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!

26.2

(relay, not solo :) )

Meet Meg, ML, Fran, and Linds.

I will save a sappy, emotional blog post for when we all graduate, but suffice to say, these ladies have been the most incredible support system during the past 4 years.

A couple months ago we decided to run the Mercedes Marathon Relay together, and we had a blast! Lindsay hosted a carbo-loading party last night (which, let's be honest, was just an excuse to get together and laugh and eat a lot of food), and the race started bright and early this morning.

26.2 miles is pretty tolerable when it's divided into 5 legs. Mine was 6.3 miles and it was >>>>>> than running 13.1. Lindsay ran our anchor leg, and we all hopped in the last 100 yards or so to finish together. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more enjoyable time together. Thanks to my hubby for being our camera man!

After a giant lunch (or maybe it was 2 lunches) and a hot shower, my muscles felt like jello and I spent the rest of the afternoon resting on the couch. Totally worth it though.

Back to reality...

Cable Television Win (x2)

Props to these two shows for pulling off fabulous Valentine's Day episodes. Not since Friends [moment of silence] have I been so entertained by cable television. Walker was in Orlando on business this week, and I think Bella was concerned at my solo outbursts of laughter the past two nights. And thanks to DVR, I can watch them over and over again if I so desire...

Also, Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy as Clive Bixby may be my favorite television character of all time.

Yay, it's Friday!!

P.S. I just realized I've had 4 blog posts this week. I think it's safe to say I have been on a VERY schedule-friendly rotation (which unfortunately ends today) :)

Ah, snow

Birmingham has had two pretty good snows this year, and we were unfortunately out of town for both of them (although I'd pick Arizona for the National Championship over a couple of inches of snow any day!), so we were excited to be in town for last night's dusting. I was honestly expecting a little bit more of a winter wonderland when I woke up this morning, but I guess an inch is better than nothing? I do love me some winter weather - snow, jackets, scarves, sleeping under a fluffy down comforter - I could go on. Plus, a dusting of snow makes everything look so much prettier. Guess who else loves snow? We woke up early this morning so she could play in the snow for a bit before I left for the hospital.

Two random things:

1. I love to cook, and prepare home-cooked meals most nights of the week. However, sometimes I crave the taste of a home-cooked meal without having to put in the effort. Enter Bertolli Oven Baked Meals. I in no way support the nutritional content of these meals, but they are delicious, easy, and do not taste like a frozen dish. Everything in moderation folks.

2. I have a serious crush on my iPhone. This morning I received a Living Social e-mail for a deal in San Francisco (to further maximize our California vacation budget), looked up restaurant reviews on Google, e-mailed Walker to get his thoughts, bought the deal using the Living Social app, and put in our reservation using Open Table (apparently this place usually requires reservations made well in advance), all in about 3 minutes and all on my phone. Ah, technology.

I've loved all of the snow pictures that have popped up on my Google Reader today, Happy Snow Day everyone!

Cue the chorus...

After three impatient years of waiting, my favorite phone service provider and manufacturer have finally teamed up. Guess what was waiting at my front door today? My birthday certainly fell at a convenient time this year :)

I will not disclose how many hours I spent on it today...

Weekend Visitors

A college-friend reunion for Lizzie brought her and the babies plus Sissy into town for the weekend. The weather could have been better, but we made the most of it and had a wonderful time together. Campbell had so much fun she fell asleep at 6 p.m. in her new ballet outfit. Don't we have the cutest little nieces? Come back soon guys!