A Weekend in Kansas City

Saturday morning, we left for a fun-filled weekend in Kansas City! We went with our friends Nick, Bob and Ashley. It started with some great barbecue at Arthur Bryant's. This place was just about as casual as it gets. You stand in a REALLY long line of people, and order cafateria-style right from the guys cooking the meat. As we approached the front of the line, we were getting more and more nervous about getting our order right. After seeing others ahead of us get hollared at, we didn't want to get anything wrong. After arguing over what to get, how much to order, and making a successful transaction with the guys behind the counter, we had our food - a rack of ribs, and sliced, smoked pork. With greasy bottles of sauce on the table, a pitcher of beer, and Wonderbread, we enjoyed a HUGE, delicious meal.



After barbecue we went to The Museum at 18th and Vine. The museum was two museums in one. One was a Jazz Museum with a jazz bar attached to it, and one was the Negro League Baseball Museum. They were both pretty neat, and made for a nice, leasurly afternoon.

A graffiti painting of Buck O'Neal, one of the most famous players in the Negro League.

After our visit to the museum, we decided it was time to check into the hotel. The hotel was really close to the stadium, where we would later see a baseball game, and a Sheridan's Frozen Custard shop! Angela had never had frozen custard before, but really wanted to try it. After checking in, we rushed right over to the custard shop. It was delicious! We're pretty much addicted now, and am really glad that they're three hours away!

Later Saturday night we went to Kauffman Stadium to see the Kansas City Royals play the Seattle Mariners! It was a pretty good game, even though neither teams are great. In the last inning we really thought the Mariners had a chance to win it, but with the very last hit from the Royals, at the end of the game, they ended up getting two runs, and winning by 1. Despite our loss, it was a really fun night, and we're really glad we were there to see the Mariners play.

The stadium was really nice, and has the biggest LCD megatron in the world!

Ashley, Bob, Nick, and Chris

On Sunday we slept in a bit, and had a leasurly morning. We drove into the city at about 10am to the Plaza, which is where all of the nice restaurants and shopping is. When we realized that the shops didn't open until noon, we went a few blocks away to the William Nelson Gallery of Art.

One we realized that the musuem, too, did not open up until noon, we played around on the lawn behind it, throwing the frisbee and getting some sun.

HUGE badminton birdie sculptures on the lawn of the museum.

Chris and Bob seeking shade underneath one of the many trees. It was SO hot, but luckily not very humid. It still felt really good to get outside and run around.

After a nice lunch, and ANOTHER dose of frozen custard, we made the long drive home. We had such a good time, I'm sure Chris and I will be back soon to explore the city further.

This next week is going to be back to the normal routine for Angela with work, and will involve some shadowing opportunities for Chris. This week he's shadowing an allergist in three different locations. He'll also be shadowing more doctors this summer, in all different fields of medicine. This Saturday Chris will be volunteering at the Magis Clinic for the third time. The Magis Clinic is inside a homeless shelter called the Sienna Francis House, and offers psych, STD, and acute medical care for local homeless men and women. While working there, Chris interviews patients and takes their vitals and reports back to the physician. Creighton medical students struggle to get volunteer spots at the Magis clinic during the school year, so he's really happy to have so many opportunites to work there.

That's it for now. Check back again!

America's Birthday and Other Good Times

This post came a little late, but we've been lazy. Here's an update about last week, and our great 4th of July weekend!

Chris' mom came into town Tuesday afternoon, while Angela was still at work. After she got off work we went to a fabulous pasta dinner at Nicola's, a little hole-in-the-wall Italian place near the Old Market, in Omaha. The next day, before Angela had to get to work in the afternoon, we went to a delicious breakfast of savoury pastries and lattes at Delice European Bakery. While Angela worked, Chris and his mom walked around the Old Market and shopped for a while, before the stormy weather made another appearance. Luckily, this storm was a quick one, and didn't bring any hail or really severe winds like had been predicted. After Angela got off work, Chris and his mom surprised her with a delicious home-cooked meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers! OnThursday, Chris and his mom went Omaha's famous Henry Doorley Zoo where they walked through the Lied Rainforest, ambled through bear country, and laughed at the gorillas and orangutans. After Angela got off work, the three of us made our way downtown to the Quest Center (the building with part of the roof ripped off in the picture below) for the Olympic Swimming Trials. We saw 7 events, including the Men's 200 meter individual medley with the amazing Michael Phelps. It was a lot of fun.

For most of Friday - the 4th of July - we just relaxed. We all slept in, ate a late lunch, and an early dinner, which Angela cooked. After dinner we went to Rosenblatt Stadium to see an Omaha Royals game. They are the local AAA farm team of the Kansas City Royals. After the game, they put on the best fireworks show we've ever seen. It was a little delayed because of stupid people who don't know what "Police line do not cross" means. The fireworks were set off right behind the stadium in the parking lot, and seemed almost too close for comfort. The whole show was about 20 minutes long, and well worth the wait.

This weekend we're looking forward to another weekend of baseball with a trip to Kansas City to see Chris' beloved Seattle Mariners play the Kansas City Royals. We'll be staying Saturday night, so we'll also get to get in some sight-seeing and famous Kansas City barbecue, too!

More storms hit the Heartland.

OK, so I'm totally over this season. All these Severe Weather Watches and various warnings are really getting old, and I'm tired of being afraid. Tonight was no exception, course.

The past few days we've been really lucky and have had pretty nice weather. Humid, of course, but nice nonetheless. Well, today I kept hearing that we had a severe weather warning, but never really had time to look at the weather report to see where the storm was. We had plans to go to a BBQ tonight, so Chris and I went to the store to grab dessert right after he picked me up from work. So, we walk out of Hy-Vee (similar to a Safeway), and we see the clouds looming overhead, and quickly moving our direction. We both let out an "Oh shit", and quickly got into the car to get home On the way home we, of course, found ourselves stuck behind the slowest, stupidest driver ever (well, typical Council Bluffs). Shortly after we left the Hy-Vee parking lot it began t rain. Then it began to rain harder. The radio station we were listening to was reporting 60 mph winds in midtown Omaha, and a storm that was moving about 50 mph east...our direction. Then it began to hail, hard. Not too large, maybe marble size...but enough of that, mixed with very heavy rain, made it extremely difficult to see, and drive. After navigating various obsticles - including stupid drivers, a wading pool that decided to blow across the street into our car, flying branches, and a downed tree on our road - we got home safely and ran inside, bringing only the parishables with us. Shortly after we arrived home the tornado sirens started going off. We weren't too worried though since the storm seemed to pass really quickly and it was already getting sunny outside again.

The whole thing was really scary, but the aftermath was what was really amazing. You really gain a new respect for nature after seeing the pictures we did. There were trees uprooted all over the city, houses with their shingles and roofs ripped off, and trees and parts of trees strewn all over the city streets. Two people died today in Council Bluffs - not too far from my clinic - from a fallen tree. The Qwest center where the Olympic swimming trials are being held had part of its roof ripped off. Crazy stuff. Our local sports guy said he'd never seen anything like it. I've been hearing that a lot this season. Makes me think what else Mother Nature has in store for us.
Below are some pictures we got off the local news websites. This weaher is just amazing. If you want to learn more about the storms check out http://www.wowt.com/ or http://www.ketv.com/.

Welcome!

Hi! Thanks for visiting our blog!

Well, it'll be a year next month that we've been living here in Iowa. As most of you know, we traveled over 1300 miles last summer, from Washington, to our new apartment in Council Bluffs, IA so Chris can attend Creighton Medical School in Omaha, NE. Council Bluffs is just right over the Missouri River from Omaha, and we actually spend most of our time on that side of the river. http://www.mapquest.com/mq/3-xCU*AMmyUCog

Chris' first year of medical school was just as difficult as he thought it would be. It definitely kept him busy! He attended classes five days per week, all day, and spent his nights studying hard. We tried to get out of the apartment as much as school would allow, and were lucky enough to gain some good friends in the process.

After working a few months at the Starbucks in downtown Omaha, Angela got a job with Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs. She works as a Health Care Assistant in the Council Bluffs clinic, which basically consists of medical assistant type duties within the clinic. She's very proud of the organization, and its role in the community, but still feels the need to look for new work with better pay. Hopefully something will come up within the organization, but she's also looking elsewhere.

Since Chris' first year ended, the both of us have been very busy. Shortly after the end of the spring semester, Chris traveled to Ghana, Africa for a four-week long medical mission with Global Volunteers. He went with nine other medical students from Creighton, and they all had a great time working in the small village of Senchi Ferry, and traveling around Ghana.

While Chris was gone on his African adventure, Angela stayed home and battled loneliness and horrible weather. Throughout the four weeks he was away there were numerous severe storms and tornados that hit the area, including some parts of Omaha! Our friend Ashley (who's boyfriend was also away) took care of Angela, and let her seek shelter in her basement. It's the season for severe weather here, and the scariest time of the year for us foreigners! We just can't seem to understand how people here can just go about their normal routines while the threat of

getting swept up like Dorothy looms over our heads! Needless to say, it's this time of year that we miss the comfort of home the most. Besides ducking for cover from storms, Angela kept busy with work, and hanging out with friends, and her visit from her best friend Shauna! Shauna came to visit shortly before Chris returned home, and stayed for three nights. We went to the zoo, the Taste of Omaha (a big food festival featuring local restaurants), and ate at some yummy restaurants including the Melting Pot! It was so good to just hang out with the other love of my life, and get some good, quality time together.

Since Chris' return two weeks ago we have just been spending some well-deserved time together, and hanging out with friends. His dad came to visit this last weekend for a bit, and we had a great time. Omaha hosts the College World Series, and we went to one of the games. The game almost got rained out, but the storms seem to pass pretty quickly around here. On Sunday, the three of us went to a barbeque at our friends Bob and Ashley's house, where we played games and ate yummy food with good friends. On Monday and Tuesday, while Angela was working, Chris and his dad got to play raquetball at the Creighton rec center. Other than that we just got to enjoy some great dinners, including one that Angela cooked at the apartment, and just hang out.

This summer, we're looking forward to more family visits from Chris' mom and sisters, and our big move into Omaha. Yep, we're crossing the river, and moving into a three-bedroom duplex that's very close to Creighton, and pretty much everything else we need. Chris begins school again mid-August, and then it's back to the grindstone for him!

Stay tuned for more updates, and pictures!