Down Yonder

Yep, my southern accent and roots are coming back all to easily. It's fun to hear people around here talk with their southern accent because I remember when mine used to be pretty thick. I continually tease Josh that are kids are going to talk like that so he better not laugh too hard at some of these southerners.

Memphis has been an adjustment for us. I feel like things are going well since I've made some friends and am getting oriented to the area without the mountains and the ocean to be my constant guides. Noah and Eli are growing so fast. Noah is talking in sentences now and Eli can roll over and over. They love to be by each other and are becoming fast friends. They actually share the same room for now. Hopefully not for long once we move so we can all get some sleep around here. Which brings me to our most exciting news...we had an offer accepted on a house! Yep, we are buying or very first home if all goes well. I have been so excited to decorate and make it our own which hasn't been easy with our budget. But, it is always fun to look and dream. Yardsales are big out here. People are hard core about it too! People map out where they will go and get up at 5am to start shopping. It is crazy. Since people love to shop yardsales, the sellers want full prices for things. It is pretty ridiculous. So, I haven't been able to even buy things at yardsales. I suppose we will be able to put our house together eventually. We do have 5 years here :)

Well, I need to go but just wanted to say hi to yall and give you a little update on us. We can't wait to get settled and start the memphis dream.

Olympics

So I've been watching the Olympics and talking with people and I've come to the conclusion that there are some seriously lame "sports" out there. There should be an "almost-Olympics" to accomodate these "athletes". My top three...

3. Rythmic Gymnastics- ok so I have never actually sat and watched this, but I've seen pictures. I struggle to call anything that involves twirling around with a long string a sport. Seriously...

2. Speed walking- These guys just look plain goofy. The whole time I saw this I was thinking- just run you idiot, run! This is the equivalent of having a contest of who can whisper the loudest. I think the only time this "sport" would come in handy is if you are on one side of a Super Walmart and suddenly realize you got to get to the bathrooms on the other side really quick.

1. Trampoline- Wow, when did this become a sport!?! This is every 10-12 year olds shot at an Olympic medal. I am just wondering when they will add "popcorn" (you know the game where you sit indian style and the person in the middle tries to bounce you so hard you let go) to the Olympic repetoire. When it does, I'll be ready...

An intro into our wonderful world in Memphis

It is 4:29am and things are finally slowing down in the ER tonight so I figured now would be as good a time as any to start writing our blog. Besides I figure that being a little tired will improve the entertainment value.

I guess for starters, if you haven't heard, I finally graduated. I know it seems amazing. In fact I am sure some of you probably thought I had graduated years ago like most normal people, but in fact, I hadn't...until June. I actually had finished all my business school work and medical school rotations by the end of april so after an amazing surf weekend up at a beach house in Ventura, we headed to Utah to spend a month with family. Then in June we made the long treck out to Memphis, Tennesse where I was starting an Orthopaedic Surgery residency at the Campbell Clinic.

For those who have never had the pleasure of driving through Nebraska or Kansas with two kids under the age of 2, let me simply say you are missing out. That will most certainly be a trip I won't soon forget.

We have now been in Memphis for a couple months. I am not sure what else to say about that. It has been...interesting. Val tells me it get really hot. For me it is almost always 70 degrees with a whiteish-flourescence (like it is right now).

We have been living in an apartment while we have been house hunting. It is a fairly spacious 2 bedroom apartment, but then I think anything would seem spacious after living with 2 kids in a 1 bedroom, 800sq foot place.

The definite upside of Memphis is that we can actually afford a house. In fact we could pay cash for some of the houses here. Of course there are definite drawbacks to those houses- like getting shot at every morning as you got in your car that had been broken into again. I am not sure I am quite ready to join the Memphis Knife and Gun Club so, we decided to suck it up and take out a loan to live in a "safe" area (which means not actually living in Memphis, or anywhere near Memphis). After putting several offers on houses and always getting out bid, we found out Friday that the latest house we put an offer was accepted. We are now in the process of signing the contract and getting the ball rolling to closing on the house. Yes, I am nearly a home owner.

The house is about 2700 sq ft and has 5 bedrooms/3 baths on a 1/3 acre. It is a foreclosure so we are getting a pretty good deal on the place and it is actually in fairly good condition. I guess I should send a thank you to Countrywide and all of those other shady mortgage companies. It is only about 5 minutes away from one of the private clinics I will work at alot over the next 58 1/2 months (not that I am counting). We have some big plans, particularly for the backyard and I must admit I am excited to go to work on it. The neighborhood is nice and it is right down the street from our church. All in all we feel pretty good about it. Hopefully everything will go through without any problems.

Well I need to wrap this up so I can go save lives... or just give some fluids to your run of the mill crackhead/drunk. Yes, I am living the dream!