So Close...

I'm getting really excited. Less than two days until the qualifier. My nerves are settling and now I am just excited. I am ready to get out there and compete. It has been so long since I have really competed. It's fun to feel that "feeling"again. It reminds me of sitting in the bleachers before swim meets listening to my disc man...oh yeah, no iPods back then...so old school. Speaking of music, I'm trying to make a "pump up" CD for the car ride to Fort Worth. So far I have some Britney (of course), Flo Rida, Scorpions (Rock me like a hurricane!) and something else that says "dance, dance dance". Kody refuses to listen to it in the car. My Cd's remind him of scenes from movies with a bunch of girls dancing around at a slumber party. Well, he really shouldn't be surprised because I am that girl. hehe

I've always had my rituals before competition. I warmed up the same exact way before each softball game. I threw with the same throwing partner every season, we stood in the same spot, we took fly balls in the same order...we were quite superstitious. I went through the same process before each at bat also. I could still do it without thinking. I would hold the bat in my left hand, swipe dirt out of the box with my right foot, dig my spikes in the dirt and look at the pitcher, take a deep breath, set my other foot, swing the bat near the ground with my left arm and be set. I sound intimidating don't I? Don't worry...I didn't ever point to the fence or growl and spit. Anyway, I'm not sure why I went into that rant, but to say that I've always had my "thing" I do before I compete. I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend. This is the first time I have done this. Maybe I'll just take my bat and I'll feel right at home....

By the way, I have to be at work tomorrow at 5:30AM. We are having a live radio broadcast from the casino and I will be making sure everything goes smoothly...I hope I stay awake. Thankfully, Kody is driving to Fort Worth so I can rest. He's so sweet. Yes, I normally drive. We get there much faster when I am at the wheel. :)

Nerves...

They are starting to kick in. Last night I spent ohhhh at least a few hours watching videos from the CrossFit site of girls that have competed in various regional qualifiers like I am this weekend. Oh my goodness, I'm starting to feel like I might be totally out of my league. I'm not going in with huge expectations, but I do expect myself to do well...whether that means I qualify or not who knows! I just want to feel good about my performance. Trust me, I am a competitor. When it comes down to it I want to win. I don't enjoy getting beat by anyone. Kody is trying to psych me up. It is kind of working, but the more I think about it the more I can't stop thinking about it and then I just over analyze. I have no idea what to expect. This is completely new and unknown, which also makes it really exciting.

For those of you who are a bit confused about what I am talking about, this weekend is the Southwest Regional Qualifier for the CrossFit games in Fort Worth, Texas. The top five men and women will qualify to compete in the CrossFit games in Aromas, California in July. I'm competing against others from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri. I've been CrossFitting for almost ten months. You can go here to learn more about the CrossFit games and see information about the regional. It is less than five days away now...oh my.

By the way...Kody and I still miss the girls. Our house is so empty without Annie and Kinsey. We are still glad they found their home, but we miss cuddling with them!

Home Sweet Home

I am as happy as a girl can be. I got a call today from the two precious dogs owner! They got out during the horrible storms on Easter. I can't believe we found their home after they had been missing for a couple of weeks! They saw one of my signs. "Lily" is actually Annie and "Daisy" is actually Kinsey. They were so excited to see their daddy. He told us that he had rescued both of them. Annie is three and Kinsey is two. My heart is just full of joy. I know that sounds corny and silly, but I am truly happy that they found their way home. They live about a mile away from us. Kody says he already misses them, but it will be nice to be a one dog home again. We think Bailey was feeling a little neglected, but she was a great sport! I sent Kinsey home with one of Bailey's squeaky toys. She had been carrying it around for days and Bailey isn't much a of toy dog.

Now I have to go pull down all of my dog signs.....

FOUND

I knew it would happen someday. I knew I would be driving along the road and see a dog in need and pick it up and take it home. Last night it happened. These two precious, beautiful Labradors were strolling down a busy street near our home. I pulled my car over and tried to get them to come to me. To my distress, NO ONE stopped to help me. It was very easy to see I was chasing after the dogs. What if they were my dogs? I would have stopped to help, but of course, I am a better person than most. Kidding.

I called Kody and he brought two leashes. They let us put the leashes on and just trotted behind us. We got them home, fed them and gave them water. These are the two sweetest girls. They follows us around and like Bailey. I am so impressed with them. They are obviously best friends. I have posted signs and posted messages on Craigslist, Tulsa Humane Society, Tulsa Lab Rescue and the Tulsa World. No hits yet. I hope we find these girls their home or at least a loving home they can BOTH go to. I will not split them up and I will NOT send them to a kill shelter. Unfortunately, there aren't many no kill shelters around here. Here are our two darlings:

"Lily"and "Daisy"

One Hundred and Twenty Years Ago...

...The Oklahoma land run took place. Seventeen years ago on this day I participated in my very own land run as did every other fourth grader in Edmond. It was pretty awesome. We were all assigned "families". Our family name was The Griswolds. Yes, from Family Vacation. I have to believe we were a bit more successful in our travels than Clark and the gang, but nevertheless, we were The Griswolds. I was the mom, probably because I wanted to be in charge. Shocking. We made our own covered wagons and wore sweet pioneer attire. I think it was one of my better looks. Here is where it got really fun...we all lined up and took off at high noon (just like the real thing!) with our families. We ran and pulled our covered wagons to find a "plot of land" to call our own. We roped off about a 10'x10' space. The Griswold clan found a cozy little spot along the outskirts of the "territory". My job was to run to the "claims office" to officially stake our claim. I distinctly remember taking off in a mad sprint across the field. No one was going to steal our land! Thankfully I successfully filed our claim and we all enjoyed our lunch on our little piece of land. What a great day!

Robin and I have been reminiscing via texts all day. We decided some day we will go back to the Will Rogers field and reenact the land run together. It should be fun.

Random picture of Kody and Robin playing with a turkey. No real reason to put this here other than it makes me laugh.

Sappy Alert:

I have to take a moment and brag on my fabulous husband. I don't do it near enough and he would probably be mortified if he knew I was blogging about him like this, but I'm just so darn proud of him. Kody's best and worst quality is that he gets obsessive about things he loves. It pays off when it is something productive like working out, school, fixing things around the house, etc. It is not so productive when it is things like Sega. Ever since Kody has set his sights on becoming an orthopedic surgeon he has just been a big ball of work ethic. It is amazing. It is so fun to see him so enthusiastic and positive. He scrubs in on surgeries the minute he is finished with his current rotation commitment at 5PM and he goes in early to fracture conference on days he can be in late. This means at least two or three nights a week he isn't home until after 9PM when he could have been home at 5PM relaxing. Even though he is tired, he is happy. I don't even mind that some nights I don't see him because I know he is striving to be the best he can be. Plus, I get to watch Grey's Anatomy without him begging me to change the channel.

I have been praying so much for this kind of determination. I am so thankful to see it and know that he is doing it on his own and not because someone told him he should. Keep it up Kody! Hard work does pay off. Who knows what will happen to us in the next ten months. We know the road for us may be a long, confusing and different one, but we are ready and willing to put in whatever it takes from both of us to make it happen. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who knows what he wants and is willing do what needs to done to make it happen without sacrificing our relationship. You are amazing!

Needed: New Tires

Oh joy....

Last night as I was pulling into CrossFit, I noticed my front right tire making a strange noise. I parked, got out and noticed a beautiful screw that had lodged itself securely into my poor tire. Great. I'm getting ready to work out and the last thing I want to do is worry about a slowly deflating tire. It was hissing at me. The nerve! Thankfully, my wonderful CrossFit friends jumped to my rescue! They got it patched up with some tar goob that worked wonders. I also learned out to check air pressure with an air gauge from some of the gals. Don't judge me. I have never had to deal with flat tires. This is why I have AAA! :)

In all the excitement we decided we need new tires. I'm going into Firestone to drop $502 (which includes tax) for four brand spanking new wheels. They are much needed. I did the penny test on the tread...it was not a pretty sight. There is about zero tread left. In other great news, it looks like the Acura is going to need new tires as well. Hallelujah for tax refunds!

Quick Updates/Facts:

• CrossFit Qualifier is in less than ten days. Oh my.
  
• Orange Tree in Edmond is my new best friend.
• My lawnmower is still broken and my yard looks like a forest.
• Kody leaves in less than two weeks for two months of rotations out of Tulsa. Boo.
• I have chewed five pieces of gum since lunch.
• We finally purchased the drums for Rock Band. Kody and I had a drum off. I won by a landslide.
  
• I love peppered turkey.
• I brought everyone in my office cookies today. I'm pretty much the sweetest person I know.
• We need a new mattress. The end.
  

Salsa Heaven

WOW. That is all I have to say. The salsa that I posted about yesterday turned out amazing. Kody woke up this morning and told me he was already craving dinner tonight. Yes, we are eating the same thing again. So as promised, here is the recipe since it pretty much rocked our faces off last night. Everyone must run out to the store immediately and make this tonight. You'll be happy you did. I believe this is going to make the cut for football gatherings. WOOHOO!

Tomatillo Avocado Salsa:
1 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 Avocado, peeled, chopped
3/4 c fresh cilantro leaves
1 Serrano chili, chopped
2 Tbs Fresh lime juice
1 tsp salt
Place all ingredients in a small food processor or blender and puree. Serve with tortilla chips or chicken. Makes about 2 cups.

Rambling

Los Cabos has the most wonderful green salsa. I believe the technical name for it is Tomatilla Avocado Salsa. It simply tastes like heaven. Today I started craving this salsa. If you have ever eaten with me at a Mexican restaurant then you know I can put down chips and salsa like none other. Normally when this kind of craving strikes I would gather up the troops in the office and try to convince them that we should go to Los Cabos for lunch. Usually it would work. Today, however, I had to restrain myself because I am "zoning". In preparation for the CrossFit qualifier, which is in 2 1/2 weeks, I am really watching my nutrition. I have amazing energy and I'm never hungry. It's amazing! I would love to go on and on about how wonderful the zone is, but I won't. Anyway, instead of feasting on chips and wonderful green salsa, I decided to look up how to make Tomatilla Avocado Salsa. I went to Wal-Mart to get some additional items for my lunch and decided that I am going to make homemade salsa for dinner tonight to go with our chicken. If it goes as well as I am praying it does, I will post the recipe tomorrow. Tomatilla's are so cute!

A Few Facts:

• I went to the doctor yesterday and I have gained seven pounds in the last year, yet my clothing is bigger on me now. YAY for lean muscle!
  
• I walked right into the men's restroom last night at the medical school The urinal was my first clue I was in the wrong place. Oops.
• Midori the boxer turned three years old on Monday.
• Lil Rounds needs to exit American Idol immediately.
  
• Kody and I ate at Red Robin three times in a four day period a week ago. We should get a frequent eaters discount. In our defense, we went once with my family and once with Kody's. No, we do not eat out every night.
  

Happy Birthday Dori girl!

Fun Story

It is hailing. Which is absolutely perfect since my umbrella is in the car. If I were an umbrella and it was hailing, I would probably want to stay in the car as well. However, since I am not an umbrella and I am a person I would like to have my umbrella sitting nice and pretty under my desk ready to shelter me from the storm.

Oh well. At least Bailey is safe a cozy inside today.

American Idol Melt Down

I'm not sure if there is a person on the face of the planet that loves American Idol more than I do. Seriously, I look forward to 7PM on Tuesday evenings more than any other time during the week. It is kind of sick. Of course, we are hardly ever home in the evening so I usually end up watching the DVR version circa 9PM. Luckily, Kody enjoys it as much as I do. He likes to watch it in a peculiar way. He usually covers his face so he can "focus on the vocals" and he is not swayed by charming good Justin Timberlake looks (Matt!) or grossed out by their sad attempt at dancing (Megan Joy...I did not miss you a bit this week). I guess this helps him have more of an unbiased opinion? I personally love to experience AI with my ears and my eyes.

Anyway, last night I had a mini breakdown. I seem to be having those more frequently lately. We were watching American Idol and I was enjoying hearing everyone sing songs from the year they were born. I'm such a huge fan of music from the 80's so I was pretty pumped. We got through Danny, Kris, Scott...blah, blah, blah....and then we get to the good stuff, Matt Girard. Ok, I completely adore this boy. He plays the piano and he just melts my heart when he sings. I think he is fantastic. Plus, as I mentioned above, he bares a slight resemblance to my high school boyfriend Justin Timberlake. Did I say boyfriend? Maybe I meant obsession. Back on topic...Matt was fantastic. He sang "Part Time Lover". Kody and I were both giddy over it. Yes, Kody has a bit of man crush on him, but it purely for musical reasons...I think. I noticed that our DVR timer was nearing the 1 hour mark and Adam had yet to sing. "Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!". Yup, the lovely "Erase Now or Save for Later" screen pops up prior to my dear Adam's performance. I was at a loss. How in the world was I going to survive the evening without seeing what Adam came up with for this week?

Now friends, this brings me to the point of the story where you find out why I love my dear husband so very much. He always records weird shows and we never end up watching half of them. For some reason, Kody had scheduled the DVR to record the Fox series "Fringe" (Pacey!) every time it airs. We have never watched a single episode. Guess what came on right after American Idol last night? That's right! Fringe! We started up Fringe and it started with the last five minutes of American Idol which was all about my favorite contestant of all time, Adam. Some people love him, some people hate him, but Kody and I both think he is just utterly fantastic. I would watch him perform every night. Especially if he would sing "Mad World" to me every night. I have a feeling he likes the movie "Donnie Darko". "Mad World" plays through the last few scenes of the movie. It is such a haunting yet beautiful song. Quite fitting of Mr. Lambert. Once again, he was perfection. Disagree with me if you must, but that boy is crazy talented. I would like to hug him.

Rotation Frustration

I knew this would happen, I just knew it. Kody and I finally came to a final list for his elective orthopedic rotations outside of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It is my job to send out the emails to try to set them up since emailing is not his forte. Seriously, who doesn't check their email? Oh that's right, my husband. If the rotation set up requires a phone call then Kody calls them. So far we are about 0 for 4. Everyone is full or they want an entire CV to apply for the rotation. That is crazy! We haven't even begun to think about his CV. I guess this is a sign that I'm not quite as on top of everything as I had hoped.

We are now onto plan B. Plan B consists of getting in touch with every orthopedic program and seeing if they have open rotation dates. If they do then we say yes! We'll see how that goes. So much for all my research on the area, the number of students they take, if there is a CrossFit in the area, blah blah blah. I'm kind of sad, but a little excited. I never quite know how to feel when we don't have a real plan in place. This is good practice to help cure my insanity. We were all set to have him rotate at some good programs in Pennsylvania and one in Michigan. Now we have moved on to a different one in Michigan and we are even considering him going to New Jersey for a month. Crazy! We'll see if they have any openings. Please keep us in your prayers. Once they are all set up and final I will feel so much better. I can't do a thing about anything after we have them locked. It will all be up to God and Kody.

I think if he rotates in New Jersey I am going to go visit and make him take me to NYC so I can see Wicked on Broadway....or I can pretend to visit him and take myself to see Wicked on Broadway. Either way works!

By the way, it is completely obnoxious to listen to Kody and my dad have conversations now. I swear they can talk for five minutes and not use a single word that I can understand. I keep telling them they are speaking in fake sentences. I don't think they care.

Bye, Bye ER

Last night was the series finale of ER. I watched ER when it first came on air, but over the last ten years I have only seen an episode here or there. Last weekend I managed to watch the past four episodes that were stored in the On Demand section of the DVR. Last night, I decided to be one of the millions that said good by to the ER physicians at County. I managed to make myself cry a good four times throughout the show. Kody watched with me while he played Sonic the Hedgehog on his old school Sega that I bought him when we were in college. Kody has not done his ER rotation yet, but of course he made comments throughout the whole show like, "That never happens" or "A medical student would never say that to a nurse". Whatever. It is drama. I like the drama.

After ER we were ready to get in bed, but unfortunately I had a minor freak out and decided I needed to clean the entire kitchen before bed. I'm embarrassed to admit that it has been a few weeks since I have really taken the time to clean anything. I swept the kitchen floor, Wet Jet swiffered (I love that thing), ran the dishwasher, did a load of laundry, folded two loads of laundry, and scrubbed down the kitchen counters. I'm not sure what came over me. It was amazing, but I could not be stopped. I woke up this morning and the house just smelled clean. It almost brought me to tears. I haven't smelled that in the morning for so long. I was so inspired that I changed our sheets and did some more laundry before heading to work. I feel so much better about life.

Food for Thought

Some of you that read this I have known for years, some of you may be visiting for the first time and some of you I share a very special bond with...we are the the wives or significant others of a future or current physician. I talk about some of our experiences every now and then, but the focus of my blog has never been medical school. Unfortunately, I'll probably start posting a lot more about it as we are nearing some big milestones like match, graduation and the great unknown that lies ahead. For those of you who are relatively clueless about what marriage to a medical student, resident or attending spouse is like, this post will provide some amazing insight. I was completely blown away by her thoughtfulness and honesty. She really just has great advice that anyone who is married or in a serious relationship can learn from. I know there are things that my friends will never be able to understand about the kind of life Kody and I lead and there are things I will never be able to understand about the marriage they have as well.

Kody and I have spent the last few weeks talking and talking and talking some more about residency. It has always been a hot topic with us (in a good way!), but now that he knows and I mean really knows what he wants to do it kind of consumes us. There are so many factors to consider when looking at different residency programs, so many I won't even begin to go into it in detail. We do know a few things though, there is a very high probability we will have to move again, there is a very high probability that we will not know a soul where we are going and there is a very high probability that our lives are going to be turned upside down for the following five to seven years. It is all exciting and all scary.

So many times over the last few weeks I have just been amazed to step back and see how our life has fallen into place. There are so many things that had to happen to bring us to where we are today and to give us the opportunities we have for the future. Some of them at the time seemed so wrong, like when Kody's MCAT scores weren't released the first year he applied and we had no where to go. More than likely we would have ended up in Texas if his scores had gone through that year. However, because they didn't we ended up in Tulsa and were able to stay close to both of our families. What a blessing. I also like to look back on my life growing up and I see how amazing it is that I was brought into the family that I was and that I had the experiences growing up that I did. My mom was the best example of a physician's spouse. She never complained, she was involved in the community, she had her own friends, and she took care of me and my sister. My mom is the best person at being able to make the best of any situation. My parents have also been blessed with a happy marriage, despite their crazy life. Now I look at Kody, who has decided orthopedic surgery is the only place for him, and I just pray that I can be half the woman my mother is so I can support him the way she supports my dad!

I know this was long, but as we near the end of third year there is a distinct light at the end of the tunnel...which actually just leads to another really long and dark tunnel, but I know there is light at the end of that one as well. Read the post I posted above, maybe I will be that wise in ten years.