First things First

It's hard to know where to begin, so I'll just state the obvious, real life fact that is staring me in the face to get this blog going. I AM LIVING IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!  Now that is not something I ever thought I would say. I've got a lot of dreams including those of traveling the world, being an SNL cast member (shout out to my NYC roadtrip girls!), being a wife and mother, but living in LA was never one of them! Some of you already know that I left my job at Duke in May after almost 3 years there. Looking back I'm so glad I left when I did, but at the time there were great moments of uncertainty. God was gracious in giving me both a supportive family and extensive group of friends and without all of them I'd not be where I am or who I am today! In reality, I wanted to start this blog after leaving Duke so you all could follow my travel nursing career at the beginning in DC...but that didn't happen, so here we are on assignment #2 and on the opposite coast trying to redeem myself and keep you all informed on the adventure I call my life. 

Why did I title this "The adventures of a Kraftsingle" you might ask. That is simply because Em (my younger, talented, and beautiful sister) and myself have dubbed ourselves "the original Kraft singles" as adapted from the Kraft cheese commercials. Hey, you gotta make the most of a last name like ours! And this is way better than being dubbed "Mac" 'n "Cheese"!

If you are still reading, I thank you! While I know that I am not the only person to have a blog the idea that people want to read, and may regularly read what I have to write about my life seems so...pretentious. I'll try to live up to your hopes and expectations! With this initial post I hope to explain how I ended up in LA and detail the best cross country road trip I could have asked for!

I literally drove coast to coast from DC to LA, and the only part I regret is driving through Kansas for what felt like eternity! I’ve decided to only travel to cities that are abbreviated by 2 letters…just kidding! I can’t even think of any other cities that fit those qualifications.  For those of you who are wondering about my “travel goals” I do have a list of different places I’d like to go. Some of you know that Fall is my favorite season. I LOVE the pumpkins, spices, apple ciders and apple crisps, layering on clothes, the leaves falling off trees and swirling into the air, and the crunchy leaves beneath my feet…and in MY head the next perfect assignment would be to go to Boston and be surrounded by all the Fall goodness and closer to one of my best friends from my “days at Duke”, my dear Mihoko.  However, as hard as I tried it was just not my time to go to Boston. So then I pursued a job in Denver. It was a long shot for both, these are 2 of the top destinations, but I had to try! As my days in DC became fewer and fewer, and my prayers became more frequent and fervent it became apparent that California was going to be the best option for my next assignment…unless I wanted to go to Idaho (but I’m not that big of a potato fan)! So I started to rework my “plan” and change my thinking from all things Fall to all things seasonless. The new plan, aim for Northern Cali where it’s at least cooler so I can wear my sweaters and scarves! I know, it’s vain thinking.  I got excited, there were jobs in San Fran and Palo Alto, that would work! What you ask was the next obstacle? I picked up a few viruses from my patient that left me with laryngitis for a week! When these hospitals called I had no voice to interview. That left me with UCLA who seemed eager to hire me and bump my start date another week back to accommodate my drive cross country.

These last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind! I’ll try to hit the highlights and not be too wordy (which you know is hard for me!) I left Children’s National in DC at the end of Sept., had made several friends at work (travelers and permanent staff), had a job offer to come back permanently or temporary whenever I want…it ended up being harder to leave than I thought. On top of all these reasons, I just LOVE DC. It’s familiar. I know the sights. I have lots of good friends within a few hrs. I have the childhood memories.  Now I have the adult memories and with that thought I drove back to Raleigh for a quick un-packing and re-packing, weeding out what I did and didn’t use, what I should and shouldn’t cram into my car for the drive. 

I then headed up to Lynchburg for a few last college friend farewells, and then off to WV to visit some family! While in WV visiting we ate at THE Dairy Queen (my aunt and uncle were renovating their kitchen). A few thoughts on this, you know it’s a small town when:

you refer to a restaurant with THE beforehand

you can order a taco salad at THE Dairy Queen

you overhear a local comment on the new addition of a coffeeshop as “the best thing          to happen since we got that McDonalds”

After a splitting a lemon scone and downing a double shot cappuccino it was time to hit the road, with one more pit stop at Marshall to grab lunch with an old college friend, and then off to OH as the parents were anxiously awaiting my arrival! While OH isn’t “home” for me it does have many people that I love. I’m so glad I got to visit with my grandparents and help Granny Jo make apple dumplings, and visit with my little cousins. One of my sweetest memories from that visit was when my 3 y/o cousin Caleb was playing with my necklace (it’s a Tiffany Key that my family gave me for my 25^th bday and said “it was the key to my future”) and in all childlike sincerity he asked me, “Do you ever lock yourself out?” All I could do was laugh and answer that yes, sometimes I do! All too quickly my wkd in OH flew by and  on Monday morning I found myself on a flight to San Diego to get fingerprinted to expedite my CA RN license. I'm overwhelmed by how many friends God has provided me with, and with what wonderful locations they are located in! An old coworker, Britt (from both Duke and DC days) was able to pick me up, feed me, run me around, and babysit me until dinner with my college & Raleigh friend Emily, who then dropped me off at the airport for my red eye back to OH. After being up for about 40 hrs I crashed, only to realize I had to completely repack my car and so the reality of driving across country began to really set in as I mapped out where things should be placed in the car and where I should sleep each night to make my start date on time.


I hate to leave you hanging, and I know this is a horrible transition, but at some point I must end this forever long outpouring of words and learn how to upload photos for a more enjoyable experience, as well as create a little intrigue so you will come back for future posts! Please bear with me as I venture into the world of blogging!