Mini Vacay!

One of the reasons we ranked Mayo as Eric's #1 choice for residency was it's potential for us to take mini-vacations.  Mayo was one of the only programs where he would actually get several weekends off...and there are lots of really cool places to visit within a couple of hours.  So this weekend we decided we would get out of this crazy heat and take a mini-trip to Flagstaff! I am so excited.  If you didn't know, I went to school in Flagstaff for two years.  It is SO gorgeous there and I am really excited to go hiking in the crisp mountain air with my hubs!  Eric will be post-call tomorrow, so he is going to sleep in the car while I drive...hopefully he will be awake enough to actually enjoy the trip! Will post pics after the trip! 

The campus where I spent my first two years of college! It was so awesome seeing this beautiful view every day!

Beautiful! Can't wait to hike in the mountains!

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Love,

The Wises

Wish List

Dear family Secret Santa,

  You are welcome for giving you so much time and so many options on what to get me for Christmas this year.

Love, 

Megan

Alright.  I would have never guessed that this year I would be asking for a swim suit for Christmas like I did so often back in the competitive swimming days...but obviously I was wrong. I am done with my one-piece practice suit tan lines. They are getting way too bad.  Love this cute Speedo two piece practice suit! Perfect since I don't think the sun here is ever going to calm down...possible record setting 106 today!

Going along with the same subject, I think after wearing the same pair of mirrored goggles, the mirrored part is completely gone.  I was trying to do backstroke today at practice but had to stop because the sun was so bright my eyes teared up! So, time for some new mirrored goggles.

Happy shopping, Secret Santa!

:)

Fab finds!

This was such a crazy week...after we got home from our mini-vacation to Oklahoma, it was back to reality and back to work. Somehow my manager convinced me to work an extra day at work so I worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...then I show up at work on Thursday, which I thought was one of my scheduled days to work...and I wasn't on the schedule...I was supposed to work Friday instead which was a bummer because since Eric was post call on Friday, we were going to take a little mini-trip up to Flagstaff for the weekend to get out of this horrible Phoenix heat (it will be 106 this weekend). BUT, we did get to go bowling with all of the surgery residents and some of the other surgery staff last night which was really fun! Anyway, I am ready for a relaxing weekend with Eric.

So on the day I thought I was supposed to work and wasn't, I decided to do a little bit (or a lot) of Etsy browsing, and I found these!

How cute is this?!  I think this would be so fun to be able to hang up every year at Christmastime! If you  know me, you know I love all things rustic and I am just crazy about this sign!!! Eric and I don't have anything like this that has our names and wedding date on it, and I think having one for the best time of year ever would be so perfect!





How cute is the garland??  Perfect for a rustic Christmas tree...which I might just have to make up myself because I can find NO pictures that are rustic enough without looking like they just have a bunch of sticks poking out of them, or that don't have bird nests all over them...although I do love all of these from the one and only PB.

"Our First Chirstmas" personalized love birds Christmas tree ornament! I mean, you HAVE to have some kinf od tree ornament that recognizes your first Chistmas...but finding one that is non-cheesey is no easy task (as Aimee and I found last year when we searched all of Edmond and OKC for one for her and Garrett).  But Etsy has so many cute ones, of course! I am obsessed with this one.

As I was searching for rustic Chrristmas ideas, I came upon this amazing blog...I'm obsessed!

P.S.  To my family Secret Santa, don't forget, these would be fabulous birthday gifts as well...hehehe :)

Happy Christmas decoration brainstorming!

Love,

Mrs. Wise

Drawing names...

Last year, my family started drawing names for Christmas.  We were all given a certain amount of money to spend and we could buy one huge present or several smaller gifts.  Last year I drew my mom's name! It was perfect and I'm pretty sure she was glad I drew her name because I am obsessed with gift-buying. My brother drew my name and I was a bit surprised at how well he did! A couple of my gifts from him are my two favorite pair of Nike running shorts that I wear like every other day. On our trip home this past weekend, Eric drew names for us then let us know who we would be buying Christmas presents for this year...so fun! I'm pretty excited about the name I drew, but you won't know who it is until after Christmas! Yay! So, usually, we hang up a big piece of paper with all of our names at the top up at my parents' house.  Then we write down or print out and post pictures of the things we want for Christmas under our names for everyone to see.

Since I won't be there for that this year (I'm super sad about this), I decided to blog my wish list! Since I know my whole family reads this blog (even if they are the only ones who read it), I know whoever drew my name will see my list...hehehe.

So, one thing I really want is a new pair of tall brown boots, something like this.  These are from Nordstrom an are super cute, but super expensive.  So I will be searching for a cheaper version of these so my Secret Santa will not have to take out a loan to buy these for me :)

To the rest of my family...Please take pictures of the Christmas list as it grows so I know what to buy for my person...you don't want to risk not getting any Christmas presents, do you? :)

Thanks, and love you!

Love, 

Your daughter/sister.

Short and Sweet

I'm back after a crazy crazy week! Eric and I went home for our good friends' wedding, Josh and Kristina. Congrats to the new Dutys! It was too short of a trip (we weren't even in Oklahoma for 48 hours) and we were sad we didn't get to see everyone but it was great seeing the ones we did get to see.

We started the the trip off right with lunch at Cheesecake Factory with the fam!

Sista, sista!

Mom and Dad!

Cute brother and his sweet gf Jenna

I cannot force myself to find someone to do my hair here in Phoenix...so every trip home Carissa will be doing my hair! Love you girl!

Decided to go dark for fall...and loving it.

Sorry for my scary no-makeup face.

Precious, beautiful, sweet baby girl Aspen, Carissa's second baby!

I must admit, I got a little bit of baby fever when I was around her.

Tiffany came to the wedding! iloveyousomuch.

Just wait until I post our photo booth pics!

Aimee Benton iloveyousomuchtoo!!! I miss you already.

I'm so mad our photo booth pics messed up :(

Kristina was STUNNING!!!!

My handsome husband!

I love him a lot.

The Bentons and the Wisenbaughs!

I cannot wait until our (future) children are as good of friends as we are.

I'm pretty sure we have like 57459435304 pictures that look like this :)

Our husbands trying to get Aimee and me on the dance floor.

Don't worry... we caved when "Cupid's Shuffle" came on, haha.

Garrett and Eric are pretty used to this look by now.

We really do love them, I promise. :)

After party on the Quibids party bus...Thanks Matt!

Because party bus = gangster? I don't know.

Katie and Sara!

Family!

My sweet, snuggly, precious baby girl, Izzy.

I love her so much, and Mom informed me she kept looking for me after  we left. How sad/cute is that?!

Eric doesn't really share my feelings about her.

Just hanging at the airport looking rough.

Thank you Southwest Airlines for calling us to tell us our flight was delayed 2 hours AFTER we were dropped of at the airport.  

Sadly, the Oklahoma State Fair began the day we arrived in Oklahoma and we didn't have enough time to go :( 

Hopefully the Arizona State Fair will satisfy our fair cravings for this year! Can't wait to go in November!

Love,

The Wises

Not Your Ordinary "Date Night"

Here it is...Eric's home away from home...and the site of some unusual date nights:

Mayo Clinic Hospital.

So, every time Eric is on call, I bring him dinner (either Chick Fila or In 'n Out) and we eat it in the residents' room in the hospital.  Sometimes I get to spend an hour with him, other times it's more like a 'we-have-to-eat-this-as-fast-as-we-can-because-I-have-a-consult-waiting-in-the-ER' kind of date.  Last night I called him when I arrived with dinner like I always do, ready for him to meet me in the lobby of the hospital like he always does...but he had a very sick patient so I had to wait.  After about 30 minutes of waiting in the lobby looking at old issues of 'People' Magazine, Eric comes down to the lobby and says the patient isn't doing well and there is no way he will have time to eat with me :(...so, we visit for 2 seconds then I go home, and he goes to take care of his patient.  I think this would have made a lot of spouses angry if it happened to them...angry that they waited only to not even be able to spend any time with their husband/wife.  But it didn't make me upset, and I think  owe that to being in the medical field too...in the ICU...and working nights before.  I have experienced patients crashing with no warning (and it's usually at night), and I know the urgency of situations like that because I have been involved in so many of them. I know Eric wishes he could have had dinner with me instead.  I still love this little tradition we have started and I know it will be fun to look back on. I am just so thankful I am in the medical field too; I think it would be so much harder understanding Eric's job if I weren't.

Now off to enjoy a few post-call minutes with my husband before he gets some much needed rest!

Love,

Mrs. Wise

SUCCESS!!!

So, I decided to attempt re-creating the fall wreath I saw instead of  buying the Pier 1 version {see previous post}...and...it was a success!!! I am really excited about this.  It was so easy and only took me about 1.5 hour to make.  I will definitely be making more wreaths in the future, and if you want to save money on seasonal/holiday decorations, this is the way to go.  Enjoy!

This large wreath was only $3.50 at Hobby Lobby.

Other tools you will need:
1. glue gun (already owned)...but you can get them for about $5 at Hobby Lobby
2. wreath hanger: $2.20 at Hobby Lobby
3. pliers to cut the floral stems (Eric already had some in his tool box but I really liked these pink ones from Hobby Lobby) 

Fall m&ms. I had to.

So, at Hobby Lobby they didn't have the exact berries from the wreath I was trying to replicate.  So I just bought some that I liked.  They had SO many options and all floral stems were half off this week. I spend about $10 total on all of these (do not, I repeat DO NOT buy anything at Hobby Lobby if it isn't half off that week...I promise it will be half off either the next week or the week after that. Be patient)!

Cut up all of the floral stems into pieces of various lengths.

Light a fall candle. :)

Sidenote: Creamy Pumpkin candle from B&BW is TO DIE FOR.  I had the Autumn candle burning and it is absolutely amazing too...but B&BW sold out of Creamy Pumpkin in this size yesterday. The other sizes weren't on sale and I refuse to buy almost anything full price there.  I will be checking back frequently so I can burn this heavenly scent in my house...new favorite fore sure.

Another sidenote: I was going to post pictures of the progress of the wreath along the way...but I really had no method of placing the berries on the wreath and it looked really bad until I was completely done. So, just put a little dab of hot glue on the end of the stem...then randomly place them in the wreath and hold for a few seconds so the glue can stick.

Finished product!!!

Sorry for the bad lighting...these pictures just don't do it justice... it is a lot more colorful than it looks. 

This was my inspiration! I can't wait to look for more inspiration and add my own tough to some more wreath projects in the future.

So, since I will only have to buy the wreath, wreath hanger, and floral stems for future projects, each wreath should only cost about $15 to $20 if I take advantage of the 50% off sales at Hobby Lobby...depending on the price of the stems...some of the extravagant holiday ones can get kind of pricey. Wreaths can be SO expensive to buy pre-made so it is definitely a lot cheaper than buying them! Yay!

Oh...add about $2 to that price if you would like a huge bag of the current season's m&ms.  :)

I hope this inspires you to be creative this fall/holiday season! 

Love,

Mrs. Wise

Fall Wreath Project

 

So I have a few days off (in a row...finally) this week and I was thinking about doing my fall wreath project {click here!}BUT, I was in Pier 1 the other day and saw a very similar wreath I could just buy. Of course it would be way easier to just buy the pre-made Pier 1 version, but I think I like the other one a little more...not to mention the satisfaction I would get if it actually looked cute :).  What do you think?

Pier 1 version

DIY verson

I saw this pretty winter wreath and I could not help but to post it.  I'm just going to apologize in advance for the huge amount of winter/Christmas posts I will have!  I think I might buy this one from Pier 1...or try and re-create it; we will see how the fall wreath project goes.

Anyone have any fun fall projects/tips on wreath making??

P.S. Tomorrow in Phoenix it is only going to be in the 90s! Hopefully we are finished with the 110+ degree weather!

Love,

The Wises

Already??

Sunday was our 6 month wedding anniversary! I seriously cannot believe we have already been married for half a year.  It has gone by so fast.  Well, I had to work over the weekend (and on labor day...no long weekend of fun for me), and Eric was off on Saturday and Monday.  [Side note: Our schedules have been completely opposite lately...every time he has a weekend off, I'm working and a lot of the times where I have a day off, he is on call or something. Bummer. I miss him!]  Anyway, I came home from work on Sunday night and Eric had made dinner, had a bottle of wine on the table and gotten me flowers for our six month anniversary! He always does the sweetest things when I am least expecting it. I love this. Pretty flowers!

Sorry for the poor iphone quality pics...

So pretty!

And the best part...SPRINKLES CUPCAKES for dessert! I have been crazing one of these for weeks now and Eric brought us some home :)

I am dying to go to the Sprinkles Bakery in Scottsdale and try the cinnamon sugar cupcake! Yummmmmmm!

Bonus: He cleaned up the kitchen! Thank you my husband for celebrating the small milestones with me :) I love you!

Love,

Mrs. Wise

Fall

So for the past week I have been hearing all about how amazing the weather back home in Oklahoma is.  It makes me a little jealous, I'm not going to lie.  I am craving fall weather.  I'm just obsessed with fall. Sadly fall is no where in our near future hear in Phoenix...there is even an excessive heat warning in effect through tomorrow and it is expected to get to be above 110 degrees...ugh.  Everyone keeps telling us that if we can just make it through the summer, the winter will just be amazing.  I don't know how much longer I can wait! Some of my favorite things about fall:

Bath and Body Works Leaves candle. The perfect fall scent.

I love the Wallflowers from B&BW.  I usually have about 5 of these plugged in throughout the house at one time and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin will be a common one this fall.

Yummm Creamy Nutmeg! This works well through winter too. Some other B&BW scents I want to try out: Autumn and Creamy Pumpkin!

I love walking into this store during fall.  I could spend hours walking up and down the aisles looking at all of the fall/Halloween decorations...there have been many times when Tiffany and I would just go walk around looking for crafts to do :)

I love fall wreaths!!! I want to try and re-create this one to hang on our front door.  Look for that post later!

Starbucks pumpkin spice latte! I think I like the smell better than the taste, but just the fact that it's back is a universal symbol that fall is here!  Looking forward to trying the new toffee mocha latte :)  P.S. Nothing is better than a cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks...favorite winter drink for sure...and when the holiday/winter Starbucks cup comes out...Oh Happy Day!!!

The best fall activity that I can literally spend a whole day doing without spending any money at all...well, I might spend $4 on a Starbucks latte but still, $4 for pure bliss? WORTH IT.  This is the Barnes and Noble that I go to, in Desert Ridge. Sorry Oklahoma friends, but this B&N is way better than any of them in OK. It has a huge reading area with about 20 of those big comfy chairs that circles around a big fireplace thing that you can sit back and put your feet on...Love.

Enough said. Fall=football!!!

I did this for Eric. I'm such a good wife. i will admit, I did have fun at the one OU football game he took me to.

Halloween and everything that comes along with it! I have to force myself to stay out of the gift shop at work because it is filled with the cutest boutique-y Halloween decorations.  I think I will wait to decorate for Halloween until we have kids so someone else will be as excited about it as I am :)

These are a few of my fave fall things.  I'm sure I will think of more, especially when it actually feels like fall here, so be on the lookout for another post!

Happy autumn!

Love,

The Wises