Well folks it’s been quite some time since my last blog post, five months to be exact. Oh em GEE🙊🙉🙈! In that time-span, lots has happened: I completed my travel nursing assignment in New Mexico, finished up what I call my “Big Move” to Florida, got my condo all set up, took a little trip to India and started a brand new nursing job here in Florida. So it’s not that I don’t want to be writing or don’t have a lot to say lol, but basically time just got away from me. Such is the busy-ness of life.
I want to talk a little bit more about my Big Move with you lovely readers. For those who don’t know by now, I basically decided to pick up my life, uproot it from a very small Northeastern Montana town where I had been living and working for a good five years, and transplant it all the way across country to a Central Florida town via U-haul. It sounds simple in theory, but for me like for most others, moving is a big thing. Like a really big deal. A big ‘ol ball of stress. A big starting over that is accompanied by all the anxieties that come with the utter unknown. To show you just how much of a jump across the pond it was for me, here is a screenshot from Google Maps:
So REWIND to September 2018, many months ago. I had finished my travel nursing assignment in North Carolina and was expected in New Mexico in October to start my next travel nursing assignment. I had a few weeks to get myself moved from Montana to Florida so I returned to my hometown (Wolf Point, MT) to pack up my things and get the heck outta dodge.
Understandably so, my brothers were a bit concerned about their sis driving a big ‘ol uhaul when I am not, how should we say it 🤔… when I’m not the most skilled driver when it comes to driving large unfamiliar vehicles. They wanted to give me a mini crash course in driving a truck and I am quite thankful they did. But basically what happened is they were both 1 part wanting to help me and 2 parts wanting to make fun of my driving soooo once I had packed every inch of the u-haul, we all piled into it to go for a “cruise” around town lol. Just picture it. The 3 “Wehbe Babies”: 2 sizable young men and myself crammed like hell into the front cab of a truck loaded plum FULL of stuff, flying down 6th Avenue at about 50 mph with my brothers yelling at me all the while to slow the F down lol 😆 At one point, I believe there was a pack of rez-dogs running and barking behind the truck 😂😂. Guys, could this scene be anymore perfect lol?
I’m going to admit that driving a uhaul was hard. For me, anyways. Yes, okay, driving a straight line in nice, sunny weather isn’t bad but making sharp turns, making sure I wouldn’t get stuck somewhere (like the top or bottom of a hill), & God forforbid reversing while trying to see behind me was challenging. I have a whole new appreciation for truckers and the motor skills it takes to operate those big rigs especially in bad weather or busy traffic conditions.
Well anyways, the next day I left Montana for Florida very early, approximately 3a.m. During my first few hours driving out of Montana and North Dakota it was, OF COURSE, snowing… Ray Charles could have seen that one coming lol. I also came approximately 1 millimeter away from hitting a deer, but luckily because it was snowing, I was driving very slowly and had time to stop. But really Montana? Bad snowy weather and near-deer collision? You need a new writer as your material has gotten so predictable lol. I drove that Uhaul over 2,200 miles from dawn to dusk for the next 3 straight days in a row stopping only for 5 minute bathroom breaks and only at gas stations to quickly eat and fuel up. It was physically and mentally draining. And of course, there were some adventures along the way…shall I share some of those with you readers? I shall.
First night. I’m exhausted and skip dinner so I can go to sleep early. I’m awakened at about 2am by a guy pounding on the door, like scary pounding. Like ‘heart-stopping & cold-sweat pouring’ pounding. Like ‘room-invasion, robbery, rape and murder’ pounding. He is screaming furiously for me to let him in. I call the front desk who had already gotten several calls about the guy and she (a young, petite girl all of 18??) says she’ll take care of it. Bless her heart. He eventually leaves or is taken away, I don’t know. I couldn’t really get out of bed to see, my limbs being frozen in fear and all. The next morning, I touch base with her and I’m like “ya what happened with that psycho guy?” Um, apparently absolutely nothing. She “never found him” and never called the police so hopefully he made it back to his room and not someone else’s 😶
Second morning: I’m feeling so rested from the night before 🙄. Coffee in hand, I’m ready to hit the road. It’s still early so still quite dark outside. I discover that I have been boxed in by several cars and pickups. Like I actually can’t get out without hitting someone, or so it seems. Long story short, a nice gentleman about my age came outside and acted as my eyes while I maneuvered to get out. I was able to get out but I came a literal hair’s width from hitting someone’s vehicle. If you want to know what a close call looks like, it looks like the width of a piece of hair, I’m telling ya. I am very thankful for this man who helped me. Not only did several others refuse to help me, but he actually was eating breakfast with his young children and STILL took it upon himself to *happily* help me. So there is still some good in the world folks.
One cool thing that happened during these 3 looong days of driving was that because it was Fall, I got to drive past very beautiful changing landscapes of oranges, yellows, reds and golds. Now, the picture and video below does NOT do the scenery one bit of justice, but I do feel very lucky I got to see such a wonderful symphony of colors along my drive.
Another adventure. I stopped at some random gas station. It was pretty normal and boring looking from the outside. In fact, it looked a little run down and dive-y, if you will. I asked to use the restroom, was given a key and this is the sight that was awaiting me!!! Zebra-print wall to wall to ceiling lol. Hands down, best roadside bathroom I have ever been in!! Though I did feel a wee bit dizzy lol.
So. All of that happened. And now, fast forward a few more months, I am here living in Florida. I am absolutely in love with my new home. A brand new place to explore where Nature truly abounds in a way I have never had access to, even with being from Montana. When most people think of Florida, they think of Disney but trust me, FL is oh so wild. Just in my yard there are squirrels, beautiful birds including a wood-pecker, lizards, frogs, etc. I am happy for all the thousands of adventures I can now easily experience. I’m close to so many beaches and hiking trails. There’s an Italian, Cuban and Greek restaurant right in my town lol. I am enjoying my job and the people and experiences I am around. I make it a personal goal to be outside of my house doing, seeing, exploring and experiencing things as much as possible. Below are some pics of my new home…I had to REALLY reign myself in because there’s about 100 pics I’d like to post lol.
Now regarding my original decision to move to Florida: did I really feel 100% “ready” to get into that big Uhaul and take such a leap of faith? To do all this and transplant my life across the country? Well, no, not really. In fact, when I think about it, I have never really felt 100% ready for most of the things I have done in my life. I didn’t feel 100% ready to go back to school and get a nursing degree, I didn’t feel 100% ready to leave my job in Montana after 5 years and hop on over to Africa to work in a hospital for 6 months 🤯😬🙀 I didn’t feel 100% ready to become a travel nurse and live and work in a new state every 3 months. But so far, nearly every decision I have made and followed through with, despite my not feeling completely ready, has been pretty… well, awesome!
One thing I believe we as human beings have a bad habit of doing is actually believing that we could ever be 100% ready and prepared for this wild ride we call Life 🎢. I mean, it’s a little hubristic if you think about it, isn’t it lol? To believe we can actually feel ready enough for what may or may not happen in the future… and that’s just the problem: what may or may not happen lol! Now, feeling like you’re ready to do something and making preparations for it to the best of your ability are two very different things, as far as I’m concerned. One of my nurse mentors used to say, “proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance” (thank you Tacy Strand for that one lol 😆). The Six P’s. I just love this saying. It emphasizes preparedness vs. readiness in work and in life. It allows me a little room to breathe while still holding me accountable. In other words, I can be very prepared to the best of my ability and to my utmost capabilities for most things in life, even though I may not ever feel 100% “ready” for them. And that is perfectly okay.
I believe that in order to make any kind of movement in life, to pursue changes in the hopes of accomplishing our dreams and goals, we must let go of this paralyzing notion that we ought to feel “100% ready” in order to take the first steps. We must accept that in order to really gain anything, it requires losing and giving up some amount of control. It means understanding that though you have prepared for a change as much as possible, that you will still face it while feeling vulnerable. With that said, it may not be the worst thing in the world to lose some of this so-called control. Things may not work out quite as bad as we are often accustomed to thinking. We may, in fact, be pleasantly surprised at what befalls us. For instance, yes, I had an exhausting drive to get from Montana to Florida. I had the bejesus scared out of me the first night at the hotel. I very nearly hit a vehicle because the drivers boxed me in. I drove through Texas during a rainstorm. If you’ve done that before, you will understand. It was like Armageddon all around me: so many cars around me getting into wrecks. I drove through rush-hour traffic in Atlanta. But you know what? I met a Good Samaritan along the way (so faith in humanity momentarily restored), I got to see miles of stunning Fall foliage during the drive, I got to jam out to the best radio stations, and I got a very nice random surprise with the Zebra-print bathroom lol 🦓😄.
So friends, for sure, think ahead, organize, make plans and PREPARE to the best of your abilities. But when it comes right down to it… throw your stuff in some boxes, get in the U-haul, and just do whatever it is you want to do. You are probably not feeling 100% ready, but more than likely, you are SO much more “ready” than you think 😉.
Little Big Life 