The Whinery Family

It's a BOY!!!

2012-01-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to announce that our baby is a sweet little boy!!! It has been so fun to find out and get to share it with everyone. I had my ultrasound yesterday at almost 19 weeks and baby boy looked healthy and happy. :) He was moving around like crazy, but I still can't feel anything. We're both excited about having a boy and it was fun to get to go to lunch with Matt after the ultrasound to celebrate.

I highly recommend "finding out". The first half of pregnancy is far from glamorous and doesn't always feel very rewarding, so having a reward half-way through is so much fun!

We took cupcakes with blue sprinkles to our church community group last night to share the news. :)

Now we have the daunting task of deciding on a name... I hope we can decide soon!

big news!!!

2012-01-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

Although this might be old news to some by now, I feel the need to officially document on the blog that

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Matt and I are so so so excited for the arrival of our little one in June. What a blessing from God!

Baby seems to be doing great so far, and pregnancy hasn't been too bad. :) I was only nauseous for about a month and now I feel pretty normal (17 weeks in!).

This is how we told my family at Thanksgiving ... (did you see the idea for "thankfulness rolls" on Pinterest?)

And this is how we told Matt's parents a couple weeks before Christmas.

Apparently I like to use yummy carbohydrates when sharing about life-changing events. :)

Here is Baby Whinery at 9 weeks:

And now, what you've all been waiting for... belly shots.

13 weeks (nada enchilada)

14 weeks with curious puppies (Jake & his bff Drake)

15 weeks in Vail for New Year's!

(not really a belly photo, but we didn't coax Jake to sit and look at the camera, so I love how this turned out) ;)

17 weeks (visiting my new nephew in Dallas!)

Hopefully I'll be back to the blog now that I have something so exciting to blog about!! We should find out in about 1.5 weeks if it's a boy or a girl!!

research and life lately...

2011-11-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

For the last four months, Matt has been on his "research" rotation. This is a four-month block of time where he pretty much worked regular-people-hours in a basic science lab at the University. He was doing research on the development of tumor-markers for head and neck squamous cell cancer screening.... if you were wondering. ;) Anyway, research was AMAZING. Matt was usually still home when I left for work in the morning and then was home when I got back in the evening. He took care of Jake. He ran errands. He made dinner. He got to do normal things like read books and watch tv. We could meet up for lunch together. We were able to take random trips on the weekends! We both LOVED it. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. (not sure if I really believe that... but it's true in this case.)

He went back to the real world today. And we are both so very sad. :(

Last wednesday, during our first snow storm of the year, I was off so we went to Chick-fil-A one last time. in the middle of the day. here we are enjoying the amazingness.

{I'm sure you can ignore the fact that his mouth is full of chicken sandwich.}

Anyway, we have been enjoying the Colorado autumn. It's been a beautiful, long, mild fall until last week when we had six inches of snow. They're expecting another 5-10 inches tonight!

another recent highlight was that I got to see my sister this last weekend! she is very pregnant and only has about 7.5ish weeks till her due date! so exciting. and such a cute preggo lady. :)

North Carolina!

2011-09-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

We finally got the chance to go to North Carolina to visit our sweet friends, Josh and Melanie, over labor day weekend.

We enjoyed exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a beautiful, mountainous area just a couple hours from where they live in the Chapel Hill area. We went hiking and stayed one night in a cute mountain town. We also got to see the UNC campus and the Duke campus - both are so pretty!

Thankfully, Melanie was able to pull Josh from certain danger on one of our hikes. :)

We had such a fun weekend and it flew by way to fast. My favorite part of the trip was just being able to see the Langston's, catch up, and enjoy being our usual, silly selves with them (as illustrated in the photo below). We certainly miss them and wish we lived closer to them!!

I'm an auntie!!

2011-08-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

The most exciting thing going on in our family this year is that my sister and her husband, Sarah and Luke, are expecting a baby!!! It's the first baby on either side of the family for me and Matt, so we're pretty excited.

and...

it's a boy!!!

Sarah is 23 weeks this week and the baby is due December 20th. What a great Christmas gift!

this was baby's first gift from me :)

vail hiking & biking

2011-08-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Colorado, Vail has kind-of become our second home. Matt's parents graciously let us use their condo anytime, so we find ourselves up there quite often. We absolutely love it and some of our favorite summer hiking trails are in the Vail valley. Matt's parents were in town for our most recent trip.

{the gore range}

{gore creek}

We went for a lovely hike on Gore Creek Trail. The wildflowers are at the peak of their season in late July and early August, so they were amazing while we were there. Matt's dad taught me the names of almost all of the flowers we came across. This isn't even all of them!

{mariposa lily}

{red clover}

{monk's hood}

{cow parsnip}

{hare bells}

{chiming bells}

{mountain geranium}

{carrying large sticks}

We also biked up Vail Pass while we were in town...

And we always love hanging out in Vail Village!

And here are a couple more photos I snapped of the Gore Range on our way out of town.

I love to take pictures from this spot. You can see how drastically the scenery can change in just a couple months by viewing this post from June (and scrolling down to the photo of the Gore Range)!

view

2011-08-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

In the summertime, we eat dinner fairly frequently on our front porch.

We were surprised to look up and see a beautiful double rainbow this evening.

It joined us for the whole meal. :)

to the lake!

2011-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Matt's family has a cabin on a lake outside Amarillo and it's one of our favorite places to escape to. And Jake thinks it's heaven. We were there a couple weeks ago and had such a fun, relaxing time.

We swam, read, relaxed, went canoeing, boating & hiking.

We also got to spend some great time with Matt's grandmother. I loved listening to her tell stories of raising her kids on this lake in the summers when they were growing up. She is the sweetest lady and it was a blessing to get to spend time with her.

And we found this awesome towel. I really wanted to bring it home.

We played hard. And then we watched Seinfeld episodes until we fell asleep. it was the perfect trip!

the pioneer lady

2011-07-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm at work on a Saturday. It's a new thing my clinic is trying out. But I've only seen two patients. I should be organizing my office but I'm not. I've been perusing the web all morning.

I also received a text from my friend, Bobbie, (Hi Bobbie!) who reminded me that it was on her blog that I first learned about the Pioneer Woman. And the Pioneer Woman's "pork butt" which I blogged about in the previous post.

I used to think the Pioneer Woman was some kind of corny, country version of martha stewart ... but I'm smarter now. and I'm officially obsessed. Her recipes are amazing. Her photography blog is super informative. (even though I never win her photography contests.) And I think she's one of the funniest people on the planet. I just finished reading her book:

{source}

Hilarious. every time I opened it up I was laughing out loud. You should read it.

She recently had a photo contest for the best phone photos. The winner got a $350 gift card to the apple store. I thought this photo should have won.

it didn't even make the top 100. obviously, the competition was fierce. ;)

okay, better go take care of people now.

adios second year!

2011-07-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Second year is officially over!! What better excuse to have a party?! We invited all of the residents over for a FIESTA to celebrate the end of another year of residency. This is a huge milestone for the residents in Matt's year because there's quite a difference between the work hours, call schedule, and responsibilities of first/second year compared to third/fourth/fifth year. We've been anticipating this day for a while, to say the least. Henry, Scott, Matt, and Sarah have accomplished so much over the last two years and it was fun to get to celebrate with them!

We had a fajita-style meal with the Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shredded Pork Shoulder ...

Since I forgot to take a photo of the finished product before it was all eaten, you'll have settle for this photo from her blog {of course, mine looked identical}

{recipe found here}

We had a pinata that was a hit with the kiddos,

{pun unintentional}

margaritas in mason jars,

and mary jackson's delicious margarita cupcakes.

Jake wasn't sure what to think of the festive lights,

& Matt had a chance to try to convince sweet jane that he's not as dangerous as he appears (she's okay as long as the sophie doll is blocking her view)... it's slow, but I think we're making progress :)

here we come, third year!

trail ridge road ride

2011-07-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to write about one of the highlights of our camping trip! My Dad and I rode to the top of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park! The ride was 44 miles and a mile up in elevation gain. It was absolutely amazing to be able to see such incredible views from a bike. :) I think it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. And so fun to get to do with my dad! Matt was planning to ride it with us, but his chain broke about 30 minutes into our ride. such a bummer. He went back, got the car, went for a run along our route, and then met us at the top {and bought me a coke}.

this was taken at the official top :)

the scenery was stunning! I just wish I had more than just my iphone with me for taking photos...

we saw tons of elk chillin' on the side of the road.

and another photo that I forgot to put in the previous post :)

estes park

2011-07-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Over 4th of July weekend we went camping in Estes Park with my parents

and my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Luke.

Matt's parents even joined us for a day! (we missed you, kevin, kelly, & andy!)

So. much. fun. My parents have a sweet new airstream.

It's pretty much the coolest thing ever.

(except for the vintage laundry basket turned outdoor coffee table.)

we hiked,

splashed,

shook,

spent a lot of time in Rocky Mountain National Park,

walked,

s'more'd (man, those faces are intense),

photographed,

ate,

shook some more,

and enjoyed spending time with both sets of parents.

can't wait for the next family camping trip!

Top Gun at Red Rocks

2011-07-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

possibly the best movie of all time (according to matt)

+ definitely the best eighties soundtrack of all time

+ beautiful venue

+ rainstorm that cleared up just in time

= very happy hubby

new blog design!

2011-06-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Don't you love my new blog design?!

I love the happy, fresh feel of it. Kind of a long time coming. :)

All credit goes to the talented Marina at Penny Lane Designs. Isn't she great?

and now I can post huge photos.

you know, just in case one of my two readers is slightly visually impaired.

I snapped this one on my walk with Jake this morning.

another year down!

2011-06-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

... (almost)

Matt is a week away from being done with his second year of residency! Each year the department hosts a fun dinner in honor of the graduating residents. This year's was a couple weekends ago and was a lot of fun. :) Matt received two awards at the dinner - so proud of him!

Matt and the other residents..

rainy day

2011-06-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

thankful for the torrential downpour that denver received yesterday. i had one happy pup to play in the rain with.

Denver Century Ride

2011-06-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

I completed my first metric Century Ride last weekend! 62 miles and it was so much fun!!

The scenery was gorgeous - of course my iPhone photos don't do it justice.

I rode the first half with my Dad, then my mom joined us.

My generous parents gave me this bike last Christmas and I LOVE it :)

done!

I'm looking forward to the next one! :)

stephanie visits denver!

2011-06-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

It was such a treat to get to see my bestie from high school, Stephanie, and her sweet boy, Connor this week! They were in town for a day and I loved getting to hang out with them and catch up.

I was a little worried about the lack of toys in my house to occupy an almost three year old, but I guess I underestimated this little guy's creativity. Who knew a lantern could be so much fun?

Connor and Jake really hit it off :)

We hope you come back again soon!!!

spring swaps snow...

2011-06-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

...for leaves.

and for this I am grateful.

Oh, how I love the Colorado Summer! We went to Vail last weekend for the first time this season ...

That's me. Didn't I mention I was going to compete in the Teva Mountain Games this year?

... okay okay, it's not really me. But we did go for a great hike and then a trail run :)

...The Gore Range...

...our hike...

...our best hiking companion...
...a mud bath...
... topped it all off with a little Mexican food with this handsome dude. couldn't have had a better weekend.

U2

2011-05-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the U2 concert about a week ago! We'd been anticipating it for a loooong time: bought the tickets around Sept '09, gave them to Matt for Christmas in '09, then the show was supposed to be May 2010, but Bono broke his back very inconveniently and had to have emergency surgery.... So, being the Superstars that they are, they rescheduled for May 2011.

And it was AMAZING. Sooo much fun!!! Second only to Aggie Football games, it was the most fun I've ever had with 80,000 other people. :)

weekend in Dallas

2011-05-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

After our trip to Gulf Shores we went to Dallas for a quick visit with Sarah and Luke. We also got to see our great friends Melanie & Josh, and Nathan & Bethany.

We were so lucky that Josh and Melanie just happened to be in town at the same time!

We went to our old apartment & took a photo on the porch :) How we miss the Sycamore Tree!

... we ate at Gloria's... twice.

... and went for walks in all of our favorite neighborhoods.

...yay for sister time! :)

Gulf Shores

2011-05-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

We went to Gulf Shores, Alabama last week with our great friends, the Barhams. We had an amazing few days on the beach, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying temps in the 80s. I was so impressed with the beach and would love to go back!

After hearing so much about it from the Barhams, we finally got to experience the Flora-bama and their awesome signature drink, the Bushwhacker. This was first time I had ever been to Florida!

And we got to spend the week with the three cutest kids on the planet. So much fun!

While we were there, I turned 28! Mary Jackson made me this amazing red velvet cake :)

2011-05-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

we heart our new camera. matt (somehow) knew just what I wanted for my birthday. :)

daffodils

2011-05-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

that floats on high o'er vales and hills,

when all at once I saw a crowd,

a host, of golden daffodils."

- William Wordsworth

We visited Wordsworth's hometown of Grasmere when we were in England last October. Apparently, we share very similar sentiments about the coming of Spring (and summer)!

here are some of my favorites from this spring...

weekend

2011-04-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

Our weekend consisted of matt working a ton ...

After I went to a conference for work on Saturday, I played with my puppy friends (Drake is our friend's dog and Jake's best friend)...

And we had our first chance to eat outside in the town center with the pups... I'm so glad it's springtime!!

happiness...

2011-04-08T08:32:00.001-07:00

has come to Denver. finally :)

come back, spring!

2011-04-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

It was 84 degrees in Denver yesterday. Marvelous!

But then today it did this:

which meant it was a perfect day for this:

three years

2011-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

On March 29th we will have been married for three years! (and together for EIGHT!) It warms my heart to say that.

We celebrated in style last weekend at Ludwig's in Vail. We had a delicious four course meal (with a couple extra courses on the house!) After we had dessert, they brought us gourmet cotton candy. ohmygoodness. it was a great night!

Unfortunately, I left the camera behind, so the photos are from the iphone (yet again).

winter randomness

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

1. Matt got new glasses for his birthday. Here he is sporting them with a lovely hair-do.

2. Also for Matt's birthday, I made a pitcher of Mojito for some company we had over. I considered this a great accomplishment ... it was yummy!

3. This guy has become a great co-worker for me when I work on charts at home. He loves to just sit next to me, which is sweet. :)
4. we love snowshoeing! and so does Jake!

5. This piece of paper was sitting in the same spot on my desk at work for a few months. I finally went to throw it away, but I realized it was quite humorous, so I took a photo first. :) (this was apparently supposed to serve as a reminder for me about some patient, but I conveniently left out some details...)

take me back!

2011-02-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

In late January we went to the beach in Mexico with our best friends, Josh and Melanie!

It was AMAZING. I need to go back asap.

me, mel, amaretto sour.

Josh and Matt with a corona in Playa del Carmen.

family

2010-12-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

it was wonderful to be able to spend a couple days with the whole family at christmas this year. i'm so glad it worked out!

from left to right: back row: me, matt, sarah, luke, daddy, mom, kevin, kelly

front row: jake, bailey, prima, tella

more christmas photos later!

all is bright

2010-12-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

an early morning christmas stroll...

holly jolly

2010-12-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

December weekends have been super fun so far.

We went to Vail for the first time this winter, with our good friends Henry & Mary Jackson and sweet baby Jane. It was a relaxing weekend and I loved hanging out with Mary Jackson and Jane. :) I didn't take many photos because MJ was teaching me to use her fancy shmancy camera and I kinda forgot to use mine!

Matt surprised me with a date to see the lights at the Botanic Gardens and dinner at Cucina Calore!

I took the 13ish-year-old girls from church to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. The movie was great and it was fun to hang with these girls. :)

Then we had a (first annual) Christmas Vacation party. The only photos I have are of Henry and Matt (both as Cousin Eddie) and Jane as Uncle Lewis. so fun!

yikes!

2010-12-12T22:28:00.001-08:00

sometimes I have trouble sleeping. my new hobby when i can't sleep is to look at real estate on my handy-dandy Zillow app on my iPhone. I enjoy looking around the Highland Park area because we used to go for walks and runs there. Sometimes you can find a real steal for less than a million. I was quite surprised when I saw the house below... we used to play frisbee with Jake on a daily basis across the street from this house!

why would anyone ever need ten bathrooms?

thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-12T19:45:00.001-08:00

Our Thanksgiving mostly consisted of work (Matt on thursday, saturday, and sunday of thanksgiving weekend, and me on friday...)... but we did manage to squeeze in some family time and a lovely turkey dinner. We had both sets of parents and Matt's brother, Andy, here.

Jake enjoyed the extra attention for a few days. :)

on friday night after our thanksgiving meal, Matt's cousin Sarah Jane came over and we played a fun game of Apples to Apples.

and there you have it! I actually blogged about a real life event, not just a dog photo. :)

first snow!

2010-11-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful that our first snow this year wasn't until November 9th. Last year it came waaaaay too early. This year we had a long summer/fall and got to enjoy the leaves changing over a period of weeks instead of days. :)

Jake is in heaven when it snows. He loves it more than anything else... even more than swimming, which says a lot. I was trying to work at home yesterday but he did talk me into taking him out to play a couple times.

happy halloween!

2010-10-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

In two days...

2010-10-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

...we'll be headed out for a much-needed 8 day vacation.

I am sooo excited.

We're going here:

and here:

Matt will get to show me all around London, where he lived during months 4-16 of the five years we dated. We've had this on our list of places we want to travel to together ever since then!

can't wait :)

diez y seis de septiembre

2010-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

My daddy's birthday is september 16th. It is important to note that in Mexico, his birth is celebrated nation-wide. :) This year we had my parents over for a fun birthday dinner! I made lasagna and we had oh-so-yummy strawberry pie for dessert. We all had a really great time. :)

Kevin and Kelly visit!

2010-09-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

My brother, Kevin, and his wife, Kelly, came to visit us over Labor Day Weekend! This was such a treat because we don't get to see them very often and Matt happened to get all three days off!!! We really enjoyed our time with them - had lots of great food, hung out at the pool, and spent some time in the mountains. We hiked a 14er one of the days they were here - Mt. Quandary.

mountain goat friend that jake attempted to chase off the mountain...

at the top! I don't really know why matt decided to pick jake up for the photo...

me, matt, kevin, and kelly at the top
kelly and kevin

fun in the sun

2010-09-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things about our neighborhood in Denver is that there are some GREAT swimming pools. Matt and I were able to spend quite a bit of time lounging at the pool this summer. It's a great spot for some summer reading and I love to watch the kids play. :)

At the end of the summer, one of the pools hosts a doggie swim day. If you know anything about us and our dog, you know that we were looking forward to this all summer! We all had a blast!

engagement hike

2010-08-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

It's summertime, which means the Whinery's are hiking! We try to get as much in as we can since it's one of our favorite things to do and summer is so short here. :) One of our favorite hikes in colorado is the one we got engaged on three years ago. It's just outside of Vail and it's called Booth Lake. It's really pretty and we try to go up at least one or two times a year. This was one of the first hikes we did this season.

Here's the famous spot!

dinner afterwards in vail

2010-07-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

just wanted to share this photo of a pretty sunset at a rockies game we went to recently. we're enjoying our colorado summer :)

the help

2010-07-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the book, The Help, and I loved it. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a good summer read. :) I laughed, cried, and had a very hard time putting it down....

catching up!

2010-06-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

hmmm... so we've been quite delinquent in the blogging world. If anyone was wondering, we're still alive, and here is my attempt to catch up on the last 6 months of our lives!

JANUARY was a difficult month as we lost two grandparents within a couple of days.

My Grandmother, Jessie Mae Hill, was 91, and we miss her a ton. She brought a gentle, gracious presence to our family, and she was always making us laugh. I remember her being at just about every holiday and family event that I can remember. I'm so thankful that I can look forward to seeing her again one day.

Matt's grandfather, John Graham Whinery, was 88 and was a man of integrity, faith, and had a great since of humor. He was a classy man who was well-respected in his community. He was passionate about the Lord, his family, hunting, and the outdoors. We're thankful that Matt has so many great memories of sweet time with him. The photo below was taken the week before he passed away, when we were in Amarillo for their 60th wedding anniversary.

FEBRUARY

We tried to get as many ski days in as we could, which was fun! We celebrated Matt's birthday in Vail with two of his close friends from medical school, Andrew and Ryan.

We also bought a new car in Feb! A 2010 Subaru Outback (the state car of Colorado). I was incredibly resistant to buying an outback at first, but matt talked me into it because we really needed a reliable 4 wheel drive for the winter conditions here. After driving it in a couple snowstorms, I decided I love it! It handles wonderfully! here's a tiny photo of one (our's is black.)

(Now I know what you're wondering, and the answer is YES! this IS the car that Jim and Pam have...on The Office. !!)

MARCH

We recieved sad news in March that Travis, the Whinery's 16 year old golden retriever, had passed away. He was a precious puppy who never did a single thing wrong. Here he is with Jake and Bailey (my parent's dog). He is definitely missed... such a good boy.

Matt had a week off in March and we spent it in the WARMTH!! We went to Palm Springs, California for a few days, and then took a road trip from there to Sedona, Arizona (& the Grand Canyon). We absolutely loved this trip - lots of great hiking and the weather was perfect for poolside relaxing. :)

here we are at the Grand Canyon

this was where we stayed in Palm Springs

ok, I think that's all I can handle right now. stay tuned, more to come!....

a not-so-warm welcome home

2009-12-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in Denver last sunday after a fabulous week of vacation and our initial reaction when we walked in the door was "It's freezing in here!... (gasp) There's water running!!!"... We ran upstairs to find water pouring out of the wall in our guest bathroom, thankfully into the tub, which was draining. We couldn't get the heater to turn on ... ironically it decided to break during probably the coldest week in Denver this winter (only around -18ish... glad we were in texas that week!) So our initial diagnosis was that it got so cold in our house that a pipe burst. stellar. we left our fireplace on all night and Jake slept curled up against our space-heater while matt and I slept under about 5 blankets. After about a day and a half of having no heat and no water in the house, it was determined that it wasn't a pipe that burst, but just a faulty valve stem in the shower... which meant NO WATER DAMAGE in the wall!! Yay!! so we were back to having heat and water by tuesday and the only minor damages were the cost of the repairs and an additional delay in getting our christmas tree up..... :)

here's a pic of our fireside dinner... how romantic.

texas vacation and wedding week!

2009-12-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

We got to go back to Dallas a couple weeks ago to see my sister, Sarah, get married! Matt took the whole week off and we enjoyed every minute of our time there, helping with wedding preparations and visiting with people that mean so much to us! It was a much-needed time of relaxation and re-connecting with sweet friends. Matt got to hang out a lot with three of his best friends from med school - Josh, Nathan, and Ryan - who were also on vacation and in Dallas that week. It was such a blessing that it worked out that way!

We got to spend time with so many other friends, including Haley and Ryan, the Langston's, the Gray's, Emily Brown, and Sarah Brundrett... and we found time to go to Gloria's four times that week for our fajita/margarita fix. :) I also got to go to my old office and hang out for a while.

(My only regret is that I didn't take enough pictures!)

Justin, Nathan, Ryan, Josh, & Matt

The weekend before the wedding, I hosted a lingerie shower for Sarah, which was really fun....

all of the girls that came to the shower

me, Sarah, and Emily (who came all the way from East Asia for the wedding!! It was so good to see her!!)

pampering ourselves :)

We had a fun family dinner at Campisi's with my Mom and Dad, Sarah and Luke, and Kevin and Kelly ... taking advantage of all 8 of us being in the same city!

Sarah and Luke

do they look ready for marriage? :) just kidding...

Kevin and Kelly

Sarah's last time to leave her apartment as a single lady!!

Daddy and Sarah at the Rehearsal

i really like this pic :)

almost married!

Luke and Sarah Tie the Knot!

2009-12-22T09:36:00.001-08:00

Sarah married Luke Abraham on December 12th! Sarah was a gorgeous bride and the wedding was beautiful! We had so much fun!!!

disclaimer: A few of these pics are mine, but a few are stolen from friends who posted them on facebook... It's hard to focus on getting pics and being a good matron of honor. :)

Texas!!

2009-12-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Reasons I'm in a good mood today:

1. I'm in Texas!

2. My sister gets married in a week!

3. My hubby gets here tomorrow and we'll have 7 whole days off together!

4. We have a whole week to catch up with sweet friends and family!

5. Gloria's for dinner tonight! :)

6. I get to go to Northwest Bible Church twice this week!

so excited :) and thankful.

Thanksgiving 2009!!

2009-12-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house! Matt had to work till 6 pm, so I had all day to prepare and overcome my fear of cooking a turkey!!! My parents came up from Colorado Springs with my Grandma and good friends, Rich and Pam. Andrew, our good friend from med school in Dallas who is now also in residency here, also came, along with our new friends Andy and Pattie Glassick! We have a lot in common with Andy and Pattie because they just moved here for Andy's dental residency. They live in our neighborhood and go to our church, too, so it's been fun to get to know them! We really enjoyed spending thanksgiving with so many great people!

dinner for 10! We had to extend our dining table to it's limits :)

from left to right: Pam, Rich, Grandma, Mom, Daddy, Pattie, Andy, Andrew, Matt

here we are trying to figure out what to do with the turkey... "Where is this stuff we're supposed to take out of it?!?"

We did it! yummm...

The Whinerys and the Glassicks

(please excuse Jake's scary eyes...)

220 years later...

2009-11-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

I don't think I had ever actually read this before, but it's worth it....

As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

one year old!

2009-11-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

Our puppy turned ONE on November 17th!! We had a great day celebrating. We started it off with our normal morning routine of frisbee in the park across the street, and Jake got to play with one of his 2 best friends, Roxy. She's a sweet black lab that we run into regularly during our morning activities. :) They get along great and they got extra playtime on the big day. I made a point to come home for lunch that day and we played some more.... then we played some more when I got home that evening. When Matt got home we took a special trip to Petsmart and picked out 2 toys, both of which are already quite worn in. :)

I really really love my puppy. :)

Oc-SNOW-ber

2009-10-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I was really questioning the 8-14 inches of accumulation, but we got it!! At least a foot in the greenway where Jake and I play frisbee. :) It was a fun couple of days... poor matt was at the hospital during the first 30 hours of it, so I think he was delightfully surprised when he emerged from the ICU. :)

Dear Fall, please stay a little longer?

2009-10-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Colorado, I was excited about being able to experience Autumn like never before... it's been so fun to see the leaves change, watch them fall, and feel them crunch beneath my feet on my early morning walks with Jake. The air is crisp, families are out raking and decorating for Halloween. it's lovely.

But I was unaware that this type of Fall comes with frequent snow showers. Yes, I'm counting and we're now on number five. FIVE snows before Halloween! In Denver! We're not even in the mountains!!! quite the phenomenon... It's currently coming down pretty hard and it's supposed to continue for like the next 3 days ... something called a "winter storm warning"... So, I'll update you on our progress, we'll see if we get the "8 to 14 inches of accumulation" that is expected. And you can look forward to knowing the exact number of times it snows in Denver this year... in June when it decides to stop. :)

thoughts on moving

2009-10-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

**warning: another sentimental, but honest, post**

moving... not a huge fan. Don't get me wrong, we have experienced many blessings here in Denver and are getting to know some wonderful people... but I just wish people never had to move. I like to get to know people really well... it's really hard to just up and leave friendships and jobs that you've invested so much in. There's a void... and it doesn't get filled in again very quickly. I miss Texas. I miss 96% of days being warm and toasty. I miss our friends!!! I miss our church. I miss my sister. I miss my old job. I miss Gloria's. I miss our little apartment at the Sycamore Tree. I miss Eatzi's salads. I miss Versailles Park. I miss my commute (!?). I miss working in Family Medicine. I miss good country radio stations. I miss working across the street from Chick-fil-A (although I'm sure my LDL does not...). I miss walks in Highland Park. and I miss having a husband in med school and not in residency.

this verse has meant a lot to me and Matt lately:

"Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance." Psalm 16: 5-6

We're thankful for a new church and new friends, 2 jobs during rough economic times, a fun-loving pup to keep me company when the hubs is working, new things to play in like snow and mountains, a little white house that's perfect for us, my parents living 1.5 hours away, and chipotle... because it's the best tex-mex we've found up here....

3 down; 57 to go...

2009-09-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

...total months of residency, that is. We're making progress. :) Matt has completed 3 of his 9 General Surgery months though, which sounds much better. In 6 months, he'll be able to focus on ENT instead of appendectomies, G-tubes, intracranial abcesses, and other fabulous things that he is not the least bit interested in.

And hopefully this will be his only course of Tamiflu this year.

It's been quite a year so far, but Matt is a trooper. I can't tell you how many times I've laid in bed unable to sleep because in my head I'm lecturing the President of the United States about how he'd better not mess with my husband's career. He works so incredibly hard and sometimes I wish average people knew how much it takes to become a doctor.

Not only does it take a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart, but it takes someone who is willing to set aside years of his life to learn how to save the lives of others.

It takes someone who is willing to go to work everyday knowing that patients' lives are in his hands (...there aren't many people who have that kind of pressure when they walk into the office in the morning.)

... someone who is willing to get up whenever they need to, to do whatever it takes.

... someone who will work from 5 am one day until noon the following day, without even sitting down to eat a meal, or sleeping.

...someone with the ability to be patient and kind toward sick people and worried families who have no idea how busy you are.... or how much you really care for them.

...someone who can handle incredible amounts of criticism, when compliments and simple Thank You's are few and far between.

It takes someone like Matt... and so many of our dear friends who we miss so much.

The next time you see your doctor, maybe try not to focus on how late they're running or how they're always bugging you to exercise, but think about saying an extra little "thank you." Because they really do care.

Ok, I'll get off my soap-box now.

I'm so proud of Matt for being 3/60ths of the way done. :)

all better :)

2009-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well, after the last post I visited the "genius bar" at the apple store and I'm thrilled to say that they fixed my phone FOR FREE!!! I gave the nice genius-apple-man my sob-story and I guess he felt sorry for me! Yay for a lovely clear screen! ...and a brand-new case. :)

I'd recommend against this:

2009-08-15T12:58:00.001-07:00

May 2009: my wonderful husband surprises me with an iphone. It's love at first sight.

We immediately purchase a lovely case to protect it from this little guy (looking innocent as usual.)

The first case was destroyed by Jake when it was still brand new. But my beloved phone was fine. I purchased another case when we moved to Denver and this one was rescued multiple times from the jaws of death (in the backyard, the bathroom, and other sneaky hiding places.) It was ultimately destroyed about 3 weeks ago. The phone survived without a scratch. Since that incident I was able to keep my phone out of the dog's mouth the entire time it was without a case, fully intending to purchase another impenetrable case.

Then it happened. I was on a leisurely walk in Vail last week and I dropped the phone, sunny side down, on the pavement. Sudden Death.

So today I will go visit the Apple people and beg for mercy .... and a new phone.

Connie's Black Eye...

2009-08-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

That's what Matt calls this flower...

...which I'm pretty sure is called a "Black Eyed Susan." :)

I have a job!

2009-07-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

That's right! Tengo un trabajo. After 4 long months of searching, waiting, praying, and getting my hopes up over and over (and repeat x 10), I have finally accepted a PA position at The Children's Hospital here in Denver, in the Department of Infectious Disease. It will be very different from my previous job, but I'm excited about the challenge and all the new things I'll learn. I'll get to work with world-renown experts in pediatric I.D. and they are some of the nicest people I've met since moving here.

Some perks to the new job:

1. I get to work in the (brand spanking new) Children's Hospital, which is right next door to the University Hospital where Matt works! He'll also be working at Children's for a few months here and there (doing ear tubes, tonsils, cleft lips and palates, etc, etc). I'm looking forward to being able to have lunch together at times and at least stopping by to see him when he's on-call.

2. I got to buy this today. And now I get to read it. Ugh.

3. Although I don't start working until August 17th, I get to go to a conference next week with the Department here:

That would be the Vail Plaza Hotel. Life's tough, eh? Actually, I'll just be attending the conference there and staying with Matt's parents at their condo. It'll be fun to hang out with them. :)

So, all in all, I'm thankful for the new opportunity and getting more excited about it day by day. One can only be a housewife for so long, right?... (actually, I'm pretty sure I could handle it for quite a while longer...) :)

Consider...

2009-07-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

...the lilies of the field...

...they do not labor or spin...
...Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all of his splendor...

...was dressed like one of these...

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field...

...which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire...

... will He not much more clothe you, oh you of little faith?

oh yeah? well, my Daddy can...

2009-07-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

... ride his bike for 120 miles over three mountain passes, gaining over 10, 000 feet in elevation! It's true. My dad rode in the "Triple Bypass" on Saturday, and let me say, I am thoroughly impressed. He's ridden "Century Rides" before, which are 100 miles through the mountains and incredibly challenging, but I think this tops it....

My mom and I had a great day driving out to the Vail area to meet my dad at the end of his ride. We just happened to cross the street at the same time my dad was rounding this corner about 1/2 a block from the finish line.

WAY TO GO, DADDY!!! :)

a summer hike

2009-07-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

One of the perks to living in Colorado is that we can go hiking... a lot! (it works out since it's not 104 degrees here and we're about 1 to 1.5 hours from beautiful mountains!) Yesterday Matt had a day off and we had planned on hiking a fourteener, Mt. Beirstadt, but the road was closed so we defaulted to the beautiful hike where we got engaged 2 years ago.

It was not my best hike ever. I think I had some weird altitude issues because I had a horrible headache and was lightheaded and really tired the whole time. :( Tried to distract myself by taking pics of the gorgeous scenery.... it was still fun, though, and Jake and I took a long break at the top while Matt did some exploring.

taking time out for a refreshing swim :)

this is the meadow where we got engaged! The small tree on the left has actually grown quite a bit in two years. :)

...woke up this morning, Texas on my mind...

2009-07-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

SO MUCH has happened since I last blogged!

1. My beautiful sister, Sarah, got engaged to my favorite brother-in-law-to-be, Luke Abraham!!!

2. Matt graduated from medical school and is officially a physician. So proud of him.

3. We ate our last meal with our beloved Langston's at Gloria's. Man, we will miss that place and the company we shared it with. Good times.

4. We moved from the wonderful Sycamore Tree Apartments in Dallas to a cute little house in Denver, Colorado.

5. Jake ate my iphone case.

6. We spent several lovely days in Vail before residency started.

7. We set up our house and are officially moved in. :) please, please come visit!!

8. Jake ate a new floor mat.

9. Christine interviewed for several PA positions in Denver... and is currently waiting to hear....

10. Jake ate Matt's glasses.

11. Dr. Whinery started his 1st year of residency with an ER rotation at the local county hospital.

12. Jake ate approximately 76 socks.

13. Christine tried to figure out what to do with all her spare time as a stay-at-home-wife (at least until she gets a job.) Faves so far are helping Sarah plan her wedding, walking the dog, playing frisbee with the dog, cooking for my hubby, reading, making my blog look pretty... :)

14. Jake ate my fave pediatrics textbook. :(

15. Dr. Whinery has become an expert at sewing up lacerations, most of which were the result of drunk cycling accidents. (yes, we live in colorado now)

16. Jake and Christine started obedience school.

17. We miss our friends in Dallas!!! We are so blessed by your friendship and hope y'all are doing great. :)

18. Meghan came to visit!!! SO good to see her!!!

19. Jake ate my new credit card that came in the mail today. So much for 2% cash back.

This is why I don't blog anymore....

2009-05-22T14:42:00.001-07:00

...but I do intend to start up again once we're settled in Denver. Only 2 weeks 'til the big move!

Jake

2009-02-14T07:18:00.000-08:00

So, this is probably old news to most of you, but I needed something to get me to blog again. I've been blogless since before Christmas... it's sad. But it's probably mostly due to the subject of this post. :) Matt gave me a puppy for Christmas!!!! His name is Jake (or Mr. Jakerson as we like to call him) and he's a Golden Retriever. He's soooo cute and soooo fun, and is a big bundle of energy! His major accomplishments thus far include: sitting, coming, eating, drinking, and doing number 1 & number 2 MOSTLY outside!! Yay! He LOVES to play with his toys and with us. Always wants to be with us. And he has recently discovered his ability to bark. (our neighbors already know this...) Here are some pictures of his rapid growth since we got him. He is now almost 13 weeks old!

oh christmas tree

2008-12-06T16:13:00.001-08:00

We put our Christmas tree up this week! It was sooo fun and I am now a huge fan of the real Christmas tree. We never had a real one growing up, and I was amazed at how easy the whole process was - picking it out, bringing it home and setting it up. We ran out of lights when we were halfway through and had to make a late-night run to Target to get more. :) We are so proud of our tree. It's like our new pet. :) And now our house is all warm and festive.

quote of the day

2008-11-18T18:30:00.001-08:00

Today I was seeing a male patient in his mid-30s for upper respiratory symptoms. Here is a peek at what transpired:
....
me: "Have you been coughing a lot?"

patient: "Yeah, and my fallopian tubes are really congested."
...

tagged!!!

2008-10-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

My sweet new friend Jaci from church "tagged" me which means I am supposed to share 7 random things about myself and then tag 7 other people to do the same!

Here goes!

1. I love Christmas. A ton. It's always been my favorite holiday. I start listening to Christmas music in October and don't stop until sometime in January. And I don't just listen to the same stuff over and over - I have quite a collection! The other day I tried to count all the Christmas songs on my computer and I lost count somewhere around 150 - yikes! I love that Christmas brings out my creative side, I love that it brings my family together for an extended period of time, I love giving gifts, I love having a break from work, I love Christmas movies (Elf, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, etc), I love holiday baking, I love bundling up, I love writing Santa a note and leaving it with his cookies and milk (yes, I still do that), and I love meditating on what Christmas means - and that just about every year I realize something wonderful and new about the story of Jesus coming to earth.

(ok, obviously I could go on and on about that one, but you get it...)

2. I love shopping - as long as it's not for groceries. Something about it is incredibly relaxing and stress-relieving. (Scary, I know.) Sometimes I go to Target on my lunch break just to look around and chill... and I leave without buying anything.

3. I listen to Talk Radio. A lot. You know, I am in my car for at least 1 hour and 20 minutes every day of the week. My favorites are Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager. They don't yell and I learn a lot from them - you should give them a try! :)

3. my husband thinks I'm obsessed with modern means of communication: ie facebook, blogging, etc. He's living in like 2002. (just kidding, matt)

4. When I listen to music - I listen to it LOUD. especially when driving.

5. I LOVE salt! more than anyone else I know. I put it on pretty much everything except sweets. My blood pressure, last checked on Tuesday, is 108/64. Pretty darn good. I should probably start cutting back... but I don't want to.

6. I'm really emotional and I have been since I was little. Ask my husband or an immediate family member just how emotional. I have a huge heart for emotional kiddos who cling to their parents and cry at the drop of a hat - that is sooo me.

7. I love "The Office". I think it's absolutely hilarious & I love how it reminds me of good times with one of my best friends, Meghan. Yes, there are some parts of some episodes that I just pretend aren't there, but still, it just cracks me up. Matt and I are going through them from the beginning right now and last night we watched the one where Jim tells Pam he's in love with her. Soooo good. :)

ok, so I officially TAG: Bobbie Baggett, Heather Greene, Beth LoSurdo, Steph Harrison, the lovely Sarah Bush, Mommy, and Allison Horner. Sarah and mom: either start blogging or post your seven things in my comments :)

our fall photos

2008-10-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just happened to have my camera when we went on our walk the other night :) these will suffice as our family fall photo shoot for this year, don't you think?

matt and friends

pretty flowers!

maybe small, but a pumpkin patch nonetheless.

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

An observation I have had lately: it seems it is quite the trend to take your kiddos (if you have any) to the pumpkin patch about this time of year for a Fall photo shoot. I have nothing against this idea, and I think it's a super-cute idea, however I have never heard of it before this season. When we were little we never went to a pumpkin patch, much less have our pictures taken in cute Fall attire with the pumpkins. Is this a new thing?? Is it a Texas thing that just never made its way over to El Paso?? I've passed by a few pumpkin patches lately and kinda feel drawn to stop and take cute pictures of something..... :)

Maybe I'll take Matt.

All of you fellow bloggers who have pumpkin patch pictures up: I love them and your kids are soooo adorable!!!!

thoughts before bed

2008-10-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Christine told me I needed to "post" before going to bed, so....

Praise God, I got 2 more ENT interviews today! I have really been having to learn patience and trust in the Lord lately.

To add to Christine's dog list:

1. Newfoundlands

2. Bernese Mt. Dogs

not sure how to spell either of those.

On a different note, I can't wait for skiing this year!

so you're not wondering...

2008-10-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

okay, so apparently if I say anything with the word "baby" in it I might make people think I'm having one... see comments on the last post :) ... so just for clarification, we're not (planning on) having a baby anytime soon. Just in case there was any confusion. We do still like thinking about having one someday, thus the baby names. You have to be prepared, right?

Before a baby comes along, we would like to get a dog, but we've decided we can't get one until we find out where we're going to be living after June of 2009. (ie residency)

This weekend we went to Barnes and Noble and looked at a big dog book just for fun... we really like:

1. Labs

2. Golden Retrievers

3. Springer Spaniels

4. Brittany Spaniels

5. Pointers (this is the most recent...)

6. other various breeds up for adoption...

If you have any advice on dog breeds, we'll take it!!

My family has had a lot of pets. We had a beagle named "Hokey Pokey" first, then along came Sarah's rabbit "Snowball", then Kevin's Lab "Brownie", then Sarah's second rabbit "Oreo", then my lab, "Teddy". Now my parents have a cute yellow lab named "Bailey" - she's precious. Matt likes to laugh at us because apparently we like to name our animals after sweet treats. :) only some of them.

This is Bailey, the newest of the Bush family pets - she's so fun to play with :)

p.s. I'm insanely jealous of my brother and his wife (Kevin and Kelly) who just got their 2nd puppy. :) I still love them, though!

6 months!

2008-10-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

We've been married SIX MONTHS!!! How quickly it has gone by!! It's been absolutely wonderful. Here are just a few of my favorite things about marriage so far.... in random order, and off the top of my head, of course.

1. attempting to make dinner for Matt.

2. watching Matt grow in Godliness and learning from his faithfulness and discipline

3. being excited about where next year will take us

4. helping in the nursery at church together

5. living at the Sycamore Tree close to Nathan and Bethany & Josh and Melanie!!!

6. getting my husband hooked on The Office.

7. Gloria's

8. Having Sarah stay with us :)

9. having other people over, too.

10. going for walks in Highland Park

11. sleeping in

12. talking about baby names

13. signing my prescriptions, finally, as Christine Whinery PA-C

14. having my best friend around all the time. and knowing he'll always be around. :)

There's so much more. but we're going for a walk in Highland Park - Woohoo!

sarah's birthday fun

2008-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

What a fun day we had celebrating Sarah's birthday! Luke had the great idea of surprising her with a day at Six Flags, and it was tons of fun. :) (except for spending part of the afternoon being absolutely terrified.... i don't like roller-coasters). We spent the whole day there, then went to Manny's for yummy Mexican food, then had cake and ice cream at our place with a few friends. Here are some pictures :)

warming up on the "Sombrero"

Yay for the swings!!

Matt was decidedly one of the "not cool" people (holding his arms out) on the "Gunslinger"

How cute are they?!?

baby shower thief!

2008-10-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

It seems a lot of people in our lives are pregnant right now. My wonderful Medical Assistant, Angela, is going to be having a baby in about a month. We had a baby shower for her at work the other day. It was great fun. It's always fun to do something out of the ordinary during the work day, don't you think?

Well, another co-worker and I decorated our conference room the night before the shower.... we went all-out with balloons, streamers, confetti, table decorations, and a super-cute "it's a girl" banner that hung from the ceiling! It was all set to go and all I had to do was pick up the cake the next day. That morning, one of my co-workers came by my desk and said "Do you want me to put a table cloth on the table, or do you need help putting up more decorations?" I said no, that I thought it was probably fine with what we had already done.... little did I know...

When I finally went into the conference room with the cake, the only decorations that were up were some of the balloons and a few of the streamers. I asked where the rest of the decorations were... and no one knew. We decided someone had taken them down and everyone was appalled!!! The nerve!! It was actully quite funny :) Our first suspects were the drug reps who had been there earlier that morning, but then someone got on the phone with our cleaning man, and he had taken them down the night before. (I felt kinda bad for him cause i think he got in trouble.... and he was just trying to do his job.)

Nonetheless, the shower turned out great!

Dr. McMillin, Angela, and me!

happy birthday dear sister!

2008-09-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ode to Sarah

Sarah, Sarah we love you,

You're so fun and really nice, too!

I miss you when you're far away,

I'm glad you live closer than East A.

You live in Denton, nice and near,

I like it when you come stay here!

We share our clothes; you take them home,

But that's okay... it saves us dough!

You wear jellies like we used to,

Good thing they're back in style or I'd laugh at you!

You are so great at what you do,

You tell people about Jesus, woo hoo!

Matt and I, we sure love you,

Hope this year is full of blessings, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

hubby minus beard

2008-09-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Matt (very, very reluctantly) shaved his beard this week because he's on a new rotation (Critical Care Anesthesia) at the V.A. The VA's OR is pretty strict and if you have a beard, apparently you have to wear a "darth-vader-type" mask which is described as "hot, annoying, restrictive, and incredibly dorky-looking." Thus, the shave.

He's still soooo handsome. Don't you think?

Baseball with the Langstons!

2008-09-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

This week we did all kinds of cool Dallas stuff! Matt got free tickets to the Rangers game and in the midst of their busy schedule, we were privideged to have the Langston's accompany us! It was way fun. And the Rangers won, which is a plus.

Some highlights of the night:

1.) We caught the pic below while we were trying to take a picture of ourselves and a foul ball happened to be coming toward us at the exact same time. Pretty neat pic, we thought. As you can see, I was terrified.

2.) 2 broken bats! And I told Melanie that if they break the bat they get 10 extra points. She believed me. :) just for a second.

3.) One of the player's names is "Milton Bradley." Josh called him "Connect Four."

All in all it was just a fun night. We love the Langstons!!

today

2008-09-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today I had the privilege of telling two new moms that they are pregnant!

One of them is a beautiful, excited, young hispanic girl who came to me basically complaining of morning sickness. She just got married 3 months ago, doesn't have a job, and her husband is a blue-collar worker. I know they will love their baby well. (and I hope it will be my future patient!) They are so happy about the new little member of their family and are surprised to find out that the little one already has 4 limbs complete with nubs of fingers and toes, pigmented eyes, a beating heart and a spinal column. I love these visits.

The next one didn't even smile when I walked in the room congratulating her on her pregnancy. She was visibly annoyed and told me that she wants kids eventually but "this is not the time." She's a full-time nurse and her boyfriend has a job, but they don't want to be inconvenienced with a baby. I took a deep breath (and said a quick prayer) and realized I needed to explain her options. I already knew what she was thinking, but I wanted to try to convince her to have her baby. I talked with her about adoption, and told her that there are adoptions agencies that will pay all the medical bills (including hospital bills) if you give your baby up for adoption. I printed out some info about the Dallas Pregnancy Resource center and hope that she'll give it a second thought. In the end, she told me she's going to have an abortion. This was one of my most difficult situations at work.

I will be praying that she doesn't go through with it, but the sad truth is that this is reality in America. It happens every day:

- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.

- In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.

1.21 million is unacceptable. I need to pray that there would be fewer abortions in America... that doctors, politicians, and just normal good people would realize that there are other options.

Sorry for such a depressing post... this is just what was on my mind today...

my wife

2008-09-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love my wife. She takes such good care of me. Just today she went to the grocery store and made a fantastic dinner (chicken sopa) for me. She is also folding laundry for me as I "study" right now:) She's the best!

to galveston...

2008-09-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad it seems that the hurricane wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, and everyone I know in the Houston/Galveston area seems to be safe. What a blessing! I think I've had a little different perspective on this hurricane than I've had on other natural disasters, just because I lived in Galveston for a couple years. I feel sorry for the people in Galveston and South Houston who have lost even a little, because so many people down there just don't have much at all. In a way it would make sense for them to try to stay behind and guard their few possessions, especially if they don't have a greater hope apart from this life....

"Now if the earthly tent that we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. "

Here are some of my favorite places in Galveston. Trust me, there weren't many. If you know me very well, you know that I wasn't a huge fan of the town. Nonetheless, I have wonderful memories thanks of great friends that I wouldn't have if I didn't live there!

MOD - the coffee shop where I would frequently study

This was my neightborhood grocery store - it took me over a year until I finally had enough courage to go inside.....

our landlords' yard art

our apartment in galveston!

good friends

me and meghan :) I miss her.

labor day weekend

2008-09-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

This post is kind-of old news, but for Labor Day weekend we took a trip! To Lake Tanglewood, which is just outside of Amarillo. Matt's parents have a comfy little house on the lake and they were so generous to let us stay there. We did all kinds of relaxing and enjoyed the outdoors... for 3 whole days! It was very refreshing.

slow days...

2008-09-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

This week at work has been very very s . l . o . w . .... probably because school just started back up, so none of the little kiddos are sick yet; and it's not flu season yet; and people aren't outside doing summery things, stirring up their allergies and breaking their ankles, etc.... Those are my theories anyway.

This afternoon it is my turn to do "Walk-In Clinic", which means I don't have any scheduled patients in the afternoon, I just see whoever walks in the door between 2 and 4:30 needing to be seen. I am assigned to this job once a week. In the winter, the walk-in provider averages about 20-25 patients per afternoon, and I think the record is 57!! (which required a lot of help from other doctors for obvious reasons). In the summer, we average about 10-15 each afternoon, which is nice .... but not today! I haven't had one patient yet this afternoon! (Thus the blogging.) So, I'm enjoying a nice peaceful afternoon. So far today I have read all my favorite "friend" blogs, all my favorite "political" blogs, and I tried to do some online shopping for certain people I know who have b-days this month. :) And they're paying me - yikes! My job is not often slow, but when it's slow, it's really slow. nada enchilada. There's nothing to catch up on, because I have to be caught up by the end of every day no matter what. I could open my books and try to learn something, but...... hmmm, no excuse.

a thousand words

2008-09-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

fun with the fam

2008-08-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit last weekend and we had tons of fun! They get a 2-for-1 now when they come to Dallas because Sarah lives in Denton now. They spent a couple nights up there with her and then they all came down to stay with us for a few days. We ate at a lot of Dallas restaurants, watched a lot of Olympics, and talked politics. :) Luke hung out with us a lot too, which was great!

By the way, I really miss the Olympics and wish there was a TV network that played re-runs for the rest of the year for those of us who couldn't watch the daytime/non-weekend events. Another solution would be Tivo, or as my sister says, "Divo". :)

Back to the Blogging Board

2008-08-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well, It's officially been like 3 weeks since I've posted on here. I'm still trying to find out if anyone really reads this thing... so if I do have any fans, I hope I haven't disappointed you with my long absence. I'm back!!

To update you on our lives .... Matt is back in Dallas, woohoo! And we have no plans for any more extended absences. He'll start interviewing for residencies in November, but those will just be quick trips, no more of these month-long adventures. We did have fun seeing our families in Colorado the last weekend in July, but it was just a quick visit.

There's really not much else new with us! I'm still busy with work, and Matt is now in the middle of an E.N.T. rotation here in Dallas. He enjoys it & really likes the people he works with. After this rotation, he won't have any more ENT until residency!

We've been to Gloria's twice since he's been back. It's our fave Mexican restaurant in Dallas and I REALLY missed going there when Matt was gone. We usually go about every week. Amazingly, we can order chicken-fajitas-for-1 and they will have them at our table within 60 seconds of us placing our order. Now that's great service. :)

Matt and the Dads hiking in Colorado...

Matt trail-running in the park across the street from my parents' house (that tiny white dot in the middle of the picture is him)

Mommy in the kitchen... :)

ONE MORE WEEK!

2008-07-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Only one more week without my hubby!!! Yay! I was beginning to despair last weekend, but being busy with work has made this week fly by and I get to go fetch my man THIS coming friday. :)

He has enjoyed his rotation in Denver for the most part. (Right, Matt? maybe you should blog about it, *hint, hint*) He has enjoyed seeing a different program and interacting with the residents and faculty. And he still likes ENT! He even got to see a cleft palate repair yesterday! This week he also gave a great presentation on "Congenital Foregut Duplication Cysts" ... ask him about it if your interested. :) AND he got the weekend off and went to see his parents in Vail!

My sister is back in the Dallas area now, and came to stay with me for a couple weeks! Yay! I love having her around. She makes me laugh a lot. I kind-of have this tradition of going for Saturday & Sunday morning walks in Highland Park, which is accross the street from where we live. This morning Sarah joined me on my adventure. We stopped at Whole Foods to get coffee and a little breakfast-ish snack before our walk. I grabbed a nutritious energy bar called "dark chocolate mocha" and Sarah picked up this wierd dried fruit thing called "Organic Smooshed Fruit" - yes, that was really the name of it. She proceeded to ask the cashier-man: "Are these good?" And his reply was: "I dunno, they always get stuck in my teeth." Sarah responded with, "Oh ... well, I like fruit-roll-ups". Then the man said, "Yeah, it's probably pretty similar to that.... the kids like 'em." hmmm....Maybe it doesn't sound funny now, but I thought it was hilarious. The highlight of my day so far. :) And kind-of ironic that we go to "Whole Foods" and get chocolate-disguised-as-health-food and fruit, which is legitimately healthy... but "smooshed".

"stuff white people like"

2008-07-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is a blog that Matt and I find absolutely hilarious... It's just a list of "Stuff White People Like" and it is pretty on-target. :) Click on the individual entries for some laughs.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

some of our favorites:

#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes

When white people aren’t working, they generally like to wear Outdoor Performance Clothes. The top suppliers of these garments and accessories include North Face, REI, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Columbia Sportswear, and Patagonia. When you see white people wearing these, it is important that you do not discuss business matters. Instead you should say things like “where did you get that fleece?” and “what’s that thing holding your keys to your shorts?” White people will be more than happy to talk to you about their sustainably produced possessions.

The main reason why white people like these clothes is that it allows them to believe that at any moment they could find themselves with a Thule rack on top of their car headed to a national park. It could be 4:00 p.m. on a Saturday when they might get a call “hey man, you know what we need to do? Kayak then camping, right now. I’m on my way to get you, there is no time to change clothes.”
Though it is unlikely that they will receive this call, White people hate the idea of missing an opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities because they weren’t wearing the right clothes.
If you plan on spending part of your weekend with a white person, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a jacket or some sort of “high performance” t-shirt, which is like a regular shirt but just a lot more expensive.
#40 Apple Products
It is surprising that it took all the way to #40 to call out Apple products. Initially, we were planning for an entire week on Apple products, but that would just be over kill.
Plain and simple, white people don’t just like Apple, they love and need Apple to operate.
On the surface, you would ask yourself, how is that white people love a multi-billion dollar company with manufacturing plants in China, mass production, and that contributes to global pollution through the manufacture of consumer electronic devices?
Simple answer: Apple products tell the world you are creative and unique. They are an exclusive product line only used by every white college student, designer, writer, English teacher, and hipster on the planet.
You see, a long time ago Apple’s were super popular among layout artists and graphic designers. Then Apple released Final Cut Pro and became the standard for film editors. As a result, lots of creative industries used Apple computers instead of PCs. Eventually, people started making the connection, and all of a sudden all white people need to have a Mac.
When you ask white people about Mac’s they will say “oh, it’s so much better than Windows,” “it’s just easier to use,” “they are so cutting edge,” and so forth. What’s amazing is that white people NEED to meet people who use Windows to justify themselves spending an extra $500 for a pretty looking machine.
It is also important that white people are reminded of their creativity, and remember you need a Mac to creatively check email, creatively check websites, and creatively watch DVDs on planes.
White people also need iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, AirPort Express stations, and anything else that Apple will produce. Because you need to express your uniqueness by purchasing everything that a publicly traded company produces.
Apple products also come with stickers. Some people put them on their computer, some people put them on windows, but to take it to the pinnacle of whiteness, you need to put the Apple sticker in the rear window of your Prius, Jetta, BMW, Subaru 4WD Station Wagon or Audi. You then need to drive to a local coffee shop (Starbucks will do in a pinch) and set up your apple for the world to see. Thankfully, the Apple logo on the back will light up! So even in a dark place, people can see how unique and creative you (and the five other people doing the exact same thing) truly are!
Knowledge of Apple products can be useful in a number of social situations. If you see a white person with a Mac, an easy way to approach them is to say “Is that a Powerbook? What OS do you have?” They will happily start talking to you, after the requisite five minutes, you can invite them to an 80s night.

the job...

2008-07-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

So, Sarah informed me today that it's time for a new post. I responded by reminding her that my life is boring right now because someone is up in Denver instead of down here with me... But she said that that's what blogs are for - writing about the mundane stuff...

Things are going okay, even though Matt is out of town this month... I definitely would prefer for him to be here, but I think I'll make it. :)

Today all of the mid-levels at work (the nurse practitioners and physician assistants) had a welcome lunch for the newest nurse practitioner who just joined our group this week. It was fun to get to know her, she's really sweet and just finished school - like me! She was feeling quite overwhelmed by everything, and we spent a lot of time answering her questions and trying to put her at ease. Our conversation made me think back to my first few weeks at my job, and the feelings I had... I was reminded that I am SOOO blessed to have my job. My first few weeks actually weren't that stressful - mostly because of the incredible boss I have. She is always willing to answer my questions, and she teaches me so much everyday! She's always been very approachable, which is awesome for a PA just out of school.

I've learned so much since I started my job, and I actually feel like there are days when I don't have to ask a ton of questions, just because I know what I'm doing now! I still make the occassional mistake, but I have to remember that's to be expected during my first couple of years.... that's why I have a supervising physician who looks at everything I do within 24 hours of me doing it! (that's my security blanket) :)

Looking back over 6 months at my job, there are a lot of things that have given me great satisfaction. I love being able to teach newly diagnosed Diabetics about their disease and how to manage it. I love getting to see them frequently for follow-up and watching them make good progress.... some more than others, of course. I have one lady who has lost 16 lbs in 2 months which is HUGE for a diabetic!! Another part of my job that has been surprisingly rewarding, is teaching young/adolescent girls about the importance of practicing good judgement regarding sexual activity. I've been surprised and saddened when I realize how little they know about the consequences of their decisions. (How blessed I am to have parents who helped protect me from so much!) I love getting to be the one to give them their "talk", and when we find something unexpected, to be able to take good care of them and motivate them to change their behavior. I really thought I would hate this part of my job, but I seriously LOVE IT!! Surprising brand new moms with a positive pregnancy test is always a fun one, too.

My job also involves some necessary evils... like charting. aaaahhhh! I hate it. But I try to do a really really good job, and that's probably part of the reason it takes me so long. :( ...speaking of which ... I have some waiting for me right now...

anyways... I guess that's my mundane post for now. I hope everyone is doing well!
love you guys :)

Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?

2008-07-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

When I got back to my apartment in Dallas, there was a beautiful bouquet of gerber daisies waiting for me!

There was also a special note from Matt, written by the flower delivery company. They also delivered me one of my favorite meals! homemade baked ziti!

I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband.... and our awesome neighbors. :)

Trip to Colorado

2008-07-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we made our journey from Dallas to Denver... sadly, Matt had to stay in Denver and I flew right back to Dallas. But the trip was lots of fun - we got to see everyone in our immediate family, except for Sarah, who we missed by a couple hours. :(

We drove to Amarillo first and had a fun dinner with the Whinery's, including Andy and his girlfriend Liz. It was fun to spend some time with them, since we rarely get to see them.

Next, we drove up to Colorado Springs to see my family! We got to see the newlyweds, Kevin and Kelly, and their super-nice apartment south of Denver. As always, it was fun to see my parents puppy Bailey, who was purchased (for free) while I was on a rotation in the wonderful town of Victoria, Texas. She's soooo fun :)

(she didn't want to pose with me like she did with my parents....)

the family (minus Sarah)!

A Tribute to 3rd Year

2008-06-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is Matt's LAST official week of third year!!! I am sooo proud of him. He's ready to be done. I think he's especially ready to be done with this rotation (Ob/Gyn). I haven't been too disappointed that this one hasn't been his favorite. :)

As we close up this exciting chapter of our lives, I thought I thought I'd put my interviewing skills to work so that you can all hear Matt's thoughts on third year.

Me: "So, Matt, what was your favorite moment of third year?"
Matt: "My favorite moment of third year? ummm.... this coming friday."
Me: "That doesn't count... it was a past tense question."
Matt: "ummm..... I don't know .... .... .... how many of these tylenol pm's am I supposed to take for a headache?"
Me: "I don't take them for a headache, I take them to go to sleep."
Matt: "ok. .... well, I really liked when I was on ENT and got to see that total laryngectomy. that was pretty sweet.... ... ummm... other than that it's all kind of a blur. But I really liked being able to talk with mrs. x & pray with her. (this was matt's severely depressed/suicidal patient who he
talked with a lot while he was on his psych rotation) ...and being able to hug that guy's daughter and tell her I'd pray for her dad when we found out he had cancer."
Me: "So, what was your favorite part of ob/gyn?"
Matt: "Ummm... the smiles on the mom's faces after they have their babies."
Me: "aww. What about watching the babies?"
Matt: "They're not happy. They're always crying."
Me: "But you don't like just watching them?"
Matt: "Nope, they're covered in cheese."
Me: "What about when we have a baby and it's covered in cheese?"
Matt: "There's always adoption."

Third year is tough for medical students - it's typically the hardest year. They work VERY long hours, without pay and with very little appreciation, and they have to study as well. They put up with residents and attending physicians who are not always nice, not always interested in teaching them, and who sometimes yell at them. They do a lot of paperwork and other "scutwork" that has nothing to do with learning medicine. They do dirty-work. They talk with their patients and make sure their needs are attended to, without taking any of the credit. They love their patients really well.

On top of all of that, Matt got to help plan a wedding this year!! So he deserves LOTS of extra credit! He was great at helping me when I was stressed out this year, without complaining about his own stress. He's been a fantastic husband as well! Always making time for me, even when he's so busy. :) I'm so blessed, and very proud of him. :)

So, where do we go from here? Fourth year starts next week, and Matt's first rotation is going to be an "away" rotation in E.N.T., since that's what he's interested in. And, if you know Matt very well, you would be able to guess that he's doing it in DENVER, CO. :) There's a great ENT program there, so this will give him a good opportunity to see first-hand what the program is like. He'll get to meet the attending physicians, meet the residents, and just see how the program runs. I'm sure they will all be super-impressed with Matt, too! I get to go up with him for his first weekend there, and then I'll go up for a weekend when he finishes the month. We're going to drive through Amarillo to see his parents, Colorado Springs to see my parents, and Castle Rock to see my Kevin and Kelly, so we're excited about that part too! The sad part is that I'll be all alone in Dallas for almost the whole month of July... But this is a great opportunity for him and I'm glad he gets to go.

Congrats on (almost) being done, Matt!!!!

Pastime

2008-06-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, Bobbie made a comment on matt's previous post in which he mentioned his favorite "pasttime": skiing. Bobbie pointed out that it's actually not a "pasttime" but a "passtime". Well, after some speedy internet research, I've discovered that you're both wrong, sadly. Skiing is actually a "pastime".

pastime
–noun
something that serves to make time pass agreeably; a pleasant
means of amusement, recreation, or sport: to play cards as a pastime.
[Origin: 1480–90; earlier pas(s)e tyme, trans. of MF passe-temps]

—Synonyms entertainment, hobby, diversion, avocation.

Just thought I'd clarify... :)

hydrangeas

2008-06-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Today when I got home from work, there were beautiful hydrangeas in a vase on our kitchen table! They look a lot like the ones we had in our wedding, and Matt picked them out all by himself. Isn't he great?!?

Our leftover spaghetti tasted much better with such a nice centerpiece on the table :)

2008-06-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

I think that it is really easy for 3rd yr med students to feel sorry for themselves and to be prideful. I think that I am married to the most wonderful girl there is. I think that skiing is God's gift to us and the greatest pass time of all hobbies.

summertime!

2008-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

We got to do some summery things this weekend!... On Saturday we went to Matt's aunt & uncle's house in Arlington. They went out of town for the weekend and offered for us to come use their pool! We spent the whole afternoon there, which was really fun. Matt studied for quite a while while I played in the pool - it reminded me of hot El Paso summertime in our swimming pool. :) (I missed the family, though!) Matt put the books down for a good part of the afternoon and we really enjoyed our time... we got to play with the dogs, too!

After driving back to Dallas, we went to Gloria's for dinner on the patio -- it's our favorite place in Dallas for fajitas. :)

Oh, and then we watched an episode od the Office when we got home... I think I've got Matt hooked!!!

We had a pretty good Sunday today too... church was good and we had a good time with our small group this afternoon. I've decided Sunday afternoons aren't my favorite part of the weekend, and I need to do something to fix that.... I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning up the house, working on leftover charts from friday, etc... I think I generally just don't have the best attitude on Sunday afternoons. :( but we'll work on it. :)

the first post!

2008-06-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our first blog - I'm so excited! I hope it serves as a way to keep in touch with people, and keep me from developing any new t.v. addictions. :)

We've been married for about TEN weeks now! Exciting, huh? The wedding and honeymoon were even better than we could have imagined. and marriage is great! I think we're kinda getting the hang of it. ... I've been doing a lot more cooking than I've ever done before (thanks to lots of shared recipes from friends), and matt's probably been doing a lot more housework than he's used to... :) When we got back from the honeymoon I felt like we'd never get everything unpacked, but we've been nicely settled for a while now and it feels nice and homey in our place. We even got our new comforter this week!!

In other news, my brother, Kevin, just got married about a week and a half ago! He married Kelly Tan, an awesome girl that he met at A&M. We're so glad to have her in the family. Their wedding was in The Woodlands on May 31st and it was beautiful! It was really fun to see friends and family so soon after our wedding!

kevin and kelly

proud parents!

sisters

As far as our everyday life goes...We've settled into somewhat of a routine... Matt studies in the evenings and I work on charts from work... or slowly work on other projects I have going on. Matt's on his Ob/Gyn rotation right now, so he's been getting up super-early in the mornings. Ooooh, interesting fact: Did you know that 1 out of every 200 babies born in the US is born at Parkland Hospital?!? Isn't that crazy? Good thing they have such experienced people like matt there to help out when needed! (He's actually learned some spanish this month: "Empuje, Empuje!!")

Matt is definitely ready for 3rd year to be over. He officially has a little over 2 weeks left and then he gets to start 2 months of ENT, which is the field he wants to go into. He'll get to learn and do a lot more on these rotations... hopefully not as much busywork as this year.

My job is going well too. I'm getting into the groove and don't feel nearly as overwhelmed as I did in the beginning. This means my schedule is getting busier, though, so I often have paperwork to finish up at home. Hopefully I'll get even faster with more experience. Even though it's tough at times, my job is very rewarding and I'm thankful for that. :) I love my patients and my co-workers.

Here is a picture of my boss, Dr. McMillin - she's GREAT, and one of our nurses, Starr.