A Much Needed Update

I know I haven't kept up with blogging as much as I should have these past few months. I will blame that on the awesome time I have been having in Indy hanging with my cute nephew!

Zeke and I on our Ikea run :)



But wanted to keep you posted that some big things are happening in the life of Jessica.




THE JOB
I am finishing up my contract here at Community Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. I have three more weeks and then I am off to a vacation in the Cayman Islands to visit my cousins! While I was here in Indy, another SLP (speech-language pathologist) is going on maternity leave in July and they were sweet enough to ask me to return for 13 more weeks! This left me with an awkward 9 weeks in the middle that I thought I would have trouble filling with a contract. (usually assignments are 13 weeks)-- So I reached out to McCready Hospital in Crisfield, MD and they were nice enough to let me come back! So I will be going from Indy to the Caymans to Maryland and then back to Indy. I am lined up until October, and it feels good! When I come back to work for Community Health I am really excited because I will still be working with pediatrics for a few days but the others days of the week I will be working with head and neck cancer patients as well as laryngectomy patients. I will be gaining tons of experience will be nice for the resume and great experience!




THE CAMPER and THE TRUCK

For those of you who are not aware... I have purchased a camper. She is beautiful and all mine. The people I bought it from (thanks Jones Farms!) were kind enough to tow it to our house and park it since I didn't have anything to tow it with yet. I still had my baby, Scarlett. Well two weekends ago I traded my baby (Toyota corolla) for a truck. A big, gas guzzling, beautiful truck. She is an F-150 and has lived her whole life in Canada. I originally wanted to name her a French name since she is a French Canadian (the sticker "things in mirror are closer than they appear" is in French too). But in keeping with the togetherness of the camper and tow vehicle I have named my truck, Flo and my camper, Ebb. Cleaver, right? (my sister-in-law, Taelor, gets credit for name suggestion). Here are some pictures of my beautiful new purchases.

My truck, Flo

My Camper, Ebb

Ebb and Flo... get it?

TOWING/CAMPING

So I have never driven a truck before this experience, let alone pulled something behind it. This is all new. So I have some practice sessions planned after we install a hitch stabilizer onto the trailer to get her going. We are going to practice next weekend and then in 3 weekends we are going to take her on her first "mini" camping trip about an hour away to a camping site. So, not only have I not driven a truck nor towed something behind it, I have also not camped in a camper. Ever. So we are going to practice camping and hooking up/unhooking. I have been doing a lot of research but this is going to be an enlightening experience to say the least.

OTHER BLESSINGS THIS CONTRACT

During this contract I have also been blessed with getting to hang out with my brother and sister-in-law. Going from living alone for the past 5(ish) years to living with three other people, including a baby, has been an adjustment. There is something to be said about having people waiting for you (and usually excited to see you) when you get home from work! It's been a really special time and I am so glad that I get to spend another 3 months with them in a short while.

During this contract I have only been about 3 hours from home. I have never lived close enough to home to drive home for a weekend. This has been such a blessing especially since I have done a lot of traveling to purchase vehicles, register them, do insurance things and all the fun paperwork that needs to be completed with big purchases like this... I think mom, dad and Jared have enjoyed me coming back for a few weekends too!

I was also blessed to get to go on a mini-vacation with my best friend, Amanda. We drove up to Chicago and stayed with her brother Sean. I haven't been to Chicago (except the airport) so this was a super fun adventure for me! I have decided that I need to live in a city (only for a year or so) before I die. It has made the bucket list.

Last weekend I was blessed that my whole immediate family got together for Easter. Special times with family and seeing everyone.

IN CONCLUSION

So yes, this has been an expensive month as well as an exciting month. I wanted to have adventures... Right?

I think that is all for now. Zorro and I will be pulling out beginning of May with my camper on the way to Maryland.

Happy Travels.