Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Hope all is well. Everything is going good here. We stayed in Knoxville since Chris had a ton of studying and practicing to do for upcoming exams and board. It actually worked out to both of our benefit. My immune system has been inundated by the kiddy krud; yeh, I've been told by colleagues that the first year of working in pediatrics = feeling the funk. It was nice to sleep in for the past 3 mornings. We were able to do some of our normal weekend traditions like making pancakes, Target runs, and cruising the area with no where to be.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with 2 cellists from Texas and 2 violinist from Brazil. We cooked up our very first 17 lb turkey, macaroni & cheese, pineapple cassserole, greenbean casserole, creamed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and croissants. After dinner we wasted 2.5 hours of life by seeing the movie 2012 (I was out-voted by 4 guys... I guess I'll see Blindside on DVD). The graphics were amazing but the scenario was pretty far fetched!

Today, Chris and I picked out a beauty of a Christmas tree at Home Depot. I'll try and remember to post some pics later. The month of December will be rather busy. All in all Chris and I are happy to be together. It's great living with your best friend on a full-time basis :-)

On My Way!

Happy Friday to you all! It's the big day, my final day working at my job here in Columbia. I am driving up to Atlanta for a continuing ed compliments of my new job. I'll be getting my Physical Agents & Modality Certification. I was initially bummed because I felt like the process of my moving to Knoxville has been so drawn out, but I'm so thankful I'm not having to spend $600+ for this course.

All is well! Chris is really enjoying being in school again. He is doing SO well. I am incredibly proud of him if you haven't noticed. I have a full-time job secured (I'll start Monday) and a PRN job partially-secured, both in which I am thrilled over.

The holidays are on the verge. We're going to stay in Knoxville for Thanksgiving due to Chris' hectic study & practice schedule. I-40 is closed due to a rockslide and it looks like it will take several months to clean up. Thankfully this happened towards the end of our separation and I only had to do the detour once. We'll be heading home for Christmas and are really hoping to go snowboarding this winter. Chris has been itching to get on the slopes for the first time since we've been married!

That's it in a nutshell. We'll post sooner than later what with me actually living in our home!

One Month From Now... Part Dos

Well. It's been a while. I had the thought to check one of my best friend's blogs and she updated, so I thought - sheesh, why not do the same! I read my last post and was thinking -yikes- depressing!

One month from now... I will be 6 days away from being with Chris in Knoxville. I will have a job (I've had a few great offers and have 2 more interviews this week that I am absolutely thrilled about to say the least). I have torn up I-26 and I-40 to see Chris so many times I've lost count. Let me tell you the top 5 things I've learned about traveling long distances alone:

Numero Uno - Book on CD is a MUST. Cracker Barrell provides a cheap alternative. You can rent books on CD for $3.50 a week. You buy the whole book up front but then they return the amount minus the $3.50 weekly.

Numero Dos - I support Pilot gas stations for two reasons... 1.) cheap gas 2.) pepsi freeze icees

Numero Tres - I do not support Amoco gas stations for many reasons... dirty bathrooms, sketchy check-out clerks, high gas prices, snacks for purchase are all nearly expired, etc.

Numero Tres - When appropriate, travel in yoga pants/capris and t-shirt. I think myself everytime because I feel so relaxed and comfy. No silly jeans button poking into my tummy (maybe I should get the clue?) or tight clingy button up shirt causing sweaty pits.

Numero Quatro - Drive 5 mph over the speed limit. You won't get pulled and you can enjoy the scenery a little bit more then my accostomed 10 mph over the speed limit... bad, I know.

Numero Cinco - Do subscribe to satelite radio. There are some great old scary radio shows that have the corny organ that are really entertaining! Do not blindly scroll thru the channels because there are some naughty channels that I plan on writing a letter to Sirius about.

All is well. I have the sweetest and kindest friends I'm staying with right now. Chris is doing great in school. He is Sir Principal Cellist in a group of very kind musicians. We've had some great adventures... toured a really cool cave with a body of water the size of a football field, floated down a cold lazy river in the mountains, experienced Boomsday next to the Henley Street bridge on Labor Day.

I'll keep you posted. Hopefully more frequently. And maybe with pictures... whenever I find my camera. Grrrrrrr. That is the only thing we managed to misplace in the move. Otherwise, not a single damaged/lost item. Go figure, we haven't lost our minds yet either! Woo! Woo!

One Month From Now...

I have always had this habit of thinking "One month from now I will be __________." And today I entertained my little habit by filling in the blank.

One month from now.... Our new home will be in Knoxville, Chris will be starting graduate school, and I will still be in Columbia. *Big Sigh*

It never crossed my mind that I would feel so sad. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't get so bent out of shape. People go through far worse times of separation. War causing one of the greatest times of separations for couples and families. So, I've managed to start routines that keep me busy. I do Zumba classes Monday and Wednesday and home health steadily on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I plan on picking up more patients once Chris is gone. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy all of these things... I find myself just plain worn out!

I'm just going to have to retrain my habit to say "Four months from now I will be.... in Knoxville, living in a beautiful house with all of our things that make home feel like home, working a cool new job *crossing fingers*, and most importantly in the arms of my best friend in the whole wide world."

Sorry for the Debbie Downer moment. With all of that aside, here is what has been happening in a 5 point bullet format:

• We spent 4th of July weekend in Knoxville & NC - had fun with family & friends
• We spent this past weekend doing wedding festivities for Chris' brother & new sis in law
• Chris is teaching cello lessons & playing for the veterans at the VA nursing home
• We're packing boxes... and more boxes!
• We're doing great, loving life, and feeling incredibly blessed and thankful.

Well friends, Chris will be on the road again in just a few days. He is heading to Hot Springs, Arkansas for 2 weeks to experience a great music festival opportunity! This is his first music festival and thankfully is going for free minus meals & travel, yay!

We've been enjoying our "staycation" over the long holiday weekend. Yesterday we went to the Old Barn General Store in Lexington, SC to listen to some jazz & blues music outdoors, then played some tennis, grilled out hotdogs, and watched a movie. Today we enjoyed shopping around with a good friend of ours. It's been nice to get some QT together.

Due to high cholesterol and an increase in the digits shown on the scales these days, we've been trying to find ways to increase our activity level and get the heart rate going. We live in an awesome neighborhood (which I am so going to miss!). Every morning & evening people are jogging and biking. Not even 1 mile from our house we have several parks with tennis courts. This week I had been cleaning out and noticed my racquets on a high shelf. I suggested to Chris we hit around. We had the best time! That night, we went and bought Chris his first racquet (a Federer Target special... woo woo). And then many of you know Chris is an all or nothing guy, so we went to Todd & Moore (my former tennis head quater's stomping ground) and bought the 2 cheapest pairs of nice Wilson court shoes. Ever since, we've been having such a great blast together.

Overall, we've just been working and slowly getting things ready for the big move and transition time. No major changes or updates which is why we haven't blogged in so long. We'll keep you all posted when there is more to post about.

Coming Soon... University of Tennessee!

Attention, attention, ladies & gentleman... our new home this fall will be Knoxville, Tennessee! It's been a whirlwind of joy over the past week and a half. Tuesday before last, Chris received a phone call that knocked our socks off. The professor of Univ of Tenn left a enthusiastic voicemail offering a graduate assistantship. This means full tuition plus a sizable stipend will be provided compliments of the university.

We were so incredibly overjoyed - as you all can imagine! Immediaely that week I started looking on craigslist for rental property. After emailing many people, I resulted to the fact that we would need to hold our horses and just wait a while since most landlords have properties availible asap and we're wanting something to start Aug 1st. Well, in a last attempt, I sent out a few batch of other emails and this little jewel was availible. Needless to say, the landlord said that the home goes quickly and so only 4 days after finding out the good news we jumped in the jeep and headed up to Knoxville. Chris and I had the best time chatting it up for 4 1/2 hours each way. The time we had really gave us an opportunity to reflect on our past 3 years and discuss our expectations for the furture.

This little home is such a dream! It is 2 bedrooms, 1 with walk-in closet, 1 bath, large living room, large formal dining room, large kitchen with eat in space, separate laundry room & storage space, beautiful front porch with swing, awesome covered back porch.... all hardwood floors, tall ceilings... just beautfiul. We didn't hesitate to put the deposit down and the days following while we were waiting for our background checks to clear, I gave courtesy calls to the landlord pleading that he would pick us and not the people that looked at the house after us.... the lease came in the mail on Friday - yay!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your thoughts and prayers! We are so looking forward to what purposes God has for us in Knoxville. Our plan is to move in the first weekend of August. I have taken that entire week off so we can "vacation" in our new home followed by the Coldplay concert at the end of the week on August 7th. After that, Chris and I will part ways for a few months - he'll start school and I'll stay in Columbia to finish up my 1 year dedication to my current job. We'll keep you posted!

To be continued...

Happy Easter!

It's been a great day and we're Tired. We started festivities out at a local church service.

Chris and I have been visiting a sweet little church down the road from us. I think we're going to let it stick. It's way more traditional than what we're accustomed to, but it's nice, and it fits. The music is really amazing. One of the pieces they played last week Chris identified as Dvorak and when looking at the bottom of the hymnal page, he was right! Those years of music history have paid off. Hehe.

After church, we went to Chris' parents house for a little family funzies. Did the typical grilling, afternoon stroll, & chatting. We had a chance to visit a little with his brother and family. They have some really sweet kids that were very kind to share some of their Easter candy with me. *Yeh, I know, but I don't get an Easter basket anymore!* Needless to say, I wanted to steal the little girls box of strawberry whoppers! WHAT!? YUM!

Our lives have been kinda uneventful lately. I'm still trying to get everything organized with home health therapy part-time. The process is taking FOREVER. Chris is still in pergatory with grad schools - we're anticipating knowing by 2 weeks or so - that's the deadlines for the schools to give $$ offers.

Sorry we haven't been online in a while - that has been a side effect from no longer being slaves to facebook. On the other hand, we have been slaves to old "The Office" episodes streaming on netflix. We're currently on season 3 and I believe we will try to squeeze an episode in before our nine o'clock guilty pleasure show that I will definitely not say what it is on here because it is waaaay too embarassing.

Goodnight!

Facebook-Free

So today I hit the deactivate key. Aftewards I felt so liberated! I no longer have this ridiculous compulsion to see what that crazy chick from high school did last night or the need to know if the dorky guy from college's relationship status is now changed to "it's complicated."

Chris and I have both thrown the topic of a facebook-free lifestyle around.

I had the following 10 reasons:

10.) It consumes too much of my time.

9.) Facebook is an online popularity contest.

8.) All the kids are doing it... not just the cool kids

7.) People that I barely know want to be my "friend"

6.) I would rather not be stalked.

5.) Facebook is superficial.

4.) People say stuff online they would not say in person.

3.) I have other things to do with my life.

2.) It is not a health means of maintaining relationships

and drum roll for numero uno...

1.) Again, it consumes too much of my time.

In the midst of my celebration for my new facebook sobriety, Chris decided to jump on the bandwagon. And just so that I did not transfer one addiction to the next, I erased my myspace page too.

So friends, signing-off.

Monkey Wrench

So, I've always wondered what this term means. Because tonight Chris and I found ourselves saying "Well, that just throws in a monkey wrench!"

So I wikipedia -ed it and this guy named Moncy invented it back in the 1800s and sold it to his customers for $2000 (that was a TON of money back in the day) in which he turned around and invested the money into a Williamsburg mansion. In the early 1900s people would say "that throws a monkey wrench in the machinery" - so the phrase pretty much means sabotoge.

We'll.... with that researched... we have not been sabotaged. Thank the Lord! We are still well and not even close to sabotage. I will not incorrectly use that term anymore thanks to Wikipedia.

Just when Chris and I thought we had come to a decision about the grad school dilemma, Chris received a phone call from one of the professors. He's an incredibly likable guy and he has been so enthusiastic about Chris. He had fabulous news. Unfortunately, the ability for us to finance Chris' schooling has not been totally revealed yet. I'll let Chris give you the DL on everything in detail when time permits (he's at SC Phil rehearsal right now). But this one little phone call put us back into serious decision making mode. Again.

So why blog today? Because, let's face it. We're always in need of prayers, but we would certainly value them tremendously if you could say a few for Chris this week. We're 100% sure that God has this in the bag. We just need to be obedient and make the correct decisions to get us there.

So has there been a monkey wrench thrown into our plans? Ha, No.

Great Weekend & Big Deals

So Chris and I had a great weekend. Lots of productivity going on.

I had my yearly eye exam - yikers - vision is a lot worse. But I see SO much better with new contact lenses. We went shopping for new frames/lenses for the both of us. The styles out there are pretty great. I think I'm springing for these ones...

They're pretty hot. Chris is looking for something a bit metro but also something that will go with his new mane of beautiful hair. I'm really starting to like it a lot. It's pretty much hot also ;-) I'll post some pics whenever I upload the camera software on our new laptop.

Speaking of the laptop - COOL info - Netflix has this offer for $8.99. You get 1 DVD at a time, unlimited exchanges, AND here's the kicker... you can stream movies/tv shows/documentaries onto your computer UNLIMITED. Now now, this is pretty amazing. Chris and I bought an HDMI connection that we can plug into the TV and wa-laaa! We have movies instantly. The selection is really good. They don't have the really new releases but you can get pretty much anything and save the new releases to your incoming DVD. We had been doing Blockbuster online, but it was a rip off... they kept raising the prices without telling us and limiting our instore exchanges.

NEXT topic on the chopping block......... http://www.southernsavers.com/

This website is THE SHIZ. Chris and I bought $140 worth of groceries for $80. Yes friends, you read correctly. We SAVED $60 thanks to this lovely website. A friend of mine posted something like this on her blog and I thought "Pfffff... I do not have time fot that... are you kidding me?" Well, we spent maybe 30 minutes on the computer on this one site. And then went shopping. I'm going to the official coupon saving seminar next Saturday for $10. There is some jargan on the website that I really don't understand. I figure if I could understand it just a wee bit better than maybe our savings will go a whole lotta up! I'll keep you posted. I'm becoming a believer.

Last but not least, so sweet for Chris to join in on the blogging fun :-) Maybe he'll grace us with his blogging again. Hehe.

Much Love to All!

Rejection is not a bad thing - by Chris

Over the last couple weeks I have received letters from 3 different schools saying they did not want me to attend there. At least they used very flowery language to gently let me down. On the bright side, it makes my decision even easier. So, in essence, rejection is not a bad thing.

God has blessed us in so many ways. I feel that He makes Himself increasingly clear on what we should do with our lives. When life hands you lemons you make lemonade. So life is now less complicated. I'm so happy that I have my lovely wife to share this journey. Without her I couldn't have gone across the country to audition at all the schools. The two schools that I'm looking at right now seem very promising. I know that I will get a quality education, and that is all I can ask for.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and encouraged me during this process. I am looking forward to the great possibilities in my music career. Life is too good for me to complain.

I'll keep you posted.

Yes, I Wok It Out.

Good Sunday Afternoon to you all.

It's a lazy rainy day here. I love these kinds of days. I've managed to stay in yoga pants all weekend and caught up on sofa snuggle time with Chris. We've watched movies to include Big Fish, Little Rascals, & Body of Lies. We did the weekly Target stroll. I've been sipping on chai latte - a fabulous sample & recipe that a dear friend of ours brought to us last weekend. It may very well become my new addiction.

I'm a little bit sad by the fact that this winter weather will be moving out. Incoming is spring, which is fine and all. But in South Carolina that means more humidity, more pollen, and more allergy/sinus/cold issues. I've been struggling with the first batch this past week/weekend. Chris is becoming a little sneezy. Thankfully it'll be gone by May.

With all this mentioned, it makes me really lean more towards Penn State and the clean mountain-ish air that it may bring. I've been googling houses/duplexes for Penn State and Univ. of Tenn just to get ideas. The possibilities are exciting. Some of the craigslist sites are already starting to post pics of places availible for Fall 2009.

That's all yet to be decided. I'm trying not to get too ahead of ourselves. We're still waiting to hear from the other schools and the financial aspects. Chris was told that the scholarship/assistantships decisions should be more clear by mid-March, so we'll know sooner than later. Everything has really come in waves, which has made decision making easy. We deal with one issue and on to the next challenge.

We'll be making my first major student loan repayment this month and although we're sqeaking a little; the money is there and our budget is starting to look more hopeful. I have been worried and sometimes frantic at moments because it is so much - literally like a mortgage. Chris is my God send. He has managed our finances so well. I am so proud of him. I type about this because, at times, I don't think to incoporate God in our financial plans. I sometimes think that it's not His department and limit Him to issues of the heart and soul. But Chris and I are living proof that God knows the desires of our hearts. We're proof that if we follow God's individualized purpose then He will see it through and ultimately make it happen. *Stepping off the soap box*

Now......... Let's talk WOK! I was first introduced to serious Wok cooking by my cousin & his wife while staying a week with them for a clinical rotation at Duke. So, Chris & I bought a Wok at IKEA last year. We didn't bring it out until last night and boy have we been missing out! We made ginger & sesame chicken with veggies and teriyaki beef with broccoli. Talk about some yummy goodness. Folks, I encourage you to....

Becky is Crazy. Chris has High Cholesterol. But All is Well.

So, after a very very long time, Chris and I decided to get on the boat and find a primary care provider. We're going to a "residence run" clinic. This means, the doctor's are real doctors, they've graduated, the have MD at the end of their name, but they are still under the eye of an attending (old doctor that knows it all). Pretty good experience. Our doctor was very young, hip, quick, and thorough without all the silly formalities of some doctor's office.



We had the yearly blood work done. It was a given that my thyroid would come back wacky due to my non-compliance with medication. It's a long story, but ultimately, I normally CANNOT rely on taking pills... my memory is TERRIBLE... which is a symptom of hypothyroid. So you can see the vicious cycle. BUT.... after the labwork came back... my TSH level was 15 (FIFTEEN)... which in normal people terms this means its way too high. No wonder why I feel tired, achy, forgetful (I leave my wallet in the front seat of the car in plain site at least 2 x a week), cranky, and just flat out crazy. So my new goal.... take my meds, be a normal person! Plain and simple. Thank God for levothroid. :-)



Now.... Chris has had history of high cholesterol which is kinda scary at such a young age. And you better believe it, the man had elevated labwork. It was not too terrible, but hopefully something we can manage through diet - which will be VERY difficult for Chris if you know him just a little bit. He is a double cheese burger value meal kind of guy with a McChicken and extra double cheeseburger. Yeh, he's still skinny, but his arteries are feeling it.



But ya know what, with all of that said, we're doing really well. We were able to spend some much needed time with some great friends the other day - the couple that did out premarital counseling. I think I have a part-time home health job lined up (still crossing fingers). And Chris is on his road to pursuing his dreams. So here's to eating more whole grains and remembering to taking sanity in the form of a pill!



P.S. - Keep my bro and sister-in-law in your prayers. He should be getting off a plane from Iraq anytime soon! Wahoo!

Happy Hump Day!

Gosh, so happy its Wednesday (Really Thursday now that I'm finally going to post this thing). I am a very spoiled girl. What with a fantastic celebration weekend and Chris cooking a yummy dinner for me Monday, I just wasn't too ready to get back to work. But, all in all, its been a good week!

Soooo... Chris had his audition at USC on Saturday. He says it went well. The jury members were all old professors and one of them even said "De ja vu!" So yay Chris for getting through his final grad school audition :-) We'll be having to weight the options here soon. Still waiting to hear back from some other schools and then how much $$ will be involved. We have interpretted the smoothness of this process as God's confirmation.

Now. Let's talk Cheesecake Factory. You must have the Chocolate Pistachio Cheesecake. It was delicious. The Chicken Madeira was EVEN better. Let's not forget the made to eat gaucamole that Chris and I couldn't get enough of.

Then... IKEA was pretty much out of control. The parking lot was completely fully. Chris and I parked a good bit away. It was really cold and very rainy, but what a great place to be when you can't be outdoors!

We managed to buy a few really fun items for the house without breaking the bank. I wish I had more time to post pictures of things, but here is the breakbox we got. And it was only $19.99. I'd say that's a good deal :-)

USC & Bday

Chris has his final audition at USC tomorrow morning at 10:45am. Say a little prayer. There's no doubt he'll do great. He's pretty much a seasoned pro by now at auditions what with the 5 he has already under his belt.

Following his audition, we're heading up to IKEA & Cheesecake Factory in Charlotte for my birthday celebration extravaganza. I am so excited about this! These 2 places are probably on my top 10 of most favorite places EVER... like next to Disney World. I have no idea what on Earth I need more of ... ever since we've moved here we have transformed our cute little duplex to a pretty chic pad. Chris and I love decorating. Our (well, my) new favorite thing to do is organizing... so I'm thinking some storage bins and containers (see container) are in for purchasing and then there is really cool lamp I've been eye balling since our last IKEA trip to Atlanta in November (see lamp).

So that's about all that is going on. I shall retire to the sofa now where Chris will perform his nightly hair tickling duties. Hehe. Buuuuuuut, I have to say... now that Chris has long hair... I've had to pay my dues in hair tickling time too!

We'll keep ya posted on acceptance stuff as it comes. Please keep us in your prayers for assistantships/scholarships. Also, please keep Chris in your prayers as he struggles with the inevitable decision to purchase his lonely wife a labradoodle or golden doodle or English bulldog or what have you.

Haha, ya'll know I'm just kidding... but not really... Chris *uh hmmmm... let me clear my throat*

That's right folks!

University of Tenn will be in the line-up for the decision making process. We found out about this school a while ago - they're very eager to have Chris. The faculty there are really nice & enthusiastic. The city is a lot like Columbia, but lots of OT jobs!

Most recently, we found out Chris was accepted to Penn State University in University Park, PA (aka... middle of NO WHERE) - but cool thing is... there is a skii resort like 10 minutes from campus. Maybe I'll finally get to learn and Chris will finally get to put his boots on and use his snowboard (without injuries!).

That's it for now! Happy TUESDAY & stay warm if your in Cola-town. Chris has agreed to be a co-author of the blog... so maybe we'll get him on here to say a few words. ;-)

First Time.

So. We started a blog. Never thought I'd go here again. I (Becky) had one previously failed attempt for a blog. But, let's face it, these things can be pretty darn handy when it comes down to communicating to the masses about little things that sometimes seem not that important OR a quick thing to communicate pretty BIG things. We promise we won't belittle you to only blog updates. Just because we're bloggin' doesn't mean we won't come a knockin' or callin'. Did that sound South Carolina enough for you?

Here's the latest "down low". I (Becky) stole the title off of DGW, Know About It! from Darius Goes West because I lack in creativity today. Which by the way - is a fantastic movie, and if you haven't seen it... just go buy it... it will contribute $17 to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Point aside. We have a whole heck of a lot of stuff going on in our lives. And we needed an avenue to explain the changes that may result from the following:

A.) Becky started a really cool job as an occupational therapist at the VA Hospital.
B.) Chris quit his job as bank teller & become not ONLY part-time musician but full-time!
C.) Chris & Becky figured out they were poor.
D.) Chris & Becky prayed their fannies off.
E.) Chris decided in order to make more $$ as a musician he needs more education.
F.) Chris applied to grad school.
G.) Chris went on a grand American tour for ~ 3 weeks to audition.
H.) Becky missed Chris a lot.
I.) Chris and Becky are now waiting to hear where he will go to grad school.

So maybe here in the next few weeks we'll have a J-Z to offer. And, if all fails, and nobody reads, it will be an excellent way to hash out our thoughts and experiences.