Thanksgiving

So this is long long overdue. I just realized that i haven't posted in a long time, which includes tales of Thanksgiving. I don't have any pictures to go with this post because we had so much fun that I forgot to take any while we had visitors.

So on the Tues before Thanksgiving Andrew and Lorri arrived, Wed Kathy and Walker arrived. We had a great time hanging out and cooking to get ready for Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving day Walker's dad and my parents arrived. We watched the parade and football and ate way too much, after dinner while the guys watched more football the girls played games.

Lorri is a hardcore sale shopper so Kathy and I went black friday shopping with her. We were all so tired but got a lot of good deals. We started at midnight and went to Old Navy and Walmart. Then after a short sleep we went out for breakfast with the parents and proceeded to shop more. I got lots of gifts for people along with a few things from myself. My big purchase was a treadmill for our new house which I got a really good deal on. Now I just can't wait to get into the house so I can break the treadmill out of the box.

On the house front, we are possibly going to close this week but Barrett and I are not very optimistic. Please pray that we close soon and all of this stress will be over with!

I will try to take pictures during our christmas travels

Almost there

We are on our way to home ownership 2. Hopefully it won't be too much longer that we have to wait.

Lesson in Patience

Me and Patience don't really mix but I've had to work really hard at it these past few weeks. Shortly after starting my job Barrett and I got pre-approved for a loan and started looking at houses. After a few weeks we decided there was one we really liked. Unfortunately, the day we decided to put an offer on it, the house went to auction. This is been the most stressful and time consuming process. They suggested that we put our loan through first to make sure we didn't lose any earnest money after putting an offer down. After more than a week we found out that our loan got approved and we made an offer. Now we are waiting to hear whether our offer has been accepted. We should hear back today or tomorrow and as soon as we do I will post some pictures of the house!

Good Eats

A few weeks ago I saw that Alton Brown was about to come out with a new book. I figured, "what a perfect Christmas gift for Barrett" But then I saw that Alton was going to be doing a book signing in Atlanta (he lives here) so I decided that I couldn't just get this book for Barrett when there was an opportunity to go meet him. It was a long evening. Alton started speaking around 7:30, talking about the book and answering questions, then he proceeded to signing the books. We finally got up to him around 10:45. I can't even imagine having to sign books for that long. There was still at least an hours worth of people in line behind us. It was a fun experience though. I'm so glad we live in a city where we have opportunities like this.

Botanical Gardens

The first weekend in October, Barrett's parents came to Atlanta to run a half marathon. While they were here we made a trip to the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful with lots of fall plants and they even had a collection of "scarecrows" that different organizations around Atlanta had designed.

All the fruit inside this cornucopia is blown glass

Charlie Brown Scarecrow

After the parents left Barrett and I went to the last Braves game of the regular season. Braves vs Phillies. The Braves won which put them into the playoffs so it was quite an exciting game. It was also Bobby Cox's last regular game, it was touching to see how much the players and fans appreciate him.

September

I am finally getting around to posting about what the Hardins have been up to the past 2 months. Back in the middle of Sept I went home to visit my parents while Barrett was at a conference in San Francisco. Being the boy that he is, Barrett didn't take any pictures of the Bay area but I of course did get some of good ole PA. I spent the trip spending time with my parents, we went to the York Fair (America's oldest fair), and I made sure we got in a trip to Browns orchard so I could have some apple dumplings. Mom and I also went shopping, cuz that is just what girls do :)

Mom and Dad at the Fair

Me and mom waiting for dad to arrive

Chuck Wicks - Country singer that mom and dad like. He was playing a free concert at the fair

When I got back from home I just lounged around for a couple days and tried to clean the house up before Barrett got home. Barrett got home early on Monday morning and Monday evening we went to see the So You Think You Can Dance tour. Although almost all the performances were ones we saw during the season, they were the best ones and we enjoyed seeing them live. I just wish I had some talent as a dancer :)

New Job Fun

So I know I've been absent from the blogging world for the past month. During this month I went to visit my family, saw the SYTYCD tour, started my job, and have been extremely busy. While i promise to update soon with pictures of all of this, for now I thought I would leave you with this. This is Annabelle and she is our clinics new mascot.

Labor Day Vacation

For Labor day this year we met Barrett's parents, Jessica and Lucas, and Kathy and Walker in Gatlinburg for a long weekend. We shopped, hiked, ate good food, and had a blast together.

David in Cade's Cove

Cute little cabin in Cade's Cove

Warning: Bears...please note that this sign was not posted on the trail where we saw the bear (see below). This bear crossed the path just in front of us.

Me and Barrett on a bridge on the hike to Ramsey Cascades

Squirrel that ate out of Walker's hand and is here nibbling on my apple core

Me and the Best Friend!!!

Ramsey Cascades

Giant Tree

This is the beginning of our hike to Ramsey Cascades when we were still excited to be there. By the end of the 8 miles we wanted to die.

Kathy and the Walker

Our Car's first time off-roading :) Barrett is also demonstrating his new camelbak

Homemade Stromboli

enough said....

Puzzle Fail

This is a beautiful puzzle but we are missing a piece. I don't know if it was missing from the beginning or if we lost it. Ever since we found out it was missing we just stopped caring and never wanted to finish it. I guess I'll just have to buy another one so that we can do it with all the pieces because this was a puzzle of one of our favorite places in Rome.

New Car

My dad asked for car pictures so here they are. We had to get rid of the Explorer because it failed the Georgia emissions inspection so we upgraded to a Nissan Pathfinder.

Praise God

All praise be to God above. I finally got a job offer. I still have to officially accept it and sign my contract but starting in October I will be the new veterinarian at Paulding Animal Clinic. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me over the past few months. Once I start working I will work on making a website for the clinic so I can share it with all of you!

Birthday Fun

I'm finally getting caught up on sharing all the fun things we've been doing over the past month. On my birthday we had such a great day. Barrett and I started the fun with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It also happened to be National Cheesecake day so we got half off our dessert there. Then we went to the Georgia Aquarium with Matthew and Lauren. This aquarium has some awesome exhibits that you can't find anywhere else like the Whale Sharks.

After the aquarium Barrett made reservations for us at a fabulous Italian restaurant. It was a surprise so I didn't even know where we were going until we got to La Grotta. It was so good and had a great atmosphere!

For Barrett's birthday we had a more relaxing day. I woke up early and made him breakfast. Then I made a chocolate espresso cheesecake for later that night. The cake was kind of a disaster. I have made cheesecake before and it worked out but this time the hour that it was supposed to cook for was way too long because it cooked too long and cracked and partially caved in. Barrett said that it tasted good but I didn't really like it. At least my dinner of Chicken Enchiladas turned out good.

New Home, finally

So we've been here for a month and I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures. I like our apartment and the area that we live in. We have tons of stuff to do within a mile of where we live. There are several grocery stores, a target, lots of restaurants and shops. There is even a cheesecake factory and a pinkberry right up the street!!

Here are some pictures of our new abode:

My pretty new door mat because we left the last one in Starkville

Living Room and Sun Room

Dining Room

Kitchen and Laundry Room

Guest Room and Guest Bathroom

Our Bedroom and Bathroom

Settling In

Just so everyone knows...we are know Georgians or something of that nature. We moved to Atlanta this past Saturday and have finally gotten almost everything into its correct place. Now I just need to find a job. Prayers please!

Where have I been?

I suppose I have been hesitant to post anything because I don't have much news. Since my last post we have been out of town A LOT, but I still haven't found a job and we still have no place to live. I've had several interviews but nothing has panned out yet. I thought I was going to hear from one of the jobs last week but still haven't heard anything. I am nervous because that job that I'm supposed to hear from is a place that I would be really really happy working at.

We have also been able to go out of town on fun trips and we've made time to do some fun activities while in Atlanta on interview trips. So here is what our life has been since graduation:

April 29-May 8: Disney World

May 12 - 15: Atlanta

Interview, House hunting, Baseball Game

May 21 - 24: Gulfport

Beach!

May 31-June 2: Atlanta

Interview, House hunting (sort of), Botanical Gardens

Next:

June 16 - 20: Jackson

June 21 - 23: Atlanta

During all of this our house is in the process of selling. So even though I am sad about turning this house over to someone else, I am happy that we won't have to worry about this after we leave. We also started going to a Pinelake Starkville Small Group which is a blessing because it gets me focused back on what matters because I have been stressed!

I'll keep you all posted on my job/our house situation!

We are back from a wonderful vacation with my parents but sadly we now need to start a major diet.

Thats Dr to you

Today I Graduate - The end

Hopeful

Pray for me please! I have an interview on Friday in Atlanta. I hope it goes well but i'm pretty nervous. It'll be a quick trip but Barrett is coming with me so I am looking forward to it. Also, people have been looking at the house so maybe we'll be able to sell it soon.

News and a New Life

Well we finally made a decision! We are moving to Atlanta, Ga this summer. Barrett got an offer from one of the professors that he really liked and he is really excited about the research he will be doing. Don't ask me what this research is because I don't understand it but you can check with him.

So I've just started to apply for jobs so I'll let you know how that goes. We have also started to look for houses just for fun. Our plan is to rent for 3ish months and then buy a place after we have time to decide what area of the city we really like.

For now my focus is to apply for jobs, prepare for graduation, and try to sell my house. I am really ready to get back to Starkville so I can get into all of this stuff. We haven't had much luck trying to sell ourselves so I'm am getting a realtor. Thankfully, the vet school's associate dean's wife is a real estate agent and she has offered to help us out and give us a good deal.

Also, I can't wait for Disney World!!!

Kitties

Abbott and Costello with dad

Sweet little Reggie and Dora

I love my pets. My animals in Starkville include Dora and Reggie. The cats that I grew up with, Abbott and Costello still live with my parents. Sadly Costello is sick right now. I hope he starts feeling better soon.

Unproductive

Today seems to have been the most unproductive day ever. I got off of my externship early so I decided to go to Barnes & Noble and work on my cover letter. It has been so hard to make myself do this but I know it needs to be done. So in trying to get this done I ran into 3 rather large problems.

1. I thought I had my example cover letters, but NO, I left them in Mississippi

2. Google Maps gave me the wrong directions to Barnes & Noble

3. I finally got there and there were no tables to work out

So after all that I got a coffee and came back to the house to try to get something done. Wish me luck and if you have any suggestions on how to write a good cover letter let me know. Also, if you know any vet clinics looking to hire also let me know.

Cary NC

I'm currently in NC on an oncology externship. Today was a great day and I learned a lot already so I think I will really enjoy my time here. I am staying with Amy White's parents and they have been wonderful. The best part about this trip is that I'm only 2 hours away from Kathy and will get to visit her this weekend! The worst part is that I won't see Barrett for a month :(

More to come soon!

Up Ahead

Things to Do:

1. Finish Resume and Cover Letter

2. Figure out where we are going next year

3. Find a job

4. Touch up little things on house (This is a lot)

5. Sell house

6. Go on externships so I won't be here for a whole month when I need to do this stuff

7. Graduate :)

Happy Valentime's

I love valentine's day, really i love any excuse to celebrate and to exchange gifts. This morning Barrett made be breakfast crepes filled with eggs and bacon. They were delicious. We are about to go see a movie and go out for dinner. After dinner Barrett has a surprise dessert planned. he is nervous that it won't turn out so it must be something fancy.

He got me tulips, a movie, and a cookbook holder and i got him 2 games (Monopoly and Things) and a weather station thing. He used to have a little weather reader that told us how cold it was outside but I broke it so I figured I owed him a new one.

I LOVE BARRETT

Going somewhere

So good news here, Barrett has been accepted to Georgia Tech so at least we know that we will be going somewhere next year. He hasn't gotten the official letter yet but they invited him to an "interview" with the professors so he can pick who he wants to work with. They said that they only invite people who have been accepted and that his letter should be coming soon. I'm going to start looking for jobs in that area soon so that I can get an idea of whats available.

Thankfully Anna (Emily's dear sister) has given me some information on what areas of Atlanta we might like to live in and I will start looking for houses soon too! I love shopping for houses :) I also need to start looking for people to buy our house which is kind of sad. I love our first house and just wish we could take it with us.

10 weeks till graduation, how crazy is that?

Medicine

So far I am really enjoying Internal Medicine. Its a difficult rotation, they are complicated cases, and a large part of them end badly so its very emotionally draining. But I like it, we'll see how the next 5 weeks go.

I'm a Foodie

Because I love food I wanted to tell about the delicious restaurants we dine at while in San Diego.

Tin Fish

Ciro's Pizza

La Fiesta

Cafe Milano!!

The Field

Cafe Coyote, Pinkberry

Brians 24, Zoo, Tin Fish

Cafe 222, Daphne's Greek Cafe, Wine, Yard House

Star of India, Pinkberry

Old Spaghetti Factory

The Fish Market, Heavenly Cupcake

Nicki Rottens, Chocolat

Cafe 222

Cafe Milano was a wonderful Italian restaurant where the owner spoke with a heavy Italian accent and also served us. Cafe 222 was on food network and was right next door to our hotel, I love food network!

I am an Extern

My externship has begun and has been pretty cool so far. The beginning of the week was slow including absolutely no appointments yesterday, but we made up for it today. Here are some of the animals I have seen so far:

• Rabbits - for spays and for illnesses
• Birds - Chicken, Budgies, Blue and Gold Macaw, Senegal Parrot, Amazons, and more
• Ferrets - first case here was a ferret getting a splenectomy
• Ball Pythons
• Guinea Pig
• Bearded Dragon
• Rat

I will post more cool cases later!

California or Bust

So After 3 very long days we have arrived in California. Our journey is cataloged below...

January 1st - Left Memphis, TN, drove through Arkansas, stopped for dinner in Texarkana, spent night in Mt. Pleasant, TX

My pitiful attempt at taking a picture of the Texas state line

Day 2 - Left a 6:45 am, stopped in Arlington to visit, Abilene to eat lunch and El Paso for dinner, and finally arrived in Benson, Az at 11:30 pm (MST). 18 hrs of driving and lots of crazy things seen along the way.

Cowboy's Stadium

Our tire getting patched in Arlington

Windmills in Texas, Yippee for Green Energy, plus they were pretty

Finally in Sunny California!!

The little black specks are dune buggies zooming up and down the sand dunes, there was some big gathering of them

Sunset over the San Diego Harbor

What a Crazy Trip, here is a list of the interesting, cool, and extremely crazy things we saw along our drive:

• 2 Presidential home towns - Hope, AK and Midland, TX
• A man walking a Goat on a leash in downtown Arlington
• A man riding a Horse on the side of I-20 just outside of Arlington
• Snow along the highway
• A large bloated dead cow alone in a pasture
• Pretty Windmills
• Tumbleweeds
• A Shooting Star (the first one Barrett had ever seen)
• The Slutty town of El Paso (this involves a good story that you'll have to ask me about)
• CALIFORNIA and our 1st sighting of the PACIFIC OCEAN!