Interview #5

I got to go along on interview #5. Although it fell on a Monday I went with so that I could help with the driving (it was during the week Drew had four interviews). We arrived on Sunday evening and checked into our beautiful hotel. This was the second (of only two) programs that paid for the hotel. And just like the other program that paid for the hotel - they also provided a beautiful gift basket. It was filled with different popcorns and a nut mix.

The welcome note on the gift basket
After we checked in Sunday night we relaxed and went to bed. Monday morning Drew headed to the interview.
I spent the day working, relaxing and I even fit in a workout. Unfortunately it was a windy and rainy day so I didn't get time to explore the city.

The interviews ran a little late that day so they took the applicants directly to dinner. Which meant that I had to meet them there - so I wasn't able to get a picture of Drew and I together.

Dinner was at a crunchy tapas restaurant, (I was a little over dressed). When I got there I ordered a "diet" and was informed that they do not carry corporate products. I was a little embarrassed, but got an iced tea instead. I was a little relieved when on of the residents leaned over and asked "what kind of place doesn't have pepsi or coke?" The rest of the dinner went really well and was very relaxed.
The program would have paid for a second hotel night but unfortunately we had to hit the road after dinner so that we could make it back to Springfield for Drew's early morning train and my trial.

Costs:
Hotel: $0
Transportation (gas): $70.00
Total: $70.00

Christmas Cards

I just got around to ordering our's tonight. Last year I had them by this time already.

Drew had wanted to get a picture with Abe Lincoln (there are a few statutes around town), but because I am worried about time, it is not going to happen. I am thankful that Drew is being so understanding because when I wouldn't allow it last year, I promised him it would be our Christmas card this year. But unfortunately, we are going to be out of town the next several weekends and won't be able to get the picture taken. Technically, we could go during my lunch break, but the statutes are around the capitol and I am a little worried about running into other lawyers, and I would be a bit embarrassed for them to see us taking a picture with Abe - it just seems like a touristy thing to do!

Anyways here are a few photos that we chose not to use....

I look like I am flinching and it looks a little too similar to our engagement photos (shown on the top left side of the blog)

Please pretend you don't see my grey hair!

This one came in a close second; actually I am now second guessing my decision. . . .

I must note - photography by Lindsay Vickers (she gave me a hard time when I didn't give her credit when I posted one of the pics on facebook).
And one more just for laughs:

I finally realized that Drew had been sporting his "blue steel" pose for the past several photos.

Baby Fever

Nope, not me. My husband, is the one who has baby fever. With quite a few of our closest friends and family having babies, Drew and I figured we would be able to get our baby fix to hold us off for several years . . . turns out all the cuties are giving Drew baby fever.

Spending the past few weekends with our nephew Gaston have not helped much.

Below are a few videos and photos of the little chicken (his nickname is poulet, which is french for chicken - his Daddy is French so the little guy is speaking both French and English)

Wearing the hat he made with his Papa (Daddy) at playgroup.

Playing and talking in the tub

Outside on a beautiful fall/winter day

Playing "drums" on the stairs with Uncle Drew

Eating pancakes with Ta-ta (Auntie) Marissa and Ta-ta Pancakes (AuntieTiffany).

Oh, we miss the little stinker already!

Last week

So here is a glimpse of how the last week and a half went (and you will understand why I was so overwhelmed).
Two Thursdays ago Drew flew out of state for an interview, on Friday he interviewed, that night while I tried to clean our apartment he flew back home and we had wonderful company arrive that night. The Vickers stayed Friday through Sunday. Fifteen minutes after they left we hit the road for another state, on the way we stopped for dinner at the Keibler's house and then got back on the road to continue the rest of the drive. We arrived Sunday night, checked into our hotel and Drew had his interview Monday. (I relaxed, worked out and worked from the hotel during the day - lucky me!) Then we had a late dinner with the residents Monday night and hit the road around 11:00 p.m. to head back to Springfield. We got back home early Monday morning, slept a few hours, woke up, I dropped Drew off at the train station and headed to court for trial. While I was busy at work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Drew was going to dinners/receptions and two interviews. Thursday night I packed up. Drew had Friday off (thank goodness). Friday morning I had to drive 3 hours for a court appearance (an hour and a half each way), then I stopped at home, loaded up the car and hit the road to pick up Drew (and have dinner with friends) and head on to another state for a weekend interview. Luckily we were able to relax Saturday with family. On Saturday night Drew and I attended dinner withe the residents and on Sunday he interviewed. After having dinner with family on Sunday night we hit the road and made it home.
And to clarify, I'm not complaining because we are blessed to have these interviews, and I am thankful that I can be so active in the process. But I did want to explain why I have been somewhat missing-in-action. (Hopefully I'll have time to update about the actual interviews over Thanksgiving weekend?)

Un-rejected?

So we got an email today, notifying us that a program had added an additional interview date and that they were pleased to offer Drew an invitation to interview. I then went to look at our list of rejections and realized that we had already received a rejection email from this program. I suppose they didn't have a wait list (because otherwise I imagine Drew would have been on it). Anyways, I thought it was totally odd. But whatever - regardless of how we get an interview, we'll take it!

Full

The first thing that is full - my schedule. I seriously am having trouble keeping up with everything. I feel like many of my cases/clients are undergoing small emergencies that need immediate attention. Thank goodness I do love my job, because I have been at the office late most nights the last several weeks. And it isn't helping that I am trying to go with on a lot of Drew's weekend interviews, and help him stay on top of things. Although I am particularly blessed that my bosses are so understanding and allow me to have such a flexible schedule so that I can have a more active part in Drew's interview process.

The second thing that is full - my heart. My heart is complete and content now that Drew is home. Even though he is in and out during the week (for interviews) it is so nice to have him home.

And finally, something to keep your stomach full:
Super easy pumpkin spice cupcakes/cake

• 1 Box of cake mix (I recommend spice cake)
• 3 eggs
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 can of cream cheese frosting

Mix the first three ingredients with a few (2-3) tablespoons of water. The batter below is a little light in color because I used white cake mix because the store was out of spice cake mix. If you use white cake mix I would add some cinnamon to the recipe as well. The mixture will be a little thick (partially because no oil is used). But the pumpkin is a healthy (and tasty) alternative.
Bake for the time recommended on the box of cake mix (it will depend on whether you are making cake or cupcakes). After cooking let cupcakes/cake cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

These cupcakes require so few ingredients and are a super easy fall treat! Hope you enjoy!

Interview #3

(I don't have pictures for #2 - they are on Drew's Camera)
We stayed at a nice hotel. It wasn't it the most scenic area but it was one of the better priced hotels. Other hotels in the city were closer to $130+!

And not to forget the retro chair....

Below is a picture of Drew dressed for dinner with the residents.

I didn't attend the dinner, but instead met up with the a wife of a local resident that I have been in contact with.

Below is an early morning picture of Drew before the interview... I need to learn to put more lights on, because otherwise I end up with these pictures with his eyes half open!

Costs:
Hotel: $110.17
Transportation (gas): $35.00
Total: 145.17

Just trying to stay above water

Work for some reason has been crazy busy the last three weeks and doesn't seem to be slowing down. I worked through my lunch today and still didn't get things wrapped up until 7:30! Thank goodness Drew was home to cook dinner.
Things are going well here, just busy! Drew had two more interviews last week and hopefully I'll get time this week to post about them.
We are also trying to gear up as he has one more this week, plus we have visitors coming for the weekend and then beginning Sunday he will have four interviews in seven days!
Well I'd love to update more but there is still some laundry to do and tidying to do before I head off to bed!

Better late than never

Okay so I am a little tardy on this - so please forgive me... but a while ago, AMS of Surviving Long Distance Love. Gave me the Kreative Blogger Award. This is my very first blog award - so thank you AMS!

Here are the rules :
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

So here goes:
1. Part (big emphasis on part) of the reason I went to law school was because I think I was afraid to go into the real world - and I thought law school would be an extension of college - boy was I wrong!
2. Although I love practicing law, I hated law school.
3. I played college tennis.
4. Someday I would like to have four children.
5. I have a terrible fashion sense.
6. I am a complete Mama's girl and my mother is one of my best friends.
7. My three favorite male celebrities (musician/athlete/actor) are: Tim McGraw, Brett Favre, and Matt Damon.

Okay and my nominations are:
1. Adriana of From Kansas to Pennsylvania
2. Jessica of Acting Adult
3. Abbie of With a Soft Tummy
4. Whitney of the Glamourous Life of a Housewife
5. Bea of Finding Equanimity
6. Cindi of Mommy Life and Me
7. Little Miss Dreamer of the Soon to be Mrs. C

C is for Cookie......

Drew came back (for good) late Friday morning. And as of Saturday we didn't have any Halloween costumes (for a med school party) and Drew didn't have any ideas. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on costumes that we would only wear for one night - it simply isn't worth it when you are on a budget. So on Sunday afternoon we ran to Walmart and picked up a few things and made these costumes (along with things we already had around the apartment). I think we probably made both of them for under $15! (Please forgive the poor picture quality).Cookie monster and his cookie!
Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

I have really been enjoying playing with my new camera. With Drew being gone I have found that photography can be a fun hobby. I've taken my camera with me on a few walks and have had a fun time.
Here are a few photos from Lake Springfield....

(Beach House)

I have learned that taking pictures of people (kids in particular) is much more difficult.

Here are a few photos from my "photo shoot" with Kaiden...

Gotta love those blue eyes!

And here are some photos of my handsome nephews .....

And last but not least, my beautiful Goddaughter, Olivia...

Chew toy?

That leaf was not as tasty as it appeared!

Anyways, I am really loving my new toy but I have a lot to learn as far as photographing people/kids. But thank goodness I have lots of beautiful kiddos in my life to capture (and hopefully help me become a better photographer)!

Awesome

Often times our lives our filled with stress and blow after blow of bad news. I don't even want to reflect on it - other than to say that you can never get enough good news. And I love hearing other people's good news. Whether it be every day victories or lifetime changes like an engagement, marriage or new baby, I just can never get too much good news. Even if it is news about a complete stranger, it still brings joy to know that there are everyday miracles in life. So I just wanted to share a piece of someone else's good news, because I know it made my day. A high school friend who was diagnosed with a brain tumor (and has already endured treatment)went in for a follow-up MRI today and the doctor found no new growth! I just figure it doesn't get much better than that. So praise God!
I know there are many who keep us in their prayers (and they've been pretty powerful thus far) so please let me know if you (or anyone in your life) needs any prayers. God Bless and Goodnight!

Another reason to avoid Worldwide Knives or worldwideknives.net

As if the last email didn't give you an idea of Chris Glickman's (of worldwideknives.net)charming personality and customer service skills, this one should help. This is the email my sister got today...

"can you not read I said i'm giving our check one more week, after that I will send out A check Priority Mail hope your home to sign for it. or it's your loss. I know your husband is not from this country, learn how we do things here."

Oh, you mean you really are going to send the refund this time, why it was silly of us to doubt you when you have taken his money, told him the product (and then the refund) was coming for a total of 7 weeks.

Apparently "here" in America you should believe someone the 13th time they tell you something, even though they have made false promises the first 12 times?
So just in case you were wondering whether he was rude, I think this second email makes it clear.

I know my brother-in-law is a really demanding customer - I mean who really expects to GET their product when they PAID for it?!

Interview #1

Went really well. Between the two off us we only made three mistakes. Two of which were mine.

When Drew arrived at the hotel there was a welcome note and a basket of treats. He had two interviews at the hotel, before dinner. In total I think there were seven candidates. A hotel shuttle took us to dinner at a local country club. We had dinner with program coordinator and the program director (and a resident joined us for dessert). They told us that normally more attendings are at the dinner but a few of them had conflicts and I believe some of them were out of town at a conference. Dinner was good but, my favorite part was a delicious chocolate cake for dessert.
After dinner the program coordinator put on a presentation about the program that was quite informative. He spoke about their staff, facilities and specialties. The most impressive part of the presentation was a list of the number of surguries and procedures that they do in a year. They divided them up by type of procedure and compared them to other residency programs in the midwest. It essentially showed how many procedures/surgeries their residents do during the duration of their residency at the program. It is clear that their residents get a lot of operating experience over the training simply due to the volume of cases they receive.
Although I only got to meet two of the attendings, I can see why Drew feels so comfortable at the program. Both the program director and coordinator were extremely friendly and approachable. I was very surprised not to find them intimidating. After the dinner and the presentation the attendings left and a resident joined us. He spoke to us about his experiences with the program and answered any questions.

The hotel shuttle brought everyone back to the hotel. (Below is a less than flattering picture of Drew and I at the end of the night)

Then on Friday morning they had interviews with more of the staff, as well as grand rounds, a tour and lunch. Unfortunately I had to head back home to work, early Friday morning, but Drew said the day went pretty well. He even stayed after his interview to help with a surgery/procedure. Below is a picture of Drew Friday morning before his interview (apparently I was too tired to notice that his eyes were barely open in the picture!)

And for those of you wondering about our mistakes....

The first was that I failed to rise and stand when shaking other people's hands. But in my defense, I was sitting close to the door so right as people came in they would stick out their hands and I couldn't stand up fast enough to shake their hands. So for the most part I was in between standing and sitting when I shook their hand. Clearly awkward.
And I realized my second blunder as the program director ripped his roll. Suddenly Kathi's post about manners and etiquette flashed through my head and I remembered "don't cut your bread.... tear it." But at that point it was far too late as I had already cut my roll in half and buttered it. I honestly don't think these errors were deal breakers but they were definitely blunders.

Now Drew's mistake I think came from being too relaxed. The first interview was at the location he is doing his third and final away rotation at. Which if I haven't said already I think is nice because he had been working with the program for several weeks now and already feels comfortable with the staff. And this is true. He definitely felt comfortable. So comfortable that when we were talking with just one of the residents (the attendings had already left), Drew was picking his fingers. I'm not sure anyone else noticed, but as his wife, it was driving me nuts! I was so embarrassed. But I do think it was because he was so relaxed. And because it was only the other candidates and one resident I don't think it is going to effect his chances with this program. And although I really, really wanted to elbow him, I refrained from doing so because I figured the only thing that would worse than him picking his fingers would be having his wife elbow him!
I did tell Drew after dinner and the poor guy was really embarrassed, but I figure I'm glad I was there to see it to make sure he doesn't do it again in any other interviews. Especially interviews in which he is meeting people for the first time!
So like I said I don't think our mistakes will be deal breakers, but they are worth noting so that we don't make them again, and to share with others so that you can avoid making them as well!

Finally, a piece of advice for those of you who are spouses: do not assume you cannot attend part of the interview process just because spouses/significant others aren't invited. At this first interview spouses were not explicitly invited. But since Drew felt comfortable with the staff he asked if I could come because I was in town. They welcomed the idea and were happy to meet me. We also have another interview next month that I am able to join him on and Drew emailed the program coordinator to let them know that I would be in town with him and that I would like to meet the staff and asked if I could attend the dinner. Again they said that would be fine. Personally I think it shows interest if you ask if a spouse can attend, and I figure the worst that can happen is that they say "no." And if a program is going to hold it against us that I am active in the interview process then that is not a program I want to be at. A lot of it will depend on your comfort level, but I would definitely encourage you to at least inquire about attending the dinner or reception.

Cost of Interview #1
Transportation = 1 tank of gas for me (approx $35.00)
Hotel = free
Other expenses = none
TOTAL = $35.00*
*This will probably be our (by far) cheapest interview!

Stay away from Worldwide Knives (worldwideknives.net)

My brother-in-law purchased a knife through this company on September 2, 2009. After giving them the run around for nearly two months my sister and her husband asked for my help. We tried to file a complaint with paypal but because the transaction was over 45 days old paypal cannot help (which I believe they intentionally kept telling my brother-in -law that 1) the knife was out of stock 2) it was in the mail 3) a refund was in the mail, to delay, delay, delay).
This was the EXACT response my brother-in-law got in his email today:

"You can see that Pay Pal has no time for your whiney little problems like I said I will give it one more week and then I will send you Priority Mail hope your home to sign for it or your loss. You may read the attached letter from Pay Pal this is between us. " (- Chris Glickman of worldwideknives@hotmail.com)

WHINEY - Yes he really just called my brother-in-law whiney for not receiving his product (or a refund) in which he ordered on September 2, 2009. Note that it is October 25, 2009. Do you think that is whiney?
I think it is POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE OR A SCAM! Stay away from this company and its RUDE RUDE employee or owner Chris Glickman.

EDITED TO ADD September 2010 - please do not mistake worldwideknives.net with worldwideknives.com. I have no reason to believe worldwideknives.com is anything but reputable. So just stay away from .NET!

Costs of Applying to Residency/Interviews

I plan on keeping track of the costs associated with applying to residency. I will keep an accumulating total of costs over in the right hand column of my blog.

The first cost associated with applying is the cost of submitting applications through ERAS.
We submitted applications to 42 programs at a total cost of $655.00.

Wish Us Luck!

Tonight/tomorrow is Drew's FIRST residency interview! I'm heading there this afternoon so that I can join for this evenings dinner. I'm hoping I don't say anything silly/stupid!
If your wondering how Drew is doing an interview while he is still on his Third Away Rotation it is because it is at that program. It makes it particularly convenient because 1) it saves him an extra trip there and 2) I think it will be "easier"/less nerve wracking for Drew to have his first interview at a program with which he rotated (since he is already comfortable with the staff).
I'm both nervous and excited! Say or prayer or send us good luck!

Prayer Requests update

If you have a moment please check out my prayer requests in the right hand column. A few of the new requests are for my best friend's mother Linda who recently suffered a stroke last night. A family friend, Lana is undergoing treatment for cancer. And Joe is young man who was recently diagnosed with leukemia and will be undergoing some very serious treatment. Thank you and God Bless.

We are going to be fine.

Just fine. I realized this today as I was driving home from my weekend visit to see Drew. As we are currently five months out from Match day - the day that we will find out what and where we will be going/staying for the next 6-9 years. And six to nine years is a serious amount of time. This whole process is a big one, because I will have to live with whatever it brings. But after spending this weekend with Drew at Away Rotation #3, it made me realize that home, will be home because I am with Drew. And although I may have a hard time with the future, and I may have adjustment issues and I may have meltdowns in the process; I will adjust. And we will be okay. Spending this weekend in the new town with Drew, there were moments when I could see myself living in that town, and being happy. And I know that it is not the only place I will be able to be happy. Each town and city will have things that make it feel like home. And most importantly, wherever I go, will be with Drew, and that alone will make everything okay. It made me realize that I just have to continue to have faith in God. And he will take care of us. And we will be just fine.

Crazy busy

Work is keeping me quite busy this week. I have two new clients who have rather pressing matters as well as a number of other deadlines. So unfortunately I don't have time to update on my amazing weekend and show you some of the great pictures I took of my wonderful nephews. But I suppose it is good to be busy.
Right now we have 9 and a half weeks down and 2 and a half weeks left to go (as far as Drew being gone on away rotations.) I am also looking forward to visiting Drew this weekend. He went in on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend and is planning on at least one day off this weekend off. Believe it or not, last week they told Drew "You know you don't have to come in on the weekends." I almost fell over at this comment. But then again it isn't that surprising considering how laid back this program seems to be.
And that's all I've got time for right now. I'm trying to get to bed early because almost everyone at my office has been sick this week and the last so I am trying to remain one of the few healthy ones!