Match Results

The big reveal was today and we are staying in Savannah for one more year! Charles called me around 10 this morning. He told me he'd call me at noon with the verdict. I rushed to the phone wondering if he knew early. He did. He asked me where I thought we were going. I said, "Just tell me because I have no idea."

When he said Savannah I thought he was joking. We really thought either Albuquerque or Tampa. We've been praying to accept the Lord's will wherever we ended up and going over the pros of each city. We feel okay staying here. Though, it does pose some questions for the future of Charles' career in infectious disease and doing a 2nd year residency.

I hung up our family pictures yesterday. There are 5 frames. I realized you can't see if the frames are straight unless you stand back and get a different perspective. I feel like right now we are standing pretty close to the "frames". In time, when the Lord's plan unveils itself a bit more and we stand back I'm sure this decision will come into focus better. We trust that the Lord wants us here for another year for a reason. I feel like this post is very reminiscent of this post.

So, come and visit! Savannah is a beautiful city, especially in spring. We love visitors. You have one more year :)

Guatever

What follows is my version of events which occurred from February 11th to February 19th. Believe what you will.

As part of my schoolin' I spent the first week of my Travel Medicine/Infectious Disease rotation on a medical mission in Guatemala. My preceptor, a classmate, and I went with a group called Faith in Practice. We spent a total of 8 days in various places around Guatemala City. 4 days of clinic and 4 days of touristing.

Prior to our arrival, local volunteers and staff spread the word of our free clinics, which provided us with plenty of patients, ~500/day, over 2000 total.

There were physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, translators, etc. local and foreign, about 40-50 of us total. I worked in triage deducing where it hurt and herding people accordingly to general medicine, pediatrics, or gynecology. Turns out my gynecological vocab is sorely lacking as I did not regularly discuss menstruation or the like on my LDS mission. I also worked in the pharmacy dispensing and counseling. We started with quite an armamentarium of drugs which we brought in trunks. By the last day of clinic our supplies were severely limited and creativity was employed in filling the physicians' orders.

To my surprise, the majority of patients that came in were there for minor aches and pains ("me duelen las canillas" aka "my shins hurt") and most patients coming through the pharmacy received tylenol and vitamins. Although I was not disappointed with my original expectation of seeing a fair share of unique health problems. Several patients presented with fairly embarrassing infections of the genitalia, which made for interesting and candid counseling sessions by yours truly. One middle-aged man came in with rheumatoid arthritis that had never been treated, exacerbated by his occupation in agriculture. We gave him 2 months of steroids, but a lot of damage had already occurred and I hate to think of what will happen after he runs out. Almost every patient that came to the clinics received albendazole, which I refer to as the "spring cleaning pill," a single dose anti-parasitic drug that takes care of most worms and giardia to some extent. Many patients were referred for surgery in Antigua, where they could stay at the equivalent of a Ronald McDonald House, Casa de Fe.

All in all, most patients presented with disease states that are easily treated when there are means available to treat them. This is the problem in the developing world, I suppose.

If, for some reason, you haven't realized that this post has nothing to do with Azure or Vince and you are still reading, here is an abbreviated itinerary:

Day 1: arrival in Guatemala City, drive to Antigua (former capital of Guatemala, now a historic relic/tourist trap), nearly vomited during trip after eating mayo-heavy sandwich and contorting myself into rear-facing position in automobile. check into fancy hotel, eat fancy food.

Day 2: more tourism. tour of Casa de Fe and Obras Sociales. visit market, haggle/get swindled

Day 3: drive to our hotel at Puente Los Esclavos outside of Cuilapa, Santa Rosa.

Day 4: Clinic 1 in La Canoa ~ 20 miles from El Salvador border.

Day 5: La Canoa again. I feel like death, develop fever.

Day 6: I stay home while my colleagues save the world at Clinic 2 in Las Minas, an area outside of Casillas, Santa Rosa. Cold hands of death fail to relinquish their icy grip on my well-being.

Day 7: 85% recovery, I go to Clinic 2 for our final day of seeing patients.

Day 8: Return to Antigua.

Day 9: drive to Guatemala city airport & return home.

Our team blog

More team pictures

While this trip ended up being a financial money pit for an already impoverished pharmacy student, the experience solidified my desire to continually participate in these type of short-duration trips. Ultimately, our desire is to spend our geriatric era as full time medical/proselytizing missionaries.

A deeper love

Charles and I were only married 13 months and 1 day before Azure was born. It was a relatively short time to have a child free marriage. We don't regret the decision at all. The timing was perfect in many ways and an answer to prayers.

Sometime ago I came across a "dot/square game" (not really sure what it's called) in one of my old church notebooks. It was from April General Conference 2007. We had gone up to Salt Lake to watch it. We didn't have tickets into the actual conference center but, we watched it in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Between sessions Charles and I played this dot game. I smiled wistfully looking at it. Charles had beat me savagely. When was the last time we played a dot game? That very April 2007, almost 4 years ago. In Sacrament meetings as we used to sit just the two of us, we would rub each others backs and massage each others hands. Now, our hands are occupied doing other things- rummaging through bags to find snacks, sippy cups, diapers, wipes, toys. Wiping noses, chubby little hands, picking up spills, messes, the like.

Sometimes in the midst of the madness, our eyes meet and we give each other a wide eyed exasperated look and I secretly wish that it was still just the 2 of us- that we could sit through a meeting distraction free and massage each others backs and hands. But, I know had we stayed in that stage of our lives our love would not be as deep as it is now.

It makes me sad when I hear people talking about marriage as a ball and chain. Though, I know that bad marriages can be viewed as such. Marriage has been the wind beneath my wings. I could not be the woman God intended me to be without Charles.

"[Spouses] will find that their combined strength is more than double the strength of either one of them alone." (Hugh B. Brown) Life's greatest joys are made manifest in family life, in MARRIAGE! 

Besides the quote at the top by Pres. Eyring, (which I think is my most favorite) here are some other favorites:

"Marriage can be more an exultant ecstasy than the human mind can conceive." -Spencer W. Kimball

"Believe that your faith has everything to do with your romance, because it does." -Jeffrey R. Holland

Our marriage is far from perfect. But, we love the Lord and we love each other.

30 things for 30 yrs

In celebration of my 30th year coming up later this month (the 27th), I'm posting 30 of my favorite things.

To make things fun, post on your blog 30 of your favorite things, one of those being one of your favorite things about me. And that can be your birthday present to me! Don't have a blog of your own or just don't wanna? Just leave me a comment telling me one of your favorite things and one of your favorite things about me. And if you occasionally read this blog and haven't commented, please comment on this post. My love language is words of affirmation so it really will make my birthday to read why my friends and family love me :)

Thanks in advance for celebrating with me!

In no particular order:

1. Springtime! Blossoming trees and plants
2. Tulips, blue hydrangeas, and azaleas
3. Bright colors
4. Long jackets/coats that come down to my knee
5. Nursing my babies and seeing the imprint their ears leave on my forearm
6. Snuggling with my newborn babies and inhaling their intoxicating scent

7. Latin Dancing, especially Salsa 
8. The beach
9. Bonfires on the beach and in mountain canyons
10. Salmon
11. Milk chocolate Lindt truffles
12. Pilates
13. The feeling of adrenaline and endorphins after a good workout
14. New clothes
15. Cooking in a kitchen filled with natural light and lots of counter space
16. Sleeping on clean, fresh sheets straight from the dryer
17. Weddings, especially temple sealings
18. Vocal jazz esp from Ella Fitzgerald (one of my favorites from her) & Blossom Dearie (this one is great)
19. Listening to the soundtrack from "Thicker Than Water" while on a secluded beach
20. Eating authentic Italian & Cuban food
21. Full body massages
22. Being surrounded by people who love me
23. Going to the temple as much as possible
24. Curled eyelashes
25. The feeling of freshly shaven legs
26. Finding good deals and saving lots of money using coupons
27. Singing and performing
28. Seeing Charles' adorable dimples when he smiles
29. Summer camping
30. Cruises!

Oh, and one more- the knowledge that my Savior loves me and because this list is important to me, it's important to Him!

Of course, I could go on and on. But, I'll just leave it there at 30. Ok, your turn :)

My babes

I love this picture!

We are in need of a general update of these 2. Vince is now 13 months. Our little chunky monkey apparently isn't so chunky. A week after his 1st birthday he weighed in at 19 lbs 8 oz. and was 28.5 inches long. I was surprised.

Shortly after his birthday he stopped army crawling all together and is now always off his belly. I think this increased mobility will lead to a general plateau in his weight as it did in Azure. Today he pulled to a stand for the first time! Charles and I both witnessed it together. He did it 3 times in a row trying to reach me on the couch. I'm guessing he won't walk until 15 months.

He likes to clap when we sing "If you're happy and you know it". He covers his own eyes w/ his hands to play peek a boo when I'm nursing him. My most favorite thing as of late!

Speaking of nursing, we're still at it 4-5x a day. He doesn't really take a bottle and isn't drinking enough from his sippy to replace a nursing session. We'll see what this month brings.

He never really took 2 consistent naps a day, maybe only for a month or 2. Right now I'm experimenting with his nap schedule to see what works. He's still sleeping fine at night though, going to bed between 7-8pm and waking up around 7-8am.

He makes the "q/k/c" sound 50 times a day. Yesterday when I walked in the door from running errands, he saw me and smiled and made the sound. He will sit still to watch almost an entire Baby Signing Time episode (about 15 mins or so). This is great for when I'm trying to cook dinner. The other half of the time he likes to crawl into the kitchen and play on the dishwasher door or try to open the cabinets.

I usually nurse him on our bed b/c he's too big for the glider now. (His legs dangle off uncomfortably over the arm rests. Would like to buy a different one for the next baby.) He usually falls asleep and as I transport him from our room to his room (the laundry room) I pass the mirror on our door so I get a glimpse of the two of us; him sleeping peacefully in my arms with his long legs draped down my waist, sweet face snuggled against my chest. And me, almost 30, mother of 2, nursing this precious baby to sleep who is growing so rapidly. Realizing I truly have all I've ever dreamed of. My eternal family. I can see myself so vividly as a 16 yr old in that mirror. If only I could of seen this image back then. As I used to always tell my young women, the Lord truly blesses us with the desires of our hearts in his own time.

So, that's Vince.

And our little Azure can write her very own name unassisted! We are so proud of her. She sometimes needs help with her r's but she did it perfectly here.

 

On the way home from Stake Conference last week, Azure announced from the back seat that she had drawn a picture of herself on her bed. She has polka-dot sheets. We were impressed.

Some of her favorite things to say are, "What are my options?", Guatemala, Tampa, Albuquerque, and apologize. She's very aware of the cities we may be moving to! She also calls alligators, alligaturds. So funny!

She just finished an 8 wk gymnastics class. She says she liked soccer better. It was a better program. I think we may try music classes next- similar to Kindermusik but, not so expensive :)

Our friend Amie babysat her while I was in the temple a couple weeks ago, and she told Azure to stay close to her because she didn't want Azure to get hit by a car. To that Azure replied, "Yeah. I don't want to die because I have to get married first." Amie thought this was quite hilarious. She has said that a few times now. She is also very specific about her wedding. Sometime back in January while we were driving Azure said that she wanted to get married in the snow. And that she wants to marry a "brown" man (meaning a black man). I'm glad that she is exposed to some diversity here in Savannah.

I love this succession. "Who's that coming?" "Oh, it's Azure." "I'm SO excited, I'm kicking my legs!" "Here she is!"

Sure love these two. And don't you love our "sacred grove" backyard? Especially if we end up moving to Albuquerque, I will miss these trees and all the green. And the humidity. Yes, I prefer humidity to bone dry.

On being healthy

A little intro. I was really skinny in high school. Then I gained about 20 lbs or more my freshman yr of college and I didn't lose it until.... I had a baby! What?! I gave away all my size 3 pants when I was pregnant with Azure. I told myself, "Let's face it, you're going to have a baby. You will never be a size 3 again." Well, I was really kicking myself 2 months later when none of my size 10 or 8 pants fit anymore and I was a size 3! I could NOT believe it. I had just had a baby.

I'm not sharing this to make anyone feel bad. I realize that every body is different and some never lose their baby weight. I've only shared the above to point out the fact that there was indeed a time that I struggled with my weight.

Here are a few things I've learned in the last 6 yrs or so.

• Eat whole grains

Some say cut down on carbs when trying to lose weight. I say eat a bunch of whole grain carbs. We've replaced white rice with brown and try to eat whole wheat everything else: bread, couscous, pasta, flour, etc. This may be gross but it took me awhile to understand this- the more fiber you eat, the more you poop, the more you poop, the more weight you lose.

• Eat as many raw foods as you can

We still need a lot of improvement in this area. But, Azure and I for the past month have drank a "green smoothie" almost everyday. Check here for more info and recipes. My fave is the blueberry-banana monster. We use almond milk. One fantastic way to eat raw foods! And it's delicious!

• Find something you like to do for exercise

Most people's excuse for not exercising is that they don't have time. For those weeks that I just can't make it to the gym or to the park to run I consciously tighten my abs with every movement I make. If you're ever done yoga or pilates that will make more sense to you.

I'm no expert, these are just some things that have worked for me. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

One more thing- one person's "healthy" may look completely different than another person's "healthy". If you are eating right and exercising then it really doesn't matter what size pants you wear. Our bodies are amazing gifts! One of the main reasons we are on this earth is to obtain a physical body. The joy we feel from being healthy is worth every effort.