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...

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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 : ).

Our Mountain(s) Getaway

John and I spent the end of last week and weekend in the beautiful mountains of Asheville, NC and Chattanooga, TN. In our true non-planner style, we both by complete accident had the same days off from work. Originally, John had taken off the end of last week to go on a guy trip that ended up being held on a different weekend, and I just happened to be off work those same days because my family that I nanny for was going to the beach for that entire week. Well after we both realized we had all the same days off, we decided that it would be the perfect time to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and visit his family that he hasn't seen since our move to Winston-Salem in May.

I had known we were going to Chattanooga, but our detour to Asheville came as a complete surprise. Without telling me, John had planned for us to stay at this adorable bed and breakfast in Asheville called the Sweet Biscuit Inn. I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a cozy big house, charming people, and a delicious warm breakfast served with some of the best coffee in America.

After our time in Asheville we headed to Chattanooga where we spent our first night downtown staying at the Stone Fort Inn. Personally I think downtown Chattanooga is one of the best cities in America with the beautiful mountains and the Tennessee River as your backdrop, so needless to say I was very excited about staying there. Although our night began with us eating at a mediocre seafood restaurant that we got suckered into going to because we had been given a free appetizer coupon by the place where we were staying, it ended with us being treated like rockstars.

After dinner we decided to go the the movies. The place where we had chosen to see our movie just happened to have these special VIP theatres that you could watch your movie in if you were a member to their VIP club. Well let me just say these special "VIP theatres" look JUST like the ones where us regular people go to watch movies. So by a complete awesome accident John and I ended up in the VIP theatre where we not only got to sit in leather recliners but we also had a waiter, and oh its gets better, got served complimentary popcorn!!!! hahah Seriously though it was an awesome way to watch the new Wall Street Movie.

On Friday we finally got to meet up with John's sister Emily and her family. That night we went to the Baylor vs. McCallie high school football game. John is a Baylor alum and I can't even describe how excited he was to see Baylor win. He even got to see and catch up with his childhood/lifetime best friend, Michael.

Spending time with John's family was the best way to end the long weekend. On Saturday John and I got to go to a special luncheon held at Baylor in honor of his brother-in-law, Kurt, who was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame at the school. After that we all just hung out, ate fabulous Japanese takeout, and watched football. We couldn't have planned this weekend any better if we tried : )

Cash in his Titan Uniform with John

The Original 4

September Shower Season

Last time I posted about my friend Jessi, she had just gotten engaged. Now she's experiencing almost every brides top time during the engagement: Shower Season. As a bride, they're the best parties you have ever been to. When else in life do you get the opportunity to have a party thrown in your honor where everyone is extremely complimentary, brings you incredible gifts, and the occasion has nothing to do with you aging? Like I said, it's amazing.

Well, two weekends ago I got the privilege of going to Nashville and attending these awesome parties for Jessi. Needless to say I had the best time! It was so wonderful getting to be with my best friends from college, especially since these precious times together are few and far between now that everyone has to try to be a grown up. (key word try) Here are some pics of the fun weekend courtesy of my fabulous photographer friend, Lauren McCaslin:

At Jessi's "Around the House" Shower

I suppose that the "Sorority Train" picture pose just won't ever go out of style

At Jessi's Lingerie Shower

Fall Facelift

In the process of giving my blog a Fall Facelift.....

Baby Sister's Birthday

On September 5th, 1989 God gave Elizabeth and me our baby sister, Erin. 21 years later she is still our same little Poochie that we love more than anything.

The older we have gotten the more of a best friend she has become....

....therefore when she turned 21 I knew I had to get to Birmingham.

Looking back I cannot believe I pulled it off but I was able to surprise her with the help of my sweet sister-in- laws, M'Leigh and Amy. I had so much fun getting to spend time with her and all of her friends!

Getting ready to go to her Birthday Dinner at Cocina

Her Friends eating ice cream outside of Mt. Brook Creamery

I could have not asked for a better weekend and am so glad I got to go visit her!