From The Kitchen

The staff/faculty at my school honored our cafeteria manager (it was her last day) and a custodian (received an award) by having a dessert buffet in the faculty lounge last Friday.  I contributed two desserts that kept me busy for 5 1/2 hours (on a school night!).  They were the hit of the party and barely made it to lunch.  By that, I mean that the word got out of what I brought and many had to sample them before lunch because if they waited they may have missed out.  Good thinkin'!  I'm lucky to have been able to try them myself.  I must say.... they were pretty.darn.tasty. 

Mmmm...

 Carrot Cake

Peanut Butter Torte

Lake Hefner Run

My day started out by sleeping in 

and sipping a nice cup of coffee on my patio.

 Ethan wanted to soak up some sun with me.

 Then he went in and brought out his 

stuffed turtle to chew on while in my lap.

After coffee, I got dressed and 

drove to Lake Hefner for a run.

 You can see the lighthouse in the distance.

 I was several miles into my run.

 At the end of my run around the lake.

 Sailboats and restaurants by the lake.

A final view.

Stretching and still smiling!

This was my first time to run the ENTIRE lake. I've biked it plenty (years ago), but running was a different story.  It took forever with winds of 25-35mph and a temperature above 80 degrees. My pace was horrible, but that wasn't the focus of today's run. Today's goal was to run the entire lake and I did it.  

Yesterday, I ran 5 miles at the lake for the St. Paddy's 8k.  That makes a total of 15 miles this weekend.  Not bad!  I hadn't planned on running that much... it just happened.  The weather was too good to not want to run.  

The St. Paddy's race left me with a blister under the arch of my right foot.  It's extremely painful and I could feel it every step of the way.  My right sock was a bloody mess when I finally removed my shoes when I arrived at home.  Apparently I need a little TLC this week.  : )  My run also left me with what you see in the photo below.  I'm hoping it's just a sunburn even though I DID wear SPF 70 all over my body and SPF 50 on my face (Cetaphil facial moisturizer with sunblock). 

Only 42 days until the OKC Memorial Marathon!  

Dinner FAIL

I WAS going to have eggs for dinner, 

but the carton slipped out of my hand.  

Oops.  

Have you had a dinner fail lately?

Match Day 2011

Match Day 2011 was on Thursday, March 17.  

Here's our BIG NEWS in photos.....

Holding our future in my very hands!!!

 One final photo before we know where we'll be for the next 4 years.  It felt as if David's heart was going to beat out of his chest while I was leaning into him for the photo.

I nervously watched David 
as he opened his envelope.

His letter!!!  It's IN WRITING!

 Ahhh!!!!  We did it!  We got our #1!  I get to keep my job (as long as they ask me back)!!!

 Boomer Sooner, baby!

We were obviously planning on these results, but we couldn't be certain until it was in writing.

Calling his closest family and friends 
to share the fabulous news!

 Dave and me at Busch Stadium in Saint Louis, MO.  Home of the Cardinals!!!

 Me and one of my favorite Med Wives, Tammy!  
I LOVE her to pieces!

 Do you see the famous arch?

 Loved that we could sport our Sooner jerseys 
in Busch Stadium.

 WE ARE SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!

 Another SLU SOM family will be joining us 
at OU for Orthopedics.  
Welcome to the dream team!  

 David, Me, Tammy, and Eric.  Friends for life!

 Do you see the sign?  "Congratulations Saint Louis University Medical School Students"

 My amazing husband!!!  I am so proud of him!  

  

His smile is ear to ear.  LOVE it!

Match Day Countdown

We are in the final countdown to Match Day. Tomorrow at this time we'll be brainstorming about what's next. There are so many thoughts running though my head right now. I sure hope I can sleep tonight.
I must say that I'm really looking forward to catching up with a bunch of my friends from our med school journey. We sure had some good times together and I will never forget them. Man, tomorrow is gonna be rough even if we do match to our #1. Tomorrow is the beginning of the final chapter in our book about med school.
While I'm very glad it's over, good-byes are never easy for me. Tomorrow I may hug my friends a little tighter and for a little longer because it may be the last time I see them. *sigh*

Doctor Debt

Well, if you follow this blog, you know that my husband, David, will be a doctor in May. We are very excited about what's to come.  We are also trying to remain positive about all the student loan debt we've accumulated during the past several years.  

Let's just say that dinner and drinks will NOT be on us anytime soon.

If we started paying off his (NOT including mine for grad school) student loans today, assuming there were no increases in interest rates, and started a 25 year payment plan, we would pay over $2,000.00 per month until he was 53 years old and would pay a total of over $600,000.00.

I believe we're going to have them deferred during his residency.  Once we actually start paying, it'll be even more.  Lord, help us!

Death is the ONLY way to escape these loans.  

I love my husband and will be with him for richer or poorer.  


*Please let me know if you have any words of wisdom, advice, encouragement, etc.

Good News!

Medical students were notified this morning on whether they matched or were scrambled.  

*More on scrambling later.

Here's what David's email said.....

This was taken directly from his email.  It's the four words we've been hoping and praying for.  YAY!

We find out WHERE he matched on Thursday.  

We're still praying we match with our #1.  

More to come so stay tuned!

Slimed

Today marks the beginning of my spring break.  I LOVE my job, but always look forward to this much needed break.  It gives all of us teachers to rest, get reorganized, and ready to finish the year strong.  


Yesterday was a great day! Here's a summary: Before-school rehearsal with my honor choir; taught 4th and 5th grade with quite a few students missing (started vacation early); 3rd grade was on a field trip so I had that time to work on stuff and was quite productive; taught kindergarden and 1st grade; and my last class of the day didn't come so I could prepare for our extra crazy and fun school assembly.  


Our school does a jog-a-thon every year to raise money for cancer research.  We are a small school and hit our $100,000. mark this year.  Isn't that exciting!?!?!  Well, the incentive for reaching goal was for a bunch of teachers/staff to get slimed.  Yours truly is full of school spirit, so I gladly volunteered.  Here's a photo of me being SLIMED....  

My awesome friend, Lisa, was also slimed.  LOVE her pose!

We LOVE our school!!!

After being slimed, I rushed home to de-slime my clothes (aka laundry) and shower.  I had to be back to school soon to meet my honor choir for their performance in the school talent show.  We were the opening act and I couldn't be more proud.  All of the other student performers were also amazing.  Many students have been holding back, but now their secret is out.  They are full of talent and skills!  I'm so blessed to work with such great students and teachers.  

1 Week

One week from now, we'll know where we get to spend the next 4 years.  Yes, folks, next Thursday is the day we've been waiting for:  Match Day!  

We are so excited about what's to come!  

Run

9.8 miles today!

The run started out at a cold and windy 28 degrees. Brrr.....
This is a pic of me and my SIL, April, at the first water stop which was 3 miles into the course....

Still going strong!!!

56 days until the OKC Memorial Marathon.  Woohoo!

Seuss!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  

It's Read Across America Week 
and today is Dr. Seuss' birthday.

We've been celebrating all week at school.  Tomorrow we are supposed to dress up like our favorite Dr. Seuss character.  I won't be dressing up as anything in particular, but I'll be slightly jazzed up for the occasion.  ; )

I baked and decorated sugar cookies inspired by "The Cat In The Hat" for a few of my fellow teacher friends.  
I hope they enjoy them.  

Cookie Tips:

The "hat" was achieved by using a mitten pancake mold from Crate and Barrel.  I simply cut off the thumb and cut of a bit of the top portion to achieve a smaller size (aka get more cookies out of the batch). 

I use Wilton's coloring and #3 Wilton tips 
(should have used #2).

I also use LOTS of toothpicks. 

Check out sweetopia.net for cookie/icing recipes.

Hello, March!

Today is the first day of March.  It's this very month that we'll find out where Dave matches for residency.  I can't believe this is actually happening.  March 17 can't come soon enough!


Here are some random thoughts that have been running through my head today:

• I currently wish I were sitting with my favorite med wives at Cheesecake Factory reminiscing, laughing, crying, and chowing conquering a big slice of cheesecake. 
• I hope my latest clothing order will be delivered before I leave for STL, but that's not realistic.    
• I wonder if they prescribe short-term anxiety medication?  
• I need to schedule a hair appt and get beautified before my trip.
• I hope I return from my trip with the best news ever.
• Did I really just spend that much on food coloring?  
• I wish I could lose 8-10 pounds in the next 1/2 weeks, but that's not going to happen.
• I have been enjoying chocolate for medicinal purposes. 
• I LOVE new boxes of crayons.
• I should write lesson plans with activities that require me to color more often. 
• They should put 2 red crayons in the crayon box.
• I can't wait to see my friends on Match Day!  = )

Cheesecake substitute...

SF Mocha Ricotta

Ingredients

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

2 pumps SF vanilla Torani syrup 

(a Splenda packet works too)

1 tsp. cocoa powder

Directions

Mix ingredients well.

Top with pecans (optional)