ShutterbugRN Travels

The Skyline Trail

I want to talk about my favorite trail so far here in Washington, the Skyline Trail! The Skyline Trail is a 6 mile, moderately rated (on the AllTrails app) trail on the Paradise side of Mount Rainier. It is a loop style trail that starts at the John Muir quote stairs behind the visitor center. The elevation gain is about 1800 feet. Cody and I hiked this trail on July 27th (so long ago!!), and we absolutely loved it. We took the trail clockwise.

The last time we attempted this trail, it was completely covered in snow. We didn’t get very far, and you couldn’t even see the steps under all the snow!

Hold on a sec while I climb the Mountain

It was a gorgeous, clear day and we were able to see Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens in the distance at Panorama Point. We had a small snack once we got there, then continued on.

We brought our microspikes with us, because we had read that there was some snow on the trail and I didn’t want to be caught flat on my butt on an uphill. We only had to use the spikes one time, and only for a short time, but I felt so much more confident when I was wearing them on the steep, slick uphill. Also, huge shoutout to trekking poles for making my life so much easier. Seriously. I haven’t sung the praises of trekking poles yet on this blog, but they’re A M A Z I N G. In my last post about Rainier, I complained about my poor, old lady knees. With trekking poles, there is so much less pressure on them. Mine are from Black Diamond, they’re solid, they’re comfy, and I trust them, which is the most important thing.

But back to the hiking, though! It was an absolutely gorgeous day. We got to hike on the snow, which is fun and difficult. I got to glissade down the glacier, which is basically sliding on the snow. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend it. 😀 We stopped for a break at a stream and refilled our water bottles. Bring lots of water, or a water filtration system on this hike. You’ll need it.

This bridge is fine. It’s fine. It’s not scary at all.

As far as people on the trail, there really weren’t that many once we got past Panorama Point. The people we did see, however, were good about keeping their distance as much as they could, and pulling their mask or buff over their face. The amount of people increased again as we got closer to the end, because of Myrtle Falls.

This trail was amazing. I got to hike above the tree line for the first time, there were gorgeous wildflowers and waterfalls, and the views were fantastic. This trail was a long time coming and it was everything I wanted it to be! Add this hike to your list if you come out to Washington in the summer!

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Cheers, friends! 🙂

If you’re interested in trekking poles or microspikes, these are the ones that I bought!

https://www.rei.com/product/147514/black-diamond-trail-ergo-cork-trekking-poles-pair?CAWELAID=120217890006145700

https://www.amazon.com/Kahtoola-MICROspikes-Footwear-Traction-2015/dp/B00RXXKM50/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=katoolah+micro+spikes&qid=1601077358&sr=8-5

I Was on a Boat

Hey, y’all! It’s been over a month!? WOW! So much has happened. I’m gonna backtrack a little and talk about whale watching in Anacortes and the 4th of July for this one! I’ve got some fun firework pics I want to share!

One of the other travelers, Erin, organized a trip to Seattle and Anacortes for four of us to go whale watching! We met up in Tacoma and drove to Seattle first, to explore and get some breakfast at the Market. We ended up going into a TON of stores and eating so much good food!

A photo tour of the Seattle Public Market, plus a little extra

After we finished up in Seattle, we drove to Anacortes, which was a bit of a drive. Lots of good music and great conversation. We had some time to kill before our expedition, so we spent most of it at the Farmer’s Market, looking around and getting ice cream. We then walked a little ways to the docks and admired the yachts we’ll all probably never have enough money to buy (but we can dream!!).

We waited a little bit before we were allowed to board the ship, soaking in the sunshine and hoping we would see some whales. In Covid fashion, all the passengers were required to wear masks, unless we were eating and drinking, of course.

The trip was super fun, but really cold! I was glad I had a bunch of layers. We all spent more time in the boat than we did on the deck, I think. We saw a lot of the Sound, 61 nautical miles the captain said. We were in the general area of Orcas Island. They tried really hard to find us a whale, but we were out of luck that day. We spent about 4 hours on the boat in total. We did see sea lions, porpoises, deer, a few bald eagles, a bunch of ducks, and a jellyfish.

The company we went with was Blackfish Tours. Since we didn’t see any whales, we got vouchers for a free trip because they guarantee that you will see whales on your tour! Maybe I’ll get to use it before I leave. 🙂

When we were off the boat and warmed back up, the four us went back to the cute Anacortes downtown and ate dinner at a little restaurant called Adrift.

Independence Day was pretty chill. We listened to fireworks all day. One of the cool things about living here has been that we have seen and heard fireworks pretty much every day since June 19th, when Pyros R Us opened. I guess if you’re not a fan of fireworks, it isn’t fun, but they don’t bother me, so it was exciting whenever a big one went off. The 4th was no exception. Cody and I went to Muckleshoot Casino and went to the top of the parking garage to watch people blow off fireworks. We were there for a couple hours, taking pictures and reveling in the freedom show that surrounded us.

I hope y’all had a great 4th of July and enjoyed reading a backlog of adventures! I’ll be posting again soon! In the meantime stay happy, stay healthy, and be awesome!

Homes Away From Home

Hey, friends! I’m doing something a little different today, and giving you some insight into one of the aspects of travel nursing: Housing!

First off, yes, I get a housing stipend! How much the housing stipend is depends on the area I’m in. For example, my housing stipend for this assignment in Puyallup, WA is more than my housing stipend was for my assignment in Salisbury, NC, because cost of living is higher here than in NC.

Obviously where you’re living during an assignment is super important, especially if you have to take call. I have found that hospitals require you to be within 20-30 minutes of the hospital if you are taking call, which can be tricky if you don’t know someone in the area, or have to take housing farther away. I have been lucky in that the places I’ve stayed have been within 30 minutes from the hospital, and also the hospital I’m working at right now doesn’t have travelers take call unless they want to (whoohoo!!).

I’ve done a couple types of housing. With my first assignment, I went ahead and went through a third party, hired through the agency. The person I worked with found a couple places that looked nice, and were within my budget and needs (i.e. one bedroom, one bathroom, good location, no pets). Every week, a certain amount of money was taken out of my paycheck to pay the monthly rent, utilities, and furniture rental on the apartment, and the rest came back to me. I used some of what was left over to pay for cable and internet, and the rest went into my savings or fun money.

The advantage of doing it this way is that there was basically no effort from me to find a place. I handed the reigns to someone and said, here you go, find me something good. I also didn’t have to find furniture, because they found a furniture rental place and included that in my weekly take-out.

The disadvantages, were that I had to bring ALL my own stuff. Kitchen supplies, sheets, trash cans, shower curtains, etc, was all on me. That meant that my car was STUFFED to the brim with, well, stuff. That also meant that when I left, I had to give some things away that didn’t fit in my car. Oops.

With this second assignment, I decided to get an AirBNB. I did the leg work, I paid the down payment, and everything has been on me. I’ve heard a lot of things about scammers on Facebook, AirBNB, and Furnished Finders (which is another app for travelers to use for long term rentals), but I have never experienced a scammer first-hand (knock on wood). Honestly, it was kind of scary pushing the button to pay for the AirBNB because I didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into. Pictures can be from anywhere.

Fortunately, I lucked out. My hosts are incredible (they brought me kale and lettuce today, and have let me pick delightful rainier cherries off the tree out front), and they’re knowledgeable about the area. The only downside is that we can’t cook bacon in the house, because I don’t think our host likes the smell, and we have to take our shoes off at the bottom of the stairs, because germs.

The advantages of getting an AirBNB over other types of housing is that they’re furnished, they usually have basic kitchen amenities, and you immediately have someone to contact if things go wrong, or if you need advice on places to eat and things to do. I didn’t have to pack a kitchen with me, which meant a couple less boxes of stuff. I also didn’t need to bring towels or sheets. It’s completely furnished. There is internet.

The disadvantages of AirBNBs are that they seem easy to scam, so you have to be careful. In all things, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. If you are a traveler, you might not know the area well, so you may end up in a not so good part of town–do your research.

All in all, I’ve had two great experiences with my assignments. I’m leaning toward AirBNBing more, because I like that they have mostly everything I need, and I don’t have to pack as much.

I hope you enjoyed this different kind of segment. I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I do for housing, so I figured I’d answer it this way!

Enjoy your Independence Day weekends! Be safe around the fireworks, and around each other, and have fun!

Mount Rainier National Park

Last weekend was Father’s Day! Due to flight changes, I was unable to fly home to visit my family, which was disappointing because I haven’t seen my brother, sister-in-law, or niece since before I went to North Carolina. We made the best of the situation by video chatting for awhile on Saturday, though! Hopefully when I come back home, we can all get together and celebrate for real.

After the chat, Cody and I tried a Vietnamese restaurant in Federal Way, called Ox Pho. I had been wanting to get pho since my first week here, but hadn’t done it yet. It was delicious. I got the seafood pho, which had shrimp, octopus, and imitation crab in it. Also, loaded it with bean sprouts, basil, and jalapenos, because that is how you pho.

Sunday, we drove to Mount Rainier National Park! We took the long way to the Paradise side, and I was nervous because it rained off and on the whole way. When we got there, it had pretty much stopped raining. We drove all the way up to the Paradise Ranger Station, and discovered that the path was 100% covered in snow. Neither of us had micro spikes, or proper snow baskets for trekking poles (I don’t even own trekking poles. 😂). So we decided to go lower and find a different path. On our way back down, we saw a black bear! So cool!

We drove down to Narada Falls and hiked from the parking lot to the Falls, then chose to hike to Reflection Lakes. What an adventure. The path started off pretty easy. There were some muddy parts, some snowy patches, but it was pretty much clear. Until we got into the valley part of the hike. We completely lost the trail in the evergreens and deep snow, and discovered a trail buddy named Ann who was hiking in the Park for the first time like us. We all hiked around in the snow trying to find the trail without much luck. I wasn’t able to pull up All Trails to download the map, because there is zero service up there. We were about to give up and turn around, but Cody pulled up Maps and we studied it for a bit, noticing that the trail ran pretty much parallel to the road. We climbed up to the road and followed it to the lake, where we were met with a stunning view of the frozen Reflection Lakes. Even though we couldn’t see the Mountain, it was still breathtaking.

We hung out at Reflection Lakes for a little bit, taking some pictures, and then decided to head back. The way back was pretty much all downhill…my poor knees! But we powered through and made it back just fine. At that point, it was late afternoon and we had a two hour drive, so we decided to head back.

We stopped at the gift shop on our way out, naturally, and picked up some things. As it is Covid season, the gift shop was only allowing a few people in it at a time. We sat outside and rested for awhile, waiting for our turn. It was nice to sit for a little bit. The gift shop had a good variety of things, including some really cool mugs, neat stickers, and tee shirts. We headed back home after that, stopping for gas on the way in Elbe Washington. The Mt. Rainier Railroad Dining Company is there, and you can eat in a rail car, which is cool! We didn’t end up doing that, but I got some pictures!

There are so many trails in the National Park, and we’ll be going back! We have to hike the Skyline Trail still! Can’t wait to go back!

Well, that is it for this week, folks! Hope y’all are having an excellent week, and until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay awesome!

Doughnuts, Coffee, and CHOP

Hey, friends! Hope you all had a great weekend, and Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there reading this weekend, especially my dad who is hands down the BEST dad in the world!!

Let’s talk about last weekend!

***CONTENT WARNING: Some of the following pictures contain profanity. Due to the events happening in America, I decided to post them anyway. I’m here to document and share.***

Cody and I decided that Saturday would be perfect for doughnuts! So, we made our way to Portland to visit somewhere on both of our bucket lists…Voodoo Doughnuts! Let me tell you, friends, it did NOT disappoint. We drove two and a half hours to the original location in Old Town. We ended up getting the Voodoo Dozen, which is a baker’s dozen of the bakery’s most popular doughnuts, plus the Memphis Mafia, per Cody’s request. My personal favorite was the Voodoo Doll, which was the one I tried first. The doughnut itself was delicious and light, and the filling was sweet and smooth.

Of course we decided we also needed coffee, so we walked down the street to Stumptown Coffee Roasters and got a couple cups of coffee and a bag of fresh ground coffee for home.

Our next stop was downtown Portland, to check out the situation down there. The following photos are from the courthouse. Apologies for profanity, but this is America right now.

After we were done in Portland, we decided to go Olympia for supper, because we had heard we could actually sit down and have a meal! We did that at Fish Tale Ales, before heading to the Washington State Capitol Building. We had just missed some kind of rally, but there was a group sitting on the steps playing what sounded like traditional Native American music.

On Sunday, we went to Seattle. Our plan was to get pasta and Starbucks at the Market, then head to the CHOP to see what was really going on there. Starbucks was amazing, and I was in awe the entire time we were in the teeny little shop. If you are a Starbucks junkie like me, I highly recommend it, even if you have to wait outside for awhile. Photo credit to Cody for most of the photos from Starbucks.

Next stop was the Capitol Hill Occupied (or Organized) Protest Zone (previously CHAZ). I think the photos do it justice. When we were there, there were no guns, there were plenty of masks, and we felt safe the whole time. We even bought a couple hot dogs from one of the street vendors there.

Alright, y’all, that’s about enough for this time. Next week I’ll be talking about this weekend’s adventure, which was a trip to the ever lovely Mount Rainier. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, and do something nice for yourself this week!

A Little Bit of Walking

I’m a liiiittle behind in posting some of my adventures over the last couple weeks, but I think with everything that’s been going on, it’s forgivable.

I think. 😀

So, I’m gonna do a longer post with some quick little recaps and a bunch of pictures of some of the stuff I’ve been doing!

The first week of work was pretty chill. It was orientation. I drove to Tacoma for a few days, got a quick reminder course in how to use Epic (which is legitimately my favorite charting system so far), and was officially introduced to some of the people I will be working with! My afternoons were free, so Cody and I took a couple days to get used to our surroundings, and hike a bit.

The first hike we did was the Cal Magnusson Trail, an up-and-back up a steep hill in Enumclaw. I have to say, I was a little winded at the end there. It was my first time working out in awhile. Most of the trail was uphill, but it was beautiful. Lots of green, lots of moss, and a couple decent views. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a great view at the top, but there are a couple log benches to rest at for awhile. The trail was a little crowded, which tell me that it is more crowded in times when trails are more open.

The next day was incredibly beautiful and the mountain was out!! Mt. Rainier is basically in my backyard. If the weather is nice, I can see a little sliver of it from the balcony. After getting out of work early, we took a drive and found some gorgeous views.

Mt. Rainier was originally called “Tacoma” or “Tahoma” by the Native American tribes.

On May 30th, we took a drive to Seattle. I was excited to go to the Public Market, maybe grab a coffee from Starbucks, and hopefully get some fresh local food! Unfortunately, Starbucks was closed, but we would go another day! We did do some walking around the Market, because some of the booths were open. We bought some pasta, and then decided we needed some fruit. As we were checking out, the fruit vendors were packing up to prepare for what was going on downtown. A few blocks away, a riot was breaking out. As we left the fruit vendor, we saw some black smoke rising into the sky and decided to check it out, from a safe distance. The Black Lives Matter riots were in full force by this time. We were safe, we were observing, but we were experiencing it. It was kind of unreal.

On Sunday, we decided another hike was in order. We did the Fenceline Trail, a trail that combines four different trails (River, Katie’s (!!) West Pond, and Sewer Line Trail) for a 3.1 mile hike near Green River Community College in Auburn, WA. It was muddy, wet, and super fun! My boots are still covered in mud, and I love it.

The next weekend, we drove to Hansville, WA to check out a lighthouse. Lighthouses are one of my favorite things. I think they are romantic. They are the silent guardians of the sea, watching and protecting. This particular lighthouse was called Point No Point, named by Charles Wilkes because the point it is on looks less like a promontory from close up than it does from far away. It is the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound. It was built in 1879 and completed in 1880. The keeper’s quarters is now the national headquarters of the United States Lighthouse Society, and you can also stay there for vacation!

There was a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Auburn on our way out of town.

So, those have been my adventures over the last couple weeks! Once I have the photos edited from this weekend’s adventures, I will post those. I am planning to be on more of a weekly posting schedule as the weeks go by, so keep an eye out for more posts.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and take it easy.

Guess Who’s Back?!

(Back again).

It’s me! Your friendly, neighborhood travel nurse! It’s been over two months, and I’m back at it again with the blue scrubs!

In March, I lost my first ever travel assignment due to Covid-19. It was super discouraging. I took a break, intending to only be off for about a month, and as it turned out, OR travelers were not needed. Operating rooms across the country were not running as normal, because most elective cases had been cancelled. As soon as jobs started opening up again, my amazing recruiter had me applying for those she thought wouldn’t cancel before they started. Eventually something came through, and I accepted a position in Puyallup, Washington, which is located about 45 minutes south of Seattle. For the next few weeks, I researched the location, eventually packing my stuff for the drive across the country.

Cody and I left Goshen on March 20th at around 1000 AM. Cody had already driven a few hours from Bloomington. What a trooper!

The entire drive took over thirty-three hours and three-and-a-half days, with a few stops at some local places in different states. We drove 2,197 miles. I drove through 8 states, 6 of which I had never been to. I had one minor incident, in which my car was clipped by a truck in a gas station parking lot, resulting in an annoying scratch. I tried some local places in different states. I slept in three separate Super 8’s (the first one was the best). My joy at driving 80 mph legally in Montana was only defeated by the fact that my mpgs dropped from 35 to 29. I found the center of the universe. I was once again awe-struck by the incredible beauty of the mountains and big, open, bright blue sky.

I am only here for 8 weeks, and I am incredibly excited to hike and explore the surrounding cities. I can’t wait to get to know my coworkers and make some new friends!

“Geese In Flight” on the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota

Carolina Small Batch Beer Festival!!!

We are going back in time a little bit with this post!! On March 7th, a group of friends and I attended the Carolina Small Batch Beer Festival held at Hi-Wire Brewing Big Top in Asheville. There were over 20 breweries there offering tastes of their beers. With our tickets, we got tokens to try two beers, and a complimentary glass, which was really cool! We, of course, bought more tokens for more beers, because there were so many to try!

This was the first I tried, a saison with lemongrass and rosewater.

The event drew a pretty decent crowd, even though it was cold. There was live music throughout the day and food trucks to keep us full. I ended up trying four beers. The first was the Saison, pictured above, from Fullsteam Brewery located in Durham, NC. The second was Birdsong Brewing Company’s Purple Rain Sour Ale with Blueberries and Strawberries; refreshing and not too overpoweringly sour. The third was the Belgian Golden Strong from Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, NC. And the fourth was Zillicoah’s Pecan Smoked Lager; an interesting combination of sweet and smoky. I wanted a brisket to go along with it. Haha!

After getting our fill of beer, we decided we were hungry and went to White Labs Kitchen and Tap for some food. White Labs is a yeast and fermentation company. Foods have a fermented twist, offering menu items with their own yeast, and fermented dough and sauces. I had a burger made with fermented dough, and fries. The burger was perfect, and the fermented bun was a cool combination of sweet and sour. Also, they brought us water in a beaker, so what’s not to love?

After dinner we made an Ingles stop so Reanna could get the fixins for her marry-me pasta, then headed up the mountain. Cody, Todd, and I decided to take a little sunset hike before dinner, and boy, was it worth it.

It is amazing to me how quickly the sun sets up there, and how different the scenery can look from one minute to the next. It was a beautiful sunset. After the hike we headed back to the house and spent the evening playing card games and drinking beer from Jaime and Todd’s massive collection. And of course, eating Reanna’s pasta, which was everything I had hoped it would be. You’ve got a gift, girl.

Sunday morning, we woke up and had breakfast before going into Pisgah National Forest to chase some waterfalls. Jaime, Todd, Cody, and I loaded into the car and headed down the mountain. I think we ended up visiting 7 waterfalls. They were mostly a short hike from the road with drives in between, but super fun hikes on a beautiful day!

The cool and scary thing about hiking around waterfalls, and in the mountains in early March, is that there is still ice! All over the place. In the shade. On rocks you have to climb over! So during one of the hikes, at the top of the waterfall, after climbing over some big rocks with some ice on them, we decided the easiest way to the bottom was getting across the stream to the other bank. There was a jump from the middle of the stream to the bank. At the top of the waterfall. With rocks at the bottom. And ice, guys. Did I mention there was ice? So there I was, standing in the middle of a stream with a leap of faith in front of me leading to an easy path, or a difficult climb down a waterfall behind me. I spent awhile gearing myself up, imagining that if I didn’t make it, I would twist my ankle and crack my head open on a rock. Jaime did it first and just made it! Finally, I made the leap, I landed, I fell forward into the rock I was supposed to fall forward into, dry and safe, and I got cheered on! I climbed up the rock onto the path and took the easy way down, feeling on top of the world.

Sometimes you have to take a scary leap of faith to get on the path you’re supposed to be on.

And isn’t that why I did this anyway?? 🙂

Until next time, cheers! And Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all!

Dont. Panic.

I know it’s easy to do. You scroll through Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and all you see is Coronavirus. Numbers are rising. Supplies are dwindling. Stores are closing and changing the way they serve the public. It’s all you see on the news. It’s a scary time, folks.

The world is inconvenient right now. But it’s necessary.

As a nurse, it’s getting real. I wasn’t really worried about all this until this week. But I’m at work. I’m helping those that are sick. That is what I do, so I keep doing it, even though I’m scared of what the future looks like.

Stay informed.

If you feel sick, stay home.

Wash your hands.

Be smart about where you go.

Care for yourself, check in on your friends and loved ones.

And most importantly, for myself and for you all, don’t panic.

Week 7

Alright, y’all. I’m going into week 7 down here in Salisbury! I’m on my first ever travel assignment and honestly, I’m learning a lot. It’s a special kind of job where you can visit cool places, meet new people, and see how different ORs work. I’m not going to get into specifics about how this OR works, but I am going to share 7 things that I’ve learned as I enter into week 7!

1: I am a guest in someone else’s house.

If there is anything I’ve learned in this first assignment, it is that I am, first and foremost, a guest. I am not a permanent staff member, and everyone that works in the OR is very aware of that fact. When you go into someone else’s house, what do you do? You follow their house rules! The most important thing to do is understand policy, and do things how they do it there, as long as you are still keeping your patient safe. Patient safety is #1.

2: Preference cards will save your day!

READ YOUR SURGEON’S PREFERENCE CARD!!! The preference card has most everything you need to know to do a case successfully, even if you have never done it before. Preference cards and pick lists contain items needed for cases, equipment you need, and tips and tricks for how the surgeon likes things in the room. If the preference card says the surgeon wants the cautery pedal on the right, you put that cautery on the right! A lot of mistakes can be avoided by reading the preference card before you start a case.

3: Rely on your charge nurse and ask for help if you need it.

As a traveler, your charge nurse is your resource person. Staff nurses are great, don’t get me wrong, but they all have cases to get ready for, too! Any charge nurse worth her sodium chloride is going to be willing and able to help you out, whether that is with surgeon preferences or equipment you haven’t seen before.

Another big thing is to realize when you are in over your head, preferably before you’re drowning, and ask for help. There is absolutely no shame in asking for help.

4: There is no such thing as a stupid question!!

As a follow-up to #3, there is no such thing as a stupid question! When you go into a new place, there are TONS of questions to ask. Where’s the lab? Where is the supply room? Where do I get my instruments? Where is the pooping bathroom? If you don’t ask questions, how are you going to know how to do your job?!

5: It is difficult to learn where everything goes.

The scariest thing about starting this adventure, for me, was the idea of relearning where everything goes in the new OR I’m working in. As a circulator, knowing where supplies is is super important. Surgeon needs a new burr? They want it ASAP, because without it, they can’t do any work. Time is key, and the longer you spend looking for things, the longer you’re in a case. Try your best to learn where everything goes, but also know that at the end of you’re assignment, you’re probably not going to know where every supply goes in the supply room.

6: Go to work outings and participate in pitch-ins!

For one, it’s fun!! My go-to for pitch-ins is puppy chow. Super easy, low effort, and everybody loves peanut butter and chocolate! For another, going out with your coworkers helps build relationships. Just because you’re a traveler, doesn’t mean you’re not making new friends. One of the reasons I’m doing this is to meet people and make friends all over the country!

7. Kill ’em with kindness (even if they’re not kind back).

Be kind, be friendly, and do your best. Even if people are pissed off at you. That’s all you can do.

Alright, y’all! Thanks for reading!! I hope you learned some things and gained some insight into what I have learned in my first assignment!

Cover photo credit goes to Cody Feller!