It's Christmas Time in the City!

It's time for that bi-weekly update and so much has happened since last time I wrote! Starting back where I left off... Wiggy and I enjoyed an impromptu Christmas event a couple of weeks ago when we decided to head downtown for the Twin City Santa young professionals charity event at about 6pm when it started at 8pm. We quickly got all gussied up and went out on the town. We met up with lots of friends and acquantiances there, none of which we knew would be there, so it was quite a fun surprise! That Friday Wiggy was on call, but my gracious friends Erin and Laurie invited me out with their hubbies for a night of Mexican. Saturday evening the festivities continued with a WFU Soccer win in the semi-finals and then a night of fun and tacky sweaters (minus the Saunders, our theme was "warmest sweaters in your closet" as the game was FREEZING) at the Clines. Quite an event I must say!

This past Tuesday I took my final for my Masters Class which is now gladly over! I did well and am now accustomed to the juggle of full time employee-part time student lifestyle. I celebrated with a Biggest Loser Finale impromptu gathering at my house with a couple of girls who are also fanatics! That show is such an inspiration for everyone with a goal! Wednesday evening Wiggy and I attended a WFU Young Alumni Happy Hour where we caught up with some fellow alumni and met some new Deacon Fans as well! Afterward I headed over to Heather's house for Bunco, which ended up as a chat fest and wine tasting... better than Bunco in my book! Friday evening the fun continued with a holiday gathering at the home of our friends Blake and Erin. More yummy food, punch and good conversation.

Friday night my parents arrived for a weekend of Christmas shopping. We did pause long enough to go see the Black Nativity on Saturday night. What an inspiration! The actors and musicians not only got me in the Holiday spirit, but did an amazing job praising the birth of our Lord and Savior, the true reason for the season! I will definitely go again next year! We also had some tasty Thai food at an all time fave... Cha Da Thai!

I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! I'm really looking forward to my 10 day visit home... it's been a LONG time since I was able to spend that much time with my family and it's a true blessing.

Thanksgiving and Fall Fun

I can't believe that the Holidays have arrived! We've just returned from celebrating Thanksgiving with Wiggy's family in Nebraska and catching up with his Best Friend Brian and his new Fiance Kinsey. We enjoyed lots of great conversations (some a little heated, but that's to be expected in Saunders family conversation), lots of great food, The Christmas Carol in IMAX 3D, and the excitement of wedding planning. All in all it was a great trip, just a little short. We always wish both of our families were closer!

Last weekend was also a fantastic weekend! I started Thursday with a girls night catching up over appetizers and wine at Sixth and Vine. Friday evening we caught up with some Medical School friends over Thai food and then Saturday we decorated our house for Christmas and sipped wine and chatted before heading out to meet up with friends to watch The Blind Side (my favorite movie of 2009 by far). Sunday was the best of all! We got up and worked out together (something we rarely get to do) and then spent the afternoon delivering Thanksgiving Dinner bags to the families we work with at the House of Service. Not only was the delivery a wonderful experience, but I was amazed by my friends and even acquaintances that offered to put together a bag. I ended up with 6 bags and $110 in gift cards (allowing us to put together 8 more bags)from a simple Facebook posting! It is amazing the small ways that God displays his Grace through our friends. We fed 14 families through one little posting! I am still in awe of this! That evening we headed to Greensboro for an interview dinner for the incoming intern class at Moses Cone. It was really fun to answer questions as the spouse on the "other side" this time.

The past two weeks have been wonderful and I am truly looking forward to the Holiday season. Lots of Cheer and Joy coming my way!

Competitions and Vacations

I'm finding it very hard to belive that Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is a mere 4.5 weeks away! Our lives have been very eventful and very blessed of late and we have much to be thankful for!

I'll begin where I left off with my recent fitness competition. My wonderful family came into town to support me (even though this whole thing is new to them). The process starts on Friday evening witha super-dark spray tan followed by Saturday morning early makeup/hair followed by pre-judging. We finished pre-judging super late so just went to get coffee and wine and got ready for the night show. I ended up placing 2nd in the bikini division and went out with the fam to celebrate with a super late dinner at the Village Tavern. Sunday we enjoyed the beautiful weather and did a tiny bit of shopping.

Last week was Wiggy's first bit of vacation since he began residency in June. It was so nice to get away to the NC Mountains for a few days and even though it was off season and the leaves had all fallen, the images are still breathtaking. We stayed at an ancient little inn in Beech Mountain which is about 10 minutes up the mountain from Banner Elk. Our first day was quite cold and wet so we enjoyed the sites and shops of downtown Boone and watched a movie before spending the evening sipping wine and talking for hours and eating a wonderful Organic dinner at Tupelo's in Boone. Friday we became adventurous and took on the difficult slopes and ladders of Pilot Mountain. Unfortuantely we got to a point where Jasper could not get up the inclines/ladders so we turned around, but not before getting lots of awesome pics from a mile up. That evening we did a wine tasting at Banner Elk Winery then had some more chatting time before grabbing calzones from a little pizza shop nearby. Saturday was our final day and we decided to pay homage to Wiggy's hospital's founder Moses Cone at his old estate on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are 20 miles of trails! We went on a nice long hike down to the lake and then of course straight back up before heading home. The down time was much needed and it was really great to spend some quality low key time together! Next week we're off to Nebraska to visit Wiggy's family for Thanksgiving!

The leaves are falling!

Time is absolutely flying by lately and here we are in November and well into the transition to cooler weather. The leaves are even beginning to fall here in good ole' NC! The past two weeks have been crazy as ever induced by a week of illness following my fitness show (yes two full days in bed plus two more of struggling to function, ick). Our excitement for the weekend was chinese food on Friday night before Wiggy was on call on Saturday/Sunday and I studied, exciting stuff right?

Last week was super busy with printing, studying, and writing for class, hard training getting ready for show #2 and Wiggy wrapping up his last week of call. We have survived four months of inpatient service and now have a vacation month, woo hoo!!!!! This past weekend was a nice celebration. Friday night we had dinner with our friends Ashley and Neal who are expecting a baby in less than two months. They are our first close friends with a baby on the way so this is super-exciting for all of us! Saturday afternoon we watched a heart breaking WFU football game that came down to the wire and ended in a 28-27 loss, so sad! We sat in the rain the entire second half just knowing they were going to pull it off. Determined not to lose faith in our team! Saturday night we enjoyed several glasses of wine while waiting for Trick or Treaters that never came. We only had two!!!! I've now had to hide the candy from Wiggy until I can get rid of it! Sunday morning was a change as we went to church (we usually go on Mondays). The formal service is nice now and then. It was wonderful to have an alert husband home on a Sunday to help me cook, double the fun in half the time, can't beat that. We really relaxed for most of the rest of the day, which is what you're supposed to do on Sunday right?

Busy week this week... photo shoot tonight, writing for class, parents visiting this weekend AND the SHOW on Saturday! Ready for some more fun and then for it to be over!

Fall Splendor

Hello Readers!

Again it's been too long since I updated, but here I am!

Thanks to all who sent me well wishes for my first figure show. I ended up placing 4th in the bikini division so I was pleased with my performance/results. But, those of you who know me well know my competitive nature and that 4th isn't good enough for me, so I'm very excited that I"ll have the opportunity to particpate in another show in 2 weeks from today in Greensboro! Unfortunately, I was sidelined with a stomach bug for 2 days this week but am back on the band wagon so very thankful for that. I met a ton of wonderful people during this adventure and got to know a couple of wonderful girls much better throughout the process. This is definitely not something you can go alone! A big thanks to my childhood friend Heather who came to watch me and cheer me on along with my ever supportive husband, sweet yet viscous trainer Tara and the brains behind it all Jill Coleman! After the show we indulged in some major Cheesecake Factory goodness and then had a blast at Carowinds Amusement park on Sunday, what a weekend!

The weekend before was Wake Forest's Homecoming and our 5 year reunion. I was fortunate to have 2 of my best friends from College come to stay with me and partake in the festivities. We started with a double overtime tied soccer game with UNC before 3 hours of surrealness and meeting up with our old classmates at the Diamondback Grill on Friday night. Saturday my girls and I visited our old suite to make sure our over the door message was still there (it is, we had a nostalgic and a teary celebration over it) and took a peek at all of the updates on campus. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years! We watched a big win over Maryland and then had a fun night out with more old friends, ahhhh the memories! It was great to have everyone in town for a weekend, wish they were around more often.

So now, it's 2 hard weeks of diet/training before the competition and then Wiggy and I will go to the Mountains on 4 day vacation the following weekend. Yippeeee!!! This is the final week of his four months of inpatient service and being on call every 4th night. It's finally almost over, much prasie for that. Until next time... lots of sunshine and many blessings!

And it's Fall

Hello lovely Readers,
Yes, I have been MIA for quite a while. I can't even remember where I left off! Let me just start with a general update. Wiggy is now well into his 4th and final month of straight Q4 (every 4th night) Call! Yay! I am working hard getting ready for my show that is now in less than 2 weeks, crazy! We've also been busy with church, a new bible study that I joined, WFU football, tutoring kids at the house of service and much much more!

A few weeks ago we got to go to Smith Mountain Lake for the Moses Cone Family Medicine retreat. The entire department takes off for the weekend for a nice get away. The first night we had a theme party of decades, which was super fun! On Saturday we hiked, had a big cookout and a big Catch Phrase Game among the interns and a ping pong tournament among the guys. The weekend was a super nice getaway and a chance for all of the residents to bond outside of the hospital.

My parents came down to visit in late September for a big football win against Stanford. We also went to see "The Color Purple" with Fantasia. It was quite possibly my favorite show ever!

I am well into my Master's Program and actually aced my first test which made me feel good as I had major test jitters since I hadn't taken a test since 2004.

Wiggy is hanging in there. I can't say he's been doing much more than working and hanging out with me when he's off. He just doesn't have time to get into much fun in his time off. The printing business still keeps him busy as well.

We are going to the Dixie Classic Fair tomorrow! "Need to Breathe", an awesome Christian band is playing and we're excited for that. We have lots of friends coming into town this weekend for Wake Forest's homecoming and our 5 year reunion! Have we really been graduated for that long? Wow!!! We're getting old. We're very much looking forward to catching up with lots of folks from the Class of 2004!

Promise I won't be a stranger this time!

Summer... Slowly Slipping Away

Gosh, it's been a while since I posted and a lot has happened since then.... I'll try to remember everything but this is a toughie..

2 weekends ago Wiggy and I spent a night in Galax VA in a tiny cabin where we could easily enjoy the New River Trail just outside of our cabin. We saw tons of wildlife and were so impressed with how woodsy and green the area was so close to our little city... yet a much higher elevation. We also listened to Bluegrass off the Blue Ridge Parkway in an adorable amphiteather surrounding by green rolling hills. It was a combo of traditional and gospel bluegrass and we LOVED it!

Last week I had the opportunity to help out with the House of Service Elementary Bible Study where we taught the kids about the meaning of baptism.... about a week before 7 of these kids had accepted Jesus as their Savior and it was beautiful to watch them comprehend the magnitude of the step they had taken in their lives.... I will be back!

I also had a chance to meet a couple of other intern wives at a friend's house for Bunko night... I had never played, but had a great time catching up and laughing about the joys of resident life.

We kicked off WFUfootball season last weekend... it was great to be out there, but our team has some things to prove. Well make that a lot to prove, come on Deacs! Get-it-togethet! That night was cheat meal though... Wiggy and I shared a bottle of wine on the porch and chatted and then headed downtown to Mellow Mushroom for a calzone... yummy! And then frozen custard with maple syrup... double yummy!

Sunday we hosted a cookout for our church group called Seeds. We were welcoming home one of our own (also Jasper's favorite human other than Wiggy and I), Ross after his 4 month mission in the Navajo. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and catching up with the wonderful things Ross accomplished while he was away. All the little boys gathered hundreds of walnuts out of our yard (thank you!) and made a huge pile and then hammered them open. They are all boy and so energetic and fun to hang out with!

As for me... my muscles are subtly becoming more defined and I have practiced this whole posing thing to get ready for the competition. It's been a fun experience so far... like an experiment within my own body of what to put in it and how to work it out for optimum functioning... how fun!

My family is coming in this weekend and I'm looking forward to that!