New Perspective on Nursing...

I've completed week #2 of work! happy happy! This week seemed to pass by so much more quickly than week #1. I feel more adjusted to how things work on my ward, what expectations are, where things are located, etc. However, I am still adjusting to the MANY differences between life as an RN in the US vs life as an RN in AUS.

Here's a few reasons:
--We mix up our own medications! I was apparently spoiled by having the pharmacy mix everything for me in Socal. Little did I know that I would be mixing all my own antibiotics before giving them! It's really not that difficult of a task, just takes a little practice and getting used to.

--I do vital signs like they are going out of style!!! Except, they are called 'OBSERVATIONS.' I suppose that name kind of makes sense, but it feels strange coming out of my mouth every time I say it. Nurses are responsible for taking their patient's vital signs---again I was so spoiled by the nurse assistants at my last job!

--Doctors are pretty much always called by their first name. Seems so strange calling a doctor by their first name. Also, there are residents ALL OVER THE PLACE!

--For the most part they use all the same types of equipment as I used when working in the States, although I think about half or more of thing are called by different names. I won't bore you with all the examples---and honestly most of them aren't in my long term memory yet.

--Ok, there also is not a NURSING CARE PLAN or a full HEAD TO TOE ASSESSMENT flow sheet/papers/computer stuff of any kind that I have to fill out each shift.This seems to be one of the strangest things to me! (for any nursing friends of mine reading this, I am sure you are dumbfounded by this. for my non nursing friends, ahhh you probably don't know what the heck I am talking about!)

--I don't clock in an out. We are paid a salary! hahahaha! So, if my work is done 20 minutes early and the other nurses don't need anything and my patients are fine----I'm outta there for the day! kind of cool.

--We work 8 hour rotating shifts----days/evening/nights kind of bizarre, but so far it's a nice change of pace from my 12 hour work days! I only have to do 4 nights a month, so it's not terrible.

--There are certainly some differences in what nurses can and can't do. For instance, we aren't allowed to insert IV's----just when I was getting good at them too!! It took a long time to feel confident in my IV skills, and now I can't do it. However, we can remove chest tubes, without the doc there. Blows my mind.

--We don't wear scrubs. DEVO!! (short for devastating/devastated) Instead, navy blue pants and light blue polo shirts---everyday!! I could wear a skirt if I wanted, but that just seems like the wrong attire for a nurse.

--There's no such thing as code blue. (or any other code for that matter!) Like, orange, gray, silver, pink, purple, white, etc. You can call an arrest emergency (basically a code blue), but not sure what they do if there's any other type of emergency. I hope I don't have to find out!

--As a recap, everyone at work is super helpful and friendly. I seem to get asked the same 20 questions each shift, like why are you here? where are you from? blah, blah, blah. I got my answers down pat! However, I'm looking forward to growing in friendships with some of my new co-workers. Most of them don't know the Lord from what I've learned in conversations----so I hope and pray the Lord will use me to shine for him and share the message of salvation with them!

--And lastly, I love working with kids instead of adults!! They are so much cuter. Some of them are just so adorable.

oh, and did I mention this----I get 6 weeks of paid holiday a year! oh my word!!! seriously!?!?! Might be rough to move back to the USA someday!

"Real Life" and Weekends

We are in week two of "real life" here in Sydney. I'll spare you all the dull details. Here's a brief rundown:

Annie is working 7:30am-4pm, Mon-Fri. Last week was her first week on this schedule, and this week is her second. Next week things get more interesting as she mixes in some evening shifts (2pm-10:30pm). Work is good, although it almost seems too easy. We're counting on that being too good to be true.

I (Matt) am studying from the house we are sitting. My schedule is roughly similar to Annie's, except for the fact that I usually also studies from 9pm-midnight each night. I've had five work days here so far, and I've made it through about five books that I needed to read. I'm just getting my bearings again. Writing commences very shortly.

After a long week of "newness" we were pretty tired, and itching to do something fun. On Saturday we took the train from Epping to Central Sydney, and spent the day exploring part of the city. It was fun and educational, too. We visited Darling Harbour, China Town, Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Barracks Museum (where convicts were housed in the first half of the 19th century), the Royal Botanic Gardens, and the Opera House. After a long, feet-blistering day, we made our way back to Epping and had a nice dinner with our friend Tom. Here are some pictures of our day:

I suggest going to this place. It's cool.

One of many nice paintings of early 19th century Sydney.

I talked Annie into getting the roast duck. :)

I was pretty obsessed with this ship. Unfortunately, you have to pay admission to go on board. We'll do that some other time.

These guys wanted a picture with Annie. I decided to allow it.

I am sitting in my lunch break at work. Lots of orientation--manuals, policies, emergency procedures, etc. however, I have just been informed that we do not do IV insertions!! The residents do the IV starts. Man, I am in a state of shock! All for now.

Currently---I am eating breakfast---crumpets with black currant jam and french press coffee! A great way to start a Saturday. This post will be brief though, because in about 20 minutes Matt, Kola, and I are heading out for a bushwalk. I will be using plenty of OFF on my legs as the mozzies (mosquitoes) have been feasting on my blood recently.

 Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

 Emily.

 Coolest toilets---automatic closing door, flushing only when you wash your hands---a button to push to dispense toilet paper---music playing---and the door will automatically open after 10 minutes (whether you are finished or not!!)

 Greg and Jenny.

 Stir Crazy---amazing Thai food.

 We walked across the bridge, it was beautiful.

 Maybe someday we can live down there----

 The light display used on New Years Eve.

Here's some more photos of our adventure so far!

iPhone posting

So this is a test--- blogging from my iPhone. We only have Matt's laptop here, mine is on a boat somewhere in the Pacific ocean. So, I want to be able to blog from my phone if Matt is busy using his computer for research stuff.

Today: we both slept until about 7 am. Enjoyed some coffee and breakie. We both went on jogs--- I took kola with me. Not a horrendous idea, however he will not be joining me when I want to get a really good workout in. He is so much more interested in smelling things than running! Imagine that!

Anyway, tonight we are having dinner at the dining hall at Robert Menzies College and then having a look at our new apartment. Pretty excited!

Photos---for all those who have been waiting!

 Christmas Day 2011. 3 days away from the big move.

 Fiji. At a local beach a taxi driver took us to.

 Fiji water is still pretty pricey---even in Fiji. It does taste exceptionally good!

 The best fish I have ever had! Grilled reef fish---to die for!

 Our little private island. Paradise.

 The view from our little cabana.

 An exceptionally delicious lunch. Fish, chicken, sausage, salads, fruit. (and rolls!)

 Papa----Happy 50th Birthday. We really wish you would have been there celebrating with us.

 The boat.

 Finally, in Sydney---ready for a good night's sleep!

 First day of driving---we were terrified, but all was well.

 Bilgola---beautiful beach.

Hello Swantons!

Bilgola and Kola

G’day from Australia! It’s my (Annie’s) turn to take a spin at posting on our blog. I will admit---this is the FIRST blog post I have ever written in my life. I feel somewhat ashamed by this, but what the heck, got to start sometime! Matt is a much better writer than I am. So, please bear with me and hopefully I can share a few fun, interesting, humorous, and maybe not so humorous aspects of our new adventure of living Down Under. Side note----I will attempt to use some Australian spelling while writing---it’s good practice.

For starters: since we arrived on Sunday—January 1, 2012—we have been very busy.

--Learning to drive on the LEFT side of the road. Both of us were pretty nervous at first, and it took more concentration than I could have anticipated. I felt like I was 16 and learning how to drive anew all over again. Now, it is day 3 of driving and we are both feeling pretty well adjusted. Now, to just figure out how to get around Sydney without getting lost!

--We went to the beach. ---called Bilgola---there are so many funny Aboriginal names here! The waves were fabulous, the rock cliffs breathtaking, the sand very red in colour AND the sun doesn’t set at the beach! The sun rises on the beach. A strange concept for these 2 Socal peeps. We also enjoyed a meal of Fish-N-Chips. It’s a must if you ever come and visit us in Australia.

--We ate dinner last night at a tiny, itty-bitty Thai restaurant practically right under the Harbour Bridge. Greg, Jenny, and Emily Swanton took us. They are our dear friends who have been so gracious to us. They have given us so much help and hospitality! I don’t have room or time in this post to expound on all they have done----but they are a gift from God.  The night would have been a little more perfect if Tom and Jono Swanton had been able to join us. After eating we walked over the bridge---let me tell you……WINDY, BEAUTIFUL, EVERYONE NEEDSTO EXPERIENCE a night like we had last night! Photos to come.

--Yesterday we also set up a bank account and got our cell phones arranged (for the most part). Thankfully the bank errand went faster and more smoothly than we could have imagined. The cell phones were quite a bit more complicated---but in about 10 days Matt will have an iphone 4s in his hand (boy, oh boy, is he excited!) and my iphone 4 will be in proper working condition. J

Currently, we are settling into our new home for the next 4-5 weeks. We have a new dog, his name is Kola---he is a black lab. Adorable, well behaved and very BLACK! We are excited to have him be part of our little fam for the next several weeks.

As a last note---the Lord deserves all the credit and praises for our transition going so well thus far. He has proved time and time again to care for us, His little (sometimes lost) sheep. Everyday there seems to be some small hurdle (but it appears quite LARGE at the moment) and He continues to see us through it all. We both feel so incredibly blessed to be living in Australia for this time of our lives.

We will keep you posted on the big and small things in the days ahead! Please be praying for us, Matt is starting back up with his research work and I am starting my brand new job on January 9^th. Feeling a bit nervous, but the Lord is in control.

Via Fiji

When it came time to book our tickets from LA to Sydney, I (Matt) was on the verge of throwing down for a direct flight on Qantas or V Australia. Suddenly, however, I was struck by an urge to make this journey special. I wanted to exploit this opportunity for all it was worth. Greedily, I began to ask myself, "What else can we get out of this?" And so I began searching for stopover destinations. At first I was set on the idea of New Zealand. Annie seemed ambivalent about this possibility, and I quickly realized that it would involve purchasing one of the more expensive one way tickets--not to mention the amount of money we would spend in NZ. I went back to the drawing board. Actually, I just went back to kayak.com and kept searching for the cheapest one way flights. One airline came up with the cheapest flights over and over--Air Pacific, "Fiji's International Airline". Making a snap judgment based entirely on the image formed in my mind by a certain water bottle, I decided that we would have a two day stopover in Fiji.

And so Annie and I left Phoenix on December 28th, destined to spend all of December 30th and 31st on the beautiful tropical island of Viti Levu. We bragged to our family about how our move was going to be punctuated by a lush layover on white sand beaches. They were jealous; we felt pretty cool. As the time drew near to depart, I started to have some sneaking suspicions about the whole thing. You know that feeling you have when you are off to take an exam, or to attend an important meeting, and you have scarcely prepared? I felt a bit like that. I had no idea what Fiji was actually going to be like, and I had done little to no research before hand. I simply booked one of the cheapest hotels I could find, and figured that when we got there we would sit on the beach with tropical drinks in hand, while being massaged next to the sparkling blue Pacific.

We arrived in Nadi, Fiji at about 5:30am local time. We stepped off the plane to a burst of humid tropical air and the chirping of strange birds. Our flight had been consistently turbulent so that it was hard to do much sleeping, but otherwise uneventful--our flight was well-staffed and on time. We did not realize until later that this was an anomalous occurrence! After a short wait in the customs line we were officially granted entry to Fiji. We were immediately met with an immense amount of hospitality--we were promptly whisked away to our modest hotel, the Novotel Nadi, which was a mere 3km from the airport. We spent the rest of December 30th lounging, walking around the city of Nadi (which was definitely average and located squarely between the first and second worlds), and figuring out what we were going to do with our December 31st.

We decided to go on a Captain Cook day cruise to Tavua Island, a tiny private island about a one-and-a-half hour boat ride from Nadi. So we cruised out to this amazing little island, replete as it was with white sand and beautiful foliage, and surrounded by coral reefs that teemed with bright fish. So there is some truth to those water bottles after all! We had a tremendously good time marinating in the lukewarm ocean water, our bathing punctuated by trips to the bar to fill up on Diet Coke and cold water. We also took part in a one hour snorkeling session, wherein we were bedazzled by the bright blue starfish strewn across the ocean floor, and the myriad of tropical fish that darted in and out of the shadows of the coral forest. And lunch on this splendid day consisted of fresh grilled fish and chicken, and an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was the perfect island fare. This splendid day trip was nicely capped-off when we met a couple of our Aussie contemporaries on the way back to the main island. We struck up a great conversation with these Sydneysiders, and they were quite interested in getting together once we get settled in Sydney. We gladly exchanged phone numbers.

Our dream day in paradise lost some of its luster just as we realized that our own bodies had gained a bit of their own. We arrived back to our hotel to discover that despite diligent application of SPF 50 sunscreen--purchased at a hotel premium, mind you--we had just received the worst sunburns of both of our lives. When it comes to two people who spent a lot of their lives in Phoenix, AZ, that is saying quite a lot! Here we are two days later and our burns are still aching quite badly. Apparently paradise has its downside.

Back at the hotel, we ate a tasty dinner and quietly winded down for the evening, falling asleep to the sound of various New Year's celebrations. We looked forward to a smooth, short flight from Nadi to Sydney, something which should only really take about 4 hours. But things work differently when you're on "Fiji time". We discovered this as we lined up to board our flight at 8:20am on New Year's Day. As the queue swelled to the tipping point, a voice came over the loud speaker, nonchalantly informing us that our flight had been delayed thirty minutes because of the fact that most of the crew had not showed up for work this New Year's morning because they, "had a very happy new year". I was surprised at the honesty of this admission, and only mildly annoyed by the expected short delay. But things just went downhill from here. A thirty minute delay turned into an over two hour delay. Every twenty minutes we would get an update on how many cabin crew workers had been rounded up, and how many were still to be found. Finally, the airline offered to bribe 35-45 passengers to give up their seat and fly out "maybe tomorrow or the next day". We were informed of the repercussions if not enough volunteers turned up: the upper deck--on which we were to be seated--would be canceled automatically.

Thankfully, the airline was able to get enough desperate people to volunteer for the indefinite delay, and we were then boarded on to the plane. "Alright", we thought, "we are finally on our way to Sydney!!!" Not so fast. After a tedious silence, a voice came over the intercom and informed us that we could not leave yet because eleven bags belonging to the aforementioned volunteers had not yet been found among the stowed luggage. We were quoted another thirty minutes, which, of course, turned into another two-plus hours. Finally, after an insufferably long delay, our four hour flight from Fiji to Sydney was in the air. At this point, I half expected the plane to crash. It made sense to me that the maintenance couldn't be much more sound than the logistics department. Thankfully, the plane did not crash, although our pilot did manage to put the plane down on one wheel, leaving us all in breathless suspense for some three seconds as the entire AirBus teetered and tottered. Thankfully, things quickly evened out and the drama was over.

Annie and I learned from all of this that there's just no such thing as an easy stopover. Tropical islands are incredibly nice once you're there, but it sure takes a lot of time and effort to get to paradise.

Between Chapters

A transition, done well, is nearly imperceptible. The author moves neatly from one aspect of a topic or narrative into another aspect without jarring the reader. Each chapter of life is full of transitions, some of which we navigate quite smoothly, and most of which we do not. Most of life's changes are mediated by transitions. There comes a time in every story, however, for which a transition just will not do. This is when the author must end one chapter--however gracefully or forcefully--and begin another. Semi-permanently moving your whole life from one continent to another is much more like the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Yesterday--January 1st, 2012--we arrived in Sydney. It's hard to quantify how long this journey has taken us. We began pondering it two years ago. Then about one year ago we started taking steps toward making it happen. Just last summer we started seriously questioning the feasibility of the whole thing. And all throughout the last six months we have seen God's providential hand confirming that we are indeed suppose to sojourn in Australia for the next few years. And so we have spent a good four weeks packing up our lives in L.A.--physically, socially, professionally--and shipping them off to a new city. And we've spent the last couple of weeks on the liminal point between the old and the new. It's been a spiritual estuary of sorts, with lots of looking back and even more looking forward. And much like the Sabbath day in the Genesis account, it has been a time of ending and beginning.

We intend this blog to be one of the ways that we make sure that all the good things from the chapter that just closed get carried forward into the next chapter of our lives and our marriage. It will allow us to intentionally reflect on the way that chapter one--the three-and-a-half married years we spent in LA--have prepared us for life and discipleship in this stage of life. This reflection will naturally provide an interpretation, projected backwards, of what God was doing in our lives in LA. So whether you were part of our lives in LA or OZ, we hope you can find something to rejoice about, pray for, or maybe just laugh at, on this blog. And whatever you do, keep us posted on what you're up to!