C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS!

Philip and I are both UK fans. obviously we aren't crazy fans that wouldn't take a trip in the middle of march madness, since we were in Hawaii last week during some big games :) for example my friend Bird would plan his wedding, kids, life around UK games. that kind of crazy. (luckily Shira loves him anyway, she's a good woman).
We did however keep up with the games even with the time difference. The big game against OSU, we were at the luau. we both tried to discreetly have our phones out to check the score. Dad was texting me the score and Philip was checking ESPN. as the game got to the end, we were shamelessly cheering on the CATS in the middle of dinner. Sunday's game we got back from Diamond Head just in time to cheer on for the last half. we cheered the cats on from the sand in Waikiki.
The Wilhoite's had two brackets this year. one that was the same group from last year, and then another one we made before we realized we had the emails saved from the group last year. yours truly is winning one of them. actually i have pretty much won it. I picked UK to win it all. (my final four was UK, Purdue, FL & Connecticut). i also picked Morehead to beat Louisville. that was a lot of points right there. so that one is in the bag. Which my cousin JC states he is happy about. because the winner gets exempt from cooking on Wilhoite vacation this year. (he doesn't know about my newly acquired cooking skills obviously). Unfortunately, in my other bracket I made one small change. I picked OSU to beat UK. dangit! so now Bird is going to win that bracket. ugh. and he is such a sore winner.
My Aunt Ellen works for Texas Wings (Hooters) in the accounting area. As soon as UK won her phone went off asking if she wanted tickets to the Final Four!!! So her, Mom, Dad and my dad's friend Vic are leaving Friday to go to Houston to cheer on the cats! Their seats are right under the basket so be looking for them on TV! What an exciting trip for them, once in a lifetime.
Good luck on Saturday KY!!!! you got this.

~Aloha~

         Aloha! we are back from our wonderful trip to Waikiki, Hawaii! Stepping off that plane into freezing temperatures was not the welcome home we wanted from KY:) but we are so in love with our wildcats right now that we aren't that upset:)
*disclaimer: this post is going to be long. family and a few friends will probably care enough to read the whole thing. but I want to have a journal of our trip. you can skim the words and look at the pictures or see the pics I am about to put on facebook:)*


We flew out early monday morning (thank you Aunt Ellen for getting up and taking us!). with the time change we got into Hawaii around 2pm HI time (6 hours behind KY). the flights were uneventful, which is good for me since sometimes I get motion sick. we got checked in and went straight to the beach:) We watched the sunset on the beach and it was gorgeous. We ate at Cheeseburgers In Paradise and walked around the shops for a while before calling it a night.

another beautiful sunset

Tuesday was our first scuba dive. We signed up to dive Tuesday and Wednesday from 11-3, 2 dives each time. those 4 dives would get us our open water certification. I premedicated myself with a lot of antiemetic drugs to keep me from getting sea sick. the first dive was beautiful. we saw so many colorful fish and it was so relaxing and romantic being on the bottom of the ocean, just the two of us. we saw a few eels philip stayed behind to take pictures of. i quickly swam ahead and waited for him. eww. As we were ascending up the rope, the current was so strong and pulling me pretty hard. I made it the top and the waves were so choppy I was getting bounced around. I made it onto the boat before I started puking my guts up. that is exactly what I was afraid of happening. the captain told me to go on and do my second dive, I would feel better underwater. but I know me, and I knew that I would not feel better underwater. i would still be puking, just with a regulator in my mouth. nothankyou. so I had to sit on the edge of the boat while Philip did his second dive. going back wasn't an option (I asked). and it wasn't pretty. (it makes me nauseous just thinking about it right now). I made it back to land and it took me most the rest of the day to feel back to normal. so we talked about it and decided I would not be going back on Wednesday. as much as I wanted to get certified, and in Hawaii, it just wasn't worth it. I was very disappointed and frustrated, but there wasn't much I could do. I hope to get open water certified in the near future, somewhere with less waves or better yet- off the shore:)

 Wednesday morning Philip went back to dive again and I headed to the beach with my book. i so wanted to be diving with him, but laying on the beach in Hawaii isn't the worst way to pass time!

Thursday we rented a jeep and went out to see the rest of the island. the jeep was money well spent. Oahu is beautiful and I can't believe some people go there and don't get to see the full extent of its beauty. Our first stop was to hike Manoa Falls. the waterfall was around 100feet high, it was so pretty. the whole hike was just breathtaking.

 

From there were spent the rest of the day driving, stopping to look and take pictures, driving, getting ice cream, and driving. with the top down of course:) it was so much fun.

Friday we got up and went to the Punchbowl. It is a memorial for the Pacific Veterans. it was sombering. Philip loves history so he educated me as we walked the rows of graves.

 we went back to the beach and then got ready for our luau! there were several luaus to pick from, but I had been told my multiple people the luau at the Polynesian Center was the best. and it did not disappoint. I was so excited when we got lei'd with a colorful orchid lei. I had been wanting one all trip! They pulled the pig out of the ground and then we had a real Hawaiian feast of all kinds of food from Hawaii. During dinner we got to watch hula dancers and other forms of dancing. Then they brought out the desserts. we were so full when we left there, but it was soo good. We watched a show there before we left called Ha:Breath of Life. it was a story told through music and dance and was very good. we hopped in the jeep and drove the hour or so back to our hotel.

 
Saturday morning Philip dove his first adventure dive as a certified diver:) he dove a wrecked ship called the SeaTiger. he got lots of awesome pictures. all in all he saw two sharks, an octopus, and huge sea turtles. again, I was at the beach and a tad bit jealous:) he came back and we hung out at the beach and pool and then went out to dinner at a local thai restaurant. Philip said it was the best thai food he has had. planet thai is still #1 for me.

two sharks

Sunday was our last day there. We started the day by walking to Diamond Head ; a huge volcano crater. it was a nice view but it was so crowded there. at the bottom we got a shaved ice and devoured it before the trek back to our all hotel. total we walked around 6.5 miles that day. whoa. we needed the exercise though after the way we ate all week.

 We were going to surf that afternoon, but there were so many surfers out there. i wasn't sure I wanted to learn with them all watching me. and plus Philip injured his ear a little bit scuba diving and wasn't feeling the greatest. so we opted to lay in the sun and relax. This was the night  my sneaky husband gave me my anniversary present (a month early). he got me a Hawaiian plumeria pendant to wear on my necklace. I had been eyeing it on our walks around town at night. what a thoughtful husband. I love him so much. We went to LuLu's for our last dinner. and then again Monday morning for our last breakfast. we ate there 3 times on our trip and we can not tell you how delicious their food is. i am going to try to recreate one of their dishes involving hamburger, fried egg, rice and gravy. it was heaven on a plate.

view from LuLu's

Jackson got a vacation too- he stayed with my parents and was spoiled rotten I feel certain. Dad would take him for runs on the farm.while he rode the 4wheeler jackson chased deer and ran like crazy. Mom would take him for walks at night with Aunt Annie and Anna Jo. He has definitely trimmed up in his week at the farm! Maya got visits every other day and was craving attention. she is laying on my lap as I type this. we missed our critters and are glad to be home to love on and play with them.
This trip was so good for us. not just to get away from work and relax, but to be able to spend time together. Oahu was the most beautiful place either of us has ever been. traveling is something we want to do a lot of in the next few years and are excited about the adventures in our future. 

last pic in Hawaii- from our balcony:)

Aloha! thanks for reading!:)

Jackson's Little Adventure

What a day. i mean, what. a. day. it started out when Philip's alarm went off at 520. I was on call today. but i was second call (the second on call nurse to be called in). So while I was awake I went ahead and called work to see if they were going to need me at 7. yep, they did. apparently people were calling in all over the place. st patty's day got a little crazy I guess.
So I went in. and you are never in that great of a mood when you get called in. but, I did my best.
Around 1130 I got paged telling me I had a phone call. I picked it up and an unfamiliar voice told me she 'was with Windstream and was at my house to bury our cable. When I opened the gate to your backyard, your dog got out and has been missing for an hour and a half.' The first thing I said was why didn't you call me or Philip to tell us you were coming over. she said she didn't have our number. I told her then she had no right to be trespassing into our backyard. She then proceeded to tell me that she ' had to leave because it had already cut 30 minutes into her lunch break'. my frustration went to anger. I told her I couldnt care less (in so many words) about her lunch break. I told her ' you will stay there until my puppy is found'. she then stated that she 'trains dogs and your dog has no recall. he didn't come when i called'. I told her of course not, he was a puppy (again in so many words). I hung up on her. I became a little bit hysterical. I went to our charge nurse, who is a huge animal lover and managed to tell her (in between sobs) i had to leave and go look for my dog. She said go. So i left. I knew we had a 'float nurse' that could take my assignment so I wasn't too worried. I called Philip and it took a few minutes until he could decipher my blubbering and figure out what was going on. He was working in Danville. I told him I would call him back soon. then i called my parents. I love that they are retired. they offered to come up if i needed them. I headed home, and unluckily for her, the windstream woman still at my house. I asked her to leave. actually I told her to get off my property that she had no right to be on in the first place.sorry, I was upset. and had she been apologetic to me I might have reacted differently. but she never once apologized. She did tell me that our wonderful neighbor Mike had been driving around for an hour looking for Jax. I got in my car and started driving. I passed Mike. I was still crying. he said ' i have been searching. we'll find him'. I thanked him. I called my friend Kelly. she couldnt understand me either. I mean, i was a mess. but she managed to figure out it was about Jackson. she started heading towards my house. my manager called her husband who was home and asked him to start looking for Jax. I drove down the streets calling his name. I went down the road to the park. that's where I was when kelly called me back. 'are you at my house?' i answered. ' yes. with your dog'. WHAT! she said she pulled into my drive and jackson was trotting up the driveway. she ushered him into the backyard and slammed the gate. I came speeding back. Jackson was panting and muddy. I was so happy to see him. i didn't even care that he covered my scrubs in mud. I called Mike and he came back and hugged on him too. we are so lucky to have him as our neighbor. that was way above and beyond 'neighborly duties'. Philip ended up being able to leave work and came home too. by the time he got home, jax was home too. I know some of you are thinking ' its just a dog'. well, at this moment him and Maya are the biggest parts of our family. so yes, we love them. a lot.
lessons learned: 1-puppies will run free when given the opportunity. 2-Insight contracts out people to bury cables. they don't tell you they are opening the gate into your backyard, they just let themselves in. 3- we have wonderful friends and neighbors. 4- you don't want to mess with my babies:)

Chief!

Most of you know I don't like keeping secrets. I love sharing news with people. and when it comes to my personal life, I like for everyone to know everything. some people don't really love that about me, but for better or worse that's how I am:)
So anyway, when Philip came home and told me he had been asked to be administrative chief, I was SO SO EXCITED! but I couldnt tell anyone! gosh it was so hard because I was so proud of him and so happy for him, and I just had to sit on it.
Well, today was match day and subsequently the day they announced next years chiefs! Philip will be the administrative chief, Marshall will be the academic chief and Janelle the recruiting chief. Congrats you all!
What this means for Philip: he will make the residents schedules, attend faculty meetings, contribute to being the liaison between other programs, orient off service residents to the ER, and other responsibilities that go along with this new role. what this means to me: 2 shift reduction a month and a little more control over his schedule. (although he tells me it really means his schedule will be worse. I choose to think otherwise right now).
I am so proud of my husband. He works so hard and is so committed to his job. I love it when patients tell me 'how wonderful that Doctor Overall' is. I just smile:)
He definitely deserves this. I know he will do a wonderful job:)

thoughtfully sweet sweets from Meg & B!

Brad loves Emily. and a bad dog.

 Let me first say that I realize reality TV is questionable. and maybe a little silly. maybe. bur regardless, I love it. I get hooked. especially when it comes to the Bachelor and Bachelorette. although my all time favorite is Big Brother. I just love to watch the drama unfold. So last night was bachelor-night-monday. and I came home from work excited to sit down and watch the finale. I have been religiously watching since the first episode. I turned the TV on and it said ' channel temporarily not available'. weird. so I went upstairs and it said the same thing. I 'powered down and powered up' on our modem/router. twice. still nothing. so I called Insight. and told them I was so upset, because I don't really watch TV and the one show I do watch is having its finale right now. she said something was wrong to our connections, she couldn't even dial in to see what the problem was. she would send a technician tomorrow (today). i thought maybe I could watch it online. oh wait, the internet is out too. arrgghh! so i sat down to draft out a nasty email to Insight telling them how bad their service was and how I paid an excess of money for their services and I was missing out on the only show I watched blahblahblah. for those who know me, you  know how I can rant and rave until I get some sort of refund if I feel it is deserved.
I texted my mom and dad and told them our internet/cable are out. and my dad texts back ' did jax eat the wire?'. my dad is so smart. he is always thinking. so i put on my raincoat and get the flash light and discover this in the back yard:

Yes Dad, you were right. again. if you will recall from this post or even this post Jackson likes to chew things. and my dad is always the first to wonder if the source of my household problem is indeed the puppy. which is what I have to keep telling myself. he is a puppy. I called Philip at work. he was pretty mad. and he doesn't usually get mad at his lil buddy. but last night he was mad. so i deleted my email draft to Insight. glad i didn't have internet to send it!:)

text sent to Philip: "I'm sorry Dad. please don't be mad at me"

* i should have added this in earlier- when I got home Jackson looked like he has literally been rolling in the mud for the 12 hours I was at work. I had to take him straight upstairs into the bath tub and give him a bath. by myself. which is really hard with a 70lb wiggle worm trying to get out of the tub every 5 seconds. so that didn't help with my frustration*
anyway, luckily I am so spoiled and my parents love me, a lot. because they both watched the Bachelor and Mom texted me a play by play of the finale. and then finally who he picked. and I was so happy because I wanted him to pick Emily. I will still watch the finale online once we get back on the internet. I am posting this now on stolen internet. oops.

 Yay for Brad and Emily! I hope this is one of the few that actually work out, because I really like them both. As for Jackson, obedience school is in his near future.

 

Sunny Day

Today the sun was out. really out. and it was gorgeous. i spent as much time as i could outside. i am so ready for it to be warm again. this winter has been a long one.
I started out my day by getting up early and taking jackson to McDonalds with me to get breakfast. i got their new oatmeal. pretty good. but pricey for McD breakfast. so I woke Philip up and we had breakfast in bed. and then I got ready for the Shamrock Shuffle. a 3K in downtown lexington. and I am SO proud of myself. I ran almost the whole thing. my official chip time was 20:49! I thought that was really good, since I hardly ever run. after the race I got to walk around downtown with ann (lil bear). i love her.

my race buddy- Teri

I came home and took Jackson to the park. I wanted him to enjoy the day too. and even though he enjoyed the whole day playing outside in our yard, it is much better for him to get out. he loves it.

trying to get Jax to get into the pond. he wasn't having it. big baby.

UK got another big win today! i went to megan's to watch the game with Jordan, alison and sarah. we snacked and chatted, and occasionally checked the score:)
Since Philip is working a late shift tonight, I went to georgetown. Every Saturday night, my mom, dad, aunt/uncle, 4 cousins, aunt and grandma all go to church and then out to Mi Casita for dinner. tonight I joined in:) Whitney and Calvin joined us for dinner too- so we had a big group! conversation was loud and funny as usual. I love my family so much.
Now I am home, trying to stay awake until Philip gets home from work. I am not sure I will make it. Especially since really it is an hour later... don't forget to set your clocks back!

Scuba 3&4

 We had our last week of scuba classes this week! Tuesday night's class was working on more skills and learning how to calculate how long you can be underwater based on the depth and previous dives. Last night we checked off on a few skills like taking your vest off underwater and on the surface. but we spent most of the time last night 'playing' underwater. Ron brought hula hoops for us to swim through, a torpedo to throw to each other, and an underwater camera. and to make the night even more fun, Philip's Uncle Gary and cousin Kevin were there! They got certified last year and came to dive and keep their skills in check. Gary took lots of fun underwater pictures that I will post when I get them!

I love Gary. *look at what P90X has done for him!!!:)

taking our final test- sorry we caught you not smiling Karen:(

We had a lot of fun taking these lessons. and I will admit that many nights i complained about going and being out so late. but once I got there I had a lot of fun. and it was something fun for us to do as a couple. Les and Karen were so fun and we really enjoyed getting to know them. We are going to plan a lake trip with them this summer on their boat!
So, what does this mean for us now? we now have completed our 'confined water diving'. we will get a referral from New Horizons Dive Center and take it to Hawaii with us in two weeks. There we will complete our 'open water diving' certification by doing 4 dives in the ocean. From there, Philip wants to get his rescue diving certification.

 We would love to take some scuba trips in the near future. NC has a sunken ship that is supposedly awesome to dive. there are some reefs here in KY that you can dive as well. So if any one of our friends are wanting to get certified, we would be so happy to have an excuse for a road trip!

back at the dive shop. 1130 at night. tired and freezing!:)

* on a side note. I have been glued to the TV since we got up this morning (yes we slept in, but we got to bed late!). we are praying for the devastation in Japan from the earthquake and praying for the effects the tsunamis are having on the islands and coasts. May God offer comfort and peace to those suffering and hurting right now.

Happy Birthday Maya!!

Everyone who knows me, knows I love birthdays. I make a big deal out of everyone's birthday. everyone's. So some people may think I am crazy for celebrating for my cats birthday. but you know what, I don't really care. because I like it. and I like feeling like I make someone/somecat feel special on their special day.
So, last night when Maya curled up in my arm while I was sleeping, i didn't push her out of bed. I let her sleep there. because today is her birthday.
We got this in the mail from PetSmart this week:

She gets a free toy from PetSmart! Philip and I had lots of errands to run today, so we added PetSmart to our list. While we were getting ready for the day, we put Jackson outside so Maya could play with one of her favorite toys. It is a mouse with catnip inside, that squeaks when you tap on it (thank you Bruce!!!). she LOVES it. but jackson will eat it, so she can't play with it unless he is outside.

all through the house you could hear 'squeaksqueak'

Philip and I had such a wonderful day today. We did some shopping (all stuff on sale!), went to PetSmart, Sam's Club and had a lunch date. it was wonderful. I love days like this.

Maya's birthday treats. the ball has the same mouse in it, but we thought Jax might not get to it as easily!

Maya has already devoured her shrimp and tuna mix. it was her first seafood experience, because her mom can't stand the smell of fish. Philip gave it to her:)
And because we try to be fair in this house, Jax got a little present too:

Happy First Birthday to our cat Maya:) We brought her home a few days after we got back from our honeymoon. and we named her after the Mayan Riviera, where we had just been:)

New Recipe

 My mom gave me a recipe for Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. So i decided last night I would make it for Philip and I. It was a nasty rainy day, and he had worked all day. I thought it would be a nice thing to do. I started by cooking and shredding the chicken and while the vegetables were sauteing, I went upstairs to put on pajamas. When I came back down, not even a minute later, Jackson had gotten two feet on the counter and eaten ALL THREE shredded chicken breasts. I was beyond pissed. i had to run to kroger to get a rotisserie chicken and shred it up. Moral of the story: cook your own chicken or get an already cooked chicken. both ways will work:)
ingredients:
1 tbs butter or margarine
1/3 cup finely chopped carrots
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves shredded or cut into pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup better or margarine, softened
4 cups whipping bream or half and half
salt & pepper

1. In big pot, melt tbs butter over med heat. Add carrot, onion and celery; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Add broth and wild rice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes. Add chicken. Simmer, covered for 20-25 more minutes or until rice is tender.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour and 1/4 cup softened butter to make a paste. Stir flour mixture into rice mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir one more minute. Add half and half. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
*makes 8 servings. 314 calories/serving.

It was sooo yummy. I will definitely be making it again!

Scuba #2

hey hottie

 Night two of scuba lessons went pretty good. I was going to make cookies to take to class, but I got called in to work, so Kroger made cookies for the class:) When we got to the dive shop (early so we could put together our gear) we were surprised to find that all of our gear was already pulled and placed in a dive bag for us! Les and Karen had looked at the board, saw the sizes we were fitted for, and gotten all of our gear out for us! what good people. So we all ate cookies and took two tests. They aren't stressful. We take a test per chapter. and if we miss one, we go over it, mark the right answer and move on.
Ron, our instructor, went over the skills we were going to be learning in the pool that night. and as he started talking, I started getting more and more anxious. skill #1- using your partners alternate air source. if you run out of air in your tank, your partner has another tube connected to their tank, and you use theirs. ok, I can do that one. skill #2- take your mask off underwater and just use your regulator for one minute. im not too sure about this one. but ill try it. skill #3- pull your regulator out of your mouth (we all know I have the death grip on this regulator at all times) and use the stream of bubbles coming out of the regulator to breathe from. I raised my hand at this point and said ' why will we ever need to do this?'. and Ron said that if your regulator were ever to get stuck, where constant air was coming out ( not just when you are inhaling it in), you will need to pop one side out, and breathe from the bubbles it creates. then he said ' you won't inhale water'. i said ' yeah right'. Ron said I will owe him an apology after our lesson. I said, if I dont swallow water, I will apologize. anyway. skill #4- he turns our air tank off and we see what it's like to breathe from an empty tank. I am sweating at this point. I raise my hand again. ' can we just practice this skill outside of the water?'. negative. he's really going to make us do this.
So we leave the classroom, pack up, and head to the UK pool.

all of our gear waiting to be put on

 

 

 

Karen and Les. somehow Les got a women's wet suit. haha

We get in the pool and start in the deep end. and when I hit 15 feet, my right ear feels like it is going to explode. I can't get it to 'pop'. so I am squeezing my nose and blowing out like he told us to. apparently I squeezed too hard because yesterday and today my nose is so bruised and tender to the touch. I finally got it to a tolerable level, but it never felt great. We practiced our skills for the next 2 hours. I did good with the alternate air source. I even did ok taking my mask off. although that was tricky because when you blow out of your regulator, bubbles go up your nose, then you have to blow out your nose, all with my eyes closed because I have contacts. but it was ok. Pulling the regulator out of my mouth was difficult for me, but I did it. and somehow I managed to suck air from the stream of bubbles. but apparently I wasn't watching my instructor. so when I put the regulator back in my mouth, he made me do it again, until he told me I could stop. geez! :) Then he calls me over and tells me he is going to cut my air off. and I shake my head no. because remember you can't really talk under water. it's all hand signals. but he did it. he cut my air off. and guess what- i didn't have a panic attack. I gave him the signal i was running out of air and he immediately turned it back on. I wanted to hug him.

me and Ron, our instructor.

So, I owe Ron an apology. and i was really proud of myself for getting through all of those skills. It is hard for me, but I am doing it. not only doing them, but becoming comfortable with them. Luckily Philip is so comfortable underwater and never freaks out. that makes him the perfect dive partner for me:)
so hopefully, God forbid, anything happens on one of our dives, I won't freak out. i mean, i probably will. but at least in the back of my head will be the knowledge of what to do. :)