Back to Reality...

Well...it's that time of year again. Classes are starting back up at the dance studio and Brian is back to a normal schedule, at the hospital. We had such a wonderful time on our honeymoon. We got home on a Friday night and started working again Saturday! We were back on the road the next morning. Brian had to work a clinic in Hazard, KY and I was judging a pageant in Corbin.

We meant to post pictures sooner but we haven't really had a chance to slow down and do so! We will have them up in the next week or so. We enjoyed the time we were able to spend with each other and we really enjoyed not having to be on a schedule. 

Pictures to come soon :)

It's Almost Here...

Brian and I got married this past April but we have yet to take our honeymoon! Well...it's almost here...only 10 more days. We have been looking forward to this for so long. Just the two of us...on a beach...relaxing...it sounds so nice! 

We had originally planned on going to an island, down near Florida but we decided to go somewhere a little more cost efficient. We are going to spend a week in Hilton Head, SC. Brian has never been but LOVES South Carolina so he is excited about seeing this part of the state. I fell in love with Hilton Head the first time I ever visited. It is such a fun town filled with great shops and WONDERFUL restaurants...oh...did I mention the beach?!?!? 

Instead of spending money on 2 airplane tickets, a rental car and an overpriced hotel we opted to drive our own car to HHI. We have a great room, close to the beach, and we're excited to take our bikes with us and do some cycling while we're there. The trails are absolutely gorgeous! 

We are going to take a day and drive into Savannah, GA. It's only about 30 miles away and we have never been. I've heard it's a great town and that there is lots to do. I'm excited to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant...that's why I want to go! Haha :)

I'm really looking forward to our trip together and spending time with my wonderful husband!

Our Goal for the Summer...

What ever happened to the days of indulging yourself in a good book? Or, sitting down and really enjoying a good home-cooked dinner? We are all so guilty of over committing ourselves to countless things at once. Well...Brian and I have decided that, for the next month, we are going to SIMPLIFY our lives. 

We are lucky that, over the next month, Brian does not have to take call and my schedule at the dance studio is much lighter than usual. So, we are really dedicated to committing ourselves to this new goal of ours. We want to simplify our home and our lives. It's time to throw out the stuff we don't really need and time to de-clutter!! No more scheduling twenty different appointments in one day. We want to spend more time with each other and with our family and friends. We get so caught up in our day to day lives that we sometimes forget about our relationships with others so we really want to make sure we are staying focused on the right things. So far...so good! July is going to be a wonderful month.

 I've already enjoyed being able to read more and spend more time with the Lord than I usually do. This has been very rewarding for me and helps me get through the day with a lot more enthusiasm and energy. Brian and I now read TOGETHER...EVERY night before bed. We both read and study the bible on our own but it is so much fun to spend that time together. Speaking of reading...we have a pile of books that we've been putting off reading...we are looking forward to taking some time for ourselves and do things that we really enjoy doing! We have been working out so much more and the pay off has been wonderful. It's so great to feel more energized as we tackle our day. Brian and I look forward to finding more ways to simplifying our lives and we are excited to take advantage of the time that we get to spend together this month...before everything gets busy again!!

We Gave In...

Well...we joined the rest of America and got an Apple iPhone!! We feel pretty lucky that we were even able to get one considering so many stores sold out pretty quickly within the first day that they were released. We've been looking forward to getting these and we've saved our money so that we could get the new version of the iPhone. Our AT&T store ran out of phones the first day so we made a day trip to the Apple store in Louisville! We know...it may seem crazy but we enjoyed the drive together and had a nice dinner while we were up there. June has proven to be a busy month for us and we really hadn't spent a lot of time together until our impromptu road trip so it was great to spend the day together. We are still in awe of our new gadgets...we are so amazed at how advanced technology has become over the past few years...it's pretty awesome! 

Home Sweet Home?

Only 18 more days and we are headed to Charleston, South Carolina. We are so excited and for so many different reasons. 

First of all...we get to sneak away together for a few days and spend an ENTIRE weekend together. If you know us than you realize that this rarely happens! We are really looking forward to just relaxing with each other and enjoying our 8 1/2 hour drive with just the two of us.

We are also excited to visit one of our good friends while we are there.  Brandon was accepted into the dental program at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He's going to show us around campus and the city of Charleston.

The reason that we are really excited about this trip is because...we could eventually live here! Brian is looking into places for his fellowship in neurointerventional radiology and MUSC is way up there on our list. They have a great program for him and we both love South Carolina so this is really the main reason for our "weekend getaway". To meet some of his potential colleagues and to see if this truly a place that we could possibly call home. Brian starts the interview process this fall so we're trying in squeeze in some visits to places that he is really considering.

We are looking forward to see what Charleston has in store for us!!

Our New Experiment

How many times have you gone to prepare a meal, only to realize that you didn't defrost the meat you needed or you had forgotten to pick up some of the ingredients at the store? If you're like us than this has happened countless times. And also, if you're like us, than you'll just hop in your car and drive to the grocery to pick up what you need. If you perform this same routine quite frequently, eventually your pantry, cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer begin to overflow and you run out of room to store everything. I don't know how many times we've gone to the store and brought back something only to find that we already had it and that we had just forgotten about it. Well...no more!

Inspired by another blog that we keep up with, Keeper of the Home, we have decided that we were going to create our menu plan, for the next TWO WEEKS, using only the items that we already have in our kitchen. That means NO trips to the grocery store...except for our "essentials". We consider these to be our milk, eggs, bread, orange juice and of course...Diet Pepsi. If you know us than you realize that we can not function without our Diet Pepsi :)

At first, we didn't think it would be that hard to come up with our menu ideas. When we looked in our cabinets and freezer it seemed that we had plenty to choose from. After sitting down and beginning to make our menu, we realized that this may be a bit more challenging than we had originally anticipated. We came to find that we may be cooking things and creating meals that we may have never thought of.

We're hoping that this little experiment of ours disciplines us and we're also hoping that this will lower our overall cost of groceries.

Breakfasts will consist of cereal, fruit or toast on most weekday mornings. Lunches will be eaten at home or taken to work. Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers. That is another thing we are working on...eating our leftovers and not letting our food go to waste. We have gotten much better with this.

Here is our dinner menu plan for the next two weeks:

Saturday: Chili Dogs with Mashed Potatoes (Very healthy...we know!!)

Sunday: Turkey Melt Sandwiches with Asparagus

Monday: Eggs and Toast

Tuesday: Vegetable Soup with Cornbread

Wednesday: Chicken Swiss Bake with Green Beans and Corn

Thursday: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday: Chicken and Corn Chowder Soup with Toast

Saturday: We are cheating this night and going out to dinner but it is for a good reason...we're celebrating our April Birthdays!

Sunday: Cheeseburgers with Homemade Hash browns

Monday: Pancakes ( can you tell we're starting to run out of ideas?!?!)

Tuesday: Chicken Noodle Soup with Toast or some sort of sandwich

Wednesday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Peas over Pasta with Light Alfredo Sauce and Garlic Bread

Thursday: Egg Sandwiches

Friday: Taco Night!

Saturday: Ravioli and Asparagus with Garlic Toast

We think we did a pretty good job at making this menu plan. Now let's hope we can stick to it!

Making It Work

So last Tuesday I decided to pay my mom a quick visit at her workplace. I was driving on New Circle Road, two exits away from where I was supposed to get off, when a chunk of wood, about the size of a brick (a little larger), came flying out of the bed of the pick up truck in front of me. I was so worried it was going to hit my windshield...I couldn't swerve into the other lane because of the cars traveling so quickly and I couldn't swerve off the road because there was a ditch. I slowed down as much as I could but ultimately the wood hit the front grill of my car and continued to bounce and hit underneath. The lights on my dashboard flashed for a moment but my airbag light remained on. I pulled off to the nearest exit because I was so scared that the airbag was going to go off. Luckily...it didn't! I called my dealership and had my car towed to the body shop. They told me that I was smart to pull off and not continue to drive because anything could have set off the airbag. I'm so grateful that my airbags didn't go off...it would have made the situation so much worse.

After waiting for about an hour, the tow truck finally arrived! While I waited, I called my mom, who came and stayed with me, and told Brian everything that had happened. I was also two and a half hours late for work. I was on the phone so long that afternoon talking with the insurance people and the workers at the body shop...I was exhausted! There wasn't a whole lot that they could do so I had to wait until Wednesday to get an estimate. The girl working told me that she would call me back by noon on Wednesday with the estimate and we would take it from there. We were pretty sure insurance would cover most of it but we just had to wait and make sure. Sooooo...Wednesday rolled around and I hadn't heard anything so I called and left several messages...nothing! I was so frustrated! Thursday rolled around...still nothing! Again...I called and left several messages with the woman I had been in contact with. Friday rolled around...FINALLY, after I called, I got some information. They still hadn't completed my estimate!

All this time, Brian and I have been carpooling to and from work. I will get up early and take him to work and he will stay late, until I'm done at the studio, and then I will go back and pick him up. It was pretty rough the first few days but we've gotten used to it and it's nice to spend some time together in the mornings.

Well, I finally got my full estimate on Monday afternoon and they have been working on my car since Tuesday. Hopefully I will have it tomorrow!!

This entire situation has been less than ideal but sometimes God puts you in situations for a reason. I've learned to be more patient and Brian and I have made our routine work and we have adapted to our schedules. By getting up earlier I have actually gotten a lot more done around the house and, when Brian stays late at the hospital, he gets his dictations done for his clinics much more quickly. When he does them at home I feel like there are so many distractions so this has actually helped him stay more focused.

I'm just thankful that I, or anyone else, wasn't injured. Things could have of been a lot worse. Brian and I have come to enjoy spending our mornings together!