Thanksgiving

It has been about a couple of weeks since the Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone. I had a blast this year planning and executing a meal for 10! It was my first big Thanksgiving to do all on my own, and Drew's family was here to experience the fruits of my labor. I cooked for a couple days before Thursday, and had some help in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning with all the last minute things. We had a very small window to eat, between the arrival of Jenny and Kyle's flight at 2:00 and the start of Drew's shift at the hospital at 5:00, so everything had to be timed perfectly, and thankfully it all went off without a hitch! The weather was gorgeous for most of the weekend, and so in true Tucson style, we were able to enjoy our feast outside in the sunshine. We set the dining room table up on the back patio, and had a Thanksgiving picnic. We all had a great time all weekend!

The Menu for the Sanders Family Thanksgiving Feast 2009

Turkey (a 20 pounder!) I ended up brining the turkey overnight, and seasoning with various herbs and spices...it turned out very tender and juicy!
Honey Corn Bread Muffins (a new recipe from Real Simple)
Spinach Salad (with Craisins, Feta, and Pecans) I tossed it with this sweet dressing from friend Abby: 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp white vinegar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, pinch of salt
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Sweet Potatoes (with large marshmallows per Drew's request)
Broccoli Casserole (the Levis-Phy version...very fattening, but also SOOOOOO good)
Scalloped Corn (a Sanders family recipe with a few green chiles added in to give it a little Southwestern flair)
Cranberry Sauce (in the shape of the Ocean Spray can it came in of course...)
Stuffing (well I guess technically it was dressing, since I didn't actually stuff the turkey with it)
Green Beans
Gravy...yum! (my favorite part!)
Pumpkin Pie (we started out the evening with 2 of them, but somehow ALL 10 people were distracted for about 10 minutes, and Annabelle managed to snag half of one of them off the counter...I guess she was feeling left out) with homemade whipped cream (add a couple of shots of Jack Daniel's while whipping for pure goodness...)
Bissinger's Chocolate Mints (a Levis family tradition)

Swine Flu, All Hallows Eve, and various other updates

Well, it has been way too long since either of us has updated anything. The primary reason for that has been my work schedule, which has improved lately. I've been settling into the role of a 2nd year resident alright. It's a little daunting to see the interns out there and have them expect me to know the right thing to do. While I still feel like I know way too little, I'm finding that I actually have learned a ton. Unfortunately, that knowledge comes out mostly in just knowing what to do, instead of popping up when I'm being "pimped," or quizzed on my knowledge.

Anyway, I worked two weeks of night shifts after we got back from vacation, followed by numerous shifts in the emergency department. Due to the way the schedule worked out, all but two of my shifts ended up being night shifts, so I essentially did 6 weeks of nights. I'm really not a very good sleeper during the day, and add on a new puppy in the house, and you can imagine how tired I was always feeling. Emily took it all in stride, but you could tell it was wearing on us both toward the end. The only times I'd really see her were in the morning while she was getting ready, when I really should have been sleeping. She occasionally came home from dinner, but I suspect the last six weeks were more like being married to a zombie.

Working in the ER was pretty insane too. I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but there's a little bug going around called the H1N1 virus... THE SWINE FLU! It's not that the illness is all that bad, but the media is driving me crazy about it. It seemed like every parent in the entire city loses all common sense and decides to bring their child into the EMERGENCY room for the slightest runny nose. The ER has been overwhelmed with the number of people, and by the time people make it out of the waiting room, they're cranky and probably caught the flu from other kids if they didn't have it already. So what do we doctors do in all of our power? "Your kid probably has the flu, but since he/she doesn't have any underlying illness or has been sick for more than a couple days, there's nothing we can do about it. Go home and get them to drink alot of water." That's not to say we didn't treat the flu, but most of the kids didn't need the medicine, and we had to save it for the REALLY sick kids. Yes, I realize it can be a scary illness, but dealing with the same thing for 80-90% of the patients became tedious and exhausting. I'm really sick of the flu, and I'm very thankful I didn't come down with it myself after being coughed on by every child in Tucson.

That said, let's move on to more enjoyable topics. As I mentioned earlier, we've had a new addition to the family. Albert is fitting in very nicely in our little household. He and Annabelle love playing/wrestling, and they tire each other out nicely at times. That said, he is getting bigger, and he has not improved his coordination at an equal rate. He's extremely wiggly and has no awareness of his surroundings. I don't know how many times he's knocked our lamp over, but I'm not sure it's going to last too much longer. Once he's full size, we're going to have to rubber-coat the floor. He has some of the goofiest facial expressions I've ever seen in a dog. His jowls frequently get caught in his underbite, and he gives us either a mean face or an Elvis sneer. His ears are also very expressive, and they tend to flop around into an uncountable number of hilarious positions. Unfortunately, ever time we try to get this on camera, he reverts to his standard, "I'm ridiculously cute" expression.Anyway, yesterday was Halloween. Ruth and Matt (who just got engaged!) sent me one of the greatest gifts in the world for Christmas last year, a Ghostbusters uniform. It is my all-time favorite movie, and I couldn't wait to wear it this year. Last year, I worked at the Juvenile Detention Center on Oct 31, so it wasn't quite the right place to wear a costume. I wore it to work, including the proton pack and blaster. I got a little nervous when I didn't see any other costumed people walking up to the hospital, but there were a few brave souls throughout the hospital who wore something. Well, it hadn't crossed my mind that I was to help do morning report that day. For those of you who don't know, morning report involves the ward senior presenting an interesting case to the residents and attendings in the hospital, followed by a brief discussion of what could be going on with the patient, and a learning session about the important parts of the case. I'd worn the costume, so I decided I'd go all out. I walked into the conference room decked in full Ghostbusters gear, while blasting the theme song from Emily's iPhone. Another thing that I'd forgotten: that was day one of the new interview season. No matter what people thought of Arizona, I hope they have something memorable to talk about. The rest of the day went as expected... a bunch of laughs and strange glances in my direction. Then some of the child life people decided to have a haunted house in the playroom. I was walking past in, when one of them grabbed me and told me I had to walk through it. I didn't realize it at the time, but after I went through, they took down the haunted house and told the kids that I had "busted" the ghosts. There was a really amusing moment a little later, when a little kiddo came up to me upset that the ghosts were gone, because he didn't get to see it in time. I told him that they were all in my storage facility, and when he asked to see it, I told him he'd need a court order (I hope at least one person gets that reference... the kid didn't). The only thing that could have made the night better is if we could have come up with some costumes for Emily and the dogs. We looked everywhere for a dog Slimer outfit, but were unsuccessful. I still busted Albert though.

Welcome Albert!

Drew and I recently returned from a vacation back east where we saw the wonderful sites of Disney World, visited our good friend Courtney, and attended the wedding of my best friend Mary. Now, you may be wondering what this adventure has to do with us adding a new friend to our family. Well, it was a combination of factors. Adding a second dog to our home has been on our minds for over a year now. We saw how much Annabelle loved playing with other dogs at the dog park, and we thought it would be great for her to have another companion around the house. Then, while we have been on vacation, she stayed with a couple of different friends who had dogs and seemed to really enjoy being around different playmates all the time. We also spent time with Courtney and her huge family of dogs, and Drew got the bug for a new dog again after meeting a couple of the rescues that she is trying to place right now. It became a part of our everyday discussions.

Drew then began to rationalize and be logical about why this would be the best time for us to get a second dog. He will be working nights for the next 6 weeks, and so he will be home during the day to work with a puppy that needs a lot of training and discipline. Annabelle is in a really good place right now, and it seemed only fair to get her a companion of her own size. It became harder and harder for me to come up with counter-arguments, and I started getting on board. Then, at the end of last week, my mom came into to town. She would certainly be one to voice any concerns that we might not have been seeing ourselves, but instead she seemed just as excited.

On Thursday afternoon, she and Drew went to the Humane shelter just to see what was available, and to start getting an idea of what we might like. We knew we wanted a puppy, and we were looking for something with equal or less energy than Annabelle (who certainly has plenty on her own to keep us busy). We were also thinking that someone about the same size as Annabelle would be a good fit to our house. We also knew we wanted a rescue. Because it is hard to find puppies in rescue a lot of the time, we thought it might be a while before we found someone just right... boy, were we wrong.


At the Humane shelter, they were packed. They had quite a few dogs of all shapes and sizes, including a number of puppies. Albert (then known as Cecil) was one of the first dogs Drew and my mom laid eyes on. His kennel companions were all over the place, but he just came calmly to the front and sat down and looked at them. Drew noticed he was a boxer mix, and made a note to come back to him. They continued to meet and greet a number of different dogs and puppies at the shelter but kept coming back to Cecil the boxer mix (though many of the shelter employees think he is a pure bred). (A little side note: Drew's family has a history of owning boxers, so he is definitely partial to the breed.) I received a text, cell phone call, work phone call, and e-mail message that I would have to come and meet this little guy after work that afternoon. Since he was so young, he would be quick to adopt, and Drew didn't want to lose our chance. From the second I heard Drew talk about him, I knew he was going to be ours. I went back to the shelter Thursday evening to meet him myself. He was very playful, but also very sweet and curious. He was friendly to all of us, and after about 20 minutes of playing with him outside, I too was convinced that he would be a good addition.

We knew boxers were a lot of energy, but also that they are very sweet-natured and loyal dogs. We learned about Cecil's story. He had been picked up 4 days earlier by himself, covered in ticks and very malnourished. He responded quickly to treatments and seemed to be in good shape other than being very skinny. He had "played well with others" since he had been at the shelter, and all the staff were sad and excited to see him go. He was a very popular little guy. They thought he would be a great companion for our Annabelle. So, he joined our family.

We brought him home on Friday afternoon, and he and Annabelle have been feeling each other out the past couple of days. He is not quite housetrained, but we are working on it, and Annabelle is also letting him know who's boss. They really want to play with each other, but Annabelle is being gentle with him right now because he is so much smaller. She has really stepped up to the plate and seems a bit older and wiser than she did a few days before.

Drew and I know we are in for a challenge, and that having a new puppy around is going to be life-changing. But, so far so good, and we are very in love with little Albert. So, without further adieu, meet the newest member of the Phy-Sanders family!

Albert, cooling offAnnabelle, watching over her baby brother...see that tail wagging?! :-D

Albert, aka "little guy" totally pooped

Bert, the squirt

Who's Who?

When I walked into the bedroom the other day, I couldn't help but notice that the bedside tables looked very different from each other. I had to giggle to myself and thought I would share.

Goodbye Intern year

I'll just do a quick update today as it's 2:00am, and I'm tired but too awake to fall asleep just yet. Anyway, I've now started my second year of residency. Looking back on my intern year, there were alot of highs and lows. The lows were basically working as slave labor and being the peon of the medical team. I didn't get to see Emily as much as either of us would have liked, and the time we had together usually involved me in some sort of barely conscious daze or falling asleep watching a movie/tv. I will say, I won't miss the P.O.D. at all, that's pager of death. The intern pager at one of the hospitals goes off on average every 15 minutes, usually when you're just about to finish with a task or falling asleep.

So, on to the good. I absolutely love being a pediatrician. Kids are awesome to work with, and most parents are pretty enjoyable too. There are a few kids that are almost a year old now who I've known since they were 2-3 days old. I've seen their parents go through the adventure of their first child for a year now, and I can't wait to see how they turn out by the time I'm finished here. I also really enjoy my coworkers. They're a diverse group, and we all seem to get along very well. We've had some difficulties due to resident shortages a few months, but we were able to come together as a group to make it through. Finally, while it's not work-related, the best part of the year has been being married to Emily. Marriage has been everything I dreamed it would be and more. Em and I are a team, and I feel like if she's by my side, nothing is too difficult.

So, now that leads me to 2nd year. As I said before, no more P.O.D., However, if the new interns don't know what to do, then they call me. If I don't know, then my prepared statement will be said: "That's a very good question, why don't you look it up and we can discuss the answer together." I should have alot more time to sit down and learn this year, and I rarely have 30 hour shifts anymore, although 24 hours will be common. The biggest thing is the responsibility of being a senior. Right now, I'm in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). It's where all the kids that were too sick for me to take care of last year went. The way our program works, there's an attending that covers both hospitals. The other hospital has sicker and more kids, so the attending is usually over there. That leaves... me, a fresh out of intern year resident who's never taken care of kids this sick before. Now parents, don't get scared yet, as my attending is always a phone call away and is very good about racing across the city in an emergency. I also have nurses who have been doing this for years, and when they say, "Are you sure that's what you want to do?" that usually means you shouldn't. It's just scary. I've spent this entire day managing this one really sick kid, and every time I start to get comfortable, he throws me a new curve ball. I guess this is how you learn, but it does help reaffirm my thoughts on wanting to be a clinic doctor and not a hospitalist or intensivist.

Ah well, this ended up being longer than I anticipated. Good night... err... morning to you all.

Blueberry Bars

After reading about my friend Charlotte's day of blueberry picking...YUM!...I was inspired to bust out a recipe my mom used to make when we were little. She enjoyed it when she was little too! This is a quick and easy way to prepare one of summer's most delicious fruits...

Blueberry Bars

crust:
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt

filling:
4 pints blueberries
cinnamon/sugar

Mix crust ingredients. Divide in 1/2. Press 1/2 into bottom of a buttered glass baking dish.

Add blueberry mixture to dish (spead evenly over the crust).

Crumble remaining crust mixture loosely on top of the blueberries.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. It is also delicious room temperature for breakfast! :)

The Anniversary (a return to happy posts)

Well, I figured we should end our marathon day of blog posts on a happy note. June 14th was Emily and my first year anniversary! It wasn't the biggest celebration, but it was a good one. I was lucky enough to have a coworker who had gotten married a couple weeks before us, so I learned something about anniversaries that I had never heard before: there are specific themes for each one! I'd never heard of the Paper Anniversary, but coming from someone who likes having an outline to help guide me what to do, I was intrigued.

We ended up both doing cards for each other with a nice little romantic not in them. Emily's card was musical and played the song we danced to during our First Dance. My card was handcrafted by The Sandman himself, using some borrowed crafts tools of Emily's. I also made a gift certificate to Michael's, one of Em's favorite stores... that way she could splurge on even more paper products. It's not my favorite place to go, but I've promised her a trip there without complaining. She's used the money to get a nice paper cutter, which I'll admit, is pretty cool.

Finally, I had sent Emily some carnations from a local florist. Apparently, carnations are the first anniversary flower, and although they're not usually my favorite flowers, these ones turned out beautiful. Em loves flowers, so it was wonderful to see her simultaneous look of surprise and happiness when they showed up.

We then went to play putt-putt golf. Now, I've always known Emily wasn't beyond fudging some numbers to help her win, so it didn't come as any surprise to me that it continued on to this game. I caught her hitting the ball twice several times before it had stopped, and she even picked it up, after it went wildly off of the hole we were playing, and placed it back on the green without counting it as a stroke penalty. However, I did keep track of all of these "plus" shots. Unfortunately, I didn't think I'd need them. That all changed when she hit a hole-in-one on one of the hardest holes at the end. If you add up the scores and only count her "pluses" as one shot, she won, however there were definitely times when the ball was rolling way backward down the hill where she stopped it and kept on playing. I hate that she'll get the last post on this matter, but just keep in mind that I'm a rule-follower and have never been known to cheat. Emily's record is shattered by one word, "Twister."

To cap off the day, we both hit the town and went to one of our favorite Tucson restaurants, Casa Vicente. It's an awesome place with live flamenco dancing, Spanish guitar players, sangria, and delicious tapas and paella. It couldn't have been a better day to spend with the girl I love, and I'm so glad I had a day off that weekend to spend with her.

So, having just had a sister get married, what kind of wisdom can I share that I've gained over the last year? I can honestly say it has been the best year of my life, despite being the hardest. I've learned that I depend on her so much, that I don't function well when she's not here... just ask her what state the house is in whenever she gets back from a trip I've not been on with her. We're an unbeatable team, and not only, this sounds cliche, is she the love of my life, she really is my best friend. I never thought I could love someone more than I did when I first said those words, but I honestly fall harder for her every day that we spend together. My morning's not complete without leaning over and giving her a kiss, unbrushed teeth and all, before I head off to work. She still makes my heart beat faster when she's around. I think were just as giddy together as when we first started dating, and I'm confident we can keep that up for at least a few more weeks... err... decades... err... centuries. I'm the happiest person in the world when I'm with her, and I hope you all have, or will have, someone to share your life with like that.

I love you Em, and I can't wait to spend our cotton anniversary together!

The Break-In

Well, I don't mean to interrupt all of this positive and exciting posting, but I guess there's one bit of news that needs to be discussed. Last Monday I got home from work, and everything seemed normal as I was walking up to the house. I could hear Annabelle going crazy, like she always does when my car pulls up, and it was a nice, sunny day outside. I noticed Emily's car wasn't in the driveway, so I figured she hadn't returned home from work yet. However, once I walked up to the back door, things started to seem funny. The back door was unlocked. Now, I'm sure I've forgotten to lock the door at least once this year, but Emily's always good about it. I kinda laughed at how I was going to be able to make fun of her a little bit when she got home. She had gone to pick up Annabelle that morning from the Kennel, and I could totally see her sleeping too late and coming back in such a rush that the door was missed.

Anyway, I walked inside and let the dog out.... that's when I saw the knife. One of our carving knives was sitting on one of Annabelle's beds in the second bedroom/office/cave. I thought it seemed weird, but we had just gotten back from Shelley's wedding and hadn't unpacked yet, so things didn't really click yet. You can tell I'd had a rough day at work. Anyway, I walked out to the front of the house, and then I noticed our branch cutters sitting on another of Annabelle's beds... and the front door was wide open.

Seriously, chills went up my spine as I typed that, and I'm almost in tears again thinking about how I felt in that one moment. My mind instantly shot back to how my friend, Paul, had been killed. I grabbed the knife and went tearing back through the house screaming Emily's name. I almost passed out as I walked into the bedroom, almost expecting to see the worst. Thankfully, Emily was not home. I noticed the back window screen was missing and the window was slid open.

The first thing I did was call Emily to make sure she was ok. She was only a few minutes away from getting home. I then called the non-emergency police number, and they said they'd send a car to the house. The next most chilling moment of this whole ordeal came when the lady on the phone asked me if I was sure I was alone in the house. I'd been in all the rooms except the front bathroom and our guest house. I decided that I was going to wait for Emily in one place with the dog, and not touch anything else. I was never so glad to see Emily walk through that front door.

Eventually, the cop showed up, and he really put our minds at ease for the time being. He was even a little funny, and his professional way of talking to us and looking over the house made the whole situation much more frustrating, instead of scary. Unfortunately, our thief was wearing gloves, and he wasn't able to get any fingerprints off the door handles or the knife, which I had grabbed anyway. We took inventory, and here is a list of the damages:

Emily's iBook computer (including several thousand songs and pictures she had on it)
My Dell PDA
Our new digital camcorder (complete with all of our film from Tucson and the Inauguration)
My old camcorder (with a tape in it... I hope it wasn't my last Vandy tape)
Emily's makeup bag from the trip
Emily's jewelry bag from the trip (including the Tiffany necklace I got her)
My Xbox (but not the Wii, which was sitting right next to it)
Our Bose iPod docking station stereo from our wedding registry

Looking at the list, things could have been much worse. Emily was wearing her wedding/engagement ring at the time, which she hadn't been earlier this month because it had cracked. Annabelle, who had been locked in the bedroom, had successfully prevented anyone from entering that room. And most importantly, all three of us were safe. We'll miss all of those memories lost on the computer and the camera, but some of it is on this blog, so we haven't lost it all.

Anyway, as it stands now, nobody has been caught. It seems someone had tried to break into our neighbor's house two days prior to it all, so hopefully someone will get caught in the neighborhood soon... although the likelihood of getting our stuff back is pretty slim. Now we're just trying to move on. Unfortunately, while I love our house and neighborhood, I don't think I'll ever feel 100% safe here again. We'll just have to be careful and do the best we can to keep ourselves and our belongings safe... starting with letting The Munchkin loose in the entire house while we're gone. Our things may have a few more bite marks in them, but at least they'll still be in our possession to throw away. We'll let you know if anything ever comes from our case.

Highlights Spring/Early Summer 2009

Unfortunately I don't have photos to go with everything (see Break-In), but here is what we have been up to the past few months (some photos were snagged from others' albums...)!

Annual Resident/Attending Charity Basketball Game

In early March, Drew participated in the annual Pediatric Resident v. Attending basketball game. I wish I could say it turned out well, but unfortunately the residents just weren't that good. They tried to blame their out-of-shapeness on the long hours and lack of free time...excuses, excuses. One of the funniest moments of the evening was Drew's overthrown pass to a teammate followed by a very loud expletive (many families with children were in attendance). Even funnier than his foul language though was the look of shock on his face when he realized what he had done. The entire resident team was rolling on the floor in laughter. Classic Drew.

Attendings Green, Residents Orange

The Final Score Board

Drew after his first 5 minutes in the game...he was in ROUGH shape.

Matt and Kelly Visit Tucson

In the middle of March, we had the pleasure of hosting a couple friends from Nashville for a beautiful weekend in Tucson. Matt and Kelly came out west for a big conference for Kelly in Phoenix, and added a weekend in Tucson on to their trip. We did a great hike up to Seven Falls in Sabino Canyon, had a delicious dinner at a local Spanish restaurant that has live flamenco dancing every Saturday evening, and just enjoyed relaxing and hanging out.

Erik and Michelle's Wedding in Houston

At the end of March, I left Drew behind for a quick trip to Houston for a wedding. My good friend Erik (from my high school days) was marrying a wonderful woman, Michelle. They had a beautiful wedding and reception. The weekend was a great reunion of old friends from high school, and a chance to catch up with everyone about what has been going on.

The Bride and Groom

At the Reception: Me, Courtney, Elijah, and Robbie

Spring Break Comes to Tucson

Unfortunately, one of the downfalls to not teaching anymore is the lack of regularly scheduled breaks from work throughout the year. This year, though, this was remedied by a visit from my family! Spring-breakers Lucy and Jessie came down along with 2 of my aunts and uncles to see the great state of Arizona. They stayed at this awesome hotel down the street from our house, The Arizona Inn, and invited Drew and I to hang out by the pool with them. We love having visitors, and it was certainly a treat to have family in town!

Diane and Len's Wedding in Tucson

In mid-April, a co-worker of mine got married in a beautiful outdoor Tucson ceremony. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with her after helping her plan the wonderful occasion! Congrats to Diane and her new husband Len!

Emily's 10-Year High School Reunion

It is really hard to believe how quickly time goes, and also how much has happened in our lives. This May, I went back to Nashville for my 10-year high school reunion. That's right 10 YEARS! I can't believe that a decade ago, I was preparing to start college. Thinking back, I remember feeling so grown up and ready to be adult. I had no idea what was about to begin. Luckily, things have gone pretty well, and I am happy to say that I have made it a great place in my life. It was fun to see old classmates and catch up with good friends that have spread out across the country. My friends Cate and Sarah organized the whole weekend for our class and did a wonderful job getting a lot of our class to attend. The party was a lot of fun, but the best part of the trip back for me was having a week to be at home in Nashville hanging out with family and other friends. Here is a shot from a morning spent watching Cooper and Lily Catherine play while catching up with new mommies Ann and Cate. What fun to see my friends in such a wonderful role! (and their kids are pretty cute too (-: )

Cooper and Lily Catherine

Katie's Graduation from UGA (and Mary's)

Katie directing everyone somewhere (doesn't she just look so smart?!) She makes me proud to call her my little sister. I just can't believe she is so grown up!!

Dr. Mary Payne!! (5 years in the making)

New Bikes! :)

Drew and I have been saving up and planning to get bikes for ourselves for a long time. Tucson is an incredible bike-friendly city with great weather most of the year. Also, since both of us work within a few miles of home, we have a new mode of transportation! With some help from our parents (thanks Mom! thanks Sanders!), we were able to afford a great pair of hybrids for city riding (and light trail riding). Annabelle also loves the new bikes and Drew has taken her on a couple of rides/jogs around the neighborhood.

Shelley and Cason's Wedding in Tullahoma

A couple weeks ago, we headed back to Tennessee for Drew's sister Shelley's wedding. We had a great time being on the other side of the craziness this year and actually having a chance to hang out with family. I had a good time getting to know Drew's sisters a little more while we did brides-maidy things (and while Drew was off doing who knows what with the boys). Shelley and Cason's friends sure know how to party and the newlywed Roberson's can throw a great fiesta. Congratulations Shelley and Cason!!

The Bride and Groom

Me and Jenny enjoying some chamagne in our fabulous seer-sucker dresses :)

I just loved the flowers on the tables!! Gerberas in mason jars with lemon slices...so cute!!

Makin' the Big Bucks

Well bigger bucks than now, anyway...

As of September 1st, I will be completing my term as an AmeriCorps member, and moving on to new things...or not so new things. I have been offered a position at Make Way For Books, the organization where I am completing my term of service. As part of my term, I helped writed a grant for a large sum of money from a state tobacco tax initiative that funds early childhood programs. We found out two weeks ago that we had been approved to receive funding, which means that I will have a salary!!

My "new" position title is Preschool Program Coordinator. This means that I will be overseeing all of the programming that we do in preschools and childcare centers. Right now, this program includes establishing libraries at these centers to be used by the teachers and families, conducting professional development for teachers and teacher assistants in the area of early literacy, providing on-site consultation services for teachers in early literacy, coordinating our summer reading buddies program every year, and distributing new paperbacks at centers through RIF throughout the year. As part of the grant, we will be expanding these services across Southern Arizona and adding a bunch of new preschools!

I am excited to have found this organization and to have the chance to keep working for them! It is going to be a great fit for the next couple of years, as Drew finishes his residency.

Disney World Vacation Planning :-D

Drew's vacation is coming up (not soon enough) at the end of August/beginning of September. For the last part of it, we will be headed to New Tazewell, Tennessee for the wedding of my bestest, Miss Mary, I mean, Dr. Mary Payne. Before we get there though, we have a couple weeks to play with. So, we have decided to head to Disney World! Since we are both such kiddos at heart, and neither of us has been in a few years, we thought it would be the perfect way to spend our summer vacation. We have the plane tickets, and have plans to stop in and visit the Childress Family (and hopefully have them join us at the parks for a bit--they are the Disney experts). We just have to pick our hotel. We have them narrowed down to 2, and would love any thoughts or insights about which is preferred by veteran Disney travelers. Let us know your thoughts. We will be booking by the end of the week!

Option #1: Wilderness Lodge

Option #2: Animal Kingdom Lodge

Slacker Sanders Posting Soon

Stay Tuned for...

Spring/Summer 2009: Visitor/Wedding Extravaganza

1 year wedding anniversary...We did it!!

Break-in at the Sanders

Emily's Promotion

A Disney Vacation!!

Lazy Weekend

Well, I've now completed my final inpatient wards month... kinda. I say kinda because I still have a month of hematology & oncology where I have to work as the ward intern every few nights. However, that month is supposed to be much more enjoyable. I'm working in the NICU now, and it's a little scary. The babies are TINY, and despite having spent alot of time in the nursery, I'm sometimes nervous to handle these little ones. It also involves alot of number crunching, so I've busted out the old TI-83 from high school to help. Maybe I'll relearn to program games on it to help pass the time.

Aside from my daily work duties, I've managed to get a couple weekends off. Last weekend, Emily's aunts, uncles, and cousins were in town to visit. We had a great time hanging out and eating some awesome food. They also came back last night for a quick dinner before flying back to Colorado and DC. We now are struggling to figure out what we're going to do with the rest of the weekend. One idea was to sit on the futon and watch TV while I blogged. I don't think we'll do that though.... oh wait. Heh, that got a chuckle out of Emily, who's reading this over my shoulder. We'll probably just hang out together and watch a movie or two and get some random chores done. Not much going in the casa de Sanders/Phy today... and we like it that way. Happy Easter!

Delicious Dinners

As the weather has turned significantly warmer here in Tucson (80's & 90's), by desire to cook has decreased A LOT. So, I am always looking for creative ways to avoid heat in the kitchen. The other night, Drew and I put together an assortment of "tapas" to snack on along with a chilled bottle of white wine. It hit the spot! A photo of our delicious spread! Simple, quick, and perfect for a hot winter (?) night.

Tucson Festival of Books!

Last weekend, Tucson hosted its first ever Festival of Books on the University of Arizona campus. Because the organization where I work loves books and wants to promote books and literacy, we played a pretty huge part in the organization of the children's area. I along with some of my co-workers spent the entire weekend in this area coordinating volunteers and performers and making sure everything ran smoothly. Because it was the first year of the festival, we weren't so sure if that was going to be possible. Luckily, it was a HUGE success, and all of the long hours and hard work paid off. Over 30,000 people attended the event, and the children's area was touted as being one of most successful parts.

For those of you who have never attended a festival of books (I hadn't), there is certainly a lot going on. Local performers and museums presented entertainment and activities. Literacy-related vendors hosted exhibitor booths to distribute information, and TONS of authors from across the country came and did book-signings and writing workshops. The best part?? It was all FREE! After this year's success, I am sure Tucson will continue hosting these every year. Hopefully next year, I will have a chance to enjoy more of the festival, but in the meantime, here is a glimpse of this year's festivities.

The entrance to the Children's Area

Big, Green Monster at the MWFB booth (he was a huge hit!). We invited families to take home the supplies to make their own, much smaller Big, Green Monster and to visit the local library to check out the great book Go Away Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberley

A giant interactive crossword puzzle (they had one for kids, teens, and adults)

The Berenstain Bears were there (among others!)

The princesses of the children's area (Because we were the coordinators, we wore tiaras to distinguish ourselves among the hundreds of other volunteers wearing orange t-shirts.)

My husband Drew was also a trooper and came down to the Festival (POST-CALL) on Sunday afternoon to help out on the entertainment stage. Here is a little taste of his amazing MCing abilities. Thanks Drew!! You were awesome! :-D

The Sanders in Tucson!

Drew's parents came out to visit for a long weekend, and we had a wonderful time relaxing and showing Tucson off! We went out to the Desert Museum, hiked Sabino Canyon, and enjoyed some good eats! Here is a sample of some snapshots from the weekend. Enjoy!

The beautiful desert landscape

Debbie and Bill outside the San Xavier Mission

A side shot of the San Xavier Mission
A mountain lion--luckily behind a fence at the desert museum!

Debbie's Fairy Duster Flowers :-D

Pretty Pink Flowers (shot taken in honor of my mom--queen of cool flower photos)

Bill checking out the landscape

Debbie-photographer extraordinaire

A beautiful spring desert garden...if only I could get our backyard to look like this!

On the tram on the way into the depths of Sabino Canyon

AWESOME view of the canyon...What a glorious day!

Drew checking out the bottom of the canyon below

Happy Couple ;-D

Drew & Bill wandering along the trail

A rare water sighting in Tucson (very cold water--since it is all snow melt from Mt. Lemmon!)

Backyard Makeover

Drew enjoying the new patio

As the weather has turned warmer (and I am talking really warm--80's & 90's), Drew and I have been inspired to do a little more work in our backyard to make it more relaxing. I am happy to say that we have finally accomplished our goal and the backyard now feels like another room in our house. With a little push from my dad last fall, we began adding flowers and a fountain. Then, when our tax refund arrived (thanks Uncle Sam!), we were able to add furniture and other accessories. We still have a couple of other projects we would like to complete, but we wanted to share our progress so far. A couple of before and after shots:

Before: Side Yard-Cool and Green, but needed a little extra something...

After: Impatients under the tree (along with a little fence to keep Annabelle from killing them)


After: Herb garden in colored pots on top of the old, wobbly bench


Before: General backyard shot

After: New curtains, comfortable (weather-proof) chairs, wind chimes, hanging flower baskets to add some color, and a revived picnic table


Before: The back garden


After: A new fountain (thanks Dad!), lanterns, and the newly painted picnic table


Before: Dirty old picnic table up on a pedestal


After: Grill up on the pedestal!
This is probably the main place we are still thinking about how to improve. We have this random pedestal in our backyard (presumably for a hot tub which we obviously don't have) and we aren't really sure what to do with it. Any suggestions are definitely welcomed!


Our new doormat! :) So fun and colorful!