Birthday celebrations

There are a lot of Dec. birthdays around here. Bella's is Dec. 16th. Our puppy just turned 1!

My mom's is Dec 11. Stephen and I were out of town for my mother's so we celebrated hers and Stephen's together that next tuesday. We all went out to Chili's and a wonderful dinner. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much.

Stephen's is Dec 15th and he turned 27 this year. For 15 days I get to tease him about being three years older than me : ) For his birthday, his parents took us out to a great dinner at Stella's when we went to pick the puppy the Monday before his birthday. Then we celebrated at Chili's again on Tuesday with my family. Then on Wednesday we went to Five Loaves downtown with friends. That is three birthday dinners in row! After dinner we headed over to the James Island County Park to drive through the lights and enjoy some hot chocolate by the fire pits.

A Christmas Carol

Stephen and I started out the Christmas season by by going to see a production of a Christmas Carol with our small group at the Dock Street Theatre. We have really enjoyed going to the theater so much this year.  It was a wonderful show and it really got us in the Christmas spirit!

Decorating the tree

Last week Stephen and I got our tree and decorated it. We always go to the same place every year because they are really nice and affordable. They also send us a discount coupon in the mail every year. We had a great time decorating. We turned on the fire and watched the Finley Family traditional movie: Christmas Vacation as well as Shrek the Halls. Bella was at her grandparents but Marky was able to participate. He was a big help.

 Like I said... a big help

 Making friends with Mr. Snowman

 The final touch: the angel at the top.

Interview season

Right now Stephen and I are smack dab in the middle of interview season. I am so fortunate to be at a stage in my life where work is flexible and I can travel with him to various interviews. The way it works on "the trail" is each program has a social the night before the interview where you can meet and talk informally with the residents. It is great to be able to talk with some of the residents' spouses about how they like the area and what the housing is like. So far everyone has been really nice and we have enjoyed traveling to the various places. Some of the places we have gone are Rochester, NY, Akron, OH, Yale in CT, Burlington, VT, Winston-Salem, NC, Charlotte, NC and of course MUSC. Upcoming is Duke and then there is a short break for the holidays.

While we were in Vermont we took some pics since it was snowing.  It snowed about 6 inches with a temperature of "feels like 9 degrees." We had a great time though. We played in the snow, checked out the ski resort just 30 mins away, visited the Ben and Jerry's factory, and had apple cider and cider doughnuts from a cute little bakery/shop. Here are some pics:

 This is the view at the ski resort. You can actually see one of the trails in the background.

Stephen throwing snow.

 at the cider place

the downtown area

DC

On our way home from Rochester, Stephen and I stopped in DC again and stayed with our wonderful cousins. We took a whole day and a half to tour the city. We toured the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, saw the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, Jefferson memorial, White House, Capitol, WWI memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam memorial, 911 memorial, Korean memorial, reflection pond, The Archives, Natural History Museum and much, much more. We even got to go up in the Washington monument and see the city from up high. We loved the city and had blast seeing everything.

View from the top of the Washington memorial