Social Butterflies

Things continue to move forward for us at a breakneck pace. Can’t believe September is here and gone! October is an easier month for Rob since he is switching from ER to Pain Management and Anesthesia. He will spend two weeks on each and it is more typical 8-5 office hours Monday through Friday. St. John was really nice to ask before they made the schedule for this year if anyone had anything big going on during the year and tried to schedule residents for easier rotations if they had a baby or wedding. It is really nice for him to have an easier schedule after the ER month. We still have some big difficult months coming up like IM and ICU so I know we will have to get used to him being gone a lot but having him home to help with the final projects before Bella gets here will be really nice. This month we had so much fun hosting two sets of visitors to the Cleveland area and spending time with residency friends as well.

September 9-11 a group of our Chicago friends came out for a visit. Brian, Libby, Gil, Kara, Jeff, Little and baby Hunter made a trip out for the weekend. It was great showing them around the city and spending time catching up. Sadly, it rained most of the weekend but it did clear up enough for the guys to catch a round of frisbee golf while the girls grabbed a coffee at Root café. I didn’t remember to take too many photos over the weekend but it happened to be Jeff and Little’s 2 year wedding anniversary on Sunday so I did grab a photo of them when we were having brunch at the house and also got a photo of the whole family decked out in their Bears gear! (see below) Too cute! We really don’t get to see this group of friends often enough and loved that we got to see everyone before the baby gets here.

Happy 2 year anniversary!

Hunter on Jeff and Little's anniversary

Bears Family!

Hunter wants Mitchell's ice cream!!

The next weekend, my brother, Neal, and his girlfriend, Ashley, came out for a few days. They had a bit of a longer drive coming from D.C. but they made it out around midnight on Friday. Robbie had to work all day Saturday so I took them to to Cleveland hot spots including Westside Market and a store called Big Fun on Coventry street that I knew my brother would love. Big Fun has toys from our generation like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, California Raisins, Carebears, My Little Ponies, Atari and Nintendo games, and even Troll playing cards (which I bought to send to my sister since she used to collect them…long story here but I make fun of her about this whenever I get the chance. She was obsessed!). There are some other great little boutique shops on Coventry street that I thought Ashley would like so we spent the early afternoon shopping and catching up. As we’ve been discovering Cleveland I have been bookmarking places that I want to take friends/family and it is so much fun to have people come visit and check it off my list. Sunday we grabbed breakfast at Root café and got to hear about Neal’s latest book project. Book number three already - I am seriously so proud of that kid!! With Neal and Ashley so close I am sure we will be seeing them more in the future and I hope a D.C. trip is in the cards this spring since Rob has yet to see this fabulous city!!

Not so sure about Cleveland I guess?!?

Me (36 weeks), Neal and Ashley

I also got the joy of showing my friend Joslyn the trees a few weeks ago as they began to change colors. Living in the southwest has deprived her of one of my absolute favorite natural wonders: leaves changing in the fall! We went for a walk in the metro park last week and it was adorable. She is so excited about this season of the year and I love it because even after 28 years of life I get almost as excited every single year. I just love it! It was nice having someone along who didn’t get annoyed by my enthusiasm. When Rob and I go out for walks I think he starts to tune out my exclamations over every single tree that is turning. I just can’t help myself… I am glad over the next few years I will have a little girl to jump in the leaves and carve pumpkins with!!


After several months of trying to coordinate dinner with two of the other residents, Jess and Adam, we actually managed to get all three resident schedules to line up in order to grill out at our house. We had them over to our place last week for a brief dinner after Jess had to work late. It was great to see them and catch up but it is amazing how difficult it can be to try and coordinate 3 resident schedules! Jess and Adam are from North Carolina and as we were saying goodbye outside Jess asked if it was cold enough to snow yet. We definitely laughed at that comment and assured her it would get much, much colder before it snows!!

Jenay, Joslyn and I were able to meet up at Panera one day for a girls’ lunch and managed to snap a few photos since we never know when I might have the baby. Check them out below! Jenay is also really showing by now so it was fun to “introduce” our girl babies! Jenay and Chris were also able to come over to our place for the NFL season opener earlier this month which was a lot of fun. We don’t have too many channels on our TV but at least the big games come in clear!!

Me and Jenay with our girls!

38 weeks and 28 weeks

Joslyn, me, and baby Bella

Just this past week my friend Katie was traveling through on business and was able to make an overnight stop at our house. It was so nice to be able to go for a walk with her and catch up like old times. It was a fun surprise that work took her to Cleveland before the baby gets here so we were able to have girl time without a baby in tow! 

3,000 Miles Later

It has been several weeks since I got the chance to sit down and blog. Life is moving forward a bit too quickly at times and we are simultaneously settling into life in Cleveland and not settling in because each day holds a different schedule for us!! A good indicator of exactly how busy we have been is the odometer on our newly purchased Sorento – just crossed the 3,000 mile barrier in a little over one month! It seems we are always driving somewhere lately whether it is back to Iowa, Chicago, or to Niagara Falls!

Rob is liking his residency program and we have settled into some great friendships already here. We have really enjoyed getting to know our new “southern” friends Jenay and Chris. They are LSU fans who love grits, crawfish, red beans and rice! We have gotten the chance to hang out playing board games, mini-golf, and just chatting late into the night. They are also expecting a little girl in January. It has been so nice to have Jenay to chat with over coffee talking babies and OB care. I can’t wait until we both have our little girls and can have girls days out! Rob and I are incredibly sad they will be in Westlake at the St. John’s residency program just one year but glad for the new friendship!

I have also really enjoyed my time with another resident wife, Joslyn. She is so sweet, energetic, and crafty! Without my sister, mom, or friends here in Ohio Joslyn has jumped right in and made planning for Bella so exciting and fun. Joslyn is the queen of crafting and has helped me get the nursery ready. I will post some photos soon of the decorated nursery (when the crib comes in) and point out the adorable stuff she has helped me make. It has been such a blessing to have a friend here to hang out with while our husbands are hard at work. We have explored Cleveland together and found some interesting antique stores – some we love and some that creeped us out!

In mid-August I got to head back to Iowa and Chicago for two baby showers. My oldest brother, Seth, was home from Afghanistan for the Iowa shower and my sister, Jolie and her husband Mark were also able to make is up. It was nice to plan the shower around a family “reunion” of sorts although I will blog about the showers separately on Annabelle’s page! Both showers were absolutely adorable and it was so nice to see family and friends before the baby gets here.

When I got back from Iowa/Chicago Robbie decided (on a whim) that we should have a one year anniversary trip. He surprised me on Friday by asking if I would like to go to Niagara Falls the next morning. I am always in for an adventure so of course I was ready to go! The crazy part of the whole idea was Rob had to work the overnight shift that night so I packed our things up while he was working, he came home and crashed for 3 hours of so and we were off on our “international” anniversary trip. Granted, it’s not the type of international anniversary trip we had originally said we would take when we thought we would be child-free and it was 6 weeks early because of the baby but it was so much fun! We decided to spend the night on the Canada side and as soon as we crossed the border Rob switched to “kilometer” mode and drove ridiculously slow to avoid getting pulled over by the mounties. We got to our super-cheap hotel, checked in and took off for the falls as soon as we could. We walked next to the falls for a bit, grabbed dinner, and then came back after dark to check out the falls all lit up in different colors. It was gorgeous! The next morning we took the Rainbow Bridge over to the American side of the falls. After breakfast at a café we decided to go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour of the falls. Despite getting soaked in the rain on our way down to the boat and the fact that in the back of my mind I thought a boat ride could be a little bit lame, we hopped on the boat and headed out to the falls. It was absolutely incredible!! The boat ride took us right next to the bottom of the falls and we couldn’t stop laughing from our goofy blue ponchos, getting pounded in the face with water and my mascara running all over the place! When we got off the boat we spent some time walking around Goat Island and looking at Horseshoe Falls from the top. The amount of water going over the falls was mind-blowing and I rolled my eyes as Rob excitedly told me facts about the falls like the fact that 750,000 gallons of water go over the falls each second. He then spent time calculating out how many gallons that would be per day and how many gallons that would provide for each American, etc. etc. I had to laugh to myself to think that our kids are going to think at some points in their lives that he is the smartest person they have ever met and at other points in their lives that he is the cheesiest person on the planet. Regardless, I love him tons and am excited that at the end of our first year we are about to have our first little girl. I honestly can’t imagine a better first year. When it started to rain again Rob turned to me excitedly and said, “I’ll bet there are a million gallons of water going over the falls each second now!!”. Oh, I love my husband!!

The week after our trip to Niagra Falls I worked a short temporary office job which my landlord’s wife had referred me for. It was so nice to make a little bit of money and get out of the house for a bit but it definitely re-affirmed our decision for me to stay home. It was hard to keep up on everything with Rob working crazy hours and my working each day. Our time off didn’t line up so well and a lot of household chores fell to the wayside! I am so grateful that we will be able to have me stay home once Bella gets here – it will definitely help us maintain a more harmonious home. :)

We are getting excited for some friends to come visit with our good Chicago friends Jeff, Little, Hunter, Kara, Gil, Libby and Brian coming up next weekend. The week following, my brother and his girlfriend Ashley will be coming out from the D.C. area. Time is definitely going to fly between now and October 18th…I just hope we slow down the miles on the Sorento!!



Robbie and me at the top of the Canadian side of Niagara Falls



Robbie with the American Falls in the background

Me with the Horseshoe Falls in the background

Horseshoe Falls view from Canadian side

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls at night - White

Horseshoe Falls at night - Red

American Falls at night - Blue

American Falls at night - Purple

American Falls at night - Yellow

Robbie on the Maid of the Mist boat tour

View of American Falls from boat

View of Horseshoe Falls from boat

Falls from boat tour

Climbing right up next to the falls after the tour - look at the amount of mist they give off!

View of both falls from the top - American side

View of both falls - the path in the lower right corner is where we walked next to the falls (photo 2 above)

Robbie and me at the top of the American Falls

View of Canada from the American side

Brandywine Falls and the Beaver Marsh

I am a bit behind on posting updates so here is the second one today! 

Some of our new resident friends, Jenay and Chris, had recommended we check out the Cuyahoga Valley National Park sometime before the baby gets here. Specifically, they said we should head to the Beaver Marsh and Brandywine Falls. We looked it up on the map and found out it was just a few minutes from Sagamore Hills (south CLE suburb) where Robbie goes each Thursday for a half day of lecture. Last Thursday Robbie had the day off after going to morning lecture so we decided to check ou the park after he was done. I was more than happy to kill some time at Panera using the internet and drinking a hazelnut coffee (yum!). He got done a bit early so we grabbed lunch and headed out to explore. It was a gorgeous day and we got some beautiful photos to share!

First we drove south to go see the Beaver Marsh area.

Beaver Marsh area

Scenic Railroad train with bird in the tree

After a walk there we drove back up to the Brandywine Falls area to check it out!

Gorgeous views on the walk down to the falls

Brandywine Falls

Robbie and Jill at the Falls

We finished off the day with a hike through the forest. I loved all the mushrooms even though Robbie thought I was crazy. I stopped to grab a few photos of them as well!

Mushrooms and moss in the forest

Thanks Mom!

When we moved to our new house our landlord had beautifully remodeled the kitchen putting in very functional custom cabinets. One of my absolute favorite features is a large built in spice rack next to the new dishwasher (I plan to put up photos of the inside of our house soon and this will definitely be something I show off!). With both of us being adventurous cooks we have a huge variety of spices and filled the rack up entirely.

A few weeks after moving in we had used up all our curry powder and I wanted to try a recipe that called for marjoram. I headed out to the grocery store and into the spice aisle. I found the curry powder and did a double take…$5.59?!? That just couldn’t be right!! At first I thought maybe it was just an expensive grocery store so I stopped at 2 or 3 others and found the prices to be more of the same. When I got home and asked Robbie how much he thought spices cost he said, “umm…maybe 75 cents?” When I told him the Cleveland prices he was just as shocked as I was! He decided he’d better stop using spices so liberally when he cooks! The next time I was on the phone with my mom I asked her the same question. She said, “I don’t know, less than $1?”. Maybe we were just a bit spoiled in Iowa but here is a comparison to show the price difference between Iowa and Cleveland. Note the price difference between whole cloves in Iowa (88 cents) and Cleveland ($6.69).

Cleveland prices



Iowa prices



Cleveland prices for whole cloves: $6.69 (top left)

Iowa prices for whole cloves: 88 cents

A few days after the phone call with my mom there was a FedEx box by our front door. When I opened it up, right on top was a huge assortment of spices sent by my mom. That should tide us over for awhile I hope! As a side note, I’m thinking if we get short on cash over the next few years I might start a black market trading spices to Ohioans out of our house!!

All the spices my mom sent :)

The In-Law Suite

Despite an initial mix-up with directions, Robbie’s family arrived in Cleveland late Friday night for a much anticipated visit. We had prepped the “in-law suite” earlier in the week with a new can of Chock Full-O-Nuts (1/2 caff) coffee for Robbie’s dad. We tried to make it sound luxurious but in reality it is a pretty small room in our pretty small (aka cozy) house. Either way, it was nice to finally have his parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew out to see our new home!

We woke up bright and early the next morning despite staying up late talking after they rolled in. One of the first places we wanted to take them was the Westside Market. We all loaded in the van and took off for the day.

Grandpa T. and Max at the Westside Market

Shelly with Champagne Grapes - look how cute they are...and yummy!

Robbie and I at the market

Westside Market produce side

Gorgeous old ceilings inside the 2nd building

Cannolis = delicious!

After the market we headed back home to grill out for lunch and Robbie got to show off his new grill (another one of his favorite acquisitions since arriving in Cleveland). We napped and waited for the heat to die down so we could head out to Lakewood park in the late afternoon. Lakewood park has a great view of the Cleveland skyline so we took a family photo!

I think Max is pointing at his cousin :)

Robbie was also excited to take our nephew, Max, to the park although I’m not sure if he spent more time playing by himself or entertaining Max. Pretty sure he will use our daughter as an excuse to act like a 2 year old himself!

Robbie and Grandpa T. swinging Max

Lake Eerie in the background

Sometimes I find it hard to believe this man is a doctor...

We had fun taking Max for walks up and down our street and watching him “garden” in our backyard weed patch :) He has added a few words to his vocabulary (which previously consisted of the word “ball”). Pretty much everything now, good or bad, elicits an “uh-oh” from Max which is hilarious. On our walks Max would give an enthusiastic “Ohhhh” whenever he saw a dog or something interesting. He loves going for walks and made us laugh several times when he would go get his shoes, bring them to grandma or grandpa and plop down on the floor in front of them waiting for someone to put his shoes on and take him outside. Conveniently this happened near bedtime on Saturday night…Max left our house with only a few bumps and bruises from taking a nose dive into our sidewalk and is getting much faster each time we see him!

Max working hard in the garden

We ordered our first good Cleveland pizza Saturday night and watched a terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger movie on local T.V. It was seriously really, really bad but like a car accident, hard to look away… In the morning we went to The Root café – a little organic/vegetarian coffee shop in Lakewood and then it was time for the family to head back to Chicago. It’s amazing how fast their visit went – we had so much more we wanted to show them and are already making a “to do” list for the next visit!

Potatoes & Pierogies

Two weekends ago we met up with some of the residents at Irish fest. There are a surprising number of cultural activities in the Cleveland area which is a fun change from Des Moines, although this one seemed to focus mainly around beer and the selling of Irish trinkets. Thought I would share a few photos anyway!

 

This one is for you Winston and Heidi - we miss you guys!!

A tribute to Rob's heritage and a few of his favorite food items - too cute! No, I didn't buy it...

Irish Fest

Rob's favorite part of the day - the seeing the Irish dog breeds.