My brother, the DOCTOR!!!

So Jon and I are in the running for the "Expert Road Trippers Award". I think by the end of 2010 we will have driven through 32 of the 48 continental states... that's not bad! It's borderline INSANITY but, that's what we're good at :) So my older brother Danny graduated from medical school! Wa-hoo! Big deal, right? 

SOOO we decided to drive up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.... all the way from Mississippi. 

Here we go!

First stop- Memphis!

We were too cheap to actually buy a tour to go inside... so we peered over the fence and saw this...

Yeah you can't really see his house. But oh well! The wall was pretty darn cool- everyone has signed it!

And at the Gates of Graceland :)

Back on the road again...

We found these guys in St. Louis! My cousin Scott and his wife Crystal!

They were kind enough to let us stay at their place... we did, however, fail to buy a pump for our air mattress. Turns out that a hair dryer works, too! (Jon doesn't look too enthused...)

Next morning- the Arch!

The song "Meet Me in St. Lou-ee, Lou-ee" was stuck in my head ALL morning!

We wanted to ride up... but they were sold out of tickets. Poo.

But check out the Mississippi River! A little flooded, huh? The parking lot and street were covered!

Scott, being Scott, and pretending to jump into the river :)

On the road again...

And finally to.... WISCONSIN!!!

Ok now the fun really begins ;)

Danny showed us all around town... we had AMAZING burgers at Sobelman's... he took us down to Lake Michigan...

And of course- GRADUATION DAY was the MAIN event!

This blasted hood was so confusing. It took the whole family to get it on him!

Ah, the whole fam at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Well... minus Loren... he's still on his mission in Fiji...

The proud parents

Rachel... the wanna-be graduate

The ceremony was actually downtown at the Milwaukee Theatre... very nice!... And cushy seats, too!

He's official now!

We celebrated that evening with a good ol' Friday Night Wisconsin Fish Fry! It was good! 

(It was also 104,890 calories... but we don't think about that...)

Big arcade upstairs of restaurant= tons of fun. Emily killed Danny in the motorcycle races :)

Next morning- delicious breakfast in Emily's backyard... 

AKA- The Velvet Lounge

AND a tour of the local brewery, Spreckers!

Mary was sure having a good time!

Brought me back to those days of watching "Strange Brew" with my high school friends :)

And yes, they DID give out free samples!

Free samples of root beer! Cheers! 

And then sadly, Jon and I had to take off due to an impending surgery... but we sure did have fun in Milwaukee! Thanks Danny and Emily for being such great hosts and hostesses!

And for the delicious Wisconsin CHEESE!!

Sisters...

I love, love, love these girls.

We have WAY too much fun together :)

I love you Mary, Jay and Roni!

The Death of Bertha... and her friend.

It's over! Hallelujah! Surgery was yesterday... not to be a pessimist, but I found everything about it to be awful. We were told to arrive at 8:00 am... but they didn't call us back until 9:20. This wasn't exactly the best thing for my nerves!

They finally took us back, and everything began. My lovely hospital gown...

The IV...

The tears... I hate needles.
I think that they should have just knocked me out with anesthesia right then, kuz the anticipation was just killer! It wasn't until 10:30 until they wheeled me down into OR holding.
Talks with the anesthesiologist, talks with my 100th nurse for the day, talks with the doctor, talks with another doctor, talks with another nurse, talks with the anesthesiologist's assistant. Can't you just knock me out already? I would rather NOT see the operating room :(
Oh well.... the last thing I remember is coughing my guts out whilst the anesthesiologist put some type of mask over my face.
Then I woke up!  I don't ever remember being so cold and in so much pain in my whole life. I couldn't control the shivering.
Thank goodness for nurses and pain killers.
Also, thanks goodness for Jon. I couldn't have done it without him.
Yes, we did name the cyst. She was Bertha- and I'm so happy to say that she is GONE! Come to find that she had another friend, too. Good riddance!

I actually slept pretty well last night... poor Jon was out on the couch. He was afraid he'd hurt me by moving around in the bed. He's such a trooper. Setting his alarm every four hours to give me food and pain meds... he's the best.
Now onto Day 2.
I already feel so much better than yesterday. I apologize right now if I blog too much this week. I just don't have much else to do except lie in bed! Ha!
But thank you for everyone's prayers and support. We couldn't have done it without you.

Whirlwind!

Sometimes in life... it seems that nothing ever changes. And you get kind of bored. But you're content. OTHER times in life- it seems that EVERYTHING is changing at ONCE and you're flying by the seat of your pants!

Well, this week has been one of those- and it's not stoppin!

Jon moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi last Saturday. Yep- we're back. I had to stay behind for my students dress rehearsals AND... a pre-op appointment.

After talking with my Dr. we decided to postpone the surgery until Monday. The main reason being that my older brother, Danny, graduates from med school on Friday and I REALLY wanna be there! He's worth it, yanno?

But thank you for all of your prayers and support. I know everything will work out.

So, I drove to Mississippi LAST night... we're here for ONE more day.

(Check out those rain clouds, huh? Pretty crazy rainstorms on the way over)

And then tomorrow we drive to Milwaukee! Hahaha I think we're gonna make it to all 48 states by the end of the year ;)

But here is Mississippi! It sure does feel good to be back. The pace of life is so much slower....

Welcome to our tiny little place... it was all furnished- so we only had to bring a few things!

Future Dr. Jon

So Jon is one step closer to becoming Dr. Brame. He took his "Qualifying Exams" last week (on my birthday... grumble grumble) but he did well! 

There are six professors in his department... and they each wrote a test on their subject matter. 

He picked four of the six, and had to take them all in four hours.

After that- a three hour test from his mentor.

Next day- an Oral Exam. Pretty much the professors go over what he missed on the written test- and grill him on what he doesn't know. Kind of intimidating, yes!

But he passed (thank goodness!) and now I have a less stressed husband.... AND he even gets a pay raise! Woo-hoo!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yeah, yeah I had a birthday. My little sisters have already informed that I'm an old fart/old lady. They're so sweet :) But yes- it was the big 25. When I was little... I really imagined myself having at least one kid by this point... but alas.. not any yet! It's in fact quite the opposite- I found out today that I get to have a tumor removed that's found a home on my left ovary. Joy.

But back to my birthday!! 

It all started Sunday when I thought we were just eating dinner at a friends house- BUT after dinner, out came cupcakes and presents! They had sneakily turned our dinner party into a birthday party. I love it when birthdays last all week.

Wednesday rolled around and I had to work and Jon had to take a huge test (that pretty much determined whether he is competent to be a PhD student or not! Kind of a big deal...) so it was kinda low key....but at least Jon wasn't in CHINA and there WERE presents! Jon wrapped them by throwing blankets over them.. a very nice touch.

It's a jewelry box! The biggest jewelry box ever! Just what I needed!

What's under this blanket?

A card from Jon's fam!

Wait, the jewelry box was from Jon's family! Sooo... what did you get me Jon?

Behold blanket number 3... 

I found an envelope... that was addressed from Apple... this is me giving Jon the "You didn't!" face...

But where IS the Apple merchandise? Is it behind the couch?

Under the bed?

In the closet?

C'mon! In a one bedroom apartment there aren't THAT many hiding places!

Oh wait... in the bathroom?

In the bathroom closet! Behind the pillows!

This is one happy girl!

I've been waiting my WHOLE life for this moment!

Wow, sooooo cool.

My cute husband made us dinner (kuz the Macbook broke the bank!)... while I played around on the new toy and watched American Idol.

Behold our playing...

And later that day I received a box from MY fam! 

Thanks so much!

Now onto bigger things... like having surgery.... Ugh.