August 5, 2009
Update Galore!
Wow- two months without a post! This is exactly what I said I wouldn’t do! The sad thing is that there isn’t a whole lot to catch up on. Don’t get me wrong, Chris and I have been busy- a little too busy at times as evidenced by my lack of blogging. But it has been with stuff that, to be honest, isn’t fun to write about. In other words- school, school, and more school! I am very thankful that we have both been given opportunity to pursue these careers because we both love them! But at the same time, school needs to be done with. We are ready for the next step. But here is a run down on the past couple month:
Externship: Chris is done with his first externship on Friday!!! This is just nuts to me. I feel like yesterday I was taking a picture of him going off to his first day (yes, I really did this!) of his externship. That was 10 weeks ago. But he has really liked his experience and it has been pretty neat just see his confidence grow more and more. He has even had people ask if he is going to be practicing back home because they would like to go to him! He has 3 more to go and the next stop is Alabama. He leaves in a couple weeks and I am dreading it to say the least. The longest we have gone without seeing each other is 2 weeks and that hasn’t happened in quite some time now. We should only have to go 5 weeks max based on him coming home half way through and me going down there at least once. I just can’t wait to have him back in Chicago with me, knowing we won’t go through it again. The upside of this, however, is that this is supposedly a very good rotation with excellent learning experience and will allow him the chance to see if he likes working for a Veteran’s Hospital.
Wedding: We actually have accomplished quite a bit the past couple month wedding wise. Save the dates are done, bridesmaid dresses picked out, tuxes picked out, etc, etc. I also have a shower coming up at the end of August so we are all registered as well. It is for Chris’ side and because his Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jake go away during the winter, she asked if it would be okay to have it early and I said absolutely. I am happy to spread things out because the last few months before our wedding are going to be so jammed packed with moving, school, and planning a wedding 3 hours away. This way, I can enjoy everything! The big day is now less than 10 months away and we are very ready for it to be here so we can start the next part of our life!
Non-school: We did the Late Ride again this year which is a 26 mile bike ride throughout Chicago starting at 1AM. We ended up riding 32 miles if you count the ride to and from our cars at Chris’ school. We plan on doing it as many times as we can again and again. We also just went on a canoe trip to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a friend. Now THAT was relaxing and made it hard to want to return to school on the following Monday. Chris has been playing softball 3 nights a week and this just lights his fire. He loves it! My life-long friend Beth will be coming home from California where she lives next week. It will so great to see her (haven’t since Christmas) and meet her boyfriend, Jason. One of my other very good friends, Val, just has a baby! Little Vera made her debut on July 23rd and couldn’t be more perfect. She really is just such a beautiful little baby and is so lucky to have the parents she has. They will be amazing!
I think that is about it but I know I am missing some things. I will definitely post on Chris’ adventures in Alabama and try to put pics up of more events. My computer is about to poop out and doesn’t like uploading pics. But I am getting a Mac soon (woo-hoo!) which will cooperate much better, I am sure. Prayers and thoughts for us are always greatly appreciated as we are heading into busier and busier months and approaching our wedding!
June 1, 2009
Engagement Pics!
Chris and I got engagement pictures back and I thought I would share our favorites! Go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2590159&id=1929801&l=5493825937 to see! I do have to say, I have one good looking future hubby! 
May 29, 2009
In 365 Days…
Chris and I get married one year from today. We have been engaged for around a year and a half already, so considering when we started out our wedding was 2 1/2 years away…one year sounds soooo good! Lots still to do, but what an amazing day that will be.
May 26, 2009
A Very Proud Aunt’s Brag Blog
My brother Kyle and his girlfriend Rachel recently watched our neice Sydney (who will be 3 June 4th…unbelievable!) and they got some hilarious videos of the little one with Kyle’s computer. These videos were wonderful to have during finals time for an instant smile. Chris and I have been around Syd a lot since being home and I cannot think of a better way to spend time off. She is just such a fun little girl and (I know everyone says this) sooooo smart! One day my mom was driving her to my parents’ house and my mom pointed at a field and said “Sydney look at the big tractor” to which Sydney replied “Nana…that’s a combine”. We know no farmers and have no idea where she got this. What a ham! Here are some videos of my favorite little red head!
Sydney giving shoutouts to her people. At the end you can here Kyle start to say “say hi to Uncle Chris” but Sydney cuts him off:
Short clip of the cutest laugh in the world:
Sydney discovering the effects on a Mac computer, and loving it:
Random story telling of an almost 3 year old with the phrase “clean up your room” being thrown in there for some reason. The way she says “ok” around 22 secs had us laughing for awhile:
BEST one of all! Sydney falls off Uncle Kyle’s lap and politely tells them she is alright:
May 20, 2009
Wonderful day…
I would just like to say that it is gorgeous outside. I am looking out of my living room window to a bright blue sky, trees full of bright green leaves, ducks playing in the fountain, a light breeze, and mid 70s- 80s temps. Chris is going fishing with his dad back home followed by a softball game, and even though I would like to be home right now, I get to spend the day on my patio reading what I want because I am done with school for almost a month. I can’t say enough how I appreciate days like this.
Chris and I both love what we are going to school for and we, at times, even love school. But I cannot tell you how many days we have not been able to just appreciate the day because we just wanted to get through it. I often wish time away too much. I just want this week to be over, I just want this quarter to be over, I just want this year to be over so we can get married….it happens all the time. And I really need to stop because even though we do have so much to look forward to, we don’t have it so bad now. And days like this remind me of that. Just thought I would share.
May 8, 2009
Definition of Sentimental…
This is Chris’ last weekend before he moves home for his 1st externship this Summer. And I am on an emotional rollercoaster. I don’t know if anyone understands just how sentimental I am….I mean I should seek help for it. I was driving up here tonight and on the way this honestly went through my head:
This is the last time I am going to be driving to his house. This is the last I am going to be stuck in Chicago traffic going to this house. This is the last time I am going to see the Sears tower while driving to his house. This is the last time I am getting off the Damen exit. This is the last I am going to put the orange parking sticker in my car.
And while we were sitting on his couch watching the Cubs (thanks a lot for blowing it tonight guys) I was thinking “this is the last time we are going to watch the Cubs on this couch, in this house”. Chris asked me to cut his hair, and guess what I thought…I don’t even have to say it. He has lived here for two years and all I keep picturing are all the great times we have had here. Chris starting his 4th year means we are one step closer to being married and having a life completely together, and for this I am gitty with glee! Oh the bittersweetness of it all!
Tomorrow Chris has his last final…ever! That is not something to be sad about. I will focus on that!
Tracking down the cause…
Being a future pediatric occupational therapist, I try my best to stay up to date on research with autism. I am not someone who believes vaccines trigger autism and have read more than enough research to back me up on that. I do, however, understand that when a child is diagnosed with a condition such as autism, a parent desperately wants to know and understand why this happened, I would feel the same exact way. Without standing on my soap box for too long, I just wanted to post these articles for anyone who cares to look.
This first one is a study I was told about by a friend who is in public health and is an article which disproves a link between autism and vaccinations in a very concrete, black and white way.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/california-stud/
This one was also given to me by another friend in public health (my roommate). This article is my favorite because I already know vaccines don’t cause autism…who doesn’t know about the numerous studies that have been done. But instead, this article discusses something even better- a possible cause! We can only do so much with “what doesn’t cause autism”. But getting closer to what does means knowing where to go with medical treatment and therapy (where I come in). I pray this leads to more advances and understanding.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/autism.brain.amygdala/index.html?iref=newssearch
April 27, 2009
Board scores are back, and….
CHRIS PASSED!!! I mean he really really really passed. As in…holy cow, is it possible to get that score passed!! He did soooo well and is just about to bust. When I talked to him I thought his voice was going to squeak from him being so pumped. I, on the other hand, have been completely and totally calm because I knew he would do so great. Okay, the last part istrue, but the first part is fabricated. I have been jumping up and down and squealing in the office where I work. That was the hardest part of the 3 sets of boards…what a relief for him!!! He works so hard and it is really starting to pay off for him. I am going to stop before I write a novel about all of this.
April 25, 2009
I want a puppy…
I am procrastinating and decided to look at funny dog videos (I badly want a dog) on YouTube and thought I would share:
We want a yellow lab when we get married and when I saw this video I couldn’t help but think we would end up with one like Bizkit. Haha, poor dog!
My parents have a dachshund so maybe that is why this one is funny to me.
One more year in the windy city…
My computer is, to put it lightly, about to poop out and I have been trying to get pictures up from the Shamrock Shuffle and other various activities we have been doing the past month, but they just don’t want to load. I will find some way (this is more a message for our parents ).
A lot of exciting things have happened the past month. Well, I should say one big thing because other than that it has just been school as usual. Chris and I have decided to stay in Chicago for another year after we are married. This all came up when Chris decided to do a residency and because of the hassle of changing my fieldwork to anywhere but Chicago from the Quad Cities, he is aiming to have his residency here. He is an awesome candidate for a residency and though nothing is for sure (they are very competitive) and we won’t know for about another 10 months if he is accepted into the residency here, I am totally (probably just a little from being biased) confident in him. So I switched my fieldwork to Chicago and there you go!
Basically what this residency would mean for him is that he would be considered a specialist in the field he further studies for another year after graduation. He is planning on going into primary care/ocular disease. He will have students working underneath him, will have to do research, and will teach a little bit. I think it would be so neat to sneak into the lecture hall and see him teaching one day.
We were at a Cubs game Wednesday night (which I also need to post pictures about) and I think I wore him down and convinced him to live in Wrigleyville so we can say we did. I would also like to thank Heidi’s husband for the help in convincing Chris as he talked it up for a while and put a big ole’ smile on our face about it. He was talking about taking their dog out on walks around Wrigley field and since we are planning on naming our dog Wrigley (once we get one), I thought, how appropriate!
Chris is done with classes in 2 1/2 weeks!!! Then he moves home and starts his first externship in Sterling, IL! I am not excited about him not living in Chicago for 6 months, but I am excited that he is moving on to the next step and we are that much closer to our wedding and just being married!
