Sunday, November 27, 2011

O Tannenbaum

This was the first year we’ve gotten a real live tree for Christmas.  We went to a nearby farmer’s market to pick out our fir and choose the perfect tree for our house.

It felt kind of funny to be picking out a tree when it was nearly 60 degrees out!  (Not that I’m complaining…)
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Now the only problem is that this tree is quite a bit larger than the artificial tree we’ve always had, and our ornaments are looking a little spotty on it!

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With the tree up and the smell of evergreen wafting through the house, it’s starting to feel like Christmas around here!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving: Round 2

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Thanksgiving Round 2 was on Friday with my family who came from all corners of the country to be with us – Katie and Dylan up the road from Charlotte, my brother flying in from San Diego and my parents driving down from Rochester.  We were sad that Matt’s parents were able to join us because his Dad had come down with a fever.  (I’m hoping that it wasn’t the thought of my cooking that turned him ill!)  It was a quick 24 hours with my family visiting, but I enjoyed every minute of it – sharing kitchen time with my parents, gathering around the table to eat and the intense round of catch phrase that followed.  I was sad to wave them off so soon the next day, but grateful that I have a family that values each other so much they’ll go to the efforts they do to share a meal together. 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Friendsgiving

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Going through residency together makes you feel like a family, so it was only fitting that we shared a Thanksgiving meal together as a family.  Anne and Locke hosted, and everyone who was in town due to husband work schedules came with their hands full of dishes and their bellies ready to be full.  One meal turned into card games turned into a second meal as the day stretched on.  At one point, I walked outside to check on Buddy and I just sat there for a minute while the sounds of my friends in the kitchen washed over me – baby giggles, friends chatting and laughing, plates clinking, dogs prancing around – and I couldn’t help but whisper a quick prayer of gratitude for the friendships we’ve been blessed with in residency. 

Sunday, November 20, 2011

A Year Already?

Our friend Crystal’s baby turned one this week!  She was the first one of our friends here in Winston to have a baby, and I seriously can’t believe an entire year has passed. 

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Now that I have so many friends with children, I feel like I’m much more attuned to the passing of time than ever before.  I’ve always heard people say that the older you get, the faster time goes and I’ve agreed with that – I feel like I’m constantly turning to a new month in my calendar at work or exclaiming to someone when I’m setting up their appointment “I can’t believe I’m already looking at {insert upcoming month} for new appointments!”  It’s cliché, but everyone seems to agree.  Anyways, the addition of kidlets to our group of friends has made this even more acute.  They are constantly hitting new milestones, and I’m constantly feeling like the doting Auntie who wants to pinch their cheeks and exclaim “You’re getting so big already!”

Even better when those cheeks are covered in green cupcake frosting like this little guy’s were!

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Happy Birthday sweet Ethan, and on the same note, I extend my marvel and praise towards Crystal and Tim at surviving their first year of parenthood with grace and a good sense of humor and an intact marriage.  I’m quite certain it is no where near as easy as you guys make it look. 

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Monday, November 14, 2011

Donuts! And Running!

Admittedly, not two things that usually go together…

And yet…

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On the morning of Matt’s birthday was the Matt Gfeller Donut Run.  I wasn’t exactly relishing the idea of eating a half-dozen Krispy Kremes mid-5k, but I’ve wanted to do this race since it’s inception 3 years ago because of the cause.  Matt was in my sister’s class when she student taught here in Winston, and he died after having a traumatic brain injury after a helmet-to-helmet collision in his first varsity football game.  The race was started by his friends in 2009 to honor him as well as to raise money for TBI research in a foundation named for Matt.  I know my sister appreciated that I should be there to “represent” her – although I’m quite certain she would have fared better at the donut eating than I did.  There were a ton of high schoolers who were running the race (which in my experience is really unusual for a 5k) and there was just a huge sense of community and fellowship at this race.

And donuts!  Did I mention you had to eat donuts?  Fortunately, I found out that you did not have to eat all six half dozen donuts if you didn’t care about your time counting to place in your age group.  Since the only time that’s ever happened to me was when I was the *only* runner in my age group in a very small race once, I wasn’t too concerned.

The donut challenge was intense.  After a mile and a half, the runners came up on the donuts…

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(If I knew that blonde girl, I’d feel bad about posting this picture as she is clearly mid donut-chomp.  But I don’t.  So I don’t.)

The runners on their way back after eating all six donuts looked seriously miserable.  I don’t know if anyone had difficulty keeping the donuts down, but I can tell you after eating just one I wasn’t feeling my best. 

Despite my donut half way (and the celebratory champagne we had the night before to early celebrate Matt’s birthday), I couldn’t believe it when my RunKeeper told me at mile 2 that I was averaging a little over a 10 minute pace.  I’m generally more of an 11 minute mile girl, and factoring in my pre-race and mid-race dietary choices, totally expected this to be one of my worst races.

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But hey, maybe I’ve just discovered the secret to my 5k PR: hydrate with bubbly, refuel with donuts.  Sounds like a great plan to me.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Cake Credit

I wanted to give credit for the amazing cake that we had for Matt’s birthday that I posted about yesterday.  My friend Abbie started making cakes and posting them on her blog awhile back.  I was trying to think of a way to make Matt’s 30th birthday memorable and unique and it hit me – an Abbie cake!  The only requests I had were that it be caramel cake – a favorite of Matt’s – and something Wake Forest related.  She took the idea and ran with it, and I think I squealed a little with delight when I saw the cake. 

When I tasted it though, I had nothing to say.  Because my mouth remained stuffed with cake until my piece was gone.  I also had a number of guests say things to me like “I’m not even a cake person and I loved it.”  Go Abbie!  She is so talented.

Thank you friend, for making Matt’s birthday memorable and special and coming up with a cake design that was so perfectly him!

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Here’s Abbie’s Facebook page with pictures of all the cakes she has done & here’s her blog with stories of cakes, crafts, faith, foster parenthood, marriage & friendship. 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Happy 30th, Husband!

Happy 30th Birthday, Husband!

I asked Matt this morning how he felt to be turning the big 3-0 and he replied “I think it’s going to the best decade yet.” 

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Husband, I think you are so right.  And I can’t wait to journey through this next decade with you.  Happy Birthday to the man who is my best friend, who makes me laugh every single day, who is a patient Buddy daddy, a skilled physician, a loyal friend, a bad ass wakeboarder and capable of making the most absolutely perfect pizza crust every single time.  I love you more than a blog post can convey, and I hope that 30 is every bit as awesome as you deserve.

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Friday, November 11, 2011

11/11/11

Did you make a wish on 11/11/11?

Today was two of my friends’ birthday – Akanksha and Susan!  What a cool day to have a birthday.

Jamie, Zoey, Anne and I met Akanksha for lunch at Carving Board to celebrate her day.

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And then we celebrated Matt’s LAST day in his 20s with wine, cheese and pizza.  Pretty much the best things in life, right?

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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Rescued

When we first got Buddy, 2.5 years ago, he was too nervous to even sit on the couch with us.  Even today, I wouldn’t say he’s come a long way with his anxiety… there’s definitely more days that try our patience or make us wonder if we’re crazy for keeping this dog around.

But moments like this remind me that even if we can’t “fix” him, we sure do love him.

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Before & After

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Before: I look like a goober taking a self-portrait with a phone.

After: I look like a goober taking a self-portrait with a phone with shorter and blonder hair.  Yay!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Flashback

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Some things never change. 

A weekend when these boys get together is not complete with a few rounds of Street Fighter, on the same PlayStation Matt has had since they were first roomies 11 years ago. 

And complete with the same ridiculous trash talking. 

Saturday, November 5, 2011

8 Points

I can’t think of one thing that would have made this weekend better.

Okay, wait.

That’s not totally true.  I can think of 8 things that would have made this weekend better.

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8 teensy, tiny little points would have made this weekend better.

But seriously, other than Wake Forest’s loss to Notre Dame, it was a perfect weekends.  Three of Matt’s college roommates – Jason, Mark and Mike - came into town, along with Jason bringing his girlfriend Ting for us to meet the first time.  Pam and Craig came down from Boston, Jenny came from Raleigh and my sister came up from Charlotte.  Along with our usual tailgating crew and Winston friends, I think we had 20 some people come to pregame Friday night at our house and tailgate (for EIGHT hours!!) Saturday before the game.  I just felt like every time I turned around that weekend there was a friend I wanted to hug and talk to and clink glasses with and cheer on our football team with.  (Oh, Wake Forest. Oh, oh, oh, Wake Forest.)

Despite the loss, such a happy happy weekend.

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Thankful Thursday

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  • Clean house
  • Snuggly pup
  • Blogs to write
  • Crisp wine
  • Stove cooked popcorn for dinner
  • New episode of Glee on DVR
  • Relaxing after a challenging but rewarding week of work

Thankful for this moment.

On a related note, on this particular episode of Glee, Britney asks the Irish exchange student Rory (who she thinks is a leprechaun) for an entire box of Lucky Charms marshmallows.  When I was in high school, my best friend Krissy did exactly that – picked out all the marshmallows from a Lucky Charms box (my fave cereal) and gave them to me as a birthday present.  I ate the entire thing on a flight to Puerto Rico and immediately gave myself a stomachache.  But I still look back at that as one of the sweetest things a friend has done for me. 

Lucky and thankful.