Longtime No Blog....

So... It's been awhile. Over a year to be exact. A lot has changed since my last blog....

We bought our first home and ceremoniously moved out of my parent's house. At least we are out of their house, if not all of our stuff (Mom still asks me when I'm going to clean out my old closet ;-D). Moving was not without it's issues. One completely failed moving plan, Dad and Father-in-lay Dave to the rescue and our things finally arrived from the desert. Despite the fact that almost every piece of major furniture we own was damaged, we were so excited to finally begin to set up our first home together. Countless trips to home depot, Pier One, Target, and multiple other home decorating stores and our house finally looks and feels like home. Not all of the wrinkles are ironed out yet, our office still looks like we moved in yesterday, but we love it!!

Come on in and look around....

The great room feel makes it much more roomy


We spend a ton of time in the kitchen and most of the time I manage not to burn dinner


Three paint colors later, I love the caramel color of the walls in the built-ins.



My favorite place in the house! Though not for the reason you're thinking.... because it's where I get to SLEEP ;-)'


Our little backyard with Chad's prized possession... his barbeque.

Now that it's 2010, it's almost my 27th birthday (that much closer to 30 OMG), and I'm half way through my intern year (eeekkk!), I thought it would be a good time to reflect on a few highlights from the last 6 months.

To start things off.... GRADUATIONS!!! Both my graduation from medical school and my sissy's graduation from college took place within one week of each other. It was a crazy time, but it was worth it. Med school graduation brought with a sense of accomplishment, bittersweet goodbyes and total panic as it meant I would soon be an intern. The grad party was the highlight and I was so lucky to share it with some of the best friends a girl could have.








My love and I ready for a night of drinks ;-)

The Rigsby Family Enjoying the graduation festivities

Friends from the first hello across the antaomy table. Miss you guys!

The whole family celebrating!

Hello Dr Kizzier-Carnahan

Then it was on to Corvalis to watch my baby sister walk out on that big field and get her diploma!


2009 brought other memorable moments.

My first Mariner's game and a great weekend in Bremerton with my sis, her bf and the parents. Mom of course sat down in beer and looked like she peed her pants for the rest of the evening, which almost made the rest of us pee our pants.
A great trip to San Diego to see K & G which was a blast despite the fact that it was only sunny for one day. There, I partook in my first wine tasting experience.


We welcomed our first niece, who brings so much joy to our lives. She's already so big and has such a personality.

Settled into our home and lavished in the fact that we're fin ally setting down roots in Portland.

Survived the first six months of internship, which has brought exhaustion, tears, laughter and some fantastic new friendships!! We've loved coming home to Oregon and learn our city all over again. It's so much fun exploring new neighborhoods. We've found a few new favorite restaurants as my husband's stomach pretty much leads him wherever he goes, haha.

We had a great 2 year anniversary dinner with a view of the Williamette on a foggy day.


I'm now running, hard to believe I know, and am up to 3 mile runs. Residency has made me an amateur runner.... may be it has something to do with getting used to being in intense discomfort at fairly regular intervals. I'm finally shedding some of the honeymoon, medical school, didn't go to the gym for a year weight. It's so good to feel like me again.

We celebrated our first Christmas in our home complete with an 8 ft fresh Christmas tree we cut down ourselves, way too much money spent on decorations, a santa hat and reindeer headband. Didn't take on cooking dinner yet though. May be in a couple of years...

Well, we're about 6 weeks into 2010 and I'm hoping it's as great of a year as 2009. We have a laundry list of things to do now that we're back in Oregon.... snowshoeing is at the top of the list right now. Chad is convinced I'll love it, I'm withholding judgment as we all know how I feel about being cold. If I could boil the last 6 months into one word it would be: content. I love being near my family, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and exploring the city and state I've missed so much. Also on the horizon is my first trip to New York City which I'm already shopping for, haha. There's small pieces of my heart scattered over the country with those of you who are far away. I hope you all know that you'll always be close to me in my heart. Just so you all know there's a cozy guest room upstairs anxiously awaiting your visit :-D. I'm in awe of the blessings we've been given and am so thankful for everything. Well, this is probably long enough for one blog session. Stay tuned for more fun and adventures for The Carnahan's coming soon....

xoxo V

Interview season begins & then ends

November rolled around and it was time to start interviewing for residency positions. With boards all out of the way this was the last hurdle....well other than waiting for Match in March which would undoubtedly be tortuous. I had my heart set on the Legacy Emanuel and Good Samaritan Internal Medicine program. I busted my butt doing critical care and IM wards rotations there so I hoped my hard work would pay off!! The interview day started off well and was pretty casual to my great surprise. It ended even better when I was offered a spot outside the Match by the program director!!!!!! I was so excited that I spent the remainder of the day furiously texting everyone I could think of since I couldn't say anything in front of the other candidates. About a week later I was signing a letter of intent.... So it's official I'm now a Legacy resident starting July 1st!!!!!!!!!! Chad and I are ecstatic and really relieved that we won't have to endure the whole Match process. We are most excited by the fact that we can now call Portland our permanent home without feeling an impending since of jinxing things. The rest of the year is going to be smooth sailing from here. Now I just have to figure out how to survive 80 hour work weeks. Internship here I come!!!!!

There's no place like Portland in the fall!!

With summer over, the best season in Portland was upon us. With the changing leaves coloring the skyline, I started an inpatient rotation at my first choice IM program. Meanwhile, we got together with the whole Carnahan family to find the perfect pumpkin for Halloween. We went out on a beautifully sunny day in search of a pumpkin and we ended the day with a wheel-barrel full of them. Once we had them all carved up, it was off to the Carnahan's for a Halloween party.... which thank goodness I was not on call for!!! Chad and I went as Lois Lane, but the winners of the night were Brian and Megan who dressed up as an old western town sheriff and saloon girl!!!

Dave's pumpkin has a plumber's crack!!

This year's costume winners!


Our pumpkins!!


A little old for trick-or-treating don't you think??

Off to Phili for Comlex PE

Well since a miracle didn't happen before Oct. 6th, I was off to Philidelphia to take Comlex PE with Chad and my Ativan in tow, haha. As I slaved away on the exam, Chad got a chance to explore the city of Philidelphia. I guess he deserved it for putting up with me for the days before the exam when I was a basket case. He had a great time exploring all the historic monuments from the Liberty bell to Betsy Ross's house. And keeping in the tradition of the Carnahan clan he of course found time to stuff his face!! A philly cheesesteak and huge piece of pizza later his mission was completed and he returned to our hotel to celebrate with me once the test was over!! To commemorate the exam we had take out Italian in our room and cuddled up to watch a movie.... my kind of night!!!

p.s. I WILL NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!

Food stop #1 ... cheesesteak down the hatch!

Then he ate this and yes he took pictures for posterity sake!!

Summer Fun....

We loved our first summer back in Oregon. From hiking for our anniversary to going out on the town this summer was a blast. We spent a week up in Washington at Lake Chelan with my aunt and uncle. I studied for boards by the pool and we had a great time tubing on the boat. The views from the condo were fantastic and we said goodbye to summer with a bang!!

Out on the boat with the fam


Chad and my uncle tubing... he was the only one brave enough!

On the jet ski! It was cold!

Time Flies!

Our first wedding anniversary came and went so quickly. It's amazing how fast a year goes when you're loving life and loving your hubby!!! Chad took several days off work and we celebrated at some of our favorites spots in Oregon. First, we zipped over the mountains for a day at Cannon beach--starting the day out at Camp 18 for breakfast, hiking through Ecola state park where I promptly fell on my toosh twice (at least I have good padding) and then we window-shopped in downtown Cannon. After a long day of exploring we were ready for a good sleep. On the day of we treated ourselves to a beautiful dinner at Portland City Grill. The restaurant is on the 14th floor of a high rise in the financial area of the city and has a fantastic view of every bridge along the Williamette. The view out the window and across the table were fantastic!! The food wasn't bad either. We came home to a beautiful surprise from my mom. She set up a boquett full of flowers that matched our wedding flowers. She bought us a small cake to celebrate which we promptly smashed in eachother's faces as we had missed out on that tradition at the wedding. All in all it was an unforgetable event!!

Cake in the face!

Hiking at the Coast


Mom's anniversary cake... looks professional!

Hello Hello!!

Since I get so much joy out of reading friends blogs, I though what the heck I'll be completely unoriginal and post one. So here we are. Not that our lives are that exciting, but I thought this would be a way for those people we are far away from to feel connected to us in a small way. I miss all those friends who I've connected with over the past many years that I've spent roaming the west coast. Well if you call being in two cities roaming, but that's beside the point haha. Hopefully now those who we don't get to see everyday will feel like they are a part of our lives as much as they are a part of our hearts!!!