Skip to main content

Sleep Can Wait

I’m typing this on my flight from Minneapolis (layover from Anchorage) to Phoenix to visit home for the first time since my big move! It’s a shame that I can’t sleep when I travel because I worked Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, went home to finish packing, then spent time with Cory before he dropped me off at the airport at 11am. Besides dozing off here and there during the first 4 hour flight, I’ve been awake for 27 hours and counting. I just cannot get comfortable enough to sleep sitting up no matter how tired I am. 2 more hours of this flight left. Good thing I’m on vacation! 

Never thought I’d be vacationing in Phoenix and looking forward to summer heat! This is the best part of summer for Phoenix though. Thunderstorms and heavy rain that drop the high to a cool 90 something degrees. Although, 60 feels pretty warm to me now. I haven’t felt anything above 85 since May. My fear is that I’m gonna miss the brief fall period in Anchorage and it’ll already be winter when I return. Lord help me. But enough cold talk!

Now, how do I begin to express how excited I am right now? Besides the obviousness of how I could burst at the thought of seeing family and friends, here are a number of other things I’m looking forward to:

  1. Sunsets – none better than AZ!
  2. Watching U of A football
  3. Swimming – which will hopefully come with a tan
  4. My favorite restaurants
  5. Driving on freeways
  6. Bargain shopping for winter clothes
  7. Desert rain
  8. ODF – my home church. Still haven’t settled on one in Anchorage yet
If only Cory could come too. We’ve gone months at a time without seeing each other, but now just 6 days seems like forever. It’s a good sign that we’re not even close to sick of each other yet, but it makes me wonder how I would handle his deployment. It’s a hypothetical situation at this point, but likely. Why on earth am I dwelling on this now?

Subject change.

By the time I have internet access to post this, I’ll already be in Phoenix! I will do my best to find a balance between relaxing at home and going out and about socializing and enjoying activities. That’s always been a struggle for me. I want to do so many things and see so many people, so I try to squeeze in as much as I can and end up spreading myself too thin. I want to go with the flow, but I also want to plan out each day so I can do as much as I can. This much I know: I will soak up every bit of warmth, play time, downtime, and Brynley time that I can to take back to Alaska with me. So thankful for this much needed holiday!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

First Snow: Check!

It happened. It snowed. It snowed back in Aril when I was just visiting, but this was the real thing where it stuck all over the trees and cars and ground. September 23rd, first snow of the season, and I lived! Plus, it had melted by the next day. The mountains are GORGEOUS though! After that random bout of winter, fall took over. It doesn't get warmer than 50, the leaves are changing color and falling, and it's raining more often than not. I'm not gonna lie...I've really been enjoying my new stylish coats and drinking chai tea lattes on a regular basis. Cory and I took a short drive to Birchwood where we explored Beach Lake and caught these views... If only this season would last longer than a month. The freezing cold (aka the age of darkness) is on it's way, but I'm doing my best to take in my surroundings now without dwelling so much on what's to come. I still find myself stopping now and then thinking "Holy crap, I actually live he

2013 New Year resolution accomplished

It's hard to believe that I've been an Alaskan resident for a week now as I recall the events of the last 4 months: graduating from nursing school, passing the state board exam to be registered as a nurse, turning 25, landing my first nursing job, and leaving Phoenix to live in Anchorage (near Cory who has 2 1/2 years left at Elmendorf Air Force Base. It's a thrilling endeavor living outside of Arizona for the first time, although so many changes all at once are a little overwhelming, to say the least. New city, new address, new roommate, new career, new car, new relationship phase...it's a lot take in. The climate alone is drastically different than the dessert that I've grown up in, but luckily this "summer" weather (60s and 70s) has been pleasant to adjust to. I had a small taste of winters to come when I was here in April when it got as low as 5 degrees, which I know is just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended), so I will soak up these 20+ hour sunlit

Happy Times

There isn't anything major to report since I last posted, but lots of little victories and happy moments have added up to lots of positivity! Work always comes with some level of stress, but I can safely say that I finally feel like a real nurse on a regular basis, and I can almost always walk away at the end of the night feeling proud of my work! I've gained more confidence facing tasks like drawing blood and inserting catheters (I never said it was glamorous), I finish my charting before the end of the shift 90% of the time (and anything left over doesn't take very long), and I even oriented a new employee! She's been a nurse for 2 years, so she actually taught me more than I taught her, but I was glad that the manager trusted me to show her the ropes. I've also been told multiple times from my coworkers that they would never guess that I'm a new nurse and they're impressed by how quickly I learn and how well I fit in. Multiple patients have told me how