Charleston

Best.weekend.ever. I had my bachelorette sister weekend and I had such a blast. Thursday afternoon Eli dropped me off at the Albuquerque airport, which is definitely smaller than I was expecting, and I headed down to Atlanta to meet up with my sisters. Kathleen was stuck in Omaha because of the weather so she got in on Friday. Anna and I went to Gun show which is owned by Chef Kevin Gillepsie who was in the top three of Top Chef. And he was there. And I met him. And got a picture with him. Great start to the weekend!! Breaking it down:

Friday: Arrive Charleston!! We met up with Hannah and checked out our fabulous place complete with a koi pond and cat that wanted to be our friend. The four of us gussied up and did appetizers at Eli's Table for dinner!! SO SO good! We capped off the night with a drink on one of the rooftop bars!

Saturday: Carriage Tour morning--this was one of my favorite activities because Charleston is so full of history and charm and it was awesome to learn about it. I took pictures of everything because I think Eli would really enjoy the architecture. We took the afternoon to explore and shop and each of us found fabulous treasures. For dinner we made chicken and waffles!!! They were really good and we didn't set off the fire alarms! Then we did a photo booth--the pictures are hysterical.

Sunday-- Brunch on the beach! The sun was shining and we walked down the beach for a bit. Then we headed back to the airport to drop off Hannah and the three of us headed back to Atlanta. Anna took us by where she works and showed us crazy huge homes as well as where they filmed capitol scenes of the Hunger Games! Then Monday it was back to Albuquerque. It was such a great weekend celebrating!!! (Gun Show, Carriage Tour, Beach, Decorations)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

Eli and I spent Valentine's Day doing lots of fun/relaxing things since I had to work all weekend. We've been really utilizing the workout facility here at the apartment, and it's one of the best things about living here. The assignment is not my favorite, but our apartment is awe-some! We drove out to one of the tennis courts close to us and played for awhile--we're both pretty rusty. Then the two of us headed home to make dinner--the sunset was beautiful because it got cloudy during the day. I worked all weekend and Eli got some really creative things done for the wedding--I'm pretty impressed! It's pretty busy here because I work the next two days then I head to Charleston for my sister bachelorette weekend and I'm.so.excited.

Petroglyph National Monument

Eli and I went out exploring today. The weather was in the 50s and sunny so it was a great morning to go to Petroglyph National Monument. It's on the outskirts of Albuquerque so we got to see more of the city driving there. While we were starting our hike I mentioned to Eli that I will look at the Desert Dome at the zoo differently since now I've been there!! The scenery was very pretty--wide open spaces with lots of sunshine and sand. The petroglyphs were pretty cool, it was fun finding them along the trail. We saw a few that looked newer--one definitely looked like a music note! After our hike we headed into town to have some mexican food. I had chicken tacos and Eli had a green chile burger. They love green and red chili here--started off with guacamole and salsa--pretty tasty! The weather has been awesome, it's supposed to be in the 70s this weekend! Great first adventure in Albuquerque! (Us on the trail, a few petroglyphs, and wide open spaces!)

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to snow on the ground and cold temperatures! When I got off work Tuesday (which went very well!) it was spitting "snow" and we passed about 5 accidents on the interstate. I was like what?!?!?! The road signs said 'winter driving conditions may exist'. Being from the midwest it didn't even compete with real winter driving conditions. Today we decided not to leave the apartment because we didn't want to be on the roads. We got quite a bit of wedding things done and tonight we turned on our fireplace and made Runzas. I've noticed that a week or two into the assignment I get a little homesick and a Runza cures it!! We're watching the Olympics and bundled up inside!

First Weekend

I got through my first weekend! It was interesting to say the least--I described this experience to my Mom as a growth experience for me. Friday I was oriented to a computer system that the hospital doesn't use so that was slightly frustrating. Then my day to orient on the floor the staff was short so my nurse was overwhelmed on top of having to orient me. However, Sunday was positive and went pretty well. It's very different from what I'm used too--the jury is still out on how I feel about it! I work tomorrow and Wednesday and then we'll figure out something fun to do. I've gotten a few restaurant recommendations and ideas for day activities. Sunday quite a few patients had a Super Bowl party in the dining room--made me smile. Everyone here though is a Broncos fan and I'm not competitive enough/know enough about football to talk smack so I kept who I was rooting for to myself :) (One of our favorite engagement pictures)