Another Milestone

Yesterday, I visited my Oncologist at the Arizona Cancer Center for my regular 3 month check up. Another clean bill of health, another reason to celebrate life! 

Me standing next to a photograph in the Arizona Cancer Center
that was donated in my name as a survivor by Dashing's parents.

I can tell you that a fantastic treat to go along with any celebration is this recipe for Better than Sex Cake.

Source: allrecipes.com via Sara on Pinterest

365

I always look for moments in life to stop and reflect on where we've been and where we are going - our journey's past, present, and future. This weekend had many of these moments  as Dashing and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary [wedding photos post, and here, and here]. To properly revisit these memories, we paraded around Tucson visiting all of our favorite restaurants and doing the things we love to do together. Our actual anniversary was Sunday, but because of Dashing's shifts in the Emergency Department, we extended it over two days. So here is how we celebrated our 365.

On Saturday, I picked Dashing up from his Emergency Department shift (scheduled to leave the department at 4pm, but didn't walk out of the hospital until 8 - oh the life of a resident!). Our intentions were to originally spend all of our anniversaries at the resort where we had our reception, but once the move to Tucson happened, we realized we needed another plan...that's where this restaurant comes into play,

North - a Fox Concept restaurant.

Over the most delicious skirt steak, Italian wedding soup, and gourmet pepperoni pizza (Dashing's dish), we reminisced on "remember when's" and what the last year has brought. We looked out over the Tucson city scape view and were thankful for all of our blessings. 

We walked around the outdoor restaurant/shopping area and enjoyed the warm breeze of 80 some degree evening and landed at a gelato place. Dashing and I have always seemed to end up at various gelato places over the years, so it only felt right to find one in Tucson. Frost was delicious (my peanut butter crunch was the best!) and just right to wind down the evening.

Dashing - rightfully so - was exhausted, and we headed home for a nice night in. 

Sunday came, and the weather was simply beautiful. Blue skies with fluffy clouds and the sun shining upon us - and it was under 100 degrees! That is amazing for Arizona in July! For lunch, we did a throw back to 5 years ago. While visiting a very small town in Arizona (Payson) in 2002, we stopped at one of the few restaurants in town for lunch - Chili's. Yes the chain. BUT we loved the chili con queso and chips. So we revisited this trip by heading to Chili's and devoured some queso. Yum!

The afternoon consisted of letting our inner child loose by throwing a baseball around our new backyard; something we've always made time to do in Dashing's parents backyard. Our backyard, unlike the in-laws, is a rock yard. Not the same as a lush grassy yard, but it worked out all the same and no baseballs visited our neighbors' windows or the desert. Did I forget to mention I could have made it in the big leagues! hehe. We also did a little driving exploration - another activity we always find ourselves doing. Sometimes this can be interesting as I easily get car sick, but it is always a great time to spend together and leads to lots of memorable conversations.

Closing our our anniversary weekend, we visited a restaurant that our lives would not be the same without. Peter Piper Pizza. For those of you who don't know what kind of place this is....it's a version of Chucky Cheese's. Yes, a pizza and arcade place. Dashing has had almost all 26 birthday parties here. We celebrated his medical school graduation by heading to lunch at this place, and I have to boast that Dashing and I have before beaten the Terminator game at PPP in one evening. It may have cost $20 to do it, and a little bit of my pride as 1-2 hours playing a shooting game at a kids place isn't really in my DNA, but that night was so much fun as we laughed and shot down more creepy machine things. So pizza and games followed by a visit to Orange Leaf frozen yogurt made a wonderful night to laugh and think about what it will be like to one day bring our future children to PPP to do the same things with us. 

Although all of these restaurants and activities made more wonderful memories for us, it was the time spend together that meant the world to me (plus the bouquet of pink roses - thank you, Dashing). I have a wonderful husband who tells me how much I mean to him, who will give me a hug and not think it's too girlie, and stands with me as we go through this journey of life together. I am truly blessed. Happy Anniversary, Dashing husband!

The (New) Adventure Begins

I think my writing block has ended just as our new adventure begins. We've just settled in to our new home in Tucson, Arizona. I've begun my new job, and so has Dashing. There is so much to share! I am looking forward to writing regularly. Enjoy your wonderful weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

Try this summer treat from the Pioneer Woman: Chocolate Almond Mousse! It's delicious.

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Sara on Pinterest

A Little Victory Dance

It has been one year since my last treatment. I've been thinking about it for the past two weeks. The twist - apparently everyone I know was too.

On Saturday, Dashing and I were supposed to have dinner with his parents, his sister, her husband, and 2 family friends from out of town. We spent that day hanging out with our friend Zach watching the fantastic Butler basketball game at a great pizza place enjoying the 70 degree air and warm sun (sitting in the shade to avoid UV rays though !). Slowly, we made it to Dashing's parents' house and Zach went to "dinner with his grandparents". However, I didn't find the family ready to go to dinner, instead, I found a backyard filled with family and friends.  I wasn't sure quite what was going on. I turned to Dashing and he was just smiling, not surprised at all, so I stood there in a little bit of shock. I said something to the effect of "what's going on?" and he replied, it's for you - you're one year past your treatments, this is to celebrate you victory. WHAT?! Excited and shocked, I started greeting and thanking everyone for coming one by one only to find a friend from Texas and another from Colorado who had come to visit followed by my Dad from Indiana. How incredibly special. I was so humbled that all of these friends and family were there to celebrate me. I truly should have been throwing them a party in thanks for all of the support they have given me through my journey. I turned to Zach, who we spent the entire day with, and said YOU KNEW THE ENTIRE DAY? How long have you all been planning this ....."Oh, for about 2-3 months." I am SO impressed that 75 people were able to keep a secret through baby showers (Miss E's), birthday parties, and family get together. I had no idea my friends and family could be so sneaky. And another fantastic surprise of the day, Dashing (the eternal non-planner), with the help of his family, put it all together...and kept it a secret! Ok Dashing - you did earn some bonus points here. Kudos.

Thank you to all who celebrated with me or sent me cheers electronically. I love you all.

I'm just glad I wasn't wearing something ridiculous!

The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get

My father-in-law uses this phrase ALL the time. Although, I actually don't mind hearing it over and over again as I think he is totally right. Yesterday, Dashing and I were given an envelope by his College of Medicine informing us of where he will be completing his residency in Emergency Medicine. (It was double-ly fun as I planned the event for the College!). We Dashing has put in lots of time and effort into his education and building relationships over the past four years, and it has paid off. We matched at our number one choice, The University of Arizona, University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. This was not luck on the lucky day of St. Patrick's, but a result of hard work and dedication. We are thrilled to begin this new journey that will start in June 2011.