Home is where the heart is

It's been awhile since I've last made my appearance. I'm not gonna lie, it's because of the lack of photos that I have. I keep telling myself to take more pictures but it's pretty hard. In a city like Houston, the environment is pretty unforgiving to a photographer. There isn't a lot to photograph besides the usual stuff that all the other Houstonian photographers have captured. It's moments like those that make me wish I lived in a more exciting, stimulating city. I'm itching to take photos but I feel too limited in this town. Also, since the hubby is basically on call 24/7, I don't go out as much. I've spent the last few weekends bored to tears sitting at home. So, to make the best out of things, I took a few pictures of home sweet home. I'm gonna try and get a few more but it's kinda hard getting back in the groove of things. I feel like I've lost my photographer's touch.

Inspirational

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
- Ernst Haas

Fashionista

Shorts: F21, Shirt/dress: F21, sweater: Urban Outfitters, jewelry: claire's

Not to stroke my own ego but I'm totally digging my outfit today. I recently went out and bought some high waisted shorts (yea, they're back in style again!) and decided that with the warming weather, it was time to bust them out. Pairing them with a loose dress and men's cardigan totally put the look together. Add some jewelry and side bun, and voila!!

Gonna be heading out to see the latest Harry Potter tonight. Totally stoked. Except for the ending part, it's obviously gonna be a cliff hanger... I DESPISE cliff hangers! Oh well, I plan on getting lots of popcorn, jalapenos, pickles, and nachos to grub on. You can never go wrong with that :)

Fresh new world

There's been a palpable change in the air here in Houston. I think this last cold front will be here to stay. This is definitely my favorite time of the year. Not only does the ridiculous heat leave, but it's the holiday season that so strongly draws me to autumn. There's a certain calmness that comes with the season change. I can feel it in my core. It's exciting!

In fact, I went out and bought a whole bunch of Christmas decorations a few days ago. A little premature, sure, but I was in the holiday spirit :) I can't wait for scarves, hats, boots, turkey, holiday cheer, and Christmas Christmas Christmas!


My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that I wish we had a TRUE fall. A fall where the leaves change from bright green to dashing reds and yellows. I wish we could experience the breathtaking scenery that fall can offer.

Adventures in the backyard

Today started off with a cold front and dreary weather. I went to walk Junie this morning and was hit with a surprising cool gust of wind. Usually this is no big deal (I mean, we welcome the cold here in Houston), but I was totally unaware of this when I got dressed this morning so I was shivering in my short shorts and t-shirt as I was walking her around. NOt cool. But as the day progressed, the clouds parted and we saw some gorgeous sunshine peek through. This is what we Houstonians call perfection. A nice cool day along with Mr. Sunshine shining our way :)

My mom has been nagging at me to come home for the past month (what can I say? I'm a busy girl) so I finally went home today. It's funny... it doesn't feel like home. I was reminded of a quote from "Garden State" (my all time favorite movie!). Zack Braff's character talks to his love interest about the meaning of "home":

"You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore…all of the sudden even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone…or maybe it's like this rite of passage…you will never have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, for your kids, for the family you start. It’s like a cycle or something. Maybe that’s all family really is: a group of people that miss the same imaginary place."

It's exactly how I felt as I walked into my old room and looked through all my old belongings. There's a lot of memories in that place. I spent all my high school years in that room and now it felt like a lifetime ago. In a way, so insignificant. It was definitely an odd feeling. Regardless, I got to spend some quality time in the backyard. The backyard that had fostered so many inspirations for pictures. It felt good to be back.

Restless

It's been an emotional roller coaster these last few days. There's been a few issues at work and I've been wrestling with a life changing decision because of it. I'll start at the beginning:

I work in an OR (aka operating room for those of you who aren't into the medical "lingo") and a few months ago our OR was shut down. No worries, it wasn't because of something bad, it was just the hospital reorganizing. We merged with another group from another OR, forming an orthopedic OR. The other group came from the self-proclaimed "main" OR of the hospital. I had a fear from the moment we found out about this change that they would try to take over the OR... and boy was I right. It was a slow process, during which I had hoped my fears were unwarranted and premature. But boy have things changed in the last months. I feel like they don't respect us because we come from a smaller OR. They came into this believing that we didn't do "real" work. That none of us really knew how to do orthopedic surgery. Truth is, we know MORE than them. All they do is "totals" (ie total hip and knee replacements). We do hands and feet and arthroscopic surgeries ON TOP of doing totals. To break it down, we OWN. But either way, the respect is lacking and the dictatorship has taken over. They've phased out our charge nurse and demoted her, they've changed our calls and vacation requests to match THEIR needs. We're being ignored, bullied. We're Cinderella. I'm tired of feeling like the stepchild.

Fast forward, I've been offered another job. A great opportunity to expand my experience and knowledge base. I would learn different types of surgeries besides orthopedic, I would be working with pediatric patients (challenge alert!), and I would also get trained in admission as well as immediate post-op recovery. I'd be working in a smaller hospital that's closer to my house. This means less travel time as well as a closer knit workplace due to its size. So what's my problem? I feel like I haven't stayed at my current position long enough. I've only worked as a nurse for a year and a half. I have less than 2 years experience in orthopedics. I feel like that isn't enough. I feel like I would be leaving too soon. I feel like I don't know as much as I should about orthopedics.

Dilemma. Should I tough it out for another year and feel unappreciated or should I take the plunge and broaden my horizons...?

Stay tuned...

alive & kicking

It's definitely been awhile since I've last updated on here. Lots of things have changed. For one, it's cold outside now. Thank god for that because I was getting worried that this heat wave was gonna stick around for most of winter. Thankfully, a cold front came through a few days ago, bringing with it crispier, cooler weather. I've been frequenting the dog park more often now that I won't instantly burn the second I step foot outside. Junie sure does appreciate it :)

Speaking of Junie, a few weekends ago was Pet Fest. There's sort of a tradition to head out to this annual event with little Junie (even though this is only the second year we've participated). It's so much fun to see all the booths and rescue groups there. We try to go see Junie's foster mom at the Lone Star Boxer Rescue booth so that we can show off how gorgeous Junie has become :D Vicki fostered Junie when she was rescued from the pound a year ago. She gave Junie a loving home and helped train her to be the perfect companion. It was definitely nice to see them bond again. I made sure to spoil Junie rotten while we were there. I got her a few doggie treats as well as a banging pair of goggles that she totally rocked out.


So recently I've had a humongous craving for some crab. I don't usually eat a lot of seafood (mostly because beef is my calling) but this time, for some reason, I just HAD to get me some crab. There's something about cracking open the shell to reveal succulent, juicy meat that'll be dipped in butter that I couldn't steer clear of. I can't come close to describing how satisfying it was to eat my Crab Daddy Feast (that's right, the big man's crab platter). Now if only crawfish season would hurry up and get here. Then I'd be in HEAVEN.