January

Okay, so I realize it's not even close to January anymore.  Let's just be thankful I'm posting and roll with it.  {I actually wrote this months ago and never uploaded it.}

(1)  Charles and I visited Liz in Nashville before right before New Year's.  (Yes, I realize this isn't January.)

pretty coffee swirls

(2)  Charles's and my licenses expire like 3 days apart.  I always try to avoid renewing in Birmingham (SO MUCH WAITING), so we stopped by the courthouse in Talladega when we went to buy our wedding bands.

(3)  Macie found me in the free wedding catalogue.  So I'm basically famous.

(4)  MACIE'S ENGAGED!  And clearly she knows the way to MY heart because she asked me to be a bridesmaid with chocolate chip cookies in my locker at school.  Right on top of my histology lab manual (NOT the way to my heart - just for clarification).

(5)  Walking the last bit home from snowpocalypse after the slumber party at school.

(6)  Snow round 2

(7)  Yes, this is a snapchat.  Yes, I love Frozen.

Meet Copper. 

He likes staring at his reflection, snoring loudly, and long walks. 

He's pretty cute.

ECG

We're two weeks into the cardiovascular module, and let's just say I'm glad fundamentals is over.  Some of the stuff we're learning about is really cool!  Right now I'm studying everything ECGs.  First person to diagnose this arrhythmia wins!

(Sorry for the school-blog... it's an appropriate reflection of my life.)

Busy busy busy

Apparently I'm only capable of blogging in lists these days.  Here's the second half of my first semester of med school in a very abbreviated fashion.  My biggest failure of late is my lack of photography.  When I stop studying and hang out with my friends or family, I've just been enjoying it so much I haven't slowed down to take pictures.  I need to work on that.

(1)  Football.  Auburn had some unexpected success.  I have only attended the AU-Georgia and AU-UA games since graduating... so I have pretty high standards for my future Auburn games.  I also made a couple of trips to T-town to see more (more: as, in additional to Auburn) high-quality football.

Best double-daters around.

Toomers isn't the same without the trees.

(2)  Wedding planning.  Still not my forte.  But we've had engagement pictures (aka Christmas shopping), picked out bridesmaid dresses, ordered my dress, addressed save the dates.  Keeps me on my toes.

(3)  Fun times in Volker Hall and Lister Hill Library.  

Fundamentals 2 really gave me a run for my money.  Who REALLY thought it was a good idea to teach bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites in the TWO weeks before Christmas break?

(4) Family time/ graduation.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and Charles's graduation, I've gotten to hang out with my fam and my future fam a lot.  :)  Oh and Charles graduated.  He starts "real life" (aka full-time employment) in a couple of weeks.

Joyful.

Lately I am grateful for 14+ hours spent in the car because it means we spent a sunny Thanksgiving with family,

the craziness of Black Friday because it means the shooting range was empty,

the temperatures dropping because it's an excuse for hot cocoa and extra marshmallows,

 endless amounts of packing because it means we are moving closer to friends and family,

 crowded restaurants because it means a lunch date while exploring new places, 

waiting in line 4 hours because it means we experienced the greatest iron bowl in history,

thorns in my pants because it means we won and jumped through bushes to storm the field,

 and the man who destroyed Toomer's trees because it proves tradition never dies.

California, here we come. War Eagle. 

It's been a while.

Sometimes I wish life would just slow down, but then I realized it's not going to (except for last weekend when we set the clocks back. That was awesome.) so I guess I just need to catch up with life. 

Here's my attempt at catching up on the last few months (brace yourself for LOTS of pictures)

We soaked up the last bits of summer by watching the sun set over the lake,

 I read this book which quickly became one of my favorites,

 I frequently felt like I was in the Valley of Ashes and Dr. T.J. Eckleburg was watching me on my long commute (name that book),

 We ventured up to Memphis for a wedding and got to spend time with sweet family,

watched sunlight through the window beam on our new kitchen table,

,

 went to the Arkansas state fair,

 had lunch with Caroline during my brief stop in Alabama (new favorite brunch spot in Bham!)

took photos of this girl for my jewelry line (check it out here)

 Went on a road trip to the beach,

 where my mom locked us out of the house (looks like she's broken into places a time or two),

and we didn't want to leave the beautiful October beach.

Back in Arkansas, it decided to turn cold. We crashed a local college and went to a Dave Barnes concert, 

 I got this lovely card in the mail (so much excitement!!),

 went to a pumpkin patch where I wanted this baby pumpkin (why is everything always cuter in miniature form?)

 and succeeded in the muddy maze with this guy.

 Then we headed up to Fayetteville on the most beautiful drive,

where the boys decided to ride a hog,

 and the Tigers decided to beat the hogs!

 We were so thankful to have sweet friends stay with us for the weekend. 

Life in the natural state is always an adventure!