A (school) update for the New Year

Well, I haven't posted here for awhile... oops! Guess its time for an update?

We've been "home" (Fresno) now for 6 months and it has been wonderful. I love being back in our house, having friends to hang out with, being involved in our little church and being close to family again. I'm currently working part time for my parents company (my old job, kinda) doing accounts payable. Overall, I'm just really thrilled to be back home:)

Alex is doing great in his core rotations. He is half way through the year and has finished 8 weeks of family medicine, 8 weeks of internal medicine and 6 weeks of pediatrics. He's currently finishing up Ob/Gyn (his least fave, but its almost over). By far his favorite has been pediatrics which has cemented his plan to pursue pediatric oncology as his speciality. That means after he graduates next year he will do a 3 year residency in pediatrics then apply for a 3 year fellowship in pediatric oncology. Lots of training ahead but it will be worth it in the long run, as we continue to pursue where God is leading us.

So the rest of this (school) year is going to look something like this: he finished his Ob/Gyn rotation in two weeks, then he gets two weeks of vacation (woo hoo!) followed by 4 weeks of pediatric oncology elective here in Fresno at Children's Hospital. Then he will do 8 weeks of surgery in Hanford, followed by 4 weeks of psych in Benicia, and 4 weeks of Adult Oncology in Sacramento. I feel so blessed that the Lord has opened up so many rotations here that he only has to leave for 8 weeks. We are still trying to work out the details of living arrangements when he's up north again, but we have a little while to figure it all out still.

That's enough news for one post. I'll post more later:)

In the Home Stretch (Pun Intended)

Our "Big Move" is only 2 days away!

Packing has been interesting. We seem to have (again) collected more stuff that we need  (specifically clothes, fabric, and shoes - all mine of course). I'm sure the trips to Home Depot for more boxes will continue throughout the weekend. The biggest challenge is trying to get all our laundry clean before we move because I hate moving several hampers of dirty laundry from one place to the other. However, since my tiny apartment washer and dryer can only wash 3 towels at a time and we have let a few too many baskets pile up, we may be waiting on washing some until we get home.

I'm looking forward to having one of my best friends, Lynae, coming up from Fresno tonight and staying through Monday. Her company and motivation will make packing much easier - packing seems to go faster with good conversation :) She has two little kiddo's (and just found out there's one more on the way), so this is like a mini vacation for her and much needed girl time for us both.

Needless to say, I hope this is our last move for a long, long time...

(picture courtesy of www.bigappleboxes.com)

A Perfect Ending

This week Alex has been busy getting ready for the ever stressful USMLE Step 1. This test is a big one, and his score will effect his choices of residency in the future. And the USMLE tests everything he has learned over the last two years. Just a little stressful!!!

Today was exam day, and I had agreed to take him to the testing center in Alameda, a town about 30 minutes away from us. We woke up early, make a quick stop at McDonald's for some coffee and McMuffins and we make it there with time to spare. Good thing too, because Alex, with all his nerves shot, had forgotten to bring a print out that he needed to get into the exam. A quick call to my parents fixed that (thanks for saving the day, mom and dad!) as they were able to print out the paper for him and then fax it into the testing center. It made for a very eventful morning to say the least!

I drove back to Martinez to get some packing done while he faced the grueling 8 hour test. I'm glad to say that at 4pm when I picked him up, my exhausted hubbs was feeling confident that he did well. Praise the Lord! Now we just have to wait two months to get the score.....

As we started heading back to Martinez, a thought occured to me: since we were really close to San Francisco (literally 3 miles away from the Bay Bridge), it was a beautiful day, and neither of us was in a hurry to face the traffic going home, why not stop for some clam chowder and ice cream on the Pier? It sounded great to us both!

So we had a nice dinner at the Boudin Restaurant overlooking the bay, and walked along the pier hand in hand eating Ben & Jerry's for dessert. It was the perfect ending to a stressful day. It was the perfect ending to the last two years that we've been here in the bay area. It was just perfect.

Exhausted but Happy

Almost Home... (updated with pictures)

Things have been busy here with preparation for moving home! After over two months of not blogging I figured I would try to give an update for those who have been emailing me and asking "is everything OK? Why aren't you blogging?" I didn't realize that people actually still read my blog!

Alex finished his second year of Med school at the end of May and has been preparing for the first tests for the Medical Board Exams (called Step 1). He took the COMLEX (the Osteopathic Board Exam) last week and is taking the USMLE (Allelopathic Board Exam) this Friday. He feels confident that he did well on the COMLEX  and is ready for what the USMLE has to dish out! Please keep him in your prayers! We are moving just three days after the USMLE and he starts his 3rd year rotations on June 21st, so he will really only get one week off! His first rotation is 8 weeks of Family Medicine, so at least he will have normal hours for the next 8 weeks.

I have been working with our missions team at church to prepare for our mission trip to Albania this summer. I leave for Albania on June 26th and we will be returning to the States on my birthday, July 11th. We will be hosting a summer camp for street kids and teenagers and I'm excited to see how God is going to use me there. (More on that to come in a future post..)

 I forgot how much I miss being home and have really enjoyed my trips back to Fresno the last few months to get the house ready. With the help of my Dad, my brother and my sis-in-"love", we have replaced all the carpet in the living room and hallway with dark laminate wood floors and also repainted all the main rooms of the house. We also had the backyard done (which was previously all dirt) so now we actually have a patio and sidewalk and soon will have grass and sprinklers (which I know Audrey will appreciate!).

Pictures of my our house "in progress"

(My brother and sis-in-"love")

The floors are all in now, but there is still a lot to do: painting all the trim white, installing the baseboards, painting the doors, etc. I'm in Fresno now and am praying I can get it all done tomorrow so it will all be done before we move in.

Oh and the cement in my back yard which I'm so very happy about!!!

The grass will come next week but my flowerbeds and trees will have to wait for fall since Fresno's 110 degree summers aren't conducive to planting.
I'd better get packing.... only 8 days left...

Albania here I come...

A few months ago our church asked for sign-ups for people who are interested in going on a mission trip this summer. And I signed up! I knew that with the 6 or so baby shower I would have to go to this summer and one that I’m hosting, that I really want something else to focus on.

I was so excited when one of the pastors called me today and asked if I want to be a part of the Albania team! The really cool part is that my pastor at Grace Place in Fresno, the one who married Alex and I, is leading the team and bringing two Life students. Our church up here, East Bay, is going to send 6 people - so I get to be a part of both of my church’s mission teams! What a great way to transition back home. I'm so excited!

As of now, I know that I will need ot raise $2400 and we are going June 26-July 10. We will be working with the full time missionaries that are working in that community. More details will come later.

Praise the Lord! I'm so excited about what God has in store for me!

Bad blogger

I've been a horrible blogger lately. I think because I feel like I have nothing to write about. Well, actually I have a few things I want to write about, but I'm waiting to see if they pan out... does that leave you in suspense?


Mainly I've been really busy with school and work. My current class, Old Testament Foundations, is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, but so worth the work. I'm learning so much and loving every (ok, maybe not every) minute of it. I think its good that the classes are hard - no one wants a pastor teaching on something that they don't understand. This is giving me a wonderful foundation for wherever God decides to lead us in ministry.

Work has been going pretty good. I end up spending the entire day I have to work trying to prep for my classes, so that’s been frustrating. Still, it’s been a good way to keep up with my skills. I’m a better decorator than I was 3 months ago. When I’m actually teaching, I love it. It’s the paperwork and prep that is starting to wear me out!

10 more weeks until we move back to Fresno, and I'm so ready to be home. It’s hard to believe that just 2 years ago Alex was finding out he got into Med School and we were going to be leaving. Time went by much faster than I thought it would.

Well, that’s a short update for now. I have a sermon outline due tonight (actually it was due Sunday!) that I need to get back to work on.

I'm growing

School is changing me.

For one, its kicking my butt. I'm taking Old Testament Foundations right now and having to do a 3-5 page position paper and working on my exegetical class project each week (don't you just love the word exegetical? It just sounds hard!) I've gotten straight A's so far (that has never happened in my LIFE!) but this class may be the one that breaks that streak - I'm about a week behind trying to play catch up.

But I love it. I've never loved anything so much that has been so hard to do. I'm reading the Word and understanding it. I'm leading bible studies. I'm preparing sermon outlines. I'm going to be a pastor.

Yep, thats right. I'm going to be a pastor. Its finally sinking in. Its strange for me to realise that this is my call. I always thought Alex was going to be a pastor. Nope. God had a different plan for him. And for me.

I still don't know where it's going to lead. I don't think I'm supose to know right now. But I'm excited about what God has in store for me.

When everything is uncertain around me I know that Christ is the rock I can stand on. I feel at peace. He shows me grace and mercy. I am His beloved. And its finally sinking in...