Blog Archives - Iowa Medical Partners

It's Resolution Time

12/31/2014

It's the last day of 2014! Can you believe it? I don't know why but it seems like as I get older the years go by faster. If anyone finds a way to make time slow down could you please let me know?
Anyways, have you come up with your resolutions for the new year? I've been working hard on coming up with some original ones. I'm getting kind of tired of telling the Doc that this year I'm going to start eating better and exercise more since that's what I tell him every year. After searching the web I found some fun ideas to help brainstorm resolutions and I made up a sheet for you too!

I hope you come up with some great resolutions for this New Year. Happy New Year's! I can't wait to see what 2015 brings. Its going to be great!

Happy New Year's!

12/29/2014

Here are some of the happenings around town to celebrate New Year's. I hope you get out and get to celebrate!
New Year’s in Iowa City

Watch When Harry Met Sally at FilmScene in Iowa City at 4:00 on December 31st. Celebrate with champagne and French pastries.

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery will be hosting a pairing dinner on December 31st from 5:00-8:00. They will be serving a 4 course dinner paired with handcrafted wines and cocktails.

New Year’s Eve celebration at Share Wine Lounge. Starting at 9:00PM come and enjoy a Jazz Trio and a chocolate and sparkling wine bar. The daily dinner menu will be served all night.

FOR THE FAMILY

Noon Year’s Eve at Schwab Auditorium at the Coralville Library. December 31st from 11:00 – Noon. Join us for games and snacks as we count down to noon. Free for the whole family.

Noon Year’s Eve Celebration at the Iowa Children's Museum. The Museum will be open from 10:00 – 4:00 with a ball drop at noon. Come and make party hats and noise makers to get ready for your own New Year’s celebration.

Merry Christmas and Thank you!

12/24/2014

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I just wanted to take a quick minute and say Merry Christmas. The blog is going to take a little vacation and we will be back next week. Enjoy your holiday with your loved ones!

I also wanted to tell you all Thank You from the bottom of our hearts. We delivered the NICU bags last night and the experience was one I will never forget. We could not have accomplished this huge feat without you. Your support, your time, and your kind words helped this project become amazing. We had so many amazing companies donate items to this project:

4moms                              Tara Lynn’s                      Little Painted Polka Dots

Boppy                               Our Mason’s Jar              Emilias Luxe Linens

Bumbo                              Gertie & Baxter               Nena & Co.

Minky Couture                 2 Chicks & a Cause           Home State Apparel

Hy-Vee                             Yellow Blue Bag              The Sunny Path

Southern Charm Quilts     Foxy Vida                        Kishu Baby

Savvy Chevy’s                 Ordinary Artists                First Love Threads

Balboa Baby                     Boy Howdy Clothing       Sewing for Sunshine

Bamboobies                      Sticky Bellies                   Olivia & Jane

Ruffled Paper                    Bubs & Bits                      Raising Royale

Knitpicky Beanies             IE Designs                       SewAmelie

Shalari Cotoure                 Kids Unique Boutique      Made4U Handmade

Hopi Little Ones               Picket Fence Creation      Lil Emerald Boutique

Green Sailboat                  Rivers Room                     Sound Baby

Brooke Romriell                 Sage and Harper             Lindsay McGowan Photography

We will put up a big post telling you all about delivery night once we get all of our pictures back. This project meant so much to the families at the NICU. They were all so grateful and touched. Thank you all again, so much, for everything you did for this project. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did and we can't to see what the future holds for Medical Partners.

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you all!

Diary of a Residents Wife

12/22/2014

Diary of a Resident’s Wife – When the Doctor becomes the Patient

I’m not sure about all of you, but I am going to go ahead and declare that doctors make THE WORST patients.

Can I get an amen?

My husband came down with some terrible illness this week, and I swear, anytime he gets sick, it goes down one of two ways:

1) He’s “only kind of” sick – not enough to actually do anything about it, walks around like a zombie, complains about being sick but refuses to waste a vacation day to stay at home and recuperate. “Why would I waste a perfectly good vacation day when I can still function in the OR!?” Remains “kind of sick” for what feels like five million weeks. Complaint meter is at about a 5 out of 10.

2) He’s “on his deathbed” – sick enough that he’ll actually call in (albeit growling about the “wasted” vacation day the whole time). This time, he’s actually pushed himself to the limit and the sickness pretty much takes over our household. We’re talking the apocalypse here, people. Complaint meter pushes a 9.5 out of 10 and creeps over 10 when the meds have all worn off. Yeee-ow.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m a peach when I’m sick. I’m probably the worst sick person known to man – however, I do think that this is a pot calling the kettle black type of situation, and makes me even more qualified to call out a bad patient when I see one. That logic works, right? Good.

All of this to say, if you or someone you know suffers from a bad patient husband during this awful sick time of year, please call me. Although I am unable to prescribe any actual medication for the situation, my extensive experience in this arena has proven that puppy chow and/or a glass of wine helps to alleviate the secondary symptoms we live with as the doc’s wives.

Happy (healthy) Holidays!!

Emily is a part-time event coordinator/part-time puppy mama to Tater, an English Bulldog. She and her husband Paul (4th year Anesthesia resident) live in Iowa City and are getting excited about the next chapter in their lives – a Pediatric Anesthesia fellowship in Milwaukee starting in July!

J Customs Vinyl Giveaway

12/19/2014

I have one last giveaway for you all before Christmas. I love vinyl and I found some really cute Iowa vinyl to share with you. These are cute Iowa cutouts with either the word Hawkeyes or Home in the middle.

These vinyl are from J Customs and you should really check out their shop. They have tons of cute personalized jewelry and cutting boards, and, of course, vinyl. You should go check their shop out.

The Pulse - Winter 2015

12/15/2014

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The Studio 815 Giveaway Winner

12/15/2014

Congratulations to Paula Klutho! You are the winner of a set of cards from The Studio 815. Email me at ashbholt@gmail.com and I will get you your prize.

Holiday Wish list: PAPES stationary

12/14/2014

Since Ashley just posted a cute stationary/thank you note post, I decided I would share a favorite of mine too!

I found the cutest etsy shop a few months ago and I have been super excited to share with you guys the etsy shop "Papes", owned by a local gal, Elizabeth Abramsohn. She and I met up so I could get some hands on views of all of the handmade goodness she sells, in her etsy shop and in local markets and stores around Iowa City!

Each card is handmade individually by Elizabeth, and she has so many different styles and sizes to choose from! I was originally drawn to her Iowa Cards, which showcase the ever so popular state of Iowa Cutout, but she also has some of the popular gold foil cards that are perfect for the Holidays! I am loving the deer one especially. I'd stick a tiny red pom pom on the end of that nose and use them for Christmas cards!

Not only does she make Iowa cards, but also takes custom orders and also can do birth/party announcements as well. With all of her creativity I am sure if you had something in mind she would be more than willing to work with you!

Here's to hoping I have been on the Nice list this year and maybe I will get some PAPES in my stocking this year. ;)

Check out her cute etsy shop here!

Ali

The Studio 815 Giveaway

12/13/2014

Can you believe that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away?!? Have you gotten all of your shopping done and presents wrapped? Don't worry I haven't yet either. One thing that most people forget to think about is the Thank You notes that you send after the holidays have ended.

I don't know about you, but I grew up in a house where Thank You notes were sent for EVERYTHING! (Seriously - sometimes I would laugh at the reasons my Grandmother sent Thank Yous.) Growing up I dreaded writing those piles of Thank Yous after every gift giving holiday. Now as an adult I can appreciate why they are important and I understand why you put thought and consideration into thanking someone for the gift or act of kindness that they spent their time and effort on for you. My favorite part of sending Thank You notes is picking out a cute card to write on. I absolutely LOVE personalized notes and I have found some super cute ones this year from The Studio 815. (No laughing at the fact that my initials monogrammed end up ABC!)

Jill at The Studio 815 has so many cute styles and colors to choose from. The colors are so bright and the cards are a very nice heavy weight. They are so perfect. I also lover her kid Thank You notes. They are awesome fill in the blank style and perfect to use to teach your kids how to write a thank you. She also has some super cute Collegiate cards and notepads (Check this out if you want to show off your Hawkeye Pride!) Jill's shop is full of cute things from prints to custom cutting boards. You really need to go check it out.

Jill has been great enough to offer a set of personalized cards for one of you! To enter the giveaway go visit The Studio 815's shop and then leave a comment telling me what colors you would choose for your personalized cards.

Giveaway ends Monday at 10:00 AM.

De-cluttering before Christmas

12/10/2014

Has anyone recently looked under their tree and then looked around the house and wondered where all this new stuff is going to go? I try not to go too crazy for Christmas but I can't say the same thing for Grandparents around here. We are still 2 weeks away from Christmas and my tree is overflowing with presents. Looking at all of those boxes is giving me anxiety when it comes to thinking of places to store all of these new things. My toy closets are already stocked full and my kids closets are overflowing (they're a little spoiled). My garage and office are full of grown up toys too. To try to help me feel better about the growing pile of beautifully wrapped goodness under my tree I have come up with a plan.

First the kids and I went though the toy closet. We fixed any game boxes that we're falling apart to help keep the closet a little neater. I also pulled out every toy that hadn't been played with in a while. I took out all of the little knick knacks (mostly happy meal toys or little pieces of toys that no one knew where exactly it belong) and toys that were ready to be retired.

My youngest kids will be 2 in March so we are quickly growing out of our baby toys (hang on I have to ugly cry about that for a minute) so it is time to move on. For us that means that we can move things into the garage sale pile but if your toys will get some use later on, maybe you can move them into storage to free up some room in your toy closet.

Next we moved onto closets (we even have cleaning out closets and taking old clothes to goodwill as an activity on our Advent Calendar this year). We took out all of the shirts that my kids refuse to wear and the shirts with sleeves that are getting a little too short. Then we moved onto the pants and took out all the pants that are starting to look like they belong in a flood zone. (Why do these dang kids grow so fast!) My closet had a different issue (since I'm obviously not getting any taller)! I took out the shirts that have been hanging in there for a few too many seasons and the pants that don't quite work any more. Shoes are easy. For us the little girls shoes go to the garage sale or goodwill pile and the boy shoes (that aren't totally trashed) go in storage for little brothers or go to the garage sale pile. My shoes stay right where they are! Don't touch my shoes!!

To be fair I didn't just clean out the kid stuff. I headed to the garage and the office next. I cleaned out all of my storage drawers and cleaned up the office book shelves. For some reason just straightening that stuff up and putting it all away nicely seems to make so much more room. Now if there was just a way to keep little fingers away from it all so it would stay that way!

Now that everything is straightened up and the old stuff is gone we are ready for Christmas and all of the new goodies. What are some ways you get ready for all of the new things at your house?

Diary of a Resident's Wife

12/8/2014

How a Resident's Wife gets the house ready for Christmas

The other night I saw the Doc spend his day off hanging Christmas lights on the house. Then, he came inside and helped us put lights and ornaments on the beautiful tree that he helped us pick out and bring home. It was wonderful. And then I woke up.

Lets get real here people. It took me an hour to get the Doc in the car to go to Costco to pick up our tree. Once we got it home and downstairs, he fell asleep on the couch watching me and our older kids decorate it. (Not that I blame him. I'd be tired all the time too if I had to wake up and leave the house by 5 every morning and not get home until after dinner every night.)

The Doc's contribution to the Christmas lights on the outside of the house were standing at the bottom of the ladder as I climbed up on the roof and throwing those light clips up to me when I ran out halfway across the roof. Its all good though. Decorations are up and the festivities have begun.

How do you get ready for the holidays? How much help does the Doctor in your house offer?

Ashley Breinholt is the wife of a 2nd year Anesthesiology Resident. She and her Doc have been married for almost 10 years and have 4 crazy kids. In her spare time, Ashley loves running, reading, and baking.

BarkTHINS giveaway

12/8/2014

Congratulations Corrinne Gore! You have won 2 bags of barkTHINS! Email me at ashbholt@gmail.com and I will get you your prize!

Giveaway from BarkThins

12/5/2014

I have one word for you, CHOCOLATE! Who doesn't love chocolate. And what is better than just plain old chocolate? Chocolate paired with mint, or pretzels, or nuts, or pretty much anything that goes good with chocolate. That is exactly what barkThins has to offer!

I have 2 yummy bags of barkThins to give to one lucky winner! And when I say lucky I mean VERY LUCKY! These are by far my favorite treat. I have tried pretty much every combination that I have seen, dark chocolate with sea salt and pretzels - YUM, dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt - YUM, dark chocolate with coconut and shaved almonds - BEST THING EVER!! I seriously cannot walk past a bag of these and not put them in my shopping cart and now I can share some of this yumminess with you!

To enter this giveaway leave me a comment telling me what flavor you would want to try most. For an extra entry you can like their Facebook page. If you see this and are like me and can't wait until Monday to find out if you won 2 yummy bags of chocolate you can pick some up at Target, Costco, or Hy-Vee. Go get some, you can thank me later!

Frozen Giveaway from Olivia and Jane

12/5/2014

I am excited to announce our winners from the Frozen giveaway! Congratulations to Kellie Schow and Emily Dowdle! Email me at ashbholt@gmail.com and I will get you your prize!

Make your own advent calendar

12/3/2014

December is here and that means we can start counting down the days to Christmas. I LOVE Christmas. It has always been such a fun time for my family. And now that I'm a parent getting to watch the magic of Christmas in my children's eyes makes the holiday that much more special. This year to help us count down to Christmas, the kids helped me make an Advent Calendar.

To start I found mini paper bags and I wrote down the numbers from 24 to 1. I also glitter-fied some clothes pins to hang the bags on a string.

Each bag has a service oriented task on it to help us remember that Christmas is about more than just presents. I found a fun list on The Crafty Chicks. I tweaked some of the things on the list to make it more suited for my family.

And then to make it fun each bag also has a treat for the kids.

I know we are only 3 days in, but my kids are loving our advent calendar. I like that it is more personal that the candy filled calendars you can buy at the store.

What does your family do to get ready for Christmas? Do you have an advent calendar of some kind?

SOS at Stellas

12/3/2014

We had a wonderful time at Stellas on the 1st. Thanks to everyone who came out.

What's Up Doc -December

12/1/2014

Monday December 1st – Playgroup at the Coralville Rec Center from 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM ($1 per child)

Monday December 1st – SOS at Stella’s in Iowa City 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Friday December 5th – Entertainment Club and Children’s Activities will be hosting a Christmas Party at the South Slope Community Center in North Liberty from 5:00 – 7:30

Tuesday December 16th – Wednesday December 24th – HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Thursday December 25th – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tuesday December 30th – SOS at SushiYa in North Liberty 7:00