National Newton's Christmas Vacation

Okay, so I took a little break over Christmas. Mainly because I was stressed about getting home (with the blizzard) and just having a lot to do overall. Let's start with the trip home...it was wonderful. However, our flight was scheduled to get in in the middle of a "historic Christmas storm" according to the Weather Channel. Work was nice enough to let me have Wednesday off so I could catch an earlier flight which was wonderful. However, I still managed to break down in tears the Monday before we left because Delta told Dave we couldn't catch an earlier flight unless we paid a LOT of money. I called my Dad to see if he'd make me feel better, or maybe offer to pay for it?? Haha...not really, but the thought did cross my mind. Instead, this was his response, (as I'm trying to talk to him through my sobbing) "Sarah, are you at work?? Pull yourself together!!! 99% of the s**t you worry about never happens." He was right...they pushed off the blizzard until Wednesday evening, we caught an earlier flight, got home at noon, and only ran into rain. But then it went downhill from there....(please refer to pictures on facebook.)

We were snowed in for 3 days...Christmas eve was spent out at my Grandma's and Grandpa's. What normally would last until 1am following midnight mass, ended around 9pm after church services were cancelled and roads were drifting shut. On our way home Dad some how thought that when he could no longer see the road in the white-out conditions it would be a good idea to speed up to get through the drifts. I was yelling at him and praying all at the same time. This is what I don't miss about Nebraska....the driving conditions.

Overall, we spent a good amount of time in front of the TV, chatting, sleeping and eating. It was the life. :) We had a great time, and didn't really want to come back....except to get Oscar from the dog nanny.

That brings me back to before we left...we took Oscar to the nanny's house. (She's not really a nanny, we just call her that) She kennels dogs out of her home and gives them lots of love and play. I, of course, cried the night we took him out. I packed his blankie, bed, food and one treat for every day--- Dave thought I was crazy, but understood my tears. It broke our hearts to leave him. I did call to check on him once while we were back home; I just wanted to make sure he wasn't a social ri-tard. (Have ya'll seen The Hangover? It's pronounced ritard.)

Turns out he made friends, and he was so excited to see us when we came home. He hasn't left our side since. I think he's emotionally scarred.

Anyway, next subject! I think I ate something wrong Sunday at the airport. I've narrowed it down to a fish sandwich or a stomach bug that some how no one else caught. I went to bed Sunday night not feeling great, but attributed it toward eating so much crap at home. However, I was up all night having liquids come out of places that liquids should not be. (Sorry if that's too much information for some, but it's true.) Dave the next morning says, "I didn't even know you've been sick." Ooooh honey.....I'm glad that your sleep was not disturbed, because I sure did not sleep well.

Our plans for New Year's are very uneventful. Dave is on-call, but his sister is actually on her way down right now with her boyfriend. (They're driving.) So I'll have someone to hang out with which will be great. I was just planning on drinking by myself, laying on the couch in my PJ's and watching the ball drop. I'd probably just count the eastern time zone drop as ours, because I doubt I make it to midnight. Anyway, that's all for now! Hope everyone had a great and blessed Christmas!

I've been lazy....

Sorry, I haven't posted in over a week....and where to begin?

This past weekend we had quite a few Christmas parties, however, Sunday we had to miss one because I had some sort of stomach bug or ate something wrong. I woke up at 2am with my stomach trying to evacuate itself from both directions. Wasn't pleasant. My main concern was to not wake the puppy or Dave so I wouldn't have to worry about him biting my ankles when I was trying to breathe through the nausea (the puppy that is.) Yipes.

I'm still not as much in the Christmas spirit as I usually am. It's sad really, and I don't know why I can't get into it. I think it's because I'm not home. I feel comfortably here, but I don't have a big tree up, or a ton of decorations, so it just ruins it.

I do feel very accomplished this Christmas season by not being at the mall once since Thanksgiving...until last night. I've done all of our Christmas shopping online, and Dave did the rest. (Which consisted of Target gift-cards.) The only thing worse than going to the mall between Thanksgiving and Christmas is going on to the mall on the WEEKENDS in that time. So I refused.

Well, that's all for now.

Football Saturday in the Newton Estates...

Well this was an eventful sports weekend. Michelle came over for the weekend because we went to the Chris Tomlin concert...her friend Audrey Assad sings on his Christmas CD, so we also got to see her. It was a great concert, and Audrey's voice is a-m-a-z-i-n-g, it brings tears to my eyes.

So Saturday was our day of football. We had some friends over to watch the SEC championship. It was funny, because none of us were from Alabama or Florida. Our group consisted of 3 from Mississippi, and 1 from North Dakota. I was of course rooting for Alabama, so I was happy with that game's outcome. Unfortunately, there then was the Nebraska game...... I'm here, and cheering for Alabama, but it's not nearly the same.

This is how our living room looks when the Nebraska games are on (and Michelle got to experience it first hand): Dave is in the rocker, and I am on the couch. Dave will get up and jump/pace with good and/or bad plays. He knows not to cross into my visual line of the television, because I stay seated on the couch and cheer more with my arms...and he will endure the wrath of Sarah if I miss something. We've tried sitting together on the couch once....but that may lead to a divorce. I'm always silent. Do not speak to me in clutch plays, or speak in general. (Sorry Michelle!)

So last night was a great game, and I'm just sick that we lost. Well, our defense played wonderfully...and I wanted to win it just for them. Sometimes I wonder, do they get along with the offensive players? Maybe the offense has to always buy the defense their 2 am meals at Taco Bell or drinks every night because they repeatedly save their butts!! I'd make 'em.

So anyway, I'm heartbroken, but there's always the bowl game, and of course next year. Maybe we can find a quarter back in the off season. Other than that.....OH, WAIT! We got our first snow Friday night!! (See, it was so uneventful that I nearly forgot!) It was about a trace...but they had been forecasting it all week. I laughed. So I was up at 6:30 am with Oscar Saturday, and it was really pretty on all the trees, (I'll try to put up some pictures on facebook.) But Oscar was beside himself, he sniffed it, decided it was too cold (at 32 degrees) and came back in refusing to pee. Dang southern dog....he's going to have a rough adjustment if he visits Nebraska some winter!

So what did I do that Saturday morning? Well, I normally refuse to go to Walmart....just hate shopping there, but I needed a lot of things, and that was the only place that was open. I figured I would be the only one "crazy" enough to get out in this trace of snow, so Walmart would then be tolerable. It was...there was no one there. The roads were only damp...it only stuck to the grass. Oooh, Alabama. Okay, that's really all for now. Hope all is well!!

Post Thanksgiving Coma

So Thanksgiving is over, and I'm, well, exhausted. It was great to have 4 days off of work, but it went by so fast, and I was so busy, that I really had no time to relax. I never realized how exhausting cooking/entertaining is. (Not that I really had to entertain, but whatever.)

Thanksgiving dinner turned out well, being that it was my first Thanksgiving cooking the full meal myself. I really need a double oven....that's something I'll maybe look for in our next house. However, I feel like those kind of kitchens are only found in more upscale homes.....so that's many years down the road. I did make my first southern-style cornbread dressing!! I got the recipe from a girl at work....I couldn't eat it b/c it sicked me out, but Dave enjoyed it. We still have a huge pan full in the fridge... But everyone at work was pleased to hear that it was edible.

This weekend also consisted of another vet visit for Oscar. He's gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks, more than doubling his size. Our little man is getting so big!! He had quite a few accidents while everyone was around, but we attributed that to a lot of people in his home that he wasn't used to. He has conquered our massive flight of stairs in the back yard, so he's doing a lot better with his potty training.

I did think he may be a bit bipolar. However, the vet assured me that this is normal. He will seriously be running around in circles, growling, nipping, doing everything bad puppies do (let's not forget chewing on our Christmas tree;) then he plops down and passes out in the middle of the rug. He looks so peaceful and wonderful....until he wakes up again. And did I mention that sleeping in for us now is about 7am? Not fun...it's like a child.

P.S. I have been having baby nightmares. The other morning I woke up after a dream, thinking that I had a baby-bump. (And I was crying in my dream mind you, so I'm not wanting one at the moment!) Turns out it was just my Thanksgiving dinner. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving week!! We're really excited that my sister, Jerris (her boyfriend) and her friend Erin are coming Wednesday night through Sunday for Thanksgiving. This will be my first Thanksgiving dinner that I'll be cooking. ----It has the potential to be a disaster.---- We're going to have our lunch on Friday because Dave is on-call all day Thursday until Friday noon.
I'm going to make 'dressing'. I feel like it's very southern. So I got the recipe from a girl at work. I don't think any of us have had it before, which is good because then know one will know if it's terrible.

This is our menu: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade macaroni and cheese (also southern), dressing, my mom's homemade dinner rolls (which will hopefully turn out), and green beans. And for dessert, fruit pizza and homemade chocolate cake. (I bought Dave a pumpkin pie from Publix's bakery b/c he LOVES it, but is the only one.)

I just want to say that we are so thankful for everything this season. Our family, friends, health, and all the blessings in our life. Seriously, every day I just thank God for all of our blessings....sometimes I think it's just too good to be true. We're all healthy...and that within itself is truly amazing. My heart just breaks for my patients and their families this time of year...it really puts things into perspective. Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!!

Constipated Puppy

So Saturday night Dave and I were invited to a couples baby shower for a girl I work with. We had a really great time...but when we came home we came home to a very constipated puppy. If you're not in the medical field, this may not be funny to you...but looking back on it, we were being obsessive parents.

First, like any good parent would do, we googled Oscar's symptoms and how to 'cure' puppy constipation. We were running through everything in our minds....outloud.
-Is his tummy distended?
-When's the last time he pooed?
-What in the world could he have ate? Maybe Dave should start picking up his socks...
-What if we gave him a laxative and he has a bowel obstruction? He'd perforate his bowel
and then we'd have bigger problems....
-Is there such thing as a nurse line for a vet office?
-If there such a thing as puppy health insurance??

Let me just say that the thought did cross our mind to digitally disimpact. Of course, Dave thought I would be the better option....because I have small fingers?? I don't know. And if you don't know what that is.....consider yourself lucky. Let's just say I was a nervous wreck...but was going to wait until office hours to call, because it really wasn't an 'emergency'.

I hate being a single mom.

Seriously....this dog is going to be the death of me.

I'm home by myself tonight because Dave is on-call, (he was Saturday too, and that was one of the longest days of my life because I have to watch that puppy AT ALL TIMES.) But anyway, I'm trying to study for a chemotherapy exam/oral test for tomorrow so that I can be certified at Children's. So what does he do for the 1st time EVER for me!? Poops on the rug...in my dining room. I take him outside and all he wants to do is play, so I bring him back in and he goes to the other side of the rug and PEES!! I cussed. I wonder if he can tell by the tone of my voice that I was mad?

I then threw him in the kennel, (well, not 'threw' I placed him briskly) and he fell asleep and was the cutest thing ever. I still feel tense. I'm gritting my teeth. And now I'm not even studying, I'm blogging.

I'm going to make myself a drink.

Sunday Funday

So today we raked leaves. Let me rephrase that, we blew leaves with our blower into an 'area' in our front yard, (because the word pile can't even begin to describe) and then bagged them. Some of the leaf drifts were up to my waist. Unfortunately, the tree still has approximately 3/4 it's leaves, so that's humbling when we look up. But does anyone want to guess how many bags we bagged in the end??.............Our final total was 28. 28 large lawn/leaf bags from our front yard, and we haven't even touched the back yard... which is twice as big and has twice as many trees. We're exhausted. Even my fingers are too tired to move over the keys of the keyboard. I'll let the pictures tell the story. Good night.

Wellll....another first.

Well folks, today I'm walking off the elevator of the parking garage, and I notice that the ground beneath me feels different. When I look down I realize that I am in fact wearing my slippers. Oops. Let me just say though that my slippers could probably pass as shoes, because they do have soles. However, they don't really go well with scrubs. Fortunately, I was in class all day so I didn't have to do any patient care, I was moritfied.

That's all. I just thought I would share that, because I've never done that before. Another first in our life in Alabama. I'm just trying to fit in. :)

The Firsts....

These past few days we've experienced a few firsts:

1. First night as doggie parents

2. First hurricane!! (Well, not really, it was more like a large rainstorm)

Now, let's begin with the first night Oscar spent with us. We weren't really prepared, because we weren't really planning on getting a dog THAT day. So, we blocked off our bathroom (which is tiny, so we thought it'd be fine.) Wellll, that lasted all of about 5 minutes. He howled like a mashed cat....making some of the most pitiful sounds we'd EVER heard. So, we padded the bed with towels, and I was soooo worried he was going to pee all over everything. So I brainstormed, and I put a maxi-pad on an old towel and tried to wrap it around him like a diaper. Dave thought I was crazy and commented, "Sarah....you can't swaddle a dog."------------Turns out, you can't.

The only place he would sleep was on Dave's shoulder with his head in Dave's neck, and even then he only kept quiet for about an hour. After the bed sleeping was unsuccessful we moved him into our main bathroom that wasn't connected to our room....this was about midnight when we were trying to 'puppy proof' the room. Little Oscar continued to yelp throughout the night. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "Good-night, a child is easier than this....why did we buy a dog again?!?" I think we got about 4 hours of sleep Sunday night....I hit up Starbucks the next morning, that's for sure!

Monday night we went to Petsmart and bought a crate and he actually did quite better, but still had his moments. He's eating like crazy too, I Googled it to see if it was normal, but all he does is eat, sleep, tinkle and poo. Oh, and when he eats he lays on the floor, props his head on the rim of the bowl and eats. It's like standing takes too much energy. But he's just so darn cute, my heart breaks when I leave him in the morning. He does make my house quite dirty, so I'm trying to adjust to that.

On another note, we braced our first hurricane! Hah, I think it actually made landfall as a tropical storm, and I don't even know what it's name was; that's how much it WASN'T a big deal. Anyway, lets hope that we never have to deal with a large hurricane. I hear that all we really get with them is a lot of rain and tornadoes, some power outages, strong winds, etc. Yesterday we got 5 inches, with quite a bit of wind, and came home to find a new leak in our roof that just popped up. Great.

We are officially parents.......to a dog.

So we bought a puppy!! Dave called the breeder today to just come 'look' at puppies, because I wasn't really sold on the whole dog thing. The whole way up I was anti-dog too....that was, until I saw him.

His name is Oscar. He's a black labra-doodle, so he has curly hair and doesn't shed!! (That's the only way I would get a dog.) He weighs 4 1/2 pounds, and was the runt and the calmest of the litter. That was my other stipulation....I wanted the one laying in the corner and not jumping on the fence to meet us. I'm sure the breeder thought I was crazy....that I wanted the loner dog.

Our little man has quite a hard time walking on the hard woods, he slips and falls and we just giggle. He'll be sleeping in the bathroom for the next few weeks because he's even to small yet for a kennel. We're just so excited, we're like proud parents. Dave is crawling around on the floor with him....he'll be a good dad.

Oh, and I know some of my girl-friends would laugh. Do ya'll know that Bed-Head shampoo? Well, they also apparently make Pet-Head---for dogs. Of course I had to buy it, it smells delightful and is tear-free for his little eyes. (Dave rolled his eyes)

Hey Yankee!

Dave and I are referred to as Yankee's. I tried explaining to one man that I'm from Nebraska, so I'm not really a true Yankee, but his response was this, "Honey, I grew up in south Georgia and I'm considered a Yankee in these parts.---You've moved to the heart of Dixie" (Whatever that means.)

So a few things happening this past week:

*First night by myself because Dave was on-call last night. My Friday night consisted of having Chick-fil-a for dinner, a glass of wine, worked on thank-you's and watched a Christmas movie. My idea of a good Friday night...did I mention I was in bed by 10pm?

*Another Alabama classic, which you could very well see this in Nebraska too I'm sure. But a little boy....about 3-4 years old, with a binky (pacifier, whatever) in his mouth. Which, I believe is a little too old to still be sucking on one of those, but anyway. Not only did he still have one, it was hanging around his neck by a Miller Light laniard thing. Like a neck thing that I believe are made to be used to hold keys? Yep, classy.

*And one more thing, Dave this week asks me where his towel is; and I tell him I probably washed it. He responds, "Jeez, you really like to wash towels!" I have to explain to him that he's no longer a bachelor and we do wash towels more than once every two weeks. Oh! And that reminds me of another story. He shaved with his electric razor, and he hadn't shaved in a few days. So instead of shaving into the sink, he shaved and let his red wiskers fall onto my white rug. (Come to find out, he didn't want to make a mess in the sink and on the counter.) I only noticed because I went to shake out the bathroom rugs that night and saw them all over. When I asked him about it he responded, "Well I thought about turning the rug over." Ahhhh.....

Dave's 'clean' is nothing compared to my 'clean'. I still love him though...

Our home

So a few people have wanted some pictures of our house/yard after talking about our "forest." So here's a few pictures, they were taken awhile ago so we've done quite a bit of work to the back yard including adding a deck. Which is interesting within itself, b/c it's about 20-25 feet off the ground. It's really more like a tree house....love it!!

Surprise!

So short little note....my mom is here! My sister came into town last night to hang out for the weekend (she's in Atlanta) and Friday night we were hanging out, and Dave gets a call at like 9:30 to pick up his friend at the airport. I was wondering what rotation his friend was on (he's a first year resident as well) that he could leave all week and be flying in on a Friday night, but whatever. So Michelle and I stayed home from going with Dave (because Sleepless in Seattle was on, and we couldn't pull ourselves away from the TV.) So Dave's gone for like 45 minutes and we're getting ready for bed....and I'm washing my face, and here pop's my mom into the bathroom. "Surprise!!" I think Michelle had pinched off her pee to come see if it was really mom (she was in the other bathroom.)

I was shocked. My mouth was on the floor, and I couldn't really talk. Then I cried. :) I blame it on watching Sleepless in Seattle so I was more emotional...but most of you know that I'm like that all the time anyway. So that's all for now!

Acorns are falling on our heads...

So we haven't been sleeping well lately. We live in a forest, filled with forest sounds (or lack of city sounds, which is WONDERFUL, super peaceful!) Our home is surrounded by large trees, which come to find out are the ones that have acorns, so what does that make them, Maple trees? I'm about as good at horticulture as I am geography. (If any of you recall in Michelle's maid of honor speech, I tried to convince a room full of people the day before the wedding that there were indeed 2 Antarctica's...one in the north and one in the south.) Come to find out, there is only one. Oops.

Anyway...these acorns, when falling from 80 feet, make some very interesting and sometimes scary sounds on our roof. Or if they hit the rain gutters....yipes, it's startles me. Then, not to mention the branches that fall during storms... If it's stormy I'm up about every hour, positive that a tree is going to come crashing down into the house. Maybe I should start medicating myself before a stormy night.

So Sunday Dave and I did some yard work, and we only raked a little landing of our yard. We weren't even raking much leaves, (our trees have only lost a few leaves, and they're starting to turn pretty colors!) we raked acorns. However, we ended up just shoveling acorns, I knew that snow shovel would come in handy down here! We filled a whole large yard garbage bag of acorns, and you can't even tell we'd touched it. This fall yard work is going to be interesting!! When we are outside we can hear the acorns falling through the leaves, so I can only imagine how we look covering our heads and running b/c we're scared we're going to get hit. Hope everyone else up north is enjoying their yard work, yours is about over, and ours has just begun!

Wedding Pictures

Okay, so here's only a preview of some pictures. Go to guliziadesign.com, please email/message me for the password.

Michelle also has some pictures up at michellekristinephotography.com. Enjoy!!

Hold it together Sarah---an afternoon at the DMV

So I just want to start by saying that I knew it was going to be a trying day when I saw the hugest, (I know this is not a word, but it's appropriate.) Let me repeat, the HUGEST roaches EVER this morning!!! I haven't seen any since we've been back, and this was horrific. They were the length of my index finger, and black. I've never seen a black roach, but they exist...they didn't have wings though. I'm scared to see those, I hear those are the largest.

Today I was in hospital orientation, so I got out early and headed to the DMV to get my driver's license and plates. As some of you may have heard, this county is bankrupt, and many satellite locations are closed. This in turn, creates long lines when over a million people have to do business in only 4 locations.

So, my first stop is the driver's license place (which has no lines, ironically.) The lady makes me feel like scum of the earth because I don't have my social security card. I explain that I've just gotten married, have my marriage license and my passport, along with my current driver's license; but this is not enough. I must have my social security card with my married name. I'm seriously tearing up, telling myself to hold it together...I can't give her the satisfaction of making me cry.

I head on over to the license plate line. I wait in line for about an hour (which really isn't bad at all!) Have allllll papers I can think of with me. I get up there, tell the lady my situation, and she smuggly hands me a form with a fax number and tells me to have Toyota Financial fax the original title to them, and come back another day.

I was livid. You may be wondering why I didn't call to check on these requirements before? Well, let me tell you...I did. Constantly. And it was busy-every time, due to the overwhelming number of people they're trying to serve with the least amount of people working as possible.

I got home, and called Dave, bawling of course. (Good thing he knew I was emotional before he married me) I cried a few nights ago while trying to hang curtains, but that's another story within itself. Anyway...moral of story: Changing your name and moving to a new state at the same time is never a good idea.

Sarah's First Week

We're just starting this blog, so I'm going to catch 'ya'll' up on highlights of my first week of work.

---I had my first grits (with cheese), I believe that it's a taste I'm going to have to acquire.

---My coworkers delight in my lack of southern food experience, one nurse asked, "Whata ya'll eat in Nebraska if you don't have grits, okra, fried green tomata's or sweet tea?!" (Say this sentence in the most Southern accent possible)....I responded "beef and corn" :) Just kidding!

---It's amazing how many of my patient's dad's want to talk hunting and want to know how big the deer get up there. They dream of going up and shooting a big ol' buck.

---I really do love my job, the people there are great, and of course the patient's are amazing and just cute as buttons! I just need to get used to working 5 days a week!

---I've learned that roof is said "rooooof" and boil is "bowl". I got my car washed and the man had to ask me if I wanted an "er freshner" 3 times before I understood. He was laughing, as was I.

---When walking across the street one afternoon after work, this is what I saw: A very obese woman (I'm talking like you could set a full place setting on her butt, it was a table.) In spandex capri's with a tank top. Rainbow socks with the individual toes, (I believe they're called 'toe socks') and flip flops. She was smelly with not a whole lot of teeth and was yelling at her ex- (or what we figured was ex) about child support and not loving the kids. I'm telling you, it took a lot to not break out in a gut-busting laugh. So after we crossed, one of the nurses said, "Welcome to Alabama!" We all busted up.

OOOH, sweet home Alabama...