a cast larger than the first....this just keeps getting better and better....my ticket to vegas is about to be null and void because my ticket was to fly out of little rock on southwest and i can't get there or nashville (the closest sw city). soooo..i think i'm going to have to buy another, more expensive ticket......it's so frustrating to have to rely on other people for rides to places...hell, even to get dressed...it was good to see my family though...i miss them

Sooooo.....Maybe the snowboarding wasn't my thing, since I broke, not one bone, but two bones in my arm. I wound up in the emergency room at 11:00 pm the first night. Let me tell you about having your hand set-IT HURTS! I didn't cry until he had to uncross the bones in my wrist. And then the flood gates opened. Still in some pain but hopefully will be better soon. I'll be out of work for about 6 weeks but hopefully will still be in Little Rock. I should hear from my company sometime this week regarding placement.

Packing really stinks(mom's word not mine) when you have two hands, but try packing with one hand. I don't know what I would have done without Kristie (the arm wrestling queen-pictures will come later). She did my hair(in a way I didn't think could be done), washed my clothes, and packed my car. I also couldn't have done it without my step dad getting my brother a plane ticket on such short notice (the next day) and my brother hauling all my crap through three states. What a great and gorgeous family (there she goes again-trying to edit).

So for now, I'm sitting on my mom's couch while I dictate and she types.(And tries to edit) I'll be here at least a couple more weeks and will be appearing in Las Vegas for my birthday January 17 (presents accepted). hee hee...So give me a call if you get bored...I'll be here!

I go to the doctor on Wednesday to get a permenant cast. Hopefully he'll tell me everything looks good and I won't need surgery. I will be in a cast for about 5 more weeks...That's it for now....Hopefully I'll have pictures up soon. Have to figure out how to get pics from my computer (without internet @ mom's house) to my mom's computer (with internet--wireless...which i don't have--next project)...okay, that's it.

oh, but i was THE cutest one up there with my outfit....even Josh said so...hah!
ciao,
Ava Giselle B
aka Amber Nicole

Snowboarding--this is my latest undertaking...well, it will be as of this coming weekend...I can already see the bruises and the faceplanting...the snow and the hot tub....and the pictures indicting me of all my clumsiness...(probably on my butt more than my feet!) I am really excited about the trip..we are heading up to Penn. on Sat morning pretty early and I'll take about a one hour lesson (while my friends look on and laugh hysterically)and then learn how to get on and off the lift...now that in itself scares me a little. But, I can say--at least my outfit will match and I will look cute--hah...

The weather up here is getting pretty cold...21 degrees at the moment...no snow (on the way to work it was raining...so I am sure I'll be driving on some ice tomorrow morning). I have to work a few night shifts before I come home for Christmas, but only four...I am going to drive home the day after Christmas with a carload of stuff...possibly stopping in Knoxville to see some friends...(I don't know if I can drive 14 hours home or not)...anyway...to say the least--if you want to call me the day after Christmas...well, I will have plenty of time to talk! I'll let you guys know how the snowboarding went...and I am sure there will be plenty of pics...


Amber

VEGAS!!!!!! Just kidding....I thought for a second it was going to be vegas, but alas I am heading to the metropolis of Little Rock, AR. Who would have thought when I started all of this, I would wind up in Arkansas??? Truth be told, I am actually really excited about the move...it's close to home...and to Brock Nelson--hah hah (that's for you Casey and Kristie)...I don't know my new address yet, but I will know in the next couple of weeks...I will be traveling the day after Christmas so everyone think about me and pray for my safety...
The weather up here has turned a bit chilly...It snowed 6 inches--Casey got snowed in to DC and we went and played in the snow...and went into Old Town after that...we had a really fun night singing in the Irish Pub around the corner...the guy tried to sing Irish Johnny Cash....Oh my! Stick with the alligator song and "Alice"....

Speaking of Johnny Cash--"Walk the Line" is a great movie...especially if you are from the south...a lot of it was filmed in Memphis--but the buildings that were next to each other in the movie aren't really together in downtown...funny how they can do that in movies....Joaquin Phoenix was phenomenal! He should definitely win an Oscar for this role...if you watch old Johnny Cash and Joaquin--he has his moves, his lip curl, and the way he hangs his head when he sings and plays...and Reese Witherspoon is so fricken cute in this movie--June Carter was no where near as beautiful as she was portrayed! They both did a great job! They both would have been proud...
So Casey (my best friend) was in town this past week...there are so many stories to tell....but I have just gotten home from work....so I will save those for later...I promise it won't take me so long to update next time!

Oh, everyone needs to send me their Christmas list because of course I have waited until the last minute!

Cheers,
~Amber aka..Ava Giselle Beadreaux

Thanksgiving is this week! I am not going home, which saddens me so much...I am, however, cooking thanksgiving dinner with my "step-godparents"....and one of my very best friends in the world (Sharlie)...Brian Corbett is coming into town (from Miami--a friend of mine from Atlanta who moved to Miami--his brother is here in DC...) and I will get to spend time with him...

Thanksgiving should be interesting...we will be having Lynn/Dianne (step-god-parents), two friends of theirs (who's son I dated briefly when I first moved here--haven't talked to him in a month!), Sharlie and her husband, Courtney (Lynne and Dianne's daughter from Houston), Sharlie's sister, and little ole' me....I am helping with the cooking -- Lynne and I talk Southern Living recipes all the time! Hah...so this is my one chance to prove my cooking skills....

Country is going to the big city--that's right folks...NEW YORK CITY...here I come! About five of us are heading up to NYC on Friday for a little shopping and Broadway....(I should have some interesting stories after this week!) So head up your Christmas lists and send them to me by Friday!

As far as where the wind is taking me next, I thought it was going to be Phoenix--but I got a call from my recruiter and she has an awesome job opportunity in New Hampshire and Seattle also....soooooo....I have a pretty big decision to make within the next week...I don't know what I am going to do...It is really hard to try and decide where you are going to live for the next three months....I do like DC so much more than I did originally, but the hospital is so scary -- I don't know if I can work there for three more months...we'll see...

I would post more pics, but I need to charge the batteries for my camera...so when I get that done--you will have more pics....(Mom, I'll send you the ones from your visit too!) I am excited about this week--I have so much to be thankful for, but that is for another post...off to play in the cold weather!

Ciao,
~Amber

"BABY BABY BABY"....wow, that is what I hear my 15 year old brother say to his girlfriend on the phone....now, for those of you who don't have a younger brother--I will try and describe the cringe that swept up and down my spine. I wouldn't say we were close by any stretch of the imagination, but to hear him talking to a girl like that was definitely a wake up call for me--he's not that annoying little boy anymore...he's growing up to become such a great guy (hopefully he won't be jaded by girls very soon)...My family is in town and to see them is like Godiva chocolate--soooo goood ( in my best Adam Sandler voice)....all the monuments in one day--whew...but, I am going to sleep tonight after being with my momma all day! I am getting my hair did tomorrow morning--pictures will follow...I promise! BABY

I woke up today and it was so beautiful, but I was so melancholy....I have had a hard time meeting people here in DC. It is definitely true what they say about the north!!! (For those of you who don't think DC is the north, you obviously have never lived in the south!) People up here are nice once you get to know them, but they don't go out of their way to make friends. They will run over you in their car, cuss you out for driving like a normal person (and I've been driving in Atlanta for the past three years), and then flip you off just for good measure. The parking is soooo bad around here...I remember getting so frustrated in Atlanta because everywhere was valet parkingl. I get to place up here and am offended they don't have valet parking! The paradox of it all!

The weather has been absolutely breathtaking! The sunshine on my skin, the wind through my hair, and the cool air has been more amazing than words will ever be able to describe. The leaves are starting to change now and the view of the city is becoming more and more pituresque. I spent most of the day by myself today...I started the day by reading a little with my doors open..then went to see Elizabethtown (which I thought was great) and then had one of those moments where you are driving but don't really know where you are going...I wound up at the capitol...It wasn't like it was a premeditated trip...there I was just sitting at a redlight and it was right in front of me!
So magestic in its grace and beauty....it's huge for those of you who have never been. There were people just sitting out and enjoying the day talking to their friends and chilling outside of the capitol like it was their front yard! From the steps you look behind you and you see the national mall...it's absolutely humbling! All the history classes you have ever taken could never prepare you for the grandeur and majesty of it all....thinking about George Washington and all of the great men who have walked exactly where you are standing at that moment! Ok so blah blah...I'm done with my patriotic diatribe...

So, I'll just come out and say it-- I miss Atlanta...I miss my friends and the familiar places...I miss having fifty people I could call on a saturday night and go anywhere I want and have someone to hang out with. I miss the hot men and the gorgeous women--I miss my gym with all the eye candy it possessed...I have met only a handful of people here and they are pretty much all the same. They are more concerned with how many people they are dating than the quality of the people they are dating. Watching the movie today, I laughed out loud at so many things other people turned around at me for...and I realized half way through the movie -- the reason they didn't laugh is because they didn't understand...the funniest part of the movie was because I "knew" those people....going back to small town Mississippi! The great-uncle you don't remember, but you pretend to as he is pinching your cheeks....the song "Freebird"...everyone always yells that anytime any live band is playing! I miss the south, but I am not giving up just yet! My mamaw (grandmother for those of you who don't know what a mamaw is) called me today and just checked in on me --she asked me about cute "nawthawn" boys...I told her I hadn't met any! She laughed and told me I should move back closer to home! Anything to get me closer to home--just like my mom...I miss you too! I'll be home soon!

The land of cherry blossoms and politics has been a whirlwind so far...the Smithsonian, the museum of modern art and design, the national monument, the National Air and Space Museum, old town Alexandria...the list goes on and on...so much to do--I know it has been a while since my last post, but getting here and getting everything set up and working has put me at this point...a cool, breezy Sunday afternoon with my french doors open and the sun shining on my face. It is a beautiful time of year -- the leaves are just now starting to change....and it has been sunny since I have been here.
The hospital I am working at is very different than Atlanta. I definitely know that my love is in cardiology and not general PICU. The people are generally nice...but of course there have been some sour apples...The new cardiac unit has opened and I was down there all last week. I worked four days and I saw things that should have been the simplest tasks turn into monumental upheavals. I always knew the cardiac unit in Atlanta had great nurses, but didn't realize I learned from THE BEST!! I do miss Atlanta, but I am having fun up here. I have had a rough couple of days and I work about ten times as hard as I did (because the unit in Atlanta is so well run), but all in all I have met some great people!

I met a girl from Colorado and her brother the first day of orientation. It's nice they are here because it has given me some people to hang out with...we have had so much fun just hanging out -- playing a lot of pool! The apartments are very nice--they have a "pub" that has a pool table and darts and a couple of other games and tv's...we stop by and fix coffee before we take a hike across the field to the metro for an hour's ride to work.

Let's get this started the right way...

1. Packing sucks!
2. Chocolate and strawberries fix EVERYTHING!
3. Packing still sucks...(yes mom, I said sucks)
4. Moving from a city you like to a city you've never been to is scary...
5. The unknown is always exciting--scary, but exciting...
6. ABC family movies are retarded...especially when Melissa Joan Hart is trying to act in them...
7. Staying home on a Saturday night to pack when your friends keep calling you to go out is crap!
8. Vacuum storage bags really do work...no really, they do...
9. Thank God for the Oxygen network on a Saturday night....hah hah...the chick flick station...
10. I think after watching the MTV music awards 25.6 times I could re-enact R.Kelly's "In the Closet" better than he did!

So if you haven't gathered...I am taking a huge leap of faith and moving from Atlanta, Ga to Washington, DC. I have never been to DC, but have a great job opportunity. I hear that DC has lots to offer a single girl like myself....what, with all the museums and restaurants and social gatherings. I am not so sure about a southern girl who has never felt temperatures below 32 degrees in the north during the winter months....but we southern women adapt--to whatever is thrown at us.

The picture is my new haircut (here you go mom) and I am with my awesome friend Natalie...her little girl has been through soooo much...she was a heart patient of mine who would not be alive today without the constant faith and prayer of her family and friends! I'll put her carepage link up in case anybody wants to see her cute little face! I'll have more pictures of us after friday! I'm having dinner with Natalie and Chris, Chuck and Laura, and Jill and Steve...I'll miss you guys!

I am moving in the next week and a half...i don't know how often I will be able to post -- not that I have any readers anyhow, but it was nice to think they might be out there. =)

oh yeah, 11. Harry Connick Jr. is HOT (watching Hope Floats on the "oxygen network"...I can't believe I am that big of a loser!

Ciao,
~Amber