Blog Archives - Iowa Medical Partners

Tom Design Giveaway

2/27/2015

Happy Friday everyone! I hope all of your weekends are off to a great start. I have an awesome giveaway to tell you all about today. Debbie from Tom Design has some beautiful pieces of jewelry. She has a beautiful necklace to giveaway to one of you lucky readers.

How many of you have seen those super cute necklaces with the tiny letter initials on them? I see them all the time and every time I think that I need one. They are so cute and just the right size to wear with just about anything. Tom Design makes these necklaces, as well as bracelets (and several other styles of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets). Debbie carries silver, gold, and rose gold options and they are all beautiful and very high quality.

The necklace that I have is a silver chain with gold letters and a silver ampersand. It is beautiful and because its two toned I can wear it with pretty much any other types of jewelry. I LOVE IT! And now one of you can have a beautiful necklace of your own.

To enter this giveaway leave me a comment telling me what color metals you would chose. For additional entries you can LIKE Tom Design's Facebook page and you can go to Tom Design's Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item in the shop is. Leave a separate comment for each thing you do. The giveaway will close Monday morning at 10 AM.

But First, Let Me Take a Selfie

2/25/2015

I have two words for you today. SELFIE STICK! If you were at the Gala this last weekend you know that we had a lot of fun with the Selfie Sticks that Noot sent us to try out. I loved getting to watch everyone use the Sticks to take selfies and group shots throughout the night and I especially loved all of the pictures that made it onto the Instagram hashtag (#IMPGala2015). You should go check it out if you haven't had a chance to see the pics.

The Selfie Sticks that we were using were the Noot Selfie Stick with a wired remote shutter. They were so easy to use! For iPhones all you had to do was plug the cord into your headphone jack and you were good to go. For android phones there is an app (Camera 360) to install but its also easy to use. The stick expands far enough to get a great group shot and you can adjust the angle your phone is at so you can take a picture pretty much anywhere.

These Selfie Sticks are so much fun! You know that you want one and if you weren't one of our 6 lucky Gala guests to go home with one, you can buy one on Amazon. They are regularly $19.99 and there are 3 different color choices. Hurry up and get yourself a Selfie Stick and go take some pictures.

Thank you to Noot for sending us the Selfie Sticks to use at our Winter Gala. They were so much fun and we really enjoyed getting to see everyones pictures from the night.

Diary of a Doctors Wife

2/23/2015

Before the whole medcal journey began, I would often think how long school and residency would be. Eight years? That seemed like an eternity. In residency with three small children, making it to the end of the day or through a tough rotation was the eternity. Actually finishing residency was way beyond that. Yet, here we are ten years later, almost two years post training,and my husband is a practicing anesthesiologist. The life I thought would never arrive is here! Life after training is still busy. There are new responsibilities as an attending, boards to prepare for, and a pager that still occasionally beckons Brent back to the hospital. But he has more time, and less of the financial constraints that were a present during residency. Our family life is not dictated by tough or easy rotations, and the freedom of being able to make plans is something we take advantage of and appreciate. The years I never thought would never end have come and gone, and our "real life" is here. And it's good!

Andrea Carter is an IMP Alumni and the wife of an Anesthesiologist.

Bauble Bliss Giveaway

2/20/2015

Its Gala weekend!! Yay!! Who is in need of some sparkly accessories? Well you are in luck. I have some beautiful earrings from Bauble Bliss to give to one of you lucky ladies! These beautiful gold earrings are covered in sparkly stones and in a very trendy spear design.

Don't worry these are my earrings, not the ones I'm giving away!

I am going to be doing a giveaway on Instagram for these earrings so that you can get them in time for the Gala so make sure you subscribe to the Iowa Medical Partner's Instagram account!! I will start at noon and our winner will be chosen at 10:00 PM.

Now if you are like me and love sparkly pretty things, you should head over to check out Bauble Bliss yourself. It may be too late to get something sparkly for the gala but there are so many beautiful pieces for great prices! (These earrings are $10.99) Hurry and go check out Bauble Bliss and don't forget to get on Instagram at noon today to enter to win these beautiful spear earrings!

What Children's Activities Has Been Up To !

2/19/2015

I'm catching up on January and February in this post! In January we loved getting out of the house (and freezing cold) at Synergy Gymnastics in North Liberty! It's one of the best places to let the kids run and play in the winter. We love celebrating Valentine's Day in February! The kids enjoyed making finger puppets and hats, eating snacks and watching Frozen! It's been a fun year already !

Thanks Robyn for this adorable picture at Synergy!

Gala Raffle Prizes, Part 2

2/18/2015

3 days until the Gala!! I have a few more raffle prizes to tell you about today.

We have a one night stay at the Marriot Hotel in Coralville with breakfast for 2. What a perfect stay-cation!

We have a one night stay at the Riverside Casino in Riverside, Iowa and brunch for two. The perfect little get away for resident!

Who wasn't a little jealous of all of the NICU families who received Mamaroos this Christmas? Well, good news! You can win one at the Gala!

We have 2 gift certificates for Moore Photography valued at $200 each. Who needs some updated family pictures?

FORE! All of you golfers out there look for a round of golf for 2 at Finkbine Golf Club in Iowa City.

Who doesn't like to get pumped up at a cycle class? You're in luck! We have passes to Max Effect Studio in Iowa City!

Our awesome DJ and Photographer for the event, Ash Entertainment, have donated a gift certificate for 2 hours of DJ services! How perfect is that for anyone planning a big event this year!

Who has a tiny dancer at home? National Dance Academy has donated a birthday party for you! Its a win-win. Fun for the kids and no mess for you to clean up!

Diary of a Resident's Wife

2/16/2015

I am NOT a “Married Single Mom”

I first heard the term “Married Single Mom” in an article when we were expecting our first child. My husband was in his 4th year of an 8 year MD/PhD program, with 5 years of orthopaedic residency and a year of fellowship to follow. Sounded like an apt description for my upcoming role during the many years of training ahead. But I was tough, up for the challenge. It was an empowering thought and I was pumped. Fast forward a few years, residency has started and we are chugging along, totally in love with our two sweet little girls. One day (I was probably turning down yet another get-together after work) a co-worker called me a married single mom. She meant it as a compliment, a “more-power-to-you” kind of thing. But it didn't inflict pride and self-satisfaction; it stung, horribly. It was disheartening and painful, and in the moment I couldn't put my finger on exactly why. Since then I have heard it countless times, in passing, social media, even in the news. I get it. When one spouse has a demanding work schedule, the majority of responsibilities of children and home fall on the other spouse. Where else are they going to go? For us with spouses in residency, the nature of medical training means that there are additional financial strains, limited vacation time, and no family members close enough to run over and help out from time to time. We want some recognition, someone else to know and appreciate how hard we are working. The equivalent of scrubs and that DOCTOR name tag on a Hawkeye lanyard.

The single moms that I know are extremely hardworking and sacrifice themselves endlessly. THEY deserve this “credit” that the title of a single mom entails. I do not. It's true, I care for our three kids from the morning routine to bedtime, take care of the house, do the grocery shopping, etc. I don't often get to go out with friends or go shopping for myself, and I exercise after everyone is asleep and the house is clean(-ish), after 10pm. I bring all three kids to girl scout events, swimming lessons, and soccer games, by myself. I handle every teacher conference and permission slip, pack every lunch box, back pack and diaper bag.

But, looking at the big picture, I AM NOT DOING IT ALONE. Not even close. My kids have that moment (most) every night when their Daddy comes through that door and they run to him and tackle him with hugs. They have their hero who swallows whatever blows, horrors, and abuses that have been dealt to him for 15 hours straight, and comes through that door ready with smiles and hugs in return. I have a dinner partner, even if it is only for 20 minutes. I have the security of knowing the exact month (August 2019, not that I am keeping track) when these challenges will lessen drastically, we will have more time together as a family, and our future will be secure. I have a rock, to help me make decisions, both big and small, about our life (Do I tell the kids that the fish died, or secretly replace it? Should we refinance the house? Do I yell too much? Do you think it's okay that the baby's car sear expired a week ago and the new one hasn't arrived yet?) And I have my best friend, who, at the end of the day, is doing it all for his family.

I know it is intended to be an innocent way to give a nod to the spouse on the sideline. It is easy to feel under-appreciated and unrecognized for the responsibilities that fall to us every day (and through the night). But it goes way too far to use a term that high-jacks the entire title of “parent.” I couldn't do it all by myself, nor would I want to. As spouses of residents we are so lucky to have fallen in love with these sensational people who give so much of themselves to help others. Our kids are so lucky to have parents who are both so dedicated to them and their futures. They will learn from our sacrifices and struggles, and will be better for it. I am the wife of an amazing person who happens to be a resident. Together we are running our crazy lives and raising our children with all of the love and energy that we can muster. That is all that matters!

Jaymie Elkins is the wife of a first year Ortho resident and a member of Iowa Medical Partners.

Just Two Olives Giveaway Winner

2/16/2015

Congrats Nicole! You won a custom Valentine's necklace. Email Ashley at [email protected] to get your necklace.

Wooden That Be Somethin' Giveaway Winner

2/15/2015

Congrats Stacey P! You won a set of personalized coasters from Wooden That Be Somethin'. Email Ali at [email protected] to pick your letter and color.

Just Two Olives Valentine's Giveaway

2/13/2015

Just in time for Valentine's Day I have a super cute necklace to tell you about and to give you the chance to win one for yourself! This necklace is handmade by Just Two Olives. She has so many cute, handmade necklaces on her site. You need to go and check out her facebook page.

The Valentine's necklace looks like a tree trunk with a heart and arrow carved into it and you and your loves initials. It is very well made and a really neat piece of jewelry. It has a brass colored charm and chain. I love it. I've been wearing mine around since I got it and have gotten lots of compliments.

For your chance to win one of these beautiful necklaces for yourself leave me a comment telling me what your favorite thing to do for Valentine's Day is. For an extra entry go and "like" Just Two Olives on Facebook. The Giveaway will close Monday at 10 AM.

Valentine's Gift Ideas

2/11/2015

After the Facebook chat the other day about Valentine's gift ideas I thought I would share some of the things I found.

Picture mugs were mentioned as a good gift because what sleep deprived resident doesn't live off of caffeine.
Walgreen's offers a travel mug, York Photo offers a travel mug, and Vista Print offers a mug. All of them are easy to personalize and range in price from $12 up to $17.99.

One of my favorite sties for easy and free gifts for my hubby is The Dating Divas. One thing that was mentioned in the Facebook conversation was a coupon book. Dating Divas have a super cute coupon book (that is FREE!!) that comes with pre printed coupons and ones that you can customize. They also have a Valentine's Emergency Kit that has 4 different activities/gifts you can print for free. They have instructions on how to make a really cute candy bouquet.

Hopefully this helps you find something that works perfectly for your sweetie for Valentine's Day! (Only 3 more days!)

Gala Raffle Prizes (Part 1)

2/9/2015

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe that the Gala is just over 1 week away?!? We are so excited! We have some amazing raffle prizes for this years gala and I wanted to tell you about some of them so that you know what to look for the night of!

First up we have a gift card to Tailgate Clothing. Tailgate is an awesome store full of vintage inspired Hawkeye gear located in Iowa City. It is the perfect place to get geared up and show your Hawkeye Pride!

Next up we have a $50 gift card to Blackstone in Iowa City. Who doesn't need a date night out at this great restaurant?

We have a gift certificate for Brush and Barrel. If you're not familiar with Brush and Barrel it is a painting studio where you can go and learn to recreate masterpieces while enjoying wine. What a fun idea for a night out with the girls or a date night.

Just in case you needed another way to show your Iowa Pride, we have a beautiful necklace sent to us from Dogeared. This gold dipped necklace is just perfect. It is very dainty charm on a delicate 18 inch chain and goes along with almost anything. It is the prefect Iowa accessory.

The final prize I will tell you about tonight is from our exclusive realtor sponsor, Tundi Brady. She has put together the perfect date night at home for you! With the crazy schedule of these residents, lets face it sometimes the best way to have a date night is to just stay home. Tundi has put together some goodies to help you have a great date without ever having to leave your house so you can do it whenever your schedule allows!

There is the first half of our list of prizes. Keep an eye out for the rest of the raffle prizes and remember to buy raffle tickets so that you can win one of these awesome prizes!

Wooden That be Somethin: Review & Giveaway

2/7/2015

I have an obsession with anything made from wood. New, old, it doesn't matter. I love how each piece of wood is unique and can be used for such a variety of things! Really though, what would we do without wood?! Ok, moving on.

Amanda, the owner of Wooden That be Somethin on etsy, found me on Instagram and I was beyond excited when I looked through her stuff. I was even more excited to find out that she lives in Iowa, so of course I had to contact her to see if we could review her shop and give you guys something cute! I'm so excited that she agreed to it because her stuff is amazing and I love when we can feature local shops! Here is a little Bio that Amanda sent over so we can learn a little more about her and how she started Wooden That be Somethin:

"I live in the country outside a small town known as New Virginia, which is in south central Iowa. I live with my fiancé, John Robert and our three animals – Broseph, Huey and Moosley. I earned my bachelor’s degree from AIB College of Business and also have certifications for Early Childhood. I have worked in education for eight years in different capacities and roles in six school districts. I have worked as a program assistant for before and after school programs, as a speech-language pathology assistant with AEA, and my most current role is teaching staff with Drake University Head Start Preschool Program. I love the work that I do with children and families, and crafting has always been a hobby of mine as well.

I have been making gifts and décor for family for years and they kept encouraging me to sell. This summer (June 2014) I decided, why not? I like doing this, I have the summer off from work, and I might as well use my business degree. So, on June 23 I opened my Etsy shop, Wooden That Be Somethin', with about five items and honestly didn’t expect to sell much. So, I was surprised to receive a message from an interested buyer in mid-July that wanted to purchase 48 of my wood chargers for their wedding reception. I was so excited - not only was this my first sale but it was a very large order! The bride-to-be was just as excited to receive them and left a lovely review and sent photos of her beautiful reception. Shortly after this, I was contacted and asked to participate in a vendor show in downtown Des Moines during Farmer’s Market! Since June, I’ve been constantly reading, updating and learning so that I can improve my shop for buyers. I love hearing feedback and seeing photos of items showing how customers have styled them in their homes. In my spare time, I also like to travel and hit the bike trails – needless to say, summer is my favorite season. I’m excited to see what 2015 brings! "

Amanda was kind enough to send me over this "be brave/have courage" sign to put in my boys room, and it is the perfect addition to the wall collage I am working on! I wanted something with a cute arrow on it but just couldn't find the right size or fit for what I had in mind. When the sign arrived I was so giddy with how cute it was. It wasn't too big, but just the right size. The wood was nice and sturdy and the wording is actually painted on, where originally I had thought it was vinyl. Which would have been fine too of course, but I love that painted touch! It will be so durable and will be something the boys can have in their room as they get older. It's also reversible which is awesome, so if I ever decide to change things up, I can use the other side too! I wanted to wait til I finished my collage to post this picture, but I couldn't wait to get this review up, so here it is so far. One or two more pictures and it will be done.

Amanda makes more than just signs. Picture frames, coasters, digital prints, Ipad stands, personalized wedding gifts...the options seem endless in her shop! Go check it out and see if you can't find something you love. I promise it's impossible! Next on my wish list is this cute winter sign:

Amanda has offered one of our members a set of her darling personalized coasters! And we are giving you a few ways to enter this time! One comment per way of entry.

1) Head over to Wooden that be Somethin and tell me what you wish you could have!

2) Follow @woodenthatbesomethin on Instagram!

3) Follow Wooden that be Somethin on facebook!

Good luck! Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced next Friday the 13th!

Feeling the Love...For Free!

2/4/2015

n Valentine's Day is just around the corner and if your family is anything like mine, we don't have a very big budget to celebrate. To help with that I search high and low for fun, FREE things that we can either do or make to celebrate. I thought that I would share some of the cute things that I have found this year.

One of my favorite sites for cute, free printables is The Dating Divas. They have so many cute things and ideas on their site. Most of their ideas can be done for free which is way awesome. Every month they have Love Calendars that give you daily things to do to show your special someone that you care. One fun idea that I found on their site were these cute printable notes to put on snack foods. I don't know about your resident, but mine loves having snacks around so this is perfect for him!

Craftionary has 75 fun Valentine's printables ranging from little love notes to cute subway art prints that you can decorate with. There are even some cute party decorations and games you can print.

Our Best Bites has several fun Valentine's activities plus its a cooking site so its full of yummy treats for you to make for your sweetie! Some of my favorites from them are their printable Valentine's that have writing prompts. They also have a super cute tutorial for a heart garland made out of felt, buttons, and ribbon. That one is obviously not free but felt and ribbons and buttons are super cheap so I'm letting it slip in.

Classy Clutter is another site that had some fun ideas. They have some cute printables to make a fun banner. They also have several yummy recipes for Valentine's treats and a tutorial to make your own fortune cookies for Valentine's Day. How fun is that?

I hope that you can find something fun to do for Valentine's Day without breaking the bank.

Diary of a Resident's Wife

2/2/2015

Virtual Flowers

These lovely, sweet-smelling, 2-dimensional flowers are for you today. Yes, YOU!

I’m sending them to you on behalf of many different people in your life, and here’s why:

I’m sending them to you from your kids – they appreciate all of the sacrifices you have made to make sure that they have a happy, content, imaginative, and special life. They are thankful to have parents who are working their butts off to provide for them throughout their lives.

I’m sending them to you from your mother-in-law – she appreciates how you are supporting her son through this crazy process called residency. She is thankful that you feed, clothe, and keep him healthy when UIHC does everything in its power to make him stressed out, sick, tired, and basically a zombie. She is grateful for you.

I’m sending them to you from your spouse’s co-residents – they are thankful that your husband was willing to take that shift over for them while they were on vacation. They’re also thankful for those treats you send along to the break room J

I’m sending them to you from your doc’s Program Director – he or she is so very thankful for you. How can they even express their gratitude?! Your husband gives them millions of hours of time, commitment, and dedication each year and wow, they just can’t tell you how much they appreciate the effort he makes for his patients and the rest of his team. The Program Director sees the strain this profession puts on your family, and they are so grateful for you – your behind-the-scenes support of your husband makes a huge impact on your husband’s ability to practice medicine.

I’m sending them to you from your spouse – he couldn’t do what he does without you, and he will never be able to express how thankful he is for all you do. The meals, the emotional support, the long days watching the kids while he’s gone, the missed weekends/holidays, the back rubs . . . everything. You won’t ever know how much he appreciates you.

Sometimes we all just need a little bit of recognition, a little bit of appreciation, a little bit of something extra – this was hopefully yours today.

Love, Emily

Home, James Giveaway Winner

2/2/2015

Congratulations Whitney! You have won a set of Valentine's prints from Home, James. Please email me at [email protected] so I can get you your prize.

What's Up Doc: February

2/1/2015

Welcome to February! Here are all of the fun activities heading your way this month. If you haven't done so yet, don't forget to hop over to the Medical Partners home page and purchase your tickets. You do not want to miss this event!

February 4: Playgroup – at Becky Anderson’s House (935 W. Zeller St. North Liberty) at 10:30

February 10: Children’s Activities – Valentine’s Activity at the Coralville Library at 10:00

February 17: Playgroup – Coralville Library Preschool Story Time at 10:30

February 15: Entertainment Club – Mani/Pedi Party at Sarah’s house (250 Kozer Ave. Iowa City) at 7:00

February 21: 2nd Annual Winter Gala – All That Glitters at South Slope Community Center at 6:00

February 25: SOS – Atlas in Iowa City at 7:00