An Update

It makes me sad that it has been so long since my last post. When I first started this ole' bloggy, it was with the intention of documenting our life, not only for my friends far away, but also as a way for us to look back from the future. And now I'm disappointed that I have been unable to keep it up. Life just gets in the way sometimes, ya know?

That being said, a lot has happened since my last post.

My child turns 8 months old in 5 days. 8 months old! I can't even believe it. He has turned in to the sweetest little man - with quite the temper, of course - and I just love him to pieces! 

He now has 3 teeth, all on the bottom. I keep worrying, "what if he doesn't have any teeth on top?" My mom tells me I worry about the weirdest things. Hehehehe.

Declan started officially crawling in Disney World. Oh wait, you didn't know we went to Disney World? Ooops! I had a research project to present in Orlando in October, so we decided to make a family trip out of it. See?

And here is my little peanut crawling around at home:

Don't worry, he didn't have a stroke. That's just a new face he's doing these days.

I just returned from a 24 hour trip to North Carolina. No pictures of that, as I was busy interviewing and touring the hospitals. That's right...I'm interviewing for residency. It's crazy stressful, but crazy fun. I have 9 interviews scheduled from now until January. All over the country. From Colorado to North Carolina. Pray for me.

And here's my little pumpkin, with a pumpkin:

And what does a 7 month old do when surrounded by a pile of leaves?

Well, he eats them of course.

Declan was a dinosaur for Halloween. The most precious, green with irridescent scales, dinosaur in the world. Mommy didn't take any pictures. She's still trying to convince Daddy to dress him up again and take some pictures. So hopefully you will see some soon! ;)

So that's all I've got for now. Hopefully you will hear from me again sooner than later!

A blessed weekend

In college at Mississippi State, I was fortunate to have a large group of friends that I met through my sorority. We were very close for our entire 4 years at State, and spent a lot of time together.

{This was us in 2006, our senior year}

Every year, our group still gets together for a summer trip, monthly dinner parties, and a Christmas party. Because of my crazy schedule, I rarely get to join them.

Labor Day weekend, I was able to travel down to Destin to play with these girls.
Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Lee had the same idea, so we spent most of our time snuggling on a pallet in the condo, but it was still good quality time.

 {Looking at the windy, gloomy beach}

 {Wishing we were out on the beach}

Don't worry, the weather was not so bad that we weren't able to go out at all. We went to the outlet mall on Saturday, and had a lot of fun spent way too much money. By the time we got home it was time to start getting ready for dinner.  

{Alison and Lindsey before heading out for the night on Saturday night}

 {Linds and me - while it may appear that I got some sun, don't be fooled, I had a glass of wine}

We went to Mitchells  Fish Market for dinner. I had the Chesapeake Raw Oysters, Lobster Bisque, and Seafood Americana. It was delicious!

 {All the girls at dinner}

After dinner, we went out to Baytowne for a little while. However, these old ladies were home by 12:30.

{The girls in Baytowne}

Unfortunately, we had to leave on Sunday due to the bad weather. Despite the tropical storm, we really had a great time!

I feel truly blessed to have these girls in my life! 

We're back...

...and feeling very relaxed!
Our trip to Costa Rica was much needed, and I feel great! Honestly, I haven't felt this rested in 2 years...I can't imagine why.
It was so wonderful to enjoy a new country with my wonderful hubby. We both shared 2 first experiences - zip lining and scuba diving.
We have many, many pictures, so I will share a few:

[enjoying a yummy dinner]


[the view from the pool]


[fresh pineapple on the beach]


[canopy tours in the rain-forest]


[Liberia, Costa Rica]


[45 feet under water - notice how I'm holding my regulator like a paci]


[and my brave hubby takes his regulator out and smiles for the camera]

Overall, it was a great vacation, and I feel ready for the next year!

Peace,
AW

Starkville - Home away from home

We had an AMAZING weekend in Starkville! (this was my first weekend in Starkville since 2006!!) Can I just say that I have missed that town and these ladies WAY too much?


We had a wonderful dinner at Anthony's on Friday night. We went to Mugshots and the Bistro after that. If you don't already know this, the Bistro was my FAVORITE bar in college. Sadly, it closed my Junior year. But guess what? It's back, and as fun as ever! We, older, more mature women totally snuck in the side door to avoid the LONG lines of college kids! Just like old times. I was so happy to spend some quality time with Ali, Linds, Kelly, and Jennifer (and of course the Hubby) on the balcony at the Bistro. Later, Leslie showed up, and it was fabulous to see that girl!



On Saturday, Patrick and I ate breakfast at City Bagel (a favorite) and took a tour of campus and Starkville. Boy, has that town changed. I didn't even recognize parts of campus. It was totally surreal. We got a chance to go by the SAE house, but we didn't get to go by the Phi Mu house. : ( Maybe next time! (We have promised each other we are going to start going to Starkville more often. Up next - the Egg Bowl!!!) Anyways, after walking around EVERYWHERE, we ate at Mugshots and did a little shopping downtown. We finally made it back to campus and tailgated for the rest of the afternoon. It was so much fun! I was on the front row of the "Dog Walk" and it was awesome - I got to give all of the players high fives! Definitely an amazing experience. The game started at 6:30, so 6:00 came really fast and we were rushing to get into the stadium. Let me tell you - it is NOT as easy as it used to be to sit in the Student Section. We had to "borrow" student IDs and purple wristbands all evening! I guess that's what you get for being married and graduated and still trying to sit in the Student Section! Luckily, we finally made it in and got situated. Soon after, the guy sitting next to us, who is slightly drunk, takes a turn for the worse. He stands up, stumbles down the stairs, and almost falls off the balcony. Luckily, there was someone there to catch him - a cop!! Not a good night for that kid! Not an hour later, the guy sitting on the other side of us SLAPS the guy sitting in front of me. The slapped accidentally burned the slapper's girlfriends coat with a cigarette. Let me tell you - no more Student Section for this married woman! Either way, the game was amazing!



Oh yeah, and did you notice I got a haircut? It was time for a change!

Peace!

Kassa village of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

I recently returned from a medical missions trip to Nigeria, Africa. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I will never forget! We flew into Abuja and traveled to Jos (where we stayed a night) and finally ended in Zing (where we had our medical project for 5 days). While in Jos, we visited the Kassa village, where a riot had left most of the men dead, leaving many widows and orphans. We delivered food and clothing to the women and children, and it was an unforgetable experience. Here are a few pictures from this adventure:

Many of the women listening to a speech on why we are visiting:
Children professing their love and belief in God:
Some of the sweet mothers: My friend from school (Dave) and Kaio passing out food:

Hope you enjoyed, and there will be more from my trip soon!

Peace! -Alicia