Trying to travel light!

These boots were made for walking...

I am beyond thrilled to have finally found a pair of riding boots that I love! I might have to sleep in them cause I don't wanna take them off.

If my day job doesn't work out...

For the longest time, I have been looking at this chair in my bedroom. This was my grandmother's sitting chair in her living room. When she passed away it was something I was happy to have. It is super comfortable. She had the original 1970's orange color covered up with this floral slipcover.

I have been wishing I could get it recovered. I looked into getting one of those pre-made slipcovered. Sadly, they were always too big and they didn't ever fit right. I bought some fabric years ago and even some in Cambodia to do it myself and then that failed for various reasons. I was saving the redo for when I have a real job and a real income to fund the project. Well, instead I got creative. Yesterday, I was trying to find something in my linen bins and came across the fabric I bought. I decided I should just go ahead and do it myself. I went to walmart and purchased some permanent double sided fabric tape and some upholstery pins. And viola here is the resulting product...

I ended up having to hand sew the end parts of the arm rest.

 I am so impressed with my own work. I just keep looking at it when I walk by. I think this will be the end of my craftiness for a long time but gives me hope that I do have some other talent should I need it.

For those of you who are not on facebook and might feel neglected on not seeing my photos.
Here is a link to the pictures from this Fall. Enjoy! Click here: Autumn on the East Coast

Central Park 

 

On the streets of NYC

On the streets of RIC

Supporting the Richmond Spiders

 The amazing new UR stadium

 Mom and Sam

 Spending time with Mom for her Birthday!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I decided this year to be a little green. I opted to not get a real Christmas tree and instead decorate my palm. I figured I would also save some money and not have to worry about all those pine needles the trees drop. (I found some under my rug a couple weeks ago from last year's tree!) So I pulled out my ornaments and have decorated my sweet palm. This isn't the first time we have done this. This is a link to our tree from a few years back. This years kinda reminded me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Orchids

My mother gave me a gift that keeps giving. She signed me up a couple years ago for "Orchid of the Month" club. Every month I have been getting a beautiful orchid at my door. They are lovely and bloom so long, some for a few months. I have been so excited to have about 4 or 5 that have bloomed again. I would like to think from all my tender loving care made this happen.

Here are some pics of my orchids. The first one is of the beautiful purple one that just rebloomed!

 

 

This is part of the orchid spread.

 

 And here are the rest!

There are a couple more that look like they are putting out new bloom shoots. Can't wait to see what else will rebloom.

Another trip around the sun begins

Here are the cupcakes I made for my birthday celebration!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A moment to myself

It has been a hard couple of months working in the hospital non-stop. They definetly don't pay us enough for all the hours we work. At last though, I am thankful to report that I have a few minutes to sit back and breathe. I spent today doing much needed laundry and sorting through piles of stuff that I have neglected for months.

I am excited to get into a couple of new books. I just finished "the piano teacher" and am now onto "the help". So far it is really good. I saw eat, pray, love yesterday night. It made me want to go back to Italy and Bali. Bali was by far one of my places I have ever traveled. Such an amazing place.

I am looking forward to my trip to the Southwest in a few weeks. Liz, my college roommate and I are doing a road trip after I attend my friend Sam's wedding. I can't wait to see some of my SGU friends. I am also thrilled about seeing the grand canyon for the first time. We have a lodge on the rim and have already made dinner reservations at El Tolivar for the night we arrive. I am also ready to see Vegas for the first time too. Then we will spend some time in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

More updates later :)

Overdue....

It has been over a year since I updated my blog! Wow, time flies. Last time I wrote I had just returned from a trip on the Fantasy Island Yacht. Since then here are some adventures I have had.


We got massive amounts of snow this winter.


We went to Charleston for New Year's


Chris and I went on a trip to the Turks and Caicos in January. It was beautiful.

A few weeks ago Mac and I went out west. We went to Portland and Seattle. Neither of us have ever been out there. We planned to go somewhere cloudy. He just got LASIK and pre-LASIK you can't wear contacts. This meant he couldn't wear sunglasses. We were so lucky to have incredibly beautiful weather (Def could have used some sunglasses). We packed in as many sites as possible and walked tons. I was so excited that one of my great friends from residency was randomly out there at the same time so we got to meet up with her and her husband.


Flowers in the Seattle Market


Me and Mac at the top of the Space Needle


View on the train ride to Seattle


Awesome tree in the Japanese Garden in Portland


Eating a delicious donut from Voodoo Donuts

As for residency, I am less than a month away from finishing up my second year. This means soon I will be a third year resident and that much closer to being out of school forever! It is scary but exciting. I will need to start the job hunt sometime in the near future. I have realized that I will probably try to stay in Richmond. It really is a great city and I have loved living here. I somehow lucked out and they front loaded my schedule which means I have all my hard rotations first. I start off the year in the PICU. Fun times. This month despite being on outpatient I have to do a bunch of "cross-covers". Something I do not like doing.


Me with some of my fellow residents.

My cousin Chris is getting married at the end of this month to Donna (we know her as Stevie). The events will take place in New Jersey. I am very excited about this since it will mean I get to see all my family in a mini reunion. I was so thankful I could arrange to switch my schedule around so I can get off time to be up there.

Leah, Liz and Ashleigh are coming next weekend for a 1904 UR reunion. I am looking forward to seeing all of them. It has been a long time. Leah is currently pregnant with her second child so that may mean we are a little tamer than usual.

The terrible oil spill is just now starting to affect the Panhandle of Florida. I am heart broken to think about this and how our "world's most beautiful beaches" will be ruined. I hope the winds turn in our favor and that they find a way to stop the leak soon.

I will try to post more often.

BVIs 2009

A few weeks ago I had the awesome chance to go down to the BVIs. Click on the picture above to see all of the pics.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

Winter 2009

This a very overdue post...I know I apologize. Anyhow. Things are going well. I am currently on nightfloat (hence why I am posting at 2AM). I just went up to NYC last weekend. It was wonderful to see old friends and see Elizabeth, Nana and the kids. I have some pics from the last few months and will attempt to upload some pics from the trip too soon. Click here to see the pics
The last few months of residency have def been exhausting. I finished the NICU a few months ago. It was the most challenging of all. 30 hour calls every 4-5 days and non-stop stress all the time. I was given great feedback and told that I should be a neonatologist. I dont' know that I could handle the ethical issues that it brings to the job. It is rewarding but it is devasating to see how many adverse outcomes occur. I did have the experience of taking care of an ECMO baby and a 410 gram baby.
I have only a few more months of my intern year and will be excited to move on but still fear I dont' know enough to be a senior. It will be nice to sleep in an hour later and not have to write a million progress notes. I look forward to reading more and educating myself. Match day just passed and I found out a lot of my friends from SGU got their top choice. I can't believe that was me last year. Time flies.
In May I am thrilled to have the last week of my vacation. I am going to be going down to Uncle Pete's boat. He has been generous to let me and a few of my friends vacation there. It will be much needed. I am thrilled to be back in the tropics and work on my tan.
Ok, must go back to work now...

The trip to Florida was wonderful. I only wish I could have stayed longer. The girls were great but boy having two kids is exhausting! I needed a vacation after I got back. We did have a blast though. We didn't stop moving. We went to the beach multiple times, spent all day at Big Kahuna's, bowled, raced go-carts, swam at the dock, raced hermit crab, went shell hunting and played lots of board games. The first couple days we stayed with Angie and Joe then the rest with Aunt Cathy. Click here for pictures of all our adventures.



Since I have been back, things have been pretty relaxed. I am on a research and child abuse rotation this month. I was able to go up to NYC last weekend. It was a great trip. Liz was kind enough to let me stay with her and I was able to meet up with a bunch of friends and even cousins Elizabeth, Nana, Felix and Cecilia who just moved to the city! I only wish I could have stayed longer. The remnants of Hannah made for a soaker on Saturday. I didn't let that keep me inside though. Stacey and I trudged through the storms to get some good cupcakes! Thankfully, it was just rain... no wind! Sunday was beautiful (calm after the storm) and I had lunch with the cousins and then spent the rest of the day in the park with Liz.



Today, on the anniversary of Sept 11, 2001, I was in court to observe how child abuse cases are handled. The judge had us all stand and say the plegde of allegiance and have our moment of silence. I must say I haven't said the pledge since my days back in elementary school! It is hard to believe how fast 7 years can pass by...

We do have a new addition to the Howton family. Sophia was born on September 8th. She is a beautiful baby! I can't wait to meet her this Christmas! Check out Chris' blog for pictures!

This Fay thing better get outta the way...

Today, I finished my ward month! It has been exhausting. I learned a lot, mostly how to manage my time and next time I am on wards it has to be a little less stressful. I am currently post-call. For those of you not familiar with the terminology, this means I have just finished spending 30 hours in the hospital (went in Friday 6AM left at Saturday Noon). I came home passed out and am now packing for my trip down to FWB, FL for my week of vacation. I can't wait! Tomorrow my mom is driving in with Sylvie and Annabeth. Then the girls and I will hop on the plane south. Hopefully, there will be no weather delays. I am praying for clear skies so I can soak up some much needed Florida sunshine. Angie and Joe are planning to pick us up at the airport. I'm sure the time will fly. If my mind was functioning a little more, I might think of more to write but I'm pretty beat. More later...

Ready to throw my pager out the window...

Being an intern on the wards has zapped the life out of me. All I have really done since the 28th of July is is sleep as soon as I walk in the door at home, eat when I can find food, answer my non-stop pager and admit, treat and discharge my patients. There isn't much time for anything else. I am trying to eat enough so that my pager doesn't pull my pants down. Monday was my first day off since I started the wards. My mom came into town and we went to the frame shop to start the process of framing almost all the wood-block prints from Japan and the other artwork we acquired while in Asia. I can't wait to fill my blank walls! Nothing else exciting going on in my life other the anticipation of going down to Florida in three weeks.

OHH and my birthday that is fast approaching...August 17th. I am thankful to have the day off from work and am not sure yet how I will celebrate. This morning, I got an email reminding me of Dustin's birthday (as if I could forget) it would be next Wednesday, the 13th. This will be the first year of my life that we won't be celebrating our birthdays together. I miss him dearly, think of him daily and am still wishing it were all a bad dream.

Howton Family Reunion

July 2008

I just uploaded some pictures from the gathering we had this week in DC. Click on the picture above to get to the gallery. My mom and I drove up there a couple times this week and then again for the weekend. I have been on a "easier" rotation the last two weeks and was thrilled to have some free time on my hands. Yesterday we had a birthday celebration for Sylvie, Ella and Katelyn's birthdays. Martha and Beth and their respective families were in town for the week from California. Beth's crew is in the middle of their move to NYC and are staying in DC till their place is available. Lucy and her family came over and Uncle Bill was in town. It was a wonderful. So many little kids now that included Tommy, Ashley and Katelyn (Martha and Mark's), Felix and Cecilia (Beth and Nana's), Maggie and Ella (Lucy and Hank's) , and Sylvie and Annabeth (Pete and Barb's).

Tomorrow morning I start my first month of wards. This will be the real deal. I just hope it goes well. I am looking forward to my week of vacation at the end of the four weeks when I am taking Sylvie and Annabeth down to FWB!!

At last...photos of my fabulous apartment!!!
Some of you have been asking about my apartment and so here you go....


You can't appreciate the view I have because I took these at night... but every night so far I have had an amazing sunset out my windows!


View of my kitchen area....with a dishwasher!


I lived for two years without a closet and now I have one big enough to live in! And the washer and dryer is priceless. No more calling for laundry pick up or visiting the laundromat.


And the bathroom...


My bedroom! I hardly know what to do with so much space.

Life as an intern so far....

I met up with Heather(my sister), Kurt (her husband) and Kurt's sisters (Kirsten and Andrea) at Colonial Down's to see the horse races. I didnt' win any money but everyone else did.

Kirsten, Andrea, Kurt and Heather


I went out to watch the fireworks with some of the other interns! That is Larissa, me, Navita and Carmen in the picture above. I think we were the only ones not stuck in the hospital.

A small portion of the over 20 or 30 gigs of pictures we took on our trip....

So I just have uploaded some pictures. Japan, Indonesia, Thailand (Bangkok, Ayathuya, Mekhala River Cruise and Chaing Mai) and Cambodia. I am limited to 60 pictures per album so I tried to pick only the best of the best. Wasn't easy to choose. Enjoy the photos!

And for those of you wondering......day 2 as an intern was very smooth and virtually stress free. I hope it continues this way. If I get out at a reasonable time tomorrow, I am going to go meet up with my sister Heather and her husband Kurt who are going to the horse races. They are vacationing south of VA beach this week. Sadly, I won't be able to see my nephews but I'll get to see them in August if all goes as planned.

Sink or Swim...

Today was day one as a doctor (aka the intern). I survived. I did a lot of swimming, 14 hours to be exact, and somehow managed to keep all my patients alive! It was non-stop swimming. I am with the newborns and you would think that would be easy but let me tell you on your first day it is not a good idea to be left alone with all your patients and your "supporting" senior resident to go to clinic. It was a good day for learning though. I should be set for just about anything that comes my way. Thankfully the nurses are awesome and helped keep things going. Tomorrow has to be better!

I have been sorting pictures non-stop since I got back in between going to all the orientation stuff. I hope to have some uploaded asap but not sure when that will be. My apartment is amazing. I couldnt' ask for anything else. I picked up my new Camry Hybrid yesterday and love it. My brain isn't functioning anymore so I can't think of anything else to write. Ohh, I will be down in FWB August 25th to August 30th with Sylvie and Annabeth (I volunteered to childsitting on my vacation!). I can't wait. I love those little girls. More later when I get a chance.