December 2011

Current Weather:   55 degrees and sunny
Current Gas Price:  $3.09
Total Cockroach Count:  4

Hello Family! How are all of you? Are you enjoying the new year so far?

Whew! Sorry this post is coming out in the middle of January but our 2012 has started with a bang and this is one of the first chances I've had to write.  That's not true...I have chosen on multiple occasions to read some the Hunger Games Trilogy instead of write this :) Libby bought Mom the first book, "The Hunger Games" for Christmas and Mom (of course) read it in like one day so she left it for me and I've been hooked ever since! I just finished the second book and am on to the last one.  They are making the first book into a movie in March so I can't wait to see it! My friend Clory is reading them as well so hopefully we'll all go see the movie together! That would be fun! Check out the trailor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY

So the majority of December was pretty typical with us just working as usual. Wes completed his fourth block of medicine which is awesome! He only has 1.5 blocks left of medicine.  I received a very good evaluation from District 50 which was so wonderful after being mildly deflated by Hamilton's evaluation the previous year.  We attended Self Regional's Christmas party which was very fancy and we went around from table to table stuffing ourselves and talking to the other residents.  It was pretty fun.

Hospital's Christmas Party

It was around this time that we put our tree up too! I just love putting up the Christmas tree and I confess that we actually still have ours up as we just haven't had time to take it down! We are shooting to take it down tonight though! Haha, half way through January is too late to put it up! But we always have a good time getting our ornaments out and talking about them! Here we are putting up the tree:

We also took a little trip to Greenville which was fun! I had to be there for a People to People meeting so Wesley came along and we made a little weekend out of it! It's about an hour away from Greenwood so it's not a bad drive. Unfortunately, I go there more than I would like because that's where all my People to People meetings are located.   Wes took me to a Persian restaurant which was pretty good...my food was chargrilled (as were most things on the menu) and I am just not a big fan of the blackened chargrilled flavor so it wasn't my favorite but we enjoyed trying some new things!

Greenville has a river that runs through downtown and there are parks all around it and bike trails and stuff.  It's a cute little town and this was my first time actually seeing the river and walking on the neat bridge they have! 

Us after dinner at Pomegranate on Main.  You can see the road behind us. It's sort of like an "Eastonish" feel  as it has lots of restaurants, bars, and little shops lining their main street.  There were a lot of people out even though it was pretty cold (for South Carolina).  It was fun to be out in more "city" civilization...haha, Greenwood doesn't have too much city feel to it! 

We spent almost an entire Saturday making chocolate covered pretzels for the girls in my high school small group.  Haha, we had initially thought it would only take an hour or so...but like six hours later we were getting tired of dipping pretzels in chocolate.  They turned out really cute though and the girls loved them so I was really happy!

Dipping our pretzels!

The finished product! We also had some with red and green stripes but they are not in this picture. 

And then came CHRISTMAS! Yay! We began our christmas festivities by having all of the intern class over to our house for dinner and a movie (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, of course!).  It was really fun to have everyone over and for whatever reason it seemed like a night that everyone needed! It was very relaxing and fun to be with people but also kind of nice that we could just watch a movie together and chill.

I was SO excited when Mom and Libby arrived on the 22nd for Christmas! They had a terrible drive down, with heavy rain and all, so they didn't get here until like 10:30 or something but they were relieved to be out of the car!  I had so much fun with them and we had a great time just hanging out, talking, playing games, watching movies, etc.  Libby had a crazy hard month at work and this was really the first break she'd had in a while so she was soaking in the down time! Wesley had quite a work schedule, working overnight on the 22nd, 24th, and 26th, so he spent most of his Christmas at the hospital or sleeping at home.  He did get to have Christmas dinner with us on the 25th though so that was fun!

Our outside decorations! Nothing too fancy but it looked really nice at night when we had the  lights on  in the bushes and our candles/tree in the window! We miss them! 

Mom and Libby were loving the sunshine and warmer weather ! 

We took a walk on the path that Wes and I usually go! There are some nice little neighborhoods near by that have lots of trees, little lakes, and interesting houses so we enjoy walking around as much as we can! 

Mom made some special martinis for Christmas called Cosmonaut's.  She got the recipe off  of the website  for the Middle West Spirits which we mentioned in the November post.  It's the place where we did the forever long tour and tasting with Wes' high school friends.  They were delicious!

We talked to John and Kim via Skype on Christmas Eve! This was their first christmas together and  it was nice that they could spend together, just the two of them! We were so happy that we could talk to them! 

We have a tradition of reading the story of Jesus' birth and "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve .  John always reads the story out of the same book that he set on fire as a kid.  Here he is reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to us over the web cam :) 

 This year, John surprised us all by writing a new version of our old classic Christmas Eve story about Wes in the hospital on Christmas Eve (which was fitting because Wes left for work right after we talked with them!).  It was so funny and were all cracking up! Wes and I were very touched that he would take the time to write it (even though I guess he wrote it in ten minutes) as it was difficult for us to be apart on the holidays (and obviously difficult for Wes to be working on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning). John, you made us feel very loved, THANK YOU!

Here it is for you to enjoy:

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the hospital

Not a creature was stirring, not even a cockroach

The IV bags were hung by the bedside with care

In hopes that Doc Halderman soon would be there

The patients were nestled all snug in their beds

While drug induced visions danced in their heads:

And the nurse with her attitude and I with my charts

Had just settled in for a long Christmas farse.

When in emergency bay there arose such a clatter

Wes sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the ambulance he flew like a flash.

Tore open the automatic doors and opened the hatch.

The moon on the breast of the severe lack of snow

Gave a luster of the South to objects below.

When what to his wondering eyes should he sees,

But a miniature gurney and eight diagnosees,

With a little old patient, so lively and quick

He knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than hemroids, his prescriptions they came,

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name,

Now, Nighqel, Now prozac, now tylenol and aleve

On Viagra, On Lipitor, on Topomax and Valium

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away resident!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So into the hospital the coursers they flew

With a gurney of nurses and Doc Haldermann too

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As he drew in my head, and was turning around,

From Ohio Doc Haldermann came with a bound.

He was dressed all in scrubs from his head to his foot

and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and vomit.

A stethiscope he had flung on his neck

And he looked like a genius just opening his chart.

His eyes -- they had circles! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the coat that he wore as white as the snow;

The stump of a pen he held tight in his teeth,

And the wisdom it encircled his head like a wreath;

The patient was fat with a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And Wes laughed when he saw him, in spite of himself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon told the patient he wouldn’t be dead

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the IV bags; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, to the Doctor’s Lounge he rose;

He sprang to his coffee, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

I was so happy that he could be there for Christmas dinner! 

Dishing up our food! 

Christmas dinner: broiled salmon, roasted winter veggies, and steamed broccoli , yum!

I was very sad to see Libby and Mom go on the 27th even though they actually stayed an extra day because the weather was looking awful on the day they were supposed to leave! Thanks so much to you both for keeping me company over Christmas! It was wonderful having you here! Really, Mom and Libby left and two days later we left for Ohio too!

We began our Ohio Christmas festivities on Dec. 29th at the Halderman's.  Wes and I forgot to bring our camera with us to Ohio so we don't have too many pictures unfortunately.  We received some sad news on the ride down that my grandma had had a heart attack the night before and was in the hospital.  She is doing well after having two stints put in and healing at home for a while. We were really happy that we were heading to Ohio so that we could go and see her and it turned out to be kind of like Christmas because John and Kim came and my aunt, uncle, and cousins! So that was nice that we were able to see everyone since we didn't get to for Christmas.  And because grandma was doing so well, it was more like a celebration that she was okay than a sad get together.  We also saw Wes' grandparents who had been in and out of the hospital several times during the month of December. We were able to see them at Thanksgiving too, kind of right when things were beginning with them. They are also doing better but needless to say, our grandparents have been on our minds and hearts a lot lately.

We spent several days at the Haldermans just hanging out, playing games, reading and playing darts :)  We had a wonderful New Years Eve party (the kind that Wes and I LOVE) in which we put on a movie and sleep through it until 11:30 when we wake up, get a glass of wine, and toast to the New Year at 12:00 and then go to bed! YES!! Again, we didn't get too many pictures because we forgot our camera...but here are some that Brent took.

The guys busted out their childhood train set and put it together.  I had heard about this train before so it was good to see it in action.  I confess that train sets apparently don't hold my interest for very long as I watched it go around one time and felt satisfied.  Haha, but the guys enjoyed themselves for a while with it!

P.S. Logan and Wes make me laugh in this picture.  You guys look like male models or something...

The Halderman's tree so large this year that it was nicknamed the Behemeth.  Haha, it looked pretty bare because it was so huge that all the ornaments couldn't cover the front of it!  

Our Christmas card for next year :)

Don't you want to come in and warm yourself by the fire? I know I would! 

After our Christmas with the Haldermans, we had Christmas with Dad and Lynn! Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, we didn't take any pictures. Why do we do always do that, guys? Haha, I guess Wes and I are usually the ones taking pictures with that crowd and since we didn't have our camera we have nothing to show! Dad and Lynn surprised us all by buying each of us a Keurig.  Wes and I had asked for one, but I had an embarrassing "kid" moment when my dad had us all unwrap one Keurig and told us we could share it throughout the year (he really just didn't want to wrap all three) but the first thing I said was, "Dad, I thought you were going to buy us our own?!?!" in a whiny voice.  Haha, sorry Dad and Lynn! I really was embarrassed, cause Libby and John seemed to realize that Dad was kidding before I did and they both looked at me like, "seriously?" Haha, after that we headed back to South Carolina to officially begin the 2012 year! Wow, can't believe it's 2012!

We love you all and miss you already! We are sad that we won't see most of you until June but it will make our reunion that much more special! Unless of course you come and visit...perhaps this is not the best way to end my post but I would like to officially renounce any belief that you guys may have about visiting us being an "inconvenience" and a bother to us.  It's NOT! Almost all of you have mentioned that you feel bad coming down on a weekend that Wes has off because "we need that time together."  Although we love having weekends together, we really love you guys too and we get more time with one another than we do any of you! Also, it's probably more inconvenient for us if you come on a weekend that he is working.  First, because you'll have to hang out with me for most of the time and I'm really not that entertaining after several hours :) and second, because Wes wants to see you and it is frustrating for him to have to go to work when his family is here! So please, please don't keep feeling like you're intruding on our time together.  You are all welcome here any time! Ok, done!

We love you guys and pray for you and think about you often! Love you!