Being Thankful

Well happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I know Mandy and I missed being with family over the holiday but we definitely enjoyed a few vacation days to get away and celebrate Thanksgiving in our own way. Before I dive into that topic, I did want to mention a few big things that happened since our last blog post in October!

 First, my contract at the hospital in Torrance came to a close. I had a good run there and met some really great people along the way. The unfortunate thing about a contract ending in November when you are planning to leave California in two months is that there is not enough time to pick up an additional contract. (Contracts typically last three months). Anyways, while it was my first choice to take a semi retirement from nursing for the next two months, I was quickly overruled by the other writer of this blog :), and I have been picking up a few random shifts around the area.

Another big event this last month was my passing of the CCRN exam. The CCRN exam is used to assess the critical care competency of nurses who have critical care type experience. The exam is a tough one and my expectation was that I might have to take it a few times to pass.  I was very relieved when it was over and shocked when I was told I had passed.  The really cool thing about this exam is that once you pass you are expected to add the initials to the professional title- Mike McAfee, RN, CCRN. I'm still considering the idea of having Mandy address me this way before asking me to do a chore. The keyword there is considering.

In even more exciting news, our friend Hilary was able to visit! I think most of the visit can best be summed up with pictures, but I can say that it was great having her here. She flew in the Friday before my CCRN exam.  While I was testing, Mandy and Hilary drove down to the Temecula wine valley and had a great time wine tasting. The rest of Hilary's stay involved driving along the coast and showing off some of the local beaches, as well as the Hollywood sign, and then enjoying a few cocktails while relaxing in the apartment hot tub. Thanks, Hilary, for visiting and for a couple of these pictures below that I stole from your Facebook :)

The girls at Temecula

Santa Monica Pier

Hollywood Sign

Thousand Steps Beach in Laguna

Seal at Newport Beach

Dolphin at Newport Beach Pier

Alright, that brings us back to Thanksgiving weekend. Mandy and I decided to get away for the holiday and drive out to Arizona.  We had very grandiose plans of making it out to the resort in Phoenix Thursday evening and going out for a nice romantic dinner with wine and all the works. We did not plan, however, that every restaurant in the area would be closed. The end result? A McDonald's Thanksgiving dinner. Did you know you could spend $26 for two people at McDonald's? It can be done. I enjoyed the looks the high school aged cashier was giving Mandy as we kept ordering our fast food feast. While the day did not go as planned it will definitely go down as a good memory.

McDonald's Thanksgiving Feast

While we were still in Phoenix, Mandy went shopping while I did some relaxing. We later had the chance to meet up with our good friends from Orange county, Josiah and Aubrey, who were also in the area visiting family for the holidays. We had not seen them for awhile so it was great catching up with them. On Saturday we left Phoenix and headed north to Sedona. I think the pictures will speak for themselves, but Sedona left both of us in awe. We have been spoiled this year with amazing views and scenery so I was not expecting to come to this random place in Arizona (I personally had not heard of Sedona until this weekend) and leave with so many great pictures and memories. I will shut up for a second and post a few pictures from our day in Sedona...

Donkey outside the resort in Phoenix

Sedona, AZ

A small catholic church that was built into the cliff

Walking the Cathedral Cliff Trail

Made it to the top!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I think that pretty much wraps up this month. Coming up for us, my parents will be visiting to celebrate an early Christmas, and we will also be flying to Tulsa, OK to continue the Christmas festivities with Mandy's family. It should be a fun month. Anyways, I hope everyone continues to enjoy this holiday season and we will talk to you soon! -Mike