Lately

Saltville

Dustin's first away rotation was in the tiny town of Saltville, VA. He worked on patients at the clinic during the day...

And ventured into the country in the evening...

Riding in lawn chairs in the back of a pick-up truck. I feel a redneck joke coming on...

It might be the middle of nowhere, but it sure is beautiful.

While Dustin has been away on rotations I've spent a lot of time in Northern Virginia with my family. Swimming, shopping, cooking, and enjoying being home with my brother and sisters. Dustin joined us for the weekend after working hard in Norfolk.

Great Falls Park

Saturday afternoon we took a hike through Great Falls. I've lived in Virginia (on and off) for the last 18 years and didn't know about this little gem. (Or can't remember having ever been.) Great Falls is a national park situated along the Potomac River- which divides Maryland and Virginia- right outside of D.C. (very close to Tyson's Corner if you define locations by shopping, like me).

We encountered a bunch of deer. They didn't run when we got close. They just stared.

It was a beautiful hot and sweaty day.

The park has trails for hiking, biking, and even horse back riding. You can fish, picnic, kayak, canoe, and rock climb. We'll be back!

Father's Day

Then we celebrated Father's Day with my family. The patio set was our family gift to Dad.

So we had dinner outside around the grill...

My dad had begged the family to see Gnomeo and Juliet with him and then hated it. So we thought it would make the perfect gift!

Dad, we love you!

Disclaimer: Dustin is not, although probably should be, getting paid to advertise for RVCA. He does happen to have a lot of their t-shirts and it just seems as though that's all he wears!

Backyard BBQ

Memorial Day.
Our backyard.
Crammed with friends and good food.

(Those pictured here are the brave ones who stayed outside despite the sickening heat. It was nearly 100 degrees and humid, too. Please excuse all the sweaty red shining faces. Not our best look.)

The Montfort Loop (and Queensland) crew. We had to get a few shots with our fourth year friends before they left us...

I can't tell you how much I'll miss these girls.

Ordinary

Dustin has complained that I only ever blog about fun and interesting events and that they're not an accurate representation of our everyday lives.

So I made a point to capture a few pictures of an "ordinary" day.

He's been wearing these green scrubs for three years now and this is the first picture we have of him in them (kinda sad)...

An early morning on my way to the hospital....

I was sent home with gowns and gloves to practice "scrubbing in" for procedures.

So I put them to use in the only place where I feel like I actually know what I'm doing.

As you can see we don't get dressed much during the week. We study, work, exercise, cook, relax and sleep in sweats or scrubs. Welcome to our reality.

All Together

This weekend we drove to Maryland and stopped here (it was such a beautiful day)...

on our way here...

to stand in this longgg line...

and eat this...

Welcome to the East Coast, Cafe Rio! It tasted just like the original.

Then we made our way to Manassas (which is getting the very next Cafe Rio in July!!) to celebrate Mother's Day.

Katelyn and I cooked dinner (apron + sweatpants- my favorite outfit) while Amber fetched Mom and Jake from the airport (they had been in Texas at our cousin Brett's wedding).

We love you, Mom!

All back together again after almost two years.

Quick Trip

Last week I flew to Utah to visit the friends and family I don't see often enough. This was my first trip back since we left BYU three years ago. (And since I'll be working non-stop for the next 6+ months I had to take advantage of my dwindling free time.)

Amber and Katelyn were gracious enough to let me stay with them for few days.

I have missed those mountains. But not the SNOW. Yes, it snowed the last two days I was there. In April.

Since I recently turned 25 I was old enough to rent a car! It felt very grown up to drop myself off at the airport in my own rental car. The Versa and I got along swell.

I got to spend time with Kristin and her husband (not pictured). This was a dessert shop in Orem, not the Louvre.

I visited my cousin Coral and met her adorable two year old daughter, Halle! I've missed out on a lot...

And we caught up with Nathan and Amy (cousins x 2) over sweet potato fries at Guru's.

Grandma and Grandpa Goodfellow took us out to dinner at Los Hermanos. We love them so much!

My sisters and their roommate Laura. Thank you, Laura, for allowing me to take over your couch and invade your bathroom and kitchen. You make some killer rosemary bread.

Here we all are...

My girls.

It was a wonderfully relaxing trip and a much needed distraction from what I'm about to begin. I didn't realize how much I missed all the places Dustin and I had spent our first four years together. So many memories, so much fun!

Home

My bigger younger brother made it home from his mission in Ukraine!

Amber and Katelyn, we wish you could have been with us.

I included this random picture because it is a good side-shot of my short hair. (Still loving it!)

He managed to smuggle us each a Ukrainian fur hat through customs... to include real lynx (Jake), red fox (Dustin and I), arctic fox (Mom and Broke) and beaver (Dad).

Jake, we're so happy to have you home.

What I Did

Or rather what I consented to have done to my hair.




8 or so inches gone.

And Dustin keeps looking at me funny.

But so far, I like it.