Mt. Mitchell

This weekend we swam in the lake and went to Mt.Mitchell

The drive was beautiful! 

As you can see - this was one of the views we had on our way up the mountain.

 It was so beautiful it distracted Jeff and he ran into the knife slicing curb 

 And this happened:

low profile tires + curb = hole in side wall of tire 

After getting a little frustrated and then laughing about it, 

we drove to Asheville, got a new tire, then headed back up into the mountains

It was so pretty! 

Garrett's entertainment

I know, this is a horrible picture. 

On the way home we came around a corner to a lady laying across the middle of the road. 

We stopped, Jeff grabbed his CPR mask, and ran over to help. 

She had laid down her bike going around a curve and had road rash all over her arms. 

Jeff and some others moved her off the road as someone else called 911. 

It was kind of crazy.

 She was injured and instead of being hysterical about what happened to her, 

she was freaking out about her bike. 

I'm glad Jeff didn't need to perform CPR, but at that moment I thought about how grateful I am for Jeff.

 I have a husband who is willing to go out and help others and not just sit back. 

A nice way to end our day after a long day of driving - going for a swim.

The Mountains of North Carolina

Well, we've moved from Utah to South Carolina and we are loving it! 

Today we set out to the mountains of North Carolina. On our drive we saw this guy in a trailer selling boiled peanuts, my favorite, and we had to stop. We've discovered the sketchier the set up the better - this picture doesn't do it justice. 

We had a nice little picnic

And enjoyed the view

After, we went to Triple Falls 

Then hiked to High Falls 

Garrett got grumpy and ended up falling asleep

We drove to a cute town called Brevard and treated ourselves to a treat

We ended our day by swimming and sliding in what felt like glacial water at sliding rock. 

It was pretty awesome. 

Family Time

Everyone had a good time hanging out with Mr. Garrett our last few weeks living in Utah. Thanks for loving our little man so much!

Medical School Flew By

It's been a big year for our little family! I know I've said this several times, but all of Jeff's hard work has paid off. Jeff applied to medical school a year before we met and unfortunately wasn't able to get in (I always tell him, it's because we were supposed to meet and if he had gone off to some medical school somewhere else, we wouldn't know each other). Jeff says he didn't do that great on the MCAT and was discouraged from the first year of applying, so we put all of our eggs in one basket for round two of applying and got put on the waiting list at the U. 

After being put on the waiting list he thought there was no way he was going to get in, and we made a backup plan. He decided he was going to take the GMAT and apply for business school, after business school he would take the MCAT again and apply for medical school for the third time. He studied for a week, took the GMAT and ended up scoring in the 95th percentile. We were ecstatic and it helped boost his spirits since med school didn't seem to be working out. We applied to several different business programs and ended up getting a scholarship to Texas Tech in Lubbock. I found us an apartment and put a deposit down to hold our spot and we were set to go to Lubbock once we returned from our honeymoon. 

When we got back from our honeymoon we found a letter from the University of Utah saying we had been accepted into their medical school program. We were jumping up and down, crying, screaming, hugging - it was probably one of the most exciting moments of our lives. We cancelled everything in Texas and found our first apartment in the University Village. Jeff worked hard his four years of medical school (but who doesn't?). He studied like a mad man for step 1 - a huge exam that essentially tests you on everything you should know as a doctor. He would study everywhere and what seemed like every waking minute for several months. The wives would take turns making meals and bringing them up to the school - I say take turns, but really Kate Stoker fed Jeff more than I actually fed him, Thank you Kate! We didn't spend much time together, but I knew it was going to be that way and I wanted him to succeed. When things got hard, we always thanked our Heavenly Father for helping us get into medical school and remembered the rush of happiness we felt when we found out he had gotten in. Jeff took step 1 and his test score exceeded his expectations. 

He worked hard year three and managed to honor his third year, and did well on step 2 and the other exams he had taken. Year four seemed to be filled solely of interviews and I wouldn't see Jeff for weeks at a time. He spent months and months trying to perfect his personal statement and application. He applied to a ton of programs and got interviews to places we had only dreamed about. Every time he got an interview he would call me or email it to me and I would be overwhelmed with joy and felt like crying every time. I was so happy for him, for us, and couldn't believe what was happening. 

Match day came and we got our number one picks for both residency and the transitional year.  On May 25th, he graduated from the University of Utah's medical school in the top 15% of his class. I am so proud of him.We are so grateful for everything that has happened and feel so blessed. He probably won't be very happy that I'm not being very humble right now, but going from thinking we weren't going to be able to get into medical school, to graduating in the top 15% - I have to brag about his accomplishments! Congratulations Jeff! We did it!

Being initiated into AOA

Getting hooded and officially becoming a doctor

Garrett was full of emotion - so proud of dad