Ordinary people doing extraordinary things

The title of this blog is one of Danielle's favorite quotes. This happened this weekend at Open House. Here's a shout out to some of the best students at NCSU CVM- the bovine club. Each year 4th years graduate and leave big shoes for underclass men to fill and each year they are filled amazingly. If it wasn't for the upperclassman and the welcoming atmosphere of this group I might not be where I am today. Being the ruminant intern I am still very involved in the club and have may mentees as well as friends in the club. 

This past weekend I helped the club out by getting ready for open house and running the milking demonstration.

Fridays festivities started with washing the fistulated steer. This steer has a fistula into his rumen (one of the 4 compartments of his stomach.) this compartment is in essence a large fermentation vat. They have these fistula for research purpose and also to help sick animals. When ruminants have an upset stomach sometimes they need to replace the flora (like we do with yogurt or probiotics) we can take rumen juice from these fistulated animals and give it to a sick animal. The steer is at open house to teach the public about rumen digestion and we want his squeaky clean :)

Afterwards we washed the dairy cows and set up pens. I left early but the bovine club stayed in the pouring rain until everything was set up and ready to go. They were the last to leave on Friday and the first to arrive on Monday. The rain did not let up but the students came with a smile and made the open house a success. Many kids have never milked a cow and its fun to get to be a part of that experience! 

Open house is a great time if you missed it this year you should be sure to go next year!

My internmates from the barn. 

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It's almost April! Time for a Spring update!

Yea that may not be scary to some of you but for me that means 3 more months before I'm on my own!!! EEEK scary and exciting at the same time!

Business plans are going well. Currently in the process of getting the PLLC put together. **ie: lots of paperwork and money** I'm getting very excited about this part of my life.

It did hit me a few days ago that I will be moving from a job that I love and people that I love. It's tough to think about leaving because I'm having so much fun here at NCSU- they have taught me so much and I know they will always be my family even after I leave.  My friends also will not change it will just be a phone call away rather than a short drive. I am thankful for all of the support and love you all have given me. Thanks so much guys!

Update on my goals- I have still not had a soda since January! *jumps up and down* there is a personal victory for sure!

Getting fit for the wedding turned into a new goal- I will be running a half marathon on June 7th.  Again anyone that knows me is thinking...huh??? Really??? Yea I've never been a runner, but I have made a friend who is and they are a great motivator (thanks Danielle!) I'm up to running 3 miles 3-4 times a week and doing longer runs on the weekend (5 miles this weekend!). On my off days I'm doing weights or cross training.  I am loving my mornings at the gym (again right who is this person?!?) and I'm really excited to cross that finish line in June.

We're Moving on!

So everyone knows we bought a house in Hickory (more pictures to come I promise but now it is more of a construction zone than anything else!)  But that also means that my trusty townhouse in on the market.  I just wanted to gush about another very important person in my life- not only my best friend but the best real estate agent in the Triangle! (I can't say the world because her Mom - Suzanne Williams found our dream home in Hickory :)) Laurie and I have been friends since middle school and we grew up riding together. We ended up going to NCSU together and stayed close all through college. She was always my rock during vet school and my breath of fresh air when I just wanted to talk to someone that wasn't in school with me!  I was so excited when she asked me to be her maid of honor in her wedding when she was the first of all of us to get married. I loved wedding planning with her and am so excited we get to do it all over again because she will be my maid of honor come October.

Back to the non gushy stuff now....Laurie became a real estate agent last year. She made the bold move to give up  her job and start doing something she was really excited about.  And what happened you ask?...she was one short meeting her goal of 10 closings in 2013!  I was so proud of how hard she worked and how successful she became in a short period of time. She has been an amazing agent for me and has gone above and beyond her job on many levels.

So selling your house seems all fine and dandy until you actually start getting stuff ready.   It was a major chore but thanks to Mom and Dad who came up to help it was manageable. It is amazing how many little blemishes you live with day in and day out and don't notice. Lots of caulk painting, and magic erasering later it was ready to go! (and of course an overall DEEP clean). Thanks to Justin who has been amazingly supportive and very helpful in getting everything clean and ready to go.

We made the hard decision that Petrie couldn't live with us while we are showing the house due to her affinity for running out the front door.  She is currently living with her Aunt Megan and Uncle Ryan (THANKS GUYS!) and terrorizing Zym.  Sofee is too much of a princess to go outside so she gets to stay.

 We took what felt like everything home and then after Laurie planned her firm to do a walk through we took even more things down and transported them to the new home. It is amazing how much clutter you live in day to day.  All in all we have gotten good feedback now we are just waiting for the right buyer!


 If anyone is looking for an amazing real estate agent please contact Laurie Marcey 919-592-2275.

I'm so lucky!

In honor of our anniversary 3.13.14 I wanted to write a quick post about my love Justin.  He is so patient and I am very lucky to have found him.  This weekend we had two open houses on our town home (blog post coming about selling the house) and I was on call. The winter had been slow so I was not worried about this in the slightest.....maybe I should have been. The phone started Saturday morning at 10:30 and my day didn't stop until 2:30am Sunday morning.  That of course meant Justin was in charge of getting the house ready and taking the gang (Sofee, Roxy, and Kiwi) out of the house all by himself.  He was a trooper and even brought the gang by and gave me lunch.  I had a brief break for dinner but just as we were going to sit down for a movie the phone rang again.  I can't imagine being on the other end of my crazy schedule. I am glad he has gotten to experience this year with me - it is just a brief glimpse into the rest of our lives.  Being an on call vet is one thing- being the spouse of an on-call vet is another entirely.  I leave the house and become absorbed in my case not realizing what time it is while he is at home no idea when I will be back.  All that said he has never given me grief for anything I had to drop and run out on including dinner, date night, or cleaning.  I truly am lucky and very excited to marry this man in 7 months!

Dancing at Somer and Steve's wedding- soon it will be our own :)

Also a quick shout out to all my amazing friends who also have been amazing when I have to call them sometimes 5 minutes before I was supposed to meet them that sorry I have an emergency coming in.

Love you all- so lucky to have you all in my life!

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How can I not be excited to go in when I get to see cute faces like this one!

Vegas day 4-6

So the next few days were all filled with conference talks. Tuesday we went to the free show that Bayer sponsored. I wasn't interested in the main show but the opening act was Judith Hill. She was a contestant on the voice which Justin and I watch religiously. She didn't make it very far but she was always my favorite. 

The coolest thing about that night was she tweeted me back on twitter.

Sooo cool.

Then we went to the adjoining casino and played craps. I caught on quick and Justin was in the process of losing when I helped influence his betting decisions. We then got our money back and walked out with what we put in which is a success in Vegas!!

The next day we had tickets for a new show Absinthe. Christie's cousin told us that it was the favorite among performers on the strip. Since we paid a good bit for tickets we ate McDonalds for dinner....not exciting but is rather pay money for a show than food :)

We didn't really know what to expect with the show but it was soooo amazing. It is very intimate - you could see the sweat on the performers brow. 

This is what the stage looked like when we first got there really small maybe 12x12.

It was one of the coolest shows I'd ever seen. Not gonna lie I had seen the ideas or concepts of these acts all done before at cirque but non THIS CLOSE. Totally worth the money. 

Thursday night we went to Mon Ami for dinner. It was soo good but probably the most expensive dinner we had ever eaten together. We called it a treat for valentines day amd our anniversary which was coming up...sometimes you have to treat yourself :) 

We spent the rest of the night hunting souvenirs then it was off to packing and getting ready to leave.

Bye bye Vegas till next time!