7 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 3

They sing "Yellow Submarine" without fail when we go on road trips. They yell at each other when the other one drifts into another lane while driving in the dark. They cheer for us when we do something great, cry with us when the world is ending, come to visit when we're sick, send us care packages, and embarrass us in public. The occasional dinner out or shopping trip is great, too. Just kidding.

Yup, I am thankful for my parents! They are both amazing, generous, kind, giving, motivated, weird, thoughtful people, and I can only hope and pray that I will be as wonderful as they are when Scott and I have kids. I couldn't have asked for better role models growing up, and we are incredibly blessed to have them. Even if my mom still makes her dog "talk." And even if my dad still orders at the drive thru in weird voices or in opera form. AND even if they insist on taking us to Medieval Times when we are in our 20s. Totally normal. They are awesome.

I heart them.

7 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 2

I am SOOO thankful for my brother, Tim. Even though we are 5 years apart, we are really close, and I love hanging out with him. I think that we both regress about 15 years when we get together, and we are definitely a TAD on the weird side. Tim is hilarious, very hip and trendy, has excellent taste in music, has an incredibly kind heart, and is very popular with the ladies. He has a sweet haircut right now just like Kanye West, and he is really one of the greatest people ever. He's very laid back and good-natured, but he knows what he believes and sticks to it, and he is always willing to help out someone who needs it.

AND.

He posts things on my Facebook wall like this:

Thanks Tim.

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7 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 1

Thanksgiving really snuck up on me - we have been super busy, and for some reason it just doesn't FEEL like it's almost holiday time. That probably has something to do with the fact that it's way warmer than usual for this time of year, but whateverrr Oklahoma!

So I've seen this on a few other blogs and we did this last week in our small group, so I thought I'd follow suit by posting every day about what I'm thankful for. There are definitely more than 7 things I'm thankful for, but you get the picture.

Sooo, I'll start with my lovely bff/husband/shopping partner/expert chef/bringer of hot chocolate, Scott! The last 2.5 years have been so wonderful, and he always finds a way to make things fun, cheer me up when I'm down, or do something totally weird or crazy to make me laugh. I know he is my biggest fan, and he is so supportive even when I am freaking out unnecessarily and being dramatic. He also understands the importance of boots, and he is always willing to give me his opinion on crucial things like which pants to wear with which sweater (even if sometimes his opinion is wrong). He is obsessed with musical theater and buys every song from Glee on iTunes as soon as it comes out. Then, he listens to it at full volume in the study, in the kitchen, and in the car, even if it is putting us at risk for deafness. Then, he puts songs like "Take a Bow" (yes, the Glee version of a Rihanna song) on repeat and listens to them 12 times in a row. SO THANKFUL.

Just kidding ;) For serious, he is amazing! I know plenty of married med students who let their spouses do everything and don't get very involved in anything aside from studying, and Scott is pretty much the opposite of that. Even when he is working 18 hour days at the hospital on his surgery rotation, he makes time to help me with things and go on date nights, even when he is pretty much a zombie. He is passionate about so many things, and he doesn't let that little med school thing get in the way of staying as involved as he can in things that he cares about - he really goes over and beyond what is required of him, and he is an amazing husband, friend, brother, and son. I couldn't be more thankful for him!

YAY SCOTT.

Haha.

Another One

Bah! I seriously can't stop playing this song. Love.

Song Obsession of the Week - 90s Edition

For some reason this week, I've been going through my collection of awesome 90s music, jamming out to junior high/high school favorites like "Meet Virginia" and "Head Over Feet," and wait for it...Sister Hazel. I always do this with them - I forget about them and don't listen for like 2 years, and then one day I say SISTER HAZEL IS AWESOME, and then I listen to them non stop for 3 weeks. "Champagne High," "Killing Me," "All for You," they're all great. They played at Trinity's New Student Orientation concert my junior year, and they were AMAZING. Included in this concert: an awesome, acoustic, piano-ified version of "Best I'll Ever Be." Enjoy!

The Life of an MSIII on Surgery Rotation

My dear smelson started his surgery rotation last week. For him, this means leaving the house at 4 on most days, eating rarely, studying his booty off when he is home, walking around like a zombie, and going to bed at 9. For me, it means waking up at 4 and [hopefully] falling back asleep for a few hours, baking, having conversations with a zombie, and basically forgoing my husband on most nights and weekends. It's not that bad, just hectic...but I will say it has put a damper on our social life!

What happens on Halloween when your husband is on surgery: you find two graduation robes, striped scarves, plastic glasses, and call yourselves Harry Potter and Hermione:

It also means skipping invitations to Thunder games, missing out on outings, and going out for a friend's birthday but leaving at 8:30 to be in for the night.

HOWEVER, there is a HUGE plus to this surgery business: ANTM, Project Runway, SYTYCD, and Supernanny all go uncontested on the TV! Yessss.

Such is life for the next 8 weeks, and it's just another phase of this whole process that will be over before we know it. Forget seasons of life - seasons of med school is more like it. But just like anything else, we make the most of the time we do have and learn what we can, and it's all worth it in the end. In the meantime, I will embrace my control of the DVR, have some awesome girl time, and bake...and it will be awesome.

(But it wouldn't hurt to send a few subliminal messages that whisper "don't choose general surgery, don't choose general surgerrrryyyyyyy" to my hubs. Kthanks.)

I Like...PUMPKIN CUPCAKES!!!!!!

Ahh, cupcakes. A friend of mine made these and I stalked her until she gave me the recipe. I've made them approximately 3 (maybe 4?) times in the last 3 weeks, and received many comments such as "Oh man, these are better than (insert name of cute cupcakes and coffee shop here)," or "GIVE ME THE RECIPE NOW," or "Quit social work and bake," or "MMMhhmmahhhrghaekla." I'm not bragging, just saying this recipe is good. If you make them, you'll get these comments as well. Bonus: it lets you use cake mix!

1 box supermoist yellow cake mix - I used the Pillsbury Moist Supreme or whatever the name is because it has a cup of pudding in the mix!
1 cup canned pumpkin puree - go stock up on this because apparently we are in the midst of the Great Pumpkin Shortage of 2009, no lie.
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggsMake as directed on box (omitting the water).

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
This is the recipe my friend gave me, and I kind of worked off of it based on how much icing I needed because this made WAY too much. Literally, it got me through 2.5 batches of cupcakes.
1 quart heavy whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese - I ended up using a little more than this so stood up a little better
2 cups confectioner's sugar2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat with electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Voila!

A few cupcakes for a friend's birthday:

The enormous bowl of icing (AFTER I iced 12 cupcakes):

What some people look like when they taste the cupcakes:

Enjoy!