Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Today is our 2nd Anniversary, though it's been almost a decade since I met this fine fellow.  A young skater that I would quickly fall in love with, though I claim he only kept me around in the beginning for a free place to stay in Vail.  Whatever works, ya know?  
We've made quite a life together, across many miles and milestones.  
I love you more than words can express, Bo Brady.

  In the beginning, a little snap shot from 2003.  Don't we look young?!

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Brady Backyard is in full swing, with lots of rain and sunshine, we're hoping for a plentiful crop this summer.  I picked our first ripe tomatoes this week, though I'm sure we've had a few more - I'm currently at odds with the squirrels, birds and caterpillars.  Any advice for getting rid of my pests? I've tried this and some sort of spray that promised to get rid of caterpillars of all kinds.


This is my first attempt a peppers other than jalapenos, though it's supposed to be a yellow pepper - stay tuned. We also have red peppers, but that were the first attack of the caterpillars and aren't looking too good at the moment. 
I'm also trying cucumbers this year.  I've managed to keep them contained in our little 4'x4' garden, for fear the lawn guys will have their way should a loose vine slip out.  So far, so good.  Bo tasted our first one a couple weeks ago and said it was delicious.  A little to fragrant for my liking at the time, this was still during my morning-alternating-with-night-time-sickness.  Oh, the good times of my first trimester.


As a Minnesota girl, I'd never heard of okra until moving to Memphis where I learned from a master, my mother-in-law has a great backyard garden filled will all kinds of goodies throughout the year.  I loved watching the okra bloom from our upstairs window in the backhouse when we stayed [ok, lived] there for a couple months.  They are so fun to watch because they grow so fast!  I still really only like eating fried okra; I just can't get past that slimy-when-steamed thing they've go going on.


I'm thankful to have this little backyard escape.  Something to tend to and nurture, good practice for the upcoming future?  Maybe.  Mostly, I think we all need a little something in our lives that we can take pride in and learn from.  Like, don't plant the jalapenos in between the okra and the tomatoes - they won't get enough sun... 



Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Now that summer is in full swing, here are a few little applicable tidbits from my last pharmacology lecture [good riddance to the lecture hall!!]:


SPF.  Do you know what it stands for?  To be honest, I'd never thought about it.  I just grab the least smelly, highest number I can find.  It stands for Sunscreen Protection Factor and is a measure of the effectiveness in absorbing erythrogenic (in non-medical speak this means red-skin-making) UV light.  


We all know to buy the sunscreens that say UVA and UVB absorbing, but why you may wonder?  Well, UVB coverage will take care of most of the sunburns, but the UVA protection is what all the ladies want - protection from skin aging and the dreaded cancer.


Here are a few fun facts (well, I'm a med school dork, so I think they are interesting) about sunscreen:

  • Max SPF coverage stops at SPF 50, anything more will not give you more protection - i.e. avoid paying more for SPF 1001
  • You should be using at least SPF 15, which will protect you from sunburn, early aging and skin cancer; for all you using less than that...well...that's just plain silly.
  • If it says 'water resistant', this only means for water resistant for 40-80 minutes and then you have to re-apply - I know, I know, this is the sucky part, where you get full of sand and no one wants to do your back. Alas, a solution, they have this crazy new sunscreen invention - the aerosol.  Have you tried it?? Bo is a huge fan of Bullfrog Marathon Mist.
As I step off my student-doctor pedestal, I'll leave you with a few pics from Bo and my most recent trip to the beach.  One last hoo-rah before I hunker down in a quiet hole for five weeks to study for The Boards.

A nice little spot under the umbrella with my [virgin] strawberry-mango daiquiri.



I love how Bo's Shadow looks like he's wearing a loin cloth.  Ha.

The water was the most clear and clam I've seen in Sandestin, it was such a treat.  Normally, I'm a chicken when the waves are too big, i.e. I'm at the pool.

*Apologies for the Instagram repeats*

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Well, I'm blogging. Who'd have ever thought?  I sit here faced with one last final pharmacology exam, first step of medical boards looming ahead and we're having a baby.  I guess there is no better time to start this blog then when I can't possibly fit anything else in this packed schedule.  You only live once.


I cannot say what this blog will amount to.  Honestly, I'm getting a bit tired of Facebook and now that Instagram is following suit - I'm diving headfirst into the blog-o-sphere.  Leslie, I'm following in your footsteps...