Livin' Lokey

Shutterfly Does It Again: Free Christmas Cards!

2010-12-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year- Christmas Card time! Don’t you love getting them? I do… We normally display them on our fridge… but this year I have a special wall holder for them (thanks to a gift from my mom…)

While looking around on various websites for Christmas card options for this year... I came across two friends' blogs who posted about Shutterfly giving away fifty holiday cards to bloggers... just for blogging about it! This was great news to me, seeing as how I already had my eye on a few of their designs for our card this year! We already have our Christmas picture taken for this year, so all I need to do now is get on Shutterfly to pick out our card.

They've got TONS of options, and lots of great choices! I'm always wondering, when making purchases online, how something will actually look when it arrives... "Will I really like it, or will I be disappointed?" Well, today I actually saw these products live and in person at the mall, and I thought they looked great! We have never used Shutterfly for Christmas cards before, but we have heard lots of great things about them. I have used them in the past to print photos I have taken, and their quality is always great.

And, they’ve got some other great things for gift ideas, too… Calendars, photobooks… See the links below for card and gift ideas:

• Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

• calendars for 2011 http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

• holiday cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

• holiday photo cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

And here’s the link to the details about how to get the 50 FREE CARDS: (Thanks Shutterfly!):

http://bit.ly/sfly2010

(No, neither of the ones pictured here are our card, just a few samples from the website to spark your interest... Did it work?)

Changes

2010-08-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I posted, so much has happened. Everything I'm going to talk about deserves its own post, but I don't have that much time, so I will abbreviate our last few months. April and May were consumed with trying to wrap things up in Memphis as it became closer to Brandon's graduation. My last day of work was May 7th, which just happened to be Brandon's 27th birthday. That was a very hard day for me. I had worked for the Gillespie family for two years and had grown to love them like my own family. I called them "my family away from home". I had a wonderful last day with my two precious boys. Saying goodbye was the hardest part. Carter walked me to the car, as he usually did, and then he wanted to ride with me while I backed out of the driveway. As I was backing out of the driveway, I couldn't help but think this was the last time. I started tearing up and he looked at me and asked, "why you crying, Meaghan?". Talk about breaking my heart. Since then, I have gotten to see them a few times. They are such sweet, loving little boys and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for them.

As I just said, it was the same day as Brandon's birthday. We went to Nashville to celebrate. As you can see from this picture he was a very happy boy!

The following day, we boarded a plane and headed to Cancun!! We took this trip as a birthday/graduation/anniversary gift to ourselves. It was very much needed! We had the best time relaxing by the pool everyday and just being together. We already want to go back.

Eating dinner at a restaurant on the beach.

My favorite place

Before dinner one night

Relaxing by the pool under a cabana

Once we got back in town, it was time for Connor's first birthday. I cannot believe the little guy is already one. It feels like just yesterday I brought Carter to the hospital to meet his baby brother.

Look at those big blue eyes!

The following week, on May 28th, Brandon graduated. I am incredibly proud of all the hard work and dedication that he put into these past five years. (I say five because he took a year off so that I could graduate.) We had all of our family in town to help us celebrate this huge accomplishment. Here are a few pictures of the big day.

Hooding Ceremony

Brandon being hooded

James, Jason, Craig, and Brandon

Brothers: Bryce, Brandon, and Brooks

The graduation ceremony

Brandon receiving his diploma

My and my doctor!

So proud of him!

Brandon graduated on Friday and we had a bright idea to move the next day. The main reason was that all our family would be in town and could help out. Talk about stressful, but we got it done thanks to our wonderful families. We could not have done it without you! Here is a picture of our moving crew on a lunch break. *Notice Bailey in the center of the picture. You would have thought she was exhausted from helping us.

On the way to Alabama

Home Sweet Home

Pretty soon after we moved in, we headed back to Memphis for Carter's 4th Birthday. I began taking care of him when he was 22 months old, so it is hard for me to believe he's four!

Carter with his singing Cars balloon

The birthday boy at his party at Pump it Up

Connor and I coming down the slide

I think we had just as much fun as the kids did.

Carter and his awesome cake

Before moving to Birmingham, I had already accepted a new nanny position. My first day was on June 28th. I am nannying for a one year old little boy named Perron. He is a sweet, laid back, and happy little boy. Here is Perron swinging in his swing.

Brandon started at UAB on July 1st. He began his first month in the Emergency Department. This month he's been in the MICU. He moves back to the ED on Tuesday. I think this month in the MICU has been challenging, so I think he is counting down the days until he gets back to the ED. I know I am!

A few weeks ago, the Gillespie's took a road trip to Birmingham to visit us. We were so excited that they got to come see our new house and visit with us the entire weekend. Here are the boys eating breakfast before our big day at the McWane Science Center.

Isn't he the cutest?!

Adorable!

I hope I haven't lost anyone yet. Sorry this post has been so random, I wanted to get in the main things that have gone on with us these past few months. We are still trying to figure out our new city. I had the hardest time at first trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B. The layout of the city is confusing. It's slowly coming together. I love the fact that I'm five minutes from a grocery store! In Memphis, we were about twenty minutes from one.

We are enjoying our new house, although we have had a few surprises along the way. For example, our AC went out upstairs and was 95 degrees in our house. We've had giant cockroaches. I could handle to AC going out, but not the cockroaches. Apparently they are a problem in Alabama. They are so gross, so fast, and so big. We've already had Terminix come out twice. They seem to have gone away. Other than that, we love our house! I will make a post soon of some before and after pictures of the house.

Lately, Brandon has been working so much that any time he has off we try to make the best of it. He had last Saturday off, so we went to Oak Mountain to go hiking.

Thanks for tuning in and reading about our life. Hopefully, it won't be another four months until the next post.

One Busy Month

2010-04-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Since Match Day, life for us has been just as expected....CRAZY BUSY! The weekend following the Caduceus Ball, we made a trip down to Birmingham to look at houses. I think we looked at about twelve houses in one day, which was extremely overwhelming. We actually found one we liked and made an offer, however someone else had already made an offer. Long story short, we ended up not getting the house. In the meantime, our Realtor, Leda, emailed us a few houses to look through. There was one in particular that we fell in love with. We told Lida to keep an eye on it because we weren't able to go down the following weekend, since it was Easter and had planned on being in Nashville. She watched it and even walked through it for us. Easter weekend went by and we hadn't heard anything, which was good news! We planned on going down the following Friday to walk through and maybe look at a few other houses, but I had a feeling that this was the house, even though we had not actually seen it in person. Well, that Tuesday we get a call from Leda saying someone had made an offer on the house, and if we want the house, we need to make an offer....THAT DAY! Now let me remind you, we still had not even walked through this house. We had only seen pictures. After talking through this with a few different people, we made an offer, and they accepted!! We went down that Friday to see our house for the first time and we both just fell in love with it! The home inspection was also that day. It went very well. Everything seems to be falling into place. We close on the house June 1st and will move in June 7th! Here is a picture of our first home!!!!!!

I mentioned above that we went to Nashville for Easter weekend. Saturday, Phi Sigma hosted an Alumni Breakfast at Lipscomb that I was finally able to go to. I believe the last Alumni Breakfast I went to, I was actually still in school. It was so good to see girls that I hadn't seen in a while. After breakfast, some of us girls went to lunch at Five Guys in Green Hills. Later that afternoon, I helped host a baby shower for Jenny and baby Mayzie. Here are just a few pictures from her shower.

Jenny and her hosts

Modeling her MRS mommy and me aprons!

Sarah, her sisters, and mother make these aprons.

You can buy them at Hot Pink in Brentwood!

Love you girls a whole lot!

Dying eggs for Easter

This is the only Easter picture we took this year :(

Life has started slowing down lately. Thank Goodness! The Gillespies are out of town this week, so I have the entire week off! I am using this week to catch up on things. I have started packing. Brandon says it's a little early, but he will be thanking me when we really start packing. I have cooked some pretty awesome dinners--boiled shrimp on Monday and grilled tilapia on Tuesday. I'm thinking grilled burgers tonight! Yesterday, we went to the zoo for free Tuesday. Brandon brought his nice camera and took over 300 pictures while we were there. Here are just a few...

This is my favorite guy. Although right here, he was picking his nose and then eating it. Gross!

This is the new Teton Trek exhibit with three grizzly bear cubs

Looking straight at us through the glass

HIPPO

After this week, I have only two more weeks of work left. I cannot think about it without becoming emotional. Carter has been my little buddy for the last two years and Connor for the last eleven months. They have brought such happiness into my life. I was going to say more, but I can't start crying right now. Anyways, here is a picture of each. I am going to miss them so incredibly much.

I am going to leave you with a picture Brandon took at the zoo that I absolutely love!

Caduceus Ball

2010-03-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night, Brandon and I went to the Caduceus Ball at the Cadre Building downtown. It is a way for the school to honor the M4 class with a wonderful dinner, awards, and a lot of dancing (which was extremely entertaining)!

Lokeys & Parnells

Lokeys & Bootons

The theme of the night was the "Roaring 20's"

I love this picture of Brandon's cousin Adrienne

Cousins

Brandon, Jason, James, Gavin, Jay

We enjoyed spending time with all our friends. I can't believe this year is finally coming to an end. We are going to miss everyone so much.

Last, but not least, let me just tell you....I have to best husband ever!! I bought this dress the day of the Ball and the clasp on the back was falling off. While I was getting ready, he sewed it back on for me! Isn't this the cutest picture? Well, I think so!

Match Day

2010-03-18T15:58:00.001-07:00

So today was Match Day for all of us in medical school--a day which brings much excitement as well as apprehension for medical students across the nation. Our ceremony was located at the Pink Palace here in Memphis and was very informal compared to that of many other schools. The culmination of the event is the receiving of the sacred envelope which contains a piece of paper. Printed on this paper is the name of the program with which the student has "matched" and will be attending for the duration of his or her residency.

Well, I found out today that I matched with the UAB Department of Emergency Medicine! I was very excited to have found out this information and to have been able to share this day with Meaghan and my friends. Meaghan and I are thrilled to be moving to Birmingham and are very excited about the next few months as we prepare to move. Enjoy the photos below which documented the day.

Catching Up

2010-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Since getting back from Colorado, we have had something going on every weekend. We got back from Colorado on Sunday and then the following Thursday I left for Oklahoma with the family I work for. Keith's (Carter and Connor's dad) youngest daughter Jessica, was getting married and Carter was the ring bearer. They asked me to go with them to help out with the boys. They looked adorable in their tuxes! Carter had a blast at the wedding...I even think he made a girlfriend in the little flower girl! The followed each other around the entire time! Here are some pictures of the boys in their tuxes......

After the wedding, both boys crashed!

I think Bailey missed me while I was gone!

Last weekend one of our good friends, Russ came in town to hang out. We devoted the entire weekend to hanging out and having fun like old times with James and Elizabeth, Craig and Anna, and James and Jennifer! Russ brought Rock Band, which he had just bought and was so excited to introduce to the guys! I would say Rock Band is what we did the majority of the weekend. In between playing Rock Band, the guys were able to squeeze in time for lunch at Central BBQ, on Saturday, and then they met us girls at Jerry's for snow cones. That night, James and Elizabeth made some awesome burgers at their place for everyone and then, of course, more Rock Band! We had so much fun all weekend. Unfortunately, Heather had to work on Saturday, so she wasn't able to come. Heather, we missed you and told Russ he has to bring you back next time he comes in town!

This week is going to be an exciting, yet nerve-racking week for us! Tomorrow Brandon will receive an email saying whether or not he has matched. Then Thursday is Match Day!! I have taken the day off so that I can be there to see Brandon open his envelope. I can't even describe the feeling of not knowing. I cannot stand that feeling and am so glad the wait is almost over.

Colorado

2010-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Brandon and I spent last week skiing in Colorado with Brandon's father and his wife and his brother, Bryce. We left on Sunday and flew into Denver, where we met Brandon's cousin Claire and her husband for lunch at Panera. It had been about two years since we had seen them, so it was good to catch up. After lunch, we headed to Beaver Creek where we stayed for the week.

We spent two days skiing in Vail and three days skiing in Beaver Creek. We got off to a rough start. Brandon hurt his ankle on his first fall and I, who had slipped and fallen on ice a week earlier and bruised my tailbone, of course immediately fell right on it the first day. OUCH! We eventually got the hang of it and had a blast on the greens and blues. By the last day, Brandon and Bryce even tried out a few black diamonds!

Lunch at one of the lodges on top of the mountain

You may be wondering why Brandon had this monkey on his back...or why there is this picture of him. Well, Brandon and I bought him for the purpose of taking him on all of our vacations and photographing him in various places. Here he is at the bottom of the ski lift in Vail.

On Thursday, we went snowmobiling! It was the most incredible experience. Pictures just don't do it justice, it was absolutely breathtaking. We rode up to a mountain peak that was 13,000 feet high, which felt like we were standing on the moon. Just. Beautiful!

Bryce driving behind us

Brandon and I riding together

Bill and Laurie

Dinner at Vin48

Brothers

Brothers: Brandon's uncle Jim and dad Bill

Bill and Laurie

Colorado is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Brandon and I had an amazing time and already want to go back!

Out with the Old, in with the New

2010-01-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had to break down and buy Bailey a new bed. She loves her bed so much and had just worn it out. Last weekend I washed it, and when I pulled it out of the dryer, the zipper had completely broken causing the lining to hang out. I couldn't stand the way it looked. On top of all that, she had outgrown it, and when she stretched out, she would hang off the sides. We really wanted to wait until we moved to get her a new bed, but after the zipper broke, it couldn't wait. I have included some before pictures of her old bed and an after picture. Beware the after picture is ugly! Also a few pictures of her trying out her new bed for the first time. I think she likes it!!

Sometimes I wish she would be that small again.....then I remember how much work it was!

She still sleeps like that!

Plenty of room to stretch out!

The Next Step

2010-01-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

This past month has been busy! Between Brandon's being away the majority of December for interviews and all the craziness that the holidays bring, I look back at it and wonder if December ever even happened. Just in this last month Brandon interviewed in South Carolina, Orlando, Tampa, Virginia, Alabama, and Tennessee. He had his twelth and final interview last week. We are so happy that this step in the process is over! Now the next step is to rank the programs. The rank list is due towards the middle of February and then it will be a waiting game until Match Day comes on March 18.

Nashville Christmas

2010-01-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

This year Brandon and I were able to spend the holidays with our families in Nashville. We left Memphis on December 23rd and stayed through January 2nd. It was a much needed break from our life back in Memphis, especially after the month of interviews Brandon had been doing. It was good to see him an entire week straight! We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family, Christmas Day with Brandon's mom and brothers, Saturday with my dad's side, and Sunday with Brandon's dad's side. Talk about four Christmases!! We had wonderful time visiting, talking, eating good food, and playing games with everyone!

Our Christmas Tree

Before I left Memphis, I gave the boys their Christmas presents.

Isn't he precious?

Remote Control Car!!!!!!!!

My cousins

I love this picture!

Before I go any further, I have to explain the next few pictures. The Saturday after Christmas we were at my dad's house, and he told us to all come outside. As we walked to the door an SUV drove up with this Harley on the back. He had bought a Harley Davidson a few days before and it was just now being delivered to him. We were all in shock! It has been a dream of his since I was a baby. He just recently got his motorcycle license, so I assumed it was coming, but to actually see it happen is crazy! Dad, I am happy for you! Just. be. careful!!

Bryce and Brandon testing out their ski gear.

I love my new purse!

Merry Christmas 2009!

Elf on the Shelf

2009-12-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of Elf on the Shelf? I was introduced to it about two weeks ago and think it's such a fun tradition for families to have around Christmastime with their young children. The family I work for started it this year and Carter just seems to love it! The idea is to put the elf in a different place every morning and when the children wake up they go and find him. The elf is Santa's helper and he watches the children every day and then at night he will report back to Santa how the children were that day. The children can name him and talk to him, but cannot touch him. Carter has named his elf Bill. We have no clue where that name came from! We've also noticed better behavior in Carter because he knows Bill will go tell Santa how he is behaving. Just seeing how much fun Carter has had with it already, I know this is a fun little tradition I would like to begin in my own family one day!

St. Jude 5K and Half Marathon Weekend

2009-12-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Brandon and I had some friends come in town and visit. A few months ago we talked them into coming in town and running with me in the 5K and, for those more ambitious, the half marathon with Brandon. All the girls and Ryan did the 5K, while Brandon and Owen ran the half marathon. Brandon ran his personal best in just under two hours! It was a very early and cold morning, but we had a blast!

Before the race

After the race with our medals

After Brandon finished

Owen and Brandon

Love ya!

That night we all got together for a Tacky Sweater Christmas Party! We had Central Barbecue for dinner, played games, and Dirty Santa. We also got to spend time with baby Rylan!

Brunch at Brother Juniper's

I am so glad you girls were able to come in town for the weekend! Love ya!

Thanksgiving and a Little More

2009-12-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

Last week Brandon and I went to Nashville to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. We had basically three days to celebrate with each of our parents. Do the math....that's four times!! On Thanksgiving Day, we ate with Brandon's mother and family. The food was absolutely delicious! Then we spent the rest of the evening with my mother and her side of the family playing games. Friday, we had lunch with Brandon's grandmother in her assisted living home, did a little shopping with his dad, and later went out to his house for dinner. Once again, the food was wonderful! On Saturday, we met my father and Birgit, along with my brother and his fiance, at the movie theater to see The Blindside. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! After the movie, we went back to their house. Birgit cooked another great dinner for us. I just love the holiday season and being able to spend time with family. I wish we lived closer and our time wasn't as limited so that we wouldn't feel as rushed at each place. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to coming home for Christmas!

On Sunday, Brandon loaded up his car and drove to Atlanta for, yet another interview! He has an aunt and uncle that live in Atlanta who were kind enough to let him stay with them. From there he drove to Chattanooga for another interview. Both of the interviews went very well! He got back home Wednesday night.

Last night we bought our Christmas tree and put it up! Last year, if we remember correctly the tree we picked was the second one we looked at. Ha, not so last night! For starters, all the trees had netting on them, so we had to cut that off before we could even look at the tree. We probably cut the netting off of ten trees or more. I'm not joking. AND....my family is probably reading this thinking that I was probably being the picking one. Not so...it was the hubby!! Anyways, after about an hour later, we left with the perfect tree!

This weekend is the St. Jude Marathon! This will be the third year we have participated in it. We talked a bunch of our Nashville friends into coming into town and running it with us. They will be here tonight and we are making a whole weekend of it! Brandon and Owen are running the half marathon and then a bunch of the girls are doing the 5K! It's going to be COLD, but so much fun! I'm looking forward to it! I'll have to post some pictures of it next week! Wish us luck!

Residency Update

2009-11-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

The last time I updated you on Brandon's residency progress, I believe he had just applied to about twenty-two programs. Since then, he heard back from all but three programs. We had heard to expect to hear back from about half of the programs, so I am proud of him! He accepted fourteen of the invites. Fourteen....holy cow!! That means from now until January he will be driving/flying to fourteen different cities and interviewing with these places. This week alone he drove to St. Louis, Louisville, Lexington, and Indianapolis! Yes, that's four interviews in one week! He seemed to be very pleased with how the interviews went. Four down, ten to go! That still sounds like a lot! He gets home tonight and I know will probably crash the rest of the weekend. He took next week off to enjoy a long, well deserved, Thanksgiving break.

We look forward to next week, as we are planning on going to Nashville Wednesday night and spending the long weekend there with our family for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful time with their families and has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Race for the Cure and Halloween

2009-11-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

Over Halloween weekend my mother, aunt, and two cousins came in town for a visit. On Saturday, we participated in Race for the Cure, which means a lot to our family. I am proud to say that my mother is a breast cancer survivor!! She is going on 10 years this coming March! Since Saturday was also Halloween, we took the kids and Bailey trick or treating on Mud Island. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! Everytime I spend time with family, I realize how much I miss them.

Brandon ran the race

Bailey was a cowgirl for Halloween, but she did not like her hat!

Brandon tried to show her how to wear it.

It worked for mmm....a minute!

Logan and Allison....Prisoner and a Witch

Happy Halloween!

October at a Glance

2009-11-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize for being so bad this past month at blogging. October flew by, and I feel like this is the first chance I have had to sit down and post. We have had a very busy October! I will let you see for yourself what we have been up to this month!

The first weekend in October, one of my very best friends, Betsy, came in town to visit. We always look forward to spending time and catching up with her. We had a great time!

Of course, we had to take her to our favorite cupcake place, Muddy's!

Betsy met Rylan for the first time!!

The following weekend we went to Nashville for a wedding and to see friends and family. We went to lunch with Jenny and Owen on Saturday at Baja Burrito!! We miss them so much and are so glad that we were able to spend some time catching up with them.

Music and Molasses Festival 2009

Brandon and his mom

Picking out our pumpkin

Guys hard at work

Our Pumpkin!

The whole gang!

There is a rock wall at UT that we have been saying we need to try one weekend for the past year. Since our time in Memphis is beginning to become limited, we decided to go a few weeks ago. Jason, who is in Brandon's class, along with his wife, Brittney went with us. We had a great time, although we paid for it the next day!

Carter was Cookie Monster for Halloween

Sweet Connor was a Chocolate Chip Cookie

I don't have a picture of the costume, but it was really cute!!

Brandon and I were trying to take a picture of the two of us and then......
somebody was feeling a little left out!!

Long post I know, I will try to update more regularly! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

From Haiti to the Balcony

2009-10-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Meaghan and I participated in a fund raiser run for a medical mission stationed in Haiti. It was called the 24-hour Tour d'Esprit. The premise of it is that teams have 24 runners who run in one hour blocks so that there is someone running around the clock. We ran together for the 10am hour and logged 6 miles for our team, the UT Medical Students. When it was all over, our team had logged 103 miles over the 24 hours.

That evening, after the run was over, we went to dinner and then went to the symphony. The title of the show was "Music as Muse" and was a compilation of music that inspired screenwriter Craig Brewer as he wrote his movies. If you don't know who Craig Brewer is, he is the writer and director of the films Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan as well as others and is a Memphis local. He was at the performance that evening and talked about how different classical pieces inspired different aspects of his films. The pieces ranged from the Overture from West Side Story to a few movements from Mozart's Requiem mass and a little bit of everything in between. It was a very enjoyable evening. Even Meaghan had a good time!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend where we were able to enjoy some local events in this city of ours. The End.

Sweet 26

2009-10-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago from today I turned twenty-six, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Maybe that's why I have put off this post. I was ok with twenty-four because I was still in my early twenties. When I hit twenty-five, it hit me that I was in my mid-twenties, which I was still ok with. I am twenty-six now, and I for some reason get depressed thinking about it. Maybe because my mother had me at twenty-six, and I always wanted to be a young mother. I just have to remember that Brandon and I are in a completely different situation than my parents were in at our age. Anyways, now that I am twenty-six, birthdays aren't like they once used to be. I don't look forward to them just to turn a year older and get gifts. I look forward to them to spend time with family and friends.

For my birthday dinner, Brandon took me to Pearl's Oyster House here in Memphis. Every year for my birthday, he makes me a strawberry shortcake, so we came home for dessert. Everything was really good, and we had a great time!

The next weekend we went home to celebrate with my family! It was so good to see everyone! Saturday night, we celebrated with my mom's side. We had Mexican for dinner and then mom made Paula Deen's banana pudding! On Sunday, we celebrated with my dad's side. He grilled lunch for everyone, and then we had banana splits! Can you tell I'm not your traditional birthday cake kind of gal? Thank you mom and dad for making my birthday weekend so special! I love you!

When I got to work on my birthday, I had this

birthday card waiting on me. Carter had worked

hard on it for me. He's so sweet!

Brandon got me a memory foam mattress pad

Strawberry Shortcake

Banana Pudding Birthday Cake

My sweet family

Opening gifts

On Saturday, Brandon and I were finally able to go over to my cousin Kelly's house and meet her adorable twins, Hutch and Anniston. We got to play with them for a few hours, and I got to catch up with Kelly! I just want to eat them up!!

The Lake House

2009-09-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Brandon and I spent this past weekend at a lake house on Watts Bar Lake with his family. We met Brandon's dad, his wife, and his brother, Brooks there. His uncle Jim, aunt Shannon, and two cousins, Anne and Hana were there as well. It was good to see everyone since we get to see many of them only once or twice a year. Brandon and I were happy to get away from Memphis and to have a weekend to relax. The weather was overcast and rainy the majority of the weekend, but it didn't stop us. We all went for a Lokey family run on Saturday morning. Once we got back we went out on the boat for a while and then the boys took the jet skis out. Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner and then we celebrated my birthday! To finish the night off we played a few rounds of Sardines, which in that house was SO much fun because there so were so many good hiding spots!!!! At times, I kept thinking, "Wow, we are nine adults playing Sardines...this is really funny!"....but we had an absolute blast. I think we played for about two hours!

On Sunday, we decided to take the jet skis one last time before heading home. When Bailey noticed that Brandon and I were both taking off together on one jet ski she ran down the dock and jumped in after us. We had to ride up to the dock and make her get out of the water. Bill had to hold her back so that we could ride off. She can't stand to be far from us. Then the worst thing ever happened, we rode off and then turned around to wait for the other jet ski and we flipped. I screamed, and Bailey saw us and jumped in, swimming about 30 yards out to us. Once she got out to us we were already back on the jet ski so we made her follow us back to the dock. I guess she thought she was going to save us. Now that is one loyal dog!!

Later on that day we headed home, and Bailey slept almost the entire six hours of the trip! She wore herself out! Brandon and I had a wonderful time relaxing and catching up with family!

The Lake House

View from boat

On the boat

Brooks and Me

Boys about to go jet skiing

Brandon and Bailey

Isn't he cute?

Brandon at play

Bagel and Bailey playing tug-of-war

Bailey saving Brooks from drowning

Blowing out 26 candles can make you lightheaded

Me and my hubby

Baby Askins

2009-09-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

This past Friday our dear friends, Chris and Rebekah Askins, delivered a beautiful, healthy baby girl, Rylan Elizabeth. She weighed seven pounds eight ounces and was twenty one inches long. We are so happy for the two of them. We know they are going to be wonderful parents! Lucky for us, they are here in Memphis so we got to go visit them in the hospital yesterday!

Mommy and Rylan
That is one proud dad!

I got to hold her!

Getting ready to watch her first UT game!

Turkey Picture: First Turkey Baby

Who's next???

Labor Day Weekend in Knoxville

2009-09-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend, Brandon and I took a road trip to Knoxville to visit our friends Russ and Heather. We left as soon as I got off work on Friday and stopped in Nashville to drop Bailey off at my mom's house on the way through. We arrived, along with James, Elizabeth, Craig, and Anna around midnight Friday in Knoxville.

Saturday was a big day for me! We went to the first UT game of the season, which happened to be the first game coached by Lane Kiffin and my first UT game EVER! Now let me remind everyone that I am not a UT fan.....I went for the experience. And an experience it was! I could not believe how much orange there was. We got there in time for the Vol Walk and the band's salute to the hill. I got a great picture of Kiffin, whom I now have a crush on! Ha! The game was so much fun! We had awesome seats in the shade thanks to Keith and Katrina! UT beat Western Kentucky 63-7. After the game, we went to Sawyer's for a dinner of wonderful chicken fingers. Then for dessert, we went to Menchie's. Menchie's is an awesome frozen yogurt place where you get a cup and put whatever flavor of yogurt you want in it, and then there is a bar with tons of fruits, toppings, and sauces to put over the yogurt. Then your cup gets weighed, and the price is determined according to the weight. It was pretty cool! Once we were finished with our yogurt, we headed home for hours of Nerts! We stayed up until 2 am!

Sunday we decided to sleep in since we had stayed up so late the night before. We went to Soccer Taco for lunch. Then the girls decided to go shopping, so the guys did their own thing. When we met back up at the apartment, we played Nerts for a few more hours. Yes, we are a little addicted! The entire weekend, we had planned on going downtown for Boom's Day to watch the fireworks, but when the time came for us to start getting ready to go, we all decided to just go to dinner and then come back and watch it on tv. We went to dinner at Sam and Andy's which has delicious steamed sandwiches and then made stop number two at Menchie's! We ended the trip by watching fireworks on tv. Who watches fireworks on tv? Boy did we feel old! I think we were all pretty exhausted after such a fun-filled weekend!

Thank you Russ and Heather for being such fabulous hosts! We miss you both so much!!

Also thanks to my mom for keeping our Bailey girl over the weekend!

It's Really Happening!

2009-09-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

Today is a day that is a little bit nerve-racking for Brandon and me. With the click of a button, Brandon sent his application out to twenty-two residency programs. (Easy for me to say.) For about a month now we have been compiling a list of residency programs. He was told to make a list of about twenty programs that he would be interested in interviewing at for a residency position. We focused our list mainly on programs in the southeast and in cities that we were interested in living in. Coming up with twenty places was not easy and, believe me, not all those places I would enjoy living in, but we had to get the list up. Now that he has submitted his application, all we can do is wait to hear back from the programs for interviews. He will probably start hearing something in October. Please keep us in your prayers as we, especially Brandon, begin this process.

For those interested, here is the list of programs he applied to (in no particular order):

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Vanderbilt

University of Tennessee in Chattanooga

Emory-Atlanta

Medical College of Georgia-Augusta

University of Kentucky-Lexington

University of Louisville

Indiana University-Indianapolis

St. Louis University

Washington University-St. Louis

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Wake Forest-Winston-Salem

University of Cincinnati

Ohio St. University-Columbus

Wright State-Kettering, Ohio

Medical University of South Carolina-Charleston, SC

Palmetto Health/USC-Columbia, SC

Orlando Health Program

USF-Tampa, FL

Carolina's Medical Center Program-Charlotte, NC

University of Virginia-Charlottesville, VA

Virginia Commonwealth University-Richmond, VA

Birmingham

2009-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by telling those of you that don't know, Brandon has decided on going into Emergency Medicine. To be competitive in the residency process, he needed to do a month-long away rotation in EM, so he chose to do his at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, which he just completed last Saturday. While he was there, I decided to go down the weekend of the 15th to visit. That weekend also happened to be the weekend that Brandon's brother Bryce, who lives in Birmingham, had his gym's grand opening. Bryce and his friend, Michael, decided to open a fitness center in Ross Bridge called Drake Fitness after they graduated.

Brandon had to work Saturday morning but fortunately got Saturday night off for the grand opening. The grand opening was Saturday night and turned out to be a huge success! On Sunday, Brandon drove me by the hospital to show me where he had been spending his days/nights. Then we drove around the city a little bit. We ate lunch at the Original Pancake House in Five Points, which was so good (but not as good as Nashville's own Pancake Pantry)!! After that he had to be back at the hospital by three, so Bailey and I headed on home. It was a full weekend, but we had a good time! I was so glad that we were able to be there to see the finished product of all the time and hard work that Bryce has put in to make the gym a success! Enjoy the pictures!

Bryce's gym

As you walk in this is the front desk

This is the main room

I had to post a picture of the bathroom because I especially love the chandelier!

Treadmills

Bryce greeting some of his potential customers!

Is he really the boss?

The only picture of Brandon and I that day!

This is the cute little house that Brandon stayed

at all month. I think Brandon is playing fetch with

Bailey in this picture.

This is where Brandon worked all month on his Emergency Medicine rotation.

Breakfast for lunch at The Original Pancake House!

New to This!!

2009-08-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

I had been telling Brandon for a while now that I wanted to start blogging, but I kept putting it off. I think I was putting it off mainly because he kept telling me that the only people who were blogging were pregnant and those starting families. I continually told him that he was wrong and that he needed to get with it! As I kept putting it off, more and more of my friends began their own blogs, which made Brandon finally realize that I was RIGHT!!

Since we are living here in Memphis away from many of our friends and family, I thought this would be a great way for them to see what's going on in our lives. I am not promising that I will be the best at updating the blog, but I will do my best. Brandon has said that he will contribute to the blog as well. I already have an idea for my next post, but I just have to figure out how to post pictures so just bare with me a little bit.