Christmas Time Here We Come....

I decided to get tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet in Denver and get some Christmas CD's from the library to get Dave and I in the holiday spirit. The ballet was nice. The story of the Nutcracker is a little odd, but I enjoyed myself. Dave enjoyed being with me but I think he could have done without the ballet. Saturday morning we played Christmas music and did some cleaning/organizing of our apartment. I still need to watch ELF to feel like it is actually Christmas time, but we are trying. I guess, all Dave and I want for Christmas is to figure out what we will be doing for the next three years, which will hopefully happen on Dec 15, the date of the Military Match. We are also looking forward to Christmas morning, when we fly out to Kauai, Hawaii!!!!!! We are very excited but it just does not seem like Christmas time. I will keep trying to get us in the Christmas Spirit, but it may have to wait until after the 15th, and even then it may not be the most Christmas-y year for us, but it is still an exiting time and we are excited to see what God has planned for us.

Merry Christmas to us.... sunglasses for Hawaii:)



I also wanted to add these two cute pictures.... Asher is such a cute little cuddle-bug:)

Birthday's

I was a little bummed this year that Dave would be out of town for my birthday, but at work on Friday the 29th I received FLOWERS from him:) Dave is soooo sweet and it made my day! I seriously had a HUGE smile on my face and could not believe the wonderful surprise!

Me at my office, taking a quick pic of the flowers and my smile!



On Saturday, I woke up to a birthday cold and fever:) Yay.... but Amy and I made it down to Colo Springs to have chili and cake (and yummy caramel apples) with the family. It was nice to see everyone, but I felt awful and just wanted to crawl back into bed. Later that night, Amy threw a little party for me at her apartment and we went out to eat. It was great to see friends, but it was an early night for me to since I needed to get my sicky-butt back into bed. Here is a picture of the ladies at dinner. Thanks for the wine and dinner ladies!




Happy 10th Anniversary of your 21st Birthday Cheez!! I stole that line from Sarah, but thought it was cute. To celebrate Kezia's Birthday, we did a little shopping at Park Meadows and ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (Hagiwara's fav).

Best Surprise EVER!!!!

DAVE CAME HOME EARLY AND COMPLETELY SURPRISED ME!!! On Tuesday night, my best friend Amy tricked me and picked Dave up from the airport then 'stopped by' for a minute and out popped DAVE! He was supposed to be back Friday evening, but took his exam early and moved his flight. He decided not to tell me and surprise me instead! It was awesome! I might have cried a little! One month away from you hubby is toooooo long:)

Dayton Update and Interview

Three weeks here in Dayton. It hasn't been too bad, the ER is not super busy or exciting, but it could be worse. Overall I've learned some stuff while I've been here, I've done a lot of reading, and I did see the one neat attraction Dayton has - the National Museum of the USAF. It is a world class museum, full of planes, everything from Wright brothers planes to F-22 Raptors. The even have THE plane that dropped the A-bomb, which I thought was pretty cool.

Today I interviewed in Columbus at The (have to add that) Ohio State University. I actually really liked the program, the residents seemed really happy and the curriculum was one of the best I've seen. If I end up getting a civilian deferred residency slot I'm sure this program will rank high on my list.

This weekend I will be heading back to Columbus to go to an OSU football game with with college roommate, Eric. He is originally from Columbus and we will stay with his parents. It should be a trip to experience big time college football, a stadium of 105,000 packed full of hardcore fans. CSU just didn't have the same intensity. And next week I get to go home, which I am looking forward to.

Dayton

I just arrived in Dayton, OH for a 4 week AF rotation. It should be pretty interesting. My room is nice, but it is very hotel-like. In San Antonio, my room was more like an apt with a stove and full size fridge. Here I have a mini-fridge and a microwave but that is it. I drove around outside the base a little bit, and this place is quite "ghetto". I've heard from other AF peeps that have already been here that this is kind of a dying base, and so far I believe it. It is really trashy around the base, and the base itself doesn't seem very nice either. It should be an interesting four weeks, but I will make the best of it. My friend and old roommate EZ only lives about an hour and a half away in Toledo, so I look forward to seeing him, as well as my childhood friend Dana and her family. I'll be working in the emergency department at the hospital on base. If I will have a few days off in a row here we will see if Gwen can come visit. I'll keep you posted on how things are going, and I appreciate your prayers that I will impress the right people and will have a good time during my stay here.

crazy sunday!

WOW... yesterday seems to have been one of the longest days of my life. I felt tired, a little out of it, physically beaten down, but exhilarated at the same time.

I woke up early Sunday morning and headed down to Civic Center Park in Denver to race with Amy and 16,000 other runners for the Denver Rock-N-Roll 1/2 Marathon. The race was brutal considering I was not as trained as I would have liked due to some minor setbacks/injuries, but it was amazing to run through the city and have music, people, fans, bums, children and animals cheering you on. Seriously, a man had his dog bark for runners on cue. True story, it made me smile. During the race, I was hurting pretty bad, but kept running and finished with a personal best 2 hours 7 minutes for the 1/2 marathon.

Little did i know though that 16,000 runners would bring all of there family and friends and it would be so chaotic after I finished. Dave, his mom, my parents and Kali struggled to even make it to the park for the finish. 45 minutes waiting to cross one street.... crazy but thank you all for coming out and supporting. It was great to know you were there!

Next up, eat some food and head out the our frisbee tournament. We were the 2nd ranked team going into the tournament. That meant, we needed to beat two teams to make it to the finials. Yes, folks, that is three 1.5 hour long games of ultimate frisbee. WOW, I was beat. We had one sub for the first game but really all of the women played most points. I felt okay but wobbly toward the end. I was almost delirious at times but continued to eat and drink as much water as I could. Sadly, we lost in the finals but enjoyed every minute of it. Dave did a great job supporting me today and also killin' it on the frisbee field.

I think my body was really confused about what the heck I was doing to it. I took an Epsom salt bath that felt nice, but I am still hurting today. Once I get going I am fine, but initially standing up it tough. Also, squatting to pee or sit it very difficult. I know this is a random post, but thought I would enlighten everyone on my crazy Sunday.





On another note, here are some pictures of the Maroon Belles in Aspen, CO, the Continental Divide and a hike to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon.






Anyone who has ever traveled in the car with me (or been around me for more than a minute) will appreciate this picture... yes, it is me peeing on the side of the road. I HAD to go and we were too far from the hotel (like 5 minutes, but far enough). At least I was puking too:)

playing catch up...

Wow... it has been a month since our last post?!?

Where do I even start?? So much has happened I hope I don't miss anything.

Okay, to start out; Dave spent a month in San Antonio checking out the Emergency Medicine Residency Program with the Air Force. Although he was still at Wilford Hall, this hospital is actually being converted into all outpatient offices and the ED will soon not exist there. Everything will be on Brooke's Army Medical Center in San Antonio. It is a Level One Trauma Center and even though it is on an Army base, he would still work there. Dave had a very successful time while in SA connecting with other residents and doctors and they all really liked him and wanted him to come back for his residency. He was pretty pumped and as of now he would rank them first overall. He will be going to Dayton, OH in October/November to check out the other military program. I am sure it will be fine, but I feel San Antonio has more to offer us. But, we will see. Also, December 15 is the big day that Dave and I figure out our future! Make your calendars:)


I was able to make a trip down to see Dave for a few days and we had a blast! We enjoyed a huge Texas sized margarita on the River Walk in downtown SA, saw the Alamo, viewed Lackland AFB, viewed Dave in uniform (very hott ;)) and just enjoyed being together. It was HOT but we were able to enjoy our time outside when needed. We floated the river while I was there and it was AWESOME! The water was warm and it felt great to relax on a tube and drink some beer:) We also ate a TON of mexican food, which I loved but my stomach did not love. We went to Sea World and it was neat to sea the killer whale show and ride the coasters with no line.









Next up, I went on a fabulous trip to Sanibel Island, FL. My family rented a condo and we hit up the beach for a wonderful family adventure! My parents, the Hagiwara's, CB squared, Sarah and I ate yummy food, swam in amazing water, enjoyed the warm weather, got eaten by mosquitoes and kept our eyes out for gators! It was an awesome family trip that I wish Dave could have been on, but he was still in SA.








Since Dave's return, we have been to many more baseball games, of course:) We have been able to see our friend Ty that had been gone traveling for 8 months in South America. He is also a die-hard Rockies fan, so it was nice to have him join in on our fun.



We also went to a concert at Red Rocks. We saw Sublime with Rome. It was a good concert and Rome did great filling some pretty large shoes. The amphitheater was awesome though and it is amazing how the rocks form such a great place for music.



In mid-August, we said out goodbyes to Kailey because she is headed to Korea for a year to teach English. She made the journey safely and is now preparing lesson plans and trying to survive the heat on JeJu Island. Please keep her in your prayers for strength, to keep well, to meet friends, connect with her students, listen to God's path and to enjoy her time.

Bryan is still in Africa and he is really finding himself there. He absolutely loves the children and everything he is doing there. He will be back for a short time in December but plans on taking a full time position in the Spring. Please also keep Bryan in your prayers.

Just last week Dave and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We went out for a nice dinner downtown and had a great time reminiscing about our years together. Crazy to think we met over 7 years ago! Wow, time flies! Oh, and I wore a cute black dress!







Well geezzz, I guess we should post more often. I think that is all for now.