The Cruise

In May, my family and Jamie and I went on a cruise for a much needed vacation. We flew to Ft Lauderdale and spent the night there then left the next day to head to Key West. Before departing we had to do the ever-favorite lifeboat drills. Here we are in our stylish life jackets. That first day was spent walking around the boat, figuring out where the important things were (dining room, pool, our rooms....) and relaxing. We left that evening and were on our way to Key West, famous for where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote his novels.

Our time in Key West was short--only about 5 hours--but it was a great town to walk around in and see the sites. Lots of shopping and eating....we even found a Starbucks to get our caffeine fix! And I was able to enjoy a delicious slice of key lime pie with Jamie before we got back on the ship. The shops and architecture there are very unique and have a lot of character. I'd like to go back someday when we have more time to see more of the city.

Wednesday was our 2nd port of call where we spent the day in Cozumel, Mexico. We had decided to do some snorkeling while in Cozumel so booked a tour ahead of time. We took a 45 minutes boat out to the Palancar Reef which was supposed to be a great place to snorkel. We got a quick snorkeling lesson and they gave us our gear and we were off. We all had our underwater cameras so got some good pictures of the reef and some fish, but after awhile we started feeling these tiny little bites/stings all over our bodies. At first I thought it was just me but realized later that everyone felt that way. We had snorkeled as a family in Hawaii before but I didn't remember it being as uncomfortable as it was this time. Aside from the little biters (which we found out later were tiny little jellyfish), my mask was on my head too tight giving me a massive headache and my sister was having an anxiety attack from the fish getting too close to her. We were all glad when our snorkeling adventure was over.

We spent our evenings enjoying wonderful food of which we always had a choice of appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, and desserts. Our waitstaff was fabulous--they were always at our beckon call and incredibly helpful and friendly. We spent a considerable amount of time in the casino, losing money mostly. Colin did participate in a Texas Hold Em tournament one day and he ended up in 2nd place at his table of 7.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas this year had its ups and downs. It was the first Christmas without my dad and we had to put Zeppie to sleep the day after Christmas. He had started having seizures that morning and Colin and I took him to the vet where they ran a bunch of tests and did some x-rays to find out he probably had some kind of brain tumor or maybe had a stroke or something. We decided the best thing for him so he wouldn't be suffering would be to put him to sleep. It was a really hard thing to do and of coure it brought us back 8 months earlier to when my dad died. Plus my dad loved Zeppie so much it was kind of like losing him again all over. But we knew it was the best thing to do.

Goodbye Richmond!

It's been a little while since I've posted anything but with moving I got pretty behind. I had to say goodbye to my friends in Richmond which we did at the Strawberry Street Cafe-the first and last restaurant I ate in Richmond.

These are friends from church-the Gianninis', the Walsh's, the Everly's, the Thompson's and the Fong's. I'm really thankful to have met all of them during my time in Richmond.

I also had to say goodbye to my resident friends-Kush and Michelle hung out with my family and I Saturday evening. We went to Chili's for dinner and then came back to our hotel and chatted for a bit. I think we were delaying the inevitable goodbye. It was a sad time, but we all knew it was coming eventually.

Thanksgiving and other things....

Happy Thanksgiving! I get to go home today for a few days to see my family which I'm really excited about. I was supposed to work at Rite Aid from 9-3 (why is the pharmacy open on Thanksgiving??) but was able to get out of it. But my flight still doesn't leave until 4:45 so it will be a late Thanksgiving dinner this year, but that's ok. I come back to Richmond on Tuesday evening and Tuesday afternoon I'm meeting with the recruiter from Osco Pharmacy in the Chicago area. I have a good feeling about working for Osco right now-everyone I've talked to has been very nice, they do a lot of clinical, patient care work (immunizations, diabetes education, etc.) which I would love to do over merely dispensing, and they seem to have a lot of opportunities and are looking for pharmacists with extra training (ie residency). So we'll see how that goes.

On another note...I reserved a moving truck to move myself home the other day. So it's officially official. No backing out now. =) But really, it's slowly hitting me as I do things like that or as I have to say goodbye to people here that I'm actually leaving. I'm definitely looking forward to being home though. My last day of work is going to be Thursday December 7th and then my mom, my sister, and my cousin Mike will be coming down that weekend to help move me back. So, if anyone wants to come help load a moving truck on that Saturday....I will be recruiting you!

Jamie's Visit to Richmond, part 3

At the end of the week and his time here, Jamie and I visited Maymont Park in Richmond. We spent some time walking around and taking pictures and seeing all the animals-birds, buffalo, the new bear, fox, and fish in the Japanese gardens. Back a few months ago, there had been two bears living at Maymont and one of them bit a little kid and so they ended up eunthanizing both bears. It caused a huge uproar amongst people in the city and so they ended up getting a new bear. We did see him when we were there, but he was sleeping. =)
This bear statue is a memorial to the 2 who died earlier this year.

Jamie's Visit to Richmond, part 2

Not only did we go apple picking when Jamie was visiting, but we also explored other areas of Virginia. On Tuesday the 24th we drove west to the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove south once we got there. The Blue Ridge Parkway goes throughout Virginia and North Carolina and is a beautiful, scenic drive through the Appalachian Mountains (how do you say Appalachian again? =)) We also stopped at the King Family Vineyards on the way there and Horton Winery on the way home. For those who don't live in Virginia or who haven't visited here, we have a lot of wineries and vineyards. I suppose you could call it the Napa Valley of the East. =) We bought a few bottles to drink and save for later. I personally like the sweeter white wines-Reisling, Vigonier, and the dessert wines...yummm.






The Blue Ridge Parkway was beautiful! The leaves were all changing colors-reds, yellows, golds and the mountainous backdrop made for a wonderful autumn day. We drove south for about 20 miles and stopped at several scenic outlooks along the way and took pictures and breathed in the very cold, crisp air. Several stops were very, very brief because the wind was sooo cold! We stopped at one place and ate the lunch (inside the warm car) that we had packed.

Decisions, decisions

So, I've been trying to decide for the last few months about whether or not I should move back to Chicago to be closer to my family. There are a lot of different factors that went into this decision...work, family, friends, etc. After much debate, thought, prayer, talking with others, I've finally made a decision. I'm going to move. To some it may come as a surprise, but probably not to most as I've been talking about it for quite some time now. I have no details or plans other than that and other than knowing that I have to be out of my apartment by December 31st. I imagine I'll move sometime in the beginning of December, praying and hoping that the midwest doesn't get some huge snowstorm during that time. Moving in the snow and ice would not be my idea of a good time. Snow and ice in general are not...that is one thing I'll miss about Virginia-nice mild winters. But when it comes down to it, family is more important than nice winters.

Apple Picking

My friend Jamie came to visit from Des Moines, Iowa last week and my other friend Val came down from Washington DC to hang out with us for the weekend. On Saturday, we went apple picking to the Carter Mountain Orchard which is near Charlottesville, Virginia. I warned them that it may be slightly busy and it sure was! We drove up the mountain behind many others who were there to pick some apples and get some yummy cider donuts. Many of the apples were already picked over by this late time in the season, but we did manage to get some good looking Granny Smiths and some Fujis, both great for baking and eating. I picked out a pumpkin to carve too (and made Jamie carry it-that's what boys are for, right?) and then we got in a very long line to pay for our loot. Val was guessing the weights of all of our bags of apples, mine coming in the most with a guess of 13 lbs (it ended up being ~10). And Jamie got 3lbs of apples for $1 since the guy wouldnt take his debit card to pay for $2.91 worth of apples. Steal of the day.

And of course, I reallllly wanted to wait in line to get some apple cider donuts, this is one of the reasons I like going apple picking every year. But the line was toooo long and we would have been there another half hour or more waiting for them. So, as sad as it was, I didn't buy any apple cider donuts this year. Guess I'll have to wait another year for them....

My life

My life over the past 2 years has been a series of ups and downs. Well I guess it's been that way for longer than 2 years, probably 15 at least. But I suppose most people's lives are that way. We all go through seasons of difficulty and hardship and then come out of it a better person, a stronger person, hopefully a more joyful person. In this season of my life, I went through a time where my dad had an accident and was in the hospital for 3 weeks, I graduated from pharmacy school, moved to Virginia to start a new job (residency), lived on my own for the first time, and dealt with my dad's death a year later.

Now, here I am almost 6 months since he died, and almost 4 months since completing my residency, just unhappy most of the time with my life. I've always had a difficult time being patient and being content with where I'm at RIGHT NOW. Who doesn't look forward to the next stage of life: graduating, getting married, having kids, the next new job, becoming a grandparent, retiring. Why can't we just be content and be happy with the now? Because we always think the next thing will be better than what we're doing right now. Sometimes that's true, often times it's not. Of course I hope to get married and have my own family, and move back to Chicago to live closer to my immediate family, but I just wish I could be more content. I know that's something only God can help me with since I've failed time and again at doing it on my own.

I'm about ready to make a pretty big decision....whether to stay here in Richmond for awhile longer or to move back home to Chicago. I know I'd be able to find a job back there if I wanted to and my family is there and it's home. There's not much keeping me here besides a couple good friends and the great weather (you can't beat a place that only gets 2 inches of snow twice a winter and can stay in the 70s through October and November). =) But being close to family doesn't exactly balance out to the nice weather here. I have til the end of October to make a decision because I have to let them know about whether I'm going to renew my lease or not. Will keep you updated as I figure things out.

Oh and I just have to say that one of the best episodes ever of Friends is on...the one where they play the trivia game and Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to Joey and Chandler. =)