Summer-spring

I guess you could say that spring has finally arrived in Baltimore; except, we jumped right to summer.  These last few days have been over 80 degrees!

Happy Mother's Day to all!  We are so grateful for my mom and for James' mom - they are both so fantastic and have taught/continue to teach us so much.  Sad we weren't able to celebrate with them!

I have had a pretty good week with work - ER work isn't too bad (especially since they send the traumas up to Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland).  We've definitely had some sad cases, but most of the people who come to the ER where I work are for simple things. I'm not going to lie, it is kind of fun to do procedures like popping back in dislocated shoulders - the patients have immediate relief!  I'm less excited about lancing abscesses/boils/hematomas and cleaning out wounds.  As good as this month is, I am definitely going to be ready for radiology and will be so glad for the change in work tasks it will bring!

James is winding up in his semester - this is finals week coming up!  Send him prayers and good vibes if you can!  School keeps him very busy but he's a smart cookie and works really hard.  

We got in an official date night this past Friday, which is fun.  I think we're turning into homebodies - we like just cooking dinner together and relaxing.  It is fun to dress up and go do a fun activity, though!  On Friday, we went to a Hopkins event with live music, food, etc., in downtown Baltimore to celebrate those who do clinical work/research in cancer (which James' project from last summer was on).  After that, we went and browsed books in the huge Barnes and Noble in the harbor, then had some gelato/granita dessert at Vaccaro's in Little Italy.

Also this week, I did some planting in between shifts and got many of my seedlings outside!  Here is a photo of our front porch's summer look.

I found these large pots at Costco and planted a mix of herbs, veggies, and flowers.  On the left, we have a cucumber plant that is doing quite well.  There are also calendula, zinnia, and lupine growing so far, with some other seeds I planted this week.  The popsicle stick shows where my bell pepper plant is going, but it isn't big enough to go outside yet.

Then, here is one of my tomato plants.  So proud that it has grown from its teeny start as a seed in a half-eggshell in my windowsill! The crazy thing in front of it is nasturtium.  It is one of the weirdest plants I have seen but hopefully will have pretty flowers eventually.

Costco also had these "just add water" lilies that I couldn't resist.  So far, so good!  I am impatient for the flowers to appear, though.

Our house came with azalea bushes in the front and back.  Love them!  I just wish the flowers last longer!

I found a cute little patio set for a good price at Ikea.  James and I eat as many meals as possible on our little deck.  We love it!

What's up this week? Well, today marks 51 weeks of marriage so next Sunday is OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  So we'll celebrate that, finish James' exams, and it should be fun!