A Friends Wedding

This weekend we went to a class mates wedding here in Gainesville. I love weddings, it helps remind you where it all started in your relationship and why you got married. My friend Josh is such a sweet, nice guy, he is one of those really good guys so rare to find. He loves his new wife, he would always get a smile on his face when talking about her in class. We had something in common in our first years in PA school, we both lived in Gainesville but were not able to live at home with our loved ones during that year. We both had to be away from those we loved. It was a really nice ceremony, Josh's dad is a doctor and a minister and is the one who married them, Justin wasn't there for that. I let him go fishing with JD since he had off and it was a gorgeous day. As Josh's dad was marrying them he talked about marriage and the give and take and compromise that is part of marriage, it made me realize that that is exactly what Justin and I do, he wanted to go fishing so I said yes but asked that he come to the reception with me, and he said of course. That is marriage, sacrifice and give and take. The piece of advice Justin and I always give new couples to the keys to a long HAPPY marriage is communication (talk about everything!) and don't sweat the small stuff (or the big stuff will kill you - Justin's mom taught us that). I wish all the best to Josh and Lindsey on their new adventure in marriage.

They didn't smash it in each others faces, unlike Justin did to me at our wedding.

Christmas

Christmas Eve we had a full house. My Dad and Mom, my sisters Beth, Catherine and her husband Bill, Samantha and my brother Brian, my Aunt Susan and her boytoy Gary and their dog Jessie. We had a Cowboy Christmas Eve with a dinner of Mexican food, it is a tradition Justin's Aunt and uncle did in New Mexico. We had two kinds of enchiladas, mexican dip, gringo chili, spanish rice and burritos. The puppies Mocha and Hershey did pretty good, they aren't used to so many people so it was their first real training for having a lot of people over. They still think everyone they meet is here to play with them.

Christmas day was great we had all the same people here to open gifts. I made cinnamon rolls and an egg casserole, it turned out pretty good. We then started opening presents, it took a few hours since there was 11 of us here and 3 dogs. Hershey and Mocha got all kinds of toys and treats, they must have been really good dogs this year. I got some cool socks, pants, pj's, an awesome gator had my brother made and a Nikon coolpix camera (it is super cool!), he got a great deal on it online. Justin got some cool stuff too, I got him a new bicycle, I got a great deal on it, he loved it, it was a total surprise.

This year Justin and I contributed to a nearby family that lost everything in a house fire and they had nothing for Christmas and were having to stay with relative and sometimes sleep in their car. The clinic I was doing a rotation at, where I used to work, adopted a couple families to do Christmas for, Justin and I did two young boys.

Christmas day dinner was a feast, ham, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, veggies, the works. Desserts were plentiful, every type of cookie you could dream of someone made, apple pie, pumpkin pie, icecream, the works. By the end of the day we were all stuffed. Everyone took some left overs home, mom, dad, brian, and beth were going camping the next day for the weekend so the left overs would come in handy.

By the end of day we were exhausted but had such a wonderful time and had such a wonderful Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

The girls already fighting over their new toys.

Justin modeling his new handmade Gator cap.

We were just oozing Christmas spirit.

Just relaxing after the big present openings.

The family modeling their new handmade gator caps.

A Day with Trey at the Zoo

Two weeks ago we took Trey, our little man, to the zoo. We took him to the Santa Fe Community College teaching zoo in Gainesville. I think he had fun, he has been to the big zoos before and has seen Elephants, Tigers, Lions, Hippos, the normal big zoo big animals. Well at this very small zoo it is a teaching zoo, so the zoo keepers are students at the community college and there just isn't room for big animals. They had monkeys, and birds, and antelope, pigs, bald eagles, llamas, reptiles and other small animals. So when we told him we were going to the zoo he expected big animals, so he kept asking us "Where are the animals"? It was really cute. After the zoo we took him to his favorite gourmet restaurant, McDonalds. He had fun eating his chicken nuggets and playing on the outside play ground. Then we took him to Petsmart to pick out some food and snacks for our puppies. It was saturday so petsmart had dogs, cats, and bunnies for adoption, he liked the bunnies.

We played a little hide and seek before the zoo tour started.

It sure beats walking.

He liked to watch the monkeys cuddle and clean each other, he asked if they were a mommy and a daddy monkey.

Uncle Jus even had some fun at McDonalds, he climbed in the playground and slid down the slide.

And by the end of the day he was spent!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a blast. The whole family came over and Justin's mom came all the way from New Mexico. I was so busy having fun I didn't get to take any pictures, but my big sis Beth took some. Justin, his mom, Samantha and Aunt Susan just catching up.

Justin flew up to the roof to rescue our frisbee, he's so nibble.

Just me possing for my fans in my brand new designer apron!

For the first time ever I was able to take the wishbone out prior to carving the turkey! And I did it with the aid of my hemostats!!

Me carving up the turkey, I'm getting pretty good after doing it for about 5 years or so.

We'll fun was had by all, I hope. We had two visitors come Beth's friend Carrie and Catherine and Bills friend, I don't know how to spell her name. I hope they had fun, we love having guests, the more the merrier.

Finding Myself

The past year has been the hardest of my life, but I wouldn't change a thing. That last part isn't something I thought I would say looking back at my first night living by myself in St. Pete. I was so depressed and scared and felt so alone then. I realized thought that I was so amazingly blessed to have my wonderful husband, my sisters and brother, my parents, my inlaws, my best friends Kate, JD, & Trey and the entire Kinard klan, my aunts and uncles and so many other friends and colleagues all behind me on my new adventure that I had to experience. I was also blessed to be part of the Barry University class of 2009, a group of people that I never thought would turn into life long friends, all there cheering me on and supporting me thru it all.

In the middle of it all I found myself. I found a strength I never new I had. I found the wife I wanted to be in me, the friend in me, the sister in me, the daughter in me, I found it all. I realized who I am and where I wanted my life to go for the first time in my life. I feel so amazingly blessed to have gone thru such a life changing process. I want to be a better person, find the good in everyone, and to help others less fortunate.

I would ask for one favor to all reading this. This Thanksgiving remember to go around the table and tell everyone what you are thankful for.

White Coat Ceremony

Sorry it took me so long to get my white coat pictures out but here they are. What an amazing night, it took all I could to not completely ball my eyes out going across that stage. My thoughts drifted back to when I was a little kid and wanted to grow up to be a doctor to help sick kids. I couldn't believe I had made it to this point in my life. I had survived the hardest year of my life and was receiving the amazing gift to go out into the world to help others. It was an emotional night for me to say the least, just writing this makes me emotional.

Puppy naps

It is no secret I love my sleep, but Justin does too although he never admits it. I finally have proof that he does take naps.

Of course it isn't a nap unless you have pups to snuggle with.

The Dog Park

So for the past few months we have been taking the pups to the dog park in Gainesville to get them socialized to other dogs. They are doing so well, they play so nice with the other dogs and LOVE to swim in the ponds. Although they like to swim they don't really know how, they kind of try and swim on top of the water or leap thru it instead of swimming thru the water, oh well they'll get it eventually. Last weekend we took the dogs to the San Felasco State Preserve on Millhopper Road for a 6mile hike, they loved it. They are getting better at listening when there are distractions around but they are having trouble not jumping on other hikers. They think everyone is there to play with them, were working on it. I think we are going to put the dog park on a once a month thing, especially since it is getting so cold I don't think they will want to swim much longer. Here are some pics from the dog park a few weeks ago.

Gator game - South Carolina

Here are some pics from this past weekends game.

Rotation #3 - Family Practice

For my 3rd rotation which just started this week I am back home and at my old stomping grounds. I am with my old boss who is such a great teacher. I have already learned so much and done a lot this week. Stay tuned for cool stuff I see.

Rotation #2 - Surgery

My 2nd rotation in surgery was pretty cool. I got to see lots of cool surgeries. My main goal was not to pass out during that rotation, and I succeeded. I do know now that surgery is not for me, it is all so technical and not much patient interaction. It just felt like there are patients I can fix the problem and then never see them again, its just weird. But I had a great preceptor who taught me lots of cool stuff. Here is a picture of his office staff and the other student from our class I was with.

Rotation #1 - Pediatrics

Rotation 1 was a blast, my favorite field kids!! I had a great preceptor who taught me soooo many things. She invited me back to do my elective there so that's probably where I'll go. I know our school says to keep our eyes open to different fields of medicine and not to decide what field to go into but kids is really where my heart has always been. Every day was just a blast, I tried to turn my exam with them into play time. The days were long but fun. I saw so many neet things like Erythema Multiforme, Molluscum Contagiosum, and the usual ear infections and physicals. My next Rotation in surgery, although I think I will find it interesting standing up for long periods of time does not agree with me. I tend to pass out.

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