Curling

Last night (thanks to my moms recommendation) I took Kerwyn curling. It was a blast. Neither of us fell but we are both a little tired from the constant effort to stay vertical. We went from minimal understanding of the game to throwing out phrases like, "hog line" and "hurry hard" within 2 hours. I would highly recommend it as a "sport" to try. Even if I never play again I now understand how it really works. I see visions of curling with my house church, other surgery residents and anyone else crazy enough to join us in the future. Sorry for the last picture Kerwyn, but it was too hilarious to not post.

Upgrade

My parents are taking Kerwyn and I to Puerto Vallarta for a week in March. We've had an amazing villa picked out with our own pool and hot tub that we've all been really excited about. It was a splurge but not exorbitant. I just found out tonight that the villa we've all been anticipating is closed for major renovations unexpectedly.

As a result we are getting the most massive upgrade in accomodations that I've ever experienced. We are going from a villa that cost a few hundred a night to one that costs $2200 per night at no extra cost to us. It is obscene. We went from having a cook and a housekeeper (which we were amazed to have) to having a chef and 4other employees working for just us. We have a cliffside villa (yes it's the entire property on the cliff in the pictures below) with an infinity pool overlooking the ocean (with a swim-up bar), a gym, 5 bedrooms with full ensuite bathrooms and individual sun terraces....

It should be an amazing week! And no, you can't come. Part of the deal is that we keep with our original party size. We'll be thinking of you while we gaze out into the ocean from our heated infinity pool.

The making of a surgeon

I saw an episode of Grey's Anatomy (yes, I'm a fan and at times it is suprisingly accurate) a few weeks ago that has reminded me of a couple of the most monumental moments in my training. One of the actors was saying something to the effect of "every doctor can tell you the moment when they really became a physician".

Several weeks into my intern year I had that moment (well actually it was about a 2 hour period) that I walked away from knowing that I had become a physician. It was an experience that I'll never forget and think of often. If it wasn't for HIPAA (health information portability and accountability act) I would tell you all about it. It was crazy!


I've done a few small "solo surgeries" where staff are around and available but allow me to operate on my own. A couple of weeks ago due to extenuating circumstances I did my first larger solo surgery. The experience was incredible. (If you watch Grey's Anatomy my recent experiences have been like Cristina Yang's although on a much more realistic scale.) I walked out of the OR with a huge smile knowing that I had just become a surgeon. The experience has helped staff gain even more confidence in me and has opened up doors for greater responsibility and opportunities for me to grow as a surgeon. God is good!

Dress Shopping

After feeling fairly disheartened from my David's Bridal experience a couple of weeks ago I swung to the opposite end of the spectrum and made an appointment at Kleinfeld's in New York. I was introduced to the "Say 'Yes' to the Dress" show by my mom who had been commenting on us maybe shopping there someday for a dress. Well the someday was this past Sunday. I had my eye on the designer Lazaro since I really liked some of his styles. He just happened to be having a trunk show the weekend that Kerwyn had planned a great weekend getaway and so he encouraged me to try and get an appointment and invite the girls to NYC.

It all worked out and this past Sunday I had a fantastic time shopping for a wedding dress. The end result is a dress more beautiful than I would have ever imagined, approved by Randy their fashion designer guy and Lazaro (in the picture above) himself who helped perfect parts of the dress for me (and gave me some great deals!). I said "Yes" to the dress, and even shed a few tears.

I cannot wait for July 17th!

Trauma

This guy was the half-time entertainment at the game. While it was incredible to watch him I'm pretty sure I'll be taking care of him sometime when he falls off this death-trap.

Pacers vs Suns

Kelley is a huge Pacers fan. Her dad has some serious connections in Indy so we had the Pacer President's tickets for the game the other night. Larry Bird's seats weren't as good as ours. Kelley is a social butterfly. She had everyone wrapped around her finger from the players and coaches to security. She gave nearly everyone on the team a high-five, mingled with the head coach who knew her somehow, and got Larry Bird's autograph. It was a fun night!

We're Engaged!

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks of Kerwyn and I deciding to get married and then actually becoming engaged. It's been killing us both to keep it somewhat bottled up until it was "official" but today he proposed. While not the most extravagant proposal ever it was very "us".

Here's the somewhat brief version...

Several weeks ago we were talking about marriage and engagement and I alluded to the reality that I wasn't quite ready. Afterwards we had a couple of conversations that convinced me that I want to spend the rest of my life with this man. So a couple of weeks ago I said, "so when are we getting married?" which surprised him (subtlety has never been a strength of mine). We talked about it and actually set a date while he went about the search for the ring and proposal setting that he wanted. I knew he was planning a trip to NYC for us (only because he couldn't keep it a secret) and figured that he would propose there (he's planning a carriage ride through central park- it sure seemed obvious to me).

Today the ring came in the mail (another secret he couldn't keep) and was clearly burning a hole in his pocket. His first scenario didn't work out due to some timing issues so when we got back to his house from looking at a reception venue he got down on his knees and asked me to marry him. He said some nice things, none of which could I recall, but it was beautiful. We spent the day together finding a wedding venue, talking, and then went out to celebrate at Ruth's Chris. I was quite underdressed for such a location but I was dressed for comfort since I wasn't expecting a proposal. We made the mistake of telling them that we had just gotten engaged and so they put rose petals on our table. That wasn't the problem, but the rose petals are apparently their cue that a couple is celebrating an anniversary. Throughout our meal we had an unending stream of workers asking how many years we'd been married and congratulating us which got a little comical. They did give us complimentary champagne though.
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We're getting married this summer in Indianapolis. We are so excited! I never would have imagined it possible to love someone this much. These next few months of preparing to be husband and wife will be a great period of growth for us. Thanks for all of your support and prayers as we ramp up for a huge life transition.