No worries, I'm still here

Sep 30, 2013

Excuses of why I'm sucking majorly with the blog thing:
Work is stupid busy this time of year (and it's only gonna get worse, you know, people are meeting their deductibles and want surgery blah blah blah)
The weather is so fantastic around here that after work I want to completely avoid technology and just do a bazillion things outdoors.
Josh just started a new job and sometimes has longer hours than me which equals a lot less home cooked meals and a way messier apartment.
Oh, and I'm kinda devoting all of my spare time towards one big secret project.

Nevertheless, I've got a few posts up my sleeve for this week.
For starters, here's a little weekend update.
We spent the weekend in a cabin at the Wildwood Resort on Toledo Bend for a wedding.
One of our oldest family friends from back home married his high school sweetheart.
I love all things weddings, particularly when you know the two people are meant to be, and I particularly loved this one because we got have a little hometown reunion.
My family is very close with two other families (who happen to live in our neighborhood back home) and in the last year, each of those families have had a wedding. 
Since it seems like all of the kids are moving away either due to marriage or school, we try take full advantage of any opportunity to get together (and what's more perfect than a wedding?)
I kinda love my brother and sister.
I also love sitting on the porch of the cabin with them and their significant others enjoying the rain.
I hope you had a relaxing weekend as well!
I'll be taking off this weekend for a business trip in Philadelphia (jeez I sound like an adult and it sucks) so fingers crossed for lots of quality book reading and blog writing time! 

Friday's Letters (on Sunday)

Sep 22, 2013

Dear hours in the day,
 I need more of you.
Mostly so I can just wrastle with Charlie.
Dear Project Life,
I had no idea you existed until last week and I'm hooked.
Dear Beautiful Mess app,
Even though I'm about 398420934820398 years too late, you are pretty cool.
Also, you are pretty perfect for the previously mentioned project.
Dear Allie,
I'm pretty darn glad we got to spend lots of quality time together last weekend.
You are the greatest.
Dear Allie, 
See the previous letter.
Dear pool,
I know a "cold front" came through this weekend, but why does 80 degree weather keep everyone from going to the pool?
Dear previously mentioned pool,
I surely do love you.
(Only when you are empty and there is no douchey music playing)
Hey Allie,
Have I mentioned I'm glad you came to Dallas?
Dear prettiest gals in the world,
I'm glad y'all are my friends and my sisters.
Dear Monday,
Can tomorrow just be Friday?

The worst weekend, so far

Sep 18, 2013

Last week, Morgan asked me to write a guest post for her blog about "a day in the life of a PA"
At the time, I was pumped to write it.
I thought it was a great idea for a post and that I would have a blast doing it.
After this past weekend, I had a slight change of mind.
I was on call, and it was the worst call weekend yet.
Throughout the week, I had an ongoing list of things to do over the weekend.
My first mistake.
A lot of superstition is involved with being on call.
I've quickly learned my lessons the hard way.
Don't make plans on call days and don't ever mention anything regarding not being called in.
Talking about your lack of being called in is bound to have the evil call gods strike doom upon you.
Seriously though, on one weekend of call Josh and I decided to go to the pool.
As I lathered myself in tanning oil he said, "That would be hilarious if you got all greased up and then you got called in."
We literally looked down at my phone five minutes later and I was being called in for a fracture.
This past weekend we had three distal radius fractures which we reduced under sedation in the ER, two hip fractures, and one tibial shaft fracture which we had the privilege of coming in to fix at 2am.
Needless to say, my to-do list for the weekend was not even touched.
All I cared about was catching sleep in the few hours I had free and eating.
The bad times are never caught on camera, so the only photos I have from this weekend are the high points.
Well, there's also this one, taken at 3:30am out of boredom in the locker room waiting on surgery to start.
For some reason, everyone is really slow in the middle of the night?
I quit documenting the terrible moments after the previous photo.
Going to bed at 7am makes me one miserable beyotch.

The rest of the weekend was only documented according to what food we ate.
The Easy Slider food truck makes me happy.
Zapp's make me happy to.
Go Louisiana.
My favorite slider is the Sweet & Low Down, with goat cheese, strawberry jam, and bacon.
Between all the surgeries, it was nice to just sit on the couch and relax.
. . . to the serenading sounds of a banjo.
Josh loves call weekends.
He loves to invite our friends in too (could it be due to the fact that he has a 100% sober DD all weekend?)
Sunday, I finished surgery at 6 and went straight to dinner with Maggie.
I've been dying to go downtown to try the soufflé at Rise.
Due to the dim lighting (and my fear of my camera flash in public) I got plenty of terrible quality photographs.
The food was beyond incredible.
Maggie got the truffle infused mushroom soufflé and I had the southwestern chicken soufflé topped with tomatillas.
Dessert couldn't be topped.
We split the bananas foster soufflé.
I think the incredible food from the weekend cancelled out the suckiness of work.
That's the purpose of food, right?
A positive post about being a PA is coming soon.

A little insight into mommy-hood according to Morgan

Sep 16, 2013

Hey ya'll! It's Morgan from A City for Three. 
Emily was kind enough to invite me here for a quick ramble (oxymoron?) about the life of my little family. I've popped up in her blog space a couple of times before... once to relive the magic of Amsterdam, once because I awkwardly asked Emily out on a blogger date, and then most recently, Emily shared the story of how I found out I was pregnant! I have since given birth to that sweet baby (if you are the birth-story-junkie-type like myself, feel free to click over to parts 1, 2, and 3) and my blog has rapidly spiraled out of control and into mommy-blog-dom. 
I am just kidding, of course, I love mommy blogs. 
But my blog used to resemble Emily's a bit more. You see, Em and I, we have a whole lot in common. Not only are we both southern, but we also share a very healthy appetite for good food, good beer, good music, fun travel, and bearded men. 
Allow me to compare our husbands, for example:
But, I don't really write about those things anymore. 
Not as much as I'd like. 
Needless to say, getting pregnant and having a brand new baby kind of completely changed my life... 
Opportunities to enjoy a crisp craft brew have dropped drastically since last October. Travel is tricky with a newborn and trickier with corporately controlled vacation days, so our only trips planned for the rest of 2013 are to visit the new grandparents. Good food and good music are still enjoyed, but primarily within the confines of our apartment- babies don't love loud concerts or hip restaurants. My reality has shifted tremendously, and my blog reflects that. But, I continue to try to write about what inspires me in a way that, hopefully, inspires others. 

Right now, I lead simple days that follow a feed baby-change baby-rock baby to sleep pattern. My hippie, wood working husband comes home to me at 6pm in business-casual attire, and we are in bed early to get some sleep while we can. So I find magic in small things: morning cuddles, family picnics, a short time spent on the Chicago lakefront. In the middle of the night, when I've woken up to feed Opal for the second time, blinking constantly just to keep my heavy eyelids open... and her little palms open up, her fingers grasp my right collarbone, and wrap around my left triceps... well, that feels intentional. That feels like love. And there is magic for me there.
And it is good. This ordinary life I lead is good. But it is not our wood shop in the mountains. And even on the same day that I find great peace with where we are at, my husband comes home to admit that his cubicle is slowly sucking the life out of him. So, this is yet another season. I will not be a suburban stay at home mom forever; Andrew will not always be an international businessman with a clean shave and dress slacks. Our lives will constantly be taking new turns, as we chase new dreams, seeking new inspiration... and the bravery to do so is based entirely on the knowledge that we have each other. and that is what I blog about. I blog about these two people who are really my entire world, because, well, in the words of Ben Harper: "When I search my heart it's you I find".
See. Good Music.

Friday's Letters

Sep 13, 2013

Dear Sprinkles,
Cookies, too?
Sheesh.
Dear Mags,
I'm glad we got to celebrate your birthday together and also cheer on the dawgs (for a few minutes at least).
Dear anyone going through rush at Louisiana Tech University,
If you didn't go Sigma Kappa, I'm terribly sorry.
That sounded so Mean Girls of me.
Dear whoever invented the greenie,
You really have helped us out when it comes to getting Charlie to cooperate for photos.
Thanks.
Dear Dillards,
I'm still in shock over your oh-so-very-Anthro selection in your 75% off sale last weekend.
I was in the correct store, right?
Dear sun,
I do like how well you photograph, but I don't love you.
Time to go away now.
Dear Netters Anatomy Book,
Even though you made me want to strangle myself in PA school, I'm quite entertained at the fact that you are now getting used by my other half.
I must admit, I never thought I would be wiping the dust off you so soon (at least for another 7 years when I have to re-take my boards)
Drinking a beer and watching Josh study anatomy for work is quite the entertainment.
My how the roles have reversed.
Dear Charlie,
Why?

A Weekend with Dave at The Gorge Amphitheater

Sep 11, 2013

One of my favorite places in the country is the Gorge Amphitheater.
One of my favorite bands in the world is the Dave Matthews Band.
Combining the two (plus 5 boys plus The Head and The Heart and Lord Huron on the side) surely made for a fantastic weekend.
We spent Labor Day weekend galavanting around Seattle for a few days, and then we loaded up in our sexy mini van rental car and headed east.
For the first part of our northwest adventure go here.
We assumed our rental car would have a roof rack, so we packed a rooftop cargo carrier to stuff camping gear and luggage into.
What were we thinking.
No roof rack.
Six people, six suitcases, five sleeping bags (Bart didn't pack one?), an eight man tent, six chairs, food for four days, and enough beer for five boys still trying to relive the college glory days.
We were stuffed to the brim, but we made it.
Needless to say, the car was a lot less loaded down on the ride home.
Nearly every bite of food was demolished, and the beer disappeared quick (of course).
Home sweet home.
Mike's Sweetwater frisbee was vital throughout the pre-show downtime.
Our view from the campsite was pretty glorious.
The walk from the campsite to the venue was a bit taxing, but the weather and the view along the way and the weather made it worthwhile .
I was apparently really into taking photos with the glare of the sun.
The boys brought a little love from our wedding (and the PBR gave me flashbacks)
In case you missed the story behind our wedding koozie's, go here!
Lord Huron and The Head and The Heart were fantastic, and Dave and the boys (of course) were incredible.
Sorry, iPhone pics only.
Mornin' partner.
This is Mikey.
My brother.
Also the guy who randomly, in a moment of deep contemplation, asked "Y'all, what exactly is a booger?"
Even though we bought breakfast food, we ended up having some pretty fantastic neighbors who made coffee and bagels each morning.
We sought shade most afternoons, but we couldn't complain about the weather.
The "heat" in Washington has nothing on August in Texas.
Day two at the show was a blast.
. . . so we took senior pics.
Gorge Yoga Love.
Bags didn't quite make the group photo.
He was napping.
He was also the one who said "The beauty of this place just makes me want to throw up."
Kinda loved this license plate.
The neighbor's tent was quite a hit as well.
On our final night there, we chose seats in the shade at the top of the hill overlooking the venue and the Columbia River Gorge. 
(We are way past the days of trying to get there early and race to the stage only to get gut punched and have our hair pulled in order to be a foot closer to Dave.
Kidding, actually the hardcore Dave fans up close are really nice.)
Before the show started, we sat around talking for a while and ultimately developed a five year plan.
We each agreed that we all had to end up living in the same city in the next five years.
As we each threw out random "fun" cities, someone in the group casually mentioned that it truly wouldn't matter what city we chose, as long as we were all there.
ehhh, Detroit?
The highlight of the weekend was probably the moment Josh said this (which may not have been his most sober moment of the weekend):
"Honestly, all I want is to be able to wake up Christmas morning, look at the mantle, and see stockings with the names Mike, Marsh, Bart, Bags, Em, and Charles."
As cheesy as that was, it nearly made me tear up. 
These are our friends from all walks of life; some of Josh's high school friends, our college friends, and my brother, yet we all seem like we've known each other our whole lives.
Josh later told me (in what would probably be the most feelings I've ever heard from this man's mouth in his life) that on that Sunday night at The Gorge he was the happiest he has ever been.
He said he was in his absolute favorite place with all of his favorite people.
He said he couldn't imagine adding anyone or subtracting anyone from the group, and that it was truly each of his very best friends.  
This trip will definitely go down in the books as one of our favorite of all time. 
. . . on a lighter note, after not showering for four days, and wearing the exact same outfit for that entire time, how did he manage to still look hot?
(and kinda like a boy from One Direction)
Speaking of showering, another one of my favorite quotes from the weekend was this:
Marsh: "Whats the rules with showers in the place?"
Josh: "If God wanted you to shower he would make it rain with shampoo clouds.
One last thing that can't go without being mentioned:
 THE setlist game
Anytime Josh and I go to a Dave Matthews weekend show, after the first night's concert we always try to predict the songs for the next night.
Even though he is truly the "bigger fan" (he's seen over 35 shows) I still beat him from time to time.
Night two: I won
Night three: He won
Marriage.

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