It has finally arrived.. Vita-Mix 5200! I'm guessing you are wondering what in the heck that is... Well, let's just say it is a blender on steroids! It is difficult to explain, so just go to this website to see for yourself. http://www.vitamix.com/ I am finally going to get my daily recommended fruits and vegetables! SWEET! We were witness to what this machine can do over our mini vacation. My eyes lit up when i realized that I could enjoy a smoothy that had cabbage, carrots, peaches, strawberries, and whatever else you want to add. I mean, amazing! Go check out the link and watch the videos. Go try and find a store that is holding a seminar and see for yourself.. Enjoy, because we sure are!
Well, now that I preached about the Vita Mix 5200, let me catch you up to our most recent excursions. A few weeks ago we went to Charleston, SC to visit with my family. This was the first time, since our wedding, that my family has gotten together. We all met in Charleston, SC for a few days. We had a blast. Did some tourist things, but unfortunately the rain stopped us from fully taking advantage of what Charleston has to offer. After my family left, Abby's parents came to town for a night. Then we stayed in Charleston for a couple of more days to spend time with Abby's oldest brothers (Jay) family. We had a blast visiting with family. Now we are back to the grind and looking forward to our trip to Dallas for the Cowboys vs. Panthers Monday night football game on Sept 28th. Should be a great game. Go panthers!!!! We were able to get tickets in section 247, row 3... for all those wanting to check out our seats.. pretty sweet seats!!! Going to wear our panther gear with pride.. GO GIANTS! :) After that trip we will anxiously await our trip to Portland Oregon in October. There we will be staying at the Riverplace Hotel in downtown Portland. Check this website out... http://www.riverplacehotel.com/ We will arrive on Thursday the 15th, stay close to my sister Dawn's house. Friday night we are going to my nephew's Friday night football game (it's homecoming). Should be an awesome time. Saturday we are checking into the Riverplace hotel and staying there until we leave on Tuesday. Can't wait for the cool air. Houston is still very hot and humid. I'm ready for a change in weather!
Work is good. We have been dealing with a lot of swine flu kids already. Good times! So far so good... No swine flu for either of us.. keeping our fingers crossed! haha.. Our work friends/co-workers threw us a "welcome to Houston" party a few weeks ago. It was suppose to be our going away party, but since we extended once again, it was our welcome party. They can't seem to get rid of us! We had a great time. We work with some amazing people who have really taken us both in! They will surely be missed whenever we decide to head to a new hospital.
Well, I guess it is about that time to check on my kiddos... I do hope everyone is doing well.. It's football season ya'll!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am.. I hope you are too! Love and miss you all... Remember, GO GIANTS, and GO PANTHERS!!!
In His peace,
Love,
Michael and Abby Lee
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wedding season is officially over!!!
3 months later and several weddings attended, Abby and i are officially done traveling back east for weddings (until 1 more wedding in November). We had a wonderful time during all of them, but it is now time to sit back and enjoy what Texas has to offer. Thanks to everyone for throwing awesome weddings, and sorry to our friends whom we were unable to attend. Congratulations to everyone and we wish you many blessings in your future endeavors together!
Now it is time to see what Texas has to offer. Throughout the summer we were heading back and forth to partake in wedding events. Well, mainly Abby, but I had to attend a few. We had to strategically plan our time off from work so that we could make said events. Now that we are officially done with all that, we can use our time off to venture out into the great state of Texas. We already have plans to head up to Dallas to attend the Monday night football game between the Carolina Panthers against the Dallas Cowboys! Go panthers! We already have the tickets, just waiting on them to arrive in the mail. So so excited. We also have plans to attend a Houston Texans football game. Sometime soon we are going to be heading up to Austin TX. I'm trying to push for a Texas football game while up there. Wish me luck. Just need to talk that over with the wifey because Texas football tickets are really expensive. We also plan to head down to New Braunfels, TX to visit the #1 rated water park in the country, Schlitterbahn!!!! That is going to be awesome! We are hoping to visit Galveston as well. We hear that there is still tons of devastation from last years Hurricane. Oh yea, Abby and I are on the hurricane relief ride out team in the event of another major hurricane. That means that we will have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of 3 days or until relief can reach us. Should be a blast!!!! haha..
Other trips planned: We are traveling to Charleston, SC on the 12Th of August to visit with my family. I am very excited because this will be the first time that my entire family will be together since my wedding. Should be a great time. Then in October Abby and I are flying out to Portland, Oregon to visit Dawn. Also, in November my brother and I have a tripped planned to NY to watch the NY Giants take on the San Diego Chargers. This will be Sean's first trip to the Meadowlands. Can't wait for this trip! The weekend of the 21st of November we fly back to NC for another wedding. When there, we are going to catch the Panthers game vs. the Dolphins!
Wow, we have a lot planned this fall. Should be a great time! Especially with all the football games we have lined up! So so so so so glad Abby has been raised by a football loving father! Don't think this relationship would have worked out as well if that wasn't the case. ;)
Okay, now for the important stuff in life. Abby and I have decided to extend, once again, here in Houston. We just could not pass up the opportunity to have a good paying job that we both enjoy. We were thinking about venturing out to another city, but there just wasn't much to choice from. So the plan now is to stay here until the end of November. When that time comes we will look for a job, but if one doesn't come about that we like....... we are just going to take off all of December! haha.. that's my hope! Will know more come November!
Well, time now to get back to work. 9 more shifts until our next week and a half vacation! Should be a blast. Hope all is well with everyone. We love and miss you all...
Michael and Abby Lee..
p.s. Hello Birdsong!!! ;)
Now it is time to see what Texas has to offer. Throughout the summer we were heading back and forth to partake in wedding events. Well, mainly Abby, but I had to attend a few. We had to strategically plan our time off from work so that we could make said events. Now that we are officially done with all that, we can use our time off to venture out into the great state of Texas. We already have plans to head up to Dallas to attend the Monday night football game between the Carolina Panthers against the Dallas Cowboys! Go panthers! We already have the tickets, just waiting on them to arrive in the mail. So so excited. We also have plans to attend a Houston Texans football game. Sometime soon we are going to be heading up to Austin TX. I'm trying to push for a Texas football game while up there. Wish me luck. Just need to talk that over with the wifey because Texas football tickets are really expensive. We also plan to head down to New Braunfels, TX to visit the #1 rated water park in the country, Schlitterbahn!!!! That is going to be awesome! We are hoping to visit Galveston as well. We hear that there is still tons of devastation from last years Hurricane. Oh yea, Abby and I are on the hurricane relief ride out team in the event of another major hurricane. That means that we will have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of 3 days or until relief can reach us. Should be a blast!!!! haha..
Other trips planned: We are traveling to Charleston, SC on the 12Th of August to visit with my family. I am very excited because this will be the first time that my entire family will be together since my wedding. Should be a great time. Then in October Abby and I are flying out to Portland, Oregon to visit Dawn. Also, in November my brother and I have a tripped planned to NY to watch the NY Giants take on the San Diego Chargers. This will be Sean's first trip to the Meadowlands. Can't wait for this trip! The weekend of the 21st of November we fly back to NC for another wedding. When there, we are going to catch the Panthers game vs. the Dolphins!
Wow, we have a lot planned this fall. Should be a great time! Especially with all the football games we have lined up! So so so so so glad Abby has been raised by a football loving father! Don't think this relationship would have worked out as well if that wasn't the case. ;)
Okay, now for the important stuff in life. Abby and I have decided to extend, once again, here in Houston. We just could not pass up the opportunity to have a good paying job that we both enjoy. We were thinking about venturing out to another city, but there just wasn't much to choice from. So the plan now is to stay here until the end of November. When that time comes we will look for a job, but if one doesn't come about that we like....... we are just going to take off all of December! haha.. that's my hope! Will know more come November!
Well, time now to get back to work. 9 more shifts until our next week and a half vacation! Should be a blast. Hope all is well with everyone. We love and miss you all...
Michael and Abby Lee..
p.s. Hello Birdsong!!! ;)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
What should we do?????
Hello everyone! How are you doing? We are great. Thanks for asking! Well, we are at a point in time where we are very conflicted on what to do next with our travels. We thought for sometime now that we were going to have to move on to another city. Texas Children's was not offering us an extension, but they were offering an opportunity to sign on full time! I don't think so! If we did that we would lose our free housing, monthly tax free stipend, free furniture and bills. Even though the pay would be pretty nice, it wouldn't make up for losing all the wonderful perks of being a traveler. Make sense? So, we have been talking with our recruiter about upcoming travel opportunities. Basically there isn't much out there right now. We have been patiently waiting and hoping for something good to come along. St. Thomas, VI has 2 positions open for peds jobs. We did apply there, but it is a long shot as we were late to get our paperwork out to the hospital. Other than that, we haven't heard of much. Now..... Yesterday, Texas Children's offered Abby and I the option to extend here as travelers (which we didn't think they were going to do). They told us that we can sign on for however long we would like. Be it 6 weeks, 8 weeks, or 3 months. We are both very excited about this, but we now have the bug to head to another city and explore another part of the country! So, there in lies the problem. Part of us wants to venture onward, and part of us wants to stay for the security of having a job. What do you think? Do we risk a new job with the possibility of being unemployed for a short time. If that were to happen we would move in with Abby's parents while we still attempt to find another travel job. So we do have that option. I don't know.... We are going to talk with our managers to see how long they will give us to make up our minds. That might help us out. Will keep you posted... On another note, Abby and I will be officially out of debt come this Friday. HIP HIP HOORAY, HIP HIP HOORAY!!! haha... It has been a long process, but one we have diligently worked on achieving! Now time to save for a new house, and dare I say future Hinchy's!!! ;)
Love you all and thanks for all the prayers!
Michael and Abby Lee
Love you all and thanks for all the prayers!
Michael and Abby Lee
Friday, June 26, 2009
Officially a southern poser...
Well.... I have finally caved in to the southern living... I guess that's what you would call it.. Or I would like to call it, pretending to be a southerner when my heart is still a YANKEE!!! This past weekend I broke down and purchased a pair of cowboy boots!!! haha.. that's right people, a set of Justin cowboy boots! They are SWEET!!! I wore them only once since getting them, but I liked it and plan to rock them a lot (as soon as the heat drops below 100). Be on the lookout for poser pictures!
This past weekend Abby's parents came in town to visit. They arrived in Houston on Saturday morning. We showed them around town or at least the area of town we were familiar with. Went to Freebirds (the greatest Burrito place know to Texas) for a late lunch. We then decided to venture to the see a movie. The term Venture is key! Abby's parents haven't been to a movie in about 8 years! It was an adventure. We decided to see Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 (which was awesome). We treated them to the movie tickets, so Jonesy (Abby's dad) decided to pick up the snacks. He ordered 2 large popcorn's and 4 medium drinks. The lady said, "that will be $30 please." I thought Jonesy was going to have, another, heart attack. haha.. He did admit that it was the best and most expensive popcorn/diet coke he has ever had. Both Jonesy and momma Jones loved the movie and the experience. So much in fact, they plan on going to see another movie back in Charlotte! Hope you both enjoy! I recommend "The Hangover." (a must see if you are over 18). :) Sunday we decided to venture to this neat little town called Old Town Spring. It's an old railroad town that features many little quaint shops and restaurants. We wandered around this town for a couple of hours then decided to head back to Houston. Sunday night we at at this amazing Mexican restaurant called Teala's. Stuffed our belly's, then proceeded to get ice cream at Swirl. Swirl is by far the best yogurt ever! I was extremely full before swirl, but as we all know, there is always room for dessert. Monday we went to walk about Rice University. We visited the bookstore and enjoyed the beautiful campus. (Rice University is across the street from Texas Children's Hospital). That night we went to Taste of Texas. Check out this website... www.tasteoftexas.com AMAZING!!! We celebrated my birthday, father's day, and her parents 40th wedding anniversary! The restaurant was kind enough to give us 2 free desserts. We tried their snickers pie and their key lime pie. This key lime pie was the greatest key lime pie EVER!!! Sorry to tell you that Van. Wish you could have been there to enjoy it with us! The snickers pie was also delicious! Abby and I both shared a 32oz porterhouse steak. Along with this steak we were given the option of 2 side dishes and also 2 salad bars. I an not a huge salad guy, but there were different kinds of cheese, delicious rolls, pastries, and everything else you could ever want before indulging into a delicious steak! All of us stuffed ourselves... Hard not to! If you ever make it to Houston, you HAVE to visit a Taste Of Texas! We did take pictures of our time there, so will definitely get those up soon! Tuesday was their last day with us. We had to take them to Poppa's Barbq. Texas barbq is different than NC barbq. It is mostly beef, not pork. They have a sweet barbq sauce, not a vinegar based sauce. It was still delicious! Oh I almost forgot. When we picked them up from the airport we decided to surprise them with a Texas delicacy... Kolache's! haha, i know that sounds weird, but they are incredible. They are breakfast pastries filled with all sorts of goodies! Ham, Sausage, Eggs, Potatoes, cheese, cream cheese, fruit, etc... They are so so good. I believe we ate Kolaches at least 3 times in the 3 days they were here. haha.. visit here to check out what I'm talking about... www.kolachefactory.com
We ate an obscene amount of food, but when in Houston.... Houstonians eat out all the time. There are more restaurants per capita here in Houston then any other place in the country. I mean it is my dream city!!! :) We truly enjoyed their visit, and hope to have more visitors in the future. Now it is back to work for the next 5 out of 6 days. Time to earn back that money we spent over the weekend. Cowboy boots are not cheap! Did I mention that Momma Jones also bought herself a pair of cowgirl boots! Rock those boots Momma Jones!
Our next city is still up in the air. We are probably not going to extend here in Houston. We are probably not going to head back to LA, so that leaves us with ???? Not much! We will begin our search come mid July, so will know more then. We are both hoping for the Northeast. I'm pulling for NY or Boston. NY would be incredible for the fall. GIANTS GIANTS GIANTS!!!! enough said...
Do hope all is great with everyone... We miss you all and thanks again for checking in on us.. sorry if my wording/grammar/spelling is garbage.. It is 3am and it has been a busy night... or maybe just because I'm not that bright and the smart one (Abby) in this relationship is at home enjoying wine and a movie after getting a pedicure and eating sushi... I'm not bitter.. ;) haha.. Okay people, time to get to work... Be good and God bless...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee...
This past weekend Abby's parents came in town to visit. They arrived in Houston on Saturday morning. We showed them around town or at least the area of town we were familiar with. Went to Freebirds (the greatest Burrito place know to Texas) for a late lunch. We then decided to venture to the see a movie. The term Venture is key! Abby's parents haven't been to a movie in about 8 years! It was an adventure. We decided to see Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 (which was awesome). We treated them to the movie tickets, so Jonesy (Abby's dad) decided to pick up the snacks. He ordered 2 large popcorn's and 4 medium drinks. The lady said, "that will be $30 please." I thought Jonesy was going to have, another, heart attack. haha.. He did admit that it was the best and most expensive popcorn/diet coke he has ever had. Both Jonesy and momma Jones loved the movie and the experience. So much in fact, they plan on going to see another movie back in Charlotte! Hope you both enjoy! I recommend "The Hangover." (a must see if you are over 18). :) Sunday we decided to venture to this neat little town called Old Town Spring. It's an old railroad town that features many little quaint shops and restaurants. We wandered around this town for a couple of hours then decided to head back to Houston. Sunday night we at at this amazing Mexican restaurant called Teala's. Stuffed our belly's, then proceeded to get ice cream at Swirl. Swirl is by far the best yogurt ever! I was extremely full before swirl, but as we all know, there is always room for dessert. Monday we went to walk about Rice University. We visited the bookstore and enjoyed the beautiful campus. (Rice University is across the street from Texas Children's Hospital). That night we went to Taste of Texas. Check out this website... www.tasteoftexas.com AMAZING!!! We celebrated my birthday, father's day, and her parents 40th wedding anniversary! The restaurant was kind enough to give us 2 free desserts. We tried their snickers pie and their key lime pie. This key lime pie was the greatest key lime pie EVER!!! Sorry to tell you that Van. Wish you could have been there to enjoy it with us! The snickers pie was also delicious! Abby and I both shared a 32oz porterhouse steak. Along with this steak we were given the option of 2 side dishes and also 2 salad bars. I an not a huge salad guy, but there were different kinds of cheese, delicious rolls, pastries, and everything else you could ever want before indulging into a delicious steak! All of us stuffed ourselves... Hard not to! If you ever make it to Houston, you HAVE to visit a Taste Of Texas! We did take pictures of our time there, so will definitely get those up soon! Tuesday was their last day with us. We had to take them to Poppa's Barbq. Texas barbq is different than NC barbq. It is mostly beef, not pork. They have a sweet barbq sauce, not a vinegar based sauce. It was still delicious! Oh I almost forgot. When we picked them up from the airport we decided to surprise them with a Texas delicacy... Kolache's! haha, i know that sounds weird, but they are incredible. They are breakfast pastries filled with all sorts of goodies! Ham, Sausage, Eggs, Potatoes, cheese, cream cheese, fruit, etc... They are so so good. I believe we ate Kolaches at least 3 times in the 3 days they were here. haha.. visit here to check out what I'm talking about... www.kolachefactory.com
We ate an obscene amount of food, but when in Houston.... Houstonians eat out all the time. There are more restaurants per capita here in Houston then any other place in the country. I mean it is my dream city!!! :) We truly enjoyed their visit, and hope to have more visitors in the future. Now it is back to work for the next 5 out of 6 days. Time to earn back that money we spent over the weekend. Cowboy boots are not cheap! Did I mention that Momma Jones also bought herself a pair of cowgirl boots! Rock those boots Momma Jones!
Our next city is still up in the air. We are probably not going to extend here in Houston. We are probably not going to head back to LA, so that leaves us with ???? Not much! We will begin our search come mid July, so will know more then. We are both hoping for the Northeast. I'm pulling for NY or Boston. NY would be incredible for the fall. GIANTS GIANTS GIANTS!!!! enough said...
Do hope all is great with everyone... We miss you all and thanks again for checking in on us.. sorry if my wording/grammar/spelling is garbage.. It is 3am and it has been a busy night... or maybe just because I'm not that bright and the smart one (Abby) in this relationship is at home enjoying wine and a movie after getting a pedicure and eating sushi... I'm not bitter.. ;) haha.. Okay people, time to get to work... Be good and God bless...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee...
Friday, June 12, 2009
Where to next???
Howdy y'all.... Hope everyone is just peachy! Abby and I are doing great. We are still in Houston, TX for the moment. We are here until the second week in August, then who knows. Here are our options so far. 1. Take a permanent job here at Texas Children's Hospital. The nurse manager offered Abby and I jobs. Exciting i know! 2. Try to stretch out another travel assignment here instead of accepting a permanent position. 3. Go back to LA to work at LA Children's hospital (the hospital we worked at prior to Houston). 4. Play the waiting game on a new city/hospital. The problem with 4 is that the jobs are few and far between. They are usually hiring nurses for the following week start dates. That seems a little to risky at this point. We both really want to venture somewhere new, but we are coming to realize that we may just need to be a little more patient and wait this slow time out. LA would be sweet because we love the hospital, but we are not the biggest fans of LA. If we go back we are hoping to live somewhere outside of downtown LA. The money is great in LA, so there are advantages of heading back west. We just don't know!!! Still some time to figure this out, but it is beginning to weigh on our minds! Will keep you posted.
Texas is beginning to show it's ugly head... The weekend it is suppose to be in the high 90's with very high humidity. Should be in for a rough stretch of weather as Abby and I haven't really been in the humidity since our summer days in NC. Supposedly Houston will teach a new level of hot humid summer days... Good times! Not good for my newly found obsession for golf... We plan to play early next week, but it might take a lot of convincing to get Abby to play with me!
Lately times have been a bit rough for my family. My grandfather passed away last November and just a few weeks ago my Grandma passed. They were amazing individuals and they will be deeply missed. We thank everyone for their prayer and support.
Well, Abby and I currently at work. Lately we have had a little more time at work to just relax and play on the internet. TCH recently approved 1 more nurse on our floors. That means that instead of taking 6 kids at night, we will be taking 4 kids. A much needed break as my waiter legs were getting the best of me. To many families to cater to and way to many kids to care for like they should be cared for! (if that makes sense)
Next weekend we are expecting the arrival of Abby's parents. We are extremely excited to have our first visitors while on our little road trip across the country. We have a lot of fun activities planned for the Jones family! Hope to have lots of fun pics to share.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Our love to all...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee...
Texas is beginning to show it's ugly head... The weekend it is suppose to be in the high 90's with very high humidity. Should be in for a rough stretch of weather as Abby and I haven't really been in the humidity since our summer days in NC. Supposedly Houston will teach a new level of hot humid summer days... Good times! Not good for my newly found obsession for golf... We plan to play early next week, but it might take a lot of convincing to get Abby to play with me!
Lately times have been a bit rough for my family. My grandfather passed away last November and just a few weeks ago my Grandma passed. They were amazing individuals and they will be deeply missed. We thank everyone for their prayer and support.
Well, Abby and I currently at work. Lately we have had a little more time at work to just relax and play on the internet. TCH recently approved 1 more nurse on our floors. That means that instead of taking 6 kids at night, we will be taking 4 kids. A much needed break as my waiter legs were getting the best of me. To many families to cater to and way to many kids to care for like they should be cared for! (if that makes sense)
Next weekend we are expecting the arrival of Abby's parents. We are extremely excited to have our first visitors while on our little road trip across the country. We have a lot of fun activities planned for the Jones family! Hope to have lots of fun pics to share.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Our love to all...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
New apartment...
Hello to all.. Abby and I are back in Houston after a great vacation. We went to Disneyworld with Abby's family for about 5 days. Afte disney, Abby was suppose to go to a bachelorette party but unfortunately got sick. I headed up to Raleigh to put in flooring in my house. Time to rent that joker out! I actually think I have found a lady to rent it from me. We are in discussions now.. Keep your fingers crossed because she seems like a perfect fit. Just her and her dog. She is actually a nurse at UNC. That would be sweet! We'll see...
We came back to Houston last tueday, then worked the rest of the week. While working 3 nights in a row, we had to move out of our apartment by saturday. It was a very tiring process, but well worth it as our new apartment is awesome! We had to leave a part of Houston that we loved, but are willing to give up location for comfort. We are now living in an apartment about 230 sq ft bigger than out last. Before i forget, our new address is:
7200 Almeda Rd #803
Houston, TX 77054
The area we live in now is consider the medical housing area for Texas Children's and the other hospitals near by. There are a lot of resident housing around us. We are about 1 mile from Reliant Stadium (home of the Houston Texans, and the old Astrodome). I hope to sneak over there at times to watch pre-season practice. We have yet to make it to a Houston Astros game, but we still have time. I think we will try and make an Astros vs. Mets game! Would be sweet as I've grown up loving the Mets. Enough of that...
We are working tonight, then we are off until friday night. Work 5 of the next 6 days, then home to Charlotte for a wedding! That's about it for now.
Not much going on. We hope to have pics up of Disney and possibly our new place. Who knows really. We are so bad about taking pics... Do hope all is great with everyone.. Thanks for keeping up!
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee....
We came back to Houston last tueday, then worked the rest of the week. While working 3 nights in a row, we had to move out of our apartment by saturday. It was a very tiring process, but well worth it as our new apartment is awesome! We had to leave a part of Houston that we loved, but are willing to give up location for comfort. We are now living in an apartment about 230 sq ft bigger than out last. Before i forget, our new address is:
7200 Almeda Rd #803
Houston, TX 77054
The area we live in now is consider the medical housing area for Texas Children's and the other hospitals near by. There are a lot of resident housing around us. We are about 1 mile from Reliant Stadium (home of the Houston Texans, and the old Astrodome). I hope to sneak over there at times to watch pre-season practice. We have yet to make it to a Houston Astros game, but we still have time. I think we will try and make an Astros vs. Mets game! Would be sweet as I've grown up loving the Mets. Enough of that...
We are working tonight, then we are off until friday night. Work 5 of the next 6 days, then home to Charlotte for a wedding! That's about it for now.
Not much going on. We hope to have pics up of Disney and possibly our new place. Who knows really. We are so bad about taking pics... Do hope all is great with everyone.. Thanks for keeping up!
In His peace,
Michael and Abby Lee....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
