I LOVE La Jolla!!

Sunday March 18th, 2012


The second day that I was in San Diego Lisa took me to Pacific Beach (PB) and to La Jolla. This day was also cold, but fortunately it was sunny!

The first couple of pictures are from Pacific Beach. Apparently a lot of people surf in this particular area, but the pacific ocean was insane this day! It was so rough that we only saw a few wind surfers willing to brave it!

Pacific Beach wind surfers

PB

Excited to be so close to the Pacific Ocean

Me and the birthday girl

After Pacific Beach our next stop was La Jolla Cove for sightseeing and brunch. La Jolla is the most beautiful place! The cliffs and the houses were amazing, and the down town area was filled with shops and adorable little restaurants and bakeries. I only wished I'd had more time to spend down there. One thing's for sure....I will definitely be back to La Jolla!

Seal Beach

Look closely and you'll see the seal...

The wind was crazy...

So cool!!

Aren't they precious!

Me with the seals

Pigeon whisperer 

We ended up walking down to the beach and spotted a seal! At first we were convinced it was dead because it just laid still for the longest time. As soon as he popped up with hurried down to the beach to snap a few photos!

This little guy was just sunbathing on the beach

He even posed for pictures

He looks sweet...but some people got a little to close and he barked at them, or whatever  noise they make!

The waves were huge, but the ocean was so rough

I even spotted another little friend!

After walking around the cove and taking about a million pictures we stopped at a little restaurant called Brockton Villa for some brunch. It was right across from the cove and had an amazing view. I opted for the famous "Coast Toast" which was the most delicious french toast I've ever consumed! I was so full but I had to eat every last bite.

So I'm definitely in love with La Jolla!!! I'm hoping I'll get to go back soon when it warms up a little. I want to walk around downtown and visit all the little shops and maybe eat at a cute outdoor cafe. The plan is to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, known as PCH, and make a bunch of stops along the way...including Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. I was even considering renting a convertible to make the drive in true California style!

St. Patty's in San Diego

Saturday March 17th, 2012


My first trip out of LA was to San Diego St. Patricks day weekend. My friend from high school and nursing school, Lisa, is in SD doing a travel nursing assignment as well. Not only was it St. Patricks, but it was also Lisa's birthday! Ironically the first day there was super cold and rainy, and I did NOT pack accordingly! Despite the weather, Lisa drove me around and showed me some of the sites.

Nurse and Sailor Statue....Now if I could only find me a hot Sailor!! 

Wet and cold and looking a little rough...brr!!

My very first view of the pacific ocean ever!

Sunset cliffs

Lisa....we almost got blown away!

Sunset cliffs were awesome!

The houses on the cliffs....so close to the edge...I'd be scared to live there!

Rainy and foggy view of down town San Diego

 After we drove around and saw some sites we decided to grab some lunch. We ate at a burger joint called Slaters 50/50. It had all kinds of weird burgers or you could create your own. Now, I typically like to play it safe and don't usually try new stuff but I decided to be adventurous. I opted for the peanut butter and Jelly burger with bacon! Honestly, it wasn't bad, but it just tasted like a PB&J. There was so much peanut butter and jelly that you seriously couldn't even taste the beef or bacon!

Lunch at Slater's 50/50

After lunch we went back to Lisa's and freshened  up for a St. Patty's night out on the town! We ended up meeting some of her friends in downtown San Diego. Another traveler I met in orientation, Sarah, decided to come down to San Diego to hang out for the night. 

My friend Sarah, me and Lisa

We ended up leaving a little early and going back to Lisa's place. We were exhausted from the long, cold, rainy day! It was definitely a fun night!

No Regrets

Welcome to my travel blog! Many of you have asked that I start a blog. Even though I'm not very good with words or writing I'll give it a try! So here it goes...

Even before I began my nursing career I had big dreams to travel and see the world, but I always believed they were just that...dreams. I always wanted to believe that I would have the courage to pick up one day and travel the country, but I think deep down I knew I would never do it. I was scared. I mean, I love my home, I love my family, and I love my friends. Everything I needed was at my fingertips. How could I possibly want to leave everything I love? But I finally came to a point in my life where I decided I wanted more for myself than staying in the same city that I'd spent the last 29 years in. I wanted to live a life I could be proud of, with no regrets. I was stuck in a routine that seemed never-ending...work, sleep, eat, occasionally see family and friends. I started thinking to myself that there had to be more...that somehow, somewhere life had more planned for me. I couldn't just sit around waiting for things to happen in my life, I had to go out and make them happen for myself. So, I decided after 5 years in my nursing career to become a travel nurse. It was something I had always thought about doing in nursing school. I had spent the first 3.5 years of my nursing career doing neurosurgical nursing, and to feel comfortable traveling I knew I would need a broader range of experience. So I transferred departments and spent the past 1.5 years doing post anesthesia care in order to prep myself to become a travel nurse. Now what?

Well, I was sitting on the couch one day surfing the Internet, and decided to request "more info" on a travel nurse website. I thought it couldn't hurt to talk to someone and see what my options were. Well, to my surprise I received 2 phone calls, from 2 different companies within 45 mins of submitting my information. After that, the whole process became a whirlwind!

So here I am. I left home on March 6, 2012 and arrived in Los Angeles, California on March 10, 2012. These first 2 weeks have been hectic...driving across country (with two cats!), moving into a new apartment, orientation for work, and navigating Los Angeles, which is crazy confusing!! But it's been fun! I already feel refreshed and like there's new life inside of me! Here are a few pictures from the road...

Texas is crazy flat....nothing as far as the eye can see

Ran into a little snow storm in NM

Beautiful

Loved the drive through Arizona

Arizona open road

That can't be good...watch out!

Arizona is amazing!

After 4 days of driving....I finally arrived!!!!!

I was surprised by each state I drove through...they were all different from what I had imagined in my head. For example....Texas was enormous and insanely FLAT! I would be driving and there would be nothing in site for miles! Then out of nowhere, a town would pop up. It reminded me of a Miranda Lambert song in which she sings..."and the Texas sky is the biggest one I've seen" She was completely right! And my favorite part of the drive was going through the mountains in Arizona....so breathtakingly beautiful...I'm surprised I didn't drive myself off a cliff while looking around! But finally, after 10 hours a day of driving and over 2,200 miles I made it to my destination. It was definitely an interesting and exhausting trip, but one I'm sure to remember for the rest of my life!

I'll end with a quote I found about 2 years ago that I believe inspired me to do all of this in the first place...

      "The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur

 when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. 

For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that

 we are likely to step out of our ruts."    ~M.Scott Peck