Music Says It Best

The Civil Wars

2012-02-19T16:28:00.000-06:00

I am currently listening to The Civil Wars on repeat. Their album is titled "Barton's Hollow".
They're a duo - a male and female song writer with hauntingly beautiful harmonies. Not a couple, like most people think. Their music is absolutely beautiful.

Poison and Wine - The Civil Wars

My Father's Father - The Civil Wars

Barton Hollow (live) - The Civil Wars

I've Got This Friend (live @ Eddie's Attic) - The Clivil Wars

Enjoy!!!

Less than 6 months to go... and here's some music!

2012-02-11T12:50:00.000-06:00

Can you believe I have less than 6 months until I graduate as a Physician Assistant! Nuts.

We'll be having our program's white coat ceremony and pinning on August 4th, but we recently found out that the school cancelled the August graduation ceremony. So, we'll have to walk in the May ceremony- which is terribly anticlimactic considering we'll still have to do our two month preceptorship before we're actually finished. Oh well. They were going to make us wait until December to walk. But it sucks because a fair few of my classmates have decided that they're not going to walk in the May graduation. :(

Anyway. I just finished my 6th rotation last week. It was internal medicine, which I was lucky enough to do with our local Hospitalist (who is amazing). It was a really great rotation and I feel like I learned a lot. I started rotation 7 this Monday, which is surgery. I've already gotten to see some really interesting procedures - like a loop ileostomy takedown (look it up on youtube). My attending is a firecracker and I really like her. She also listens to really great music in the OR.

Just so you know, I'm currently obsessed with Gotye and Kimbra - they're both musicians from the Australia/New Zealand area. Really great stuff. Here's a video or two... or four ;)

Someone that I used to Know - by Gotye featuring Kimbra

Save Me - by Gotye

Settle Down - by Kimbra (looooove this one!)

Two weeks by The Grizzly Bears/ Head over Heels by Tears for Fear - Mashup of the two by Kimbra

Enjoy!! And I hope everyone is staying warm this winter. I can't wait for warmer weather!!

by the way...

2011-12-06T21:56:00.000-06:00

It's December 6th and I'm almost finished with my OBGYN rotation. I know it's been a while. But I just wanted to let you know that I have been loving this rotation. I've been blessed with the opportunity to see a fair few babies born, and have even had the incredible pleasure of delivering 5 or 6!! I can't even describe the feeling after that first delivery. I was actually bouncing around. It was amazing.

I've only got a week left in this rotation and I"m really going to miss it. I'm working with awesome providers and great nurses - everyone is so much fun. And I'm learning so much. I've got nothing bad to say about this experience. Since my last post I had the opportunity to do my elective rotation in orthopedics, which was also very cool. I got to see a lot of surgeries. :)

Anyway, finals are approaching quickly, so I should go study. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones. Here are some pictures from my Thanksgiving.

Love and blessings,
Damars

this made my heart pitter patter...

2011-12-06T21:27:00.000-06:00

This website made my heart pitter patter as I envisioned getting a do-over on my wedding day. It's so beautiful and not over-the-top. Whimsical and perfect. ::sigh::

http://greenweddingshoes.com/harry-potter-wedding-inspiration/

Love and hugs,
Damaris

is this it?

2011-09-20T23:26:00.001-05:00

i'm currently preparing for my ER rotation exam

i can't shake the worry about whether this is the right career path for me

yes, i'm overwhelmed and feel like i'll never know enough

but apart from that, i have this fear that i won't love doing this every day

what if i don't even like doing this most days

i feel like i'm constantly second guessing myself and my lack of self confidence is really disheartening

i want to cry, but i know my time would be better spent in studying my objective list

I am...

2011-09-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

Currently awaiting the end of my ER rotation.

It's not that it's been a bad rotation. It's just not for me.
I've already completed my psychiatry (which i thoroughly enjoyed) and geriatrics (old people are generally cute). Next up is orthopedics.

Here is what I'm currently killing time looking at online:

The TimeTurner from The Prisoner of Azkaban. I would REALLLLLLLY like this one, cause I wear silver, but it's way more expensive than the gold one.

I really prefer the box this one comes with.

"I mark the hours every one nor have I yet outrun the sun. My use and value unto you are gauged by what you have to do". I like that they actually included the inscription.
::dreamy face::

i love the Marauder's Map. plain. and. simple.

I know I need to get an actual iPhone first, but
I'm working on it! ;)

i think this is super cute and would
love to lounge around in it!

These are awesome! They would also go great with my robe

and wand. I still have the nimbus 2000 socks my mom got

me when the first film came out! Shout out Mom - i love you!

This mug is sooooo
awesome!

When you put coffee in it...

I would like one of each, please and thank you.

Mischief managed. Till next time, which hopefully won't be too long...
-Damaris

Busy. Tired. Inconsistent.

2011-07-31T22:21:00.000-05:00

A few words that describe my life at this point.

Busy. Tired. Inconsistent.

I've not been keeping up with my P90x workouts.

But I did run 2.2 miles twice this weekend.

Don't judge me.

Day 7...

2011-06-15T23:53:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that I just finished day 7 of the P90x program and I feel great!!! :) I hope everyone's doing well.

I started my psych rotation this Monday, and I've already seen lots of "interesting" people.

Tomorrow's our first tutor group session of phase 2 and I get to see my lovely Mattoon girlies. This makes me smile. ;)

Good night, loves.

Day 2 of P90X

2011-06-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

Can you say "WOAH!!"

That's how my body feels right now. Yesterday I awoke at the crack of dawn (5:45am) and did day one's workout - Core synergistics. It was really intense. Then I had orientation at the hospital for Phase 2 rotations. Exciting!!! This means I also got to see my Mattoon girlies who are also in the program. ;)

After all of that was done I literally came home and spent the entire day in my bed either reading or watching stuff on netflix. it was really nice. I finally got to watch Eat, Pray, Love and I liked it. I was asleep by 9:30pm and slept all the way through 9am this morning!!!

So, I ran 2 miles this morning and just finishied my second P90X workout - CardioX. I am beat. My body is ridiculously sore. Seriously. Tomorrow I'll be driving up to LOW to meet up with my TNT for a long run (probably only 4 miles for me). Then my mom-in-law and I will be scrapbooking alllllll day long at Daisy Lane!! So Excited.

Anyways, I need to go unstinkify and meet a buddy for lunch. I hope everyone is having a great day.

Here are some funnies to keep you smiling throughout the day. Enjoy!

GOALS

2011-06-08T23:14:00.001-05:00

So, in the last year I've been very busy with PA school. Unfortunately, all of the studying and stressing left me very little time to run or work out, and a ton of time sitting on the couch and snacking while working on assignments for class. The result ---> I gained 11 pounds. Ugh. Putting it in writing makes me really ashamed. I was in the best shape since I had started running in May 2008 when the program started last June. I felt confident. I felt good about myself. Now, not so much.

The plan is to get back in shape as quickly as possible. I started running again on Monday (6/6) and plan to run the Nashville Women's half marathon on 9/24. My last half time was 2:30 (my fastest to date), so my plan is to come in at 2:20.

I also got my copy of P90x in the mail today. I'm really excited to start the program tomorrow. I'm going to do the lean version. I spent all day looking over the nutrition plan and other material. I can't lie- i'm excited, but I'm also more than a little bit intimidated. I'll need some help to push me along. Any encouragement will be greatly appreciated. And if anyone has the program and wants to start with me tomorrow that would be awesome!!!

Here's my plan for the next 7 days:
-1 Core synergistics
-2 Cardio X
-3 Shoulders & arms, Ab ripper X
-4 Yoga X
-5 Legs & back, Ab ripper X
-6 Kenpo X
-7 Rest or X stretch
I'll also be running 3-4 times a week.

So, without further ado, here are the "before" pics....

Please know that I don't feel good about these pics at all. The term "upset" is a mild version of how I feel about my body right now, but this was not meant to be a pity party. I've made the first step toward making a change, and tomorrow will be day 1 on my 90-day journey to a better me.

Please send positive vibes.

-Damaris

edited on 7/31/11 - i removed the pics. they were really bothering me. :(

I'm back!! I swear...

2011-06-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!!!

I finished year one of PA school last month and I'm moving on to phase two tomorrow. I would've posted sooner, but I was busy relaxing and hanging out with my mom. :) After finals there was a frenzy of celebrating my 5 year wedding anniversary, moving back to Mattoon (when Justin broke his ankle stepping off the Uhaul truck), going back to Carbondale for some last minute certifications and a master symposium (and some drinks and a hilarious sleep over with all of the girls). Then mom flew in and we spent two weeks relaxing, reading, scrapbooking, etc - we even spent a day visiting the wineries in Carbondale. All in all, it's been a great break. So much to celebrate and be thankful for.

I mentioned earlier that hubby and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on May 13th. I'm not sure where the time has gone. We had a wonderful dinner at Global Gourmet in Carbondale and the food was delicious! The atmosphere was so cozy and I kind of fell in love with the place.
Appetizer: roasted garlic with warm, crusty bread, pesto, feta cheese, olives and diced tomatoes. YUM!
Entrees: Justin had the fennel encrusted salmon with roasted potatoes and veggies. I had cheese stuffed chicken breast also served with roasted potatoes and veggies. Delish.

Anyways, I'll be posting some pics soon, I promise. We did so many cool things as part of PA school, the casting pics are a lot of fun, so I'll be sure to include some of them.

This made me smile, so I decided to include it, in hopes that it makes you smile too! ;)

I love The Count

2011-04-04T23:29:00.000-05:00

Sesame Street just made my day...
Enjoy, friends!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday.
And, and a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to the RunningDoc. Congrats on your newest PR :)

Keep smiling,
Damaris

It's been s while...

2011-03-06T13:17:00.002-06:00

Hello friends!!

I've been slacking a bit, but it's not entirely my fault. I swear. My wonderful MacBook took a poop back in January, so I've been using my iPad for everything. Unfortunately, i haven't found a blogger app for the iPad that allows me to upload photos and do other fun stuff. So, I haven't blogged. Lame, but true.

I jut finished another unit of PA school!! It was our endocrine and OB/GYN unit. Lots of baby stuff and thyroid stuff. Very interesting, but I'll tell you honestly. I've never seen anything more disturbing than live, vaginal childbirth. Ugh. One the other hand, I don't think anything has made me smile quite like an ultrasound of a 20 week fetus. Absolutely heartwarming. She had the hiccups and you could see her wiggle with each hiccup. It was absolutely thrilling. Almost makes my biological clock start ticking a little louder. And then I remember the video of childbirth and i gag a little bit!

Anyway. It was another long unit and I'm glad it's over. Just one more unit to complete before the year of rotations begins. Right now we're doing seminar week where we get to learn all kinds of cool hands-on stuff. On Friday we learned knot tying, suturing (on pigs feet!), how to start an IV, IM/SubQ injections, NG/OG tubes, and catheters. There's a ton more we'll be learning throughout this week. :)

Next Sunday I'll be boarding a plane to Miami to hang out with my family. I can't wait to see them. I plan to just hang out with them and spend lots of time in my parents' backyard soaking up some sunshine. Can't freaking wait.

I hope everyone is good. :) Till next time!

a funny blog my roomie stumbled upon...

2011-01-13T15:03:00.000-06:00

I hope you find this to be as amusing as I did. I think I laughed for about 20 minutes straight while perusing this blog. Enjoy!

P.s. Beware. Some of the content is rather crude.

COPING WITH AROMAS
When the bathroom air has been slain in an epic battle with someone’s ass, besides exorcising those reeking demons with all that modern technology has to offer, let’s warn each other about what lies on the other side of the door with the faux gravitas of a Lord of the Rings character, because you know how that cracks me up.

http://tomyhusband.tumblr.com/

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2011-01-09T21:29:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness. Where do I begin? The park is absolutely amazing. Its all the way at the back of Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and there's actually a lie to get into this part of the park. The first thing you see is this sign that says "Please respect the spell limits" and then you see the Hogwarts Express. It was soooo exciting!! :)

THe Hogwarts Express!!!

Hogsmead covered in snow

Chocolate covered frogs at Honeydukes Sweet Shop!

Quidditch gear

Please excuse the crazed look on my face. I was VERY excited about getting my Gryffindor robe and my Sirius Black wand!!!! (P.S. I already know I'm a dork!)

The Three Broomsticks

Yummy lunch at the Three Broomsticks and a delicious Butterbeer (get the frozen kind instead of the carbonated kind!)

Hogwarts Castle entrance

Hogwarts crest

House beads - I was really excited about this!

Tapestry Map of the Castle grounds

Dumbledore's study

The Sorting Hat!

Hagrid's Cabin

Buckbeak the Hippogriff

The Castle from the Flight of the Hippogriff ride

I wish this had been an actual shop with custom parchment, but I was able to get cool stationary and stamps at Dervish and Banges.

I would really like a self-stirring pot ;)

The flying Ford Anglia

Honeydukes Sweet Shop

Chocolate Cauldron Cakes from Honeydukes.

Mom and I having a great time at the park

A view of the castle

Have you seen this wizard?! I LOVE Sirius Black :)

The Triwizard Rally

So, these are just a handful of the pictures I took. We had a fantastic day and the best part was that I got to share the experience with my wonderful husband and my beautiful momma. It couldn't have been better... Plus I had two Butterbeers and got my robe and wand!! What a day!

Do yourself a favor and make your way to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure on Orlando, Florida!!!

The end is near...

2010-12-29T22:54:00.006-06:00

... Isn't this title cryptic? I think I dig it. The end of the year is drawing near, so let's talk.

I obviously passed my unit 3 finals. Hehehe. I made Neuro my biatch. I actually received my highest comprehensive test score on this unit, so that was really exciting. After finals we had a great night in Carbondale with dinner and then drinks and dancing. Then it was time to come home!!!

This Christmas has been really nice. I've spent a lot of time a at home since the semester ended. It's been nice just hanging out around the house with the boys. I've caught up on this season of Law and Order: SVU and I 'm reading Pride and Prejudice on my iPad. Life is good. We hosted Christmas day at our place, which was really nice. Jill made Dutch babies for lunch (very yummy baked concoction of eggs, ham, powdered sugar and I'm not sure what else) and then later I made dinner (baked chicken, spicy green beans, stuffing, and homemade mashed potatoes). Then we just lounged around and watched all of the Harry Potter films. My favorite kind of marathon! All in all, it was great. Nice and relaxing.

It's been a real blessing to just be home with Justin. I've missed him like crazy since I've been away for school, but now I really find myself taking the extra few moments to hug him or kiss him or just hold his hand whenever possible. It's bananas the things we take for granted. Now I'm really enjoying every opportunity to snuggle or be beside him.

Early on January first we'll be jumping in the car and driving down to Miami to spend some time with my family. I can't wait to see mom, dad, and Jason! And I can't wait to love on my Bella! Lucien's coming with us, so he's getting all dolled up at the groomer's tomorrow. He's gonna be so excited to see Jack and run around his old yard! I also get to meet little Kaden (I'll be his godmother as of Jan. 2)! We're gonna take a trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios toooooooooo! I'm pretty sure you can all gauge my excitement level on that last part. WOOOHOOOOO. Very exciting business.

On to important news. I think i just got the most exciting Christmas gift ever from my roomie : it's a 2011 day calendar.

Are you as stoked as I am?! Cause I'm pretty dang stoked! On top of this awesome gift, I got to shadow her at the ER today and I drew blood for my first time. It was very cool. :)

I'm so blessed. I also got a lovely physician bag to hold all of my medical equipment, a hand mixer, some gift cards to Panera, and a copy of Eclipse! Not to mention the iPad that I got a few weeks ago.

It's been a GREAT December. I hope all of you have also had a great December and that the new year brings all kinds of positivity and love. Be blessed!

Toys & Finals

2010-12-10T19:04:00.002-06:00

So... it's finals time again. Geeze. I feel like it's ALWAYS finals time.

We've been studying like fiends and also trying to get into the Christmas spirit.

We're been listening to cheezy Christmas music on Pandora and I absolutely have been

loving it!!

Good news. I took a big step and ordered myself an iPad earlier this week. It was so exciting anf it actually arrived today! We're finally taking a break from studying while we eat some chili that I just made, and I'm finally gonna get to play with it for a few minutes. YAY!!!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic December and is getting ready for all of this Holiday cheer.

I'll be home with my boys in just 1 week!

I'll leave you with this awesome video...

Sounds of Relaxation

2010-11-16T13:52:00.003-06:00

So, I've got a lot on my mind lately, and sometimes it's hard for me to fall asleep. For the past 2 months or so I've been listening to rain sounds to help me fall asleep.

I usually listen at RainyMood.com. Last night I was looking for other nature songs and found this site where you can actually make nature sounds that are perfect for you! You can use combinations of up to four sounds and create you own files/links. I'm currently in love.

I made this one:

http://naturesoundsfor.me/float-away

It makes me think of lying by the beach back home. Perfect for sleeping!

Here's another one I found that I like...

http://naturesoundsfor.me/Beautiful_Field

Can you tell??

2010-11-14T01:15:00.005-06:00

Can you tell that I'm lying when I say things like "I love neurology"?

If you can't, then your radar needs to be calibrated. Badly.

We are officially halfway through the first year of PA school. This should be exciting, but for me its just scary. I wonder if I'll ever feel like I have enough knowledge. Its really intimidating to know that I could potentially hurt someone due to lack of knowledge. Eesh. All I can do is continue to prepare.

I'm home this weekend for a quick visit. Its always nice to cuddle with my boys. The three of us napped for a bit before Justin went to work tonight, so now I'm up working on school stuff. Lots to do, as usual. This Thursday night at midnight I'll be watching the newest Harry Potter film with a bunch of my friends from school - we're very excited about this. And soon after that, I'll be home for Thanksgiving. I'm happy that we have a few days off to spend with our families.

Oh - just remembered that I haven't told you the good news. I'll be home in Mattoon for clinical rotations in May!!! I'll be home with my boys again and life will be FANTASTIC!

For your viewing pleasure...

I hope everyone is having a fantastic fall season and getting ready for all of the holidays. Be good!

Movie Date

2010-10-13T00:43:00.003-05:00

Know what I did today? I took myself on a date to see a movie.

Some people are completely weirded out by the thought of going to a movie by themselves. I don't really understand this. My hubby is not a huge fan of girly movies. I'm aware of this, so whenever I get a craving for a girly flick and my mommy-in-law is indisposed (she was at work), I treat myself to a solo date. This is not a problem for me. As a matter of fact, I did this a few times in my college undergrad years too. I even took myself to a sit-down dinner once. :)

I wonder if this is a function of how comfortable a person is with themself. Or maybe some people are just not comfortable with silence, so they feel the need to constantly surround themselves with others. Today I spent the entire day by myself. I read and painted my finger nails. It was just Lucien and I while Justin slept and then went to work. It was kinda glorious.

Anyway, I saw Easy A. It was cute. I like Emma Stone - she's sassy and cutting, and I dig it.

I also saw The Social Network a few nights ago. That one was really good. Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield play the leads as cofounders of Facebook. Some of it moves quickly, so be prepared to keep up with the conversation. I thought it was really well done.

Unit 2 Completed!!

2010-10-12T00:31:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!!

It's been a while, but I've got good news. I've successfully completed Unit 2 of phase I of PA school! What a relief. Only 3 more units in phase I. It feels like forever, but it's really just 8 more months on campus in Carbondale. Thank the good lord!

Testing ended on Wednesday afternoon (3 long days of testing). We celebrated a birthday and the end of finals that night, and then partook of some retail therapy all day Thursday, before heading home for a week off. I am currently reading a book that has NOTHING to do with school and also watching all kinds of movies. Life is wonderful again. :) Here are some pics of Wednesday night's fun.

Fujiyama Japanese Steak House in Carbondale. Our grill guy rocked. He threw chicken at me and I caught it in my mouth (on the second try!)

Can you see the Mickey in my rice? I'm corny. I know. It must be really obvious, cause the cook definitely noticed!

Pretty PA ladies :)

Drunken roomies. This was at the Blue Martin - a really cute martini bar in Carbondale. Loved this place. Really tasty drinks.

After this we went next door to the gay bar named Traz (I think this is the name) and danced like crazy people until after 1am. It was pretty fantastic. There was even karaoke!

relaxing & studying

2010-09-06T10:37:00.005-05:00

Long weekends are always so nice. My only issue is that I have so much to work on for school, that I feel bad relaxing. Then I feel bad for not taking advantage of my time with the boys. Then I spend less time on school stuff, which then makes me feel bad all over again. Anyway, this time I decided to relax & be productive simultaneously. :)

On Saturday, Lucien joined me outside and we enjoyed the sunshine while listening to Pandora and working on some assignments for school. It was a lovely day and being in the sunshine made me resent my school work a little less. Here's a pic of Lucien helping me with some studying.

The rest of the day was mostly spent relaxing.

On Sunday I slept in and then ran 8.56 miles. There's only 6 weeks left until the Indianapolis Health Network half marathon on Oct. 16. My training has been sporadic to say the least, but there's only so much I can do with such a crazy schedule for school. I'm trying not to feel guilty about it. Arielle tells me that this race will be my "first race of PA school" and that it's important too, even though it won't be as fast. I won't be expecting a PR, this race will just ensure that I'm not becoming sedentary.

For lunch we ate outside at Buffalo Wild Wings. We sat in the sunlight and chatted while eating. It was glorious - we stayed for almost an hour and a half (long after we finished our food!) just enjoying each other's company and the beautiful weather. Last night before falling asleep I finished some reading for school, so at least I got a little bit done.

This morning I'm currently lying in bed with my boys while they sleep. I've been up for about 2 hours and have been working on school assignments & listening to Pandora. It really makes me happy that I can work from bed - it means that I can still enjoy knowing that Justin & Lu are beside me. :) Yay for laptops!

I'm not sure what the plan is for the rest of the day, but I don't even care. I'm a happy woman. Blessed, blessed, blessed!

Everyone have a wonderful Labor Day. I'll be heading back south on the train tomorrow morning, so I'm going to enjoy every moment of today.

Shenanigans

2010-09-05T23:41:00.008-05:00

Last weekend was my friend Amanda's 27th bday and we finally had an opportunity to take a break from studying and CELEBRATE. And boy, did we! Justin came down to visit so that made the weekend even more spectacular. Enjoy some pics. :)

Amanda (the birthday girl!!) and I. Hope you had a great birthday, lady!!

Kari, Emily, Natalie

Brie, Kassie, Amanda, and I

The old married couples :) Us with Homer & Kassie

So happy to see my love.

I LOVE this face. Best roomie ever. seriously.

Can you tell we're a little intoxicated?!?!

Not sure what we were singing, but I'm sure it was glorious. It always is.

This just makes me laugh... :)

Seriously though. Not sure if I've mentioned how lucky I am to have such a fantastic roommate, so I'll do it now. Arielle keeps me sane. I cry (out of frustration with school) about once a week, but she makes me laugh it off. She always knows when I need a kick in the ass, and I really appreciate it. We've already become great friends, and I'm just really thankful. Arielle, you ROCK! Love you!

p.s. Am I the only person who knows what a mongoose is?!?! (this one's for you, Arielle!)

Mongooses live in southern Asia, Africa, and southern Europe, as well as some Caribbean and Hawaiian islands, where they are an introduced species. There are more than thirty species, ranging from 1–4 feet in length.The mongoose has a similar appearance to the weasel, despite not being closely related. Their long sleek bodies and short fur fit them for similar ecological niches. They live in similar climates and both burrow underground. Like weasels, mongooses have short legs and tails.

Catching up

2010-09-05T23:11:00.004-05:00

Hello friends. It's been a while. I've been busy with school, of course. After I passed the exams in my last post, I had a wonderful 10 days off to let my brain rest. It was amazing, and TOTALLY needed.

My break consisted mostly of hanging out at my friend's pool, relaxing with my boys, getting sun, reading for FUN!, and catching up on some tv. It was glorious. Amid all of that I was able to sprinkle in some BBQs with friends, a trip to Six Flags in STL with the hubby and awesome roomie, and a quick visit with Joanna for dinner, dessert, and great conversation. All in all, it was really great.

Justin & I after a day full off rollercoaster FUN!

We were soaked after riding the 'tidal wave' ride! I swear - we did NOT pee our pants!!

Okay, so I mentioned meeting up with Joanna while we were in STL and I wanted to share some pics of the delicious dessert we had. She and her hubby suggested that we hit a local spot called The Fountain on Locust. First of all, the place was really cute - apparently they've been voted into the 'Top 10 Restrooms in America'. Unfortunately I did not actually visit their restroom. I may have really missed out. My dinner was very yummy. Then I saw the dessert menu. I was very excited.

Coconut Almond Joy

Coconut Almond Joy ice cream drizzled with

our signature housemade hot fudge, whipped

cream and a chocolate coin.

Three Coins in the Fountain

Zanzibar chocolate, Vanilla Deluxe and After

Dinner Mint ice cream, hot fudge, real whipped

cream and three chocolate coins.

Dark and Sinister

Tall glass coated with hot fudge, filled with Zan-

zibar chocolate ice cream, topped with marsh-

mallow sauce and a chocolate coin.

The moral of the story is... visit The Fountain on Locust the next time you're in St. Louis. You won't regret it - believe me! Can't you see the excitement on our faces!?!?! :)

I did it!

2010-08-08T10:38:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!

I'm writing this post from my home - which means that I passed all of my exams and earned a 10-day break from classes!!! WooHoo! I've never felt this good about a scholastic achievement. :) Thanks to everyone who prayed and crossed their finger (and toes) for my success - I think it may have helped. :)

I got home on Friday afternoon and immediately went on a date with hubby. We had Red Lobster for dinner, watched "The Other Guys", and then had Baskin Robbins (two scoops - don't judge me!) before coming home. Do yourself a favor and go watch "The Other Guys". Mark Whalberg kills me.

Yesterday I slept in and then got lost on Facebook. I forgot how you can literally lose HOURS on there. Jeeze. I caught up on reading some blogs and relaxed. Then I spent the evening at the Effingham County Fair with my roomie, Arielle, and her family. Have I told you how funny she and her family are?! HILARIOUS. We ate yummy fair food and watched the demo derby. I didn't realize how exciting it would be to watch cars smash each other to bits. Totally gratifying to hear the crunching sounds. And one truck had his tires full of water instead of air. We figured it was to give the vehicle some weight - it scared the crap out of me when his first tire popped and crap was spraying everywhere. Oh, and I also got to see some fuel burned off of the track. All-in-all a very good night.

It's so good to be home. I can't even explain it. I plan to read and relax all week - and then sprinkle in some fun time at Six Flags with some friends from school. It'll be a good time, I'm sure.

On another note: I'm seriously considering signing up for the Indianapolis Health Network Half Marathon on October 16th. I need some motivation to get my ass moving and it'll actually be during our post Unit 2 break. I know I didn't have much time to run during this first unit, but now that I have a better grasp on how things work, I should be able to squeeze some running time in - plus I need the stress relief. Really need it. I'm gonna have to MAKE it happen, plain and simple. I know that signing up for an event will push me to get started and be consistent. Plus, I ran this even last year and loved it. It goes through Ft. Harrison State Park in Lawrenceville, IN and it's absolutely gorgeous with all of the colors of fall. Another perk- I can also squeeze in a visit with Jonathan & Chris while I'm in Indy! :)

Anywho... I hope everyone is well. Have a wonderful week!!!

You might be a PA student IF...

2010-07-30T22:45:00.002-05:00

You might be a PA student IF...

1. When drinking, you and your friends think that the increase in your AST/ALT tomorrow is going to be hilarious!
2. You still attempt to explain to your family what's going on in PA school.
3. When you go out with non-medical students, you're abnormally quiet, because you don't know what to talk about besides PA school.
4. You refer to the semesters you took organic chemistry as "The Good Old Days."
5. You've ever heard the phrase "You must be smart, you're in med school!" and wanted to vehemently disagree.
6. You consistently tell people that they just don't understand how bad it really is. (Yes, yes, and yes.)
7. You know that, in theory, you have a family and friends, but you can't place the last time you saw them.
8. You constantly find yourself saying things like "I just have to get to spring break" or "I just have to get through Unit 1."
9. You know countless dirty mnemonics for parts of the body, but couldn't tell anyone what the front-page headline today is.
10. You notice your friends ask you how schools going, then realize they immediately regret it when you actually answer.
11. People assume you know something when you tell them you're in PA school, but you know that you haven't learned anything.
12. You can name 3 specialties you're interested in, then immediately rule two of them out because they don't pay well enough to pay off your debt.
13. You assess beverages for amount of caffeine before buying only those with more caffeine than coffee.
14. You've done physical exams on your roommate, boyfriend, girlfriend, and any close friends.
15. You think "AWESOME!" if someone keels over in front of you.
16. You've thought something like "what's another $10,000 in loans?"

17. You buy shower crayons to draw flow charts and countless medical terminology and lab values in the shower because you feel guilty for taking a 15 minute shower break.
18. You have a new hatred for people who actually go on vacations, or just have a life in general.
19. Going to Wal-Mart is your only social contact of the week (besides others who are in PA school).
20. You are sitting on the toilet calculating your glomerular filtration rate.
21. Staring aimlessly at walls is your idea of an exciting study break.
22. Your tear ducts have become attached to every emotion (laughing, anger, sadness, happiness, etc).
23. You bring up annual rectal exams to all of your family over the age of 50 during family dinners.

One of my classmates posted this on facebook tonight - it's soooooooo true!

Futility

2010-07-29T00:17:00.002-05:00

This is what school is making me feel like. Finals start Monday. UGH!

This is what PA school feels like: a long and futile attempt...

PA School funnies

2010-07-18T23:20:00.004-05:00

Most of you will probably not find this as funny as I did. We've recently learned about heart rhythms and one of my classmates posted this on facebook. HILARIOUS!

I'm not quite sure how these Med students have time to make all of these videos, but they sure are funny :)

I got to see my boys this weekend and it was glorious. They really are the best! I also tried my camera when I got home (the one I dropped in the lake the last time I was home) and it WORKS!!! I was super happy about that. SO, it's Sunday night and tomorrow is the beginning of another long week full of learning. I can't believe that unit One finals are in 2 weeks - SCARY! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well.

Till next time, be good!

p.s. Just want to throw a shout-out to Randy for finishing his third sprint triathlon this weekend. And Happy Birthday, too!!! :)

Fourth of July Weekend

2010-07-07T00:00:00.003-05:00

I had a FANTASTIC Fourth of July weekend! It was great to be home with my boys and even better to have a nice, loooong weekend. I was able to get some school work done and had some fun too.

On Friday night we met up for dinner with some of Justin's work buddies. Got to hear lots of funny stories. On Saturday I slept in, which was glorious in and of itself! Then we went for a walk with Lucien, saw ECLIPSE, I did some school work, then we BBQ-ed with friends, chatted with my neighbor, made some delicious brownies, and did more school work till late. On Sunday I slept in again (happy sigh), did school work, rescued my friend's little boy from a pair of handcuffs and got to chit-chat and catch up. :) Then we BBQ-ed with Amie Jo and her awesome family! I love hanging with them - it's like being surrounded by my own crazy family :) Then more hanging out with friends! On Monday morning I actually RAN! It was my first run in a little more than 2 weeks and boy, am I sore! I took Lucien with me and he was dying after half a mile. We went 2.2 miles.

After that we loaded Lucien in the car and went out to Lake Mattoon to hang out with some running buddies - Jaymie and Randy!!! It was soooo great to see them. There was another black lab running around and fetching sticks out of the water. Lucien is really afraid of water - has NEVER liked it at all. After about an hour of coaxing, we finally got him to walk into the lake with us. It was little by little, but after a while he was actually in chest-deep! I was so proud of him. He would have never even wanted to get in if it wasn't for the other lab (Charlie) making it look like so much fun. I had my camera and was taking pictures. Sure enough, as I was trying to hand it off to Justin (to avoid dropping it), I dropped it right into the lake. BOO. So, Jill took these pics with her camera phone. They'll have to do for now. Hopefully my camera will work once it dries out. :)

me, Randy, Justin, and Lucien

After this, Jaymie and Randy took us on a tour of lake in their boat. It was a gorgeous day and I could not think of a better way to spend it than with friends on the lake. Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so much fun!!

A huge hug and kiss to my incredible Justin. Thank you so much for getting the house ready for me and for being so incredibly supportive and encouraging while I'm on this crazy journey. I love you more than you know.

Home, sweet home!!

2010-07-03T10:34:00.004-05:00

Yay! for loooooong weekends. Arielle and I rode the train home last night and it was pretty interesting. Lots of crazies on a completely packed ride. We used the time to work on school stuff... are you at all surprised by this?!?! :)

Arielle and I on the Hogwarts Express to Effingham - home of the...?!?!?!

I slept in with my boys this morning and it was GLORIOUS! I've got some work to do this weekend, but I'm definitely looking forward to doing some normal people stuff like watching Eclipse (I can't wait to see it!), hitting the pool, and enjoying some BBQs. Very excited.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you all the GREAT news: I had midterms this Monday. I found out Thursday that I passed all of my exams!!! :) WOOOHOOOO. It was totally intense and I'm so glad they went well. Unit one finals are in just 4 weeks. Crazy.

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy all of this sunshine. Have a GREAT day and a FANTASTIC July 4th!!!

Midterms!

2010-06-28T23:39:00.006-05:00

So... today was the first day of our 4th week of PA school. We spent ALLLLL day taking unit one midterms. It was a chance for us to see what the test format is like, and to also see whether our study technique is adequate or lacking.

I have a study group with some AWESOME ladies and let me tell you... we put in close to 30 hours of study time between Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. It was intense. I am soooo glad that I'm part of this little group, because together we were able to cover an incredible amount of material. After just 3 weeks of classes, this is what my LI (learning issue) binder looks like.

I've mentioned before that my program is based on a self-directed learning module. This means that whenever a topic comes up in out tutor group sessions that we're not sure of, it becomes a "learning issue". These learning issues get divvied up between group members. For each topic you write a mini research paper containing all pertinent information regarding diagnosis, lab tests, pathophysiology of the condition, differential diagnoses, treatment, patient education, etc. The blue binder contains the LIs from out first 3 cases. We have 5 units with 7 cases each!!

I'm gonna be filling up binders like CRAZY!

Anyway, midterms were really intense. My brain feels filled to capacity and completely fried. I feel like I did alright on my exams, but who knows. We'll find out our grades on Thursday morning. We're already working on a new case, so I'm ready for more.

Oh, to unwind after exams we spent a few hours just chatting and laughing at a local winery. It was incredible hot, but totally awesome to have a few free hours. I'm realllllly looking forward to heading back home this weekend. YAY for long weekends!!!

Everyone have a GREAT week. :)

I finally have a minute to update!

2010-06-19T21:24:00.010-05:00

Hello everyone! It's been forever. Sorry about that. I moved down to Carbondale for PA school on June 1st and life has been BANANAS since then. Barely any time to eat or sleep, much less run or write blog posts. Oh, and I'm hardly ever on facebook anymore, so I feel a little out of touch. I do want to say CONGRATS to my friend Tanya and Rey on their newest addition - little Jasper. And also, CONGRATS to Zuri and Bobby on their very recent engagement! I can't wait to see you all dressed up and married. I love you guys!

I just finished my 2nd week of classes and I'm already learning soooo much. It's completely overwhelming. Every time I think of all the information being covered I spaz a bit. Anyway, that's how most of us in the program feel. My roommate is a rockstar, so that makes things a lot better. We're both overachievers, so it works out nicely. We've got a group that stay on campus late (till like midnight and sometimes later) on most night working on our research and stuff. Our program is based on a self-directed learning module, so there's lots of research to be done. Lectures are going pretty well too. We've got our first simulated patient this Monday and I'm pretty freaking nervous about it. It'll be done as a group, so that's nice. I can't believe we already have midterms in 9 days. Aaaahhhhhhh!

Anyways, things are good. So glad I'm part of this program, cause I'm pretty sure I would just be miserable in a didactic program. Sitting through lecture for 8 hours a day would be HORRIBLE! Anyway, this is my first weekend home and it's been awesome seeing my boys. I was pretty wound up on Friday and I just feel much better after getting home to Mattoon last night. I'll be heading back south on the train tomorrow, but that's okay. I can do this. I'll be back home for July 4th weekend. That's only 2 weeks away.

Here are some pics that I've taken since I got to Carbondale. Enjoy and I hope everyone is loving life!! :)

Me getting coated by Dr. Smith

SIUC PA class of 2012!

Me & my awesome roomie, Arielle!

Me & my Mr. :)

Blue Sky winery in Carbondale. This was the weekend before classes started.

Walker's Bluff winery just north of Carbondale. Those are fake sheep... I totally felt cheated when I realized they weren't moving at all.

Skype-tastic!

2010-05-30T23:37:00.006-05:00

So for Mothers Day/Dad's Birthday this year I sent my parents a web cam. I've been living in IL for four years now, so I thought it would be really nice to see their faces while talking to them (Now that I have a Mac with a built-in camera, I can actually do this!). They've had the camera for about three weeks now, but were having sound card issues with their Dell. They finally got it all set up this evening.

Can I tell you that Skype in FANTASTIC!!!! This was my first time using it and I LOVED it. My mom and I just giggled for the first five minutes of our chat. It was great to see her laughing face. It totally made my day. They had some family over for a BBQ, so I got to see my dad, their dog Jack (my little spotted cow), three of my aunts, some cousins... I even got to give my dad a tour of our townhouse! (He hasn't been up to visit since we moved into this place). My parents got to say hello to hubby & the pup too! I had no idea how fun video chatting would be - I can't wait to chat with my brother & his wife so I can see my Bella. :)

Anyway, tomorrow is Memorial Day. Everyone enjoy the day off and say a prayer for the men & women who fight for our freedom.

See you soon...

2010-05-30T11:51:00.002-05:00

Currently listening to: Deep Inside of You - Third Eye Blind

always makes me think of summers passed...

Silent All These Years - Tori Amos

I can see everything she sings...

Yesterday was my last long run up at LOW. I had some muscle twinges going on so Coach & I just walked for 6.6. We chatted the entire way and it was wonderful. The day was perfect, and the park looked awesome, and I was in great company. Couldn't ask for anything else (except a few more Saturdays to enjoy with my runners). Afterwards we sat outside at Panera while we ate breakfast and chatted some more. I will really miss these people. It's funny - you never imagine when you first meet a group of people, how dependent you'll become on their presence and their friendship. I'm sure I'll meet other people to run with, but I must say that these friendships are some of the deepest I've made in years and new people won't come close.

No tears. This is not "good bye". It's "see you soon". The reunion will be at the Lewis & CLark Marathon in St, Charles, Missouri on October 3rd. A little more then 4 months. See you all there!!!

Magic train ride

2010-05-26T22:36:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a loooong day. After an early morning 5.2 mile run, we got all of my big stuff moved onto a U-haul, down to Carbondale, and into my new apartment. Then we had a late lunch with some of my lovely Carbondale ladies. I was excited for Justin to meet the girls, so it was a good day. After all this we hopped on the Amtrak and rode back to Mattoon.

This was my first time riding a train, so I was very excited. <--- That might even be an understatement. Once we got going Justin kept looking over at me to see the look on my face. I'm like a small child when it comes to new experiences. I think Justin finds it amusing - hopefully he finds it endearing. :) I had a cheesy grin on my face for the majority of the train ride (which lasted 2 hours). I totally felt like I was on the Hogwarts Express.

There was even a Cafe' Cart. I asked Justin if he would go with me. He declined but told me to go ahead. I tried to abstain, but I was just sooo curious that I had to go see it. I got a Sierra Mist and some cookies (it would have been AMAZING if I had found some chocolate frogs or Bertie's Every Flavored Beans!!). I returned to my seat with a HUGE smile on my face! Justin laughed. We shared our snacks and continued our ride while reading - I was totally re-reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. It was perfect.

When we got back to Mattoon we had to go to Charleston to pick up a mattress. It felt awesome when I finally crawled into (our new queen size) bed.

The count is down to 9 days till my White Coat Ceremony. Aaaaaaaaaah! Crazy. I'm so excited and very nervous. I've been up & down all day today getting things ready. I picked up some cool stuff at Big Lots & Walmart today. Lovely candles, towels, home decor items & such. I can't wait to set everything up. We were really limited on time while we were in Carbondale yesterday, so my stuff is in the apartment, but it's not set up the way I want it. Some of the girls are having a BBQ at their place this Saturday and I'm tempted to head down for the day. We'll see. :)

I hope everyone is having a FABULOUS week!

Sketchy Thursday 5.20 Challenge

2010-05-24T19:53:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone!

Today's been one of those days. Hubby & I were stressing out about getting my stuff moved down to Carbondale. We were not on the same page about dates, but we got it all worked out and we'll be heading down tomorrow! :) Anyway, after that headache I decided to relax and work on the Sketchy Thursdays challenge. It's a great double page layout and I was looking forward to finally using some pictures from my parents' 30 year anniversary. I hope you like it!

Please excuse the poor picture quality. I didn't have very good lighting when taking these.

When my parents got married in 1977, they had a city hall wedding and then celebrated at my aunt's apartment. Mom always looked forward to having a big wedding celebration for her 25th anniversary. They made it happen after 30 years. It was a BEAUTIFUL night. :)

These pictures are from a local park as summer was changing to fall.

One last time...

2010-05-23T17:58:00.002-05:00

This summer a fair few of those in my running group will be moving. Some of us will be moving for school, others for work. This means that our group runs are numbered.

Yesterday a few of us ran in the Buffalo Trace 5 mile trail race through Lake of the Woods (LOW) in Mahomet. It was 5 mile of wet, hilly trails... and it was GREAT! The day started off cool and foggy, but by the time we started running at 8am, it had turned into a beautiful day (although a bit humid). Our Saturday morning runs are usually at LOW but we mostly stick to the bike path, so the trails were a nice break from routine. I must admit, though, that as I finished my final mile I was cursing whoever thought it was a good idea to end the race on an uphill. I crossed the finish line to cheers from my awesome, runner friends - always a great feeling! My time was 54:34.50.

Afterwards we stood around eating delicious orange slices, watermelon slices, bananas, & tootsie rolls! <--- the tootsie rolls were a nice surprise, but nothing compares to a yummy orange post-run. Awards were then dispersed and surprise, surprise - Allison won 3rd in her age group!!! Rock Star. :) We then headed over to Panera for a yummy breakfast & smoothies.

All in all, it was a fantastic day!

Mike, me, and Joanna pre race :)

The gang: Joanna, Randy, Allison, me, Jaymie, and Mike post race. Randy & Jaymie were awesome! They ran from spot to spot on the trails cheering us on. :)

Allison with her awesome Buffalo trophy :)

Looks like next Saturday will be my last run with the group for a while. We plan to run the Lewis & Clark Marathon in St. Charles, Missouri together this October. Some of us will be doing the full marathon, and some will be doing the half. I can't wait!

All out mile

2010-05-19T21:41:00.004-05:00

I like to consider myself pretty gangster... the truth is that I'm not. But frankly, I'm okay with that. Today I was scheduled to run my first ever all out mile with some friends. These friends are much faster than I am - one of them is working towards qualifying for the Boston Marathon! (THAT'S pretty gangster!) This said, I was pretty nervous about this all out mile.

Since state track championships are being held at EIU this week, we headed over to the Charleston High School track. We putzed around (and stretched) for a while before getting started with our warm up. We were clearly trying to put the whole thing off. I wasn't the only one who was nervous - that made me feel a little better. :) We jogged 2 laps to warm up and then toed the line.

I took off too quickly and was gassed at the end of lap 1. As I started lap 2 I seriously considered running straight to the bleachers instead of finishing! How pathetic. Anyway, I toughed it out and completed my mile in 8:34.59. I wish it had been better, but I can't really complain. Prior to today, my fastest mile had been 9:51 (mile 1 of the IL half marathon just 18 days ago).

Now I know where I'm at and where I'd like to get to. I'd like to continue working on this and come in at a sub 8:00 mile. I can do this. It just means incorporating speed work into my schedule. I'll keep you posted on my progress with this goal.

Happy running!!!

Sketchy Thursday 5.13 Challenge

2010-05-19T21:12:00.003-05:00

Here's my take on this week's Sketchy Thursday's sketch. I'm rushing to get it in before the deadline for tonight!! :)

These pics are from our trip to Disney in September 2009. We went to Mickey's Not-So-Scray Halloween Party. It's the coolest time to be in the Magic Kingdom because you get to see all of the really cool villians!

P.S. Sorry about the grainy pics - not sure why they came out this way.

iTunes random plays

2010-05-19T11:08:00.006-05:00

So, this morning I'm really procrastinating on cleaning the house. I hate cleaning, but I love when the house is clean. I got a new febreeze scent that I really like - I just need to get cracking, so I can enjoy the day. Later today I'll be running my first all-out mile with a friend. We're gonna hit the track at EIU. Wish me luck! I've cut 4 minutes off of my 5.18 mile loop in the past week, so I'm feeling good, but I don't really have a goal for this mile. I'm wondering if I could pull off an 8 min mile... We'll see.

Anyway, my iTunes library is currently on shuffle. Here's what's popped up:

Absolute - The Fray

Halleluja - Vitamin String Quartet (Paramore)

City - Sara Bareilles

32 Flavors - Alana Davos (originally by Ani DiFranco)

Love Ridden - Fiona Apple

23 - Jimmy Eat World

Everything I said - The Cranberries

This started off as a list of song that played randomly on my iTunes library... but I guess it evolved into a list of some of my favorite

"sad old bastard music". I've been trying to find something that suits my mood right now, but nothing seems to fit today. I just keep going to

the next song....

Stop this train...

2010-05-17T14:39:00.003-05:00

Music often strikes a chord within me that is otherwise unaccessible. No matter how many times I hear the song, it affects me the same way. I can't explain it, it just is.

This is one of those songs...

So scared of getting old, I'm only good at being young.
So I play the numbers game try to find a way to say my life's just begun...

Oh now once in a while, when it's good, it'll feel like it should
And they're all still around, and you're still safe and sound.
And you don't miss a thing, 'til you cry.... when you're driving away in the dark.
Singing stop this train, I wanna get off and go back home again.
I can't take the speed this thing is moving in
I know I can't, cause now I see, I'm never gonna stop this train...

Happy Anniversary!

2010-05-13T23:59:00.006-05:00

Today is May 13th, 2010 and it marks four years that Justin & I have been married. Incredible. This morning I asked him where the time went.

I remember when we started dating - it still feels like that was just yesterday. We met while working on the Walt Disney World College Program in Orlando, Florida. We were neighbors in building 30 at Chatham Square Apartments. When we first moved in, my roommates and I would leave our front door open so we could meet other people in the building. We were celebrating a birthday, so I had made a cake and this cute guy wandered into the apartment with his hand in a bag of popcorn. We chatted and I offered him some cake (I learned quickly that he didn't turn down offers of food). Not long after that, we chatted at a party. One night when I came home from work, Justin was sitting at the top of the steps reading a book. We talked all night. Almost every night after that I found him on the steps when I came home. We were inseparable. We would sit on the couch talking until we fell asleep...

That was the summer of 2004. It's six years later now and I love him even more than I did back then. I'm blessed to share my life with someone so special.

The beginning of our story...

Behind the scenes at the Lion King show @ Animal Kingdom while we were dating.

This pic was taken in St. Louis in the summer of 2006

I love you, Justin. Happy Anniversary!

Big things are on the horizon...

2010-05-10T12:51:00.003-05:00

In just 28 days I'll be sitting through my first day of graduate school. That means that in LESS than 4 weeks, I'll be living in Carbondale... away from my husband and my dog. The thought of this makes me sad and anxious.

On top of the emotional difficulty that I'll surely be experiencing in reference to the aforementioned realities, I'll be dealing with the stress of school, and getting used to living with a roommate. After being married for 4 years (this Wednesday is our anniversary!), I'm thinking that this transition is going to take some getting used to. With less than 4 weeks left here in Mattoon, I'm not willing to spend any time apart from Justin & Lucien. Another thing, our administrators keep reminding us that the class schedule is tentative. This is probably fine with some people, but I'm a type A personality. I like to have things planned, set in stone. How can I plan when I will see Justin, knowing that our test dates may shift? Justin's schedule changes today, so going forward he'll have Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday off, which will be a nice change. This means that he'll be able to come see me in Carbondale! This makes me really happy, but then I worry about who will take care of Lucien. My apartment doesn't allow pets on property and it makes me feel guilty that Lucien will be all alone. I know that he gets lonely, and it's really not fair to him either... :(

I'd love to plan some races, but what will my study schedule be like? Will I feasibly be able to fit long runs into an already intense schedule? Who will I run with? Will I be training all by myself? How will I stay motivated without my runner friends there to push me?

Please don't get me wrong - I'm blessed to have been accepted into this program and I'm very excited. I'm just know that some sacrifices are going to have to be made to accomplish this. Reality is that I fear the unknown. I know I'll overcome this fear in time, but right now is not that time.

Mothers Day

2010-05-10T12:24:00.005-05:00

Living in Illinois since May 28, 2006 means that I've been apart from my mom for the last 4 Mothers Days. I think of her every day, but this holiday makes it especially hard. We talk on the phone every day. Sometimes multiple times each day! :) It makes me realize how lost I would truly be if she weren't around. (These thoughts make my stomach hurt...) I am incredibly blessed to have such a giving, loving woman to guide me through life's challenges. Thank you, mama.

While mom was relaxing back home with dad in the pool yesterday, Justin, Jill, and I were having a yummy Mothers Day brunch at Richard's Farm in Casey. The place is an cute restaurant that was once an old barn. Behind it is a cute garden that you can walk through to see the beautiful spring flowers in bloom.

Upon arriving home, I spent the next few hours lying out on a lounge chair & basking in the sun with my four-legged son, Lucien. I swear, he loves to be in the sunshine just as much as I do! All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day. There's nothing better than lying in the sun with a good book (I'm re-reading Charlaine Harris' Dead And Gone, so I can pick up the next one in the series, Dead in the Family).

Scraptastic!

2010-05-10T11:28:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday I spent the day cropping at Daisy Lane (a FANTASTIC scrapbooking & craft store in Mattoon). Once a month they do a 12-hour crop from 9am-9pm. I spent the day chatting & laughing with friends as we worked on layouts. I wasn't very productive - I only finished 3 pages. I felt like I used up all my creative energy earlier in the week. Oh well. Here's what I finished.

This first LO is based on the sketch for this week's Shetchy Thursdays challenge.

These pictures were taken at a winery in the Redlands (south of Miami, FL). They use all tropical fruit to create their wines - NO GRAPES!

[P.S. I'm kind of in love with these collage photos from Walgreens.com]

Hubby & I met while working at Disney World in Orlando, FL. These are some pics from our time there. :) This is where it all began!

Have a great week, everyone!

Up In the Air

2010-05-09T00:12:00.005-05:00

A quick movie review here.

I just finished watching Up In the Air and I LOVED it. The film was directed by Jason Reitman (Juno) stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick. It was nominated for a slew of awards for 2009 including best achievement in directing, best motion picture of the year, best performance by an actor in a leading role, and best performance by an actress in a supporting role for BOTH Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick!

Synopsis: With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

Do yourself a favor and watch this one. I think I fell in love with Clooney (again).

Winner!

2010-05-06T11:21:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I posted pictures of some scrapbook layouts that I created. I also entered one of them into a weekly sketch challenge at the Sketchy Thursdays blog. Well, I was randomly chosen as the winner! How exciting. My prize is some really cool scrapbook product. I can't wait to get it in my hands and play with it! :)

I got all my Mother's Day gifts (and Dad's b-day gift) sent out yesterday, and also sent out Bella's album. Afterwards I was still feeling crafty, so i decided to work on some more layouts.

Here they are:

Oh, How the Sea... It calls to me - this is from our recent visit to Miami.

This is from my 27th birthday dinner.

I was working on these last night when Hubby called. He had forgotten his wallet at home and was now at work. He thanked me for delivering his wallet by treating me to Subway. :) He's pretty fantastic. And may I also add that he's quite dapper in his uniform... ::wink::

I've been more creative this week than I have in a long time, and I'll be at a 12-hour crop all Saturday! I can't wait.

This song was stuck in my head last night... I love the lyrics and hope you enjoy (even though it's country!).

A Crafty Day...

2010-05-05T10:39:00.008-05:00

My niece will turning one this Friday. I'm still wondering where the time has gone. It's even harder because we're so far away. I've only seen her on three trips. Poor Justin just met her over Christmas break. We're missing so many of the day-to-day things: her first words, her first steps, and all of her little quirks. It makes me sad.

For her birthday I decided to start an album for her. It will be pictures of her with Justin & I. My hope is that when she gets a little older, she'll pull it out and flip through the pages whenever she has an urge to see her. I hope she looks through it and knows how much we love her, no matter how far away we are. So, I spent the evening (and most of the night) putting together some pages to start the album. Every once in a while I'll make two more and send them down so Jay & Natalie can add them to the album.

Here are some pics:

This is the first page and has a note for Bella. (I have a thing for these cute owls!)

This page is based on a challenge from a scrapbooking blog (Sketchy Thursdays).

This one was also inspired by a page I saw on Sketchy Thursdays' blog.

I hope you enjoyed! I also made some Mother's Day cards yesterday, but I won't be posting pics of those. :)

DIY Laptop Case

2010-05-03T11:08:00.007-05:00

As some of you know, I got a new MacBook laptop for my birthday this year. Hubby and I had been discussing it for a while, and with PA school starting in just one month, we figured we'd just go ahead and make the purchase. Apple laptops are fantastic. I made the switch to apple computers in 2005 and I've been very happy with the decision. The products are great, but the prices are high. We made the decision to spend the money. I also purchased a hard case to keep the laptop from getting all scratched up (it's a white unibody, so it would show every nick). Needless to say, this was starting to add up.

That being said, I decided that I would make my own soft case. I looked online and in stores and just couldn't find anything that I was in love with, and that was also a reasonable price. I looked around at some blogs and found a pattern. This decided, I went and bought some fabric and materials.

I spent 8 loooooooong hours at my mother-in-law's house working on this damn case yesterday. Thank goodness she's so patient! I had never used a sewing machine prior to yesterday, and Jill sat with me and showed me how to do everything. She showed me how to use the fusible pellon, helped me with the zig-zag stitches, and even helped me unstitch a whole damn panel after realizing we misread the pattern! She's a saint. Halfway through this whole process we decided that the pattern we were using SUCKED and was may more complicated than it needed to be. Either way, we plodded on and finished the project.

Here are some pictures!

Me stitching. I really had to concentrate.

More of the same.

Fixing the panel we fudged on. :)

The finished product! It's a little bigger than I'd like, but it's all good.

My MacBook all nestled in her new case. :)

One thing's for sure... the next time I start a sewing project, I'll be sure to choose a pattern that makes sense! :)

Away we go...

2010-05-01T19:06:00.009-05:00

I just watched the film Away We Go by director Sam Mendes.

The film stars John Krasinski (the Office) and Maya Rudolph (SNL) as a couple who is expecting their first child and are traveling around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It feels "real" as it presents all of these different types of families. You see all of the crazies and their quirks, and then you watch as these two frightened, soon-to-be parents come to their own conclusions about what kind of life they'll live, what kind of parents they'll be, and what kind of family they'll raise.

I also really enjoyed the soundtrack, which is by Alexi Murdoch.

All My Days - Alexi Murdoch

Now I see clearly It's you I'm looking for, all of my days

So I smile and know I'll feel this loneliness no more, all of my days

Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

In your love, my salvation lies in your love...

Do yourself a favor and add Away We Go to your netflix queue. I hope you enjoy. :)

Race Recap

2010-05-01T16:19:00.003-05:00

Today was a long day. My alarm clock went off at 4am this morning - after 6.5 hours of waking each hour to look at the clock. Needless to say, I was exhausted. We met up for our carpool at 5am and were parking at the Assembly Hall parking lot by 6:15am. A few of Justin's friends were running in various events, so we chatted it up until the 5K started at 7am. When Justin, Jill, Amie, and James lined up for their race, I found JG, MM, and RH. This was a nice surprise. After my second stop at the porta potties, it was time to line up. At this point my race jitters were in full swing.

After some contemplation, I decided to head out with the 4:45 pace team (2:27 half ). I figured this would be my best bet. When I looked at my watch at mile 1 I realized that the pacer was under pace - 9:53 for the first mile. I'm not sure if she was just trying to break apart from the crowds, but I was hoping she wouldn't keep going at 9:53. By mile 5 I had been running for 53 minutes and was beat (we had rain last night and it was ridiculously humid). A little after mile 7 I still had the pacer in my sights. After that I was feeling it. I was definitely excited when I reached the water stop near mile 7. Soon after this I found one of the TNT coaches on the course (DG) and she ran with me for a little bit - this is always really nice. :) As we ran through Meadowbrook Park the path was pretty narrow and we were dodging around people.

Right before mile 10 I saw another familiar face (JH) at the water stop! At mile 11.5 the marathon and half marathon split. I could see the marker for mile 12 ahead in the distance and was saying to myself, "wouldn't it be the best if that was mile 13?". Alas, I still had 1.1 miles to go. And of course, it felt like it was never-ending, mostly because I could see Memorial Stadium at this point! Just past mile 12 we turned toward the stadium and I got really excited. ( I also saw some friends waving at me from the corner!) Then I realized that the course was taking around the stadium to the north entrance! Ugh. It took all my mental strength not to walk to the finish.

When I finally entered the stadium I was just glad to be near the finish line. I used my last bit of energy to sprint (it was a really sad sprint) across the finish. My official chip time was 2:30:03. Just 3 stinking seconds from my goal of 2:30. But that's okay, I'll take it! It's an 11 minute improvement on my previous PR. :)

Congrats to all of my amazing runner friends who ran strong today, and THANK YOU for helping me be a better runner. ::hug::

These are some of my fantastic runner friends at the race expo:

JH, JG, MB, me, DG & MM

The 5Kers - all of them were first timers :)

Kerrick, Justin, Jill & Amie

The family :)

I was excited pre-race, can you tell?!

On the eve of the IL half marathon...

2010-04-30T20:42:00.006-05:00

If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run. - John Bingham

Tomorrow is the big day - the Illinois Marathon & Half Marathon. I've been training for this since my last race in January. I've been running around like a crazy all day to pick up race packets and then to cook a yummy spaghetti dinner for the fam. This year Justin and Jill will also be participating in the races. Justin will be running the 5K and Jill will be walking the 5K. I'm really excited that they are involved! :)

For those of you who run, you know that the week before a race is called the taper. It sucks. It's the worst part of training for a long distance event. For a whole week (sometimes two) you cut back on mileage. For this week you may only run 2 or 3 times, for short distances (3 miles). The ONLY purpose for these runs is to keep your muscles loose. This becomes a week of doubt and stress. A week of asking yourself if you trained long enough, if you trained hard enough. A week of worrying about EVERY possible thing that could go wrong on race day.

I will be leaving Mattoon at 5am (it's about an hour drive to Champaign) for a 7:30 start time. I'm currently doing a load of laundry. Why, you ask. Because I'm not sure what I'll feeling like wearing when I wake up. I'm planning on wearing my black running skirt. But what if I suddenly have the urge to wear my green running skirt? Are my favorite socks clean? What about my favorite shirt? I have to be up by 4am - hopefully I'll have to poo before I leave the house. What if I can't? What if I have to go once I start running?! Ugh. These are the things that runners freak out about during the taper! On top of these things, I'm anxious because last year I rolled my ankle at mile 1.5 of this race and wasn't able to finish. I've been overly careful with my ankle during training. I know that I need to stay positive, but I can't help worrying.

Then there's the question of pacing. I said a few weeks back that my goal is to break 2:30 for this half. Since the full & half start out together, my plan is to run with the 5 hour pace team. I think I can do it. I know I can do it. Still, I'm anxious.

Anyway, I met with my runner girls for lunch and packet pick-up today. They always make me laugh. I could tell I was anxious though, cause I dropped the F-bomb a lot. I can't help it. It's now 9pm and 4am will come very early, so I guess I should hit the sack. Good luck to all of you running tomorrow!! Wish me luck and check back for a race recap. :)

Birthday Yum...

2010-04-27T22:40:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday, April 22nd, I turned 27. I'm still a little amazed. 27. It sounds old, but I know that it isn't (even though I'll continue to call my husband - who's also 27, old). Hubby woke me up with a dozen roses and told me to order the macbook laptop that we'd been talking about for a while. I was super excited, to say the least! Then we watched Avatar on DVD. The day was off to a wonderful start.

Roses and a red velvet cake for the birthday girl!!

A few hours later, my stethoscope arrive via post. I've already posted a picture. The arrival of my stethoscope somehow made PA school much more real. The countdown is at 38 days and counting!

The rest of my day was pretty relaxing. In the evening, my friend (and former boss) Amie Jo and I went out for some yum. My favorite local coffee shop was having a business after hours, so we decided to hit up Common Grounds and see what was going on. They were showing off a new meeting room that they had just opened and it looked GREAT! They were also serving yummy morsels, so we hung out for a bit and chatted with the owner - who's a runner and a very cool lady. :) After this we went to Charleston for a wine tasting event that was put on by my mommy-in-law's (Jill's) place of business. There was a lot of good wine to taste and the snacks were.... just, wow. The event was catered by a local business called 2 Flowers Catering. They ALWAYS make delicious stuff. This time they had a few things I'd never tasted before - artichoke & feta dip (it was incredible) served with various types of breads, and strips of sundried eggplant wrapped around a chunk of fresh mozarella. Everything else paled in comparison to these two. All of this added up to a fantastic day! :)

Due to hubby's work schedule, we went to dinner to celebrate my birthday on Sunday evening. We had a delicious dinner (and an even better dessert) at the Firefly Grill down in Effingham.

Here are some pics!

Me and my mint chocolate martini

Me & the Hubby ::smile::

Mint chocolate martini and mini cheesecake with raspberry

P.S. Jill and I saw "The Back-Up Plan" on Sunday. Very cute. Jennifer Lopez was made for the romantic comedy genre :)

It's almost time...

2010-04-27T21:33:00.002-05:00

I've been fighting a head cold (i think) for the past 9 days. My nose will not stop running. I went to see the Dr. yesterday and he thinks that seasonal allergies are the culprit. Weird. I've never suffered from allergies in the past. So, I went and got the generic Claritin and the generic Affrin spray - yes I'm cheap (thank you, dad, for bequeathing the cheap gene to me).

I started this regimen yesterday. Right now, I feel worse. Now my throat hurts too. Ugh. I just added some Nyquil to the mix. I'm really hoping I get better soon because the IL Half Marathon is just around the corner. 3 days, 9 hours and counting - to be exact. I really need to be in top form on Saturday. Last Saturday was my final long run in preparation for the event. It was 10 miles and it was miserable. I just was not feeling it. I ended up walking a lot and was very disappointed.

Thank goodness for post-long run breakfast with buddies. One of these lovely ladies told me that a bad dress rehearsal usually means a good event - i really hope this holds true for this Saturday...

My new baby!!!

2010-04-22T21:27:00.003-05:00

So, you guys know how excited I am about my new stethoscope. So, here's a pic!

P.S. Ain't she purdy? ::sheephish grin::

Happy Earth Day!!

2010-04-22T09:59:00.006-05:00

I love Spring in the Midwest. It's totally unlike Spring in South Florida. As a matter of fact, there really isn't a Spring in South Florida. It's really just varying degrees of Summer. They actually had a winter this year, but that's incredibly rare. Usually they just get a month of fantastic weather in the high 60s.

Anyway, in the Midwest you get to see all of nature reawakening. It's pretty amazing. Since today is Earth Day (and my birthday!!!), I'd like to share some pictures I've taken in the past week or so. Some are pics of flowers I've potted this year, others are from a little park here in town.

My Dahlias

Closeup of the Dahlias

Celosia. I planted some Zinnia seeds in the middle. Can't wait till they come up!

My neighbor's Tulips.

The rest of these are from the Friendship Garden.

My Lucien.

I love these trees...

Take the opportunity to get outside today. Do something to celebrate Earth Day. Take a walk and enjoy the beauty that nature has to offer. Happy Earth Day!!

Carbondale fun!

2010-04-22T09:23:00.005-05:00

So, I finally uploaded my pictures from this past weekend o' fun with the girls! Here they are for your viewing pleasure :) Enjoy.

Thank you Mr. Cuervo for getting the party started. Yay for pomegranate margaritas.

At the "surprise" party. Teehee. My pen had a mini penis on it!

Hurricanes and fried pickles. Sounded nasty, but damn they were good!

Jen being a goober. :)

Amanda, Katie, Me, Caryn, Jen, & Natalie in front of Busch Stadium

4/16/10

Me and the girls after a Cardinal WIN!!

Some of my future PA classmates c/o 2012!!

There is exactly 6 weeks (42 days) until class orientation. These people will be the my family for the next two years! It's pretty much gonna be awesome. Oh! My stethoscope shipped yesterday and should be here soon! And more good news - Justin told me to order my new Mac laptop!

Leaky Faucet

2010-04-21T12:00:00.004-05:00

My nose feels like a leaky faucet. I've got a head cold that is being persistent. Tomorrow is my 27th birthday and I was hoping to feel better by then, but it's looking like a no go. Oh well, what can you do?

It's been a while since I posted. I was out of town in Carbondale, IL last week from Thursday to Sunday. I spent some time with some of the lovely ladies who will be my classmates for the next two years of PA school. We did some running around and got lots of school stuff accomplished. Got my school ID, turned in immunization records, financial aid forms, turned in more health records, etc. Then we played for the rest of the weekend. We went to a "surprise" party. (For those of you who don't know, this is just like a Passion party), hit a Cardinals game in St. Louis (where we were privileged enough to see a grand slam!), went to a class picnic and just hung out. It was a great weekend. I have a feeling I'm going to make some wonderful friendships in the next two years.

Anyway, I've spent most of the last few days on the couch covered in blankets, so I haven't uploaded my pictures yet. But when I do, I'll be sure to post them. :) I hope everyone is having a GREAT week. I'm off to run 7 miles - hopefully my nose doesn't drip the whole time. Ugh.

P.S. This may sound super dorky, but I ordered my stethoscope online yesterday!!! It was so exciting. And for my birthday, my mom sent my white coat and my sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff)! I feel like it's all starting to come together. :)

Pacing...

2010-04-10T16:18:00.004-05:00

This year's Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon is on May 1st. That is exactly 3 weeks from this morning. This means that today and next Saturday are my longest training runs before the big day. Today was absolutely PERFECT. It was about 42 degrees when I left my house and closer to 50 when we actually started running. This may sound cold to some of you, but the sun was shining brightly and it warmed up as we ran. All the trees and flowers are in bloom, and the birds are out singing and playing. No better way to start the weekend.

My fastest half marathon time is currently 2:41:23. This is an average pace of 12:19 per mile. My goal for this race is to finish in 2:30:00. This would be a pace of 11:27 per mile.

This said, I am very excited to report that on today's 11 mile run I kept an average pace of 11:22 per mile. If I can keep this pace on race day, I will come in at 2:28:54!!! This is soo exciting. :) And I've still got 3 weeks to improve!

I wasn't the only one kicking a$$ this morning. The ladies were all on top of their game this morning, but Randy was on FIRE! He has a torn meniscus and I was chasing him for half of my 11 miles. Incredible. Thank you to my group of amazing runner friends for always inspiring me!

P.S. Breakfast at Panera was awesome :) If you've never tried their lowfat black cherry smoothie, go do it NOW! Yum. :)

Florence + the Machine

2010-04-09T13:49:00.005-05:00

This is what I'm currently enjoying: Florence + the Machine. The album name is Lungs. Listen to it. DO IT!! :)

Cosmic Love - by Florence + the Machine

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

I would totally have posted a video clip, but my laptop is elderly and froze up when I tried. I had to reboot just to finish this post. :(

Anyway, thanks to Jonathan and Christopher for telling me about Florence + the Machine. You guys ROCK. Enjoy the show on Monday - I'm jealous!

An homage...

2010-04-07T23:45:00.005-05:00

To Isabella Sofia.... my incredible niece. I love you.

Isabella & Grandpa.

Isabella & Mommy.

Isabella & Grandma. :)

Isabella & Daddy.

Isabella & uncle Justin.

Surprise, Surprise! I'm gangster :)

2010-04-05T14:55:00.005-05:00

So, sometimes you have the opportunity to try something new and you totally surprise yourself. This is always a treat. :)

My brother is a arms instructor in South Florida. He teaches classes on basic firearms safety and also does concealed carry certification classes. He's been shooting for a few years now and has been wanting to take me shooting for a while. Last week while we were home in Florida, he finally got the chance. I was a little nervous at first. As a matter of fact, I had a pretty unexpected emotional/physiological reaction when I heard the first few gunshots ring out through the shooting range. I had to step outside and calm myself down. I'm not sure if it was the noise itself, or the fact that my hubby is a police officer - it was like the reality of the danger inherent in his profession just slapped me in the face.

After I got my nerves under control, I stepped back into the range and took my first shots.

My first two shots ever!

Can you tell I was excited?!?!

Me shooting the shotgun. My reaction after the first shot: "Holf F*CK, I'm gangster!!!" LOL.

Hubby shooting the shotgun.

He's kinda cute ::wink::

My target. I definitely kept this bad boy! :)

Brother & Hubby were quite proud of me - it was a pretty fantastic feeling. I'd definitely like to go shooting again sometime. If any of you live in the South Florida area and would like to go shooting or be certified for carrying concealed, get in touch with me and I'll get you my brother's info.

Running Horror Stories

2010-04-03T20:25:00.005-05:00

Last night as I read through some runner forums looking for some motivation, I came across this gem.

Once "movement" is imminent, the trickiest part is finding your OBMPP (Optimal Bowel Movement Prevention Pace). Run too fast, and you hasten your body's process dangerously. Slow down too much, and your system may slow down, but then you're not getting much closer to safety. There's a real delicate balance in finding that pace that will mitigate disaster...

When I finally stopped laughing a few minutes later, I found another treasure.

http://www.tnrunning.com/articles/milner/everyone_poops.html Be prepared to laugh your arse off. I mean seriously, just the first few sentences had me going:

Usually, when nature calls while I am running, my digestive system gives some kind of polite 10-minute warning. If that is not heeded quickly, it then sounds a more serious 5-minute warning, perhaps with a warning shot being fired off, before going to DEFCON 3, at which point there had better be a toilet within a quarter-mile, because an explosion is imminent.

Needless to say, these things were on my mind when I left home for my 10 mile long run this morning. So far I haven't had any issues like this. That said, as a runner, I know that my day will come. Here's to hoping I'm fully prepared to handle the situation on that day!

Cheers!

Schnebly Winery

2010-04-02T21:20:00.010-05:00

So, last Friday while mom worked, Justin & I were able to keep her car. Our plan was to wake up and head to the Everglades. Justin had never been before and he was excited to walk around and check out the wildlife. When we finally made it out of the house, we were greeted by an overcast sky. I had gone running earlier that morning (5 miles) and it had cleared up a bit since then. Our thought was that the clouds might just pass - you can never tell in Miami. As we reached the Homestead exit it began to rain. We promptly spotted a brand new Red Lobster. Justin was VERY excited (shaking my head), so we decided to stop for lunch and wait out the rain.

After lunch the sky still looked ominous so we decided to skip the Everglades. Instead, we opted to drive out to Schnebly Winery in the Redlands. I had visited a few years back when the place was tiny and was undergoing a ton of construction. I'd heard from several people that it was now a beautiful place to visit - and I already knew I enjoyed their wine. So, off we went. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere and Justin was pretty surprised to see all of the space dedicated to agriculture. :)

All of Schnebly's wines are made from tropical fruit - no grapes used at all! This makes for some pretty interesting flavors. We did a tasting a of 5 wines each. I'm generally not a fan of avocado, but a friend mentioned their avocado wine in a blog post, so I figured I'd give it a try. I really enjoyed the Sweet Avocado wine and ended up buying a bottle. We sat on the back patio and sipped. What a beautiful place! We walked around and took it all in. I was really surprised to see how much it had all changed. Justin said that he wants our future porch to look like their place. Wishful thinking... :)

If you're looking for a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the ambiance, check it out. http://schneblywinery.ning.com/

I really like the label. It was designed by one of the guys who works at the winery.

Later this same night we met up with friends and stuffed our faces at the Miami Dade County Youth Fair. Yum!!

The lighthouse on Key Biscayne

2010-04-01T23:32:00.010-05:00

So, I've been living in Illinois for almost four years now. In the time that I've been gone I've come to realize how much I took for granted that I lived in Miami. There were so many things that I just didn't make the time to take advantage of. For instance, the beach or the everglades or Knausberry Farm or the many local festivals that take place all year. I lived in South Florida for 17 years. That's a long time. How is it that I never knew there was a lighthouse at the very end of Key Biscayne? In high school and college we used to go to Crandon Beach on Key Biscayne, and yet I never knew about the lighthouse.

Either way, Justin and were sure to take advantage of the gorgeous weather while we visited. We tried to see as much as possible. Here are some of the pics from Billy Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.

The view from below.

View from the top.

The shore line from the top.

View from the shore line. I really like this one.

My Mr. :)

No explanation needed. ::smile::

Toes in the sunwarmed sand.

I really enjoyed the way the light was filtering through this tree. Something about it felt magical to me. :)

This little guy ran past us as we were walking from the parking lot. He found a spot under a tree and proceeded to wait patiently for a group to finish their picnic. Smart little opportunist! Later we saw another raccoon being hand-fed by two guys finishing a picnic lunch. He was actually sitting on his back legs like a begging dog!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics. If you're interested in visiting the lighthouse next time you're in Miami, here's the website with information: http://www.floridastateparks.org/capeflorida/

Back from Sunny Miami!

2010-04-01T01:00:00.007-05:00

Hello all!!

It's been a little while since my last blog post. I just got back from sunny Florida late last night. We landed in St. Louis at 11pm and didn't get home to Mattoon until almost 2am. It was a long day. Justin and I had a fantastic time in Miami visiting family and friends and getting lots of sunshine. We even hit the Dade County Youth Fair and went shooting with my brother! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll be posting pics over the next few days and telling you all about our trip.

Now, my family is amazing. Just thought I should put that out there. My brother picked us up from MIA. He came prepared with croquetas and drinks for both Justin and myself. A malta for me and a coke for Justin - he's never acquired the taste for malta. :) This was the perfect start to our vacation. We then went to see my beautiful niece and sister-in-law. It's amazing how much kids grow in such a short period of time. We saw Bella for Christmas, and we could see immediately how much she's grown and changed. She has 8 teeth and she's on the verge of walking all by herself!! Crazy. I still can't get over how beautiful she is. It's strange how she looks soo much like each of her parents. A perfect blend. :) After that Jason took us down south to mom & dad's house and they had Pollo Tropical waiting for us. To those of you who live in Miami, this isn't anything special. But when you live in the midwest and the only "Latin" food you can find is mexican food, Pollo Tropical is like ambrosia!

The next day I woke up early and ran 6 miles around the lake behind my parents' house. The sun was shining and there was an incredible breeze. The lake was reflecting the sun - I could NOT have been happier to run. After that, we spent all day lounging in the back yard. This is exactly what I imagine a vacation being. Relaxing in the sunshine by the pool with a good book and a bottle of water. I love that Justin reads just a much as I do, because this is something we can enjoy together.

Later that night we hit up Sgt. Peppers (my favorite sub shop) with some of my favorite people - Duy and Lissette! After that we got some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery and chatted all night. I really try to like that place, but it just doesn't blow my mind. I prefer Baskin Robbins - but I digress. All in all it was a pretty perfect day. ::contented sigh::

Here are some picture of my mom & dad's back yard. It's a little slice of heaven to me.

The dogs we love!

2010-03-20T16:08:00.005-05:00

In just 3 days Hubby and I will be flying out to Miami to visit family and friends for a wonderful week! We are sooo excited. Really. It's a little ridiculous how excited we are to be taking a vacation together. The past few trips I've taken to Miami have been by myself. I'm very much looking forward to just relaxing in mom & dad's backyard by the pool. Their yard is a slice of heaven as far as I'm concerned. Our plan is to make as few plans as possible! Our hope is to have some time to just relax in the sunshine and enjoy being together, hit the beach, maybe visit the Everglades, definitely hit the Dade County Youth Fair with some friends (yum!) and chill with family. All the while getting as much sun as possible. :)

Since we'll be out of town, Lucien will be enjoying a week long stay at K9 Estates (a nice kennel in our area). I hate leaving him anywhere, but the people at K9 Estates take good care of him and always have wonderful things to say about him. Needless to say, I feel guilty about going for a vacay while leaving Lu here. This said, today's blog post is dedicated to all the lovely DOGS in my life. These guys add soooooo much to our lives. I can't even imagine my life without my Lucien.

Lucien's first day with me. It was love at first sight.

My Lu was so tiny!

Lucien & Jack at Mom & Dad's in Miami. BFF!!

Luna & Gordy at Jason's in Miami.

Rocco, Basil and Micca at Jonathan's in Indy.

Cadbury Eggs everywhere I look!

2010-03-18T21:09:00.008-05:00

So, Easter is fast approaching and everywhere I look, I'm surrounded by delicious looking Easter candies. So far I've been really good about not grabbing yummy things while standing in line to check out. Today my will power dwindled just long enough for me to get two of my favorite candies...

The only thing I didn't get is some jelly beans. I'm a HUGE fan of jelly beans. Usually I go for Jelly Bellys. They are soooo yum. So many flavors, too! But during Easter time I go for Starburst jelly beans. They're really yummy too.

So, in honor of Spring go out and get some yummy treats!

P.S. This is why I continue to run - so I can indulge in yumminess when the urge strikes :)

Harry Potter Mania!

2010-03-17T11:38:00.005-05:00

Hello. My name is Damaris, and I am a Harry Potter fanatic. It all started when I was a sophmore in high school. It's been twelve years and it's only gotten worse. Thank goodness my Hubby is a dork too! :) He's so good that he's waited in lines for books with me at midnight and gone to more than a few midnight movie openings with me. That's love. ::contented sigh::

This year is going to be HUGE for HP fans. Not only is the first movie installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to be release on November 19th, 2010, but there's something even BIGGER happening this Spring. Back in 2007 Warner Brothers announced that they would be starting development of a theme park land based on HP's world. This year the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The official opening date hasn't been released yet, but it looks like it'll be the weekend of May 28th (I've gathered this from the fact that vacation packages are listed on the website and available starting 5/28/10). I will be in Florida in 6 days and was REALLY hoping, by some lucky miracle, that the park would be opening like NOW. But alas, I'm out of luck. Oh well. That just means I'll have to make another trip when it finally opens!!!

Here's a link to the park's website.

http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

It looks amazing so far! I can't wait to stop and eat at the Three Broomsticks and have a glass of butterbeer, or send a letter from the Owl Post, or take a tour of Hogwarts - we'll actually get to see some of the classrooms featured in the films and, of course, the Gryffindor common room. :) Here's another link: http://screenrant.com/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-construction-photos-pauly-48645/all/1/

This one actually shows some of the construction photos. Very cool stuff.

Funny Feet!

2010-03-16T17:39:00.003-05:00

Hello friends!! Today has been a gorgeous day. Lots of sunshine and temps at almost 60 degrees. :) I just got back from a nice walk with Lucien. He was very excited to be out of the house and there were a lot of people out with their kids and their dogs. Just the kind of day we love.

You're probably looking at this picture and thinking, "What in the world?!?!" Well, this is what I wore to the gym today. Goofy, huh? Last month I bought these "shoes". They're called Vibram Five Fingers. They mimic barefoot walking/running and help to increase flexibility and build the muscles in our feet and legs that get used so infrequently when wearing normal running shoes. Because running shoes are so flat, there are tons of muscles in our feet (for balance and whatnot) that we just don't have to use when running in them. I've decided to give VFFs a try to help strengthen my ankles. Last year I rolled my right ankle several times and had to take time off from running. I'm hoping that running in my VFFs will help to strengthen the muscles in my feet and ankles, so I can overcome my running problems.

Prior to today, my longest run in the VFFs had been two miles. I've read on running forums that you have to build up barefoot (or minimalist if using VFFs) mileage slowly in order to allow your body to transition without getting injured. Because you're using all kinds of new muscles, you ache in different places. I was also having an issue with rubbing, which was causing blisters. There's a company (Injinji) that makes toes socks specifically for use with the VFFs. I bought a pair on Saturday in hopes that they would correct my rubbing issue. Of course, there weren't any pairs in my size in a normal color. The only ones in my size had rainbow-colored stripes. Just my luck.

Needless to say, I got some funny looks while I was on the treadmill. I did four miles in my awesome socks and VFFs. :)

Come on, Spring!!!

2010-03-13T19:47:00.007-06:00

Happy Saturday, everyone! Here in IL, the past few days have been pretty rainy and dreary. After such a long and cold winter, I'm more than ready to usher Spring in. I'm here and waiting with open arms for longer days filled with sunshine and warmth. In this spirit, I'm posting some pics of a trip that Hubby and I took together to California in December of 2007. These are sure to get me in the spirit for our trip home to Miami in just 10 days!

Across The Universe

2010-03-11T23:04:00.004-06:00

Today was a day for reading & watching movies. I finished reading Good Omens. Loved it. I will definitely be picking up some of Neil Gaiman's other stuff. I also watched 17 Again. Cute and fun. Hubby walked into the living room during a part with Elf speak. Needless to say, he wants to watch this one with me tomorrow. Dork. :)

I just finished watching Across The Universe (directed by Julie Taymor). Here's a brief synopsis: An American girl (Evan Rachel Wood) and a British lad (Jim Sturgess) fall in love amid the upheaval of the 1960's in this musical featuring classic Beatles songs and a mix of live action and innovative animation. When Lucy's brother is drafted, Jude and Lucy take a stand as anti-war activists.

Loved this film. The music is pretty amazing. I think I'm now in love with Jim Sturgess (he's British AND he can sing!!!). All the music is actually sung by the cast - which makes me that much happier. Visually it was very interesting - there were some trippy parts. And Evan Rachel Wood - I'm getting to really like her. I watched Thirteen (she plays a starring role as a teenager who becomes good friends with a wild girl at school and quickly descends into a world of sex and drugs) recently and was pretty blown away by the gritty performance she put in. I also like her as Sophie Ann Leclerq in season two of TrueBlood. I'll be keeping an eye on her. :) If you get a chance, check out Across The Universe.

Enjoy!

Reading & Running...

2010-03-11T00:35:00.005-06:00

So, my running schedule called for 6 miles today. I was totally NOT looking forward to this. Thus far, the longest mid-week run I've done is 5 miles. It may not seem like a big increase, but just 2 months ago my longest mid-week run was like 3.1 miles. This said, I'm making inprovement and I just hope it pays off on this next half marathon. My best time for 13.1 so far is 2:41 and I'm hoping to break 2:30. I think I can totally do this. As a matter of fact, I WILL do this!

Anywho, since I was procrastinating on my run all day, I spent it reading. I'm more than half way through Good Omens and I'm enjoying it. Yay for my trip to the library yesterday. Today was beautiful, sunny and around 64 degrees. I actually sat out on the steps in the sunshine with Lucien for a bit. I read and he just enjoyed being outside without freezing. Poor guy. I'm pretty sure he hates these long winters just as much as I do. Hopefully the weather will be nice again tomorrow. Maybe we'll hit Douglas Hart Nature Center. We went on Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful. We walked through the trails in the woods and then out on the prairie trails. I'm really hoping that Spring is hear to stay.

When Hubby headed out for work I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and head to the gym. I've gotta say, I often do NOT enjoy running. It takes a lot out of me mentally to make myself get on the treadmill for an hour+ at a time. The fact of the matter is that I always feel fantastic when I'm finished. This feeling makes it all worthwhile. My friend Joanna said it best the other day: "Fun? No. Rewarding? Yes."

This January my dad and my aunt ran their first half marathon with me at Disney World. Neither of them have ever been runners, but they wanted to do it - and they rocked Disney. I was so proud of them. They both finished in under 3 hours. :) They're both already talking about which event they want to run next. I'm glad that this is becoming a family thing. Here are a few pictures of race weekend in Orlando.

This is after we finished and got back to our resort. We were exhausted and freezing.

Running down Main Street in Magic Kingdom with the castle behind me. It always makes me smile :)

Daddy before the race started. It was like 25 degrees and sleeting. (I can't figure out how to flip this pic!)

Excited/Nervous before the race.

Packet pick-up at the race expo.

Books, books, books!!

2010-03-09T16:08:00.007-06:00

So, since I'm only taking one course this semester (pharmacology, online), I've been getting a lot of reading done. I've spent a pretty penny on books since last summer, and since I haven't been working since last May, it's time for me to start hitting the local library. I decided that today would be the day to reacquaint myself with Mattoon's small library. Here's what I picked up:

Good Omens by Terry Pratchet & Neil Gaiman: I was talking to my brother today (he's always got good reading suggestions) and he told me to check out Neil Gaiman. This book is a satirical look at the days leading up to the Apocalypse. It's supposed to be very funny.
The Shack by William P. Young: I've been told to read this by a bunch of people. "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" This is the tale of a father dealing with the abduction (and possible murder) of his young daughter. Sounds hard to read, but I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
Greek Mythology by Edith Hamilton: Last summer I read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which I really enjoyed. The books are based on Greek Mythology and I've been wanting to brush up on my knowledge of mythology.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: Don't laugh at me, but this title came up several times while I was reading the Twilight series. I can't remember which book it was in, but Bella talked about Catherine & Heathcliff and their toxic relationship. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in English - you'd figure I'd have read more of this stuff in college! :)
Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey: This book falls into the science fiction/fantasy category. Full of adventure and a little bit of unconventional sex (at least the first few books in the series were).

I'm at Common Grounds (a local coffee shop) while I write this. The always have the Sirius satellite CoffeeHouse channel playing. Sometimes I hear some really great stuff on here. A few minutes ago they played my favorite acoustic/live version of Satellite by Dave Matthews Band. I can't hear this song without imagining a warm, sunny day. :) I usually listen to a local college radio station that plays all rock/alternative rock, so I'm not really up on new music. I recently heard this song called Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin. Come to find out the song came out back in 2005, but I totally dig it. I can't stop smiling/singing when it comes on. Anyway, that's all for now.

Happy reading!! Send me any book suggestions if you've read something interesting lately. :)

I'm a rookie

2010-03-08T17:16:00.003-06:00

So, hello! This morning I logged into Facebook and noticed a few links to friends' latest blog posts. I then spent about an hour and a half reading through various blogs. I've got to say, I know some pretty witty people. :) After reading about all the nifty stuff going on in other people's lives I sat and thought about what's going on in my own life. The past year has been pretty great. I figured I'd start my own blog, and so, this is my first post.

A quick list of things that make smile:

sunshine
my wonderful friends & family
seeing Justin & Lucien cuddled up
fair food
summer time
music i can sing to
the amazing colors of fall
HALLOWEEN!
cheeses of all sorts
driving with the windows down, the sunroof open, and the music blasting on a sunny day

I'll give you a quick rundown on me. I'm 26 and a happy wife to a wonderful husband. We don't have any munchkins, but we have a FANTASTIC black lab mix named Lucien. He's a handsome devil. ::wink:: I am a Miami transplant and have been living in Mattoon(middle of nowhere), IL since May 28, 2006. Last year hubby became a police officer with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. This summer I will be starting grad school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to become a Physician Assistant. I'm pretty stoked to get started. It was a long road getting all of my pre-req's completed and I'm so blessed to have gotten accepted into a program that only admits 30 students each year. <--- Feels good to know that someone thinks I'm qualified and up to the challenge! ::wink::

So, I have to report to school on May 27. Carbondale is about 2:15 south of Mattoon. The program requires one year of classroom/PBL instruction on campus in Carbondale and then 14 months at a hospital for the 2nd year of clinicals. This means that in two and a half months I'll be moving to Carbondale for year while husband remains in Mattoon to work. Depending on the work load, I'll hopefully be able to come home 1-2 times a month. According to current PA students, the program is pretty intense and there's not a lot of free time. Being away from Justin for such an extended period is going to be rough, but we've gotta do what we've gotta do. No point bi*ching about it. A year will be over before I know it (I HOPE!!).

On another note, I'm participating in a 1000 mile running challenge this year. Initially I thought this was a group challenge where the group had to *collectively* log 1000 miles over the space of a year. Yeah, I wasn't quite so excited when I realized that each *individual* has to log 1000 miles. Anyways, I'm already committed so I've been trying really hard to stay on schedule. I'll have to average 20 miles a week for 50 weeks of the year. Killer. I began running in May of 2008. I logged 413.8 miles in 2008 and 543.3 miles in 2009. You can see that my mileage goal for 2010 is a HUGE increase on previous annual totals! I'm trying not to freak out about the whole thing. One mile at a time, right? I'm currently at 171.9 and will be running 5 this evening.

I've been training on a treadmill since late November (we've had a really nasty winter) and I usually tune into Animal Planet to make it a little more bearable. :) This past Saturday was my first outdoor run in a while. The forecast looked fantastic, so I drove up to Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet to meet up with my TNT buddies. The day was perfect - it was sunny and bright, no clouds, about 40 degrees, and I was surrounded by other runners. PERFECT. Running is so much more enjoyable when you can look forward to seeing friends along the path. We did 10 miles. The IL half marathon in Champaign is less than 2 months away. It'll probably be my last event with my TNT buddies for a while since I'll be going down to school. We'll also be losing JG - she'll be moving to STL this summer. So, I'll be making the most of these Saturday morning runs for the next few months. I'll be sure to suggest breakfast after each long run. Cause honestly, what's better than stuffing your face after running 10 miles with close friends?!?!