Daddy's Hospital Bag

Gifts for nurses? Check!
Nursery done? Check!
Hospital Bag for Dad? ...Check!

Since Tom works at the hospital, and has a locker with some basic items waiting for him, I wanted to keep a hospital treat bag simple and cheap. [He doesn't need a toothbrush, deodorant, etc., as those essentials are in his locker, and packed in our toiletry bag. Tom also thinks he is going to wear scrubs the entire time we're at the hospital. I finally broke the news to him that he will need to bring at least ONE regular outfit to wear!!]

 Basically, I raided our basement storage area, and used the leftovers from the nurse gifts to come up with a simple bag of goodies that I know Tom will enjoy.

I included:
2 bottled waters
2 Diet Dr. Pepper bottles
beef jerk
peanut M&Ms
Snickers candy bars
Clif Bars
Gum
Almond snack size bags

I found the adorable *free* printable via Pinterest here. Print, cut, done!

The MOST important thing I included in the bag? A hand written letter expressing how thrilled I am for us to go down this parenting road together!

Perks

Tom gets very few perks in his 80 hour a week residency, but this weekend we got to enjoy one! After our nursing class, we headed up to Labor and Delivery and Tom gave me an ultrasound! It was so fun to see our little guy moving around and measure his growth. I felt a bit like Rachel from FRIENDS here, though.

Tom is so talented at doing and reading ultrasounds, I'm so proud of him. But, as he was all "oh, look, the baby's resting his head on his hands," I was all, "What?! Where!? I don't see it....there?! huh?"  So, after Tom readjusting the entire machine so he could simultaneously move the ultrasound probe AND point out the baby on the screen, I was able to understand [i think] all the movements of our little cutie. In my defense, as the baby gets bigger, you only see one small portion/body part at a time so it is hard to piece it all together.  It was easy back when baby was small, but now he is over 2 pounds!!

It really didn't matter, though, because seeing his movements and heartbeats were all I needed to make me thankful and overjoyed!

Open to a New Year

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with 2013. I mean, wonderful things happened: Tom was provided Residency in St. Louis, I graduated with my Masters in Literacy, Tom graduated from Medical School, we had a very fun double graduation party with friends and family, I started a new job and I ran my first half marathon! On the outside, it was our best year yet. Isn't that the interesting thing about looking at everyone else's life on the outside? Because behind those walls, 2013 was also filled with heartbreak, anger, difficulty, disappointment and a deep struggle to maintain faith in it all. You can see a snip-it here and I hope to post more about it in 2014.

I pray your 2014, like ours, will be filled with renewed hope, deep growth, new and old friendships, learned lessons, inexplicable joy, good books, and God's great blessings!

Here's to 2014!

The 12 Minute Work Out

Tom shared this interesting study with me about how 12 minutes of high intensity workouts, even at a low volume, can reduce cholesterol and fat successfully. The 16 minutes work outs were even better, but still at a manageable time limit.

This is so surprising to me, but refreshing too. In my mind, a workout should be 1-1 1/2 hours long! I know. Ridiculous! But that's what I did in high school and college and I was in great shape (not surprising I guess, considering the time I spent at the gym.) So, now, I feel this pressure to work out for a long time. But you know what happens? I get so overwhelmed by not working out long enough that I just DON'T work out at all. So silly. And not at all healthy.

So, all that to say, I can handle 12 minutes, or even 16 minutes! It is so do-able! Here's my plan I've been following (keep in mind: high intensity):

16 Minutes to Fitness

2 minutes of bosu ball burpees

2 minutes of jump rope

2 minutes of side steps with resistance band

2 minutes of pylometric jacks

2 minutes of push ups

2 minutes of regular burpees

2 minutes of mountain climbers

2 minute plank

Stretch!

Here's my oh-so-fabulous gym I belong to:

Fooled ya! It's my basement and it USUALLY doesn't have wood in the middle of it. 

And guess what? Once I do my 16 minutes, then I wind up stretching and wanting to do more exercises because my adrenaline is going and I feel great. In the end, I'm working out for a solid 30 minutes, which I feel pretty dang good about. [Because let's face it, you only have time for hour and a half work outs when you are in college. I mean, I had to squeeze them in between studying and playing intramural football and hanging out and getting my meals cooked for me and having dance parties and studying and talking and sleeping. Rough life!]

Here's to 12 minutes of fitness!

Graduation Party Ideas

Tom graduated Medical School, so clearly we needed to celebrate BIG TIME! I also finished my Masters degree this past year, so we opted for a double graduation party. I really wanted to enjoy the opportunity to be creative and make it special. I love being crafty, but often lack the time. So...I was ultra-prepared. The party was earlier in June, but I started crafting in February, so I wasn't stressed at the last minute, well, at least with the stuff that could be done in advance! :)

Here are a few ways I included both a Medical School Graduation theme and a Reading Specialist Masters degree [say that five times!] theme into one {fabulous} party:

Welcome to the Party!

Wreath with graduation pictures

                                 [yarn wrapped wreath + cardstock + pictures + scrapbooking letters]

Mantel filled with Graduation Memories and Banner

Pinterest-inspired quotes and inspirational sayings banner

Pencil and alphabet vase 

 [2 boxes of pencils + actual teacher alphabet desk strips + washed out veggie can + lots of hot glue]

A dressed up card box

                                             [I had an "extra" mailbox. I may be a *bit* of a hoarder.]

Special drink coozies for the grads

                                     [Dollar bin at Jo Ann Fabric + scrapbooking letters]

Scrub shirt cookies for dessert

Large and small versions

     [Recipe for the cookie found here: Authentic Suburban Gourmet; Recipe for the icing found here: AllRecipes; "Gourmet Writer" edible marker bought at Hobby Lobby; cookie cutters found locally]

Alphabet and school supply cupcakes

My amazing mom made this great teacher themed table runner...

and tablecloth for the drink table!

And you can't leave without a party favor!

A prescription from the Dr.!

[purchased empty pill bottles + Avery labels from Wal-Mart + a color printer + a little creativity

 + lots of different "prescription-y fonts]

We had a wonderful turn out and a fabulous time celebrating with friends and family. It was a treat to have everyone who supported us through the past years in one place to celebrate. I'm so glad I did all the detail work ahead of time, because cleaning our house and setting up was enough work the week of! And, making those cookies!! [Seriously, it took 2 days, or the equivalent of watching 5 seasons of the Office.]

Match Day

What a crazy experience! We knew that Match Day was going to be a nerve-wracking day, but we didn't know what we were in for. This was insane! But, it was a wonderful day...

We arrived at Busch Stadium and waiting in the FREEZING cold for 30 minutes. Someone was worried about getting good seats, and boy, did that pay off, when we got the best seats there! You're welcome, Tom. :) We were able to sit next to the wall of windows looking into the stadium, and less than 20 feet from the podium, directly in front of it. PERFECT!

We got our picture taken, walked around in the stadium to see the gorgeous sun coming up over the stadium and the St. Louis Arch, got some drinks and chocolate fondue, and listened to announcements. 

Then, it was 10:59am. At 11:00am on the dot they began calling names. What was amazingly fun was that each student got to choose a song, which played while they walked up to get their letter. This made it more upbeat and fun. Tom's song was Jason Aldean's Take a Little Ride. Then, the student took their letter and went back to the seat to open it. You can imagine, then, that  there is a lot going on: students getting their name called, songs played, students opening letters, people reacting. And that right there is where I began to get a little. bit. stressed. A girl to the left of us is screaming with joy. Another girl at her table is crying because she got her #4 spot. A group to the right is cheering when someone got into UNC. The guy at our table received his letter, crumpled it into a ball and walked out. He never came back. My eyes were wide and my heart was pumping. At one point they called a "Thomas" and I nearly had a heart attack. It wasn't Tom. I had the video camera ready and wanted to get it all on film, but I also wanted to survive. It literally felt like a survival situation. Don't get me wrong, it was a fun atmosphere, but there was this intensity that just hung like a cloud in the room until 12:00 when all names had been called. Whew.

Anyway, back to Tom. At 11:20 they called "Thomas Ganz" and Tom headed up to the podium. He looked fabulous and was all smiles. He came back to the table and opened the letter. I saw his reaction first: priceless. He was BEAMING, called out "YES!" and looked at me. Me? I was worried that he had read the letter wrong. Are you sure? Did it really say SLU? So, I desperately tried to read the size 8 font, and when I did, I may have given the rest of the table a show. I practically jumped onto Tom, gave him a huge hug and then a even bigger kiss. Oops! Who knew that's what my reaction would be!?  I was excited and thrilled and oh so proud of Tom! I'm so glad he was called at 11:20 because I am not sure I could not survived until noon. After that Tom just smiled and we were both so excited! And then, Tom got another drink, it was well deserved!

What does it say!? SLU!

After the Match, we had a wonderful lunch in the Redbird Club and we started to really relax. We talked about how this was the perfect venue, because people could get some space if they wanted to call relatives, and there was also something else to do after the Match. It was one of those events where you didn't want to stick around, but your adrenaline was too high not to do something else. Now it was time for fun! What fun tradition is for everyone to add their name to a map, to show where they are going for residency, which was neat. Tom added his name to St. Louis, mingled a bit, and then we headed to a tour of Busch Stadium.

We loved the tour! Here are some highlights:

The Press Box

We're on the field!

Making a call to the bull pen

In the dug out

They made a huge deal about NOT touching the grass. But, these guys were removing the sod and replacing it, so my 28 year old husband HAD to touch the "ruined" sod in the back of the gator cart just because they had said not to. Good work, Dr.!

After we left Busch Stadium, we headed to The Scottish Arms to continue celebrating. We texted friends and family to let them know we were staying in St. Louis. BUT, we kept it a surprise what program Tom got into. We wanted to reveal that at dinner with our parents. At 6:00 we met both sets of parents at Brio, where Tom gave a speech about wanting to be at SLU, but most importantly, be in St. Louis. Then, he announced he got his #1 choice: SLU OBGYN! Yea!

Dinner was delicious and then we continued the celebration once more at my parents house for a wonderful dessert and coffee. By the time we left at 10:30 we were EXHAUSTED! What an emotional roller coaster day.

We are so blessed to be able to stay in St. Louis, not have to sell our Nantucket home, and for Tom to be able to go to his top choice program in the field he wanted to be in. Praise God, He is so faithful! It is because of God's grace, and Tom's hard work and dedication that we have come so far, and we are SO thankful. It was also so neat to see our families and friends' reactions and encouragement as we went through this experience.

We are so blessed! 

The Countdown Begins...

...we are one month away from Match Day! Match Day is the (exciting, stressful, joyful, overwhelming, crazy) day where Tom finds out where he matched into Residency and will dedicate the next 4 years of his life! Tom is really exciting about the field he has chosen--OBGYN, and I can't wait to see where God leads us in life!

Here are the details of what we know so far, in no particular order:
-The ceremony is at Busch Stadium (Go Cards!) and we get a tour, and even get to go on the field!
-The dress is semi-formal.
-I'm already off school that day (March 15) which is very convenient.
-It is just going to be me and Tom at the event.
-I bought a new fabulous black lace dress that I cannot wait to debut!
-Tom gets a song played when they announce his name, what a rock star! Hint: it's a Jason Aldean song.
-Alcohol is being served starting at 10am, aka, when the doors open. Should make for an interesting day.
-They won't announce his residency position to everyone, he will come back to his seat and we'll open the letter together to see where we will live for the next 4 years.
-I need to learn how to use the video camera that we got for Christmas, because I want to DOCUMENT this!
-After the announcing, we'll be served a lunch. Then, there might be bar hopping....we'll see about that!
-We are telling our parents at dinner, then having dessert at my parents to end the festivities.
-I might be an emotional wreck, but I will be exhausted by the end of the day.
-Pray I don't get sick, this all happens the week of freakin' conferences!

Match day is becoming real. Yikes! I'm so excited to just know what is happening, where we are going, and not be in this state of the unknown.