A New Year...many changes

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has been supportive, caring, understanding, and just simply there whenever needed. It's been a difficult past few months, but we are very blessed with a close family and great true friends. The cards, flowers, text messages, emails, and prayers are greatly appreciated beyond words.

It's hard to believe how busy everything has been. Eric assistant coached for an FCA collegic baseball team this past summer and did so well, he was asked to be the head coach for this coming summer. They did fairly well, but he had a wonderful experience and thoroughly enjoyed being in Niagara, NY. The past few months in particular he has been busy recruiting and finalizing plans before the regular baseball season starts up in Columbus. He is still head coaching the Junior High team who won the City Championship so we're looking for a repeat! and he is still the pitching coach for the high school team. Games officially start up this coming weekend with a Jamboree. Hopefully, I'll get to visit this coming summer since two rotations kept me in Mississippi last summer.

My senior year officially started back at the end of May and it's hard to believe that graduation is almost here! (April 28th). I took my National exam (called the National American Veterinary Licensing Exam- NAVLE for short) back in December and found out in January that I passed! So as soon as I get my diploma and pass my state exam, I can practice veterinary medicine. I've had lots of experiences in the past few months including six weeks at the CDC, some advanced clinical rotations, a clinical externship, and even took a few Masters classes that will count for both my veterinary doctorate and masters degrees. I am taking a few weeks off right now to enjoy being with my family and resting after not only a busy school year, but also an emotional time. Just a few more weeks credit and I'm ready to graduate.

Avery had her first official duck season and retrieved three! We are very proud of her and hope she continues to do well. She has always been a bundle of joy and will always be a puppy in our eyes, even though it is very apparent that she is quickly outgrowing the condo.

I was able to spend a lot of time this past fall and the early part of this year with my family. I was able to enjoy going to the beach in October, painting a Jack-o-lantern, seeing my nephew get baptized, watching the Egg Bowl, playing in the snow twice with my mom, and spending 7 official weeks in Jackson this winter with my mom and dad. Lots of good memories, lots of lessons learned, but most importantly...thankful that I am who I am and am blessed to have a great family to call my very own.

Summertime!

The Ebers have been very busy preparing for the summer months!!

While Eric is getting ready to head to Niagra, NY to be the pitching coach for the Niagra Power, his junior high baseball team won the Junior High Conference Championships with a record of 15-4! Go Eric! The kids love him too. He is heading out in just a few weeks and will be there most of the summer. Although he really enjoys the kids, he really misses the whole college baseball scene. I really hope I'm able to go visit on my week off later in the summer but we'll see how things shake out.

Avery is crazy as ever. We moved some furniture around so her bed is in a different place and man does she love it. (We do too in case she gets something she's not supposed to have and we can corner her!) She has learned to jump over the gate at the stairs so theoretically it is pointless, but it does keep her downstairs 80% of the time. She does have these random moments when she jumps and we really have no idea why.

I have officially transitioned to my senior year. Equine was super busy (hence why I didn't write much) but I had a blast and really miss it! Ashley and I had a foal and mare pair the last two weeks which were soo much fun. Small Animal Internal Medicine is completely different and still lots of fun. I really can't believe I have been through a whole year of rotations and am in my SENIOR year!!! I have two more weeks on medicine and then go to ICU for six weeks. Shannon and I are then heading to the CDC for six weeks which I can't wait. I don't mind being in Starkville but at that point I will have been on rotations in Starkville for 365 days straight!

Easter was a blast! All 9 of us were able to get together and hang out. It's weird because it's like Easter is becoming the new Christmas as far as family get togethers. It was awesome egg hunting with Katie Margaret because she didn't want to put the eggs in her basket and she wanted to share with everyone. The Ebers family is definitely excited we can have sweets again.

Other than that, we are going through the days and really enjoying the warmer weather. We had a day the other day of constant rain which wasn't soo bad.

Can you believe it!

I can't believe it is already March! Baseball season has begun and I only have 8 weeks left of my junior year! Lots of stuff has happened over the past few weeks....

Avery has officially turned one year old on February 25th! We have ordered her a new collar for two main reasons 1) she has chewed her tags and needs one with the ID on the actual collar and 2) she has gotten bigger. We also officially celebrated her birthday with a cake. Although disgusting, she really enjoyed her peanut butter. Her mom and dad are still in the area along with some of her littermates and once we all get on track, we are having a big puppy playdate.



Food Animal is still going well. I had the cutest patients a few weeks ago. We have been taking care of quite a variety of animals including horses, goats, and cattle. Amazing that these all fall under our department but they do. I have really enjoyed my experiences even though I am completely exhausted and have not even started starting for our final which is in little over a week. Luckily, it's just on the cases rather than the all the lecture notes like the pre-test was.

P.A.W.S. is being discussed in a few of our veterinary publications which is really cool. It's amazing how many people are interested in our project. It really shows that we are making a difference. We are finishing up in the last few weeks of the year which makes it even harder to believe that this school year is almost over.

Baseball is going well. I was able to go to a game the other night. It's so hard with having to be on call and doing nightly treatments at the same time that Eric has games. I feel sorry for Avery the most because once Equine starts and baseball really gets going, she'll be along a lot. Right now the junior high is 5-0 and the high school is 4-1.

The biggest news is that Starkville, MS officially had snow today! We had a blast! I can only describe it by posting a few pictures of our exciting day.

I have never seen Avery run so fast. She had a great time catching snowballs in her mouth. As Eric says, "her two favorite things: retrieving and destroying."

The Ebers family officially is giving up sweets for Lent! Can't wait until Easter!

So one of my New Year's resolutions in a since is to keep this thing updated as much as possible. I realized that when I wait, I end up writing dissertations that take a while.

Over the past month....

We had a karyoke night the last week of Primary Care with lots of food and LOTS of singing. Mandy, Christie, Ashley, and I busted a move and sang our hearts out for the entertainment of others. I think the best part was the duets...Mandy and I definitely did "summer lovin'" from Grease and the boys busted out some old school country duets. We are definitely due for a repeat.

I have transitioned from the small animal world of puppies and kittens and their vaccinations to the large animal world. Right now I am on food animal which includes chickens, cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. These past two weeks, I've been on "ambulator" which means I get up before the sun, get to school by 5:45 am (yes, it is possible for me to be up at this time), and travel to various farms to do farm calls. We mainly have been palpating pregnant cows. I want get into the details, but it is actually pretty cool to feel a fetus! We travel around in this fully equipped truck which is my dream and so it's thrilling for me to ride in. The other day we travelled to south Mississippi for our chicken trip. Ten young adults in a van for 6 hours can definitely be fun. Nobody was injured and we had a blast playing Phase 10 and listening to various music selections which matched the personalities of the car...we all were united in the end when we pulled into MSU singing "Shoulda been a Cowboy" at the top of our lungs.

Eric has started baseball practice and has been going back and forth between the high school and junior high. The first junior high game is next Monday night. He has been reading this book by John Wooden and getting tons of ideas and implementing them. He has been really excited about this season and all the growth of the players from this summer. It's soo weird and exciting. These next 10 weeks are going to fly by fast! with baseball and clinics. At that time, Eric will then go to Niagra for summer ball where he is coaching a summer college team and then I'll start my senior year on Internal Medicine and ICU.

Avery is officially a "big girl". She had her first heat cycle starting two weeks ago. She is kinda weirded out by it and really wasn't sure what to think of her diapers. She hasn't been training much but we have been taking her on daily walks which she really likes. She tries to scale the wall to get to her harness. I'm waiting for the day she puts her harness on herself and walks out the door.

So far the semester has been great. Valentine's is this weekend, but I doubt we will do much....

Happy 2009!!

So the past few weeks have been very busy for the Eric Ebers family....

Eric and Avery went to Illinois over Thanksgiving where she had her first real hunting experience. They didn't come back with anything, but she has had great practice over the Christmas break. He has been training her for duck hunting, but they have taken to quail hunting at the Refuge. I went with them one day and it was a lot of fun. They haven't gotten anything, but I'll say it's not the flusher...it's the hunter.

The week after Thanksgiving I transitioned from Small Animal Surgery to Community Veterinary Services which is basically the part of the hospital that is like a small animal clinic. We do spays and neuters, take vaccination appointments, and handle your basic illness cases. It's a nice break from the all the busyness of surgery which I actually really miss. It is nice to come home at 5:30 everyday and see Eric and Avery pretty consistently. In a few weeks I rotate to Food Animal. We also go on these spay/neuter trips where we take a mobile veterinary clinic around the state to various shelters and perform spays and neuters in a fully equipped mobile unit. It's pretty cool and an awesome experience.

My friend Shannon and I also spent some time this summer developing a project in which we go around to local elementary schools and talk to them about public health topics. It is part of our Master's project but it's really interesting to see what the kids know before hand and what we are able to teach them. It is also really fun to interact with kids! I think they enjoy the break in curriculum as much as we do.

We also decorated our first Christmas tree!! Although we technically had one last year, I put it up myself after Thanksgiving while Eric was in Columbus. It was hilarious particularly with Avery...we were really scared that she was going to chew on the branches or take the ornaments off the tree. Really, the only thing was her long tail would whip the branches. A few ornaments did fall but none were sacrificed.

On December 22nd, Eric took me to a romantic dinner at Anthony's in West Point. We went on our one year dating anniversary and for some odd reason hadn't been since. They have wonderful food and it's really not super expensive. We had a bottle of champagne and enjoyed our evening. We stopped by Mossy Oak to get my anniversary present. Odd I know, but I really did need the 1000 g thinsulated boots for deer hunting. We then came back to the house and cut our top layer. The cake was still as good as it was last year. We definitely wrapped it well! Neither of us can believe a whole year has gone by. We were really glad that our anniversay fell during a break that way we could celebrate it and not let the rest of life get in the way. We actually did watch the wedding videos, but Eric fell asleep halfway through.

Being on clinics involves being on call for a few times each rotation. I was on call Christmas Eve, the 27th, and 28th so we didn't have much time in Jackson, but I was very thankful I had arranged to be there for Christmas Day. It was a lot of fun playing with Katie Margaret who is more mischevious each time I see her. We drove down late Christmas Eve night so that we wouldn't feel like we were driving so much in two days. Avery boarded at PetSmart and appeared to have so much fun she slept for like three days later. We got lots of good presents. The best part was, the next day, all of us (but Dad being the smart man he is) decided why not go out shopping and take advantage of the after Christmas sales. Well, Eric had great luck at Bass Pro Shop, but the rest of us headed over the County Line. For the most part, it really didn't take that long....until the power went out just as Tom was checking out. We were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes when it should have taken us 10 minutes to get back to the house. I have to give myself props...I entertained a one year old by shredding a paper tablet in the car.

I was off call the whole week of New Year's so Eric and I were able to go to Illinois to celebrate Christmas just like we always have. It was a lot of fun. We got to see Grandma as usual, but also went to Tequila's on New Year's Eve. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Steve came over to celebrate the night with us by playing Cranium Turbo Edition. The girls team won!!! But Eric and I missed the memo on matching...

School has started back for both of us and as always, we can't wait for the summer. Time flies by too quickly. Eric has started baseball after the break and so our lives are busy once again. We really enjoyed our time off and can't wait for another holiday!

It's Been A While

It's been a while since we've had a post, but to be honest, it doesn't seem like a whole lot has been going on. I'm definitely intensely involved in vet school. I am currently on my surgery rotation which pretty much has all day long hours with little naps here and there. I've been on it the past two weeks and I've had about 6 cases. It's really not too bad, and it's not that it's time consuming, it's just soo tiring. I pretty much come home each night and pass out in exhaustion before waking up at about 8:00 just in time to eat some food and then study and prepare for my case the next day whether it be inpatient or one coming in. We do have some pretty interesting things go on including some tortoises who came in for a visit and I got a photo op chance with them. This picture is of me and my friend Ashley the day they visited.

Colin Powell came a few weeks ago (before he decided to endorse Obama) and we got tickets to the event. It was sold out but pretty cool to hear him speak. We both have been admirers for years and were really glad that the leadership conference asked him to be their keynote speaker. Avery is getting bigger and we can't believe how much she has grown. It's hard to notice sometimes because her playmates are definitely bigger than she is! She is still growing and loves to chew rawhide bones so we are always on the look out for good deals. She gets spoiled at her Aunt Shannon's when she goes to play with Hudson and Harlow. She definitlely is a social little puppy!! Eric broke his two front teeth which unfortunately we never got around to taking pictures of. Can you tell how busy we are? Rick and Donna came to visit this weekend and we had a relaxing weekend. It was Homecoming but we did not participate in any of the activities and definitely avoided the crowds. Jane and Steve come next weekend and we'll see if they bring Jake with them. I doubt it but that would be interesting. Other than that we are pretty much going with the flow.

So things have been crazy at the Ebers house. Eric started teacher work days on Friday and the kids officially come tomorrow! Crazy how fast the summer really did fly. We didn't get everything done but we definitely enjoyed every minute of it.

A few fun facts that we have experienced over the past few weeks. First of all, I was not happy with my computer at all. I got something on it and had to take it to school for them to scan and go through everything. It just annoyed me because I had a presentation due this past Monday and this weekend is when it really started giving me trouble so to be safe, I had to use Eric's computer and we did not use the internet. I hate technology. On a fun note, the Ebers's have a new truck!! We are pumped. It kinda came outta the blue even though Eric has been talking about it for a while. He started looking online last week and then went to the place here in Starkville before we called down to Jackson. We ended up driving down on Saturday to test drive (and buy!!) a truck and then got up EARLY!!!( 5 am. thanks mommy!!!) so that I could get back to be "on call" at 8 am. Eric didn't mind considering he got to drive his new truck back. We traded in the blazer which barely made it. It definitely was time for a new car. I hadn't ridden in it since last week, but it definitely was on it's death bed.

Avery is doing great in her training. She loves the water and I think is getting bored and needs new challenges. Cute thing that she is decided that in the 10 hours she was in her house today (I know, but school has started) she was going to eat her duck. She pulled out the tubing that makes the quack. I'm hoping that it comes out in a day or two and I don't have to take her up to school. It doesn't seem to phase her even though she got a little sick this afternoon. She is a Lab!!

She is growing but not as fast as she used to. We are thinking her head is about to grow next considering it looks little in proportion to the rest of her body.

I have a week and a half left on Anesthesia which is kinda scary... I feel confident in my abilities but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for them to give me complete control next week. I know I'll be fine but I can't believe how fast these three weeks have gone by.