Share the Love

I am so fortunate to work at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center. I have learned more than just Marketing in my time here. I've been fortunate enough to meet so many inspiring families, and most importantly, kids. There are so many children that have had to face obstacles and experiences I couldn't even think of having to go through. Recently, we have started a Web site called iGive4Kids. It is similar to an online wedding registry. On the site, we have put all of the things our hospital needs, and people can click to buy things for us. This Valentine's Day, we are doing something pretty cool for the kids that won't be able to celebrate at school with their friends. You can visit the Web site and for $10, purchase a Valentine for a child that will be here at the hospital Feb. 12 - 15. The Valentines are sooo cute, with games and activities to help pass the time in their rooms. I hope that you'll consider helping a child for Valentine's Day and pass this message along to your friends and family.

Back to School, Back to School...

School has started again! I am really excited about this semester. I finished what will probably be the hardest class I have to take last semester (Rhetorical Theory), and now I can focus on getting started on my special project. Because of my unique situation working at the hospital and working on my MA, I can combine my special project with something I am passionate about at work. I have decided to create a CME (Continuing Medical Education) course for physicians and hospital staff on Effective Communication Techniques with Families - the title is in the works. All physicians and hospital staff are required to take certain hours of CME credited courses each year. This would probably be a 1 hour course with families, physicians, and staff sharing their ideas on how to improve patient/provider communication in a pediatric hospital setting. There is currently a huge emphasis on family-centered care in healthcare, and I want to incorporate more of that information in my thesis. I am beginning my research this semester and look forward to my findings, and constructing this course. I think a lot of people around here would be excited to see something like this offered, but I will have to wait for the research to tell me that. I also discovered that I will graduate December of next year and cannot be more happy about that! I thought it would take an additional year, but thankfully I have professors that will work with my part-time situation. I will be through before I know it! Except in working with my advisor/professor, she said "Wow, this would be an interesting dissertation." I thought it my head, "It would, but it won't be me doing it!" :)

The Von Trap ... I mean, Chando Family

For any of you that know my family, we love music. My brothers and I grew up with music in our home. My mom, a piano teacher, has inspired many kids in her time, but probably most of all, the three of us. My dad can read music and plays a little piano now and then. I spent half of my college experience living in the music building, until I decided I couldn't make much of a living as a professional musician. My brother Mark is, by far, the most talented member of our family. Studying trombone, piano, guitar, mandoline, and any instrument that my parents bring back from whatever country they just returned from, he truly loves music and loves to perform. For a while he was in a band, Blind Gator Band. They became really popular around the University of Memphis, playing at local bars and band parties. My youngest brother Joe is also an accomplished drummer. The two of them have jam sessions at my parents house a lot, and my family wouldn't have it any other way. This past weekend, my brother Mark opened for another band at Newby's. He played a short acoustic set of songs he has written. He did great, and everyone really enjoyed his playing. I am so proud of him and what he has accomplished. Below is a video of him with Blind Gator Band. FYI - this video was from the night before Brian and I got engaged! The song is 3 a.m. by Matchbox 20. He is the singer and guitar player.

New Kitchen!

I am so excited to report that we'll be getting new kitchen appliances today. After a lot of thinking and shopping, we've made our selections and are looking forward to cooking and entertaining with our new stuff. This makes me feel a little old - the fact that I am so excited about new kitchen appliances. However, I cook a lot and at least the money will be spent on something I use every single day. So, in honor of my lovely new kitchen items, I've included two recipes in this post. These two apps are ones I'm best known for, and plan on making for our Super Bowl party. I'll probably post more from time to time, so enjoy!

Tomato Mozzarella Dip (this is Brian's favorite!)
8 oz. cream cheese (I use fat free)
2 cloves of garlic
1 box of cherry/grape tomatoes halved, or cut up Roma tomatoes
Fresh basil (I grow basil, so we pluck it from our yard in the summer. If you don't grow it, you can pick it up in the produce section year round. For this dip, you have to use fresh, not dried.)
Shredded 2% Mozzarella Cheese
Feta cheese (optional)
Sliced green onions (optional)
Balsamic Vinegar or Balsamic Vinagrette

Mix cream cheese and garlic until smooth. Dice the basil. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto the bottom of a casserole/pie dish. Top with the halved tomatoes, basil, onions, feta, mozzarella cheese. Cover and refrigerate about an hour or so. Before you serve it, sprinkle the balsamic vinegar lightly over the top. Serve with wheat thins or Triscuits.


White Pizza Dip
1 package of Herb and Garlic Soup Mix
I cup sour cream
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese
Pepperoni slices, diced to taste
Sliced french bread

In a mixing bowl, combine soup mix, sour cream, sliced pepperoni and all cheeses. Transfer mixture to a 1-qt baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees uncovered. Serve with the sliced french bread, or with any kind of good bread from a bakery. I've served it with focaccia and that was the best!

Confirmation

In May, Mallory and Brittany, Brian's two youngest sisters will celebrate their Confirmation. In the Catholic Church, this is the acceptance of the beliefs of the Church and a renewal of your baptismal promises. Each 8th-grader going through Confirmation has to chose a sponsor - someone that will stand beside them at Confirmation and walk them through the journey. Mallory was sweet enough to pick me! Of course, when she asked me I cried. Mallory has been through a lot in her 15 years and I am so thankful that we are close. We'll be going to church together on the 25th and attend a few meetings together. Brian and I have been together over 5 years, and and it's amazing to me how much the two girls have grown up. When we started dating, Mallory was 10 and Brittany was 9. Now as 15- and 14-year-olds, they are experiencing all kinds of new things and it's so much fun for me to watch them grow up. Having had two brothers, I always thought it would be fun to have a sister... so you can imagine how happy I was to start dating someone with 3! They have matured into beautiful ladies. I can't believe they will be in high school next year. I am especially proud because Brittany will be attending my alma mater St. Benedict for high school. I hope that her experience there will be as great as mine was, and that she will form the lasting friendships that I was able to form. Now maybe if we can get these girls to chose UT over UGA, then Brian would really be jealous!

Ringing in 2009

Brian and I had a great time New Years Eve. Usually I hate this holiday and think it's overrated, but this year, it turned out to be a lot of fun. We spent some time reflecting over how great 2008 was for us, and we know there are a lot of good things in store for us this year. We had a wonderful dinner at Spindini downtown and of course made our way to Hollywood Disco, the former Raiford's. After that, we headed to the Green Beatle and for the first time in a while, stayed out until 3 a.m. We spent the evening with our friends the Pela's, Sean and Ashlea, Brittany and Chris, and Neil and Mallorie. Here are some pics from our fun night out.

CBHS friends Charles, Robert, Brian, Sean and Neil.

Robyn and I at my house getting ready to go to dinner.

Brian and I at Spindini ready to ring in the New Year.

Cheers! Ashlea and I right after midnight. I hate that they are far away in Chicago!


A few days after new years, my high school girls and I spent a night together. It is so great reconnecting and spending time with one another. Michelle, Robyn, and Raina have been there for me for a long time and play a big part in our lives. We really rely on each other and have for a long time, and I am so thankful for their friendships.

Michelle, me, Robyn and Raina at Molly Fontaine's for an SBA get together.

That's all for now. We are looking forward to 2009 and the exciting ride it will take us on!

Life So Far

This past fall, we had a lot going on. I love my job and recently received a promotion. I work in the Marketing and Communications department, and there is a lot to communicate. We are building a new hospital, positioning ourselves strategically to be a top ten children's hospital, and working on ensuring the health of children throughout the Mid-South. I plan on being here a long time, and have the best coworkers anyone could ask for. Here is a picture of us at our hospital's groundbreaking in February 2008. We work in an all-girl environment, and it works for us :)

Aside from work, I started graduate school to get my Masters in Communication from the University of Memphis. Going back to school was a big adjustment for me, but I got the hardest class out the way, so I am hoping this semester will be a little better. I have also taken part in a leadership program through 2nd Presbyterian and MPact Memphis called NEXUS (http://www.nexusleaders.org/). So far, the program has been great and I have a wonderful mentor who is teaching me a lot about work and family. I also try to have fun when I can!

Robyn and I in New Orleans for her girls weekend.

Brian has also been busy with work and extra activities. He also likes his job and accounts. He is studying to obtain his CPCU, a commercial insurance designation and was selected to take part in a program called Leadership Academy (http://www.leadershipacademy.org/). He is enjoying that and has a presentation to give to selected members of the City Council this Friday. We both feel fortunate and are enjoying what we have going on at the moment with work and advancing our careers.

We've settled into married life in Memphis and have a lot of great friends here that we spend time with. We have friends from high school and college that live here with us and we get together with them whenever we can.

Meghan, Me and Kate at Molly Fontaine's for Meghan's Bachelorette Party.

Georgia guys at Meghan and Ben's wedding.

Us on Halloween as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth.

Here we go!

After following many friends blogs for a while, I've decided to start one for our family. Brian and I started our lives together June 28, 2008 as husband and wife. We met in high school but didn't start dating until college. We ran into each other a few times our freshman and sophomore years, and finally a camping trip with mutual friends December 2003 brought us together. We had our first date two days later, and decided we would date long distance. Brian was a junior at the University of Georgia and I was a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. Thankfully, we both lived in places where roadtrips with friends were always welcome! Eventually Brian received a job offer senior year to work for Marsh USA back home in Memphis. We then dated a year, treking back and forth from Memphis to Knoxville (the most boring 6 hours of your life).
When I graduated, I joined him in Memphis to work for the local children's hospital. Brian proposed on August 3, 2007 using our crazy black lab Brother.

It was perfect! Now we live in a house in East Memphis, and the three of us are enjoying life.

Hopefully you'll enjoy checking in on us as we travel to weddings, football games and this summer, Europe! We've got a lot of fun things planned and 2009 will be great.