Currently employed!

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Hello friends and family! I got a job! Because I am a nurse, it only took me 2 weeks to get a pretty sweet job at a Magnet Hospital that is 1.5 miles from home! I am very excited about it and feel REALLY lucky to have gotten a job there so quickly. I start Hospital Orientation on Monday and am antsy to get out of the house since I have found my past-times including all-too-UN-admirable activities! I will be working on the Intermediate Vascular Unit. I had the chance to shadow a nurse for a few hours and everyone seems to get along really well. A lot of the nurses are younger, so I might make some friends too! Overall, it seems like a really positive environment to be in and a great place for a young nurse to flourish in practice! Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support as I am certain they played a role in little old me landing a great job like this! I love you all!

John Matthew Felder III, MD

Well, after years and years of work John has earned the title of Doctor! Way to go John! I am so proud of you and proud to be by your side through it all!

We had a great week with family. Unfortunately, the only pictures we got were taken by Baylor and send to us on this disc I got. (Don't ask what happened to our camera!) But, John's parents came and his sister drove for two days with 4 children to make it to the event! She must love John!

Here is us with my mom and dad at the graduation luncheon.

John's dad is being presented with this medal because he donated some money to Baylor.

John's dad in cap and gown. This year was his 50th anniversary for graduating from medical school at Baylor, the same school John graduated from. They let John's dad "hood" him in the ceremony. Wish we had a picture of that!

John being presented his diploma! What an accomplishment that took years of blood, sweat, and tears! Here's to you Dr. John!

Match Day Pictures

I already made a post about match day, but it didn't have any pictures so I thought I would post some. Here they are!

John and Ramon

Class President opening the package!

People start pulling down their letters!

Us.

John rubbin' Ramon's belly

John with his official match results!

Wisconsin Avenue!

Just a quick post to tell everyone that John and I have arrived in DC! We left Houston Monday at around 5pm and headed to Pensacola Florida arriving at 3 am! We slept for 4 hours and spent a beautiful day on the beach with Lance, filleted some flounder with Lance and Gary and went out for delicious seafood dinner. On Wednesday we drove from Pensacola to Columbia, SC to visit our friends John and Nikki Lawrence. We spent a wonderful time hanging out with four pugs and playing Apples to Apples. On Thursday we found out that we would have to leave for DC very early in order to get all of our unpacking done. Apparently, you cannot park a car or truck outside our place from 4-6:30pm - so we had to be finished unloading by 4:00pm. We also had to drop off the auto-trailer at a UHAUL downtown so that we didn't have to park it in the city. That meant we had to wake up at 2am! It wasn't too bad though, we made it!

When we got here, Heather and Spencer helped us unload our truck. Our place is very small, so about half of our stuff is in storage out at Heather's new house. Saturday, we set up our bed (very important) and helped Heather and Spencer move their big furniture. Then, that evening we met up with John's brother Barry for dinner and a movie. We headed home and hit the sack.

Today we dropped off the UHAUL truck, came home, and started unpacking boxes! We haven't finished, but hopefully will be done by tomorrow! We really love our new place. It is small, but has some great amenities. There is a screened in porch that is quite sizeable, a dog park, and BBQ area. When you walk outside the door of our building you see the National Cathedral! It is very beautiful and plays bells in the evenings. We have seen so many dogs around here too! We are really excited about our new home and our new journey! Will keep you all updated!!!

Day Four

The Chisos Mountains South Rim Trail

Our route was to hike from the Chisos Basin to the South Rim (6 miles and about 2500 feet of elevation) then hike down on the Pinnacles Trail (6.3 miles). We didn't bring our camera with us this day because the hike was already long and taking pictures slows you down. Plus we decided that we wanted to live each moment and view to its fullest rather than lose some of the fun trying to capture it. So, I googled images and found these pictures so you can see some of what we saw!

South Rim Trail - Chisos Mountains

We bought a book called Hiking Big Bend National Park. The book describes the South Rim Trail as "the classic hike of Texas. Although the trip is fairly strenuous, almost any Texas hiker worth his or her salt will someday try to hike to the South Rim. Few other hikes in Texas can surpass the quality and sheer quantity of views along the trail. On clear days, the views cover most of the Texas Big Bend country and far into Mexico." (30 miles away)

View of the southernmost Chisos Mountains from the South Rim

We had a blast on this hike. It kicked butt, literally and it was so beautiful! The weather was perfect - nice and cool. We had to leave the dogs in the car so the cold weather was welcome! When we got to the South Rim we stopped for lunch and enjoyed our tuna and trail mix right on the edge of a cliff with the most beautiful view!

The Window Trail

The second hike we did on our first day was called "The Window Trail". We opted to do this one at sunset because the "window" faces the West and you can watch the sunset. It was totally worth it too! We ended up being the only people down there! This picture shows the window. Of course, it is impossible to capture how grand the view was. We could walk up close to the edge because there was no water. I bet the water makes it so beautiful though!

Day Three - PART TWO

The Balancing Rock Trail

This is the first hike that we did when we got to Big Bend. It was so beautiful. I just made a slide show because it was too hard to pick which pictures to post!

Gettin' the Heck Outta Dodge Day 3 - PART ONE

And on the Third Day John and Andrea arrived at Big Bend National Park....

We arrived right around noon - but not before one crazy scary adventure...

We had about a 4 hour drive from Seminole Canyon State Park where we had slept Saturday night. Not far right?? - only this is West Texas where gas stations are few and far between. Our gas was close to empty and we had 15 miles to the next town. When we go to the next town - which was an intersection with three buildings and only one building that looked inhabited - we stopped at a store with a sign that said "gas, groceries, supplies". We went inside and there was a table right inside the front door with five people sitting at it watching a movie on a tiny television. One person - who was a young woman probably about 15 - asked how she could help us. We said "we need coffee, and gas" Her response: "Coffee is on the table in the back and gas is 23 miles to Sanderson".....!!!!!!! 23 miles?!?!? Cool. At this point things are really awkward because all we really wanted was the gas but now felt obligated to buy the coffee. We walked toward the back of the store......saddles, tackle equipment, maps....not seeing the coffee.....so, we had to ask again where it was and finally found it. It was a home coffee brewer that dispensed one cup at a time.....nevermind what it was - it was just embarrassing to have to ask for it again. We pay for the coffee ($.64) and go out to the car. Both of us are pretty nervous at this point with the tank being on empty for some time now and 23 miles to go. Let's just say there was a small awkward chuckle followed by 23 miles of silence! But, we made it to Sanderson and got our gas!

Arrival at Big Bend National Park.

As we drew near to Big Bend the landscaping was so beautiful. We decided it necessary to have the perfect soundtrack. The following songs were circulated repeatedly throughout the rest of the trip:

1. Ghost Riders in the Sky
2. Theme from "A Fistful of Dollars"
3. Theme from "The Magnificent Seven"
4. Theme from "For a Few Dollars More"
5. Theme from "Hang Em High"
6. Theme from "Bonanza"
7. Theme from "Gunsmoke"

These songs really made the trip! Here are a few pictures of us closing in on the National Park.

For the first time in hours - we start to see masses of earth protruding from the ground?!?! Are we in Texas?!



Pretty Desert Flowers

Chester peering out through the dry grass.

Charlie gets a bunch of burrs stuck in his foot - so sad.

This is the view from our campsite!!!! So pretty! We only wish we would have explored this part of Texas when we first came here!!

Gettin' the Heck Outta Dodge Day 2

It has taken me awhile to get back on "the web" to post another blog about our Big Bend Trip. Meanwhile, more blog worthy events continue to unfold! Here we will discuss Day two of the poorly planned and beautifully executing Big Bend Vacation!


Itinerary:

Ford the Guadalupe River with Chester
Drive from Guadalupe State Park to Devil's River State Park (about 4 hours)
Decide if we will camp there
Find out we can't
Hike to the River (1.5 miles)
Carry Chester last 1 mile (yes, the last mile of the 1.5 mile hike)
Explain to Charlie why he is expected to walk in the heat while Chester is Carried
Watch Chester Swim
Force Charlie to swim (not to be mean, to cool him off)
Cool off in the River
Dry off
Walk out in the River again
Watch John slip and fall all the way in after drying off
Hike back
Drive to Seminole Canyon State Park (2 hours)

Enough with the words - here are the pictures of Day Two!

Devils River. This is considered one of the most remote parts of Texas. You have to drive about 26 miles on a poorly graveled road. We were the only people there! The water was really clear - until you stepped in it!

Pooped Pugs: Charlie - Merited level of pooped..........Chester - well, let's just say it's not as easy to be carried as one might think (according to Chester, anyway - being carried is rough!)

So pretty.


Pretty rocky thingys.

Gettin' the Heck Outta Dodge Day 1

warning: series of long, wordy blog posts about to ensue

Since we moved to Texas John and I have longed for mountains and forests - like the ones we selfishly took for granted while living in Oregon. We have been told since we moved here that there are mountains and forests in Texas at a place called Big Bend National Park. Only problem was that it is an 8 hour drive from Houston. This makes it too far for a weekend trip, and any vacation longer than a weekend (for us) is usually spent traveling to see family...

A few months ago I requested time off for the first two weeks of April because John is currently finished with Medical School and is completely free. We were pretty sure that we would be leaving Texas and knew that we could not do so without having seen these "mountains" we heard people mention. So, we planned to go to Big Bend for two weeks. As it came closer and closer our trip became less and less likely...

Problem 1: no dogs allowed in National Park - potential easy fix
Problem 2: lots of stuff to be done in the house
Problem 3: house need to get on the market
Problem 4: fixing stuff requires lots of mooooooolah
Problem 5: trip had not been planned at all
Problem 6: turns out John is done with school, but still teaching and had labs to teach in these two weeks
Problem 7: etc. etc. etc. - mind you Problems 2-4 cause a great deal of anxiety! Turns out - selling a house is stressful?! Who knew!!??

Long story short we decide to stick to our guns and make the trip. But not without tending to all of the above problems first, right?


Scheduled departure April 1, 2009.
Actual departure April 3, 2009 (late afternoon)

"Layover" time spent painting, painting, painting, goodwill trips (two), storage unit trips (uncountable), meeting with realtor, scraping paint from windows, nagging homeowner's association to paint our front door (supposed to be done > one year ago; completed TODAY), potting plants for "curb" appeal, sucking up paint fumes, painting, re-hanging pictures, moving furniture, giving away furniture to friends, oooops don't forget the dogs have to poop and the phone keeps ringing and you are not on your "vacation" that you had planned at all!!! and the tile in the bathroom was ripped up a few years ago and you can't find a match and the patio doors don't open right, and the doorknobs are old and need to be replaced and the toilet in the guest bathroom doesn't flush right and the bathtub in the master bath doesn't drain right and the door in the master bath hasn't shut since we moved in the bleepin' homeowner's association still hasn't painted that bleepity bleep door and SCREW IT WE ARE LEAVING FOR BIG BEND RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

So we did! And it was soooo worth it and soooooo needed! And, the next house we own - we will fix things as they come up (sure we will......said so many times by so many people....)!!!!

We left in such a rush and literally vacuumed our way out the door!! The house looked great. We still had some repairs to do, but it could be shown and it was on the market. Our packing was so disorganized we didn't even bring a flashlight! We didn't have any of our food. We just packed the dogs, some random clothes, and decided anything else we could make do without for 5 days! I didn't even bring a comb or a brush, just a hat!!! (short hair made that less gross)

We hit the road around 4 PM. First stop: Guadalupe River State Park. We got there after dark, took a short night walk, looked at the stars, and breathed in the fresh air. We slept there that night. In the morning we checked out the river. Pretty, but not the rough back woods terrain we love. Picnic benches too closeby and numerous!

Guadalupe River


John and Chester Fording the River

That's all for now folks! Stay tuned for more pictures!

Self Taught Tiler!

Okay, I think I earned a few bragging rights here - or at least I am sittin' proud! I designed and put up a tiled hearth/mantle around our fireplace. Before, there was nothing but drywall and the surface was really uneven. Due to foundation issues the fireplace unit had shifted itself further back into the wall in parts - about 1.5 inches in some parts. Anyway, I had to even the surface which was the longest and hardest part - took about 4 hours because I had to wait for the stuff to dry - reapply and repeat that until the surface was built up enough that I could put a tile there. We think it looks great! For those of you who live where it is actually cold - this probably looks weird. But, it is very typical for fireplaces around here in the condos to have tile around them. Anyway, I am proud of myself for figuring it all out and getting the job done!

Stay tuned for extended postings about our trip to Big Bend National Park!

On the Market

Hey ya'll! We are still down here in Texas - but not for long! Our house is on the market and the move should happen in approximately 6 weeks time! DANG! If you want to check out our hot crib go to: coldwellbanker.com and search for MLS#77222371 to see the virtual tour! All of our bright colors are gone. : ( But, it looks great for selling purposes! Enjoy!

The anticipated Match Day!

Oh boy everyone....we matched at John's top choice - Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC for a residency in Plastic Surgery! WAHOOOOOOO!!! We are absolutely thrilled to have gotten our first choice. I am so excited to live in the same city as my sister for the first time since high school! John is altogether humbled that he was chosen to match with a program as good as Georgetown. He keeps saying "I'm just lucky". Charlie and Chester are ready for a new adventure and keep asking us when we will be moving.

So, thank you to everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and please continue to do so as we sell our house, find a new place to live, and begin the next wonderful journey in our life together! Here goes nothing!!! BLAST OFF!!!!

BLACK MONDAY.

Today is "black monday", when residency applicants for all programs find out if they matched in the specialty of their choice - that's IF, not WHERE. Everyone receives an email. If you match, you wait longer to find out where. If you don't match you receive a plethora of information on programs that have open spots that you may, or may not be able to "scramble" into. If you're John - you refuse to participate in a scramble and opt to move to Oregon, buy a bunch of land and start an organic farm (John's idea of a "back-up plan"). So, although these days are much anticipated by John and I - I am sure most of you will not be surprised to hear that

WE MATCHED!!!

We just don't know where!

FEELINGS ON THE MATTER:

Andrea feels a huge weight lifted - after all she didn't REALLY want to help run an organic farm. Furthermore, Andrea feels an even stronger anticipation to find out where we will end up!

John's response when I called him after I got the email was: "I don't know. I am still just strangely calm about the whole thing. Actually, my first thought was - I guess someone wants to give me a job for 6 years." My response to that was: "Sucks to be them!" HAHAHAHA!

I suppose John is feeling the coming responsibility connected with matching in a Plastic Surgery Residency. Whereas I am just happy that we didn't go to Medical School to end up as Organic Farmers! HAHAHAHA!

Stay tuned for THREE MORE DAYS!!!!!

SO CLOSE!!!!

ONLY FIVE DAYS TO GO!

The Rank List

We submitted our Rank List for Residency last night! AHHHHH!!! I can't believe how time is flying. Very soon we will be moving and starting a whole new journey! It is so exciting to get closer and closer to Match Day - March 19th. I will post and let you all know where we Match! For now you will have to wait in suspense - just like us!

Brazos Bend Revisited

We went camping again at the same place as before. It was really fun, but just slightly too cold to tent sleep! Oh well, we survived. I think it put a little hair on my chest! Ha!

Sweetie Pies by the fire.

The Regal Pug.

Charlie found a root in the ground and solicited for Chester to tear it out. With all his might (as illustrated in photo) Chester pulled and pulled. He finally ripped it out and they chase it around for awhile.

Here's me the morning after sleeping like crap! Look at me fake a smile at the camera! Ha!

John is wrapping up the interview season and will return at the end of January. Then, we hash out our rank list. Oh boy!

HONDA ELEMENT!!!!

We bought a new car! The Kia was still running "okay" but needed a new horn to pass inspection that cost $379! We decided that with 155,000 miles that we had gotten good use out of her and would be wise to invest in a new car, so we did! We bought Honda Element which we have had our eyes on for many years now! We bought used 2005, but it is a Honda pre-certified vehicle so we got bumper to bumper warranty! We are so happy with it! It is AWESOME! In case you don't know - the interior is all rubber/plastic so any dog hair that gets on it is simply wiped away! It is lovely!





John's Birthday was on the 30th so we took it for its first camping trip to Brazos Bend State Park. The trip was very spontaneous but we really wanted to test out the sleeping arrangements. The seats fold down flat into 2 cot-like beds! It was really comfortable, but Charlie kept us awake the whole night by walking all over us! He doesnt' usually do that, but mabye he was upset at the sleeping arrangements that didn't involve him being snuggled!

The next morning we walked the dogs about 2.5 miles. Their little pug bodies were pooped!



Above and below. Some ridiculous pictures of me with Element. Laugh away!