2 year anniversary

I can't believe its been 2 years since I got married!!! (The actual day is the 27th..but we celebrate it Memorial weekend..since it fell on the 27th the year we got married). I'm sure some of you remember this disaster from last years anniversary. No worries..I didn't try to re-create our cake again. This time we went out to dinner at this fabulous restaurant called Pier W. Its literally hanging off a cliff over Lake Erie with beautiful views of Cleveland and excellent food to accompany it.


Food was phenom! Hubby had filet and alaskan king crab legs..it was to die for. A lot of their fish from Alaska was caught the day before. Usually it takes about a week for the fish to get from Alaska to the diners mouth. Luckily our chef had a connection :) Here are some pictures of us before we left...




So I guess as the tradition was started last year...I'll follow up this year with what we've accomplished during our second year of marriage

1)Finished up first year of graduate school
2)Sold the mustang convertible and bought an Acura (since I decided to move back up north...convertibles dont go in snow)
3)Took a trip to Denver, Colorado and ran the skirt chaser rac3
4)Started my first grad school rotation outside of Savannah
5)Lost my Dad..picked myself back up..and continued moving around the country every month by myself to do clinicals
6)Moved all our belongings from Savannah to Ohio
7)Hubby transferred to Ohio with his job...yay!
8)Ran the disney marathon
9)Ran a bunch of races in Georgia...got 2nd place in my age group for one of them :)
10)Hopefully in a week I'll be able to tell you that I got a job..haha
11)Spent more time away from each other than we did together..... :(

The second year of marriage has definitely been crazy...but then again so was the first...haha. I'm hoping the third one is much more calm with some rewards for all the hard work we've been doing.

Heres a few wedding photos :

read this

Read this post from Ericas blog. It's amazing...


Its all the words in my head that I can't get out on paper without sounding like a weirdo. When engineers try to get "deep" it can produce some pretty scary things..so I leave it to other people. All of this is so true..and I often find myself stuck in these ruts. Ever since losing my Dad..I've been much better about having the right focus in life. Its so easy to sit and tell you to enjoy life, enjoy people not things..focus on others and you will find that you have much more than when you focus on yourself..etc. ..etc...etc... I can say it over and over again..but until you go through something life changing...you don't get it. Even I dont get it...or sometimes I forget. Its so sad that it takes losing something to cherish the rest of whats left...but God works in mysterious ways. Take some time to have a little purpose in your life.....


I took care of a guy yesterday who lost his 36 yr old wife to a garage fire in January. He has 3 small children...and his wife was the good smaritan of the town. She actually died while trying to start up her snow plow to plow all the neighbors driveways that morning. They had 3 young kids..and I'm sitting there telling this guy the ins & outs of anesthesia..and he starts telling me about his wife. I completely understand this because I found myself telling all sorts of strangers about my Dad...for some reason some people it helps them to talk about it...and others would rather not. I felt so helpless...that all I could do was put a little "cocktail" in this guys IV to make him forget his pain for a few hours. I was lucky I could even do that...

...I wish there was more I could do.....but putting someone out of their misery for a few hours and taking away fear and pain is a great thing.....I have a good job

You can take the runner out of running...

But you can't take the running out of the runner! Wow..are you confused? so am I! Anyway..last week I didn't make it out to run for 4 straight days. By the 5th day I realized that I needed to get out and run or I was going to kill myself. I had gone on a few 2+ mile walks...but ughhh..not the same as pounding pavement. Luckily I recognized how big of an issue it was before committing myself to a mental institute. Even though my runs right now are just enjoyable little 3 milers...it keeps me sane. I crave it.. I need it...I can't function without it. I need the sunshine, the breeze, the smell of fresh cut grass...the feeling of hitting the pavement...heavy breathing...sweat dripping...etc. It is who I am..and I cannot be without it..for more than 3 days.

These next 6 weeks are going to fly by...then God will kindly hand me my life back. MY life....of course it will be a completely different life than the one I used to have...but as long as its completely different than the one I have now..I'll be happy. I'm so focused on this board exam and figuring out where I want to work that I can't imagine what it will be like to be a real person again. Ive been in college 7 years now...S E V E N. I hope I don't have the same reaction to "not being a student anymore" as I did to "not being able to run."

How Bout Them Apples

So Friday we did "trampoline night"..a.s I had mentioned previously. This weeks episode included different dance moves on the trampoline including the lawn mower, walk like an egyptian, the funky chicken dance, electric slide, and macarena! I know...you are so sorry you missed it! hahaha

Saturday I got a call from the hubby saying he was at my Dads favorite bar (Stop 45). A few hours went by...and Mom and I decided to go "bust him" like we used to do to my Dad. So we walked to the bar (1.5 miles)with the puppy and busted him with his friends. While we were there, it seemed like fun watching the Cavs game, so we decided to walk back home and change clothes. Only to walk back to the bar again....you get the drift. Once we got to the bar we had a few drinks followed by an Irish car bomb. I saw some people I knew from high school (I live in a small town..all the bars are like a high school reunion on weekends)...and proceeded to get pretty smashed. We decided it would be best to walk home....and sober up haha. We told funny stories about my Dad the whole way home..shed a few tears...drank many glasses of water..and headed to bed. It was best for everyone that we make it to bed by midnight with some hydration on board. I just think its funny that we walked to and from the bar TWICE. The neighbors were looking at us strange since we had completely changed outfits...

Hoping to make it out for a nice little run today. Sadly my mileage is like 3 miles a few times a week. But I'm just glad to get out there and breathe some fresh air. I should start a countdown for Boards to be over....or will that make it seem to creep by?

Golfers are lucky

I'm sure youre thinking "yeah...golfers are lucky...they swing the shit out of a stick and then get carted around beautiful country clubs to go find the ball". Rough life right? Well the golfers at this hotel are ESPECIALLY lucky! I seem to keep forgetting that this hotel is at a country club. More importantly...I keep forgetting that eventhough I am taking an elevator to my room...its really eye level with the golf course. So everyday when I come blasting through the door and can't wait to change into comfy clothes (bc scrubs are soooo uncomfortable..!?) I rip down my pants and look up to see a golf cart flying by...or some old man tryin to put the ball. EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!! Thank god most old man golfers have cataracts or I'd be in biiiiiiiiiig trouble mister!

Its all about picking yourself up

I had a nice little weekend that included a LOT of studyin! I was anxiously dreading awaiting my new rotation that starts today. This new rotation is about an hour commute as I had mentioned before....and the first day at a new hospital always sucks ass! Well last night I ended up having nightmares alllllllllll night about when my Dad passed away. It was a pretty traumatic event in my life..but I have NEVER had nightmares like this before. I obviously don't want to go into detail...but there was one good point to it. In this re-hash of the tragedy...I actually got to say goodbye. I hugged my Dad over and over again and told him what a good Dad he was and how much I love dhim...something that I never got to do the first time. I'm not sure what you believe..but some people feel that when their loved ones come to them in dreams..that it's really their spirit. If thats the case...I actually woke up feeling like I got to say goodbye....yet that good feeling was definitely washed out by all the other horrible images/feelings from the dream.

So I pulled my butt outta bed at 4:30...got ready..and got in the car. I cried the whole way to the hospital...and literally all the fear I had in me whenit all first happened...came right back. It was almost like re-living the whole thing again. I was afraid to reach down and pick up my cell phone...for fear that someone was going to grab my arm from under the bed (no jokes...this is how i was the first time around..i thought there were boogie men in every corner). I was afraid to open the door and let the cat in..for fear that someone was going to run in the house and kill me. All these feelings that I was so happy to get rid of during the healing process, came right back since I basically relived the whole event the night before.

I luckily got to the hospital 35 minutes early and drove straight to the drug store. I bought all new make-up and sat in the car for 20 minutes wiping the black streaks off my face and reapplying eye shadow, foundation etc. It never makes a good impression when you walk into a hospital (and potential job opportunity) and looked like you just got hit by a mascara truck. I blew my nose..probably would have put cucumbers on my eyes if I had a tiny bit more time...and pulled myself together to walk into the new hospital. I busted my ass all day taking care of patients, learning the new routines, figuring out where they keep the supplies, and keeping my head up. I skipped breaks...didn't get to eat lunch...and just kept plugging along with a big ole fake smile on my face.

WHen I finally got to leave and get in my car for the journey home..I realized how strong I am. I thought about the endless times I've had to scrape myself off the pavement and put on a smiling face for these stupid clinicals. To stand there at the hospital in the midst of strangers that haven't a clue about what I'm going through. Each time I think of how many people would have quit...would have just turned the car around this morning and said "fuck it"...and I felt proud to be who I am.

It's so easy to criticize yourself...oh I need to lose 10 lbs...eww..I have a zit...I'm not good enough..etc. etc. etc. But when the world chews you up and spits you out...and stomps on your face...do you get up with a smiling face and say "Good morning JOhn...I'm Christine from anesthesia..I'll be taking care of you today!"....I know I do....and I do it with my makeup still perfectly applied :)

Cardiovascular Physiology & Anesthesia here I come

Ewww..I'm going to try to get through all my cardio stuff this weekend as far as board studying goes. I also hope to run and lift both today and tomorrow. Starting Monday I am at a new hospital that is about 45 mins- 1hr away (ughh). HOWEVER...I pricelined a hotel for $50 for two of the nights to cut down on commute time and increase studying productivity. I was pleasantly surprised that the quail hollow resort accepted my bid! What a treat for $50 a night!!! Now I'm kinda excited and might do that for all 4 weeks I'm there.

Also lately we have been enjoying walking to my brothers house (he lives on a golf course about 2 miles away) on Friday nights. I think we might make this a new family tradition..but we walk over there...wait for it to get dark...we all wear those glowing neon bracelets and necklaces and jump on the trampoline with the kids. Of course there is alcohol involved as well for the adults. Then after everyone is all tuckered out...we order pizza and my hubby & brother jam out on the guitar. I feel like traditions are what keeps a family together sometimes. ANd what a FUN summer tradition? Friday night Pizza & Trampoline fun! Unfortunately last nights weather spoiled it for us..and my hubby is out of town.

Also.....keep my buddies running the Flying Pig Marathon in mind this weekend! Danielle is going for a BQ time! Leave her some encouraging comments...shes going to rock it out!