Fly Bye July

Peace Out July

As usual, another month has flown by right before my eyes. July was filled with lake trips, pool days, and even a beach vacation. Here are some details and pics of our memories from this month...

The 2nd Year Family Medicine residents had a retreat that was held at this gorgeous house on Lake Gaston. Almost everyone and there spouse was able to come. We spent the long weekend boating, laying out, grilling, and generally just having an awesome time.

All of the 2nd Years

Our weekend beach vacation was to Wilmington, NC. There was a Sports Medicine Conference held there this year so we decided to make a fun trip out of it. A lot of our friends from Winston-Salem went as well. While we were there we went out for our friend Laura's birthday, laid out at the beach, and did a little exploring in Wilmington's awesome historic downtown.

Here is John and I at Laura's birthday dinner at this great restaurant looking over the beach called Oceanics.

All the Girls at Dinner

July has been so fun with all of our traveling, however I am looking forward to just being home for a while. And I think Jackson is ready for that too : )

McAbee Family Tubing Trip

During the 2nd weekend of July this year my entire family went to NC to go tubing down the Green River. A lot of words come to mind when I think of my family, however outdoorsy is NOT one of them, so I really didn't know what to expect. It ended up being one of the most fun things we have ever done together! I think my favorite part was watching my Dad because while most of us were enjoying a relaxing trip down the river, he some how kept flipping off of his tube and was just trying his best not to drown during the 2 mile float. It was quite the show to watch. Here are some pictures pre and post tubing since we couldn't bring our camera along with us for obvious reasons.

Everyone and their Tubes at the Beginning

After our adventure we went and ate at this AWESOME BBQ place in Saluda, NC. We just so happened to be there during the town's famous Coon Festival so there was live music and lots of people hanging out at the restaurant. I'm really not sure what pose I was going for below, but at least it's a cute picture of the sign.

Overall, it was one of the best group activities my family has ever done. I really hope we do this again someday. I would do everything the exact same, well except for maybe put a life jacket on some (really just one) of us : )

God Bless America

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! Both of us had the day off so we tried to get some things done around the house before we kicked off our 4th festivities. One of our tasks was to learn how to make homemade icecream which surprisingly enough turned out awesome.

This is our Icecream Maker that was a long lost wedding present until yesterday...

Our American celebration included hanging out with our friends Chris and Stacey Bullars, packing a picnic, and going to Lewisville, NC to watch fireworks. By the way our picnic included double stuffed oreos, so I mean how much more American can you get than that??? : )

Here are some pictures of the evening:

Stacey and I decked out in our American themed outfits

Chris and Stacey

The Beautiful Fireworks

John and I watching the show

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th as much as we did!!!!

What I Like to Call "Work"

Right now I am currently working. Now this is HIGHLY unusual that I would be working on a Sunday morning but because of some freak scheduling oversight I just happen to be today. Both of my bosses were scheduled to be on call this weekend and therefore desperately needed someone to help them with their other jobs as a Mommy and Daddy. Luckily I was able to help them out on this since John and I decided to stay in town for the 4th.

Ben, who is 5, is currently playing dinosaur games on the computer while his 2 year old sister Naia is still sound asleep in her bed. I realized I have never put any pictures up of them so I thought I would now.

This is a RARE moment caught on camera for many reasons. Well one reason is because they both are sitting still and another is because they appear to be easily sharing something which in this case is a chair. Regardless, i think it's a cute picture of them : )


Naia, who is the sweetest cuddle bug ever, is SERIOUS about her food and loves her some Chick Fila fries. I think you can tell all of that in this picture of her.



They both love playing in their play kitchen.






That is all I have for now! Have a great Sunday!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1 Year Later

Since John's work year begins and ends in July, June has been filled with both goodbye and welcome parties. Below are some pictures from after the 3rd year resident graduation banquet.

Me and some of my good girlfriends, Stacey and Shannon.

(Have no idea how that line got in the picture either)

John with Sarah and Lindsey, who are both in his resident class.

Shannon and I again. Shannon is from California and could possibly be moving back if her boyfriend John takes a Sports Medicine position in San Diego. However, there is a strong possibility that he could take a job here in Winston-Salem as well, so I am REALLY hoping that he does that so they can stay : )

All year, John and everyone in his Intern Resident class have been rotating through different services in the hospital. The rotations range from OB to General Surgery, and each last for about 4-6 weeks. When it is time to switch to the next rotation, John's class has a "Switch" Party. Everyone takes a turn hosting it at their house, and it was at Christy's (the girl in the striped tank top in the picture below) house this past Monday night. It was Christy who hosted the first Switch Party last June, therefore it was only fitting that she host the first one of 2nd year.

The picture below is of me and all the girls, minus Lindsey, in John's Resident class. John is the only male who is married in his class, therefore I am the only wife as well as the only girl who is not medical at all their functions. Now a year ago, I admit, I felt really intimidated by this. Thankfully though that didn't last for long. From day one these sweet girls have been so welcoming and friendly to me, and I just couldn't ask for a better group of people for John to work with.

This is all of John'a Resident class, minus Andy.

Looking back, it is safe to say that John adjusted way more easily to the move here than I did. This time last year I was jobless, terrified of not meeting any friends, and desperately homesick for Birmingham. Oh my goodness can a lot change in a year!!! I'm now employed as a full time nanny and thankfully very blessed with many great friends. And although I sometimes still miss Birmingham, it's not because I'm homesick because I know Birmingham isn't my home anymore. My home is here with John and that is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the whole world. If our 2nd year here is anything like our first has been, than we have a lot to look forward to : )

June and it's Finest Day

Ok before I get to the important stuff, I have got to share some awesome news with anybody who reads this and is a blogger themselves, which I realize could be nobody but whatever. Feel free to skip ahead. Ok so I found this INCREDIBLE blogger app for my iphone that is about to make my blogging life so simplified. I might be totally behind on this, but today I discovered the app Blogpress. It is so great because it makes writing text AND uploading pics SO EASY. I now take most of my pics on my iphone anyways so with Blogpress I've been able to eliminate the middle men (my camera and computer). I now don't have to waste time uploading pics from my camera to computer but just can do everything from my phone. I just had to share that in case you were unaware of this greatness like I was a couple of hours ago. Ok moving on from my nerd alert technology talk...

Well June is almost over and I'm not sure how that happened. Probably because it's been such a fun and busy month for us and we have just not stopped it seems like. When we are not working, we are either hanging out with friends or family or on some occasions both. I have tried to take pics to document some of the fun we're having, however it still seems I don't do our memories justice. I'm really trying to work on taking pics of John and I because we really don't have many since we have been married so here's some proof of my efforts so far this Summer.

John and I on Lake Lanier

And that is about all I've got right now...ha

Anyways, this particular post is dedicated to this year's Father's Day. As you can see I got to go and be with my Dad for this special day. I went down to the lake to surprise him while John was on call. Here are the day's highlights...

Me and Dad

Allie aka our little tan Mayan Princess

Dad Posing with His Presents

Dad and Pooch. I love this one of them!! They have come a long way since last Fathers Day. Go look at their pic from my June 2010 blog post and you'll see what I mean : )

3 Generations snuggled on the Pontoon Boat

Being a relatively short car ride away from my family has been such a blessing this year. I don't know how long we'll be this close or far from them, which reminds me that I should not take it for granted. I'm thankful I got the opportunity to be with my Dad for Father's Day this year, but even more thankful that I can be with him in less than 2 1/2 hours every other day as well : )

More posts on June to come...

- Posted using BlogPress from
my iPhone

Long Time, No Blogging

It's been a while since I blogged. About 8 months to be exact. I am going to make an attempt to get back into blogging this Summer, although I am not making any promises on how consistent I really will be. Unfortunately taking pictures and journaling about me and John's life is not my strength but I know I would be SO happy down the road one day if I could just make myself do it now!!!

Here are a few highlights (with what pictures I did manage to take) of what has happened to us in the past couple of months..

John's High School Football team made it to the State Championships! Although they lost, they definitely had great season to be proud of.

After a year in Winston-Salem, our house has now finally become our home. The last part of our house I touched up with some decorations was our breakfast nook.

My cousin Molly got married in April!

Mom and I took a fun trip to Birmingham this Spring.

John and I vacationed at the beach with his family this past May...

...and while we were there John had the opportunity to go out on a Sail Boat.

We have even managed to squeeze in a couple of lake trips this Spring. I am so proud to say that John is about 2 weeks shy of completing his Intern year and becoming a 2nd year resident! As you can see, his intern year has taught him to catch up on sleep any chance he can get. Luckily he has a little buddy who is also always down for sleeping anytime, anyplace. : )

That is all I have for now but hopefully this is just the first of MANY posts to come this Summer. Hopefully : ).