I'm not going to quit my day job to become a plumber!

Both of our toilets upstairs decided to start giving us problems a couple weeks back. They started to constantly run a little bit. So Ryan and I headed to good 'ol Lowe's this morning to pick up new guts for the two toilets. About halfway through removing the old guts, we realized we needed a 4" locking wrench so off to Lowe's Ryan went again. We successfully got the old guts out and the new guts in but when we turned the water back on, the water supply pipe wouldn't make a tight seal and so water was leaking around it. Ugh! Back to Lowe's again to pick up new water supply tubing. (This is the story of mine and Ryan's homeowner DIYer's life). We got the braided metal tubing instead of the pipe which is not flexible what-so-ever. We got home, out the new water supply tubing on and bingo! Our toilet is as good as new. We got the special half-flush for #1 and full flush for #2 flusher. Ryan feels very eco-friendly now :) By the time we finished, there was no way I wanted to fix the second toilet upstairs - maybe that will be tomorrow's project, or maybe I should study for my neuro shelf instead ;)

Taking the toilet apart to get the old parts out.

Ugh - look at that water supply pipe! It give me a headache - I'm glad we got different tubing though so in case we ever have to do this again, we won't have the same problem as this time (at least I hope!).

Ryan is taking things apart.

Cooper was wondering what the heck we were doing!

Putting the toilet back together!

Nothing like plumbing in your PJs :)

Look at how gross the tank is...good thing there's a lid or this would drive me nuts to look at everyday!

The new flusher!

Although we like to do stuff ourselves to save money, sometimes I would rather just pay someone!

~Ashley

OB/GYN at UNMC in Omaha!

Yesterday was match day. Finally, the day has come and gone and I'm so happy with the results. Since last Friday I've been nervous for this day. First I was nervous if I even matched or not. Then on Monday when I found out that I matched, I was nervous at to where I matched as it could have been anywhere from Omaha, NE to Portland ME. When I made my rank list, UNMC in Omaha sat at #1 for the longest time. Then down in Hawaii, I had tons of time to sit and think about my rank list. I kept going back and forth between Rochester NY and Omaha NE - which one should I rank one and which one should I rank two. With only a few hours before our rank lists were due, I switched Rochester to #1 and Omaha to #2. Really, if I could have I would have ranked them both #1 - it was a really tough decision for me as I loved both programs so much. I would have never in a million years thought that I would be up for moving to NY but the program in Rochester was awesome. So back and forth, back and forth I went. I figured what ever happens, it happens for a reason and so I left the decision up to the NRMP (National Residency Matching Program) to figure out where I'm supposed to be.

I matched at UNMC and am so happy! I have no regrets with the whole residency process which feels great. Here are some pictures from the day.

Kelsey and me at breakfast prior to receiving our envelopes.

A group of RPAP-ers from Duluth...still waiting for 11am to roll around so we could pick up our envelopes.

11:00 - grabbing our envelopes!

Reading where I'm gonna go!

Having Ryan guess where I got placed...(Bekah trying to sneak a peek at my letter - ha!)

Super happy to be going to UNMC!

The Hawaii clan! Kelsey matched Family Practice at St. John's, Wade matched ENT at U of MN, Sean matched Peds at Cornell and Kathleen matched Family Practice at United!

Ryan and I at Sally's after match.

Kelsey and me :)

Lots of green beverages as it was St. Patty's Day!

Bekah and me. Bekah matched Urology at the U of Michigan!

Katie and me. Katie matched Family Practice in Duluth with her husband Chad!

Kelsey, Sandi, me and Katie. Sandi matched Psychiatry at the U of MN.

 After Sally's, Ryan and I, Sandi and her fiance Gabe and Kelsey went and ate lupper (lunch + supper) at O'Gara's in St. Paul. Then later last night, the school had a match day party for us at the W Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. It was a good night and Ryan and I ended up getting back to Owatonna well after 1am. Busy busy busy (but happy) day!

~Ashley

Good News!!

Last pictures from Maui

I got the rest of the pictures off my camera this weekend when I was at home. Enjoy.

Lots of birds came to the feeder everyday.

They'd retreat to the palm tree whenever we'd go outside.

This is a view down the driveway - this place was paradise!

View from the house to the ocean.

My parents relaxing on the lanai.

Ryan caught this humpback whale in the ocean.

Here it is close up. This whale is breaching (not beaching as I think I previously wrote) aka - smacking another male whale who is trying to take his female.

He was making huge waves and we were quite a ways from the ocean.

lol - this is a little out of focus but he's so cute!

It rained almost all day Friday.

It rained a lot!

Ryan took a little snooze.

The Geckos invaded our house in full force.

They were everywhere.

After it stopped raining, Ryan and I brought my parents to watch the surfers. The clouds amongst the mountains were really neat looking.

A little rain didn't keep these surfers away.

Maybe it might rain again.

This could be me someday if I decide I want to be a beach bum.

show off

~Ashley

Garlic Pork Stir-Fry

I've been a little ambitious today. This morning I went to one of my med school friends' wedding shower. I left there at 2pm, packed up some stuff in the cities, drove home to Owatonna, went grocery shopping, got home, cleaned the kitchen as it looked as though a tsunami might have gone through while I was gone (hi Ryan - *wink*), put the Christmas tree away (cough, cough....in my own defense, it was down and waiting to be put away and I was too busy prior to leaving for Hawaii that it didn't get done and now that I am back from Hawaii - mission accomplished), swept the kitchen floor and then started on dinner. After dinner, I swept and vaccumed the entry way, handed Ryan a bunch of stuff to put in storage, and then vaccuumed the stairs, hallway and front living room. Man, what got into me today?! Oh, wait....I know....I have studying that I should be doing - ha! Anyways, back to dinner...

The ingredients of my pork stir-fry. Yes, there is both ginger and garlic in this picture as I wasn't sure which one I wanted to use. That problem was solved after I couldn't find our grater - garlic it is!

I first started out by thinly slicing the pork tenderloin. Then I cleaned up the snow peas and broccoli. Next came the mincing of the garlic (2-3 cloves).  In a glass, combine one cup of chicken broth, 2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Mix until there are no lumps and then set aside. Combine the minced garlic with the pork and set aside. Start boiling a pot of water for rice. Heat a skillet with 1 tablespoon oil until hot and then add the snow peas, broccoli and water chestnuts.

So you see the little sea turtle? Ryan and I got this spoon rest in Hawaii :)

Stir frequently until the veggies are lightly browned - about 5 minutes (unless you are like me and you like to cook everything on super high, then it only takes 2-3 minutes and you brown the snow peas a little to much!). Transfer veggies to bowl.

Next, in the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and then add the pork. Cook until there is no pink (the recipe said 3 minutes but I didn't think that was enough, so I maybe cooked it 7-8 minutes).

Umm, pork! It's what's for dinner!

Once the pork is cooked, transfer it to the bowl with the veggies.  At this time, the water for the rice was boiling so I tossed in two bags of rice which only require 5 minutes to cook.

These are so convenient! This box contains 4 little bags of rice. you toss these little bags into boiling water, leave them there for five minutes, then grab them with a tongs and hold them while the water drains out, rip them open and pour onto plate! So easy (not that the old fashion way of making minute rice isn't easy, but I'm just saying...)

You can kind of see the bags in the water.

In the skillet you've cooked the veggies and pork in, add the cornstarch mixture and heat it to boiling. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens (recipe says 1 minute - wrong - it takes like 5). Once the sauce starts to thicken, add the pork and veggies back to the skillet and stir until everything is coated with the sauce.

 Then heat everything up, serve over rice and enjoy!

Ha - this isn't the best picture. I was super hungry and not willing to sit and get a "good" picture of the finished product.

It was delicious. Ryan and I barely even talked during dinner as we were too busy, well, eating! Here is the original recipe that I copied from Kelsey's Good Housekeeping (I think) cookbook. I modified the recipe as Ryan and I aren't fans of the veggies they called for and I could use the ginger as I was missing the grater. So, here it is...

Gingered Pork & Vegetable Stir-Fry
1 pork tenderloin (12 oz) trimmed and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 C chicken broth
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
8 oz snow peas, strings removed
1 med zucchini
3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces

I will definitely make this again as it was so good. But the best thing about the dinner and that it was really quick to prepare! Bon Appetite!


~Ashley