Getting Settled...

As promised, here are some pictures of my apartment! Click here for a picture of the layout, but it's actually a mirror version to the layout I found online. So far, it's a GREAT place to live! Like all homes in Phoenix, it's made out of stucco (with chicken wire and Styrofoam for insulation -no kidding!!) so the soundproofing isn't the best, but with the air conditioning going (which is fairly constant!) it's actually okay. It has a great feel to the place, with lots of windows, big overhangs so the bright sun doesn't shine in directly -a fact that's pretty important around here, and high ceilings. I haven't started a shift at the hospital yet, but I think I'd extend here just for the apartment!

Obviously, here's the kitchen. The front door is just to the left of the counter on the left side of the picture.


There, you can just see the front door.


This is the laundry room and one storage area, and I'm standing inside this doorway for the previous picture.


Standing near the bedroom/bathroom, looking out at the living room and dining room. I especially love the windows in the dining room, and you can see their shadows through the blinds. The ceiling above the table is also unique and adds some fun character.


In the dining room, looking back towards the living room. You can also see the patio, which is actually fairly large.


The living room. The fireplace is wood-burning, and I'm not sure I'll get any wood before leaving, so it might sit untouched. Also, I saw 101 degrees on the thermometer today, so I'm not sure that a fire sounds all that appealing! :) I REALLY love the built-in bookshelves. This happens to be the assignment where I've brought the least amount of stuff, and it has the most storage so far. I'm glad I didn't bring any more, but it would've filled the bookshelves nicely!


My bedroom, and yes, that's another door out to the patio!


When I first saw this view, I thought "what a strange place for a full-length mirror" and then I realized it's the door to my walk-in closet.


That walk-in closet. It looks a little funny in there, because I didn't bring that many clothes, and they really are only on one side of the closet. Come visit me, and you can have all the space you want!


The bathroom. It has a good amount of storage, especially when you add in the linen closet that's in the hallway. And, the bathtub is one of those bigger round tubs that will be great for bubble baths!




It feels great to be settled in. On Saturday Forrest and Julie and I went out for breakfast, then I got up here to my apartment somewhere around 11am. I'd say I'm about 20-25 minutes from my family/friends in Chandler when the traffic is moving along, and then longer if it's during rush hour. It didn't take very long to unload my car, and then Ronda, my cousin/friend who is a kindred-spirit, came over to help me unpack. It was SO GREAT to see her! We lived together for a year here in Arizona and even though we haven't gotten to see one another as often as we'd like lately, as kindred-spirits go, it's easy to just pick up where we left off! I am really looking forward to spending some good time with her while I'm here.

On Sunday, one of the things I did was head over to the hospital to make sure I'd know where I was going. It was easy to find and easy to park. On the inside, it's a little confusing, but I think I'm already learning my way around. It was great to see such child-friendly things as an outdoor play area in the Children's Hospital portion. It turns out that the Children's Hospital I'll be working at is a separate entity, but still attached to a "regular" hospital.

Then, on Sunday evening it was such a blessing to attend Rock Church! This is the church I helped start in 1999 when I moved to Arizona. Such fun changes since then! It's an active, growing, vibrant church with lots of young adults, a great group of people in leadership, solid Bible teaching, excellent worship, and a clear vision for ministry. It was pretty humbling to see the way God has blessed what started out as six of us young adults and three families struggling to come up with any way possible to invite people to an outreach event -to what I saw on Sunday! I'm looking forward to getting to worship at Rock Church on the Sunday evenings I don't have to work!

On Monday I was up bright and early for 7am orientation at the hospital. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there during rush hour, but my 10 miles only took about 25 minutes, so probably not too bad for Phoenix. It was a good morning of meeting other travelers, doing paperwork, and touring around the hospital. I also learned that every other person there had problems with the online classes that have been the bane of my existence for the last two weeks, and we were able to get them finished. Yippee!! The tour of my unit showed that it's pretty large and a little confusing, but then I reminded myself that it always seems that way at first, and after no time at all it starts to feel like I've always been there. I have hospital orientation Mon-Thur this week for a few hours each day, then work Friday and Saturday 7p-7a for unit orientation. I'm looking forward to that!

One funny thing that happened is that I really only have met one hospital staff so far, the woman that helped us yesterday. Well, get this.... she's from the Elbow Lake/Wendell area of Minnesota, and she used to work at Lake Region Hospital!! Small world!! She's been in Arizona for about 15 years, so the people she remembered at LRHC are those that have all been there a while. It was such a fun connection for me!

Then on Monday evening, I got to do something I had been long waiting for... I hung out with Joel and Kathy! And I got to meet their little girl! She's beautiful, and such a good baby, and I got a great smile from her (she's still pretty little!). Kathy is another life-long friend that I've known for a while, but we became especially close when we shared a room in the 3-bedroom condo that Ronda also lived in. Joel is my second-cousin and I used to tell my friends that they should marry my cousins so we'd be family. Well, Kathy is one that took me up on that! :) They had a well-deserved weekend away, but otherwise Joel leads the worship at Rock Church so I'm excited to be there when the full band is back. Thanks, Joel and Kathy for the great dinner and fun evening!

Well, I'm off to swim a few laps in the outdoor pool, soaking in some sunshine, before my afternoon orientation session. Enjoy your day!