its feeling like winter

Us at Hanging Rock state park in Asheville, NC during an REI rock climbing trip.

Nicole is a monkey!

Yes, it really is this high!

Kaelyn aka Fat Piggy!

Colleen and Matt's wedding, the day after in Destin, FL

Jeff, Nate, and I rockin it out.

Congratulations Matt and Colleeen!

Alex and Sarah, with Hailey and Abby, in their mansion in Tallahassee!

Mark and Andi, Karen and Dave and Natalie, and us, with the dogs, on some trails on a cold wintery day! (today)

Scott, Cynthia, and us at the Medicine holiday party. And some drunk attendings!

Me putting up some lights, with a ceiling fan duster...

Nicole dogsitting Jazz...she's loving it.

Reconnecting with Shveta and Dorothy, 2 of my good med school friends.

The Asians at Phil and Zenia's wedding. Congrats!

Sofie hurt her paw. Nicole cleaning it. Poor thing...

Hi everyone,

Just trying to keep my promise of updating this blog more!!

Things are good here in North Carolina. There's been some new changes in our life. Nicole has a new job - she used to work for the UNC GI division, as a PA in the esophageal diseases clinic. Now she switched to become the PA for one of our best doctors, a geriatrics doctor at UNC who does primary care for older people. He also is the vice-president of UNC physicians. He's one of the older, wise, experienced clinicians that I love. So its a great move for Nicole, and she will learn a lot.

We went down to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, and spent the weekend at Amy and Nate's house, and Sofie got to play with their dogs, which was great. Props to Nate, who spent all day smoking a turkey which was awesome. We got to visit with Ben and Jen, Ben and Stephanie, Nicole's aunt Carey and her grandmother Mary, and her kids Warner and Kate. It made us miss Atlanta a lot, and it wasn't enough time down there to see everyone! Earlier in the fall, Nicole and I went outdoor rock climbing in Asheville, NC with Jenny, Jeff and Amy. It was awesome! We climbed the face of this granite rock, about 110 feet up (though the rock was probably 600-800 feet high). It was through REI, and we camped out in tents in 30 degree weather and had food in the campground, and a campfire going. Was a lot of fun. Amy is quite the climber...her arms are jacked. In addition, Colleen and Matt got married - congratulations! - then proceeded to get a new puppy, and about to move to Charlotte, NC, closer to us!

Here in North Carolina, life has been pretty good. We've started to get comfortable here. We've been playing softball in a neighborhood softball league - we're the youngest on the team, with most people in the 40s and 50s. We have a couple of good friends, the closest of which are Dave and Karen, their baby girl Natalie, and their dog Katie. We're often at each others house for dinner, or out on walks together with the dogs.

Finally, work for me has been a little less busy and more enjoyable, as I have become more experienced as a 3rd year resident. Its nice to have the experience and knowledge of having been around a while, and I realized how much I've learned, as a good deal of the patient care is now more routine for me. It's all relative though...it's never boring and always more to learn.

I've been lucky enough to have been selected as a chief resident for next year. This is an optional job, so I stay an extra year, with the same measley salary, to help run the residency program. Its a big honor - I, along with 3 others, will run the residency program, be in charge of much of the education of the residents and students, attend lots of meetings around the hospital, and run the day-to-day issues of the residency. The 2 main projects for the chiefs are to make the schedule for the next year, and to spearhead the recruiting effort for the residency, no easy tasks. I'm looking forward to the teaching more than anything else. Also, I'll be the attending physician for about a month in the hospital, and attend in the clinic as well. Crazy!

Nicole and I have more free time this year, so we got some UNC basketball tickets for this season. Go heels! We're #1 in the nation right now! I didn't realize how big Dean Smith was - one of the most famous college b-ball coaches in the nation!

Well, I'm finishing up my 2 1/2 years of residency right now...then Nicole and I will be heading to Tampa for Christmas. Can't wait for Andy's Christmas Party! It will be great to see everyone!

Alan (and Nicole and Sofie)