Happy Thursday! You may have noticed, but I haven’t been as consistent with blogging since around April. Life has been a whirlwind lately since finding out where Jake matched for residency. He finished his medical school classes/rotations about 2 weeks after Match Day. I decided it was important to take advantage of his limited freedom before residency started. He will not be able to have this much time off again until retirement. I am excited to be back to blogging and realized so much has gone on so I wanted to update y’all. Some of this may just be a review and some of it I realized I probably haven’t shared yet.
About The Outfit
Before I dive into life lately, I wanted to share a little about this fun jumpsuit I wore recently to explore The Redmont Hotel Rooftop bar, “The Roof.” I love the vibrant orange color and the pattern. I typically don’t go for orange, but paired it with some turquoise earrings to prevent the color from washing me out. I ordered a size small and it runs true to size. The I know it will be on repeat all summer and even into the early fall.
Life Lately in Birmingham:
Jake Matched
As you may have seen in this post in March, I shared that Jake matched into Anesthesiology residency at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. We are both so thrilled about his match results! There was so much anticipation leading up to Match Day. I know many of y’all were anxious to know too based on the many sweet messages I received before finding out. My Match blog post was the most viewed blog post I’ve ever had. This is where the whirlwind all began. I have only moved twice before, and they were very minor moves; first from Dallas/Fort Worth to Stillwater, Oklahoma for college at Oklahoma State University, and then on to Oklahoma City when Jake started medical school. Jake, on the other hand, was born and raised in Oklahoma and had lived there his whole life, so moving out of state was new for him. We both don’t have any family or any connections in Birmingham, so it’s like starting over new. Jake fell in love with the program and knew he would be getting some of the best anesthesia training in the world. After he visited Birmingham for his interview, we decided it was a good idea for me to visit too. It was a mutual decision for him to rank it #1. There were many prayers that led to his rank list decision and a lot of prayers to end up where he was meant to be.
Leaving My Oklahoma City Job
After more than 3 and a half years at the same job, I knew I would have to leave it soon based on Jake’s match results. As I mentioned earlier, Jake finished classes 2 weeks after Match Day. I put my notice in early, so we could move and enjoy some once-in-a-lifetime time together. It was a lot harder emotionally to do that I expected, but of course I knew it had to happen eventually. I am really thankful for that job opportunity and can’t wait for a new opportunity in Alabama.
Buying A Home
You may have seen in this post that we bought a home in Birmingham. Buying a house several states away is definitely a process. We made sure to take a trip to Birmingham a couple weeks after he matched. Like many areas in the country right now, Birmingham has an extremely competitive housing market, so we had to move fast. We spent about half a week in Birmingham and found a house that was the perfect compromise between what we both wanted. I cannot wait to start sharing new content about this home as it all comes together.
Travels
Jake and I feel so blessed because we got to travel a lot this year. After Match Day, we spent several months this spring traveling together.
Our recent travels include:
- Visiting Birmingham to buy a home (post here)
- Las Vegas-twice, once to celebrate both of my parents’ birthdays, and then again for a wedding (posts here and here)
- New York City (post here , here and here)
- Pittsburgh– to celebrate Jake’s sisters 21 birthday (no blog post, but Instagram post here and here).
- The Kentucky Derby (blog post here)
- Napa Valley (First blog post here and full guide to Napa to come soon)
- San Francisco (blog post to come soon)
Jake Graduated Medical School
Exploring Oklahoma City
In between trips and after our traveling spree was over, we spent a lot of time fully exploring OKC and visiting our favorite restaurants/places one last time. I’ve mentioned it in several other posts, but we called our time exploring OKC, “The Tour de OKC”. We came up with a list of places for our OKC bucket list. If you’ve never been to Oklahoma City, it is a really cool place that I think is worth visiting. It truly surprised me after growing up in Dallas. OKC is such a special place to us and we are thankful for our time there. I met so many wonderful bloggers, neighbors, coworkers and friends that I will forever be grateful for. It will always be a second home! I plan to do a blog post sharing our Tour de OKC soon too.
Moving To Birmingham
As I mentioned in my last post, we officially moved on June 2nd. We braved the 11 hour drive and each took a vehicle. I was lucky enough to have my mom drive with me, so we could take turns. My dad took Jake’s car and Jake rented a huge SUV to bring our personal belongings and, most importantly, the cat. When we got to Birmingham, our first home renovation project was panting the kitchen. I am so blessed that my dad was able to do this for us. We have several other little projects that I plan to do.
Moving has been a little bit of a headache. Our TV/internet installation kept getting delayed due to AT&T having a shortage in parts/technicians. We finally have both as of Saturday! Also our moving truck has been extremely slow (hopefully it will come this week). But we know it’ll all work out and we will laugh about it one day.
Exploring Birmingham
Having a couple of weeks together in our new city before Jake started residency was very important to us. We are still nowhere near settled, but Birmingham truly does feel like home. We have tried many local restaurants, bars, breweries and local attractions lately and have checked out all that this fabulous city has to offer. It seems like there is live music everywhere and that the people are so friendly here. It truly has that famous Southern charm.
Jake Started Residency
Jake started his Anesthesiology residency June 18th. It was a long road with medical school and still is a very long road with residency just starting, but I’m so proud to see him achieve his dream of becoming a physician. I got so spoiled this last year by getting to spend tons of time with him, so it’s going take time for me to adjust to his intern year. Intern year is supposed to be the hardest, but we made it through 4 years of medical school and will make it through his 4 year residency (and probably a 1 year fellowship). We will be stronger because of it!
What’s Next?
Now that Jake is started with residency, I am keeping myself busy by searching for a job, making new friends and getting our house set up. I am also planning to get back to my weekly blogging schedule (Monday and Thursday posts). I have so much travel content to share and content from exploring our new city. I am also excited to announce I plan to expand my blog topics to add a little more lifestyle like home decor and sharing our adventures in Bham.
If you made it to the end, thank you so much for reading. I know that was a lot. I am really thankful for this experience. I know God has a plan for us in Birmingham and I plan to bloom where we were planted.
Shop My Outfit
Loved this little update Courtney!! So glad ya’ll have had time to explore and be together!
Katherine | http://www.oneswainkycouple.com
Author
Thank you so much, Katherine! It has been a fun adventure. Yes, me too! Y’all should visit Birmingham sometime its so fun.
Happy Anniversary 💐🍾🥂and Happy Birthday 🎂 Jake! Have fun celebrating!🎉 You look pretty in your orange jumpsuit. I love it with the tourquoise earrings! Fingers crossed that the movers come by Sunday or Monday!
Author
Aww thank you so much. Yes hopefully.
Can’t wait to see and hear more about your move! I hope you both love Birmingham 🙂
Taylor | http://www.livingtaylored.com
Author
Aww thanks, sweet friend! It’s been a fun adventure so far.
Great post Courtney! Also, Happy Anniversary to you both!!! (Also Happy Birthday to Jake!) I am so happy that everything is going so well in Birmingham. Now if that darn moving truck would just show up….
Author
Aww thank you, Cheryl! I will hopefully do an anniversary post next week. I am still not organized and the anniversary/b-day snuck up on me. Yes, hopefully soon! Cannot wait to see y’all tomorrow 🙂
Wow! You have a lot going on and seem to be taking it all in stride! Enjoy your adventures in Birmingham. I love moving to new places!
Author
Yes it’s been an exciting time lately. Thank you so much:) yes it’s always a fun adventure to move.
Congratulations on Jake’s match residency, that’s amazing! It sounds like you’ve had a really busy time lately, I hope you really love Birmingham! Also, your outfit is so summery and pretty! 🙂
Author
Thank you so much, Helen. I’m very proud of him. Yes it’s been a very exciting time. Thank you again.
Sounds like a wonderful new adventure. I love your outfit. You look gorgeous!!! 🙂
Author
Yes, it really is 🙂 Aww thank you sooo much.
Your jumpsuit is so pretty! I love printed patterns like that
Author
Thank you so much, Christina.
This outfit was made for you and that rooftop look amazing! I already miss you so much but glad you are settling in!! How exciting that you get to do such a big adventure together. Russ & I can’t wait to see what is in store for the two of you.
XO –
Court
Author
Aww thank you so much, sweet friend! I miss you so badly. <3 I hope all is good in OKC. Yes, its been a fun adventure so far :) I am glad we can keep up with each other still through our blogs.
I’ve been following your posts…but wow! Looking at it all together really puts things in perspective. You two have been crazy busy lately! So, glad everything is going well for you, Courtney! And I just love your jumpsuit.
Author
Aww thanks, girl! I am so excited for you on your exciting new time too <3
Wow! Congratulations on all that you and your spouse has accomplished thus far… Seems like a lot of dreams are coming through! I can’t even imagine making all of those life changes, but it sounds like you two were made for it. All the best wishes!!!
Author
Thank you so much! It has been a big time of many changes and exciting things lately. It is finally all settling down and feeling normal again though.
Hi Courtney, I think we all knew you would be busy with the move to Birmingham and while we missed you we totally knew you had to step away . ( did I just make myself spokesperson for all your followers!) The jumpsuit look great on you, I love the orange with the floral print , it looks so cosy to wear!. I was thrilled for both of you on this exciting move and it will be an experience for Jake in a new state. I know you liked working with your clients in Oklahoma and you will get a good job in your new city! Its great you had a bit of compromise on the new house, you can soon make it a home. Its so nice of your parents to help you move! I am sure you feel blessed. It sounds a fun city to dine out in and experiencing the local charm. I am so happy you are making new friends , I know you will bloom where you were planted, your personality dictates that you will! Take care Dear, hugs, Terri xo.
Author
Thank you so much for your kind words, Terri! I loved this jumpsuit. I don’t usually go for orange, but loved the print and loved wearing it. It was so comfortable and not too hot surprisingly. We really are liking it so far. It has finally started to feel like home and we are getting used to it. We also finally got our furniture on Sunday 🙂
Yay for furniture , so happy for you, take care, Terri xo.
Author
Thank you so much Terri.
Hi Courtney, here is a Girl called Rach going through a move and is also a texas Girl !! https://littlebitofliving.com/2018/06/26/were-moving-to-georgia/comment-page-1/#comment-44
Author
Thanks, Terri. I am checking her out now 🙂