"Doc Ondoc"

I've been a little MIA lately, but with good reason. My husband's a doctor, y'all!!! Woohoo! We are all very proud of him! He graduated from UAB School of Dentistry on Saturday, June 2, 2012. We watched Brian get "hooded" and officially become a dentist!





He received his well deserved degree, D.M.D. from the dean!





All the family came to celebrate!





And his extended family members!





And more extended family, sweet Kathy! GDGM! ;)





And Brian's newest family members, the in-laws!!





I'm so proud of him. Four long years of studying for stressful board exams has certainly paid off! 





Congratulations, Dr. Ondocsin!





The finished product: Brian Ondocsin, DMD! Who wants to be his first patient?? :)

Vacation Recap Part 2

We traveled to Columbia for Brian's last stop on his interviewing tour. I roamed aimlessly around the city while he interviewed. Once he was finished we headed straight for Asheville, North Carolina, which is only about 2 hours from Columbia. I became a little obsessed with Asheville due to an article in Southern Living. It was the featured city for their weekend getaways and I saw this trip as the perfect chance to go and visit. Asheville is home to the famous Biltmore Mansion. I couldn't miss this opportunity to see the Biltmore decorated for Christmas. What a sight!

The Biltmore, America's Largest Home!

Another scenic view of The Biltmore. Do you see that large tree in the middle of home in front of the fountain? Yeah, that's about a 60-foot tall live Christmas tree! WOW! I wish I had seen it lit at night......there is always next year!

Welcome to my new home! haha! I was so giddy to be at such a beautiful place!

The day after our Biltmore excursion we toured The Grove Park Inn (listed as THE place to stay in Southern Living). It did not disappoint! Look at this view above!

This inn would be the perfect weekend getaway. It has a wonderful spa for the ladies with a great outdoor pool and hot tubs, and golf for the men. It may be a little difficult to tell in the photo, but underneath that bottom red roof is a terrace restaurant, with open air seating. It looks out over the view of the photo of us above. GORGEOUS!! I'm thinking we need to plan a trip back this coming fall or winter. Who is with me?!?

Vacation Recap Part 1

I realize the post I'm about to share may or may not be from last November. It may or may not be April now. And there may be a few Christmas lights and Christmas trees in the following photos. Humor me please. I want to share where we've been.....even if it is a few months late! I don't want to forget it one day! Brian and I had the opportunity to do a little traveling last semester to check out a few places for his residency. We traveled to San Antonio, Texas, and Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia ended up being his match for his residency next year! Yay! More on Columbia to come!

First stop, San Antonio. We stayed downtown so we could enjoy the main tourist stops, The Alamo and The Riverwalk. We tried to fit as much in as possible while we were there.

Remember The Alamo!

We also had the chance to stroll up and down the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. It is full of riverside dining and shopping. You can take a boat tour down the river and learn even more about this great city.

We loved this view with the colorful umbrellas and colorful lights!

Postcard Pretty!

While in Texas we had to make a stop and try some Texas BBQ to compare to Alabama's! We stopped at Rudy's BBQ thanks to Urbanspoon and the other world traveler in my family, my dad! If you need to find a good place to eat in city you have never traveled to before, there is a good chance my dad's been there and has a suggestion for some good grub! Rudy's was DELICIOUS! Texas is known more for brisket than it is pulled pork. We tried the brisket and the ribs and their famous Rudy's beans, not be mistaken for baked beans. Want to try Rudy's "sause" for yourself? Click here.

When the Hubby's Away, the Wife will.......Bake?

As most of you know, Brian has been a little world traveler. He was gone to Tampa a little over a week ago, and now he is currently in Japan. I can't believe it! JAPAN! His schedule is completely opposite of mine right now (literally 13 hours ahead of me due to the change in time zones) and it blows my mind! While Brian was in Tampa, I got a little bored one night and got a major sweet tooth. Not a good mix with swimsuit season upon us! haha! I was craving a peanut butter pie, which then turned into a craving for cake batter or anything I could make in order to "lick the bowl." I came up with this marvelous combination for those who love chocolate and peanut butter! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Warning: It can be extremely messy to eat, but worth every last bite!

Cake Batter Cookie Sandwiches with Peanut Butter Pie Filling

Cookies:

1 box of cake mix of your choice (I used chocolate of course!)

1/3 oil

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed and thoroughly moistened. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Flatten the balls on top with your fingers. Bake for 6-8 minutes and cool on a cooling rack. They will be very, very soft cookies!

Peanut Butter Pie:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup milk

16 oz. tub of cool whip

Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Mix in peanut butter until smooth. Fold in cool whip. Place in freezer to until firm. If you choose to just make the pie and not use it as a cookie filling, then recipe will make enough to fill 2 graham cracker crust pie shells.

Chomp! Chomp! Enjoy!

Back By Popular Demand!

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

I realized over my way too long break from blogging that I have more fans than I ever realized. So thank you to all the supporters for bringing me back to my blog! I've been getting requests from my mother and mother-in-law for more and more blogs on what the Ondocsins have been up to, so I'm back to share. Hopefully, I won't take a break that long again. I've got plenty of things to tell you about to keep you up to date on our life.

First, I'd like to tell you all that we have extended our family by one.....one little furry friend that is! Her name is Gracie Anne Ondocsin, and she is a Miniature Golden Retriever.......we think! She's not really growing the longer hair like a retriever, but she definitely has the golden color and eyes.

When I first saw those little golden eyes......I couldn't resist!

It seems that Brian was pretty smitten as well! This picture below was from our first meeting with her. He is loving her!

We've already had many social outings with her and have taken her to the park, to PetSmart, to eat at Tip Top, you name it. She is great social dog and oh-so-sweet!

Gracie loves to run and play outside!

That's one happy little pup!

We adopted sweet Gracie from a place in Anniston called Piper's Playhouse. Sam (my sister's dog) goes to doggie daycare there and they have dogs up for adoption. My sister spotted Gracie on their facebook page and we just had to meet her. She is the perfect size for our apartment (about 30 lbs. so far). She is small and sweet and cuddly with me and active and playful with Brian. A perfect fit we think. Welcome Gracie!

Pumkpins!

I owe you some amazing posts of our October festivities. We went to a pumpkin carving party and an awesome corn maze and pumpkin patch these past few weekends. Here is a recap of all things pumpkin! I'm so glad it's fall.......wait.......it's almost Christmas?!!?? EEeeeeeek!

Ladies and Gentlemen: The pumpkin carving master!

The Ondocsin pumpkin carving at work.

Our finished product. Spooky haunted house!

Our glowing pumpkin!

All the pumpkins from the pumpkin carving party. We had some talented carvers! Which one is your favorite?

The entrance to the Sardis City Corn Maze!

We went with some of my favorite people, Beth and Clint!

We had some fresh squeezed lemonade and deep fried Oreos.

And of course funnel cake!

There were lots of opportunities for a photo-op! Haha!

The boys put us in the Corn County Jail. :(

We found a fireman pole to slide down that intrigued us all.

Not gonna lie. I was a little nervous even though it wasn't that high!

A view down a path in the corn maze. Would you get lost? Because we did!

We took a break in the maze to snap a few pictures. This is a definite Christmas card pic, Beth! It's a framer!

After the corn maze, we ventured over to the not-so impressive "pumpkin patch." We liked to call it the pumpkin "dirt" patch!

In the end, it was a beautiful day with beautiful weather and beautiful scenery.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Guilty Pleasure

I don't know about you, but I'm not so secretly really excited to see this movie which comes to theaters on Friday! As cheesy as it is, I can't get enough!

Do I have any haters out there? Let me at least make my argument.

#1: I saw Footloose the Musical on Broadway in London and became a big fan. Let me tell you.......British people imitating a "country" accent is something I will never forget! Haha! Love those memories with my friend, Beth!

#2: I'm a huge Julianne Hough fan. I watch DWTS off and on every season, but when Julianne was on the show, I just loved her! I don't know that she'll be the best actress (sorry Julianne) but she is a very talented dancer.

#3: How can you not listen to the Footloose theme song (sung by Blake Shelton who I also like so he makes argument #4) and not want to get up and DANCE!?!

So to my dear husband, if you read this, pleeeeeease give in and take me to the movie!

To my dear friends, if you are reading this, pleeeeeeease save Brian and let's go to the movies! ;)