We're Home!

We made it home safe and sound. 

We're anxiously awaiting closing on our house tomorrow!! I will load some more pictures of our trip sometime later this week!! 

Cross your fingers that everything goes smoothly tomorrow!

I Kissed A Dolphin

And I liked it!!

      

We're In Mexico!!!!!

We're having an awesome time here!!! 

No swine flu yet =)

Here's a few pictures!

The Beach View!

At the Pool!!

I'll post more later!!

Onward and Upward

Sorry about the pictures of the clinic, for some reason the slideshow doesn't want to play, but if you click "View all images" it should take you to the album so you can look!

After lots of reasearch trying to find Mexico Alternatives, we've decided that we're probably just going to stick it out and go. Everything else is much more expensive at this point, and the hype from swine flu appears to be dying down. 

Of course if things get worse we will just cancel, we still have insurance for that, so we're just going ot wait it out and see. 

Things are going well with the house. We're just trying to get some things together for the mortgage company, and the sellers have agreed to fix the few minor things we asked for after the inspection! Meanwhile we're packing away in our tiny apartment.  Unfortunately the elevator is broken, so I'm really crossing my fingers that it's fixed by the time we move! 

It's just about a week until I see everyone for graduation! I'm so exicited, and can't wait!!

Happy Travels!

My Work!

Well it's been a while but I thought I would update everyone on my job! It's going great, and I finally remembered to bring my camera with me to work one day and take some pictures of the clinic for everyone to see. So here ya go!

Lots Going On Around Here!

Other Exciting things....
Sigh....Mexico is off. We are just too nervous about
1) Getting Swine Flu, or
2) Going down and getting stuck down there if they close the border!!
Right now we are considering alternative locations with our travel agent. We thankfully have trip insurance, and that fee is transferrable if we book another trip with the same agent, so that's the plan for now. I will let everyone know once we decide what we're doing!

And the most exciting news of all....Our house passed inspections with flying colors!!! There were a few VERY minor things that we're going to ask the sellers to fix, but overall the inspector was incredibly impressed with the house. It's 12 years old and he said it wasn't inspecting like a 12 year old house AT ALL. So that was great. On to the next step! Oh, and we got a chance to take some more pictures yesterday, so here they are!

Yay!

They accepted our offer!!

On to the next step....

Right now our closing date is set for May 28th (which is interesting because we get back from Mexico on the 27th, but oh well!). So we have a bit of time, but for now we'll just be doing a lot of packing!

We'll keep you updated!

That was Quick!

Well I didn't believe it, but everyone kept telling me "When you find your house, you'll know it"

They were right!!

We found a house today and we've already filled out the paperwork to put in an offer first thing Monday morning. We're offering the asking price, so I'm really hoping they accept it!!

Please keep your fingers crossed for us, and I will post again as soon as I know anything!

Here's some pictures we took today:

Back to the drawing board....

Well, we didn't get the house. We put a bid in, and they countered, barely coming down at all from their asking price. So we decided to sit on it for a bit, figuring in this market that we'd be able to go back in the month and bid again. Well we got news a few days ago that someone else came in and bid the magic number. It's still pending, but we're not holding our breath.  On to bigger and better houses!!

We start the search again tomorrow....oy....

Wish us luck!

Possible House!!

Ron and I have been house hunting like mad people lately. We've looked at a TON of houses, and finally found one that we think we're going to put an offer on. We're not quite sure yet, but pretty close!  We went to look at it again yesterday and I got some pictures of the place!

I have a job!!!

I finally have a job!!!!

I actually had three offers from clinics, but I had been holding out for my first choice in a job. They finally called me on Monday with their decision and it was me!!!

I'm so excited. It's a one doctor practice, and I will be the 2nd doctor. The current doctor is the owner (with her husband), and they are the nicest people you will ever meet. I really think she and I will work very well together and I can't wait to start!!

I actually don't have much time to wait. I will be going in later this week for contract negotiations, and then I start on Monday next week!

In case you are wondering, the clinic is in Lees Summit, MO. A suburb of KC, just southeast of the city limits. It's a very nice town, and Ron and I are planning to move there as soon as we find a house!! So it's on with the house search!

If you want to see the clinic, it's Green Summit Animal Clinic. The website is www.greensummitanimalclinic.com

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate all of the support! I will keep you all updated on the house search!!

Still No Word...

Since I have really no word on the job front yet, I thought I would post a few recipes Ron and I have enjoyed in the last couple of months!

The first recipe was originally from Teressa, my mom's friend. 

My mom made it for Christmas and it was such a hit that I tried it for a few New Year's parties as well.

Avacado Pomegranate Salsa

Ingredients:

2 cups Clementine sections (cut each section in half or thirds)- about 6 

1 cup pomegranete seeds- about 1 

1 1/3 cups peeled and diced avocado- about 2 
3 tbl fresh lime juice (I didn't use fresh...it turned out just fine!)

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions 
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

 
2 tbls honey 
1/2 tsp salt 
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced 
  
 Directions :
1. Combine avocado and lime juice in bowl, toss gently to coat   
2. Add remaining ingrediants- toss gently to combine

3. Chill  

Serve with chips- makes about 3 cups of salsa 

Finished Product:

The other recipe is our new favorite recipe! It's from cooking light and we've had it twice in the last month.

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I used regular chicken thighs with skin and bones, probably not as healthy, but they tasted fine and they were on sale!)

Cooking spray

6 TBSP honey

2 tsp. cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat Broiler

2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Add chicken to bowl and toss to coat.

4. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.

5. Broil Chicken 5 minutes on each side.

6. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well.

7. Remove chicken from oven and brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken.

8. Broil 1 minute, and turn chicken over.

9. Brush opposite side with remaining honey mixture and broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Finished Product:

Enjoy!

I hope to have some feedback this week about jobs so stay tuned!

26.2 Miles On the Beach!

We just got back from a 5 day trip to Myrtle Beach, SC where Ron ran his second marathon!

We drove there with 2 other couples, friends of ours from Columbia.  The boys all ran the marathon, and we were spectators.  

We left on Wednesday evening and spent the night somewhere in Tennessee, and finally arrived in Myrtle Beach. We were so tired of driving, but were completely rejuvenated when we saw our room!! We stayed at a resort right on the beach, and had a fantastic room with an excellent view!

       

We had a HUGE suite! The marathon scored some really nice discounts at the hotel so we were able to spread out quite nicely in the three-bedrooms and two bathrooms. =)

    

On Friday we toured around town a bit, and went to the Beach!! It was cold, but absolutely beautiful!!

     

The Before picture....

Friday was Bryan's birthday, so we went to a Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse for dinner, it was fabulous! Then off to bed early so the boys could toss and turn all night, nervous about the run.

All marathons start early, and this one was no exception. The gun went off at 6:30am, so we were up at 5:00am to get ready and make our way to the start line.  

I had to put this picture in...Bryan was so proud of his nipple band-aids. =)

   

The start line! 

There were a ton of roads blocked off throghout the town, so it was hard for us to get around, but we did catch up with the boys in a few different spots.

Mile 5-6....feelin' pretty good....

      

Mile 11-12...still feelin' okay....

          

Mile 20...Feelin' like they've been hit by a semi, 

and are now being dragged the remaining 6.2 miles

        

THE FINISH!!!

Kyle finished in 5:07, Ron in 5:29, and Bryan in 5:46.  

   

The After Picture...

It's all worth it for the medal! =)

After the marathon, we packed up the car, and started the long journey home. Of course we stopped on Saturday for a romantic Valentine's day dinner at Pizza Hut! We finally arrived home on Sunday night around 11pm and crashed! 

Back to work and job searching this week. I will keep everyone updated on that process! 

I PASSED!!

I got my boards scores in the mail today and I passed!!

Ron and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate, it was a wonderful evening. 

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words, even though you had confidence that I passed, it's still nice for peace of mind to officially get the word. =)

I know, I know...

It's been forever since I posted, there's a lot that's been going on here in KC!

Ron and I spent a wonderful Christmas in Chicago with family and friends. It was nice to be home for the first time in a YEAR! I didn't take many pictures, but here's a few...

Ron teasing the dogs

 

The pups on Christmas Morning!

 

And as usual, Dutchie opening his can of dog food

We had a great time with family on Chrstmas Day, we even got Grandma to try Guitar Hero!

Unfortunately a week went by really fast, and it was time for us to come back to KC. 

Even more unfortunate for us, these were the conditions we had to drive in...

Which were fine, just wet and foggy. But about 3 hours into the drive, they turned from wet and foggy, to icy.  

After almost sliding off the road several times, we made it safely to a hotel in the area (Thanks Mom & Dad for the GPS we got for Christmas, it was worth every penny when we were stuck on the highway and needed to book a hotel ASAP). 

Ryno and Sam Adjusted quite well to the hotel room...

We got back on the road the next day and made it home safe and sound just in time for me to start a month long preceptorship at Blue Springs Animal Hospital.  

I've been working there for almost a month now, and it's a fantastic hospital with great people. I was working there for a couple of reason, but mostly because they had an opening for an associate veterinarian and I was hoping to get the spot. However, last week they informed me that they are going to hire one of my classmates instead. So it's back to the drawing board for me. I have a few interviews this week, but I really have no idea where I want to work at this point. I'll keep everyone updated though!

Ron has been training for his second marathon which he runs on Valentine's Day in Myrtle Beach.  Luckily it's been a fairly mild January for us here, so he's been able to run outside for training.  We're planning on driving out there with our friends Bryan and Sue (Bryan is running the marathon with Ron). 

Things have been going very well for Ron at work. He has been promoted, and his team has been nominated for a company-wide award, so lots of good things going on there.  He also started classes again this winter to continue pursuing his MBA.

As soon as I figure out what I'm doing job-wise, we will start looking for houses, so we'll keep everyone updated on that. Hopefully you are all doing well!!