Amazingness!!

The view from the bottom looking up

So here's a little update from your now workin' girl! As most of you know I started my new job last week. I had Ochsner (my company) orientation monday, Ochsner Baptist (my hospital) orientation tuesday, and nursing orientation on wednesday. They I worked two twelve hour shifts thursday and friday. Needless to say I was pretty pooped friday night! So far I have really enjoyed work. I really like just being back in the hospital and taking care of patients. I honestly live for it! The ER is so different though. Patients are in and out very quickly and most of your time is spent doing diagnostics on them to figure out what, if anything is actually wrong with them. I like most of the people I work with. I am current;y orienting on the day shift (7a-7p) for at least a month. Then I will be switching to my regular shift of 11a-11p and orienting with the guy who does that shift before they let me out on my own. And let me tell you that will be a scary day. Since I started I have just realized how much I still have to learn! It's scary. The nursing knowledge is in there, I just need practice with that. Then there's the task of figuring out how to chart everything, where everything is, protocols, etc. The learning curve is steep, I just hate climbing. Looking forward to the view from the top, but I have a feeling This is one of those mountains that never ends, just becomes less steep as you climb.

No Rif Raf

As I finished my last post I indicated there would be more "dream" making material ahead and here it is folks! This dream was a long time coming and finally realized in our backyard on Labor Day. Our neighbor peter mentioned earlier in the summer how badly he wanted to get a pool in the backyard for the summer. We of course thought this was a bit ludicrous and assumed it would not happen. Peter actually had the pool picked out on Walmart.com, but apparently the rest of the U.S. had the same idea and bought them all before we could get our hands on one.

A few months went by and the pool became a sore subject. That is until the day Alexis and Peter went to Walgreens one day and noticed their made for TV section had the EXACT pool from Walmart!! It was even marked down 50% off!!

Low and Behold for Labor Day we were sitting pretty in our very own pool complete with burgers, cool drinks and flippy floppies.

The stuff dreams are made of..

As promised I am back to tell the a story of some incredible happenings down here under the uptown oaks. Not sure if I have mentioned this before but we have been completely blessed since moving here to make some amazing friends right off the bat! Our neighbor Peter is one of the most fun loving people we have ever met. Through his we have met his girlfriend Alexis, and some of their other friends.

While we were enjoying the porch one fine new orleans evening with our new friends, fun loving Peter decided that for his upcoming birthday he

wants to have a pig roast! Wow, a Pig Roast! Really? yeah! Lets do it! Of course this enthusiasm most likely stemmed from everyone having had a few Abita's, but we were definitely on board.

Over the next few weeks leading up to Peter's

birthday we discussed all of the possibilities and particulars of pulling this off. Finally we came to the realization that New Orleans is in fact a swamp, meaning = soggy pig. Therefore it was time for the

next option: The CAJUN MICROWAVE!!! (this is basically a box with metal on top where you place coals to cook whatever is inside, kind of like an oven) Chad said, "hey I built a bathroom, I can build a CAJUN MICROWAVE." And that my friends is what he did!

The weekend before the big even the guys went over to Lowe's to make their pig roasting dreams a reality. Four hours later they came back with materials and an official plan and set to work. Late the following day it was finished and we loaded it with two hens to test it's cooking capabilities.

Those chickens were GOOD! So the e-vites were sent and the pig was

ordered.

Here are a few pics from the exciting event. We believe this is only the beginning of dreams come true here on oak street!

P.S. More dream fulfilling postings to come!

SO it's time to update.! A LOT has happened in our lives since the last post and I am excited to let everyone know.

In my last post I announced my acceptance of a job in Baton Rouge. Since then, I received a very exciting call. Before moving to New Orleans I had interviewed with a local hospital here called Ochsner Baptist for their ER. I was not selected for this position, but apparently the person who was did not end up being a good fit for them because a few weeks after accepting my position at Baton Rouge they called me to set up an interview! I was very excited about this because this is a job I had REALLY wanted. It is super close to our house and the manager on the unit seemed to be someone I would really enjoy working for. I interviewed for the job and the manager continued to seem interested. Well, two weeks ago he offered me the position!!! It really worked out well since they are owned by the same company I was about to work for so transferring was just a matter of paper work. It put me a little behind on my starting day, but it has been worth it to be able to take a job I really wanted. One of the best features about the position is I will work from 11a.m. to 11p.m.!! This is a dream nursing shift that is really rare and I am super excited about it. I will still be doing three shifts a week and every other weekend.

I also found out that I passed my boards exam! This was a HUGE milestone for me and I received my new license to practice nursing in the mail yesterday!!

Chad has begun law school and is in his third week. He spends a lot of time in the library, so we are officially coming out of "staycation".

Bella cat has enjoyed spending hours on end in front of the big window at the front of our house looking at her new best friend "grey cat". She has also most recently begun doing flips in front of the window to show off for her new friend as well.

Chad's birthday is coming up and we are planning a great gatsby themed speakeasy party for him. I'm very excited about this!

We most recently helped our neighbor throw a pig roast birthday party and I will discuss this extravaganza in my next post.

Until next time,

Ash, Chad and Bella