Pike Place, Paintball, and Picnicking

Porter is happily curled up on his bed and feeling much better now that he has all of that nasty bone out of his system. Lesson learned!

Mr. Fox is sleeping under Porter's back legs. It's rare for Porter to nap without his beloved stuffed animal.

This past Saturday the weather was quite miserable. Cold and rainy. But after being stuck inside cleaning up after Porter the day before I just wanted to get out, regardless of the weather. We took the bus into Seattle and enjoyed some hot, fresh mini doughnuts at Pike Place and then wandered around a bit.

Before we got to the window, Andy told me he'd only eat one or two doughnuts so I should go with the half dozen instead of the dozen. I reasoned that since we came all the way into the city for doughnuts we should go for the dozen and take the leftovers home with us. We ended up getting a dozen of the cinnamon sugar doughnuts, but there were no leftovers! (I had a sneaking suspicion that Andy would end up eating more than one or two!)

I didn't bring my camera with me and my phone's camera didn't do it justice so I grabbed this photo from  Wesleyrosenblum's flickr photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wesbran/4972218189/

On Sunday Andy and I went paintballing with a group of his friends from work. I didn't last long. Between the gun being surprisingly heavy and being hot but not wanting to take my jacket off because getting hit hurts, I only played 3 rounds. Well, actually I walked off before the 3rd round ended because I was feeling a bit faint. The sad part is that my legs are still sore from all the crouching and squatting I did in those 3 2.5 games. In my defense, Andy and I played a little tennis Sunday night so that probably didn't help. 

Going back to the topic of food...I've been getting a bit tired of our limited dinner menu here at home so Tuesday I decided to try a new recipe that caught my eye on Pinterest. The recipe was for slow cooker pulled pork and was extremely easy with only 4 ingredients total (my kind of cooking!). The only difficult part was removing all the fat from the pork after it was done cooking. I was pretty meticulous about it because there's nothing more disgusting than biting down on a chunk of fat except maybe spitting it out at the dinner table. Anyway, Andy came home and took one bite and was in love with this new recipe... and maybe even a bit more in love with me too - you know what they say about the way to a man's heart.

Do you like our fancy door desk/dining table? I'd like to blame our lack of real furniture on the move, but we didn't have a dining table before the move either. I snapped this photo before Andy wolfed down the last of the pulled pork. It tastes better than it looks here (I really need to stop being so lazy and take some real photos)! 

I used a bit over 2 lbs of pork shoulder and Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 Recipe BBQ sauce, which comes in a 28 oz. bottle. I used enough BBQ sauce to lightly coat all of the pork, which was maybe about 2/3 of the bottle, and let Andy add more sauce directly to his sandwich since he prefers more sauce than I do. I figured this would last us a few days, but it ended up only lasting us dinner and lunch the next day. Andy is already asking me to make it again next week so I guess I'd call it a success.

Last night Andy and I enjoyed a picnic at a park on Mercer Island which overlooks Lake Washington and downtown Seattle. I couldn't have asked for better weather, scenery, or company! After we finished eating we played a little frisbee with Porter and then drove by a house I had found for sale. At only 930 sq ft, this 2 bed, 1 bath house is a bit small, but has lots of potential and is only 1 block from the water. The downside? It's $450,000 asking price is a bit much for us, especially considering all of the work it needs. After sadly saying goodbye, we drove around and enjoyed looking at all the other homes on Mercer Island. It's difficult to find a house you wouldn't want to live in there, which isn't all that surprising considering the average house value was over $900,000 and median household income was around $120,000 in 2009.

I love the location and character of this 1918 house! Maybe someday we will call Mercer Island home.

Enough of my dreaming! I need to get ready. This afternoon I will be meeting the other two incoming residents and having a picnic with the outgoing residents as well as the staff and doctors at the VA.

6am surprise

Bought Porter a new bone yesterday. Bone led to diarrhea and vomiting. What a great way to start the day!

Doggie Disneyland

Last Sunday we embraced the perfect weather by taking Porter to Marymoor's off leash dog park. Except this wasn't any dog park, it was "Doggie Disneyland". The 40 acre off leash dog park has a river for water dogs, a modern looking garage with glass doors that houses a dog wash area which is probably nicer than any other park dog wash you've seen, and plenty of room to run around and socialize. The dog park is just part of a larger 640 acre park with tennis courts, playgrounds, free bicycle rentals, a R/C airplane field, a community run garden, and much more. 

Porter couldn't wait to take off exploring

Porter chased the frisbee, but was too distracted by all the scents to pick it up and bring it back

The high speed butt sniff!

This guy had some funny facial expressions

Porter can't wait to return!

Getting Settled in Seattle

I figured that since I moved over 3,000 miles from home I should get back into blogging as a way of staying in touch with family and friends. I can't believe how long it has been since I last updated, so much has changed! To hit the highlights:

• I finished up both of my externships (one of which I LOVED, the other...well, not so much). 
• I took and passed parts II and III of my national boards (one of which required a flight to North Carolina).
• In early February, Andy flew to Ft. Lauderdale to help me pack and we shipped all of our things to Washington in a 6'x7'x8' shipping container. 
• I flew out to Washington in mid-February for residency interviews and submitted my rankings. I matched with the VA hospital and will start my residency in July.
• In May we celebrated our 3 year anniversary, my birthday, and my graduation from optometry school!
• The day after graduation we flew out to Washington with Porter sleeping at our feet in the cabin.

Between being without my computer for over a week, getting settled, and working on what seems to be a never ending to do list I'm a bit behind on my photo editing. I'll be back posting photos as I get to them. Stay tuned!

Andy's visit

Wow, I can't believe it's been two and a half months since my last update! Things have been busy as usual around here - actually busier than usual. I finished up my contact lens rotation and am currently working 5-6 days a week in the primary care clinic where I see a wide variety of patients. It's not uncommon to see patients with HIV, drug addictions, or personality disorders such as schizophrenia. One of my patients went off and was yelling at me because she thought I was killing her family and was afraid I would eat her eyes. Another patient had a seizure and had to be admitted to the hospital. There's never a dull moment!

In case you had be planning on bringing a grenade into the exam room...

Andy's been working at his new job in Washington for 2 months now and really enjoys it. He flew in this weekend to visit and while we had a wonderful time together, it wasn't long enough! While he was here we saw a movie, went out to dinner, made a trip to Miami, did some shopping, took Porter to the dog park, and relaxed at home. I had to drop him off at the airport this afternoon and I thought it'd be a little easier to say goodbye this time, knowing that we're nearly a quarter of the way through our time apart, but it was just as difficult as the first goodbye! Between now and his next visit I will be taking parts II and III of my national boards examinations so I have plenty of studying to keep me busy.

Family portrait: a day at the dog park! 

236 days until graduation!

Sleepless in...

Source: art.com 

Did you know Seattle's nickname is the Emerald city? I always thought it was the rainy city, kinda like Chicago is the windy city. Anyway, Andy and I are back from our trip! We had a great time in Seattle, but came back more tired than when we left - our vacations are hardly ever relaxing. We packed our days with sightseeing, shopping, hiking, and hunting... apartment hunting that is!

Andy flew out about a month ago for a job interview and received an offer so it was time for me to go and give my stamp of approval. With the offer signed I can now officially say we're moving to Seattle!

Jamaica, Jamaica, ya mon!

So I've been back from Jamaica for about two weeks and am just now starting to feel caught up on everything. I had a good time in Jamaica, though I was really only there for two and a half days. Four students, including myself, and one doctor saw around 170 patients in Kingston. I got the chance to see a couple diseases I haven't seen back home which was pretty cool for me (less so for the patient, no doubt).

I wish I had lots of photos to share, but I didn't want to bring my camera since I knew I'd be busy and wouldn't be able to keep an eye on it while I was working. Hopefully I can get copies of the photos my friends took and share those later. Here's a photo I took with my phone from the plane right before my battery died - we took off over the water and had a great view of the mountains.

One of the reasons it's been a bit crazy since I got back is because Andy and I are planning a trip on short notice. I can't divulge when or where we'll be going just yet, but I will say it's the opposite extreme from Jamaica, in more ways than one.

Odds & Ends

I know I'm way behind in my posting, so here's a quick rundown of things I've been up to.

• I passed part 1 of the national board exam! They made some major changes to the exam content and format in response to a huge cheating scandal at one of the other schools last year. As a result, scores dropped 13% nationally, bringing the pass rate down to 72%. To say that I was relieved to find out I passed would be a huge understatement. Most grueling and stressful 2 days of my life! I'll be taking part 3 in October and part 2 in November of this year.

• Finals are over and I'm now officially in my fourth (and final!) year. I'm in clinic 5 days a week doing exams and vision therapy as part of my pediatrics rotation. 

• Made two trips to Orlando. Once for visiting family combined with a trip to Universal with friends and the second time to participate in Special Olympics doing eye exams.

• Andy and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. Woohoo! We did a photoshoot with our wedding photographers right before and got some nice up to date photos of us. 

• Just celebrated my 25th birthday this week. As I opened the door Andy blew a noisemaker in my face and Porter rushed up to greet me wearing a lei and a Happy Birthday hat! Andy had flowers waiting for me on my desk, along with some of my favorite treats. It was a very sweet surprise!

    

• Enjoyed brunch this morning with a few friends. We've been together everyday for the last 3 years of school and now we're all doing our own thing with externships so it's nice to get together and catch up from time to time.

• In less than two weeks I'm heading out to Jamaica, provided nothing comes up this time. *fingers crossed*

• I'm considering going on a graduation trip and am trying to think of places we could go. I'm kinda liking the idea of renting out a luxury villa in Thailand, but we'll see. 

Back from Books and Boards

Now that I've had a couple weeks to recover I guess it's time for me to pop in to let everyone know that I survived my exam! I won't know how I scored for quite a while, but I'm trying to enjoy having a bit of a life again while also getting caught up on everything that I've pushed aside for the past few months.

The weekend after my board exam Andy's parents came and stayed with us. On Saturday we got up close and personal with lions, and tigers, and bears and rhinos, and zebras when we went on a drive-thru "safari".

While they were here they got to meet Porter, the newest member of our family. We adopted him less than one week before the biggest exam of my life, which I'll admit wasn't the best timing, but it felt like it was meant to be. Check out our adorable little boy!

Porter is a year and a half year old salt and pepper miniature schnauzer. He's fully grown and weighs 16 pounds, which makes him a great size for our small space. I snapped the above photos shortly after we got him - and before we had a chance to take him to the groomers. He had to get a much shorter haircut due to all the mats in his fur from his days on the streets.

The main reasons we were looking for a mini schnauzer were because they are a good size for apartments and they are better for people with allergies. (And who can resist such a cute little bearded face?!) Thankfully he was already potty trained and is quick to pick up new commands. The only problem we have had with him is that he has separation anxiety, which we have been working on and he is already showing great improvement.

I also wanted to mention fat orange cat studio, a photographer's blog I recently came across which is full of beautiful pet portraits. I'm totally inspired by Li's work and will try to keep her tips in mind when I take Porter out for his next photo shoot.

It's Crunch Time

and no, I'm not referring to my abs. I've been in hiding for the past couple months because I've been studying like crazy for part 1 of the national board exam. Part 1 is the hardest according to most (all?) people you talk to. It's a grueling 2 day exam that covers everything we've ever learned. It's less than a month away now, which means I'm really starting to feel the heat. It also means that in less than a month I'll get my life back and be able to return to blogging!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas was very merry indeed! Andy and I had a wonderful time back home with our families. Of course, my best gift this year was getting Andy back safely from his trip to Taiwan. He was gone 17 days which felt like forever and worst of all we didn't get to talk much given the 13 hour time difference. Work kept him very busy, but he did get two weekends to have fun and explore the city with his very own tour guide (a friend who happens to live in Taipei).

While we were home for the holidays we had a chance to visit my grandma who celebrated her 91st birthday on Tuesday. I don't have a photo from her party as we had to leave the day before, but here are a few photos of her. The first is her ringing in the big 9-0 and the second is her dressed up as a witch on Halloween, complete with skeleton earrings. I know you can't get a true feel for her personality from a couple of photos, but I'm sure you can tell she doesn't look or act anything like you'd expect someone her age would. Happy birthday grandma!

As for tonight, Andy and I will be ringing in the new year with a quiet night in. I've come down with some sort of illness - it seems like a bit of a hybrid between a cold and strep throat. After waking up last night in total agony, Andy finally convinced me to go see a doctor and I've started on some antibiotics while we wait for the test results to get back in case it is strep. What a way to spend my last remaining days of vacation!

Here's to a happy and healthy new year!

Going to the Out House

Backtracking a few weeks... The day before Thanksgiving I got to choose the two externship sites I will be working at during my fourth year. I'll spend the first 6 months doing internships "in house" at the 3 local clinics associated with the school.

The last 6 months will be divided up into two - three month rotations away from school. I decided to do the first "out house" rotation at a private practice in Miami that has an emphasis on specialty contact lens fittings and sports vision therapy. My second "out house" rotation will be at a very large, multi-location practice in my hometown that deals with a lot of ocular disease and surgery. The practice has 8 different locations and a broad range of doctors and specialties, including optometrists, ophthalmologists, cosmetic surgeons, hearing specialists, and skin care professionals. I'll get a chance to visit as many of the practices as I'd like and even go into the OR to observe any of the surgeries being performed. All in all, I'm very excited to get more experience and to work in all the different practice settings. However, it also makes me a bit nervous to realize how close I am to graduating. It's felt so far off for so long, but it's starting to hit me now that it's only a year and a half away!

And just for fun I threw in a photo of me with some friends. This photo was taken after we gave a presentation to two high school classes about the profession. We all tried to maintain our composure when one girl, the first person to raise a hand, asked Johnny (far right) if he was nervous because he was talking so fast! We got bombarded with tons of other questions, some pretty off the wall. 

Mini Cinni-mon Muffins

Remember a while back when I wrote about wanting to make those Sin-amon morning muffins? Well, in an attempt to avoid studying for final last week I finally made them! I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception that I didn't have a muffin pan so I made them using my mini cupcake pan.

Andy loves them and has been popping them in all their one bite glory left and right. I think they're alright, but I am the pickiest eater you've ever met. (Seriously, I dare you to find someone pickier than me!) I think it's the nutmeg that I don't care for - too strong of a taste for me. And while I didn't take any photos, I assure you that they turned out just as cute as in the photo I saw online so if you're looking for an easy to make sweet I'd encourage you to give these a try.

Sometimes I like to browse house listings (usually realtor.com or sotheby's if I'm feelin fancy) in areas where Andy and I are considering moving to, just to get a feel for the area as well as home prices and what you get for your money. The other day I spotted this gem in northern California. Check out the awesome bathroom:

Yes, I do believe that's a door, specifically what looks like a front door, on the other side of the shower. Quite a way to greet your guests I must say! Also, I don't believe I've ever seen a ceiling fan inside the bathroom. And what's up with the light fixture between the mirror and the window? It's just kinda hanging out over counter that shouldn't even be there.

And all this can be yours for the low, low price of $649,000! Granted, the rest of the house isn't so bad, but it could still use some work. If we do decide to move to Cali I have a feeling we'll be living in a cardboard box.

Happy (Very Belated) Thanksgiving!

Sorry this post is a bit late. Between final exams, helping Andy prepare for his trip to Taiwan, and editing photos I got a little behind.

Andy and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families back home. We spent Thanksgiving day with my mom's side of the family. The last time I saw my cousin Emily was at Thanksgiving 3 years ago when she was pregnant with her son Luke. Since then she also had a baby girl named Lydia and I finally got to meet them both!

I also got to see my cousin Samantha's baby Wyatt again. I guess I really can't call him a baby anymore though since he's walking! I can't believe how much he's grown since I last saw him.

Friday afternoon we spent a little more time with Sam, Travis, and Wyatt out by the beach.

Friday evening we had dinner with my dad, stepmom, and sister, who is about to surpass me in terms of height and she's only 10 years old! This might not seem too surprising if I were short, but I'm 5'4"! I would have liked to have seen my grandma who usually joins us for dinner, but she's vacationing in North Carolina with my aunt.

On Saturday we did Thanksgiving with Andy's side of the family out in the country. As you can probably tell, it was a lot of running around for us! Thankfully we didn't have to split Thanksgiving day between two families, but it still felt rushed. We had to leave Saturday evening since I had 3 finals that week and needed to get home and study. Hopefully Christmas is a bit more relaxed since I have about a week off!

Stone Topped Furniture

Years ago I knew someone who had a gorgeous wooden coffee table with a marble top. Lately, I've started noticing some similar pieces such as the ones below.

1, 2, 3
The types of stone used are travertine, faux marble, and travertine, respectively.

source

I love the curves on this antique looking dresser. The top is actually made of wood, but I think it would look great with a similarly colored slab of marble or travertine for a slightly more modern look.

I'm baaaack!

As I was typing the title to this post Steve Urkel pop into my head with his signature catchphrase, "I'm baaaack!" (Hey! Don't those look like the same glasses I made and put on our pumpkin?!)

Last Sunday I flew to Jacksonville for a two day contact lens seminar put on by one of the major contact lens manufacturers, all expenses paid. Due to scheduling conflicts none of my friends were able to go and I ended up being the only student from my school there. It was a bit nerve wracking for an introvert like myself, but I ended up having a great time and am really glad I went. Not knowing anyone there took away my crutch and forced me to meet a number of really nice students from other schools that I may not have talked to otherwise. 

Wednesday, the day after my return, was my last day in clinic for the semester. In a couple weeks we will start our winter semester and I'll be back in clinic, but thankfully I'll be working a different day. That means no more 12+ hour days! Woohoo! 

Happy Halloween!

Check out our nerdy mini pumpkin Stuart. I made his glasses a while back.