happy birthday, bryan!

just a few reasons to celebrate...

1. finn

2. liam

3. even though he's 33 today, he doesn't look a day over 25 and has the heart of a boy

4. knows what i'm thinking with just a look, sometimes even without that

5. finishes my sandwiches

6. has the same good taste in just about everything as me. (he doesn't appreciate text as art, something i can live with)

7. loves being outside

8. loves to cook

9. loves being with his boys

10. is seriously the best father to our boys

11. usually even better

12. will attack a rooster if it comes at/attempts to charge the guys (my parents live on a farm with chickens and evil roosters)

13. would love to learn how to fix up old cars someday

14. will eat pretty much anything you put in front of him

15. olives (sorry, zach) and black licorice excluded

16. is told every day by patients that he should have been an OB

17. and still smiles and laughs as if it's the first time he's heard it

18. gets hit on by older women (i mean like 70s and up) on a regular basis

19. had worn contacts/glasses since he was in 2nd grade until recently when he got lasik.  one of the most exciting days of his life.

20. doesn't prefer to eat carrots alone

21. by alone, i mean without hummus or ranch, not by himself

22. loves music, all kinds, no country.

23. has a soft spot for the chili peppers (seriously, who doesn't?)

24. sometimes pretends he's a ninja

25. loves working night shift and sleeping during the day

26. especially when it's raining outside

27. is taking me to italy

28. gets excited about the blood and guts in his everyday work life

29. doesn't so much get excited about the crazies

30. wore hiking boots on our first date - who knew i'd end up marrying that kind of guy?

31. is really good at constructive criticism when it comes to my work, but usually loves all of it.

32. smiles when he's running half marathons

33. is a completely different person before his cup of coffee in the morning (someone who probably wouldn't smile and run at the same time.

happy birthday, babe!

1:42:28

if i had approximately an hour and half of free time, to do whatever i wanted, i would:

- make a yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting
- watch 500 days of summer (seriously, loved this movie)
- attempt to read a book that will be good for my brain, but end up turning on senseless TV instead
- drive very slowly to get a pedicure
- go to a zumba class (something everyone should try)
- practice turning my handwriting into calligraphy
- think of ideas for christmas cards
- think of ideas for the boys' birthday party (these go hand in hand, unfortunately)
- attempt to read that book again, but end up falling asleep

if i had one hour, forty-two minutes, and twenty-eight seconds, to do whatever i wanted, i would not:

- run a half-marathon after only deciding a couple months ago that i would do it

- smile while doing it!

apparently, bryan would. nice work, babe.

our path

the path has been done for a couple of weeks now, and it looks like it's been here since we moved in!  i love it so much, i can't believe bryan was able to fit all these stones together so perfectly.  since i took these pictures, he's planted ground cover in a few of the bigger spots between the rocks - he's not sure if it will do what he wants it to, but if it does, it will grow in between all the cracks... our front yard is shaping up!

spring has sprung!

which means (since last spring, we were still trying to settle into a routine with our four month-olds) home improvement time!  on the list:

1.  replace house numbers

2.  plant forsythia on the blank side of the house

3.  create a stone path in our front yard where grass doesn't want to grow

4.  tear out ugly bushes under our living room window and replace with something pretty

5.  try to work a japanese maple into our landscaping  (trying so hard)

6.  figure out how to take the backyard back from the dogs, and then figure out where to put the dogs

so far, we've checked off 1 and 2 (i say we like i had anything to do with it) and i'm LOVING the forsythia... because i'm a virgo perfectionist (ugh), the house numbers i don't love... it's hard to get them straight and evenly spaced, apparently!  and here's a few pics of my mister checking off number 3! more pictures of the process and once it's finished to come!

the green bookshelves

i'm so excited to finally be able to do this post!!  a very, very long time ago, we were perusing the pottery barn catalog (we play a game to see if we can name what the other one will like - after five years of marriage, we're pretty good at it), and we both fell in love with these bookshelves.  as you all know, pb is just a tad out of any reasonable person's price range, so we decided to tear that page out and save it for a project we bryan could one day complete.  along came our five-year anniversary, for which the custom gift is wood.  we don't always necessarily stick with the customary idea, but it's fun to try and be creative.  i loved our first year, which was paper- needless to say, he did very well. :) i tucked this magazine page away in my studio and pretended we'd lost it in the move.  for some reason, he got really set on doing these shelves NOW, but i played dumb and was able to (with the help of my dad, who pronounces 2x4 : twobuhfour - one word, no y) design these shelves in secret.  i went to lowe's and stored the wood in our neighbor's garage.  i know, it's going to be so good... except he found the plans.  my sweet husband, who seldom cleans without me knowing, and is almost never in my studio cleaning, walks into the kitchen... "did you draw this???" i almost cried i was so mad.  not at him, just at the fact that my surprise was ruined.  so i eventually got over it, and i can say that, a couple of months later, in between taking care of babies (who are one year old, i don't want to talk about it, but stay tuned for their birthday party post), work, and giving me breaks when i need them, he's finished the bookshelves.  how stupid is it that i don't have a finished picture?  i will, i promise.  they are amazing, and i know you can't even tell they're not the $400 ones from pottery barn.  they're going in the basement, which we're calling the babies playroom.  lucky babes. lucky me, to have a husband who can do these things!!  a few pictures to share...

working in the garage... brr

what i based my plans off of... who needs pottery barn?

a little pat on my back, if you don't mind... :)

ok, i got off my lazy behind and snapped some pics... obviously, already in use!! on a slightly different note, just found this number 2 at anthropologie- perfect for the twin's playroom!  i would spend all my personal money at this place if i could...

it's official.

bryan is done.  finito. for the next ten years, he doesn't have to think about another test.  let me back up a few years.  13 to be exact-ish...  he started college knowing he wanted to be a doctor, because of his anatomy teacher in high school, mr. lamb.  someone he respected so much, he was a guest at our wedding. he's even in our official album we got from the photographer because they goofed on which one we wanted in there.. oops.  bryan went to k-state for his undergrad, and ended up with more money at the end than at the beginning.  who does that? seriously.  he also studied for his m-cat in a comfy chair in loose park in the sun.  not in some classroom learning strategies, in a park!  let's hope these little babes get half his brains, they'll be fine... :) unfortunately, k-state didn't have medical school, or he would have gone there and wouldn't have ever had to admit to anyone that he became a jayhawk for four years of his life.  shh, don't tell.  k-state, however, does animals better than they do humans, so he came to the big city for med school.  at first, he thought he wanted to do orthopedic surgery... then he realized orthopods don't have lives.  i'm especially grateful for this revelation.  switched his focus to emergency medicine.  for those of you who've met bryan, this could not have been a better fit.  he's the most laid-back person i have and will ever meet, so go with the flow it sometimes drives me nuts.  but definitely a good yin to my yang...  in the course of med school, he took two of four board exams.  on march 17, 2003, we learned he'd matched at UCSF fresno.  one of the top emergency medicine programs in the country.  and i've heard would be the top if it weren't in fresno.  it was the best training you can get to be a good ER doc.  four years, one more written board exam.  a job in kansas city with a really great group fell into his lap (almost literally), we moved home and he started that in august of 2008.  fast forward to october 2009.  he slid in to a recently-cancelled spot (the last one - how does he do these things?) in a review course in vegas, read up on as much as he could retain, had me take him through several case studies, and took the oral board exam later in the month.   and yesterday, we got the envelope.

"congratulations dr. stork.... you are officially finished until
december 4, 2019."

what a feeling!!  i couldn't be more proud, although i never doubted he'd pass with flying colors... so so proud of you, babe.  congratulations.