I scream, you scream

He probably would have taken another turn around the block, but must have gotten nervous when Garrett pulled his camera out. He was blaring music and everything.

Would you buy ice cream from this ice cream truck?

Didn't think so.

Addendum

I feel like I need to say how much I am loving Garrett's fourth year of medical school.

The thing that got me through third year was looking forward to fourth year... and it has proven to be everything I expected! Ellie was born during Garrett's week long summer break, so Garrett was able to be home with me during that time. Then, his first (July) rotation was doing radiology research, and he would be home most days by 10:00 a.m.! Sure, he brought a lot of work home, but he was around and able to help me out, which was such a blessing. Then, he had all of August "off", which gave him time to study for his Step 2 Boards. Again, it was wonderful for me that he had a flexible enough schedule that I could rely on him to be around when I really needed him to be. September has been nice too - it's pretty much 8-5. Love it!

Garrett also has all of December "off" so that he can travel to his interviews, and then he will be technically done with school in March (he's taking April off as well... he could choose any 3 months to take off and he chose August, Dec, and April). My imagination is already running wild with what I want to do during those 3 months off (April, May, June) before he starts residency next July. Of course, we'll most likely be moving, but still... we ARE going on vacation, JUST THE TWO OF US! For one whole week. Garrett, consider yourself notified. I don't care what it takes, but it's happening.

In my last post, I was trying to get the point across that life just never seems to slow down. There is always something on the horizon - things to be worried about, things to look forward to, things that are stressful, things that are unknown and exciting. It just never ends! But without all those things, life would be pretty boring, I think.

Now we can relax!

When Garrett and I first got married, he was already starting to think about the MCAT (entrance exam for medical school), and getting stressed with picking the right classes that would best prepare him to take the test. The next summer, he spent nearly all his time studying and I remember thinking, "I can't wait until this test is over, then we can just relax and move on with our lives!"

But then the scores came in, and Garrett decided to go ahead and apply for medical schools right away, instead of taking a year off in between. So, we hurriedly got everything together, secured letters of recommendations, paid a lot of money, and waited for the letter to come. It was an extremely stressful time in our lives because Garrett was a late applicant, and he wasn't going through BYU's committee (BYU pretty much told him he would never get in any school without the committee, but we went for it anyway). Garrett was so worried that he wouldn't get into medical school, and then he would have no idea what to do with his life because he had grown up wanting to be a doctor.

Finally, the letter came saying that Garrett had gotten into medical school, and I remember thinking, "There, it's done! Garrett is definitely going to be a doctor, we know that. Now we can just relax and move on with our lives!" I knew it would be stressful and that I would never see him, and I expected the worst and hoped for the best (I do that a lot in my life... it's worked out well for me).

Then school started, and to be honest the first year wasn't too bad. He even had a summer break the next year, so we were able to spend evenings together after he got out of work. Second year started out well, too, but then the Step 1 Boards started looming over him, and the stress started up again. He studied non-stop, and sometimes didn't come home from the library until it closed. When he was home, he was studying. It wasn't a very fun time. I remember thinking, "When this test is done, everything will be just fine and we can just relax and move on with our lives!"

Then the test was over. He had a 2 week summer break that year, which was a great time for him to relax and de-stress from the test. Then third year started, and he was working in the hospitals and various clinics. And to be honest, third year wasn't too bad for me. I know he clocked in a couple of 120-hour weeks, but he averaged about 60-70 hours a week so it wasn't too bad. I remember thinking, "This is great! Garrett's enjoying what he's doing (for the most part), and now he just needs to figure out what kind of doctor he wants to be." We started thinking about residencies (additional training that he must complete after graduation, anywhere from 3-7 additional years).

Then he decided. And, I suppose that I should have known that Garrett would not choose something easy. He wouldn't specialize in something that has 1000 residency spots and only 900 applicants. He also wouldn't do something that only requires 3 more years. No, Garrett wants to do radiology, which is extremely competitive - as if we need more stress in our lives!

And so, applications to residency programs have been sent. He has applied to 45 different programs in various states - Arizona, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South/North Carolinas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Ohio. Not only is he applying to radiology, however. He is required to complete a "preliminary" year, so he applied to 30 of those programs too (it's pretty much a year of working in various places in the hospital, similar to what he is doing now... I think it's just a way for hospitals to get more cheap labor before they become board certified). Ideally, he will get a preliminary position in the same place he will be for radiology, so we only have to move once.

And that's what's happening here. Naturally, I am thinking that "once this is over, and once he gets a radiology position, then we can just relax and move on with our lives." However, I know by now that that's just never the case, and there will always be something looming over us. That's just been our life for so long that I can't even imagine a life where something isn't constantly looming over our heads.

If you are still reading this... now you know what we've been up to lately! We are anxiously awaiting invitations for Garrett to interview at the various locations. With 45 applications out, he's hoping to get 12-15 interviews (for radiology alone). So far he has one radiology interview in Knoxville in November, and a few interviews for preliminary positions (one in SC, one in NC).

So yes, life is busy and stressful right now... add to that an infant who won't sleep (and wants to be held ALL DAY), and a two-year-old who refuses to be potty trained. Isn't life great? :)

5

I can't believe I've been lucky (and blessed) enough to have been married to this guy for FIVE years now. I think we'd both agree that it hasn't always been blissful, but marrying him has definitely been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Thanks for the first five years, honey! Here's to 50 more...

One fish, two fish

Last week Garrett and I met up with his family in Atlanta to go to the Aquarium. It's the world's largest aquarium and rightly so - I think the whole world was there (we went on a Saturday).

It was a long day - we were out the door by 8:30 because we were scheduled to meet up with everyone at 11 outside the Aquarium. Everyone was there on time (despite our little accident in the parking garage when Garrett rear-ended someone!) and we were ready to roll! Even Ellie was excited.

We had a great time, and it was really nice to spend time with the family. Abby just loves fish, so she was in heaven. I would love to go back someday during the week when it's not so crowded.

Here are some pictures of the day. Garrett hasn't had time to photoshop any of them so you're seeing the real deal!

I loved the jellyfish

We got to tour the Titanic. Don't I look like Kate Winslet???

Tunnel o' fish (more like sardines, the way we were PACKED in there!)

This shark swam right over us!

I think sting ray faces are weird

This was my favorite part - a HUGE wall of fish! I sat in the back of the auditorium and nursed Ellie and listen to the music - it was so relaxing! Also, all day I had been looking around for double strollers (I'm on the market for one), and here I saw a lady pushing a 5-seater stroller! And I thought my single stroller was big...

When Abby saw this face she pointed to it and said, "Jackie!" Classic.

It was a long, wonderful day.

Ellie and Jackie. Clearly, Jackie looks nothing like that creepy face.

Best bread ever

Garrett gave me the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for Valentine's Day. I asked for it, promising that my gift to him would consist of... well, bread. One of my goals for this year was to master the art of baking artisan bread.

This bread is amazing. The book is amazing! The authors tell you exactly what to do in order to get the kind of bread you would expect to get. It took some practice, but I think I finally got it down (the main recipe, anyway. I haven't branched out too much from that yet).

Looks great, doesn't it?? It tastes even better than it looks.

Sisters

No denying it!