Boise Trip and Car Woes

Brandon had an interview for an internal medicine residency program in Boise earlier this month. We were so grateful for the interview because it gave him a chance to visit his parents at home, which probably wouldn't have happened this year otherwise.

In other news our faithful Oldsmobile finally died. It's been sick for some time now and we knew this day would come eventually, but it was still sad. It was almost like losing a family pet; we've grown so attached to it. But, for all of our devotion, the anti-lock brakes haven't worked for over a year now, the hood release cable broke after an ill-placed rock found its way under the latch, rust was spreading from every seam, and 2... 3... I mean, all the hubcaps were missing. We were, however, getting fairly knowledgeable about car repairs, but our repair budget was quickly waning.
 

The one remaining hubcap - Brandon said it was tacky so we eventually threw it away.

Keeping it classy with a jerry-rigged hood release cable out the front grill.

We were very sad to see it go but grateful for the timing. Brandon has had a less busy rotation this month and he only had interviews at the very begining and very end of the month, so we had time to deal with looking for a new car. Brandon did plenty of reasearch and we love our Kia Forte. We hope it lasts a long time because we won't be ready to car shop again any time soon.

Utah Trip October 2011

I went to Utah for a week in October. Brandon stayed in Kansas City because, unfortunately, he doesn't get time off for vacations. I spent most of my time enjoying being an aunt. I realized there were many family members and friends that I saw and didn't get a picture of. It was great to be home for a few days. Enjoy the pictures below.

Comings and Goings for Brandon

This is Brandon. Melody has been great to take the reins on blog posting lately. We've been accruing lots of experiences that warrant a good blog post but neither of us have been willing to sit down and get it done. Now we have an influx. We tried to spread them out over a few weeks so as to not overwhelm anyone.

School is going alright, at the moment. The beginning of 4th year in D.O. medical schools is particularly full of things to get done on the side. I had three board exams to take. Two of those tests were multiple choice exams that I took at the end of June. If we missed updating everyone, I got the scores back a few weeks ago and I passed (in case that was a question for anyone else other than me). The third exam is a different breed of test where I got to travel to Philadelphia for a few days to interview and examine actors who are trained to portray real patients. I have yet to hear back on the score for that one, but I imagine it went alright. After the stress of that test was over, I hit the streets of downtown Philadelphia to see a few sights. I wish I could have spent more time there because the city is a hoot, for those of you who haven't visited. Next time I'll try to bring Melody along with me too.

Here are some highlights from the trip:



Once all that was over then I jumped right back into the next task which was to finish residency applications. Thank you to everyone who helped edit and proofread. Melody and I have been looking into which potential Internal Medicine programs we want to apply and, after several months of serious homework and debate, we've whittled down the options to our favorite 18. The majority are located in the west part of the country, but we are considering several here in the midwest as well. Applications are in now and I have heard back from four programs already to schedule interviews for the end of this year. We get really excited every time a new interview offer arrives. We're hoping for even more interview offers within the next few months.

Sporting KC, Chiefs, and Anniversary

At the beginning of August, Brandon's school gave us tickets to a soccer game. We were so excited to find out that Sporting KC was playing the Salt Lake Real. This was the first professional soccer game I've seen. It was such a fun game to watch. I had no idea I even liked watching soccer until that day. You can tell by the glistening that it was a hot day in Kansas City.

Later in August, I won tickets from work to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the St. Louis Rams. This was the first professional football game I've been too and we had a great time. It didn't hurt that we had amazing tickets. As you can see below they were $100 each. We got to enjoy the food and air conditioning on the inside of the suite and then step outside to be apart of crowd watching the game.

The day we went to the football game was also our 5 year anniversary of the day we got engaged. Brandon bought me these beautiful roses.

We decided to post a picture of us not sweating :) We took this picture last spring but hadn't found a good reason to post it.

Carter Visit

My sister and her family moved from New York to Idaho this summer. I was so grateful that they drove through Kansas City on their trip. They only stayed two nights but it was fun to see Daniel and Anna and play some games of Settlers in the evenings. Anna gave me a smile when they first arrived.

Daniel and I went to a park and wading pool on Monday while Katrina and Neal did their laundry.

Later in the day we went to the Indepedence Visitor Center and drove past the Kansas City Temple which is under construction.

We loved that Daniel slept on his knees with his rear in the air.

Good luck in Rexburg. Hopefully we can see you again soon.

Mid-July Vacation with Parents

My parents came for a visit this last weekend. We were so lucky they had time off their mission to come see us.  We also needed a vacation from day to day life.  Brandon was able to take a few days off to chauffeur us around. 

On Thursday we went to the Steamboat of Arabia, the Toy and Miniature Museum, Independence Visitor Center, and to see the Kansas City temple.

Friday we made a quick trip to Liberty Jail and then drove to the St. Louis Temple.  We spent that evening enjoying the Gateway Arch, the Westward Expansion Museum, and the huge Mississippi River.

Saturday we walked and sweated through the St. Louis Zoo.  I love going there.  This visit along with seeing all our favorite animals we got to pet the stingrays and watch the sea lion show.  It was a hot day and we only lasted until noon.

Thanks for visiting us, Mom and Dad.

♫ 'Cause it's Christmas in Kansas City... ♪

I realized after talking to a co-worker that my Christmas tree is actually a Hanukkah Bush because it is decorated in blue and silver. We had lots of conversations at work on why Christmas colors are red and green and Hanukkah colors are blue and silver. Maybe next year I'll add some red to the tree or maybe just the wrapping paper.

Brandon's favorite gift this year was a remote control helicopter. You can just see the happiness in his face. After crashing the helicopter into every surface in our living room he is getting really good at controlling it.

To entertain myself this Christmas, I made doughnuts from scratch. It was actually pretty fun and they turned out really tasty.