Odds and Ends

We are expecting the biggest winter storm of this year in the next two days with snow accumulations of up to 16 inches by tomorrow afternoon.


I just drove home from working overnight (yes, moonlighting!) and it's already starting to come down. I have to say, I love the snow. My feeling is, as long as it's going to be cold, there might as well be a pretty blanket of snow to go with it.


I am traveling to the oh-so-exciting state of New Jersey tomorrow for a Davinci robotic training course and I just hope the weather doesn't interfere with my travel plans. My co-resident Jonah and I have to complete this training course prior to starting to work at one of the hospitals next year (this despite the fact that I have already done about a 150 robotic prostatectomys already at Strong Memorial, but who's counting) and it's been a nightmare to plan. I really hope we don't have to reschedule.


Ahmad starts back to class today after winter break. Apparently here in the northeast it's quite common to have both a winter and spring break, the former I suppose so students can take skiing trips.


We didn't go skiing this week, but we did attend a private piano concert performed by a friend of a friend which was spectacular. Michael Tan was the pianist and he trained at Juilliard and is now doing some post-graduate training at the Eastman School of Music here in Rochester. It was an amazing concert.


Finally, Laura and Michaels daughter and our niece, is now crawling. Or scooting, as Mom described it. Here's a recent picture of her for those of you who haven't seen her lately (or ever!).
I am a little biased (just a little...okay a lot!) but she's pretty darn cute, huh?


Hopefully we will get back down to KY to see her soon.

Helping a Neighbor

My mom told me about this article and I wanted to share it with you.

Apparently, UK Men's Basketball coach Billy Gillespie was listening to the "General Store" radio program from a station in Stanford KY when a woman called in. The premise of the show is that people call in selling all kinds of things from prom dresses to chickens, to tailgates, according to the article. A woman called in wanting to sell her car for $600 immediately so she would have the money to attend her father's funeral in Ohio.

Gillespie called the station and identified himself as only "Billy" and offered to help the woman with her expenses so that she could keep her car. He and the host of the radio program talked after the show off air and confirmed that the woman's story was true and he sent a personal check overnight to the radio station to cover the cost of a new outfit for the funeral, transportation, food and a hotel for the woman. His identity was revealed only later, after the woman returned from the funeral, by the host of the show who had noticed that the caller ID was "Billy Gillespie." He never identified himself as the UK coach to the host. He states "I didn't do this for attention, I was just trying to help somebody out."

Regardless of whether he wins a lot of games this year or not, his stock just went up in my opinion.

My Hometown

This video shows part of Amman for those of you who have never been. While we have camels and sand and the hot, hot sun, we also have a beautiful city built on 9 mountains. In the middle of all of these mountains is downtown Amman with a wonderfully kept Roman ampitheater and lots and lots of shopping. Just ask Allison, she's haggled there with the natives.

Pay close attention at the time 2:37 to 2:40. You can see a very large Jordanian flag which is 1 mile from our house.

Enjoy! And if you like what you see, just let us know. We'll be happy to show you around in person!



The song is about someone who left his or her country and how much they miss the country and the country misses them as well. It also speaks about the beauty of the country and the memories they have there.

Winter Birds

Ahmad and I have a crazy neighbor lady who owns two empty lots between our house and hers. While she's certifiably crazy, she also keeps those two lots filled with trees...except for the middle in which she has made some sort of garden/bird feeder/squirrel haven.

Here's a picture of what we lovingly refer to as "the jungle."

All of this is fine by us for several reasons. One, we love the privacy of having "the jungle" next to us and not some other house. Two, the animals are nice, except when she leaves out donuts for the birds and squirrels. The squirrels love to bring the donuts to our front porch and try to hide them in our chairs. But that's another story. Three, she leaves us alone despite the fact that we use about 7 feet of her property as part of our yard. Plus, the "jungle" makes a great place to blow all of our leaves in the fall without having to pick them up and put them into bags!

Due to the fact that she religiously feeds the birds, we have 5 or 10 cardinals that spend a lot of time near our windows...and the view is beautiful especially when the trees are white with snow. Here's some snapshots of cardinals I took today:

Winter Blahs

So it is definitely still the middle of winter here. Apparently, there was a 36 car pile up today in Rochester due to white-out conditions on the highway. It wasn't even snowing...just white-out from the wind (the horrible wind!) blowing. It's freezing. Today, Ahmad commented that he really misses working outside and I have to agree. I miss our flowers and lilac bushes and shrubs. I miss our beautiful trees and the delicious cherries that grow in the backyard.

So, I decided to post some pictures of the lovely plants from last summer. Rochester really is amazing in the summer...but it's hard to appreciate when it's currently 10 degrees outside with a windchill of who knows what.

Until May, this will have to do:

This is our lilac bush. It has grown by leaps and bounds. Notice the bug? I LOVE my new camera!

Our mums were equally amazing this last summer. I swear, they were at least 2 and half feet tall.



Those of you who know me know that tulips are my favorite. We have a few, but these pictures were actually taken at the Lilac Festival here in Rochester which is held every May.

Only 2 more months (okay, I may be being a little optimistic here, but so what!) until Spring!

Dean's List

As most of you know, Ahmad just finished up his first semester in college in December. He's taking 14 hours this semester and loving it.


I can't help but brag on him a little bit. Last semester, he made the Dean's List! Isnt' that exciting?

In honor, here's a few pictures of my scholar:

Don't you love the white goatee??? What was he thinking?

He also learned how to dive last year in Aqaba. For those of you who were present at his first swimming lesson in Louisville (Steph, Shan) you know what a big accomplishment this is! Ahmad wants to know if anyone can dive as well as he can?

This is from our trip to Egypt last summer.

Finding Friends on Facebook

As if we weren't busy enough already, in addition to starting a blog...we also started to spend more time on Facebook.


If you haven't joined yet (Kasey), you should. I was skeptical at first. But through Facebook, I have reconnected with lots of old friends from college and med school. I even reconnected with one friend from all the way back to Elementary School.

Shannan just joined and true to Facebook spirit, she's already posted several photos from our time living it up in Louisville. Here are a few I wanted to share:

I guess we had a wild night and somehow ended up in Krispy Kreme hats!

Shannan and I helped Laura (my sister) move to San Antonio one summer. Now if I only had video of Shan and I trying to two-step.

Here are Stephanie, myself and Shannan at a wine tasting.

And finally, my favorite two pictures courtesy of Stephanie. The first is at Kristina's wedding and the second is from our wedding rehearsal. You girls are beautiful!

More pictures to come later...including one of Ahmad with a white goatee!

Yes We Can

I can't remember a presidential election that I have ever been excited about...until now. I love Obama...and I love the message of hope and the thought that maybe things can be different. Maybe we don't have to put up with the old Washington politics anymore. Maybe someone who is in a position to become President of the United States does actually feel the way that I do.

Here is an awesome video highlighting the "Yes We Can" speech that Obama gave. It will bring tears to your eyes...and hopefully some hope!