Annual Ortho Picnic.

This last Saturday was our annual Orthopedic Residency Picnic. It's our way of kicking off the new year and welcoming in the new interns. Crazy to think that was us being welcomed in 2 years ago! Wow, how time flies! 

Our events are consistently accompanied by delicious food and drinks of course. What's a gathering without good eats? This time there was delicious southern bbq, slaw & baked beans to be had (and plenty of leftovers to take home! This woman was happy...equals nights of no cooking for me!), plenty of desserts, and yummy sides. 

This year there weren't quite as many kids as usual. Many of them ended up not coming for various reasons (e.g., sick, parents at home to babysit, guests in town....). The vibe was truly different without them, but still a good time. 

Finnley made a special appearance of course, and Dad did not....he was slammed on call all weekend! Actually, I'm wrong, he got there right after we left! Finn was ready to head home at that point.

They match pretty well, huh?

The new intern wives..mostly. Anna on the far left and Diana on the far right. She's an OB/GYN resident as well. Busy household they'll have! That's the Miller family in the middle.

Lauren, Jenny & Jessie

It's not a real Ortho event without corn hole!

Three picnics down, maybe 2-3 more to go! It depends on if we stick around long enough after graduation. We'll see! That's a long ways away. 

lauren

A Third Year.

I failed to mention earlier this week & to send out a big congratulations to my darling husband on finishing his second year of residency and starting his third! This is such a huge milestone for a few reasons: First of all, 2nd year is the toughest of them all. Lyle took in house call all year every other weekend and 1-2 nights per work week. This meant that he had to stay at the hospital throughout his call shift and suffer lack of sleep (and many nights alone for this lady). He was a busy man that survived on little fuel. Second, starting 3rd year now he gets to take call from home and only go into the hospital if needed and only take call one weekend a month. Huge life changer! Hopefully he'll get some more zzz's. Last, and I'm probably missing others, Lyle is almost halfway through with residency. Creeping up to "BMOC" (Big Man On Campus). Crazy, huh? Come January we can say we are halfway done. 

Monday night all the new 3rd years went out to dinner together for the first time in over a year to celebrate. We all deserved it!

Congratulations Hunz. I'm so proud of your hard work and dedication to your career while still managing to be an amazing husband & new dad. Keep it up. We love you.

lauren & finn

Party a Success!

Last night the big Cook Out happened....and it was great! Everyone came and helped with food and drinks and such. We had very few leftovers, which is a good thing. Lyle and I despise wasting food. I made this really delicious potato salad. I'm not a huge fan of most potato salads, but this one is very light and simple. I make it with nonfat sour cream and last night used rosemary from our garden instead of chives. I've made the entire plate before with the shrimp and asparagus, and it's very good. You should try it. It's another Real Simple recipe.

Grilled Shrimp With Lemony Potato Salad

The kids were great! It was so fun having them around. There was only one incident:( Evie fell and scraped her fingers up. Poor thing. Lyle and I need to do a better job trying to kid proof the house. Then I won't be such a nervous wreck when they come over. But overall it was a wonderful gathering with old and new friends. The new intern class is a great addition to the Greenville Ortho Family.

The kids: Liviella, Jeremiah, and Evie.

The pool was a hit. Most of the toys ended

up thrown against the fence; that was part of the game!

Livie loves her bottles. Don't worry, it was empty.

Today I think I'm going to take a run, then dash up to Charlotte for a bit. But other than that a break from projects for the day before the holiday weekend bash. Until next time.

Lauren