amy grant was my idol

omg i have 400 followers!

celebration is in order.

it will probably take place this evening at the airport

(a more respectable time to be celebrating something with a cocktail)

we are going to the great state of Tennessee this weekend

to watch our friends (and neighbors!) Dave and Meghan tie the knot

should be a fantastic time

as weddings usually are

you may remember Meghan from this bachelorette party i went to?

me and the bach-ette in our Herve

anyway.

more to come on Monday.

i'm sure i'll be littering instagram (emflem) and twitter (docemily) over the weekend

if you care to follow along

so i saw this on Pinterest

[via]

and i could think of a song for pretty much every day

so i figured i'd give you all some insights into my soul

and play along

Day 01--A song from your childhood

oh yes.

we were all about the Contemporary Christian music

back in the day

it was all we were allowed to listen to

and this was the hippest of the hip when i was 5.

care to play along?

leave me a link in the comments.

i'm curious...

does this song remind YOU of your childhood?

or were you listening to Zeppelin from the cradle?

love, my iPhone

i need to go to the gym.

my iPhone is dead.

i always listen to my iPhone at the gym.

this blog post is brought to you by the fact that my iPhone is dead and needs to be charged before i can take it to the gym.

some other equally fascinating thoughts...

i dyed my hair recently.

i usually dye it dark every 8-10 weeks or so.

i usually love it.

this time i'm a little ambivalent about it.

we went to the Frio River yesterday.

i worked a night shift Saturday night

got home at 8am.

and got about 3 hours of sleep before we left.

i looked lovely. [heavy sarcasm]

but was still able to ooze charm from my every pore.

Nick and I have been playing Words With Friends for about 2 years now.

not the same game. obviously.

but still.

i have beat him twice.

evidence of time #2:

 (Lino Bradley is his porn star name: middle name + street he grew up on.)

random story alert:

this one time, in med school,

Nick and I were driving to class in the morning

in separate cars (for some reason i can't remember)

and we decided to go to Dunkin Donuts on the way

Nick was in front of me in the drive-thru

when i pulled up to the window

to get my sausage-egg-and-cheese-on-a-croissant and coffee-with-cream-and-sugar

the chick in the window said the man in front of me had paid for my breakfast already

and that he'd left a note

which read:

"you're cute. call me. --Lino Bradley"

and he gave me his number

 so glad i snagged that boy.

p.s. i'm 3 away from 400 followers. i think i will have a party when i get there.

you're invited.

there might be champagne.

Montana: Guns and Wakeboards

Charlton Huston and the NRA would be oh so proud of me.

the ol' 30-06

thing kicks like a mule

 

he actually knows what he's doing

i don't. 

clearly.

while we were up on the mountain shooting cans

the heavens opened up on Glen Lake

couldn't decide which of these images i liked better

so i just kept them both in

we were the only two people on Bull Lake

when we found out Nick's Nonni had passed away

fitting, really.

and the most peaceful and beautiful place to let the news sink in.

i have a handsome hubby.

lucky girl, i am. and i know it.

whoever was taking this pic of me didn't really know how to focus my camera

but i like it anyway

wake-surfing. i recommend it.

getting all Montana with a camo hat and a beer

and a teeny fluffy Pomeranian?

sunset wakeboarding. he makes it look good.

Pinkham Falls

the cousins' ranch

one more sunset. just because.

more Montana photos for your viewing pleasure.

i think you can tell we had a great time.

i'm so so thankful we were able to go

and can't wait to get back.

i have been crossing big things off my to-do list:

--i submitted my research protocol to our hospital's Internal Review Board...

they're the ones that give me the green light to execute my research project

so i'm one step closer to getting published in a big fancy medical journal (:

--i submitted my application for a medical license...

to the great state of Nebraska!

why Nebraska? well...as a military doc, I can pick whatever state I want.

and Nebraska is the cheapest. 

practicality first and foremost. forevermore.

i feel like there should be more, because i've felt so BUSY.

but really, that's it.

i probably redid my pedicure at some point as well.

Montana: Glen Lake

best to just begin at the beginning, right?

Glen Lake 

the "bear cabin"

at Lick Lake

Christmas Card potential. for sure.

Nick's dad helped carve out these benches.

yes. those are bears.

a mama and her cubs. this is as close as i allowed myself to get.

they just walked across the road. right in front of us.

super normal.

thug life.

walking is really hard work on vacation.

you should definitely stretch afterwards.

my handsome lake chauffeur.

drinking the king of beers on Glen Lake

because i'm an American dammit.

and i'd probably rather be drinking something else.

Nick's dad's family has had property on Glen Lake for years.

where is Glen Lake, you ask?

it's in Eureka, Montana.

just 8 short miles from the Canadian border in NW Montana.

so that water that looks delightfully refreshing? it's like, 58 degrees.

this Florida girl jumps in and gets right back on out.

anyway. here's some family history:

Nick's grandfather used to live in Eureka.

in the 1950's, immediately following the polio epidemic,

he got word that Stanford University was giving out scholarships

to people willing to study Physical Therapy.

so he moved his family to California to study PT.

after he graduated, somebody said, 

Hey. There's no Physical Therapists in Santa Cruz. 

so Grandpa Fleming went to Santa Cruz to fill that need.

Nick's dad and his uncle both followed in their father's footsteps and became PT's too

and they eventually took over his practice in Santa Cruz.

every summer, they would each give the other one a month of vacation

so they could take their families back up to Montana for a month on the lake

the family has a couple of little cabins

right on Glen Lake.

Nick spent a month in Montana every summer

for his whole life

until he went to medical school

we went to Montana in 2008--between first year and second year--

and haven't been able to get back there until now

there's lots to do there:

boating

fishing

drinking beer

hiking

grilling

drinking beer

wakeboarding

wakesurfing

drinking beer

you get the idea?

and now you see why i need to lose 5lbs.

(yikes.)

these are just the first of many gems from our trip to Montana.

next up, i shoot a gun.

several of them, actually.

without hurting myself or any other living thing.

new giveaway winner!

ever wonder what happens when you don't respond to a blogger after they announce that you've won their giveaway?


they pick another winner, that's what.

annnnd the new winner is....

Chelsea!

i feel much better about the number 5 being random.org's choice.
i do love fives.


email me Chelsea and we'll work out the deets!

settling back in

we finally made it back to Texas yesterday
it's been a long week and a half.


while we were in Montana,
we got word that Nick's Nonni (grandmother) had passed away.
she was 97 years old, so it wasn't entirely unexpected
but it was still something of a surprise.
she'd had a heart attack the week before
but had been discharged from the hospital and was thriving in the rehab facility
and was expected to go back home soon
home to the house she was brought home to after she was born
and had lived in most of her life
she had been doing so well the day before she passed.


Nick's mother was ill after he was born
so his Nonni and Nonno pretty much raised him for the first few years
he and his Nonni were incredibly close
he was her only grandson, and she swelled with pride whenever she talked about him
"my grandson...he's a doctor, you know"


so we cut our trip to Montana a little short
and went to Santa Cruz, California to be with Nick's family
and attend Nonni's funeral services on Monday morning.


i have a lot more to say about this
but i'm still processing it all.


suffice it to say, i'm both emotionally spent and emotionally bolstered
if it's even possible for the two to coexist.


it's good to get back into the swing of things
good to be back with our animals
(who were especially happy to see us. isn't this why you have pets? to come home to them is so special.)
hard for Nick to go to work this morning, after spending so many days glued to one another's sides.
lots to dwell on
many many pictures to edit
but i can honestly say,
it is well with my soul.

olympic thoughts...and a giveaway winner!

does anyone else think my brother Jesse

bears something of a resemblance to Gabby Douglas?

[via]

same eye shape

similar smiles

i swear the first thing i thought when i saw her

was dang she looks like my brother

i mean, at the very least, they'd make one hell of a cute couple

they're the same age (:

she could be in my family.

i'd be way okay with that.

anyway.

Gabby blew me away.

so proud of her and how hard she worked to make her dreams come true

i can identify with that

all of you worked very hard to enter my giveaway

(ok maybe not)

but still.

here's the winner!

Natalie you won!

email me and we'll work out the details.

i'll be in Montana with my hubby all of next week

but i'll send out your prize as soon as i get back!

i'll miss you all

but i'll take tons of pictures in Montana

and i'll try to actually look presentable in them

just for you.

vegas, baby

me and the bachelorette. twins.

bathroom mirror self portrait. standard.

it just wouldn't have been complete without Elvis.

three pharmacists, a teacher, a high-risk-OB ultrasound technician...

and an ER doctor

annnnd a flower replica of a Monet. thanks Bellagio.

there you have it.

Vegas via my iPhone. 

most of these are pictures i sent to my huz.

i spared you all a few of the rougher ones.

you're welcome.

before our respective bachelor and bachelorette parties,

Nick and I talked a lot about trust and fidelity. 

he brought it up mostly. he was nervous about me going to Vegas.

(this begs the question, what did HE do when he went to Vegas?? hmmm...)

we watch movies on a pretty regular basis,

and last week's pick was "The Last Kiss"

if you haven't seen it--spoiler alert--Zach Braff cheats on his pregnant girlfriend (Jacinda Barrett) with a very scandalous Rachel Bilson.

very apropos.

we've talked a lot about cheating in our five years (!) together.

which may seem odd to you

it seemed odd to me as it was happening. almost like...don't jinx it! we've got a good thing here! quit it with all your cheating talk!

but Nick has always been one to take the difficult topics by the horns.

best to have everything out in the open.

so we talked about it.

and how precious the trust we shared between us is, and just how catastrophic it would be to destroy that trust with a lie, or with infidelity. 

and how long and hard we'd have to work to build it back.

over the years we've talked about how the recipe for disaster is always some underlying discontent, coupled with an opportunity presenting itself...and alcohol.

well, enter Vegas. 

you most certainly have opportunities...and alcohol.

so Nick and i made sure to leave things on a good note.

no stirrings of discontent or unresolved conflicts before we left each other.

but still, when he kissed me goodbye at the airport,

he said "don't get drunk and have sex with a stranger!"

and i didn't.

not even close.

didn't even think about it.

to me, this seems a little obvious.

i would never cheat on my husband! 

i just wouldn't!

or would i?

i'm not infallible. 

i love my husband with a love so deep that it aches sometimes.

i treasure the trust we share

and i feel so safe with him. both physically and emotionally.

i would never choose to do anything that would take away from the us that is.

but things happen. lots of little things, at first.

and they chip away at what you've got

devaluing it and making it easier to throw it away

nobody thinks "i'm going to cheat on my husband someday" on their wedding day

but life happens

things change. and it's your job to make sure that they're changing in ways that strengthen you.

so all this to say

it's good to talk about it.

just so you remember who you are and where you stand.

especially before you go to Vegas.