (which Andrew is going to try to fix), and a broken decorative plate I've had since my very first apartment sophomore year. Considering how many breakable kitchen items came in this move, I'd say that's not too bad. We've made good headway on some of the un-packing. THANK GOODNESS Mom and Kori are here, that's all I have to say. It's amazing how much more can get done with multiple sets of hands working. Kori single-handedly washed, dried, and put away every single pot, pan, and baking dish I own, and any of you who know me know how big of a feat that is!

Speaking of Kori, she arrived Wednesday with baby kitty in tow! Juno did great going through security and on the flight, and she has been in kitty heaven exploring all of the boxes and paper all over the new apartment. Not to mention she came home to some new items for herself:

We were happy to see each other - she has been extra snuggly ever since the car ride home from the airport!

Tonight we met Andrew at the Reston Town Center to go to Morton's for his (very belated) birthday dinner. I hadn't been to Morton's since senior prom (...with Andrew. Time flies), but the molten chocolate cake was as good tonight as it was back then. Nomnomnomnom.

Tomorrow morning Kori and I plan to take Mom to the airport (sad!), do some Target/World Market shopping, do some more unpacking, and then meet Andrew to go out in Georgetown tomorrow night. I can't believe Kori leaves Saturday! Or that Mom leaves tomorrow! I am getting nervous about living so far from my family, and that was always something that made the decision to move difficult back when I started thinking about it. On the whole this has been tough for me, and I haven't quite felt myself for the majority of the week. It's hard being so far away and not quite knowing where I fit in around here yet, but each day starts to feel more and more like home. Little things like the metro card Andrew bought me and discussions on how to fix my broken bookcase remind me of all the normal day-to-day things we've missed out on the past few years. I think we definitely will have some adjusting to do this summer as we both settle in to our new situation, but the normalcy most definitely feels good already. We need it.

And now: sleep. Juno kept me up nearly all night last night with her forceful cuddle sessions, and I can't wait to (hopefully) get some good sleep tonight.

I miss all of you guys very much, and rest assured that the Texas fight song and Eyes of Texas get played daily in my car thanks to the CD Sarah made me :)

...STILL On the Road Again: Day 3

We made it! Today was our fastest drive yet! We got into our hotel around 4pm even with the food/bathroom breaks. Mom and I were both really tired during this drive. We stopped about an hour and a half after we started in search of good coffee. We gave up on finding a Starbucks out in the boonies, so we stopped at a McDonalds (along with the rest of that little town, it seemed). Naturally, two exits later, we saw a highway sign for a Starbucks. CURSES!

There are no fun pictures from today's drive because we were too busy trying not to kill anybody else or ourselves in all of the rain and wind. Mission: accomplished.

We also found out that we left one of mom's toiletry bags at the hotel (in the lobby, in fact - it somehow didn't make it from our big pile of stuff to the car). She's out at Walmart finding some make-up and things to hold her over until they ship her stuff to her, and I am waiting for Andrew to come pick us up! We're going to go see the new place then get some dinner (and, preferably, a drink!). It feels good to finally be here, and I think Mom and I are both glad not to be getting up to pack and do another big day of driving.

I have been in 4 states in 3 days! Can't wait to show yall the new place! :)

On the Road Again: Day 2

We are officially in the Eastern time zone!! Exciting because we are close to our destination. Less exciting to think about the early morning feeling even earlier tomorrow. But mostly exciting!

Our hotel seriously dropped the ball in the coffee department. Not good. There wasn't a Starbucks near-by, but I pushed through. My half of the drive was uneventful (and I like it that way), and we mostly listened to our book on tape. We stopped in Jackson, TN for lunch. I've been doing no-meat-Fridays with Andrew during Lent, so I made use of the food I brought along for the trip and made a PB samich knowing none of the (non-scary) lunch options were very meat-free. Mom decided she wanted KFC, and it ended up being a KFC buffet. Neither of us had ever heard of those, but Mom took full advantage and had TWO big plates. I wanted to participate and got a side dish of the most delish fast food green beans ever, and I think our KFC stop was, surprisingly, the highlight of the day.

SPORK!!!

Mom's drive consisted of rain. Lots of rain.

We weren't even sure if we were going to venture all the way to Knoxville if it was really bad, but we made it finally. I think these storms are still moving east, and I have a feeling we'll be driving with them when we keep going east tomorrow. It will be nice to finally GET there, I am starting to get stir-crazy with this whole sit-eat-sit-eat-sit-sleep schedule. Andrew picked up our keys to the new place this afternoon, and he said there were a few issues like spots of dirty carpet and bad patch-jobs on the wall, but it sounds like management is going to have those taken care of by Monday. Since the carpet needs to be shampooed it's probably a good thing that my furniture isn't due to arrive til (most likely) Wednesday.

Why is sitting in a car so exhausting? I've probably got a DVT I've been sitting so long, and yet I can't wait to go to bed. Next stop Fairfax! Woo!

On the Road: Day 1

Mom and I said we were going to hit the road by 8 AM, and, somewhat to my surprise, we actually did.

Mom kind of loved the coffee in the lobby of the Super 8 (Yes, the Super 8 on the side of I-35 - hinting towards ghetto, but still with free wi-fi!). She opted for two cups of it rather than Starbucks. I was planning to drive the first half of the trip, so my usual Starbucks drink was non-negotiable. No offense Super 8.

Yesterday was super rough emotionally. I knew it would be hard to say bye to people over the weekend, but I was kind of surprised at how tough it was to say bye to the place also. And we didn't even drive away until this morning! It definitely hit me yesterday that I am leaving my home, but with a three-day drive ahead of us it hasn't really hit me where my new home is! The middle ground is really unsettling to me, and I'm looking forward seeing Andrew on Saturday.

After listening to the Bobby Bones Show for the last time for now I remembered the CD Sarah made me that was waiting in my purse. I teared up listening to "19 and Crazy" and "If It Wasn't for Texas," and I loved loved loved that the last song was The Eyes of Texas. Great send-off, thanks Miss Sarah.

Lunch options were looking pretty disappointing in Greenville/Sulpher town/wherever we were around 12:30, and then emerged from the trees (or the cluster of McDonalds. McDonaldses?):

I never eat fast food these days, but let's be honest, Braum's is a front-runner. I texted this picture to Kori because I knew she would be jealous. Her response: "UGH! So jealous!" <-- success.

Enter: lazy time. Mom's turn to drive, and my turn to digest Braum's for the next 5 hours.

We started the book on tape that Mom and Kori picked out last week - it's Kristin Hannah, but I don't remember the name of it. 10 seconds after listening to the voice reading the prologue Mom said "I feel like she is about to start talking pornography," which made it hard to concentrate on the story through all of our giggling at descriptions of tall trees and other suggestive things. We composed ourselves and listened to the book for the rest of the trip - I think that only got us through 3 chapters though. I'm interested to keep listening, but I'd like to tell the characters to buck up and grow a spine - really? You're so afraid? Your friend's been dating your brother for a week. It isn't that scary.

Fast forward to Little Rock, Arkansas where we tried two hotels with no available rooms whatsoever, and we ended up at this lovely Hilton Garden place where we had some AH-MAZING salmon at their little restaurant, watched the American Idol result show, and showered as if I have never showered before.

...Actually it was a really rushed shower because Mom said a new episode of The Office was on. I've been saying how the show needs to cancel itself now that Steve Carell will be gone, but I guess placing Will Ferrell in the next 4 episodes is a good move to keep people watching. Well played, well played.

PS - Andrew picks up keys to the new place tomorrow - can't wait to show pictures, we really like it! The date all my crap will arrive with the movers is still pending.

Next stop: Knoxville, TN.

In my life, I've loved them all

A random selection of a few of my favorite moments the past few weeks. In no particular order, I've Alamo Drafthouse'd with the girls to see Clueless and Breakfast at Tiffany's, spent time in the good sunshine with a good friend, celebrated a friend's future baby boy (team blue!) with cupcakes and pictionary, successfully dunked on an inflatable basketball court, answered medical trivia for candy, attempted to force-feed pizza to a toddler, eaten myself sick on tex-mex and Amy's Ice Cream, cried for a friend and how proud I am of her, window-shopped the SoCo hot spots, sent Andrew a gift and a cake for the last time via snail mail, reconnected face-to-face with one of my favorite people for the first time in years, learned amazing news from a close friend, hugged lots of hugs, drank lots of beers, and felt my throat close up for the first time last night as the emotion of it all finally hit me. I am spending this weekend surrounded by special friends, then the baton will be passed to Mom and Kori to pack the last boxes with me and see me through the drive and the move-in.

New phases in life have always been emotional for me. The excitement for wonderful things to come mixed with the fears of closing an old chapter - it's the same feeling that sat in the pit of my stomach when I started high school, hugged Mom goodbye after moving into my college dorm, and walked into Brackenridge with RN on my name tag. It's about growing up, changing, learning, and trusting that your gut will steer you where you need to go. My time in Austin is going into the archives as the place that taught me the most about who I am and where I'm going, gave me some of the most fierce hangovers of my life, and brought amazing people into my world whom I intend to take with me through the next 50 chapters of my life.

So it's time to go put on a dress and soak up the weekend, and in about a week's time I'll be walking into my new life greeted by the person who makes it all worth it.

Small weekend disclaimer: I reserve the right to cry spontaneously.

See you out there, friends!

An update for you..

Anxiety, excitement, anticipation, nervousness, apprehension, curiosity, suspense...

The common denominator?

Nausea.

Back to Square One?

Remember this? My collection of pens and pamphlets from (what felt like) every hospital in Texas, and the nausea that came with the impending job search before graduation.

And you know what? That job search was pretty miserable. The size of the new-grad applicant pool was shocking, and I initially made the mistake of believing that the online applications I sent in were actually going to be read.

This time around, I'm no longer a new nurse, and I have some real skills to contribute. I'll find a job.

Right? (...right?)

Until today I had some confidence. "I'm not too worried about it," I've said. But now that I've actually started the process, I hate to say that the panicked feeling I remember from the last go-around is settling in already. I will send in my apps, do my best to speak to a real person from HR this week, and hopefully get an interview.

But I honestly don't feel like it's going to happen!  This isn't me trying to be humble or trying not to "jinx" myself, this is the (horrible) feeling I have in my heart of hearts. My only experience with job applications taught me, for the most part, that it doesn't matter how qualified you are, you aren't getting a job. You aren't even getting an interview! You. Are. A. Sucker.

Now I am trying to apply to a hospital across the country that I have absolutely no connection to or contacts in? Am I crazy?

I hope I wake up tomorrow with a different attitude, but for now, I'm just being honest.

That's why the blog is called RAWR.