And we're off!

I made it. I'm officially done with my LAST CALL NIGHT ever. Wahoo! In my mind that means I really might make it to the end of residency. It's been a busy few weeks. The kids all wore green and Luke got to try his first McDonald's Shamrock Shake ever (seriously, my favorite thing about March). The Easter Bunny came early on Saturday so I could be around for the egg hung. I had call on Sunday (Ken was nice enough to make "Easter Dinner" - bratwursts of course!) and bring it up to me at the hospital so we could all eat together. He even remembered to snap a quick pic of the kids in their Easter get up. Done on 6 am Sunday, worked a shift on Tues and Wednesday, Grandma Barringer got here last night -- and Ken and I are off to Paris this afternoon! In my bag? A list of the best chocolate shops in Paris (thanks, Stacey) and a few good books to read. I'm ecstatic. Hope you all have a great week!

Luke coloring Eggs

Ev showing off her green (sick too, but trying to be cheery)
Ev enjoying chewing on her Easter Basket
Luke showing off the cool frog eggs the bunny filled up

Cute kids (complete with grumpy faces)

Tagged #2

For the final tag of the week:

*What is your name? Kelly (Jean - now officially off my name though) Walton Barringer, Kenneth Wesley Barringer
*How long have you been together? Married for 6 years in August. Crazy! I can't believe it's been 6 years already. Seems like only yesterday, honey (awww)
*How long did you date? Do I have to answer this one? A total of 6 1/2 months. Eeek. I swore I'd never do that. That'll teach me.
*How old are you? Again, do I have to answer that one? I'll have my SECOND 29th birthday this July
*Who eats more? Ken, hands down. Luke regularly out eats me at dinner. But I think I can take him for anything related to dessert (except cookies maybe. He loves cookies)
*Who said I love you first? Ken did, I think. I'd have to do a little research. He remembers that stuff way better than I do.
*Who is taller? Ken, but we're both pretty tall. Which is why we can't figure out how Ev got to be such a peanut.
*Who can sing better? Me. Well, at least in the car or shower. Sorry honey. But he can sing a mean goodnight song. And the kids love it.
*Who is smarter? I think we'd both say the other person. I'm probably (well hopefully at least!) got more medical smarts but he's got me beat on just about everything else. He is the king of random information. And I do mean random. He'll whoop me at Trivial Pursuit any day.
*Who does the laundry? Ken, more than me anyway. Our deal was that I would pay the bills and he'd do the laundry. We both tend to kind of slack on both of these when we get really busy. Which explains why there's usually 6 loads of laundry in my family room floor at anytime.
*Who pays the bills? Me, mostly
*Who sleeps on the right side? I do. We tried to switch it up once and it was too wierd.
*Who mows the lawn? No one? We have these neighbors with absolutely immaculate yards which makes ours look even worse. It doesn't help that we are too busy to do it some weeks. I've done it a few times. Ken does it more. We're thinking of hiring a neighbor kid this summer.
*Who cooks dinner? We both do. When someone cooks. Papa Murphy's does a lot of the cooking in our house.
*Who is more stubborn? Probably me. Mostly because Ken just refuses to argue and tells me I'm right :)
*Who kissed who first? Ken tried first and I shot him down. It was only the second date, come on! I think I actually kissed him later on that night.
*Who asked who out first? Neither -- blind date!
*Who proposed? Ken -- not much of a surprise as we basically already had the wedding date picked out. But it was sweet - in the children's garden at Michigan State, with a fake ring bought at Walmart
*Who has more friends? We're both pretty outgoing people, but I've probably got more friends (at least ones I hang out with on a regular basis) now
*Who is more sensitive? Ken, totally. Hahahahahaha. I'm rolling laughing.
*Who has more siblings? We both have 2.
*Who wears the pants? I think it's pretty equal around here. We're both pretty stubborn. We both like to talk. We both like to be in charge. But we're pretty good about compromise. Like my mom used to say: "The key to a happy marriage is this: whenever we get in a fight, one of us always says 'I'm sorry.' The other one replies, it's okay, Mark." It works pretty well for us, too.

Tagged #1

I've gotten a couple of tags and I 'm finally getting to do one.

Ten years ago:

Wow, I look young. And I wish my hair would still do that!

I was a sophomore at BYU, living in the shabby, cinder-block Elms apartments with Trisha, Kelley, Summer, Sara, and Sara. Probably putting off getting ready for finals or stalking one of our crushes in the apartments.


On my to do list (let's be honest, this generally gets broken down into things that absolutely have to get done or something will fall apart vs everything else that can wait)

Long term:

1. Make it to the end of residency and start a real job
2. Travel -- I'd love to see Asia and tons of places in South America (Macchu Picchu and Patagonia are pretty high up there).
3. Become more proficient in Spanish, especially medical spanish
4. Run another marathon
5. Be more consistent with daily scripture reading, better personal prayers.

Everyday goals:
1. Today? Getting out of my PJs would be a start
2. Make dinner when I'm home (and try to learn to be a better cook)
3. Keep the house clean
4. Get all of my paperwork done -- liscensing application, loan deferrment, chart reviews, etc, etc 5. Try to do some fun activity with Luke and Evie


5 places that I've lived: Provo, Utah; Memphis, TN; St. Louis, MO; Midland, MI (all as kids); New York City, NY; East Lansing, MI; Clarkston, MI; Rochester, MN; St. Paul, MN


5 jobs I have had:
Waitress for popular Mexican Restaurant in Provo, UT (okay, Los Hermanos. I know half of you worked there too!); Organic Chemistry Lab TA at BYU; Sales Associate at the Banana Republic in Grand Central Station in NYC; Anatomy lab TA in med school; Emergency Medicine Resident


What I would do if I became a billionaire:

Get totally out of debt, build our dream house (complete with my own walk-in-closet to support the shoes and purses I'm sure I'd acquire), buy Ken the pimped-out truck I've been promising him since I started residency, go on fabulous trips with my hubby (and some with the kids too), pay off our families' debts, become philanthropists (one of Ken's big dreams), let Ken start his own business.

Bad habits: I hate to floss. I don't wash my face before bed. I totally snack while I cook dinner. I won't eat margarine -- only real butter here. I love french fries dipped in a rance/hot sauce combo from the cafeteria at work. I totally skip words and/or pages when Luke picks out a really long bedtime story.

Things I enjoy: Doing anything outside -- I love running (even outside all winter), hiking, backpacking, biking. Travel, great restaurants, eating out or playing games with friends. Medicine -- there's nothing better than a really good shift with great coworkers, a few really sick people you fix and a bunch of others with interesting stories who feel better when they leave, and knowing you learned something new at the end of the day. Spending time with my family and watching my kids laugh and learn things. Scrapbooking and anything else that lets me be creative. Shopping (of course).

Things people don't know about me: I played hockey in highschool and have a secret wish that Luke will play for the Red Wings. I love early 90s rap. I once drove 12 hours to Atlanta for the Sweet 16 games at Michigan state and arrived back at school 60 minutes before our Anatomy final.

People I am tagging: Leanne, Kim A. Consider yourself tagged if you're reading this (and want to do it). But don't think you have to add another thing onto your to-do-list (if yours is anything like mine it simply can't handle it!).

Happy Things

It's been a really, really busy week. But here are my list of things that make me smile:

1. Luke's second week of ice skating went just as well. He was even able to stand up all on his own and push the skating bar across the ice. The best part? The smile on his face and the great attitude he has.

2. The fact that it's been mid 40s and sunny here for most of the week. Yay! I even snuck in a 4 mile run during my lunch break from conference at work yesterday. Which I ran in the sun which my jacket off (my cheeks are even a little pink today). And I made it just over an 8 minute pace.

3. Evie has mastered a couple of baby signs (milk and please). And she even says "tisses" which I think means kisses. Plus she's now been pulling herself to standing (mostly when we're not looking).

4. Only 4 more calls left in the SICU. 'Nuff said.

5. Ken and I leave for Paris in just under 2 weeks. I swear I'll never complain about him travelling again :)

Obsessed

Has anyone else discovered this series?

Thanks to Stacey for lending me her copy of all 3 of the books (which I've just about finished over the last, oh, 6 days, despite being on my 60th hour of work this week). I'm seriously in love. Basic story? Nice, normal girl meets beautiful (okay, hot) boy who turns out to be a vampire and basically they fall in love while he tries not to kill her himself or let anyone else kill her. Yes, it sounds silly and very teenage. But they are seriously great. And addictive. And, as they're written by an LDS woman from Arizona, very clean. I'm not a teenage-vampire-romance sort of reader usually -- but if you need a great serious to keep you occupied for a while, check them out. I'm hoping it will be a slow night at work here tonight so I can finish off the third one.

And, evidently, there's quite an obsession:

A movie coming out soon (with a great cast full of eye-candy)

A website of married moms who are obsessed with the movie (even visiting the set up in oregon to find the actors).

Plus about a million you tube videos and random fan websites. Check out the author's website at this link.

Smile!

It's getting to the point of winter that makes me crabby. I'm sick of being indoors. The kids are sick of being indoors. Everyone is crabby. So, to counter act all of the crabbiness I think I'll start a weekly list of things that make me smile.

Here's this week's:

1. Luke's skating lessons -- he started "hockey class" last night. AKA "lots of 4 year olds trying to just stand up on their teeny tiny skates." He spent the ENTIRE class being dragged around the ice by a cute teacher holding him up by his armpits. But he didn't cry. And he didn't whine. And he LOVED it. The best part? When she told him he was a "good skater." He's been talking about it ever since.

2. Evie's squinty-eyed, chubby-cheeked, toothy smile she's just started doing (see above picture).

3. Cadbury mini eggs and M&Ms peanut butter eggs. Lalalalove.

4. Macy's boots sale - 75% off! And I didn't buy any (that one's for you, honey).

5. The fact that Ken and I leave for 5 days in Paris -- sans kiddos -- in just under 4 weeks. Granted I have to make it through 3 weeks in the SICU (surgical ICU -- horrible, horrible schedule) first. But it's still making me smile.

I feel better already.