Southern Escape

This year we gave up on the Outer Banks and headed father south for spring break.

Hilton Head Island, SC. Coligny Beach...

We shared a gorgeous house with dental school friends.

This was our view from the back porch (situated on a world-class golf resort.)

Dustin enjoyed the palm trees.

We celebrated our birthdays...

And danced with Wii.

It was sunny and warm and windy. And some of the crazy brave even swam.

We divided into groups and went on dolphin sight-seeing tours. We spent an hour out on the water being captivated (and startled) by bunches of dolphins.

And on the last day we took a side trip to Savannah.

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah. Dustin contemplating death.

Wormsloe estate. The driveway. It stretched for a mile.

Stepping back in time...

So much fun and warmth. I love this little slice of the South. 

Birthday

A quick recap of how we celebrated my 25th... starting with a trip to Maymont with my family on the weekend before:

Exploring the state Capitol...

Then dinner at Cafe Gutenberg (always delicious)...

And home for a self-baked cake and ice cream. (At least I didn't sing to myself.)

There was also lunch with friends (Urban Market Farmhouse Cafe)...

And Dustin took me to dinner at Cous Cous (probably my favorite restaurant in Richmond).

Does it surprise you that my birthday revolved around food? I wouldn't have it any other way.

So Many Shades

On this the day of the completion of my 25th year of life, I thought it might be fun to reflect on a short history... of my hair. Most of you know me as a blonde, but you might be surprised by the spectrum of shades my do has traveled through.

Let's start at the beginning.

Not sure if you can call this hair at all. So I started bald.

By my first birthday I had light fuzz. We're getting somewhere.

By three I had the most beautiful blonde mullet. Thank you mom.

Big bangs. Bad teeth. Remnants of a perm. Awesome.

Now we'll skip a few years. For a while it stayed pretty calm. 'Till I hit freshmen year at BYU, when I met Dustin and also became acquainted with hair dye.

So I was about every shade possible of brunette. I even once went red (although failed to find a picture of it). I also couldn't find a shot of the one time, in the midst of all this nonsense, I bleached my whole head platinum- or rather orange- for a few days.

I even went black. (I regretted that.)

Then shortly before we got married I had this crazy idea that I wanted to be blonde. So within a week or so before the wedding, I went for it.

Partway there...

And ta da!

And I've been blonde ever since. (Or at least a shade of it...!)

And I think it'll stay this way. But I'm open to suggestions- perhaps bringing the bowl-cut back?!

OR Intern

Yesterday I got the phone call that I've been hoping/wishing/praying for...

I got the job as an RN in the operating room!!!

I'll be working for Richmond's HCA hospital system. It begins with a 6-9 month internship (paid and fully benefitted, thankfully) rotating through each of their hospitals and the different surgical services, learning to both scrub and circulate (here's an explanation of what that means). And after the internship I'll have a permanent position in one of their ORs.

(Except in reality we'd all be wearing proper eye protection.)

Most of you know I fell in love with surgery during nursing school (or perhaps it started long before that with Grey's Anatomy- but don't worry I didn't mention that in my interview!) And I knew that this is where I wanted to end up. I just didn't imagine it would happen so soon. I feel so lucky and truly blessed.

April 18th will be my first day of work. I'm going to relish in the boredom until then.

Winter Ball

MCV holds a Winter Ball at the Jefferson Hotel every February. The perfect excuse to dress up, enjoy a fancy dinner, and dance the night away. Thanks to Nick and Jenna for snapping a few shots of us on our way out the door...

Did I forget to mention there was gambling? (No real money involved.) Dustin enjoyed some blackjack...

And I was hiding at the poker table. I have an ongoing love affair with poker.

I can thank Dustin's college roommates for my gambling skills (it's ironic what you learn at BYU). I'm pretty sure I've never told my parents about this but here goes....

Several years ago I won a (free-entry) Texas Hold'em tournament on our Mexican cruise (and a small sum of money). (And seriously ticked off a large group of experienced gamblers.) But that wasn't the beginning...

When we were little my brother and I would sneak into the basement and play poker where my Dad couldn't find us. (Candy was the preferred currency.) Then he caught on and confiscated the cards and chips and we had to become even stealthier. It started young.

Once I got the gambling out of my system, we hit the dance floor.

Yeah, it was fun.

RN

I took my boards on Friday morning and had to wait all weekend...

This morning I called the board of nursing (hands shaking as I held the phone) and confirmed that I have an active license in the state of VA! 

I'm an RN!!

Graduating was a big deal, but this feels a whole lot better. I'm a nurse for real. 

Now a job would be nice. 

Celebration

This weekend we snuck away to celebrate my parents' birthdays. Saturday night we dined at a Thai restaurant in Old Town Manassas. Dustin was distraught that he was going to miss listening to the BYU basketball game on the radio while we were out. Just by chance we were seated at a table right in front of a large screen TV where he got to watch the whole thing! (If you haven't heard, BYU is doing really well this year. It's refreshing.)

Brooke and I planned and cooked Sunday dinner...

...and dessert (to include cake and homemade ice cream)! Don't mind that I'm photographing my food on the kitchen floor. This spot had the best lighting. I have no idea why Dustin is there though.

I had to show off my adorable apron that Kristin made me for Christmas. I'm always wearing it!

Definitely not enough candles on that cake. Let's just say there would have been over 100 cumulatively...!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom and Dad!!

Love you so much!