New Opportunity

Tuesday was my last day at Phoenix Children's Hospital. As much as I love child life, I decided it was time to embark on a new journey. I am so thankful for the wonderful people I meet at Phoenix Children's Hospital & all that I learned. After 5 days off & spending Thanksgiving with family, I will start at Hospice of the Valley on Monday. I am very excited about this new opportunity. I will be doing social work & counseling with the families. Hospice of the Valley is a wonderful organization & I know I will learn so much.

I will be working out of the Northeast Clinical Office & my area will be southern Scottsdale. They give me a laptop & blackberry so I can work from home & I get to schedule my own appointments with the families. It will be so nice to be so close to home. I will be working Monday through Friday 8am-5pm, with no weekends & limited on-call time on evenings & holidays.

There are no Child Life Specialists at Hospice of the Valley, so I will still get to use those skills with the peds patients & the children/grandchildren of the adult patients. I look forward to working with every age group & really being able to support these families. Ryan House & the New Song Center are now part of Hospice of the Valley, so who knows what opportunities lie ahead.

Happy Anniversary!!

Thursday was our 4th Anniversary. I can't believe it's been 4 years since we got married! Every year we go on a trip to celebrate. This year we went to Sedona. We have been off for 4 days & had a great time! On the drive up, we stopped at Starbucks I had my 1st pumpkin spice latte of the season. Saturday we shopped in uptown, had some homemade ice cream, went wine tasting at Art of Wine, spent some time at the pool, & ate at Pizzaco's. Sunday, we hiked West Fork Trail, went to the Harvest Festival at Page Springs Cellars, & spent some time in the jacuzzi star gazing. This morning we ate at the Coffee Pot before heading home. We wish we could have stayed longer! Here are some pics from our trip...

The beautiful red rocks...

West Fork Trail...

Harvest Festival...

Surprise Party

This weekend we celebrated my Mom's 50th birthday & Sommer's 16th birthday. We surprised them after school/work on Friday. Cole & I met them for some drinks & appetizers at Old Chicago. When we got home, they were greeted by food, drinks, decorations, & out of town guests. They were really surprised & we had a wonderful weekend. I am a little disappointed about my pictures. I usually shake a bit, but it has been really bad since I am on prednisone for a respiratory infection. All of my pictures seem a bit blurry. Oh well, here are a few pictures of the birthday girls anyway...

National Child Life Conference in Phoenix

The National Child Life Conference was in Phoenix this last week. I was Publicity Chair for the local planning committee. We had letters from both the Governor & Mayor of Phoenix. An online article was published on the Raising Arizona Kids website & they plan to publish a magazine article in the fall. The Arizona Republic wrote an article in Saturday's paper.

In addition to my publicity duties, Jan Greer (Nurse Educator) & I presented at the conference. We presented on our hospital's Dermal Anesthesia Program. The presentation went really well. I can't wait to get feedback! All & all the conference was a huge success. Here are a few pictures...

Gretchen & me (aka Publicity Committee)
Cole volunteering at the Book Store

Recreational Music Session

Closing Session with the Local Planning Committee

I really enjoyed the conference, but wasn't ready to come back to work Monday without any time off. It is going to be a long two week stretch!

Shawnette's Wedding

My Aunt Kim, Jessica, Travis, & Bailey came to town for Shawnette & Justin's Wedding. They stayed at our house which allowed us to spend more time together. I worked a half day on Wednesday & was off for four days. It was nice to have them here. Little Bailey is such a cutie & so smart! Cole & I really enjoyed her. Aunt Angel & Kris were also in town, so were able to spend some time with them. The rehearsal dinner was Thursday & the wedding was Friday night. Shawnette & Justin had a beautiful wedding & we all had a lot of fun. Bailey was the flower girl & she did a great job. Saturday we had a pool party at my Mom & Dave's house. Joe & Sharon joined us. As always, the time went way too fast. Our guests left this morning. Hopefully, we will see them again real soon.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend...

Bailey & I at the Wright House before the rehearsal
Hanging out at the pool
Cole & I at the Wright House

Shawnette & Justin cutting the cake

CF Walk

Today was the CF Walk. This year the walk was at Tempe Town Lake. It was beautiful weather & a great day for the event. Team PCH raised over $2,000 this year!

Team PCH

Meg & Rory...I just love her little shirt!

Patch is doing good. He learned how to walk on Sunday, is in high spirits, & doesn't seem to be in any pain. Tuesday morning, he will get his staples out & get a new splint. The challenge is to keep Patch off those legs!

Patch...king of the house :)

Patch Home from Surgery

Yesterday, Patch had surgery. We were planning to remove the plate from his right leg due to not being able to get rid of the MRSA, but Thursday night Patch tore his left ACL. We knew there was a chance this could happen. I'm sure the extra pressure being put on that leg for so long didn't help matters. The ACL repair went well, but the plate removal didn't go as well as it could have. There was definitely an infection, so it is good the plate is out. However, one of the screws was stuck in the bone & had to stay in. The surgeon isn't too worried though. The real problem is that on the second xray (after the plate was removed) it shows that the bone is not completely healed yet. He will be on antibiotics & has a splint on that leg. We are going to need to be extra careful until it heals. We will go back to the surgeon in 10 days to remove all of the staples & put a new splint on the right leg. In three weeks, we will get an xray of the right leg to monitor the healing and see if the splint can come off. Patch will be on restricted activity for the next 8 weeks so the new ACL repair has time to heal. This will be the real challenge because Patch is an active guy! The vet techs were amazed at how much energy he has for a dog that just had surgery on both of his legs. I pray both legs heal without any complications & the MRSA stays away!

Poor Patch...

Happy Easter!

Cole & I have been home together enjoying a three day weekend. With our schedules being a bit different, having three days off together is a special treat. We haven't done anything too exciting this weekend, just worked on some projects around the house & enjoyed each others company. Today we started the morning at Starbucks & went to church with my family. I look forward to the Easter service each year because we get to be outside, enjoying the beautiful weather. As always, it was a wonderful service. After church, we hosted an Easter lunch. Both families joined us & we had a great afternoon.

Cole & I in front of the tent at church...

Back to work tomorrow. I'm sad to see the long weekend already coming to an end. I better enjoy the rest of my Easter Sunday. Happy Easter!

Jim & Wendy's Wedding

I haven't been very good about blogging lately....Last night, Cole & I went to Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale for Jim & Wendy's Wedding. It was a Jewish wedding, so we had to wait until after sun down for the ceremony. Jim & Wendy had everyone meet at 5:45 for cocktails & appetizers. There were so many people from work! Of the 19 tables, 7 of the tables were Child Life people. The service began at 7pm. The Rabbis were hilarious & the wedding was very entertaining. It was great to learn more about Jewish Wedding traditions. After the ceremony there was dinner & dancing. It was great to spend time with people from work. We all had a great time!

Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures. Cole won a camera at work. I took the new camera to the wedding to try it out. I didn't even think about needing a memory card. I was only able to take two pictures.

Cole & I (all of the men wore yamakas)...

Unfortunately, Cole & I both had to work today so we left the wedding a little early. On the up side, we will have three days off together next weekend. Happy Easter!

Amanda's 25th Birthday Party!

Last Saturday, January 30th we went to Amanda's new home for a house warming/birthday party. She lives in a cute appartment in Phoenix. I was amazed at how quickly they setteled in. It only took them 2 weeks! The party was lots of fun & it was fun to spend time with the Child Life girls. Cole & I both had to work Sunday, so it wasn't a late night for us. We wish we could have stayed longer!

The Child Life girls...

New Year's Eve 2010

Cole & I spent New Year's Eve at Brittney & Michael's House. Brittney's neighbors came over for the party. We had a great time. We ate lots of wonderful food, played games, and drank pomtini's. I can't believe 2009 is already over. It went by way too fast. I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010. Happy New Year!

Some pictures from last night...
Makayla playing in the balls
Cole & me trying not to laugh

Britt & Makayla

Playing Cranium