Family Pictures

One of our friends here took these pictures for us at the Medical School...absolutely love them! Thank you Joy! :)

Check out our online album: http://www.joyfulportrait.com/Mann.html

Easter Egg Hunt and Last Day of School

Today was a bittersweet day for Addie and us...it was her final day at her preschool before our move. (We had to pull her out a bit early due to my traveling with work.) It also happened to be the Easter Egg Hunt! We were so excited and what made it even more special was that Daddy got to come! Yay!

Ready for the hunt...and she's off!"

Looking everywhere! This year she did a great job of looking for the eggs...she even found some I didn't see!

Daddy and his girl.

Our sweet family.

Love my girl!

Some of the girls in Addie's class decided to share their eggs...it was so sweet! Pretty girl!

Going to see the Easter bunny...last year she wouldn't even stand in front of him!

Our attempt at a class picture. Washing up before the party...Gigi would be proud! :)

That cupcake really did look good, however, I decided NOT to sneak a bite..you can probably guess why. We have thoroughly enjoyed every moment that Addie has attended LDBC preschool. They have always shown us so much love, and Addie has really grown and matured there. The Lord knew what we needed in a preschool when He sent us to Macon, and we will miss our friends there terribly.

April Showers...Bring Tornadoes!

Tuesday morning around 1:30 am, Justin and I awoke to the sound of rushing wind and debris hitting our bedroom windows. We jumped up, grabbed Addie, woke up Allison (who was staying with us for my Spring Break), and ran to the bathroom. I remember just sitting in the tub, holding my blanket-wrapped little girl, and just praying for our safety. I had never been through anything that sounded this bad! When the storm died down, Justin looked out the front windows and saw nothing but tree branches in between the flashes of lightening. Around 3:30, Justin ventured outside and met up with some of our neighbors that had gathered in the street. They too had noticed the damage and were trying to figure out what had happened. Upon closer inspection, we had so many oaks down around us that we, and our neighbors, were blocked in all sides. He started clearing our driveway with axe and chain saw, and by 6 am, the city had come with bulldozers to clear our road. As daylight hit, the destruction was amazing, not necessarily at our house, but with our neighbors. In fact, one of our neighbor's houses had been blown off its foundation and was held up only by the SUV under the carport! The Lord truly spared our house and we only had five to six oak trees down in the yard. They were blow down in the most perfect spot, and could have easily crushed our house while we slept. The only burden we had to bare besides getting our yard cleared up, was having to do without power for over 40 hours...a pain, but not nearly what it could have been without God's protection!

The "After" picture!

Several of our neighbors and men from our church came out on Friday and Saturday, and helped us clear the land! We put a sign for free firewood, and would you believe, we got rid of ALL that wood in 2 days?!! I am just amazed!

On a side note: after this week, I think I deserve another Spring Break! :)

It's Official

It's official! Our house went on the market today. Due to the rough housing economy here, we have decided to rent the house out instead of selling it. However, if you know someone in our area looking for a house...let us know...we'd be willing to rent or sale! ;)
It is kind of sad..the house has never looked better, but isn't that just how it goes. A house never looks so good until you are about to leave it!

Last Day of Medical School

Today was Justin's official last day of Medical School! To commemorate this special day, I got him this candy bouquet with Mounds and PayDays - 2 of his favorites. The card said, "You've done Mounds of work, now you're ready for a PayDay!" I just love my sweetheart, and I am extremely proud of all that he has done in school. (We both know that we could not be here without the Lord's grace, mercy, and strength.) These past four years have been quite an adventure, but I'm ready for what this next leg of physician training holds for us!

Match Day 2011

Today was a momentous occasion for our family; it was Match Day! For those that might be unfamiliar with what Match Day is, it is the day when Medical School graduates get their assignments for residency. During the fall, Justin traveled over 13,000 miles and went on 15 interviews at different anesthesiology residency programs across the country. Well, today we found out that we will be moving to....

A shot of the "gang" . (Thanks Grandpa for taking this picture!) All of our families were able to drive and be with us on this special day!

Justin and Addie went forward to get our envelope. This envelope held the news of our new hometown....which is.....

Just thought I'd make you wait like we had too!

We are moving to Baltimore (Johns Hopkins- Sinai Hospital) for Justin's 1st year and then on to Birmingham (University of Alabama at Birmingham) to finish out the last 3 years of residency! These were our top picks!

We have a LOT to do over the next few months, but we know that the Lord has directed this move for us and are ready and excited to follow through. More to come!

Getting That Moving Feeling

As many of you know, we are finishing up medical school and are preparing to move for Justin's residency. We've already started packing up the non-essentials, and apparently Addie has gotten into the spirit of packing! On Saturday, I was in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast and noticed that Addie was diligently and quietly playing in her room. I went to go check on her and noticed this..her "train" with all of her toys. She said she was moving to Hobby Lobby..haha.. and didn't want to leave any of her stuff. She's going to be a great helper with this move!

She did a very thorough job of packing up!