Day One

Day One is always interesting to me. The first of anything is usually a little scary... I remember the first day I went boxing. I was scared. I had been putting off going for weeks. Actually, I was nervous that once I got to the class, it was going to be crazy hard and I was not going to be able to finish. But when you are in an exercise class like that, you can't really leave. Especially when it is boxing. It's one thing to pick up your yoga mat & tip toe your way to the door, through all of the crow-positioned gymnasts around you. In boxing, you can't really tell your partner you're done. You know what though? I loved it. It was really hard. But so much more fun than I thought. I remember Day One of college. Now that was weird. We drove 5 hours through flat cornfields, arrived in Cedarville, Ohio, found my dorm room (which I had never seen before), start unloading all my stuff, and then I met this girl wearing basketball shorts & a polo, who said she was going to be my roommate & for the next 8 months we would share a bunk-bed & a closet. We had to look at a map to figure out where to go to eat dinner. You become Facebook friends with everyone your first few weeks in college because you have no friends & you have no idea who will be a good friend. I remember Day One of dating. Oh wait, I have had a bunch of "Day One"'s of dating. The most notable was my day one of online dating though. All I had to do was walk up the street to a coffee shop in Wicker Park & hangout for a couple of hours with this guy I had been talking to. I fell apart. Prior to the date I was so nervous & freaking out I had uncontrollable laughter. I was laughing so hard about nothing & couldn't get it under control. I called my friend Kelly. She laughed at it initially, and then when I was still crying laughing & she realized this was not appropriate & I needed to get ready to leave for a date, she told me to hang the phone up, and blast some music really loud & dance out my nervous energy. On the way to the coffee shop I was still freaking out, so of course I called Mallorie & needed some advice. I remember she told me just to calm down, and that I had nothing to lose, and it would be fine. It was fine, I guess. The two worst parts were my awkward wave when I saw him at the back of the coffee shop; it was a wave where I left my hand down at my hip & just shook my hand back and forth like I had something hot on it I was trying to get off. He returned the awkwardness by later sniffing my hair. There was no second date.

Day One's can be really great, or awkward, or surprising. Or all of the above. I would summarize my "Day One" here with "pleasantly surprising". With the exception of one doctor, everyone here has been unbelievably nice. My manager, the nurse that trained me for two days, all of the doctors I have interacted with, the phlebotomists (oh my word, the phlebotomists at my previous job were so horrible!), the nutritionists; everyone. I have been shocked by how nice people are to travelers. I had this idea that everyone would be rude & disgruntled by questions & mad that we don't know what is going on. So far (for the most part), that has not been the case. I genuinely feel like this hospital has a lot of very, very caring people at it. It has been shocking to see how nice & patient the doctors are. I worked with some very good, caring doctors previously, but that was more the exception than the rule. 

I started orientation for my job on Monday, and continued to work through Saturday. The orientation was unbelievably boring. The computer-charting training was useless. I did make a few friends though, and look forward to have more people to do things with out here! 

A few pictures from a bike ride Ana & I did... and then we went for a drive to find some more trails to bike on...

I had a random Thursday off, so Kelsey & I went camping & hiking in the Superstitions, at Lost Dutchman State Park. I love the superstitions! Our trip was a quick two day, one night event. Day one we went to lunch at this local saloon, then hiked & watched the sun set.

I have loved having Kelsey here to explore, hike, and camp with me!! I will definitely miss her when she leaves in a few weeks!

Teddy-bear cholla

 

We did the trail to the Praying Hands. We weren't sure which ones are the hands... 

Our hike-in site was amazing. Not a single person in sight. We couldn't hear anyone else at all. It felt like we were the only people out there! (But the bathrooms were only 1/4 mile away!) Perfect campsite, in my opinion.

 

Creative cigarette butt holder.

I totally got tricked by this scorpion attached to a fishing line. I had never seen a scorpion before! How was I supposed to know it wasn't real??!

Prickly pear cactus

The trail around the "backside" of the Superstitions.

Day Two we woke up, packed up the tent, found some coffee & drove out to Canyon Lake, on the Apache Trail, and rent some kayaks. So, so fun!! The drive out along the Apache Trail is breath-taking, and seeing a huge canyon above us while we were paddling was amazing!

I want to come back & spend a few days here & kayak all day and get to explore more of the lakes!!