Here are some pictures of our garden!!












These are the bowls that are on top of the gateposts.
















This is the raised bed that James and I built.
















These are my "daintier" flowers.
















This is the kitchen garden - tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and lots of different herbs...all started from tiny little seeds!!
















One of the annual beds...I started the hollyhocks, dahlias, and daisies from seed!





















Another annual bed - much of it started from seed.

We FINALLY did it.





















Now I have to pass the bar exam and we have to pay our student loans.

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but it's been a long week. So far this week, I've taken three (of four) final exams, worked three different jobs, quit one job, broken one of my back teeth in half (no dental insurance, of course), painted a bathroom, and gotten three rejection letters (two law firms and a judge). Now, I'm going to get into my bed, and I don't think I'll bother getting out of it tomorrow. Probably not on Sunday either. (of course that means that I'll fail my federal income tax exam on Tuesday, but whatever...I won't have to pay taxes ever again because nobody will give me a JOB...)

Mom took Meghan and I on a cruise for spring break!! Here are some pictures....

James and I spent four days last week in LONDON!! Yeah, I know it's random, but the airfares were dirt cheap, and I had several classes cancelled, so we decided to just go for it and blow our 2006 tax return on our first "family vacation" since we got married. We had a great time! We saw the Tower, British Library, British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and much more. We spent one day in the town of Bath, too, seeking the ancient Roman baths and touring that resort town. We also went to see a play! Here are some pictures....

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the results are in, and James has MATCHED for a neurosurgery residency at.......(drumroll)......WASH U! (No, I'm actually not kidding.) After seeing all of the other top programs, he decided that he had it pretty good here at Wash U and didn't want to leave. He listed Wash U as his first choice, and he got it! We're both pretty excited....he's excited to stay, and I'm excited to finally be able to look for a job. It's so nice to just KNOW after wondering for so long.

So anyway, we'll be in St. Louis for 7 more years, except for 6 months in the middle when we'll be in Ireland. As a part of the program, you spend half of your fourth or fifth year in a hospital in Dublin. You guys will all have to come visit us while we're there! Okay, well I've got a whole bunch of guys in my apartment celebrating and watching the UFC Fight Night, so I think I'd better go keep an eye on things...

We had a nice trip to DC after New Years to see the Sagar family. James planned a surprise trip for me while we were there - the Supreme Court! I've spent so much time reading the opinions that came out of that courtroom in the past two and a half years, and James knew that it would mean alot to me to get to visit the place where the buck stops with the law. It was so much fun!















We got some great presents from the Sagars - James got a beautiful North Face jacket and pants. I got a beautiful purse and a silver necklace with a black pearl in the center. We were both so pleased!















We also went to the Sackler gallery to see an amazing exhibit of some of the oldest versions of the Bible in the world. Get this....I actually saw some of the DEAD SEA SCROLLS!!!!















Of course, Jenny the cat took it all easy - she spent the whole time sleeping on the rug by the Christmas tree and in some of the empty present boxes on top of the tissue paper!

The Patton family Christmas celebration was lots of fun, too. Poor little Anna Kate had a terrible cold (as did I), and she could barely breathe, so we held her the whole day and tried to make her feel better. Madeline got lots of fun "girly" stuff - including a Snow White Disney princess dress from her Uncle James and Aunt Kristen. Upon opening it, she promptly stripped naked in the middle of her presents and put on her new dress. Tyler got a really cool "imaginext" dinosaur, which we all enjoyed. He loved to "scare" people by making it roar at us.

We had a great time at the annual Park, Patton, Little family Christmas party. Almost the entire gang showed up, and we enjoyed some good food and "hang out" time. Madeline and Tyler were undoubtedly the life of the party, with Maddy spending quite a bit of time cuddled up to her Uncle James, whom she adores. (The feeling is quite mutual!)

My new necklace and earrings, with a Wash U law sweatshirt!





















James with the tree

















Dinner with our china and crystal





















Our tree, with a beautiful cross at the top.


James and I had a lovely "family" Christmas in our little apartment before we left St. Louis. We had a nice dinner, read the Christmas story in the Bible, and then opened presents that we got each other. James got lots of stuff - books, dvd's, games, xbox stuff, and clothes. My "big" present was a beautiful necklace and earrings made of south sea pearls! The next morning, we packed up our things and made the long drive to Georgia...

I'm FINALLY finished with finals. I actually only had three of them - Federal Jurisdiction, First Amendment, and Corporations. I am so glad to be finished - and now I have an apartment to clean up, presents to deliver, and lots of other stuff to do. James and I are hoping to drive back to Atlanta on Friday for Christmas.

CITY OF ANGELS

James and I spent this past weekend visiting family and interviewing at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. (James interviewed, not me =) He really liked the neurosurgery department out there, and he was impressed with how they run their program. They seem to allow the residents an unusually large level of responsibility and experience, which James really liked...basically, you spend the final two years of your residency as a "junior attending" with your own patients and no call (which is awesome, even though you're not being paid more for it). We also visited lots of family in the city. First, we went to Uncle Jim and Aunt Sherry's house to see all of their crew. All four of their kids came out to see us, and we had a great time hanging out with them. Scott's kids, Kyle and Troy, were SO cute, and they were so much fun to play with! Then we drove into Venice to spend some time with (my) Uncle Mike and Aunt Crystal and Joe. They took us out to this GREAT mexican restaurant that they love, and we ate fajitas. On Saturday, while James was at his interview, Aunt Crystal and I went to the Getty Villa, which is an art gallery near the beach in Malibu. It was AMAZING. They had beautiful mosaics, sculptures, and artifacts there. Then we went to lunch at Gladstones, which is a restaurant on the beach just down the street. It was so beautiful to sit and look out at the ocean, which was right beside our table out the window! The food was great, too.

Saturday night, James and I went out to eat at Villa Sorriso, an Italian restaurant in Pasadena, with the residents and other applicants from USC. The food was good, and we sat across from some really nice people. It was funny because it was halloween weekend, so they had a costume party at the restaurant and all the wait staff were wearing these crazy costumes. By the time that we left, most of the people in the restaurant were dressed in wild costumes (some of them looked pretty skanky). It was fun to watch them, though!

On Sunday afternoon, we drove out to El Monte to see (James's) Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenny. We visited with James's grandmother, who was so sweet to us. She seems so cheerful - every time she says something, she sort of chuckles. We showed her our wedding album, and I think that she enjoyed looking at the pictures. That evening, Jeff and Tracy (Mike and Jenny's kids) came out with their families, and we had a fun dinner with all of them. Jeff and his wife Jackie have two cute little boys with the most beautiful eyes, and David and Tracy have such an adorable, sweet little guy named Tyler. We played with the kids and hung out and watched the Chargers game - it was a fun, relaxing night. It was great for me to meet all these people who are now in my family - I'm so blessed to have such great people in my family!

We spent most of the day on Monday travelling back to St. Louis, and by the time we got home, we were worn out. All the driving, flying, carrying luggage, time change, etc. took lots of energy, but it was definitely worth it. We are planning another trip back to LA to visit the family again soon.

Hello Everybody! MY LITTLE SISTER GOT ENGAGED!!!! Isn't that awesome! I'm so excited. Tom proposed in Centennial Olympic Park right by the fountains (see the picture) and it was so pretty! He had a friend hiding with a camera, and then he took Meghan to the Sundial restaurant. They're going to get married in about a year and a half in spring of 2008. YAY!!!

We went home this past weekend for James to do his residency interview at the Medical College of Georgia. Meghan came home for Saturday night, and we went shopping with Mom. I got to see her ring, and it's beautiful. Tom did a really good job picking it out! Dad has been working in the yard, and it looks awesome.

This coming weekend, we're going out to Los Angeles to visit family out there. It will be nice to get to a warmer climate for a few days...it's been FREEZING here in St. Louis.

We went to Georgia this weekend for several reasons: Meghan's family weekend with her sorority, Jordan's birthday, and Anna Kate's being born a couple weeks ago. We had a great time...UGA won the football game (we all got sunburned), we gave Jordan a birthday party, and we got to hold and admire our new little niece, who is absolutely beautiful! Here are a few pictures...

I just got back home from a long but tiring weekend in Virginia. James is in Charlottesville for a month doing a visiting rotation at UVA, and I went to visit him for the weekend. I almost didn't make it because my flight to Washington DC was scheduled for Friday afternoon - right in the middle of the hurricane! Fortunately, I managed to get onto a flight late Thursday afternoon and get to C'ville before the storm hit. I flew back tonight, and now I'm really tired from all the travel.

We had a lot of fun this weekend, though. We drove out to the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was SO beautiful. We ate at all the best restaurants, too - Panda Garden, Amigo's, Cafe Europa, etc. We even walked around the Pi Lam house, and it was amazingly clean. (They must have gotten some good pledges for this year, because I would hardly have recognized the house inside - it looked so much cleaner!) James is staying at the house of a friend of the Sagar family, a really sweet lady named Robbie Munn, and her house is beautiful. I had so much fun talking to her and playing with all her cats! It made me want a pet so much!

Okay, well I'd better get some sleep...I'm really worn out from 8 hours of travelling today, and I've got class tomorrow morning. Fortunately, it'll all be done soon....

Highlights of my day:

1) waking up in Charlottesville on the University's move-in weekend for first year students....realizing just how long ago it was that I moved into the Webb dorm (now more than 7 years)

2) driving 2 hours to Dulles Airport at 8 in the morning

3) navigating through the Dulles Airport's construction zone...which will apparently be there for three more years

4) navigating through the Dulles Airport's HEIGHTENED security measures (thanks stupid Al Quaida)

5) doing all of the above with a HUGE head cold, including that a-million-needles-sticking-into-your-eyes-and-nose feeling

6) flying for TWO HOURS back to St. Louis with the aforementioned head cold - the pressure on my ears was excruciating

7) realizing when we landed that I actually couldn't hear anything....and I still can't really hear very much - I think I'm missing phone calls (sorry everybody)

8) standing in a long line at the grocery store while all the new students at Wash U buy their groceries

9) spending over $500 at the bookstore for my books

10) realizing that I have to start back to school tomorrow morning

11) realizing that I'm in St. Louis ALONE while James is in Virginia for the next FOUR WEEKS on a visiting neurosurgery rotation at UVA

It's just one of those days where I wish I hadn't gotten out of bed. I think I'll go get back into it now and stay there until tomorrow.

If you've been watching/reading the news for the past couple of weeks, you know that St. Louis got hit with a HUGE storm about 10 days ago, leaving up to 500,000 people without power. (That's the latest estimate from our terrible electric company, which is called AmerenUE.) Then, just a few days later, ANOTHER storm came through and blew out the power for 200,000 MORE people! We were blessed not to lose power for more than a few seconds, but the storm was really scary. James was in the operating room in a neurosurgery, so he didn't see it, but I was home all alone, and it was one of the scariest storms I've ever seen. The entire sky turned into a huge, low black cloud...in fact, we live on the 20th floor of our building, and we were so high up in the cloud that I couldn't see the ground...I could barely see across the street! I rushed to bring my plants inside from the outside balcony, and I made it with just seconds to spare. In fact, on my last trip inside, the storm was blowing so hard that it held my screen door shut, and I couldn't get it open no matter how hard I tried. It scared me because I was really afraid that I could get blown off the balcony - the wind was really blowing that hard - it was like being inside a tornado. Between gusts of wind, I finally wrenched the door open and made it inside.

When it was finally all over, I looked outside to check the damage, and there were huge trees blown down EVERYWHERE - on top of houses, cars, and telephone lines (many of them were setting the huge trees on fire, burning houses and cars, etc.) We had a close shave - my car stays parked inside under the apartment building, but James's car stays parked on the street, and he missed having a tree fall on it by about 4 feet!! The car behind his was smashed!!!!! I copied the pictures above from a friend's blog so that you guys could have an idea of how things looked, but these pics are from after most of the damage was cleaned up, so it was really much worse. I couldn't believe that we kept our power - everyone else I know lost it for at least 4 days, many for much longer. I think that since we are on the same part of the grid as the huge hospital complex, our power lines are more protected. Amazingly, even some of the other hospitals lost power, so they had to ship their patients to Barnes. Most of the grocery stores did, too, so there wasn't alot of fresh food in town. Not that the city had refrigerators to hold it anymore.

Okay, well back to work...

Here are a few pictures from our family vacation to Disney World. We were a little worried that Tyler and Madeline were too young to enjoy it, but they did really well....so well, in fact, that they often shamed me into behaving myself and not complaining when the Florida heat made me uncomfortable! Lisa, 6 months pregnant that she is, was a trooper as always, and Dad recorded the whole time with his camera. We missed Jordan, though. He was unable to get away from work for that long, so we weren't able to have the whole family along, but we still enjoyed the time together.