Coming Soon..

A much longer blog post about leaving Las Vegas is coming,... a summary of the whole thing. However- I've been too busy the last couple days.. with these precious babies..

They're amazing. 

Las Vegas- The End

I have decided I need to try to sum up the last few months... not only for all of you, but for myself as well.  I want to remember some of the small details.. things I wouldn't normally remember in a few months when I think back on this experience.  This was harder to do than I thought it would be..

First of all, I can NOT believe how fast the time went while I was here.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was packing and my dad and I were leaving my house from Des Moines and heading this way...



Dad and I- March 2011; Las Vegas.





Lesson:I brought WAY too much stuff!!!!



I found this card in my computer after I dropped dad off at the airport. I can't really explain to you the homesick, "what the heck am I doing" feeling that I had. I was excited, scared, nervous, and determined all at the same time. I couldn't have asked for a better support system- and this will definitely remind me of that.

One thing I know I do not want to forget is the little bit of culture shock that I felt when I got here. Obviously the Las Vegas strip is a lot different than Iowa in every aspect. I had been to Vegas a few times before moving out here, but I don't remember feeling the same way about some things before.  For example, one of the first days- I wanted some bottled water. I walked into a CVS.  I only knew where one grocery store was and I was less than impressed, so I decided to take on the CVS.  I walked in and there was a whole row of slot machines.  I remember in the beginning thinking how funny and sad it was to see slot machines everywhere.. gas stations, grocery stores, bars, restaurants.  I have not seen any in the hospital or my church. :-)

Walking through the casinos out here is an experience just in itself really.  You can sit on a bench and just watch people.  I have come to realize that when people are in Las Vegas, they just don't care. I feel like because it has it's "Sin City" name... people almost feel like they have to live up to being here? I hope I'm getting my point across.  I have never been anywhere else where it is OK to just walk around with an open beer. (except maybe spring break..but that doesn't count) It's acceptable and almost encouraged here. The lack of clothing.. both from visitors and workers. I still don't really understand why it's necessary for the cocktail waitress to only wear a bra and a very skimpy pair of underwear.. I'm sure it all revolves around money, in some way. More sales from men? It's kind of sad. One thing I remember talking to my mom about in the beginning is the culture shock I was feeling. I told her I did not want to become desensitized to the things that made me sad.  Things such as woman not valuing themselves enough to put more clothes on.. the people all over the strip slapping cards with naked woman on them..slapping them together..handing them to anyone who will take them, to basically sell a woman for sex. The numerous "ad trucks" that drive around with a basically naked person on it and a big 1-800 number for a "girl to you".  The thousands of drunk people, spending a LOT of money at the slot machines and tables. Whenever I would see someone like that I would think back to one of the episodes of Intervention (on A&E) I saw..it was a girl that had a gambling problem.  Some people get themselves WAY over their heads.  That makes me sad.  HOWEVER..with all of that being said- I realize that the majority of the people that come here, especially those that have never been here before, come because they are curious and want a vacation. If that's the case for anyone reading this I would say just come and be prepared. :-)  I had been here before and it still struck me differently than I thought it would. Maybe because I was living here for three months? I don't regret choosing Las Vegas.  I think it opened my eyes a little. And that's not ALWAYS a bad thing. :-)

The sirens... I don't really hear them anymore- but in the beginning I think they kept me up every night. I remember a few weeks ago I walked over to the gas station to grab a bottle of ketchup and I asked the clerk checking me out how he was doing.  He was a little hyper and said, "Oh it has been a CRAZY day!!" I said, "really.. you've been busy today?" He said, "no- haven't you heard the sirens and helicopters today??" I kind of looked at him like ..really??? I said, "I have lived here for over 2 months now I sort of quit hearing them." He said, "oh- well we had a bomb threat here today!!!"  I sort of walked out of there a little freaked out but kind of found it comical at the same time.  The gas station is literally a building away from me.  If a bomb went off at the gas station.. and the gas tanks blew- I would have noticed at that point. :-) One of my friends that was also a traveler but lived here for a while told me just not to watch the news and that I would be fine.  I took her advice. I have (for the most part) not watched the local news.  It's all bad (although I'm not sure it's really good anywhere these days....).  I sort of feel like ignorance is bliss in some cases. This was one of those cases. 

My job in Las Vegas was as Summerlin Hospital. It was a Level 3 NICU. Most of the staff was amazing and I will definitely miss a lot of the nurses who I now call friends. I worked days 7a-7p and very much enjoyed being "normal" again when it comes to sleep. I hope I never forget some of the babies that taught me some lessons.. lessons that are personal and private.. Baby M with cystic fibrosis and Baby C who stole my heart early in the assignment- with his big brown eyes. I will also never forget Baby C or his parents towards the end of my assignment, and hope to keep in touch with them. It's amazing how such little people can teach you so much. I'm so blessed to have the job I do!! It was a great hospital to have my first assignment at and I will be lucky to have many more assignments that went as smoothly as this one did regarding work!!

Some facts...

I lived at "Emerald Suites"

on Las Vegas Blvd

My Friends

I met so many friends. I was so thankful for this. We had some great times- laughed a lot- and discovered Las Vegas together. I'm so thankful for these girls and pray God will bless me with great friends at my next assignment as well!! The following are some pictures of some of the great times I do not want to forget....




Zaharra, Jessica, Ashleigh



Zaharra, Jessica, Ashleigh- Line Dancing at Gilleys





Zaharra and Jessica

We discovered Mt Charleston together... and maybe more than that- but that is between Ashleigh and I! :-)

We went sledding with our pool rafts on Mt Charleston... So fun!!
Las Vegas Shows

I went to a lot of shows...



What an AMAZING show!!!!!!

Eating and Drinking

We discovered some very fun bars and restaurants and enjoyed some awesome food!



We learned, or attempted to learn line dancing at Gilley's- SO MUCH fun!!!!



Rainforest Cafe- I loved eating out with Ashleigh- we usually ordered desert first- that's the way it should be!!!

Dim Sum



The sugar factory has some AMAZING gelato!!!!!

Chateau is a cool club and bar- and rooftop drinks are always fun!!





Sue, Jessica, Aunt Marty at Chicago Joes- poor aunt Marty had just had cataract surgery.

This was the coolest place I ate at out there- it was an old home conformed over to this restaurant. It's closer to Fremont St right off of the LV BLVD. I would recommend it!!! So fun!!!

 The gardens at the Bellagio- my favorite!!! They change the scene with every season and it is amazing!!! If you have never been to them-you need to go!



Another favorite was the fountains.. they are just amazing... another must see!!!

Amazing. The music adds so much to the show!! 

Flying

 I will never, ever forget this experience. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to do this!! It was amazing.

I stepped out of the box a little bit and did some archery at the shooting range.. that was fun. Here I am showing off my amazing skills!!!

I had a lot of visitors and had fun with all of them!!!

 Las Vegas for me was great. I can't really say the experience was what I expected because I didn't know what to expect. It wasn't always easy being away from home, but it was always forcing me to grow and learn... and depend on God. I loved the church I was plugged into and will miss the amazing worship and sermons. I attended The Church at South Las Vegas. They have some amazing ministries going on with reaching the lost woman..and men I guess of "Sin City"...  If I ever travel back to Vegas I will definitely return to that church.  I remember the first Sunday I was there- I had dropped dad off at the airport the day before, and I was feeling kind of homesick. I decided to go to church and I left so thankful to the Lord for giving me exactly what I needed. I needed comfort and a feeling of being "at home". The service that night reminded me exactly of what one of my youth group services used to feel like in High School. The worship was amazing and the sermon was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. God had a way of doing this throughout the entire time I was in Las Vegas. Every time I felt myself doubting what I was doing there or questioning my decision to travel I was reassured in some way.. Meeting Zaharra and Ashleigh.. spending time with Aunt Marty.. having some of my best friends and family visit. Traveling, as I have said so many other times, forces you out of your comfort zone. But because of that I have grown as a person and a nurse. Las Vegas is an amazing city..in so many ways. I'm thankful for the opportunity and I'm so glad I chose to do this. I will miss parts of the city, but on the other hand I will not miss a lot of it. By the end of the 3 months I did my best to avoid the strip. A month or so was enough! :-)  I will not miss the traffic. And I definitely will not miss the wind!! I'm thankful that I got to experience the parts of the city that most people do not even know exist. There is definitely more to Las Vegas than the strip. Overall, I hope I have summed up this experience enough so that in a year I remember it the way I want to. I do not want to forget the lessons I learned, the fun I had., or the friends I met. It was a great first assignment. :-)



Ending A Chapter

Ending one chapter of your life to begin another is never easy. It's never easy to leave one job for another.. I guess unless you haven't liked the job you're leaving.  But even then- usually, you will be leaving SOMETHING you like, friends, a schedule, pay, the feeling of being "comfortable" because you know what you're doing.. SOMETHING.

For me, it's not SOMETHING.  It's everything.  I officially closed my chapter in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines last week.  I had still been considered PRN (as needed) until last week, because I have chosen to keep traveling. Contrary to what many people think, it wasn't easy for me.  It was my first job as an RN after graduation.  I started in the NICU and loved it from day one. I love working with the babies, the families... feeling like in a way I'm part of their family for a short while.  Anyone who has ever done primary care in a nursery like this, or even in nursing at all, knows exactly how I feel... and hopefully many of the families that I have grown to love so much will understand that as well.  It wasn't just a job, or a source of income for me. In a lot of ways, especially over the last year, it was what defined me.  I am a NICU nurse.  That won't be changing.. but now I'm a traveler. I don't have consistency of care with the families I care for. I meet a family, care for their baby for three days, and almost always have a new family the next week. It's different. I miss it. 

I worked in the Mercy NICU for almost four years. I learned to love my co-workers. They walked with me through some of the toughest stuff I've ever been through.  They became family. They still are... but of course it's different.  Life changes. Chapters end. Relationships change. It takes a lot of work for a relationship to last through change.  I know some of them will last- but a lot of them will be a lot different.  And that makes me sad.  Working in the NICU was a comfort for me. It was a place I could go and be confident in who I was, and what I was doing.  That has changed. 

Being a traveler forces you to be confident in a different way.  Moving to a new city not knowing anyone or anything was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was a culture shock to be here.. to walk into the gas station and see slot machines... billboards for "ladies to you" at every corner (I will elaborate more about this assignment in another post)... Being in a different NICU now has been great in a way that I'm learning so much... but I don't walk into the unit and always feel as confident.  I have to learn how THEY do everything, every time. Everything is different. Policies and procedures...  I have to be very flexible.  I have to learn everyday (particularly in the beginning) the names of the nurses I'm working with that day.  Usually by the end of the day I am comfortable with that assignment and my coworkers... but the next day it starts all over again.  I have to make new friends.. for this chapter. And it's hard. It has made me grow as a person, a nurse, and hopefully a friend.  I have made new friends out here- most of them travelers, and in a week or so we will all be going our separate ways.  And that makes me a little sad.  I have had relationships back home be challenged by the distance.. by the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.  In a way most of my friends and family have adapted to the change, some have not, and some probably wont. I pray that God continues to help mend and strengthen the broken relationships.

My chapter here in Las Vegas is almost over. I compared everything I learned here to what I learned at Mercy, because it was all I knew.  As I continue on this traveling journey to another assignment I know that this will change.  I will be learning several different ways to do the same thing... But I will always come back to Mercy.  The Mercy NICU.  I'm thankful for the time I had there, the things I learned, the families I love, and the coworkers who are family.  It's not an easy chapter to close.. at all. Traveling is scary, it's the unknown, and it's really not comfortable.  But it's what I'm supposed to be doing.  I am positive of that.  So I continue to ask all of you for your amazing support. Stick with me through this journey.  I am changing, growing.. in so many ways.. and that has to make it all worth it.  Change is never easy, but it's life.. so here goes. I'm living it.
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***I am dedicating this post to my co-workers at Mercy.. my friends. As I stated earlier, they walked with me through some very scary times... we have laughed together, cried together, watched babies leave this world to go to Jesus, together.. seen the miracle of life in so many ways.  We played jokes on each other (sorry Laura- she was the the easiest to play them on..) We ran stairs together at 3am.. We used boxes for entertainment. :-)  We got creative when we were tired.... in ways I won't mention in this post. We loved the babies..and families- together. We did photo shoots together   We showed each other our talents at 3 am... yes- I can do the splits.  We coded babies together.  We threw the BEST potlucks.. we consumed way more than our fair share of Diet Mountain Dew. We helped each other, we listened to each other.. and sometimes we drove each other crazy.  But that's what happens with 18 girls (mostly), at 3 am.  We became a family. Thank you to all of you for being my friend.  I consider myself blessed to have started my nursing career with all of you.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he placed each and every one of you in my life. I have and will miss you all...***

Moms visit to Las Vegas

I was blessed this week with a visit from my beautiful mother. We had a great time together- enjoying time by the pool, relaxing, and just spending time together. I am so blessed.  Blessed beyond words to be bale to have one on one time with my mom for a whole week. Growing up with 5 brothers and sisters left one on one time pretty hard to find. I was thankful for the week- thankful for her taking time off work to come visit and for Tom allowing her to come. I feel like as I get older I value my time with her more and more. I sure do miss her when I'm gone.

Some pictures of our week together...



An excellent show... Mom LOVED it!

 

Enjoying a drink on Lake Mead.

At Hoover Dam in front of the new bridge.

Mom got a new camera in Vegas- so we did a little photo shoot. :-)

Fremont!!





We did WAY too much shopping!!!

Just a little drinking.... and gambling. :-)

And spent a LOT of time at the pool!!!!

 The pictures don't really give the week any justice, however we really did have a great time. I wanted to post a small post to remind me of her visit. Thank you for coming Mom, I love you!!!