Life in York, Maine
We can’t believe it’s already that time again where we have to decide what we want to do next.
It’s crazy to think that Dan is officially halfway through his contract in York, Maine (and that I haven’t given an update since he started-whoops!). I guess that says something as to how the last seven weeks have been…BUSY…in a good way though. We’re very much coming to the realization that part of adulthood and marriage, even excluding travel nursing, is busyness. Though we certainly add to that with travel nursing, I don’t think we’d necessarily feel less busy if we stayed in one place, even if we were objectively less busy.
We’ve filled our time with working, settling in to our apartment, seeing family and celebrating birthdays, reconnecting with friends, and planning some exciting upcoming trips. To start with work, Dan has been enjoying the slower pace of a community hospital. He’s been thinking more and more seriously about breaking in to other units/areas of nursing and eventually advancing his career by going back to school. It’s intimidating and exciting to have so many options open and ways he could specialize. I’m looking forward to seeing him try new things and find where he feels he fits. I’ve picked up a couple of nannying jobs for while we’re here which I’ve been enjoying, and have been taking some steps to determine what I’d really like to do more long term – more to come on that later.
My dad, sister, and stepmom live about 30 minutes from where we’re living in Kittery which has been so much fun. It’s such a beautiful area and we’ve enjoyed exploring it more with them and our other family too. Everyone (and I mean everyone, all four sides of our collective family) gathered together in our little town for my 25th birthday back in August. Then in September Dan and I had a great night out on the town in Portsmouth with his sister for her 21st.
We joined a local church and got together with friends in New Hampshire, as well as have our dear friends Christy and Nick who visited from Montreal with their twins. We’ve missed them incredibly and are so thankful that they made the trek down to see us. We’re excited that we now have the opportunity to make the trek up to see them! Dan and I will be spending our upcoming anniversary in Montreal, and I just can’t wait.
The other big trip we have coming up is to…Colorado! I’ve always wanted to go and I’m so excited that we’re able to stay out there a bit longer than we expected. We’ll be there for just about six days to explore and celebrate the wedding of our good friend Jonathan. The wedding is actually on the seven year anniversary of Dan’s and my first date. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than a wedding with our friends ๐
As I said before, we have somehow already come to the time when Dan has to tell the hospital if he’d like to renew his contract. It was something we strongly considered, but ultimately we are hoping to spend a bit more time travel nursing. I personally love the idea of escaping winter at least once in my life. We are hoping to do his next contract, beginning in December, somewhere in the south west. Arizona is our top choice for state! Before that, we’re looking forward to staying in the area for a bit to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. Then we’ll be setting off on quite the road trip that I’m sure will have us reminiscing our grand Road Trip of 2016. Arizona was our mid-point and favourite stop of that entire trip, so we’re both excited at the thought of going back.
Specific Prayer Requests:
- Safe Travels! Please pray for our safety when driving to Montreal (10/9), flying to Colorado (10/20), and for ease at the Canadian border. Especially for Dan, the border causes a lot of anxiety after his experiences the last year and a half. We’re honestly pretty sure that he’s on some kind of watch list at this point.
- Dan’s Next Contract! We’re just beginning the process of looking for his next contract and have three goals of what we’d ideally like to be different. Honestly, we’d be happy if we could just achieve one. My biased preference is that heโd be able to switch to working days! Please pray for opportunity in terms of contracts and housing, and for the decision of whether to change agencies or not.
We would love to hear from you about how we can be praying for you as well! Reach out or comment below just to chat, but also with any prayer requests you have.
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