Monday, April 12, 2010

I have no words...

Speechless. Except that if this is how I had to get to work everyday, I'm thinking I would be arriving either really, really early or really, really late! Can you even imagine this kind of "rush hour"? I thought I was on some uncomfortably crowded trains in NYC and Europe...nothing compared to this! I love that the one guy won't give up on getting the other guy in that cart! Think about what they look like when they get to work...someone else's lipstick on their shirt, someone's sweaty arm in their face. What's the point with hairspray? I can see myself walking into that train all fixed up for work and looking professional and then stepping off with my hair all stuck up in the air, makeup running because I was crying from being stuck under someone's smelly arm pit, face blue from lack of oxygen, jacket torn from obvious reasons... Maybe I'll drive happily to work on time tomorrow. :)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Med School Easters


Easter 2008 - Dominica

Easter 2009 - Key West (we are friends, as stated in the sign behind us) :)


Easter 2010 - Atlanta
Guess what?? Easter 2011 - Ryan will be finished with his rotations and will just be relaxing and waiting to graduate medical school!!!!
Ryan and I grew up spending each and every holiday with our families, so you might think that we would be sad when a holiday rolls around and we are not in our favorite state - Tennessee. Well, even though our number one choice would always be to be with our family, we are so, so blessed to have an island family to celebrate holidays with. I really do see them as that - family. Because, think about it...what is a family? A group of people you have been with through great times and not so great times, who wants the best for each other, who you can say whatever you want in front of and make an idiot out of yourself and it doesn't change their opinion of you, who prays for each other, and basically just loves each other! :) Families, whether by birth or by circumstances, are the biggest blessing in our lives!
"You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each deeply with all your heart." 1 Peter 1:22
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day in Atlanta! The weather was perfect and the excitement of Christ conquering death could be seen in everyone's smile. We didn't sing this song in church on Sunday, but it was ringing through my head all weekend:
Saviour, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
JESUS CONQUERED THE GRAVE
And that is why I will always be happy on Easter, whether I'm in Dominica, Key West, Atlanta, or the opposite side of the earth... Jesus.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Honestly??

Ok, honestly...

... somedays I wake up and wish I was back in Dominica
... I miss having a whole year of summer
... I miss baking bread
... I miss seeing the ocean every day on a regular basis
... I miss my Bible study group
... I miss driving our junky little car down the dirt trail to pick up Andrea
... I miss wearing sun dresses, flip-flops, no/very little makeup, and wet hair and it being completely acceptable. Encouraged, even.
... I miss RSO breakfasts, bunko, snorkeling, hiking, etc.
... somedays I wake up and wish I was back in Miami
... I miss walking up and down the Miracle Mile
... I miss our roof-top swimming pool
... I miss all the sweet people from church
... I miss living a few miles away from Rabbi, Lisa, and Adam
... I miss being tan
... I miss the culture
... somedays I wake up and wish I was back in New York
... I miss living in the middle of all the action
... I miss getting excited on Wednesdays when the cupcake truck came
... I miss having friends come visit every single weekend
... I miss wandering around museums and parks and chocolate stores
... I miss Rabbi & Lisa living one block over
... I miss the culture here too
... I do not miss living in a one-room apartment and listening to honks and sirens all night
... somedays I wake up and am so thankful to be in Atlanta, the closest to home I've been in 3 yrs.
... I remember praying for the day I would get to live a "normal" life again, but now I find myself missing the adventure
... I love living around people who say "ya'll", "ma'am", "sir", and who greet each other and open doors for each other. I also love the fact that nobody says "soda" or "pop". I'm back among my own people. :)
... I'm so thankful to have a job
... I miss my TN friends and wonder when I'll ever get to see them on a regular basis
... I miss my Ross friends and worry we will lose touch the further we get away from island life
... Ryan is my best friend. Thank goodness I get to take him with me on all these moves.
... I want to own my own bakery. I think I would love waking up and going to work everyday. I loved it on the island, even with no real tools, supplies, etc. I can only imagine it would be that much better here.
... now that I finally passed the CPA exam I feel like I need a new goal. I get bored not having something to work towards.
... I'm getting fat because I sit at my new desk job and eat chocolate all day and by the time I get home at night I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV.
... when I see myself in the mirror I do a double take and think "who is the pasty white girl looking back at me??". I had a pretty good tan going for about 3 years. It's long gone.
... I hate wearing boring, grown up clothes. I want to wear things that show my shoulders and toes.
... I can't wait for this week next year, when we will know where we are going for residency.
... I can't believe we are almost 75% through with this whole medical school thing.
... I can't believe all of the wonderful people and experiences God has put in our lives along the way to becoming Dr. Ryan
... I'm exhausted.
... I am itching for a hot, sunny day. My skin is begging to feel the sun.
... I am easily overwhelmed.
... I hate going to bed before midnight, but have to try because I also hate waking up before 9.
... I worry too much and pray too little
... I expect a lot out of myself. I expect a lot out of you, too.
... at the end of the day I have rarely accomplished all of the things I planned to accomplish at the beginning of the day
... I believe the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. - Galatians 5:6

And honestly, I considered deleting this rather than posting it because it's kind of boring, but I haven't updated in a while! :)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sweet 911 Phone Call

I heard this on the radio this morning and think it's the sweetest thing ever! Five year old Savannah saved her dad's life by calling 911. I think my favorite part (other than the little girl taking care of her dad) is that she is worried about what to wear. She's 5 and she is already worried about being dressed properly when guests arrive, even if they're rescue workers. :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Anybody out there??

Well, I think this is the longest break I've taken from this blog since I started it on the island 2.5 years ago. I'm afraid the exciting, daily posts I once had are behind me. I'm just a normal girl now, living back in the South and going to work. Boring. You don't want to read about that. I wouldn't want to read about that if I were you. But, since you seem to be reading right now, let me catch you up. We moved to Atlanta the first weekend in January and Ryan began his OBGYN rotation (which he will complete tomorrow). We love our condo and our location. Our condo is more than 3x the size of our NYC apartment and it is also 1/2 the rent! Woo-hoo! Oh, and our closet is literally bigger than our NYC kitchen was!! Yes, it is. We've still been keeping very busy, in fact, this past weekend was the first weekend that Ryan and I have been by ourselves since Thanksgiving. Doesn't that seem crazy?! We've either had company or we've been visiting others every weekend since Thanksgiving. Now that we are settled into a city with no plans of moving (we are here until at least graduation in May 2011) I'm kind of missing the feeling of adventure I had when we were always on the go. We are definitely happy to find a sense of normalcy and are super glad to be southerners again! So, it's back to work for me. I started my new job 2 weeks ago as an auditor for a local public accounting firm. We currently have no trips planned, to anywhere. That, literally, has not been the case in 3 years. I'm REALLY missing a lot of people too. Not only are we missing our family and TN friends, we're also really missing our med school friends who are in Chicago, New York, and Connecticut. We are thankful to have several friends in Atlanta and that several more are moving here soon. For now, I'm just trying to adjust to a less exciting and more routine lifestyle. I'll leave you with a few videos that I love:

1. "I'm standing on the rock"


2. "I'm your's" - No English necessary


3. Baby dancing to Single Ladies