So I guess I'll make this my first post for all of you worried/curious family members out there. I've been trying to keep in touch to the best of my abilities, but we all know I am not good at that. This is originally why I decided to start this blog, for you all! Although, now it's for everyone and anyone who decides to read :)
For you all that don't know, I recently started travel nursing and moved out to California from Philadelphia this past September. It was a major decision of mine being that I did come alone (with the exemption of my dog Carson). Huge step out of the box for me, but I was soo ready!
I used to work at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for about 3yrs - 6 months on Hematology, 2yrs on Oncology, and 1yr on a General Pediatrics unit that had mostly babies (which I loved) or children under the age of 5. I liked it there; it was always nice to say I worked at CHOP and there was a proud feeling that came along with it. So why did I decide to leave? ...Because why not? We all know there's plenty of nursing opportunities out there and many other good hospitals where I could work. But my reason was because I wanted to travel. I wanted to be able to take vacation and not have to come back in 2 weeks! So why not travel somewhere and work there at the same time?! Seemed like a no brainer for me - but that's because I am single and have no kids. Another reason that that made me decide to travel nurse: I missed Easter and another fun family event this year because I had to work! And I was only 1hr away. So why not be in California and miss holidays?! Same difference; I'd be missing them either way. And everyone was telling me, "Do it now while your young" and "Do it now while your single and have no kids". So after a few years of being a RN and being single for over 2yrs from my college BF, I was like... I need to do this now! I made this decision late spring. No I didn't want to go alone, but at the same time I didn't want to wait for anyone. My coworkers said they wanted to travel nurse to Cali as well, but they either weren't as serious as I or they were planning to go in another year or so. So with that, I just decided to put my big girl panties on and head out. My Mom wasn't really happy about it in the beginning; actually she didn't like the idea at all! She would ask me a ton of questions about EVERYTHING and of course I didn't know all the answers or just didn't feel like answering. So she thought I wasn't being smart & needed to weigh all my options before making such a big decision. But in my head I was just like...if it doesn't work it doesn't work, I'll come back, live with someone somewhere (probably her lol) until I am stable again. No big deal haha.
Anyway, I am here, in Northern California - Bay Area and loving it! My experience getting to this point wasn't all that fun though. First of all, getting your California RN license takes foreverrr! About 3 months! (So plan ahead for all you nurses who do plan on travel nursing here, start now!) So as soon my CA RN license came through (online) I immediately called my recruiter Sherell Graham (reference me if you use her), had a couple phone interviews that week, and signed a contract by the end of that week. It all happened so fast!
The crazy thing is though, the position was starting in about 3 weeks after I accepted the position. Soo... yes, the chaos began. I had to get everything done for the agency - paperwork, physical, drug screen, fingerprints, etc. which was a b****! I had to get certifications & licenses done for the hospital I was going to work at - and with everything being last minute, one day I even had to drive all the way up to North Jersey, take a class, and come back that night to work. On top of doing all that and working night shifts, I had to pack! Yea let's not forget that. Sometimes it seemed like I didn't have that much stuff, but I was sooo wrong. I called myself trying to start packing early, but yea right. But I did get rid of a lot of stuff to Goodwill, which I was proud of myself for doing, because I'm a hoarder and getting rid of my clothes/belongings is hard. AND on top of all that - I still needed to sleep! Pshhh - sleep was like few & far between. But I'm young right?! I could do it - so everyone says. And I did - with the help of my Mom of course and my amazing (and strong) roommates. We got it done. Although, my Mom did have to make another trip back after I left to get the last of my things.
What did I do with my furniture? Sold my dresser on craigslist to this boujie lady (that was old and there was no way she was helping me carry that dresser smh) that tried to give me a hard time about a little ass scratch and wanted to lower the price - I did (but I still made a profit and she didn't even know it lol). You could tell she was rich and spoiled; she was cute though, but whatever. And I put my bed out on the curb wrapped in plastic (that my unstable neighbor tried to take by herself and ended up falling and rolling all over the sidewalk - did I help? No because I wasn't being responsible for any of that lol). She ended up putting it back of course. And my Papasan chair and little DIY dresser, I took down to Maryland to Kori & Kevin's house.
Oh and my car...smh...frustratingly had to have it shipped across country, which costed a FORTUNE. I waited until the last minute to decide to ship it because I was in such denial. I wanted to drive over (road trip with anyone), but didn't have enough time to do so. I worked up until the last minute and only had 3 days to get over here. I'm telling you, that whole week was crazy! Besides the fact that my boss wasn't happy with me because I only gave her a 2 week notice. But what else was I supposed to do?! I had just booked the job! I wasn't going to put my resignation letter in without having another job lined up. So yea...the last weeks at work were a little awkward, but whateverrr...YOLO.
Back to my trip... my Mom, sister, & Amanda took Carson and I to the Newark Airport. We got to hang out a little before I had to check-in which was nice. Carson lovesss his Grandmom (and vice versa) & was happy to be in her arms (little did he know this would be his last time seeing her for a long time). After about 40min, I put Carson in his carrier and we said our goodbyes - it was a little sad, but I knew I'd be in contact with them soon, and something about flying alone makes me happy & relaxed.
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| Momma and I <3 |
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| Love my sissy <3 |
The flight itself was great! Carson did really well (I did give him a little Benadryl right before the flight). He stayed in his little carrier underneath the seat in front of me. He whined for a second here and there but that was it. I made sure to keep my legs close to him and let him smell my hands here and there. Funnily (if that's a word), the last half of our flight there was a cat (and his owner obviously) that came to sit next to us (because they had a connecting flight). Carson was looking like uhhhh. Lol. But they got along, there was no fighting.
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| Carson b4 checking in |
So yea, the flight went well...everyone was so helpful. People helped me with carting my luggage and getting on the bus to the car rental place. My rental car was soo nice! I forget what kind of car it was..like a brand new Hyundai or something. I loved it; didn't want to give it back. It had bluetooth, which I took FULL advantage of and had that backup camera thing which was nice. It just made my experience that much better for those few days I had it.
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| The rental |
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| Inside my apartment! |
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| Kitchen table/dining room area |
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| Extra chair that I do sleep on! |
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| The biggest bed I've ever had! |
So let me tell you about the Walmart...I stopped there to get essentials that I would need to get me through the night. While shopping, I came across this...!
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| Seriously?! |
Liquor in the Walmart! Top shelf at that. I couldn't believe it. Let me remind you...the Walmart is right up the street. But I'm not an alchy (alcoholic) so that doesn't matter right? Lol. Although I can say, to this day, I haven't bought liquor from there yet. But I will before I leave, just because! But not only does the Walmart sell liquor, so do the food stores, drug stores, corner stores, gas stations and so on. I was like...I'm liking California already! haha. Why don't they do that back on the East Coast in Philly and Jersey??? I might think about moving back haha jk jk.
Anyway, back to the apartment... the complex has a pool, hot tub, LITTLE fitness room, they come pick up your trash basically everyday, your own parking spot, and I got to chose an accent wall and color for them to paint (which I thought was so cool). Basically, I was in love and still am.
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| Outside |
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| Furniture and accent wall |
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| Thought this was funny...what would we do without our phones?! |
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| Reunited w/my car <3 |
So that basically sums it up as far as my big exciting move to California. I'm in the Bay Area and I love it. I've been going out, meeting people, working, and working out. Pretty much same thing I was doing in Philly, but just over here in Cali. I like the unit I'm on right now (NICU & Postpartum), but the hours suck! Never again will I sign up for 5 8hr shifts. But I will write a whole 'nother post about my travel nursing experience here shortly. So stay tuned!
Hope you enjoyed reading my first post everrr! I know it was long, but I had A LOT to say! Talk to you soon!
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| Lake Merritt - Oakland, CA |
XOXO
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