Giving Thanks with Family and Friends

Hello all! As I write this post, I am cozy in my parents' basement, experiencing a hint of relaxation after completing a long and busy semester at UNC. The comfortable familiarity of my childhood home will always help me take a deep breath and remind me to be thankful for twenty-three wonderful years full of family and friends.

Rewinding a few weeks....I cooked my FIRST turkey this year at my apartment for an AuD Friendsgiving celebration! I was pretty nervous at first...but Ev & I had a blast finding a recipe and making sure we had adequately removed all of the guts of the turkey (I did have a bit of a panic moment when I pulled the neck out...yick!)






Originally I planned to invite only my AuD class of 9 people, but then I expanded the guest list to the entire program. We had about 30 people in our 1000 square-foot apartment (pretty much everyone made it). We had to set up card tables in the bedroom and the guest room, but (almost) everyone had a seat. The whole apartment was basically a restaurant! Everyone brought a side or dessert, and along with the turkey & a ham, we had quite the feast. It was a great night! 




The next weekend I headed home for Thanksgiving in Charleston. All of my grandparents were able to make it, and Chris & Abby came down from Mississippi. It felt like it had been ages since I'd seen everyone , so it was great to catch up and spend some quality time with family (and Ziggy, of course).

Mom prepared a delicious meal, as usual, and we enjoyed the left overs throughout the weekend. Later that weekend we set up the tree and enjoyed all getting to decorate it together (Evan even made it to town for that!) Decorating the tree and reliving all of the memories from our very, very homemade ornaments is one of my favorite things to do every year during the holidays. I catch myself looking at all of the ornaments time and time again throughout my time at home every year.

It was only one week after the Thanksgiving holiday that I was amidst final exams and papers. Before I knew it, the exams were through (after many cups of caffeine were consumed), and I was getting ready to head to Charleston, and take my mom on to Pittsburgh for a potential treatment. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, the experimental trial fell through last minute and therefore we won't be heading back to Pittsburgh this upcoming week. Despite the disappointment, we are all doing our best to find the silver lining in a treatment change. And, since I have had some extra time at home, I have been looking through old photo albums. So, for your enjoyment, a little walk down memory lane...

   

Nothing is better than old pictures. Nothing!!

Christmas will be here before we know it and I'll be seeing you all soon! 

Lots of love,

Molly

Merry Halloween!

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while...but Evan and I decided to spend a Saturday night in and I thought it was time to catch the crew up on what we've been doing. School has been unbelievably busy (and hard!), but I'm sure it'll all be worth it come May 2016.  We have been able to get away a few times this semester, and each mini vacation has been wonderful.

A few weekends ago over my Fall Break, I was able to head to WV for a weekend. My dad headed to Blackwater Falls for a weekend with old friends, so mom & I decided we should get away too! We went to Stonewall Jackson Resort for a night and had a lot of fun despite dreary weather the first afternoon we were there.

Walking around the lake!

The next morning, the sun finally came out and we were able to enjoy a nice long walk around the lake and grounds of the resort. It's such a beautiful place!

It is always refreshing to get a little mother-daughter time away. We had a great time forgetting about all of our worries and just relaxing in the moment.











Last weekend Evan and I headed to Charlotte with our friends Sarah and Mark for a Halloween night at Carowinds theme park (it was called "Scarowinds"!). We had a blast walking through all the haunted houses and even riding a few roller coasters in the dark.

Mark, Molly, Sarah, & Evan at Scarowinds!

The next evening, we got all dressed up and headed to a Halloween party! Evan and I decided to be ironic this year and dress as Santa & Rudolph. HoHoHo!

We had a lot of fun at the party, but Evan kept complaining about his nice full beard and his heavy velour suit. So, when we decided to go out to Franklin St. (the main street in Chapel Hill) on Halloween night, we decided to switch costumes! You can decide who best resembled Santa. It was another successful Halloween!

At Mrs. Ruths Farm after pumpkin pickin'!

My favorite day in October, Evan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. It was the perfect fall day in Carrboro; we went and picked pumpkins from a local farm and then got Maple View Farms ice cream before coming home to carve the pumpkins. In the evening we went to one of our favorite local restaurants to top off a perfect day celebrating 4 great years.

Maple View Farms for ice cream!

Now that it's November, the trees are finally changing to beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows in NC. Just a few more weeks 'til Thanksgiving, then my semester will be over before I know it! 

Can't wait to see you all over the holidays!

All my love,

Molls

Better Late than Never!

Hi all...I was doing so well posting every few weeks for a while, but life got ahead of me this month and I just couldn't find time. But now it's a pretty Saturday morning in Carrboro, and I figured I would take a break from the world of Audiology to catch everyone up on what I got into in August. Here goes...

Doug, Kaye, Jean, and Evan

On the second weekend in August Evan and I headed to Pipestem State Park for his cousin Trevor's wedding. Trevor and I met at WVU before Evan and I were dating - WV connections never cease to amaze me. We had a great time staying at the lodge (with a beautiful mountain view from the patio) and getting to see a ton of his family.

Evan and I got to Pipestem on Saturday afternoon in time for a family picnic. It was a great way to bring family together and get to see everyone right away. After the picnic, we went to dinner with a few others and enjoyed relaxing, soaking up all the mountain air on the patio. :)

Sunday morning was the wedding. We got all dressed up and, even though the weather didn't cooperate for the outdoor ceremony, it cleared up later in the afternoon. We had to head out after the reception, but we made sure to get a little hike in before we left the park - suit & dress included!

Evan and I drove separately to Pipestem so that I could head to Charleston for my last week of summer break & Evan could go back to NC. As everyone who reads this little blog knows, my mom has had a less than smooth summer. She was still in between treatments at this point, so I just wanted to spend some time with my family. Chris and Abby were home for a few days, which was awesome. And it was Big Al's birthday - none of us could remember the last time we had all been together for his August birthday, so that was really special. 

Birthday love - Durham Bulls shirt!

Dad with his kiddos :)

When mom & dad were both working, Abby, Chris & I headed to Flat Top for a day at the lake with Grandma Shirley & Papa Lew. Days at Flat Top always go too quickly, but we had a great afternoon.

This was Ziggy's first trip to the lake! Hard to believe he hadn't made it out there before, but - as you can see - he had no problem getting comfortable. He wasn't so sure about the fish, though...

Fishing with Papa Lew

Nothin' like a pontoon ride at Flat Top!

Chris and Abby headed back to Mississippi mid-week. My parents took a few days off from work and I took them on a little tour of beautiful outdoor places to see in WV. I promised mom to take her before I graduated from WVU, but life got in the way. This trip was planned before her surgery and everything, so we decided to go ahead and try to go. Unfortunately, none of us knew she was carrying around 2 liters of fluid in her right lung. Despite the challenges of THAT, she was tough as nails during the trip. No matter how good or bad you are feeling, it's hard not to be amazed by the beauty of WV at Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods, and Seneca Rocks. We stayed at Snowshoe for a few nights as we travelled around, and Snowshoe is gorgeous as well!

First stop...Top of Spruce Knob!

Seneca Rocks!

After heading back to NC, school started and like got hectic quickly. I must admit, it's pretty nice no longer being the 'babies' of the program. Second year is supposed to be the busiest, most challenging year...and I have no doubt that that is correct. I'll do my best to keep bloggin' as I can...bear with me!

More to come eventually :)

Love, 

Moll

Birthday Boy

Hello all!

It's hard to believe it's already August and the beginning of my 2nd year in the AuD program is just around the corner. Evan and I were just talking about how this past weekend marked our one year anniversary in North Carolina. Time flies!! My summer clinic placement wrapped up last week and now I've just been keeping myself busy working at the Y.

After a great week at the beach, the family got some disappointing news about Mom's experimental treatment. The treatment was considered "unsuccessful" after the first round of tests and she was immediately removed from the trial. The last few weeks have been hectic, to say the least. My parents have been working with multiple doctors to try to figure out the next best step for treatment. After a biopsy surgery on Thursday that wasn't as complete as doctors had hoped, we are all still up in the air about the best treatment option at this point. Mom has an appointment with her primary oncologist on Wednesday - fingers crossed for answers and a plan after that!

Evan's birthday celebration was a huge success in Carrboro. Ellie came down to visit me for the first time since we've moved, and as a birthday surprise, she brought one of Evan's best friends from Morgantown, Erik, with her! Evan was so surprised when he saw Erik sitting on our porch - it was great!

Saturday was a beautiful day so we spent it showing Ellie and Erik around UNC's campus and checking out Franklin Street, Chapel Hill's main street. We had a great time just hanging out and catching up.

That evening, we went out to a nice dinner with a few friends, and then many more friends came over to our apartment to celebrate Evan's 25th birthday! Once the apartment got too hot from all the people, we headed downtown and kept on celebrating! :)

Evan with a bunch of the girls from my cohort!

The West Virginia crew!

Evan and I went on an impromptu trip to Charleston last weekend. My parents were originally supposed to come visit us in Carrboro, but with everything going on, and Mom not 100% recovered from surgery on Wednesday, they decided to stay home for a weekend to try to relax a little. I was feeling pretty upset and distanced from everything that was happening with my mom, though, so Evan suggested that we just go down to Charleston for a day instead. We left at the crack of dawn on Saturday (literally....like 5:15 AM), and got to Charleston around 10 in the morning. We didn't do much while we were there other than hang around the house, but I left with a renewed hope for whatever the future holds. We all deal with difficult news differently, but nothing makes me feel better than getting to physically see someone (Skype doesn't always cut it) when something isn't quite right. As tacky as it may sound, I felt like a little part of my soul healed up after I was able to snuggle with my mom for a bit. Lucky for me, I have a boyfriend who was more than happy to drive me to Charleston, before the sun had risen, while I slept in the backseat...even if we could only stay for 30 hours.

Everyone stay in touch - love & miss you all!

Molly

Beach Bums

Evan and I are back in Carrboro after a wonderfully relaxing week at Emerald Isle with the Drescher's and McDonald's. It was one of those vacations where no one really did much of anything - everyone got up when they wanted, headed to the beach when they felt like it, and then we all came back together for dinner each evening. This year, each couple had a night that they cooked dinner for all 10 people staying in the beach house. It ended up being a great strategy - mom wasn't stuck at the grocery store every day, and no one went broke trying to feed that many people on multiple nights. Still, we went out to eat a few times. The first night at the beach, after everyone had arrived safely, we headed out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant because it was Abby's birthday!

After dinner it was back to the house to open gifts so Abby could wear her birthday hat that she got that day from South of the Border. Great way to start the trip!

All the girls getting dressed up for Abby's birthday!

After dinner and celebrations on the first night

The house we got for the week was wonderful - plenty of room for everyone to have their own space, and a great open kitchen/living room that brought everyone together. Not to mention a relaxing pool and hot tub....

Tuesday night was my parents' turn to cook for the family. After some delicious BBQ shrimp, my mom brought out an amazing chocolate trifle...in honor of Evan's (early) birthday! After dinner he opened some gifts (which kick-started his excitement for more to come in a few weeks).  Below Evan is showing off his new print of Canaan Valley by Eddie Spaghetti, a local WV artist. It is going to look great in our living room!

The house we rented was pretty far down on the island. At this point the island is very narrow - depending on which direction you looked, we stayed in a 2nd row house facing the beach or a 2nd row house facing the sound! It was a beautiful week, so we did our best to take lots of pictures every night.

Friday, our last full day at the beach, ended up being the only day we got rain all week. During the storms we went to the movies and shopped around at some of the local stores. The weather cleared up by dinner, so we headed to Beaufort - about 30 minutes away - for our last evening out. I finally got a shot of the entire group before we headed out!

Had to have a silly picture...

 It was a beautiful evening in Beaufort, and as you can see from the pictures, we were picking out our new yachts as we walked along the boardwalk...

A huge thanks to mom & dad for taking us on such a wonderful vacation. We love you!

-Molls