Fall Colors at Dartmouth

Hey everyone - Brian here for for what I guess is a rare post. My fall travels are coming to a close, so hopefully I can pop in more often. Suddenly it is late October, and the month featured some interesting travels for Kate and myself which will be the subject of future posts. For the time being, I just uploaded some more pictures from our first New Hampshire fall and thought I would add them to the blog. Hope you enjoy them, and that they give you a better sense of where we live.

Hanover at twilight

The trees in full color on the Dartmouth Green

Looking across the Dartmouth Green at an amazing sky near dusk

This is a picture of McNutt Hall, home to the Dartmouth Office of Admissions

Leaf Peepers

Our apartment has been busy lately, with 3 visitors in the past few weeks. Our friends Charlie and Sarah drove in from Boston for a weekend, and the cold did not stop our exploring. We went to Hanover and Dartmouth, of course, but also on a hike to a fire-tower in Vermont. With the fall colors nearing peak, it was gorgeous. There was much cheering for Vanderbilt that night, as they continued their winning season, and we felt as if we were back in Nashville when we whipped out Scrabble. It was so nice to see familiar faces!
As Brian headed to south Texas and Mexico, I enjoyed a visit from my mom and some warm weather. They went to Dartmouth and the fire-tower again, but it seemed so different in the sunshine, and the foliage hit the peak of color. There were fall festivals and tent sales abound, to take advantage of the “leaf peepers” from New York, New Jersey, Canada, and Europe. The small Vermont roads were packed! The visit was filled with hikes, shopping, old movies, and sorting through wedding photos. The small-town feel hit home at the tiny diner in town, only open until 2, where few items on the menu cost more than $4. The weekend was relaxing, but flew by!
Brian made it back safe and sound, and did not miss all the enjoyable weather and colors of Autumn before a trip to Florida. Taking advantage of my sister working at Disney World, we are leaving for a long weekend in Orlando before he starts his work commitments.
I have continued to search for a job, recently interviewing for a part-time position teaching pre-school gymnastics. The pediatric RN positions are trying my patience, dragging on the interviewing processes for weeks. This makes it impossible to make plans for holiday travels!

Get a Job, Nah nah nana , nah nana nana. . .

Kate with her sister and father at Disney

September has gone already! Brian is enjoying home time before his next trip, and I am busy with nursing things. I have been frustrated trying to get my RN and advanced nursing licenses in NH. They require a lot more than TN, and I have never had my advanced license and I am now pushing the time limit. Every requirement has a fee, and I had to go to Concord to get fingerprinted. It gave me a chance to browse the mall, just for a change of pace. It was amazing to see how much more colorful the leaves were at home compared to Concord, just 60 miles away.
I have been interviewing RN jobs in pediatrics. There is not likely that a PNP job will open up in the next few months, which is discouraging. Hopefully one of the RN positions will pan out. The interviewing processes are lengthy.
The weather has been very wet and cool, but we made it to the first Dartmouth home football game. We had free tickets and there was a staff tailgate. I don't know if it was the weather or just a lack of interest that kept the crowd sparse, but it was nothing like Vanderbilt. We only made it through half-time, when NH was crushing Dartmouth. The best part of the game was "the band." It was a small group of students, with mis-matched carnival hats and a ukelele. Humor took priority over musical talent, but there were not enough members to successfully execute either.
In our search for night-life and freinds, we learned:
1) Our Friendly's (grill and ice cream restaurant) has the worst service ever. We almost left before our food arrived!
2) Hanover does not allow more than 2 musicans to perform together without a permit, so most live performances are quiet guitar soloists.
3) Making new freinds it too much like dating. We are excited to have a nice conversation with anyone, but keep looking for our "in" - last names, emails, occiasions to meet again. It is like asking for a phone number to get a date!
4) We also have not met a lot of 24-35 year olds, even though there should be some for the grad school and staff at the hospital or college. I do see a lot of "townies" our age, but we do not share much on common! In our town, there are a lot of smokers, single parents, tatooed people in men's undershirts or ill-fitting bustiers. The older crowd is more friendly than the younger.