Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello to All,
I hope that all of my readers had a very Merry Christmas spending time with friends and family. I have the wonderful opporutunity to spend ten whole days at home in Maryland with my family. Wiggy will join me on the 29th when he'll have 5 days off for the New Year.

The big news of last weekend was the snow in NC! We had 6 inches in NC which caused the whole place to shut down. We were supposed to have a Christmas party on Friday the 16th, but of course the 6 inches caused many to cancel so we decided to host a post-New-Years Party instead. We spent that evening at Walmart purchasing the remaining gifts for the House of Service. Needless to say we were one of about 5 customers in the entire place. Saturday was spent finishing up shopping and then Wiggy and I exchanged our gifts and then went out for Thai. Sunday Wiggy worked so I began packing for my trip to MD, wrapped lots of gifts for the House of Service and delivered them, then headed to the Wake vs. NC State game with my friends Carrie and Michael and Emily Crawford.

After a whirlwind of a few days I headed North to MD on Christmas Eve to meet up wih my family. We went to a nice dinner then Church before crashing for the night. Christmas morning we exchanged gifts and then brunched before heading to my Mom's home town of Petersburg, WV for a Moomau side reunion. It's a crazy place at Mimi's house at Christmas, but always a time to treasure. I spent the night at my Aunt Sarah's house then had a lovely conversation with her the next Morning. Yesterday I headed back to my parents house and then met up with a ton of high school friends to celebrate my friend Megan's birthday.

I almost forgot to mention an amazing experience that I had a few weeks ago. My chruch group participated in DDD at a local homeless shelter. We served dessert and gave a short devotional and then a converastion with the men and women. Many of them were so full of faith that you could feel it radiate through the room. Two gentlemen were even moved to sing for us which was just amazing. I can assure you that we got more out of the experience than any of the men and women we were serving. Praise God for such an amazing experience!

Happy New Year to all!

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!