Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Summer has come and Gone!

Before I begin our Costa Rican adventure stories, I need to update what the "rest" of our summer has looked like! Between my summer research class and Colby having school through the last week of June and 2 week preceptorship, we managed to celebrate a few fun things on the weekends. It's wonderful to be able to "do something" on the weekend whenever Colby isn't studying, as most of our weekends amount to either me working or us renting a movie once C has a break.
First, our sweet Rocky had his birthday!! This came in the mail for our little 4 year old boy, as you can tell, he was thrilled, and then when I opened it to see the "Free" treat from Petsmart, the fine print said "with $15 purchase!" What!? So, needless to say that little birthday treat card went in the trash and we simply celebrated with a yummy bone treat that we had at the house! :)
An hour after the husbands got out of their last first-year test, we loaded up and headed down to New Braunfels with 3 other of our favorite med school couples to camp and float the river. It was so much fun to be able to all relax together. These friends have been such a blessing to us and we are really grateful to be able to go through this experience with other believers that are encouraging with not only the daily struggles, but with life period, and especially when they know exactly what we are going through!

The boys setting up the tents- yes we camped in 100 degree Texas heat! :)
Steph, me, Claire, and Whitney, love these girls!Colb, Brad, Daniel, and Clint relaxing (finally!)
Waking up the next morning, after not sleeping a whole lot due to heat and drunk people shouting all around us, to find the people at the campsite across from us asleep on the top of their car! Ha! Oh well, we had a great time swimming and floating the river! :)We had almost a week straight of rain, and boy were we happy, free water for our grass, compliments of our amazing Creator! We were thrilled to turn off the sprinkler system. Then a not-so-fun event happened....this...
That then lead to this....yep, that's mold in our sheet rock :(And then this... :(Was our roof still under warranty? Yes thank goodness, so the good people of D.R. Horton had to fix everything for us. Yet after getting the roof fixed, treating the wood, getting the sheet rock redone, more water leaking, getting the roof fixed again, new sheet rock painted the wrong color, then re-painted again, finally as of this past Monday- everything is almost back to normal,Phew!

Oh well, life happens. In the meantime, I got to go out for a fun evening with my work girls to eat on the patio at Joe T. Garcia's. Love these sweet girls, and it was fun to have a girls night away from work!
For the 4th of July (I was off since I worked it last year..yay!) we went to Breckenridge (TX) to the lake with my parents. I had to work on a research paper while we were there, but we still squeezed in some swimming, boating, fishing, grilling and fun fireworks.
The fam and some church friends swimming
John Michael caught his first bass!The last weekend before our trip we got to celebrate with Blake and Lauren at their wedding here in town. Many of you remember past posts with them. They've also been great friends and were one of the first couples that we met back at med school orientation and were actually the first to come over to our house for dessert one night. They are a sweet couple who have been dating since high school! So glad they are finally hitched! Congrats you two!
Some med school friends with the groom
A Mr. & Mrs. Galler sandwich! So happy for ya'll!
Then, a wonderful surprise on the night before we left for our trip was getting to see our great friends Andrew & Kristin! They've been living in Swaziland, South Africa for the last year with the peace corp and we have missed them so much! Colby and Andrew were roomies in college and were both groomsmen in each others weddings and needless to say, have a very "special" relationship. They can never take a normal picture together!
We went out in downtown Ft. Worth and got to catch up. SO wonderful to see them!
Kristin and I with our normal picture And to appease the boys.. :)What a wonderful summer! We are truly blessed to have been able to see so many fun friends and cram lots of stuff in prior to beginning 2nd year!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Sneak Peek

Ok, so I'm not getting very far with this paper and I just couldn't resist a quick post! :)
A waterfall we hiked to near Arenal Volcano
A beautiful sunset over Monteverde
The natural hotsprings that are heated by the volcano
Beautiful view of the Pacific on our way down to the beach
More to come...and stories galore- it was definitely a unique vacation that we'll remember forever! :)
-JB

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Back in the Swing of Things

Well, I haven't much time to post. Colby's "summer break" was fabulous and we just got back on Friday from our real vacation to Costa Rica! It was so much fun and much needed. We thought about it and decided that while we were away was the most consecutive number of days that we have seen each other (and slept in the same bed for that matter-since I'm a nightshifter) over the last year! Goodness we had a wonderful time. I will be posting soon about our trip and our break, but in the meantime I've got another paper due this week and my final exam is on Monday. So I'll have to catch up once this summer Research class is over. Colby starts back to school tomorrow...as a 2nd year med student, can't wait to check another one off the list!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Doneski.

doneski
Main Entry: ness
Pronunciation: duh'nes'skE
Function: noun, verb, adjective
Etymology: Southern Dialect, from the addition of the suffix -ski to the word "done."
1. to be brought to a finish or end, usually in rapid secession.
2. the state or aura of being done.

That's right- you read it correctly. As I'm typing this, Colby is finishing up his last test from his first year of medical school!! Whoohoo! One year down, 3 to go! I am so so so stinkin' proud of him and all the hard work that he has put in. If he was punching a time clock for the number of hours he has spent in class, studying, and volunteering- he would well surpass a 40 hour work week. He started the year the 2nd week of July last summer, got 2 weeks over Christmas and has gone all the way through today- talk about mega semesters...sheez!
He "technically" gets 4 weeks off of class, but he'll spend the next 2 weeks working with a Family Practice physician and then 2 official weeks off and we're going on Vacation, I can't wait! Way to go Colb-I'm so amazed at the way that you've made learning your personal ministry so that you can be equipped to be the best doctor possible, your future patients are so lucky to have someone so devoted to their care. Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement, we couldn't have made it this far in the journey without you! Here's a few highlights of the first year...

His White Coat with the school in the background
Studying
More of the same
Studying, Whoa-changing it up a bit in a different room
Studying even when we were away for a weekend"Why are you taking my picture? I know you're just going to put this on your blog"- bingo! I do not disappoint! :) But doesn't he look cute with his stethoscope studying for is physical assessment exam?Yep, that's an osteopathic manipulation table in my living room so he could study for the practical exam

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Oh Blog- How I have Missed Thee....

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged! After finishing up my finals, I was non-stop for 2 weeks of freedom (besides work) and then plunged into another semester over the summer. I'm taking Nursing Research and it's been going ok thus far. It's nice to be taking only one class with working, etc. I've decided to update our whereabouts with pictures and brief descriptions since I'm SO far behind! We've attended lots of fun weddings, had lots of great visitors, and gotten to spend time with friends here as well. Colby has 2 more weeks of school left and we're counting down the days!! Yes, he's still in school in the middle of June and is pretty much the only medical school in TX still finishing out the year...geez louise this has been a long haul. "Summer" is right around the corner though! :) a.k.a-2 weeks off and vacation!
Congratulations Mr. & Dr. Finney!
So good to see these sweet old friends (Ash, Meesh, Crystal)
Kaylan & Austin came to Ft. Worth!
Nadine and Andy also came to Ft. Worth, yummy Simply Fondue! :)
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Partenza!!!
It was such a blessing to celebrate with one of my lifelong friends Elizabeth and a wonderful wedding weekend in Wimberly,TX with lots of family and friends
The Whole Fam
We got to enjoy a yummy Italian dinner on the porch of Nonna Tata (a cute little restaurant in FW) and toast to Blake & Lauren's engagement and upcoming wedding
Colby and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary! I can't imagine life with anyone else. Thanks for loving me, making me feel beautiful, making me laugh endlessly, for working your buns off at school, and above all honoring God's plan for our lives and leading me in our relationship with Him. I will love you forever!!
My beautiful daisies and card waiting for me when I got home from work that morning. :)
Yum...crab legs are my favorite! (Had to pose with this ridiculous bib they gave me)
The Brownlee Fam also came to visit!!!
Kaylan and me in downtown Ft. Worth
Congratulations Dr. Rebeccah B. Baucom!! We are SO proud of you!
This was at her celebration party in Dallas
AND we got to see Paige and Jarod at the Galleria while we were in Dallas. Look at that cute little belly, she is beautiful! Did I mention our sweet little niece-to-be? We are SO excited!
Last but not least, my cousin Troy & Irene got married last weekend and we got to spend time with the whole family celebrating their wedding. Congrats!
A blurry one
And a cropped one- take your pick!
Well....that brings us up to speed! Sorry for such a long post! :)
-JB

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!!

We love you both so much and can't even describe the blessing that you are in our lives! You bring us great joy, love, and support and have shown us Christ in so many ways. Thank you for all that you continually do for us, for your prayers, and for helping us through every step that life brings.