Spring time fun!

Per my usual for this semester, it's been a couple of weeks since I last updated. If I'm remembering correctly, there wasn't really much that happened last weekend except that I studied a whole bunch, which is nothing fun or new to report on but this past week was full of goodness!

On Monday Adam and I took the dogs to Red Mountain Park, which is really different than the other parks we've been to here in Bham. This park is FULL of trails, but not just walking trails ... you can hike out there too! But I really needed to get back home to study (I had two big tests at the end of the week), so we only spent about an hour out there.
On Monday, I also found out my summer schedule for PA school. I am SO stinking excited about it! We get to do all sorts of fun things like a month long "mini" OR rotation and a week in the ER, we'll spend more time in the classroom practicing sutures/tying that we learned this semester, we'll practice placing more central and art lines, learn to place chest tubes and to maneuver laparoscopic instruments ... all sorts of fun, fun things!

On Tuesday we celebrated our two year anniversary! Two years seems like a long time, but it's flown by! It's pretty unbelievable that our wedding seems like it was not that long ago. I guess two years isn't "that long ago," but it seems like it should be...
Anyway, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner (we weren't looking to spend a lot of money), and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert! We decided on three different cheesecakes:

• The Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake,
• The White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, and 
• The Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple

They were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. Of course we couldn't eat them all in one sitting, so we took it home and finished them off Wednesday night. :)

Friday night we had some friends come into town! David and Natalie were sweet enough to drive all the way from Columbia, SC to see us for the weekend. And they brought this sweet rag-doll of a dog with them! Her name is Sadie. :)

She's a crazy hyper love puppy! Marley LOVED her. Lucy ... not so much. :/ This was about the only time Lucy and Sadie got along.

Robert Evans (a fellow redcoat that Adam and I were reacquainted with at David and Nat's wedding) also came from Atlanta to hang out with us. We had so much fun with them! Friday we went out to dinner at Rojo. I drove and for whatever reason, Adam insisted that Natalie sit up front with me, which is how these pictures came about:

:) we had fun. Saturday we hung around at the apartment, and then we took them to Red Mountain Park for another hike. This time was a REAL hike, which none of us were expecting. We just picked a trail and went. We knew David and Nat would love it and Robert never complained. We also took all three dogs ... it was Lucy and Sadie's first times hiking and they did so well! They just left a little bit ago. Can't wait till the next time we see them again! We always have so much fun with them. And Natalie and I love our girl-talk time. :)

On another note, everything bloomed recently -- including the tree outside out patio -- and it was SO pretty! With that being said, I've had some SERIOUS hay fever because of all the pollen. That's never happened to me before! But I felt like crap because of it. :/ I'm taking meds now and doing better ...
Here are some pretty pictures of our tree. Unfortunately the rain from this past week washed most of the blooms away before Friday which was sad. I was so excited for Natalie to see my pretty tree!

This is the view of the tree from our patio ... this was before it bloomed fully. I really thought I had gotten a picture of it in full bloom but apparently not. Oh well. Anyway, happy Sunday! Until next time.

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He is risen!

Jesus is risen and alive!

For reasons that I'll explain in just a moment, Easter this year is more significant for me than ever before. Last year is definitely a very close second, but this year takes the blue ribbon. Where do I even start to share this journey? Well ... I guess somewhere close to the beginning.

All my life I've been taught to treat others as you wish to be treated, to be kind and honest, sincere and giving. I've always had God in my life someway or another but I never attended church regularly growing up. I would go with my cousins to vacation bible school, and I'm pretty sure I said the "come live in my heart and save my soul" prayer at least 5 or 6 times. When I turned 15, I started attending a baptist church that some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins attended and it was here that I completed my first actual bible study. Shortly after, I asked my parents to start coming to church with me, but I knew if they were going to come they'd want to go to an episcopal church. We had visited one a few times over the years during my childhood, so that's where Mom, Dad, and I started attending regularly. Not too long after we started going, I decided to join the youth group and signed up to go on a service mission trip with them to Equador. Mom and I were baptisted in this church, which made us members, and I became an acolite for some of the services. Unfortunately, sometime after that, the minister left and weeks following, we all found that we didn't enjoy the services quite as much as we did before he left. We stopped going to church eventually.

There's a huge gap in my story here. I went to college and forgot about God, like many young people unfortunately do. I remember there was one period in time when I applied for a part time job as a medical assistant. I knew this would be the perfect job for me to gain experience for PA school and I needed a job for some extra money, so it was perfect! Well, I didn't get the job. I was so angry with God for letting this happen. He knew how badly I wanted and needed it and He still didn't give me to me (but reflecting back, why should He have given it to me? I hadn't made Him a priority in my life. Now I see that God had his perfect plan and perfect timing all laid out for me. I didn't need this job to get into PA school -- "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11). I stopped praying and I didn't care anymore. Maybe I was depressed, but I remember life sucked around this time. Adam and I started fighting more and things just fell apart. Finally, I decided to give in and apologize to God. I remember it had something to do with a friend's facebook "about me" section. She mentioned that she loved being so aware of God and all of His blessings and her prayer was to never lose sight of that awareness. It made me sad in my heart that I wasn't experiencing that, so my prayer at that time started out as me asking God to mold my heart and help me to want him in my life again. I honestly can't remember how long it took, but my heart did change. God was working in my life. He helped me find another part time job in college that I learned so much incredible information from. More life lessons that anything, but I'm so thankful for that time and that experience. 

After I graduated college, I was still praying, but I never opened my bible, only went to church on occasion (read: maybe twice a year?), and still didn't really have a strong relationship with God. I knew that it was growing, and I could recognize that it was stronger than it had ever been before, but it really just wasn't what it was supposed to be.  Cue Adam and I getting engaged. I had known for a long time that I really wanted Father Peter (the minister that my family loved from the episcopal church) to marry Adam and me so I emailed him and asked. He required pre-marital counseling but he agreed to performing the ceremony. I guess that's neither here nor there, but it's was still sentimental to me. :)

Anyway, two weeks before the wedding, I flew to Kentucky for a business training, and at the end of the week I went to visit a good friend and meet her husband and baby boy. Before I knew it, the three of us were having a pretty intense conversation about our testimonies and our relationships with God. That night was one of the most profound and shaping conversations I have ever had in this regard. I realized that night that although I had absolutely no doubt in my heart, mind, or soul that Jesus Christ was my personal savior and that I was going to heaven after death, my relationship was still at a level of infancy. I was not shining the light of our Father and showing the way for others. They both strongly recommended that Adam and I find and join a church. As some point in this conversation, my friend (Whitney) mentioned Athens Church (Whitney's brother was a student at UGA at that time, and he had mentioned this church to her). Meanwhile at work, I had been having some conversations about church with two of the girls I worked with and one of them was attending Athens Church. One of my parents' neighbors also went there, and they had suggested that I check it out as well. 

Fast forward a year. Adam and I are already married and have been for maybe 9 or 10 months. We still hadn't joined a church, but the conversation I had with my friend and her husband in Kentucky was still weighing heavily in my mind and my heart. I finally decided that Adam and I were going to visit Athens Church. Man oh man, we have not looked back since!! Although we don't still live in Athens, there is a church here in Birmingham that shares Andy Stanley's messages. It's called Redstone Church. But when we can't attend Redstone, we watch the messages online.

Andy Stanley with Northpoint Ministeries is SO incredibly gifted with public speaking, sharing God's word, helping people live meaningful lives, and being the salt and the light of the world. I realize that I don't have much experience with churches in my past, but hands down these messages are the best, most delightful, most spiritual, most meaningful messages I've EVER heard. Every single Sunday I learn so much about God and the bible from Andy. My prayers are more meaningful. I can feel that my heart is changing, not because I want it to, but because once again, God is shaping and molding me. I find myself thinking about his sermons throughout the week ... they don't leave my mind at 12pm on Sunday as soon as church is over. I know that I still have many struggles with things that I don't understand, and I still have much growing to do as a disciple and follower of Jesus, but I also know I'm on my way. God is always on time with his perfect plan. My story is still being written. 

(Back to the top) ... So yes, thanks to Andy Stanley and his teachings, Easter is more significant to me than ever before! As I was saying, I still have struggles understanding God's plan and His timing but this is really something I shouldn't question. He has never failed giving me everything I've ever wanted, but these things aren't always received on the timeline that I want, therefore, I have to practice patience during these opportunities. "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9. 

Adam and I both think that everyone should watch this particular series called "Christian." I can't even begin to explain it's meaning, but I strongly encourage you to at least go read the synopsis! Here's a link for you all. Click here and enjoy!

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#springbreak!

I'm most certainly not doing as good of a job this semester at updating my blog weekly like I did last semester ... it's for the best, though...

Anyway, let's see ... what's new? Well, I'm currently on Spring Break!! We've all made it this far and it's w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. Oh my gosh I can't even tell you how relaxed I've been so far this week and this past weekend. It really is a great little break.

So this past weekend we went back home to spend some time with our families. That's basically exactly what we did, and it was really nice. I got to see all of my immediate family (with the exception for my brother, who's currently deployed), some of my extended family, and we also spent a lot of time with Adam's family as well. Adam, the pups, and I all got hair cuts which was nice, my Mom and I went shopping for scrubs ... all in all it was a great, relaxing weekend. It really made me miss Athens, which was the first time that had happened. I couldn't believe all the change that's going on. That place is REALLY growing. It's unbelievable. Meanwhile, Birmingham is bankrupt and of course very stagnant. Seeing how much Athens has changed hurt my heart a little. :/

Now Adam and I are back in Birmingham and I've been being extremely lazy ... catching up on TV shows and movies that I haven't seen yet, sleeping in really late (because I can!), and cleaning a little bit at a time, just so I can feel somewhat productive. I've studied a little too. I plan on picking up the pace on that a little later in the week ... after all, I do have two tests next week, but let's not talk about that.

Hmmm ... what else, what else? I have 7 weeks left in this semester, only 5.5 weeks of classes. It's absolutely flown by! Nothing like first semester, which literally dragged by. Ok so the weeks went by quickly, but being in the midsts of that first semester was just so painful! It was a giant miserable tornado of medical knowledge that kept slapping me in the face and beating me upside the head; there was so much to take in ... too much! It became difficult to see anything other than blackness. Soul sucking Dementors. Death. I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel; I didn't think there was an end ... to anything. At all. It felt like I was in this eternal damnation. Wow, I think I was more depressed than I knew ...

But then came Christmas break, and I slowly began to realize that I DID survive the tornado. Over the next three weeks of break, my battle wounds slowly started healing and the dark cloud lifted. The birdies began to sing again, and then there were blue skies! The blue skies have thankfully stayed. This semester has been much, much better. I can see light at the end -- it's definitely faint, and far away, but I'll get there. Summer semester is going to be SO much fun, with rotations in the ER and OR ... and after that is fall semester. In the fall I'll be a second year PA student, and that'll be my final didactic semester before clinicals. And as scary as clinical rotations are going to be, they're also going to be SO MUCH FUN!

So ... here's to staying strong over the next 7 weeks. :)

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The weeks are flying by ...

Shoo-weee! It's been a minute. Let's do a quick catch up. The weekend after Valentine's Day, we hung out with Rob, Jenny and Catherine (Rob's sister). Catherine flew in from NC to hang out with Rob and Jenny (she had forgotten that Adam and I lived here now) but someone had forgotten to make her hotel reservations ;) so she ended up staying with us, and I'm super glad she did. I wouldn't have had it any other way! It was fun just hanging out with them ... we didn't do anything super special. If I remember correctly, Adam, Rob and Catherine went to the shooting range while I studied with Lindsay, but it was overall just a relaxing weekend.

That next week was crazy busy with like a bazillion tests, but thankfully I made it through alive! And that following weekend was David and Natalie's wedding. It was SO much fun getting ready with Natalie for her big day ... having our hair done, getting fake lashes put on, doing our makeup. She reminded me of myself on the day of my wedding. So happy and excited to be marrying the man of her dreams, anxious to see all of her plans coming together, and nervous because, well, it's her wedding day! Everything was perfect, Natalie looked incredibly beautiful, and I was so glad to see David for the first time in what seems like forever. I've missed those guys. :) I had every intention of taking a few pictures of Adam and me with the two of them, but by the time I remembered at the reception, I had already been dancing like a fool and my hair didn't look as pretty anymore. :( It was such a fun weekend though!!

This weekend I believe we're hanging out with Rob and Jenny again. This is their last weekend in town for the training before they head back to Seattle. It's been nice seeing them every few weeks. That's never happened before. Maybe, in our future, we can all settle down in places that are relatively close to each other. Of all our good friends, they're definitely the ones we see the least often. :(

We're also hanging out with Lindsay and her boyfriend John this weekend! He's in town, and although I believe I met him at our white coat ceremony, I've never really had the chance to talk with him or get to know him. So I'm excited for us to hang out with them this weekend too.

OH! How could I have forgotten about this?! So, this past week in school we operated on a live pig under anesthesia. Before I continue, I'd like to say that everything we did (and will do) in lab was (and will be) completely ethical, and I will forever be thankful for these pigs (and the cadavers from last semester, for donating their bodies to science for my education). These opportunities are invaluable and they will not be taken for granted. Anyway, I first assisted in removing one of the kidneys, and then we opened up the chest cavity and I held a beating heart. It was absolutely amazing. Next week we'll be removing the gallbladder. I can't wait!!

I guess that's about all for now. I'll leave you with some things that I'm looking forward to:
1. pig lab!
2. my new, super cute scrub caps coming in the mail!
3. going home for spring break!
4. spring break!
5. Grey's Anatomy coming back on at some point
6. The fact that we're basically at midpoint in the semester ... it's absolutely flying by ...

Ta-ta for now!

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Our first kiss -- Nine years ago!

I'll never ever forget the emotions I experienced as I was walking down the isle to marry my husband. I really don't remember looking at anyone (except for one friend who reminded me to smile :/) but I DO remember having some legit concerns. Here are the true memoirs of a bride (well, of this bride, anyway). I was worried SICK about two things: 1. making the ugly-cry face ... because let's be real. I'm extremely emotional, and 2. falling as I walked down the isle. Thankfully, my dad lent a good arm. But I kid you not, the very moment I saw Adam as I was walking towards him, literally all of that washed away. I knew in that very instant that everything was perfect in my world. I was making the right decision -- scratch that -- the best decision of my life.

So, this year on our dating anniversary (today!), Adam and I have been together for 9 years! It's fun to reflect back on how much he and I have grown and matured into the people we are today. In honor of this special day, I've decided to write a tribute on why my love for him continues to grow stronger and stronger as time passes by. Here goes...

Adam loves to read. He reads all the time. He's definitely smarter than me. Maybe the fact that he's smarter than me isn't much reason to love him more and more every day, but I do love an intelligent man and Adam certainly qualifies as one. In truth, he should be the one pursuing a higher degree ... I'm doing it only because I'm studious and interested in the medical field. Adam is naturally good at school and learning and understanding.

Adam has a sense of direction like no other. You could pick him up and put him anywhere and he could find his way home. I don't know how he does it and I'll never understand it, but I'm immensely thankful for it because I panic when I'm lost.

Adam lets me know regularly how much he loves me and he always makes me feel sexy an beautiful. I love the way he loves me.

He values my health and constantly checks me on it. Adam knows the importance of exercise and eating healthfully and honest to God, without him in my life right now, I have no idea what I would look like in this regard. He honestly saved me all those years ago!

Along those same lines, Adam can cook! I mean like ... for real. Do you know how much of a blessing that is?? Because although I'm learning s-l-o-w-l-y, I still consider myself a non-cooker. I'm very thankful for this. All of my PA school friends are very jealous. :)

Adam genuinely takes interests in things that I do. He loves spending time with me and doing things with me and encouraging me. And I love him for that.

He puts up with me -- and knows how to handle me. I can be pretty hard headed and hot headed (I get it honest) and sometimes just a straight up bitch. At times I'm moody and at times I'm overly emotional/sensitive/hormonal. But thankfully, nine years later, he's still around. He's learned what to do or not do, say or not say and almost all of the time I apologize for how I've acted and thank him for pulling us both through -- alive.

Adam loves to whistle and sing and dance and play guitar and trombone -- he's very entertaining and talented and fun! Somehow he's just very musically inclined. During almost any conversation that he's having with anyone, if something that's said reminds him of a song, he'll start singing away. He has such a huge music library in his brain (head ;) that it's common "regular" people don't know what he's singing. Adam just shakes his head at them and continues on with the conversation.

Adam has made huge sacrifices for my happiness and success. This one is a true testament of his love for me. Literally everything that Adam has done in the past year has been for my benefit directly. It started with him closing his gym, which he poured his heart and soul into for several years. He then moved to Bham 2.5 months before I did and started a job at a bank, which was completely unrelated to any of his interests or experiences that he'd ever had before. And thanks to his job, he's paid for almost all of our living expenses while I've been in school.

He and I are growing individually-- and together -- in our relationships with God. Shortly after our wedding we found a church (Athens Church -- a strategic partner of Andy Stanley's churches in Atlanta) that we both love and, I don't know how to stress this enough, our lives have changed immensely for the better since then. Unbelievably, after we started attending Athens Church in Athens, we found out that there was also a strategic partner in Birmingham which also delivers services from Andy Stanley. It's called Redstone Church. The fact that Adam enjoys these churches as much as I do means a whole bunch. In fact, it was at Redstone Church during a Compassion Sunday Service that Adam suggested we become sponsors for a little girl in Peru. We've been in communication with and praying for Maria ever since.

This coming April will be our second wedding anniversary. I will forever be thankful to be married to this man that I literally prayed to God for more than 12 years ago. Adam had my heart shortly after I met him my freshman year of high school, but for reasons that no longer matter, Adam was preoccupied. I prayed and prayed, and finally God delivered ... it wasn't until my junior year of high school that he kissed me for the first time, nine years ago today. :) And Lord knows, we've been through some pretty heavy stuff since then -- amazing, good, bad, and real ugly -- that has brought us to where we are today. We've learned a lot about each other, from each other, about ourselves, and about what it means to love and be loved. Although it's been hard at times, I wouldn't change a thing. I love you, ATH! With my whole heart.

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QuikTrip

What a fast and furious weekend! Saturday morning Adam and I drove to Atlanta so I could attend Natalie's Bridal Luncheon at the Swan Coach House. I'd never heard of this place before but it was beautiful! The entire place was decorated so well -- it was all very dainty and feminine, yet sophisticated and classy. Not to mention the food was delicious! And of course, it was absolutely fantastic seeing Natalie and meeting her family. :) I wanted to see David as well, but he was under the weather. We all thought it'd be best for him to stay in and rest seeing that his and Nat's wedding is in TWO WEEKS! I can't wait!!
Anyway ... so after the luncheon I met Adam, Joel and Joel's girlfriend Carrie at a beer festival at Atlantic Station. That was a pretty cool setup. Obviously everyone was walking around tasting the different beers, but they also had fun carnival-esk activities all around. When we left the carnival, we went to dinner at a really nice Thai restaurant called Tuk Tuk. The food and drinks were delicious! That pretty much sums up our crazy quick trip Saturday. Afterwards, I drove us back to Birmingham to resume life as we know it here. ::le sigh:: ... to be in Georgia again ...

So this morning, we FINALLY decided to hang the ceiling fans we bought last weekend with Bryan (it was last weekend, right? Two weeks ago? Ugh ... whenever it was. I feel like time is flying by, which I guess is a good thing in some ways ...). We ran into some problems when we first tried to hang the fans. We weren't sure the boxes in the ceiling were installed correctly to support the fans. Once we found out they indeed were installed the right way, we decided to wait until the weekend so we'd have enough time to get it all done. Hanging a ceiling fan is not a quick little thing! Anyway, they're both officially up! One in the master bedroom and one in the living room. They're certainly not the prettiest, but the get the job done for sure.

Until next time!

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Practice makes perfect.

It's been a few weeks since I posted last ... we've had three tests, two of which were in the most difficult classes of the semester. I definitely feel that I'm starting the semester out on the right foot. I just have to make sure I keep it that way! Highlights of the last two weeks:
1. We practiced phlebotomy on each other. I stuck two people and drew blood on the first stick both times! I also let four people practice on me. My veins like to hide so it was definitely a challenge for them.
2. We're learning how to tie suture knots, two handed and one handed. I've already got a few strings tied to our ottoman in the living room.

3. We're learning how to use our ophthalmoscopes and otoscopes. I taught Adam how to use the opthalmoscope and he was able to see my optic disc and arteries/veins! I was very proud.

Hmm ... I suppose those are the most exciting things pertaining to school. On another note, Bryan decided to come hang out with us this weekend! While I was studying yesterday, Adam and Bryan went to a motorcycle museum, which was apparently very interesting. When they got back, we got some delicious pizza to go from Giuseppe's then sat at home and drank and played with my instruments. I taught Bryan how to use the otoscope and ophthalmoscope, too! It was a fun night. :)

This morning we all went to Lowe's to buy two ceiling fans but we've run into some difficulties with hanging them. more on that next time ...

Two more tests next week, and then we're heading to Atlanta for a bridesmaid luncheon for Natalie!! Can't wait!

Oh! PS - here are pics of the new lamp from the last post.

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