Weekending: home on the farm

This weekend G and I headed home to his parents' house. It's a quick 45 minute drive so we make the trip pretty often. Plus, they live on a farm so Bella is in absolute heaven when we stay for the weekend. It was a super low-key weekend with lots of outside time… my favorite! We did all things redneck: tractor rides, practiced shooting guns, rode 4-wheelers, etc. Bella's favorite thing to do is run beside us on the 4-wheeler. She fliiiies… then sleeps like a baby for a few days ;) Saturday night we had a wedding shower for one of G's high school best friends. It was great to catch up with all his old friends and their wives.

I totally felt like Whitney from the Bachelor. A romantic tractor ride with my husband [insert sarcasm]

Today is the first day of my family medicine rotation! I have an hour commute, which I am not too excited about but hopefully I will really enjoy this rotation! I hope you have a great Monday!

Linking up with Meghan!

Five on Friday: my travel bucket list!

I feel very fortunate to have traveled a decent amount in my lifetime, but there are MANY places I have yet to see. All of our family trips were outside the country to tropical places, so there are so many
places in the U.S. that are on my bucket list. It's hard for us to travel with me being in school still, both financially and due to not being able to miss class/rotations. However, I am hoping to start traveling a little more after graduation! Here are the top 5 spots in our country that I hope to travel to in the near future:

O N E

Napa Valley, California. Beautiful scenery and endless amounts of wine? Yes please. I have always wanted to go to Napa and I think it would be a super romantic getaway for hubs and I.

T W O

Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This has been on my list for as long as I can remember. G and I love doing anything outdoors and have the best "quality time" together when we are outdoors. One of my high school friends moved there and every time he posts a picture, this spot moves further up to the top of my list. Jackson Hole has so many breathtaking outdoor activities depending on the season. Skiing, dog sledding, whitewater rafting, hiking, fly fishing, and much more. The hardest part would be deciding whether to go in the spring/summer or fall/winter! 

T H R E E

Hawaii. Need I say more?

F O U R

Savannah, GA. My sister and her husband went last year and loved it. I've heard it's similar to Charleston, my very favorite city. Savannah is full of good food and southern charm. Definitely a must!

F I V E

Washington, DC. I'm ashamed to say I have never been to our country's capital. I'm not a huge history buff so I don't think I would have appreciated this city when I was younger, but I am eager to visit and do all the touristy things now. I love museums and I hear there is great shopping ;) My husband's whole family went last summer to watch our cousin Rob play against the Nationals but of course PA school kept me from going. I hope to visit DC in the near future!

Have you been to any of these spots? Which cities in our country are a must-see? 

Thoughts for Thursday: the bathing suit struggle is real

With summer quickly approaching and a trip to Key West in 35 short days [more on that later], I am in dire need of some new bathing suits. Lets just say I'm not exactly the size I was in college or high school. Remember when you could eat like crap at all hours of the day and not gain an ounce? Yea, those days are gone. It's time I stop pretending that my large butt fits into Victoria Secret bottoms anymore. The clock is just ticking until I'm in cute one-pieces. Hubs is not exactly thrilled with that idea. So we compromised: I will wait for one-pieces until I'm preggo ;) Insert: panic attack. Where do people shop for bathing suits these days?? I spent an hour on the internet and every bathing suit I found was $100+… no thank you. So I texted Meghan for advice [duh!] and she says try Old Navy. And surprise! I had luck!

Unfortunately they didn't have a huge selection to choose from, but I'm hoping it's still early and that they will have more to offer closer to summer. I scored this bathing suit and cover up for just over $60! I got a large cover-up because I like the added length to the bottom. Hence: COVER up my butt. Plus, it has a drawstring waist so that you can make it as tight as you'd like around the waist. And it's super light-weight… essential for NC summers!

So the question is… where do you guys shop for reasonably priced bathing suits? Help a girl out!!

Linking up with Annie!

Weekending: basketball, planting, and yummy food

Happy Monday pretty ladies! Let's jump right into my weekend recap:

Friday was a crazy busy day in the orthopedic clinic. We did 20+ knee cortisone injections! We had a patient that absolutely broke my heart. A precious 2 year old little girl with leukemia came in with a broken arm [x-ray below]. She was screaming bloody murder while we took her bandages off and put her in a more permanent hot pink cast. My heart was breaking as they held her down to get her cast on. Right when we were done she ran up to me and held her arms up, wanting me to hold her. Melt. My. Heart. I wanted to take her home with me. I won't be at this rotation when she comes back for her follow-up, but I am praying her arm heals just fine!

After work I rushed home to shower and get ready for dinner with friends. 5 couples went out for mexican at our favorite local restaurant. Nothing is better than margs, chips, and salsa after a looong week, am I right? Then it was home to watch a Dateline in bed, our favorite! I got about halfway through before falling asleep… this seems to happen a lot lately…

Saturday morning we met my dad for breakfast to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. This local breakfast spot has the best homemade coffees. I mean, I could drink about 10 of these. I got egg whites and a yogurt, granola, fresh fruit parfait for my meal. Then it was home to work on my paper while hubs played golf with some friends.

Saturday afternoon it was beeeautiful outside so sis and I decided to do some planting! The greenhouse we went to made me so happy [besides how HOT it is in those things!]. Pretty flowers everywhere! I wanted them all!

 I decided on hydrangeas [my very fav] and geraniums for the front porch. And I got a tomato plant and strawberry plants to try to grow! I have never grown anything so I am feeling like a new mommy to these plants. It makes me so happy to see them on the back porch :) My goal is to grow at least one tomato and one strawberry before those plants die, haha!

Side note: in the span of an hour, my niece picked the strawberry plant and planted a grape and a piece of chalk in the tomato plant. There may be no hope for these poor plants #toddlerlife

The final product!

Saturday night we cooked a yummy dinner and cheered on our Tarheels! SO PROUD of the way these boys played, and so excited that they made it to the Sweet 16! Can't wait to watch them again on Thursday night!!

This picture totally gives me chills… I love Roy Williams!

Sunday was the usual: church, lunch, gym, grocery, and lots of basketball watching! It was my brother-in-law's birthday so we celebrated with dinner at mom's house. How was your weekend?!

Linking up with sweet Meghan

Five on Friday: ortho surgery and NCAA tourney!

O N E

Orthopedics has been great this week! I am pretty sad that next week is my last week at this rotation. It has been so nice and relaxing to be with PA's and surgeons that I have known forever. I was first assist in the operating room 2 days this week. On Tuesday we did 6 total knee replacements and I could barely lift my arms on Wednesday. Assisting in total knee replacements is a better arm workout than anything you could possibly do in the gym [and much more fun, obvi]! For total knee surgeries we wear these really cool nerdy helmets (below) that are covered with a sheet that has clear plastic on the front so that you are completely enclosed. This is so you don't get blood and bone pieces all over your face as you saw and drill... yummy, I know.

T W O

Tuesday night for St. Pattys day we went with my sis, brother-in-law, and dad to a local restaurant that had live music and green beer. I totally felt like I was doing something wrong because we never leave the house on "school nights". We are an old married couple.

T H R E E

March= college basketball. I love watching all sports, but especially college football and basketball. I especially love college basketball because my alma mater (UNC) is known for their basketball program (hi Michael Jordan). Every year is another chance to win a national championship! Hubs and I love watching all the March Madness games, especially our heels. I am proud to say my tarheels barely won their first game last night against Harvard and advanced to the final 32 teams! Who do you have winning your bracket?

F O U R

For dinner one night this week, G and I made zucchini noodles [zoodles] topped with crab cakes. It was so delicious! We have gotten such great use out of our spiralizer and love experimenting with healthy "pastas". I will admit that I didn't make the crab cakes… I bought them pre-made at our local Fresh Market, which makes this meal literally so simple. All you need is a few zucchinis, fresh garlic, some cayenne pepper, olive oil, and whatever you want to add to your "pasta".

Spiralize your zucchinis, add garlic, cayenne, and a tiny bit of olive oil to the noodles, and top with chicken, salmon, crab cake, shrimp, whatever! The key is to not add too much olive oil or your zoodles will get soggy and limp. So easy!

F I V E

I will leave you with these pictures of my "velcro dog". She has been extra velcro-y this week, and I'm not complaining. She's a 75 lb lap dog and I love every second of it.

Weekending: Charlotte recap!

This weekend was a blast! We finally made it to Charlotte around dinner time and headed right down the street to Bakersfield for dinner. It was a.ma.zing! The best margaritas and guac I've ever had with an equally awesome atmosphere! Then we headed back to Kate's for some Cards Against Humanity and Catch Phrase. Things got preeeetty intense [and loud], per usual.

Cheers to my husband for surviving 4 hour car rides with us

My best friend since 6th grade, Kate

Saturday morning, being the early bird that I am, I got up and cooked breakfast for everyone: breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and a pecan pastry. It was great to sleep in, relax, and have coffee with my best friends. We never get to do that anymore.

Then it was time for mimosas and to get ready for the bar crawl. Uptown Charlotte was mass chaos. Our green shirts allowed us free entry into 30 bars but we only made it to like 4. It wasn't ideal to have to wait in lines all day, but anything with my girls is a blast! It was quite hilarious people watching… they took the "green" theme quite seriously. Also, the sticker mustaches my friend brought were quite a hit, making for some embarrassing awesome pictures.

 Kate's brother, Shain [the brother I never had!]

Sunday morning I drug everyone out of bed and made them go to my fav breakfast place in Charlotte: Toast. Once again, it did not disappoint. I decided on eggs benedict. So delicious!! Then we headed to Freedom Park for some exercise and fresh air. The girls relaxed while the boys threw the football. After a while in the park, it was time to head home :( We said our goodbyes to Kate and hit the road. Until next time, Charlotte!

Five on Friday: Charlotte bound!

O N E

I spent yesterday in the operating room for orthopedic trauma surgery. It was so much fun! My favorite case was a broken tibia [shin bone] that was snapped completely in half. The poor boy's foot was sideways at a 90 degree angle. Crazy! And the best part was I was in the OR with my hubs! He is in orthopedic sales so his company supplies a lot of the plates, screws, sutures, etc. that the orthopedic surgeons use.

#OOTD 

T W O

How did y'all feel about the season finale of The Bachelor? I was happy that Whitney won... I feel like they might actually last. This season was not one of my favorites but of course that didn't stop me from watching [guilty pleasure]. I will admit I'm pretty excited about next season! I think Kaitlyn would be a great bachelorette. Britt, not so much. #teamkaitlyn

T H R E E

My entire family was hit with the stomach bug this week. Mom, niece, sister, then husband. Let me tell you, seeing my 6'4 husband curled up in the fetal position writhing in pain is just plain heartbreaking! I have been spraying Lysol like it's my job. Let's just all pray that terrible stomach bug is going to leave our household without paying me a visit #knockonwood

F O U R

In case you missed my post from yesterday, check out the flash mob me and my girls did at my wedding reception! So much fun!

F I V E

Me and 3 of my best friends are headed to Charlotte today to stay with our other bff Kate for the weekend! And guest what… hubs is tagging along #girlsweekendplushusband! He basically is one of the girls anyway ;) We are going for the St. Patty's Day bar crawl which lasts all day Saturday. I am pretty nervous excited for all the festivities! A big group of us are all meeting up to go so it should be an amazing weekend! I've never really done anything to "celebrate" St. Pattys day so that makes it even more fun! All my girls + husband + green beer= perfection!