First things first, I forgot to mention/share a couple of things in the last posting. One being this sweet and adorable picture of Meg and her new friend Brando. Brando is Erin's sweet doggie - so Meg and Brando finally got to meet and have a spend the night party while Erin and I had our spend the night party. :)
Also, I forgot to mention how when we hike the world grows a little bit smaller. On one of the last hikes we did at Runyon we ran into two different people/couples who were from South Carolina! One was from the Aiken area and the other actually went to USC and now lives in Chicago. David always like to wear some piece of USC apparel when we hike and it serves as a great common ground when we pass people who see us and say "Go COCKS!" or "Hey, South Carolina!" usually accompanied by an air fist pump or wave or a wonderfully southern smile!
Now, on to the newest and latest things we have been up to lately.
I have officially completed a full week without any orientations or new-hire meetings at my job. It feels good to be back in the swing of normalcy with a job and not just a job but one that I love. I love Child Life and what I do. It is especially nice working at CHLA where Child Life is integral and everyone there knows what Child Life does and sees our importance in the plan of care of patients being served there. I know that I have big shoes to fill on the units that I cover, but I can also tell that the girl before me did some major work and advocated for Child Life in such a wonderful way that I get smiles from nurses and medical staff as I introduce myself as the new Child Life Specialist for the unit. The Child Life team here is a team of abut 30 people and I am still learning names and positions but everyone has been welcoming, friendly, and wonderful. They enjoy hearing stories of my life back home, hearing my accent, learning the southern things I'm used to (i.e. koozies and croakies). It's fun for them and me, in that there are things like the croakies that I never realized were truly a southern phenomena and they have never heard of them. Some people on the team are from SoCal, the Bay area, Colorado, Connecticut, all over, but I am the only "truly southern" person making this all the more fun.
The Heart Institute where I work is an incredible place filled with such a different population than I am used to working with back home. There is quite the learning curve learning all these new cardiac terms, diagnoses, procedures, etc. I have learned so much in just the few short weeks that I have been there and can't wait to learn more! I have now seen and worked with patients who have artificial hearts (LVADs/Berlins) working for them as they wait on a transplant list for a heart, patients post-heart surgery who have their chests still open and waiting for closure, patients who have received new hearts and are anxiously awaiting their time to go back outside and home (for some this has been months since their last time outside), and so many many more things. I am loving all of it and working with these patients and families to make the best out of this scary and trying time in their lives.
The CHLA blocks on the corner of our campus- facing the main road, Sunset Blvd. This was on my first day at work!
This is the admitting area of the main hospital.
My desk. No, there is not a computer but has been ordered and shipped out ... just waiting! But this sweet Welcome sign was waiting on me on my first day there.
These are pictures of the playroom on my floor. It's such a fun place for families and patients to get away from the "hospital world" and just be a kid and/or a family for a little bit.
We have continued to explore this fun city that we are living in. One of the coolest spots we have found so far is Golden Road Brewery over in the Burbank area. In looking for something low-key to do the other weekend we decided to go here for lunch. We really enjoyed the set up. This is a local brewery that has added a pub to it's location. The outside seating area is amazing and something that makes us feel a little like being home. There is seating on the old loading dock, large picnic tables with umbrellas on the ground level all set up on astroturf. Part of it is covered and there is a kid play area with giant Jenga, foosball, a soccer area, and a doggie area. We were able to take a brewery tour for free while there as well. It was a lot of fun to see how it all works and really cool to see the local business from the inside. We will definitely be back to Golden Road.
It's football season and of course we are missing cheering on our Gamecocks at home but we are doing our part out here on the west coast! Football season is definitely a little different out here since most people are bigger NFL fans that college football fans. We have found ways to watch the games and be a part of the South Carolina family! For the first game we were both working, but found out David could watch it at work -- so I went straight there after I got off, obviously. Being that the UGA game is one of the biggest and our most favorite to watch, we ventured out to a place called The Parlor, in Hollywood to watch the game. There happened to be one other Gamecock fan there who is from Aiken and went to USC. So the 3 of us watched the game together and cheered those Cocks on to victory from afar. We are getting a little creative in our ways of streaming the games in order to be able to keep up with the home team. So, no matter what, we are still loud and proud Gamecocks!
Our hikes have continued and this past weekend we went back to our usual Fryman Canyon. However, at the end of the trail, we discovered another trail. We had seen some people branch off before after leaving the canyon trails and walking through the neighborhood, so we this weekend we decided to be adventurous and see where the other trail led. It was really incredible. We truly went on instinct and followed the smaller paths we could see. It was gorgeous, quiet, and definitely much less crowded. We went through an area that was called "Rainforest" -- well we all know there is not much rain out here so we were curious about where we were headed. It turned out that there was actual foliage, green leaves, fallen trees, and even a few creeks with actual running water going through them. It was such a beautiful sight and we truly just stood and soaked it all in for a few minutes. Once we got through all of that we continued down the trail until we got to what we thought was the end - but there was a fence and we couldn't get out. So, we turned around and decided to head back the way we came when we came up on a nice couple who showed us another trail which we followed out. It again provided some really cool views. All total this hike ended up being 6 miles. It was incredible!
Embarking on a new trail ...
A gorgeous house atop the Hollywood Hills
The new found trail.
David overlooking the edge to see where we are and which way to go on this new found trail.
At the top left of this picture you can barely see but there is a giant house/mansion sitting atop some of the Hollywood Hills. Pretty amazing views.
If you look closely (hard to see in this pic) you will see an old rusted car. Zoomed-In view is below.
Old rusted car. This car went over the edge of Mulholland Drive and they left the car because of how dangerous it was to retrieve it.
Dead Man's Curve info ... google Dead Man's Curve Mulholland Drive for lots more articles if you're interested.
The creek/Rainforest!
There was even a bridge! There were actually a few of them.
Notice there is actual greenery behind us ... I was so excited .. like a little girl.
Until next time friends!!
