I'm back

Okay, so it has been a really long time since I wrote...things have been crazy, but I think they are finally settling down. Of course, that won't last, but I am sure I will want some excitement soon enough. I am really excited that we are not going to travel for a while so I can try to enjoy more of NYC while I still can. It is starting to feel like we don't have much time left here! UCSF made a reservation for Matt to do an away rotation there in August, so we will be living there that month, then we come back here for a bit, then we will be back in California for interviews for about a month sometime next winter, then we come back for a few months, then it is graduation! And then we are out of here! I am so excited, but sad that we are leaving and won't be able to come back for a while (we will be super broke during residency unless/until I go back to work), so I really want to live it up here while I can.
Anyway, we had a pretty good Christmas. We got really sick, so we missed out on our annual trip to Porterville. We were really sad because we were looking forward to having a little time in the country, but such is life. We got to spend a lot of time with my mom, which really made me feel refreshed and recharged. It was just nice to have a really good solid visit with her, instead of feeling like it wasn't enough. We got to see a lot of friends, too, and were able to spend a day in San Diego. Matt and I got to go on a couple of long-awaited dates. We saw Enchanted, the first movie we had seen in the theater in more than 2 years and absolutely loved it. Seriously, the bikers in Central Park will getcha! Haha. We have coveted the apartment building in that movie many a time since it is between the subway and the church we go to when we actually get our behinds to church. We also got to do a spa day and it was soooooo awesome. It is too bad we wasted some of the benefit of the massages because we played with our uncle Dwayne's Wii a ton in the days following (which made our right arms/shoulders sore), but it was totally worth it! It was so fun. Unfortunately, we rang in the new year on a red eye to boston, then had to wait 6 hours for a flight home in a freezing cold extension terminal. The baby and I are still totally screwed up time-wise, but I have enough experience in this to know that it takes three weeks no matter how hard you try to push it, so I am just going with the flow for now and enjoying the liberty in sleeping late most days. Poor Matt was back to work right away, but I guess that is the life of an almost doctor, right?
So, for those of you that don't know, Matt is not going to do neurosurgery and is therefore not going to do the additional year of research between 3rd and 4th years. Woohoo! I do like it here, but it is really hard to be away from family, so I am really excited to get back to California. Now to choose a city...it is so hard! Right now San Fransicso is at the top of my list, but a few weeks ago it was LA, and before that it was San Diego. They all have their plusses, so we can probably be happy wherever. Anyway, Matt is most likely going to do interventional neuroradiology, which is similar to neursurgery, but...not. McDreamy did an INR procedure a few episodes ago, if that helps. Basically, he will do neurosurg type procedures by sticking a tube up your leg and taking pictures as he goes (that is the radiology part). So, he can do his residency in radiology instead of neurosurg, meaning much, much better hours and some other benefits. So, it is a 5 year residency in radiology, then a 3 year fellowship after that, then he will be like, the INR guy but he will still be on the neurosurgery staff. If that doesn't make sense, you will have to ask Matt!
As for me, I am definitely missing work and trying to plan my next move, but I am pretty sure that I just want to wait it out until I have more babies. So, I am entertaining myself by learning to play the guitar and by doing a lot of things that I have been putting off. I finally got a dental implant today that I have been needing FOREVER. It was pretty gross, but I am so glad that it is over! I still have to do the follow up stuff, but the worst is over. As soon as that is healed I am going to start invisilign, and then my teeth will finally be all pretty. I also have to update my info for my CPA license, need to do some CE, etc. So, basically I am making this year about doing all the things that I never had time to do. Of course, I have my high school reunion coming up, too, which makes me feel super old, but I guess that is life. I have a lot to show for those ten years, but I just can't believe that I am at that point already! Botox me, please!
Lizzie is getting so old! Then dentists laughed at me today when they found out that she was 20 months because I had been calling her a baby. She still doesn't talk much, but knows a lot of signs. She is doing better at entertaining and feeding herself, so that is awesome. We start up music class again next week, so that should be fun for all of us. It is really nice to be on a somewhat regular schedule. The only other time we had that was last year around this time of year. I am still getting caught up on housework, but at least I have plenty of time and can put some things off now (which i am doing as we speak).

Well, I guess I have rambled quite a bit! I will try to post some pics soon. Love you all!