Drumroll please...

Not really. I'm guessing most of you who read this blog have either seen/heard from one of us, our family members, Facebook, e-mail, text, etc. the results of yesterday's Match Day. So where are the Fain's headed come June?

That's right folks. These Southern born-and-bred kids are headed to the Midwest. Match Day was sort of amazing. And a little bit of a blur. My friends (and class) totally rocked the Match this year.

Unfortunately the combination of my nerves plus accidentally switching off the autofocus on my camera resulted in very few photos on my camera from Match Day morning. At UAB, all the students names/envelopes are placed in a large basket, and at 11 a.m. when the results were released, students were called up (at random) a few at a time to open their envelope and read their match to the (very crowded and excited) auditorium room. Lucky for me I didn't have to anxiously wait very long, as I was #8. If anyone is interested in seeing the video, click here and fast-forward to around minute 40 or so.

This whole process has been such a whirlwind of emotions, and it's crazy that the course of the next 3 years of our lives boiled down to what was inside that envelope. Needless to say, we are PUMPED! We would have been thrilled with any of our top 3 choices, but we both confessed to each other yesterday afternoon after things had slowed down that the idea of Cincinnati had sort of captured our hearts and minds, and there certainly would have been an element of disappointment had things worked out another way.

After the ceremony we went to a lunch hosted by the school and then had a few hours of downtime before the epic celebration that was planned for later that evening.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my classmates and their significant others?

Because I do. A ridiculous amount. I love these people so much and my heart swelled with pride when each of them announced their stellar matches.

We have laughed and cried and vented and rejoiced our way through these past four years, and celebrating all of our hard work yesterday was truly an experience that will go down as one of my all-time favorites.

And where did these five end up?

In AMAZING programs that are unfortunately not in the same cities.

Don't worry we have already started strategizing our off weekends. We definitely have some cool cities to visit each other in! And thank goodness for technology.

I am so proud and excited for my classmates - our four years of hard work certainly paid off yesterday!

Walker & I are beyond thrilled about the opportunity and path that lies ahead. We wanted an adventure and have sure got ourselves one now!!

Happy weekend!!

Laney's Dedication

It was a just an overnight trip to Nashvegas, but we crammed in a whole lot of fun.

Saturday night we hit up some Mexican at Taco Mamacita's, then went back to the Griesheimer's for some delicious cupcakes. Very few things warm my heart and my stomach like cheese dip and margaritas.

Sunday after church we headed to Barbara's for some good ol' fashioned home cooking. WOW. So delicious. 2nd best yeast rolls ever (#1 goes to my Nonnie).

Campbell and Laney provided each other full-time entertainment and lots of laughs.

Next we headed to Sweet CeCe's in downtown Franklin. I have visited a lot of create-your-own-ice-cream shops over the past couple years, but this is hands down the cutest.

You think sweet Addy liked her ice cream? So much so that she voiced frustration in between each bite and was clearly distraught when the cup was empty.

Then it was back to the dedication service. Such a sweet time to all be there together to pray for this beautiful little family (that I am lucky enough to call my own!).

And clearly Uncle Walker is always a fun time. Aren't these two just adorable?

Thanks Lele & Eric for planning such a fun weekend!

On an also exciting but unrelated note, I will be officially employed in 2 days, city and academic institution TBD. Next post will be post-Match Day, woohoo!

our week in Instagrams

(Instagram = iPhone app, and maybe Android too? Not sure on that one.)

Sort of lazy, I know. No time to pull out the good camera, and no overly-exciting events to report, but in an effort to keep posting on a semi-regular basis this is the best I could come up with. I sort of love keeping up with friends and family via photos on Instagram. I only follow 5 people b/c I have no idea how to find other people I know, so you should find me (etfain) so I can follow you too.

Sunday = Church. Bella's bath day. Afternoon on the deck. Grilling out while playing Scrabble. We are so cool.

Monday = Start of difficult new rotation, which made for an intellectually, physically, and emotionally exhausting week. Week 2 of Couch to Houston begins. Powerade Zero is my best friend.

Tuesday = Night at Jackson's. Despite feeling tired, soaking up all the time with friends I can get.

Wednesday =  No memory of it.
Thursday = Taste of Homewood. We L-O-V-E our neighborhood.

We also love Chick-Fil-A. This (blurry) drum-playing cow gave Bella a new toy, which she clearly loves (ignore her creepy flash-induced eye).

Friday = TGIF. In bed by 9:30.

Saturday = Sleeping in. Mom and dad drive up for lunch. First visit to Over Easy. Ate too much. Enjoyed the rainy day.

Sunday = Phenomenal sermon by David Platt. Much needed and too long in waiting hug from Krisha. Lazy Sunday afternoon in pajamas.

11 days til Match Day. 5 weeks until my last day of med school.

Good times ahead folks :)

Looking ahead.

Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. the rank list was officially submitted. Walker and I paused our workout (see below) for a moment of silence and a few deep breaths. Essentially signing 10 contracts at one time with the click of a button is a little overwhelming. Truth be told, I actually stressed out more about the submission process itself than the rank order. I checked and re-checked (and re-checked and re-checked) the program codes, ensured multiple times that I was in fact matching in Pediatrics and hadn't switched into Surgery on accident... you get the picture. From the beginning we have prayed for doors to be open and closed as He saw fit, and we are excited and 100% at peace about the final product. Now it's just a waiting game. Match Day is March 17th, woohoo!

Thursday I loaded up all of the thank you notes, CDs, jump drives, program descriptions, etc. from the programs into their respective folders and made a nice stack in our living room. Walker appreciates the stack much more than the spread out version that plagued the room since November :)

Switching gears. The recent half-marathon and 10K may have me in the best cardiovascular shape of my life, but as of late I have been noticing the absent decreased muscle tone throughout my body. Walker has noticed the same. Enter Houston, CPA/Personal Trainer extraordinaire.

(I found this old photo on our computer and thought it most appropriate for the situation)

He is, in Walker's words, a workout phenom. He has designed a work-out schedule for us to follow for the next couple of months, which we have appropriately named "Couch to Houston". We are at the end of week 1, and it kicked our tails (in a good way of course). My arms, legs, back, core, and derriere have never been so thoroughly challenged. We have 3 weeks of training on our own to prepare for his weekend "boot camps". Yikes. It is however, amazing how much better we both feel after just one week.

The countdown is on... just 6 more weeks of school!

Week in review.

1. I forgot to post these pictures from our Mercedes Marathon weekend. This guy/girl (maybe you can judge the contours and figure it out?) ran the full marathon in this costume. And definitely finished before our relay team did. Props to him/her.

2. Walker was in Florida on business all last week, so I spent Valentine's Day with the girls. We cooked up a DELICIOUS dinner thanks to Fran's recipe suggestions, watched an entertaining but mildly disturbing chick flick (He's Just Not That Into You), and had a good old-fashioned slumber party. It was awesome.

(mac & cheese photo by talara)

The baked mac & cheese recipe was given to Fran by a friend, and it was oh-so-wonderful. I didn't take a picture of what ours actually looked like, but the above photo was the closest I could find. The red velvet brownies were made entirely from scratch, and actually pretty simple. It's a Southern Living recipe that can be found here. I wish it was healthy and socially acceptable to carry around a can of that icing. I would likely spread it on everything sweet I came in contact with - it's that good!

3. Tuesday night as I was falling asleep, I realized I had forgotten about a certain puppy's 4th birthday the day before. I texted Walker, who had also forgotten (such terrible doggy parents). Not to worry, we remedied the situation later in the week with her annual celebratory new toy from the Dollar Tree.
4. Walker flew in Friday afternoon, and we spent that that night at the Phoenix ball dancing and participating in social philanthropy in the Magic City (the giant camera doesn't bode well in formal environments). Thanks Pat & Jen for the invite! 

5. Saturday brought our delayed Valentine's Day celebration.

6. And Sunday we headed to north Alabama to celebrate Campbell's 3rd Birthday. So much has changed since we celebrated #2 last year.

We had a failed (on my camera at least) attempt at a group shot, and this was the best I got :) Maybe Lele's turned out better?

Happy Birthday sweet Campbell!

And another week begins... only 7 more until I'm finished with school, woohoo!