What a Weekend!

grad dinner @ Carriage Club

We had a whirlwind of a weekend as Mat graduated residency! WAHOO!! It seems like just yesterday we moved to KC for him to begin his internal medicine residency at KU. Well here we are at the end of the three years and he is beginning his fellowship in cardiology... Another 3 years. He gives the term "life-long learner" a whole new meaning. I am so incredibly proud of him! He has worked so hard and truly loves what he does. He is a fantastic doctor and I am so proud to be his wife:) Good job honey!

Both sets of parents came into town, there was a graduation dinner with resident friends, a graduation breakfast, the actual ceremony, a family celebration dinner at Cafe Provence, a resident party AND a graduation cookout at our home with friends. I'm tired just typing all of that! We had a great weekend and now will need this week to recover! Thanks to all our family and friends who helped make this celebration extra special! We wouldn't be where we are without your love and support!

Mat's chair (a KU medical tradition)

All 6 of us after the graduation ceremony

Mat & Kelly - 2 future cardiologists...Would you trust your heart to these two?

Arrrrr matey

Dr. Lindquist & Dr. Good enjoying some Karioke

Mat, Drew & Peter making some tasty margs

Brooke, Kristen, Erin, Lindsay, me & Baby Peyton at our cookout

Mr. Hovel, Lindsay & Sarah

Girlfriends!

from the time i was little, i loved playing with my girlfriends. when i was really little i was in a group called caterpillars to butterflies (moms & daughters hung out and did stuff), had play dates with girlfriends, had slumber parties, the whole sha-bang. i've always been a "girls" girl. i don't have tons of girl friends now because i am kind of picky about who i spend my time with - so when i say that i have the most wonderful girlfriends on earth - i really do. if there was a contest, i would win - hands-down. i am so unbelievable lucky. whether its my girls here in kc or my girls down in tulsa - i love having time with them. they all fit into different nitches in my life and connect with different parts of me. its like God hand-picked each friend that i have. my girls here - brooke, erin, sarah, lindsay, kristen, keri, have helped me adjust to living in a new town with a super busy husband. (okay, its not really new here anymore ... but i still have a busy hubby). these girls keep me grounded, keep me laughing and remind me not to take life so seriously. (these girls are also in my book club, which i am sure i will write about sometime soon!)

this weekend i am headed down to ok for a girls' "day" with the tulsa ladies. for carissa, andrea & cori it means being away from kiddos and household responsibilities all day and just getting to be with each other. for me, it means catching up with some of the most important people in my life. i haven't spent nearly enough time with these girls in the past year and i am seriously deprived. the goal is to one day go on a trip together... i think we are a year or two away from that- but it WILL happen and it WILL be amazing. these three ladies have been my friends at different stages in life and somehow we all came together and became friends. so let me share a little about them, my besties, to you:

cori:

cori & i became friends when i moved to tulsa in 7th grade. we basically lived at each other's houses on the weekends and spent most of our time at the mall. we weren't mall rats, basically our parents would just need breaks from our ridiculous antics and needed to drop us off somewhere so they could get some peace and quiet. cori & i have remained friends since then...highschool, college, married life, babies...the whole nine yards. we've laughed & cried, sharing joys & heartaches. we even have matching tatoos. we've always been able to pick up right where we left off. she is a one of a kind friend - the friend who can put you in stiches in just moments of being around her. she lights up a room and puts a smile on everyone's face. cori is genuine through & through. she

loves passionately and honestly. (& no we weren't preggo in that picture...well she was, but she didn't know it, just being silly at pea-in-the-pod)

carissa:

carissa & i became friends through cori. carissa was one of my roommates at osu. we experienced all of that college stuff together. we are also both pk's and share that whole side of our lives. this girl is a riot. i have never seen someone wheel and deal like she does. she almost got us kicked out of our hotel at our last girls' weekend for throwing cookies at drunk highschool girls. she is the definition of a faithful friend. if she thinks someone is being mean to you - she'll take them out - literally. i have no doubt that if i called her and needed her to come to kc, she'd be here in 2 hours (its a 4 hour drive, but she is quite the little speed demon). she is a beautiful girl through & though.

andrea:

andrea & i taught school together in owasso. she was one of the first people i met when i was "thrown" into my first year of teaching 8 (ahhhh! this feels forever ago!) years ago. i instantly knew i wanted to be her friend. her room was right across the hall from mine and we became fast friends - playing practical jokes on each other those who fell prey around us. we started running together and formed "spanish club" - basically an excuse to get margaritas after work on friday. she, like the other 2 is a soul mate. she is genuine, nurturing, faithful and hilarious. she seems innocent, but has a mischievous side (almost getting in a fight with a chick at my bachelorette party)

so this saturday, the 4 of us are getting together for 12+ hours of uninterrupted, hilarious fun. my abs will most likely be tighter for having laughed so incredibly hard with with these women. we're starting off the morning with breakfast at our traditional venue, Wild Fork... our favorite breakfast spot in utica square. we've gone there for ages. we will then shop at Utica, get pedicures, solve the world's problems (& everyone else's through endless conversations) probably have some margs somewhere along the way, go to dinner, get drinks somewhere... and just BE together. i can't wait!

don't worry i will post the pics.

3 days and counting!

Love you girls! (ALL OF YOU!)