Beautiful Kaua'i!

one of the wettest spots on earth below

so pretty, you can take helicopter tours here

the grand canyon of the pacific

famous for their red dirt

Wailua River

Beautiful Hanalei bay

Birthday Eve

This will be my first birthday away from most of my friends and family. I was supposed to work tonight but for some GREAT reason, they decided to put me on standby. They said they will try not to call me but Im just happy to be kind of off for now. My family sang happy birthday to me on Skype and I thought it was super gay, but when I hung up with them I was by myself and it was all of a sudden quiet--THOSE are the times when Im like damn, I wish I can just go home.

But other than those moments, it's been good. Went to Buffalo Wild Wings yesterday to watch the UH game..kinda a big deal around here. I must say it was an exciting game though. Been missing the Chargers games tho?! I guess its good considering we lost to two pretty shitty teams huh?? Anyways, Going home on Thursday! Crazy how Ruth is getting married..so happy for her though. Gary is a cool guy and Im excited for the wedding although I wish I could be smaller! lol. ANNND Im turning 26...and Im starting to realize FINALLY that were getting old. 26. So not a cool sounding age. Just sounds O-L-D. haha.

Anyways got myself a little birthday present:)

A Hello Kitty beach bag! Isnt it cute? haha.

Anywayss....see everyone this weekend!!

This is a video footage of our new place:) Im excited to move in. Hope you guys are all planning your vacays!!:)

WORK&HOME

So I am officially on my own at work, and I must say it is NOT as intimidating as I thought it was. The doctors are 10X nicer than scripps, and everyone on my shift is really helpful. I also have a lot more autonomy to do things (i.e. adjust vent settings, actually having central lines, giving more drugs). The whole charting thing is on computer which I am NOT used to..but I can get used to it. I guess you can say everyone works around the Nurse over there, haha. We get one critical care tech who does all my sugars, I&Os, watches my rhythms...and all i have to do is click "confirm" for whatever he does for me. Then I have a nurse assistant who does my other stuff like change diapers, linens, etc. The RT does my EKGs, really good about doing my oral care & suctioning...meanwhile, I'm sitting there like UHHHH.....i feel like Im not doing anything but charting. Haha, but we'll see how it goes?!! I only worked three nights.

Traffic is crazy here. I dont remember this much traffic on all my vacations here. But sometimes, it could take you 20 minutes to drive 5 miles cuz everything is so backed up. I also got my first speeding ticket going...SIXTY MPH! haha. it was on my first day to work too. It was a 50mph zone. The officer noticed I just moved there cuz my Cali plates and registration, I was using my GPS, ANNND I had my scrubs on to the first day of work. I could tell he felt bad but he already wrote the ticket and just gave it to me...he SUCKS! Anyways, Im gonna write a letter to the judge explaining the circumstances and see if I can get a break.

Lastly, we finally found a place at Koko Isle Circle (that place on my other link). Were going to meet with the landlord today to finalize things, so everyone start planning your vacays!:) The place is really nice and Im excited to FINALLY have our own place. More pics to come! Anyways, coming home next week for Ruths wedding!! I have Thanksgiving weekend off but guess how much airfare is..1600?!!! WHOA! hopefully it might go down if i try to fly out last minute but well see! K time to go register my car finally. i Miss everyone at home...!

Lanikai

Today me and Jamie finally hung out..we went to Lanikai beach and had a very relaxing time chillin under my brand new Billabong beach umbrella=) Unfortunately, the beaches on that side of the island are known for Portugese man o'war...and jamie got stung by one! It was so small...we didnt even know what it was but we were both freaking out! Jamies arm got a few rashes....

Anyways, we were talking about what an exciting time of our lives it is. Everything so far is..."cherry" as they would say over here. haha. I've been having a lot of fun and cant wait till we get our own place...

speaking of, I think I fell in love with a place I just found on craigslist. Right on the water in Koko isle, looks perfect to me!!! SERIOUSLY. if we can get this place, i would be 100% happy!!!!!

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/apa/1993026927.html

week ONE

So it's been a week over here...a week of vacation!

Aside from a few errands here and there, my first week as a resident in Hawaii comprised mostly of finding things to do and familiarizing myself with everything (surprisingly I am always lost even if Ive been here sooo many times). I've been busy and havent given myself the chance to necessarily miss home yet...I mean occasionally I'll have a moment where I think about certain people and wish I see them real quick..but that was nothing that Skype couldn't take care of. I have never used my laptop soo much!! Haha.

I have my car here and it still has its California plates..Im having a few technical difficulties with registering my car here. Thinking about it, I have had to learn how to do a lot of "grown up things" by myself. Things like making sure my insurance policy complies with the state, registering my car, shipping my vehicle, going to rental showings and communicating with realtors, etc. Pretty much everything about moving here, I have had to figure out and fund for myself...an accomplishment for me I guess..thank God for google!!!

It hasn't 100% hit me that Im living here. But I guess since I started work today...Im thinking it will start to sink in. Today, we had a corporate orientation and honestly I am sooo impressed by how organized Hawaii Pacific Health is. The leaders are humble and seem to have a lot of integrity, the organization itself just seems to surpass all my expectations that I had for any hospital in Hawaii. They have an excellent reputation on the island which I have learned from speaking to some of the locals around here--patient satisfaction scores for inpatient and ED consistently remain in the 90th percentile throughout the fiscal year which is fucking unbelievable!!!(at least compared to Scripps) .. the people who were hired with me all seem like quality people...benefits are really good..and to wrap it up, I feel very lucky to have landed this job!! I am actually excited to work and see how this all ends up. It just feels like a serious step up from my previous workplace....like the breath of fresh air that Ive been wanting in my career. So thaaank you Lord for this opportunity=)

Other than that, just been hanging out. The food in Hawaii is seriously AMAZING! Honestly a lot of food in the hole-in-the-wall places tastes better than most food in San Diego. Like my taste buds dance everytime I eat here..one time I was actually doing a little dance while I was eating bc the food is just THAT good. But yesterday, I officially started a diet wedding:( Very minimal carbs, and running at least 30 mins everyday that I can.

My roomie has been pretty chill, haha. I am really thankful that me and Jamies roomies are letting us do this because we are saving sooo much money, but at the same time Im ready to get our own place and do our own thing. Soo I hope that we get a worthy place soon:) As long as my REAL future roomies (daisy/jamie/ber) get their job offers;) Surprisingly havent hung out with Jamie that much because were always doing different things and jamie is a mountain woman right now(jk) but well probably hang out tomorrow...Oh yeah, I went with Mike to Kaua'i for like 2 days..which is SO so beautiful btw. I also met his parents/grandparents..soo yeahh- i dunno, haha but that was cool. I will post pics of the garden island soon!

Aloha for now!