Pretzel Goes West [Again?]

I've always believed that everything happens for a reason. Even in some of my absolute lowest times when I didn't understand why I was going through the miserable things that I was going through, I still knew that there was a reason for it and that eventually I'd understand. I'm a firm believer in the power of positivity and "putting it into the universe" or manifesting whatever it is that I want for myself and others.

I loved living in San Antonio. I loved the hospital that I worked at. I loved the autonomy and respect that I had. I loved the people that I worked with and the friends that I spent time with. I loved my apartment and my gym and the coffee shop in Southtown that Jenna took me to. I was happy in San Antonio. I was content. But I wasn't challenged. I wasn't being pushed to try something new or to go someplace different or to leave the safety of my comfort zone and I CRAVED those feelings. I want to be challenged. I wanted to explore and adventure and to see so many other places. I wanted adventure in the great wide somewhere like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. I wanted so much more than anyone had planned and so I moved to Hawai'i and oh man, did I get my adventure.

Hawai'i is the home of my heart. I seriously think that if we live multiple lives, I was 100% a tropical mermaid in another life because I've never felt more free and happy and just HOME as I did living in Hawai'i and as I do every time that I return to the islands to visit. It just speaks to me on a level I've never had or really understood before. It just feels right. Maybe some day I'll move back there and stay longer, maybe I won't, who knows?

Leaving Hawai'i to travel nurse full time was terrifying and exciting and honestly, one of the best moves that I've ever made. Tucson showed me that I was most definitely NOT a snake or gila monster in another life because OMG was it HOT. I genuinely thought that I was going to melt just walking to or from my car. I don't know how people live in Tucson year round. Three weeks was long enough for me. My next assignment took me back to my roots in Indiana and allowed me to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in years. In fact, it allowed me to spend 3.5 months with them while I worked my next contract AND I was able to take them on a 10 day vacation to Hawai'i. It was amazing and i'm so glad that I was able to make that trip happen despite no longer living in Hawai'i.

My next adventure takes me to Reno, Nevada and it's yet ANOTHER big change for me as I'm no longer going to be a travel nurse, but will instead be taking a full time staff job again. I've never been to Nevada, ever. Well, I've flown in and out of the Las Vegas airport, but that hardly counts as I was only there for my flight, not to experience Las Vegas or explore Nevada. I'm also making my biggest career change to date and I am SO excited. I'm transitioning from Progressive Care or Step Down to the Adult Emergency Department and I couldn't be more excited. I've wanted to work in the ED ever since I was an LPN/LVN new graduate just itching to go back to school for my RN. This is going to be a wild and crazy ride and I can't wait to see where it leads me and my career, but I know that it will be worth it and I'll end up exactly where I'm meant to be.

Reno isn't the warm and sandy beaches of Hawai'i, but it is the tower mountains and crystal lakes that I've always wanted to explore and it's filled with local coffee shops and small businesses and farmer's markets and all sorts of other things and places that I can't wait to explore. It's also a place that I have SO MANY Instagram friends locally as well as a few real life friends too. Did I mention it's only 3.5-4 hours to San Francisco, 8-9 hours to Disneyland or Seattle, and about 4 hours from Gilroy? Well, if not, now you know and when you see me on roadtrips to see all of my friends and exploring new areas you'll understand why I chose to blindly move to a new city [again] and to start a new job.

This is going to be a fresh start and it just feels right. I don't know if it feels like home, I'm not quite to Reno yet, or if I'll decide to set down more permanent roots this time, but for the next three years I think it sounds right and I can't wait to explore my soon to be new home.

Cheers to new adventures and relocating!