Leaving Maryland, San Antonio Radiology Rotation
Our Maryland Home
We lived in our townhouse in Montgomery Village from July 1998 to August 2001 while Chris completed his first three years of Medical School at USUHS in Bethesda. Our first time seeing the townhouse was the day we moved in. Our rent was $925 a month for the first two years and $1,000 a month for the third year. We loved having more rooms, our own driveway, lots of parking, and lots of storage but mostly we liked the location. It was close to a grassy area with pathways and trees that we used many times for playing baseball, taking walks, sun tanning, Easter Egg hunts and finding bugs and sticks. We were also within walking distance to several playgrounds, Safeway (which was a weekly family walk), and Lakeforest Mall (which was our main shopping location).
The living room was small, a disappointment since we love to host parties, but we liked having it open with the kitchen area. The kitchen was decorated in navy blue and red with apples throughout. We liked the carpeted eating area, the two way cupboards, the iron hooks for pots and pans and having a dishwasher!
We loved our bedroom. We collected all of our bedroom furniture while we were in our house, getting a new piece of the same furniture line every Christmas with the money from Chris’ parents. Outside our bedroom window was a huge tree, which was covered with blossoms in the spring and beautiful leaves in the fall. Connected to our bedroom was the ‘sitting room’, which we used for our computer room/toy room. The bathroom and the small walk in closet were off the sitting room. There were also sliding glass doors from the sitting room to a small balcony where I planted flowers every spring. By the stairs, we had a closet with our washer and dryer. It was the perfect location.
Upstairs on the second floor, we had another bathroom and 2 bedrooms. The small one was the baby’s room. Ryan was only a month old when we moved in. The larger bedroom was our guest room and scrapbook/craft room. It was wonderful to have an extra room for odds and ends. When Katie was born the scrapbook/craft room turned into the ‘big boy’ room.
My favorite room of the house became Katie’s closet after she was born and Ryan took over the ‘big boy’ room. I cleaned out the closet and set it up with all my scrapbooking needs close at hand. I even installed a little light and added a few of my favorite Mary Englebreit pictures and a Debbie Mumm calendar. It was my little hide-a-way. My own little corner of the house. I loved it because I could scrapbook without having to pull it out or put it all away every time. If I wasn’t done or didn’t want to clean up the mess, I would just fold up the chair and close the closet door. I spent lots of late nights working on scrapbooking pages after the kids went to bed.
Katie at 13 Months
San Antonio Radiology Rotation
Our first 4th year Medical School rotation was in San Antonio Texas for Radiology. One of the most important things about 4th year is to visit the Residency programs you are interested in to get to know the decision makers at those programs and be interviewed by them. Chris’ top two choices are 1. Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington and 2. Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas. Chris had a great month and feels good about his chances of being selected here. Jared is also hoping to do Radiology and this is a combined program with the Air Force so the Chuggs were with us in San Antonio doing the same rotation. It was fun to spend so much time with them.
Email from Lisa to our families - August 12, 2001
Hello from San Antonio, Texas! Last Saturday morning we finished cleaning up, packed our intrepid and headed out of Maryland. We had put most of our stuff into a storage unit for the year earlier in the month. We were sad to be leaving Maryland but also excited to finally be on our way. We got into San Antonio on Sunday afternoon, after 23 hours of driving broken up into 2 days. We are staying on the Air Force base in a really nice little TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility). It has a living room with TV/VCR, bedroom, bathroom, vanity and full kitchen. It also has a crib and high chair. We feel very blessed to be here. Our good friends, the Chuggs, are right next door and that has been so much fun.
Chris is doing his Radiology rotation here and enjoying it. He is finding out that he really does love Radiology. He is his own master here and doesn’t really have any schedule or time commitment. He usually works from 7:30 to about 1:00 and then goes to play 18 holes of golf. Chris’ dream life. The golf on base is so cheap. $5 for 18 holes ($11 if you want a golf cart). Chris has been one happy golfer this week.
The kids and I have been playing too! Doug and Missy just moved to San Antonio for Radiology Residency … and she just had her second little boy. Geneva and i had fun visiting her, seeing her big brand new house an going swimming with them. Ryan and his little buddies have had so much fun playing together.
We are about 10 minutes away from Sea World and so have purchased season passes. We went twice this week, once to go to a couple of shows, and yesterday to go to the waterslides and wave pool. It is HOT HOT HOT!!!. Ryan loved the little waterslide and the wave pool. He and Katie wore little life jackets and were so cute in the water. Katie is fearless.
We have had a great time. Yep, our life is one big vacation! Well, this year it is. Hearing stories of Doug’s internship year definitely tells us that things will change next year. Yikes!
Love Chris Lisa Ryan and Katie
Minor League Baseball Game
We enjoyed a Family Home Evening with the Chuggs at the minor league San Antoniot Missions game. The weather was perfect, our outfield seats were great and the kids loved it. What a fun night!
Seaworld Adventure Park
We got Seasons Passes to Sea World while we were in San Antonio. We had so much fun! The shows were great. We loved VIVA … the acrobatic and white dolphin show, the water ski and sports competitions, and the killer whale show.
We spent lots of time on the rollercoasters and kiddie rides. The best roller coaster was the Steel Eel, which we rode over and over because the lines were so short. The water rides were wonderful because it was so hot. Ryan and Katie both liked the steep slopes of the Texas Splashdown. We got soaked from riding the Rio Loco, which goes right through a huge waterfall.
Sea World Waterpark
We spent a whole day at the Waterpark with the Chuggs. It was nice to be in the water since it was a hot hot day! We watched the kids play in the kiddie pool while we took turns going down the waterslides. We spent the rest of the day in the wave pool, eating our lunch in the shade, and going on the kiddie slides. Ryan and Katie both got lifejackets and loved the slides. We all had a ball.
The Alamo and San Antonio Riverwalk
We had a great time visiting the Alamo and exploring the downtown San Antonio Riverwalk. Jared and Chris golfed on base a couple times, and they were also able to golf at The Quarry, a really nice local course. We had such a great month hanging out with the Chuggs all month.
