Fun in the Snow

Wanted to do a quick post to share some funny videos and pictures. Louie and I bought a $5 "sled" (more like a trash can lid) to use in our backyard. We had about 10 minutes of fun and then went inside because we were too darn cold. Enjoy. :)

Louie tackled the double black diamond first.

I tried to take Striper down the hill with me... she quickly jumped off, got very angry with me and started barking.

Louie tried to take Trout down the hill too. Trout didn't enjoy the ride and Striper was very concerned about the whole ordeal. I had trouble holding the camera steady. :)

Louie decided to go down head first. Hmmmmm... and they call this boy a doctor, sometimes I wonder. :)

This, my Texan friends, is a snow blower. We received one as a gift and are very thankful (or at least Louie is). It cuts the driveway/sidewalk shoveling time in half.

This is a picture of one of the trees in our backyard. It puts me in the Christmas spirit.

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Catherine and Louie

Winter Has Officially Arrived

Louie and I are "hunkered down" for the weekend as the winter storm moves through. We are supposed to get anywhere from 6 to 10 inches. We had to get out this morning a little and driving in the snow and ice is proving difficult. Don't worry, we are being extra careful. So much so, that the other drivers are passing us on the road. We still haven't changed our Texas plates, so that is sort-of serving as our disclaimer. :) (Yes Dad... I know we need to change our plates or we can get a ticket. ) I have included a few videos I took over the past couple of days.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I was able to go home and have Thanksgiving on Thurs. with my mom and family. Then I headed to my Dad's and had Thanksgiving at their house on Friday. We watched the game and, although I was pleased with the outcome, Andrew was not. I included some video of that as well. Louie had to work and was on call on Friday so, he was able to have a Thanksgiving meal with some friends on Thursday. It was difficult being apart. This was our first holiday (I'm afraid of many) apart. I flew home on Saturday, so that Louie and I could celebrate our Thanksgiving together on Sunday.

Louie and I had our own little meal with ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls and pecan pie. We decided next year we must attempt the real cornbread stuffing that our parents make. Thanksgiving is not complete without it.

I made Louie suffer through the Rochester Festival of Lights. It is held at the Mayo Civic Center and it is one decorated tree after another... I loved all the different themes. This tree was a circus theme. Louie was a good sport. :)

SNOW!

My brother and his new fiancee(!!), Sarah have been sending my family updates from Germany and keeping us posted on the weather there. They said they got a little bit of snow the other day. So, I thought I would post a video of what is happening in Rochester. You see, the "trash talk" began a couple of weeks ago, when John told me he would be the first to have real snow. Well, I think the video speaks for itself (make sure the volume is on).

Well, after uploading the video, I realize the quality is really not that great. I promise there really is snow on the ground... oh well. Have a great day and a happy Thanksgiving. :)

Congrats Sarah and John on the engagement!! Yeah!!

P.S. Yes, those are all leaves covering our backyard... Louie's been just a tinsy bit busy lately and I have not quite been motivated to get out in the cold. Oh well.

Fall is Here

Fall is Here

Fall has definitely arrived and we are really enjoying the weather and scenery. The first two pictures were taken from our front door and driveway and the third picture was taken from right outside of my school. It is beautiful!

"Date Night"

Louie and I had a pumpkin carving date night and had a great time. Louie was cracking me up. As he was working on his pumpkin, the knife slipped and he sliced through his pumpkin's lip (not so smooth for a surgeon). Of course he had to fix the pumpkin, so he preformed surgery on his little guy and I snapped pictures through the laughter. Then it was my turn and I knocked the tooth off of mine, oops. Well, this meant more surgery. I do have to say that Louie did a pretty good job. The finished product was not too shabby. :)

I got the opportunity to go on a little "Texas Tour" visiting friends in Houston and Dallas. I was able to visit with my friend, Jessica, and her little boy, Logan, over some yummy Mexican food. Thank goodness!!

I was also able to catch up with Louie's parents and am looking forward to seeing them again at Christmas.

I spent the next day at work with my "old" school friends. It was so nice to see everyone again and have that comfortable feeling of familiar surroundings. I had so much fun chatting with my team at catching up. It reminded me just how much I miss them. I hope I will get to see them again soon.

After that I was off to Dallas to visit my college girlfriends and have some good girl-talk over wine... the best way to have girl talk. :)

The last part of my tour was spent with Lisa and Beth. These ladies are two friends I made during Lou's med. school years. Their husbands are both interns in Dallas. It is always comforting to visit with friends who know exactly what you are going through.

It was a great trip, but my next trip will definitely be to San Antonio. I am really missing my family and ready to get a little Andrew time in.

Louie signed up to be the "doctor" at a minor league hockey game. We had so much fun sitting right behind the team. I learned that there are a lot of bad words said at hockey games. :) Louie only had to go down to the ice once when a player got hit in the throat with a hockey stick... but no worries he was a-okay.

Striper had a little accident in the back yard and we had to take a trip to the emergency vet., where she received 4 stitches in her leg. She was not too happy about the E-collar. She kept running into things and finally decided that when she was wearing the collar, it was best not to move at all. As you can tell from the picture, she was pretty miserable.

Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all!

~Catherine and Louie

Back to School

BEFORE

AFTER :)

School started Sept. 4th and has been my home away from home since about mid-August. I think I might be putting in more hours than Louie right now, hence the lack of posts on the blog. Things are always busy at the beginning of the school year no matter what state you are in, but I'm hoping I get the hang of things soon. I love my kids and team. I have 25 students in my class and they definitely keep me on my toes and smiling, generally speaking. :) There are a lot of opportunities for me to get involved and of course I'm getting my hands in a little bit of everything. I think this year is going to be challenging, but very rewarding. I know that each member of the third grade team will do everything in her power to meet the needs of every single student. That really is a good feeling because although I had this with my previous team, that is certainly not the case at all schools, and I was a little worried about finding another good team. Yeah for that!! I will keep you posted on our progress.

Louie is a quarter of his way through his first year and starting Oct. 1st his schedule will start moving at warp speed. He begins a three month orthopedic surgery service which is exciting. The first 6 weeks he will be working on shoulders and the second 6 weeks he will tackle the infamous Dr. "Sim service" which is tumor. I think we will both need extra support over the next few months. :) The good thing is that he will be working on his specialty so I'm sure the learning curve will be steep.

In the mean time, Louie has been keeping busy with his long lost hobbies... hunting and fishing. Louie has moved his fly fishing from practicing in an open field to actual streams and has been rather successful. He found a place he likes to go about 45 minutes south of us where he has run into a nice fly fishing guide who has offered him some valuable advice on his technique. Hunting season is just getting started and we actually just got back from driving all around southeast Minnesota checking out the public land where he can hunt next weekend. We currently have duck decoys all over our downstairs living room and hanging in our garage... fun! :)

The weather here has been beautiful and no doubt that the next posting will have some pictures of the fall foliage. It is absolutely gorgeous and the trees are just getting started. Pumpkins are being sold everywhere and I am beginning to understand what a real fall season feels like. We are looking forward to this change in season, but am definitely more than anxious about the following season.

Late October I will be taking a little Texas tour. I have a four day weekend so I will be traveling to Houston to see Louie's parents and visit my old school. Then I will be flying to Dallas to visit some of my girl friends. I can't wait!

Hope everyone is doing well and hope to hear from each of you soon.

Love, Catherine

Girls' Trip

My mom and sister, Sarah, visited in early August with the intention of setting up my classroom, but as you can tell we got a little distracted with sightseeing, a baseball game, a "beach" trip, and a lot of shopping. We really had a blast and because I'm so new to the area, I enjoyed the sightseeing just as much as any visitor. We toured Rochester and the Mayo Clinic, which was really enjoyable. We also went to a small lake that has been converted to a beach about 5 miles from my house. Of course we made it to the Cities for a trip to the Mall of America where we tackled 3/4ths of the first level (out of four). We ran out of time... unfortunately 7.5 hours was not enough time for us. I think we have decided that an annual trip to Minnesota for "tax free" back-to-school shopping will become a tradition for my sister and Mom. :) I was so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with them and to be able to show them our new home. I can't wait for our next visitors!

Camping

Louie and I just got back from our first camping trip together. We had a blast! We headed out to Whitewater State Park Saturday around noon, which is just under a 30 minute drive from Rochester. We stayed for one night and went on a long hike Sat. afternoon and another one Sunday morning. The dogs went along with us and loved being outdoors. Striper didn't know quite what to think about the streams but, Trout wanted to hop right in. We are definitely going to try and make this a regular activity. :)

Louie just finished his first month. He started neruo. surgery on Friday. This rotation should keep him a little bit busier than PM&R (the rotation he just finished), but nothing like what he will be going through this winter. The schedule just worked out this way... I'm not complaining, right now anyways.

For those of you that don't know, my family got some good news last week. My brother had just arrived in Germany when we found out that his Unit was no longer going to be deployed to Iraq. We are thrilled. He will be in Heidelberg for at least a year working with the postal services on base. Who knows after that... I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for all your support, thoughts and prayers as the family got ready for him to leave.

Have a great week!

Catherine & Louie

Visiting My Brother

It's official... I have been a resident in Rochester much longer than I have actually lived in Rochester. I have made two trips already back to Texas since we arrived here on June 12th. Oh well.

I just returned from San Antonio to visit my brother, John, before he heads to Germany and then on to Iraq. It was great seeing him and spending some quality time with him, although I was a little emotional. It was very difficult saying goodbye, especially since I am not sure of the next time I will see him. He leaves for Germany next weekend and he is stationed there for 2 years. He will be deployed to Iraq sometime before the end of the year. Please keep him and my family in your prayers. This is going to be a challenging time for all of us.

The picture was taken one night in San Antonio. John, his girlfriend, Sarah, and I met some friends out for some drinks. We had a lot of fun. John has such a sense of humor and is so witty. He keeps everyone laughing. :)

Louie has been working hard -or- hardly working. He is on a very light rotation so he has usually been home each day by two and only takes call about once a week. It has really been nice for us to ease into this whole residency thing. I get done with summer school around noon and we have had time to work on the house. We finished the "wood" floors in his office. I will post a picture soon. It looks great! Louie is on monthly rotations so next month should be a little more difficult. Some of the guys in Louie's class are really getting hammered. One of our buddies is on call this Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday... plus he is working all the other days of the week. Yikes!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Catherine

Catherine's Beach Trips

I had a lot of fun seeing my college girl friends last weekend. I flew down to Corpus and then we headed to a beach condo in Port A. It is always a blast getting together with them.

I then headed to Mobile, AL, where my dad and the family picked me up and we went to a lovely house down in Gulf Shores. I spent time with my dad, step-mom, sister, brother and my grandfather. I even got to have dinner with my step-sister due to some traveling plans gone terribly wrong. It took me two days to get home and I got to travel from Mobile to Houston to Orlando (yes, that is in the wrong direction) to Minneapolis. I was exhausted and very glad to be home.

Louie had orientation all last week and began his first rotation as an intern on Monday. He is on call Tuesday and he has been reading up on what to do in case... well, in case anything happens. :) I will keep everyone posted when I have more to report.

~Catherine

Last of the Pictures

More Pictures

Our New Home

Here are some pictures of our new home. I love our new living room and kitchen. The den... well, let's just say Louie was in charge of the decorating in the basement and his office. We still have some major projects we would like to do, but we are waiting on estimates to figure all that out.

We are starting to figure out the town a little. I met some of my new teammates and principal at Franklin Elem. I also visited the school and saw my new classroom. I am very excited about starting in the fall. So excited in fact, that I have decided to teach summer school from July 9- Aug. 2. It should definitely keep me busy.

Louie starts with orientation on the 25th and then his first official day of his intern year is on the 29th. Not much time off for us, but we like to be busy and this will allow both of us to meet new people here.

I am leaving on Friday for a "girls weekend" in Port A and then joining my dad and the family in Gulf Shores, AL for a little more beach time. I will arrive back in MN on the 28th so that I can be sure to be here for Louie's first day.

You all should be receiving postcards with our new address very soon. If you do not, just email me at Cathowns@aol.com and I will email it to you. We both will be changing our cell numbers around July the 6th. I will email the new numbers out then.

Take care! Love, Catherine and Louie