Coming to a Triage Desk Near You

What a week it has been for me at work! As with any job, there are good days and there are bad days. Lately I seemed to be having a lot of bad days. It was to the point I was wondering how much longer I wanted to stay in the ER. Then, last Tuesday I went to triage class. The triage nurse is the first point of contact when a patient comes into the ER. As triage nurse, you are responsible for determining how sick a patient is and in what order patients will be seen... not a task to be taken lightly! Needless to say, there is a bit of nervousness that goes along with training for this position. Coupled with my former doubts, I felt on the verge of a meltdown.

This weekend changed that. God sent all the encouragement and affirmation that I needed. Coworkers have been incredibly encouraging and supportive of my ability to take on triage. I have never felt so supported as a nurse. It has given me a sense of peace that I am where God wants me. Not only that, but also a peace that he has prepared me for the critical decisions that will be made with each day at triage. This Thursday I finish the required orientation, then I will be on my own. Please pray God gives me wisdom and guidance with each and every patient I meet.

Ridgeback Meetup Group

Last weekend we made it to the Ridgeback "Meetup Group" for the first time. Seven other dogs made it to the park despite weather in the upper 90's. There wasn't a lot of playing because of the heat, but it was still cool to see other ridgebacks and talk with their owners. Ada convinced a few others to chase her from time to time.

All of the ridgebacks gave their undivided attention when the treat bag was out.

Generally Ada seems like a good sized dog, but today we saw just how "small for the breed" she really is. When some of the bigger dogs played with her she looked a little surprised at how hard it was to stay on her feet.

Earlier that morning we spent several hours at Washougal High School as a part of a fundraiser/track event. The adult 5K run was just finishing up when we arrived, but the gradeschool events were just starting. Jared handed out ribbons and congratulated kids as they crossed the finish line while Ada and I tried to stay in the shade.

Jared Working With New Heights

Starting this summer, Jared has accepted a full time position in the children's ministry at New Heights Church! While this is an amazing opportunity for personal growth and a definite step towards our longterm goal of living overseas, the move is also bittersweet. Jared has had an incredible year at Hathaway and the decision to leave was a very difficult one. It is hard to let go of the relationships he has formed, especially with the "tough kids" that he knows he is impacting for the better. Thankfully we can leave them in God's hands. We pray that seeds have been planted and that whoever takes Jared's place will continue to love these kids and be a Godly role model in their lives. Jared's coworkers have been wonderful... they are very supportive of the move while at the same time letting him know just how dearly he will be missed. We feel so blessed by all the opportunities God has and continues to put before us.

Jannelle's Visit

The weather forecast for last weekend was aweful... freezing temperatures, possible snow, definite hail, lots of wind... not fun. Thankfully the weathermen are so often wrong. Jannelle finally made it into town for the first time since the beginning of last summer. Saturday morning was very cold, but with blue skies. After a couple hours of waiting for the rain to roll in (which it didn't do), we finally decided to risk it and left for a hike. Once again we headed back to Beacon Rock along the Columbia. We were SO glad we went. The wind was insignificant compared to last time we had been there, so we actually had to shed layers on the way up. There was one ominous black cloud that was dropping snow on the far side of the river, but when it eventually made it across, it had just slipped east of us, so we caught a few flakes of snow while the sun was still shining on us. Ada came with and did wonderfully on the bridges that had caused such a fuss last time. I wasn't sure if I would be able to carry her, so I was grateful when she crossed without hesitation.

That night my friend from work, Angela, came over with all of her church's junior high girls as part of a traveling dinner. As hostess for the dessert portion, I served chocolate covered strawberries and homemade eclairs. The latter is a traditional Wiley recipe and took a few trials before I finally mastered it. Once mastered... delicious! The next night, Jannelle, Robb (who had just made it into town), Jared and I played games and enjoyed the less presentable desserts that were hidden away during the party.

On Saturday night after the junior high girls left, Anthony, his girlfriend Sarah, and Caleb came over and we had a long game of trivial pursuit... we weren't very good. They all stayed the night and the next day we went to the park for bocce ball, frisbee, and soccer. We had forgotten Ada's leash, but found a handy tow cable in the car which had the added benefit of keeping her close (it had two large metal hooks on the ends).

Sunday night we thought the fun was soon to be over. I needed to stay up late in preparation for going to work Monday (night shift) and Jannelle planned on leaving mid Monday while I was asleep. Thus Jannelle and I stayed up late into the night having some quality girl time. We finally went to be around four in the morning. Around 11am, Jannelle woke me up to say goodbye... which somehow became Robb convincing Jannelle and I both to go on a hike. Obviously he is quite persuasive as this meant I was up from 11am until 8am the next morning (ugh) and Jannelle had to reschedule her evening plans back in Seattle.
We went to a new area for this hike, about 45 minutes northeast of home, in some foothills. We had a guidebook which turned out to be quite necessary as all that was marking the trailhead was the post in the bottom right corner of this photo:

We started off crossing a couple small streams and entering moss covered woods with green everywhere you looked. As we got a little higher it began to snow and the green became less intense as the snow formed white patches.

A light snow continued to fall and we continued to climb, until the landscape was almost entirely white. Eventually we could no longer find the trail ahead of us, so we stopped for snowball fights before heading back the way we had come.

Ada in another questionable fashion statement

Alas the fun had to end... after the hike Jannelle headed home and I snagged a quick nap before a long night at work.

Hamilton Ridge with Filly & Tiffany

A few weeks ago we went on a hike up Hamilton Ridge with our friends Filly and Tiffany. Turned out to be a drizzly morning, but they were up for it anyway. The rain stopped by the time we started hiking which provided brief but beautiful views of the columbia river gorge. We were able to take Ada off the leash and she had a great time exploring the trail without going too far away. She got especially excited when we reached patches of snow... racing back and forth and pouncing on snow-balls. She did give us some dirty looks when it started hailing, so we gave her a rain jacket.

The view from the top was incredible. The clouds sped past and broke occasionally for a few sunlit glimpses of the gorge below.

The wind on the otherhand was a bit wicked. Tiffany and I went for the cover of trees while Jared decided to make a break for the far ridge and try to climb to the high point.

The wind kept getting worse, to the point that Ada started shaking and digging into the side of a hill for protection. At that point Jared gave up his endeavor for the summit and we hurried back down to the protection of the trees. Once out of the wind we grabbed some snacks. Ada seemed to recover from the cold and after eating a few handfuls of fish crackers, she was right back to exploring the trail for the rest of the hike.