Christmas 2010

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family, and friends, and that everyone had safe travels.  The doctor and I had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. 

Mr. D's program is organized so that the residents either get 4 days off for Christmas or 4 days off for New Years.  He was extremely lucky, because despite being low-man on the totum pole (an intern) he got his break over Christmas.  We tried to appreciate every moment, because I don't know if we'll be so lucky the next several years!

We had a wonderful time spending time with family, laughing, eating and relaxing. 

It was a much different Christmas from last year.  I seem to have tried to forget last Christmas until Mr. Dawkter reminded me of some of the events.  Not only was I uptight last year (stressed with the upcoming match), my head just wasn't in the right place because I was so worried about where we would be next Christmas, and whether or not we would even be able to celebrate with family.  Having a worried state of mind coupled with my uncle and cousin getting into a wrestling match, and my uncle making two of my Aunts cry (on Christmas Eve), waking up to strep throat and going to the E.R. on Christmas morning, and then on our drive home sliding on an icy road into a construction barrier and then into a ditch made last Christmas not exactly one I want to remember.  

Looking back we have been beyond blessed, as doc matched at a program in the midwest, which was pretty high on his list, and also gives residents four days off either for Christmas or New Years.  This is such a relief because it means that we should be able to see family around the holidays, regardless of whether it is on Christmas or not. 

This Christmas, was much lighter, more uneventful (thank goodness), and I embraced the fact that we are with a program that will allow us to be with our families on the holidays. 

Not to mention the doctor and I got some pretty great presents too!  We both got fabulous North Face coats to keep us warm this winter. I got some boots, an apron, and a Vera Bradley bag, to name a few things.  Mr. D got some medical tools (a pen light, and one of those reflex hammers) and some much needed, underwear, clothes, and belts.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well! 

Bathroom renovation

So the bathroom is just about finished - just need to put the trim back up, put down a threshold and touch up a few spots with paint. 

So here it is BEFORE (when we first moved in). 

Note the plastic fake-wood trim around the shower door.  That didn't last very long before I ripped it off.

Then here is a picture after some of the demolition had begun (you can see in the mirror of the shower door that the medicine cabinet has been torn out).

Vanity

The very functional, but not-so-attractive light

Old mirror

Countertop

Tile floor

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And..... ta da! 

Our updated bathroom (a.k.a. "our vacation/reno-cation")

designed by myself, and done by Mr. D with the help of his cousin Jake, his Dad, and my cousin's hubby John (Thanks guys)!

New shower curtain

I'm so proud of my husband, he has never done tile floor before but he did such a great job!

The pretty shower curtain and tile (trim will be put up eventually)

The "over-the-john" which provides additional storage

The new, more attractive bathroom light!

I love the granite countertop!

Another view of the vanity

The awesome custom mirror Jake made us!

and yes that is an outdated intercom, which will be updated eventually, but it's not in the budget right now!  Above the intercom used to be a small medicine cabinet, and a hotel hair dryer; again functional, but not-so-attractive!)

I absolutely love how the bathroom turned out!  It makes me want to re-do our master bathroom and our kitchen, but there is simply no money to do so.  Hopefully in due time we will be able to make additional updates, but for now, this will have to do!

Christmas cookies!

This is seriously the funniest Christmas cookie I've ever seen! (Thanks Joyce! They look so pretty I almost don't want to eat them!)

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Best three syllable word:

VACATION!

Yep, a few weeks ago (yes, I'm behind) was Mr. Dawkter's first vacation of residency; and it was wonderful! Mr. D's hospital gives him three weeks off a year, and this first vacation couldn't come soon enough! I had been missing my husband like crazy! Our vacation wasn't really much of a vacation however; it was more of a "stay-cation" or "reno-cation" because we stayed home and Mr. D renovated our guest bathroom.

Just so you know, the bathroom project was not my idea - it was doc's idea. He thought, "why don't I re-do the bathroom on my vacation." And shortly after he suggested it, there was a fantastic sale going on at the home improvement store. And so the project began.

With the help of Mr. D's cousin, and my father-in-law, the demolition was done prior to vacation week, so that his time off was spent on reconstruction. Although D didn't have any experience, with the help of his Dad and his cousin, he was able to redo our flooring, vanity, patch the walls, and give us an entirely new bathroom (with the exception of the bathtub).

Mr. D's cousin also made us a custom mirror for the bathroom. He just finished the mirror this weekend so all that is left is to hang the mirror and over-the-john. I'll post some before and after pics once the bathroom is complete.

While I absolutely love our new bathroom, I will say that it will be our first and last big DIY project. As Mr. Dawkter's vacation was coming to an end we both had some feelings of "It's over already? We didn't even do anything fun!" As a result we had some regrets, but did spend his last day of vacation having fun around town, shopping, and going out to eat. We have since decided that all future vacations will not be spent working. Our next vacation is not too far away (February) and it will be spent relaxing in a warm climate!

Tis the Season

for cold and flus! Yuck! Unfortunatley this has caused me to fall out of blogging. Two weeks ago the doctor was on vacation, and last week I was sick... so I really need to get back into the bloggin thing. This is me getting back on the wagon.

It's also the season for cookie making, hot chocolate, present wrapping, Christmas cards and SNOW! Lots of exciting things going on!