Other things we have been up to

So what else have we been up to lately...
*We surprised Bob's dad for his 60th Birthday by flying up to Minneapolis for the weekend. We were able to spend the day with the Azars which was so much fun to see everyone, especially Addy and Liam. Were were able to attend my friend Ali's engagment party and head to our last Twins game at the Metrodome with Mesa and Tony. It was a packed weekend but lots of fun.
*My brothers and sister had their birthday week in August Happy Belated to Nate, Becky & Pat.
*Bob and I celebrated our Engageaversiary. We have been engaged for a year now!
*Bob finished his first round of rotations. He enjoyed internal medicine where he had lots of interesting interactions with patients, attendees, residents and other med students. He had his first shelf for medicine and started his surgery rotation. One week of surgery down and so far it is going well. He gets all excited to tell me about what happened in the hospital that day and I enjoy listening until I stop understanding what he is talking about. I'm sure there will be lots more stories to come but I am ready for them.
*We have spent some great time with friends heading to the Farmer's Market, Dundee Day, and lots of other good times. We are lucky that we have found some good friends here in Omaha.
*This Labor Day weekend we enjoyed heading to the Zoo to go on the new SkyFari attraction. The lines were crazy but it was fun as always. We also had a lovely picnic today at Heartland of America park. We are trying to enjoy the beautiful weather while we still can.
*We have had some ups and downs with our teams. The Twins seem to get our hopes up and then crush them hard. thanks for the rollercoaster of a season Twins. We have also had to accept the fact that a stupid old man has toyed with the Vikings and will be the quarterback this year. Oh it makes me cringe to see purple #4 jerseys.

I will try to be better at blogging now, as wedding plans are getting closer and more intense I may need a Bridezilla outlet.

We Registered

One of the best things about getting married is getting to register. Bob and I recently took two Saturdays to register for all of our wants and needs. It was so fun to go through all of the stores and pick out new kitchen utensils, baking and cooking needs, bedding, bath needs, home decorations and fun "toys". It is hard for us because the plan is to keep most things until we move to Bob's place as a resident. We have no idea what kind of house/apartment we will live in and what we will really need so we went with very neutral colors. We are now registered at Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and Yonkers/Herbergers. Feel free to buy us presents off those lists at any time, not just our wedding, like if you feel like spending $100 on me for no reason, I will take a Waterford place setting, or new cookie sheets, or a lamp, etc. etc. No pressure though!

I got a job!

Okay so I realized that the last time I blogged I was still in good old unhappy times and wishing for a new place of employment. Well of our prayers payed off. I attended a job fair the first week of August where I spoke with One Source. Later that day I recieved a phone call from them to set up an interview the following Monday. The interview I thought went well, but I have had many interviews and then nothing. By the time I arrived home from the interview I had a job offer on my answering machine!! I waited for Bob to come home to discuss the situation, but it really was a no brainer and I accepted the position as Account Manager at One Source The Background Check Company.

That Tuesday morning I turned in my two weeks notice and was so happy! The Nebraska Community Blood Bank was not as happy as I was as I left them in a really tough spot but I needed to do what was best for me. The next week and half (I actually did not work the full two weeks) was very odd in Lincoln. Half the people were nice to me and happy I was moving on, the other half acted super rude and ignored me. Man I am not sad to be gone from there.

My co-workers did suprise me with a wedding shower gift off of my registry so I guess that was nice.

Anyway I love my new job, I love that it is only 5 miles away from home, I love that I have two hours back of my life, I love that I can wear jeans, and I love my new responsiblities. Things are good!

Just keep looking, applying and praying

As most of you know I have been terribly unsatisfied with my place of employment. We have all hear the funny/annoying stories, but I continue to be unhappy and have decided to really beat the bushes for a new job. I have found a little prayer that I will now pray every day until new employment is found. I am hoping that each of you would send a little prayer for a new job my way in the next few months, I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep you all updated on any news.

God, our Father,
I turn to You seeking Your Divine help and guidance as I look for suitable employment.
I need Your wisdom to guide my footsteps along the right path, and to lead me to find the proper things to say and do in this quest.
I wish to use the gifts and talents You have given me, but I need the opportunity to do so with gainful employment.
Do not abandon me, dear Father, in this search, but rather grant me this favor I seek so that I may return to You with praise and thanksgiving for your gracious assistance.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Happy Birthday Macy Ella Jane

Today Ms. Macy Ella Jane turns one year old! How exciting to be a year, to have so many things behind you, like birth, first bottle, first solid food, first crawl, first tooth, first step, yet so many things ahead of you. Happy Birthday little Princess. You are loved very much. Enjoy your birthday cake!

So blogger has some problems b/c both Pat and I couldn't add a picture of this little gal. I hope to go visit soon and will update you all then what the little one year old looks like!-So cute, just like her big brother and sister.

Almost a month?

What happened? I fell behind on blogging again. So I guess I will do one of my re-cap my life blogs.

Bob and I spent time in the Twin Cities. We got to see our new nephew Liam and I fell absolutely in love with babies. Not ready for one but I really liked holding him. We did two wedding cake tastings-mmmm. Had an incredibly long but fun day taking pictures for our center pieces with Mesa and Tony, they made it worth while. We also caught a bad Twins game at the dome. Bob stayed in the cities a few more days but came home to continue his pampering of me!

Bob and I were also able to enjoy some time well needed together. After his studying all the time we really made a concious effort to spend the time we did have with each other. I think we both were used to away time that maybe we got on each other's nerves a bit but we did do some fun things. We saw the movie The Hangover-hillarious, went on some great walks, enjoyed the farmer's market and arts festival, watched the Twins win and lose, and even smoked a cigar or two. We also were able to be super excited about his awesome score on the boards. Bob did really well and I am so proud of him. Way to go!

My dad celebrated his birthday on July 1st. Love you Dad you are the best!

This past weekend started off with a work holiday on Friday so Bob and I volunteered to snag a tailgaiting spot at Rosenblatt, which turned into complete caos. Both Bob and I took turns complaining to the parking attendants that there needed to be more information about the whole situation. We later found a great spot but sat out in the rain until we were able to enjoy some fun tailgaiting with friends. We headed to the horrible Omaha Royals game but ran back to the car before it started to poor. When we got back my car's battery was dead from the festiviites of tailgating but got a jump and then watched the fireworks after the rain. We were able to catch the last 4 innings of the Twins 16 inning game on TV that night too. On the 4th it was so gloomy and almost chilly we spent most of the day inside but did manage to take a walk. We later grilled with our new neighbors Bill & Steve where we learned more about them and how they pretty much know everyone famous. We watched fireworks at our house as other neighbors were setting them off until all hours of the morning. Sunday was pretty chill as we were getting ready to head back to reality. Bob started at the VA today and I headed back to work after 12 weeks of bliss without a co-worker. I also started back to 40 hours a week. We will see how long it lasts I guess.

Our 2nd Baseball Trip

We just returned from the 2nd Fleming Family Baseball trip. This year we went to Chicago to see the Twins play 2 interleague games against the Cubs. It was quite a different trip than last years out east and quite quick but it was oh so much fun.

Thursday after work Bob and I headed over to Ames to so we could be ready to leave Friday morning. We were treated to a nice nights stay with Pat and Ashley and even got to be one of the few to see their new movie they just made. I loved it and I hope it does really well in the film festival in a few weeks.

Friday the original baseball gang met up at 5:00am. My dad, Tom, Cole, Pat, Ashley, Bob and I headed off to Chicago. With smooth sailing and little traffic we arrived at Wrigley field for the 1:20 game, with plenty of time to see the stadium outside and in. One of my goals of the trip was to have a real Chicago dog, well I had two different kinds, both were delicious and I absolutely love pickles, onions and tomatoes on my hot dogs, I was a true Chi-town person and did not add ketchup! The game was crazy awesome. Be sure to check out Milton Bradley’s huge mistake on YouTube . Twins won and there were lots of Twins fans there to celebrate. After making our way to the hotel we decided to get some real Chicago deep dish pizza. I can tell why people in the Midwest look the way they do with all this amazing food. After walking, getting lost and finding the place and the line we decided it would be better to order the pizza to the hotel. I needed food and I had a small hypoglycemic attack where I made a fool of myself but ended up being okay. We also realized that we were staying in a hotel just next to the MN Twins. We kept running into Twins players on the street. My brother and I also saw Loren Michaels walking down the street, it took a while to realize it was him and not Michael Bloomberg. Nice try Pat!

Saturday we headed over to Wrigley in the rain. We took the “L” over to the stadium which made me miss riding a subway and made me think of London-oh I miss big cities. The game ended up being delayed just a bit. It was so cold but thanks to my dad for thinking of me he purchased tickets under the overhang (so I wouldn’t get heat stroke) well it was too cold for that this year but our seats were nice and dry. Twins won in an exciting game. Whoooo!

Saturday evening my dad treated us all to a very nice dinner at the Capital Grill. We all enjoyed our food and some after dinner drinks, now Pat knows that when served a beverage in a sniffer, you don’t take it like a shot! We walked back to the hotel and Cole was able to get some Twins autographs. Pat, Ash, Bob & I decided to walking around Chicago a little more. We had just finished a drink in a bar (after Pat & Ashley chased down a random man they thought was Stephen King) we heard lots of cheering so we went down the street to see what was going on. All of a sudden we see over a 1000 people on bikes naked! It was a naked bike ride, yes nude! I snapped some pics, but I won’t put those up on the blog.

Sunday morning we took off early to head home from Chicago. I was sad to say goodbye as it was just a short trip. We headed home with no problems at all and it was so much different than last years long hours in the car. We met my mom, Becky, Merrick, & Macy for Lunch in Des Moines and then all went our separate ways.

I have to say I have the absolute best dad in the world. He is just the nicest guy and treats us all so well. Thank you dad for another amazing trip. You always outdo yourself and it is never necessary but very much appreciated.

Happy Birthday Mom and Ashley

Of course I have to just wish my beatiful mother and my wonderful Sister-in-law Ashley a very happy birthday, Today, June 9th. Both are special women to me and I hope they both have the best day today.

I'm looking forward to spending time with Ashley this weekend and getting to see my momma on Sunday. Happy Day Ladies.

William (Liam) Aaron Florin

Bob's sister Sara and Aaron welcomed into their family their new son, William Aaron Florin. Liam was born today, Wednesday, June 3rd at 3:52 pm. He weighed 8lbs 1/2 oz and is 20 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well. We are so excited to see our new nephew and his big sister Addy in just a few weeks. Wish it was sooner.
Happy Birthday little Baby Liam.

Please pray for the M2s

We are so close to test day I don't even know what to do with myself. This past week, well I should say this past 6 months have been absolutely horrible for Bob, and the more I realize it horrible on me too. My poor guy has been studying like crazy. I have never seen someone study this much. Bob continues to amaze me with his go gettem attitude and never ending ability to keep at it. This past week Bob was getting up and at school by 6:30. He would return home for dinner around 5:00 and be headed back to school at 6:15 and stay until at least 9:30. For the little bit I did see him the words that came out of his mouth did not make sense. It is hard to carry on a conversation with the poor guy b/c he has his head in the books the whole time. He would open his mouth and a vomit of word mixture would come out. I usually needed to have him repeat what he said so I could understand it. Last night he lost his use of prepositions/conjunctions. It was hard to make out his sentences. I know that come tomorrow night this guy is going to be so happy this freaking test is over. I'm so excited for it to be done b/c then I know that I will get to spend more time with him, and we are "literally" a step closer to being done with medical school. I know that it is not just Bob that is going through this right now. Our friends will also take Step one in the next week and all of the Creighton M2s will finish up in June. Please pray for these students to do well. Bob will take his test on Tuesday, Ryan on Wednesday, Chris on Thursday and I believe Nick on Monday or Tuesday next week. I wish each of them the best of luck. But most of all to my sweetheart. Show em what you got Bob. Biochem ain't got nothin on you, cause you know it!

I'm freaking out myself, I hope I have a sense of relief after tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a cigar and a beer after, that is for sure!

My Birthday Boy

I know I am a day behind but I needed to wish Baubak a very special Happy Birthday. Yesterday, May 24th, was Bob's 25th birthday. Last year on his golden birthday he was in India where he chipped his tooth and had traveler's diarrhea. This year I had promised him it was going to be better. Although with only a little over a week before the big test he knew he would have USMLE on his mind.

It started on Saturday after Bob finished a practice test and going through some questions he headed home from school and decided to take the whole day Sunday off from studying. Good for him, and for me too.

I had made Bob a birthday cake and tried to make a Hazelnut White Chocolate Frosting to go on top. Hah it was not good, well it was complete sugar so Bob did not like it, but I of course being the sweet eater I am enjoyed it. I was able to save one of the cakes so he did have something.

Sunday morning after a well deserved sleep in Bob woke up to open his presents from me, chocolate, cigars and a humidor! Next we headed to Jimmy Johns for lunch and on to the Omaha Royals game. Bob says any birthday is good when he can watch baseball. The game was pretty good except the Royals were horrible. We arrived at Rosenblatt 25 minutes before game time to buy our tickets. I went all out and got the most expensive tickets for us ($10 a piece). We had our own little section directly behind home plate, only 2 rows up, although we could have sat in the front row. As we sat down Bob said, we should have brought sunscreen-ahh now my legs are burnt to a crisp with a stellar tan line, but we had fun. After the game we went out to eat at P.F.Changs for some lettuce wraps and nice food. It was very good! We also headed to DQ for a dessert blizzard and then back to watch the Twins beat up on the Brewers. Bob even got to see his favorite player hit a grand slam. Too bad it wasn't in person, but at least he got to see it. I think Bob enjoyed his birthday and I know he enjoyed his day off from studying. He is back at it today and will be hitting it hard until next week!

Happy 25th Birthday Baubak. I love you!

Happy Birthday Cole!

Wishing my only nephew a very Happy Birthday; Mr. Cole Thomas Gacke!

It is so odd thinking 11 years ago my big sis was induced and at 10:00 at night the little boy changed our lives forever. This kid is so great and I cannot imagine life without him in it. He makes me laugh so much. He has an amazing bond with my dad. He has a mad passion for sports, especially baseball. Bob and Cole share lots of the same traits in life and it is funny as they get really competitive about Wii games. The past 11 years Cole has made many special memories in my life. I look forward to watching him grown into a young man. I found this silly picture of Cole probably 4-5 years ago and it made me laugh. Leave it to Aunt Ashley to make fun of someone on their birthday. Happy Birthday Cole. Enjoy your desserts and day!

Golden Apple Fun

This Saturday Bob and I were able to get out, relax, and have a little fun at Creighton University's Medical School Golden Apple Awards. This event takes place every year, where they recognize students and faculty for outstanding service to their community and students. The night started out with cocktail hour (2 free drink tickets) and then onto dinner. The food was just okay and the service was very odd. You needed to hold on to your glass so they wouldn't take it off the table, even if there was clearly plenty left. One of the waiters even filled up Angela's half full wine glass with water-wasn't that nice of him? The dessert was horrible. It didn't taste bad, but nobody could figure out what it was. The evening continued on to the awards where a 4th year stood and talked for way way too long. The program was so long that we were all sitting for 3 full hours, with no glasses on our table to even sip water. Then the night turned in to much fun of drinking and dancing. They even had a photo booth where you could get free pics taken.
This event was lots of fun, besides the speaker & food. The friends made it all the better. I am so glad they had this for the Med students, especially the M2s that came. We are under a month left until boards and the studying is just crazy, they all needed a little break. And you know their significant others needed one too!

The rest of the weekend-it got better.

I wanted to fill in the last part of my weekend up North. Saturday morning I actually did some wedding planning. I was able to look into some things on the Internet because most wedding things are blocked at my work. I also tried out two local bakeries to get a feel for wedding cakes and our special dessert! I was able to meet up with Judi, Homayoun, Sara and Addy for a great Thai lunch and then Judi and I headed off to the Cathedral to view the 2:00 wedding. It was exciting to see what a wedding looks like there and to hear the music. I am my mother and sister and cry at weddings so I got a little teary eyed when the couple was saying their vows. I think I was thinking more of that will be Bob and I in one year, how exciting. Oh boy I am going to be a wreck crying at our wedding though. After leaving the Twin Cities I headed straight to Sibley to hang with my mom for a bit. Poor thing just sits with her legs up and is instructed to not put any weight on her foot. When she needs to get up she uses a walker that has a seat, props her knee on the seat and scoots around. It is kind of funny but I know she hates it. I felt awful leaving her Sunday afternoon as my dad was gone. It was nice to know that she has great friends to take care of her along with both of my grandmas. I think what scares me the most is that she is going to try to do way too much and that poor little foot of hers will not heal. Soon it will be summer and I know she will be up and running again.

During my whole time having fun enjoying myself, Bob was here in Omaha working his tail off. Bob finished up Behavioral Medicine with his final on Monday, the 27th. He was so happy to be done with this class as it had so much extra busy work included with it. He was frustrated because he was not able to give more time to studying for boards. He also said that studying for the boards was more fun than studying for that class, we just know Bob will not be in the psychology field! Tuesday through today the M2s have been going through intense review lectures helping them study for the boards. This is the most comprehensive test he will ever take, the questions are so detailed and they do not leave anything out from simple math to biochemistry he must know it all. They will have a practice exam tomorrow. One of the professors said, these next four weeks will be the worst of your life. Can I tell you that I am looking forward to it? But it is coming down to crunch time and here is my shot to prove to Bob I am behind him 100%. I am learning that when he says he needs to study. I let him study, and most importantly when he needs to take a break, I let him take one. It is not worth it to get burnt out or sick.

I’m sure I will keep you posted in the next four weeks as it is going to be a stressful time, but well worth it in the end.

Bad House Guest

So after What's Your Type I showed up at my dear friends, Mesa and Tony's. They were kind enough to let me stay. As I arrived I proceeded to drop a bottle of champagne that I was giving them as a gift on the floor. The bottle shattered and the champagne was a sticky mess. I'm so sorry.
The next morning while Mesa and Tony were at work, I was going to lounge around the house, finish up some Blood Bank work and get ready to hang with Mesa in the afternoon. Well I took my car keys out to my car to grab my work computer when I realized that I had just locked myself out. I was in my Pajamas, what was I going to do? I thought, well I can get into my car, and hang out at a coffee shop until Mesa is done working at 11:30! He he, I didn't even have my purse or phone with me. I was lucky enough to have a roll of quarters in my car I keep for meters so I was that girl that bought a coffee with quarters. I got on to my computer and emailed Mesa right away to inform her of my 2nd bad house guest moment. We set it up that I would drive to her work, she would run down hand me her house key and I could at least go shower. Oh boy!
I vowed that one year from that day I was bound to have a better day, as it was April 24th-only a year until Wedding Bells.
After Mesa was finished with work we went to go check out and confirm her choice of a wedding dress. It is so gorgeous and she was absolutely glowing when she put it on. I am so happy for her and am so excited for their wedding in Mexico next summer. We then do what the two of us absolutely love to do together...shop :) And let me tell you, I shopped my little heart out, but it was needed, well wanted at least.
We joined Tony for dinner and then headed to Valentinos, which I thought was funny b/c that is a gross pizza buffet here in NE. But it was this beautiful mansion in South St. Paul that has been turned into a night club. When we arrived there was a softball fundraiser going on for some of Tony's co-workers, but it was more like a frat party. Later the dance music came on as well as these tvs that showed an outline of naked women dancing. We headed down to the dance floor to find out the club is 18 plus and there were some 18 plus ladies getting their groove on, and 30 plus gentleman watching. It was so odd, we left but I guess these two 25 year olds and 24 year old engaged kids were too tired and headed for bed at 10:30.
I loved being a house guest at the Johnson and Denny Residence. They have a great place and I am so glad I was able to spend some time with my dear friends. I miss them so much, hopefully residence will be in the Twin Cities so we can live near them.

What's Your Type?

On Thursday I headed up to Minnesota to help and check out Memorial Blood Center's What's Your Type Event. This event has been going on for a few years and it seems to get bigger and better every year. This was my 3rd time volunteering. I arrived at 2:00 to see some old friends and co-workers and to help finish getting everything ready. I also had a chance to look at some of the awesome silent auction items they had for sale. I only looked as many of the minimum bids were $100 and there was no way I could afford that, especially when I knew I would be shopping the next day. Any way What's Your Type is a play on blood types, but they also have different types of food to taste, drinks to drink, things to buy and people to see. Tim Mahoney, a local MN artist rocked the whole evening long and they ended up raising over $11,000 in that night alone. GOOD JOB! I'm glad I attended. But duh me did not take any pictures the whole weekend.

Happy Birthday Sara

Sunday was my soon to be sister-in-law's birthday. Sara Florin is a great sister to her baby brother Bob and a wonderful friend to me. She is lots of fun, so hopefully she was able to enjoy her day a little on Sunday. Sara and Aaron are awesome parents to little Addy and in June will have a baby boy to join the family. We are excited for a new nephew to come in to the world.

Next year Sara will have a "big" birthday. Enjoy the last year of your twenties Sara. Happy Belated.

Dress Shopping & Surgery

On Saturday, this past weekend, I got together with my dear S.O.s of Med School friends and went dress shopping for our Med Schoo Prom dresses. As you can recall last year we went to Golden Apple an evening of awards, dinner, dancing and drinking for all four classes of Creighton Med School. This year we will be attending again and Angela, Jamie and I needed new dresses for the ocaisson. We had lots of fun shopping around trying some silly dresses on and finding some really good ones too. I think we are all excited to wear the new outfits and look great for our future doctors. Heck-there have to be some benefits of being a med school's wife, fiance and girlfriend right? After all the studying, endless stories of things I have no way of understanding, and the frustration that when I am sick he still doesn't know the answer, but will diagnos some random man in the bathroom stall next to him. I'll have pictures to share after the event.

My mom had surgery on her foot yesterday. I spoke to her yesterday morning and she seemed a bit nervous but knew it would soon be over with. I spoke to her again last night on her way home and she said she was feeling fine, totally with it and ready to start her recovery. I wish her the fastest best recovery ever. Anyone who knows my mom, knows she does not sit, she is always up helping someone else. Well mom, relax, take it easy. This is your time to read a book, watch some movies and catch up on all the TV drama. Hmm, I should look into getting the OJ Simpson murder trial on DVD. She was into that and watched all day long. That could keep her occupied and off that foot...thinking of you mom!

Quick Catch Up

So yeah, I have been horrible about blogging, no I did not give it up for lent, but heck it looks like I could have. I really do not have any excuse except I have been actually busy at work. Most people would dread being busy at work, I don’t mind it b/c it makes the time go by faster. Good news is that my co-worker is out on maternity leave for the next 12 weeks (she had her baby yesterday) so it looks like I will be busy for a while. I just hope I don’t get too busy.

Instead of trying to individually blog about each thing I am going to be lazy. Not all of these are equally important, so please do not take offense. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything.

• Nowruz-Persian New Year, bad Persian food in Omaha, but a good Persian to celebrate with.
• Addy turned 2 on March 21st (Happy Belated to my soon to be niece)
• My awesome friend and bridesmaid, Meghan O, spent some time with Bob and I during her spring break.
• Judi, my wonderful future mother-in-law had a birthday on March 25th.
• I visited Cole, Merrick, Macy, Tom and Becky in Kansas City-I will include some pictures when I take the time to download them.
• I went wedding dress shopping with my mom and dad, after trying on about 15 dresses we knew we had found it and this girl was happy that was over. Check that off the list to do.
• The good ole Med School gang got together for some bowling, after Bob told everyone I was good, I proceeded to suck the whole night.
• Baseball season has officially started. The Twins are not off to the best start, but it is early right?
• Easter was spent in Sibley with one grandma on Saturday night and the other on Sunday.

I know I know. Lame. I promise to be better about blogging, but at least I feel like I am caught up.

So much to do in the next few.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Pretty low key St. Paddy's Day for us. Bob enjoyed a Guinness and I enjoyed some green water-no lie. Here are pictures of our St. Patrick's Day celebration. Hope you all were able to enjoy something more fun.

Wedding Reception Shopping.

Wedding Planning so stressful. I have been kind of anti-wedding planning b/c I feel like I could care less about the wedding and more about the marriage. But some things needed to get done. So because we have the church all set we needed to get a reception location set. Bob and myself were joined by my parents and Bob’s sister and mom to go reception site shopping this past Monday and Tuesday. I think by 2nd location I wanted to be done and after the first Bob definitely did. What stress? Well we saw three locations on Monday and two on Tuesday. Four of the places we saw had great aspects to them. We needed to make a tough decision between The Science Museum, The History Center, The Hilton Garden Inn, and The Crown Plaza. Bob and I ended up with the decision on our lap, which was really nice that we were able to make the decision based on what we as a couple wanted, not just our families. It was so tough because I loved each place for a different reason. There was not one thing that I didn’t like that I could not get around. We ended up making a decision and I think that not just Bob and myself, but everyone attending the wedding will be happy with. However one of the great perks is the awesome bridal suite that we get-leather couches and a whirlpool! Here are some pictures of the reception site location-The Crown Plaza. Hip Hip Hooray-that is all I have to do with planning now isn’t it?

Here is the view from the outside, you can see all the windows in the Great River Ballroom.

Ignore the creepy guy in the photo, but this is a view of the dance floor where we will be partying it up all night long.

3G, yeah I have it.

While Bob and I were up in the Twin Cities we did something really exciting, well at least to us, we got new phones. Bob needed to get some sort of Blackberry, Palm type thing for the hospital rotations next year. He was great at doing research and decided that the Apple Iphone 3G was the thing for him. We decided to get a family plan for us to share and my phone had seen better days as it was not working 100% anymore. When we got to the store I looked around but just couldn’t find anything I was super thrilled with. I didn’t want to be a tool and get an Iphone 3G when I didn’t think I would use all the applications. As I continued to look every phone seemed so much more difficult to navigate than the Apple. So yes we both bought them. You can call me a tool, but I love my new phone, I love all the access I have and this will definitely help get me through the next year of wedding stress!

Bob's Spring Break

I usually get in at least one blog a week on what my weekly update is. I guess I have been busy. Well at least busy with other things.
Last week at work I cranked out some mad technical writing and finished writing all of my departments Standard Operating Procedures. Well at least I thought I finished writing them. I was rudely awoken when I returned to work this week to a CEO who thought I needed help on a definition of a policy and a procedure, yet she had not even read my work. Sighh at least it is Friday right?

Bob and I finished our FOCUS with Marcia on Friday of last week. We just need to do the re-focus and all of the other marriage prep, but we are slowly but surely making headway and things seem to be a little more real.

Saturday we headed up to our favorite spot the Twin Cities. We were able to spend some quality time with Bob’s family. Addy, Bob’s niece, is so adorable and incredibly smart. I can say that and people have to believe it b/c I’m not her aunt officially yet. She answers questions and her little voice is so cute. I asked her about my tattoo on my neck and she said “A”. Then later we were talking about it and she asked and pointed to the back of her neck to see if she had an A back there. Oh little girl, you are going to be a heart breaker!

It was so nice to see Bob’s family. They are great hosts and even let me use the treadmill early in the morning so I could still get my work outs in, and boy did I need it after eating so much delicious food. Thanks for being such great in-laws.

We did make some time to see our good friends Mesa and Tony-can't say how much I love them and Ali Gray and her new boyfriend Robin who was great to meet.
We made it back south on Wednesday evening. It was -2 degrees when we left Roseville, what a temp change in the 6 hour drive.

Hopefully Bob was able to enjoy a bit of his Spring break as this last little bit has been spent studying for that great test in June!

My spill

So this was a few weeks ago but I wanted to share my funny fall. I was at the gym one morning running on a treadmill. There were only about 3 other people at the gym at this time. I was getting a good stride but needed to adjust my ipod on my arm. I was paying attention to my ipod when I accidentally stepped off to the side of the treadmill. Not really thinking I stepped back on, only to completely lose my balance, fall and slide off the back of treadmill on my hands and knees. I got up, looked around and the people in the gym asked if I was okay. I was super embarrassed and a little concerned that I had ripped my pants. I made sure I was okay, stopped the treadmill and got back on to finish the work out. My knee really hurt and by the time I got home that night I had a heck of bruise on my knee along with a little rug burn. I am all healed up now. Bob and I were watching Mythbusters one night when we saw this. This looks exactly like my fall. He did the same thing, granite he was drunk and I totally was not. Enjoy some humor on me.

Ashes to Ashes on Ash Wednesday

Well as my sister knows this is probably one of my least favorite days. Bob can just laugh at me but today is one of two days of Catholic Fasting. The Muslims are rolling around laughing at me right now because they fast so much better. Catholics are allowed to eat small meals, but not allowed to snack, we can drink fluids throughout the day, and on a normal day, I can totally do that. But it just seems like Ash Wednesday and Good Friday my body says no, we will see what today brings as it was an early morning, I'm working 10 hours and then on to church. Here comes irritable Ashley!

Ash Wednesday is also the beginning of Lent, and for 40 days we are asked to do something for God. For some that is pray more and for others it is giving something up. My dad gives up Jell-o every year, b/c he hates it so much. I think for Easter I will make him some Jell-o eggs and tell him he has to eat them b/c Lent is over. This year I am declaring my sacrifice on my blog, so I stick with it. I'm giving up games on my computer, yes that means Spider Solitaire as well as Web Sudoku both at home and at work. Wish me luck and hopefully JC appreciates my sacrifice as much as I appreciated his, granite his was a little bigger.

Passing the test

Bob finished up one course that he is very happy to be done with, Endo/Repro! He passed the test on Friday so that meant he had a practically free weekend. We were both very excited for that to come. Although Bob did not have a class to study for he was able to get in a few hours or studying for that wonderful test in June. As you can see, a little over 3 months and we are under the 100 day mark as well. Don't worry baby, I know you can do it.

On Friday afternoon Bob and I also found out we "passed" another "test". We met with Marcia, the Med School Chaplain, who is working with us on Catholic Marriage Prep. We both are very excited we are doing this with her, instead of a priest or someone who has no idea what the medical profession is like. We sat down with her and talked a little about wedding planning, but more about marriage planning-what I am really into. One thing that stood out to me is that the national average of divorce rate is 50%, the physician divorce rate is 60%. Bob and I are going into this saying we are going to be in that 40%, and I think talking about it is the first step, huh? We then started going over our FOCUS inventory test that we took the day after Christmas in St. Paul. The results were sent to Marcia where we will meet with her a few times and go over some of the issues that we did not agree on, or that we did not pick the preferred answer of the church. Marcia said we did pretty well. In the different categories we ranged from 100%, 91% and some 80%. We did receive a 50% in the religion category-like no duh we knew that was going to happen. We went through this category in depth with Marcia. Like I said we were both so glad she wasn't a priest, because it was easier to talk about Bob and my differences in views and be able to say what we wanted without feeling like we were going against the churches teachings. We both know this is going to be a learning experience for both of us as it already has, but we will continue to grow together. I look forward to our next time we meet with Marcia.

Valentine’s Day spent with the family.

So it definitely was not the weekend I had planned, but it was nice to see the family. Friday of course we had a major snow storm which piled up the snow very quickly. I ended up getting some good cleaning in before Bob came home early from school as the University closed early and before Pat and Ashley came over. Luckily they were able to leave plenty early to get miss most of the snow storm on I-80. They were able to go the theater/film they had tickets for and they said they had a blast.

Saturday consisted of a light work out at the gym with my bro & sis-in-law and then lunch with my mom and dad and them. We traveled around Omaha for my mother to go to Michaels and the NE Furniture mart and then back to our house for a Valentine’s dinner. Our house is small and our kitchen is even smaller. There is about a 2x2 area of workspace, and I get so annoyed when I am trying to make dinner and other people are in my area. Well Saturday night became even worse b/c there were about 5 people trying to make dinner and I was the one in the other room cringing at the fact that I had absolutely no control of what was going on in my kitchen. I did make a fuss when I smelled something burning and it started to get smokey. Ahhh. The food was decent and after dinner my mom decided to wash all of the dishes by hand even though the dishwasher was completely empty (she forgot I had one). We ended up playing Catch Phrase and that always produces some good laughs and great stories. I think my mom is the worse Catch Phrase player ever. Her clues were not very good and she pointed for everything. She also would forget to pass the catch phrase b/c she was celebrating too much.

Sundays are always the same at my house although just cleaning up from the family was a full time job on top of my normal Sunday duties. I was able to catch the end of one of my old favorite movies Troop Beverly Hills. Bob came home just in time and was shocked that I could quote it and that some of my favorite movies quotes come from there, such as, “Patches, we don’t need no stinkin’ patches.”

All in all V-day has come and gone and check this out-I didn’t even have a piece a chocolate!

Relaxing same old thing

Well I couldn’t miss out on the abnormally warm weather we had this weekend. It was so nice to walk outside on Friday and Saturday. You know I love the cold weather, but I’m not going to complain when we get in the 60s as that is jeans and sweatshirt weather which I love. Most of the weekend was spent running errands and making some good food for my love, Bob. I was able to snag some Wii time with Jamie who came over to try out the Wii Fit. Bob and I joined Megan and Jason (Med School friends) to go to the UNO hockey game. UNO was horrible and lost 5-0, but the game was also dedicated to Brain Cancer. They had a lighting ceremony before the game where everyone had a pen flashlight. First they had Brain Cancer patients shine their light, then those affected by Brain Cancer, then anyone who has had cancer, and then anyone affected by cancer and all of the lights were showing in the Qwest Center. And all of a sudden the flood gates open, Bob turned to me and I was bawling, those things just get to me. Anyway if they raised $30,000 by the end of the game the entire UNO hockey team and their coaches were going to shave their heads. So after the game we stayed to watch all their heads get shaved. Brain Cancer is more common than you think so I’m glad they had that awareness and raised money for it on Saturday night.
My Sunday was a normal one, but with no sports to watch. It ended up being pretty busy as I really wanted to make a nice dinner for Bob. We had barbecued chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and corn. It was so tasty. We watched the Grammy’s last night, which both of us have not done in years. Some of the performances were fun, some not so much, and some people who won I had not heard of. Oh well. Hope all of you had a good weekend and a great upcoming week.
I’m looking forward to the end of this week when my brother and sister-in-law are coming to visit. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so I am excited to hang out with them and to enjoy a little bit of time with Bob when he isn’t studying for Endo/Repro or the boards. Bob found out that he will take the big exam on June 2nd. We are definitely excited for that to be over but we both know that there is a long bumpy road from here to there. Keep at it Bob.

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes

Well I know that my Birthday was on Monday but the celebrations continued to keep going. Thank you everyone that helped me celebrate my birthday in so many special ways. Here is a little recap. Hopefully I won't leave anything out.
Saturday my mom drove up from Kansas City and my dad drove down from Sibley to take Bob and I out for lunch. We ate at the Upstream and we all had some really great food. It was fun to have them meet here in Omaha and to hang out for a bit. After lunch we came back to our place to open presents, which I was spoiled as my mom did a green theme where everything was the color green. But the best part of the whole day was that my mom and sis made me an Angel Food Cake. It was delicious!
Sunday was spent cleaning and organizing as we had Nick & Alena, Chris & Angela, & Jamie & Ryan over for the Superbowl. The game was great but everyone brought awesome food that I ate way too much of. It was fun to spend my "Persian Birthday" with those friends.
Monday-The Groundhog saw his shadow-but at work I had a cloud over my head. The stress of last week's drama from work lurked into my birthday. We had to cancel my birthday lunch with co-workers to hold an emergency conference call where people were yelling and swearing at each other. I vowed to not let it get to me as it was my special day. That evening Bob made some great dinner, and it was spent chatting on the phone and chillin out.
Tuesday-my co-workers insisted on taking me out to lunch. I was anything but excited for this but it was fine.
Wednesday-after more work drama which included me throwing away 160 copies of something to reprint them at Kinkos. I was able to get home early enough as Bob and I planned to go out to eat, to celebrate me being 25! We went to a wonderful Indian restaurant. I enjoyed some vegetable curry while Bob had the Lamb Saag. We couldn't get over how good the food was and we were happy we had dinner there.
Thursday evening I finished the last piece of Angel Food cake and said goodbye to my birthday. I am still able to enjoy all the wonderful presents, cards, & flowers through out the year so thank you very much all of you for making my day so great.

Congratulations Sara & Bryan

I need to wish my good friend Sara a huge congratulations as she recently got engaged to Bryan. They are such a perfect couple, and I am so excited for them. Sara and I have been friends since she moved to Sibley when we were pretty little, like before school (I think). Sara is so intelligent and such a caring person as since undergrad has been over she has worked for Habitat for Humanity and is now back in school. Bryan is in medical school at Iowa so it is great to ask Sara for advice and her input as she totally knows what it is like to have a significant other in this crazy life of studying all the time. This picture is kind of old but it is super cute of the couple.

Congratulations you two.

Slumdog Millionaire

Bob was lucky enough to have a whole weekend where he only had to study a few hours. It was great to be able to spend all the time with him. We didn't do a whole lot during the weekend but it was nice to just be in the same place at the same time. Bob and I have been wanting to go see Slumdog-Millionaire. We went to the new Rave theater in Omaha (just like any other theater). We got done with dinner a little early so we were the first ones in the theater, but soon it started to fill up, until it was actually completely full, no extra seats.

I won't give away much of the movie but it was really good. I can totally see why it is winning so many awards. If you have the time, I highly recommend the movie. Here is a picture from the movie. I have an image of this scene burned into my mind. If you have seen it you know exactly why. Good movie, great acting.


The rest of the weekend was also nice. I was able to enjoy a great lunch with my friend Angela. We enjoyed some good natural food and some great girl talk that was much needed for both of us. I am lucky that Bob has found some great friends at med school that have even better significant others.

Went back to work today, where it has been crazy busy. Hopefully things stay busy as it makes the days go by faster.

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener

Today at Baker's our grocery store the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile made a visit. After getting out groceries we stopped in to take a look. It seats 6 and looked pretty snazzy. They told us that they have 6 wiener mobiles and a mini mobile which is in a Mini Cooper. Not only do I love the Cooper I now have a new goal in life is to see the Mini Wiener! Enjoy our pictures from this morning.

Omaha Puzzle

For Christmas my Grandma Judy gave us a personalized puzzle of our address. It was going to be one of my boring weekend activities. After hearing that my brother in-law started his puzzle I was determined to get mine done. So Friday afternoon I started. Bob came home and helped and pretty soon we were far into it and couldn't tare ourselves away from it. By Saturday afternoon it was finished. Here is the pictures of our Omaha puzzle.

Longing for another weekend.

Another weekend has come and gone which means I am back work, tear. I was pretty bummed on Friday as I had no real plans for the weekend which made me also excited to see what I could accomplish. I actually was able to get lots done around the house, cleaning, organizing, just the ordinary. Bob and I watched the Da Vinci Code, which we were disappointed with on Friday night. Saturday I didn't leave the house until we went out for dinner and a special trip to Dairy Queen for an insanely good blizzard. But yesterday was just a wretched day. Everything that happened completely bugged me and by the end of the night I was exhausted, crabby, and annoyed. It started off fine working out, then off to church, but it was packed. For some reason everyone decided to go to church that day and the ushers continued to seat people 30 minutes into mass. I then had to run to the mall to get a gift card for someone. When I arrived the store was not to open until noon. At 12:05 people were crowding the doors and they did not open until 12:15. Then I headed to a different grocery store where it was packed, I couldn't find what I needed and could barely move my cart around. The next thing I knew the afternoon was gone. I started dinner and it took a good half hour longer than it was supposed to. My mom called me which completely pushed me over the edge. I tried to be calm and happy but I knew it was going to be a crappy week at work and I just didn't want to go. This morning after the gym I decided to go back home because it had snowed and the roads were awful. Luckily I made it to work safely and I am hoping to make up that time that I lost due to bad weather. I just keep hoping for Thursday night when I will be done with work for the week and another weekend can come. Hope yours was better?

Carl is gone

I have to say farewell to the MN Twins owner Carl Pohlad. He was an insanely rich man who owned the best baseball team. He may have not been the best owner and he didn't put the money down for the Twins new stadium but he was a nice man. When I was pretty little I went to Twins Fest, back when it was just for season ticket holders. I remember walking around with my dad while my brother was going crazy for everything. While Pat was standing in line to get autographs my dad and I happened to run into Mr. Pohlad. We talked to him for a little bit and then I got his autograph. Pat was jealous I know!

It was a sad day for Twins history as Carl died yesterday. He was looking old and at the age of 93 decided to watch some games from the sky. Hey maybe that is why he didn't want a roof on the new stadium?

Happy 2009

Just wishing all of my blog readers a very happy new year. Welcome to 2009. I love the starting a new year because you have so many opportunities to start over. I think 2009 is going to be a good year for everyone. I wish you all the best.

This New Year's we were lucky enough to be invited over to our friend's Chris & Angela's for a little celebration. We had some great food and then played Wii and Scene It where Bob dominated and was lucky enough to get on the game board by the time he was in the winner's circle.

New Year's Day was spent on the couch as I was all stuffed up with a cold. We watched some football games and felt completely useless. So the next day we got up and headed out over Omaha to make some holiday returns. After many stores we were able to get everything returned/exchanged so we were pretty satisfied.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed up to Sibley for my high school friend's wedding shower. The weather was absolutely horrible. I saw so many cars in the ditch but it didn't get bad until I was closer to Sibley than I was to Omaha so I kept trucking and made it there safely. The shower was very nice and it is always fun to see some old friends. I also helped my dad get his Ipod set up and purchased a few songs from his gift card he received. I hope he gets it as we didn't spend as much time as I wanted to showing him everything. I had decided to stay in Sibley that night because the roads were so icy and I didn't want to risk it so I had another opportunity to see some of my friends again.

Yesterday morning I brought my dear Meghan O. back to the airport in Omaha and got home in time to watch the Vikings game. Too bad they lost. I was a little verbal during the game and it was such a bummer now that the season is over. This is the time of year that I have no games to watch. I don't know if that is a good thing that I am not constricted to the couch watching sports or if it is a bad thing b/c I start to watch really bad reality tv, *American Idol.*

Now back at work, starting a new year and a new week. I'm just taking this one week at a time and hoping that a positive attitude will help land a job in Omaha!