Ain't no rest for the wicked!

You ever wish that someone had taken all those naps you refused as a kid and put them into an interest-earning savings account that you could withdraw from when you hit your 30's, or is it just me?  I am so sleepy! Turns out getting ready to move across America is a lot of work. Who would have thunk?! 

Lots going on at 1419 Valparaiso the past few days, hence my lack of posts here. Allow me to take a moment to update you... 

1.) The Grocery-getter got a bath and is completely cleaned out in preparation for being loaded with all my worldly possessions. 

2.) My sofa, chair, computer desk, bookshelf, urn, entertainment stand, and TV are all sold, and have a lovely new home! I spent Sunday morning taking everything apart and getting it ready to be picked up, and we had all of it gone by around 4:30. Not too bad if I say so myself! 

3.) I had a super nice "farewell dinner" with some of the awesome ladies (and ex-ladies) of South Tower (and almost stole Amber's beautiful baby)! 

4.) I got the title/registration to my car switched over to my name, now that it's all paid off (which, for the record, is an amazing feeling!). 

5.) LOTS and lots of packing/sorting, with LOTS and lots of trips to the dumpster. 

6.) And now I am at work... with somewhat droopy eyes, an excess of caffeine in my blood, and the sound of my bed in my ears, yelling my name! 

So, things are moving along, but I'm not gonna lie. I am ready for this part to be over. I really miss my partner in crime, and I am ready for her to be here so we can get to get to the fun part!

Hope all is well with everyone, and hoping to see a few more of you before its time to go! Behave yourselves, and stay tuned! 

 9 days, 4 hours, and 6 minutes!!! 😮

 

Flight info!!

MARCH 4th!

Making progress!!!

Here I sit staring at my tablet as I waste an exorbitant amount of data, watching Derek dose off because he just got off work and is exhausted. So I figured why not write something since I am just waiting for all my participants to arrive so we can start our day.

It's starting to feel really real! Derek's nursing license is pending, which from what we understand basically means that it should be any day now, so we are crossing our fingers that it will be done by the end of this week so he can call and get everything set up and start shortly after getting settled!! My plane ticket is bought, I have everything planned and approved, Aedan is staying with his dad for 5 days while I'm gone which is great for them to get the extra time! My vacation is approved and my crew is covered, which for Lompoc it's not always so easy. I guess it just feels like everything is coming together, flawlessly and quickly! 

 I feel like I should be stressing, like this is a huge life event and there is so much to do that I should be ripping my hair out for not having everything, every step planned and a binder full of what we will be doing every second of every day....and for some reason I feel like I should be stressed that I have no desire to do my typical and plan in some ridiculous way, as I always have.  We have decided that we are not going to book any hotels or make any plans for our trip, so that if we get stuck in traffic or something happens we don't lose our deposit and if we can go further than intended...why not! I am hoping we can make it to California by Sunday...and waste Monday at Disneyland...cause what better way to stretch out after a long drive than standing in 2 hour lines and going on rides that only further damage any back issues.

I suppose I should probably work now ..because getting fired would really suck!

Have a great day everyone!!
-Tricia
13 days 21 hours and 7 minutes

Derek Ramp, RN (again)... Status: Pending

OH MA GAWWWD!!! 

FINALLY the California State Board of Registered Nursing website shows SOMETHING! Granted, it only says "pending", rather than listing my new license number, but it's a step in the right direction. It's not sitting in a pile on someone's desk, and someone has actually taken the time to open the envelope and acknowledge that I exist! 

Since we already know I'm an inconsiderate jerk when it comes to respecting time-zones, obviously the first thing I did at 8:30 am was make a Skype call, blasting my girlfriends eardrums awake at 5:30 pacific time. Thankfully the good news outweighed the small heart attack she suffered from the whole ordeal. 

Now we are dorkishsly stumbling through Little Mermaid songs, while realizing that there is probably a good chance that neither of us are getting enough sleep these days. Meh... Worth it! I'm gonna keep her!

On another note, I was correct in my previous post... Work last night kinda sucked. I got floated to another floor, and had to fight to stay awake. Tonight I get to go back and do it again, with all different patients. 

Now that that is out of my system, BACK TO THE HAPPY DANCE! 

13 days, 23 hours, and 34 minutes! 

- Derek

Circadian train wreck.

2:12 am - I decided a while ago that it was time to lay down and get some rest. There is a lot to do tomorrow before work, and I've reached that "too tired to be productive, but still not sleepy" phase.  Tricia is on Skype, on the grainy, almost dark iPad screen, propped up against the pillow next to me (yes, we are THAT dorky couple), and I am pretty sure she just fell asleep.  I am still awake, learning 32 ways to decorate your home with Mason jars on Pinterest. It makes me feel almost as confident in my newly ignited passion for interior design as the previous page, where I learned 13 ways to turn wooden pallets into functional masterpieces. Oh... And I am also pretty sure I found buyers for most of my furniture today. 1 step down, 999 to go... 

7:23 am - I'm awake, and my body immediately panics and assumes I have overslept, since I didn't wake up to a blaring alarm. Miraculously, Skype didn't disconnect while I was asleep, and there is a beautiful face on my iPad, smiling back at me. I'm not sure why she is awake at 4:30 (her time), but I'm pretty sure it's related to the fact that she doesn't have the giant 3-gallon bladder of a nurse. Regardless, I'm not complaining, because she is kind of my favorite thing in the world to wake up to.  Apparently I have been "dancing to Thriller" in my sleep, and haven't been still since she woke up. 

8:05 am - My body has decided to inform me that it is no longer interested in sleeping, so I suppose that means it's time to get up. There is packing to do, garbage to take to the dumpster, laundry to be washed, and I'm kinda hungry.  I think my girlfriend is asleep again, so it's time to put the coffee on and get to work! 

Waking up the same time I am usually falling asleep should make for an interesting night at work tonight! 

15 days, 1 hour and 18 minutes! 

- Derek

Stuff, stuff everywhere!

Several blog posts that I have read, roughly equate driving across America in a U-Haul to "hell on earth". One guy even went so far as to say that he felt like he had thrown so much money away, that he wished he had burned all his worldly possessions in the front yard, and rented a Lamborghini to drive across the country.

That said, I think we are now pretty confident in our decision to scratch the U-Haul idea, and just start fresh when we get to the other side. It will be way more enjoyable to make the drive in a car, and lets be honest... This whole thing is all about being happy! U-Haul: 0 - Kia Rondo: 1

This leaves me with the logistical dilemma of what to do with all this STUFF! There's stuff everywhere. Some of it is garbage... The stuff that means little to nothing to me, or has just been accumulated because I was too lazy to throw it out, and that no one else would have any interest in.  Then there is the big stuff. Stuff I can sell... Furniture, electronics, decorations. That stuff should be fairly easy, because I can just list it online. The stuff that is throwing me off is all the stuff in between; The stuff that isn't necessarily "worth" anything, but that also certainly isn't garbage.

Soooo... House-cleaning party? Everyone come over to say hi before I go. For every ten minutes you plan to stay, you have to take one item home with you! Think it would fly?! LOL

But yeah, for real... if anyone wants some stuff, I know a guy...

Now back to the party!

- Derek

So much to do...and so many ways to do it!

I think we are both feeling like there are a million ways to do one little thing and each little thing is a tiny part of like twelve big things! It's crazy stressful and exciting, I just can't believe that in 16 days 9 hours and 10 minutes I'll be stepping off an airplane in South Carolina officially starting this crazy adventure we have planned together! I can't wait, but I can because I know that the only way to make this work is one step at a time and not by trying to rush and move things along to quickly because thats when mistakes are made...and we don't make mistakes. I feel like we are two overly cautious people who have always over thought every decision in life and all of a sudden you put us together and we fly by the seat of our pants....and its not even scary!

And so it begins...

Ahhhhh... The arduous task of trying to balance real life (paying bills, being a "grown-up", and work - or at least some semblance of it), and squeezing EVERYTHING that needs to be done, into the next 16 days and 23 hours.  What do I want to take with me? What am I better off leaving behind? What does she already have that isn't worth moving because we don't need two of something? Should we book hotels along the way, or stop when we get tired?  Do they have Starbucks in the Mojave desert? When can the dentist/primary care physician/optometrist squeeze me in before my healthcare benefits run out? When is my California license finally going to endorse? These are the daily ponderances that gallop through the left side of my brain...

Meanwhile, the right side of my brain is a firework display of rainbow-colored craziness.  I can't wait to see her walk off that plane! I can't wait to wrap my arms around her and kiss her lips and look in to her eyes in person, rather than on a computer screen! I can't wait to make our way across America to OUR home, where we will start the next chapter in our lives and finally build on the happiness that both of us deserve, but neither of us ever allowed ourselves to believe we would have!

Yes... I am a little wired.  I just got home from working a 13 hour shift, I am already 3/4 of the way through my Venti iced Cafe Americano (Approximately 300 mg of caffeine, according to the Starbucks Nutrition facts... Just for reference sake, a 5-hour energy shot contains only 207 mg.), Tricia is on the Right half of my computer screen, snoring on Skype because her boyfriend is inconsiderate of the fact that there is a 3-hour time difference, and I am pretty sure she just 'dropped me' between the mattress and the nightstand.

I should probably be packing, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a moment to share a bit of the craziness in my head. Now off to put on sweats, break out the boxes and packing tape, turn on some "packing music", and make some magic happen!

Catch you on the flip-side!

- Derek

We have a Blog!

Thats right, kids... We are taking a road trip, so what better time to become bloggers than now?! Check back soon for the latest updates!

- Derek