4.30.05

wow. we look like babies!

Engagement Party 6.25.05

Its so wierd to think that we got engaged three years ago! Where did the time go? I found this on one of my jump drives. Its journaling that I wrote shortly after we got engaged to put in our scrapbook and to include on our wedding page at The Knot. It was fun to read so I thought you all might enjoy it. For those that weren't there, this is our engagement story--Enjoy!

*****************************

Matthew & Erin
Engaged 4-30-05

Matthew and his friend Brent saw their graduations drawing nearer and decided it would be really cool to take a flight somewhere and to go out to eat. Brent's fiancé Emily and I were both a little, ok a lot, scared to go flying in Matthew's tiny plane. I had never even seen Matthew fly and Emily isn’t a big fan of flying, but we sucked it up because we love our boys.
When the day of the trip arrived we boarded the plane, took off (terrified I might add) and we were headed for Dayton, OH…or so I thought. We were flying over Falmouth, KY and then Brent pointed out that he could see I-75. I looked out the plane and began recognizing things..Flying J...Walton...I even pointed out where I lived to Emily. I had no clue. Then, I saw Matthew's old house with a bunch of cars there. I said "Hey, they're having a party without us!" ha ha, then I saw something on the ground and Matthew tilted the plane as we went over the front yard and I saw "MARRY ME" spelled out in flashlights. It was beautiful! I didn’t think it was for me at first, then Matthew turned around and said "What does that say baby? Will you marry me?" (Yes, he was supposed to be flying the plane) As I said YES! and we were lovingly staring into each others' eyes Emily was freaking out because the plane was descending slightly! So I grabbed the ring and told Matthew to turn around and fly.

The whole thing was surreal but it was so perfect.
Once we were under control Matthew turned around again to kiss me but our seatbelts created a small problem. It was a funny sight to see us trying to reach each other. After flying around to look at the lights three times we had to return to Falmouth because it was

getting really dark and the lights weren’t on at the airport.
When we got to Matthew's new house I made him put the ring on my finger and we finally got in a good hug and kiss. Inside, both our families, our friends, and to my surprise some of my Delta Zeta sisters were all there waiting to celebrate with us. It couldn't have been more perfect. Matthew did a wonderful job and let's just say my first flight with him will be one

I will NEVER forget :)

*****************************

...man how time flies! Thank you for such a sweet memory hubby♥

Autism Speaks

Pediatrics Club Meeting 4.7.08

Alison, Erin, Michala, Jami, Dr.Patel, Emlyn

In case you didn't know April is

Autism Awareness Month,

So read on...

Meet my new friend, Michala. She and her family have been touched by Autism, and she's beading bracelets (a girl after my own heart!) to sell and to raise money for Autism treatments, and an Autism center here in Louisville. You might be thinking, awww...that's sweet. But, you have NOOOO idea! We had Michala and her mom Emlyn come and speak at our last pediatrics club meeting. Michala's brother Evan has autism and in order to bring a new and expensive treatment to Kosair Children's Hospital for him, they needed to find $200,000. Leave it up to this incredible 11 year old to raise that money. Unbelievable! And she did. All of it.

Ok. So that left arm, Michala's personal bracelets--not for sale! Right arm, she did say if she needed to she'd sell these :)

Now, her brother is receiving the glutathione treatments he needs and is reportedly a new child, who plays and communicates with his family better, and who has since receiving the treatments even been able to go to the movies. I can't explain on here how incredible this young woman is and how touching her family's story is. Emlyn gave a wonderful testimony to our peds club on how Autism has affected their family. It definitely drove home the human aspect of medicine and how a single diagnoses can change an entire family dynamic.

Michala and Emlyn

What I admire most about Michala is her drive and her determination, and her selfless attitude. This girl isn't messing around people. She received some local media attention while raising the $200,000 and from there she headed to The Ellen Degeneres Show, Good Morning America, and recently received a Kentuckian of the Year award. My favorite thing about Michala is that this endeavour wasn't a one time thing for her.

There was so many people waiting to buy the bracelets we had to dump them out on three tables!

I bought some of these beauties for myself :)

When a reporter asked her "what are you going to do once you reach your goal of $200,000 will you stop beading the bracelets or do something else?"
Michala replied "I'm going to raise money to build an Autism center in Louisville"
Both of Michala's parents were impressed by this answer but thought nothing of it, until Michala was repeatedly giving this answer to everyone that asked the question "what's next?"
When they confronted her and asked what was with the answer, Michala informed them she was serious, she really is going to raise enough money to build an Autism center here in Louisville! This is no joke and this girl is so determined, I KNOW she really will have that center built.

I think we did a pretty good job helping Michala sell some of those bracelets!

Supra was pretty excited about her bracelets

I wish all of you could meet her. Here are some pictures from the pediatrics club meeting. Michala hasn't had a website of her own, but hopefully we can get her up and running with a blog very soon so she can have an online diary of all the places she's traveling and the great things she's doing to raise money for Autism. (I know people, give me some time and I'm gonna have everyone I know blogging...I ♥ it!) As soon as we get her site up I'll put it on here so you can stop by :)

I asked Michala how crazy it is at her house with all these beads, and she said they dont really have a dinning room anymore because the table is covered with beads and bracelets. Emlyn added that they find beads all over their house. Beading can't be done in the kichen because they have a small trampoline for Evan in there! Sounds like a great place to me :)

Michala with her Pediatrician who said "I think you are my most famous patient now!"

If you want to learn more about Michala and her efforts you can visit her site via Kosair Childrens Hospital by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post, or you can google "michala riggle". If you want to help out you can purchase some of Michala's bracelets or you even help her make them. If you help make them , you'll officially become one of Michala's "peeps" :)

What a star! Michala's local news spot tells it all....




Click here for Michala's GMA spot...

Here, for The Ellen Show...

And Here, for her site via Kosair Children's Hospital. This is the site to go to if you want to order bracelets, make a donation, or learn more about the Riggles' story.

Pictures of Michala and family taken by Tim Webb Photography

Another blog of note for me to read, who posted about Michala

I'm telling you, she's EVERYWHERE and She is not giving up anytime soon.

Now that's my idea of christian heart. It's always through the kids isn't it?

Out of Hibernation

Shew. I'm back. After a very LOOOONG week of studying, I finally finished up my last block exam and my last shelf exam of my pre-clinical years!!! Whoo hoo! I got to thinking the other day, and I remembered when people would ask me about school and how difficult it was and I'd say..."If I can just make it through the first two years, I think I'll be fine." Holy Hannah! Those two years are almost over. Did I really make it? almost. (Which I've been told only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades right?!) I still have a month of hard core studying for my Step 1 Board Exam, which I take on June 5th. Yikes! Scary thought. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. *new mantra* So now I'm thinking...."If I can just make it through the next two months, I'll be good."

Mom is in florida right now with Grandma Evelyn and Aunt Denise, and the sun shine. I'm jealous. Although, I must say the weather here lately has been A-MA-ZING! I spent the end of last week studying outside as much as possible. I hope it sticks around for a little longer...sunshine and cool breezes :)

Friday night after my exam was over I packed up some stuff and hurried to old Rich-Vegas for one last hoorah with some of my girls. The class of women that I was new member educator for had their senior night and I suprised them by coming down to go out with them. I took a TON of pictures, of course, so some of those will probably be the picture of the day.

Speaking of....Pictures. And lots of them. Hmmm....I know it seems like I've forgotten about the Picture of the Day, or that I'm really really behind but I didn't. There are actually pictures waiting to be uploaded on my camera but unfortunately they have to stay there until there's some room for them on the PC. Matthew ordered me an external hard drive the other day because my computer has started to slow down to a ridiculous speed and I just did a disk clean up to get some free space and found a whopping 246mb. For those of you not so much computer savy that's only a hand full of pictures for me, like less than 50 until my entire computer's memory is full. Most programs require free memory to run sooooooooo....we're waiting to avoid a computer melt down.

Met up with my good friend Erica and her baby Laila, yesterday in Lexington. We went out to eat and then to Jacobson park to take some pictures. It was great catching up and being outside in the wonderful weather. I hope I got some cute shots. Last night Erica called me to tell me she was watching the news and a little kid was bit by a dog at Jacobson park around 3pm, the same time we were there. I decided Laila knew something bad was a brewin' which is why she didn't want to play on the playground. She would get along great with my momma, Laila's not big on playing but put her on a walking path and she'll walk around all day...perfect!

On that note, I have some GREAT pictures from last night. Matthew and I went out to the fair/expo center to watch a hotair balloon race. It was so cool. Seriously, I felt like a little kid. I've never seen a hotair balloon in person is that wierd? They have to blow up the balloons, get them up in the air and head to the spot and all of that is part of the race. It was exciting. Which would be clearly evident if I could post a picture on here but again--no room. I took over 260 pictures so I can't wait to weed through them. It was a BEAUTIFUL night and the colors of the balloons were incredible. Maybe later today when the computer is cleaned up a bit (we're currently as I type transfering unnecessary files from my computer to matthew's desk top) I'll post a picture or two of all this stuff I'm teasin' ya with :)

Well I've been absent for awhile but hopefully you didnt think we ran away! I'll be back again soon ♥

big BIG Thanks!

Thank You... Thank You... Thank You!

..to EVERYONE that donated to the March of Dimes, March for Babies.

This morning was the walk and we had a great time. We walked four miles at Bowman Airfield and Seneca Park. Thankfully, after being a little yucky this morning the weather turned around and it was a beautiful day for a walk. There were about 8 of us there to walk. I brought something to study of course, as well as the ol' camera. Thanks to all of you who helped out, I not only reached my goal but we exceeded it!

$421 to help all babies get a healthy start!!

Great Job :)

This is something I'll definitly be making the effort to participate in next year.

Here's some pictures from the day.

Me, Becky, and Alice

Jen's little puppy came to walk!

Even the little ones came to walk

"MARCH FOR BABIES!"

walk, walk, walk

a memorial to the little babies who couldn't be there

Pictures and bios of premature babies

Bowman Airfield

More poochies showin' they ♥ babies too!

Walking up and down those hills in Seneca Park

~E~

somethin' just ain't right

So its beautiful out today, and I'm stuck inside procrastinating another paper (i did finish the one from yesterday)

Apparently we had an earthquake last night/5:30 this morning. Hmmmm....should I be worried that neither one of us felt ANYTHING??? I'm a pretty light sleeper but i'm starting to think the only way I'd notice a bomb being dropped on Louisville in the middle of the night, is if I happened to need to pee.

No sign of the bird today. My fingers, toes, legs, arms, are all crossed that he doesn't return.

Mom is coming to visit this afternoon---plans include walking (what else?), dinner, and explaining to her why exactly my house is a MESS! (hmmmm....maybe I'll use that earthquake thing.)

There has been more news about the pope today than I can possibly stand, it's just about as annoying as that bird. I know he's important, but he ain't JESUS people!

i'm about to lose it people!!!

Has anyone seen the movie Failure to Launch? Remember the wierd roommate who kept trying to kill the annoying bird outside her window? That's what I feel like right now.
I'm trying to write a paper reflecting on the autopsy that I watched this year and all I can hear is this STUPID A&$ bird flying into our back patio door OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER.

Now for anyone who also reads mamaw's blog you'll remember she had this same problem a few weeks ago....."slow learner".... and her solution to the problem was to open the curtains. This usually works because the bird can no longer see its reflection and think it's fighting some other bird that looks strangly similar to itself.
[i've never fully understood this concept. are they really that stupid? i've never once glanced in the mirror and thought-girl you better check yo'self cause it's about to rowdy in here. never. not once.]

So, before I went acting a fool over this stupid bird I thought I'd give the old move the curtain trick a try. No such luck. That was about FOUR DAYS AGO. This bird had already been flying into the door all weekend. On Monday Matthew went up and sprayed off the glass and cleaned off the deck. Why the deck you ask? Oh! Because this stupid bird has run into the door so much that it Pooed itself all over the deck and a chair, multiple times. Nasty. It already looks gross again.

This bird is consistent too, to say the least. After he flies into the door a few times he gets a little tired [think about this, you would too if you ran into a wall repeatedly for DAYS] but when he's tired, he doesn't give up, or leave......NO. Oh NO. He sits at the bottom of the door, on the deck, and pecks at the window!!

OH MY GOSH!!! Seriously, I just had about 5 minutes of peace

and now that dang thing is back. >:(

I kid you not, I'm borderline ready to go out there with a broom and act like a psycho person because this bird is

DRIVING--ME--FREAKIN'--CRAZY!!!!!

new song

I was randomly watching the finale of Celebrity Apprentice a few weeks ago, and heard Trace Adkins sing his newest single. Now, I'm not a big country fan but I really enjoyed this song....You're Gonna Miss This.

**********
She was staring out the window of that SUV Complaning, saying "I can't wait to turn 18" She said "I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules" Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school Then she kissed her head and said "I was just like you"

You're gonna miss this You're gonna want this back You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now
**********
But you're gonna miss this Before she knows it she's a brand new bride In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by He tells her "It's a nice place" She says "It'll do for now" Starts talking about babies and buying a house Daddy shakes his head and says "Baby, just slow down"

Cause you're gonna miss this You're gonna want this back You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you're gonna miss this
**********
Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater Dog's barkin', phone's ringin' One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin' She keeps apologizin' He says "They don't bother me. I've got 2 babies of my own. One's 36, one's 23. Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

You're gonna miss this You're gonna want this back You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you're gonna miss this"
**********

You can listen to it here, move time to 4:00 exactly... Trace Adkins, You're Gonna Miss This

can i get a DH?

So here's how it's been since last wednesday.....

excruciating back pain. imagine not being able to sleep in any position, to the point of bringing on tears. No comfortable position to sit /or study. Warm shower no help. Lots of Motrin, no help.
....and still I'm typing this with an arched back posture, think sitting on the couch with a basketball shoved in your back. [more on this later]

I sucked it up and finally found a doctor here in louisville and went to an appointment on thursday morning. (after making a appointment and then realizing it was for the 16th and deciding by that time i'd be in the fetal position quivering, and calling back to reschedule) My new doctor is very nice and easy to understand which is always helpful. Thanks to cory for the recommendation. She did lots of exams, asked me lots of questions, all of which I already knew that the answers to, would not be helpful to her (otherwise i might have some idea of what's goin on...) She said I wasn't telling her anything that worried her, and I didnt have any numbness or loss of feeling so no spinal cord involvement or anything of that sort. Deduced that I'm having "muscle spasms." I was put on an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer. They tested me again to see if I had blood in my urine, ok there. Then, I had to go to Norton to get about 8 x-rays taken of my upper and lower spine. Uncomfortable positions, held for an extended time, on a hard table. fun. Only thing they said was that I have some scoliosis in my lower back (think sway back).

Filled my prescriptions, hoping for a little relief. Outcome so far?? I've spent the whole weekend throwing up from the muscle relaxer, which I've also determined...Is NOT relaxing any muscles in my back. In fact i've felt as if my back was going to explode all weekend. Saturday night was horrible. I didnt sleep much at all, more throwing up, and pain that was MUCH worse than when I had taken nothing at all. Hmmm. Good plan. So I still have no idea what's going on. I'm going to keep taking the anti-inflammatory but I have a strong feeling that muscle relaxer may not get a fourth chance... maybe if it gets real bad. (good idea erin). Still getting some shooting pains up into the middle of my back, and occasional sharp pains and pulling/tight sensations in my left side and stomach. That sucks, to say the least. Heating pad is helping a little, but nothing to write home about unfortunately. I'm currently accepting suggested diagnoses.

Speakin' of pain in the a&$, my back just told me its time to stand up for awhile. Maybe i'll bend over like the hunch back of notre dame and answer emails.
Argh. I'm over it :(

hip. hip-hop. hiphopanonymous?

Couldn't give this post an Eastery title because well, let's face it Easter was about two weeks ago. I'm a little behind. But, that's ok. We did have a great Easter with our families runnin' here and there and everywhere.

Saturday evening I went to Easter service with Mom and Tara, Andy, Leisa, and the kiddos. Then we headed over to Smokey Bones to meet Dad and Matthew for dinner. We stopped over at the family christian book store afterwards and I got a women's devotional bible. It's so much easier to read than the one I got in fourth grade --that might as well be written in another language.

Tara, Kaylee, & Lauren at Smokey Bones

Tara, Cindy, & Erin

Sunday morning we got up for a lovely Easter breakfast that my momma made and then we dyed some eggs with the classic PAAS kit. I may have hogged just a few of the eggs but they turned out oh so purty....can ya blame me?

ooohhh weeee. i went for the solids this year! ♥ it!

Group effort Easter egg basket.

I remember when we used to tie-dye the paper towels when we finished with the eggs

Hmm....I wonder who this egg belongs to??

The Easter bunny left us some cute little goodies including PEEPS and some Cadburry creme eggs...mmmmmm :P

Mom's salad she took to Andy & Leisa's for brunch

First stop Sunday was Gran & Pauls' house for a most delicious brunch and of course, an Easter egg hunt.

First Easter pic. Lucy saw my camera and I got a "ssshhhccchheeeesssee"...Too much! :)

Ava giving melmo kisses with Aunt Rachel

And you thought ALL the kids were hunting eggs

Miss Ava huntin' eggs

What's in that egg LK?

MMmmmm yummy Easter egg cookies!

Our Easter craft. I soooo wanted to finish this, but my fingers were cramping up!

After eating, hunting, and pain stakingly trying to finish my Easter craft (super cute!), we had to leave in order to make it to Falmouth before dinner was over. Last stop....fill up with more food (because we hadnt eaten in about 45 min)...and then back to mom & dad's to get all of our stuff packed up.

Luc just kept huntin' those eggs.

Finally, off we head back to Louisville.... in a freak snow storm?? Where did that even come from? It was so difficult to see while we were driving. It was dark, and the flakes were so BIG and FAT, and it was really coming down.

And now....two weeks later. It's B-E-A-utiful out, about 60-ish and Sunny after days and days of rain. A little later I'll let you know what's been happening since that drive home. Get excited 'cause it involves a doctor's visit and X-rays and me feelin' like poooo. Whoo hooo!