Christmas Gifting

Well I don't know how I thought I could go through with not putting up pictures on my blog of Christmas. Truth be told, I took very few! It was a very quiet Christmas at home with my parents with a few presents under the tree for each of us. Since I've been living at home with my parents it has been like Christmas daily, they are so generous to me. I got my prized ticketed item, a new camera! Funny I know, how could I have not taken more pictures with my awesome new camera but I was just getting used to it and I didn't have an ultra SD card for it yet so that is my excuse.

Vintage Jacket from my Brother and Sister in Law in NYC

Dana Buchanan purse from Kohl's- so cute even my dog had to check it out

Break-Resistant Wine glasses for my new place! These should last me for a long time!

Make-up Kit by Tarte ... love all the color palates they had in this baby!

MY DREAM MACHINE!

This baby really does it all! It has 3D picture capability, panoramic picture taking, and a fabulous low light setting. I am amazed by how clear all of these pictures are! 

My Parents and I at my Aunt and Uncle's house on Christmas day!

It was a great Christmas, but very low key. I am excited to have my brother in law and sister and their kids moving back to Georgia so we can all do Christmas together next year! I must have been very good this year or maybe my parents love me unconditionally.... maybe it's a bit of both. I have really had a roller coaster of a year but in the end my family has seen me through it all. I look forward to the New Year and all the blessings and trials it will bring. 

+AMDG+

All is calm, all is bright

Merry Christmas Eve! Looking outside today, it looks like any other day but somehow all is calm and quiet. I won't quite say it's the calm before the storm because Christmas should by no means be called a storm but it is the stillness before such a truly extraordinary event. I look forward every year to be going to midnight mass, there is nothing quite like it. Every year when I go to Midnight Mass, especially at my home parish of Most Holy Trinity, I am reaffirmed in my love of Christ and in being a Catholic Christian. There is this wonder and awe that is rekindled in the hearts of everyone, reminding us of how God became flesh so that we may believe. I can say there are many traditions that we as Catholics cherish but it is the most simple and yet extraordinary celebration of the mass that binds us together so closely.

I am somewhat saddened not to have my siblings in town for the holidays, but we all see to be very busy this year. Come to think if it, three of the four of us are moving! My sister and brother in law move Dec 30 to a larger apartment in NYC just 2 blocks away from their place now, and my sister and brother in law will be making a very long journey and moving from Salt Lake City, UT back to Georgia in January. I am set to move beginning of February! I will be starting my job at MUSC in Charleston February 20, God willing. I have so much to be thankful for and God has totally answered my prayers and in a much better way than I could have imagined. Merry Christmas to everyone and remember to cherish your family and friends. Christ will become present tonight in a very real way; let us always allow Christ to be present in a very real way in our live throughout the year and for years to come.

+AMDG+

Drum roll please...

Well it is finally official. I AM MOVING TO CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!! I got an offer from MUSC's Renal Transplant program and I accepted it on Thursday. I will be moving to Charleston sometime in the beginning of February. Praise God! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and my job situation. Your prayers and moral support have meant so much and I know that this is where God wants me to be. I hated the waiting but it was so worth it.

 +AMDG+

Finally a recipe!

I seriously feel like sometimes I am allergic to blogging or at least I am a sprinter not a marathon runner. I guess that is how the roller coaster of life goes, one day you have plenty of time to write things and the next you are scrambling to write two lines. I still haven't heard from the job yet, it is really starting to weigh on me. I think Jesus is really trying to pull me close to him during this season of Advent, since advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. I have no doubt God is trying to teach me a lesson of patience and awaiting the arrival of the gifts He longs to give me. But I will say waiting is so hard! I want to start planning where I'll be living, starting to do SC state paperwork, hospital credentialing and so much more! God is allowing me time to anticipate His arrival on Christmas and not to get caught up in the worldly things. 

I do have some very EXCITING news to tell everyone though! My sister and bro-in-law and my niece and nephew will be moving back to Georgia next month! Not Augusta, but Athens... 1.5 hours away from us! I am beyond shocked but it has been an intention of the Novena to St. Andrew so I should not be surprised that God has answered my prayers. My brother in law, Christopher, got a post doctorate position at UGA for at least a year, up to three if funding continues. He just defended his thesis and finished his dissertation this past Wednesday out at the University of Utah and has been looking for a post doc position for many months now. All of his most promising options never came to fruition, and on a whim he emailed a gentleman he met at a conference who Christ knew was taking a job at UGA. Little did he know a chance email would turn in to them moving back to GA and Chris with a job. Praise God! The crazy thing is that my brother in law will be starting Feb 1, 2012! So they have to pack everything up and drive across the country in a little over a month. My sister says that she and the kids will come early and stay with our parents so that they can look for a house in the mean time. My sister still has to find a job as an RN there so she won't need to be working. Can't wait to see my super cute niece and nephew again, and on a more regular basis.

I recently tried a recipe that I found on Pinterest. I know this has become the new craze but I love finding new recipes because I am sometimes a very picky eater so I would never have looked up some of these recipes on my own. 

So here is my latest creation... Strawberry Balsamic Pizza with Chicken, sweet onion and apple wood smoked bacon . Might I add that this was DELICIOUS!!! I normally don't like to mix tastes but this was heavenly. I even made a believe out of my skeptical mother. =)

(pardon the very poor camera quality, took this from my phone and I think I had something on my lens when I took it)

Recipe: from The Cafe' Farine

Balsamic Strawberry Pizza with Chicken, Sweet Onion and Applewood Smoked Bacon 

Ingredients:
½ cup strawberry jam or preserves, use your favorite
¼ cup balsamic vinegar ( white balsamic can be used too)
1 teaspoon Sriracha Chili Sauce
1 ball pizza dough (I used pillsbury's thin pizza crust in a can but you can get premade pizza dough from many grocery stores, like Publix or Trader Joe's)
1 cup diced or shredded chicken breast, from rotisserie chicken or left over chicken of any kind
½ cup applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces, cooked and drained
½ cup thin sliced sweet onion
12 ounces shredded Italian blend cheese 
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh strawberries, diced small

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until reduced to half of the original volume and mixture is thick and syrupy. Add strawberry preserves and Sriracha and mix well. Set aside to cool.

3. Pat or roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately a 14 inch circle. Shape does not have to be perfect, this is a rustic pizza. I placed dough directly onto the baking sheet/pizza pan. The original recipes is a bit more involved than I thought it needed to be.

4. Combine chicken with 2 tablespoons of the balsamic-strawberry mixture and mix to coat all chicken with sauce. Pour rest of sauce onto pizza dough and spread to cover. Leave a 1 inch border all around the edge. Scatter chicken evenly over the sauce.

5. Place about 3/4 of the cheese on top of dough and spread to cover sauce evenly. Scatter  bacon and sweet onion over cheese to distribute evenly. Scatter remaining cheese over this layer.

6. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Watch carefully, at this temperature it is easy to burn the pizza!

7. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and fresh diced strawberries. Serve and enjoy! 

Try it, you won't be disappointed! 

+AMDG+

More Waiting

As if Advent season wasn't already a time of preparation and waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ, which I am constantly reminded that most people have forgotten, I am awaiting news about a job that I interviewed for last week. I went and interviewed at MUSC in Charleston, SC for a Physician Assistant position in Kidney Transplant. This would be a non surgical position, dealing mostly with preoperative evaluation and post operative care of kidney transplant recipients. I really enjoyed my interview there, I could tell that the Nephrology department there was a well oiled machine and I was happy to see good working relationships. Obviously as this is said, no department is ever perfect but I think I got a good impression from everyone I interviewed with. I had a long interview, from 10am-3pm. I did choose to go on rounds with one of the physicians, not just because it would show them that I am very interested in the position but because I did want to see potentially what the job would entail. From what I was told I had very positive reviews from everyone that I interviewed with and I hope there will be an offer soon! I miss being in medicine, my current PRN position only allows me to treat "weight loss" so I feel like I am missing out on the diagnostic factor of being a PA. I am constantly reminded at how intrigued I am by medicine and that when I don't know something I am eager to find out the answer or as to what a certain condition is. Being in medicine you never stop learning; there is always some new medicine, treatment, or disease out there, maybe that's why I like it so much.

So right now I am trying to focus on several different things: a potential job, preparing for Christmas, STARTING Christmas shopping, and my cousin's wedding this weekend! I am so excited for Clare and Ben. I have plenty of things going on this week and thankfully I am not working. I am able to help my cousin and aunt with random tasks to make sure there is less stress on everyone. No one wants a stressed bride or mother of the bride. As I am typing this a funny green bug just pelted across my room and flew into my dresser. I was wondering what was making that buzzing noise earlier today, I figured there was a bug in the window but after lifting up the blinds I couldn't locate the darn thing. It's dead now, so no more buzzing. I am also excited to have my brother Fr. Aaron coming into town on Friday. He will be doing the wedding vows for my cousin's wedding. I was hoping I'd be the first family member for him to do marriage vows for but I will gladly step down for my cousin. After all it makes it even more special that one day he'll get to celebrate the wedding mass for me and the man I am going to get married to. Fun stuff to think about for the future.

During this period of waiting I hope to have patience and joy just as we all should for the advent season, awaiting the birth of Christ our Savior. Me being a woman I want to plan and plan and plan some more. I really want to know if I will be moving to Charleston for a job there and start all the preparations to do so. Instead Christ is asking me to grow in patience and to enjoy the waiting time I am in now for the preparation of the Joy he has set for me... in the gift of himself by becoming human and by having me waiting for the revelation of his plan for me as a Physician Assistant. Here's to patience and joy!

+AMDG+

December... already?!

So I realize I've done a bit of slacking in the blogging world... not like most of you care but I can't believe I hadn't written anything in almost a month. Life has been pretty busy I can't lie but I have no idea where to begin on what has happened in the past month.

Went on a girl's weekend trip to Atlanta to visit Erin and Drew ... Drew graciously allowed 10 girls to invade his home. I don't think he had much choice because Erin moved to Drew's hometown after they got married and knew there would be some disgruntled girls if they weren't allowed to visit. Little did he know we would all come at once. Erin and Drew are expecting baby Blake at the end of January so we were all exciting to see Erin's baby bump and to have some girl time with our friend Lindsey who flew in from Tampa for the weekend as well.

Picture of all of us girl's at Atlantic Station in Atlanta

My friend Erin also had her baby shower this month, my camera has actually bitten the dust so I didn't get any pictures after the girl's weekend. But there was tons of good food and baby Blake got lots of things and will be such a well dressed little man. All of us can't wait for him to arrive.

I've been crafting some lately and I invited my friend Joy Beth over to make some ornaments with me, got this idea from Pinterest. I absolutely love vintage/aged looking things. I saw these DIY ornaments from old book paper and I fell in love. Here is the finished product.

Old pages from a book, mod podge, glitter and twine bow

Also this time of year allows me to have one of my favorite all time drinks- Eggnog. Even though I don't drink coffee I do imbibe occasionally on Starbuck's Eggnog Frapaccinos because they are so delicious and don't taste like coffee. They started making them mid November and I was so excited that they were finally out... I got a venti! 

I am ready for the holidays and I am starting to bring down all of the Christmas decorations in my parent's house. Christmas music is now a staple and is almost constantly on in the background. I am enjoying the start of this Advent season and I can't wait to celebrate the birth of Christ in a few weeks. 

+AMDG+