Texas Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to make the trip down to Austin to spend it with Cory's Dad's side of the family.  We have never really spent a holiday with them, and we are within a day's drive of Austin.  From Memphis it was about a 10 hour drive.  We were concerned Emmy wouldn't be up for that, so we left home at about 10 pm and drove through the night so she could sleep.  She slept a good bit of the drive, but was awake for the last 3 hours or so.  The last hour and a half were brutal.  Cory could not console her no matter what we tried.  It was so sad, but we were so close, and exhausted.  Cory barely slept, and I drove the whole way.  When we finally made it, it was nice to have other people who could entertain Emmy while we recovered.

I didn't grow up with brothers, so it is always nice to visit Austin and have Logan want to play basketball with me, or play Mario Party with Davis and Noah.  Even on my zero hours of sleep I was ready to hoop it up.  Emmy watched Daddy and Uncle Buckets play for a while.  I should have worn shorts...

The morning we got there Davis got some important mail.  He received his official acceptance to the University of Texas--Dallas.  If he decided to go there, we can have him over for some family dinners!  

Later in the afternoon, after a quick nap and shower, we all had a fun time playing at the park across the street.  Grandpa pushed Emmy in the swings and played on the jungle gym with her.  She isn't quite comfortable going down slides face-forward legs-first by herself, yet, but she will go down backwards feet first on her belly.  

While Grandpa and Mimi K kept Emmy entertained, the rest of us got in touch with our inner-child.  Cory, Davis, and Logan all rode some horses while I dig some deep digging in the sand.  It was a blast.

 

You may remember that last year, on Emmy's first Thanksgiving, we ran/walked a 5k with her and she won an award for being the youngest racer.  It just so happened that Cory's family participates in the Shady Hollow Turkey Trot every year on Thanksgiving, so we could keep the very new tradition of a Thanksgiving 5k alive!  We woke up on Turkey Day and put on our running shoes.  Cory and I ran/walked while pushing Emmy in the stroller.  Here are the Schiess/Gilmore family racers, post-finish.

We spent the rest of the day watching parts of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog Show.  I love watching the dog show.  Then we sat around the dinner table and each expressed what we were grateful for before chowing down on Thanksgiving dinner.  It was definitely a successful holiday.

Of course, the next day was Black Friday, and Cory and I thought about making some purchases.  We have never braved the crowds, but had looked into buying a television for our bedroom.  We thought we would go to Sam's Club or Best Buy to snag one.  Well, Cory decided to check one last time online for the prices and discovered that for the T.V. we wanted, we didn't have to go into the store.  We could get the discounted price and free shipping ordering it online.  Deal.  That's what we did.  

Later, to get out of the house, we thought we would go to Buy Buy Baby and browse around.  Little did we know, they were also having a Black Friday sale, and there were no crowds.  We remembered how terrible the car ride was with Emmy, and quickly decided that we should capitalize and get a forward facing car-seat.  Behold, Emmy's new car throne.  It is huge and cushy.

When we actually got it home, Emmy was more interested in playing in the box.  She made it her own little clubhouse.

With our trip coming to an end, Cory and I decided that we would try to go on a date while we had the free baby-sitting.  We got Emmy in her jammies and handed her over to her uncles' care while we were out.  

We decided to head over to Gourdough's, which is a place in Austin that uses donuts in all of their dishes.  I didn't need much convincing when Cory brought it up.  They had donut burgers, donut sandwiches, etc.  We decided to just go with some classic dessert donuts, but what came out were large, gourmet masterpieces.  It was awesome.  The perfect way to cap off our trip to Austin.

We loaded up the next morning and headed back to Memphis.  We drove through Dallas and scoped out our future hometown a bit, but mostly we were just trying to get back to Tennessee ASAP.  Emmy loved her car seat, but not 10 hours worth.

Muddy's Cupcakes

After all of the travelling for my interviews, and my girls being in Utah for a week, it was nice for all of us to be home a relax for a couple of weeks.  With the recent news that we were going to be moving to Dallas, it set in that meant we were leaving Memphis.  We decided to start a Memphis Bucket List and try and hit some local favorites every once in a while.  Tonight was Muddy's Bake Shop, said to have amazing cupcakes.

Emmy approved.  She usually does approve of anything sweet.

Girl's Week in Provo

While Daddy was gone for the week interviewing with hospitals, Mommy and I went to visit Aunt Anna and Uncle Jake in Provo.  I had a great time.  Mommy pushed me around BYU in the stroller , and I got to see where Mommy and Daddy met and went to college.  We got to eat lunch in the Cougareat!

It was so fun to see Aunt Anna and hear Mommy talking with her about my new cousin on the way.  My face says it all: I am ecstatic!

We also went to watch Uncle Jake's intramural game, but it was so cold outside!  We finished off the day with some Brick Oven pizza.  I tried to smile for the camera, but got a little distracted when someone said we were getting free root beer!

I loved Utah, but missed Daddy!

Administrative Fellowship Interviews

We primarily use this blog to post about family life and updates at home.  I think it would get kind of boring if I was posting about school or work all the time, but every once in a while it spills over into family life.  I started my second year of the MHA program, ending my summer internship with Methodist and starting a graduate assistantship with them.  All that means is I am doing the same thing with them, just part time while I go to school.  Part of the second year experience is stressing out over getting a job after graduation.  

The more I have learned during my program, the more I have realized that an Administrative Fellowship is probably what I should try to do, and what would be best for my career.  An Administrative Fellowship is a post-graduate experience meant to give the fellow greater exposure to the complete continuum of healthcare administration.  It is kind of like a practical capstone to the degree.  I wanted to apply to some because I thought I could get more experience and greater exposure to different aspects of the industry.  I also thought it was the way to go because people have described it as a springboard for an early careerist.  Organizations bring on fellows not only to teach them, but to groom the future leaders of their organization.  During your time as a fellow, you shadow and work with the top executives of the organization, so naturally when opportunities in the future come along, it is beneficial that they already know who you are.  Taking an entry-level job at an organization isn't a bad thing, but I suspect it would take a lot longer to advance your career, because very few senior executives know you.  I was excited to look into the possibilities, but was also cautioned by numerous people that fellowships are extremely competitive, and there are a limited number of them for the 1000+ MHA graduates every year.

Long story short:  I applied to fellowships around the country.  I sat down with Cory and we looked at locations of different fellowships.  We then whittled it down to places we could actually see ourselves living, and I looked into the opportunities.  Mostly, we knew we didn't really want to go further East, away from family, but if the opportunity was there, we would consider it.  I applied to 11 fellowships across every time zone.  It felt like applying to schools all over again.  I wrote personal statements, cover letters, updated my resume, got letters of recommendation from Marty Keith (my boss at Methodist), Dr. Carlton (my academic advisor), and Dr. Gentry (the Division Director of the School of Public Health).  I sent off all my packets and waited to hear.  It was an exciting and anxiety-inducing wait.  Right off the bat, the first place I applied to in Fort Collins, Colorado emailed me and said thanks but no thanks.  Super great feeling to start off the process.  My mind was flooded with thoughts about it being too competitive for me to even get an interview.  I then had to remind myself that I couldn't be a fellow at every organization, and would need to be patient.

Fast forward two months from sending in my applications and of the 11 organizations, 5 had asked for a phone interview.  Each rejection to my application was a blow to my ego, but I had to just forget it and keep moving forward.  I had phone interviews with Salem Health in Salem, Oregon, Multicare in Tacoma, Washington, UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas ,Texas, IU Health in Indianapolis, IN, and Methodist Le Bonheur in Memphis, Tennessee.  I work for Methodist currently, so I was thinking I would at least get a phone interview.  Salem emailed me pretty quickly afterward saying they were going with other people.  It was my first phone interview for a fellowship and I knew I didn't perform as well as I could have.  They ended on a curve-ball questions that I just floundered through.  It was a good learning experience.

 The other four phone interviews went really well!  I advanced to the next round with all of them.  UT Southwestern then had me do a Skype interview, which also went well, and then they had me do a two hour leadership assessment test online to send in for them to analyze.  It was kind of intense, but I kept making it through to the next round so my confidence was building.  The four remaining organizations all contacted me to fly me out for on-site interviews.  Cory and I were very excited, but bummed that my first interview would be over Halloween.  The day before the holiday I got on a plane to Tacoma, Washington, for a two day interview with Multicare!

It was my first trip to the Seattle area.  Tacoma was overcast, but I guess that is to be expected.  My hotel room had a view of downtown and the water.  Once I got there I found out they were going to hire two fellows and five of us were at the interview.  They told us over 80 applied, and we were their top five.  It felt good, but I also thought how if you were their #3 greatest candidate you still got nothing.  They talked to us a lot about "fit", and how at this point they knew we had the credentials and whatnot, but just were looking for the greatest "fit", which more and more became some ethereal, abstract unknown that flowed all around us, like the Force.  

That evening they took us to dinner at the Lobster Shop down on the water.  I hate seafood, and was worried that they would already sense that the Fit was not strong in me, but I got the salmon and everything worked out.  The dinner was with about 12 of their past fellows, dating back the past 6-8 years.  It was a really good sign to me that the fellows were all still working with Multicare after the fellowship and had great positions.  After dinner they took us back to the hotel.

The next day was a marathon of interviews.  They started at 7:30 in the morning and every thirty minutes I rotated to someone new.  That lasted until about 4:30.  It was crazy, but I enjoyed it.  The more I met people and learned about the organization, the more I was excited about possibly working there.  After the interviews I had some time to kill before my flight home, so I drove around town with the current fellow and another candidate.  The weather was a lot nicer and we went down by the water, which was beautiful.  I thought about the possible reality of moving my family to the Pacific Northwest.  It was definitely closer to family and more familiar to our Western roots.

After just a day at home, I was on another flight to Dallas, Texas for my next interview.  It was my first time flying on Southwest and I did not know about the whole seating arrangement thing.  The gate agents saw me coming a mile away, looking confused as I gazed at my boarding pass.

Dallas was a very different experience from Tacoma.  It started out similarly.  I headed to the hotel from the airport and hung out dinner.  I then was picked up by George from UT Southwestern.  In the lobby of the hotel I met another candidate for the fellowship.  It was from George we learned that there was one position being offered and we were the two candidates.  No one else was bring brought in.  It may not seem like it, but it felt like a very different dynamic.  The odds were definitely better, but competing head to head felt more confrontational, like I needed to constantly be measuring myself against the other guy.  He was extremely nice though, it wasn't uncomfortable talking with him.

We went to Avanti Ristorante, a fancy Italian place. UTSW started their current fellowship program just a year ago, so there wasn't a large group of alumni to eat dinner with.  It was just us, the current fellow, two directors, and the Vice President who acts as preceptor to the program.  The VP spent most of the dinner asking us questions.  It was clearly part of the interview process.  

The next morning was very relaxed compared to Tacoma.  They didn't pick us up until 11:00 AM, so the morning was completely free.  Then we got a tour of their brand new hospital, and it looked massive on the outside.  Everything is bigger in Texas, right?

After the tour, I had just one panel interview with four people.  It lasted about 45 minutes.  I felt very at ease.  Then it was over.  Nine hours of interviews in Tacoma, 45 minutes in Dallas.  It was after the interview that this whole process started to become a whirlwind.  I was sitting in a room with the other candidate, chatting about the day and our MHA programs, when the preceptor VP came into the room and explained to us that we both did very well in the interviews and they wanted to expand the program and bring on two fellows this year.  In other words, we both were going to be offered the position!  I was a little bit in shock.  I had only come out of the panel about 25 minutes before.  HR reps came in and explained the details of the offer to me, and said they needed an answer by the end of the week.

I was so excited to call Cory and tell her the news.  What started out as me thinking I was just going to apply to places to see what happened, assuming I was not going to be offered a very competitive fellowship slot, was now a concrete offer.  It was exhilarating and a relief.  I got on the plane home and offered some prayers of gratitude.  Cory and Emmy were actually out of town in Utah when I got home, but that was fine because the next morning I was supposed to be on another plane to Indianapolis for an interview.

At this point, I was trying to figure out what the appropriate course of action was.  I emailed Tacoma and explained that I had received another offer, and would need to decide by the end of the week.  If that was too soon for them to make a decision, I understood, but I would wait to hear back from them.  Then I had to decide how to handle the Indiana interview.  It was too late to cancel the interview. I was supposed to be on a plane in about 8 hours.  I thought, "Maybe something similar to the Dallas interview will happen, and they will give their decision right after the interview."  There was no dinner scheduled when I got there so I walked around Indianapolis for a while and saw some cool things, like where the Colts play and where the Pacers play.

I also saw Monument Circle.  The weather was uncharacteristically warm.  In my hotel room that night I got an email back from Tacoma saying they were going with other candidates.  I weirdly felt sad about it, even though I had another offer and I really liked Dallas.  Then about 10 minutes later I got another email from one of the people I interviewed with in Tacoma explaining that they heard I didn't get the fellowship, but they thought I was an excellent candidate and wanted to fly me back out to interview for a position in their department.  It was flattering, but I wanted the fellowship experience.  The next morning I ran the gauntlet of interviews, similar to Tacoma.  Nine hours of a new person every 30 minutes.  I loved the people and the organization, but knew that I probably wasn't going to work there.  

I got home from all the travelling and waited until the end of the week.  I didn't hear from Indiana, so I accepted the Dallas position and contacted Indiana to inform them of my decision.  I also had to tell Methodist about my plans.  Their interview wasn't for another two weeks, so they were really out of the game.  

All of that was just to let you know:  We are moving to Dallas, Texas next summer!  We are super excited.  Dallas was at the top of my list when I started the process and I can't believe things worked out the way they did!

Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween!!!

This Halloween was a little different than we expected.  I was out of town for an interview so we didn't get to spend it together (more on that in the next post).  We had a whole family costume planned out with me as Peter Pan, Cory as Wendy, and Emmy as Tinkerbell.  Maybe next year!  Instead, Emmy donned her birthday Frida Kahlo costume and Cory was a ballerina.  They were still the cutest!  Cory took Emmy to the Trunk or Treat at Church, and they had a great time!

Cory made festive cupcakes for the party.

From the sounds of it, Emmy had a pretty good time trick or treating and playing some of the fun games they had for the kids.  She even won some prizes!

After the party, Emmy continued to celebrate under Mommy and Daddy's bathroom sink.

I wish I could have been there, but I'm glad that they had a good time.  We always know that Emmy has had enough when she sleeps through a changing.  It feels good as a parent when your child sleeps soundly.  

Pumpkin Patch

Halloween is next week and we realized that we never got a pumpkin!  We heard from some friends about a local pumpkin patch so we decided to check it out.  It was fun to take Emmy to pick out a pumpkin.  She also loved riding in the cart with the one we picked out.

They had a plenty to choose from, and had a few games and even some rides for the kids.  We didn't ride anything, but the atmosphere was fun.

Emmy was just tickled the entire time.  She was so excited at one point that her shoes flew off.  

It was fun to get into the Halloween spirit.  We got home and carved the pumpkin to put on our porch.  We named him Frankie.

 Feels like Fall in Memphis!

Memphis vs. Ole Miss

The day after Emmy's birthday, there just so happened to be a Memphis football game, and that game just so happened to be the biggest of the season against Ole Miss, and my dad just so happened to still be in town, so we went!  Memphis went into the game undefeated, and Ole Miss only had one loss, having been ranked #3 in the nation just a couple weeks earlier.  It was a huge game.  

Ole Miss is only about an hour from Memphis so the stadium was actually about half and half in terms of fans.  Ole Miss fans were already talking trash before the game ever started.  We were offered some alcohol from and Ole Miss kid and declined, which earned us a loud, "YEAH I'D BE SCARED TOO IF WE WERE PLAYING THE REBELS!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!! HOTTY TODDY!!!  Dad and I learned for the first time that "hotty toddy" is not only a phrase Ole Miss fans say to each other in passing, but is also a war cry that they scream as loud as they can at any time for no apparent reason.  There is even a song that goes with it, which they sang at least 50 times over the course of the game.  We are generally nice people, but they made us absolutely hate Ole Miss by the end of the game.

It only got worse when the game started and Memphis went down 14-0 in the first quarter.  Dad and I made a pact that if we were down by three touchdowns or more by halftime we would go home.  WELL HOTTY TODDY IN YOUR FACE BECAUSE MEMPHIS NOT ONLY RALLIED, WE KICKED YOUR HOTTY TODDY BUTTS!  Memphis went on a 37-10 run for the rest of the game, and slowly but surely, the "Hotty Toddy" chants got quieter and less frequent.  It was a satisfying silence.

With the win, Memphis kept their undefeated season alive and got a lot of national attention for beating a ranked program from the SEC.  Some of the fans even rushed the field afterward.

It was a fun game to be at, and was a perfect choice for our first experience in the Liberty Bowl!

First Birthdays Are The Best!

Happy 1st Birthday, Emmy!  

Emmy survived one whole year with us as her parents, which is admirable, if not amazing.  Our lives are so completely different with her in our lives that it is funny to remember what it was like before parenthood.  Cory and I spent some of the free time during the day reminiscing and looking through pictures of the day Emmy was born and our stay in the hospital.  She was so little and has grown so much!  There wasn't much free time, though, because Cory was orchestrating an all-day full-blown birthday extravaganza.  I should have known.  Cory has a talent for creating memorable experiences for the family.  We started off with birthday brunch at Perkins.  Grandma Buzz, Big Daddy Mike, and Gigi Page were all in town to celebrate with us and joined us for brunch.  While Emmy was down for her nap, we decorated for the party.  We went for the Fiesta theme!

We had Emmy in a puebla dress and flower headband for the festivities.  With nap time over it was time to start the party.  It was just a small family party.  We figured our apartment wasn't the space for a big bash.  Cory made Emmy her birthday cake, and we eagerly awaited the traditional let-the-baby-tear-into-the-cake moment.

You can watch the video below and it will be like you were at the party!  Emmy did not tear into the cake.  She barely touched it, which Buzz accurately predicted.  

Before she didn't really eat her cake, she blew out her candles!  Watch below!

After cake, it was time to open presents.  Cory bought tiny sombreros for all of us to wear, which was funny.  We appreciate all the gifts for Emmy!

We had Mariachi music playing in the background as Emmy opened her presents.  She would sometimes dance along to the music by shimmying her shoulders and clapping.  She also got a rocking horse from Gigi and Big Daddy.  It plays its own music and Emmy immediately started dancing to the little song coming from her pony.  She isn't very good at balancing on the horse, yet, but she will get the hang of it.

Here is another video of Emmy opening some of her presents.

Most people would call it quits after that, but the party kept rocking!  To end the night, we took Emmy to the Memphis Zoo for Zoo Boo!  It was the first weekend of the Zoo Boo, where they transform the zoo for Halloween.  Most of the animals were not out for exhibit, but they had games and candy stations to go trick or treating.  For Emmy's costume we just threw on a scarf and gave her a uni-brow to tranform her into Frida Kahlo.  People didn't seem to know who she was, except for every Hispanic woman we passed.  Without fail, they all made a comment about how cute little Frida was.

We also went on a spooky hayride, which was not that spooky.  There were just ghoulish decorations along the route, so no one was jumping out from hiding places, which usually is what is most scary to me.  Big Daddy and Gigi were there to protect us and as you can see, even when taking a picture Emmy was keeping a look out just to make sure there were no surprises.

Later in the night, Emmy rode the train with Grandma Paula around the little farm and petting zoo.  We saw some cows, horses, and sheep who hadn't gone to sleep, yet.

After the zoo, we went out for some Mexican food at our favorite place, El Mezcal!  Emmy thought it was time for bed, though, because she fell asleep and slept through all of dinner.  I guess she was so exhausted from all the partying!  Cory did a great job making Emmy's first birthday the best of her entire life.  

We feel so blessed to have Emmy in our family.  Happy Birthday Emmy Rae!!! You are smart, strong, curious, adventurous, happy, silly, chubby, and the cutest one year old in our life. We love you baby girl. 

Cory put together this montage of moments from the past year as a tribute to our first year with our Emmy Rae!

Gilmores Take Nashville

Emmy's birthday is next week and we will be hosting family for the special day.  My parents actually came out a week early because Big Daddy Mike attended the MGMA Healthcare Conference in Nashville this year, so we tagged along and spent a few days in the Music City.  The conference was being held in the Gaylord Opryland hotel, which is where we stayed.  It was massive and felt almost like a miniature theme park.

One of the sections of the hotel was a huge shopping and eating area with restaurants and stores.  It also had a man-made river flowing through it and boat rides you could enjoy.  It had the feel of a little town, but it was all indoors.

We think Emmy loved taking it all in.  There was always something to look at or observe.  She also insisted that we let her try on some cowgirl hats.  She couldn't really find one she liked, but we thought she was cute in all of them.

Here I am standing on the balcony of our room.  Our window and balcony faced the inside of the hotel, which only was annoying when a guy walked down those stairs at 3:00 AM with music blaring on his phone.  Overall, though, it was fun staying at the hotel.

Right next to the hotel is the Grand Ole Opry and a mall.  When we weren't at the hotel, we went exploring over that way.  In the mall there was an aquarium restaurant we tried one night.  The food was good, but it was mostly interesting for Emmy to watch the fish swimming in the massive tank in the middle of the restaurant.

When my dad was done with his conference sessions, we went out to explore more of Nashville.  We jumped on one of those trolley tours that takes you around the city on a guided tour.  You can get off at any of the stops, but we just cruised through the whole thing so that we could see everything.  Here is the Tennessee State Capitol building:

At the end of the tour, Cory and I walked a couple of blocks to the Goo Goo Cluster store.  Goo Goo Clusters are delicious and Cory kind of became addicted to them on this trip.  Once she saw the store, it was all over.  We had to go inside.  We watched some clusters being made and bought a box for the road.  I also learned that Al Gore (from Tennessee), when he was vice president, would hand out Goo Goo clusters to kids at Halloween from the Vice President's mansion.

Speaking of elected officials.  The state of Tennessee was home to the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson.  Just outside of Nashville is The Hermitage, his home, which has been turned into a historical landmark and museum.  Andrew Jackson is also on the $20 bill.  We thought we would see what Emmy would look like as President.

Cory couldn't resist either.  She definitely has my vote.

The actual house and the grounds were very impressive, considering when it they were built.  We got some of the headphones for the self-guided audio tour, so we could pick and choose things we wanted to learn more about.  

Here is where General Jackson and his wife are buried out in the garden, along with Uncle Alfred, a slave who was freed but stayed at the Hermitage working for the family.  There was a whole section about him in the audio tour, but I had a difficult time believing that Uncle Alfred's life and experience at the Hermitage was as romantic as the tour made it out to be.

We had a great time in Nashville and have Big Daddy Mike and Gigi Page to thank for that!  They always made the effort when I was younger to take Lacey and me to fun places, and also to historical landmarks for educational experiences.  In fact, it became a joke in the family that Dad would take a 100 mile detour if he saw a historical marker sign on a road trip.  We are glad we could tag along in Nashville.