Sept 26 - Oct 31

Needless to say we have been busy this past month and I have not had the time to sit and blog. Since the last post we have been exploring our neighborhood and enjoying the nice weather. We decorated the house and built this awesome playroom. Tilly went to a pumpkin patch for her first time for the ORFN halloween party i planned and she picked out the perfect white pumpkin. She also got to meet some chickens there whom she is still imitating. She proved to be a graceful gymnast at an ORFN playgroup we went to and is very social when it comes to parties. The first Halloween party we went to was at OHSU for the med students, Tilly loved looking at all the silly costumes and dancing on the lighted floor. When it came time for her birthday party on halloween she had a blast. All the kids played so well together and we just had a really fantastic time! Trick or treating was after dinner that night and she caught on very quickly- knocked on the door and when they opened she let herself in! She would say hi to the dogs, take some candy and run to the next house. It was such a fun day! I can't believe she is already two.

Richard has been keeping very busy with school studies and all of his extra circular activities. Its hard to believe he does so much and still helps so much around the house. Some weeks are harder than others and since we live further away now we see him less often. 

I'll leave you now with a picture of the birthday girl. (a number 2 pencil and mama crayon)

Sept. 20-26th

Richard came home Monday night, it was so lovely to see him! He came in early Tuesday morning to say hi to Tilly but the entire day she was talking about him like she had dreamed him in her sleep. Tuesday night we all went to FMIG welcome dinner, where Richard is co-chair and Tilly and I love to see everyone. Wednesday I had some ORFN officers over to talk about the upcoming month while the kids played in the new playroom. Saturday Richard and Tilly went to the farmers market and brought home some wonderful peaches! After nap time Tilly and I went to music at the library where Tilly was told she is a musical genius because she stopped the music stopped and quited down and got loud when needed- so fun!!

Sept. 13-19th

Richard had his first exam on Monday, and of course afterward the 1st and 2nd years went out to celebrate. He had pcm on Tuesday, a simman on Wednesday, precept on Thursday and he left after class on Friday for an AMSA meeting in DC. Needless to say Tilly and I did not see him a lot this week. We kept busy with friends. Moses came over Monday night, and it was so much fun to see the 2 together again- its like they went right back to being besties. On Friday's we have been going to story time at the library, Tilly is doing a really wonderful job sitting on her own listening to the stories and playing with friends. Saturday we went with friends to the ORFN playgroup. We had so much fun berry picking!! Tilly ate her weight in raspberries and blueberries while we were there and even more when we got home. Sunday we took a walk to Kenny and Zukes to try out the food- it was delicious, and T absolutely loved the cheeseburger sliders. Walking home we stopped at the neighborhood block party and met some cool neighbors. We got a balloon then headed home when it started to rain a lot.

Sept. 6-12th

We had a nice labor day doing a little shopping at Ikea- so much fun ;/. After a full day shopping I met Jami for dinner and then the PFW meeting. Tilly and I have been hanging out during the week, bonding with Rhys and checking out the closest library. We went to story time on Friday and had a wonderful time. We had also been planning the ORFN picnic, it was Saturday evening and we had a great time meeting new people and chatting with friends. Richard had a busy week at school with a lot of meetings. Since his first test is Monday he has also been studying whenever possible. He did make it to the picnic with us and it made it even more fun.

Aug. 30th -Sept. 5th

Monday was Richards first day back at school. Since we live further away now and he bikes there, the comute is much longer. He often stays at school afterward to have meetings, study, plan events and all that good stuff he gets involved with. It was a busy week for that. He helped plan the med 13/14 bbq that was in Hoyt park on Friday. That day Tilly and I biked over to meet him and had a fun time at the bbq meeting some new people and chatting with some friends. During the week Tilly and I explored more of our new neighborhood, meeting some neighbors and dogs on our walks. We have been unpacking and planning and the house is really feeling like home. Some of Richards classmates decided to camping at Opal creek Sat. night because of the long weekend. We headed there with Krisanna and David. The real adventure started when we began the 3.5 mile hike to find a camp site. It was great to finally find one, set the tents up, and start the fire. Tilly was a wonderful camper and stayed nice and cozy in her sleeping suit and cuddled up with Richard. The next day before we left a few people jumped from the cliff into opal pool. Richard was among them and Tilly started crying and saying boo-boo when it was his turn. Very cute to see the love poor out of her. Soon after that we left and had a stop at a diner close by with everyone. Richard has such a fun class, and I am glad I got the chance to know some of them. 

Aug. 23-29th

The 23rd we packed up once more and headed to the old mill in North Little Rock for a photo op and to say goodbye to gammie after which we headed to the airport Portland bound! We arrived late to our new home and got the beds situated so we could go to sleep. Tuesday was my 28th birthday and we spent the day unpacking and soaking up the nice weather. The next day we went to get Tilly and me a new bike to ride around town in. We also went to Krisanna and Davids house to celebrate. The rest of the week we spent unpacking, getting ready for school, and settling in to our new neighborhood. We now live in NW, we share a home with an OHSU resident and her family- whom I will be nannying for when she returns to work. It has been a busy summer but we had a blast and now we are happy to be settling in to a nice routine.

Aug. 16-22nd

This week we wrapped up our stay in Maryland. We went out to dinner to say goodbye to the Dunns one last time. We met our cousins Mark and Melanie out for dinner to catch up. We packed up all of our many things and headed to the airport Saturday morning. We arrived in Little Rock that afternoon and headed straight to Richard's grandmothers house, where we got to see Gammie and Genny. We played with them for a while then headed to Richard's high school friends Jeremy and Ashley's house. There we got to meet with a few freinds that where in town and all their new babies. We left there and went to Brunos little italy restuarant to meet more family and friends and eat wonderful pizza. After that long day we headed to my friends house where we got to settle down and take a fun bath with Laney.

Aug. 9-15th

Richard and I went to meet a psychiatrist near DC on Wednesday, we got to talk to him about the path he chose after med school and get some tips on what to expect from the years to come. We left Tilly with Mom-mom and she had a wonderful time playing. She is a changed little girl now, talking more and listening, and she is so well behaved when we go out. We went to my aunt Char's house in Baltimore on Friday, Richard took T to the aquarium while Char and I walked around. It was a lovely evening and we had a great dinner outside. Saturday morning we went to the farmers market with mom-mom then came home for a nap while Richard went to do some phone banking for health care reform. After nap time we all went to DC for our friends surprisulations engagement party. It was super fun and we had a great time hanging out with all of our friends. After the party we ran by the Lincoln memorial to take a few pictures. It was a gorgeous night again so we enjoyed a nice walk around the park. Sunday we started the day off at my moms long time friends house. We took the boat out and ran some lines for crabs, I got around 15-20. We ran back to the house in the rain and steamed the crabs and picked them as fast as we could... oh I wish I were not allergic! We came home for a nap then went back out to meet Richard friends from Princeton downtown. The rain left and the sun was shinning so we enjoyed a nice walk looking at all the historic buildings. 

Aug. 2-8th

We spent tons of time with our favorite name sake Courtney Tillett this week, hanging out at her house and meeting her with Judi and Phil at the yacht club for Wednesday night races. Saturday we went to quiet waters park for another musical concert. Tilly had a great time meeting friends and dancing and came home to spend time with Mom-mom while Richard and I went to a movie. Sunday we went to brunch with Richard's cousins from Alexandria. They have a 7 year old son and a 2 1/2 year old daughter and it was fun to play downtown.

Richard went to a free clinic in DC on Wednesday where he volunteered with many other doctors who came in from all over the country to help the 1200 uninsured patients who came. Friday he went to a literary conference in Emmitsburg, MD on G. K. Chesterton. Sunday he stood in front of a library in Columbia, MD to talk to people about single payer health care.

July 26th - Aug 1st

Tilly, Mom-mom and I arrived back in MD on Monday and settled in for a busy week. Richard and I took a baptism prep class on Tuesday. Richard's parents came into town for Chealsea Clinton's wedding so we saw them for dinner Wednesday night before they headed up to NY. Thursday- Saturday Tilly and I played around town and visited Courtney a few times. The baptism was Sunday and Tilly did wonderfully. With help from Courtney she held her head back and let Father Kingsbury pour the water on her head. We celebrated over at the Dunn's house with the Herrmanns as well. It was so fun to see everyone and we had a great time in the baby pool! Gio and Marie Bruno got back late that night but in time to celebrate with us and share all the gossip from the wedding. Monday we spent the day downtown with Gio and Marie. We ate at Chick and Ruth's Deli where I had gone as a kid to see Teddy do his magic tricks, and Tilly got to experience the same thing! We walked the sea walk and went into some shops then headed home for a nap before Gio and Marie had to leave.

Thursday through Saturday Richard was in Kansas City for the American Academy of Family Physicians national conference for students and residents. He proposed resolutions to end the AAFP-Coca Cola alliance and to establish a single payer task force. Both lost, but they were very close votes!

July 19-25th

Tilly and I spent Monday and Tuesday packing for our trip to Florida to see my sisters family. We got there Wednesday and went out to eat on the beach at Jimmy Buffets restaurant Margaritaville. Tilly was immediately loving the attention from favorite cousin Cece and the two of them were besties the rest of the trip. We did a lot of prep work for Mitch's 3rd birthday the next day and then had so much fun celebrating on Saturday. It was fun to wake up and have Cece say that Tilly asked to wear her matching dress today. It was also fun to see them play non stop with each other. After the party we did baby #3 prep and got all the clothes ready for boy, girl, neutral- it is not fun not know the sex of the baby! 

Richard met Uwe Reinhardt, a famous healthcare economist from Princeton, on Monday. He met with Congressman John Conyers on Wednesday to talk about strengthening the single payer coalition. Then on Friday he went with Margaret Flowers up to Albany, NY for the National Peace Conference for the weekend. He helped Dr Flowers put on a "health is a human right" workshop at the conference, and had a great time talking with people about how to heal our healthcare system.

July 12-18th

This week saw very hot temperatures, which meant more pool time to cool off in! Thursday Tilly and I headed into DC to meet Vic Snyder and everyone Richard has been working with for the last four weeks. We also got to take a mini tour of the capital and even rode on the underground subway that takes you between buildings. It was so much fun to see everything. We also went on a few downtown Annapolis visits to feed the ducks and eat some ice cream. 

This was Richard's last week of the Capitol Hill internship. He made the most of it, meeting with other congressional staffers, talking with Congressmen, and attending healthcare briefings. He said on Wednesday he organized a meeting with Vic Snyder and a group of other medical students who are interning with the American Medical Association. Thursday he headed to Baltimore for the one year anniversary of Doctors for America. His last day he missed the bus and was late for our dinner at the Dunn's house. We are proud of the work he was doing but are happier now that he will be closer to home for his PNHP internship.

July 5-11th

Richard got to enjoy a holiday on Monday and we stayed home and enjoyed a nice day together, swimming and having fun. On Thursday he commuted from DC to Annapolis for a Single Payer meeting on West St, but hopped on an earlier express bus with the same number but that didn't stop on West St! We had to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to go pick him up on Kent Island and bring him to the meeting late. He felt so bad, but he said it was a good meeting and he still was able to take minutes. Over the next week he was very excited to meet with health policy legislative assistants for Congressmen Conyers and Kucinich, and Senator Wyden to talk about single payer possibilities on the state level.

On Friday, I drove into DC and met him and his fellow interns for dinner at an excellent Ethiopian restaurant called Ethiopic near Union Station. Sunday morning we went to brunch with Richard's friend's aunt and uncle at Carrol's Creek. Sunday was also the final for the World Cup, but instead of watching we drove into DC to meet up with our friends the Quigleys and meet their son. We had a lovely time swimming at their neighborhood pool and T really had a great time spraying everyone with her water gun!

June 28th-July 4th

For his second week on this internship Richard did some health policy research and gave some tours of the capitol. He also met some friends for some lunch at Good Stuff eatery in DC one day. Tilly and I enjoyed the lovely weather, swam everyday, and went to the park on the cool mornings.Wednesday night Richard, Tilly and I went downtown to eat and feed the ducks. We had fun people watching and enjoyed some ice cream! Saturday we went to quite waters park for the free concert and listened to a navy band and danced around with tons of other kids. For the 4th we went downtown to see the parade, then walked over to hear another navy band play. A little bit before the fireworks started we took the water taxi over to carrols creek where we had some food and watched the fireworks from our seats inside. We went out to hear the finally and see all the cool shapes. It was such a lovely evening. 

June 21-27th

Richard started his internship with the AR representative in DC on Monday. Though out the week he meet several people he knew from AR and learned a lot of about health care legislation at various briefings and hearings. Tilly and I kept our swimming routine and went to the park a few times to walk Maverick, my moms newfoundland. We also visited the local library to check out the story time they have there. Tons of babies were there and we had a great time dancing and singing. Friday night Richard and I had date night at our favorite restaurant.We enjoyed the weekend together in the lovely weather.

June 14-20th

On Monday Tilly and I took a plane to Maryland. We had a stop in Kansas city but didn't get off the plane, Tilly walked the aisle and right into the cock pit where the pilot let her come in and check out all the lights and controls. We settled in to my moms house very nicely and started going swimming daily, meeting up with friends, and going to our favorite restaurant. 
Richard spent the week cleaning out the Portland house and studying for his final. After his final on Friday morning, he played one last show with his band at the funky church. The next day he hopped on a plane with Bruno and joined us in Maryland! The 20th was fathers day and we spent it enjoying a lovely dinner and boat ride with the Dunns. 

June 7-13th

Not to much this week, Richard studied a lot and had a few meetings. Tilly and I said bye to our friends and took some last tram rides. I went to the ORFN farewell party for those residents who are moving out of state. For the most part we packed up the house and when Saturday came we got a zipcar truck and voodoo donuts and had our friends come help us move the stuff to our new home.

May 31st- June 6th

Richard got back on Monday from Chicago from Mitch and Liz's wedding. He had his last PCM exam on Wednesday. That night he helped me with Ronald McDonald House dinner I organized for the ORFN. We had a great time talking with the families. Saturday we had a bbq with lots of babies and it was so much fun!! The rest of the week was spent packing for the move and saying our farewells to friends for the summer.

May 24-30th

After school on Monday Richard dropped Tilly and I off at sushi land while he went to band practice. We took the tram up so we could have one last ride before it closed for the week. Richard spent a lot of time with Tilly this week and it has been tons of fun. Tilly got a little sick on Wednesday and has had a cough ever since so we have been laying low, and sleeping a lot. Friday Richard left for our friends wedding in Chicago and will get back on Monday. Tilly and I went to the farmers market on Saturday and even though she was still feeling a little sick she walked around the market with her carrot, until we got to dave's killer bread where she had to have a 2nd sample. The weather has been so rainy again this week, but when there is a sun break we are out side right away. Tilly walks straight to Krisanna's house and if the the next door neighbors dog is out we stop to say hi. 

May 17th-23rd

This was the first week of the OHSU farmers market, and Tilly and I went after coming back from playgroup. It was very rainy but we enjoyed the music and people. We didn't have Jordan and Topher over this week, so we enjoyed the rainy Wednesday playing inside. Thursday night we all went to the student awards banquet, where Richard's VACUUM project won runner up. Richard went to the Follies Friday night which  is like a roast of the first years so there were lots of laughs. Saturday we all went to the children's museum to meet Richards grade school friend and his family. The girls had tons of fun and we bumped into so many friends. Sunday Richard went to a potluck while Tilly and I stayed in and rested. The weather has been mostly rainy so we have been keeping busy with indoor fun, and trying to pack for our summer move.