Seaworld!

SeaWorld Recap- It was a wonderful day and the animals were amazing! Special thanks to my alma mater, Baylor University, for throwing a spectacular alumni event with special priced tickets and a free lunch! It made the whole experience that more memorable.

The entrance to SeaWorld

 I really liked this show..It had the most going on and lots of different animals

 Oh my gosh how can you not love Beluga whales?? They are so cute. Brings me back to my 8th grade environmental project with the tagline "Save a Beluga...Don't Pollute-a"

This was an extreme wakeboard/water ski show and it was really entertaining

Me and "Shamu"

 Shamu! These animals are incredible.

 The one closest is Baby Shamu!

 Puffins...just presh. Braden made fun of me because I said "Everyday I'm puffilin"

 Such cute little guys! I love otters

 The seal show was probably the most entertaining because it had a storyline...

...and a Walrus. He did sit ups!

A very fun day! It was nice that it was cloudy most of the day so it wasn't too hot. We topped off the day with take out from Outback Steakhouse (YUM). Next weekend we will be visiting my family in Sugar Land!

Here's to a great week!

To Pack, or Not to Pack?

It's hard to believe that we have been in San Antonio for 3 weeks already! Time flies when you're having fun. After we moved, I mentioned that packing when we were moving was really difficult because we could either throw it away/get rid of it, take it with us, or put it in storage for an indefinite amount of time (see my previous post, Wandering Nomads). Since they didn't teach me how to predict the future in grad school, I had to do my best at guessing the things we would want/need. Now that we've been here for a little bit, I have identified some things that I was pretty smart to bring with us, and some things that leave me scratching my head going "really, I thought I needed [fill in the blank]?!"

Smart:

1) A few kitchen items- I brought with us a 3Q pan, cookie sheets, and some spatulas/spoons. Since I used them all the time, I thought I would want them, and I was right. We use these almost every day. The things they stock you with at a long term hotel just don't completely cut it in this department.

2) Magic Bullet-for those of you who use blenders a lot, this is a really great option because it is really compact and it is AWESOME.

3) Eye mask- Those hotel curtains don't cut out all the light and I'm a light sleeper

4) Our dog- I seriously love having little Mace with us. She is great company! Since she is small, She and her things don't take up much room. I got a small storage container and all her toys and sweaters fit in there

5) Tide PODS- These little beauties are clutch for doing laundry, and there's no chance of spilling. Also, laundry bags have been an awesome help doing laundry, and don't take up a lot of room in a car like a basket or hamper would

6) Things that make it feel like home- One of the things I'm really glad I thought to bring along were a few things that make me feel like I'm home. Obviously Braden was a no brainer, but I also brought along a few pictures to put around the room, and also magnets with a few pictures to go on our refrigerator. I t really does make the room feel less like a hotel and more like a mini-home.

Not-So-Smart:

1) My entire wardrobe- apparently I thought I was going to be going to lots of fancy parties while we were traveling! While I am appreciating having a lot of clothing options on the weekend, I really didn't need to bring every formal dress I own. This goes for shoes too. What was I thinking?

2) Every single bathroom/toiletry item that I have ever owned, ever- This was probably one of the hardest areas to plan to pack for, because I have a lot of extra toiletry items, like those little Clinique samples I get with the free gifts, that I will eventually use, and didn't want to get rid of, but didn't necessary need to take with us, but they wouldn't store....I seriously should have given more away. Our bathroom looks a little like a testing lab.

3) Our entire liquor cabinet- don't get me wrong, it's nice to be able to make our favorite drinks, but we should have trimmed it down a little bit more, three containers worth really takes up a lot of room in the car!

4) Storing the printer- we seriously should have brought the printer. On the bright side, I now have a new printer!


We had a great weekend this weekend. Pictures from SeaWorld coming soon!

Weekend Update

This weekend was really fun, and a much needed re-charge from a less than ideal end of the week. I have officially finished 2 out of the 13 weeks of my assignment here in San Antonio/Kerrville, and have really enjoyed it overall. One of the things I have really enjoyed at the placement are my coworkers, and of course the patients. I am still enjoying the 45 minute commute, although ask me in a month and I might have changed my mind! My new company, Advanced Medical, has been really awesome at supporting me with transitioning into the new position and city, and after a little rough end of the week, it was great to be able to talk with my recruiter, Amy, and know that I always have someone cheering for me in my corner!
On Friday night we were able to go to Olive Garden and have a wonderful dinner thanks to the gift card from my sweet coworkers from Northwest Arkansas (LOVE you guys!). It was nice to be able to dress up in something other than scrubs, get out of the hotel, and not have to cook! As always, I had one, um well probably a few too many breadsticks, and super yummy mushroom ravioli.
On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at The Guenther House in San Antonio.




















This is where Pioneer Flour was started, and apparently the factory used to be the tallest building in San Antonio. We had to wait for 45 minutes before we were seated, but it is located on beautiful grounds with a museum and lots of benches and seating, and on the Riverwalk so the view is beautiful. I had been here before a long time ago, and it was even better than I remembered and well worth the 45 minute wait.

Cinnamon Roll Heaven!

Their cinnamon rolls are awesome! And tasted just as good reheated the next day.

After we went to breakfast, we came back to the hotel, got Macie, and went to Guadalupe River State Park, about 30 minutes away. It is a beautiful park! It was really hot so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun to hike along the river. Macie had a good time but was definitely tired and ready to nap the rest of the day once we got home.

Guadalupe River

Macie and Me

Macie taking a water break

That night we met up with some of Braden's friends from college at the San Antonio Scorpions game. They are a professional soccer team. This is the team's first season, so the atmosphere was really fun and the stadium really nice. 

Us at the game

These guys were the unofficial cheerleaders. Yes, the guy on the left is wearing a kilt. They led the stands in fun cheers like: "You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas!" "Hey [other team] you suck!" and "I believe that we will win!"

The Scorpians won and it was a really fun environment. All the fans were really into the game, and it was our first time at a professional soccer game. We would definitely go back!
In other areas of note, I finally figured out how to do a fishtail braid, which I have been trying to figure out for forever, and I bought something I always said I never would: my first pair of Chaco's!

After hiking in tennis shoes, and planning on doing more hiking and floating trips this summer, I decided I needed some more versatile outdoorsy shoes. I finally went over to the dark side. Super excited to get to use them on all our outdoorsy adventures!
This weekend was lots of fun, and I can't wait until next weekend when we go to Seaworld!

Here's to a great week!

Date Night!

This week we decided to try something a little different than normal so we decided to go out on a Thursday night instead of the weekend. We went to Alamo Drafthouse to see the new Star Trek movie. If you've never been to an Alamo Drafthouse, it is a really cool idea. It's set up like a normal movie theater, but you have a bar in front of where you sit with menus, you order your food and drinks from a waiter and then get to eat dinner while you watch the movie! I had a mushroom pizza, and Braden had a burger. It was a really fun experience! The food is a little over priced but definitely worth it for the experience. The movie was also really good. All in all a very fun night out during the week!

10 Things

After a week in Texas there are a few things we have learned:

1. Apparently people in Texas freak out about rain. For those of you who missed it, there was a big rain storm here on Friday/Saturday and we got 10+ inches of rain and people freaked out a little (lot). Don't drive in the water people! Braden and I didn't even realize it was a big deal until we saw it on the news and got texts asking if we were ok. Blame it on the Arkansas springs

2. Fire ants still suck. Seriously.

3. There are definite pros to living in a hotel, like towel and linen service and not having to pay utilities, and cons like paying $4.00 to do ONE load of laundry and not having a dishwasher. Paper plates and plastic utensils it is! Macie has finally adjusted and is doing much better, and I think she actually likes riding the elevator now! Although she has really scared some people when she runs out of the elevator right when the door opens.

4. When going to see a movie, you need to arrive really REALLY early. We tried to go see a 1:30 showing of Iron Man 3, showed up 10 minutes early, and there were no seats left in the theater. We ended up being able to switch the tickets out for a later showing and really enjoyed the movie.

5/6. I have become a news junkie again. I really enjoy listening to the Fox News XM station on my way to and from work, it's a 45 minute beautiful reverse commute in the Texas hill country. Which brings me to number 6- Reverse commuting is really the way to go, no traffic!

7. Texas people drive crazy. When you drive into the state, the sign says "Drive Friendly- The Texas Way". Haha, yeah right. Driving in Texas traffic is definitely something we have to get used to!

8. I still love my job. When I say goodbye to my patient and she grabs my hand and says "Thank you for visiting with me today" it makes the bad and frustrating days worth it.

9.  HEB is awesome.

10. We are really loving the access to all the different restaurants and 'things to do'. There are some really amazing sites and things to do here and we are so excited to experience them!



God Bless Texas!

Wandering Nomads

Wow! I can't believe that we made it. It has been a crazy few days. Moving was...difficult. and stressful. A normal move you pack everything up and throw everything in boxes and unpack them a few days or weeks later. We however had to pack our stuff up to store it in a POD (pretty much the coolest thing ever) for an indefinite amount of time so we had essentially 4 categories of stuff: 1-pack it in the POD 2-take it with us 3-get rid of it 4-throw it away. It was harder than it sounds to do this, especially since we really don't have any idea different things we will need while we are traveling. But we ended up getting everything separated and out of the apartment (barely!!).
It is a strange feeling though. We were joking that we were homeless, and I guess we are kinda like the children of Israel, wandering until we find our "promised land", except we get to wander places much more awesome than the desert, and for that I am thankful. It's going to be an exciting journey and we are excited for wherever we will be in the next few months and years.
We had a nice weekend in Little Rock hanging out with Braden's family and friends before heading down to San Antonio Monday morning. It was a long 9+ hour drive but we finally made it!
I really like being back in Texas. I love getting to shop at H-E-B (for all you non-Texans you're missing out) and I really am enjoying the 75 mph speed limits all the way to work! One of the biggest differences between Arkansas and Texas so far is definitely driving. "Keeping up with the flow of traffic" is going 85+ instead of 5 under the speed limit.
Work has been going well I am working at a long term care/rehab facility in Kerrville which is about 45 minutes north of SA. I am still working with geriatrics, so my job is essentially the same as it was before.
Living in a long term hotel has its perks like free breakfast, house cleaning, and towel and linen service, but it's also been an adjustment from being in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. Our room is essentially one big room with a small kitchen, bed, dresser, desk, and table, with a small bathroom. I think the one who had had the hardest time adjusting is our dog Macie, who still seems worried that we might leave her, and has had to learn how to ride on the elevator, which is apparently really really scary. The location is great though, as we are 15 minutes from downtown, right near Fiesta Texas and SeaWorld, and also relatively near to Schlitterbahn. We are excited to explore the area!
We also celebrated our second wedding anniversary! Cheers to an adventurous third year of marriage!

Melissa

And the place we will be is...

.....KERRVILLE, TEXAS!

We are really excited about our first assignment. I attached a map for those of you who don't know where Kerrville is. It is in the Texas hill country!
It is kinda crazy how I ended up with this position. The position near Houston, my first choice, completely fell through, and this position was offered to someone else who turned it down. I was interviewed, offered the contract, and accepted! I start May 21st, so it is a quick turn around! While I was born in San Antonio, I don't remember it and have never been to Kerrville. We are currently in the process of locking down temporary housing, and our POD came yesterday. Let the craziness of packing and moving begin!

Cheers!