Winter Recap, 2022

Things have been busy!

And all of it may finally be catching up with me. I’m currently writing this from the comfort of my couch, on day three of a nasty respiratory bug that’s got me home from work. So I figured now would be as good a time as ever to give some life updates.

In some good news, spring is right around the corner! The rain is finally beginning to fall less often here in Portland, bringing with it longer days and the beautiful, temperate weather that I love most about the PNW. Maya and I are getting lots of chances to explore the many bars and restaurants around my place and have been spending lots of time playing with other pups at a dog park right down the street.

A few weeks ago we made it up to Mount Hood to snowshoe. It was our first time out for the season, and while I was excited, Maya was on a different level of stoke. We snowshoed frequently last winter when we lived in Breckenridge, so I think she was more than a little excited to be out again. If you look close enough in the photo, you can see the peak of Mount Hood “peaking” out at you in the distance.

We also recently made it out to a hike in Camas, Washington with a good friend. I’d never been to that part of the state before, and the views from it of the Columbia River were incredible.

Despite what it may seem, hiking hasn’t been the only thing keeping me busy. Much of my time off these past few months has been consumed with graduate school and starting a new job. After coming back to Portland, I promised myself that I’d find my off-ramp away from emergency and ICU nursing into something a little less stressful. The pandemic’s made longevity in inpatient nursing rather difficult, if not impossible. So I recently accepted a job at an urgent care, taking my first full-time staff position since starting travel nursing nearly three years ago. It’s been such a nice change of pace. Benefits! Paid time off! Sick time! Everything I never had as a travel nurse despite its many other perks. Working in an urgent care rather than with acutely ill adults has been refreshing, as well.

Graduate school has also been keeping me busy. The course I’ve been enrolled in this term was an education course that’s worked to prepare us for teaching adults at a collegiate level. Never mind that I’ve taken six other courses before now, but it’s the first course that’s really got me excited to begin teaching nursing students in the near future.

In addition to all of this, this past weekend I had the joy of going back to my favorite place in the Rocky Mountains to celebrate my brother’s bachelor party. Along with nine other guys and the bachelor himself, we spent three days up in Breckenridge, CO snowshoeing, skiing, and spending an absurd amount of time in our cabin’s hot tub. With Rhett’s wedding just about a month away, it was the perfect way to celebrate his final month as a bachelor. Without giving away too much , it was definitely a successful weekend ;)

While life’s certainly been busy, it’s nonetheless been packed with all the things that fill my cup. One of my goals for this year was to make an effort to invest my time and energy into those people, places, and things which bring me joy, purpose, and value. I’m making strides in accomplishing some big life goals, have successfully kept FIVE plants alive in my tiny shoebox apartment, and am putting in the work of creating a support network in my new home.

Sending you all well wishes. Here’s to hoping for a spring without all the pandemic-stressors that have filled the last two. Without jinxing it, I hope that we’re all finally back on a path to normalcy.

Riley and Maya