Guess What?

If you guessed hail you would be correct. Tuesday morning I left work thinking it was rather warm, but not too bad. That mindset changed as I passed a bank that had the temperature reading 98 degrees. Hail was the last thing on my mind. I didn't even know it was possible to be 98 and hail in the same day. I guess it is. My main concern was my tomato plants; flooding wasn't something I was thinking about when planting. Or being beat relentlessly by pea sized hail, for that matter. Luckily, it looks like most of the plants will service :)

Really, we've had a very nice spring. Nicer than I was expecting. I suppose in my mind I was thinking come may first it would be consistently in the 90's, but it's been a lot cooler than that. Also, our front yard has spontaneously sprung lantanas, lilies and roses (see below). Steve and I were rather surprised, but we love having color. Happy Spring!

The Ellsies

So...what's with the name. Picture, if you will, a campout, filled with hormonal teenage boys, youth leaders and games in the dark. While attending one such event, capture the flag ensued on the campground. Being the ever-determined and skillfull capture-the-flag player, Steve snuck to the flag. But, from out of nowhere the other teams leader yelled, "Hey...watch out for...Ellsie!" The rest is history. We are now Brother and Sister Ellsie. The End.

Baking

Because I can, I will be sharing my culinary creations with the viewers of this blog. This is a blueberry creamcheese braid. I made it on mothers day and it was absolutely delicious. It's the first braid I've made, and I thought it turned out pretty good. The recipe came from thefreshloaf.com. It's a forum website for amateur bakers. The greatest thing about the site is the lessons. If you're thinking about baking bread, it's a good place to look. Plus, they post recipes like the delicious one show above.

Gardening Successes!

Right when we moved in Carolyn and I decided we wanted to plant a garden in our back yard. We both weeded here and there and discovered that gardening requires pretty constant attention. Carolyn thinks the garden is difficult to manage and she's right. This April the two of us spent between five and six hours removing large roots from out of our soil. Apparently, the previous owners had large trees in the back yard that they cut down and left the roots.

About two months ago we started growing tomatoes in little trays. We have patiently nourished these tiny seeds and now we have plants that are about four inches tall. They have fairly decent foliage and they have taken well to our clay soils. Get thrilled. We also planted two jalapeno pepper plants that are doin' great. We did loose all of our lettuce though. Apparently, the wind was just too strong for them and they all died.

Thanks for reading about our adventures and we hope to bring you more fun stories.

Funny Story...

So I've got a pretty funny story to share. In school we have to do mock exams of patients. We start with the skin and then do the eyes, ears, throat etc. So I'm twenty minutes into the exam of this 60 year old guy and I am testing his abdomen. For those of you who have never assessed an abdomen before you start by observing it in general and describe it. I say,"The patient has no scars or visible hernias." Next, you listen to the bowel sounds with a stethoscope and percuss the abdomen. Percussion of the abdomen consists of putting one finger down on the abdomen and then with another finger tapping it in such a way to elicit a popping sound. After I percuss the abdomen I talk about how there is a tympanic sound throughout the abdomen and how there is a hypertympanic sound over a gastric air bubble. Just when I am about done with this part of the exam I have to palpate the area to check for masses and tenderness. While I am pressing in pretty well the guy lets out this big fart right in the middle of the most serene silence and I just start cracking up inside because I know I can't say anything about it.

I hope to continue to share such snippets of my life with you as I continue through medical school. I am just about finished with my first year and I still love it.

Carolyn wishes to add her love and stuff.

Botanical Gardens

This past Monday Steve and I went to the Botanical Gardens. We've taken a liking to it, especially because it's free. Right now is the perfect time to go; we were happy that we caught it. To the right is the yellow columbine; below is magnolia.

So, you know how some people are "cat people" or "dog people." Well, apparently Steve and I are "plant people." I wouldn't have thought so either, but here we are. This is Stanley, our plant. He joined us this past October and is doing well. And look, he bloomed. We're so proud:)