Heart Problems...

Growing up I never thought I would have heart problems. I didn't think I would need to know what an MI was or the progression of coronary artery disease. I didn't know that for the last five weeks of my life I would have some serious heart problems.

But today is a great day. Finally, after nights of endless research, physicals, and drug regimens, my heart problems have come to an end.

That's right, Christopher's cardiology block is over!
Click here for my reaction.

This block has been crazy! Let me preface this by saying that Chris's professors basically told everyone that if they weren't studying for ten hours a day (outside of class) they were not going to pass the exam. Thanks for the words of encouragement, professor.

Even though Chris was the one with the endless nights of studying, I tried to help out where I could. Finding articles, pretending to be a patient so he can work on his clinical skills, and looking up drug effects. But mostly I cooked, cleaned and took care of his two cute kids so he could really focus on this block.

Now we have a glorious two week break, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The weather is finally starting to warm up. We are now at a balmy 45 degrees instead of the bone-chilling 12 degrees we've been experiencing. We have a fun three day trip planned to DC and we are excited to have a few days of true relaxation. 

So let me be the first to wish a fond farewell to cardiology and all my heart problems! ;)

Czech This Out!

Most of you know that Chris and I both served a mission in the Czech Republic. That is where we first met and we still hold strong ties to the country, language, and especially the FOOD! But honestly, we have been a little nervous to try and replicate this delicious Czech fare partly because we don't have all of the ingredients readily available here in the States and partly because, let's be honest, can anything we cook up really be as great as a Czech babicka's cooking? (Shout out to Pani Turkova!)

But, after almost four years of marriage, we decided to finally tackle the famous Czech entree, Svickova (beef sirloin with cream sauce and bread dumplings) and the Czech dessert, Medovnik (honey cake). We found the blog of this really funny Czech lady who now lives in the States. She has mastered most of the famous Czech dishes using American ingredients. (Czech Cookbook) We decided to try her recipes. And, because we don't do anything half way, we decided to invite a bunch of friends over to experience this with us! We had six of Chris's medical school friends join us for dinner!

Getting ready for this night turned out to be a week-long process. Chris planned out what we needed to accomplish each day of the week in order for this dinner party to be a success. Some ingredients needed to be prepped a few days in advance, and the cake needed to refrigerate for at least a day in order for all the goodness to soak together. It was a busy but very fun week. I made bread dumplings for the first time, Chris tackled the honey cake, and we worked together to whip up the svickova.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the night and all our friends. I was just too busy enjoying the evening! The svickova was wonderful and tasted very close to the real thing. But, I have to say that the star of the night was Chris's medovnik! It was DELICIOUS!!! I probably could have eaten the entire cake all by myself!

We had a ton of fun and I'm sure we will do this again soon! Here are the few pictures I got of the event.

Chris working on the honey cake

I didn't get a picture of the finished cake, but it looked a lot like this.

Svickova - The finished product!