Residency

Stephen started his orthopedic residency on June 21. For the first year he does a general surgery year. Each month is spent on a different rotation. He started on trauma, then on to vascular surgery, and is now doing ortho. Next month will be plastic surgery. So far he is learning a lot and really enjoying it. The hours are a little rough but we are doing great. When you don’t have a ton of time together, what you do have is precious and you make the most of it. I am so proud of him and I am thankful that we get to do this journey together.

There are four residents for each year and five years in the program. Stephen’s co-residents are Justin, Jake, and Julia. Justin and Leslie came from Kansas City and have two little girls: Liviella and Rivleigh Rose. Jake and Carly are from Georgia and just had a baby girl named Louise. Julia is from California and is married to one of the general surgery residents, Dave. They are all really nice and we are super excited to get to know them better. 

From left to right: Stephen, Julia, Justin, and Jake

Moving Week

On our third anniversary, June 15, we spent our last night in the condo. Our wonderful small group came over with pizza to help pack up the Penske and say goodbye. It was definitely an anniversary we will never forget: sitting in an empty apartment with friends eating pizza and doing hard labor. : ) We had a great time though. The guys even invented a new game with a tennis ball and some random cleaning supplies. I don’t remember exactly how it went, just that Brad was awesome at it, lol. We are so thankful for this group of friends and we already miss them like crazy.

My parents came over the night before to help pack up our house. I had no idea how much stuff we had and how long it would take to box up. There is no way we would have been ready to load the truck if they hadn’t helped. I’m tempted to go ahead and start saving up to hire people to do it when we move again in five years.

Stephen really enjoyed driving the Penske. They didn’t have our truck yet so they gave us the biggest one they make. After seeing it with the Jeep being pulled behind I was terrified, but Stephen did great. Bella rode with him in the front seat and she loved it.

When we arrived in Greenville Stephen’s parents, his brother Matt, and cousins Jonathan and Austin came over to help unload the truck.  They did a great job and everything went pretty quick. My desk did get dropped down the stairs but Stephen was able to screw it all back together. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family. They really made the transition so much easier. 

Lake Vacation

Well it has been a very busy summer! However, life is starting to slow down and I am ready to get back to the blog. When we came back from Thailand, we went straight to Lake Kiwi for the Finley Family vacation. It was a wonderful transition and opportunity to rest from the big trip and just spend time with family.

We stayed in a house right on the lake. We swam, kayaked, went boating, played badminton, and lots of card games. A new one we played with the kids was exercise poker, where you bid push-ups, sit ups, laps around the house, and jumping jacks instead of money. We had a great time and got lots of exercise!

Stephen wakeboarding

Matt skiing 

Jenni and I supervising the water sports

Group shot

Mmmm coffee

On the boat

Playing in the waterfall

Straight up gangsta'

Matt jumping off a giant rock

Stephen jumping

Back to Bangkok

When we returned to Bangkok we spent the remaining two days of our trip staying at the Shanghai mansion in china town. It was a very cool hotel right in the heart of China town. The funniest part was that we got there pretty late and the guy at the desk ran ahead of us to turn the very short escalator on just for us. It didn't sound really funny when I just typed it, but trust me, it was hilarious in person.

The next morning, Sunday morning, we did the entire day at the weekend market, Chatuchak Market. Stephen and I now consider ourselves expert bargainers after that day. It is actually really fun if you just smile and laugh while you do it (keep it friendly). The secrets are to know your cut off ahead if time, get out your offer so they see the cash, and be willing to walk away (95% of the time they run after you). We had so much fun and we got a lot of really great deals. We really didn't spend much but walked away with a lot of cool stuff. My favorite purchase was tied: a Thai tea set, 12 earrings (for $3), and a watch. I also got a few dresses for about $3-5 each. Stephen's favorites include a giant knife and a triangle cushion. He also had a suit custom made for him.

coke in a bag, a popular method for quenching one's thirst

On Monday morning Ben and Christy left to head north. It was really sad saying goodbye. We have really enjoyed vacationing with them. This experience has really bonded us forever and I know that they will be one of those "lifetime friends" that you keep in touch with forever.

That afternoon Stephen and I did a tour of the grand palace which includes the temple with the emerald Buddha. I have never seen anything like these buildings. The outside is so ornate with carvings of gold and jewels. It was breathtaking to see. It was also interesting to see the monks praying in the temples. We have certainly learned a lot about the religion and customs of Thailand.

Later we went out to eat and then hit up the night market. This is where they sell the "designer" stuff for really cheap.  Afterwards we bought a bunch of really weird fruits to try. A few of them were really tasty, it was just weird to eat such strange looking things. After the strange fruit we went back to the hotel to pack for the trip home.

We enjoyed Thailand so much and would definitely recommend it! The people are so nice, the country is beautiful, and we had such great experience.

Elephant trekking

On Thursday we did a half day of elephant trekking. Stephen and I were on one elephant and Ben and Christy were on a different one. Our elephant was named Bida ( bee- da) and he was awesome. Both of our elephants had a guide but for some reason ours kept leaving. Everytime he did Bida would stop and eat some trees or get down in the river. It was hilarious, as soon as the guide came back he would get back on the trail. We did this for couple hours and then headed on to koh tao.

To get there we did an overnight ferry. It had mattresses that were about 15 inches wide with no space between them. Poor Ben ended up next to a girl with bed bug bites on her. Luckily, we didn't get any and we all actually managed to get some sleep.

The boys were gracious enough to give us girls the inside

In koh tao we took a very scary "taxi" ride in the back of a pick up down an unfinished road to a little bay called tanote bay. It was well worth the trip. There was a big rock about 40 feet high that Ben and Stephen jumped off. They were really brave, we watched several people climb up, look over, and climb back down. Stephen set up the hammock for me, and then Christy and I read on the beach. Afterwards we rented snorkel gear and did some of the coolest snorkeling we had seen all trip.

Our hotel was one of the coolest places we stayed at. It had a beautiful room with a patio and the hotel was right off a cliff overhanging. There were two pools and an outdoor restaraunt that we tried out that had amazing views.

The next morning we woke up and explored the area a little more. We actually found a little pizza shop that had some of the best pizza I have ever had. Afterwards we took a ferry and an overnight bus back to Bangkok. After having traveled overnight by train, ferry, and bus, I think train is the way to go, although other people in the group would disagree.

Lake tour

On wednesday we did an all day trip into the national park. We started by taking a small boat tour around Chieow Laan lake. It started to sprinkle a little but it was gorgeous. When the rain started, our driver stripped down to his whitey tighties. Luckily we all had our nice rain jackets so we didn't feel the need to take off all our clothes.

After the tour we went kayaking on our own for a bit, and jumped off a sketchy make-shift diving board that was surprisingly sturdy.  Following that, we went to a floating restaurant on the lake. We had the best meal. There was a huge fish with lots of teeth, and several types of mixed veggie dishes. Christy and I told them we were vegetarians so we didn't have to eat the scary looking fish. They also served us fresh pineapple and watermelon. Delicious.

After lunch it started pouring. That didn't stop us though. We continued on with our 3.5 hour hike into the jungle. Our guide told us "is ok" when we passed the sign that said "do not enter when raining: dangerous." The rain forest was amazing. We saw beautiful trees and really interesting creatures. The most interesting were the leeches. Every once in a while we had to do a "leech check." I only got 2 but I think Stephen had 6. They didn't hurt, they were just kind of gross.

The trek was amazing but it did get kind of scary. We had to cross the river several times and the water was really high (about to our chest). Christy almost got swept away once but luckily she grabbed Ben in time. He has a huge bruise on his arm from it. We went a couple hours to a waterfall and then back. The hard part was climbing in the huge wet rocks in the rain.

Overall, the whole day was really great. It was definitely an experience we will never forget.

yummm...

Our boat

one of my leech spots

kayaking in the rain before the tour

trekking out in the jungle

got a leech off on the boat ride back

stephen going off the diving board

stopping at a waterfall, the four of us were the only ones that ventured out to it

hmmm....