Blog Archives

Olivia and Jane Giveaway

11/30/2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of turkey and pie. I have an awesome giveaway for you all today from Olivia and Jane.

Have you heard of that super popular kids movie? You know the one that EVERYONE has heard of and can sing the songs to? The one that all kids love? If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about Frozen.

Olivia and Jane have sent me two, yes two, Frozen inspired dresses for American Girl (or American Girl sized) Dolls to give to our lucky winners. If you have a special little girl who needs a Christmas present pay attention!

The Elsa dress is beautiful and sparkly. It is easy to get on (which is a major plus because some doll clothes can be a bit tricky) and looks just like Elsa's dress in the movie. My daughters favorite part was the train. Actually, her favorite part was the entire dress and she is now begging to have one of her own for Christmas. If you would like to purchase your own Elsa dress you can head over to Olivia and Jane to pick one up for $23.99.

The Anna dress is just as beautiful and very detailed. It is actually 3 pieces and everything goes together so well. It is just like the dress Anna wears in the movie and it is just perfect. My daughter fell in love with this dress too and has been begging me to let her have one of those too. This dress is also available at Olivia and Jane for $23.99 and you should definitely go get one!

Both of these dresses are super high quality and just perfect in every way. And two lucky members will win a dress! (One winner will win an Elsa dress and the other an Anna dress). To enter the giveaway leave me a comment telling me how you are doing on your holiday shopping. For an extra entry Like Olivia and Jane's Facebook page and leave me a separate comment telling me that you did. Good luck! The giveaway will close on Thursday, December 4th.

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Happy Thanksgiving

11/26/2014

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Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you have a great holiday and get to spend it with those you are grateful for.

Love,
The Iowa Medical Partners Officers and Committee Members

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Diary of a Residents Wife

11/24/2014

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Sick Day

How many times have you hit Google or WebMD only to find out that you are dying of Bubonic Plague or some other rare disease that hasn't surfaced in so long that its in the history books? I'm having a sick day over here and it just makes me laugh to hear the Doc's diagnosis he comes up with.

Each time one of our children gets sick he is convinced that we need to have them tested for Cystic Fibrosis (we have breathing issues at our house). A few months ago I had an issue with one of my eyes, he was convinced it could be a brain aneurysm, it ended up just being a muscle issue. A stomachache for him makes him worry he has colon cancer. The list goes on.

Now me on the other hand, I'm the relaxed one. My doctors office has labeled me as the "chill mom". A few years ago the Doc woke up with a stomachache and I told him to take some Pepto and get over it. He said he needed to go to the doctor ASAP. One appendectomy later, turns out being the "chill" one didn't go in my favor. And for the record, I don't tell my kids to take a Pepto and get over it, I'm not that negligent.

Now I don't know about you, but I have heard doctor friends complain about the patients who come in with their own diagnosis and all sorts of crazy hypochondriacs. What makes me laugh is that my doctor husband is the crazy one at our house. How do things work at your house? Is your doctor the laid back one or the one researching crazy illnesses?

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Tea Towel Giveaway

11/24/2014

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Congratulations Marta! You won the Give Thanks tea towel. Email me at [email protected] and I will get you your prize.

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Thanksgiving Tea Towel Giveaway

11/21/2014

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Hey Everyone! Happy Friday! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away? Time to start pulling out those recipes and get cooking.

I have a great giveaway for you guys today from Jolly Rogers Gifts. It’s a Thanksgiving tea towel! How perfect. I love spending time in the kitchen, especially around the holidays, and its so fun to have one that reminds me why this holiday is so special.

Jolly Rogers Gifts is run by Erin and Paul Rogers. They are a husband and wife team who started their etsy shop in April. After becoming a stay at home mom, Erin decided to go back to school to get her Finance degree. While going to school she started a small sewing business to help pay the bills. As school went on she had to cut back on her sewing time and started just selling supplies, like ribbon and fabric, and then she eventually she had to stop all together. Erin really missed getting to do the custom projects that she really loved, and luckily she and Paul would find a new way to do that.

Paul is an independent consultant for Sentsy and while selling at a booth at a local outdoor market Erin and Paul were introduced to the process they use to get the image onto the items they sell in their shop. They use a neat process called sublimation. They can take any image, print it with their special sublimation inks and then transfer the image onto a polyester or poly coated product. They can transfer anything from words to clip art to a digital picture. Once it is transferred the image is permanent and will not crack, peel, or wilt. How awesome!

To enter to win a cute Give Thanks tea towel from Jolly Rogers Gifts leave me a comment telling me what you are most thankful for. For an extra entry head over to Jolly Rogers Gifts Facebook page and like it!

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Its Pie Time!

11/19/2014

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Since this time next week I will be elbow deep in pie crusts getting ready for Thanksgiving, I thought I would share some of my favorite pie recipes.

I love Apple Pie and this recipe from Our Best Bites is definitely one of my favorites.

Coconut Cream Pie is always good. This recipe from allrecipes.com is great.

You can't forget a classic like Pecan Pie. The Food Network has a great recipe for it.

And of course, Pumpkin Pie! This recipe is from Libby's and you can find it on every can of pumpkin.

One of my favorite pie recipes is from Jif. It is a Peanut Butter Chocolate pie and it is to die for!

What kind of pie are you going to be making for Thanksgiving?

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How To Create Your Own Traditions

11/17/2014

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With Thanksgiving just around the corner I thought it would be a great time to talk about how to make your own holiday traditions. I don't know about you but the first time that we had to spend a holiday away from family was our first year of med school. My husband and I are both from Arizona and both of our families live just a few miles apart. We spent every holiday leading up to med school bouncing all around between family member's homes and continuing traditions that we had grown up with. Then we packed up and moved to the other side of the country and for the first time ever we had to figure out how to celebrate in our own way.

Luckily for us that first big holiday (which was Thanksgiving) we were able to find some amazing friends who were in the same boat as us. We spent that first holiday trying to recreate the meals we grew up with and, as it should be, we had way too many treats to choose from because that's the best part! Every year after we celebrated with our new family and tweeked some things as the years went on. Last year was our first Thanksgiving without our med school family and it was almost as hard as that first holiday away from home.

As a family we were able to pick the traditions we grew up with that best suited our family and create some new ones as well. For Thanksgiving we do lots of baking. Lots and lots of baking! And I don't have to feel guilty about not liking green bean casserole because I can make my own type of green beans.

Once Thanksgiving is over its time to move onto Christmas. At my house that means it is time to get down to the business of gingerbread houses. It can get pretty competitive when the big kids (AKA the Doc and Me) get going. Our kids really love getting into it as well. They aren't quite as competitive yet but they can really make a masterpiece.

Another tradition that we have is our own version of the Polar Express. Now I know that a cool train ride would be way more fun but lets face it, it doesn't quite fit into the med student/residency budget (at least not when you have 4 kids). So I print off tickets for each kid and make them a treat bag and then we load into the car. From there we drive around town looking at all of the pretty lights while we listen to Christmas music. Its great!

Really the most important part of the holidays is getting to spend time together. We love remembering the importance of the seasons. This year we will face our first Christmas with the Doc working. We are planning to make the most of the time we have with him.

What are you doing this holiday season? What are some of your traditions? How do you celebrate when the Doctor in your life is working over the holidays?

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Chatbooks Giveaway Winner

11/17/2014

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Congratulations Taylor! You have won a $30 credit to Chatbooks. Email me at [email protected] and I will get you your credit.

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Chatbooks Giveaway

11/14/2014

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Happy Friday! Today I have an awesome giveaway for you all! Raise your hand if you use Instagram. Is your hand up? I know mine is! Chatbooks is a great new company that takes your Instagram photos and turns them into 60 page books for just $6 per month. You download the Chatbooks App to your phone and from there you can edit what pictures are included in your book. The Instagram books are a subscription based program that you can cancel at any time. You can also create custom books out of the pictures stored on your phone even if they haven't been shared on Instagram. Those custom pages can be up to 300 pages! There is also a Chatbook that is created from the pictures you send and receive in conversations. And like the Instagram version you have the ability to edit what pictures are used in your books. These books are also $6 and 60 pages.

We used Chatbooks to create a custom Herky on Parade book and we love how it turned out. We were able to fit all 84 Herkys in the book and I was able to caption each photo so now we will always remember what each Herky was named. My kids love getting to look though it and picking out their favorite Herkys.

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Easy Fall Craft with Kids: Fingerprint Wreath

11/12/2014

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When Halloween is over, I can't wait to get my decorations put away and just have some simple Fall decor before the glisten and glow of Christmas decorations take over my house. I have a white frame that I keep on my shelf in my family room, and I like to rotate it out with a fun printable or holiday picture. I didn't have anything for Fall, so I went in search for something and stumbled upon this cute fingerprint wreath printable that was for sale. But the problem is, budget is a little tight this time of year, and my brain is always working with the common phrase of " I bet I can do that by myself." I enjoy the challenge, so I went ahead and tried my hand at it {no pun intended} and it's a fun way to get the kids involved in a rainy afternoon craft project as well! I had almost everything I needed at my house already, all I had to purchase was a yellow stamp pad, so total this "craft" cost me just $3 out of pocket. And I love that it documents those cute little kid fingerprints while serving it's purpose! ;) I went ahead and put a short tutorial together for you...enjoy!

1. Gather your items- you will need:

~a piece of white or cream cardstock

~a bowl ( make sure it is smaller than your frame so that the edges of your wreath don't get cut off)

~a gold, brown or grey marker for tracing your bowl to make the wreath

~brown, orange, and yellow stamp pads ( stamp pads are on sale at Michael's right now!)

~ the person you want to use for your fingerprints ;)

2. Trace the edges of your bowl while moving your bowl slightly up and down, side to side. Keep eye-ing your wreath to make sure it is symmetrical. You won't be drawing complete circles, but half circles around different sides of the bowl to make it look like a wooden wreath.

3. After I made the wreath, I penciled in the words "give thanks" which I would trace over at the very end.

4. Now get your little fingers and put them to work! We did one color at a time, alternating colors on the wreath to make the fall leaves. Boston loved being included in the project since usually my crafts don't involve the kiddos ;)

5. Trace over your penciled letters with either a gold or black marker ( I did both) and find a place to display your new Thanksgiving decor!

I love the simplicity of it, and I love that we made it together! Hope you enjoy!

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Halloween Party!

11/10/2014

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We had the best time at our Halloween Party this year! Thanks to all who came out and dressed up early on a Saturday morning!!

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Diary of a Residents Wife

11/10/2014

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Home Alone

There are some people out there who have a spouse or partner who is available to help with home repairs, building furniture, car maintenance, and taking care of sick kids. That is not my house! I don't know about you but for some reason everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that could go wrong does when the Doctor is not home.

I'm pretty sure that my children wait until their Dad is not available to get the scary sounding cough, you know the one that you just want someone to listen to before you drag them to the doctors office. The cough that usually starts around 10 PM while the Doc is on call at the hospital. The one that keeps you up all night so that you can make sure they are still breathing after every coughing fit.

Between medical school and residency we have moved 5 times and each one of those times I was in charge of packing everything and taking apart furniture and then rebuilding and unpacking once we get to the new place because he was busy with school and studying. I've decided that if I ever need a hobby I can go start a moving company, or a furniture company. This has also made me become the master of the tool box (don't tell the Hubs). I always have to hold back a chuckle when the Doc asks where a certain tool is because hes not sure where in the tool box things belong.

I have had to figure out how to handle home repairs on my own as well. Like the time the hot water heater started leaking while the Doctor was working crazy shifts. I heard that the plumber was pretty impressed that I got the old hot water heater unhooked. (I mean hey, I only cracked the gas line. No big deal! Not like we had to hang out in the car in front of the house at 10 at night waiting for the gas company to tell me it was safe to take my children back in side. Oops.) Pretty sure he called me a go get 'em dudette. He also may have laughed at me when he walked into the basement to find my hot water heater facing backwards because I had turned it to try to get extra slack on the gas line (you know the one I cracked trying to unscrew it). Lesson learned, sometimes its ok to call the plumber for help rather than do it yourself.

Let's not forget about auto repairs! I can refill fluids, change a tire, check the oil, jump the car, and switch out a battery. I'll never forget the look on my neighbors face when he saw me changing out the battery on my Subaru. He wanted to know where my husband was and when I said he was in the house studying for his board exams his jaw about hit the floor. He didn't quite understand that when you're married to a doctor you have to learn to do the "manly" jobs.

Some times it gets hard to spend so much time alone but it helps to remember that Dr. B is doing something amazing and he is not at home with me because he is helping people. I've learned a new sense of independence and have picked up some very handy new skills (and a new nickname - MacGyver Jr.).

What are some things that you have had to accomplish on your own that you didn't think you could before?

Ashley Breinholt is a stay at home mom of 4 and the Secretary of IMP. She has been married to Cody, a second year anesthesia resident, for going on 10 years.

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Fall Wreath Giveaway Winner

11/10/2014

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Congratulations Jaymie Elkins! You won the beautiful fall wreath from My Pretty Things! Email me at [email protected] and I will get you your prize!

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Fall Wreath Giveaway from My Pretty Goods

11/7/2014

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I'm super excited about the giveaway we have for you this week. Shari at My Pretty Goods made this beautiful fall wreath for one of you luck members!

I love the cute polka dots and the pretty fall colors. This is going to look so cute at YOUR house for fall! This wreath is valued at $30. And if you are interested in purchasing one of your own you can look at Shari's My Pretty Goods Facebook page and you can email Shari at [email protected].

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Its Pumpkin Season

11/6/2014

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In honor of it being Fall I wanted to share some my favorite Pumpkin Recipes!

Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie
First up I have to share a Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie recipe from Our Best Bites.
Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
Recipe by Our Best Bites, inspired by ATK

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
4 ounces cream cheese
6 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons sour cream
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Brownies
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. For Cheesecake: Microwave cream cheese until soft, about 20-30 seconds. Add pumpkin, sour cream, sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine well and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 325. Line a 8×8 pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray. In a mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl combine butter and chocolate. Microwave at 50% power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 1-2 minutes.

4. Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Add melted chocolate to mixture and whisk until incorporated. Add flour mixture and fold to combine.

5. Reserve 1/2 cup batter (put it in the bowl you melted your chocolate in.) Spread remaining batter in prepared pan. Spread cream cheese filling evenly over batter.

6. Microwave bowl of reserved batter until warm and pourable, 10-20 seconds. Using a spoon, dollop softened batter over cream cheese filling, 6-8 dollops. Use a knife and swirl batter through cream cheese filling, making a marbled pattern. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached 35-40 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 1 hour.

7. Using foil overhang, lift brownies out of pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve.

Baked Pumpkin Donuts
Next up is a yummy Baked Pumpkin Donut recipe from Betty Crocker.
2   cups Bisquick™ Complete pancake & waffle mix
1   teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3   cup milk
1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1   tablespoon real maple or maple-flavored syrup
1   teaspoon vanilla
1/4   cup sugar
1   teaspoon ground cinnamon
2   tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1 Heat oven to 425°F. Spray mini doughnut pan with cooking spray.

2 In medium bowl, stir together Bisquick mix, pumpkin pie spice, milk, pumpkin, syrup, and vanilla with spoon until blended. Spoon batter into pan, using about 1 tablespoon for each doughnut.

3 Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Remove doughnuts from pan to cooling rack; cool 5 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.

5 Dip tops of doughnuts in melted butter, then dip in cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Roll
You can't forget the classics like a Libby's Pumpkin Roll from verybestbaking.com

CAKE:
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts

FILLING:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Pumpkin Pie Truffles
And finally if you're feeling extra fancy, you can make Pumpkin Pie Truffles from Adell at Baked in Arizona.
Ingredients:

•18 golden oreo cookies (1/2 package)

•2 ounces cream cheese

•1/4 cup pure pumpkin puree

•1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

•2 Tablespoons + 1/2 cup powdered sugar, divided

•1/4 cup white chocolate chips

•12 ounces vanilla almond bark

•crumbled gingersnap cookie, optional

Instructions:

1.Put the oreos in a food processor and pulse until you have crumbs. Put the crumbs in a medium sized bowl & add the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice & 2 tablespoons powdered sugar. Mix until combined.

2.Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave. Add them to the pumpkin mixture and stir till incorporated. Put the mixture in the fridge (or freezer to save time) to chill for 30 minutes to an hour.

3.Put a 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl. Scoop desired size truffle from the pumpkin mix and drop into the bowl of powered sugar. Turn to coat. Roll into a ball and put on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (The powdered sugar helps them not stick to your hands too much but these truffles are a little messy to make into balls.)

4.Once the truffles are all formed, chill them in the freezer or fridge until pretty firm.

5.Melt the almond bark according to package directions. Dip the chilled truffles in the almond bark and set on the parchment paper. Sprinkle with the crumbled gingersnap and let set up in the fridge.

6.Store the truffles in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

7.Makes around 15 truffles depending on the the exact size you end up forming. Recipe could easily be doubled.

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How To Be Thankful During Residency

11/3/2014

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During the month of November I try extra hard to focus on all that I and my family have to be thankful for. One of our favorite activities is to make a thankful tree and every day we add leaves saying what we are thankful for. I am always grateful for my family, my husband and my beautiful children. Today I thought I would share some of the things I am thankful for during residency.

I am thankful for my husbands paycheck! It may be way far away from what the "real" doctors make but it sure beats living off of student loans. Kind of makes us feel like real grown ups (just in case being married, having children and buying a house didn't do that).

I am thankful for Iowa! Before you ask me if I've gone crazy, how could I be thankful to live somewhere where the weather drops into the negatives in the winter and is so humid and hot during the summer and where all there is for miles and miles are corn and soy bean fields. Well, let me tell you, I love the seasons, I love the feel of community and the friendly people, and I love that now I'm living a little closer to family so they can come visit more.

I am thankful for heated blankets! Remember we have really long, cold winters here!

I am thankful for Netflix! It keeps me company during those long nights while the Dr. Hubby is at work.

And I am thankful for Medical Partners! I am so happy that I found this group full of amazing people who are on this crazy journey with me. I am so glad that we have a place to come together and create friendships that will last us a lifetime, I am thankful for YOU!

What are some things you are thankful for?

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What's Up Doc

11/1/2014

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Sunday November 2nd – Daylight Savings Time Ends – Don’t forget to “Fall Back”

Tuesday November 4th – Playgroup at Allie Buckwalters House 10:00 – 11:30

Monday November 10th – Book Club “Holiday on Ice” 6:30 at Ali Jones’ House

Tuesday November 11th – Movie Day 6:30

Saturday November 15th – NICU Service Project at Coralville Library 9-11:30

Tuesday November 18th – Children’s Activities at Gymnest in Coralville at 11:30

Wednesday November 19th – Playgroup at Iowa City Library Preschool Storytime 10:30 -11:30

Monday November 24th – SOS at Stellas

Thursday November 27th – Happy Turkey Day!

Olivia and Jane Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving

Diary of a Residents Wife

Sick Day

Tea Towel Giveaway

Thanksgiving Tea Towel Giveaway

Its Pie Time!

How To Create Your Own Traditions

Chatbooks Giveaway Winner

Chatbooks Giveaway

Easy Fall Craft with Kids: Fingerprint Wreath

Halloween Party!

Diary of a Residents Wife

Home Alone

Fall Wreath Giveaway Winner

Fall Wreath Giveaway from My Pretty Goods

Its Pumpkin Season

How To Be Thankful During Residency

What's Up Doc

SOS at 30Hop

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