Celebrations and Vacations

We have had a busy couple of weeks. In addition to preparing to move, we spent a night in the city celebrating with a bunch of friends. It was fun to hear about where everyone is going for residency and to see everyone. The next day was my birthday! Yes, I am now 26! It was a gorgeous day so we went to one of our favorite parks on Long Island sound.

On the way to the park, Jimmy spotted a lemonade stand run by some little boys. Jimmy has a rule that whenever he sees little kids selling lemonade he has to stop and buy some. So two glasses of lemonade and two cookies later, we enjoyed some time at the park.After enjoying our lemonade, we went out to dinner in White Plains. Jimmy took me to this little Thai food place. They had the best soup-coconut curry mmm.
We just got back from a vacation weekend in Washington D.C.! I had never been there, so I was excited to go and see the sites! Here are some highlights from our trip. We took one of those double-decker bus tours. I know its pretty touristy, but it was the best way to get around and see everything! Beware for picture overload.

IOWA or BUST!

Prior to the Match this week- where we find out where we could go for residency- I told my husband- "Honey- I will go anywhere we get a spot...hopefully it's just not Iowa or something" Well, guess what- we are moving to Des Moines Iowa! I am eating my words.

Truth be told- we are so grateful to have a spot in a wonderful Family Medicine program. It has great benefits, its a solid program, and from what Wikipedia says- its one of the top 5 places in the US to live and raise a family. We are so there!

Earthquake Relief

So I spent last week in Haiti with a group of doctors and surgeons as a member of an earthquake relief team. It was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had. The destruction I saw was worse than any Hollywood produced natural disaster movie. People were homeless, living in shanty towns and tent cities all across the city.
As a member of the team, I worked with ER docs and family practice docs in local medical clinics. We had a few groups of surgeons operating at mobile hospital units. I spent most of my time in Leogane, a town about 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Leogane was actually hit harder than the capital city and I figure about 80% of the town is in rubble. I traveled up the mountain side and down the coast to smaller villages treating the locals at clinics we set up. The team probably saw 1200 patients in the week we were there and I probably saw about 250 of them by myself. The surgeons operated on about 75 people as well in the hospitals.
I learned so much and grew to love the Hatian people. The video posted shows some of my trip through Port-au-Prince. The Hatian people were very shy of the cameras, so I tried to take my video discretely. It's choppy, but you will see the devistation well enough.

Jimmy and Haiti

So for the past few weeks, Jimmy's dad, Tom, has been wanting to travel to Haiti with a group of doctors to give much needed medical service. Tom, an anesthesiologist, got on board with a group traveling down in just a few weeks. He called Jimmy and told him there would be a spot on the plane for him if A- he got permission from me and B-he got clearance from NYMC. Well- after a few days and several discussions, Jimmy will be going to Haiti with his dad for 8 days. At first- I was really for him going- it will be a great experience and will be an important part in his medical training. He also knew it might be the only time he can go and practice medicine together with his father. But, when I started thinking about it more and more- the doubts and fears crept in and now I am going to admit I am a little weary about the safety and conditions for him in Haiti. Although I know he really wants to go and do this- I am going to be home biting my nails and hoping for their safe return home.

A peek into the future...

This past weekend we babysat a family in our ward. The couple went on a much deserved weekend away and they asked Jimmy and I to watch their 5 children. We were glad we could help out. They have 5 very good, smart, and well behaved kids. However, never in my life did I appreciate mothers more than this weekend. I know kids are a lot of work-but when its 5 kids of various ages and schedules- I was suprised at how exhausted this experience made me! I fell into bed so tired each night. It was a constant around the clock job for 3 days. Starting at 7am to 10pm I - cooked, cleaned, played, washed, comforted, bathed, dressed etc. Jimmy was called into work for a good part of saturday and I was left by myself. We had a good laugh that even though we stayed in the same house- I felt like I didnt really see or talk to him all weekend. So we felt like we had a look into the future on what our life will be like with several kiddos running around! Overall- we had a good time with the kids-but I think they were glad when their parents came home:)

On the Wings of Love?....

The Bachelor:

Ok, I admit- it's my guilty pleasure. Yes, I know the scenes are staged and its obvious the lines are scripted but I still seem to watch it every week. I actually prefer the Bachelorette because, lets be honest, watching 25 women fight over a guy who can't keep his shirt on can be painful. This time is no exception. I watch painfully as these women succomb to every bad stereotype there is about women- catty, irrational, emotional, gossiping, jealous, desperate...and the list goes on. These women give the rest of us a bad name.

By the way- has anyone noticed that Jake seems to have a certain type?... meaning women with big, fake boobs that are either models or dont seem to have a real job? Just wanted to point that out.

And- this whole "on the wings of love" thing makes me gag. He is a pilot- we get it

Im done ranting now.

Christmas/Anniversary/Interviews...and more

We have been so busy lately! We started by traveling to South Bend, Indiana where Jimmy had an interview. It was really nice- he liked the program and I even got to go to all of his interviews with him! We saw the town and looked at homes. Its a nice little college town (Notre Dame) and we think we would like it there-although my family would probably cry if we didnt move back to AZ.

This is the B&B the Program paid for us to stay at- the Oliver Inn- it was Beautiful!

Next, we drove to the Hamptons for our 1 year anniversary. Jimmy surprised me with a little B&B for the night. It was so pretty. We even drove all the way out to Montauk to this really cool lighthouse. The town was super cute and it even snowed! In fact it snowed all night and all the highways were closed in the mornings! It took Jimmy and the other guests hours to get the cars out. We had so much fun!

The Montuak Lighthouse-Hamptons

The little B&B in South Hampton- Breakfast was sooo good!

Then, we flew home to Phoenix for another interview and Christmas. We had dinner with the residents from Phoenix Baptist and then Jimmy interviewed the next day. However, I ate some bad food at dinner and was stuck lying on the floor of the bathroom with food poisoning! It was the worst! I wanted to die. Luckily I was staying with Jimmy's family and Doctor Gunn Sr. brought home some good drugs for me- he even hooked me up to an IV- I felt so much better after that. I barely ate anything for the next couple of days because my stomach was still sensitive. I actually LOST WEIGHT over Christmas- something I never thought possible. We had a wonderful holiday with the family-I got a new Fip-video camera- so now I can post video on my blog. Here is a short one from Christmas morning at my parents.