An Update

I know it has been a REALLY long time since I posted anything. I figured I would give a little update about our lives here in Iowa.

Eric and I had a very busy summer. Eric did research and actually won an award for the best neuroscience research. He is just so smart :). I taught at my mom's Go For It dance camps and had a total blast. I really forgot how amazing it feels to dance, it had been almost a year since I danced.

The biggest task over the summer was our 2 moves. We had a mix up about our lease and it turned out that we had a gap between leases. This meant that we had to sublet an apartment for 1 month and then move a 2nd time into our new duplex. The first move was a huge hassle but thanks to Ray we did it. Eric and Ray moved ALL of our stuff on their own. Thanks Ray!!! The second move was much smoother. We had tons of help and got everything moved in just a few hours.

We thought once we got to our new place everything would be perfect. We were WRONG! Our new place was really dirty and needed a lot of work. We decided we wanted to do the work to make it nice so we don't need to move again while Eric is in school. We painted the entire place (3 bedroom 2 bath duplex), replaced carpet in the basement, and Eric took on the project of laying tiles in the laundry area. Of course he did an awesome job! Thankfully, all of our hard work paid off and we LOVE our place now.

Eric just started his 2nd year of medical school. To me this year seems way busier than last. He is very dedicated and doing well. As you saw in my previous post he just joined the Army National Guard. The process has been long and intense but hopefully we will all done with paperwork soon.

I got a new job as a research assistant for a Psychiatrist. I am very happy in this new position. I feel like I get to use my brain and my degree and it feels really good. I also started working towards my master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. I have always wanted to do this but I finally had the motivation to get started. Honestly, school is not my favorite activity but it is my only path to becoming a therapist.

Eric's Commissioning Ceremony

This is a little late but better late then never :)...

Eric has officially been sworn in to the Army National Guard. We spent a lot of time deciding if this was the right decision for us. After much deliberation we felt this was a great opportunity. Eric has always wanted to join the Military. I was more hesitant but I do think this is the best thing for us and our future. I am sure when it comes time for him to be deployed I will rethink my decision, but I do know he will be doing important work and helping to save lives.

I am so proud of him!!!

Here are some pictures from his official Commissioning Ceremony...

Major Dial is explaining that Eric will be taking an oath to serve his Country.

And it begins...

He has to complete 2 sections

Part 2.

Eric is thinking..."(Exhale) I am so happy this is finally happening!"

So many wonderful people came to support Eric in this journey.

It's almost official, just a few signatures away...

Yes. Finally Eric is a 2nd LT.

And in the words of Major Dial, here is the "bag of swag"

Eric got this awesome backpack full of fun National Guard stuff.

Aren't Eric's friends so nice to support him in this big decision. Gabe (yellow shirt on the left) is working on joining the Guard VERY soon.

Good luck Gabe!

And here we are.

A Wedding Ring: A Symbol of Love (or is it?)

I have heard people say that a wedding ring represents the unbreakable bond between a couple. Well.... I think our love is unbreakable but Eric's ring was breakable but it did put up a tough fight.

So Eric was playing basketball on Wednesday night and jammed maybe dislocated his finger. He said the top of his finger was over top of the bottom part. I think it's crazy that his first instinct was to yank on it and put it back into place but it was. With in seconds his finger was huge!!!! He was not able to get his ring off. He really didn't want to get his ring cut off and thought he could just wait it out. After calling my dad and getting his team trainers to support me, I finally got Eric convinced that his stubbornness could lead to loosing a finger. By the next morning it was turning purple and the lines over his knuckles where smooth.

At the hospital they agreed that the ring needed to get off ASAP. Then they brought out this wimpy ring cutter. It had a tiny blade that and you had to turn it manually. We quickly found out that Titanium is very tough but not invincible. It was a slow night in the ER so we were a popular room. People were coming in and out to take their turn for like 5 minutes. We eventually got so sick of waiting that we teamed up and Eric would press down and I would turn the blade. We also think we could design a much better tool. After a couple of hours the doctor wanted to get his actual (non medical) tools. I was a little hesitant that Eric might end up loosing more than a finger if he was to use a real saw. Finally maintenance came up with some bolt cutters to get though the last of the ring.

I was sad to see my symbol of love cut from my husbands finger but I guess I am happy that my husband still has a finger :). I am kind of excited to find him a new ring and renew our commitment again.

Titanium is not indestructible, but it did take hours to cut though it. I was a little sore the next day.

These next cell phone pictures do not really do Eric's finger justice. It was nasty!!! It was all sorts of crazy colors and it was really big. But he did do an amazing job putting it back into place...

It was amazing how quickly it began to heal when it could actually get some blood flow to it. I am really happy we could save his finger even though we can mourn the loss of his ring.

Update

I am sorry to all of you who check our blog regularly. We are just not that exciting. Our lives pretty much consist of Eric studying and going to school and me working evenings. We don't do much of anything worth blogging about. I will try and do better but I promise if things are exciting I will share them. Hopefully, there are more adventures in our future but nothing right now. Just know that we miss you all and we always have room for visitors that can help give us something to blog about :)

Valentines Day 2009

I really wanted a special Valentines Day this year so I planned a fun, romantic getaway where there was no studying allowed! I really wanted some time to just hang out and relax with Eric. He is always so busy with school and we are both on such opposite schedules that we needed some time to reconnect. I asked around and discovered that this little town in Illinois called Galena was a really great place to visit. I searched for days to find a bed and breakfast but they were all booked. Finally, I found this amazing resort. We thought we were getting a one bedroom villa but it turned out to be like a 3 bedroom, 3 bath cabin. It was AMAZING!!!! We are already planning our next trip but next time we are bringing more people along (we felt a little wasteful with all that space and just the two of us).

Eric made me an awesome Italian dinner over candle light. We watched movies, played cards, and the best part was just to hang out with no distractions. I was so sad when the night was over and we had to return to real life. Oh well.....I guess that is why there is a Valentines Day. I am so grateful for my loving husband and all he puts up with sometimes. I am so lucky to have him!!!!

It was still VERY VERY cold in February. Needless to say we didn't worry to get too dressed up for our romantic getaway.

We thought we would for sure want a fire but... it was going to take too much work and we were avoiding all work.

I want to go back and be able to use this screened in porch. I wish we had one of these at home.

Eric working hard in the kitchen. I love that we can both cook :)

This is on my list of things to do. They are so beautiful. Now I need to convince Eric :)

I know this is a little after the fact but I figure better late than never.  Eric and I spent the holidays just the two of us this year.  I had to work the day before and after Christmas so we didn't have the time to visit any family.  We decided to take this opportunity to start some of our own traditions.  On Christmas Eve we opened one gift each, made Christmas cookies for Santa, and Eric made a delicious dinner.  I also decided that we should spend the night hanging out in our PJs :).  Christmas Day we called our families and spent some very precious time together.  Later we went to the movie.  Overall, we enjoyed our first Christmas with just the two of us but TRULY missed all of our family and friends!

Eric's becoming an amazing chef!!!

Thank you to everyone who sent us Christmas Cards.  It was really nice to hear from people even though we were so far away.  I also love to display all of our cards and pictures during the holidays.