Merry Christmas!

Well the gifts have been unwrapped and the Christmas brunch has been cleaned up. Here are some pictures of our Christmas morning. We woke up a little later than normal (8:30) b/c we went to midnight mass, which was at midnight, duh :) Now the turkey & ham are baking and I am needing to get a shower before our holiday guests arrive in about an hour. I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas thus far, there is plenty of it left to enjoy. I know we all (especially my parents) are looking forward to a phone call/video chat with Josh & his family.

Mission Accomplished

If anyone has been checking out my Facebook status you know that I have been talking about organizing my closet(s) for days. In May my parents basically moved me back to KS and since then I have just been making due with the disarray of a closet that I have. Some of my clothes are in storage, some are in a closet the basement and some are in the closet in my room. It has been driving me nuts that they were very unorganized. I am a little like Monica Gellahar-Bing from Friends in that I love my clothes to be separated by sleeve length, color and sometimes even seasons. Today I finally got to organizing my closet as it should be, as it was in Memphis, Mission Accomplished!

Here is a BEFORE picture

And then the AFTER

Bye-bye Memphis

Saturday I moved for the 2nd time this year. It was very bitter sweet in the way that I will miss so much about Memphis, I will miss my Memphis friends, the great food, the amazing music and the diverse shopping but I am happy to be at home and be around more family.

My last day of clinic was Friday, and I was lucky enough to only work a half day. For lunch that day I ate at my favorite bbq place, BBQ Shop, catchy huh?

Kyle, me & Joe

Jill, Sara & Matt

After lunch Sara & I met Julianne at the Nail Bar for a quick manicure, which actually took about an hour, they really take their time! Seriously it is good that I didn't let myself go earlier in the semester, it is so addicting!

That night Megan, Joe & Luke came over to eat with me, Julianne & Derrick. We had Memphis Pizza Cafe, my favorite pizza EVER!!! (btw, I have not been to Italy) We ordered my 3 favorite pizzas, Alternative (Olive Oil, Mozzarella, Crushed Basil, Garlic, Fresh Tomato), BBQ chicken (Chicken, BBQ Sauce, Cheddar,Mozzarella) & Veggie supreme(Onion, Green Pepper, Black andGreen Olives, Spinach, Broccoli,Mushroom, Fresh Tomato, Mozzarella).

I will be forever grateful to Julianne & Derrick for putting a roof over my head for the past 4 months. I hope I wasn't too much of a bother. You will always have a place to stay in KS and then where ever I move!

Bye-bye Memphis, I will be back in April for yet another National Board test.

Trivia night

Last Thursday I got together with some friends for Trivia Night at Buffalo Wild Wings. We were in 2nd place up until the final round, then ended up with 3rd, not too shabby. Here are some pictures of the night.

Me, Kelsey & Erin
Matt acting silly
Kelsey & Kevin - Cute couple!

New Music

Thank you to everyone who emailed me or commented on here regarding new music suggestions for working out. I am trying to add a few at a time, and still hoping to get an iTunes gift card in my stocking so I am trying to hold out, hard for me to do. Here are the songs I have added so far.

Fergie - Labels or Love
House of Pain - Jump around
Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne - Let it Rock
Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day
Metro Station - Shake it
Rihanna - Shut Up and Drive
RUN-D.M.C. & Aerosmith - Walk This Way

I know a few of you suggested some OAR songs, of course I already have those on there, minus Crazy Game of Poker b/c my version is over 17 min long!!! Thank you again for the ideas, they are great. If there is anyone else who has suggestions please comment.

Big Bang Moment

One of my most favorite TV shows is The Big Bang Theory. It is adorable, so innocent and SOOO funny. Here is a clip from the show this week. Just a background in the episode Leonard tried to ride a motorcycle but couldn't b/c before he got on it fell over on him and hurt him. Penny hates science but said that she did to impress a hot scientist. And Sheldon is very OCD, socially inept and awkward. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Amber!

Today is one of my best(est) friend's birthday, Amber. She lives in Tulsa with her huz Mike and baby girl Hadley with another on the way. I didn't get to see her over Thanksgiving break so I hope to see her as much as possible over Christmas. The poor thing has been iced inside with Hadley for 2 days and I think is going stir crazy. Hopefully the sun will shine and the ice will melt and she can enjoy her birthday outside of the house.

Happy birthday Amber! I love you!

Horray for our LAST couple of days!

If you would have asked me on September 2, I would have told you that I didn't think this day would ever come, the last few days of SCO clinic that is. It was painful going from a private practice setting to back in the dictatorship clinic. But somehow, like every class before us, and every class after us, we made it through. Some days it seemed like it would never end, but finally come this Friday, that is 2 days from now we will be finally FREE!!! I was feeling festive and in a baking mood last night so I made cookies to take today for clinic as celebration. Here is the recipe.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1. 1 cup butter

2. 3/4 cup sugar

3. 3/4 cup brown sugar

4. 1 egg

5. 1 tsp vanilla

6. 2 1/4 cup flour

7. 1 tsp baking soda

8. 1/2 tsp salt

9. Chocolate chips – I put in 1 whole bag of semi-sweet choc chips & ½ bag of peanut butter chips

Mix 1-5; add and mix 6-8. Add 9. Bake 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes on ungreased pan.

I made a double batch, so I was baking for hours! As you can see I probably ended up with about 8 dozen, I stopped counting after the first few sheets.

And I guess they were good b/c this is all that was left after I came into the lounge at 6 tonight.

Night of pampering

Last Thursday Erin & I decided to treat ourselves to one last pedicure of the Winter season. We went to a new place in Memphis call the Nail Bar. I actually got a gift certificate from Julianne & Megan for my birthday and have been trying to a perfect time to use it, and if you saw my feet on Wednesday you would agree it was the perfect time :) It was one of the most amazing mani/pedi experiences I have had to date! My nails & toes looked great but on the of best things about it is that you get to drink while you are there, hence Nail BAR :) Another great thing is that they have a 3 day no chip policy and if your nails do chip they will fix them for free! What a deal. It is a good thing I did not found this little gem sooner b/c my bank account would be suffering.

Here are our first glasses of champagne, yes mine is the empty one, and our nail colors
Me in the oh so comfy pedi chair
Erin catching up on her gossip & enjoying the pedi too
They were playing Sex & the City that day. My fav!Here are our feet getting a final parafin wax, felt sooooo goooood!Thanks for going with me Erin! I really enjoyed it.

Suggestions

I am in need of new workout songs on my iPod, running isn't fun just yet for me and it REALLY isn't fun when I am listening to the same songs over and over. It makes me feel like I am running in circles. So if you have any good songs that you like to listen to please leave me a comment about what those are. I really appreciate it!

Isn't that the point?

So I was leaving the gym today and texting at the same time, yes I can walk & tm but sometimes it is harder than others. Any who, this guy stops to wait on me so he can get my parking spot ,which was in a close space due to luck of the draw, I had a bit of trouble getting my key less entry to work and it was taking longer than normal and apparently he got mad and sped off to find another space... My thought, "uh dude, you are going to the gym to workout, don't you think trying to walk as little as possible the exact opposite reason of why you are going to the gym?" Isn't exercise the point of going to they gym? Just a thought...

Slideshow of NBEO party

Here is a slideshow of the after party at Rio Loco. It was so much fun, and I got to catch up with so many people I had not seen or talked to in so loong.

Congrats Tangee & Jason

Just a few hours after boards was over with Tangee's day was made instantly better, no matter how she felt about her performance on the test (which I am sure was awesome). Jason, her boyfriend of 6 years, surprised her when she got home with flowers and then as they were getting ready to go to dinner with all of us he PROPOSED! She was so surprised and happy. If anyone knows Tangee you can imagine how high pitched her voice got, and remained that way until the next day, for good reason. Congrats to Tangee & Jason.

It is finished!!

Well its over with, National Boards Part 2. And let me tell you my brain is fried and I am a bit of a zombie. But not to worry I stopped and got a Sparks at the store and am about to drink it for some energy AND I have a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator with my name all over it! :) THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who thought/prayed for me over the past couple of days (or in my family's case month!) I really appreciate it!

We had a very long lunch today. I was done with the second part of the test about 10:30 (there are 3 and the first one was yesterday). So we headed to Starbucks to refill from breakfast and then headed to one of the best burger places ever, Huey's. My favorite is the West Coast Burger with a Turkey patty, my mouth is watering just thinking about it again!

After that we had some time to kill so we just hung out in the activity room at the gym. I have included some pictures from the day.

And the best is yet to come, my class is getting together at Rio Loco downtown for a Boards after party. Look out margarita... Here I come!!!

Namesake Wine

After dinner I went to the liquor store to get a nice night cap for me :) I went to my favorite liquor store down the street from where I live. The guys that work in there are great, always smiling and they always card me and comment about me being from KS and I reassure them that I was rooting for University of Memphis when they played KU last year in basketball... It always gives me the "in" and it is the truth. As a bonus it was ladies night last night and I got 10% off, how am I just finding out about this??? Well here is the bottle of wine I picked up.

So if you don't know my middle name is Angeline, so it was meant to be. I didn't even read the information on it, I just bought it! Here is a little more about it.

Angeline Pinot Noir 2006 from The Russian River Valley
Pinot Noir is produced from fruit that abounds with intense fruit and rich aromas. By "cold soaking" the crushed grapes and fermenting at moderate temperatures, bright fruit flavors are extracted from the grape without harsh tannins. This Pinot Noir is a brilliant, deep ruby color with delicate aromas of raspberry, strawberry and a soft whisper of vanilla. Bright flavors of ripe raspberries and strawberries, layered with subtle nuances of vanilla oak lead to a rich, full fruit finish.
It is produced from grapes carefully selected from the Soracco & Rocking B vineyards in Russian River Valley. Sonoma County is known for its cool winters and warm summers, with a coastal influence that often brings fog to the area. The fog creates a moist blanket during cold weather and cool relief when the
temperature rises.

The nose was odd, my first thought was great this is gonna suck, but the nose and palate were two totally different things, one of the many mystique's about wine. I really liked the taste, very strawberry with a hint of vanilla, smooth and quite tasty. Now I just have to find a Christina wine... Think they have one named Heptig?

Back in business

Yesterday I drove back to Memphis, it was a long drive but I made it safely so all in all a good trip. I was very excited to get off the road, to get settled and then go to dinner with my fellow OD friends at Quetzal, one of our favorite study places. They have the most amazing bloody marys and I always ask for extra spice in mine and last night it hurt, but a good hurt, b/c it was so spicy! Here are so pictures from dinner.

Jason & Tangee (she has been 8 hours away but still in TN for the last 3 months)

Tangee, Erin & Holly

Connie (been in Chicago), Sara (been in SC), Jill & me

Cake!

When I was at home we celebrated a birthday, this was my opportunity to bake! I was so excited to hear that Heather, the birthday girl, liked/loved Red Velvet cake, which is one of my favorites too. So I jumped on the chanc to make one. I used a boxed cake but made the oh so luscious cream cheese frosting myself from Baking Illustrated, the bible of baking books. I left the book at home so if you want the recipe please let me know and I can email it to you... Or Tami if you are reading this, and have time, could you put it in the comments, it is with the carrot cake recipe. Thanks! Okay, so here are pictures of the cake. I was pretty proud of it and the crumbs were easier to do that I thought!