Road Trippin' with Mom and Dad

When mom and dad came up for Graduation, we had the awesome opportunity to hang out together 24/7 for like a week! It was really fun and, actually, a chance to see what dad is like when he is for real vacationing...you know, Vacating Life. He's pretty fun:) I feel like I've really only ever known him working, and even at Christmas or something, life didn't stop going just because we were there. He's always had so much on his plate. BUT not this time! We Loved getting a chance to talk/eat/talk/explore/eat/eat/eat/eat.... You get it.

We went into Downtown Chicago and took a double decker tour bus (awesome), and basically just had a blast. We wanted to stay one more night on Saturday so we could see the last fireworks of the summer on Navy Pier that night, but when we woke up, it was raining and gloomy, so we went to lunch and took off toward Charlotte. STOP. When I say we went to lunch, I mean I wish I had a picture! We went to Honey Jam Cafe and our table was completely covered in Food! Mom and Dad had four entrees between them and every last bite was delish!!! I got my bananas foster french toast and it certainly did not disappoint. LOVE.  Here are some pics from our trip into the city.

 The tour included a free goodie bag from CandyLicious and although the bag only included a lemon drop and tootsie roll(true story), we thought the store was Incredible! Dad was so stinking excited to find all sorts of candies from when he was a kid, and we all walked out with massive bags of sugar...

 How can you not love a face like that?! He was in candy heaven.

 This is probably my favorite thing Ever! If you can't see it, it says "Girth Control" on the box and is labeled exactly like birth control and is pure chocolate....So funny!

 aaah, the bean. How could we not?!

 I adore this picture. We had such a great water taxi ride back on the river, and such a fun evening all together. It was such a perfect day.

We began our drive to NC only after jetting back to the hotel because Somebody forgot her wedding ring....dundundun. That was me. No worries, we got it and all was well with the world. We drove off and the fun began! We got a little nervous on some of the detours dad wanted to take to check out the areas in places like Kentucky or Tennessee... and a new rule was made. Wherever we went needed to be paved:) I was sure we were going to get stuck in the middle of the woods and some gypsy clan was going to cook us up for dinner. But alas, we made it. It was a really fun trip and mom got me super addicted to slushies. I mean, like at every stop! We could not have had a better time with them and it was seriously so much fun to get to hang out with no obligations. Still, I think all of us were ready to stop living out of suitcases and when the time came to say goodbye, we were ready to get back to normal life. Especially since we'll all be together again at Christmas! Yeah! Thanks for such a wonderful trip mom and dad! We love you!

A Blogger's Resurrection

When I stopped blogging a few weeks ago, I thought of it as when someone gets hit by a car or something just to see who would bring them flowers.... You know you've thought it:) Well, Rachelle, thanks for bringing flowers and wanting me to come back! It is a daunting task, but I have dedicated my morning (up waaay too early) to posting  just for you! Haha. Anyhow, Let's start from where we left off... Graduation, right?!
Most of you have probably already seen most of these pictures so I won't put too many up. Let's just say... Hallelujah It's over:)

 So so Grateful for this guy. 

 And this one!

 And everyone knows I love my momma

 Didn't have my camera, so we have a phone shot from dinner. It was the best tasting dinner EVER. It was really nice to get a chance to chat and celebrate in a little more intimate of a setting, although I'm not sure how much talking was going on when there was so much food to be eaten!

 Again with the flan! Aah. I do not like flan, but I Loved the thoughtful gesture from the restaurant. And I think the others enjoyed it for me:)

This is the group of gals that I hung around with most of the time and mostly, although I could never forget them, I just needed to put in a reminder to myself of how lucky I was to study alongside of such wonderful people. 

It was such an enormous event in my life, although somewhat still not real. I still struggle believing that I have to get a real job now, and kind of miss the student life. I loved/hated my schooling, but now the future seems so...open. I guess we'll just have to see what I do with it! 

The Beginning of the End...

We had a lot going on through July and August, and although it was pretty stressful, I had been waiting for it for 3 years. It was all ending. The life I had come to know with all its awful goodness was coming to a close, and I just had to try and enjoy/remember as much as I could. The night before I left, Alan and I went to play putt putt, so I could kick his butt butt...  and we had such a good time.  We tied.

                                       

                         

I drove straight through from Charlotte to Chicago on the third Saturday of the month. I packed up my car, grabbed my cap and gown, grad dress, and tunes, and said goodbye to our home (details later).  13.5 hours later I hugged my awesome friend Camille and took up residency on her couch while preparing for the week ahead. We had 5 days of straight lectures covering every topic in medicine that we had ever learned, even through lunch hours. There was no time to really chat with classmates because we were all so fervently jotting down notes, or staring into the faces of the lecturers, hoping that perhaps the information spewing from their mouths might take up residency in some unknown deep vacant space in our brains, and we might be able to call upon that information in our hour of need. (Boards) We would go back to Cam's and try our hardest to study anything at all, but mostly we just crashed and prayed her adorable baby would let us all sleep through the night!

That week went by rather quickly, and on Thursday we were told there was to be a special luncheon in our honor on Friday. The dress code was 'Business Formal...' and you better believe I did not have a dress! So, shopping we went! I found a great dress (I think), and scored some Italian shoes from Camille, and we were set to go. Friday we had a 3.5 hr ENT lecture--holy smokes. Then our Final Lecture from the faculty. There was an awesome video of our class put together to remind us that we actually did more than just study throughout the last 2 and 1/2 years, although we had forgotten most of it. It was great to remember all the neat experiences we were able to share during our time together as a class. Then, as of that day, August 24, 2012-- we were PA's. We completed our schooling and had a week off before the graduation ceremony, but we were done. It was a pretty incredible feeling to know that when I walked out of that lecture hall, I would never again sit in those chairs. I walked out of that hall a Colleague, and no longer a student. Of course, there is just one measley little test I need to take before I can get the 'C' behind the PA. bahaha...I've never wanted a C so bad in my life! :)
The luncheon was a simple, intimate ceremony that allowed us to honor certain students and faculty, as well as be all together one last time. It was held at the Westin Hotel, and I'm so glad we had this afternoon because there were many dear friendships I made and didn't get pictures with at graduation.The faculty surprised us with long white coats that had our names embroidered on them, and gave us champaigne to toast with. Overall it was a really special day and I've got a flood of pictures to prove it.

 I love this girl. Lauren. We are gonna rock Boards on the same day. 

 Lynae... Seriously could not have asked for greater friends. She is amazing

 Our Advisor, James Gunn, and all his baby birds...

 Camille and I are convinced we were brought together because we're soulmates. I Love this girl. Could not have done it without her!

 Ahh. The original Anatomy team. Day 1 of school we started together, and now we end it together. I love all three of these people. Brad's such a stud, and those girls are the kind of friends you hope and pray for -- Straight up Awesome.

 A. Smith, Our original program director...

 Dr S. Noronha, our ending Program Director. Both great women!

 You could not find a more wonderful physician if you tried. Dr Richardson is an incredible example  of service and compassion. Though we will not miss his Cardiology lectures or Fluids and 'Lytes... 

 Erin and Kristyn changed my life. They introduced me to The Big Bang Theory... Need I say more?!

 K. Roman, Such an awesome woman! "Oh the Places You'll Go."- Dr Seuss

And so it was. Next up, Graduation...

July...

July went by pretty fast. So did August, apparently. However, I am going to get you caught up. Don't you worry! Alan's birthday was a pretty busy day this year, and with everything going on, we had a small celebration that night and decided to head to Charleston for the real party that weekend. We had a blast with our friends/family. (Framily?) We headed to the beach, and stayed there for a good while. The ocean swept all of our sunglasses right off our faces, and so we bid farewell to our sweet shades. Chris was not pleased with such a rushed funeral:) Becca actually swiped mine right out of the grasp of the ocean wave before it took yet another loyal life. I owe her bigtime! We went to dinner at a fabulous seafood restaurant on the water that evening. (I had too many hushpuppies)  Oh, and Alan fell in love with a new treat... Taro frozen yogurt. It's pretty divine. Try it.We chatted and played until we were ready to drop, but we were ok because we had done some super powerful yoga in the morning with our personal yoga instructor, Becca. It was such a fun weekend and it is already looking to be an awesome year for my beloved Aging spouse. Happy Birthday Goose!

*Alan got 'Man Cups' for his birthday present this year. He LOVES them. They are steel measuring cups that go all the way up to a 2 cup-cup. Pretty sweet.