May 2011 - Shoreline, WA

It’s funny.  When I decided to move to Washington, I never considered living near the water… I was so focused on those big snowy mountains!  At first, I dreamed of living in Central Washington… upon realizing there was only a 9-bed Emergency Department in Wenatchee, I decided to look just a bit west to Issaquah.  Issaquah was unfortunately drastically out of our budget unless we wanted a cookie-cutter apartment.  After expanding our search to Shoreline and discovering Richmond Beach, I fell in love!

Richmond Beach!

Now here we are, relocating to another beach.  I am conflicted!  The new house has a backyard and a deck, a gas fireplace, and is a 5 minute walk to the boardwalk and beach.  And best of all, it’s only a 25 minute drive to work!  But our little home in Richmond Beach is dear to my heart.  We have a giant backyard flanked with giant old trees.  The park we walk to is an old-growth forest filled with more of those trees.  All 3 of us (including Colby) love our friends at the dog park who we will miss dearly – there aren’t any reputable dog parks near our new house.  Not to mention… several important things happened while we were living here: we adopted Colby, I landed first nursing job, and we got engaged!

I know I will come to love our new neighborhood.  It just happened so fast!  Just two weeks ago, I found the “Bungalow View Cottage” on Craigslist and melted when I peeked in the windows and looked at the view from the deck.  Now we’ve signed a lease, have half the house packed up and have a truck rented to move this weekend.

I’ve been making the most of the time left in Shoreline.  We went on a couple long walks at the park, said goodbye to our dog park friends, and had a get-together with friends last night.  Although I will miss this place, I know it’s not too far away : )

I took some photos to seal the memories… there are two albums.  Bear with me, there seem to quite a few photos!  Click on the first photo in each bunch to see a slideshow.

Here are photos from around our house:

Colby hates when I had to go stay in Tacoma for 2 days for work...

In front of our house

Cherry Tree Covered in Moss in our backyard

Dining Room

Dining Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Hallway

Hallway

Bathroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

Office - Derek's side

Office - Michelle's Side

View of the backyard from my desk

Office - Derek's side

Video of our new house in Shoreline 3/14/11

Our first dinner in our new home!

Where the tomatoes + peppers live at night (until it's warm enough)

My 12x12 garden + hanging plants

rows of veggies!

I made my labels out of yogurt cups and sticks

Where the tomatoes + peppers live during the day

We watch movies while eating dinner a lot

Grilled Alaskan Copper River Sockeye Salmon!

Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

So much fresh lettuce and spinach!

Toys (4/9/11)

Playing with Derek (4/9/11)

Playing with Derek(4/9/11)

Ball! (4/9/11)

For the first time he doesn't have to share his toys with his siblings!

Chew toys (4/9/11)

Dinner! Day 2 with the puppy.

Colby's first day home - discovering the backyard

Colby's first day home - discovering the backyard!

Tail Chasing! Colby's second day

Playing with Colby on his second day, before bedtime.

Day 4 with Colby

Pooped out after a day of meeting new people

Day 12 - Colby plays with Derek - prob. not good training, but it's cute!

wake up time! Ears are floppy when he wakes up

Looking more like a dog than a puppy at 13 weeks!

Sitting pretty in his new harness (13 weeks)

Sitting pretty in his new harness (13 weeks)

New shiny red harness!

Colby's new food bowl...

Family photo! (Taken by Derek Rippe)

Colby's first squeaky plush toy!!

Showing how Colby has grown!

Colby is BIG (July 2011)

Colby's new favorite toy (15 weeks)

Doesn't even try to fit on his bed. (16 weeks)

At 18 weeks, Colby is starting to not fit in my lap very well!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Successful Garden!

Harvest!

Harvest!

Harvest!

Harvest!

Fourth of July Dinner!!

Superdog

Our Zombie

A Thanksgiving meal cooked in 1 hour

A Thanksgiving meal cooked in 1 hour

Waiting for Santa

New living room setup for the Christmas Tree

Birthday Cake!

Snow Day 2012!

Colby will miss this huge yard

Colby will miss this huge yard

Setting Derek's Gingerbread house on fire!

Setting Derek's Gingerbread house on fire!

Setting Derek's Gingerbread house on fire!

Setting Derek's Gingerbread house on fire!

Setting Derek's Gingerbread house on fire!

Colby seemed very sad that we were all packed up :(

Photos from the parks around our house:  Boeing Creek Park, Shoreview Off-Leash Area, and Richmond Beach Park

Boeing Creek Park

Richmond Beach Park

Richmond Beach Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Shoreview Off-Leash Area

Boeing Creek Park

Shoreview Off-Leash Area

Colby's other Best Friend Ike at Shoreview Off-Leash Area

Colby's best friend Laken at Shoreview Off-Leash Area

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Hidden Lake at Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Overlook of Puget Sound from Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Boeing Creek Park

Big Trees in Boeing Creek Park

Richmond Beach Park

Richmond Beach Park

Richmond Beach Park

Richmond Beach Park

Richmond Beach Park

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

A sunny Autumn trip to Richmond Beach

Colby plays at the creek (17 weeks)

Colby at Edmonds Dog Park (this is Puget Sound where the ferries take off)

Colby made a friend at the dog park

A walk in the park with Colby (15 weeks)

Swimming at Hidden Lake (15 weeks)

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - Water!

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - Water #2

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - Can he do the steps?

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - "Don't pull!"

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - too high! I'm stuck!

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park - Down the steps

Colby's First Walk in Boeing Creek Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Video of the beach at Richmond Beach Park

Video of the beach at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last Day at Richmond Beach Park

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Videos of Colby, Laken and Ike playing in the woods

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Videos of Colby, Laken and Ike playing in the woods

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

Last day at Shoreview Dog Park with his best friends

50 long miles to work... Did that drive 4 times in less than 7 hours!

Derek didn’t come along to Virginia – he has to save up PTO for vacation and our wedding! My flight was uneventful, and I managed to finish the last two thirds of The Help. Great book! We had homemade lasagna and red velvet cake on Saturday night for my dad’s birthday (a belated celebration) and watched the movie The Help which was an excellent portrayal of the book. I cried :’(

Excellent book and movie.

Saturday was busy!  My bridesmaids Marielle and Adair accompanied me and my parents to meet a florist in New Market.  Countrypolitan Mercantile is actually much more than a florist – they can design the whole wedding with a style and color scheme, and they also offer photography, hair/makeup and event planning.  My mom wants someone to coordinate the events on wedding day, so we’ll take advantage of that service.  I also needed someone to do my hair (and I guess makeup too).  An added benefit is that this company has worked at our venue frequently, so they know the site manager and what works best with designing the site.

We tasted some delicious cakes at Main Street Bakery in Luray.  We decided on flavors and a general design, but will work out the details of what it will look like later.  We also ruined our appetite for a real lunch, so we took a drive up Skyline Drive to show Marielle and Adair where we’re having the wedding.  It was a beautiful day!

Lovely day.

On Sunday, we met with the decorator who will be designing the centerpieces for all the tables at our reception.  She and her husband are exceptionally creative and have great brains for design!  I am confident we’ll have some really neat centerpieces that also will be wedding-suitable ; )

We had a yummy dinner at Derek’s parents’ house.  It was nice to catch up and see Jonathan too, since any day he could be whisked off to a job with the Air Force.  The Rippes have done a lot of work to get their house “sale-ready” and it looks great!  On Tuesday I had lunch with Karen (Derek’s mom) and she picked fabric to sew her own dress for the wedding – she managed to get a deal off the remnant rack!  The exact color and material she wanted was there sitting right on top – it was meant to be.

I went climbing with friends at SportRock and attempted the slack line… I am proud to say I stood unassisted with both feet on the line!  The hardest part is getting on it, so that makes me happy enough! Maybe someday it will be as easy for me as it is for Jon!

Jon at SportRock in Sterling (photo from Facebook)

On Wednesday I convinced my dad to take a half day off and go to Great Falls for a hike with me.  It was 65 degrees and sunny!  I’m glad to have spent it with him.  It was a short but sweet trip home and it reminded me of how lucky I am to have such a loving and supportive family : )

Beautiful day for a hike with Dad : )

After a few weeks of seeing it, I finally remembered to look it up.  It looked like a cool combination of circus horse tricks, dressage, and cirque du soleil acrobatics.  Despite the exorbitant ticket prices, we decided that if we were going to go to this show, we’d get good seats and pay the top dollar.  After waiting for my final work schedule, we picked a date and Derek got us great seats!

Front and Center, hell yeah!

I saw the white big top a couple weeks beforehand at Marymoor Park.  They weren’t kidding about “big top”!  It’s 10 stories high and the stage is as wide as a football field.  It seats 2000 guests.

Here’s a video showing how they set up Cavalia:

Since we got the most expensive type of ticket, the “Rendezvous”, we were treated to unlimited free drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres… shrimp, pasta, salads, cheeses, lots of food to feast on before the show.   We found our seats and Derek found another positive for the front-row seats – there was absolutely no leg-room for the rest of the rows.  I just liked not having to worry about a tall person sitting in front of me.

The stage floor was the same level as we were sitting, but there was a short 2 foot wall separating us from the area/stage.  The floor of the stage was like damp sand that often flew up in the air and over the wall when churned up by running horses.  Being so close to the action really added to the experience!  We could smell and hear the horses, see the cues from the handlers and feel the breeze from the running horses.

from www.cavalia.net

Each act had a theme with appropriate lighting, live music, and effects.  One featured spotlights that shined on a sheet of water coming down in the middle of the stage that portrayed a silhouette of a horse running and playing.  A real horse would alternate with it, coming in and out of the darkness in time with the silhouette.

From www.cavalia.net

The acrobatics were impressive!  The strength and poise of the artists mirrored the power and grace of the horses.  Their costumes and makeup fit perfectly with the show.  It was very apparent that the horses were treated with care and respect by the handlers and artists – why else would a 1000 pound animal run in circles two by two with his buddies without any harness to guide him?

From www.cavalia.net

The two hour show was divided by a 30 minute intermission where we were treated to truffles, cookies, fruit, and cheesecake (I was not going home hungry!).  Afterwards, we toured the stables where the horses were chowing down on hay.  With cozy blankets on and manes braided, it was tough to recognize the horses we saw perform.  The stables supposedly held 60 horses, which is quite impressive considering it’s all just under a huge tent.

From www.cavalia.net

Here’s a video showing highlights from the show:

We were both really glad we took the opportunity.  I hope my report helps out anyone who is researching the show!  It’s definitely recommended!  Feel free to leave your comments if you’ve been.  Definitely check out Cavalia’s website too – there are some videos and a photo gallery.  They extended their show in Seattle due to high demand, so get your tickets and go enjoy it!

Mom and Dad

Derek and his mom

Grandpa and Derek's Uncle Ed

Mingling...

We represent America with our sweaters!

Justin, Marie and Peyton

Justin and Derek's mom, Karen

On Thursday, Derek and I went with my parents to possible wedding locations in the mountains of Virginia.  After a long day of driving and touring, we decided to continue our National Park theme and have our wedding in Shenandoah National Park.  It is a giant relief to have made some wedding decisions!

The view!

Over the weekend I stuffed myself at two Thanksgiving dinners, one with Derek’s family and one with mine.  Despite being 3 weeks early, the food was yummy and the company was special… I’m not looking forward to working on Thanksgiving and Christmas this year : (

Family : )

Me and Derek

Family : )

I also tried on my mom’s wedding gown!  It had been cleaned and professionally preserved after her 1974 wedding, and the most special thing about it is how it was handmade by my grandmother.  I haven’t decided to wear it yet, but if I do, I will get it altered to be a more modern style.  We both were surprised by how perfectly it fit.

It fits!

We climbed at SportRock on our last night in town, which was great to see old friends and climb in a familiar place.  Jonathan even brought a cake to congratulate us on our engagement, even though it was HIS birthday!

Right now I am sitting in the Sea-Tac Airport waiting for Derek’s flight to arrive.  We are being picked up by our doggie-sitters Aaron and Tess, who had sent us photos during the week of Colby and their dog Sagan – who are best friends!  I am ready to see Colby, that’s for sure, but I will certainly miss family and friends left at home.  It was great to see everyone, and thanks for making an effort to see us.

Colby has a new hat!

Best Friends <3

Derek and I had been hoping all summer to get the chance to have a go at summiting Mount Rainier this season, but we didn’t get the skills training in and didn’t line up someone to take us up there.  Instead we chose to hike the 5,000 feet to Camp Muir, this time with lots of sun protection and at a more leisurely pace.  (Compared to my trip in June).

Lush, green meadows covered with wildflowers surprised us as we arrived at the Paradise Visitor’s Center.  On the way up people remarked on how much snow was still left this late in the season, and I thought, “You should have seen it in June!” The snow came all the way down to the parking lot, but now we had a beautiful set of stairs and miles of steep paved trails to follow.

This was snow last time!

We had great visibility; not only Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens towered in the distance, but steep Mount Hood all the way in Oregon peeked over a single cloud.

You watch the mountain the whole way up.

This was snow last time.

Once we hit snow, I covered my face with a bandana, sunglasses and baseball cap, and kept my long sleeves and long pants on despite the warm day.  I wasn’t going through the awful sunburn again!  I saw a few hikers that were completely exposed and I hoped their skin would hold up okay!

Beautiful day to hike!

Stealth.

Stealth II.

We reached Camp Muir after about 3 hours and 45 minutes of hiking.  It was busy up there; a few guided groups and summit-hopefuls setting up camp, and lots of hikers soaking up the sun and enjoying the view for lunch before heading back down.

View.

Camp Muir was busy!

Derek and I ate Costco muffins and drank burnt hot chocolate (ew) and chatted with a few other folks.  After about 45 minutes, I thought we should start getting dressed to head back down, and Derek suggested we ask someone to take our photo first.  As we stood up, I noticed a rectangular box in his pocket, and asked if he brought his GoPro camera up.  He gave me a silly look and said “no…”  I thought of what else it could be – and knew what I was in for in the next coming moments!  We gave the camera to a lady and as we stepped back for the photo, Derek turned toward me and dropped to his knee!  The rest is on video below ; )   (Turn up your volume… it’s hard to hear).

Happy

The rest of the hike was great, and we heard the lady who videoed it for us telling the story on the way down.  It was fun to be famous for an afternoon!  The ring he gave me is actually his grandmother’s ring and it came with a matching wedding band.  We had the ring resized and it’s perfect.  We plan to design custom wedding bands that kinda match, while incorporating the 10 diamonds from his grandmother’s band.

Ring <3

Engaged!

Wedding plans are still in progress!

We chose to race the Finish Strong Sprint Triathlon in Monroe, WA.  Monroe is northeast of where we live, on the way to Steven’s Pass in the Cascades.  It was held at a little park, and the lake water was forgivingly warm (I no longer own a wetsuit).  The distances: a 400 meter swim, 14 mile bike, and 5k run.  Packing for the race was like settling back into a weekday morning routine after a long vacation… my body and mind seemed to remember what to do – once I consciously thought about it.  I nearly forgot my race belt, but luckily Kelly mentioned it in her facebook post that I saw the morning of the race.

The air temp was chilly and the lake was covered in fog when we arrived.  I was disappointed when they announced a change in the wave start order… now all the age 39 and younger women would be in the last wave.  We had been in the second wave, right behind the age 39 and younger men.  Oh well, it’s just for fun!

SWIM
After a beach start, I swam my butt off!  I saw one girl charge ahead quickly, and I recognized Kelly beside me.  As she started to pull ahead, my well-ingrained instincts to draft and conserve energy kicked in.  I slid back, keeping right on her toes with the bubbles in my face.  I kept sight of the buoy ahead as we began to catch the swimmers in the previous wave.  I was definitely feeling the fatigue from working muscles that had been asleep for years!  Thank goodness for Kelly!  I kicked harder to warm up my legs as we approached the shore.  We had worked our way through half of the older men’s wave (who left 6 minutes ahead of us!), which I noticed as we exited the water.  The swim was tough for me; it left me feeling nauseous as I ran up the beach to the transition area.

BIKE
I had a lightening fast transition (29 seconds) since I didn’t have to take off a wetsuit and I had attached my shoes to my bike and rubber-banded them.  I blazed out of transition, leapt on my bike and took off.  At the beginning of the bike ride, it was hard for me to focus on keeping up the pace since there weren’t many people around me. I started having fun, encouraging fellow racers with “good job!” as I passed, and thanking all the volunteers obediently directing at the corners.   After the turnaround, Kelly and another woman with an aero helmet caught me and so we rode “together” for the rest of the race.  We didn’t draft, but we stayed together, taking turns passing, which kept the pace up.  Within the last 1/4 mile, 3 or 4 other women caught us, and we were stuck in a big group.  I was the only one to take off my shoes on the bike as we rode towards the dismount line.

Riding my bike. (photo available at www.myepevents.com)

RUN
Another blazing fast transition (27 seconds), and I was the first out on the run.  I felt surprisingly strong and light, running on my toes.  Derek said I was in front, if not first, to which I replied, ok, that’s cool!  As I passed men on the run, I kept up with my encouragements.  I’m determined to make triathlon a more friendly environment – more like the cheerfulness in an ultra running race.  I was really enjoying the run, and  I was unconcerned after seeing a woman running clearly several minutes ahead – out of my reach at this point in the race.

With 5 or 6 minutes of running left, a woman caught and passed me.  Many other racers seemed to know who she was, as she was getting several cheers from racers and spectators.  I noticed the age written on her calf – she was in the wave 3 minutes ahead of mine, so I knew I had already beaten her.  Still, I fell into stride right behind her and once she noticed my shadow trailing hers, she said “So you’re going to draft on me and then fly by at the end, huh?” I ran up beside her and she told me she had just done an Ironman, and I said I was impressed she could still run at the pace we were going.  We chatted, and she asked “Are you a pro?” to which I replied that I was retired and hadn’t raced since 2006.  Nearing the finish line, I battled with myself whether to let her take it, or to give it what I had and sprint it out to the end.  Unable to tame my competitive spirit, I opened up to a full sprint (for me) and she was right on my heels as we crossed the line.

Enjoying a sprint finish! (photo available at www.myepevents.com)

I finished in 1:11.47, 2nd female, 8th overall, and 1st in my age group 25-29.  I swam in 7:33, biked in 41:26 (20.3 mph average), and ran in 21:50 (7:03 min/mile).  (See full results here). Not too shabby!  I’m pretty proud of my transitions – 29.1 and 27.8 seconds.  : )  Most importantly, I was able to make it fun, which is my goal at this point.  I don’t know if I’ll go out and sign up for another one this year though… I don’t want to make Derek get up at 4:30 again : P

Weekends are too short!  I have made time to get out and enjoy them, but writing blog posts and documenting the fun times has gone by the wayside. During my week spent with family at Glen Lake in Northern Michigan, my domain expired before I had a chance to complete the transfer to a new service.  GoDaddy had a very strong grasp on my domain, let me tell you!!  Therefore my site was down for a week.  After that I was caught up with 8 hour work days with 2 hour commutes tacked on each end (due to taking public transportation with my free bus pass from work).  Carpooling is faster, but also more expensive.

So WAIT a minute!  Where did this 9-5 job come from anyway??  No, I haven’t settled for dayshift at McDonald’s… I finally landed a position as a real nurse in a hospital!  I started an RN residency program at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, WA.  Tacoma is a long commute (about 50 miles, 50 minutes with good traffic), but the hospital system is great and most of the people I’ve met seem very happy to work there.

I started on August 1 with two weeks of orientation, computer training, and introduction to the residency.  This week we just finished up shadowing different roles on the unit: IV therapist, unit secretary, transport nurse, LPN, and a nurse tech.  It was great to see the various positions and how everyone works together in their roles, and it will help me appreciate everyone better when I’m working on my own.

Next week we have classes all day that are a review of pediatrics, which is really good for me because I think my peds class at Marymount was pretty poor.  I absolutely cannot wait to start working three 12 hour shifts a week with a preceptor on August 30!  

During school I didn’t ever really consider working with kids.  But with my background – coaching, babysitting, nannying, camp counseling – it really makes sense, doesn’t it?  I fit right in

It's official!

Green garden!

I planted way too many Romaine/Buttercrunch plants.  I wish I could have bought maybe 1-2 individual romaine starts instead of a 4 (or 6?) pack.  Same with the buttercrunch.

Romaine

Buttercrunch

The green leafy lettuce, started from seed, isn’t my favorite. It’s very pale green which makes me think it’s lacking in nutrients compared to my dark green spinach, or even the dark green romaine.

Broccoli got HUGE.  I had no idea it would get that big.  There are 4 or 5 plants, and today we discovered that in 2 days they started to flower.  Oops!  Last night, we cut the main stalks off those and had Cream of Broccoli soup (left the flowers on).

Huge Broccoli

Peas!  We added some height to the fence for the peas to climb.  They’re about 6 feet now and we picked pods today.  They are sweet, juicy and crunchy!

The carrot tops are tall and starting to flop over, but I don’t think they’re ready yet.  It’s too late now, but I recently read that I was supposed to thin the carrots to every  2 inches.  Oops.

The green beans are starting to flower… which means green beans soon!

The hanging plants are no longer hanging.  I gave up about 3 weeks ago and transplanted them into the ground.  During that process I dropped another tomato plant, snapping off the stalk : ( I decided to try just sticking the stalk in the ground, and it took a bit for the roots to regrow, but it worked!

First tomato!

I bought two new tomato plants since 3 had been casualties in my attempts to hang them in milk jugs. I bought a cherry tomato variety (indeterminate, so its growing huge like a bush) and an Early Girl, which is putting out some little green marble-sized tomatoes. I also bought 2 more pepper plants because the transplanted ones are still quite small. I’ve got little tiny peppers starting on the bell pepper plant and the jalapeno is looking good too.

First peppers!

We doubled the size of the garden space a few weeks ago.  The only things planted back there are an acorn squash, a butternut squash, a cucumber and a pumpkin.  The pumpkin is doing well, despite it being in shade for the end of the day.

Pumpkin flower

Since I had to work on Fourth of July at 8pm, I made an American Flag cake and we grilled salmon and veggies on July 6 instead : )

cake!

Last weekend was the last weekend of strawberry picking, so we took advantage.  As opposed to the strawberry farms in Virginia, here it is actually a better deal to pick your own – $1.50/lb!  We picked 7.5 pounds and headed home.  I made two kinds of freezer jam.  One was recommended by my cousin Erin – a Honey Strawberry Jam with apple juice and lemon juice – click for Recipe, and a Strawberry Rhubarb freezer jam – Recipe here.  I had enough extra and 2 jars left to try the recipe on the low-sugar pectin jar, and decided to even try it with real canning.  It seems to have sealed, but I hope I didn’t seal in any bacteria.  We’ll see!!

I also, of course, made strawberry shortcake : )

Strawberry shortcake!

And hi from Colby.

Big!

He loves his pig. (and look at those big boy teeth!)

Pig needs a bath.

And more photos!!

]]> http://michellelindsay.com/2011/07/a-salad-a-day-to-keep-the-doctor-away/feed/ 2 http://michellelindsay.com/2011/07/finding-rocks/ http://michellelindsay.com/2011/07/finding-rocks/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:56:19 +0000 michelle http://michellelindsay.com/?p=533 The (hospital) job search has continued to be a bumpy road.  About a month ago, I nailed an interview for a dream job: New Graduate RN position at the Swedish Cherry Hill Emergency Department.  A few days later I got the nicest rejection letter one can get!  The manager had chosen a candidate who had worked at that ED for 5 years as an ED Tech, but he wished he had another position for me.  I absolutely couldn’t compete with that, and it was a huge disappointment.

A couple weeks after that I met with the manager again to discuss my job search, and future new grad openings.  More disappointing news: Swedish Medical Center managers were told to hold off on hiring new grads until October, when a large cohort “residency” would be offered.

October?? No Swedish opportunities until October??

Luckily I already had an interview lined up for a similar Swedish residency that starts mid-July.  I had that interview last week, and it was the manager’s last interview of seven.  Knowing this was probably my last chance at a Swedish hospital position until October, I was prepared to nail my interview like I did the last one.  In order to pull off a great interview though, you need the interviewer to also be engaged and interested.  My interviewer seemed to be “going through the paces”… not giving me much time to answer questions, not really taking notes, and preoccupied with the iphone.  I knew it was bad when at the end of the interview, she asked me if I had my license, and this was after we had thoroughly discussed the home healthcare RN job listed on my resume.  Needless to say, I didn’t get the position.  I don’t think I would have been happy working for her anyway…

After a day of tears and despair, I began brainstorming other ideas.  Military nursing, EMT certification, and moving to a new city or state are all being considered.  I am nearing the 6 month mark of having my RN license, and I still don’t have a job in acute care.  For the first time, I regretted moving to Washington State.   : (  Most of my friends from school who stuck around DC have jobs, and some have their dream job – straight out of school.

Yesterday, a new grad position at Swedish First Hill’s Labor and Delivery unit was posted!  I applied, but I’m concerned that I will be moved to the bottom of the pile since my senior internship was not in L&D.  I emailed the recruiter who wrote me the nice rejection letter and she forwarded my note, along with her “recommendation” to the recruiters working on the position.  Now I just pray for that phone call…

I like to think that everything that happens to me all represents little rock cairns, guiding my direction.  Maybe I wasn’t meant to be an ER nurse?  Maybe I’m meant to be an L&D nurse, or maybe even a nurse midwife?  Thinking of each disappointment as providing direction to how things were meant to go makes me feel better.  But it doesn’t take away the anxiety about whether this position is indeed the one I’m waiting for.

This post needs a photo.  hmm… who else but Colby?  He’s 40 pounds now, by the way, and he’s getting some big boy teeth (see them in the photo below)!

"Where we goin?"