8 Months of Enlightenment

8 months ago I started my Clinical Fellowship Year at an Trauma 3 hospital in Amarillo, TX. One thing about acute care - it's the toughest job imaginable. There is just a few months left and I started to think about all of the things I have been exposed to. Some of these things I swore I would never EVER try....but alas I gave in. Some things I had heard of, but never witnessed. Below are a few of my highlights.

1.

My first big girl purchase from my first real world paycheck - Cowboy Boots! Okay I've heard it all before..."You lived in Oklahoma and you didn't own cowboy boots?!?" They're not quite as popular there as they are in Texas. Well that night was the first (and the only) time I wore them. For some reason I just feel like a poser in them! I can't even walk naturally in them. I'll try to give them another joy ride one day.

2.

Finding a home for stray pups is a full time job! And to be honest I completely suck at it. Charlie now is a permanent fixture to my dear mom's hip. She now has 2 stray pups- one from my sister and one from me. Adam just needs to bring one home now.

3. Halloween IS a blast and sometimes having no plans leads to having amazing fun!

4.

The concept of ThunderSnow was completely foreign to me until I came to Amarillo. It is basically a Thunderstorm with snow instead of rain. It's crazy believe me! And actually kind of creepy but I love it. I always thought Oklahoma had crazy unpredictable weather and Amarillo totally trumped it. It was 60 degrees yesterday and this morning I woke up to this...

5.

Friends can make the most horrible weekend into the most amazing Monday! Stephanie is truly God's gift to me throughout these past 8 months. She has taught me so much about being a good friend. She is wonderful. If you're lucky, you'll get to be her friend too.

6.

No Christmas break really sucks. Missing Christmas celebrations with your family really sucks. Having to go home right after Christmas really sucks. Decorating the apt. for only your dog to see really sucks. Basically I wont be repeating this next year. Family is what makes Christmas special...not the decorations, or gifts, or the music (even though I did enjoy my Rat Pack music mix). This will not be happening again.

7.

Amarillo's Skies are absolutely breath taking! I can't even express how beautiful they are. Every morning and every night you get to see God's beautiful designs.

8.

Tumbleweeds ARE real! Honestly I thought Fievel Goes West made them up. Yeah there are lots of them. And I've been told (however, not witnessed) that they can be as big as cars! This also bring me to point 8.5 ...the WIND here is completely nuts. Seriously I thought I was going to lose Ruby a few times. Forget doing your hair....ever. Or wearing lip gloss. Or looking half way decent after coming in from outside. I went outside with my hair wet once and 3 minutes later I came back inside looking like Einstein. Yeah I couldn't pull that off.

9.

It's freakin cold here. Last week actually trumped this. It was -1 with a wind chill of -24. Who knew it could possibly get that cold in Texas?!? I was not informed about this. I now laugh at the fact that I thought I could withstand Chicago winters. Riiiiiiight.

10.

I, Ashley Holden, went to a.....wait for it.....wait for it....COUNTRY CONCERT! I can hear the gasp from here. And as much as it hurts me to admit this, but it wasn't THAT bad. We boogied. We people watched. We laughed. We were stalked by creepy old women. It was a blast. Now don't get carried away, I won't be tuning my radio to a country station anytime soon....or ever. BUT I have a small little confession that only Santa and me know. I might have asked for a very somewhat embarrassing CD to be placed in my stocking. No not Miley Cyrus. Gah what kind of girl do you think I am?!? I asked for the, geez I don't even want to admit this, the Taylor Swift CD. And I listen to it...a lot. Yeah I don't feel any better getting that off my chest.

11.

Doodling is the ultimate stress reliever for me. I might have tendonitis now and can't feel 3 of the fingers on my right hand, but I'm stress free!

12.

A little brother's heartbreak hurts real real bad. You hurt in your core just like he does. I never realized how much you can hurt for someone else. I realized my #1 love language is giving gifts. It seemed to work. And yes, those are The Flash underwear. Don't be jealous....have your heart broken and I'll buy you some too!

I have really learned SO much just in a few short months. I've learned a lot about myself as well. I would never take back this experience. I've met beyond wonderful people and I have learned more about my profession than I thought was possible. I could never thank my co-workers, friends, and most of all my family for getting me through this. It's been tough, but I know this was God's plan and he always gave me that light at the end of the tunnel that I needed. Now I'm just ready for him to fill me in on where I'm heading next!