"Living the Dream"

Hello All,

This weekend Steve and I stayed close to "home". We walked in the morning and spent our afternoons at the pool. We have both been working crazy hours this past week and were ready for some down time.

We continue to be in "Monsoon Season" so every evening the wind picks up and around 8 pm the rain starts. Steve loves to watch the storms as they roll in from the mountains. Saturday morning the "wash" next to the resort actually had running water in it, for the first time since we moved here.

I tried my hand at making chicken enchiladas using a recipe from a co-worker at the hospital. I hope to have an impeccable Mexican recipe file before I leave Tucson. Steve loved the enchiladas and is looking forward to having leftovers when I am working this week.

God has bestowed his blessings on us as we continue "living the dream".

They don't trim trees like this in Missouri!

I watched as they came down the street this morning trimming the palm trees. They trim trees from 6am - 11am and then spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess. There are over 1000 palm trees here in the resort.

We made it to the weekend!

My Friday adventure. I spent the day exploring in Sierra Vista while Steve was at work. Steve asked as we drove to Sierra Vista Friday morning "what are you going to do for 8 hours". My thought was after four nights at UMC with drunks, psych patients, and homeless patients that hadn't taken a bath in 3 months...I was going to have a quiet day and a cup of coffee. First, I looked for those points of interest...the mall and visitors center. "The Mall at Sierra Vista" is small but relatively quiet and serves a great latte. Then I was off to the visitors center to see what I could fill my afternoon with. I decided on a little bit of history as I ventured to one of the Fort Huachuca Museums. Note: Fort Huachuca is an active military installation so after finding my vehicle registration, proof of insurance and a photo ID my pass for the afternoon was awarded. I did enjoy my walk through history (I will have to go back with Steve because he would have enjoyed it even more.) learning about the "Buffalo Soldiers" as they tracked Geronimo in 1886 and followed John Pershing into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916. What a peaceful day just a little "window shopping" a cup of coffee and a stroll through history.

Saturday evening we 'kicked up our heels" and went out with friends from work for a going away dinner. The first pics is Steve and I, just in case you don't remember how we look, with Vicki Alexander (she was my preceptor when I started at UMC). Vickie did a travel assignment in Kodak, Alaska some years ago and is great to work with because she doesn't hold a grudge against travelers.

Next picture: Sherry Welch and her significant other Keith. She is also a traveler and we started at UMC on the same day. Everyone in the department thinks we have been traveling together for years but we met for the first time June 2nd and she is a great friend and co-worker. I truly believe she is a blessing from God...she always seems to be working when I am "drowning" in the department or vice versa.

The reason for the "night out" was Wes (in the AC/DC shirt) is finishing his contract and going to a new assignment. Wes is an awesome nurse and he has a way of making you laugh despite what is going on in the department...he truly is "off the chain" (a favorite saying). Pictured with Wes is Annie who transferred to the emergency department at UMC in February 2007 and Diego who graduated nursing school in May 2008 and passed his RN boards but has been working in the department as a patient care technician related to policy. (Note: UMC only allows new graduate nurses to start in July every year.)

After dinner we "retired" upstairs for a game of darts. Steve and Annie played against Diego and Wes. Steve tried to give Diego some pointers. This was a truly enjoyable evening getting to laugh and joke with people who live the same "work life" that we do.

Steve and Annie where victorious!

Weekend Adventure Continued!

Sorry our "weekend adventure" is a two part post because after a day of fresh mountain air I fell asleep. As we made our way back down the mountain we enjoyed a visual reminder of God's great power. The beautiful mountain view...blue skies and pine trees at 7000 feet elevation with the storms moving off the mountain. Then at 5000 feet elevation our sunny day had returned but the pine trees had left our view.

Then about 6 miles from the base we enjoy the desert foliage once again with the temperature of 100 degrees.

Weekend Adventure

This morning we left Tucson's sunny 98 degree weather headed for Mt. Lemmon (everyone promised it would be 20 degrees cooler there). We arrived at 8000 feet elevation to discover "everyone" was right you notice the storm clouds over the mountains. The day wasn't a total wash we found a pizzeria and enjoyed lunch as we watched the storm.

Working till the weekend!

Hello All,

Hope that all is going well with you and your families. No pictures today just wanted to let everyone know that both Steve and I are working till Friday and then we plan on going to Mt. Lemmon (stay tuned for more pics).

Rainy days bring beauty!

True "Monsoon Season" every afternoon about 3:00 pm the wind picks up and by 5:30 pm we get rain (anywhere from 1/4 inch to 2 inches). Steve enjoys watching the storms move in from the mountains trying to catch pictures of the lightening. Yesterday, his focus was a beautiful rainbow that seemed to end here at the RV Resort. The desert flowers are starting to bloom...amazing what a little water will do. Hope everyone has a safe holiday...fireworks are against the law here and carry a $1000 fine for just possessing them in the state of Arizona.