Anticipation

I'm anxiously awaiting this weekend.  It cannot come fast enough!  I'm off to Lancaster for a weekend of Easter and Family activities :)  The hubby took off this morning for the cabin and I will pick him up on the way.  We have a baptismal celebration on Saturday...a family Easter on Saturday....another Easter Dinner on Sunday and then the long drive back.  Weekends at home are never long enough.  Luckily, I get to head out earlier on Friday than normal.  We won't be getting into Lancaster at 1am like we normally do.  I have a ton of errands to run tomorrow and tonight I'm not that tired (which, I wish I was so I could get sleep and get up early tomorrow!).  I need to study, get the baptism gift, buy a couple wedding shower gifts, go to the post office, buy a new dress (well I don't HAVE to, but of course I WANT to :) ) study some more, buy a book for my cousin, go to class and pack. It will be a busy day off!  Oh yea, and make sure the house is clean (garbage taken out, dishes done, etc.) before I take off for the weekend.  Then Friday morning I get to head to work and then leave from work for Lancaster!  Have I mentioned how excited I am yet???  Maybe I'll try get a few things accomplished tonight...not sure what though....fold laundry?  Anyway, this was kind of a random post, but I am excited and have way too much energy tonight.

Telling Hubby's Parents

We had sooo much fun telling our parents the exciting news!  We saw the hubby's parents last Monday (March 5th).  We bought them the cutest mugs (okay I'm a little biased, but I do think they are adorable!!) from www.tumbleweedpottery.com.  Since they are my hubby's parents, he got to pick out the type of mugs and he chose:

   and  

So they hubby is in med school (in case you completely missed the name of my blog or haven't ever read it before) and he listens to a lot of lectures on CD.  One of the guys he listens to is named Goulian and in his lectures he has told the students that his grandkids call him Poppy.  Memaw comes from the popular sitcom "The Big Bang Theory".  Sheldon calls his grandma Memaw.  I think it's also a Southern Culture type name, but I'm from the North so I really can't say for sure ;)  Anyway, we went to their house for dinner and I had wrapped up the gifts in black paper with green and blue bows. My father in law had to work late so we visited with his mom until he came home.  I don't ever feel like our conversations are forced or awkward, but I wanted so very badly to share our news and instead we were talking about diets.  My MIL is an associate director for a weight loss center in Rochester and she is very excited about their products (as she should be, she's lost a ton of weight!) Anyway, we visited about diets for like 2 hours and the whole time I'm thinking "there's no way I'm going to be able to diet for at least another 7 months....hurry up dad!" When he finally arrived, I barely let him get in the door before I said "Okay, I want you to open these present, right now!"  So they did, and my MIL looked at her coffeemug that said "Memaw" and said something to the effect of "oh that's so cute, sweet, now I have a new mug for my tea...etc".  I don't think she saw the "Grandparent" part ans since we don't commonly call our Grandparents Memaw I don't think it was second nature to her.  So I pointed out the name across the top of the box and she exclaimed "Really?!  Really?!.." and then there were tears and other wonderful words of excitement!  It was so fun!!

Best of 2011

So we are well into 2012 and I finally decided to update my blog.  I was having a hard time coming back because I realized the last two posts were about two very important and special people in my life and I just didn't want to move on without them. I know that probably sounds a little silly (and it kind of is) because I know they are always in my heart and in my memories. I have finally come to terms with this and know I need to move forward and embrace all that is possible in 2012.  But first, I want to reflect on The Best of 2011!!

January - My Birthday Month where the hubby and I took a day trip up the North Shore to Grand Marais, stopping for some cross country skiing and ending the evening eating some amazing pizza at Sven and Ole's

February - I skied my first Prince Haakon in Hayward, WI!  It's part of the American Birkebeiner (more info here ) It's a cross country ski race.  I had so much fun and can't wait to do it again, unfortunately it won't be this year, but hopefully again next year!!

March - The hubby's b-day month!  We spent many hours driving to and from the cities from Duluth to find the perfect place to call home for the next couple years!

April - I started working in the cities a couple days every other week and we threw a surprise anniversary party for my parents in Lancaster! We finished April with the Med School Farewell Banquet-fun night!!!

May - I moved to the cities full time while the hubby was in Duluth - lots of travel back and forth again

June - Trip to Lancaster to celebrate Heritage Days!

July - 4th of July Wknd spent at the cabin!  Official 4th of July we had a BBQ with friends and walked on Summit Ave in St Paul to see the fireworks :)  Looking back, I saw lots of friends in July!! Celebrated weddings and babies!  Twins Game with the Uncle too, lucky girl! I also started my new (and current) job!

August - 12th Street Campout!  A time where my hubby's roomies and all our closest friends from undergrad get together and reminisce! My softball team also won the championship for summer league!

September - Got to see my godson over Labor Day :) Did a TON of canning with a close friend (yay for Xmas Presents completed!) My beautiful sister Sierra was crowned homecoming queen! We celebrated another wonderful couple's nuptials!

October - We celebrated my cousin Lea's wedding :)  Sierra turned 18! We had a great Halloween Party in Bemidji!!

November - My favorite time of the year - Deer Season!  (I'm sticking to highlights, so we won't discuss the sad stuff that happened as well)

December - Christmas, of course! Cookie bakings, presents, family, fun :)

Sayonara 2011 - Bring it on 2012!!

Crazy Busy Week(s)

Hello Again!

It seems as if all I'm writing these days is why I'm gone or apologizing for being away for so long.  It's been so busy!!  I'm still winding down from a week of traveling back home and getting acclimated to my routine again.  I'll try be better tomorrow - but don't get your hopes up ;) In the meantime I will leave you with 5 things I am loving right now:

1) My job at Children's - it's awesome.  I love my coworkers, I love the doctors, I love the patients.  Everything about it makes me happy.  I look foward to going there and can't wait to wake up and go back.

2)  The beautiful fall colors - again, my FAVORITE time of year!  Get out and enjoy it :)

3) My Kindle - I've read so many amazing books on there and my list just keeps growing!!

4) Grey's - again, it's Fall and Fall means new television shows!!!!  Grey's is my favorite.  I love to sit on my couch in my sweats with a nice cup of tea or glass of water and watch my 40 minutes of bliss - I don't care if it's unrealistic, I don't care that it's drama filled - it's part of why I like LOVE it! I also prefer to watch it with my husband gone because he makes fun of it the entire time.

5) October is our anniversary month - in approximately 13 days we will be celebrating 3 years!! 

I had a great day...until...

Hello blog followers,

I promised a post about mornings last night.  I didn't get to it this morning.  I did however, get up earlier, so that's a start!!  I had a great day.  I worked both jobs, I got to spend time with a great friend and we ventured to a farmer's market - but then, my day kind of turned around....stupid ATM ate my debit card!  ugh!  I mistyped my PIN ONE TIME!  Aren't they suppose to give you 3 tries?  Anyway, I called the bank - of course I got no answer and was cut off multiple times.  Needless to say it was kind of a crappy ordeal.  I treated myself to frozen yogurt to soothe my irritability.  It worked, for a little while.  Then I came home and complained to my hubby about it.  And he made me a personalized pizza to make me feel better....yes, pizza makes me feel better.  At least it was a pita pizza so it was a bit healthier - and turkey pepperoni...that helps.  Anyway, I'm in a slightly better mood.  At least I know where my card is.  I probably won't get that one back, but no one else has it and my money is safe.  So I will go to bed and start fresh tomorrow.

An Evening Out

I can't say med school is all work and no play.  Tuesday evening the hubby and I had the pleasure of going out with some friends to Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge in NE Minneapolis. The Hawaiian atmosphere was perfect for the hot humid night we had in the TC.  We started the evening with some great drinks (mine was in a tiki cup!) and wonderful conversation. 

Then, we headed to the deck for dinner. The hubby and I ordered Suzi's Supreme Deep Dish Pizza and another group of our friends ordered a chicken pizza with a white sauce - both were AMAZING!!! 

 

 Our only disappointment was our friend Jess's ridiculously small Caesar salad and our other friend's request for a beer refill that took 3 reminders - it was super busy there though. I'd still recommend it.  We had a blast - but maybe it was just our company ;)

Day of Frustrating Things

I know it's Monday and I'm hoping everyone in blogworld is coming back from an exciting fun weekend, so I don't mean to put a damper on anything, however, I need to vent about just a couple teeny tiny things.

1) My husband lost his phone over the weekend - again.  In the past 5 years, he has lost 3 phones to the water, lost one and did have one that we gave to charity.  My husband needs one of those military phones that are indestructible - because if it can break, he can manage that.  It's not sooo much the breaking though, it's the dropping it into the lake that's usually the problem.  This time, though, he just left it at the hospital. He came home on Friday evening and told me he forgot his phone there.  Now, if it were me (because I love my phone) I would have turned around and went back for it, especially on a Friday, knowing I won't get it until Monday.  Nope, not him.  He said he left it in his white coat so he will pick them both up Monday.  Well, guess what, it's Monday and it's not there.  SO, hopefully some good Samaritan turned it into security or something, but I'm not too optimistic.  Being the "organized" (haha!) wife that I am, I checked out our account to find out eligibility for upgrades, what our insurance would cover, etc.  And you know what?  He would have been eligible for an upgrade on Sept. 9th.  Yep, like 2.5 weeks away.  Nice.  As far as I can tell we don't have insurance on it either. So what we will probably have to do is use my upgrade (since I'm eligible) and get him a new phone and then I'll use his upgrade in Sept - just like we did last year when his phone took a swim in Lake Bemidji. 

2) People that have blogs and have used the url of something I want but aren't actually utilizing their blog. For instance, I still need a new name, so I looked up metoo (dot) blogspot.com and it's taken.  allthatglitters is taken too and so is allthatglittersisgold.  I don't know I'm attracted to the names with glitter in them, probably because it reminds me of princesses and I feel I should have been one ;) wait, that's for a different post - my castle one (at some point) =)

3)  This is a split complaint - celebration number because a) my co-ed softball team won the championship last night and it was a blast!!!!  BUT b) I hurt my foot/ankle/heel..not sure what you want to call it by my whole foot throbs and I can't walk on it very well and that's super frustrating.

4) Because my foot hurt so  much I didn't want to get out of bed, which made my morning not as productive as I'd like (hence the later blog post) and also made me miss getting my caffeine shot - my tea. 

5) and I'm freezing.  This office is so cold - all of the time.  I have a sweater on but it's not helping and then you go outside and it's 80+ degrees....makes no sense to me at all. 

Okay, done.  Now that I was able to get that all out of my system I can smile and the rest of my day and week will go well =)

10 Things

As I've mentioned before, I love reading blogs.  I know I'm stealing this idea from a few blogs I currently follow, but it's such a fun and positive way to start out the day (especially with my rant and rave yesterday), so I am going to tell you about 10 things that make me happy right now (in no particular order).

1.)  Tailors! I'm short, I've always been super short and will continue to be short - I'm pretty sure I'm done growing.  So, I love tailors because I just bought 2 new pairs of dress pants and will need them to be hemmed.  I should learn to do this myself.  I can sew, but it's easier right now to let someone else do it for me - especially since I paid so much money for my dress pants - I'd hate to screw it up!

2.) Iced Raspberry Tea - I have told you about my love affair with Caribou Coffee before, yes?  Well, if not, I'm obsessed, but it's an expensive habit, so instead I have made my own form of my favorite tea.  I just brew lipton black tea, place it in the fridge overnight and add some sugar free raspberry flavoring to it in the morning with some ice cubes (also made from tea, see this gal's blog for the idea).  It's delicious and especially nice on these hot mornings of summer!

3.) Cucumbers - they are in season and they are my all time favorite veggie!

4.) Air Conditioning - seriously, I dont't know how people survived without it for so long.  Yes, it's still hot here.

5.) Blogs - really, they are one of my favorite things!  Can't you tell?

6.) Bonfires - I am about to enjoy one this evening - can't wait!

7.) Thunderstorms - but not on the night that I enjoy my bonfire, obviously ;)

8.) A good book, currently "Toxin" by Robin Cook - nothing beats a good novel.

9.)  Farmer's Market Flowers - can't wait to buy me a bunch of them...only $5 for a HUGE bouquet that would easily cost $20 in the store.

10.) My husband, without him my life would just not be as wonderful!

So, Greece - anyone?



Greece.  That's going on my list too!  My hubby and I like to scuba dive and the sites I've been exploring lead me to beautiful Santorini Greece (pictured below).  It's exactly what I picture when I think of Greece - beautiful white buildings on a hill and (not pictured) millions of stairs ;)

Now I don't want to give the impression that I will be going to any of these places I post about anytime soon.  They are but dreams of places I want to go sometime in my life.  But,  if you have read any of my previous posts, you know that I'm all about setting goals and finding ways to achieve them, as well as learning different ways to motivate myself.  Travel motivates me.  Find what works for you and write it down - via blog, journal, post-it notes, scraps of paper you can fold up in your pocket or put on your mirror - and look at it often.  Remind yourself why you are working so hard.  And maybe someday we can meet up in Greece! (If travel is your thing :) )

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself.

Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice"

Goal Update

I'm trying very hard to make sure I keep documenting my goals and stay on track with it.  It's how you get results :)  Last night, the hubby and I talked more about my MCAT test goals and decided on a reward for when I take the test. If I get the score I'm aiming for - a 35, we will go on a trip with money from a side job the hubby is going to take up this winter.  So - I have something to work towards - crazy!  I really want to travel, badly!!  Hopefully this will give me the kick in the butt I need.  Since I'm not taking the test until January now, I am making a less rigid study schedule.  I will study every Tuesday and Wednesday for 2 hours.  I will take one practice test a month until Dec. 1st and then I take one each week. Also when it gets closer I will start studying more frequently.  I feel this schedule will give me the flexibility I crave to do things that are fun that I currently feel guilty for - scrapbooking, sewing, crocheting and reading.

The hubby takes his SHELF exam in Pediatric Surgery today - which signifies the end of period two (rotation 1 for him)!!! Whoohoo!!  We are celebrating with a trip to the cabin to see his grandma and get in some good ole fashion Minnesota summer air, clear lake water and smokey campfire :) oh, and hopefully a pontoon ride or two and possibly some water skiing, maybe a visit with friends - Oh the possibilities =) Enjoy your weekend - I will!!

Home Sweet Home

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to travel to God's Country (yes, a nickname I stole from another blogger, but I really like the sound of the name for the area I'm from) to visit family, friends and do some job shadowing.  I spent Friday in the clinic - very interesting, as always - and the rest of the weekend was spent on call - and somehow, I never once got called in - crazy to me!  The weekend also happened to be the infamous "International Woodcarver's Festival and Lake Bronson Days" so I spent most of my day on Saturday driving back and forth to make sure I got to take in all the festivities.  That evening was a street dance, which is always fun in small towns and then I headed back to the big city to start my new job on Monday.  Yesterday brought a full, long day of hospital orientation, which I honestly don't mind.  I have, however, been to 3 hospital orientations now and they are all the same, but what do you do....today, I had MORE orientation and Thursday - still more.  Other than that we have had a new roommate move in, the hubby will be taking his surgery SHELF exam on Friday (which signifies the end of one rotation) and he will start a new one on Monday!!  We may venture to the family cabin this weekend but plans aren't in stone yet. Tonight I am focusing on my goal to clean out a cupboard - I think it's due soon?! 

Dinner With Friends

Last evening we had the pleasure of having the hubby's high school friends over for supper.  The night before I spent prepping (which I loved!!) and prepared cucumber salad, potato salad, jello-vanilla strawberry pie (yummy!!), corn on the cob, and a chicken marinade.  It was one of my first experiences preparing a meal for 6+ people all alone.  I shouldn't say alone, though, one of the friends brought salsa, chips, mixed berries and some hamburger to contribute.  We had a great meal!  We started off the evening with a pool party while the hubby grilled.  Then enjoyed the meal on the picnic table.  After, we headed inside to some much needed AC and had dessert.  It was so wonderful to get the 'gang' all together again.  One couple is heading to Tennessee for schooling so it'll be while before we see them again.  Our other friends live just north of the TC so we are lucky we get to see them more often, but we always enjoy time we get to spend together. 


Light Strawberry Pie Recipe

1 graham cracker crust
1 package instant vanilla pudding (fat free, sugar free)
1 package strawberry jello (fat free, sugar free)
1 container of strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1 container fat free cool whip

Prepare vanilla pudding and jello as directed.  Mix vanilla pudding, jello and strawberries and pour into graham cracker crust.  Place in fridge until firm.  Top with fat free cool whip!

Makes 8 servings (decent size).

Toes In the Water

I love summer - most of the time...most of the heat I could do without! What I love are evenings filled with friends, family, bbqs...you get the idea.  So that's why I am super excited about my upcoming weekend because college friends are coming to town and we are going tubing and out to the bar for some much needed girl time and catching up :)  Can't wait! 


Now, onto my ne-blog-ect.  Basically, I haven't been writing because I don't know what to write about.  I felt stuck, lost..what have you.  Don't get me wrong, I love my life but not so much my current job, which has led me on a chase of what my true passion is.  I read a lot of blogs and one of my favorites is cassieland.me.  It's written by an acquaintance from H.S. and I'm so inspired by all her ideas.  Today she had a link about how to write a dream board.  It led me to Oprah Winfrey's website which led to an hour or so of reading all about pursuing what you love to do..etc. I think it gave me the boost of motivation I need to rejuvenate myself for studying and working towards some goals I have. So, thank you, Cassie, for inspiring me. 


My hubby is smack dab in the middle of a pediatric surgery rotation.  He loves it. He said the work is so incredible because you meet these tiny babies and their families who feel as if their baby is "broken" and can't live a very good life and he gets to help "fix" them.  Then they get to go back to the family and tell them how their little angel will live a full and healthy life and the feeling is just incredible. Of course, not every story has a fairytale ending, but so far his team has been lucky.  He definitely stays busy, though.  He gets up at 3:30am to be to work at 4:30 and comes home around 6, but Monday night he didn't get home until 11!  So it really varies.  I try to be helpful and have dinner ready, clothes done, clean house..etc.  I actually really enjoy helping like that.  Thanks to his parents we have a coffee maker that I can preset to have coffee ready for when he leaves in the morning.  I LOVE it.  I know he can make his own coffee, but I feel involved and helpful when I can have it ready for him the night before (and I don't have to get out of bed in the morning!)


I can't wait to share with you the inspiring ideas that I got from Oprah.com/spirit, but I want something to write about tomorrow ;)