Kentucky

Last month William and I took a little trip with my parents to Kentucky.  Kinda random, right?!  The  national APHON conference was held in Louisville, Kentucky this year so we headed north. 
Gordon has been traveling once a week for work so he wouldn't have been able to take baby boy to school and pick him up while I was gone....so, baby boy came!  My parents were sweet and offered to come along to watch William for me. 
The night before we left town my parents babysat William so Gordon and I could celebrate our 3 year anniversary.  The next afternoon we headed to Kentucky.  The trip there was pretty rough.  To be honest, it was actually awful.  William has flown 10+ times and done GREAT.  For whatever reason this flight hurt his poor little ears.  He screamed for 25 minutes straight.  stressful and sad.  By the time we got off our first flight (in St. Louis to change planes) we were worn out and I was terrified of how the next flight would go.  I'll have to do a post on flying with baby tips!  Long story short, we never got on the next flight.  Southwest delayed the flight to 12:40am.  Nope.  Not doing that!  So, we rented a car and my sweet daddy drove us to Louisville!  We finally crawled into a bed at 3am.

BYE Houston!

The APHON conference was great.  I love being around other nurses that do what I've been doing for 9 years.  It's a tough profession.  It's sad.  Getting to hear others stories and just be with people that understand is nice.  They get it when most people don't.  Being the emotional basket case that I am lately I cried a few time .  But, I learned a lot and I had a great time with my family and W.
Kentucky was beautiful.  To be honest, I'm ready to move there!  The weather was great and the homes were beautiful (and reasonably priced....yep, I checked it out).  I have no idea what people do for jobs up there?!?!  I do know that I was a tad jealous. 

So, what did we do when I wasn't in meetings?  Well, The Ohio river separates Kentucky from Indiana so they have lots of beautiful scenery.  We had dinner on the water one night and did a lunch boat cruise one day while I had a long break. 

These pictures describe William perfectly:

• oooooohhhhhhh!
• Always pointing and looking at you in amazement
• Rubbing those eyes when he's sleepy (Papa had someone draw W!)
• Walking with Papa looking at the ducks, bridges, cars, water....

 On our last night we ate at Hard Rock Café.  My meeting was held in the downtown area so we stayed down there and went to an area called Forth Street Live!  There were a ton of restaurants that looked fabulous.  Baby boy loved the Mac 'n Cheese and the music.  He danced the entire time we were there!

Being a mommy and wife will always be my first priority.  But staying educated is also important to me.  I want to continue to grow and learn.  I want to be a good nurse to the sweet patients and families I care for.  Knowledge is power.  For me, being well rounded in all areas of my life makes me the happiest.  I've always liked the saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket".   Most of mine are in the family basket but I keep a few reserved for my friends, work, my brain and body. 
So, thanks TCH for allowing me to attend this years conference!