my first "blog" entry

As I began to type my usual "LA Update" email tonight, I decided that maybe it was time I try something new. I never thought I would be one to "blog", but seeing as I'm so far away from my family and friends, it makes perfect sense to have one. So from now on, if you want to catch up on what I've been up to, pictures I've taken, or thoughts that I have...you can come to this page and read away. I will try to post pictures often too. My goal is to update this once a week...we'll see how it goes!

I have been enjoying a nice 4 days off of work. It's been good so far and I've been able to catch up on a lot of things. Today I ventured over to Burbank, CA (only like 2mi from my apt) and bought some little things for my apartment. My apartment is coming together and starting to look really nice. My next goal is to paint 2 of the walls in my living room (olive green). Tonight, Adam and I had a few friends from our residency program over to our apartment. We cooked out on the grill and had hotdogs, hamburgers, shrimp, and portabello mushrooms. It was a nice get together. The weather is starting to cool off a bit here, which I'm happy about. I miss the fall smells and colors of Southern Illinois!

A few new friends from the CHLA RN Residency. My roomate is the guy I'm standing next to. All of us in this photo are from out of state (CT, TX, NY, PA, MI, FL)...from all across the US! This was taken in Long Beach after visiting the Pacific Aquarium and enjoying happy hour on the pier.

Taken at the Griffith Observatory (about 2 miles up the Hollywood Hills from my apartment) . The view is amazing! That is the city of LA lit up behind me.
Griffith Observatory is also right next to the Hollywood sign (fun fact: The Hollywood sign doesn't light up anymore at night because the environmentalists argued that it disturbed some of the animals natural habitat).