Leaving

Alright, so a catch up on the Bodekers. I promise to get better at updating the blog this year. I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but I think this should be one for me.

We had a very wonderful trip back to Texas for Christmas. Thankfully it was not as eventful as last year's trip. We made it there and back without any weather issues. We surprised both of Travis's grandmothers who did not know we would be making it. Travis's new nickname is "the scoundrel" as dictated to him by his grandma. Everyone should feel free to use this name at anytime. My family came up to Lancaster to see us on Christmas Eve day, and we had a great time eating, visiting and opening presents. Each day brought more family members, some of whom I had not meet yet. Here are a couple of pictures with the grandmothers, along side Travis's brother Cody and his wife, and a few of the cousins.





Travis started his first clinical externship this month. He was at the Westside VA in downtown Chicago. He had to be there at 7:00 each morning which meant he would wake up at 4:30 each morning. Luckily, there were 3 other classmates there with him; so they would carpool each day. He has had the opportunity to sit in and help out a little in a couple of surgeries. I believe he said he has seen over 100 patients at this one hospital. He has had a wonderful experience her and truly enjoyed everyone at the facility.

Tomorrow Travis leaves for his next 4 rotations and will be gone from February through May. We are both not looking forward to this time apart. Travis will be driving to Greeley, Colorado. I would ask that everyone please keep him in your prayers. I am hopefully planning to visit him in April while he is in Texas. I will be in the process of finding little hobbies to keep me busy throughout the next four months. It might be time to pick up my knitting and scrap booking again.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Once again I have fallen off the blog-wagon. I apologize to everyone who still reads this blog. I especially apologize to my friend, Kristi, who I told I would have a new post after Thanksgiving. So I have about 3 months of catching up to do. This might be a lengthy blog. And you know how much I love to use the bullet points for long update posts, so here goes...

* We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving. We had a small group gather at our place. Chris (Travis's classmate who has been living with us since June) and his fiance, Jasia, and her little girl, Chloe, came up, as well as another classmate named Luke. Jasia made pumpkin pies from scratch! I was so impressed. All I've ever known is pumpkin from the can. Travis made a fabulous, melt-in-your mouth turkey. The day was filled with movies and Disney Scene-It, which Chloe really enjoyed.

* I have not pulled out all of the Christmas decorations this year. I have a few token items, mainly things my mom sent me in a care package. Our new apartment is set up in a way that our Christmas tree will not fit without causing major maneuvering issues. Because I could not stand the idea of tree-less living room, I made a make-shift Christmas tree:



* For the last few months the weather has been pretty mild, but all that changed a couple of weeks ago. We had our first snow last Saturday. You do not know the horrors of Christmas shopping until you have shopped while it is snowing. I called it quits after only a couple of hours. I don't know how people live daily lives in this stuff! Today it has been snowing pretty much all day with wind gusts of 40 mph. And because there was a nice layer of non-plowed snow Travis, Chris and I indulged in some much needed parking lot doughnuts. Here are a couple pictures from our patio. Sorry they are not very scenic...I was all about staying warm.





* Work has been rather intense lately. Fall is a very busy time. I have been dealing with applications coming in, coordinating the interview days, preparing committee meetings, sending out acceptances letters and everything else in between. December 1st was our deadline for applications. Deadline time is when we receive large amounts of mail. On one day alone we received over 250 applications. The past two weeks have been rather crazy around the office, but now that receiving applications are done, we can devout time to all the other tasks that need to be complete.

* Because we have been understaffed, a few of us have been helping out with the recruiting events. I helped out with 3 different events. In early October I went to an event at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago). At the end of October I accompanied my boss to an event in Normal, IL at the Illinois State University campus. My final event was at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. All three of these events were great opportunities. I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with all of the prospective applicants.

* Travis has been doing well. He really enjoys his third year, mainly for the fact that he has more down time. This week is his last week of his capstone classes. Since June he has been involved with 6 week classes on devoted to different medical fields. He has completed Radiology, Orthopedics, Surgery, and this week he will be done with General Medicine. He will have two weeks off and then he will begin his month long rotations. He has mandatory rotations in the Chicago Area and then he has 8 electives. The schedule is fairly ok with the exception of this spring when he will be gone from February to the end of May. Once we get past that hurtle, he will only be gone for periods of 1 or 2 months.

* Here is Travis's schedule for the next year and a half:

January--West Side VA in Chicago
February--Greenly, Colorado
March--Greenville, Texas
April--Houston, Texas
May--Southbend, Indiana
June--Chicago Area (internal medicine)
July--Temple, Texas (Scott and White)
August--San Antonio, Texas
September--Chicago Area (emergency medicine)
October--Chicago Area (Stoger Hospital of Cook County)
November--Ft. Worth, Texas (John Peter Smith)
December--Chicago Area (Stroger Hospital of Cook County)
January--CRIPS (CRIPS is the interview process for residency. He will be in Texas for this.)
February--Chicago Area (Mt. Sinai Hospital)
March--North Chicago VA
April--Vacation Month
May--Chicago Area
June 2012--Graduation!

Cubs Game

Last Saturday, Travis and I went with some friends to our first Cubs game. We had been to Wrigleyville before and seen the outside of the stadium. But it's not official until you sit in the stands, heckle the players and eat a hot dog. The day we went was actually pretty cool. It was in the mid 60's and the wind was blowing. I had jeans and a jacket on, and I was still cold at times. We were able to get cheap tickets...probably because the Cubs have not been doing so well this season. (Go Rangers!)

Perhaps we brought along a little Texas luck because they won this game against the NY Mets. Here are a few pictures:

Wrigleyville is set up to where surrounding buildings have rooftop bleachers. In this picture the stadium is on the left.




From the stadium you could see Lake Michigan:


Here is our motley crew. Chris, Travis's classmate who lives with us on the weekdays; Jasia, Chris's fiance; Chloe, Jasia's daughter; and Kristen, another podiatry classmate.


Proof that he was actually there!


Cubs Win: 5-3! Apparently the Cubs have their own song for when they win. The words were flashed on the screen and almost everyone was singing along.


This is probably my favorite picture from the trip. Please note the "radioactive" relish on the hot dog. Chicago likes to add green food coloring to the relish.


3 sports events down (Bulls, Black Hawks, Cubs); One to go (Bears).

The New Apartment

So I have had these pictures in my camera since last weekend and have been meaning to upload them to the blog. Work got a little busy this week and many evenings were spent completing some stuff to stay ahead. But still, no excuse. Here are some photos of each of the rooms. Perhaps soon I can put up a video of a tour of the apartment to help but everything in perspective.


Large, spacious kitchen




One view of the dining room/living room




This is our lovely patio that we have been taking full advantage of. The table, chairs and grill are on loan from a 4th year podiatry student. The tomato plant was given to us by another podiatry student.


This is the guest room/office and from now until January it is known as Chris's room, Travis's classmate who stays with us on the weekdays.




Our super, big room. The picture does not do it justice--it just keeps going!

The Official Letter

Below is a picture of Travis's official letter about his board scores. Sorry it's a little fuzzy. I edited as best I could.



We are all moved into our new apartment. I should be able to put some pictures up soon. I am truly loving all the space we have in the kitchen. You don't realize how important a pantry is until you go two years without one. We have already grilled 3 times on our patio. Pictures to come soon along with updates on Travis's upcoming traveling schedule.

The Beginning of August

As August begins, we are enjoying the 70's/80's weather, although we feel for all our friends and family in Texas who are melting in 100's. Here are a few things that have been going on:

* The big and most important news is that Travis passed the boards!!! He has not received his official letter yet, but his Dean informed him, as well as his other classmates, once she received the scores. This is a major weight lifted off of him.

* This Saturday we are moving...to the first floor of our same apartment building. It's not a big move, but it's still a move. The new apartment will be bigger, especially in the kitchen. We will actually get to use our kitchen table as a table instead of a counter top for appliances. No more eating on the floor! We will also have a nice patio area. The person who lived in the apartment before us, a podiatry student, is leaving us his grill and his tiki torches. Party at the Bodekers!

* Work is crazy right now! Next week is Orientation Week for the school and I am doing my best to keep the class at the projected numbers, although the students keep withdrawing. While doing this I am also working on keeping the applicant cycle rocking and rolling for the class of 2011. Also our receptionist's last day was today, so we have been training a temp. It's super busy, but I am still enjoying it. I can't wait to have the students on campus next week and see familiar faces.

Beard Til Boards

Back in February I mentioned that Travis was growing a beard until his Boards test in July. We soon learned how fast his beard grows. Thankfully, he did trim the beard during those 5 months. I'm pretty sure if he had let it run wild he would look like an Irish ZZ Top member. The evening after the test Travis began the shaving process and I took pictures!

The crazy, thick beard.


I'm sure this style has a name, but I'm not up to par with my male facial hair lingo.


The Mutton Chops--kickin' it like it's 1836!


Baby Face--It had been so long I didn't recognize him!