ZOMBIES!

[BEWARE: PHOTO HEAVY!!!]

The past few years we've made it a tradition to have friends join us in Phoenix around Halloween for some scary movies and haunted houses - there are a ton of them up here. And by 'we' I mean everyone else because I don't do haunted houses (and I only do the scary movies with the lights on). What can I say.....Halloween can be fun but the super scary stuff just isn't really my shtick. So last year when everyone came up we decided to hit up the downtown Phoenix Zombie Walk. We had a great time and everyone talked about joining in next year.

So this year, we did! Well, again...they did. I know I sound like a party pooper but I didn't feel like getting all made up and someone had to document the fantastic-ness. My sister, her fiancé, Christian's brother, and our friends Clinton and Courtney made up our troop. 

Transformations:

 

Christian decided to just zomb-ify his Halloween costume. World, meet zombie Lloyd Dobler. Unlike at the Halloween party we went to last night, his costume was a huge hit....mainly with the 30-50 year old crowd but a hit nonetheless. He even got videotaped by the news. :)

 

We had a great time. Clinton, Courtney, and I tailed along and took photos where we could. Christian got stopped by people for photos a lot. Then we went to Z Pizza for some chow and ice cream next door. The boys went for the chocolate covered bacon for the first time. They're not sure if they liked it or not. :)

 

 

They're all at the haunted house now then it's Paranormal Activity 3 when they get home. I miiiight just get sleepy and hit the sack when that goes down....

Hope everyone is enjoying their Halloween weekend. We sure are!

Love,

Ash and Vies (she hates wearing it but she'll let us drape it over her)

PS - Hi Dad! Happy Halloween! Enjoy dressing up like a pilot. We miss you. :)

Monthly update time!

How sad is that?! Well, I suppose it happens when you're a husband/wife grad student team. I'm exhausted just thinking about the last month, as I'm sure Christian is as well.

A few fantastic things:

• No more surgery! Christian took that Surgical shelf (no score back yet but I'm sure he destroyed it) and said farewell to our least favorite (so far) rotation of clerkships. He is now weeks into his internal medicine rotation and might I say I much prefer this one. Chris is learning a lot and rocking it out, as usual. I'm so constantly proud of him. 

• Two of my oldest friends got married! And to each other, no less! Megan and Kyle and I all had classes together from Freshman year of high school and Megan and I were lucky enough to get into nursing school at the U of A at the same time! They got married in Oceanside for my very first beach wedding experience and it was beyond fantastic. And to top it all off, I got to enjoy some time more old friends from middle school (hi Sam!), high school, and nursing school. I had a wonderful time...the only thing that would've made it better was if my husband had been been able to join me. 

  

• We're halfway through my semester! Semesters are an odd way to describe each "term" I complete for school because we don't typically get breaks between terms so they keep going and going, meaning they start and end at odd times of the year. Somehow they caught up to normal school-like schedule so I'll finish this semester the middle of December and get the holidays off! This is unlike last year when the semester started in November and rocked right on through the holidays (which was miserable).

• I am enjoying my clinicals. So much. Every day I'm in the clinic I feel like I do a little better. I've started inserting IUDs (one of my first "big-girl procedures") and am enjoying seeing patients more than ever.

Breastfeeding PSA poster at my Indian Health Services clinic.

• The weather is feeling more and more like fall every day! (And then less and less like fall for a few days, then more and more like fall again - typical Arizona). Christian has had the yard done for Halloween since the week after his birthday, although it is still a constant work in progress - the neighbors just got their stuff up a few days ago and he has a list of things he needs to add to our yard now. 

We are basically plugging right along. This is always a nutty time of year for us (and everyone else). Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in as much fun as possible while maintaining our super grown-up responsibilities. Our aspiration in life.

Happy fall to all of you.

XO,

Ash, Chris, and Vies