Sidewalk Art Festival

This weekend SCAD, the local art and design school, held their annual Sidewalk Art Festival at Forsyth Park downtown. I went with my friend Lisa Brown and her daughter Lily. It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of cool things to see. Afterwards we got cupcakes at the Back in the Day Bakery. Just as we stepped inside the bakery, it started to downpour. It had been such a beautiful day and it changed so suddenly. We felt bad for all the artwork that was now being washed away. We found out that it rains at the festival every year.

BUGS

We've learned that Georgia is home to many species of bugs as well as many fine people. Last week we found this cockroach lying dead on our carpet. Thank-you Bug-man. We can have our apartment sprayed weekly for bugs if we want. Thank goodness the roach wasn't alive or who knows what kind of havoc would have broken loose. To capture the full effect of our friend, my thumb has been included in the picture.
Some other bugs that drive us crazy here are the sand gnats. (Our local baseball team is affectionately named after them.) I'd include a picture but they're also known as "no-see'ems". They're really tiny and can fly through the screens in your window. And they bite, which wouldn't be so bad if their bite didn't itch for DAYS after! They're everywhere in the spring. There are less of them now because its hotter in the day, but they come out in the morning and the evening. Really you can't ever go out side because if it's not too hot, the sand gnats are out. I have been told that in October the weather is beautiful and there are no gnats. We'll look forward to that month.

Barbeque Season

John and I are so excited because BBQ season is year-round here! We've barbequed 3 times so far. Once with Tiffany, then with the missionaries, and this weekend with some of John's friends from school. We used to barbeque with Cristian and Heidi when we lived in Wymount. We have a lot of good memories there. Unfortunately we never got any pictures with our friends in Wymount! So we're making up for it now and documenting the barbeque action.

Our friend Tiffany who always keeps a couple spare cobs in her purse for a time just like this one!

John manning the grill

John has recently started making our hamburgers himself. They turn out quite tasty. This burger was his first attempt. He didn't realize how much they would shrink...

He has since taken some grilling lessons, like this one from Tiffany, one of his friends at school, showing John how grilling is done in the South.

Finally!

I'm finally finished with my internship! That means I can officially graduate from college! Today I presented the project I've been working on at the Utah Health Promotion Directors meeting. There were 12 health promotion directors present representing the entire state of Utah. I showed them the guidebook I wrote and the trail promotion program I planned. This means that if they pick up the torch I've passed them, the things I developed could go state-wide. That's pretty cool. The presentation went really well and everyone was impressed with the work I've done. I was really nervous for the presentation but I think it went well. It helped that I was doing it over the phone, since I'm in Georgia and the meeting was held in Utah. That way they couldn't see me shaking!

John is a Naked School Boy

John just started his second quarter of PA school. This is a picture of his Physical Assessment Lab. They were learning about the pulmonary system assessment and as a learning activity, the guys had their lungs drawn on them. If you look closely, John has already been branded and is in the process of finding his partner's heart. It was a fun day at school!

Good Southern Cookin'

Last week Tiffany's mom was here visiting and she made us dinner one night. She's a native of Georgia so she really knows how to make a southern meal. It was great! On the menu was fried chicken, black-eyed peas, creamed corn, potato salad, sweet tea, and apple pie. It was so yummy, our first time having a real home-cooked southern meal. Another meal that we've had that's actually unique to this area of Geogia is the Low-Country Boil. It's like a buffet and you mix up any combination of spicy sausage, shrimp, boiled potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob. They also have really good fried chicken!

Patrick and Kari's Wedding

On April 11, 2008 my brother Patrick and his fiance Kari were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. I wasn't able to make it because of John's white coat ceremony but my mom sent me some pictures. It looks like it was a beautiful day and they are so happy! John and I are so happy that they finally found each other and that they were married!

White Coat Ceremony

On Friday John had his White Coat Ceremony. It was held at the Marriott Hotel on the Savannah River. It was a really beautiful day. Before the ceremony John and I walked out onto the patio to look at the river. There are lots of big ships and frieghters that come through the river. I really liked the tugboats, you can see a one in the picture below. At the ceremony there were some speakers who talked about the PA profession and the PA's role in doing good and caring for people. They had some pretty inspiring things to say. One of John's teachers read a poem written by a PA about the white coat as a symbol of humanity. One of the other speakers was a PA who was one of the first in Georgia. After the speakers the students were presented with their coats one by one. Followed by which was the taking of the Oath to finish the ceremony. It was a really neat evening. I was very proud of John. Afterwards we went out to dinner at the Shrimp Factory on River Street with our friend Tiffany and her family.

The view of a tug boat on the Savannah River from the deck at the Marriott.

We thought this sign in the hotel pier was funny/scary. We didn't know that there were Alligators in the river!

John getting his white coat from his small group leader Mrs. Howard.

John taking the Physician Assistant Professional Oath.

Here he is with his white coat. Very proud. It's a short white coat because he's still student. When he graduates he'll have another white coat ceremony where they'll present him with a long one.

John and me after the ceremony.

Tiffany Taylor, Dawn Fauss, and John.

Tommy Hersch and John.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

I recently joined a book club with my friend Lisa Brown. This month we were reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. It's a nonfiction novel that was written about Savannah. Its about a NY reporter who comes to Savannah looking for a story and along with finding an exclusive culture and some crazy characters, finds himself in the middle of a murder trial. (I would just like to mention that its one of three novels I've read cover-to-cover in more than 5 years. And one of those books was for school! Normally I flip through the middle, read a little here and there, and read the ending. I don't have much patience to just enjoy the ride!)

The book was actually a really fun read, especially because its all true and it happened right here! It was so neat to learn about the local culture and the know or be able to visit the places in the book! One of the girls in the book club lives on same downtown square where the book takes place. We had our meeting at her apartment and walked around to see the places from the book. It was a really fun and interesting night!

The Book Club girls in front of the Mercer-Williams House on Monterey Square.

The Nanny Diaries

I'm currently working as a full-time nanny for a baby girl named Katie. She is so sweet and I love taking care of her. She likes to eat and sleep a lot. When she's not doing those two things we like to read, sing, go for walks, play, and talk. She smiles a lot and even laughs sometimes. I've been taking care of her since she was 6 weeks old. She is now 4 months old.

All in a Day's Work

This week was John's spring break at school. I had to work all week but we were still able to get a little bit of time together. John came to work with me on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday and Thursday he shadowed a Neurosurgical PA. He set it up by himself because he had nothing else to do and was interested to see what they do. He got to see a bunch of really cool surgeries. Most of the surgeries were on the spine, one was for carpal tunnel, and the coolest one was a craniotomy. John got to see them cut open a lady's skull and resect (in laman's terms "fish out") a tumor. He said it was by far the coolest surgery he saw. Other than watching operations, John has been watching "Lost."

Our Trip to the Aquarium

Today John and I went on a trip to the aquarium in Charleston, South Carolina. We went with our friends Kevin and Lisa Brown and their two cute kids Lilly and Derek. It was great fun. Afterwards we went to Costco. It is the closest Costco to us besides the one in Jacksonville, FL, which are both about a 2 hour drive from home. It was a big deal. Lisa ended up talking us into buying some Dr Seuss books for our unborn children. We didn't mind.

On the way there John and Kevin sat in the back and played Guitar Hero. Lilly and Derek played along. Derek loves Guitar Hero and will head bang while he plays his guitar. Note the zoned in, intense looks on Kevin and John's faces.

When we got to Charleston, all the roads were blocked because of a race that had been held this morning. Finally we made it to the aquarium and it was well worth it. There weren't any dolphins or whales but it was really neat!
This is me with a playful sea otter.John with a Horseshoe Crab. He actually got to feed it!

John was very proud of this picture he took. There's an octopus in the top left corner. Can you spot the Flounder in the sand??

Our friends, the Browns

John and I with the frog man.

In Memory of President Hinckley

January 28 of this year our prophet, President Gordon B Hinckley, died. We loved him a lot and it was a sad day but we know that he is still working hard and that he is happy to be with his beloved wife again.

Bamboo and Coastal Gardens

Last Saturday John and I went to see the Coastal Bamboo Gardens. Apparently Georgia has a climate that's compatible with some tropical plant growth and they harvest it at this farm.
John in the Bamboo forest
We found this really cool tree that was perfect for climbing. It's native to Japan.
The garden also grows Camillias, Aloe, Banana trees, Sugar cane, blackberries, and Strawberries. You can pick the Blackberries and Strawberries yourself. When we got there the strawberries were gone for the day. We had a lot of fun exploring all the same!

Easter Sunday

This easter was our first easter away from family. I decided to go all out a make us an easter dinner. I put the ham in the oven so it would cook while we were at church. I accompanied on the piano for the Browns in sacrament meeting and then ran home to make sure I hadn't burned the ham, not to mention the whole apartment complex. It was also our friend Tiffany's birthday so she shared dinner with us. Tiffany goes to school with John and lives next to us. Well my ham wasn't burnt and dinner turned out great. The most exciting part was that everything that was supposed to be hot was hot when dinner was served. On the menu was ham, scalloped potatoes, yam casserole, broccoli salad, and jello. I was quite proud of myself. Oh, and John iced the cake that we made for Tiffany!
The Spread

John carving our roast beast for Tiffany.

Tybee Island

The nice thing about living in Savannah is that while most people come on vacation here, we live here. We can go to the beach any time we want. On Good Friday John had the day off school and I had the afternoon off of work so we went to Tybee Island. It only took us about 40 minutes to drive there from home. It turned out to be a great day. It was the lowest tide day so we had miles more beach than normal and we could find lots of cool shells. It was kind of a windy, cold day even though the sun was shining and it was beautiful.

John found a small crab. Even though he looks bright white in this picture, he was actually bright pink by the end of the day. We forgot that even though it was cold outside, the sun was still shining.

I found a sand dollar on the beach. At high tide there's almost no beach at all. This day we could walk way out to where the water would normally be 10-20 feet deep.


John also found the exoskeleton of a horseshoe crab. It was pretty freaky looking, at first we didn't know if it was alive of not. We brought it home. It now lives on our deck, which is better than the back of our toilet.

Once the tide started to come back in we headed for shore. We decided to go see the light house on Tybee.

Our Trip to the City Market

Back in January our first trip downtown we went to Savannah's City Market. Here are some pictures of our day.

In the City Market there was a traveling petting zoo. John was really excited that he got to hold the bull python, I was just glad he didn't ask to bring it home. I got this tender shot of the two of them together.

I got to hold this lion-faced rabbit. Isn't he cute? I like the soft, cuddly ones myself.

After strolling through the City Market, John and I went down on River Street. It had original brick buildings and cobblestone. There were some really beautiful old buildings. We thought this alley way looked like it could have been filled with pirates some time long ago.



We got lunch on River street at the River House. I got a lobster bisque with a shrimp salad sandwich and sweet potato chips. John had Shrimp and grits, a southern specialty.

Valentine's Day

This is kind of a retro-blog but I wanted to remember Valentine's Day even though I hadn't started my blog back then.
On Valentine's Day I spent a long time getting ready for an romantic evening with John. I curled my hair because John thinks its pretty that way. A special occasion and John are the only reasons I will curl my hair because it takes so long and I always end up burning myself.
Just when I was finishing up there was a knock at the door. I wasn't expecting John so I looked through the peep hole. There was this handsome man wearing scrubs and holding a bouquet of flowers, just for me!
That evening we went to dinner at a little Italian Cafe with really good food that my friend Lisa told me about. We were going to go to a shell house and have crab legs, but once we got there we felt silly since we were dressed up. We decided to go to a place with a little more of a romantic atmosphere. It was a really nice evening.