Mountain Bike Accident

Since coming to Phoenix, I've tried to enjoy the great outdoors as much as possible. I love the hiking and biking especially. There's a great area not too far from here, bout 10-15min in the car, with some great hiking and biking trails (and horse riding... if you have a horse) which is not the big touristy area like Cambleback Mtn or Piestewa Peak.

Last Saturday (19th), I went out for a ride on my own. The mountain biking here is a lot of fun b/c there's actual mountains involved. I was thinking about a 1.5hr ride or so, which I'd done last month. What actually ended up happening was me crashing my bike going down a ravine after riding about 15 min. The bike decided it didn't want to go any further. The only problem was that we were already about a quarter of the way down the slope. So I superman-ed (slid face first) down the rest of the ravine. Luckily I had my helmet and riding gloves on. Even so, I bruised my face a bit (tho the helmet and my glasses :-/ kept me head high enough that it didn't get scraped open), got some good gashes on my knees and shoulder, and hurt my wrist. I did not lose consciousness, but laid there for a minute to catalog the injuries. After spitting out a fair amount of dirt, finding my sunglass clip-ons in the rocks/dirt, and pushing the bike back up the slope, I dabbed off some blood and got back on the bike for the ride back to the car.

When I got back to the apt, J asked how it went, I said not so great, then he looked at me. I was covered head to toe in dirt and bleed. I asked him to get my bike off the car since it wasn't too easy getting it on the rack with my wrist hurting, said I was gonna take a shower then go to urgent care. J and BPR were kind enough to take me to the urgent care. Xrays were taken and the doc said it was a bad sprain, no breaks or fractures. Excellent news, but it still hurt like whoa. I got a half cast/brace and some pain pills.

Work last week was a challenge. Everyone was really nice and helpful. I tried to do as much as I could, but I couldn't put a glove on my left hand so someone had to start all my IVs and draw blood for me. They call me gimpy and all sorts of other stuff, but with a smile and concern. The amount of help and support I've been offered is amazing. I'm lucky it's my left hand that's hurt, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do anything.

On Friday, I saw a sports med doc who confirmed that it's a sprain and will just need time to heal. I got a new brace which is a lot more comfortable and easier to use. I even got the okay to continue playing on my rec volleyball team, I just need to play one-handed until I feel okay enough to take off the brace :) My teammates are happy about this news, esp since they enjoyed teasing me about the brace last week when I used it as a golf-type tee to hold the ball when serving haha.

So I'm a week out from the accident and feeling much better. I'm even typing this with both hands! My wrist still aches, but today I discovered I can make a fist :-) Range of motion is still suboptimal and I can't pick up a full cup of pop, but it's getting better every day.

This photo is how I told my parents :)

Bruise on eye, abrasion on cheek, bruise and abrasion on chin. Never got as bad as I thought it would.

Knees a couple days later

Hand a couple days later. It's hard to tell here, but it was really pretty.

House/Dog Sitting

That's what I'm doing this weekend. I'm more of a cat person, but so far the dog hasn't tried too hard to lick me in the face, so we're good.

Nice calm area. I'm getting some much needed paperwork done (think taxes) so that's def a good thing.
It's always interesting to get a look into peoples' lives when they're not directing you through it. I love the stories pictures tell.

Lonely

It's weird how you can be around people all the time and still feel alone.

Struggling with feelings of isolation and intrusion tonight.

I *know* that God is always with me and I'm never really alone, but it's hard to reconcile your heart with your mind sometimes.

You learn something new every day

Today I learned that mountain biking is much more difficult when there are actual mountains involved (and not just some hilly forest). I took Temperence/Tempe (my bike) out to this secluded area of the Pheonix Mtn Preserve today. J and I had gone hiking there a couple weekends ago and it was so beautiful and serene compared to Camelback which is the big tourist area mountain. The weather was gorgeous today, 80s and sunny with a light breeze (which, compared to yesterday when I had to scrape ice of my car in the morning, was a vast improvement). All in all I went about 12+ miles in about 1.5hrs. There were frequent breaks and a handful of "oops, can't quite make it up this slope", as well as a few more bruises and a little less skin than I started with. It was an amazing trip. Enjoy (be jealous of) pictures below.

February was filled with a lot of sickness in my apt (mostly by me, but also some my bro and SIL). Happily, the beginning of March greeted us all with wellness and sunshine :) OH! News that must be shared... My sister is getting married!! Juice and her long time bf (7yrs!) took a trip to Boston near Valentine's Day and he surprised her with an elaborate and tricky plan. I'm super excited to go to Chicago at the end of April to go dress shopping with The Box and The Mom, but even more excited for their wedding June 2012!!!! YAY!!

Safety First

Life in Phoenix

It's been a busy month. I've been getting situated and acclimated to life in Phoenix.
Work at Mayo is going really well. Life on the infusion side of things is definitely different, but I'm really liking it so far. The people are really nice for the most part, but there aren't any male nurses on the unit so the estrogen level is really high, which leads to some catty attitudes. Such is life in my profession tho.

I must say, Phoenix in winter is rather enjoyable :) I've spent most lunch breaks sitting on the patio outside the caf basking in the sunshine... without a coat. Living with my bro and SIL has been really nice. It's nice to come home to family (and usually dinner) and just relax. J and I have been hiking on Camelback... I have since bought myself some hiking boots and a camelbak hydration pack for future endeavors. The canal/trail is about a mile up the road, so I took a little 6miler bike ride last weekend. I'm looking forward to longer excursions. I hope that they're enjoying my company even half as much as I am theirs. I try to give them space and not get in the way. Tuesdays are my day off so I do errands and cook dinner that day. It's a small contribution (esp since I'm not a very good cook), but with the help of my "I Don't Know How to Cook Book" I think I'm doing okay.

This weekend I will fly to St Louis then drive to Springfield, IL to spend some more time with my Godfamily :) I'm really excited to see them again so soon. I pray that all the airline/weather stuff has worked itself out by Saturday morning :)

Christmas/NYE/Road Trip

I was sick for Christmas :( Colds are no fun. However, I love my family and had a great time anyways. Spent many hours playing my new Mario Bros game on my Wii with Dave (julie's bf).
On Boxing Day, we had a local reception for J and BPR for all the ppl in MI that couldn't make it to Phoenix. Got to see lots of relatives and people from high school.
I already wrote about my AZ licensing issues and the flight to Phoenix on Wed.
The first day of my road trip ended in Springfield IL. I spent NYE with my Godparents Russ and Cathy. We hadn't seen each other in prob a good 15 years so it was great we could work it out. (Had the licensing snafu not happened and I'd started my drive on Tuesday, they wouldn't have been home... maybe that was the point of the whole thing??) We went to my God-brother Paul's house. I got to meet his wife and their brood of kids :) I had such a wonderful time it's hard to even explain. I just wish my other GBs Jon, David, and their families could have been there too.

Uncle Russ, Jen, and Aunt Cathy NYE '10

Too much laughter to get a good shot :)

 

 

Jess (Paul's wife) and Jen

Day 2 of my trip found me on the road at 915 (went to bed at 3am mind you). The day was uneventful and Lord-willing I was able to make it all the way to Amarillo Tx.
Day 3 was uneventful as well and I was able to complete my journey to Phoenix. Both days 2 and 3 were >12hrs in the car but it was worth it.
Tomorrow morning bright and early... earlier than I've had to get up for work in about 5 months... I head to orientation at Mayo. Nervous excitement ensues.
I leave you with a few pictures from my journey

St Louis Arch

Random statue of Will Rogers - OK rest stop/tollway oasis

Either NM or Arizona, I'm not sure, but beautiful either way

Licensing Craziness and Irritation

For every new state that I work in, I need a new nursing license. Mostly it's just an application and a large check; occasionally fingerprints are required.

This is what happened with my AZ license:
Nov 24- phone interview with Mayo, job offer extended :)
Nov 29- call nursing board, am told okay to do standard process, no need to do 48hr emergency (semi-walkthrough) procedure
Dec 6- board receives application
Dec 22- board actually opens envelope containing application; mails fingerprint card to my house in MI; I make anxious calls to board, my recruiter, and my requirements person. Board rep tells me too bad if you don't get it in time, it'll take 2 weeks for them to check in that piece of mail anyways
Dec 24- fingerprint card comes in mail
Dec 25- highly festive Christmas Day Fingerprinting at the Shelby Twp Police Station (he was very nice)
Dec 27- make many unanswered phone calls/leave messages with mult ppl at board; finally receive return call at 530 est... "too bad so sad, nothing you can do now"
Dec 28- finally speak with supervisor at 130pm, yes if you show up with all the missing paperwork, they can process the emergency temp license, even though the other lady was rude and said you couldn't
Dec 29- 7am fly to phx, 1045am phx time show up at board with paperwork/fingerprint card, explain situation, wait 1hr, while waiting use smartphone to check license status online-temp issued!! yay!!, more waiting, 12pm receive temp license, hang out with bro and sil, 730pm fly home to MI
Dec 30- 3am crawl into bed
Dec 31- begin road trip to Phoenix

This process was frustrating to say the least. There were a few tears, many anxious phone calls, countless hours on hold, 2 quite rude people, 1 helpful person, and 1 gloriously wonderful covering recruiter. Not sure why all the hoops, I'm sure God has a lesson in there for me somewhere, but I thank Him for wonderful people on my support team at my company :)