The travel bug

Living in the Mid-Atlantic region for the first time gives the Lee family a myriad of places to explore. From beaches to forests, historical sites to amusement parks, friends in the South and family in the North - Ly and Alan will certainly not be at a loss for things to do. And with Ly's love of lists you better believe one has already been made for places to explore while living in the DC area. Highlights include trips to visit friends/family in Pennsylvania and Georgia, The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the Outer Banks in North Carolina, Shenandoah, and of course the second happiest place on earth (Disney World). As always suggestions on other places to add to the list are more than welcome.

Anyway on to more exciting things. A few weekends ago Alan, in an effort to placate Ly's demanding need for Spring/Sunshine decided to get in the car to drive to track down the illusive season. After a few hours, the Lees found themselves entering Shenandoah park. Ly was beside herself with excitement - she couldn't wait to photograph flowers and see baby animals. Nature had other plans, however as evident by the following photographs:



Yup. Fog. Lots and lots of it.

Oh well, it was rather mysterious/romantic...and while there were no baby animals to be seen, Ly was fortunate enough to witness a deer who stuck his tongue out at her:


In case you were wondering, Ly promptly stuck her tongue back out at the deer.

Gettysburg

This past weekend the Lee family jumped in the car with a few of their closest friends for a road trip to Gettysburg. A more detailed post will follow. Eventually. We promise. =)

Life After the MCAT

After months of hard studying Alan finally finished the MCAT. He's happy to report that even with a mild freak-out over the physics section he feels confident about his performance. The best thing about finishing the MCAT is that Alan once again has free time. He is rediscovering what it feels like to not study every second of every day and is loving spending more time with Lyanna. Alan's projects at work are once again recieving much needed attention and he is determined to figure out exactly what those cancer stem cells really do and where they like to hide out.

Tomorrow is the big day

After months and months of studying/hard work Alan is finally taking the Mcat tomorrow. Crossing of any and all extremities would be greatly appreciated...and maybe even a prayer or two as well =)

A more detailed post about the recent (and maybe not so recent) events in the Lee family will follow -- eventually.

A Friday Afternoon Outing

Today marks one week since Ly's rather eventful left shoulder surgery...and it seems that things are finally starting to improve - a bit. Her pain has decreased (at least she has good meds) and Ly is able to sleep more than a few hours a night. Ly is very appreciative that her husband is so patient and understanding and that he stayed home the entire week with her -- he is going to be an awesome doctor one day.

Alan's work at the NIH announced that this week is restaurant week in Bethesda. Bethesda is well known for its dining out scene and has tons of restaurants that both Ly and Alan have wanted to try for awhile now. What better time then restaurant week during which all the restaurants offer special price fix menus for lunch/dinner.

In order to help Ly get rid of her blues of being stuck inside and celebrate her feeling better-ness, Alan and Ly decided to take advantage of restaurant week. So after perusing the list of dining destinations, Ly and Alan settled on McCormik and Schmick's. Ly got all dolled up (yay for clothes that are not pajamas for once!) and off they went. They had a tasty two course lunch special. Ly had lobster ravioli in a cream sauce with some asparagus and carrots on the side with a chocolate torte topped with raspberry sauce. Alan on the other hand, ordered swordfish with a lemon sauce and a cup of crab soup. Both enjoyed their meals thoroughly and highly recommend either dish to anyone.

Ly certainly enjoyed her afternoon out and about!

AWOL Part 2

Despite Ly's efforts to go AWOL the other day from her hospital extravaganzas, certain people (read: Alan) swooped in and ruined her plan. So off she went to the hospital where Ly and Alan spent a few days basting in the glory of overnight hospitalization. Rather than dwelling on the unpleasantness of the situation (lack of privacy, "gourmet" food, slight medical emergencies and lots and lots of needles) the Lees are proud to report the surgery was an apparent success.

Ly was finally discharged a few days ago and is now resting (un)comfortably at home and hoping she will be back on the tennis courts in no time.