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.

Southern Comfort

So I've had my first week of clinics and it flew by! It's kinda scary though because that means this year is really going to fly as well. I have nine months of clinics and then start my senior year where I go to different places on externships. It's so weird to think that I'm half way through my vet school cirriculum. It's really awesome to see everyone again. A lot happened this summer while I wasn't there so it's been nice to catch up on random lunch breaks. I don't always have it at the same time everyday so I get to see a variety of people. Eric has only a few more days until he has to report for work. They don't start football practice for a few weeks. Summer is almost over! boo.
We finally had DSL installed the other day. We have been waiting for a few weeks and the guy didn't show up on the day that he was assigned to come. Fortunately, he had gotten his dates mixed up and came a day late. I'm relieved because I am definitely sick of dial-up.
Other than that the Ebers family is getting things back in order and ready for another school year.

The End of Summer

The past twelve weeks have been fun but definitely very busy at the Ebers house. At the end of April, we acquired Avery our chocolate lab puppy who we have decided we will be not spaying. She has been soo much fun but also a lot of work. We forgot how much work a new puppy is but we have enjoyed it. She is advancing well in her duck hunt training and has had several trips to the water. She is so funny because when Eric will throw a land retrieve, she'll go get the dummie and then hop into the lake before she brings it back. She absolutely LOVES the water and doesn't mind getting wet.

Eric didn't get done with school until the beginning of June so I had a few weeks at the apartment by myself. It was nice relaxing, watching TV, and having not to worry about school. After a few weeks off, I travelled to the Northeast for a Foreign Animal Disease training program at Plum Island. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of great people from all over the country. There was one representative from each Vet school, and I was fortunate to be the one chosen from State. We had some classes at Cornell University and went to the Island, but I did get to venture into "The City"! We only had one day off, but one of the students is originally from New York City so she gave us the speed tour through the city. We ate real New York hot dogs and pizza!

Eric coached both the high school and junior high summer baseball teams. They had games pretty much everyday so he was definitely busy going to and from Columbus with games. I went to a few of them when I was in town and Avery was behaving. They didn't make it through the end of the summer tournament, but their record was awesome!!! 16-10 for the high school and 12-8 for the junior high

We moved this summer which was an experience in itself. Who knew Eric and I had so much stuff in a 2 bedroom condo! My mom came to help us move since Eric had games and we got it all moved in just a matter of two days. We fortunately weren't up on our lease yet so we had the time to take and didn't have to superpack everything. Throwing things into the back of a suburban sure can be fun. We now officially feel right at home.

Eric and I were able one weekend that he had off to go up to Illinois to visit his parents. We took Avery with us and she had a great time. We went to some wineries but mainly just sat around and relaxed. We also took back the booth which was kinda sad but we definitely don't have room.

My dad's check-ups with this summer and I went with my parents over my birthday up to Minnesota for a few days of fun. We went to the Mall of America to shop and play in the indoor amusement park. (yes, I got my parent's to ride the carousel) We didn't buy much but definitely had fun walking around. I'm really excited about my dad's reports and he is good to go until his nice round of tests.

My parent's offered to take the crew to Gatlinburg and so after much planning and arranging, I headed to Gatlinburg. Eric wasn't able to go because of ball but considering this won't be the last time, we have plenty of years to enjoy it. It is a fabulous place and I always forget how much fun it is. Katie Margaret was pretty much strapped to me the whole time and was a blast to walk around the stores and restaurants. I think she likes the harness because she can see everything but doesn't have to do any effort. Her uncle would be so proud: minimal effort, maximal results. Our cabin was high enough on the mountain that we saw some really cool fireworks the night of the Fourth both from downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

Eric and I were able to make it down to Jackson for a quick over night trip to visit and take care of a few things. I start rotations on Monday beginning in Anesthesia. Eric starts school back in just two weeks!

This summer was definitely jam-packed but relaxing!