Hello from... St Paul!

Hi! Since my return to the mainland, my phone conversations have pretty much all started this way:

Trish: Hi!
Caller: Hi! How are you?
Trish: Good. And you?
Caller: Good. Where are you?

And that's where the consistency ends. I have apparently become quite the little gypsy. But, I am happy to say that I have settled down now. Well, for 2 months, that is... I have taken a travel assignment in St. Paul, Minnesota and am already wondering where my next Saint will be, ha ha.

Yes, St. Paul is very different from St. Thomas. It made me laugh that when I announced via text message my arrival to St. Paul, PJ sent me a message back asking what island that is. Don't I wish! Unfortunately, there are no oceans or seas around with beautiful waters, but St. Paul definitely has its charms.

Minnesota license plates proudly proclaim "10,000 lakes." Having only 2 months here doesn't give me much time to verify that claim, so I will simply choose to believe them. Locals have told me that some of these lakes provide beaches, a claim which I am not as happy to blindly accept. I will have to check this out and will report back to you.

St Paul has a lot of trees and is quite green and beautiful this time of year. The weather has been good overall, and I'm happy to be escaping Virginia's summer heat. It's easy to imagine that one visiting St Paul in this season would want to move here, provided, of course, that they are ignorant of the area's notoriously cold winters. One of the city's greatest charms is the friendliness of the people. Locals in restaurants, stores, and the hospital have all been very welcoming.

As most of you know, I came to Minnesota because I am soon to be an aunt for the first time. Yeah!! My niece, Eowyn, is due to be born next month and I am so glad to have the opportunity to be close by. And I'm also so glad that she's not going to be born in the winter! Here's a shout out to Jeremy & Patricia for that. Many thanks. :)

It's hard to believe, but I actually need to be planning my next move already. So, if any of you have any good ideas, please do share!

Will write more later about the hospital and life in St. Paul, and hope to break out the camera soon and snap some pictures. Be well and have a good day!