After a few days in Washington, D.C., it was time to hit the road and head to Pennsylvania!  Stuart had been to Philly before and I had never been to Maryland, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia - all the states we drove through to get there.  Stuart likely got tired of me getting thrilled over the picturesque sights we passed and yelling out, "Oh wow!  Look at that!  Oh!".  I just can't get over how beautiful this part of our country is!  Virginia is wonderful, but I really loved how all the towns were layed out in MD and PA.  You'd drive around a corner on the interstate and then suddenly below you would be a valley filled with houses!  Lovely!  Of course, iPhone pictures through a Prius window are not ideal, but here's a few quick snaps of the drive.

I must live on a farm one day.

Rolling hills!

Before getting too far down the road we stopped at a convenient outlet mall and conquered our Christmas shopping for the year!  A week before Thanksgiving!  Score!  All that shopping made us hungry, though, and so once we reached Cumberland, MD we stopped for a late lunch at Curtis' Famous Wieners   You guessed it - their hot dogs are famous!  We feasted on 4 dogs between the two of us, a plate of fries, a cherry coke, and a vanilla coke.  I think the total cost was about $7.  Of course it's a hole-in-the-wall place, interestingly run by a guy who looks a little punk-rockish, and his wife who wears scrubs.  But man those wieners sure were tasty!  Mustard, chili and onion is all you need!

Caught him off guard there =)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Shot of the store-front

Shortly after we left, we passed this white stuff on the sides of the mountains around us.  What is that stuff?!

Once in Pittsburgh, the most important task was finding Stuart a place to live.  He had picked out a couple places to visit, but first we found where he would be working so we could map out the driving distance.  Apparently living 45 minutes from work when we were in Daphne got kind of old???  So he wanted to make sure he found a close place.

Where gas-making happens. Kind of.  The paper-work part at least.

After two days of hunting we found the right one!  It's a really nice place with a fire-place and garage (important for those frigid winters), and it's only about 10 minutes from work!

And how else would we celebrate, but with ice cream?!?

What a handsome guy I'm married to  =)

Once we accomplished our mission of finding a place for Stu, we got to experience some fun Pittsburgh activities!  Turns out it's a pretty ginormous city (at least compared to where we've been before).  Stu lives in a "suburb", if you will, and the actual city is about 20 minutes away.  There's lots of little neighborhoods that all have their own character.  The main one we explored is Squirrel Hill, a large Orthodox Jewish community with delicious ethnic foods.  Not sure of the connections there?  We also went downtown to a brewery Stuart wanted to visit, rode the "incline" to see the skyline, and explored Stu's suburb of Moon Township/Coraopolis and watched Lincoln!

Korean food in Squirrel Hill.  We had Bibimbap with a seafood pancake, and even tried some Soju (like sake).  It was all delicious and the waiter was so nice to explain everything we were eating!

"They're chocolate, they're mint, they're delicious!"  At Lincoln.  I predict it will be up for best picture!

Pierogi.  We had never heard of these but there were signs for them all over town.  It's definitely a "Yankee" food, and super popular in Pittsburgh.  It's basically a dumpling stuffed with various and sundry things - traditionally potatoes - and served in a buttery sauce with sour cream.  They were okay - definitely not the most exciting thing I've ever eaten.

This was the brewery Stu wanted to visit, and where we had the Pierogies.  It's called Church-Works Brewery and used to be, you guessed it, a church!  It apparently closed down and the building was going to be destroyed until these people saved the historic place.  Good food, and it felt a little strange having a beer in an old church. 

In addition, we experienced some terribly terrific P-burgh traffic.  Apparently the night we chose to go down-town was also the night they had their Christmas lights festival.  Poor planning on my part!

BUT this view was worth it!  We rode the "incline" (look it up - interesting stuff!) to the top of the Mount Washington neighborhood.  Other than Stuart having to exchange a $20 bill for exact fare in quarters, it was a really enjoyable experience. A bit cold and windy!   Especially since it took me like an hour to get a decent picture without a tripod.

The big bright spot is the Steelers stadium

In the incline on the way back down.  This is what my face looks like when it's frozen in place from 20 degree winds!

We had a great trip, and I'll be excited to go back and explore the city more with Stu!

Vacay part III

Since I have a lot of blogs to catch up on, we'll keep this one brief.  A story in pictures!

We toured the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and watched money being made.  It was pretty neat, though our tour guide made a lot of cheesy jokes.

Obviously no trip to DC would be complete without at least a short walk on the Mall.  We passed the Washington Monument and got a good view of the Capitol on our way to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

I've already forgotten what this building is (!), but it's mine and Stuart's favorite.  A couple shots to follow ...

I was hoping to catch a peek of Barack, but no such luck!

This is Michelle's garden!  Gosh I just love that lady!

This afternoon was concluded with lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Zaytinya.  It's a Turkish/Greek/Lebanese restaurant and Stuart was a bit suspicious.  He was won over after the meal though!  Here's dessert ... 

Vacay part 2

After spending a few days in Charlottesville, Stu and I drove 2 hours to his favorite city - Washington D.C.  I'm sure most of you  know, but Stuart actually lived there for about 6 months doing "fun" political stuff.  He wants us to wind up living there one day ... and I don't think I'd mind too much as long as I can have a yard in the 'burbs.  We'll see what God has in store!

As I am a compulsive planner, I had our 2 day stay mapped out weeks before hand.  Unfortunately I tried to pack a bit too much into 48 hours and so we didn't get to do everything we wanted to.  But I'm sure we'll be back another day!

Day 1 - we drove into town and checked in at our hotel.  Stuart was immediately upset because he realized we were staying at the same hotel as a Teamsters convention.  Bring on the first political convo of the trip as I am pro-union and he is against  =)  As a side note, most of the Teamsters looked like they could have walked off the set of The Sopranos.  Stuart's angst didn't last long though, because when we walked up to the desk we were greeted as "Hilton Gold Members".  At first we didn't know what that means, but apparently when you both have traveled about a million miles in the past year and stayed at as many hotels as we've had to, you rack up reward points!  Basically now we can get fancy room upgrades and the thing Stuart is most excited about?  Free Diet Coke in the "members' lounge"!  Haha gotta love him.

It was about lunch time, so we took the Metro to Stuart's restaurant request of the week: Old Ebbit Grill.  Even though his last meal here was tainted by a ... "gastric event" we'll call it ... it's still his favorite place!  Funny enough we both ordered the same thing - Salmon salad.  It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed people-watching just as much as the food I think.

After that we headed to the National Archives.  Believe it or not I had been there and Stuart never had.  It's the place where our nation's important documents are held: The Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc.  It honestly brings tears to my eyes to see them! (As an aside ... my how far our nation has gone from those original documents ...)  Anyways, there was also this super neat exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis (never thought I'd say that).  Turns out I knew pretty much nothing about that time in our history, and suffice it to say I now respect our presidents much more.  You never know what kind of crazy things they have to decide in a day.

And of course I wouldn't be happy if we went to an awesome town and didn't eat awesome food!  That night we headed to the (somewhat) sketchy neighborhood of Shaw/U-street to Little Ethiopia.  Ethiopian is a genre of food neither Stu nor I had tried.  We didn't really know much about it but decided we'd be brave.  I found a place called Habesha Market and Carry-Out.  While we were walking there we passed a few fancy Ethiopian Restaurants and almost stopped in ... but we decided to go with our first choice.  We walked in and realized (1) we were the only Americans there and (2) we had no idea how to pronounce or order any of the food.  Luckily the waitress/cashier/store manager/busboy got really excited when I told her we had never had Ethiopian food before and insisted she pick our meal for us.  We agreed, then realized we could have made a big mistake.  But then a few short minutes later - THIS came out!

No worries, it was for sharing.  Now imagine a piece of naan, or tortilla the size of a trash can lid.  On top of it is spooned little heaps of stews and vegetables and sauces.  Oh and did I mention there's no utensils?  Anywhere in the restaurant?  So you just rip off a piece of bread, pinch some stew into it (or sop up some sauce), and straight down the hatch!  You can imagine it was really messy, but it was also super fun!  And nothing like ambiance ... Al Jazeera was playing in the background.

First bite

After a few bites

Alright there's day 1.  More to come when I'm not post-call!

VACATION, part 1

What's the best part of vacation?  Well, for me it's getting to spend an ENTIRE week with my husband!  He flew in from California on Friday where he's been working for the past 6 weeks.  Of course he got here just in time for a lunch at Chipotle!  Saturday night we decided to have a nice date since it had been, well, quite a while since we'd had one.  We went to what is now my favorite Charlottesville restaurant, Brookville, for a chef's tasting menu.  It was finished off by a delectable chocolate and bacon cookie that I've still been dreaming about!

On Sunday I was super excited to take Stu to church with me (along with our friend Hayes).  Afterward we hit up the local dog park with Winston.  He was excited for a while, but little did he know a bath was awaiting him when he got home!  We had to clean him up so that he could go stay with our friend "Uncle Ted" while we shipped off to DC and Pittsburgh the next day.  Winston got clean after all while I tried my hand at some Indian food.  We rested up and headed out to DC early the next morning.

The kids were excited to see Dad!!!

Bath time!  Whether you like it or not!

 

Bacon and chocolate cookie.  Yes it was as delicious as it looks.

Tikka Masala!  I didn't have basmati rice, so quinoa sufficed as a base.

This can whet your appetite for now.  More to come later on our DC and Pittsburgh adventures!!

Reunited!

On the last weekend in October, Stuart came into town!  It was the first time we had seen each other in 2.5 months!!!  So needless to say we had been counting down the days until the weekend for quite some time!  As soon as he got into town we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful Virginia weather and so we headed out to Shenandoah Valley to do some hiking.  The valley was beautiful but unfortunately a lot of the leaves on our hike had already fallen.  But the weather was great, and we and Winston had a great time!  After the hike we headed out to dinner with some friends and then on to Richmond for a mini-vacay.  More on that to come.  Here are some pictures from our hike.

Winston loves the fall air!

Drive through Skyline

Winston blazing the trail.

Marker for the Appalachian Trail.  Passing these makes me feel super outdoorsy.

We did about half of the Riprap trail - around 4 miles total.

The chimney rocks - look out on the hike which was also a convenient place to stop and have lunch!

First time my camel back has been put to use since the Inca Trail

Winston is a machine!

Poor Stu was worn out after a red-eye flight and a 4 mile hike!  

... and so was Winston

Testimony

Testimony is defined as firsthand authentication of a fact.  It means that I can tell you that, indeed, something is true or real.  

Now, pull up a chair while I tell you the story of our lives.  Our testimony to God's Sovereignty.

Back in January of 2009 I encountered a handsome young man named Stuart.  On our very first date we somehow wound up talking of David (in the Old Testament) and how God had promised he would be king, but how he had to wait years for it.  And we talked of how he handled it (mostly) with grace.  And we talked about how it was so hard to wait on what we hoped God was doing in our lives.  And at that moment I knew Stuart was different and the kind of man I wanted to marry.  And a short year and a half later, I did!

Marriage is difficult, and I think oftentimes being a Christian couple is even more difficult.  Marriage is a partnership where the woman respects (and yes, is submissive to) her husband, and the husband loves and nurtures his wife.  I am fortunate that Stuart loves my desire to be a physician and has nurtured my drive to work.  So much so that when it came time for medical school to be finished and for us to look towards residency, he left the reigns in my hands as to where I felt lead to go.

After a lot of prayer and interviews, we decided on Charlottesville.  Of course it wasn't only our decision, but ultimately God who lead us here through the Match back in March.  He in His Sovereignty knew this is where I best fit.  And we thought, surely, since we were prayerful and following God's directions in our lives, that He would provide Stuart a job here in Charlottesville.

But He didn't.

We waited.  And waited some more.  And prayed harder.  And I cried.  And he applied to jobs here there and everywhere, and interviewed.  And nothing happened.  I got my first choice for residency at a prestigious institution, and my intelligent hard-working husband couldn't even find a job??  How could everything work so well for me and not for him?

You know the old phrase that God answers prayers as "no, yes, or not yet"?  Or the one that if God doesn't answer your prayers it's because He has something better in mind?  Well I knew those phrases well, and after months and months of prayers and tears and worry, I began to forget them - or at least to doubt their truth.

And did I mention that while Stuart couldn't get a job here, we also had a house in Daphne that we had moved out of and couldn't sell?  And for no fault of our own.  Because of some bad workmanship on a condo in our neighborhood, there was a lawsuit pending that prohibited any bank from writing a mortgage for our house.  So we had a new job for me in Virginia, with no job for Stuart except for his current one in Pascagoula, MS, and this house.  And the mortgage.  And another rent payment waiting in Virginia.  And $140,000 of medical school loans coming due just around the corner.  And friends and family constantly asking, "well what are y'all going to do??"

We prayed for a miracle that our house would sell.  I may have even prayed once or twice that a hurricane would come destroy it.  And yet ... silence.  We couldn't hear God's direction anymore.

Meanwhile the time came for me to start residency.  And still no job for the man patient enough to let me follow my dreams.  We finally faced the reality that the only thing we could do was live apart.  So I moved up to Charlottesville and Stuart stayed behind because we knew we couldn't afford to live on my salary alone.

Working 80 hours a week took it's toll, and I missed Stuart terribly.  I wasn't happy with the rotation I was on.  And I got mad.  Why do they make us work so much?  And why couldn't I have wanted to be a stay at home mom instead of a doctor?  I was mad at myself and mad at Stuart for not just quitting his job to come live with me.  But mostly I was mad at God.  because I had been a "good Christian" for years.  I thought we had followed His guidance to move to Charlottesville and I felt He hadn't provided for us.  That I had been tricked, somehow.  And I got a little bitter.  And then I stopped praying.

And then, after a few weeks of being kind of miserable, something happened.  I'm not sure what, but I can really only give God credit for it.  I just had peace.  I knew that, though things hadn't worked out exactly the way we would want them, that God was still in control.  I thought long and hard about that old phrase again that if God didn't answer my prayers it was because he had something else in mind.  What did God have in mind in his perfect Sovereignty?  Was I supposed to be learning something?  

I was learning that even the most wonderful Christian husband cannot completely fulfill me.  God is the only one who can.  Because He knows my every need, and He knows my sitting down and my standing up.  He made me in my mother's womb and He knows how many hairs are on my head.  And He knows the perfect plan for my life.  For mine and Stuart's life together.  Even if I don't understand how our marriage can grow when we're apart, and I don't understand how we are going to pay off my debt and pay our mortgage, God does and His plan is Sovereign.

I started praying again.  And not for specific requests, but rather for what God's best was for us.  For His Sovereign plan.  And I actually meant it this time.

And then the email came.

The email from Chevron, stating that Stuart was the top candidate for a job he had applied for months ago in Pennsylvania.  They wanted him to start December 1st, and they were excited about it.

It's a bit of a move up the career ladder, and may have the potential to combine in a bit of Stuart's passion for politics.  If nothing else it will greatly broaden his perspective on the energy industry.

And, they're going to buy our house.  Buy our house!

So after months of waiting, worrying, planning, stressing, crying, and praying, God has moved us closer together, given me my dream job, given Stuart a job that furthers his career, and taken away our financial worries.  And He did it in a way that brought us closer to Him and closer to each other.  And a way that has left us both with stronger faith and I believe a stronger marriage.  Who would have thought that the conversation we had on our first date would define the first two years of our marriage: waiting on God's timing.

It's a beautiful thing, God's Sovereignty.  And we are blessed!

Fabulous Fall

Supper Club.  Ted, Kara, Alex, Prashant, Andrew, Dianne, me, Lisa, Justin, Jeff from L-->R

There's really no time better than the fall.  Growing up I never appreciated it.  I think because fall meant back to school and during the summer was when I was free to play and do whatever I wanted ...  and to celebrate my birthday.  But now I'm grown up (and work all year round) and just so happen to be living in a place that I think has the most beautiful fall season possible.

Friday night, a group of my fellow 'terns (interns) enjoyed a meal together for our weekly Supper Club.  Let me tell you why it was wonderful:
1. We ate outside on the lovely downtown mall
2. We ate authentic Indian food
3. We listened to the Avett Brothers who were playing live about 1 block from our table
4. The weather was perfect
5. I wore my first cardigan/scarf combo of the season

The cool crisp air and scattered leaves got me even more excited about Fall.  It seems like in the past week the trees have just caught on fire with color!  Of course maybe that's because I'm on an outpatient block and actually driving to work in the daylight.  Regardless, its gorgeous.  Yesterday my friend Anem and new friend Lauren (who is living with me for a month) and I decided to walk around UVA's grounds and take some Fall Foliage Photos.  Enjoy!