Oklahoma and Arkansas

Our trip was so wonderful. We had these two weeks off and we contemplated going for a mini vacay but to be honest there was no place I'd rather be than back home! There was a big group of Mitch's classmates that we're going to Florida but we had just gotten back last month and it was so good to see family. 

We got into tulsa late Thursday night. Of course traffic on I-40 was awful, like usual, and we we added about an hour and a half onto our trip. And when it's already a long trip that hour plus is not fun. But we made in by about 9:30 and stay up way too late visiting with my parents. 

Friday my mom and I went and ran some errands and then spent the day out at Mayfest. It is a huge festival downtown Tulsa with lots of art and crafts and food. We usually go every year but this year we had to go because my brother was playing with Alaska and Madi. They are both from Jenks and were on The Voice- team Blake. They have recently moved to Nashville but come back to tulsa a lot and when they do Evan is their fiddle player. They also have a new cd out and Evan is the fiddle player on the cd! So cool! I could go on and on bout how nice these girls are but Evan is having a blast hanging out with when and attending all the "cool" music parties with them ha! While at Mayest, we were able to catch up with some of our good friends. Katie and Tommy came out and after Evan played we hung out the rest of the night with them. I love getting to see everyone while we are home.

Saturday we didn't have much planned. We ran to some stores around Tulsa and just relaxed at home. But that night we went on a date to FLEMINGS! I love Flemings, it is a really nice steakhouse in Utica Square and it's my parents favorite place to eat. Its crazy expensive so we don't go often, but last year my grandma got us a gift card and we were so busy last year we never got the chance to use it. So this turned out to be the perfect time. We celebrated being done with "almost" a year in Tennessee. It was the perfect night and we definitely enjoyed ourselves! 

Sunday we went to church and then we both had crazy busy plans all day. Mitch went to golf with Peter and Scott and I went to one of the little girls in my class birthday party. I still can't believe I had her in Kindergarten and now she is finishing up 2nd grade!! I love that there are several kids from my class that I still keep in touch with and get to visit while I'm back home. After her party, I met my parents and we went to look at some houses for them. They are trying to decide if they are going to move or not. They weren't really planning on it, but very unexpectedly they have had some very strong interest in their house. So for now they are just taking their time and seeing what happens. Then we went out my grandparents new house and celebrated my grandpa birthday. 

Monday I spent all morning with one of my best friends, Tayler. She had the day off and so went had breakfast and spent all day at Utica. It was so nice to spend time with her, not only because she is one of my best friends, but she is finished up the same school that Mitch is in and having her to talk to over this past year is so nice. She graduates in July and actually while I was with her she got the job offer she was waiting for. So that was exciting. Its so funny to hear her perspective on things now that she is finishing up and has a job waiting for her. Although her program was a masters (2 years) and she did it all in Tulsa, it is nice to be able to spend time with someone who gets what were going though. I know we have so much support through family and friends, but unless you have went though this program you really have no idea whats involved and how stressful it really is. Especially Mitch, who hides his stress from most people very well. So needless to say, having her has been such a blessing. When no one "gets it" I can call her and like I said I know lots of friends and family have been through moving and grad school, but everyones situation is different and especially CRNA school.Our situation is so different from the average person attending school or moving away for a job. I always tell Mitch if we were just here for a few years and he was just in school it wouldn't be bad, but starting in a couple months we could be moving around every 2 months and he will be pretty much living at the hospitals on top of all his classes. So that will be interesting. We are just so ready to get back to Tulsa! 

Monday evening we went with my good friend Natalie to the Warren Theater and saw Pitch Perfect 2. I honestly wasn't expecting much. I thought the 1st one was extremely cheesy, but I was super surprised! it was hilarious and we loved it!! 

Tuesday was the day of getting things done. We had hair appts, had to get the oil changed, and I got to have lunch with one of the teachers I worked with and a mom of one of the kids I am close to. It is so nice to be able to pick right back up with them. Then later I went and had ice cream with another little girl I had in class. I am so thankful for parents who let me stay involved, even though I am states away. That night my mom and I made dinner and Mitch went out to dinner with one of his good fiends from sunday school. 

Wednesday turned out to be a bit of a surprise for me. Mitch surprised me and had a massage booked for not only me but my mom too!! He said he was very thankful for the hard work and sacrifices over the past semester. I am seriously married to the best man. So my mom and I went out for a spa day and shopping. It was perfect and we ended our last night in Tulsa with an outdoor fire, hot tub and Pei Wei takeout for dinner. 

Thursday through Sunday we for fortunate to be able to go spend some time in Arkansas. We did a lot of hiking, walking the dogs and we able to spend some much needed time with Will and Michelle. Mitch's grandma was in town so that was nice as well. She lives in Memphis, so you would think we would see her more, but I don't think they realize how busy Mitch is, and me working, that we honestly have no extra time and if we do we don't really want to drive an hour. Usually when he has down time, its not for long and he wants to relax. So we unfortunately don't get to Memphis a lot, but we try when we can. 

We have been watching the process of the pyramid finally being turned into something useful, Bass Pro, so we had to stop and check it out on our way back to TN. If you are in Memphis or passing through it's def worth your time to check it out. So neat! 

Now we are back in Tennessee and starting the second week of Mitch's time off. He is so thankful he is back and has nothing to do. Anytime we have a break we always spend it back home, which we love, but that means we have never have any downtime while here in TN. So it was Mitch's idea to only spend one week of his two week time back home. So since we've been back we went and found a new hiking trail, Cypress Grove. It was fun to get out but definitely not our favorite ha. I only work 2 short days so I al able to spend this time off with him as well. And then tomorrow we take off for St. Louis until Sunday night. This trip was ALL Mitch's idea and he was dying to do something fun before he starts summer. So he planed it all and honestly I don't know much, but I am getting really excited and can't wait to leave! 

Oklahoma bound!

Well finals week is here and it has been super crazy. I have been trying to keep myself busy with working a ton these past two weeks and Mitch has studied so much. I pretty much haven't seen him the past 3 weeks and going to bed alone and getting up alone is getting super old- so needless to say I am ready to have my husband back, even if its just for two weeks! Mitch takes his last final this morning and then we are Oklahoma bound!!! We are spending time in OK and AR for a total time of about a week and a half and then coming back to TN for a few days and then going on a short little getaway. We think we have our mind made up on where we're going but are still throwing around a few ideas.

No real update on my knee, I am have been doing physical therapy and its going good. I am having less and less pain, but unfortunately still no running for now. I am about to go crazy! I have been looking up half for this fall and I pray I am going to be healthy to run another one.

To say I am excited about going back home would be an understatement. We have so many fun things planned and I especially can't wait to see everyone. Last time we went home we were only able to stay two days but since we are going to be in Tulsa for several days I hope to see everyone! We are already super busy with stuff and its going to be wonderful to be back!

Last night we celebrated early- we went and got pizza in honor of Mitch being done with this semester. We knew as soon as he gets done today we are headed out, so last night it was. It was a good study break for him and a great way to end the work week for me.

That's all we have going on here. I know we are super exciting right? I am going to take a break from blogging these next 2 weeks and enjoy my time at home and with Mitch.

Random update

This weekend has been super low key for us and it has been so nice. I feel like over the past few months we have been super busy, good busy, but not a lot of down time. We finally don't have much going on and on top of that I can't do anything because of my knee.

Friday morning we got up early and ended up going to Memphis instead of Nashville to get my knee checked out. We found a highly recommended doctor in Collierville, which is right outside of Memphis and we are super familiar with the town because thats where Mitch's grandparents live. So we had an appt in the morning and it went okay. I am still feeling a lot of pain but he seemed to think I just over worked it, which yes he is probably right. He took several x-rays and said it all looked fine but that my knee cap was slightly out of place so it is rubbing on the other bone that it is too close to. He said it happens a lot to women runners my age and they only thing to do for it is to strengthen my quads and that will pull my bone back in place. So he is sending me to physical therapy to help with that. He said running so much over the past years and training really hard for 1 month (instead of gradual training) for the half is what did it. He knows I want to get back running asap and seems to think that will be possible if I get the right amount of physical therapy. Unfortunately, he did say this is probably something that would reoccur. He said to make sure I train properly for every race and continue to do other things to strengthen my body, but thats about all I can do to try and prevent it. So good news is it isn't really bad but on the other hand no runner wants to hear she might have reoccurring knee issues. So I am staying positive and going to take this next month off running, as much as I don't want to, and rest and try to strengthen my body in other ways. Right now I am just trying to get the swelling down and manage the pain... for some reason it only seems to be getting worse.

After the doctor, we had lunch with Mitch's grandparents and then Mitch and I went downtown to the Collierville square and walked around. We have been several times, but I had forgot how cute and pretty it is. Its like something you'd see in a movie and we shopped in all the little boutiques- it was the best afternoon. I just love the town- I mean I am comparing it to Jackson, so not much competition, but it just feels so relaxed and a really "old fashion" type town. Mitch finds out July where he is placed for clinical for the next two years and depending on what he gets we may be making another move. We have been talking and talking about what to do and we both have finally decided that if he gets half in Memphis we are going to move closer to Memphis. His clinicals are 3-4 days a week and he only has to be on campus 1 day a week. So the less commuting the better. But anyways if he does have majority in Memphis, we obviously wouldn't move into Memphis, but most likely a town outside of Memphis like Collierville. We both think we would be ALOT happier in a town like that over Jackson. But we are still months away from deciding and we know God has a plan for us wherever we end up!

Today we got up and went to the farmers market! We are SO happy it's back- we love going every Saturday morning. Today we bought onions, potatoes, oranges and lots of farm fresh meat! I love getting stuff from the farmers market- it is just so fresh! This afternoon, Mitch continued to study for finals and I made a shopping trip to Target. I have been needing some new wedges- mine are way out of style. I wasn't expecting to find anything, but I was wrong. I found th cutest pair of wedges with black straps and a gold zipper up the top of the foot. They are SO cute and I was super excited I found some. We have weddings and events going on the summer and I just love wedges so much because they are casual but really cute with skinny jeans and dresses... AND not to mention way more comfortable than heels!

We grilled out tonight- you will find we grill out 99% of the time in the spring-fall. It was the perfect night and we are loving our backyard. And yes I probably don't even need to mention but we have been watching sports all weekend. Between the draft and the Kentucky derby we have been glued to the tv.

Tomorrow starts a new week and we are both crazy busy. I am counting down the days until Mitch gets break. He has been studying so hard for these finals and still has about 2 weeks of studying to go. But when its over we have 2 weeks off! We are going home (OK/AR) for the first week and then we are going to go on a little getaway, just a small, quick 2 day trip somewhere to enjoy ourselves before this summer hits. I think every person in his class is using the two weeks for a little vacation and I think 90% of them are going to the beach! Mitch said his professors told them to take a getaway and get refreshed because summer is when it all hits. They said its so different than a regular semester because its just two months so they cram everything and where as in a normal semester he had weeks that weren't as busy and some weekends we could travel back home for stuff, well not this summer. He got his summer schedule just for class and lab and I will never see him. I can't imagine adding study time to the schedule. These classes are suppose to be the hardest by far and they purposely don't give them their clinical schedule until July because they don't know if everyone will make it though the summer. So needless to say, this summer will be interesting.

This post has no real purpose, just to keep me busy while Mitch studies! So I hope y'all enjoyed your weekend and have a great Sunday!!