Married to medical school

Everyone is doing it

2009-01-22T13:20:00.012-05:00

I'm usually not the one to do something just because everyone is doing it. That can be good and bad.

Anyway, I am very fond of this new craze of wall vinyl and decided to do it even though everyone else is.

In case you didn't know, there are people on my beloved etsy that will make just about any custom vinyl you can think of. I wanted two.

The first was easy. Our foyer is very narrow and so hanging photos on the wall is not really an option as visitors would bump them every time they passed through.

So I purchase this custom welcome sign that nobody can knock off the wall. It's three feet long.

The bedroom was tougher. Big Honey and I could not agree on what should go over our bed.
In case I haven't said it lately, I'm madly in love with my husband. And after 8 years things are still, well, spicy. So I wanted something that represented our relationship.

I found part of a quote that I just loved...

The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you ~Maulana Jalalu'ddin Rumi

Big Honey said he didn't want something with that many words. I asked what he would like and after some thought, he came back with this.

Ummmm, VETO.

We settled for something sweet. It's over 5 feet accross, bigger than it looks in my crooked photo.
(I think I will frame some of the red fabric from the bedpillow and put it at each end of the saying.)

So, given 5 words or less, what would you put over your bed?

My big (baby) boy

2009-01-16T09:55:00.006-05:00

Our sweet boy turned four on Wednesday. I asked him what would make his big day special.

He wanted Mickey Mouse choc. chip pancakes for breakfast. No problem.

He asked if he could go all the way down to the Chelsea Treehouse. The frozen roads, several pile-up accidents and a crazy detour didn't stop us and the kids had so much fun!

Daddy told him he could have dinner anywhere he wanted and Tommy said he only wanted daddy's homemade tortillas and shrimp fajitas.

A few fun gifts from us and Gigi and Poppa.

At bedtime, he asked if four year olds could still be rocked or if he was too big now. I love this boy so much my heart hurts.

Here's to Amanda (and Molly) :o)

2009-01-10T17:27:00.005-05:00

Today some great ladies gathered to celebrate with our friend.

A friend who has waited a long time for this little girl.

We could not be happier for you and Jeremy.

I'm so honored to host a little party celebrating Molly.

Her name is perfect. It looked so joyful on my wall.

We can't wait to meet her.

My romantic friend.

2009-01-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

The February/Valentine's issue of Romantic Homes is out and my friend Lidy is a featured romantic!

She collects and sells the neatest little pretty things and can photograph them like no other. Lidy you rock!

Merry and Bright

2008-12-29T12:41:00.009-05:00

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright. What was the best part for you?

We always stay in our jammies all day on Christmas and eat too much. Glorious.

The photo does not do the huge pile of gifts justice. About 10% of the gifts are from Big Honey and I. The rest were brought in by family, They feel the need to spoil us because of medical school. We really did try to talk them out of it.

Excited about new shoes! Such a sweet boy.

All she asked Santa for was a white pony.

Aunt Shel gave them a huge arcade basketball game like they play at chuck e. cheese. They LOVE it.

With us cutting back so much because of the budget, our family jumped in and WAY OVER DID IT. We received an all expense paid trip to crystal mountain resort for a summer trip with the kids. They have some amazing stuff to do.

Also, an annual pass for four to EVERY natural history museum in the country! I did not know they existed. There are several near where we stay in Florida each winter and I was complaining that there is nothing FREE to do when it rains. Now we can hit the museums every time!!!! The kids love the South Florida Museum because they want to visit snooty every time we drive by.

We had friends Amanda and Jeremy join us on their last Christmas day as a family of two and they brought their Wii. We played until 3:30 am!

Our friend Charice and her man, Adam, came over to show us her new beautiful DIAMOND RING and to talk about wedding plans!!!

We are so blessed. Not because of the stuff, but because of all the loving people around us. I truly hope you are blessed in that way too.

PS. Chrsitmas Eve in Yale. Each family picked a spot to sit and Mom and Dad piled gifts on us. They always do so much. Tommy won a shrimp tray during our annual "greed" game and was so excited!

The Big Company Christmas Party

2008-12-20T15:38:00.008-05:00

We were invited to a big Christmas dance that the hospital emergency room put on. Since we are on a budget, I decided to wear a dress that I bought for a Christmas party a few years ago. Since I wore it right after having two babies, it was quite big in a few places so I took it to get altered.

Here is the dress I wanted to wear. Who doesn't want to look like they are wrapped in Christmas ribbons?

So I head over to a seamstress shop I have driven by several times. I walk in and the seamstress is working in the back. She finally comes up to a window opening and yells "YOU TRY ON!" at me.

I look around and see a dark alcove, feel around for a light and pull a little curtain.

I come out and she grabs me and hauls me in front of mirror. (I admit I looked silly in my cocktail dress, knee socks and wooly crocs) She barks "What you want". I explain I actually had a chest and larger hips when I last wore this dress.

She began yanking on my dress so hard that I had to spread my feet out and bend my knees to keep my balance. She pushed and pulled and threw my arms around with so much force, I stood there (still in my football stance) thinking that I was being punked and a camera crew was about to make themselves known.

After a few adjustments so I could breath, she says "SEVENTY FIVE DOLLAR". I really couldn't believe it. I began telling her that I had no idea that alterations were so much and I'm so sorry I wasted her time. "YOU NO WANT?" I tried to explain that my husband is in medical school and we are on a tight budget and... "YOUR HUSBAND? NO, HE NO IN SCHOOL, HE OLD!"

The way she said old was really drawn out and sounded like OOHHHH-HOOOLD.

She pulled pins out more violantly than she had put them in, pushing me around to get to all of them. I stood in the mirror with my hands over my face mumbling something about a second career and not really being that old.

I darted into the dressing room and put my winter layers on as fast as I could while listening to " HE NO IN SCHOOL, HE OLD. HE OHHHHHHHLD!

I grabbed my dress and ran out of the shop. By the time I got home I could see the crazy humor of the situation and laughed about it.

Every thing in my closet also needed to be altered. I wan't sure what to wear.

My sweet husband surprised me and dropped me off at JCPenney with a "merry Christmas" and a hundred dollar bill. (and 15 minutes!)

So, I went to the big Christmas party in a little black dress off the clearance rack ($33), $5 dollar earring, 8 year old shoes, a $2 blinged out hair clip and felt like a million bucks.

I know, serious photo, but we were running late.

The First Gift of the Season (or When Oenophiles Go To Heaven)

2008-12-09T16:50:00.003-05:00

I have opened my first Christmas present already. My sweet friend Karen and I usually buy each other a ticket to a cool holiday wine event for our Christmas presents. I let her know that the new medical school budget just would not allow it this year.

Karen is so amazing that she paid for two tickets to an amazing champagne brunch in Ann Arbor because she said that I'm the one she wanted to go with, budget or no budget. I'm so thankful for her and for the fun grown up afternoon we had together.

The food was incredible, but I've only photographed the bubbly. (and that is only about half of it!)

THank you Karen, you are a blessing and you rock! Merry Christmas!!

Christmastime with preschoolers.

2008-12-05T10:11:00.007-05:00

This year is fun because it's the first time the kids are really REALLY excited about Christmas and all the things that go along with it.

I took them in their Christmas best to see Santa at the mall. THe display was adorable and the kids were dancing around while waiting for their turn on Santa's knee.

At the last second, Tommy freaked out a little (he is three) and needed much coaxing.

He ended up telling Santa what he wanted, but he did it with a fistful of my hair in his hand. Santa could not have been sweeter to them.

My mom took the kids to Canterbury Village and they had a blast with all the scenes they set up there. They love their days with Gigi.

Mom wanted to show me that she fed my kids in a bar. It cracked them all up. (isn't their Gigi beautiful?)

Thanksgiving: parts 1 & 2

2008-12-01T11:45:00.007-05:00

We had the joy of two thanksgivings. Here is part one in Yale at Big HOney's parents' house. IF I know my MIL and FIL, they most likely well up when thinking about how large the table needs to be these days (and you can only see half of the people). So. Much. Food. Things are never, ever lean there when it comes to mom feeding the fam. Is was so nice.

Part two was on Friday at my house. My side of the family was much smaller (and no one wanted to be photographed). I cooked while people shopped or made gingerbread houses and then we had a wonderful cozy little dinner. My dad, a man of few words, even made a little speech about how he's most thankful for the people at the table and, although he may not say it much, he loves us all very much. Wow. (It's one of those moments where you are touched, but a little afraid a speech like that will be followed with some bad news about someone's health or something. It wasn't, so it was an "awwww" moment)

This little one can't get enough of the snow.

He's special all right.

2008-11-26T15:03:00.004-05:00

Tommy's school has this little tradition of giving each child a day when they are "the special child". They decorate a little lamb with their favorite things (Tommy's had to wear a baseball hat because that is most definitely a favorite thing). The class listens to their favorite CD during playtime (veggie tales sing the 70's--car wash rocks on that one), hears their favorite book and lots of other little things. IT's so sweet because the kids really feels special, especially when the class sings to them.

P.S.

Let it snow!

We got an angel on devil's night.

2008-11-02T08:12:00.005-05:00

Our tiny girl was due on Oct 15th, but didn't bother to show up until devil's night. 5 years ago, we brought our baby girl home on Halloween day. This week was full of costumes and birthday treats. Has it really been five years?

This is Sophia's friend from preschool, Maggie. Maggie's mom left Sophia's birthday party and had a baby girl a few hours later!!!! Congrats Kim!

Sophia wanted pancakes on her birthday before school. She made them herself!

Preschool class all dressed up.

Sophia was tinkerbell to hand out Candy.

I was in another part of the house and I hear Tommy yelling "HOLLAH!" over and over again. I went to the front door and I see him handing kids candy and screaming Hollah at them. I asked why he was doing that. "Daddy told me to watch for kids and to holler when they are coming up the drive". I about died laughing.

playing catch up

2008-10-25T18:42:00.002-04:00

Just a few pics from the last few weeks...

A play date of SIX kids 5 and under. They had so much fun playing dress up and hanging out in the top bunk of Tommy's new bedroom.

Sophia's preschool had a field trip to an orchard. Here she is with her little friend Maggie with one of the orchard's horses and also on the hay ride.

Sophia and Tommy are loving gymnastics.

they love a parade

2008-10-12T16:44:00.004-04:00

My kids loved the Homecoming parade! They got to sit with their cousin, got WAY TOO MUCH candy and watched their big cousin fly over the parade a few times!

Photos courtesy of my mom :o)

Oh Baby.

2008-09-28T21:44:00.003-04:00

My sister and I threw a baby shower today for my cousin. It was a fun afternoon. Small and friendly and I think the little mommy enjoyed herself too.

We tried to customize it for her and we went with her nursey colors, sage and lavendar. We wrapped vases and the cake with ribbons and used purple/lavendar flowers for everything.

Nikki, we're so happy for you and we can't wait for Riley to get here!

Great Expectations

2008-09-25T12:32:00.005-04:00

I was listening to NPR last weekend on my drive back from my little trip up north. That's right, sometimes good Christian stay at home moms are closet NPR fans.

Anyway, there were some musicians talking about their work and one said "this song is about the time I learned a major life lesson, which is, If you are not happy, lower your expectations". I thought about that for quite awhile, even turning down their music which I was really enjoying.

I don't know what to think of it. I guess it can be true for some areas of your life. Big Honey is really busy right now and I have to be able to feel that our bond is still strong even though I get about a quarter of the time I used to get. I don't think I really changed my expectation though, since I still expect us to feel very close and connected. It's just I need to adjust my thinking so that the AMOUNT of time isn't as important as the quality of the interaction. I can see that James works hard to make me feel important when he has a few minutes to spare here and there. (thanks man). And I'm happy.

So, back to the NPR dude. I know he was kinda hoping to get a laugh, but do I really want to change my expectations? Not this medschool thing, just with life in general. Will that make things better? Me happier?

What do you think? Does met expectations = happiness? If not, which side of the equation needs adjusting?

Nothing like homemade

2008-09-21T19:39:00.006-04:00

I was up north this weekend and decided to try to make a homemade gift for my cousin who is about to have a baby girl. What do you think? Little Mary Janes made with 100% cotton yarn. The green pair is newborn and the pink is 3-6 months.

OK, they have a few flaws, but not bad for a first attempt. Hey, IT's the thought that counts, right? They're much cuter in person. ;o)

First day of school, part 2.

2008-09-16T16:16:00.004-04:00

Tommy had his VERY FIRST day of school today. He began the three year old program at Loving Arms and he LOVED it. His teacher said he was good as gold and never once called her "Babe" (you never know with this one).

When it rains it pours.

2008-09-14T13:31:00.005-04:00

I went downstairs this morning to get something out of Big Honey's office and stepped into a swimming pool. Our basement was totally flooded. We waded around to check the damage and everything looks pretty awful.

We have a clean up crew here. They seem to think they will be able to save some things. We will have to drywall and carpet. We had two living room sets down there, but some irreplaceable things that make me want to cry; my great-grandpa's antique cherry wood Wurlitzer piano, the solid wood pool table my dad learned to play on when he was a kid... huge sigh.

We spent all summer making Big Honey's office a very comfortable place since he was going to spend so much time in there. Remember, he headed down there yesterday after playing with the kids? It's gone. He had picked out some gorgeous wood bookshelves that held all his stuff. He hung photos and set up an extra large desk to spread out all his books upon. Last night he got tired and laid on the floor with his books spread around him. They were still on the floor when he came up last night. Expensive books.

The kids great big bounce house was spread out down there because they needed a way to expel all their energy these last few rainy days. we can't lay it out to dry because it is still raining.

I'm sitting on the couch watching strangers carry huge contractor bags full of trash out to their truck. I don't know what's in them. I do know that yesterday it was not trash, it was our stuff. Today it is trash.

So, which costs more? A disaster crew or mold in your house? Our budget is crazy tight right now. We decided we had to spring for the crew (insurance may pay for some of this). The good news is our house doesn't leak, but we do seem to have a sump pump that shuts down if it runs too long. Good to know.

Medical School: The Good, Bad and Ugly

2008-09-13T10:54:00.005-04:00

In keeping with the title of my blog, I figured I should post about life so far as a medical school family.

The Good: Big Honey has aced his quizzes and tests (even Biochemistry). He has had to do A LOT of reading and studying, but it has paid off. Even when he walked out of the big Biochem test feeling like he had failed, it turned out he got a 94. These scores are really making him feel like he made the right decision.

Also, he joined the rec center at school and has been working out nearly everyday before school, even though it means leaving the house at 5:30. He's looking better, feeling better and impressing the heck out of his wife.

The Bad: Big Honey is tired most of the time. Between study time and the commute, he doesn't have much time for sleep.

I am feeling like a single mom. I have full responsibility for the kids and the household. It's an adjustment. I have to find a babysitter if I want to do ANYTHING at any time of day---even if it is the evening and Big Honey is home, because if he is in his office studying, he is "not here". That's a tricky one and I already have to work hard against letting resentment build up. I know I agreed to this, but it doesn't make it easy or fun.

The UGLY: Because of how the school scheduled his required study groups, Big Honey does not make it home until 9pm on Tues., Wed, Thurs. He calls as he is leaving campus to tell the kids goodnight and hear about their day. That works on Tuesday, gets frowns on wednesday and by Thursday lunch causes bawling kids that want to see their dad and are whiny till bedtime. On Thursday night, they talk to daddy, but cry after they get off the phone.

I've signed them up for evening activities on these nights to distract them. I hope that helps some. I'm not sure which is worse, sad kids who haven't seen their dad, or kids who have adjusted to not seeing their dad and don't even notice the gaps anymore. We'll see if we even get to that point.

Big Honey does make a point to spend time on the floor with them when he has a day off. Today he has already played Candy Land, reveled in Chocolate Chip pancakes, filled and refilled squirt guns and cuddled during cartoons. The kids beam as though they already understand how precious these hours are. Daddy is back in his office now with the door closed until dinner time--he has promised to eat with us and play another game before bed. (I have also been promised an hour or two after the kids go to bed).

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So there you have it; Midlife in medschool. It's tricky. Not always fun. And we'll be OK. Really.

Sophia's first day of school

2008-09-09T14:22:00.005-04:00

Sophia started 4 year old preschool today and couldn't be happier. I was the parent helper today and it was nice to see how they do things at her new school.

(Nikki and Amy, Sophia saw Grace and Kendall in the hall as they got off the bus and they did that school girl scream that is accompanied with running in place and flapping their hands in front of them--it was funny!)

PS Medschool update. Big Honey had his first big exam (physiology) and aced it! He sat at the table as I gushed about his score and he said "maybe, I really do belong in medschool". YAY for the class old dude!!!!

Tommy, the 3 year old ladies man

2008-09-03T07:58:00.004-04:00

Mumma, can I have TWO TA TA TA TWOOOOO scoops of ice cream cuz I've been so good, PLEEEAASE?

Sure, Honey, you really have been sweet today.

Thanks, Babe.

Did you just call me Babe?

Yeah, you're smokin' hot.

(Blushes like a school girl)

(Walks away with three scoops of ice cream)

More Lilypad

2008-09-01T21:41:00.001-04:00

Here's the rest of the photos.

How do you choose?

Picture day with Lilypad

2008-09-01T08:29:00.008-04:00

Last month we had a photo shoot with Lilypad PR and last night we got to see the results. She captured my kids' spirits so amazingly well and I know I will cherish these forever.

Here are a few of our favorites (with her permission). I can't figure out how to embed the slide show of all of them, so if you would like to see them all, please click the lilypad link. She's very talented, I highly recommend her.

I have about 26 more favorites, this is just a sample of them.
Amanda, you rock.

The man in the White Coat

2008-08-25T08:53:00.007-04:00

Sunday, Big Honey matriculated into the College of Human Medicine. It's called the White Coat Ceremony since it is when the students get their coats put on them and are officially "student doctors" from that point on.

MSU did a wonderful job with the cermony. The faculty took time to really let the students know that they are special and were each chosen for a reason and that this is a very important day. I cried.
So, Big Honey walked accross the stage of the Wharton Center and crouched down so a faculty member could help him into a fresh new white coat. I've seen him in a white coat several times before since he's worn one for 5 years in his practice, but this was different somehow. He's helped people for years, but this is a new level of service he is embarking on.

I'm so proud of him. His parents beamed and his dad made the sweetest speech at the dinner his parents hosted after the ceremony. Everyone had tears in their eyes and then we all ate til we couldn't move.
(photo of Big Honey, with me, his mom, dad, sister, SIL and brother)

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.PS Special thanks to The Walkers for spending the whole day with our kids so we could focus on the day. The kids had a great time with you and can't wait to see you again!

Big Honeys First day of School

2008-08-17T09:26:00.006-04:00

So Big Honey started medical school yesterday.

He had a dream about two months ago that it was going to be like field day in elementary school. We've been laughing about that for weeks. He'd say "only three weeks til school" and I say "are you practicing up for the Frisbee toss?".

It's been a running joke. Being a big dude, I told him he'd have no problem making friends, cuz everyone would want him on their team for tug-o-war.

So, what was the first day of medical school really like? I'm sure you are all just itching to know what the doctors of the future do the very first time they meet as "student doctors".

Turns out, they have a field day!!!! No joke! James says they played games like jumprope race, blind tanks, nose jousting (ewww) and bunch of other stuff. Can you believe that?

If you ever need to see Big Honey at his practice in ten years, you can take great confidence in his qualifications because back when he was in medschool, he WON the jumprope race. See, he's already at the very top of his class. He's gonna make an awesome doctor.

Leap Of Faith

2008-08-14T08:11:00.008-04:00

Last night, Big Honey and I sat up and talked about Friday being his last day of work. How living off our savings and the occasional shift in the ER was going to work out.

So last night I dreamed a total cliche. But it was so vivid, that I can't shake this eerie feeling this morning.

We were standing on a very high cliff and preparing to jump off. James looked at me and said "I've got the baby, you have Sophia?". You can tell it was MY dream because I'm the only one that still calls our 45 pound Tommy boy 'the baby'. Then James started to count.

Now it's one thing to take a huge leap of faith with your life when it only affects you, when only you might suffer from a wrong decision. But I stood on that cliff last night and looked down at tiny little toes hanging off the edge next to mine. This is their lives too.

I started to panic. Below the cliff was only fog. I couldn't see the bottom to make sure it was even a place I wanted to be, should we survive the fall. I wanted to scream at James 'how can you promise to catch us when you are jumping right along side us?'.

I guess I know that, in the end, it's not him who I'm banking on being down there with a catcher's mitt, or giant inflatable, or trampoline or SOMETHING. I do believe God allowed this to happen and has already showed his hand in it. I mean, come on, mystery money paid for his first year!

So, I tighten my grip on my babies and squint through the fog. James finished his count to three.

But here's the thing. In the dream, when we jumped...

...I smiled.

God Bless The U.S.A.

2008-08-11T08:03:00.004-04:00

After hearing ALL DAY about the French talking smack about our relay team, I decided to stay up and watch to see what happens. I thought if something crazy happened and we won, I'd like to see it. HOLY COW!!! Did you see it?

Sitting there on the bed next to my sleeping Big Honey, I figured the French were right. They were ahead for the whole race, sometimes quite a bit ahead. They had it in the bag and then, what's this, are you kidding me? I hit my head on the chandelier over our bed. The very last length of the pool showed the American Spirit. It was amazing! I was jumping on the bed and screaming.

They did it. It was beautiful! I'm so glad I stayed up.

Big Honey's Big Night

2008-08-09T08:52:00.004-04:00

Big Honey wanted to spend his last weekend before school starts with his friends.

So, we fed a lot of them last night and everybody hung out in our backyard til late.

The fire felt SOOOO good.

Our awesome friends Mark and Rhonda brought their sound system and karaoke was awesome!

Everyone is so proud of James and it shows. We love you man!

Splish Splash

2008-08-07T10:40:00.004-04:00

I met up with my sweet friend Nikki at the Splash Pad in Grand Blanc. She brought her fun neighbor Kristi and our six kids had a blast.

Bunko babes

2008-08-04T22:27:00.014-04:00

I love my bunko league! We are roudy (well I am) and lots of fun(well they are).

Here's the girls tonight at my sister's house.

I've included a pic of Shel's awesome chinese food display for you to drool over.

See you next month at my house girls.

For Lidy

2008-08-02T14:35:00.003-04:00

For Lidy, for inspiring me to try my hand at roses.

And also for Mel, my sweet MIL for actually buying the bush for me. (that's right people, SWEET MIL, it is possible and I got one)

Dancing in the streets.

2008-07-31T13:42:00.006-04:00

We had our annual neighborhood party. It was a cowboy and indian theme and everyone had a blast!
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.Our association VP was "big Chief of the grill".

.We danced in the courtyard for hours and then yours truly won the LIMBO contest (it got a lot lower than that)! What a fun night!

Oh what a night!

2008-07-30T10:27:00.008-04:00

. . . . . . . . . ... . . . PLUS
. . . . . . ...............EQUALS

A really fun night!

If you STILL haven't seen this, you should. Also, if you don't have a friend from Oklahoma, you should get one of those too.

America's Rockin' Roller Coast

2008-07-25T13:22:00.002-04:00

We went down to Sandusky Ohio on Wednesday and Thursday to visit Cedar Point. The kids are just now tall enough to ride most little kids rides. They loved it and since my folks and Aunt Shel don't ride rides anymore, they LOVED spending time in kiddie land while mommy and daddy tackled the monster coasters.

Finders Keepers

2008-07-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

I was doing some deep cleaning this weekend and found this photo of Sophia I thought I had lost. It was taken when she was one. It is a black and white with the color hand painted on top of the photograph.

SOOOO happy I found it! Come on now, isn't she sweeeeeeeet?

Pennies from Heaven

2008-07-14T10:07:00.001-04:00

We logged into Big Honey's financial aid package and a $5,000 grant was just sitting there! It wasn't in his original package and we haven't received any notification that we were awarded any of the scolarships we wrote for. No e-mail, no snail mail, no phone call, nothing. Just free money sitting there unexpectedly.

Sure seems like someone is looking out for us.

YAHOOOO!

Picture perfect 4th.

2008-07-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

Every year for the last TWENTY years, we have headed up to George Lake for the 4th of July. This year just seemed so perfect. Maybe it's because the kids are old enough to appreciate the fun little things. Maybe it's because there are lots of grown ups to help with the kids. Perhaps it's just because this is the first year without diapers, but it was idyllic. Truly a great weekend with family and tons of food.

There was a family of endangered loons on the lake this weekend. If you have never heard loons call, it is a haunting and memorable sound. It gives you chills. Here is my favorite pic of the weekend. The kids are watching the loons with their Uncle Pop.

Super fast boat rides made the kids' day! (Aunt Shel and Aunt Terri too)

We were the luckiest family at the parade because spiderman wanted to sit with us.

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The small town of Rose City puts on an Amazing fireworks display. It lasts 25 minutes, I don't know how they do it.

The lake association had some great events for the weekend. Big Honey helped the kids decorate their bikes for the bike parade. They had a riot and Sophia won third place--SIX whole dollars!!!!!

Then the association had a golf cart parade. The families really worked hard to make hilarious little scenes. Aunt Terri had the funny idea of throwing candy AT the floats instead of getting candy. So my kids gathered up all the "rejects" from the real parade in town and flung it at the golfcarts as they went by. I wish you could have seen the faces on the families on the carts. I can't remember the last time we all laughed so hard. I don't think the kids will ever forget throwing candy at a parade.

Peddle boats rides with Gigi and Aunt Terrilynn. At least someone is working off all the food we ate this weekend.

Floating is a staple up on the lake. We grab a bunch of rafts, a rope, an anchor and ocasionally our favorite spiked lemonade and we just float and chat. (and pray that we are not run over by water skiers)

... The kids could not have been more excited when Uncle Pop pulled out two tiny fishing poles. They fished off the dock for hours and caught enought for dinner!

No up north weekend would be complete without Smores.

Killer weekend fo sho!

Bobble Docs

2008-06-30T12:37:00.000-04:00

Big Honey and his friend John went to a medical conference in Las Vegas in May. These things just came in the mail last week. I can't believe what an awesome job they do with them. Big Honey's bobble head looks a lot like him, but John's looks EXACTLY like him!

The best part is that I have a little James that nods along and maintains eye contact no matter what I want to talk about.

Love the island life

2008-06-26T13:18:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend on Mackinac Island and it was AMAZING! If you ever get the chance, stay at the Iroquois, there is just nothing like it. (it's expensive, but we so lucked out because James' office paid for our trip since he had an orthopedics meeting on the island)

Heaven.

I spent the days with some girlfriends bumming around the shops and eateries and in the evenings, we were invited to fancy coctail parties where important people mingled and the lowly likes of me tried to figure out who had the most silicone in their bodies. It was fun.

Here is the view from our room. Just left of the view was a small island with a lighthouse on it. It was cool to watch at night. I read a large portion of The Book Thief on our deck. I highly recomment this book!

Here is the front of the inn. If you are not familiar with the island, there are no cars allowed, at all, anywhere. The horse and carriage passing through the last of the daylight in the photo is actually a taxi. Too cool.

While eating dessert (Michigan Cherry cobbler for the third time in two days) , the governor of our fine state strolled by! Yup, it's really her.

Well, that's our last trip for quite a while. Big Honey starts school in just a few weeks.

8 years today

2008-06-09T11:23:00.000-04:00

Today, June 9th, Big Honey and I have been married 8 years. Here's a glimpse of that wonderful day.

I love you, James. Here's to many MANY more.

Pie anyone?

2008-06-06T22:35:00.001-04:00

The grocery store had huge strawberries today. Bigger than normal. So I just had to make more pies. If I truly went in to dream chasing mode, I am not even sure what I would do, but it might include fruit pies. I could make them all summer.

(no photos this time, they were too quickly eaten)

picture day

2008-05-31T20:44:00.000-04:00

Today was picture day for the kids' 3 and 4 year old co-ed teeball league. Just so cute. Sophia doesn't seem to mind being the only girl.

. Oh yeah, they're rocking the skater socks!

Hippie knows best

2008-05-29T12:53:00.000-04:00

I've been getting sick of my white hairs' growing numbers. I went from about 5% white to about 35% white over just a few months. I can't use chemicals because of my asthma, so I thought I was stuck.

Someone suggested henna. Like hippie henna? Like long haired 70's love child henna? I scoffed, then researched. Turns out people have luck with the stuff covering white hair.

Here's my white streaked hair. The white hair won't lay right cuz it's all wirey. My hair was thick and poofy and looked old.

So I ordered some henna from this henna guru lady on the net along with some indigo to darken it. These are just bags of pulverized leaves.

The leaves need to soak in acid to draw out the pigment, so I soaked them in lemon juice for 12 hours and my sister helped shovel this mud into my hair. I crossed my fingers and washed it out 4 hours later. I was quite surprised:

THe white stuff is GONE, and all of my hair is so shiny that I can hardly get a good photo of the color. My hair is so soft (even the crazy wired white ones)I can't believe it. Turns out this stuff is really healthy for your hair and you get complete and permanent color.

Leaves and lemon juice and nothing else! Who knew? Just thought I would share. http://www.hennaforhair.com/

It's a great day to be alive

2008-05-19T13:46:00.000-04:00

Saturday was such a good day!

My mom and I went down to Flower Day at the Farmer's Market EARLY in the morning. We had rhubarb pie for breakfast at the pie lady's stand. My mom got tons of compliments on her hair while we were sitting there and a few "Nooo, you just can't me mother/duaghter" which I could tell made her feel good. IT was fun and I bought these flowers and veggies plants:

Then I ran home to get the kids dressed for their teeball game and it was fun. Co-ed 3 and 4 year old teeball is a riot. See...

(opps, I can't get these photos from a different camera to load)

Then we made pies from scratch. It was fun and I got to eat pie for the second time today.

Then I went out for dinner and a movie with my girlfriend the Okiemo (that is a person from Oklahoma who now considers herself an Eskimo due to the frozen tundra that is Michigan). We had a wonderful yummy dinner and laughed our butts of at What happens in Vegas. We laughed so hard she snorted. SHE DID.

I apologize

2008-05-18T07:43:00.000-04:00

Wow, that last one was long. Sorry about that. :o) BIg Honey is in Las Vegas on a business trip and I miss him.

Stand by your man

2008-05-17T12:50:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've dwelt mostly on the changes we are making so that Big Honey can chase his dreams. I've mentioned how I feel about these changes, but not how I feel about him.

I'm proud of him. He found out he's passionate about sugery. I mean PASSIONATE. The alarm clock cannot go off fast enough on the days he is scrubbing in. He loves it enough to enter a class where he will be the "old dude". He loves it enough to spend sleepless nights with his books. Right now, he really doesn't have to bring work home with him--maybe a few charts to dictate, possibly a phone in prescription, but that's it. He's commiting to YEARS of being tired and overworked and pushed around to follow his dream.

I admit I did not warm up to the idea quickly. I'm not the best with change. The promise of future riches isn't terribly exciting to me (although the promise of AWESOME future travel is).

Here's why I'm so proud. White males have a strike or two against them when it comes to medical school admissions. Now factor in that his grades are TWELVE years old. Now imagine takng the MCAT with your knowledge of classes you took a dozen years ago. Then imagine writing the essay of your life about taking the long, LONG route to medschool. The odds were really against him and here's the kicker-he applied to one school. White males apply to an average of 27 schools over three years. He said trying only one school left the window open for God to move if he was suppose to go back to school. He would not try again next year.

So he sent in his stuff and I pretty much prayed against him. Well, what I really prayed was that God do the right thing for our family and I was sure that God sided with me on this.

I do conceed that as things started happening, I became more and more of a cheerleader. He did great on his MCAT--YEAH! Wrote some amazing essays ---RAH RAH!!! Landed an interview--G.O. Let's Go!!!! He was getting so nervous and full of anticipation that I couldn't help but root for him. He interviewed and as he told me about he conversations and the words that came out of his mouth-I just knew that his interviewers would recommend him. I was so impressed with what he had to say.

The admissions commitee met for the very first time about two weeks after his interview. Our phone rang late in the evening that night and the dean called our house herself and offered James the very first seat in the entering class. They weren't even one quarter of the way through interviews and they were sure they wanted him! We danced and laughed and tried not to wake the kids up. He did it. And I'm proud of him.

We know it will be hard. Time, money, energy will be in short supply. We are set on making it work. He says that the day school hurts our marriage, he will quit and go ask for his old job back. I believe him.

The other night he told me that when this is all done, he will get me a new wedding ring with a huge diamond. I wouldn't wear it, you know. It may be that I will be married to an orthopedic surgeon, but I'm still in love with the block layer who proposed to me 10 years ago.

joy overflowing

2008-05-16T07:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of those days where I was just plain happy. You've had them right? I received good news about a friend's health. The sun felt wonderful. Got a thumbs up on an endeavor that was meaningful. Had a personal experiment come out wonderfully. My hair even looked good for the first time in weeks.

I had 4 kids here ages 2, 3, 4 & 4 and they were great! Really! We laughed, had dress up tea parties, bear hunts and they barely made a mess! I chased them around the yard with my camera and got some pretty cool shots of my kids with their closest friends. And we laughed. Then we laughed some more.

What do you do on these days? Well, if you are me, you call some friends you want to laugh too. Then you leave laughter on answering machines, in e-mail boxes, on blog comments, fill voice-mails, bug a neighbor. All just to laugh more. It feels so good.

Then later you get to laugh more as you hear back from people. It's quite a curiosity to me that there is occasionally the person who wants to knock you down over silly unguarded words you toss around while laughing (pointing out that you said something stupid, looked like a dork, typed a phrase that was SOOO two years ago), but for the most part, humans enjoy unbridled joy in every form.

That's what it was, I think, unbridled joy. The kind that makes you bust out dancing in the kitchen--I mean getting down. A true gift when there are things that have been weighing heavily on your mind.

_____________________________

Also, I didn't mean to make light of all the people who are awesome enough to actually find pleasure in figuring out how to make the next years a little smoother for our family. I was getting a little choked up over the last post while writing it, so I ended with a joke. That's what I do.

To the rescue...

2008-05-14T08:10:00.001-04:00

I have a friend who was, in a way, down sized a few years back. I found his acceptance of a lower salary in order to keep the "business" afloat rather altruistic (even if he didn't have much say in the matter). Anyway, at a little meeting in his office, he was lamenting the loss of his coffee money. This struck a chord with me since I feel very strongly that it is the little things that keep us sain. I did what I could at the time, which was to leave some Tim Horton dollars on the seat of his car. I'm not sure if my teeny tiny rescue manuver made any impact on his "sanity" at the time, but it seems I collected some good karma.....

Here's why. I have several friends who have already promised to rescue my sanity when things get tight in the coming years.

Karen promises to swoop in with wine and child-free time at her posh pad anytime I need it. (and she has some good wine!)

Amanda promises to rescue me with fajita and margarita in hand when I can't afford to support that habit (she promised in WRITING on this blog, so I can SO hold her to it!)

Mark and Rhonda promise to take us on a weekend getaway when the walls are closing in. Rhonda will go anywhere that has a Sonic nearby.

Rhonda also promised to whisk me off to some live entertainment when I've gone months without any musical theater. That's right, I said musical theater.

My sister, Michelle (Aunt Shel to the most important people) plans to rescue me in more ways
than I can count. THANK YOU!

Parents, cousins, friends are all ready to offer FREE childcare when Big Honey and I can rustle up some time for each other and have splurged on renting a movie.

I am SO THANKFUL for the people planning to help us out before we even need help. One huge looming question does remain though....

Any takers on my golf habit?

Well, that's a load off...

2008-05-13T08:38:00.000-04:00

At Michigan State College of Human Medicine the students only attend the first two years in East Lansing. The third and fourth years are at one of many smaller campuses around a community hospital. Students may put in for their preference, but there are no promises.

The reason we applied to MSU (and only to MSU) was that one of their smaller campuses is in Flint. This means we would not have to move. We're making a lot of sacrifices for Big Honey's dream chasing, but moving is not one I am really up for. He filled out some extra forms that are available if there is a reason you NEED a certain campus and don't just prefer it. With lovely places like Grand rapids, Kalamazoo and the U.P. available, we didn't think there would be any showdowns for placement in Flint, but you never know.

We just received the placement and were assigned to the Flint Campus! That's really a load off. I can't imagine trying to sell our house right now with the market as it is. Most importantly, with Big Honey preparing to get REALLY REALLY busy, I didn't want to leave my friends and family who have plenty of time for me when I need them.

Another prayer answered by the big daddy upstairs. Thanks dude!

Set in our ways

2008-05-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: Since this blog is about my life at the moment, not all post will pertain to medical school.

My daughter's favorite color has been green all of her 4 years on the planet. Today on the way to nursery school, she said "look mom, that horse is my favorite color!". I quickly looked around for a green horse. I saw one lone horse in a field and he certainly was not green. I said "honey, I thought your favorite color was green". "Mommy, it was yesterday, but yesterday I didn't see a BEAUTIFUL swirly brown horse. Today I did see a beautiful swirly brown horse and so today swirly brown is my favorite".

I think I get so set my ways that if yellow is my favorite, then it IS my favorite and that is that. I will take lesson from my daughter and let coral be my favorite because I was brought coral tulips and they brighten the whole great room. Last week bright green should have been number one as leaf buds burst open. My favorite should have been blue when I was blessed with a baby boy with sky blue eyes. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll pick out a red dress I've always wanted because red is my favorite.

It's already started

2008-05-07T12:02:00.000-04:00

OK, so we're not middle age, but we ARE old for "starting over". I think it wouldn't be so scary if we didn't have kids. Kids take a lot of time and GOOD LORD are they expensive. (at least we are out of diapers-see God DOES answer prayer).

James doesn't start school until August, but I feel like we are already there. Even thought we still have money (read income), I find myself thinking about how I could save on an item or even do without it. I know in a year when I am jonesing for fajitas and a big margarita, I'll be kicking myself for not saving just a little bit more right now.

Also, I am getting rid of my huge white Yukon Denali. It eats gas faster than my kids can make a bag of goldfish crackers disappear. If I keep it, I won't be able to afford to go anywhere next year. It kind of stinks because I like how safe it feels, but the upside is that I can pretend that I am making the change as an effort to "go green". Now I can look down my nose at the people who still drive them even though I'm secretly wishing I could sit in their huge comfy seat.

Lastly, our carpet is shot from having hounds and toddlers and I want SO badly to use our little IRS stimulus check to get that icky stuff out of here. The saver in me knows I should just keep that little nugget in our savings account, but I am reminded about 32 times a day that our carpet is on it's last leg. I know it won't make it 5 more years and I have the money now...... this is tricky. I was just informed that the books needed for the first year of medical school cost the amount of our IRS check. If you come over, please tell me my carpet looks nice.

curveballs in middle age

2008-05-04T17:36:00.001-04:00

My husband and I are in our mid-thirties. He has decided to leave his profession (which affords a pretty sweet gig for myself and our two toddlers) and instead, give over $100,000 to MSU so he can attend their medical school.

This blog will be about how a whole family attends medschool because a daddy doesn't just take this trip (and it WILL be trippy) by his lonesome.

The games begin in August. Stay tuned.