#208 - review 2009

back on the first of january i wrote a blog about the upcoming year, 2009. it was kind of interesting to see what i was looking forward to at the beginning of this year. some things happened and others were way off. overall it was a very great year, one of the best so far. despite being unemployed at the moment, i am officially a registered nurse and am done with school (for now). while that was one of the things i was looking forward to, so was getting a job. who knew that the recession and economy would be so bad? the hospitals can basically pick and choose who they want to hire and be really specific, like wanting you to have 3 years of experience. i am not sure where i can get that but i am still trying. back in july i took and passed my NCLEX to get my RN, so i have been seeking work since then. wow, six months and still nothing. while at times it is frustrating and embarrassing, i know that it will happen when the time is right.
my whole family came up to see me graduate from nursing school, which was pretty cool. my sister had the honors of "pinning" me and everything was awesome. finally graduating was a good feeling. after graduation we went on a trip to alaska on a cruise! we drove up to seattle and then took a ship out from there. it was about a week of eating tons of food everyday. we got off the ship in several ports and saw lots of cool stuff. we went to check out glaciers and do shopping in gold rush towns. it was all pretty neat and we were up there for the longest day of the year, june 21, so it was pretty much light out all day and night.
the last awesome thing this year was meeting jeremy, my sweet boyfriend. he has been a great friend and i really can't ask for more in a relationship at this point. things are wonderful and we are having a great time together. i even went to his family's house for christmas which was nice and not awkward at all. we've been together since january and it has flown by really quick. he is the best!

#207 - christmas and stuff

this was a new kind of christmas because i am not really sure when i last missed christmas in hawaii. since i am job searching and wanted to be available during the holidays i went home for thanksgiving. that went great and i had a good time. i did everything i wanted to but it was pretty short. two weeks goes by quickly, especially when you are filling it with surfing, manapuas, fried rice, football games, costco, loco mocos, and shave ice.

i never really felt like it was christmas in the weeks leading up to it. i really didn't do well on christmas gifts and i kind of didn't care. i have something in mind that i am working on but i never got around to it in time. my family knows i don't have much money so i am sure they understand my giftlessness but someday i just want to get it together enough to be on time with good, thoughtful, loving gifts for the fam. maybe next year.

my plans for christmas ended up being driving down to coos bay to spend time with jeremy and his family. the drive on christmas eve was long (4 hours) and we left after he got off work around 7. i met his whole family previously, but on separate occasions. i was excited because they all seemed really fun. we got there late and hung out for a little while but were pretty worn out. christmas morning was spent sleeping in then having a leisurely brunch. we went out to the beach and the weather was so perfect. they said i was lucky because it was one out of maybe five days of sun all year. supposedly its really cold, windy and rainy all the time. not for me, it was gorgeous and even warmer than portland. after that we opened presents and had dinner. we watched some old family videos which were really precious! to end the night we went to shore acres, which is a botanical garden with an awesome light display. there were millions of lights covering plants there but since we went so late it closed shortly after we arrived. the whole day was really nice and relaxed. the fam was really entertaining and fun.

so up next is new years eve i guess. blog recap of 2009 to come shortly and perhaps what i am looking forward to in 2010. the days are winding down for this year. it's been good.