MHA Awards Banquet

Graduation is in one week and this weekend the School of Public Health held their Annual MHA Awards Banquet.  They put on a nice dinner for the students and those graduating are given some awards.  I attended as a first-year student last April, and was excited to attend as a graduating student.  I also got to take Cory with me, which I always enjoy because she is so much a part of my success at school and work.  I have been the President of the MHA Student Association for the past year, so I had a small hand in planning parts of the night, like the student superlative awards, and the Teacher of the Year award.  It was a nice night to celebrate all of the students' hard work.  

I was one of the students given honor cords and inducted into Upsilon Phi Delta, the honor society for students in healthcare administration, for having the highest GPAs of the graduating class.

I was also presented the MHA Program Service Award by my academic adviser, Dr. Carlton.  The faculty voted me "the student who most significantly contributed to the personal growth of students and enrichment of the MHA program."  Cory and I were told afterward that a cash scholarship accompanied the award.  We had no idea, but immediately thought of all the prayers, planning, and budgeting we have been doing to make sure we could make it to August when my job starts.  We felt very blessed.

I also received my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification.  My partner, Sherina, and I worked for the past semester to improve the process for administration of medication for stroke patients in the emergency department.  We saw some great results and presented our initiatives and outcomes to become certified.  

As far as the student superlatives go, I got "Most Likely to Succeed."  I mostly enjoyed hearing all of the funny ones given out to my cohort.  After spending almost every day with these people for 21 months, there were some pretty funny inside jokes. 

I already posted this picture of Cory and me, but I think she looks so great in it I wanted to post again.  I could never have been so successful in the MHA program without Cory supporting me.

Goodbye, Methodist

With the semester winding down and graduation looming, my last day at work came.  I was only a graduate assistant, or an administrative intern, whichever you prefer, but I still felt like part of the Methodist Le Bonheur family.  I learned so much in my year working here and met a lot of great people.  I will mostly miss my fellow GAs in our office on the 6th floor of Thomas wing.  It was cozy, but it was fun.

I am graduating and the other three GAs are first year students, but are interning for the summer elsewhere, so the office is going to be vacant.  I wonder who will be in there next.

We headed downstairs and turned our badges in to our boss, Marty.  I owe a lot to Marty.  He gave me the opportunity in the first place to work at Methodist and then facilitated projects and experiences that I know helped me land my fellowship in Dallas.  I will always have good things to say about Methodist and my time there.

Our badges have already been deactivated by the way, so anyone looking to pull some Tom Cruise foolery will not have much luck.

4 Years Down, Eternity to Go

We were married four years ago!  I am so happy where life with Cory has taken me.  I wonder what our newly married selves would have thought if they were told in four years they would be living in Memphis, but about to move to Texas, have the sweetest baby girl for a daughter with another baby on the way, be graduating from an MHA program, and be more in love than they were on their wedding day.

Cory and I went out to eat for our anniversary, but didn't take any pictures.  Instead, I am posting one of us at my MHA Awards Banquet.  Cory was so beautiful in her dress.  At dinner we talked about how four years is mostly crazy because that means next year will be our...let me work it out...carry the 1...almost got it...five year anniversary!

Happy four years!

Daddy-Daughter Date

Mom wasn't feeling too hot today, so Emmy and I went out for some one-on-one time.  It's Tuesday, so you know where we went.  The zoo! For free!  I take a picture of the silverback gorilla every trip, because he is my favorite animal.  

I like best when Emmy can actually see the animals and is interested in them.  That may sound like common sense, but it only happens at about 10% of the exhibits.  You know how zoos are, half of the animals are nestled up in a corner of their habitat that you can barely see, which means Emmy definitely cannot see.  She also is only really interested if they are moving and are within about 15 yards of her.  Today's big winners were the sea lions!  They were pretty active and swimming right in front of where Emmy was standing.  She curiously watched them go back and forth.  

I kept trying to take pictures for Cory to help her feel better at home, and what better way to heal her than to see a selfie?  Better yet, a selfie with the elephants.  Cory really likes the elephants.

After the zoo we got shared an ice cream at Sam's Club.  I loved my little date with Emmy.  Hopefully she will take me out again sometime soon!

Crystal Shrine Grotto

Cory is the "Queen of Finding Free Stuff to Do", and that is a really great thing for our Memphis bucket list.  Her most recent discovery is the Crystal Shrine Grotto, which is actually a National Landmark.  It seems extremely random, but it is in the center of a cemetery.  A sculptor created it in the 1930s.  It is a man made cavern that depicts different scenes from the life of Christ.

When Cory read me a description online, I thought, "Sure, why not?  Let's check it out."  I did not expect it to be as cool as it was.  During our visit, Cory heard for the first time that I really like cave tours.  I told her about going through the Mark Twain Caves in Missouri as a teenager and the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana.  Crystal Shrine Grotto was clearly man made, but it gave you the feeling of being in an underground cavern.   

The cemetery was actually very nice.  There were very few people around, so we let Emmy walk around some of the garden areas.

We ended the outing with some treats at the Whimsy Cookie Company, another local hot spot, or so we were told.  Great cookies, and they had a coloring station, so Emmy took advantage.

Jerry's Sno Cones

To celebrate my successful capstone, and to continue our Memphis bucket list, the three of us went to Jerry's Sno Cones.  It is a local favorite we have been hearing about since the summer we moved here.  Cory is a connoisseur of sno cones, so she was ready to taste what all the talk was about.  We showed up right behind a youth soccer team, so we had some waiting to do, but I'd say it was worth it.

I got some ice cream in mine.  I will admit, as someone who doesn't get too excited about a sno cone, these were pretty tasty.

There is no seating at Jerry's so we pulled out our camping chair and ate out of the trunk of our car.  Emmy helped me eat mine.  It was nice to sit and talk about our time in Memphis, and how much we are going to miss this place.  

MHA Capstone

This morning I had my MHA Capstone presentation.  It was the culmination of my two year experience in the program.  I wanted Cory to be there to see my presentation, so we got a babysitter for Emmy.  This semester, my team and I have been working on a proposal for our ECHO D initiative, a mobile diabetes clinic in Shelby County.  We put hours of work into it over the last four months and it all boiled down to this twenty minute presentation.  I was super proud of our team.  It felt good to know a topic so thoroughly, and answering the faculty questions at the end of the presentation was a breeze.  Insert motivational quote about preparation here!

In addition to the things I learned during our preparation, I also really honed my PowerPoint skills.  I made the slides for the UAB Case Competition, so I used that momentum to create a custom slide deck for our capstone project.  I played around on PowerPoint for a good amount of time trying things out.  Cory snapped a photo on the down low during my opening remarks.

After the presentations, the faculty deliberated and we all passed.  Technically, that should mean we get our degrees, but we still have two weeks left of class.  It is starting to feel a bit like the last week of high school, though.  The end is in sight!

#KobesLastGame

Listen, Cory laughed at me when I said I was going to post about this.  After her birthday weekend, she and Emmy headed up to Idaho to visit her mom, which left me for a few days to live the bachelor life.  By far the highlight of the time spent alone was watching the last Laker game of the season, which also happened to be the last game of Kobe Bryant's career.  

Growing up in Southern California, I loved USC football, the Anaheim Angels, and the Lakers.  The Kobe-Shaq era was just awesome for a 10 year old.  Anyway, the Lakers have been absolutely terrible the last couple of years, so I wasn't expecting much in this game.  They have the second worst record in the league and Kobe seemed like a shell of himself after twenty years of playing in the NBA.

I live tweeted the entire game, and fielded numerous text messages from my dad and other friends who know I am a Laker fan.  I texted someone before the game that I hoped he had a crazy game and shot it 40 times.  My twitter feed (@seangilmore24) has complete documentation of my emotions during the game, and I won't subject you to it here, but let's just say that Kobe's final performance was better than I could have ever imagined.  I said I wanted him to shoot 40 times as a joke.  He shot it 50 times.  He scored 60 points!  In the last minute of the game they took the lead over the Utah Jazz and Kobe hit the game winner!  You could not have written a better final performance.  

I was on an adrenaline high for a while after the game.  It will always be one of my favorite sports memories.

How Old Are We?

Happy birthday to the coolest mom around!  Cory turned 27 and we were celebrating all weekend.  When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she would like a family picnic at Shelby Farms and to go to a baseball game.  So that is what we did!  It was pretty great weather for our picnic.

Emmy is constantly on the move these days.  Sitting on the blanket enjoying the breeze was not her idea of a good time.  She wanted to walk around the park and explore.  I took her on a walk, and it wasn't long before Cory joined us and started filming.

We got a babysitter for Emmy and headed downtown to AutoZone Park, where the Memphis Redbirds play.  They are the AAA minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.  It not only was a fun night, but it also was another item off of our Memphis bucket list.  It was kind of crazy downtown because just down the street the Memphis Grizzlies were playing the Golden State Warriors and trying to stop their historic season.  The Grizz lost, but the Redbirds won! I guess we chose the right game.

We had some great seats.  Most of the seats in the stadium have a good view.  I had a great time, and thought about how easy Cory is to please.  Take her to a baseball game and get her a funnel cake and she is perfectly happy.  We always have a good time when we can go out alone for a date, but inevitably Cory will say, "I miss Emmy."  It is endearing, most of the time.  Happy birthday again to Cory Sue!

Su Casa es Mi Casa

My MHA program coordinated another volunteer opportunity that I decided to take Cory and Emmy to.  We were helping out at Su Casa Ministries, a faith-based organization that works with Hispanic families to teach children and adults English, as well as provide a day-care service.  They are a relatively small operation, so we provided some manpower to clean their facilities.  Emmy had a great time helping clean up their playroom

We had a handful of students come out to help.  We mopped floors, vacuumed, and cleaned carpets.   

We all went out for some lunch afterwards.  I am glad we could help out, and I think it will be increasingly important to provide experiences like this for Emmy.  Volunteering as a family can be a really great way to strengthen our relationships.

Easter 2016

Happy Easter, everybody!  Each holiday that passes gets more and more exciting because Emmy is more aware and can participate.  Easter was great this year with our little bunny at home.

We've never had Emmy do the whole picture with Santa Claus thing because we always thought she was too small.  As Easter was approaching, Cory found out that the Bass Pro pyramid was going to be doing free pictures with the Easter Bunny.  We figured, since it was free, we would check it out. 

There was a good sized crowd in line when we got there, but we waited patiently.  Emmy was in a happy, bubbly mood and occasionally giggled at the other kids getting their picture taken.  We slowly made our way to the front of the line.  When it was our turn, we set Emmy down to walk over to E.B. (my abbreviation for the Easter Bunny).  She immediately froze and stared at him.  We called her over a few time.  No response.  Cory then picked her up and set her down in E.B.'s lap.  The exact moment that Cory's hands left Emmy's body, to paraphrase Moses, "a cry went out throughout all the land of Egypt (Bass Pro Pyramid), such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more." In other words, Emmy was wailing like a banshee.  The sound of absolute terror rang through the air.  Click. Flash.  Photo taken.  "Aww" emanating from the crowd.  I am laughing.  Cory runs to Emmy and lifts her up.  I kid you not, the second that she was out of EB's lap and into Cory's arms, Emmy went silent, and looked around as if nothing had just happened.  We had evidence, though. 

As much as I don't want Emmy to be sad, I also was kind of glad that we now had an immortalized classic memory.  Also, she was totally fine so quickly.  Later, Cory and I dug up some old photos of us as toddlers taking staged photos.  It explained so much.

On Sunday, we celebrated Easter by going to church in the morning.  Every Sunday it is important to attend church and remember the promises we have made, but you can't help but feel something extra on Easter Sunday.  The Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, gives us reason to hope, and has made it possible for us to overcome our weaknesses and be together as a family for eternity.  That knowledge is not only a passive blessing in our lives, but motivates our actions and refines our behavior.  I am so grateful for my little family. 

Once we got home, we had our Easter egg hunt!  It was Emmy's first time, and she did so well!  In the morning before church, she had already started to notice some of them.  It was fun to help point her in the right direction.

Of course, Emmy is just the stinkin' cutest thing on the planet.  Cory did such a great job putting her little outfit together, as usual.  Her dress and pink bow got so many compliments.  Happy Easter 2016 from the Gilmores!

Peabody Ducks

Our Memphis bucket list continues!  Cory and I took Emmy downtown to the Peabody hotel to see the Peabody ducks.  The hotel is home to a group of ducks that ride the elevator down to the lobby every morning, walk the red carpet that leads to the fountain, and swim in the fountain for the day.  At night, they head back out to the elevator and up to their beds until the next morning. 

Emmy had a great time watching them paddle around.  We could barely tear her away.  One more item off our Memphis to-do list.  Before we know it, we will be leaving the city we have grown so attached to.  After the Peabody, we headed over to the BassPro pyramid to get Emmy's picture with the Easter Bunny.  More on that traumatic experience in the next post...

Big News!

Life is such a whirlwind right now.  Cory and I found out that she is pregnant with our second child!  We are a bit in shock, but are so excited to add to our family, and for Emmy to be a big sister.  We thought something was up when Cory had to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night for a week straight.  After I got back from Chicago, we went to a walk-in ultrasound clinic and got our first glimpse of our still very tiny baby.  Baby is measures at about 6 and a half weeks, which puts our due date at November 6th!

That means Emmy and Baby will be just a few weeks past two years apart.  When we told Emmy the news, she immediately started researching how to be a great big sister.  Not really, but we thought this was a really funny picture and it seemed like a great place to use it.  Emmy is fascinated by the laptop.

Baby Gilmore 2.0 coming in November!

Chicago Conference

Cory and I were in Dallas last weekend for my Spring Break looking for apartments, and this week I continue my travelling tour in the Windy City.  I attended the ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago with about 10 other students in my program.  It not only was a great opportunity to network and learn about the industry of my future career, but it was also my first time to Chicago, which means I went full tourist on everybody.  We flew in on St. Patrick's Day, and during the week the river stayed green from when they dyed it.

I went to the Bean 3 or 4 times during my 5 days in the city.  I pretty much spent from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the conference, going to sessions, attending panels, etc.  I also was a program assistant, which is basically like an usher for certain sessions.  I signed up to work as a program assistant because my registration was reimbursed that way.  It was a great way to meet other students from around the country.  After 4 PM, though, I pretty much could explore the city.

I mean, it is pretty trippy when you walk underneath.

On the first night of the conference, there was an LDS reception.  The current ACHE Chairman, Ed Lamb, is LDS, so he invited all LDS attendees to his suite for a reception.  It was really cool to meet so many other members of the Church that also work in healthcare.  I met a lot of really successful people there.  Another night I actually got the chance to head out with Landon and Dr. Carlton (my academic adviser) and we went and did some work at the Chicago Temple.  It was a great way to gain some perspective during the whirlwind of the conference.

Before I left, Cory was telling me all about some deep dish pizza places I could try.  I have never had deep dish Chicago style, so I knew I had to try some.  Right next to the Hyatt Regency, where the conference was being held, was a Giordano's, so Parker, Landon, and I headed over between sessions for some lunch.  It was glorious.  I absolutely loved it.

On the last day of the trip, I attended my last session in the morning, and then spent my last day in the city.  We met up with a group of girls from the UAB MHA program.  I met a few of them at the case competition last month.  One was from Chicago, so she showed us some cool places.  She took us to the Hancock building, which has amazing views from the top deck.  

Yes, these are real photos from my phone!

We stopped by the bean for my third and final time, before heading off to the airport.

Here I am with Landon, Deepen, and David.  We were the last to fly out from the Memphis program.  I was glad to get back home to Cory.  Many times during my trip I though about how fun it would be to have her with me.  I had fun with the guys, but I have waaaaay more fun with Cory.  It was another realization of why I married her.  Exploring and experiencing new things with her is better than alone or with others.  Maybe if I come consistently to the conference every year, Cory could come with me and it could be an annual retreat for us.  That would be fun.

Spring Break in Dallas

After such a busy February, March is going to be a breeze.  I have a week off of school and work for Spring Break.  Cory and I decided that we would drive the 7 hours down to Dallas and scout out some places to live.  Buzz flew in from Idaho to watch Emmy so Cory and I could maximize our time.  Emmy is a fun travel buddy, but she is kind of high maintenance.  Leaving her with Grandma would mean she wouldn't have to be in the car driving around for three days straight.  In other words, she would be much happier.

Some friends in our ward, Landon and Kelsey Welch, know all about Dallas.  Kelsey is from Dallas, and her parents still live there.  They graciously opened their home to us so we could save some money not booking a hotel.  Her dad, Britt Berrett, is a very successful healthcare administrator, as well, so it was interesting to pick his brain a little bit and hear his opinion of UT Southwestern.

Cory has been so on top of researching our options for housing in Dallas.  It feels like we had looked at everything online before driving down.  Do we want to live close to my work?  Do we want to live near shopping?  Do we want to live in a suburb?  Where are the nearest parks for Emmy?  Where is there a library that does story time?  Where can we afford?  Does the place look disgusting?  All these questions and more were weighed.

Once we actually got to Dallas, we only had a handful of contenders to actually go and visit.  Some we marked off the list as soon as we pulled up, some we marked off after a tour, and a couple we thought would work perfectly well.  We didn't actually have a lot of time to "have fun", but I thought it was fun to feel like Cory and I were working as a team to plan our next move.  

We decided that we wanted to be close to my work so that I could spend more time at home, and not have to commute two hours a day.  Cory found a place a while ago online that we wanted to check out.  When we got there it was raining, and the managers said they couldn't give tours while it was raining.  So we waited in the car until the rain stopped and went back in.  We ended up really liking it, and decided that we would try to live there.  They won't know if they have something available until 60 days before our move-in date, so we will have to wait until May to find out if there is a vacancy.  If there is, we are moving in.

Our potential apartment is only about 10 minutes from my job, Bachman Lake Park is just down the road.  It has a children's play area and a library with story time. 

Also, only about 10 minutes away the other direction is the Argentina Bakery!  We kind of stumbled across it on accident, but I'm sure glad we did!  We got some facturas and empanandas for the road.  It was the closest I have had in the States to the real thing.  I am about 99% sure that the place is run by algunos de mis Argentinos queridos.  We absolutely will be frequenting the establishment when we move to Dallas later this year.

The Dallas trip was definitely successful.  I will say, though, that I lost count of the number of times that Cory said, "I miss Emmy" over the course of three days.  In her defense, it was the first time that she had been separated from Emmy overnight, so I will chalk it up to adorable mother-daughter bond.  When we got home, we opened the door and Emmy caught a glimpse of Cory.  She literally stood there stunned for about five seconds.  It was almost like it was the first time she realized that we were gone.  Once the initial shock was over, a big smile spread across her face and it was hugs and kisses all around.  Thanks again to Grandma Buzz for staying with Emmy!

UAB Case Competition

The last three weeks I have been spending a lot of extra hours preparing for the UAB Case Competition.  I was appointed team captain by the faculty to represent the University of Memphis, along with Parker Harris and Alicia Pacheco, in Birmingham.  

The UAB Health Administration Case Competition is designed to provide graduate students an opportunity to put what they have learned into practice with a real-life, real-time case.  Our team analyzed potential population health strategies for a large, integrated health system. We were given three weeks to analyze the case and develop solutions. We presented our solutions to judges made up of healthcare executives throughout the nation.

Basically all of February was spent by us meeting for hours up on campus to put together our solutions, financial forecasts, and projected health outcomes into a crisp 20 minute presentation.  Words don't really do that stressful process much justice.  We showed up in Birmingham very proud of all the work we had done, but when you put so much time in, you also want to win.

There was a nice dinner the night before the competition, and we drew numbers for our time slots. I actually knew quite a few people there.  A guy who served in Argentina with me was there on the Penn State team.  Overall, there were about twenty or so LDS guys all from different schools.  Thirty-eight schools had teams there, and only 12 would advance past the first round and into the semi-final.  Memphis has never had a team advance.

We presented the next morning in a small room to just two judges and really felt like we had done a great job.  We had practiced so many times, and worked through the nerves.  I thought it was our best run-through.  Dr. Powell (our faculty coach) was also in the room with some of our first-year students who joined the team as observers.  

In the afternoon they announced the semi-finalists, and we were one of those 12 teams!  We were over the moon!  Dr. Powell and Dr. Gentry (Division Director) almost couldn't contain themselves.  This is arguably the most prestigious case competition among MHA programs, and advancing brought a lot of prestige to our program, which will help us move up in the MHA rankings.  It felt good to be a part of the first team ever to advance from the University of Memphis.

We presented again in the afternoon to a panel of three judges and about 40 students in the semi-final.  Any students on a team that did not advance were allowed to watch the semi-final presentations.  We did another great job, and I could not be more proud of Parker and Alicia.  We didn't advance, but the eventual 1st place team was in our group.  

The actual competition for the two days in Birmingham was fun, but the process in the three weeks leading up to that was more what I will remember.  After you spend so much time with two people, it is inevitable that you become better friends.  Parker, Alicia, and I have so many inside jokes now, and we all learned more about what we brought to the table in a team project.  I thought we worked extremely well together.

I got a trophy!  Emmy was super proud of me.  I was only gone for three days, but I really missed my girls.

Our Little Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day from the Gilmores!  This little girl has our hearts and has taught us a lot about love.  She wore her heart sweater to church today, with her pink tights.

Diva.