Time to give thanks.

It's just after Thanksgiving, and we had a fantabulous weekend at home, surprise! We thought we would be here, but since Seth was sent up to Norfolk for work, we got to see both families, I got to play with his cousin's kids (sitting for long periods of time is still difficult for me), AND we got to see Nightmare Before Christmas on the silver screen (yay, Naro!) So much happiness.  For anyone who doesn't know, I seriously have a Nightmare Before Christmas obsession, rivaled only really by my love for all things Alice in Wonderland and Jane Austen (so long as you don't count Sense and Sensibility. Puh.).

In the spirit of the season, here are things we are thankful for:
1. Our families. We have the world's cutest shepadoodle, amazing parents, and fabulous brothers. I got to see my brother and sister-in-law, Seth's brother but not the future sister-in-law this trip (we'll see them for the wedding in a year), and will hopefully see the other brother sometime in the not super distant future! I did get to talk to him, though, which is awesome! I am going to rally him after the Navy to live within a day long driving distance, just like the others do.
2. His job and my school. We both leave happy and come home happy (exam days not included). I seriously LOVE the OT program at MUSC, and I still love R-MWC. And, of course, we both love Virginia Tech!
3. Our friends. We are blessed to have awesome friends, near and far! I had a phone date with the one and only Chachushka, and it made my world a better place. Thank goodness for the internet making it easier to keep them in touch.
4. Not having kids. While in a couple years we will be thankful to have kids, right now, we're enjoying each other. :-) Rosie's definitely our baby girl for now!
5. Charleston. I <3 the weather, the people, my campus, the warmth, James Island County Park, the food, Fetch Doggy Daycare, the Spanish moss, the amazing estates, and our apartment here.
6. That Virginia Tech just kicked UVA's butt. Again. Because that just makes my day complete.
7. My ability to eat real food again! Even eggs. I think real milk tastes weird, but that's okay. I also still prefer dark chocolate, but it's nice to not worry about being sick and/or needing an epi pen when I eat out!
8. Cooking. Seth loves to eat, and I love to cook and eat. It works out well. Cookbooks also go into this category. It kind of goes with the above, but food is amazing and should be appreciated.
9. Our church. We found a church we both adore, and it's officially advent, starting tonight! Advent is my favorite time of the year, by far.
10. Life. We're so blessed between everything going on. Even when things seem difficult, it's definitely worth it because we have amazing pretty much everything.

So, that's it! We will be tree hunting tomorrow-- I promised Seth we can look for a White Pine tree, since it's what he used to have growing up and we got the fir I prefer last time we had a real tree. I am so excited to decorate for Christmas! Seth's parents are coming into town, and I am excited to explore Charleston with them and do all the touristy things we haven't had time for yet.

Now, to do my horrendous SOAP note and finish other homework so I can start studying for exams!!!

<3 Cassi

Anniversary time!

Although it doesn't seem like it, it's already been two years since Seth and I got married! It's hard to believe in some ways-- no way are we two years older-- but on the other hand, we're like, wow, what an awesome start to the next 198 years. :-)

Seth and Rosie spent part of today chasing Sandpipers. They are Rosie's new goal in life to catch.

It's been an amazing journey, filled with a low key start that morphed into mild insanity with my return to school for prereqs, then our subsequent move to Charleston, which we agree is probably the best move we've made, both in terms of my higher education and career goals and Seth's. He has an awesome job with great people, we live in a nice apartment, and we actually have more time for each other, despite our (well, my) busy schedule. We have a dog, who is the love of our lives and totally our kid atm; we've talked about our plans for the future, with everything from houses to jobs to kids; we know where we want to end up, relatively; and we're just enjoying life, one day at a time. We've been blessed with amazing friends and family along our way, too, that have just made married life that much better! Best of all, we've been able to work through some negatives and come out ahead, which definitely is awesome for future stresses.It's a pretty solid start to our marriage. :-)

Today, we celebrated our anniversary with a walk on the beach at Isle of Palms. We haven't made time to go to the beach as much as we should, which is a shame, but we're making up for it now that the tourists are gone. We'll be spending part of Thanksgiving at the beach now! Here are some shots from today's walk.

Okay, not from the walk, but still awesome. Seth got me knives for our anniversary! Pretty, sharp, high-carbon knives. <3

Rosie was not okay with our trip at first. Cars are not her friend.

Rosie has discovered she kinda likes water. And hunting Daddy.

First Sandpiper spotted. She got kinda excited. :-)

The handsome love of my life!

Seth hunting shells, Rosie checking out the world.

Happy 2 years! The windbreakers were much appreciated. It was a wee bit windy.

Seth and Rosie exploring after they failed to catch the Sandpiper.

Cool wind pattern we saw on our walk.

Rosie's, "Oh, hey Mom" face. 

Take 2... Not much better than the first. 

So, that was it! I got for Seth prints of our wedding photos, and actually framed them. My next step is to put them on the wall, but we're working on it. I need to remember before 10 o'clock at night that I want to hang things up! There are some computer things he wants, but we're waiting until Black Friday to get them, since he thinks some of the more expensive dohickeys will be on sale. :-)

Cheers,
Cassi

Finally, an update!

It was exam season, which has finally slowed down, but is part of why I am super slow at updates. Fortunately, I did well on all my midterms, even the one I thought I bombed! Yay me. :-) And now, as a study break from musculo, an update!

Seth is doing super well at work, and I am still loving my classes. Rosie is of course loving life, especially now that cooler weather is here! It is snowing in Rockville today, which I know would make her sad if she were at all aware that she's missing it, but Seth and I are super stoked that we get a "cold day" in the 60's. And that we're not pulling out our winter gear yet. Probably good, since most of it is still packed away. :-)

We have a shower curtain! It only took us like 2 months to choose it....

We're working on getting the books out of the bathtub. We have 5 full bookcases so far, and even with overpacking them as much as possible, I still definitely need to get another bookcase and clear this out before guests come to visit!

Our awesome couch and my grandma's painting. The setup is much better now!

Rosie has apparently been trained that if Mommy is taking pictures, she needs to sit and look adorable.

Bookcases and games! Including Nightmare Before Christmas Yahtzee.

Our kitchen! And on the fridge, you can see my romance novel magnetic poetry. It's entertaining.

Our bedroom! With mess from Rosie, but you can see our Rhode Island painting.

Seth, Rosie, and all the loot we got today to get our guest stuff ready! Everything from towels to sheets to pillows, since we realized we didn't have much to share.

We're finally getting the house set up! Eventually, I will break down and get a real camera to take better photos, but for now the above will do.

And now, for what has been the most exciting thing about our move to Charleston! I got re-allergy tested, and I am finally unallergic to foods! Seriously. It's beyond amazing. I can eat corn and peanuts safely! There are still a few things I can't have, namely coconut, eggs, and onions, but two of those I couldn't eat like ever, so it's fine. :-) Eggs and I are recently not friends, but we're going to try those again in like 6 months. And now, the most exciting thing, which Seth and I just started experimenting with and praying that it worked....

I can have milk products!!! I have to have 2 lactaids to have it, but it's been working! It's amazing. Without the pills, I still end up super ill, but the headaches are less than they were, so the last couple of headaches may have been stress + normal allergens making me so ill. Which is amazing. I had pizza with cheese for the first time in 3 years, and I was seriously in shock at a)how yummy it was and b)how I wasn't wishing I could just pass out until the illness ended.  I still love some of my vegan baking recipes, especially since eggs are still off limits, but it's amazing to be able to eat more normally. As a caveat, if I don't take my pills, I still can't have anything even prepared near dairy, but I'm excited beyond belief (as is Seth, who has been on as strange a diet as me for the past few years) to have food approaching normal.

So, yeah! There's cheese in our fridge for the first time that we can both share, and cheese is allowed in our kitchen, although I continue to compulsively clean anywhere it touches, just in case. It's a wonderful thing, and just in time for us to decide what we want to do for our two year anniversary coming up November 7th. :-)

We are so blessed to have such supportive families with everything we do, but I know our families will be happy to not have to accommodate insane dietary restrictions the same way. Dad has the same non-onion thing, so that makes that part easier, and working around eggs isn't as bad as working around eggs with everything else in the world. My parents are coming for Thanksgiving, and Seth's for Christmas, so we're beyond excited to have our families around for the holidays.

More updates will come later, but that's a good start for now!

Cheers,
Cassi

Family = Love

I love my family, both our little trio here in Charleston and our extended family across Virginia. Rosie is definitely our "child," and we were so relieved today that she had an excellent surgery today. Yesterday, though, was amazing:

How cute is she? She did this for like 5 minutes before we realized we should take some photos and videos.

I love our puppy! Also, for final laughs....

Rosie decided to help Handsome do his ab exercises. I got my ab workout from laughing at the two of them! And yes, I do realize I just posted my awkward laugh on camera, but Rosie's too cute!

Basically, I just wanted to do a super quick update on our puppy. School is going well, although we're doing a fundraising project that is giving flashbacks to all the negative things that can happen in a fundraiser... So I'm just making myself take a step back and remember that it's not my program, and I don't have to make it a success or risk losing my job. So, I'm going to go for the things I want and can do, and just leave this program to the people who want to do it. :-) I do still want to get involved with the Charleston Friends of the Library if I have the chance, though! I'll have to see once I finalize my schedule for this semester with other classes and activities. I won't have my awesome Board members from FOLMC, unfortunately. I definitely miss some of them right now!

Speaking of things I miss, Handsome and I are trying to figure out some sort of travel plans. We realized we've taken a fairly big trip every year we've been together; even little travel-together like going to the Hokie games a couple weekends a season won't be happening, so I have a travel bug bite like whoa! I'm dying to go to Disney and visit it as an adult, and to see all the cool things they've added, so we're trying to see if we can make it happen next year (2012). For smaller trips, I hope we can go to Blacksburg even once, especially if we can make it when one of my favorite Californians ever is here (although it's a MUCH bigger trip than it used to be), and I'm pushing to get us to go to Biltmore at least once while it's decorated for the holidays! Maybe we can even go with my parents, since they should be here around Thanksgiving if all goes according to plan. :-D I'm so excited! I love my family. Also, Handsome's mom and aunt should be coming soonish, so that will be just an added bonus. It's lovely that we have such great families! The only thing that would make it better is if the Tweedles (and Tweedle Dum's spouse and pugs) could make it down, too.

On that note, here's a fluffy puppy (with her hairbrush by her side), and it's time for me to get some studying done again!

Cheers,

Woozel

P.S.- This weather has been amazing. Irene was not even a big deal, and it's been so beautiful out with the wind and the cooler temperatures! I love it so, so much. It's so different that anywhere I've lived so far, but we're really loving it!

Baptisms are my favorite.

I absolutely adore baptisms. Not only because I have a ridiculous love of children (which I admittedly do), but because of just everything a baptism signifies. It's a new beginning, a chance to reaffirm your place in your church life and community, as well as the simplest, most accessible form of stating your beliefs. Families come together for baptisms in a way only matched by weddings, which is just awesome to see. It's also just weird to think that in a few years, Handsome and I will be doing that ourselves. We'll be choosing the Godparents and dude, we'll have had a kid! Being Shepadoodle parents is definitely enough for now, though. Between grad school and the puppy, we're definitely busy enough! It'll be a new chapter in our lives, though, so we're looking forward to it as a far-in-the-future thing.

Speaking of new chapters...

For those who don't know (which is almost everyone, as we kept it pretty close to the vest for once in my life), Handsome was laid off at the beginning of the month and had to begin job hunting again, adding stress to the finals I was already freaking out about. He was about to start job hunting anyways, as the job was not as advertised, and we spent almost the same amount apart as we had when he was still up in DC. On the plus side, he was able to come on vacation with me and Rosie this past week! He actually went through the interview process and was hired while we were up in Norfolk, then had the meet and greet yesterday and is now working on getting the clearance stuff done! He'll be supporting the Navy, and thus indirectly supporting Tweedle Dee! I'm super proud of him for getting a job that he will love.

We had a wonderful vacation in Norfolk. We celebrated my parent's 31st wedding anniversary! (And my little cousin-in-law and OT-inspiration's birthday from afar.) I love that my parents been able to have such a wonderful, long union, as have Handsome's parents. :-) It's a wonderful example, one that Handsome and I definitely hope to emulate in the future. We also got to see my cousin and his fiance, whose wedding we won't be able to make, unfortunately. Handsome has no vacation time for the first six months of his employment, so we'll actually be spending our Christmas and Thanksgiving down here, too! I'm kind of excited to do the Charleston Christmas thing. We'll be visiting the Biltmore for sure at Christmas time, and hopefully we'll be able to go to see Savannah, too. I think Rosie will be super excited to not travel-- she is NOT a traveling puppy if she can help it.

Classes start again on this Wednesday, and I'm super excited that I got into an elective I really wanted to take! I can't wait for the opportunity to combine learning and service. :-)

Cheers,
Woozel

The End of the Semester!

I am so excited that it's almost the end of the semester! I have my last final on Wednesday, and after that, I will officially be done with my first semester of OT school. Despite being more than slightly brain fried from anatomy, I am still so in love with pretty much everything we've done so far in school. (Okay, I have to admit I'll be happy to be done with Human Anatomy, but still!) Surface Anatomy was one of my favorite classes, and I super much look forward to starting the pediatrics unit next semester. <3

It's hard to believe my summer in Charleston is almost over. I look forward to fall, so Handsome and I can start running again. I actually like running with Rosie, and I'll learn to run with Handsome. :-) I'm kind of an anti-social work-out person, unfortunately. I love just running with my iPod and only having the puppy for company usually, but since Handsome's the opposite, I'll try it his way. :-) Either way, fall will be a welcome change, and it's not too far away!

Handsome and I are both going home to Norfolk for a week next Thursday, and we are SO excited. We've been talking about Level 2 fieldwork, and it sounds like the Norfolk area is going to be a good place for me, so he and I are deciding if we're going to just relocate together there. I am pretty much 100% set on doing a Peds rotation, so CHKD would be an awesome place to do fieldwork, hopefully. I'll have to see! It seems off to be thinking about it when it's a year and a half away still, but I have less than 6 months until we need to really start thinking about it seriously.

When we get back home, we're going to take advantage of the nice break I have between classes and hopefully do some legit exploring around Charleston! I sadly haven't had the chance to introduce Handsome to the MUSC campus, so we're going to rectify that situation as soon as we get back from Norfolk. :-) We'll also take Rosie to the beach out at Isle of Palms and try introducing her to the ocean again, this time with her booties to protect her paws from the hot, hot sand!

On that note, time to get back to studying!

Cheers,
Woozel

So excited for New York!

This is going to be one of my few political-leaning or religious-ish posts, as in, pretty much the only one ever on this blog that I plan on making, unless SC or VA joins the fight for marriage equality.

Avenue Q + Marriage Equality = Love and Happiness

I am 100% in favor of same-sex marriage under the law, and I am so excited that so many couples were able to marry yesterday in New York. The religious studies part of me understands why the churches may be against same-sex marriage, but I get absolutely incensed when I hear people on the radio trying to explain using Judeo-Christain-Islamic theology to state why the government, which is supposed to be separate from the church, should oppose marriage equality. I don't believe that the churches should be required to officiate a wedding that goes against their teachings, but that to me includes marrying people of a different faith than theirs (like trying to have a rabbi marry a Catholic couple.. I feel like that would be awkward). I think some things, though, are basic human rights under the government, and I truly believe that marriage in the secular sense, as a legally binding contract that affords protection and benefits under the law, should be one of them.

Family can take many forms. <3 it.

I think of friends I have known over the years, homosexuals and bisexuals alike, who have been together for longer than some of my other friend's marriages have lasted. I don't believe that God hates homosexuals, in any incarnation one believes in God (except for maybe the Westboro Baptist Church's God, who I'm pretty sure should be better referred to as anti-God most of the time). I know there's theology for and against same-sex relationships, and that you can find liberation theology for almost any oppressed group in the world. I feel, though, that the most important laws God provided, the 10 Commandments, are in no way violated by legal protection for another incarnation of His love, and that to me is the most important set of rules to keep in mind. Jesus spread a message of hope and love above all else; it seems the height of hypocrisy to spread a message of hatred and intolerance in His name.

The look of love and happiness on his face is priceless.

I believe in working for a bright faith, that looks in the world, sees it as it is, and can still find hope and grace and acceptance in God's love. I think same-sex love and marriage is just another step towards finding bright faith in all corners of the world. I am just so excited that there is now another state allowing same-sex marriage, and hope that those states that currently only allow civil unions take the plunge to make it marriage friendly. I know my stance goes against that of some of my friends and family, but it is fully what I believe in and support, and I pray that I see same-sex marriage accepted throughout the nation within the next decade.

The happiness you can see on their faces makes me want to cry. In a good way.

~Cassi

Procrastination to let my brain digest.

Handsome is finally home! Just in time to help take care of Rosie as I prepare for a massive anatomy exam tomorrow. He's been out of town for work far more than we had expected, which is harder on weeks like this, where there was a lot of class things to do in addition to studying for anatomy, which takes over my life. We've learned so much this session that I seriously have forgotten things I learned two weeks ago. It's a little overwhelming, to say the least. Tonight is a night of reviewing nonstop before sleeping for a couple hours and reviewing all morning. Eeek!

All three of us are enjoying life in Charleston. Handsome and I need to search for more bookcases-- our guest room tub is still overflowing with books! Not to mention the ones in the bedroom and living room that we're just kind of pretending don't exist at the moment. :-) I'm sure no one who knows me is at all surprised that books are taking over my house again. After all, the quote that pretty much seems to define my life is:

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.Anna Quindlen

I am working my way to being an e-reader convert, though. We got new phones, and I have the Nook and Kindle apps, which are my saving grace on the daily ride to and from the parking lot for school. :-) I've been re-reading Pride and Prejudice-- I absolutely adore Jane Austen, with the exception of Sense and Sensibility. I keep trying to like it, but the main characters are SO obnoxious to me. My dad found me an awesome comic version of it, though, which I really like-- it keeps the text enough to get the story going, has fun pictures, and, of course, is a comic! The nerd in me rejoices at the combination of Jane Austen and comics. I have Pride and Prejudice in comic form, too, which I also super much enjoy.

I get to see my parents in just over 3 weeks! I am beyond excited to get to go home and see my family for a few days. I'm intruding on their wedding anniversary dinner (HAPPY 31ST!), but it's totally worth it. :-) I'll also get to see my awesome mother-in-law, although my father-in-law will unfortunately be out of town, assuming she's not on jury duty that week. I'm definitely lucky that my in-laws are close to my parents, and that I genuinely like them! Makes life easier for sure. I'm super excited to have my mother in law and aunt in law come down for a visit when it's not 100+ degrees daily.

Rosie and I will be roadtripping our way north to Norfolk, since Handsome will be working that week. I'm super excited just to have some down time if nothing else, and while I wish I was travelling with my husband, he'll probably be on site out of town anyways at the rate we're going. We're hopefully going to have friends (one person, one canine) with us on the way up, so that'll make the long trip a bit more bearable.

On that note, I should probably get back to studying and pretending my brain can take in this information so that I pass anatomy and can actually go to Norfolk!

Cheers,
Woozel

Fetch = Best Thing Ever!

There's an abso-freaking-lutely amazing doggy day care center called Fetch! next door practically to our apartment, and I am madly in love with it. Not only is the staff super nice, but the facility is huge, clean, has slides for Rosie to play on (which she LOVES), and the dogs are all super sweet. She actually wants to go to daycare, and for the most part leaves willingly with the staff (which is the equivalent of another dog saying "Peace Out" and running off without looking behind). Best of all, I bring her home and she does this:

She totally and completely passes out! I love it. :-) So different from the walks-on-the-hour she wanted last night.

Handsome's been out of town for work, so today, with both my loves out of the house, I decided to do a major clean up. There's now artwork on the walls, more things out of boxes (it's a slow process), and definite plans to buy more bookcases. The poor artwork might not be thrilled with me, though... I couldn't figure out how to make the drillbit work for real, so I used it by hand to start a hole, hammered in the screw slightly (just a couple taps so it went where I thought it should), then turned the screw for the rest (and majority) of the way into the wood. In other words, I totally made up how home improvement should work, Woozel style. I don't think Handsome's going to leave the tools where I can get them next time he goes out of town, seeing as he does not approve of the whole hammering screws technique.*

While it's kind of nice to have quiet time to study, Rosie and I are both super excited that Handsome gets home tomorrow! She does not approve of late night walks with just her mommy; as soon as it's dark, I am supposed to be safe in the house or have Handsome escort me outside, apparently. Althought I love having him home, it is exciting that he went on his trip, though, because it's more good work opportunities for him. Yay computer stuff! If anyone wants to really know more, you'll have to ask him, as my brain is too full of  anatomy to focus on the tech-speak right now. Now, back to studying!

Cheers,

Woozel

*For the record, I do know that screws are not meant to be hammered. This was an exception to how I normally use tools, not the rule!

Happy 4th of July

It's hard to believe that it's already July! My camera died, so I have no photos, but here's a quick update on life as we know it here in Charleston:

• Our apartment is awesome! We love having 2 bedrooms, particularly having a space for me to study when Handsome watches TV. Rosie loves it, too! I think she really just loves that she has long hallways to curl up in.
• We have a brand new washer and dryer, which is quite possibly my favorite purchase ever in this world. It not only works (improvement over the last apartment!), but it dings when things are done! Always a good thing when I'm studying and lose track of all time.
• We've been downtown officially once now! Just for post gross. I think I prefer the West Ashley scene in Triangle, but downtown is definitely pretty.
• I have, of course, managed to get a sunburn every time I've been outside more than 20 minutes, even with sunscreen. I love the beaches here though! Rosie's been introduced, and she liked it, too, as much as could be expected. The water is SO nice and warm! Even Handsome doesn't mind it, even though he's definitely not as much of a water baby as I am.
• Since we found out (the hard way, of course) that eggs are off my diet, I found two new allergy cookbooks, one of which is a vegan cookie book that I am SUPER excited to make cookies from! I was going to bake last night, but we had a Scrabble fest going on, which was obviously more important. :-) Cookies may be on the menu tonight, though-- chocolate sounds awesome right now.
• One awesome new dish I've made: made-from-scratch pork enchiladas! I handpulled the pork to get out as much fat as humanly possible, added some tofu "cheese," and today added spinach, then made homemade enchilada sauce, including with fresh diced tomatoes! It's so good, and really pretty good for you-- low fat, low sodium the way I make it, and Woozel-friendly, which is ALWAYS nice.

I know there's been more that's going on, but it's time for me to get back to studying the skull. I definitely love it down here; even though it's super hot, part of me wants to live here forever. :-) I'm excited to show Handsome's mom around in August! I also hope to go camping up in Asheville, which is only 3 hours away, sometime this fall. I think it'd be a nice break for us, and camping with the RooRoo may be a huge adventure in and of itself. :-) If we decide to make a day trip up there later, there's fortunately an AMAZING doggy day care next door to the apartment, wich Rosie is seriously in love with! She plays all day, nonstop, and the people there are fantastic. 

Anyways, yes, back to studying. If you're ever wondering what I do in my free time, the answer really is "study."

Cheers,

Woozel

Happy News!

It's been a super busy couple of weeks, so my apologies for the lack of updates.

First of all, I *love* the OT program-- anatomy is a bit intense, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! It'll undoubtedly make me work harder on the things I don't like than I would otherwise. I'm super excited to be part of such an amazing program with so many great women. It's seriously a bit like being back at Randy-Mac! I loved my time at Macon, and I'm loving my classes so far at MUSC. Also, the yoga class was awesome, despite totally kicking my butt and reminding me that I need to practice with more care.

From the wedding rehearsal, since I forgot my camera on wedding day.

It's been a week of celebrations! M&K got re-married Memorial Day weekend, and we were able to see both my and Handsome's family for a bit, which was awesome. It was also the last wedding we'll be going to together for a while, unfortunately, as my class attendance policy makes it very difficult to attend when most people schedule their weddings. :-)  I think I've informed everyone that their wedding will be off my schedule and that Handsome will be the McFarland family representative, but if not, this is your official heads up.

More exciting to me (no offense to M&K, who have been married for about 6 months already) is that Handsome got a job down here! Not only is he moving to Charleston in 2 weeks, but he'll be here in time for Tweedle Dee's graduation celebration if all goes well. :-) So, it'll be a perfect day to celebrate with some delicious beer and seafood. Plus, the next day I plan on making everyone go with me again to the Charleston Tea Plantation, and hopefully purchase some delicious tea from there (Island Mint Green Tea ftw.)

Charleston Tea Plantation = LOVE.

Speaking of seafood, I went out with Tweedle Dee and our friend Biz from Norfolk, and discovered what is pretty much my perfect venue of food and beer over by West Ashley where we'll be living. We went to Pearlz for dinner, which has AWESOME happy hour specials (yay oysters!), and made me a delicious dairy-and-corn-and-onion-free fish taco. The MahiMahi wasn't bad, but their blackened tuna taco was to die for. So good. Good enough that as soon as Handsome is here, I plan to take him there. And if we can get the parents there, too, even better. Biz also had awesome recommendations for where to get people shrimp and grits when they come, which is fabulous and I would just be like, ummm, I'm sure they're available pretty much everywhere.

Rosie's still a drooly face as we travel to and from Norfolk, but she does much better in her vest, and using my towel as a pillow.

I think the only other news is that I move next weekend, I've decided to hold off on buying books until I get myself a Nook Color or a Kindle, RooRoo is doing super well (and has a nifty vest that for the most part keeps her from getting carsick!), and I'm just excited by and loving life down here. Oh, and I'm excited to see my parents again in 2 weeks, get Handsome back, have RooRoo play with her favorite chewtoy (better known to many as Dante), try to find places from the superbly awesome "Very Charleston" book my parents-in-law and the Easter Bunny got for me, and see friends and enjoy Charleston's festivities for the 4th of July.

Rosie and her Dante love. BFF for real.

Settling into Charleston, Part I

It's been such a busy couple of weeks! I had a wonderful goodbye party at work, which was so much fun and much appreciated. :-)

We came here, moved everything down after a very stressful packing situation (working up until the end was probably a mistake, but that's fine and done), and discovered that the landlord was no good, basically, and didn't take the house. He had promised, via email and to Tweedle Dee, that he would fix the dog poop situation. We drove up, and it was pretty much the first thing I saw-- dog messes EVERYWHERE. So gross. Also, the upstairs was SERIOUSLY claustrophobia inducing. And the area was less than ideal.  All in all, not as promised, and the main thing is not dealing with that guy. Seriously, so worth it to not deal with him for a year.

We actually found a new place that I think we're going to really enjoy. It'll be June before we can get in there, though, and that's assuming we get the first available unit. Actually, just found out today we got the unit we wanted! Our new address has been distributed to immediate family; contact us if you need it. Rosie's going to love her new place, and Handsome and I are DEFINITELY going to love it. Lots of room, safe neighborhood, walking spaces, and close to MUSC. <3 Plus, two bedrooms! Perfect for guests, and it gives me an office so Handsome can enjoy everything while I work. :-) Best of both worlds!

I've just ordered my textbooks today, and saw campus for the first time! I'm super in love with it. Seriously-- it's amazing. I'm excited. As soon as I go get my scrubs and lab uniform tomorrow, it's going to feel so much more real. I also need to go through the clothes I have here and hit up the storage unit to find the rest of my professional clothes, since I am going to be living here in Hanahan for a bit longer. There was a unit available sooner, but I really preferred the other one, so we're going to wait for it. Fortunately, Tweedle Dee is the nuclear bomb and is letting me and Rosie crash here as long as needed.

In addition to getting my scrubs, I get to begin my acquaintance with the Student Health Clinic tomorrow-- yay allergy shots! I'm also going to hit up one of the like 3 Goodwills I've seen around and search for a desk. I'm roping Tweedle Dee into helping me to reorganize the bedroom this weekend, since I'll need it to be actually workable for the school year's start soon. I have homework to do before even the first day of classes! Craziness. 

Handsome is still up in DC, so we're just keeping in touch with Skype, gchat, and, of course, the phone. I am so excited to see him next weekend when we go to Tweedle Dum's wedding part II! 

Cheers,

Woozel

Less than a Week!

Happy Mother's Day! We spoke to my mom and grandmother, but couldn't reach Handsome's grandmother either time, and his parents are overseas right now, so we figured we could wait to call them.

It's less than a week until we move. We've successfully packed up all but like 3 books that just got missed, and the books that belong to other people. Most of the dishes are packed, although I have another box to go through. The candles will be packed later tonight or when I need a study break over the next couple of days.

We totally had a rough moment last night while packing when we realized we sound and act like we're having a super amicable breakup. I get the dog, he gets the apartment and the chair he loves, etc. I know logically we're going to be fine, but it's super disappointing that even with all the applications, nothing's panned out yet. With the distance, it's going to be hard to travel, especially how expensive everything is. We're just going to keep praying and knowing it'll work out for the best eventually.

Rosie's doing well with the packing situation, all things considered. She might do less well once her futon's gone, though. Fortunately, the Clarksburgers are going to be taking it! We're excited to send it to a good home. :-)

We had a great time with the Clarksburgers last night, especially when M&M came to visit, too. It was fun to chat and visit, although we left early so I could come home to study-- I feel so lame, but 3 finals + moving = busybusybusy week. We also did drinks with Clark Kent and her fiancée today-- it was lovely to see them and catch up, too, although I fully recommend staying away from Gordon Biersch's Garlic Edamame-- worst edamame ever.

Anyways, that's our bi-weekly update; time to go study some more!

Cheers,
Woozel

BusyBusyBusy...

On Monday, I had a "think" that Handsome was going to hear from a few companies this week... And he did! Hopefully something good comes of it. :-)

Hometime has consisted of puppy time, packing, and studying. I actually just changed my schedule so that I will be doing only a little time at work on the 13th, then home for the rest of the day-- I've put in overtime this week already, and I have about 3 hours that I'll be staying late on Friday to train my replacement! I should probably take extra time to study on Monday or something, but I'm just going to cram it all in this weekend.

Our new running shoes came in! We have to finish breaking them in around the house for 24 hours before I'm letting us wear them out running for the first time, just in case they don't fit as well as we thought they did. Rosie loves the shoes. Yay Bikilas! I have new classics, too, which remind me of ballet shoes-- they're lilac. <3 I will upload a picture of our feet later, as odd as that sounds. I'm super excited to have running shoes and NOT to go walking around with an ever increasing size and number of holes.

Our house is truly a wreck right now. I'm actually super ashamed of it, and want desperately to clean, but it's time to go study again, and do some more packing before bed when I get tired/brain fried-- one box of kitchen stuff is done now, so I feel more accomplished! Our kitchen is going to be a wasteland by next Friday night, but studying will be done and there will be a 6:30 wake up, so it'll be a good night to order some pizza and say that's a well balanced meal.

A Fabulous Weekend

What a fantabulous weekend. I had girl's lunch yesterday, which was SUCH a great way to spend an afternoon! I got to see the world's cutest flower girl, finally, after a long period of just being too busy. Today was also fabulous-- we went to Mama's on the Half Shell in Baltimore with KBDubs, which has the BEST beer mussels and some orange crush drink thing that makes my world a better place. Any day that starts with beer mussels and mimosas can't be bad. It's just a fact.


On the moving front, things are coming together. Aunt A had a great idea of asking my dad to come up by train so my mom could just meet us down in Charleston-- he and Handsome are going to be driving the truck while Rosie and I take my car down. Handsome's going to take the train from Charleston back here to DC, and hopefully he can make the final drive down to Charleston soon. It shortens the amount of time he has to drive significantly, saves wear and tear on his car, and it's honestly about the same price with the way gas prices are as him driving.


Best moving-related part of the weekend: We demolished the entertainment center. It's in lots of little pieces in our trash! So exciting. Great piece, but we only have one TV which doesn't fit in there, and I totally didn't want to move it 600 miles south.


Per Handsome: "Finally found some poor schmuck to take the entertainment center from us: The Garbage Man."


Cheers,
Woozel

Girls' Lunch and a KBDubs Brunch

Rosie does not approve of packing.

This week is FLYING by. It's insane-- just 2 weeks until we head down to Charleston for the first time ever! We got the truck reserved, and we're getting more boxes so we can pack even more. I have determined that Drunky and I own a seriously inordinate amount of books. We've filled more boxes that I want to count, and even though several of them are smaller (so I can carry them, too), it's still just kind of depressing. We're actually almost done with the books, but still. Rosie is NOT amused with my packing-- she is of the belief that packing tape, and the corresponding scissors, are there for her amusement. Not a good thing!


This weekend promises to be really, really good though. After making probably my best pizza ever, with the perfect balance of crust, sauce, and cheese-free toppings, I finished my homework last night, and this morning, Rosie and I had a nice-enough walk (despite her deciding that the best way to wake me up is to step on me), and today is a girl's lunch with my cousin, aunt, and former neighbors, including my flower girl! I am so excited-- I adore them all, and haven't had time for a proper visit in far too long.


Even better, tomorrow we're going up to Baltimore with KBDubs to get an amazing sounding brunch, including beer mussels. I am all about seafood. And since God's apparently decided it's not on the ever-growing list of food that must make fat (or really, sick), it's definitely a lovelovelove kind of thing. Good friends + amazing food = fabulous times.


Next week is going to be super fast, too. I have lots to do for work, plus studying for my three finals and one last homework assignment for undergrad! It's crazy to think about. Next weekend is going to be a horribly confoozled combination of packing, studying, and a happy note of dinner with Clark Kent and her fiancé. We're excited to finally see Clark Kent, and I'm excited to talk about Ireland and weddings, and share what I think is seriously the best book ever to read when you're getting married (or even thinking about getting married in the far off future).


Drunky's been doing the application thing pretty much non-stop. He also just got a raise (finally!) so that'll be nice for negotiating for a new position down South. We're just praying and hoping and doing our best to prepare ourselves for phase II of TeamDrunkWoozel's life. Rosie is totally not going to be okay with having her "parents" separated, but Drunky and I will survive it and be stronger in the end. Thank God for phones and the internet. We'll have to get Skype finally, and possibly follow California's example of splitting up Board games so we can keep in touch and play games together while apart. Or find a Scrabble game online we both like so we can play together. :-)


On a happier note, today's also the day I get a haircut after nearly 5 months-- the last 3 of which I've been trying to convince myself to make the time to get said haircut. My replacement at work got a pixie cut, and I totally envy it, except that I definitely want to keep it longer so I can tame it and not have to grow it out in all the humidity down south! I've done the pixie cut thing, and I love it, but longer hair is definitely my goal right now.

As a random aside, I'm totally obsessed with Karmin right now. Their cover of Look At Me Now (by Chris Brown, who I have issues liking because of his personal life) is amazing; I'd heard of them before, but the song I'd heard wasn't nearly as fun.


Cheers,
Woozel

A New Family-Member-To-Be

It really is a year for weddings and engagements! Handsome's "little" brother finally proposed to Clark Kent and to everyone's pleasure she accepted, so Handsome and I have a new sister-in-law coming into the fold. So, congrats to the two of them! Good luck with the wedding planning, and remember-- it's just one day, when it comes down to it.

In addition to the other S&C's engagement, it's just over a month until M&K have wedding part II on the way. We actually sent out our acceptance on time, as opposed to thinking we sent it out and discovering it tucked away in an obscure place like the past few weddings we've attended!

On the moving front, more applications are out for Handsome, and we can actually walk all the way into our closet for the first time in several months, thanks to the miracle of putting boxes in storage. Since next week is my one between-exams week, we're probably going to be doing a LOT more packing. Poor Rosie is not okay with all these changes and the packing we keep insisting on doing. While loading the car yesterday, we could hear her barking/whining from 4 stories below... Not a happy RooRoo by any stretch of the imagination. On the plus side, though, we're getting closer to moving, and still praying about Handsome's job hunt and hoping for the best.

Cheers,
Woozel

House!

We just got the house we wanted to rent on James Island, and we're set with our move in date! Only 22 days, 4 exams away!

Update 5/15/11: This apartment looks NOTHING like the picture. There's dog poop all over the yard, seriously. And the landlord's a jerk. But more later.

Photos from the craigslist posting:

The front view-- we have an end unit.

The kitchen! There's space for both Handsome and I, as well as room for us to get a rolling island for things like baking.

We have hardwood floors downstairs... I can't even express my excitement between hating stains and the help that'll be for allergies.

The Joys of Moving: Finding year old Thank you letters

If you didn't get a Thank You letter from Handsome and me from our wedding, please, please, PLEASE let me know so we can send you one. I just found a half dozen and change that I would have sworn yesterday were sent out and safely delivered in the hands of the gift givers packed away in a strange place. I'll be sending those out tomorrow, apparently. I'm sure it seemed logical when I put them there for safekeeping, but seeing as I wrote them in 2009, apparently I did a little TOO good of a job.

My sincere apologies to anyone we haven't thanked-- I'm sure we're going to be finding yet more TY letters (and other odds and ends we thought we lost forever) stashed throughout the house as we clean and prepare to move.

Cheers,
A totally and completely embarrassed Woozel

Almost Second Thoughts... But Not Quite

I swear, Handsome will write an entry someday. But apparently not tonight. :-) He's busy job hunting, and I'm putting off the digestive system, so I'll write a quick entry.

I got a call this afternoon from Radford University from the Chair of the Department to offer me acceptance. They were one of only three schools I applied to, in large part because I had heard such good things about one of the professors, a friend of Lormg's and M's OT for a long time Their program definitely spoke to me, which is why they made my (very, very) short list of schools to apply to. I felt bad saying that I had already accepted anotehr school because I had actually seriously considered them, but was told when I inquired if there was any way to find out sooner that I could not find out before the MUSC due date if I was accepted or not.

I definitely think MUSC is where Handsome and I are meant to be, at least for a couple years, although Radford had definite benefits of access to Hokie Football (Go Tech!) and proximity to family and friends. I have to say, I was seriously tempted for a minute when they said they'd offer me a graduate assistant position-- but we've definitely already put everything in motion for Charleston, including deposits, and I'm still super stoked about starting this summer.

So, that's all. It was tempting, and I almost had second thoughts, but I think we're both ready for something new, different, and snow-free for a couple years. Plus, Radford lacks a beach. :-) And we'll catch the games on cable as we root for the Hokies this year. Maybe we'll find some fellow Hokie fans down in Charleston to do game parties with! If not, Rosie and I will make a great cheering section whenever Handsome gets excited.

Cheers,
Woozel

The Hunt for Furniture

It's hard to believe that we're less than a month away from moving! The job hunt for Handsome is still stressful, but we're pushing through and doing a LOT of praying. We've started packing already, as well as clearing out things we really don't want from the house.

While it's hard not to just keep looking forward, we're trying to take advantage of some of the benefits up here while we can. One of the things we're definitely trying to use while in the DC area is all the furniture options. Certain things, for concerns of allergies, hygiene, and a distinct fear of bed bugs, we won't purchase from Craigslist (such as couches or chairs), but since we'd like a pub/counter-height and style table, we're searching the ever-popular craigslist. Desks are easy to come by in Charleston-- the table at the price we want, not so much.

There have been some amazing finds in our hunt though.

The one thing I wish I'd purchased was a secretary desk that had a hand-painted harlequin pattern on it-- it completely suits my Alice in Wonderland obsession. There's actually a set of Alice figures that I would have asked for as a birthday present from Handsome so they could sit on the desk. Unfortunately for me, it was taken down from CL the day I convinced myself to splurge on it.

Other things for sale, however, have convinced me that some people must shop for furniture drunk or be super impulsive purchasers. For instance, someone purchased a table with a marble elephant as the base. Not a cute elephant, or even a realistic looking one, or something that really even looked like an elephant. Just... a monstrosity that they said was an elephant, and you would think was one after being told what you were looking at.

Other tables, desks, and assorted furnishings are so beat up and/or overpriced, I don't see how they'll ever sell. For example, I do not want to pay over $1,200 for your pub table. Sorry, but no. Also, if your couch is an indefinable colour, it's probably not a good idea to charge $500 for it.

It's fun, though, to see everything! Some of it's good, some of it's awful, but it's all getting us one step closer to a year without snow.

Cheers,
Woozel

Last Month in DC

I've decided to start this Blog (and rope Handsome into contributing if I can) as we get ready to move down to Charleston, SC. I'm super excited to move, because it means starting graduate school and beginning what we consider the next phase of our life together. It's easy to look ahead and be super focused on what's coming up next, though, to the point that we miss out on some of the stuff we love and will actually miss here.

Things we'll miss, in order of whatever pops into my head:

• Pho 95: Best freaking noodle-beef soup in this world.
• Dogfish Head Alehouse: Beer, calamari rings, and the memory of awesome pizza.
• Our apartment: We met the KayBeeDubs (who are awesome!) and their adorable Brody, who actually was an impetus for getting our Doodle instead of a normal dog. Our next door neighbor right now is awesome, too.
• Our friends from Grace: We joined a Bible Study group, which let us meet some awesome people who have made life up here so much better. They helped us grow and stay grounded at the same time, just by being who they are.
• Our family: Cousins, aunts, and uncles will be missed, but they also are all invited to come down to Charleston. :-)
• Sightseeing in DC: We don't do it much anymore with the RooRoo, but it was a wonderful experience, getting to see the tree, visit the botanical gardens, and just wander museums and monuments. I have some awesome memories.
• WTOP 103.5: It's probably the only radio station I could miss, ever. Traffic every 10 minutes is a Godsend up here.
• Great Falls: So pretty, good walks, great memories with friends and family alike.
• Metro: Mainly because driving in DC makes me hate life. And everyone and everything in DC. But being able to go to the Brickskellar, drink up, and not have to have a designated driver is kinda awesome.
• Some aspects of our jobs: We learned a lot, met good people, and are at the point now that we're ready to move on.
• The Friends of the Library Bookstore: keeping our house overflowing with books. Losing that store is probably going to spur me into finally getting a Kindle.
• Being so close to Norfolk: Getting to see our family, including Busch Gardens visits, and spending Thanksgiving and Christmas at home pretty easily.
• Having our vet (from VT!) right down the street-- a 5 minute walk away can't be beat.

Things we won't miss, at all, ever:

• The traffic. Seriously.
• The drama. Egos and delusions combine to make some things in life so not worth dealing with. And they're a whole new kind of special in DC.
• Climbing 4 flights of stairs every day. I know it's good exercise, but so is yoga and walking the dog a few miles every day.
• The power grid here. Power outs should happen in hurricanes, not on a whim.
• Cost of living: our new place is (potentially) a townhouse with 2 bedrooms, like 5 minutes from the beach, for just over half of what we pay here for a one bedroom.
• The not-good aspects of our jobs.
• Montgomery County Drivers. They don't even count as the traffic, because they are their own brand of straight up crazy, with a shot of being jerks and just plain mean.

So, that's a quick list as Handsome and I start getting ready for part II of married life!

Cheers,

Woozel