Oxford Art Crawl

On the last Tuesday of every month Oxford has an art crawl.  The Double Decker bus takes people around the city and throughout the University to visit all of the art galleries.  It always proves to be a fun date night - great art, free food/beverages, and good company. If you've ever had any desire to go to a gallery opening (or even if you haven't) you should try the art crawl.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Most cities have something comparable- find out what it is and go! 

Random:  Tonight we got to meet the famous pianist, Bruce Levingston.  I always love meeting people with successful art careers. 

In other news, Allan is taking a letterpress class and I've commissioned him for some projects:
1.  Graduation invitations
2.  Thank you cards that say "Thanks Y'all!"

Race Day

Race day has come and gone and can I just say how glad I am that it is over!  I'm so glad I did it, but it was ROUGH!  I finished the half-marathon in 2:59:15.  One day I'll be all hardcore and run it in under 2 hours, but for now I'm just excited that I was able to do it!  Not many people can say they've run 13.1 miles!  My biggest advice for anyone deciding to train for any type of race is to have realistic expectations.  In November I couldn't run a quarter of a mile without feeling like I was going to die.  I've never been a runner.  So for me, this was good and I'm pretty proud of myself.  

Before the race

610 people ran the 5K and half-marathon races

After the race with my medal!

Later that afternoon we relaxed with friends at Swayze Field!  It's baseball season!!

Thursday, the School of Pharmacy dedicated its new building on the UMC campus.  The new facility is amazing and I'm a little jealous our class missed out on using it, but not jealous enough that I would actually consider going back to PY3 year.  Enjoy future PY3s!!

Keynote speaker:  Senator Thad Cochran

Ribbon cutting ceremony

I should blog more often so that my posts are shorter.  I'll try harder.  Now I must fight the urge to watch yet another episode of Gossip Girl on Netflix to read the hypertension guidelines for my "topic discussion" with my preceptor tomorrow.  Happy Sunday!

Athens, GA

After graduation we are moving to Athens, GA!  Allan has been accepted into the Lamar Dodd School of Art and after our weekend visit we decided Athens could definitely be a place to call home for the next three years!  If you ever lived there or know someone that does or did we are open to suggestions on places or areas to live! 

Valentine's Day No. 9

Tonight, in celebration of Valentine's Day, the Allan and Erin dream team joined forces in the kitchen and made the best meal ever!!!  Over the last year or two Allan has become quite the sushi chef.  He came up with all different kinds of rolls made with different combinations of crab, shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, and mango.  I made crab and cream cheese wontons for the first time ever and if I do say so myself, they were pretty amazing.  Allan said they were the best he's ever had!  The boy loves food!  Allan always gets me flowers for Valentine's Day, but this year he got his granny some too.  Such a sweet man. =)

The last two weeks have been rotation, journal club, rotation, work at Walmart, rotation, patient case presentation, rotation, help with student interviews for pharmacy school, work at Walmart, and more rotation.  Whew!!  Two more days left of Rotation #6.  I filled out my diploma application today.  Graduation just keeps getting closer!

We are visiting Athens, GA this weekend.  I'm super excited!  Hopefully, we will have our final decision made on where we will be after graduation within the coming weeks.  Until then, just keep praying!

Half-marathon update:  So, in the last few weeks I have become very discouraged over this process.  My knees have been hurting really bad.  It makes me so mad!  I feel like it is completely outside of my control!  I haven't been able to run farther than 10 miles and it has nothing to do with my legs hurting or being out of breath or my heart feeling like it's going to beat out of my chest.  Those were problems I had to overcome when I first started running.  Now it's knee pain.. and I feel like there is nothing I can do about it.  I'm just worried about the race.  Two more weeks...Maybe on race day my knees will magically work the way I want them to?!  On a more positive note, I got some cute running clothes this weekend.  I've been running in junk clothes made out of cotton that were literally rubbing me the wrong way, so now I'm good to go!  Buying new clothes is always exciting!

Just Waiting

Allan is done with the application process for graduate school!  Now we wait!  At least 2 or 3 times a day I get asked about our future after graduation.  In case you haven't heard and might be interested, the schools Allan applied to include:

1.  The University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
2.  The University of Missouri (Columbia, MO)
3.  The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)
4.  The University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK)

Hopefully he will start hearing back from the schools around March so we can decide where we will be living and I can start looking for a J-O-B!  Keep us in your prayers!  This is a big decision!

This past weekend we traveled to Byram.  Home Sweet Home.  There's nothing like being around people that love you.  I always feel so refreshed after spending a weekend with my family and church family at FBC Byram.  We took our nephew so he could get some play time in with my little cousin.  The weekend was filled with a baby shower, wedding shower, Cub Scout car race, and time with family and friends.  Saturday night my mom made tacos for some of my friends.  It was just like old times in highschool... hanging out at the Floyd house eating my mom's good food.  At the same time it was different because now we have a nurse, engineer, doctor, soon-to-be pharmacist, Appalachian trail hiker, and two additions (a baby and a husband).  I can't belive it's been almost 9 years since we graduated highschool!  I was so excited that Pooja got to come over too and meet everyone!  I love when friend groups can mix and have a good time. 

Half-marathon update:  I am now up to 10 miles!  My knees hate me, but I'm feeling good!

Run, Forrest, Run

In six weeks I will be running the Run for Hope half marathon in Oxford (God willing)!!  I signed up for it during a brief moment of insanity.  I kid.  Sort of.  I'm not gonna lie.. I hate running.  It makes me sweat way too much, my sinuses start flowing like Niagra Falls, and afterward my knees feel like that of a 90 year old.  I hope I am on point as far as mileage goes for training purposes.  I never really found a training guide that I liked online.  All of the BEGINNER guides expected you to be able to run 3 or 4 miles from day one!  Umm.. when I first started I could barely run a quarter of a mile.  I've come a long way since November.  Today I ran 6.5 and walked 1 mile.  I think over the course of 6 weeks I can manage to run at least 6 more miles.  I'm nervous because I haven't been running as much as I should have over the last few months even though I've been on break.  We start rotations back tomorrow and between them and working at the pharmacy in Walmart I'll only have about two days off out of every fourteen.  I'll just have to make time for running I suppose.  I think I can, I think I can!  I just wish I was faster!  I'm anticipating it taking me close to 3 hours to run 13.1.  Too slow! 

Momma and Daddy Santa brought me new Brooks for Christmas.  I love them and the people at Fleet Feet for helping me pick them out.  If you need some really good shoes visit them!  They watch you walk to see where you put pressure on your feet to help you pick out the best structured shoe for your feet.  They also recommend getting shoes one size bigger than normal to run in.  I love my new shoes.  They definitely make a big difference. 

A friend told me about gmap-pedometer.  This is such a big help when planning routes.  I previously had been driving around Oxford in my car clocking the mileage on my odometer.  Using gmap is so much faster and easier!! 

Random:  Ever since I've upped my mileage I have been craving bananas.  In the past, I have hated bananas!  I didn't like the smell or consistency.  Now I eat one everyday.  I guess my body really wants that potassium!

Pray for me people!  I'll definitely need it! 

San Francisco

San Francisco was amazing!!  We had a great time and saw so much in the three full days that we were there.  We started the trip off with a Tower Tour.  The first stop was Muir Woods.  The redwood trees were breathtaking. The tallest tree was 258 feet high, with the oldest being 1200 years.  I couldn't believe this National Forest was so close to such a big city. 

 Next stop, Sausalito.  We only stopped here briefly, so we grabbed lunch (fish tacos for me, fish and chips for Allan- YUM!) and admired all of the boats on the bay. 

Then, it was on to the Golden Gate Bridge!  I was so excited that we actually got to see it up close.  It was massive.  I feel for the locals that have to drive across it everyday being that the toll to cross is $6.00!  Unbelievable!!

Next, was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.. Alcatraz!  The tour was really interesting.  It was home to some of the worst and most dangerous criminals.  It was built to be impenetrable, but there were many escape attempts.  Only one attempt may have been successful.  The three men that escaped were never found.  Some think they drowned and some think they could be living in South America (all three men had been learning Spanish before their escape).  The prison closed in 1963 and was occupied by American Indians a year later to get the government's attention in order to save their tribes.  Not only was the history and mystery of the island captivating, the island was absolutely beautiful and there could not have been a better view of the city's skyline, Golden Gate Bridge, and Bay Bridge anywhere else in the area.

  

Wednesday, we hiked the hills of San Francisco to find "the crookedest street" (Lombard Street).  They constructed the street to be almost impossible to drive down in order to decrease the amount of traffic in the area, but of course, the opposite occurred.  Everyone wants to be able to say they drove down the crookedest street, so there are constantly people braving the curves!  We couldn't get the best picture, but this is what it looks like.  We continued on to Fisherman's Wharf via the cable car (so cute and fun).  This is a very "touristy" area, but it is totally worth the trip just to get ice cream in Ghirardelli Square and watch the sea lions sunbathe at Pier 39.  At times, up to around 200 sea lions can be seen at the pier.  No one really knows why they choose to congregate at Pier 39, but the tourists (like us!) love it!  That night we explored the downtown (Union Square) area and did a little shopping (H&M!!).  

Thursday, we rode a bus to see the "Painted Ladies" or "Postcard Row".  I love these Victorian style houses and the view from Alamo Square was worth the slightly sketchy bus ride there. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Chinatown.  I love my new sushi plates ($1/plate!!), chopsticks, and Pashmina scarf.  I've never seen goods priced so cheap.  If you go to San Francisco and want to bring something home, go to Chinatown!  We stumbled upon the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.  Cool, but strange (sort of what I would picture a sweat shop to be like?!). 

Finally, the reason we went-- The 1st Annual Supersonic Electronic Invitational at Spoke Art!  The show was really cool.  There was a lot of illustrative work and it was very different than work that I've seen in galleries around MS.  I loved both pieces Allan submitted for the show.  He sold the lego piece which was really exciting! The show was definitely a great networking opportunity.  We met some really great people and everyone was so nice and welcoming.  Everyone seemed amused that we were from Mississippi.  It was almost as if Mississippi was this mystical land that everyone had heard of, but didn't think actually existed.  Hopefully we represented our state well.  We remembered to wear our shoes!  =)

Hopefully, many more trips like this one are in our future!