Crazy Maisie...

We've been talking about getting a dog for years, but there's always been an excuse - we were at work for 30 hours at a time, we didn't have a fenced in back yard, etc. etc. Well, we finally must have hit the only spontaneous bone in our collective bodies, as we went to the pound last weekend to look for a new family member.  After a short 1 day application period, we now welcome an 18 month old "pound puppy" labrador retriever into our family...

Our pup's shelter name was "Henrietta," which initially fit her docile, sweet personality.  After she came home, we thought we had struck gold with the BEST dog in the world! She slept through the night, never barked, was house broken, didn't chew, and didn't seem to mind being left while we went to work.

Maybe we should have kept the name "Henrietta"....because BOY did things change once "Maisie"came to life.  I think the movie Marley and Me actually should have been named Maisie and Me....

In the span of 10 short days, she has transformed into a never sleeping, jumping, barking, mad woman with jaws of steel.  She has chewed through 4 leashes, 2 TV remotes, 1 full bag of pup-peroni, 2 canvas prints, and a tube of toothpaste (not counting all of the things we haven't even found yet...). The highlight was coming home to shattered glass on the floorm result of our darling knocking a picture off the wall that was hung at an impressive 5 feet! She was still wagging that tail...but we think that she doesn't agree with our taste in art!

Her new best friend is Thelma, the dog next door.  Maisie often goes visiting under the fence...through the huge hole that they've both been working on.  We have placed 2 large cinder blocks in the suspected areas, only to find a new hole next to an inept cinder block the next day. She'll be in our yard one second and Thelma's the next. Houdini.

After putting our medical heads together, we are pretty sure she has separation anxiety - we have no idea where she came from or what kind of living situation she had, but we're pretty sure that she hates being alone. On a recent visit to the vet, we discussed this bipartisan separation frustration with our friendly veterinarian.  The solution??....a large bottle of Prozac!  We are going to defer putting our dog on an antidepressant at the moment, but we will keep the idea in our back pocket...

On that note, we're off to a doggy daycare evaluation...here's hoping she can play well with others!!

Hi!  My name is Maisie!  Nice to meet you!  Mmmmmm....that camera looks yummy....

We did it!!

Back in August, we decided to become runners. We bought fancy new running shoes and hit the road...

Kathleen had the crazy idea to run the Country Music Half Marathon this year as a last "hurrah" in Nashville...and as a mini mid-life crisis in the year before we turn 30. Yikes! We were both skeptical, but kept plodding along, through the mountains of Costa Rica and all over Sylvan Park. Once we felt like we could manage at least 6 or 7 miles, we bit the bullet and registered (though still skeptical)...runners 14934 and 14943 in Corral 14! No turning back now! It's easy now to forget the IT band pain, chafing issues, cramps that we overcame to get to race day...

We awoke at 4:15AM on race day to make it to LP field to park our car at the finish line. We boarded the shuttle to Centennial Park and froze our tails off waiting for the sun to rise and the race to start. 30,000 runners on West End. Wow. Bring on the people watching!

It was gorgeous weather and a *fairly* enjoyable run...energetic crowds, bands to keep us occupied...and did I mention the people watching?? Initially our goal was just to finish...come mile 12, the competitors within us decided that wasn't good enough...we were beating our time goal.

Team Barry came in HOT, as Kath picked up the pace (she was the pacing master - had to keep David on a leash) and we sprinted to the finish line in 2:09, better than our estimated 2:10!

During training, we swore we'd never do it again, but I'd say that we could be convinced otherwise!

A picture post!

We came home with 700+ pictures. Wow. We will spare you all of the boring details and hit some of the highlights...

Sunset in Uvita

Flu vaccines to the indigenous people

Whale watching in Uvita

Marcel!!

Our "Swiss Family Robinson" abode for the month...no doors or windows!

Photo uploader is being a little bit crazy, so I'll save more for later. Just a few to get you started!

Last stop...Manuel Antonio

Our last stop in Costa Rica was Manuel Antonio, a gorgeous little tourist town on the Pacific coast. Known for the national park, we definitely had to check it out. Once again, we boarded the bus for one last trip, once again managing to buy tickets on the MOST CROWDED bus in all of Costa Rica (maybe even the world..). Sweaty bodies a little too close for comfort. Gross. Though at least this time Kathleen didn't need to self deodorize during the ride!

We made it to Quepos and caught a Land Cruiser taxi (who could accommodate our mammoth bags) to take us to Hotel Karahe. We stayed in a quaint little villa overlooking the beach...though it was quite a hike to get up there. David counted 89 steps, one by one, while carrying our 50 lb suitcases and had to step over a few iguanas sunning on the steps. A dip in the pool was in order after we arrived...

The next morning, after said dip in pool, Kathleen noted an erythematous, edematous, indurated, weeping wound behind her right knee. Yuck, another Costa Rican cellulitis (for those of you know haven't heard the story, David earned quite a gash and resultant cellulitis after trip #1 to Costa Rica in 2005)! Luckily the bacteria in Costa Rica have never seen an antibiotic, and a quick rummage through the bag found some Cipro. Certainly not first line, but hey, it was better by the next morning!

We made a trip to the national park (which incidentally costs about 5 times more for foreigners than for natives...WHERE in the US would that fly??), and started out on a trek for sloths and monkeys. After a quick hike to one of the beaches, we happened upon a crowd that was feeding bananas to about 10 monkeys. Crazy! Clearly, Kathleen got the bright idea to feed them too - gave David a banana, and he was soon giving the monkey its first bite. However, he was reprimanded by a park ranger who was just coming down the hill. Whoopsies!

There were some beautiful views from the park, but no more animals than we had already seen in Pablo's backyard. We headed back, and had a wonderful sunset meal at Barba Roja (we had eaten at El Avion, a deserted war plane now converted bar, the night before).

Saturday, we caught our last bus to San Jose, very excited about the prospect of warm chocolate chip cookies when we checked in at the Doubletree. Tired of overpriced restaurants, we checked out the local "fresh market" and got fixins' for the best sandwiches you've ever seen...and ate them in front of the TV. First TV in a month. Glee has never been so good!

Sunday, we were homeward bound. Tired of rice and beans, but not quite ready to return to reality.

What an amazing experience with many lifelong lessons and memories...this is Costa Rica signing off!!

El coche está roto (translation: "the car is broken")

Hello friends, the adventure never stops here in Costa Rica. Yesterday, we were back to the land of the indigenous people to work in the clinic. Once again, Kath saw the babes while David saw the old guys...unfortunately, he drew the short end of the stick and ended up with several prostate exams! Sorry dude, babies don't have enlarged prostates! Since we had spanish class in the afternoon, we had to drive ourselves (or, rather, Kathleen had to drive the diesel minivan, now named "Tubby"). We bumped along the dirt road and made there and back in one piece.



THEN, after our spanish class, "Tubby" refused to start. Embarrasing. Busy road in San Vito with 2 gringos trying to say, "el coche está roto!" Fortunately there was a mechanic across the street who decided the clutch was broken. What?? He pulled a piece out from under the dash and said it was good as new...riiiight. Pablo was in San Jose, and apparently the cell phone number I had for him was wrong. No one was at home. What now?? To quote David, "I don't speak car. I don't speak Spanish. And I sure as hell don't speak car Spanish!"



Fortunately another doctora in town was picking up her child from the "bilingual kinder," and happened to have Pablo's number. His solution: drive the car home! Yikes! Oh yeah, and it was out of gas too. Oops. We drove home with "broken part" in between passenger and driver, hoping that it was not a critical piece of the car. We made it home, only to have to drive it back to the reservation this morning...



We have planned our last trip to Manuel Antonio this weekend prior to heading out of San Jose on Sunday. We avoided booking at the hotel that offered a free dental consultation as part of the standard room rate...weird! Sorry, Claire!

We continue our nightly bug checks, as it recently proved fruitful...a little beetle was snug as a bug under the sheets. On another note, Marcel (the monkey) has gotten quite bold. This afternoon, he waltzed into the kitchen to try to steal our lunch. He can have all of the rice and beans he wants!

Can't wait to see you all soon!

A whale of a good time...

On Friday morning, we took off for Uvita ("little grape?"), a beach just north of the Osa Peninsula that is home to The Ballena Marine National Park ("ballena" = WHALE).



The bus ride there was much like a cattle car. Despite being early for the bus, we were stuck with the front row seat over the wheel. Let's just say the bus capacity was 50, and we were running somewhere in the 70's. There's too many elbows to scrub in this tub... How that bus made it over the mountains is beyond me...There was a lot of Little Engine that Could references going on! The bus to Uvita was possibly more miserable. It was hot (and I mean Nicargua hot) and there were people selling banana chips every 3 miles. It took us 3 hours to go about 75 miles...and we didn't know where we were getting off in the first place.



By chance, we stopped in front of a sign for our hotel, and we dashed off the bus. We ended up walking up a dirt road, at this point unsure whether or not it was truly our hotel or just a billboard! We finally did make it, though we had to summit a mountain to get there...we arrived drenched in sweat, and the receptionist asked us where we parked our car. Ha ha! No ma'am, we are the "value travelers," and took the bus for $6 total!



The hotel had a beautiful view of the ocean and an infinity pool...nice! We stayed in the adventure lodge, i.e. the economy rooms (though a little pricier than the bus), which were quite suitable though at the bottom of said mountain. A hike to the breakfast buffet in the morning never hurt anyone!



The next morning, we had booked a whale watching excursion, and were SUPER excited about it. We awakened at 7AM to a very pleasant sound, though quickly realized that it was pouring rain. We were fogged in and coudn't even seen the ocean. Sad face.



Trip was postponed a few hours, which ended up fine. We took a small boat out to sea (not for the weak stomachs out there...you know who I'm talking about) and took our post to look for whales. After sitting with the engine off, rocking in the middle of the Pacific for long time, we finally saw our first spout, followed by whale tail! A male humpback, followed soon thereafter by his friend. The coolest part was getting in the water to hear them sing...sounds much like a cow being strangled under water. Moo!



We also managed to see some huge bottlenose dolphins and some brown footed boobies (cousins of the blue footed boobie of the Galapagos...talking about birds you sickos!). We had a great day despite the weather, and headed back to the hotel for some R&R, fresh banana daquiris, and an amazing sunset (pictures to follow)!

We are back in the rainforest for another couple of days before we head home on Sunday (hard to believe)! We are planning to leave for San Jose via Manuel Antonio on Thursday. Gotta get one last dose of Vitamin D before we head back to winter wonderland and the Vandy ICUs! We have now decided that we have celebrated all of our anniversaries (plus one) that we have missed during residency, and have hopefully replenished some of our sleep deprivation (sleep tank to at least 75% full). We have completed a record ten books and are still going. We have enjoyed the combination of medicine + spanish + rainforest + relaxation, and will fondly remember this trip forever.

Can't wait to see y'all soon! Ciao!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!

Everyone loves a good banana (Kathleen prefers hers in pancakes), but have you ever stopped to think where a banana actually comes from? We went on our weekly field trip to a banana plantation today...who knew that Costa Rica was the 2nd biggest exporter of bananas in the world (behind Ecuador)? I guess we could have figured it seeing as though there are bananas growing everywhere, even in parking lots...David has decided it would be difficult to starve here because there are TONS of different fruits hanging off every tree...debatable.

But these bananas were the cream of the crop..."organic" bananas to be shipped to Europe. There are huge fields of them (apparently this is where the vipers like to lurk...yikes!) and they are brought in from the fields on little "banana trams," i.e. hung from a rod system and pulled in by one of the workers. Heavy duty!

The selection process is ridiculous...one tiny brown spot and you are booted! In fact, if one banana in an entire lot packed for shipping looks like it has a twig on its end that possibly could lead to the eventual growth of fungus, the entire thing is thrown away...each box is $8 worth of bananas and they had to throw out 300 boxes last week....$2400 down the drain...how 'bout them apples?

Moral of the story is that both "organic" and DelMonte bananas come from the same crop and are the same as every other banana. Word to the wise, no need to spend extra on the "organic" variety!

Speaking of fruit, has anyone ever heard of a Guanabana? Kathleen was the genius at the bar who asked if the guanabana daquiri was like banana (guess she likes bananas in daquiris too)...sources say no. The next day we got to try one of these guanabanas...about the size of a watermelon. You cut it open and it is filled with a white mucusy liquid and black seeds...sweet to the taste, but disgusting texture. Not a banana.

We are headed out this weekend on a whale hunt. Camera ready. Battery charged. Hope Willy is ready to breach, just not on us! Stay tuned...

Much love to you all!

Two pups and a sunken ship

Let's see, where did we leave off? No bug stories this time, though there continue to be plenty of creepy crawlers!!



We visited the Botanical Gardens right down the road on Thursday, learned lots about various plants in the area, saw some birds...rumor has it that the house is haunted and occasionally you see ghosts on the road outside Pablo's house. Creo que no...



On Friday, we hitched a ride to Golfito with Pablo, who was going to town for a meeting (amazing how much faster things are when you ride in a car rather than in a bus...). We then jumped on the ole water ferry and headed out to the Iguana Lodge in Puerto Jimenez. We were greeted with mango smoothies, a great view of the beach, and two highly fashionable sarongs...which were then used as towels (it was an eco-lodge in fact!). We spent most of our time walking the miles of beach and sitting by the pool reading and listening to the howler monkeys in the background.



Kathleen did tickle the adventure bone in her body and agreed to try a sea kayak and head out into the waves. It was a perfect launch and we paddled up and down the shore hoping that a large shark didn't eat us (though Kathleen hummed the Jaws theme for the duration of the trip). We then decided that it was time to go back to shore...and that is when the adventure began. As David steadied the boat and lined us up to catch a wave, Kathleen was at the front of the kayak paddling away, oblivious to the trouble brewing. As we caught a monster wave in (probably the biggest wave to hit the beach that day...) the kayak lurched forward, and then went vertical, straight down into the abyss of the Pacific. Kathleen bailed ship and David jumped out valiantly to save her life. Luckily we were only in 2 feet of water and we were able to corral Kathleen's paddle and the kayak and make for shore. It was only then that we realized that the kayak had a hole in the bottom and had been taking on water the whole voyage! We spent the next 30 minutes draining said kayak before returning it in mint condition...all in all, Kathleen's primary complaint was that her hat got wet...



We had an excellent candlelit dinner with the other guests on Saturday night and then headed back to San Vito on Sunday. It was hot as Hades on the bus, causing Kathleen to be "Unsure" and to reapply deodorant amongst the other passengers (hey, desperate times)...classy, though we were indeed riding on a big yellow school bus...



We got home safe and sound to "Casa de Pablo," aka. full fledged farm in the rainforest. Rumor has it, we're going to buy a cow tomorrow...We asked where they would keep it, as there is not much land...Response? The freezer, of course! Stay tuned for more from the silent cow auction...



We also arrived home to find that our pregnant puppy friend, "Pulgas" (i.e. "fleas") had labored and given birth to 2 pups in our absence...we were hoping to catch the birth, but it occurred overnight anyway. We now have 2 little "pulgitas" in the house...don't know about the baby daddy!

We do continue with our medical education as well, though it isn't quite as entertaining or rigorous as our travel! Today, Kathleen was in a local clinic while David participated in a teleconference with a dermatologist in San Jose. Nobody said Costa Rica wasn't wired! Our Spanish classes continue for 2-3 hours daily, though our progress is minimal...David remains the "class clown," humoring our teacher with his Spanglish and made up words. I know you all are shocked... :)

Hope you all are surviving the winter storms. We miss you all...stay tuned for more adventures!

Beetles and Bridges

So if we have learned on thing for sure on this trip, it's that David is an arachnophobe...actually, just a bug-a-phobe (please refer back to spider story from last week).

Let's rewind to a few nights ago, as Kathleen was sleeping soundly with her ear "tampones" (i.e. ear plugs) securely in place, comfy travel pillow under her head (let's be honest, she was only missing her beauty mask). She was suddenly awakened to a bout of thrashing and shrieking, flashlight on, and David frantically searching for a creepy crawler that had just tickled his legs. Ah, yes, our friend the extra large beetle was on the bedside table, and quickly flew up to the ceiling. (Yep, they fly) As Kath crawled sleepily out of bed, she urged David to throw something at it...a blanket, anything perhaps, so that she could go back to bed! The little guy found a landing place smack dab in the middle of the bed...and who got the honors, again? Kathleen got the trusty 2 gallon ziploc (ear plugs still in place), grabbed the little booger and threw him outside with the rest of his family...and the aforementioned spider. We were only allowed back in bed after a thorough bug check was performed...walls, corners, EACH layer of the bedding...and yes, that occurs every night from here on out...

In other news, we have had an exciting week. Monday was spent back at the clinic, where we were able to see patients together...David saw the crusty old people while Kathleen saw the babies. Perfect combination! Tuesday, David stayed at the clinic and Kath went to visit a drug rehabilitation center for teenage boys. It serves all of Costa Rica, and is in the most beautiful location, offering the boys education, work, and camaraderie! It is a wonderful two year program that treats young boys from the age of 12 to mid-20's. Sadly, there are several 12 year olds there...hard to believe. We treated their acute issues and provided some preventive care (Costa Rica does an amazing job of this), and had a very interesting visit.

This morning, the breakfast treat of the day was homemade tortillas...ah-maz-ing! David immediately made Costa Rica's first breakfast burrito full of egg and beans. Gotta get that recipe! After breakfast, we went on a one hour trip out to a local indian reservation, where the indigenous people of this region are living. They have a clinic on site and a school, but are incredibly impoverished. We feared for our lives as we crossed a swinging bridge that connects the main road from the living establishment. It was 20 to 30 feet above a river and consisted of 2 boards and some chicken wire. Yikes! Pictures to follow... Along the bridge also hangs a hose, which served as the only "fresh water" to their homes. Although we have seen multiple similar populations in Ethiopia and Nicaragua, it is always a different and very eye opening experience. Fortunately, the government programs here are working hard to improve their health care and general quality of life.

We finished the day with a run, a cold shower (whoops, ran out of gas!), and a delicious dinner...rice and beans! Tomorrow we are off on a field trip to the botanical garden nearby (A Fodor's Choice!) and more Spanish lessons...we have now relearned the past tense so that we can talk about things we did yesterday!

Hope you all are staying warm in all of the snow and ice, we are thinking about you all. We are back to the beach this weekend! :)

Boats, Buses, and Automobiles...

It's hard to believe that we have been here for nine days. We wake up every morning at 6AM to the sounds of roosters, pigs, dogs, monkeys and the smell of "café" (coffee for you non Spanish speakers) and gallo pinto, the classic Costa Rican rice and beans breakfast dish. Sleeping in the rainforest is interesting...lots of things that go "bump" in the night (i.e. the possum that swung by the kitchen the other night for a late night snack). Marcel still hasn't shown up on the potty though!



Several nights ago, our favorite Irish Setter, "Canela" (i.e. Cinnamon) spent all night barking at the monkeys in the backyard...BAD Cannela! We spent the next entire afternoon searching for ear plugs (otherwise known as "ear tampons" if translated directly from Spanish). We were successful on store number 6, and our receipt totaled 25 cents for 2 pair. They worked about as expected...meaning not at all.

This weekend we ventured to Playa Zancudo ("playa" = beach) via the Costa Rican transportation system... ¿DONDE ESTAMOS? We were dropped off at the local bus station and told to get on the yellow bus. There were three yellow buses...awesome.

Fortunately we chose wisely and were off to Neily, where we boarded the brown bus. This took us to Golfito, which I figured was going to be a tiny town with one stop and a water ferry. As we went whizzing by the dock for the ferry to Zancudo, David and I kept figuring "the bus station must be right around this bend"...alas, there is not a bus station in Golfito. We got to the end of the town and had to hike back a mile to the ferry. Whoops!

We found the ferry, which was little more than a dingy without seats to take us 40 minutes across the sea. Let me just say, this trip was not for the weak stomach...or those with loaned wetsuits. :) Upon arrival, a taxi was waiting to take us to our beach front "resort" (and by taxi, I mean random white pickup truck that solely serves the entire area)...sweating about our weekend living conditions that had begun on the dingy worsened.

However, upon arrival to Coloso del Mar, we were met by the owner (from upstate New York) and led to our beach front cabina...wow...pleasantly surprised is an understatement. 50 yards from the beach, hammocks in between, blue water, and an amazingly empty black sand beach. Paradise. For $45 a night.

Our weekend was spent hammocking, reading profusely, and sleeping...oh yeah, and eating too (lots of avocado). We also witnessed two of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen...while eating homeade guac...and took about 1000 pictures of said sunsets (just wait, you'll see)!

All in all, an amazing weekend away...and we were able to make it back safe and sound. We are already planning next weekend's adventures...

On another note, given above massive guacamole/avocado and rice and beans ingestion, we came back for a little jog. Doesn't go so well when you're on the TOP of a mountain at 4000 feet. That half marathon in April isn't looking so good!

We are looking forward to another week of learning Costa Rican medicine and kindergarten Español...not sure what our week's plans entail yet, but we will update soon!

Love to you all!

PURA VIDA!

David and I have embarked on our next adventure...a month in Costa Rica! After spending a couple of days with our families in North Carolina, we rang in the new year with a US Airways flight out of Charlotte direct to San Jose...with some cash, some clothes, and a medical-spanish dictionary (turns out it is not that helpful when you need to get on a bus)!



We knew that we were ultimately going to make it to San Vito, a small town in Southern Costa Rica to meet Dr. Pablo Ortiz, our host for the month...but we weren't quite sure how that was going to happen. Turns out, Pablo's friend picked us up from the airport and took us to his mother's house for the night. She was a very gracious host for two tired travelers as we began to dust off our broken Spanish, as she didn't speak any English at all (yikes!) and realized how much we have to learn this month!



We made it to the bus the next morning (thankfully) and were told not to get off until we got to the "parque de San Vito"....seeing as though the bus stops at random spots along the country road, we were worried we might miss it. Finally, we arrived at something that resembled a park - after many "¿es parque?" questions, we felt like we were in the right spot!!



Pablo found us (clearly not difficult, the 2 gringoes with the pack and huge rolling suitcase), and we embarked on a very bumpy journey up the mountain to his home in the rainforest.



This place is CRAZY! Kinda like Swiss Family Robinson style. No doors, no windows...just us and the monkey that lives outside. He steals bananas and eggs from the kitchen. We have named him Marcel.



A few highlights from our first few days here:

- On our first night here, I encountered a HUGE spider (we are convinced it was a tarantula) on the window in our room. Picture the following: Kathleen with winter gloves and a ziploc bag (thanks to David, the Eagle Scout, for having such things) and David with a coat hanger trying to tickle the spider and get him to drop in the bag. Screams ensued when the spider scurried in...and I dropped him outside. Gross.

-Our bathroom is outside our room...and I literally mean outside. We could wake up and find Marcel on the potty. Thank goodness that has not happened yet...stay tuned!

- Our first "field trip" was a trip to the Panamanian border, the "frontera"...it pretty much consists of prostitutes and beer cans. We didn't stay long! Adios, Panama!

-We have started Spanish lessons at the "bilingual kindergarten"...no joke, we sit at miniature tables and talk like Costa Rican toddlers. Pretty hilarious! We have a class every day...I think we have already made it to Spanish III. We still don't understand por vs. para, never will.

-We have spent the mornings this week at the local hospital with several of the general "medicinas" here. I knew I was in trouble when I figured out what the patient was here for when the doctor wrote the prescription...they talk so fast!!

- This morning, Pablo offers his diesel van (kinda reminds me of the Libyans van from Back to the Future)...obviously it's stick so yours truly has to drive it (David still refuses to learn)! Who knew that a diesel engine was so hard to start! I stalled out several times in the driveway, but managed to get up the bumpy driveway without hurting anybody. Hope my American driver's license holds up down here!!

- Fanta naranja and Chiky cookies are STILL my favorite.

This weekend we are planning a trip to Playa Zancudo. Not sure how the bus trip will go, especially given that there are NO published bus schedules in this country. Seriously? Oh well, we have a hotel reservation for a cabina on the beach...we will see if we can get there!

Wish I had pictures to post, but I don't have any way to upload them...mass picture uploading will ensue when we get back.

Until our next installment...Ciao!

Headed Back Home...

Our biggest news this month is that David matched at Wake Forest for a Gastroenterology fellowship!! Although we love Nashville and will miss our friends dearly, we are excited to return to Winston-Salem next June. Kathleen will begin the search for her "big girl job" in the next few months so stay tuned! We're both looking forward to this next chapter in our lives...hopefully it won't involve quite as much in house call!

We enjoyed a trip home last month for Peter and Kenzie's wedding. It was a wonderful opportunity to see family and we had a blast celebrating the newlyweds! Bryan and David performed "the worm" at the wedding...unfortunately, I'm having trouble uploading the video!

We all enjoyed spoiling Miss Alexis over the weekend. In fact, her first babysitter, "Mama Martin" especially enjoyed cuddling with the little one!

We've enjoyed visitors in Nashville this month as well! Unfortunately it's been so incredibly hot that we were primarily confined to malls and restaurants (what a shame!), but we had a wonderful time with David's parents followed by Mama and the Martin brothers.

July 1st marks the start of a new year...and our LAST year of residency!! Seems like just yesterday that we were anticipating our July 1st calls as interns. Time does fly...and it can keep on flying for the next year! :)

Happy Anniversary!!

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since our beautiful wedding at Graylyn. We both look back on that weekend with such fond memories, and often wish that we could relive it over and over!

The past two years have been tough to say the least...we have yet to celebrate our anniversary on the actual day due to crazy hospital schedules, but the fact that we have each other to get through the good days and the bad days far outweighs an on-time anniversary dinner! David's on call in the MICU tonight and I'm the "mole" working nights from 6:30PM to 6:30 AM, but we managed to say a brief hello as we crossed paths in and out of the hospital this morning! I did wake up to some beautiful roses yesterday though!

We are looking forward to celebrating another Memorial Day weekend wedding this coming weekend as we travel home to celebrate Peter and Kenzie! We're looking forward to some time away and good times with friends and family!

Happy Anniversary to my best friend! :)

Truly Fortunate

Unfortunately it takes times of great struggle for others in order for us to realize how fortunate we truly are. Nashville has been hit by a "hundred year flood," one that has left many homeless and others with devastated homes and businesses. Although we did awaken to a house without water one morning, that has been the extent of our troubles. Good friends of ours ended up with a good deal of water damage on their bottom floor, and they've had to move out of their house for awhile and have become honorary members of the Barry household! Given that David's on call every third night, I've enjoyed having a little extra company around! Their visit is complete with a cat and dog too, which has been fun! We've been trying to help them out with their house as much as possible, including a crash course in insulation installation. David picked it up pretty quickly!

Otherwise, it's business-as-usual around the Barry house. David's in the MICU and I'm on the wards, so we're staying pretty busy and hang out together every couple of days. We're anxiously awaiting David's June 16th fellowship match as our next step in life will be determined...stay tuned, fingers crossed!

Nashville Flood

We've never seen anything like it...15+ inches of rain in less than 48 hours! I swear we saw animals loading up the ark two by two... Fortunately, our house has been spared from the flood waters, but we've been "flooded in" for the weekend! Check out this video of a building floating down I-24 just miles from our house! All of the wet weather has given us the rare opportunity to lounge around on the couch and clean out those closets that we've been meaning to get to for weeks...

Backpacks, Beaches, and Babies

The month of April has been exciting in the Barry household...we started it out with two much-anticipated weeks of vacation! We had a fantastic vacation that took us from the mountains to the beach with relaxing in between! We flew out to Las Vegas for the first week and spent 4 days hiking at Zion and Bryce National Parks. What an amazing experience! The weather was a little chillier than we first anticipated, but fortunately we had the long underwear and parkas, and it didn't affect our ability to get around. Zion Canyon was magnificent, carved by an unbelievably small river. We particularly enjoyed the "Angels Landing" and "Observation Point" hikes, though they are not for those afraid of heights!

Bryce Canyon National Park was a little colder and a lot snowier than Zion. It snowed 4-5 inches the night before we arrived, but made for a beautiful hike into the canyon with the "hoodoos." We had a lot of fun taking crazy pic

tures amongst the hoodoos, though we got incredibly muddy!

We headed back to Nashvegas via Las Vegas, and spent most of our time walking to the various casinos. We did manage to win a whopping $5 on the penny slots (BIG money!) and enjoyed a night at the Bellagio. These party animals did Las Vegas the way it should be done as seniors in college...this visit was very different! Our favorite finds were the flower garden in the Bellagio and the umbrella display at the Venetian. Kathleen managed to do a little bit of shopping, but otherwise, the gambling was minimal!

The second week of our vacation was spent with some dear residency friends, Matt and Stephanie and their cutest toddler in town, Lucas. We spent a week at Navarre Beach, Florida soaking up some rays, reading books, playing bocce, and outlet shopping...ah, the life! We couldn't have asked for better weather and better company! Lucas learned to call us "KK" and "DooDoo," and we enjoyed teaching him new tricks and words. Here are a few pics from the week....

The icing on the cake of our two weeks was the arrival of our first niece, Alexis Paige Frist, born on April 17, the last day of our vacation! Fortunately we were able to detour through Atlanta on the way home from the beach to meet the new little bundle. Though our visit was brief, were were thrilled to be able to share such a special day with Lisa and David and the new grandparents! Happy and healthy mom and baby is all we could ask for!

The Blue Deacon

If there is one constant in our lives, it is a major interstate: I-40. For our entire lives, we've always lived on the seemingly infinite stretch of I-40. David, the die hard Blue Devil, lived in Durham during his coveted college days while Kathleen moved to Winston-Salem to become a Demon Deacon. As our lives have unfolded together, we've become a "Blue Deacon," and ultimately relocated our ACC-loving selves further down I-40 to Nashville, Tennessee to complete our residencies at Vanderbilt.

Life is a whirlwind as we juggle call schedules, a significant lack of sleep, and cherished time with family and friends. Either way, we make the best of it, and want to share our times of laughter with you...