April in Atlanta (and it's official!)

The weather in Atlanta has gotten beautiful! I have learned that nowhere on earth comes close to Atlanta for pollen counts, but fortunately only suffered for a couple days, although my car was yellow for a good several weeks. Ed and I have spent a lot of free time finishing up the "preparing for marriage" book we were doing, and looking at kitchen appliances, flooring, cabinets, etc., since he's in the middle of remodeling his downstairs. I did get him to the botanical gardens one afternoon, as I'm a complete sucker for orchids (and trying to get good close up pictures of them)!
Gorgeous!!
We also had the EIS Conference, the annual conference where all the EIS officers present their work, and more importantly, where all the new recruits explore their options and ultimately get matched with their positions, like I did two years ago! I managed to get through the entire week without taking a picture. Malaria is a popular position, but we always put a lot of effort into recruiting. We interviewed 12 totally stellar candidates this year - I loved them all! We ended up with a terrific new officer who will be joining us in August - an emergency room physician from Seattle who has had an international interest for many years. I think he'll be great!

.....And, on April 26th, Ed asked me to marry him!!!! (Of course I said yes) So, it's official! We're both somewhere above cloud nine. And I celebrated by ripping the dry wall out of his dining room (with permission - I had been looking forward to that!) and helping him choose curtains. :) (the ring on the left was my gift to self for finishing residency)