St. Louis

To finish out my first week of vacation during internship, we headed to St. Louis to visit Jonathan & Christina, who have recently moved there to attend Covenant Theological Seminary. We of course went to see the St. Louis Arch...the Gateway to the West. We first visited the museum and then all crammed into a tiny claustrophobic elevator and went to the top to view all of St. Louis.
We then went to see Martin Luther and beautiful Concordia University...because they find it prettier than the one they actually attend...
In addition, we went shopping at the large Galleria, had dinner with some of Jake's cousins I had yet to meet, ate at Blueberry Hill and just did a lot of hanging around--which was very nice!

Jake's parents and Joel came to visit for Thanksgiving...and we had a nice time doing a lot of shopping. Well really them more then me as I was working...and not crazy getting up at ridiculous hours! Sadly it seems we didn't take any pictures.

Since then we have returned to the grind. Jake has just finished his first semester at Rice and is now taking finals and I have returned to the public hospital for several rotations--including newborn nursery and the wards, which I am enjoying very much! Sometime in there we also made a very very quick trip back to Utah for my friend Jessica's wedding. Though a quick trip, it was great to again get to see my niece and catch-up with many of our college friends and at the wedding I had the honor of watching Texas win a big game along with their truest fans the Tottenhams! In addition due to being on call, staying up way too late catching up with friends, and going right back to being on call...I caught a cold (likely RSV) from all my sick babies :( Thankfully I am now getting better....and I think we are now caught up.

Milcreek Canyon

One of the joys of getting to go home is getting to hike...in the snow! And to top it all off there were still a few trees with beautiful fall colors still in the city

Elli's 1st Birthday

Little Miss Elli turned 1 a couple weeks ago, and during my vacation, I was able to go to SLC and celebrate with her.
She enjoyed all the attention she received, but wasn't quite sure what to make of the cake...

Her very favorite present was a baby doll with a bottle Sydney gave her

She also got to hang out with the family

The baby doll remains a favorite...she likes to feed the baby, then burp the baby...as well as give her hugs and kisses

She also really likes to read, especially this nursery rhyme book
and ride her rocking Caterpillar
I can't believe how fast she's grown!

A Little Behind

We've been busy and gotten a little behind in blogging...the happy news is we are working on some new posts...and maybe we will post them before Christmas :)

As you can see: it sucks as it cuts

Dear Reader,

Sorry this blog has descended into the land of infrequent posting lameness.... we have tons of stuff to throw up here. It's not you, it's us... it's what we're going through right now. You've been great and we'd really like to still be friends. We just need a little time.

Theoretically - I have Friday off... if that materializes I resolve to post some lusciousness for your reading/viewing enjoyment.

Warmest Fuzzies,

-jake and erin

Soccer Balls

We've had a brief respite in our crazy schedules...last weekend we both worked/went to school Saturday morning and had Sunday off...which gave us a whole day and a half to spend together! It was wonderful! We went to the Museum of Natural Science to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, got to spend some time with our neighbor we miss so much who was in town visiting and go to the Dynamo game...

where for the first time since he joined the league David Beckham actually played in the Dynamo vs. Galaxy matchThen this weekend was Intern Retreat in the Woodlands...which meant all interns got to not work from Friday at 2pm to Sunday at 2pm! It did include some lectures and exciting team building activities...but also included significant others and free time at a nice resort and meant I got to miss part of my Friday call! (Unfortunately I left the camera in the car the whole time.) Now going back to work tomorrow will be hard.

However, now the count down to my scheduled vacation begins...only 16 days and 2 calls to go!

Working

That's really all we have been doing...and it is keeping us quite busy. Jake is also very busy with school; but he likes it a lot, so that part is good.

I have survived my first call month! And now am on to the next...
I will be very glad when November comes and I get a break from working 30 hours straight every 4th day and spending the night in the hospital.

Otherwise, no new news from us...

Growth

things i've been growing this year...

basil plant-which has produced much yummy pesto, zucchini plant, and a pepper plant; all in the new planter built by jake :)

first zucchini flowerscrazy yellow cherry tomato vine that looks dead...but keeps growing and growing and growing

roses

succulentsnow a monstrous zucchini plants that keeps falling over when it rains
baby red pepper baby zucchini
new fall tomato plants

The Last Golden Weekend

This past weekend was my last golden weekend (meaning I was off both days of the weekend) for quite a while, so we thought we would take advantage of it and do something fun to enjoy it. So we packed up the dogs and took a short roadtrip to Corpus Christi to hang out on the beach. Jake and Battlecat driving...unlike Kelsey, BC is not a big fan of the car, she seems to get carsick and prefers to look out the front window when we're in the car
First we headed to Mustang Island where there was a lot of beach and not too many people...so we had lots of room for the dogs to run and play. They had a really great time!
Kelsey swimming- she is rather brave and will swim out to us...BC seems to want to, but is easily frightened by the waves, so mostly stands and watches and slowly creeps forward

Jake and the dogs being eaten by a shark. This was a rather popular store entrance it seemed. And note BC did not go inside it, she was quite frightened.
at the downtown beach

in front of the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay, a WWII era aircraft carrier

Finally us hanging at the beach, watching the dogs play.

And now the real work of residency begins...my first inpatient month and my first month with call--every 4th day overnight in the hospital with only 4 days off for the entire month; I hope I survive it!

As an update, swimming reaggravated Kelsey's limp...it had improved, though not completely, with the rest and medicines...and now we have to start all over again :( And we are now on day 27 of eyedrops for BC...but her eye is now healing.