Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Our suitcases are packed by the door with care, with hopes that in Colorado, we'll soon be there. Sorry for the bad poetry. We'll probably be pretty busy for the next week, so we're going to take a little vacation. Merry Christmas! "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace."

My wish for a white Christmas has been granted, in an extreme way. Over two feet of snow fell in Denver and other parts of Colorado this week. Hopefully it won't all be melted before Christmas. Sadly, the huge snow has caused some delays, and so Dave and Hannah can't come until the 27th. So far, Jeff and I are still on track to arrive tomorrow morning. Everyone can pray that the airlines are worked out enough for us to get there. We really don't want to get stuck in Cincinnati. I just got back from a quick trip home to see my family. Since I was off, and Jeff had to work, I went up to Seneca for a few days. My trip back included fairly heavy rain the ENTIRE way. Actually, it stopped for a second right when I got to downtown Charleston. Now that I'm back, it's time to pack and make a quick library run! I can't go on vacation book-less, after all.

Please go here to see some new nephew photos. I really loved this one, and couldn't resist posting it. He's really starting to look like himself.

Yesterday was the last day of my radiology rotation. Now, I'm free until February!!! No class, no going to the hospital. Hopefully January will include a trip to Iowa City to see baby Samuel . And it will also include a few more interviews . And in just one week, we leave to go to Colorado Springs, and to see Jackson ! (And the rest of our family, too!!) We can't wait. Especially me, who is hoping for a white Christmas.

It's finally blooming!! I was beginning to think my cactus was defective. It used to not get watered very much, but we moved it into the kitchen (right by the sink) and now it actually gets watered. It actually bloomed. And even in December.

This month I participated in a White Elephant hosted by Megan at Half Pint House . Yesterday I finally got my gifts!! Funny. And they actually came from Megan herself. Here they are: First off, anytime I get a package that looks like this I get excited. I especially love all the stamps. I received two videos. Paul Reiser's stand up, and a Carman video. From the back of the Carman video: Time 2, hosted by Carman, is a high-energy program that deals with the hard hitting issues that face our youth and world today. Ours is called "Drug Abuse: Breaking the Chains." Now I really want to find a tape player so I can watch this video with "live interviews and on-location reports, top Christian Artists, their music videos, and biblical answers to real questions about a real world." Hysterical. She also kindly included a wonderful-smelling candle that will definitely be put to use around our house this season. And she sent a camo-colored verse pack to my husband Jeff who...

Today was an exciting day for our church . We started as a church plant with the first official meeting in 1999, and have met in a few different locations, including one theater (before I started going) and more recently the James Island Senior Center , a great building but one where every week we had to set up and take down the chairs, bring all the nursery toys, and find enough rooms for all our Sunday School classes. (The senior high boys actually met in a closet. A large one, but still a closet.) For some time now, our sessions and leaders have been looking for a place to meet. Real Estate is somewhat problematic in the charleston area, at least if you are a buyer. (Sellers have it much better around here.) So we were looking for our own space. But nothing was to be found. Then, just a short time ago, an older congregation in downtown decided they were going to join with a congregation in West Ashley. The congregation had slowly dwindled down and was basically dying out. They were ...

Yesterday, I got back from my fourth residency interview. Even for an extrovert like me, these interviews get to be exhausting. First, there is dinner the night before where they try to stuff you full of food, while making sure you know what a good program this is. You have a chance to ask questions about the program. (Is there free food? What about free parking? Do I get to do C-sections? Can I go on a missions trip?) The next day starts usually with a few interviews. Usually you talk with the program director who again makes sure you know what a good program it is. Occasionally, they might ask you a question (Why do you want to go into family medicine? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What do you do for fun?) and my favorite: "Do you have any questions I can answer for you?" So again, I rack my brain trying to think of something since I already asked a lot of questions the night before. Note to self: ask fewer questions to the residents to make sure you still have ques...

I don't enjoy confrontation. In fact I somewhat dread it. I'm a peaceful guy, I don't like to get into arguments. Most of the time, if I don't get my way, I just deal with it. If my donut doesn't have as much filling as I had hoped, I deal with it. I'm not the type to go confronting people. I like to lay low, not cause a scene. But today I'd had it up to here (making hand motion). Aubrey has taken our car to Gerald's twice in the last two weeks to get a flat tire fixed, and they have not fixed it. The first time, she also asked to have the tires rotated, and they didn't do that either. Yesterday when she went in, she told them that the tire was still flat, and it had a bolt in it, and would they please fix it right this time? So this morning, when I saw that the tire was still flat, and still had a bolt in it, I was somewhat peeved. I called Gerald's and asked to speak to the manager. I explained the problem, and told him I would be ...

Since most of the projects I've been working on are presents, I haven't been able to post photos. Over the weekend, I started some other fun projects that are not top secret! Using the pattern found here , I made these trees, using some red felt from a very cheap christmas tree skirt I bought last year and then replaced this year. I also felted an old sweater of mine that I don't wear and used some of it for the blue trees. Even if you can't sew well, or even if you don't have a machine, you could still make these. It is only 2 seams, and then you stuff it and add some beans or rice to the very bottom for weight so they stand upright. Then you decorate to your heart's content! They are small, so it wouldn't take much cloth and you really can use anything - scraps of cloth or even old clothes--the possibilities are endless. You can also find a flickr group of these trees here , so you can see what other people did. By slightly altering the pattern, you can ...

So even though Andrew and Melanie posted these on their blog, I can't help but republish them here. Jeff and I have the cutest nephews around. Here I really get to see my big brother as a daddy. And 2 cute close-ups: And with a very, very thrilled and happy Grandma: And just to prove we have two adorable nephews, here is a recent and so-cute-I-could-cry photo of Jackson: See what I mean?

A few unconnected bloggable happenings..... 1. So right before Thanksgiving, it SNOWED in Charleston. In the almost 4 years I've been living here, we haven't even gotten ice before. But it snowed. Granted, it was only for 15 minutes, but still. Snow. In Charleston. And I missed it. I had just started my radiology rotation, and Jeff dropped me off at the hospital since the weather was cold and wet. After I went inside, it started snowing. Jeff tried to call, but since the radiology reading rooms are in the bowels of the hospital, I didn't get his call and never actually got to see the snow. 2. Last week on our way up to NC, Jeff and I stopped at a Taco Bell for dinner. While there, I checked my email. On my PDA. In TACO BELL. That is easily the strangest place I've ever gotten on the web. 3. This morning I ran (as a bandit, or whatever the term is for running in a race without paying) in the Reindeer Run. What a great race. Lots of dogs wearing antlers and bells. And ki...

Today at work, I got to go have some fun at the hospital. We went over and set up a table hawking our wares to try and drum up some new business. We were meagerly successful, people trickled by our little table, most asking questions, some actually signing up for accounts. Business-wise, doing this is always a bad way to get new business. But the best part by far of these little "on-sights" is the people watching. Particularly today. We set up our table at a busy intersection in the Children's Hospital, between the cafeteria and the gift shop, so I had a prime view of busy foot traffic. It was quite fun. Right in front of our table was a blind intersection, and I witnessed hundreds of near miss colissions. The variety of people walking by was amazing, highlights include... - One adorable little boy with a round face and shaved head being pulled around in a wagon while connected to his IV, he got very excited every time they passed the Christmas tree. Later a li...

As promised, here are some photos from our first ever attempt at hosting Thanksgiving. The meal turned out nicely, and the turkey really was excellent. We are still making some very yummy turkey sandwiches from the leftovers. So here is our menu, with links to some of the recipes. Roast turkey, which was first soaked in turkey brine Pear-blue cheese salad with dijon vinaigrette dressing (except instead of endive, I used spinach, and instead of blue cheese, I used gorgonzola) this was probably my favorite part sweet potato casserole (I didn't use this exact recipe, but this one is almost identical) rolls (I made yeast rolls) chocolate harvest cake (I used splenda, this was OK, not the best chocolate cake) pumpkin pie roast squash and zucchini (I poured some olive oil, basil, oregano, and garlic salt on them and then baked them) blue cranberry sauce (I think this had too many spices, but it was still really good. I used frozen blueberries instead of fresh.) All in all,...

Baby Photos!! I saved these photos from Andrew and Melanie's blog, so you should go check it out and leave a congratulatory note. :) These photos make me teary. I can't wait to meet him.

GO COCKS! And in other, even more exciting news....Jeff and I have become an Aunt and Uncle Again!!!! We have a new nephew!! His name is Samuel. He was born early saturday morning, and weighed in at 8lbs, 7 oz. I would post pics, but I haven't actually seen any photos of him yet. I hear he is quite adorable. I did get to hear him squawk a bit on saturday, and he made some very cute noises. So I am anxiously awaiting photos of him and will post them as soon as I can. There is much more I could post about....but I'm actually at at interview now, and so don't have time. In the works: thanksgiving photos recipes baby photos new projects on the sewing machine So there should be much posting as soon as we get back. I guess that was more than 2 words.

Hopefully, everyone had a great thanksgiving. We certainly did. The food was delicious, and I was excited that my first ever thanksgiving turned out so well. There were no turkey debacles, no sweet potato incidents, and no pie fiascos. :) And I do have lots to be thankful for. Just to start: having been called by God to be one of his own my great family (both the one I was born into and the one I received when I got married) my church family being able to see the end to medical school and realizing how great God has sustained me during this time a wonderful Godly man I get to be married to a healthy body becoming an aunt this year (and almost have I become an aunt twice!) the possibility of moving to a fun new city where Jeff will finally have the kind of job he actually wants and will enjoy God's financial provision for us during these four years a good public library where I can get great books and movies for free Having a new skill that will enable me to make a lot of Christmas ...

Actually, it's almost here. Today and yesterday, I've been baking and cooking all afternoon to get ready for the big day. So far I've made: pumpkin pie chocolate cake cranberry sauce bread (both cornbread and white) for stuffing wheat bread to eat dressing for the salad toasted pecans for the salad sweet potato casserole rolls turkey brine a birthday cake (somehow at Jeff's work he was responsible for bringing birthday cake in today for a coworker, so I made it for him.) :) All this work really makes me appreciate my mom, who always seems to pull together these beautiful, elaborate and tasty meals quite easily. With at least 2 kinds of meat. But as for me, I'm tired. I still need to make baked oatmeal for tomorrow morning. Yum. With pears on top. Even yummer. So it's back to the kitchen for me!

After exterminating the dust bunnies in our bedroom, I decided next to move on to the bathroom. We have one small bathroom in our apartment. It used to be part of the porch, since this house was built before indoor plumbing. Like all traditional Charleston homes, the porch on our house is slanted to prevent it from flooding during heavy rains that we get here, much like the storm outside right now. When our house was redone, whoever enclosed the bathroom decided to leave the bathroom floor slanted. I think we could consider our bathroom to have been grimthorped . It is definitely my least favorite room. Plus the tub is old and never looks clean, the toilet is jammed into the corner and wobbles, and we have no counter space. But the bathroom was due for a really good cleaning and organizing. And it looks so much better now! I again forgot to take a before photo, but here are some good "during" photos. Here I am distracted by some cute nail polish I found and then promptly us...

Since my parents are coming down for Thanksgiving, I took the opportunity to do some cleaning before they get here. And I mean serious cleaning. Today we worked mostly on the kitchen and bedroom. And we really cleaned the bedroom. We actually mopped UNDER the bed. We went through our dressers and purged a few items. I basically dusted the room from top to bottom. I sneezed all day. It was bad. So now we are going to reward ourselves and use some gift certificates for Outback. Yum. Here are some "after" shots. Sadly, I didn't have any "before" or even better, the "during" shots when it was vaguely reminiscent of a hurricane or tornado. Look, all the drawers are closed, with nothing hanging out or stacked on top! Jeff is ready to clean! No clutter or books in sight! Not a single dust bunny to be found.

So here is the first picture ever taken of Jeff and I together, right when we first started dating. A lot has happened since then. I mean, we actually got married!! I think we both look a good bit younger, or at least different. It's been a good three and a half years, though. And it's strange to think that I'm already (almost) graduating from medical school. Back then med school was a huge mountain looming before me, but now I can almost taste the end. I'm definitely glad that I had such a great person to be with during these years. Who knew medical school would be as fun as it has been?

I just wanted to pass along a great link. Dr. David Jones, my ethics professor from seminary, gave a talk to a Missouri church concerning the recent stem cell initiative which was on the ballot. This talk became an essay which is on the Covenant Seminary website. I found it to be well-reasoned and biblical. Please check it out here.

Here is a visual tour of some of the things we've seen recently: SC Wildflowers The Washington Monument The waterfall we hiked to a few weeks ago. A very, very steep metro escalator A sweet nephew Big aquarium fish I think that's all the photos I can fit into one post!