Jessica's Journey: Traveling

Happy New Years everyone... I'm writing from Orlando, Florida. It was a beautiful 80*, sunny day here today. Tomorrow looks like it's supposed to be just as beautiful... and the beach is calling my name!!! I can't think a better way to enjoy the first day of 2012 by staring into the beauty that is the ocean... it always reminds of how amazing God is.

2011 was an amazing year. I feel like some sort of recap for the year was appropriate- however it will be short because I have some cousins calling my name for a game of spoons. :-)

Highlights:

Traveling. What can I even say about this. The decision to travel was one of the hardest I have ever made, however looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. What a blessing it has been. I have grown as a person, as a nurse, and made life-long friends I will FOREVER be thankful for. Coming back home after Connecticut was a very hard transition- and being "unemployed" was scary. Both have forced me to trust God like I never have before. It takes faith to know HE will take care of me when the bills keep coming and the paychecks stop coming. :-)

As I knew He would, He took care of me.... This week I was offered the job of my dreams. I will be starting as a Pediatric/Neonatal Transport Nurse at the University of Iowa next week. I will have about 5-6 months of intense training and orientation- I will orient to both the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). I will spend a couple weeks working with anesthesia in surgery, practicing intubation. I will learn how to transport infants- 8 years old. I will learn to start my own lines (IV, Umbilical, IO..). I will be transporting in the helicopter and the ambulance. I am very excited.. nervous too, but mostly excited. I was ready for a change and I know this will continue to push me out of my comfort zone and I will be learning. I have realized how much I love to learn and that is one reason I really loved traveling. I am excited!!

2011 also brought an amazing man to my life- first as a friendship and now as a boyfriend. He loves the Lord more than he loves me.. and that alone makes him amazing. I am thankful for you, Tim, and pray that Lord will continue to stay the center of US and we will grow together through HIM.

I had the privilege of meeting and loving my beautiful niece Ellery in 2011. She was given to us in February and what a joy she has been. God must really love us to bless us with her...

Traveling... not just travel nursing but traveling the United States. What a beautiful country we live in... I have traveled from Nevada to Connecticut and down to Florida.. seeing most of the states in between. So many memories....

I have found health and happiness. I feel like I rediscovered who I am and what I want in life. I am excited to see what the future holds for 2012 and the years to come. Thank you to all of you for your love and prayers through this year.. a year full of scary transitions. Thank you to those of you who have stood by my side, even when it wasn't easy and life took us in different directions. I feel like such a lucky girl to have so many amazing friends and to have my family!!!! God bless you all..

Time to go kick some butt in spoons. :-)

...Precious Memories...
The perfect title to this post. I am so blessed- beyond words to have made memories I will never forget. Last week my Mom, Grandma Tiedt, and Grandma Ellison all came out to Connecticut to visit me. We had a great time with many laughs and some great stories to remember. I can't really explain to anyone what it's like to have visitors come to a new place, or to a travel assignment. For me it's the opportunity to show whoever visits what my life has been like out here. To show them a little piece of this new life I'm living in Connecticut. I was so thankful to share that with them. They are three of the most important people in my life and I felt beyond blessed to have all three of them here. I know it wasn't easy for my grandmothers or my mom to make it happen... and I appreciate them going way out of their way to come see me. I also appreciate my family back home for allowing them to come... for watching over my grandpa's and Tom for holding down the fort at home. Thank you to all of you! I appreciate you.

The week for me was more than just having family here. It was unity- where part of my world was once torn apart... unity that my mom and her mom came out, but so did my dads mom. My mom and dad divorced when I was two. I'm so thankful that this could happen- that beyond all of the drama and separation that came with the divorce, that they were all still willing to come out here. That they are still friends. Family.. really. Everything happens in this life for a reason and I have learned to never question Gods perfect plan through the circumstances of life.

The week will be shared easiest by pictures of course... and I took many!!! (A lot of them were taken with my phone so pardon the quality. :-) ) And I'm warning you all now.. this is long!! I have lots I want to remember!

Arrival Day: Tuesday: September 20, 2011

I worked a short day on Tuesday so I could pick them up at the airport around 4:00 Tuesday afternoon. I was beyond excited for them to get here!!!

Pick up at Bradley. Notice Grandma Ellison's sunglasses.. I had left them with Heidi and she sent them with grandma to give me... she's such a character!!! :-) (BTW- Heidi- C is in BIG trouble for breaking them!!!! ;-) )

Happy.

Grandma E got carded for her margarita. :-)

Grandma Tiedt, Mom, and I all ordered a beer. Grandma E ordered a margarita..she got it and it was very big. :-)

We came home after dinner and played cards. Grandma Tiedt and I were partners- we had a 500 tournament throughout the week... we won. :-)

These pictures remind me of the pictures that Laura, Sally, and I took in the cab in New York City.. Grandma and I had gone to bed and decided to take a picture.. which turned into like 6 pictures... :-)

Grandma- keep your eyes open!

Eyes are open!!!!

And then we laughed.... hard.

Generations..

Day One: Wednesday September 21, 2011

We were all tired, them from traveling and me from working so much before they got here. We slept in and got up, had breakfast, and got ready for the day.

Grandma did what she does best (with my help, of course!!! ;-) ) and put together an awesome dinner for us to enjoy when we got home!

These pictures (below) crack me up because, of course, there is a story behind them... One of the grandma's (I wont mention which one...) kept getting confused because all three of them had their toiletries in a clear plastic bag (acceptable to carry on the plane..). We had sort of laughed when Grandma was confused... but we REALLY laughed when mom walked into the bathroom and Grandma was holding someones hemorrhoid cream instead of toothpaste!!!!!! Mom grabbed it and said, "That's not toothpaste!!!" Needless to say Grandma found the right bag, and the right tube.. and got her teeth brushed.. but after a LOT of laughing.

We headed into Hartford- I took them up to the unit I work in. It was fun for me to share that with them, and show them where I spend so much of my time here in CT!! They also got to meet a lot of my co-workers which was fun.

Notice Grandma Ellison and I both have a hat on... she saw mine when I was getting ready and said, "Do you have one for me?!".... we matched. :-) Isn't she cute?!

From the hospital we drove around a bit- I drove them past my favorite church in Hartford- it's big and beautiful... I need to stop and take a picture of it sometime before I leave. I also drove them past Mark Twain's house. I had toured it already with my friend Sally. It's a fun piece of history in Hartford.

After driving around a bit we were on the road to Massachusetts. New England is FULL of huge, beautiful hard wood trees- which is why the fall is so beautiful. The leaves were just starting to change more as we got farther North into Mass. I'm excited to watch them change farther into October!!

The drive wasn't bad at all... through Springfield and on our way to Deerfield, Massachusetts.

If you have never been to New England you need to go..and when you do make time to go to Deerfield, Mass and go to the Yankee Candle Factory!!!! What a great place!!! It took us all day to get through it and they ended up having to kick us out at the end because we could have spent even more time there!

When you first walk in you can see how awesome it's decorated and how "homey" it is. They had trains in most of the rooms along the ceiling.

Mom and Grandma Tiedt- They were both very excited!!

She is too cute.

Rows and rows and rows... of candles....

After going through the first few rooms and smelling way more kinds of candles than I knew they even made... we made it into the Christmas room. Mom was going crazy.. it was the village room!! If you know my mom at all or have been to her house at Christmastime you know she has a village..and loves her village. It took us a very long time to get through this room!!!!

Can you tell she is excited!!?

After getting through the village we discovered the ornaments... rows and rows and rows of ornaments....

Grandma Tiedt and I resting.

Mom and I being silly....

Santa said he WILL be stopping at our houses... we are on the nice list. :-)

From there we walked into the candy section!!!!...

Love.

And rows and rows and rows.. of candy!!!!!!!!!!

I don't really like fudge but this fudge was amazing...!!!

Note Lois: bottom right.... ;-)

Up next was making our own candles. (This was also one of the times we lost Lois... sorry Corrine...) She missed out on making a candle at first.. but after searching and some paging she was reunited with us and was able to make her own candle, too!! :-) Whew....

It was fun- they had several different kinds of wax you could put in your candle- and no limit on how much kinds you could use. The wax came out in little pellets.

And Lois reappears.... :-)

After filling our jars they would take them and place them under these heat lamps long enough to melt the top layer of wax.

Our finished candles below.

Jessica, Norma, Sue, Lois. YCF.

On the way home we had to enjoy the treats Grandma Ellison bought for us.. it was a great day with lots of shopping and LOTS of laughing! We drove back to my apartment in Middletown and enjoyed our dinner, and went to bed early to prepare for day 2.. in NYC!!

Day Two: Thursday September 22, 2011

New York City!!!! What a day!!!!

We got up early and headed down to the train station to take the subway into the city. The times I had gone down before I took the bus.. but I'm glad we could experience the train- and it paid off on our way home- which you will see soon!!!!

Grandma and Grandma on the train- and people wonder where I get my attitude and sense of humor!! This is what they did when I said, "Smile!!" :-)

That's better.

My beautiful mother and I.

We took the train out of New Haven, CT into Grand Central Station in Manhattan.

We walked a while after getting off the train- and then decided to buy tickets to ride the City Tour buses. They give tours around the entire city and allow you to get on or off the buses as much as you want. It worked well for the grandma's because they were tired- but for younger people I wouldn't recemmend it.

We took the bus to Times Square where we ate lunch.

Grandma E, Me, Grandma T, and Mom in Times Square

We ate at the Brooklyn Diner in Times Square- amazing food!

Split pea soup to the left and a reuben below....

After lunch we hopped back on the bus to the Empire State Building. Grandma Ellison, Mom, and I all went up to the observation deck. Grandma Tiedt decided not to go up because she had done it before and I sercretly think she was a little scared... ;-)

There are 102 floors- they take you on the elevator up a ways (I don't remember exactly how far) and let you off on a floor where you see how it was built. I LOVED this part- they gave all sorts of fun facts and the windows (below) were painted as if you could look out and see the people building.

Grandma reading the facts.

Observation Deck.

Part of Central Park.

This picture makes me laugh. I twas windy up there.. you can tell! :-)

After the Empire State Building we jumped back on a bus and got off at Battery Park.

We wanted to go over to see the Statue of Libery- but decided to just do the Staten Island Ferry which runs directly by the Statue. It was a great choice- it's free and we had so much fun!!

A view of Manhattan from the ferry.

The picture on the right makes me laugh so hard... grandma Tiedt and I decided to get a beer for the ferry ride. About halfway through I realized she was drinking a tall one- I'm comparing them realizing how much bigger hers is and she has such an innocent look on her face...

Priceless.

I have always wanted to do that...

This picture kind of sums up our day- maybe even our trip. An attempt to get a group picture- Grandma not sure what is going on... ;-)

I love this picture.

After getting off the ferry we walked a ways- past wall street and the financial district. While walking we saw this McDonalds- I have never seen a McDonalds that delivers....

Along our walk Grandma saw this sweatshirt stand that was just packing up for the day and decided to try to find a sweatshirt. If you know Lois you know this is so her... asking the man every question she could think of- trying several on. And the picture above with her little fanny pack around her waste makes me just smile. That's my grandma.

(after about 15 minutes of trying on sweatshirts she decided to pass and look for one later :-) )

We got off the bus for the last time near China Town. NOT a place you want to be at night in New York City- ESP with your older, tired grandmothers. :-)

We ended up in Little Italy. The food was amzing! They was a big celebration in the streets of Little Italy so there was a lot of fun music and a LOT of people. I can't for the life of me remember what the celebration was for.. but it was fun!

At the end of the day we were riding on the train home. We got to the station right before they left so we had to split up to find seats. Grandma Tiedt and I sat in the back and Grandma Ellison and Mom were up front. I was in the "bar car"... where a lot of the younger commuters sit. There was a lady sitting across from us with a picture of Babe Ruth on her shirt. After some conversation we figured out she was Babe Ruth's granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti. She had been at a benefit with Michale J Fox for Parkinson's in NYC all day and was on her way home (CT). The picture above is a picture she made- of Babe on the left and her photoshopped in on the right. She definietly resembled him!! The picture on the left is a part of the cake they had at the benefit made by The Cake Boss!!! How cool is that? We ended up getting mom and grandma and we all talked the whole way home. She had a lot of stories about Babe! It was the most fun train ride I've ever had!

New York City is such an amazing place and I'm glad I got to experience it with three of the most important women in my life!!

Day Three: Friday September 23, 2011
NYC wore all of us out. We decided to spend Friday sleeping in and just spending time together. We played a lot of cards and ordered Chinese. :-)

My 500 hand. Amazing. (I maybe might have stacked it)

Day Four: Saturday September 24, 2011

Saturday we decided to venture a little bit into Rhode Island. We had talked about going to Boston but decided that NYC was enough of a big day trip. We drove around to some places I had been and some I hadn't- we found some BEAUTIFUL places in Rhode Island- it is one of my favorite states. I (of course) took a lot of pictures...

Mom and I: Rhode Island

The water was cold but I just coudln't resist!! I took my shoes off and enjoyed it! I LOVE the ocean!!!!!

Made me feel like I was on the Mississippi!!!

One of my favorites.

This picture makes me laugh. You can tell we are all laughing when it took. I had set the timer and was running back and forth to take the pictures- this time I had tripped and ALMOST feel in the water backwards!! We all started laughing and it took- it turned out to be one of my favorite picture- especially after I cropped it and edited it a little. The final product is below.

The leaves were just starting to change. Beautiful.

Some of the effects of Hurrican Irene.

Day Five: Sunday September 25, 2011

Newport, Rhode Island

On Sunday we got up early and started the 3 hour drive to Newport. When I started my job in Hartford I asked all of the nurses about places they would reccomend me to travel. Newport was at the top of the list and I hadn't been there yet, so it worked perfect!!! It was BEAUTIFUL day!!!

One main attraction in Newport is the mansions. One of the main mansions is The Breakers. We decided to tour it. They give you a set of headphones and a recorder to listen to along the tour. you can go as fast or slow as you want. Each room had a different number where they would explain what the room was and main focal points of the room. In some rooms they had recorded stories of people who had actually lived in the home. It was very neat and I would defintiely reccomend it!

This is a picture of a postcard- but I thought it was neat to be able to see the entire Breaker mansion and Newport.

Above- all four of us in fron the backside of the mansion. Below- All four of us facing the back of the mansion with the grounds behind us.

One of the trees in the yard.. I really wanted to climb it!!!

At one point we lost Grandma Ellison. We looked everywhere. We finally found her on the back deck area talking to strangers... "I'm here from Iowa visitng..." Oh Grandma.

I wish I could have taken pictures inside the mansion but of course they didn't allow that. I took this picture because we a were able to go up into where the slaves lived during the tour. The small little windows along the top are where they lived.

After the tour we decided to walk a ways along the cliff walk. It is behind a lot of huge huge houses/mansions, between those backyards and the ocean. Beautiful.

After the cliff walk we drove to donwstwon Newport for some shopping and eating. This church is where the Kennedy's were married! Jacqueline Kennedy was raised in Newport.

Where we ate dinner.

The food was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!

And then we watched the sunset....

Some random pictures I thought were neat.

That was the end of our advnetures. We all loved Newport. It was a busy enough day but not too busy and we all loved driving through Rhode Island.

As I said above I am so thankfu for the time I had with them. What a trip full of laughs and memories... memories that will forever have a very special place in my heart!!!

I am blessed.

Jessica's Journey

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Years!!!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Enders Falls- My Day In Pictures

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Precious Memories