Trip to the National Zoo

Dave had a rare Saturday off last weekend so we decided to take a road trip to DC and check out the National Zoo. We had such a great time! The weather was beautiful and the Zoo is amazing!!! The main attraction is the Giant Pandas but unfortunately we missed out on them. We had saved them for last and by the time we got around to visiting them, there was a HUGE line snaking around the building where they are kept. By this time, we were hot and tired and I was sneezing my head off (stupid pollen!!!) so we decided to forego the visit. We got some great pics of the various animals in the Zoo - enjoy!!

Woes of Residency

As I sit here watching TV and doing laundry on this Sunday evening, my hardworking husband is fast asleep upstairs. Yes, he did turn in for the night at 3:30 pm this afternoon after working 34 straight hours in the MICU this weekend. And how crazy is that!!! I find it hard to believe that young physicians learn this way. I guess they do as this is the way things have been done in medicine for eternity. But is that really safe for patients? I know I don't want someone performing a procedure on me if they have been deprived of sleep for 30 hours. I am so proud of him but I worry about him constantly. On long days like that he doesn't eat or drink much and just ends up getting run down. It will be wonderful when these days of residency are done!! I look forward to the days that we can spend more than 20 minutes together on the weekend. Dave has decided to do a fellowship in renal - so he will be a kidney doctor. That particular fellowship is an additional 2 years after residency. No thoughts yet on where he might want to pursue his fellowship. I really like Charlottesville and have made some great friends here, so I would be more than happy to stay here. And of course I would always be happy to move back home to Birmingham to be closer to family. It's hard to believe that Dave will start the application process all over again this fall. Time flies!!

Christmas

Christmas 2008 was a bit of a first for the Bains....our first Christmas without family around!!! Dave's vacation happened to be the week before Christmas, so we made the 11 hour drive to Alabama (after heavily drugging Sydney, of course) to spend time with both of our families. We had a great time visiting with friends and family and enjoyed the 70 degree weather! Back home in Cville for Christmas actually ended up being great! Dave was off on Christmas Eve and I only worked half a day, thank goodness. We spent our Christmas Eve eating spaghetti, going to church, and then heading to a local Italian restaurant for coffee and tiramisu. Mmmmm. Christmas Day was a lot of fun - we got up and ate breakfast, opened stocking gifts from each other, and then headed over to the Henrys for a delicious Christmas Day lunch and lots of fun playing board games. So, all in all, we had a great Christmas!

In other news, the Wilhoite family is gearing up for another wedding! Marion got engaged on December 23 while visiting Jason's (the fiance) family in Michigan!! We are so excited for them both!!! Looks like the wedding will be Memorial Day weekend 2010 after Marion graduates from nursing school. She's chosen to get married in Huntsville, AL where we both grew up. A fabulous choice!!! Looking forward to having a new brother-in-law!!!!

Christmas photo shoot

So it seems that taking pictures for Christmas cards may only be a Southern tradition, based on things I keep hearing around Charlottesville. I can still remember my Mom rounding up my sister and me for Christmas pictures...and I remember always being pretty jilted about changing out of my play clothes in to a dress and smiling for the camera. My all time favorite Christmas card picture was one taken when I was probably 5 years old and Marion was 1. I guess Mario was still getting used to walking because she had a HUGE black eye from a fall a couple of days before. It's a classic. That said, Dave and I changed out of our usual lazy Sunday clothes a few weeks ago and went to a local park here with Sydney and our rockin' photographer Lindsey to take this year's Christmas card pic. It's always a fun experience trying to take a picture with Sydney since she is so ADD once we get outside around other people. Luckily, Lindsey's photography skills took over and we managed to get some great pics and some pretty hilarious ones as well. Enjoy!!!

Doggie Days

Today while shopping around for Christmas gifts, I came across something I've had my eye on in catalogs... a hooded sweatshirt for Sydney!!! Now I'm not one who is in to all these clothes for dogs, but since moving to Virginia, I've been interested in something warm for Syd when it snows. The only thing I have been remotely interested in are these hooded sweatshirts. So when I came across this cute hoodie at Old Navy AND saw it was 50% off, I had to have it! It was surprisingly easy to put on and Syd actually handled it pretty well. We'll see how it goes. I just laugh when I see it on her. But now she can be warm when icy winter hits - something we aren't used to in Alabama!

The first attempt at blogging...

So I've decided to try this blogging thing on for size. I've enjoyed reading blogs by other friends and family, so I thought why not try it out for myself? Dave and I have been married for 4 years now and I have truly enjoyed every minute! We got married during Dave's first year of medical school, so we have been together through the long haul - 4 years of medical school and now we are working on residency. We moved to Charlottesville, VA from Alabama in May 2008 and so far things are going great! We have managed to make a great group of friends, although we rarely get to hang out all at the same time. All my girlfriends up here are also married to residents, so the girls at least get to spend a lot of time together. It's nice to be around people who are living with the same weird schedule as you. It's comforting in a way. We will be here in VA for at least 3 years. Dave is planning on doing a renal fellowship following residency so who knows where that will take us. I am currently working as an RN in the cardiac cath lab. It's very different from the pediatric nursing I was doing in AL, but it's fun. Definitely some major adrenaline rushes at time! I enjoy my co-workers as well - quite a fun and diverse group! I've decided to post some pics of our new life here in Virginia as well as pics of our fabulous golden retriever, Sydney! No kids for us yet - still trying to adjust to our new home. But hopefully there will be many kiddos in our future!

Laura and Lauren's visit to C'vile...Barboursville Winery

Dave, Em, and Syd at Humpback Rocks

Davey in his white coat

Our House

Dave and Matt at Michie Tavern

Lindsay, me, Claire, Jessica, Beth

Sydney