..."But a right, will bring you right back here to me"

SO sorry it has been a while since my last post. Needless to say, the past 2 weeks have probably been the most overwhelming weeks of my life. But I'm happy to report that I am really really really enjoying my new place and exploring my new home.

It's hard for me to put into words what I've been feeling or experiencing, so I figured I would start by blogging about the most frustrating part of my major life transition: directions. I absolutely hate to be lost, literally or figuratively. Yet, one of the joys of being in a new place is that I'm lost all. the. time. To further complicate matters, I am the world's WORST at directions. I couldn't find my way out of a wet paper bag if my life depended on it. You never really realize either how small of a town you're from until you move to a fairly big city. In Clemson, there is one main road that runs straight through campus. You can get anywhere you need to go from Highway 93. In Charleston, you might as well hang it up. If you're lucky, you may find your way to the right street, only to realize that it's a One Way street that is inevitably going the opposite direction of where you are trying to go. I know I have cut so many people off in my attempt to get into the correct lane, whoops! I've also found that you not only have to worry about being in the "right" lane or going the "right" way, you also have to worry about ending up in the WRONG part of town. It seems that if you stay on a road long enough down here, you will end up straight in the middle of the ghetto. In Clemson, the remotely closest thing we have to a ghetto is the sketchy road behind Crawford where the townies and Indians live. Big difference.


Anyways, guess after 22 years, it's time to learn to read a map. Oh, and did I mention that hospital's are rat mazes in their own right? In fact, my very first day I found myself right across the hall from the morgue. What hospital has a morgue on the 2nd floor?? Sheesh.

Thursday night marks my very first shift with my sweet babies!! Can't wait to care for some tiny little miracles! Gotta make sure I find the right NICU too, MUSC has 4 separate nurseries on 2 different floors. Guess I need to find a cute doctor to show me around ;)

This is how I feel everyday...ha

Home Sweet Home

Oh hey, Charleston!

Well the day has finally arrived. In a few short hours I will begin my 2 day long trek to my new home! Excited? Anxious? Thrilled? Terrified? These are just a fraction of the mixed feelings I am having about this new adventure and new chapter in my life. I am probably the most Type A planner/organizer you will ever meet. I have known since I was 5 years old that I have wanted to be a nurse. It was around that same age that I made my first visit to Clemson's campus...Sold! Needless to say, I like to do things in advance. However, on the flip side, I have made some pretty quick decisions in the past when I had a gut reaction that it was the right thing. Up until this point, those quick gut decisions have played out rather beautifully I must say. This move to Charleston is the most recent gut decision I've had...

It all started at the end of March. Thanks to a couple of awesome friends, I found out about an opening in my dream position in the Neonatal ICU in Charleston. I.freaked.out. I applied to each separate job number..by Wednesday I had a call back... by Friday I was in Charleston interviewing. I had a couple of other irons in the fire for job offers but by that Friday I knew...I was bound and determined to end up in Charleston. (I'm pretty sure I even told them in my interview that I would work the next 10 Christmases if they gave me a job...they might have even wrote it down ha! Whoops!) To make a long story short, it was approaching graduation week and I still hadn't heard anything. The week before they had posted a few more positions in the NICU and the HR lady was kind enough to submit my application for me. I had come to terms with the possibility of living at home, watching Say Yes to The Dress reruns all day, and praying for Prince Charming to come whisk me away and tell me that I never had to worry about working or being a responsible adult  (Real Housewives of Happily Ever After, anyone?)

Then Monday of graduation week happens and I get "The Call". I don't remember too much about it other than I was hyperventilating and jumping up and down in my towel wrap. The rest is history.

Anyways, I've got about 48 hours until reality hits. You can't fit anything else into my car. I'm not totally sure I'll be able to fit. It kind of feels like going away to college, but with a lot more on the line (what's a budget?...you mean, I don't get a month off for Christmas??) I'd be totally lying if I told you that I wasn't pumped about my Pottery Barn lanterns and my Pyrex dish set I got on sale. (Domestic Diva is on my accomplishment to-do list). I can't wait to see what unfolds. I pray to the Good Lord that I love it and that I'm happy. But I also know that if all else fails, mama and daddy will come get me. Ha! ;)

It's Wedding Season!!!

Well it's that time of year again...Christmas, Easter, and Birthdays all rolled into one can't compare to the joy in a Southern girl's heart when she gets that calligraphy embossed envelope from her best friend's second cousin...aka the bride! Yes my friends, it is wedding season!

What makes wedding season so special, you ask? Not only do you get to reunite on the dance floor with all of your long lost besties, but you also get a constant reminder of your bare left ring finger while simultaneously checking out all the fresh meat... aka groomsmen... at the open bar. It's like the perfect bittersweet combination! At what other moment is your path EVER going to cross with the groom's 3rd cousin twice removed, the same guy that the bride has been DYING to hook you up with since the dawn of your friendship. Alas, at 100 ft away, there he is, in all of his camouflage cummerbund glory. The stars have lined up.

My other favorite part about weddings is watching the parents. I won't lie...My friends and I have probably the coolest people ever to call mom and dad. I've found that nobody gets crazier than the bride's father. He might have cried like a baby at the ceremony but you better believe he is Mr. Life of the Party at the reception. It's also true that dads make the best dance partners (see below). They try and show that they still got "it" after all these years. Nothing like a wedding to bring out a dad's inner frat boy.

Get it Ralph! :)

Anyways...Guess you could say that celebrating my friends nuptials are some of the highlights of my year. I'm expecting at least 3 engagements by Christmas, so my wedding crashing days have only just begun :) In fact, I'm heading to a wedding in Columbia tomorrow! Can't wait for a weekend full of questionable life decisions with my best friends and KD fam!! As long as it's an open bar, the drink is on me :)

Well....here goes nothin'!

I have had several requests from friends and family to start a blog. Apparently, that way people can be updated on my life and all that is or isn't going on ha. I really don't think my life is all that interesting. Just your typical twenty something girl, just graduated from college, and trying to figure out the real world/how to graduate from microwavable meals (just bought my first vegetable peeler yesterday! it.changed.my.life.)

Anyways, guess you could say this is my first post as a REAL.LIVE.ADULT!!! I passed my nursing boards yesterday (Thank You Jesus!!!...literally) and now I'm counting down the days until I am officially cut off and pushed out to sea, to sink or swim!! I'm SO blessed to have a job set up (better than most barely 3 week old college grads can say, if I do say so myself) and not only a job, but my D-R-E-A-M job! In the Neonatal ICU. In my D-R-E-A-M city, Charleston! To say that God is GREAT, would be the understatement of the century. But on the same token, guess that's part of the perk of knowing exactly what you want from a REALLY young age and putting a hell of a lot of hard work into making sure you actually get what you want. After all, isn't success what happens when preparation meets opportunity? I think that's what a fortune cookie told me once at least.

Well, I'm going to go figure out how to change the settings and make this thing pretty. I have a feeling I'm way too Type A for this :)

~ Em :)