Winter mayhem in slower, lower Delaware!

Hello friends and family, yes Sarah and I are still alive, we have just been a little busy dominating the east coast.  I didn't think anyone actually read this blog besides my mom, but I got a couple of text messages hounding me to update, so breath easy, here it is! 

Since my last post, there have been a few big things going down:
First & most importantly....SARAH HAS A NEW BEAUTIFUL NIECE!  Her name is Nora and she is just the cutest little thing.  Auntie Sarah went to Ohio to visit her and Nora's big sister, 2 year old Ella.  Sarah also got to enjoy Antarctica, aka Ohio by playing some ice hockey in her backyard and stressing about possible flight delays.  Sarah is eager to visit again and has been hitting up Gap Kids, Children's Place, and other clothing stores to make sure her nieces are voted 'best dressed.' 

Next on the agenda, I went to Washington DC for a weekend and hung out with the Pres for a while.  Word to the wise, don't go to DC in January...FREEEEEEZING.  I also realized that I have the attention span of a 3 year old and museums are cool, but I hate reading.  I went out for a birthday dinner with Columbus Kevin and yep was a member of the clean plate club.  Riding the metro was interesting and thank you Kevin for not leaving me because I had no idea what I was doing.  The country girl in me gets a little nervous with all the public transportation but hey, go green! 

ATLANTIC CITY BABY!!! Obviously we had to visit AC while leaving on the East Coast.  We rounded up our friends Andrew and Matt and hit the town in search of big money.  We took the ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ and stayed at the Trump Marina for one night.  Ferrys are pretty sweet and AC was a blast, with the highlight being Sarah winning 100 bones on a slot machine!  It was her last 25 cents and as she pulled that lever and screamed "mama needs new shoes" we knew it was destiny to win!  We all screamed like she had just hit the megamillions and then she immediately went to collect her winnings.  I learned how to play craps and I won 20 dollars in less than 3 minutes, and then got nervous and quit.  Craps was sweet though because everyone screams and jumps up and down for you.  It's a team sport, I dig.  I would also like to report that we did not see Snookie, the Situation, or any of those Jersey grease balls, which was probably a good thing.  Atlantic City was great, however, I'm a Vegas girl and I promise I won't cheat on you Sin City, you know you are the best! 

'FIRST ANNUAL 9 HOLE EVENT'-  With the help of our fellow dodgeball friends, we put together a little event known as 9 hole.  The idea of the event was to hit up 9 different locations and have a different shot/drink at each location, with the 9th hole being The Green Turtle (the local watering hole in our apartment complex).  Many of the houses had themes and for our casa we chose a mexican theme!!  Yes we had a mexican flag on our door and message that read: Hola mi amigos!  Our drink was a tequila sunrise, which ended up being a shot because there were 20+ people at the event and we were running a little short on the tequila. You know it's going to be a night to remember (or not remember) when the evening began with an irish car bomb at hole #1.  By the time we got to our house for hole #4 everyone was all smiles and the night was a total success.  Sarah may or may not have had a hangover for the following 3 days, but I will say this, she is a champ and not only completed the front 9 on the course, I believe she took it upon herself to create 9 other shots.  Nevertheless, good times and we are really going to miss all the great friends we have made here in little Lewes, Delaware.

TAKING THE PLUNGE.... Every year in the beginning of February the crazy locals hold a charity event to raise money for the special olympics, in which thousands of people take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.  Now I hate cold more than anyone, but when it's for charity and it's a tradition, I'm in.  So I put on the bikini and took the plunge, not once but twice.  My fellow plungers decided that once was not enough because we didn't get a photo, so after getting dry, I then ran in again.  You must go underwater for it to count (well those arent official rules, but if you don't go under people will talk smack about you, so I had to go all the way under).  The temperature outside was around 40 degrees and sunny, so that wasn't too horrible, however the water was a blistering 35 degrees.  My whole body went numb and I struggled to run back to my towel due to the loss of sensation in my lower extremities, but hey, not everyone can say they did the polar bear plunge!  The event also raised more than a half of a million dollars, so kudos to you my fellow plungers and donators :)

Sarah and I are officially done working at Beebe Medical Center on February 25th.  We are pretty positive our next stop will be...........  let the suspense set in............ HOUSTON, TEXAS!!   Cowboys, warm weather, BBQ, rodeos, the final four, ohhh my it looks like it will be another wild ride :)

Ringing in the New Year!

Happy New Year!  Hope ya’ll had a fun, safe holiday season and don’t worry we survived the east coast blizzard.  Correction, it’s called a “Nor-Eastern” storm and the wind was outrageous.  I was forced to leave my Christmas weekend in Ohio early and fly back to Philly to beat the snow.  Sarah got stuck in Baltimore overnight, but it was no biggy because the outpatient facility that she works at was closed on Monday.  People in Delaware do not know how to handle the snow; I don’t understand because even though they plow some roads, they never plow down to the pavement and the roads are still covered in snow.  Also, there are only 3 counties in the whole state so there’s not exactly a surplus of snow plows. 

I turned 26 on January 3^rd and we had a lovely evening chowing down on some sushi with friends.  Thanks for all the birthday wishes, cards, etc, and I would like to share a few things I have learned over 26 years of existence: 

1.       Live each day to the fullest and don’t be afraid to take a risk. 

2.       Don’t speed in the state of Virginia.

3.       If you are traveling with a group of people and going to the airport, make sure everyone has their ID and/or passport before leaving home.

4.       Life is short, eat desserts

5.       As an addition to #4, don’t forget to exercise, because you don’t want to be 50 years old and using a walker, on oxygen, and 75 lbs overweight like some of my patients.

6.       Be careful driving if you have a Christmas tree strapped to the top of your car.

7.       Don’t smoke….it’s gross, it kills people, smells disgusting, and turns your teeth yellow, not to mention how expensive it is.

8.       Go on as many vacations as possible.

9.       Pick up the phone and stay in touch with your friends and family.

10.   Volunteer, help others, and treat others like you would like to be treated. 

I’m sure those 10 bits of wisdom will change your life… But anyway, hope everyone had a safe new year’s eve!  Sarah and I went to a house party and then a bar in Rehoboth Beach.  Sarah reverted to her college years and downed a significant amount of beers (yep, a funnel may have been involved- her parents and my dad would be proud!).  I drove and it was nice to wakeup the next day without a hangover. 

We have approximately 3 weeks left in Delaware since our last day of work is January 28^th.  Washington D.C. is getting invaded by some Ohioans this weekend, and then the last couple of weekends I think we are going to stay local and take over Lewes.  We are trying to figure out where we going for our next assignment- hopefully somewhere in Texas or North Carolina.  Don’t worry, we will keep ya’ll posted so then you will be able to sleep at night.  Speaking of sleep, I need to catch some shut eye…. Adios!