Birmingham . . .

After a busy but great two weeks back home visiting lots of friends & family, I've started my new assignment in Alabama. Birmingham has proven to not be as warm as I was hoping! :) This morning, as I left for work, it was 18 degrees outside!! Other than that, it's been great. I visited a wonderful church yesterday and met some very sweet people. The pastor is doing a series on the Names of Jesus, which I'm very excited to hear! Today was the first of two days of hospital orientation. It wasn't that bad, just a day full of "group work" tests. Tomorrow, we'll be learning their computer systems - yea. Then, I will finally get back to my babies at the end of the week!! I always forget how much I miss playing/working with them when I schedule the occasional but much needed break. I've attached a couple pictures of my apartment here. It's a nice place with a beautiful view out the back door. Who knew Alabama has mountains?!? I certainly didn't, and now I'm living among them. :) Go figure!

I love irony!!

Well, after several quality hours at Reagan National Airport on Sunday, I was able to get on a plane headed to Dallas. The majority of the flights into DFW were being cancelled due to the ice storm expected. So, I got to sit in terminal C for about 5 1/2 hours with some really nice strangers as we all watched the Seattle/Chicago playoff game. It was kinda fun - until Seattle lost. I landed in Dallas a little after 8PM, welcomed by my mom (who had just driven a couple hours to get me) and FREEZING weather!! As I bundled up to walk outside of the terminal, I had to laugh. "How ironic!", I thought. I just left the DC area to come back to the south for warmer weather!! :) Well, I left almost 70 degree weather on Sunday afternoon to come to 30 degree weather Sunday night! It just makes me chuckle. I had bought a heated ice scraper for my time up in the north country, completely expecting to need it for the past month. Well, I used it once while in DC, and it's been used twice since being back in Texas. As you can see above, poor Roony needed some scraping this morning. :) You have to love the twists in life that keep you on your toes. I'm looking forward to what Birmingham holds in store. Who knows?!?

Home Again, Home Again . . .

Well, my stint in the DC area has officially come to a close. I fly back home tomorrow for a couple weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed the area and will readily recommend it to anyone. I feel that I've learned a lot while here both in my life and in my career. I have grown closer to my Lord while here. He has taught me more about patience and relying more on His timing for decisions. My prayer life has also grown - I'm sure due in large part to frequently getting lost in some of the lesser of the law abiding areas! As for my career, I've seen & worked with some very interesting & difficult patients. I was "allowed" (or more appropriately "forced") to work with babies on the heart/lung bypass pump. It was truly a challenge, but God took care of us. Both my patient & I lived through those days - I wasn't always sure about the latter! :) I've had the opportunity to meet & work with some exceptional nurses, doctors, & therapists at this hospital. Their knowledge was an inspiration! I plan to return to this hospital, most likely later this year. So, if you wanted to come visit the area but were unable during the past 6 months, don't worry because "Hotel Jenn" will reopen once it warms back up!! I hope you have a terrific week, and I look forward to visiting with all my Texas people very soon!

Winds of Change

All the forecasts for this area said that this was going to be a horrible winter. Well, I'm happy to say that it hasn't been too bad. That's DEFINITELY an answer to prayer. :) Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous! I took a mini-road trip up to Pennsylvania. I stopped at Gettysburg, but it was a little too chilly to walk around outside. So, I got back in my car & went on to Hershey, PA - the home of Hershey's Chocolate! They have an amusement park, a hockey team, and "Chocolate World", which is what I visited. They still had most of their Christmas decorations up when I got there. From there, I went to Lancaster County - where the Amish live It was interesting, but it smelled like horse poop! I expected the whole area to look like Little House on the Prairie. Well, it looked just like any other small town except for the fact that people were occasionally driving by in a horse & buggy. The tree above is one of the little street decorations there. I'll have to go back another time when I can spend more time there & maybe get a carriage ride. So, on to the big news . . . My next assignment will be in Birmingham, Alabama! I'll be in a HUGE NICU there (a total of around 100 patients). I'm excited to see a new area, but I'm also sad to leave here. I've grown to really like the DC area and have made some great friends. I'll look forward to returning here later this year. If you've been to Birmingham, let me know what I should be sure not to miss!! I hope your first week of 2007 has been great so far!