5.30-6.5

We had a busy week! I was on vacation along with Zach and we socialized every day except Sunday. Knowing Zach's residency is coming up and that we will be moving in a year we are

trying to get as much fun and friend/family time in as we can.

Monday we went to Seward for Memorial Day. After a delicious lunch the boys golfed and the girls came along to watch.

Zach, Bob (Zach's dad), and Stuart (Zach's cousin)

aka Phil, Bubba, and Rory

Me and Katie (Stuart's better half)

aka the giggles, the girls, and the peanut gallery

The dogs really LOVE going to Seward.

Don't be too afraid, but here they are in a wrestling match. Ruby looks much worse than any actual outcomes.

Riley loves hanging out on the lawn. He got this football from Grandma Martens and he only gets to play with it when he visits.

On Wednesday we went out to Zach's aunt's lake house. It is a completely private location and it was a wonderful day of vacation! It was Ruby's third birthday and she couldn't have dreamed of a better day.

Zach set up his hammock and we enjoyed a swing together.

The water was so high this bench was flood. Ruby managed to get up anyway.

Rubes with the house in the background.

Below is an action sequence of four pics showing Ruby jumping in for her toy. The girls got ups.

Thursday night we enjoyed our first ever taco ride. It is about a 20 mile round trip bike ride from Council Bluffs to Minneola, IA and back with a pitstop in the middle for some yummy tacos. We had a great time, but I felt it the next day. I just might have to invest in some padded bike shorts.

Clockwise from top right: Zach, me, Stephanie, Ben, Quentin, Angeline, Peter, and Nate.

A great group!

Tonight we started on two of our kitchen goals:

#1: Use our juicer more often. We got a really nice juicer for Christmas in 2009 and we haven't used it nearly enough. We have a recipe book I gave Zach for Valentine's Day in 2010 and our goal is to make one drink per week.

We started off with one of our favorites, raspberry lemonade.

Here's me straining the raspberries. That raspberry syrup was like crack.

Goal #2: Make mussels. Zach has been wanting to do this for a long time and we finally got around to it. Martha had some recipes in this month's Everyday Food and we decided on the Coconut Curry Mussels. They were marvelous! We thought about making some pomme frites, but decided on a baguette from Le Quartier instead. It was the perfect thing to soak up all the yummy broth. The whole process was super easy and we are looking forward to trying more flavor variations.

Dining al fresco

Perfect summer drink!

And finally, here is this week's pic of the garden (week #4). We added some marigolds to help attract "good" bugs. Bunnies have been nibbling on my sunflowers :( I hope some will survive. We have some serious weeding to do tomorrow morning. Yuck! Easily my least favorite gardening task.

The week in pictures: 5.23-5.29

We ended the week with a wedding! Our good friends Erin & Craig were married Sunday in a beautiful outdoor wedding. I was in Alpha Phi with Erin and Zach went to med school with Craig. We had a great night! It was a little bittersweet as lots of our friends, including Erin & Craig, will be moving away in the next few weeks! We miss them already!

Zach and the guys.

My cutie pie :)

Married!

What a handsome groomsman!

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I finally opened the box Friday night. I have never used a sewing machine before so I was a little intimidated to start. By Saturday night Zach had a new robot apron. It was his reward for going to Hobby Lobby with me.

(I need to fix the neck so the apron sits higher up.)

It even has his initials and one really long pocket for grilling tools. Please don't judge my stitching yet. Everything I have done so far has been self taught and just winging it, but I am pleased with my progress.

Riley got a new bandana with dinosaurs and planets (both found in the scrap bin.) I have also made a little fleece sun blanket and a valance for our bathroom. None of my projects are near perfect, but I have really enjoyed this new adventure.

I love spring flowers! I planted these irises the first fall we moved in and I am amazed by their beauty every spring! I just love the ruffled look.

My rose bushes are going gangbusters. Unfortunately they lean over the driveway and scratch the car when we pull it into the garage. Zach is itching for me to chop them back, but I told him he has to wait until after this round of blooming. I just don't have it in me to chop all those flowers off.

Every year we steal/take a ton of peonies from a rental house up the block (we got permission a few years ago.) Here is this years beautiful bouquet. Our whole house smells amazing!

Our veggie garden has about three weeks of growth under its belt so far. This little guy is growing up to be a pickle some day.

Zach planted a bunch of lettuce this year. This one is my favorite. I think it is called Bunte Forellenschluss. We get all our seeds from seedsavers.org. I just cut a bunch of arugula and the spinach is looking ready for harvest too!

Here is the current overall view of the garden.

This year we are growing:

Asparagus, already picked

Rhubarb, we've used and given away a ton this year!

Five different kinds of tomatoes

Red pepper

Hot pepper

Green beans

Three kinds of sunflowers

Pickling cucumbers

Zucchini

Carrots

Ren and yellow onions

Six kinds of lettuce, including swiss chard

Lots of herbs: dill, sage, thyme, rosemary, mint, cilantro

Sounds like some yummy food! Let us know if you want any because we will surely have more than enough.

I'm Back with some music and updates!

So I haven't posted in months, bordering on years.  And Kate hasn't posted since early November.  Our blog is in a time warp and needs to be rescued.  So here are some updates on life:

1)  Match Day - On March 17th, incidentally St. Patrick's Day, I find out where I will be going for residency.  It is called Match Day as you "match" to a residency program.  My whole med school class will get together in an auditorium full of family and friends and, one by one, approach the podium to announce their match.  At the moment I am not too stressed about it but that day will definitely dictate much of the rest of our lives.  I feel strongly that I had good interviews with the programs and that I will match someplace that both Kate and I are happy.  That was priority numero uno in choosing programs, happiness...especially Kate's...then mine...and the dogs.

2)  Surgery - Last Monday I had sinus surgery round #2.  Sinus surgery round #1 was back in high school when an attempt to fix my deviated septum failed.  So I thought before residency I would try again to see if I could relieve some chronic congestion --> fatigue --> headaches --> bad mood.  The surgery this time consisted of fixing my still deviated septum, shaving down my lower turbinates, and endoscopically cleaning out my sinuses and dilating the opening to my sinuses.  The recovery is not fun!  It is not fun!  Not at all!  I have one, maybe two, giant splints lodged in my nose.  These cause problems with airflow (my mouth gets extremely dry at night), smell (I probably shouldn't be cooking), and taste (you could feed me poo and I wouldn't know).  And I have to include this gory detail:  Immediately post-operatively blood from the surgery is swallowed and subsequently regurgitated.  My first memory upon waking is puking, the nurse said I hit the wall.  Enough said.  So this coming Monday I can blow my nose again and on Wednesday I get these splints out of my nose so I can taste, smell, and breathe again.  I can't wait.  On a positive note, I have got to spend the entire week off with Kate and the dogs and have progressed my thoughts on the sense of smell, especially as it relates to taste.

3)  Kate's an OCCN - OCCN = Oncology Certified ? Nurse.  The month of January and part of February she studied hard to take the OCCN test and in February she passed!  Not only passed, but got the highest scores on each section!  I think it not only gives you incentive such as higher pay or an easier time finding a job, but also a deeper dedication to your profession and the patients of which it consists.  On our recent trip to Chicago we celebrated by visiting many of the city's fine dining establishments.  And, her official OCCN certificate came in the mail today.  It was jammed into our mailbox by the mailman and the envelope read:  "Do not bend, license enclosed".  So it goes.

4)  Some music - Back in December some friends introduced me to the Local Natives album "Gorilla Manor".  It took me a while to get around to listening to it but the album quickly grew on me.  After hearing the harmonies, prominent drums, and the lead singers voice I was hooked.  It would be fair to say I listen to it once per day and wish I could muster up the same sound both vocally and instrumentally.  I believe they are from Los Angeles, were on NPRs top albums (don't remember if voted by listener or NPR hosts), and just played Walt Disney Concert Hall backed by a full orchestra (apparently quite the honor)!  So without further ado, here is a link to an impromptu performance in Paris.  It was sent to me by the Nanook of the North (Elliot Hohn) who introduced me to the band, enjoy:

http://www.blogotheque.net/Local-Natives,5885


5)  A couple pictures - 

 Thanks for reading!

Let the interviews begin

I can't believe it has been two months since Zach turned in his application. I didn't realize it has been so long since I posted about it either. At this point we are assuming that the list will remain about the same going forward. So, without further ado, here are the programs Zach will be interviewing:

Mayo-Rochester, done-October 29th

Charleston, SC-November 12th (that's right! we get to go this week!)

UNMC-November 19th

KU-December 10th

Denver-January 3rd (let the whirlwind begin-see following dates)

Duke-January 7th

Virginia-January 11th

Michigan-January 15th

Dartmouth-January 21st

Tucson, AZ-January 27th (hello sunshine in the depths of winter :)

Most likely this will be our final list, except there is a chance Zach may cancel one or two. He is feeling pretty confident that doing eight interviews should get him a spot somewhere. We are really happy with the list right now and can't believe we now know the list of places that may be our home so soon. Having the first interview done is really nice because there was so much anxiety going into it. It still feels like a really crazy experience overall. It consumes a lot of our discussions...sometimes a little too much. I can't wait until we have done our Charleston visit and he is done with his UNMC interview because I feel like we will have a much better view of the whole situation. Right now all we can talk about is one interview over and over.

I still haven't quite figured out how much I want to share about this whole experience,

especially since it is Zach's experience more than mine. I'm sure I'll give little tidbits along the way of our leanings so far. What I will share with you is that I found a great bakery in Rochester! It definitely gave Mayo some extra points.

Here is the cookie I bought for Zach while he was interviewing.

Run to be

That was the theme of my half marathon. Nike is the sponsor every year and they always create a new theme. You get to fill in what the be is, for example Run to be strong. I don't know if I have decided exactly what I ran to be, but I do know I felt a ton of emotions as I finished! It was an amazing experience that I am so glad I completed. Here is a little recap of the race"

-The weather was perfect, unless you were a spectator. Cloudy and in the low 60's. I really love running in cool weather. However, within a minute of crossing the finish line the skies opened and it started raining. Combined with the fact that the finish line was right on the beach it made for some really cold conditions so we ended up going back to our hotel right away. I felt really bad for the full marathoners who had to continue on in the rain. I heard it wasn't the best time.

-It was hillier than I expected. I know San Francisco is super hilly, but I had been told that the course really wasn't that hilly. I was surprised though that I actually enjoyed the uphills. It was the downhills that made me want to throw in the towel. My knees had been bothering me through most of my training and every step downhill was a little bit of torture. I lost a lot of time going downhill which was especially frustrating as I watched everyone else zip past me.

-The sites were really beautiful. It was cool as the Golden Gate Bridge first came into view and then eventually you pass it. The end of the course was through Golden Gate Park and it was really pretty. The trees smelled so good. And, part of the race went through a beautiful neighborhood. The houses were a great distraction for me. You finish the course on the beach which would have been really great if the weather would have cooperated :)

-My left foot started hurting around mile 4. It hurt in a way that it had never hurt before and I couldn't figure out why it started or what to do to make it go away. It continued to hurt for about ten days after the race too. I started having blister pains on my right foot around mile 9. Each foot pain and the knee pain combined made for a challenge, but there was no way I was stopping. Once I crossed the finish line I could barely walk. It makes you wonder how you just ran 13 miles, but it is totally worth it.

-I ended up raising $4732.50 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. THANK YOU! I could not have completed this journey without your help! It is such an amazing experience to be involved in something so much bigger than yourself. When the aches and pains started to hit me on the course I thought of the hardships my patients have been through and reaching the finish line became easy.

-I posted pictures on facebook, but I wanted to share a few videos from the race. The first video is a little clip from the entrance of our TNT inspiration dinner. The walkway was lined with the coaches and staff from LLS all cheering for us. It was AMAZING! And, totally inspirational! The second video is from my spot at the start of the race. 20,000 people participated in the race and there were thousands of spectators too so it made for a crazy scene. I was lined up on a corner and I took a video of the 360 degrees around me. The gun went off at 7am so it is still dark out. There were so many people it took me 15 minutes just to get to the start line. The third clip Zach took around mile 11. It was the first time I got to see him and I was so happy to see his face. Enjoy!

Now I am off to attempt my first run since the race. We will see how my knees feel about it :) Thanks again for all of your support! I couldn't have done it without you. And now I can truly call myself a runner!

An Angel

One of my friends from college became an angel today.

You can read the story here.

She was a truly wonderful woman who touched the lives of many.

Please pray for her husband and family.

Residency part 3?

I have no idea how many times I have written about our residency process, but we can pretend this entry is number three. I promised last week that I would give a list of the places Zach has applied to and here it is:

Mayo, Phoenix, AZ

University of Arizona, Tucson

University of California, San Francisco

University of Colorado, Denver

University of Connecticut, Farmington

Yale-New Haven Medical Center, New Haven, CT

University of Iowa, Iowa City

University of Kansas, Kansas City

Harvard/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA

Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Mayo, Rochester, MN

Duke, Durham, NC

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

University of Nebraska, Omaha

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH

Oregon Health & Science, Portland, OR

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston

University of Utah, Salt Lake City

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

University of Vermont, Burlington

University of Washington, Seattle

University of Wisconsin, Madison

As you can see, we are pretty much all over the map. Any votes on where we should go? I will give a little insight as to what we are thinking in another post. For now, I will give a refresher as to the next steps:

Soon, hopefully, Zach will start finding out if any of these programs would like to interview him. He will probably interview at about 10 programs from this original list of 23. I haven't been able to get it out of him what 10 programs he would pick out of these if he could. Some won't offer interviews and Zach will probably end up declining some interviews. The interviews will take place November through January. I'm hoping to go with him on as many as I can. Especially if it is Arizona in January!

After interviews we will make a preference list. We only list the schools he would actually be happy going to. So, if he hates one of his interviews he won't put that program on the list and he can only match to the programs he ranks. His rank list is due in February. The schools also make their own rank list that is also submitted in February.

Then, a handy dandy computer program will match the students' rank lists with the programs' rank lists. Match Day is March 17th. Yes, St Patrick's Day! Get your party hats ready. Everyone from his class, plus family and friends, join together and receive their assignments all at once. This is the point when I will know if I need to hire a realtor or not :)

Residency orientation starts in mid-June and Zach will actually start working in July.

That's it for now. I will try my best to keep you updated!