The Missing Months!

Well as promised, I was not very good at keeping up with this blog :( As a quick recap of the past few months of Dan's travels....Dan took 2 trips to DC in April, he spent 2 weeks in Australia in May, and then a week in the UK. He worked on a mine closure project in Australia as well as traveled to Melbourne to a conference! In the UK he did more work on his Net Positive project as well as shot a video for the project!

As for me....I finally graduated from Medical school. We were so blessed to have so many friends and family to celebrate with us!

And we bought a house in Iowa City! We are so excited to close on June 15th! It is walk/bike distance from the hospital which is exactly what we wanted! Plus it is close to the football stadium for Dan (we have season tickets for anyone that wants to come to a game!)

This week I am hanging out in San Diego while Dan is at a conference. We also came to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon (see pic for Dan's Rock and Roll mohawk)! We also did some surfing, hung out with friends, went to a Padres game (even though they lost to the Giants) and had some good food! My plans are to get over to Coronado Island to the beach and go to Sea World while I am here!


In July Dan will be making a trip to Uganda and South Africa so hopefully I will have time once residency starts to put up some pics from what should be an amazing trip!

Vail, CO

To get our minds off the upcoming match we decided to take a trip to Vail to do some snowboarding. Well the weather hasn't cooperated to make for good ski conditions with 50-60 degree temps. So we decided to try some new things at Vail. We went to Cinebistro- a dine in movie theater to watch The Lorax in 3D and eat some baked goat cheese that was delicious! (Hence the pic with my 3D glasses on). We also went snowshoeing on Saturday that resulted in us getting lost for 4 hours!!!! We made our way down the slope snowshoe/skateboard style.....with several falls and waist high post holes! I think I lost 15lbs during the day! But don't worry we made it up by eating some terrible for us nachos!! YUM!! And then I woke up with a nice sunburn :) The good news is....it started snowing today! We will finally be able to bust our boards out tomorrow!
Oh and as for the Match, we will be going to Iowa City for residency! Go Hawks!!!

Brisbane and Sydney Australia

Since the internet connection in Australia is not awesome and he has been busy with meetings, I have not been able to talk to Dan as much as I would have liked. We skype and facetime but there is a lot of cutting out usually :( He did send me a couple of pictures from looking out his hotel windows, the first is Brisbane and the second is Sydney. I hope to post more about his trip when he gets back Saturday and we are finally able to chat! I am really starting to miss him!

Countdown Timer to Match Day

Countdown Timer

Dan in Terrigal, Australia

Dan has started his 2 week adventure in Australia. He is doing a "tour" of Australia working on Net Positive "stuff". Obviously I am not exactly sure what his plans are for his trip to Australia but hopefully I'll be able to get a better idea as he visits different areas. But, I do know about his first stop.....Terrigal. When I accompanied him to Australia last February I spent  a lot of time in Terrigal while Dan worked at his company's production plant in Summersby Australia, just a few miles up the coast. He always stays in a really nice condo in Terrigal right on the beach! He sent me a picture of the condo....with tons of windows just to remind me of what I am missing. I love this little beach town! It is not a "touristy" place which I love! I was unable to go with Dan this year because I used all our frequent flier miles on flights to interviews :( Instead I am spending the week in Rapid City with my family!
If you haven't been to Australia I would highly recommend it! It is beautiful :)

Today Dan is hopping on a plane to Brisbane. I am really excited to hear about this area of Australia as this will be his first time there. I will post again about Dan's trips to Brisbane, Melbourne, and some other small towns in Australia.

Dan in London and York, UK

Dan spent this week in the UK. The first few days he spent in York with meetings about Net Positive- Stockholm Environmental Institute, Oxford-Brooks University, and Harvard. York is a very historical place with Old Roman Walls around the city and old Pubs (Dan visited the Black Swan Pub that was built in the 1500s), he also visited the smallest pub (which was apparently smaller than my closet!). Then he went up to London and had a few more meetings. Net Positive is a project he has been working on for the past couple years. They are working on building a tool for medium to small businesses to establish their sustainability strategy around the Net Positive model. Next he will be in Australia for 2 weeks- I am very disappointed I don't get to go this year :( I spent all our airline miles on interviews. This is a picture of London county hall and the London Eye (the Ferris wheel), where Dan stayed.

Phoenix, AZ

Finally I am done with interviews!!!!! I had my last interview in Phoenix. While I loved the program, I had a hard time "pretending" to be interested as this process has been going on sooo long. For every interview they have a dinner the night before where you are asked more than 100 times by every resident if you have any questions....and of course you must have some or you seem disinterested. The next day at the interview, you are again asked 100 times by those interviewing you as well as the residents if you have any questions. I would be happy to never again hear that phrase and I vow to never ask applicants if they have any questions! My favorite interviews were the ones where I talked to the residents about things other than medicine or the program. What I really want to know is how will I get along with the residents, not if they have covered parking!
The best part of the trip was I got to stay with my friends Mel and Dan, their dog Sheldon, and 4 month old Samuel. Samuel was a blast to play with. That is my favorite age, when they are cooing and giggling! He has the cutest giggle! I have included a picture of Samuel in the onsie Kelly and I made for him that says "I just got here and I'm already awesome!"
I had so much fun catching up with them, not to mention the 75 degree weather, and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in! Thank you so much Miriovsky's. I think I may need an annual winter trip to Arizona if I do not end up in residency there!

Now the waiting begins until March!
PS Mel (as I know your Dan will not read my blog)- Dan is very interested in coming for spring training!!!! His first response was- the Mariners go there!