Home

Last weekend we were in Albany for a wedding - our good friends Andrew and Katie got married. They had it at the German American Club, so it was somewhat reminiscent of our own wedding almost 5 years ago now (holy crap!). The last song of the night was the one in this video. I first heard it on a CD that was made as a wedding favor when Charlie's friend Steve got married a few years ago. I love it. Such an upbeat and catchy song. I feel like most love songs are slow and sappy. But I think that love is a very upbeat and happy feeling. It does not make me want to walk around slow. It makes me want to dance and stomp my feet, and that's what this song makes me want to do:)

It also rings true to me as I try to find a job. I get so sad sometimes thinking about leaving Columbus. It has been the place where I really grew up and became an adult. I've lived here since I left college - seven years already. I had no idea what to expect when I came here for medical school, but I have grown to love it so much. And it has become a part of me and part of me does not want to leave.

But life is not meant to be lived that way. Amazing things can happen in life if you only let them. Too many people are held back but what they think they can and can't do for no good reason at all. I have not lived my life that way up until now and I don't plan on starting now. I could probably find a job in Columbus, but I can find a much better one someplace else. And it is time for us to move on. Time for us to put down roots somewhere, but I know in my heart that place is not here in this house that we recovered from foreclosure and turned into a home, and not in this city that helped me to grow up and learn to love so many different things. The list of things I will miss is long. But it is important to remember that home is not a place. You leave your house and you leave your city, but you take your home with you. And for now, home is wherever Charlie and I settle. We'll see where that ends up being:)

We don't have any big plans for the coming weeks, so we'll just see what life brings us:) Hope you are all enjoying your summer, too!

Silence

Sorry to be quiet for so long. I don't really have much to say though. Things have been good here. Not particularly exciting though. Our vegetable garden is growing slowly but surely. I was going to take some pictures, but then it started to thunderstorm so I didn't get a chance. It's OK though because we really, really needed the rain.

Second year is winding down. I officially start third year July 1st. Then it's just 365 days until I'm all done with training. That is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. I've started looking for jobs. I'm hoping to get one nailed down before too long so I don't have to worry about it.

We've been trying to keep doing fun things in and around Columbus. I realize that this is maybe my last summer here, so I want to make sure that we take advantage of it and see as much of it as we can.

A last weekend we went to a concert down by the Scioto River. It was free. The band was the Kentucky Headhunters. We first heard them in Bardstown, KY when we went to the Bourbon Festival down there a few years ago. Everyone thought they were the most amazing thing ever. We were cracking up. They are funny guys, and good musicians, but oh man. The drummer has chops down to his knees, the lead singer wears the tightest jeans I've ever seen on a man, and the other guitar player has a fan by him so that his long hair is always blowing in the breeze and his man boobs are accentuated. But the crowd there was even more entertaining. Everyone one from white trash, hill billies, red necks, and even a transvestite ran up to the stage to snap a few pics. This is one of many reasons why I love Columbus:)

Perfect occasion for cowboy boots!

Do you see those pants?! Painted on!

This is the one with the fan and man boobs

Columbus at night...

This weekend I threw a baby shower for my friend Nicole. Nicole is married to one of my co-residents and good friends Billy. Nicole is also from St. Henry so we have another connection there. Anyways, I think everything went really well. I'm getting much better at hosting such events. It really is a learned thing. I've finally given up on complicated appetizers. It was at 2pm, so we had fruit, veggies, cupcakes from a local bakery, bread and hummus, and chips and salsa. They're due at the end of August and are having a little boy. I spent the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy telling Billy that it was definitely a girl, but in the end he won out:)

Me and Nicole

Rachel, Honey, me and Nicole

Nicole and her sister Terra

Billy and Nicole

I've got some pictures of our new mantle in the making, but I'm going to wait until it's done to post about it.

So, that's been my life for now. Hopefully I don't wait another month and a half to write again:)

A few weeks...

So, I know that it's been a few weeks, but things have been super crazy! I'm on call every other night during the week and then every other weekend, and I'm trying to get ready to go to this research conference to present a poster this weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, so I've been working on that. Plus there always seems to be a million things to do around the house. For some reason I thought that after my big test I would have more time, but like most times it doesn't quite work out that way.

Right now I'm waiting for my bread to finish baking before I go to bed. I'm getting pretty good at making it now.

But even though sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything, I've got fresh bread in the over, vegetables growing out of solo cups in my backyard, and my peonies are going to bloom any day now. So it can't be all that bad:)