Next Phase of Life

After four years of awesome friends, hours and hours of studying, on call nights, stressful situations, tests, quizzes, pimping, presenting, and stories that made us cry from laughter, we reached the moment all medical students (AND spouses) dream of, finding out where they matched.  We were thrilled that Monday when we found out we matched and unfortunately we had to wait another 4 days to find out where. The University of Utah guest house was filled with students, family and friends. We ate and talked for a little bit and then the moment came when the students were able to retrieve their envelopes. It felt like Christmas morning. The room was filled with cheers, smiles and tears. Jeff opened his envelope and he was ecstatic. We will be going to Spartanburg, South Carolina for our transitional year and to Baltimore, Maryland for radiology residency. All of Jeff's hard work had FINALLY paid off.  I keep feeling the need to sing the good morning Baltimore song from hairspray after finding out where we're going. Even though people keep telling us horror stories about people's throats almost getting slit while walking through the city or how they know ten people that got mugged while taking public transportation - we couldn't be happier!

This pretty much sums up how we felt that day

Our amazing friends. These guys and their wives made medical school enjoyable.. We've shared our happiest and saddest moments with these friends and we're going to miss them more than they will know. 

East coast here we come!! Jeff really does know where Baltimore is, but his arm can only stretch so far. 

Garrett's Big Day

February 3, 2013 was one of the most emotional days I've ever experienced. You name it and I felt it within a 24 hour period. My water broke at 2:00 in the morning on that day. I was so thrilled I got up and did a little dance and told Jeff to wake up. We gathered our things and were on our way to the hospital.  After 5 hours of contractions I thought I had for sure dilated to a 6 or 7, but no, I had only gone to a 2. At that point I thought, what am I doing? I then told the nurse to go get the anesthesiologist - a.k.a my hero. With a few needle pricks I was in heaven. As the hours passed, we watched the super bowl, ate some popsicles and slept. Around 10 pm, I was getting nervous that I was going to have to have a C-section, but then the nurse came in, checked me and told me I was ready to go. The doctor arrived at 10:30 and the pushing began. 30 minutes later, our little baby boy arrived. 

 This is right after the nurse had told me that I was ready for active labor. I was so nervous. I didn't know what to expect and was sobbing. Once pushing began, I started laughing, because it was so easy and I didn't know why I was so nervous. Maybe I wouldn't have laughed if pushing had been longer. 

 These are my happy tear faces. I could not stop crying. I finally got to hold my little Garrett. Even though it took almost a full day for him to arrive, it was totally worth it. 

It's amazing how much love I have for this little human being. It feels as though my life is complete. 

One happy dad. 

Update

It's been months since I've blogged, but here's a quick update on our lives...
Can't remember what happened in April - consumed with school
finished my spring semester
3 year anniversary
I started summer school: 16 credits
Still working at Central
Jeff turned 28
Jeff finishes 3rd year Friday!!
4th year begins June 4th
This is what we feel like:

And that's about all the excitement we've had in the last 4 months

Winter Days

Who knew there was an awesome sledding hill at Camp Tracy up Millcreek canyon? I did not, but my little sister, Kylee, did and we had a blast. Check it out. 

Enjoying some treats after 

 If you're looking for a free activity go up Millcreek Canyon to Camp Tracy. They also have lighting so you can go at night.

Valentine Decor

This year I decided to brighten up our little cinder block apartment and 

put up some valentine decorations. 

I started out by making what felt like a million hearts.  

Tied them together and strung them around

I also made this picture frame. Michael's sells them for a dollar and I just 

mod podged some paper on. I still need to add some flowers to it or 

something, but this is what I've got so far. 

pick me ups...

When I'm studying or having a bad day, sometimes I just need a little break to step away and find something that can remind me that this feeling of discouragement or frustration will not last and that life is good. These breaks often lead me to mormon messages. Tonight I was studying for my epidemiology exam, and getting super frustrated with the math portion, and decided it was time for a pick me up. I found a mormon message that was about motherhood. As I was watching it, I was reminded of a woman named, Stephanie Nielson. This amazing woman was in a plane crash and her story is so inspirational. It breaks my heart, and I cry like a baby when I'm watching, but her perspective is...uplifting. It brings me back to reality and reminds me that I'm so lucky to have the gospel in my life. I have a Heavenly Father who listens and is there for me at all times. That through the Atonement my burdens will be lifted, because the Savior knows exactly what I'm feeling and going through. I hope others can find little ways of being uplifted in their daily lives like I have. It's nice to sit back for a minute and put everything into perspective, and remember who I am and who I want to be.

snow

It was so pretty tonight. 

I had to take some pictures 

of the village 

braids

When it comes to hair, I need a little help with new ideas. I know how to curl, straighten and pull it in a ponytail...that's about it. As I was searching the craft section of pinterest, I saw this cute hair style. I clicked on it and it took me to a tutorial. So, if you are like me and need a little help with some new hair ideas...here's the link. 

http://www.lovemaegan.com/2011/05/partial-french-braid-cascading-hair.html

new obsession

This weekend I went to Swiss Days, and filled my brain with new projects I MUST do. I saw a booth that had all these pin-back buttons covered in fabric, and they were super cute. They had millions of colors and made bracelets, bobby pins, head bands and all sorts of other things. I was in heaven. I saw the price; it wasn't too bad, but I thought, I can for sure do this at home....NOT. To my disappointment I discovered you have to have a pin back button press. What is that, you ask? It's a $300 machine that puts it all together, and it's not done by hand. Frowny face. I'm still excited about this, because I feel like someone should know how to do this without spending tons of money on a button press. I've Googled, and I'm tired of searching. So, does anyone know how to create a fabric covered pin-back button?