End and beginning of traveling

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since my last post. To give you a quick update on my situation; in February I was transferred to Staples MN since Big Stone started a new contract with one of the hospital systems in the area. Initially, I was spending my time at the care center/nursing home. I did this for about 3 weeks, then an external traveling therapist came in and I was sent to the out patient clinic. After a short time, the external traveler left and I was asked to do half out patient and half care center. I was doing this for about a month when my husband started to have some serious concerns about the company he was working for and decided that the smart decision was to find a new job. He got hired with the North Memorial ambulance service and is very excited. He has been going through orientation the last few weeks. Since he was able to get a job so near Staples, I negotiated with Big Stone and will be taking a permanent placement doing what I am currently doing. So, I will no longer be a traveling PT as of August 21st. It has been a wonderful year and I hope to be able to do this again near the end of my career, but time will tell.

I also started an orthopedic residency this past February. So far, I have completed the lower extremity class and the post-operative course. Currently I am working through the cervicothoracic class. I have already learned so much and look forward to learning even more as I work through each week. I am scheduled to complete the program in August of 2017. Afterwards, I will sit for the OCS exam and, after I pass, will have a few extra letters after my name.

So, since I won't be posting much about traveling PT anymore, I wanted to share the next big adventure that my husband and I are planning. I have always had a strong desire to just pack up and head off to unknown places. I enjoy road trips but there is always something predictable about driving since there is usually other cars around you so you aren't alone on your journey. So, I had this crazy idea to canoe the entire length of the Mississippi River. Initially I wanted to go all the way down and back up, but after some research and pleading from my husband, I consented to just canoeing down, then renting a car and driving back up. We estimate it will take us about 2 months. This adventure won't be happening until about August 2018. At that point, my husband will be done with Paramedic school and I will have built up enough PTO that I can use that and a short term leave of absence. Its a good thing that we won't be going off on this yet because we need to get lots of supplies together and we have to get in shape for spending 10+hrs in a canoe for 2 months.

The final excitement for my husband and I is that after 1 year of marriage, we will finally be LIVING TOGETHER! We are very excited! We found a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment in Staples and are very excited to move in at the end of the month. Currently we are living in my studio apartment which is a challenge since we have very different bedtime schedules.