Summary of the Year

Looking back on 2009....
In January we traveled to SLC for David's interview for an orthopedic surgery resident position.  I was a little skeptical about the idea of moving to Utah. Growing up we both had skewed impressions of Salt Lake City, but these were obviously inaccurate. This gorgeous city is filled with a diverse group of amazing people and there is so much to do for a person in love with the great outdoors.
While researching different residencies, David tried to focus on a place with a good balance.  He knew he would be working long hours and felt that if he lived in a vacation destination, the time he had outside of work would be well spent. After visiting SLC we were both sold and ready to move.

Flying in for the interview weekend...

The orthopedic center where David interviewed...

Can't beat this view from the parking lot

Brad, Samantha, and Taylor also interviewed in the city on the same weekend.  So we were able to ski with everyone that Saturday before flying back to Memphis.  

We were engaged on February 14th...

David planned the most perfect evening.  We had helped host a couples shower earlier that day.  While leaving the shower, David said, " Well maybe we can go out to dinner or something tonight to celebrate Valentine's Day. Why don't you go home and get ready and I'll come pick you up."  So, I left a little disappointed that he hadn't planned for us to do anything special.  When I arrived at my apartment on Mud Island, I walked into my room and found a wrapped package on my bed.  I opened the package to find an envelop.  Inside a letter told me to get ready, put on my favorite dress, and to pack an overnight bag with a bathing suit and ski gear. It also contained an address that I was to put into my GPS and that I was to go to that address and tell them I was there for a pick up. He instructed me not to contact him unless there was an emergency. I excitedly and quickly got ready,  packed up, and headed toward the first destination.  My car was nearly out of gas so I hurriedly put in only a few gallons at the nearest gas station as I was too excited to stop for long enough to fill up. In record time, I arrived at the first address - a place that has always been special to us - The Cheesecake Corner in downtown Memphis. We spent our first valentine's day together there and often went for dessert after dates downtown. As I was walking inside I heard all of this commotion.  The owner starts running out the door after a man who had stolen the money out of the tip jar on the counter -- it made for an interesting start.  After the owner came back minutes later without the thief I told him my name and that I was there to pick up a package.  He smiled and handed me another envelope.  Inside was a gift certificate and another letter.  In the letter he instructed me to pick out two of my favorite slices of cheesecake - by the way they have the most delicious cheesecakes, for those of you in Memphis I highly recommend visiting.

Back to the story - he instructed me to pick out two slices and get them packed up to go - I picked white chocolate raspberry and lemon blueberry.  He gave me another address to put into the GPS and instructed me to stop at a convenience store on the way and pick up a package of starbursts and a small bag of beef jerky.  The address was in Oxford, MS where I went to college. Unfortunately, in my hurry I had only put a few gallons of gas in my car and had to stop again to fill up with gas because Oxford was almost an hours drive away from the Cheesecake Corner.  In the letter he told me to text him when I left the Cheesecake Corner. He told me later that I scared him with the text because I was so much quicker than he anticipated.  Apparently I was only about 30 minutes behind him.  After a few stops I made it to the address which was a cute little bed and breakfast just off the town square in Oxford. 

The Bed and Breakfast...

The previous letter had told me to park and walk to the back fence.  On the fence was a third letter.  This one told me to follow the path back to the cottage with flowers on the door.

I walked up to the cottage and David opened the door.  He said, "Surprise! Happy Valentine's Day" and I gave him a huge hug.  Once inside he said that I arrived much earlier than he had anticipated and that we had dinner reservations around the corner at City Grocery - just not for an hour or so.  So, we sat down and talked for a bit.  He asked me if I would like to open my valentine's gift.  In the corner was a large wrapped box and a dozen roses.  I opened the present and it was filled with packing peanuts.  After digging for awhile I found a small box at the bottom, but when I opened it there was a piece of paper inside that said this...

Afterwards he acted as if this was the whole surprise.  He said, "well, we have a while until dinner so we can sit and talk for a while and then walk around the square before dinner."  While we were sitting there he started talking about our future and then he said, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you... Will you marry me?"  Ofcourse I cried and said Yes!  The "free vacation ticket" was for the honeymoon.

The Ring...

Having never gone shopping for rings together or even discussing them, I had no idea that he was even looking.  I absolutely love it and wouldn't change a thing.  David had a little help from Catherine without me knowing.  She did a great job keeping the secret and was even sending me links of jobs in NYC and apartments that we could live in together the next year.  Little did I know she was ring shopping with David behind my back.  By the way, the beef jerky and starbursts were just to distract me and when I asked later what they were for he said, " I just wanted some." Packing the ski gear and bathing suit was meant to throw me off too.

Spring was filled with traveling, friend's weddings, and wedding planning for ourselves. 

At Rob and Monica's Wedding in Memphis, TN...

At Taylor and Tiffany's Wedding in Chattanooga, TN

Brad and Samantha's Wedding in Morristown, TN...

Emerson and Clover's Wedding in Nashville, TN...

March 19th was "match day" for David's medical school.  We enjoyed a delicious brunch and then envelopes were passed out. On the count of three his entire class opened their envelopes at the same time to discover where they would train for residency for the next few years..

We were so excited to have matched in our first choice - Utah!
Minutes after discovering the big news...

The better halves I survived med school pub crawl...

Shirts made by the talented Stephanie - you can see her adorable blog here.

My intelligent husband graduated from medical school on May 29th.

Us with his parents...

At the celebratory lunch with our families...

On the day before his graduation, we were blessed with a beautiful niece, Meriwether Crawford Bowsher.  Luckily we were able to take a short trip to Birmingham to see her before moving 2,000 miles away.

David with his niece

All packed up and leaving Tennessee...

On our long journey to Salt Lake City, we compared sonic drinks in every state...

After a night in Denver we awoke to this...

Apparently, the Denver natives weren't happy about us taking up 5 parking places with our huge truck/trailer...

After 25 hours of driving, we arrived at our new home in Salt Lake City...

Unfortunately we spent the summer 1600 miles apart.  I was able to finish the clinical portion of my last semester during the summer instead of the fall so that I would be able to move to Utah following the wedding.  The remainder of my coursework I finished online after we were married.