July Update

So far this month, nothing terribly exciting has happened. Josh went to Georgia for a week and a half training for his (kinda new) job at the TownePlace suites. I've been busy with school. My second summer session will end July 30 and I'll have about 3 weeks off before my residency starts. My main site will be at a fairly small hospital in Fort Worth, Harris Southwest, but I will be doing some rotations through a very large county hospital in Dallas (Parkland) for trauma and obstetrics, Fort Worth Children's hospital (Cook's) for pediatrics, and my cardiac rotation is yet to be determined.

We've been planning a vacation to Alaska August 2-15 while I have a break. We are going with our friends, Mitch and Robin Martin and we're going to stay half the time with a friend, Murph, that lives up there. Some of the things we are going to visit and do are: visit Denali National Park; Halibut fishing in the ocean, salmon fishing in a river; hike several miles to a glacier and camp under it, see a whale, maybe some ocean kayaking, and roaming around Anchorage for a day or so. I think there will be 18-20 hours of daylight while we are there--that will be an adjustment.

Here is a picture of some of my study friends while we took a well needed afternoon off to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a and get pedicures.

Me, Jill, Lynn, Cow, Kim, and Miranda

This is a picture of Josh, me, and our friends realxing and having some much needed drinks after my 2nd summer exam.

Lynn, Wayne, Shandon, Josh, Me, Matt, Lynn's Mom

Spain and Italy July 2008

Here are some pictures from a trip we took in mid-July last year. We had so much fun!!!! I hope we can go back soon!


They serve beer at McDonald's (we call it McBeer)

Segovia

Roman Aquaduct, Segovia

Spain and Italy July 2008

Sistine Chapel

Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Square, Vatican

Coliseum

Roman Forum

Spain and Italy July 2008

Rome

San Sebastian

Running of the bulls, Pamplona

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Barcelona

The Beginning

Hello everyone! Josh and I started a blog to keep everyone updated on our lives.
We'll start with some background information:

Josh was born August 26, 1980 in Enid, Oklahoma. He ran cross country and played soccer for Enid High and graduated in 1999 and was accepted to TCU. He worked as a student manager at the TCU recreation center, belonged to the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and graduated in 2003 with an BBA in Management. He began a career with Marriott after graduation. His ambition, competence, and effective leadership skills were promptly noticed and he was quickly promoted from the front desk staff to a Guest Care Manager. Next, Josh decided to dabble in sales and became a Sales Manager for 6 hotels in the Fort Worth area. He was very successful and was given the high priority accounts like Lockheed Martin and government. Earlier this year Josh changed positions to become a General Manager at a TownPlace Suites by Marriott in Fort Worth. It is a challenging role where Josh's innate management skills and business savvy help keep his hotel as one of the fullest in the area. Josh's current hobbies include racquetball, road cycling, and golf. He currently volunteers for the Fort Worth Redcross and assists people with finding resources and housing after experiencing a fire, flood, or any other disaster.

Eva Marie (Carta) was born May 12, 1983 in Russell Springs, Kentucky. Her mother and her moved to Austin, Texas when she was 3 years old. She played softball and volleyball before graduating from Hyde Park Baptist High school in 2001. Eva also attended TCU and worked at the recreation center. She was involved in Frog Camp (a 3-4 day camp for incoming freshman) as a counselor for 2 years and as a director of 3 of the Fort Worth camps for 1 year. She graduated with a BS in Nursing in 2005. She accepted a highly sought-after position at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas in the Cardio-thoracic and Heart and Lung Transplant ICU. She worked on that unit for 2 1/2 years as an RN taking care of mostly transplant patients, coronary artery bypass patients, and aortic aneurysm patients immediately after surgery until they were ready to leave the intensive care. She was appointed the "Safety Nurse" and developed a mentor program for new nurses on the unit. In August, 2008 Eva quit her job and began a Masters program at TCU for Nurse Anesthesia. It is a very time consuming program that requires a lot of energy and dedication. A Nurse Anesthetist (C.R.N.A) does the same things as an Anesthesiologist but instead of going to medical school, they go to nursing school, work for a minimum of 2 years and then anesthesia school for 28 months. At the end of this August (2009) Eva will begin her residency at a local hospital where she will be providing anesthesia during surgery, epidurals and spinals, and inserting breathing tubes and central lines when needed. She will graduate in December 2010.

Josh and Eva met at the TCU recreation center in the Fall of 2001. They began dating early in 2002. Eva took the initiative and invited herself on their first date (top left picture on the title page) which was one of Josh's fraternity's theme parties. In August of 2004 Josh proposed to Eva at the DFW airport as she returned from a visit with her parents. Less than one month after Eva graduated college, they were married on January (Friday) 13, 2006 in an intimate ceremony with family on the beach of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Josh purchased a house in Arlington, Tx in July 2005 and Eva moved in after the wedding. They have 2 dogs, Booger, a black mix and Spats, a collie that we spoil.

And now you are WELL caught up on our lives so far...