D-Rock

Home from our trip to the D-Rock.

That's what the street folks call it.

Atleast that's what I've heard.

And I am happy to report a few things:

FIRST - We are not living in Detroit. I felt I needed to clarify. We are living in a quaint, family friendly, beautiful little suburb right on the river. Wyandotte is its name. And because I'm feeling extra nice today, I'll help you pronounce said town correctly. All together now........."Wine-dot"

SECOND - It really is beautiful there. My heart feels all a flutter just thinking of leaving behind my boring and dusty rocks in the back yard, and my beige house in my beige neighborhood for green, green, green. Green trees, green grass, and the river is mostly green too. (You prolly wouldn't want to swim in it.)

And THIRDLY , if thirdly is an actual word.....

I am happy to report we have found our new abode

An adorable and super small 1920s Bungalow, complete with 3 bedrooms, a big front porch, 2 car garage, and a great fenced back-yard. I love it.

And it's only 3 minutes from the hospital. Mike loves that.

I actually think I might be ready for this. To haul my family across the country and start a new life there.

Here I come Michigan,

my new Home Sweet Home!

Up to Date

Update on us:

Here's what we've been up to in the weeks since my last post.

Miles sprouted horns, and has spent the last few weeks growing into them

But somehow I still fall a little more in love with him every day

We put our house on the market, and headed to Utah and Wyoming for 3 weeks

We received an offer on our house, and I had my hair cut. (Though not in that order)

Celebrated a college graduation of our dear friend with a Hawaiian Luau. And caught a SWEET video of Mike doing his best at a "Hakka". Seriously, it is hilarious. And I would post it....but this is one of those instances where it is NOT better to ask forgiveness than permission.

We met Papa and Nana at Uinta Golf in Salt Lake so Mike could get fitted for some new custom clubs.

(he picked the new Callaway X 22s.....Lucky!)

While the big boys were playing at the golf store, the girls took the little boys to the aquarium

Don't let this picture fool you. Those boys were heavily bribed by their aunt Rachel to sit on her lap.

Just kidding. They love you Rach!


And I finally got some shots of me and my little man together. This doesn't happen often.

And this is why......
And one thing we HAVEN'T done.......

follow through on the "no binky" rule, obviously.

Only one more month until we are Michigan bound, so I am soaking up everything I can from our trip North. I'm sure it will be awhile before we can make it back.

There's still so much more to do, and so little time. So please don't feel bad if I neglect my blogland duties. For awhile at least. It's nothing personal.

And when things calm down, and we are settled, I have grand old plans for this little blog of mine. So Stay Tuned!

Give me 5....K

A couple months ago my friend Tiffany had a great idea. At least it seemed like a great idea at the time.

She wanted to run a 5K race in Peoria. And she must have caught me at a weak moment.

Because I enthusiastically agreed.

A little something you should know about me.......I am NOT a runner.

But I dusted off my running shoes and hit the gym. And I started running. Very, Very slowly.

And after a few weeks, I was running 2 or 2.5 miles every day. And I still had a month to go before my little race. Plenty of time to work up to 3.2 miles.

And THEN....we decided to put our house on the market. Aside from taking care of my little boy, that took up the majority of my time. And my running shoes went back in the closet to collect a little more dust. For nearly a month.

And the next thing I knew, it was race day. And I admit, I was a little scared!!

But I got up, put on my shoes, and met my friends at the starting line.

Me, Tiffany, and Amber, freezing outside before the race

And at 8:00 am, we were off!

And while I was out hitting the pavement, Miles decided to entertain the crowd. He marched right out into the street to get his groove on to the music.

When I got to the first mile marker I thought, "Wow! That was fast. And EASY! I can do this!"

And when I got to the second mile marker I thought, "hmmm....how did I get myself into this???"

But I just kept moving my feet, and when I came around the last corner and saw the finish line I was so relieved!!!

I finished it off with a time of 34:02, which is about an 11 minute mile. I know....I already told you I was slow. But in all honesty, I thought it would take me 45 minutes, so I was pleased with my time. And happy I didn't have to run/walk.

And my 2 favorite guys were waiting for me at the finish line.

Truthfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And maybe next year I'll try a 10K. But only if you promise to run it with me!

Designed to Sell!

If any of you out there have ever been through the process of selling a home, I'm sure you can relate.

I, myself, have never experienced the JOY that comes from preparing a home to be listed in one of the worst real-estate markets in the country. Oh yes. To say the last few weeks have been joyful would be, well...

A right out L-I-E!

My stress level has been at an all-time high.

A long time ago, before I entered the land of mommyhood, I used to lounge leisurely on the couch feeding myself delicious treats and watching Designed to Sell on HGTV.

I would DELIGHT in the chosen couples wreck of a home. I was amused at the negative comments the real estate agent would drop like a 10 pound weight on these poor, design-less people. And I found it out-right hysterical watching the overly stressed house wife burst into tears when the wall paper she was removing didn't tear off in one big piece, but millions of itty bitty teensy weensy shards.

Perhaps I wasn't very sympathetic, I'll admit.

But I will never again watch that show with the same callousness of my unexperienced past.

The last 2 weeks I have been spending every free moment scrubbing and cleaning and dusting and washing and packing, and then doing it all over again. It took me more than two days alone just to scrub the grout and tiles in my living room and kitchen. On the plus side, I now have triceps of steel. Oh....and let's not forget. My floor looks amazing.

I have washed every wall, cleaned every baseboard, scrubbed every light switch and cabinet door, and molding, and window, and mirror, and shelf, and...

I think you get the idea.

And I am exhausted. But it's finished. And as of yesterday evening, our home is officially listed For Sale on the Arizona MLS.

{Can I get a Halleluyer, people?!}

(a la Oprah style, of course)

So....anyone wanna buy a house?

Believe me when I say, you'll be getting a STEAL!

Front of Home

Living Room

Dining Area /Eat in Kitchen

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bedroom #2 or Office

Computer Nook

Bedroom #3

Bathroom #2

Backyard & Patio

And now, my house is all clean, my laundry is caught up, my sewing things are all packed up, Miles is taking his daily 3 hour nap...

I guess all there's left to do is turn on Designed to Sell and hope my home sells just as quickly.

Any takers????

My Top 3

My Top 3 reasons I love garage sales:

3. I cleared out multiple closets full of junk

2. The people watching is SUPERB!

and the number one reason I love garage sales....

1. I made $350 smackeroos!!

And the top 3 things I learned during this garage sale:

3. People will buy anything for a dollar

2. Having a husband who speaks spanish is VERY handy

1. Having a husband who wants to sell everything you, (and everyone else owns) for $1 is not

I'm pretty sure there were times he offered to pay someone else to take an item off our hands.

Seriously.

But in the end, we were successful. And I still have 3 rooms and a 2 car garage to sift through. Anyone planning a visit in May? I'm sure I'll have many more $1 deals by then.

Definitely for Sure, Absolutely, Positively....

Because a few people have asked....

I thought you should know.....


It is set in stone.

There's no turning back,

Or backing out.


We are absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt

{Moving To Michigan!}

Mike Graduates June 5th, we are packing the truck June 6th, and heading out June 7th.

(Or maybe the 6th, if we pack really fast.)

Anyone up for a 30 hour, 10 hours a day for 3 days, road trip across the country???

(with a 1 1/2 year old little boy and a 6 1/2 year old dog?)

(HINT: The only acceptable answer here is Yes)

PLEASE SAY YES!!!

Match Day

Match Day

These two simple words are enough to strike fear in the hearts of any 4th year medical student. The day that determines the rest of your life. (Well, the next 4 years of it, at least.)

It's a complicated process. There are applications, and interviews, and preliminary year applications, and rank order lists, and one GIANT COMPUTER system that "matches" students with their sought after specialty programs.

In Mike's case, that happens to be Anesthesiology. It has been a long road. a Very Very Very long road. But that light at the end of the tunnel???

Well, it has FINALLY arrived.

I have been looking forward to this day for four years, and very anxiously and impatiently waiting for it to arrive for the last one.

But the results are in, folks. And we have some good news!

Mike Matched into an Anesthesia Program!!!

The exact words were: "Congratulations! You have matched to an advanced position."

I can not even begin to tell you what a relief it is to have this whole process OVER!

So, where are we going??? Well....

....

....

....

We don't know! (well, not EXACTLY)

You see, the inventors of "the Match", are some real clever little buggers. They drag the process out over the course of an entire year. THEN, on Match Day Monday, they send out these clever little e-mails telling you whether you did, or did NOT "match". And the kicker???? They don't tell you until the next Thursday exactly what program you matched into.

I know...very tricky. That being said, we have a pretty good idea of where we are headed. I'll spare you all the details of HOW we know this. I really doubt you want to hear all about the complexity of rank order lists, and preliminary year secondary lists, and...blah blah blah. It's like learning a new language.

But, it suffices me to say we are Nearly Certain on our destination for the next four years.

Anyone up for a visit to the Great Lakes? Because it looks like we'll be in

MICHIGAN!

I am excited at the new opportunities that may be there for us way up north. And I am really looking forward to living in a place, and experiencing a lifestyle I would not have experienced otherwise. I am a little nervous, and excited, and happy to be moving on, and sad to be moving away from dear friends...And all of this, all at the same time. What a complete mix of emotions.

And tonight, as I am sitting outside in my capris and sandals in the early evening, enjoying the cool breeze and the 75 degree weather, and smelling my delicious orange blossoms, I know I will cry a little tear at the thought of trading that in for the snow and cold again.

And for anyone clearing out all their unwanted warm and wintery items....Send them my way! Apparently living in the desert four years has really caused my winter wardrobe to suffer.

Whew!

What a weekend! Our good friend Justin came to visit, and we packed our weekend schedule as full as we could. He was a good sport, and was pretty convincing when he told us he had a great time. Our weekend consisted of:

1. Taking in a Suns Game. Mike left the camera in the car, but we were lucky enough to have our picture taken and posted on the Suns Fan website. Woohoo! Miles even dressed in the Suns Grey and Orange colors, and did GREAT at the game. He loved the noises, the people, and watching the players. The Suns won the game, and scored 140 points for the third time in a row.

2. Went to the zoo for an afternoon.

3. Woke up at 4:30 in the a.m to show our support for Mike who competed in a Dualathlon. This was the main reason Justin came to visit, and I was glad he was there. Waiting around for a couple hours for Mike to cross the finish line would have been pretty boring with only a teething toddler to talk to. And he didn't complain when Mike wanted to stick around an extra couple hours after the race for the raffle. But Mike did end up winning a couple pairs of socks...so it was totally worth it. (More info and pics coming soon. This event definitely deserves its own post.)

4. Checked out the new Cardinals Stadium, and the surrounding shopping area.

5. And spontaneously attended the PBR. (PBR = Professional Bull Riders, for you non-Wyomingites not into all things rodeo. Justin was surprised when I mentioned how much I love the PBR. Apparrently, PBR is also the name of cheap beer..Pap's Blue Ribbon. No wonder he was confused. :)

6. And finally, he and Mike went on a long mountain biking ride. (I am not ashamed to say I stayed home and took a nap.)

Thanks Justin for visiting us! It was so nice of you to come, and I know Mike was glad to have you here for his Dualathlon debut.

Why parents should check their kid's homework!

Detox Day 2

The binkie detox is going...um, well....let's just say it's going.

Several months ago Mike was in Tucson doing an away rotation. We were down to one binkie, and I decided once that last binkie was lost, Miles wouldn't be getting any more. We were finito. He lost the last binks the very next day, and that was that.

The whole week I struggled getting him down for naps. And cried every night when he cried for that darn pacifier.

But after a couple days, it was as if the binkie never existed.

HEAVEN ON EARTH!!

And then Daddy came home, and we were so excited to see him! And the first thing he did....

Find some lost and misplaced binkie and plop it right into my son's mouth.

Yeah....I know. I didn't have the heart to start over. So the next time I was at the store, I bought 2 more packs of those dreaded green things.

And when last week Mike decided enough was enough, I CONVENIENTLY chose this weekend to begin Round 2 of the binkie detox.

Why, you ask???

Simple. I'm working. All weekend. Graveyard shifts. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, you can count me out of the bed time routine.

Though I was home for the dreaded first night, the night Miles woke-up almost every hour screaming for his beloved binks. The night I sat up with him on the couch from 2:00 am until 4:30 am, while he sobbed on my shoulder, I have missed the rest.

Dad reports last night went well. I think Mike's strategy is to completely wear Miles out, so he just crashes at bed time. The little guy didn't hit the hay until after 9:00 last night.

But he slept.

Keep your fingers crossed that by the time Monday night rolls around, he'll be the sleeping angel he used to be!