6 more shifts...

Hello everyone... Do hope this message finds you all doing great. Things are wonderful in the life of the Hinchy's! Abby and I are extremely excited to head to San Diego. I think the anticipation is making the last few weeks seem much longer then should feel. We are still waiting to hear from our travel company regarding where we will be staying when we move to San Diego. We should know in the next week or so. Will update you to our new address as soon as we find out. Abby and I are both working tonight, tomorrow night and Wednesday night. We then have off until next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then we are done! Abby just came over to me and told me that she booked a room at a Best Western in Sedona, AZ. She was able to get a special rate combined with an ATV tour of the Sedona Canyons. Check this out. http://www.sedonaoffroadcenter.com/ATV1.html Abby will be riding on the back with me. Hold on tight Abby! Should be a lot of fun. We are only going to be heading up for one night, but hope to also catch an art/jazz festival either Friday or Saturday afternoon. Would love to stay up there longer, but the funds are limited these days. Why you ask? Well lets just say that we have been to a lot of expensive football games, we are going to NYC and upstate NY for 10 days, Abby has new diamond earrings, then we will have a couple of weeks without work. Add these up and you will understand why we have to cut down on our fun activities for a little while. Don't worry, they will resume once we become established in San Diego.

This past weekend was very relaxing. We were invited out on Friday night with a few other nurses (pictures will be posted later). We had a blast. On Saturday night we were invited over to another nurses house for dinner. David is his name. David wanted to thank us for being team players, and for being so easy to work with. It was a very nice offer and that is always nice to hear. As a traveler, you always wonder if you are fitting in and if the core staff like you. Glad to hear at least one person likes us! haha... It was a great home cooked meal. He had twice baked potatoes! Enough said! Sunday was a guy day for me. I met up with a couple of male respiratory therapists at a local sports bar to watch football. We met up at 11am (1pm East coast time) to watch the early football games. We ate some great food and enjoyed a few cold beverages. Abby had a personal training appointment at 1, then went to Target. After Target she met up with me at another sports bar (because I was dropped off there due to not having a key to get into our apartment) to watch more football and to get some food. Sunday night Abby watched the Emmy's and I watched the Sunday night football game. BOOOOOO DALLAS!!! We went to bed around 11:30 Sunday night. I woke up around 8am, went and worked out, then we had to pee in a cup for our new travel assignment at 2pm. Funny story about that... Abby gets there and she was called in first. 5 minutes go by, no Abby. 10 min go by, no Abby. 15 min go by, no Abby. 20 min go by, no Abby. I'm thinking to myself, "what in the world is she doing? Is it just that crowded back there? Why haven't I been called in to pee in a cup?" 25 min later, "Mike Hinchy." "Finally," I said to myself. I walk through the door and guess who I see sitting on the bench next to the water fountain? Yep, you guessed it Abby! "Hey Abby, what are you doing?" haha.... Abby was unable to pee enough for the specimen needed. She was sitting there this entire time drinking water. I would venture to say that it took her about an hour of drinking water to finally get the urge to pee enough for the test. I can't forget to mention that this waiting area was freezing. Her legs were loaded with goosebumps and she was wrapped up with her fleece. Her nose was ice cold and she was shivering. I had to leave a couple of times to pee myself and to head outside to warm up. Oh Abby.... haha.. She makes me laugh. The ladies in the lab office were extremely nice and constantly asked her if she had to pee. We arrived at the Lab office around 2pm and left a little after 3pm. The waiting room was packed out when we got there, and was completely empty when we left. We finally made it home after getting Pei Wei and a few things from the grocery store. We took a nap from 4 to 5:30, then headed into work.

So there you have it... A weekend and a day in the life of Abby and Mike. Sorry for boring you, but this is the most exciting stuff that has happened since our last post. Good times here in Phoenix. The weather is actually cooling down. We only have 2-3 days of 100+ weather a week. It's funny because you can honestly tell a difference in air temp when the high is 100+ compared to high 90's. Crazy I know. Well, it is 5:15am and it's almost time to finish up my duties for the shift. Be right back, patient calling out.... Okay I'm back. I was just called into a patients room so that he can tell me that he pooped and peed. We measure everything going in and measure everything coming out of our patients, so think about that when I say he pooped and peed. Good times. The beauty of being a nurse! YUCK! Okay, signing off for now. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have a wonderful week. We love and miss you all....

In His peace,
Love,
Michael and Abby Lee

p.s. Please keep praying for my grandparents! Thanks

We love some football...

As you can see i'm trying to get the hang of displaying pictures with my text. I kind of figured it out last week, but this week is a new story. For some reason they are clumped together. Oh well, you can still view them! Moving right along...

To start with, Abby and I went to the Arizona Cardinals vs. Miami Dolphins game this past sunday! As you can see by the pictures, I was a Cardinal fan for the day. Partly because we currently live in Arizona, but mainly because I had the Cardinals defense and a cardinals wide receiver on my fantasy football team. I have $110 invested in this league, so I was cheering hard for the aforementioned. The defense played well yielding 1 field goal and a late touchdown, but my wide receiver didn't get much love on the receiving end. Having players on different teams allows you to be a general football fan and pull for many teams as long as they aren't playing my beloved Gmen! Abby was quite embarassed during the game because I constantly cheered for the defense and constantly yelled to throw Breaston (my receiver) the ball. Oh well, it was fun to cheer for the home team and my players! This stadium was incredible. Right when you walk in you are in awe of how massive this place is. Our seats were awesome for $60 a ticket. I had an aisle seat which is especially nice. The picture with Abby and I and the picture of the Arizona end zone were taken at our seats. Not to shabby... There is a company I went through to get the tickets. www.ticketexchangeusa.com They actually have fair prices for many games. The guy I went through told me that he will beat the lowest price I find on my own. He will probably get lots of business through me as I continue my quest to attend every major sporting event and every major college football event in the areas we live. A great goal that Abby is very willing to support. We were going to try and attend the Arizona State vs. Georgia football game this weekend, but since ASU lost I am not as excited about getting to that game.






















Okay enough about football and sports... The countdown continues! Only 8 more shifts at PCH and then we are heading to NYC for 1 1/2 weeks! Then it is off to San Diego. We googled the temps in San Diego and the average temp year round is 70 degrees! Hot damn! Get us out of this HEAT!!! So, interruption for a second.. I just had this lady (a patients mom) come up to me cursing and yelling because we just placed a patient in the same room as her kid. What the heck? Why do parents think they can curse and yell at us! I told her to not curse at me and then I proceeded to ignore her! I'm tired of being abused when I care for your kids! Just flat out rude. Anyhow, enough with my soap box. Back to the happy thoughts by Mike Hinchy... Football... haha... Na, I think I was talking about San Diego... We are waiting to hear about our apartment living. We decided not to rent a place on our own because it is way to expensive for a half way decent place. Hopefully we get a nice place with lots of room because we are hoping to have many visitors! Hint Hint...
Next weekend we are planning a trip to Sedona, AZ. We hear the country up there is beautiful. There happens to be a Jazz festival going on in Sedona at that time, so we are also going to attend that. http://sedona-attractions.10-best.info/sedonaparks.html Check this site out to see what we will be enjoying. Slide Rock is suppose to be lots of fun, and taking jeep tours of the canyons is also suppose to be amazing. We will take lots of pictures, so be on the lookout. Well, I guess it is time to check up on my 3 babies. Let me tell you, 3 babies is not fun. I have changed so many dang diapers tonight. Let me tell you that working as a Pediatric nurse is excellent birth control. Abby and I joke all the time about never having kids. We have 3-4 different kids every night we work. Plus, we are having so much fun traveling all over and enjoying this amazing country. Who has time for kids, right? Na, we will most definitely have kids, but not for a while. Thank God I married young... haha... Thanks again for reading. The nurse manager on the floor is talking w/ that rude lady right now. I hope I don't get in trouble for telling her to chill the heck out... haha... who cares right.. 8 more shifts! :) Anywho, ya'll be good and please don't forget about us! Remember to cheer hard and loud for the GIANTS and the PANTHERS!!!!!!...
In His peace,
Love to you all,
Michael and Abby

p.s. please continue to pray for my grandparents...

One more month...

The title refers to our time left in Phoenix. Abby and I are both ready to get out of here and venture into California. Things have been pretty boring since we last spoke, well I should say until this past weekend. We got back from the Grand Canyon and it was back to the grind of working, sleeping, sweating, and running from scorpions. Work is work. Not much going on there. We are both really tired of Phoenix Children's Hospital. We have come to learn that this hospital is more about the paperwork and JACHO, then their interest in the sick kids. A sad but true realization. Kaiser Permanente here we come! Once again Abby and I found ourselves in need of a break from the daily grind that only Phoenix has to offer. Like I mentioned in my last blog, I surprised Abby with the tickets to go watch the Panthers take on the San Diego Chargers. We left Friday afternoon and arrived in San Diego around 9:30pm. It was a nice drive, and a bit lonely at times. Abby tried to stay awake after working the night before. She went to get a pedicure, went shopping at ULTA (for the guys out there, ULTA is a girly girl store; full of makeup and girl products). She made it home, showered, then fell asleep on the couch for about a half hour before I came in trying to wake her up to get on the road. She figured it would be easier to just get everything done before leaving and just sleep in the car.

She slept all right, but a sacrifice I was willing to take for her to get packed and on the road in time to miss the afternoon traffic. About half way into the trip we arrived in Yuma, AZ. Have you seen 3:10 to Yuma? If you haven't, see it. If you have, that is what Abby and I were expecting. Silly us for thinking that because it was closer to a hillbilly town in NC then what we had envisioned. You are not missing much my friends. After getting lost in Yuma, trying to find dinner, we made it the rest of the way to San Diego. Needless to say we crashed early that night trying to rest up for a fun filled day of touring San Diego.
We tried to wake up early on Saturday because we knew we wanted to try and visit the city and also tour the possible apartments that we could potentially live in when we head there in October. To make a long story short, we made it to Ocean Beach, CA around noon. We were amazed by the beauty of the Pacific. The sand was soft and pure and the air was actually cool and fresh. There was a dune right where we parked. On the right side of the dune was a dog park. We were amazed by the number of dogs and their owners having the time of their lives. The dogs were running up and down the beach, splashing in the water, and chasing each other all over. On the left side of the beach we found countless beach volleyball courts, surf boards and people laying out. Abby and I quickly moved down to the water so that Abby could step foot in the Pacific Ocean for her very first time. The water was cold but tolerable. We then decided to toss the football around for a bit. What is a trip with me without throwing the football?

We stayed and took in the sights for a bit, then heading to Newport Ave to look for surf shops in hopes of buying something cool. No luck there, but it was neat to just walk around this neat little surf town. After enjoying Ocean Beach we decided that it was time to check out all the apartments. I won't bore you with the details of that, so moving on....

That night we decided to get dressed up and head downtown San Diego. Before getting dressed, Abby cut my hair. My genius brain thought it would be a good idea to use the towels as a catch all for the hair, then wash the hair down the drain of the shower. You probably know where this is going. After I took a shower, I noticed hair backing up. Yep, you guessed it, I clogged the shower. Knock Knock, Abby frantically tries to hide (due to the embarrassment of my feat), it's the repair man for the hotel. Yep, I had to make the call to the front desk because I could not fix the problem myself. It was an easy fix, but embarrassing as I watched this man pull clumps of my hair out of the drain. I'm not the brightest man. Come on now, I know you all have tried that. I thought if you washed bits at a time, it would easily flow down the drain. Let's just look at this as a learning lesson for all those reading. It kind of reminds me of Petedude's story of flushing Q-tips down the toilet. If you haven't heard this story, 1. try to hear it, 2. don't ever do it. Enough said. Abby quickly got ready and we headed downtown. From the area we will be living, downtown is about a 10 minute drive. Very pretty downtown and neat to walk around. We headed to the Gaslamp district and ate dinner at this quaint Italian Restaurant. Incredible food, but still not as good as Casa Carbone! We stuffed ourselves, walked around a bit more, then headed home because Sunday was shortly upon us.

As you probably seen from the picture above, we made it to the Chargers vs. Panthers game. Abby was decked out in her Peppers Jersey and as you can see I tried my best to dress as a tried and true panters fan, but we all know where my allegiance lies. We quickly heard boo's and shouts about our choice of team. We arrived at Qualcomm Stadium about an hour before kickoff. We walked around and watched the panthers warm up. We were surprised with how good our seats were, but we were still surrounded by Chargers fans. The game was the most incredible football game we have ever witnessed. An instant classic and a shot to the egos of the chargers and their fans. We left quickly, watching our every move. Everyone was yelling at us and the other panther fans, but we simply smiled and moved on. The stadium was extremely loud, and a very fun atmosphere to experience. We hope to catch a few more games when we move out there.

We made it home around 11:30pm. Now we are just sitting on the couch watching TV. What are we watching you might ask? Well, let's just say it's unfortunately not ESPN. (our apartment is like living with the cavemen. Since Jay thinks I'm a direct descendant, I guess that analogy is only that much more fitting. Only basic cable, a constant cat pee smell, the most uncomfortable couches, and extremely grumpy neighbors) As you can see, we are ready to get out of this place. We work tomorrow night, then Wednesday and Thursday, then 3 more weeks left. We are heading to NYC come the beginning of October for another football game. This time, we are heading to East Rutherford NJ to watch the NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS!!! We plan to spend about 4 days in the city, then head to upstate NY to spend some quality time with my grandparents, aunt and uncle. Should be an incredible vacation before coming back to Phoenix to pack up and move to San Diego. 4 more weeks people, that is it! How exciting. I guess that is it for now. Thanks for reading. It is about time to head to bed. We hope you all had a great weekend, and we hope you all have a wonderful week. We love and miss you all.... Till the next post...

In His Peace,

Love to all,

Michael and Abby Lee...

A breath of Fresh Air...

Hello to everyone... Do hope this message finds you all doing well. Abby and I are both back at work. I guess we can't be to disappointed because we have only worked 1 day since July 29th! Much to our dismay we both became sick the night of our last blog. I had a pretty nasty sore throat with a head cold and Abby was feeling more malaise with an on again off again sore throat. We definitely attribute our sickness to the lack of sleep over the past couple of weeks. I know I know you are probably saying, well dang they have been on vacation for the past month. This my good friend is true, but unfortunately we have been working night shifts for the past 3 months, so trying to adjust to day shift and to Eastern Standard time kicked our butts! If you have never tried to orient, un-orient, then reorient to night shifts before, you just don't understand. Okay, enough of the pity party, to the good stuff. After a weekend of being sick, Monday morning rolled around.



Around 11am on a beautiful HOT Monday morning here in Phoenix AZ, Abby and I were sitting on the couch watching the Olympics and discussing how much we hate the desert, I brought up the fabulous idea to head north. "Let's go to the Grand Canyon today." So we did. We left Phoenix around 2pm and made it up to Flagstaff, AZ around 4pm. Much to our enjoyment, Flagstaff was beautiful. The first thing we noticed was that it was in the low 80's. There was a nice cool breeze and there were trees all around us. (We honestly watched the thermometer in the car the entire way up, enjoying seeing the temp drop and drop and drop) We were saying that Flagstaff reminded us a lot of Boone, NC. A nice little college town surrouned by green mountains. NAU, Northern Arizona University, sits in downtown Flagstaff. We went into an Embassy Suites to just pick up brochures on where to possibly stay (since our trip up was being made without hotel reservations), and the first question I asked was "where do the Arizona Cardinals practice." The lady quickly responded with "right next to the dome on the campus of NAU." "Do you have a practice schedule?" "Why yes I do." she replied. I looked with great excitement... Why I'll be, they were actually practicing right at that moment. Abby and I rushed over to the practice field and watched about 30 minutes of practice. There wasn't a whole lot going on, but I was able to spot many of the players. Matt Leinert, Anquan Boldin, Edgerrin James, and Kurt Warner were a few of the players spotted. I have pictures, so will try and get them up ASAP. The practice was very chill. They only had on shoulder pads, helmets and shorts. I guess when you get to that stage, there isn't much to do in the way of learning how to tackle, etc... they were basically running through plays. #11 Larry Fitzgerald made an amazing catch down the sideline to beat the DB covering him. It was then that I was able to witness my first ever NFL trash talk session. Larry definitely let that DB know that he was beat. Good times! Dark clouds were rolling over head so they cut practice short. I said "what's up man," to Anquan Boldin #81, and he said "what's up" back! I also said hello to Kurt Warner. I tried to get Abby to take a picture with Matt Leinart, but she chickened out. All this after saying to me "you know Matt Leinart is going to want to marry me when he sees me right?" What a chicken. I have to admit, I'm not sure what I enjoyed most. Was it watching the quarterbacks compete in their end of practice passing challenge, or the cool breeze coming in from the storm, the beautiful plush scenery, or taking my flip flops off and feeling the cool GREEN GRASS between my toes? Tough to choose.





After watching all the players exit the field, we headed back to the Embassy Suites to get a room. After getting all settled in we headed to the lobby for a managers cocktail session. We enjoyed some free adult beverages and some popcorn while watching the Giants romp the Browns. We were referred to this one bar/restaurant for food and to watch the Olympics. After dinner we headed home and were in bed by 11pm. The next day I quickly woke from the sounds of a nearby Train motoring down the track. I think it was around 6am when this train decided to lay on it's whistle like if they were trying to scare Hancock off it's tracks! I mean seriously, 6am?!?!?! Ridiculously loud! We got out of bed around 8am and went for the delicious breakfast offered by Embassy. A full breakfast, made to order omelets and all, the USA today outside our door, and the night before cocktail hour made Embassy Suites a must stay. Then it was off to the Grand Canyon...





We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 11am. We ran into the Village for some lunch and to get some postcards, then it was off to the trails. We stopped at many overlooks to catch a glimpse at one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was incredible. I have been there once before but back when I was 10, but I really didn't remember much. I will not try to describe in words what we saw, you will just have to wait for the pictures to see for yourself. We headed down the road to this place called Grandview Point to hike one of their "steep" trails. 40 minutes down we looked back and realized that we better turn around because it was practically straight up! We probably hiked about a mile down into the canyon before heading back up. Honestly, 1 mile down wasn't getting us anywhere near the bottom of the canyon. There were signs for other trails warning people that a hike to the river and back in 1 day is strongly NOT recommended. There was a poster hanging by the entrance of this trail talking about a marathon runner getting stuck on the trail because of shear exhaustion and lack of supplies. Not the kind of stuff you want to read before venturing down into the Grand Canyon. Abby and I were stacked with water and Fiber One bars, but honestly we knew our limits and only went down a short way. We were able to take many amazing photos all of which we will try to post (once again our Internet is horrible where we are staying). To our surprise it only took about 35 minutes to hike up. We then headed back to Flagstaff to eat dinner and to check out more of their downtown area. The drive to Flagstaff from Phoenix was about 1:45. The drive to the Grand Canyon from Flagstaff was about 1:30, so it really wasn't a bad day and a half trip. We got back to Phoenix around 9pm Tuesday night. To be honest, we were contemplating staying in Flagstaff Tuesday night and then heading to Sedona on Wednesday morning, all because we really didn't want to head back to the desert!



This trip was a great refresher for us. We both are ready to get out of this hospital and the area. A new scene is definitely needed. We both discussed how this trip has reenergized our desire to be travel nurses because of great opportunities like this one. A much needed trip to say the least.

Back in the desert... :(

Hello to all. Sorry it has taken so long to get up a new post. Abby and I have been really busy these past couple of days. We arrived back in Phoenix on Monday night, headed straight to chicfila for some late night dinner, then crashed out. Tuesday morning quickly came. We were both up around 8am due to being on east coast time. We packed and cleaned, then moved into our new apartment all by 1pm. Tuesday was spent buying supplies for our new place. We spent a lot of money on products to help with the "cat piss" smell. Needless to say, we jumped into renting out this apartment. This place is a piece compared to the place we were renting. The place smells really bad, there is no cable box (i.e. no sportscenter for 2 months), no DVD player, and the people below us hate us already (when i was moving stuff in, the guy said they are going to move out because they hear every noise). On the bright side, we don't share our place with random people, its dark during the day so sleeping will be great, and we "had" to go buy a DVD player (my pushing :) ). Abby was very upset when we first moved in because the place just isn't worth what we are paying for it, however she warmed up to the place and we think we can make it work for the 2 months we will be there (even though there is no sportscenter). The DVD player is nice! Just one more thing we have to try and pack into our already packed out car. I'm thinking if we buy any more clothes, toys (new TV and DVD player), and the golf clubs I want, I'm going to have to kick Abby out of the car and fly her to our new destinations. Packing the car is going to be an engineering miracle! We tried to stay up late Tuesday night to watch the Olympics, but we were just so tired from orienting to the east coast time for a week and a half, that we fell asleep fairly quick. We were up by 8am the next morning! Not a good thing since we were suppose to work Wednesday night. I was teasing Abby because we were at Circuit City (looking for our new DVD player) before they opened. A definite first for Abby (she likes her sleep). We did more shopping before heading home around 1pm to try and nap for our first night shift in almost 2 weeks. Neither one of us slept much. Maybe 2 or so hours then we were wide awake again. Luckily we received the bitter sweet call from work saying that we were on call. Meaning we didn't have to go into work at 7, but had to call back around 930pm to see if they were going to need us for the rest of the night. We didn't end up having to go in that night, so we tried once again to stay up late to watch the Olympics. The reason it was bitter sweet was because we really didn't get much sleep to warrant a safe night of work. On the other hand, we really need the money because if we don't work, we don't get paid. We already took off the week before for our vacation back to NC, so losing another shift of pay isn't going to be good for the wallet. Anyhow, we enjoyed our night off by sipping on a glass of wine, ordering out to this great Italian restaurant called Tutti Santi, and lounging on the couch watching the Olympics. I must apologize now for my sporadic thoughts and my horrible grammer and spelling. 1. It is 230am and I'm not feeling to good. 2. the call bells (from patient rooms) keep going off, so I keep getting up trying to assist all the sick. 3. Abby is working on a different floor, so I don't have the smart one in the family proof reading my work. Now back to the good stuff...

Our vacation was amazing! We realized how much we miss North Carolina, but most importantly our family and friends. We arrived in Greensboro on Thursday July 31st. Abby's dad picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to her brother Craig's house. They ordered Chinese food which looked amazing. I was unable to eat because my stomach wasn't agreeing with me. Let's just say I threw up on the airplane from Memphis to Greensboro. We flew in a puddle hopper, so trying to aim in the toilet wasn't easy. I'll stop there! Friday Abby had her appointment with the eye doctor and that night we went to hang out with her best friend Betsy. Okay, so I just received a phone call from the floor charge nurse. I am going to be getting this 16yr kid with stomach pain. Supposedly he has had gastric bypass. Can't wait to see this admit. So, I will hopefully get this post in, if not I will hope to finish later. Saturday we left for the beach with her family. We arrived at Holden Beach that afternoon quickly hurrying to the beach. The weather was beautiful all week. Her entire family was there. Let's just say that the beach trip was wonderful birth control. Lots of little ones ruling the roost. The following saturday, Abby and I took off to Raleigh to visit my mom, brother and friends. Andy was nice enough to let us borrow his car. We had dinner with my mom and brother saturday night, then headed over to my house to see all the guys. It was great seeing them all. We made home made ice cream and just sat around trying to catch up. Chuck made it back from Iraq so he told us stories about his travels and showed us pictures and videos of our tax dollars hard at work! To make a long story short, Chuck got stranded on a mountain and it took the US army to rescue him! F16's and all. Crazy story, but if you know Chuck you will understand. Fix my screens Chuck! Sunday we headed over to my brothers new house to swim in his pool and hang out with my mom, Sean, Corey and Van. After some delicious pizza Sean and I jumped in the pool. Woo quickly showed up to join us. The water was pretty cold, so Abby didn't stay in for long. Sunday night we joined a few folks for dinner at Los Tres! A great mexican restaurant in Raleigh. We then had to make a quick trip to Goodberry's, then it was home to spend some more time with my mom. Monday morning came and it was time to say goodbye and head back to phoenix. Sorry to those whom I wasn't able to see. The trip to raleigh was a short one, and I really tried to spend as much time with my mom and brother as I could. It was a great trip and it was so great to see my mom, my brother and all my buddies. We had a great time at the beach with Abby's family. So great seeing them as well. This trip made us both really sad. We just love our family and friends so much and hate that we are so far away. We are really enjoying our time on the west coast, but we are really looking forward to the day we get back to the east coast. In October we have another trip planned, but this trip will take us to NYC and to upstate NY. GO GIANTS! When we get back from NY, we will be moving to San Diego for our second travel assignment. We believe our contract there runs through the beginning of february. I told Abby earlier tonight that I have a surprise for her. I haven't told her what, and I probably won't. I am going to tell you all what I have up my sleeve, so Abby won't find out until she reads this blog. You can't tell her, she has to find out on her own. We'll see if she is keeping up with what I write! The San Diego Chargers play the Carolina Panthers on September 7th in San Diego (first game of the season). I am going to get us tickets to the game!!!! We will spend a few days in San Diego and then head to the game! Should be a great trip. I figure it will also give us a chance to try and hunt down a place to stay when we move out there. It should be a great trip! Abby packed her Panthers jersey, so this will give her a great chance to show off her Panther pride! GO GIANTS! Just remember, you are not allowed to tell her!

Well time to get ready for my admit. I hope you are all great and thanks again for keeping up with us through our blog. We don't have internet at our new place, so not sure when we will get new pictures up, but will try. We love and miss you all. Keep in touch.
In His peace,
Love Abby and Michael.
p.s. please pray for my grandma and grandpa! thanks!

Vacation here we come...

Just wanted to write a quick message to let everyone know that Abby and I are heading to North Carolina on thursday. We are flying into Charlotte for Abby's eye appointment on friday, then heading to her families yearly beach vacation at Holden Beach. We will be there saturday through saturday then hoping to make it to Raleigh to visit my mom, brother and friends. We fly out that following monday, so our visit will be short but sweet. Abby and I have been working at getting prepared for our San Diego trip, figuring out our move into our new home when we return from vacation, and making plans to head to NY in October. All involve spending money. A problem we can't escape at this time. I hope everyone has a great week. We will have lots to write about when we get back and hopefully many great pictures to share. Much love to all.
In His peace,
Michael and Abby

San Diego here we come...

Just a quick update... Abby and I interviewed for a jobby job in San Diego Monday morning. By Monday afternoon we were offered a position working the night shift at a Kaiser Hospital in San Diego. We are both extremely excited to be heading there for the winter. We start October 20th and work there through the beginning of February. Having said that, we had to sign on for another 2 months in Phoenix putting us here until October 4th. In October we are heading to NYC to watch the NY football Giants take on the Seattle Seahawks on the 5th of October, then we are heading upstate NY for a week. After returning from NY we are going to take a few days to get settled into San Diego. We are not sure where we will be living, but hopefully we will know before long. Don't worry, we are travelling with a queen size air mattress in hopes of having visitors! The housing stipend for San Diego is $1600 a month, so we are hoping to both take the stipend and try to find a place to live for cheaper than that. Craigslist didn't seem to promising as San Diego is very expensive to live. Worse case scenario, one of us takes the free housing and the other takes the stipend. We will be taking a pay cut, but well worth it to live in perfect weather for the winter. Keep checking for updates on our San Diego move. Our night shift is almost up. Promise to write more later!
Much Love to all...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby
p.s. Prayer requests. My grandma, and Mr. Richardson. Thanks!