Facelift

I'm not one who redecorates my home on a regular basis, but it WAS time to redo the blog.  Ryan had a little panic moment when I told him what I did.  I had no idea he was so attached to it! But his favorite part is the list of opposites, which of course stayed.  But I'm digging the new, clean look.  And I purposely did it in Ryan's favorite colors as well (green and white).

Oh, and for those of you who think I'm really creative with the you+me=aWEsome thing, I can't take credit.  I've seen different versions of it floating around Pinterest.  Cute though, huh?

Allergy Season

Once a year, just when you start getting excited that the trees are blooming, the pollen hits, too.  It is unavoidable and just plain awful here.  See this dusting? It's actually bright yellow and finds its way onto absolutely everything.  Ryan said as he was driving home on his motorcycle last night that it actually looked like snowfall.  And allergies? Even if you've never had them before, they have no mercy in North Carolina.  I think almost everyone gets them.  Just yesterday I got out of my car and in the short walk to the front doors of the mall, the pollen got in my eyes and under my contacts to the point where I could barely open them.  I walked into the mall, tears streaming down my face.  People were staring and I just booked it to the bathroom to rinse out my contacts over and over.  The upside? I think it should be over in a week.  I think/hope.

We have a plan!

Well we kind of have a plan.

And really nothing has changed, but us.

Let me explain... 

From the beginning...

(this might get long)

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve. (My boss always starts long explanations like this).  Fast forward a really long time and here Ryan and I are trying to decide on where we should choose for Ryan's clinical locations.  There are three of them, each three months long at the end of his program. The plan was that we would pick fun/faraway places and I would travel with him to each location because at the time, I was only working part-time with no real job prospects in the near future.

Round 1 (July-October 2012): We chose Alaska as our first pick, got it and were so excited to spend it with Brianna and Andy

Round 2 (October 2012-January 2013): We thought it'd be nice to go home to Omaha over the holidays,

and no one else is crazy enough to choose Nebraska in the winter so we got it. 

The exact same day that Ryan called to tell me we got Omaha, my boss and I were talking and she offered me a full time position with a good raise. Hello, shocking change of plans!  Ryan and I only had a few days before we had to put in selections for Clinical #3 and after discussing it, we decided we couldn't pass up this offer.  My boss was wonderful enough to let me take 3 months to go to Alaska and then the plan was to send Ryan to Omaha on his own (I could visit over the holidays, after-all) and then we would choose a local clinic for Round 3 so I could continue working.

Round 3 (January-April 2013) Ryan was placed at a clinic here in Durham.

All is well, right? WRONG.  Y'all heard about the devastating news of Alaska being cancelled and our struggle to find somewhere new.  Well, that's not all of the story.  Ryan and I decided that we no longer wanted to be apart.  We want to start a family and you can't really do that while living apart... I'll let you figure that one out.  We were really hoping we could convince his professor to change all of our sites around so that we could end in Omaha which is where we want to move after graduation, anyway.  She wasn't really cooperating, so we tossed around the idea of leaving and coming back but nothing was really sitting right with us.  We KNOW that Heavenly Father is always the one in control, and really we just wait and then he lays out a plan before us that we can't turn down.  It's pretty much the story of Ryan's life that things just "work out."  We'd been waiting for that moment for about a month and a half and were starting to finally get impatient.

Then Monday happened.  I was talking with a co-worker about wanting to be with Ryan for all three clinicals, but it didn't really make sense because we would be returning to Durham again eventually and have to find housing and all of that nonsense.  Or I could just continue to work and make money and just suck it up. That's when she offered (and I know she was inspired) to let us live with her family in the basement of their house because they plan on renting it to grad students eventually.  So it would be good practice for them, and a place for us to live which is just what we would need.  

We have the best friends in Omaha, Tommy and Jayme, who let us stay with them any time we need and they are once again graciously offering their home while we will be there.  This time, however, they'll have a brand new baby! Awhile back I offered to watch their little one if I'm in town but now it seemed like it might actually be a possibility.  The exact day she will have to go back to work from maternity leave is Ryan's first day in Omaha.  Coincidence? I think not. Like I  said, when it all comes together for us, it all comes together and there is no denying it.  This will be great practice for me because let's be honest, I feel like I knew more about babies when I was 14-years-old and babysitting than I do now.  And Ryan? He's never even changed a diaper.  We'll have a house full of four clueless adults, a newborn and three dogs... sounds like a sitcom, doesn't it? I'm excited!

Let's recap our new/old plan, shall we?

Round 1 (July-October 2012): Still no idea, but at this point, we don't care.  

We're moving everything we own to Omaha and will drive wherever we need to go.

Round 2 (October 2012-January 2013): Omaha

Round 3 (January-April 2013): Durham

So, Omaha peeps, we'll be seeing you in the winter (GROSS) and you all better come home for Christmas if you've left so we can see you! Durham people, we will say some goodbye's this July but have no fear, we'll be back for a few months and will save the sad farewells for graduation - May 2013. 

Isn't it funny how really nothing has changed but everything has changed? 

Oh, life.  You never fail to keep things interesting.

Favorite Game

This is Ryno's favorite game.  He runs back and forth between us whether we're in two different rooms in the apartment, opposite corners of the tennis court or in the forest.  It is perfect because he gets his exercise without us having to do any work. :)

Birth Announcment

HA! Did I fool you?

Nope, no babies in this house, yet.

But it sure does seem like it is the season for babies.  I think Ryan and I calculated that 4 out of 6 Ryan's groomsmen from our wedding are expecting to have a little one soon, not to mention my sister, sister-in-law, Ryan's "sister" and plenty of other friends and women from church.

I made this birth announcement for one of our friends, Tyson and Jackie, when they had their little guy a few weeks ago.  In a simple black frame it was too cute! Do you have a little one? Or know someone who would like  one? Well, it's your lucky day! I'll make you one free of charge.  I seriously love making things like this, and it's  very little hassle for me to make one for you.  Just let me know what colors you would like and what size (4x6, 5x7, 8x10) so you don't have cropping issues when you try to print it.  I'll send you a digital file and you can send it to print wherever you want!

Happy baby season, everyone!

Jet-Settin'

In one month from today we will be flying to:

 Then to:

 I cannot even tell you how excited I am to eat real Italian gelato again. 

 I'm going to be having AT LEAST two a day. AT LEAST.

Then finally, we're going to brave:

Why, you may ask? 

Well, it's a "Pre-graduation, Ryan's almost done with classes, we really wanted to go somewhere" trip.  

Yep, so we made it happen.  SO STINKIN' EXCITED.

Again...

You know what that is? 

A bubble bursting...

AGAIN.

We had a glimmer of hope that Alaska might still work out, and if it didn't Hawaii was our second choice.  But, it's looking like we're going to neither of those places.  Third choice is Washington (the state) where hopefully we would be close enough to visit Ryan's family.  If that falls through... well I'm not prepared to think about that.  

But for now I guess I'm glad for some sort of update, even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear.

The master of the house...

Is this guy.

I seriously can't believe I'm one of those people who treats their pet like a child. We even rearranged our furniture for him yesterday so he can have a larger running path. Who am I?

Oh yeah and we made pierories last night to bring back some Ukrainian memories for Ryan. But for a total prep and cook time of 2 hours, that was definitely a one time only deal. It doesn't help that water takes 15 minute to boil on our 20 year old stove.

Spring is here

We've been spoiled with spring like weather all winter (it makes me fear the heat of the summer). But you can see the real spring is arriving as blossoms are starting to pop up on trees. I pass these beauties on my walk to work and they smell heavenly.