Hot Air Balloon

On my way into work this past week I spotted a hot air balloon off in the distance. At first I thought it was the ReMax Balloon but then I thought it was rather early in the morning to be trying to sell homes (5:45-6:00ish in the morning). As I drove closer, it was just a recreational hot air balloon.

{sorry for the poor quality, it's a cellphone picture}

I would love to go on a hot air balloon ride sometime and would actually love someday to go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico. One of the apple orchards here around Omaha had a {mini} hot air balloon festival this past fall but Ryan and I weren't able to go to the lighting ceremony {where they start to fill the balloons really early in the morning when it is still dark} because I was working that day :( Maybe this fall I'll not be on call so we can go. Anyways, as I was pulling into the hospital, I had to take a picture of the balloon in the distance...

{disregard the bug smear as this was taken through the car vehicle}

Picture perfect!

~Ashley

On Safari to Outer Space

I had this weekend off, so I wanted to do something to make me feel like a normal person. Ryan and I decided to get out and explore some of the things that Nebraska has to offer. Our first stop was the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari just a little bit south of Omaha. It is mainly a driving tour with one area with a foot trail to see bears and wolves.

Ryan was driving so I was manning the camera!

First wildlife encounter were the Elk {trying to keep cool since it has been so stinkin' hot down here for weeks now}.

There were tons of them and we were surprised at how large their antlers were.

I would hang out in this little pond if I were an Elk at this park as well. It was near 100 degrees when we were here and it was before noon. On a side note, I hate the hot, humid, heat. I wish it would rain here and cool it off. {I'm keeping my fingers crossed, they are saying maybe by Tuesday we'll get some rain.}

Next up were the white tail deer. These guys are pretty tame if you ask me. Nothing like the deer who jump out in front of your car on my parents' road.

Theme of the day: hang out in the shade!

The vehicle in front of us got a super up-close view of the deer.

We then braved the heat {sort of} to go see the wolves. The bears were hiding somewhere out of view {likely in the shade trying to keep cool}.

There was an owl exhibit along the way. I loved it. I think owls look so cool.

I see you lookin' at me!

These owls are the Eastern Screech Owls.

We stopped by the bear exhibit, but like I said before, they were nowhere to be seen. So onto the wolves we went. Ryan was excited the see the wolves since I swear it is one of his favorite animals of all time.

Ryan's comment to me after seeing the wolves involved something about his dogs looking like wolves and being bigger than these guys :)

We saw several Sandhill Cranes....

...and Bison butts.

As we sat in our air-conditioned car watching these bison, Ryan said to me, "Um, I bet these bison could really do some damage to our car if they wanted to!" I agreed with him and then became thankful that none of these bison were fighting when we saw them.

I'm guessing the people who live around the same area as this safari park are glad they have large fences to keep these animals contained.

After we finished our safari, we went to the Strategic Air and Space Museum. {Same exit, just opposite side of the interstate as the safari park.}

We were admiring this missile on the way in from the parking lot and little did we know that this ballistic missile is actually named.....wait for it.....

THOR!

We walked inside and were greeted by this giant jet...

Ryan thought it was funny to go all paparazzi on me. Kids will be kids I guess.

They are currently in the process of restoring this bomber. {I can't remember which bomber this is as I forgot to take a picture of it's name...oops.}

Getting ready to head down into the first exhibit.

Flight simulator or a child's toy?

Apparently a flight trainer.

This bomber dropped...

...small bombs...

...medium bombs....

...and large hydrogen bombs.... {Okay, so I think it was capable to dropping these big hydrogen nuclear bombs but never actually did.}

Looking up into the belly of the bomber.

There were several more jets and there was a space exhibit as well. I didn't do as good of a job taking pictures after the first exhibit because it was muggy in this place and I was getting tired. So there were several more things that we saw and we also watched a movie call "Great Balls of Fire" about meteors and asteroids. On our way out of the museum, we noticed lots of out of state license plates in the parking lot. We drove through the parking lot and found license plates from 16 different states - pretty cool to see.

Before going home, we stopped for ice cream at ColdStone. Once we got home, we sat in the air conditioning for a little bit before hooking up some sprinklers outside and sweating our behinds off in the short amount of time that it took to do it. Ugh, this heat is awful. I'm so thankful so a house with air conditioning!

All in all, Ryan and I had a good day being a "normal" couple doing "normal" things.

~Ashley

A Little Update {without pictures unfortunately}

It's been a while since I've updated here. Sort of a theme for the past six months of so. Intern year came to an end and second year is in full swing.

The last couple weeks of intern year were B.U.S.Y! I was working our modified intern night float hours which consist of working Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, all day Tuesday (continuity clinic and ultrasound) and Wednesday morning (education). I worked this schedule for the three {or maybe it was four} weeks prior to taking my week vacation. Anyways, these last two weeks were crazy busy. Every night I was on, I rarely sat down. I'd get home after my shifts and my entire body would ache so I'd end up taking ibuprofen and going to bed. Afterall, 15-16 hours straight on your feet will tend to do that. Somewhere in the mist of all the busy-ness, I had a couple record nights of deliveries. One shift, I had four deliveries within 5-6 hours {I've had several four delivery nights but I don't think they have ever been within that time frame} and then the very next shift I had seven deliveries. I was a baby-delivering machine! Those shifts were fun - lots of deliveries make shifts fly by. That was by far the most baby-delivering I had done in such a short span of time. It was a great way to end my intern year!

With intern year behind me {Yay! No more intern pager! EVER!} I started my second year of residency off at a private hospital out west. The focus of this OB rotation is delivery lots and lots and lots of babies. This hospital does an incredible number of deliveries on a daily basis. The dynamic is quite different than back at the university but it's a good change of pace for me. I was getting worn pretty thin by the end of intern year so being in a brand new environment is kind of refreshing. Currently my days are filled with deliveries and c-sections. I have a little bit more freedom and I'm getting a lot more sleep at night. I feel like a while new person {and I'm guessing Ryan would probably agree with that statement - ha!}.

Ryan's post-doc reign is also coming to an end but he still remains on staff at the med center {YAY!}. He has been busy at work {believe it or not, I beat him home at least a couple days a week now}. He continues to play hockey 2-3 nights per week and is also studying for his EPPP in order to get his clinical psychologist license. Two weekends ago {I think it was two weekends ago}, Ryan and a couple buddies drove to Des Moines for the day for a hockey tournament. I'm glad that Ryan enjoys the hockey league that he plays in - it keeps him busy while I'm busy at work!

Ryan and I actually had date night this past week. We went to the movies {seemed like forever since we'd been to a movie - likely secondary to me working every single weekend, beside my vacation weekends, for the last 7-8 weeks of intern year} and saw Ted. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but it was rather funny. It was so nice to get out, see a movie, relax, eat popcorn {!!!} and laugh.  This past weekend, we opted for renting a movie for the RedBox and then we also bought Ghostbusters 1&2 on the cheap and had a Ghostbusters marathon in our own home theater since I was on call this past weekend.  I couldn't commit going to a 2-3 hours movie and risk getting a page in the middle of it! The weekend of call was pretty low-key. Just had to go in and round on patients in the mornings and then I was free to go home and be available by pager. Only got called back in once for a c-section so all in all it was a good weekend.

Zoey and Cooper are doing great. It is funny how Zoey and Cooper have their favorites. Ryan gets jealous that Cooper always jumps in my lap and cuddles but will never do that with him. And wherever Ryan is, Zoey isn't too far behind. I love our little furry friends. This morning after I got out of the shower, I opened the bathroom door and Cooper wasn't there {which is rarity as Cooper ALWAYS runs into the bathroom when someone is in there} but Zoey was. She made her way to the shower and started licking up some of the water droplets. Whenever Zoey does this, it means that their water is out downstairs. I chuckled to myself as Zoey was crawling into the shower, one because she never does it and two because she is rather round and looked a little clumsy doing this. I finished getting ready for work, filled the cats water feeder and then left for work. Later this morning, I got a text from Ryan stating the Zoey had fallen asleep in the shower - lol. That is so uncharacteristic of her but yet so funny for me to envision. Oh Zoey, we love you so much! I don't know what we would do without these two little guys.

Hope you are having a good week!
~Ashley