Monday musings

This weekend was filled with studying and family

One of those I love, one of those I hate

My in-laws came to town Saturday night for a late Father's day dinner

Hubs and I cooked homemade bar-b-que, squash and zucchini, corn on the grill, cucumbers in vinegar, and homemade apple cobbler

It was quite delicious [not to toot my own horn... but toot toot]

We have been talking so much about kids lately

Baby fever is normal, right???

This won't be happening any time soon [thanks school] but we love to imagine our future

He is obsessed with kids, especially our niece

It completely melts my heart into a big puddle when they play together

And we may or may not have had a list of baby names for the past 2 years... guilty

But for now, I am loving our little family of 3

Our furry girl may as well be a baby human because that's how she's treated

[I literally do not know what we talked about before we got her]

And I love our awkward attempts at family pictures... this is the best we got

Happy Monday! Cheers to a short week!

Taking stock!

Happy Friday!! Not super pumped about this weekend since I will be inside studying, buuuuut this just means I am one day closer to 4th of July weekend at the beach!

I saw this cute post on one of my favorite blogs The Small Things and decided to join along!

Making: apple cobbler for dessert tomorrow night (late Father's Day celebration with in-laws)
Cooking: cucumbers in vinegar, I love summer meals!
Drinking: Diet Mt. Dew (needing the caffeine and too hot right now for coffee)
Reading: clinical medicine textbook [I know... so exciting...]
Wanting: to graduate and be DONE with school
Looking: at the fresh Sunflowers I just bought for my house
Playing: with my doggy
Wasting: time when I should be studying... story of my life
Sewing: ha.
Wishing: my real life AND blogger friend Meghan a happy wedding weekend!
Enjoying: my weekends at the beach. My happy place.
Waiting: for my sister-in-law to get here tonight for the weekend!
Liking: greek yogurt with granola and fresh blueberries, has been my go-to snack of choice lately
Wondering: what I should give my husband for our 1st anni
Loving: my precious husband
Hoping: for success for a couple going through IVF right now... realizing how common infertility is, and it's heartbreaking; it's super encouraging when people share their stories
Needing: my hair highlighted and cut
Smelling: Capri Blue candle from Anthro... omg so heavenly
Wearing: my new TB sandals that I snatched up for 20% off (go me!)
Following: so many adorable blogs; I love meeting new blog friends!
Noticing: how much more decorating our new house needs...
Knowing: ...my husband will kill me if I keep spending money on decorations
Thinking: how excited I am for Moe's for dinner
Feeling: like baby fever... won't be happening any time soon though
Bookmarking: slash highlighting all the important things in my textbooks as I study
Opening: a bottle of champagne [I wish...]
Giggling: at how adorable my niece is trying to learn how to talk

Finding my passion

When I was barely old enough to talk, I would tell anyone and everyone that I wanted to be a "doctor that delivers babies" when I grew up. I always had a weird love for medicine, and babies. As I started to get older I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine. My desire to go to med school quickly changed when I met the love of my life and realized I wanted a happy marriage and babies of my own more than I wanted to be a slave resident for a million years. So I researched the PA profession and decided it would be perfect for me.

I shadowed in orthopedics for 4 years in undergrad to get my hours to apply to PA school, and I fell in love. I loved that there was a fix for everything. I was intrigued with all the injuries I saw, mostly because my husband and I both played sports and suffered a lot of those injuries ourselves. I thought 100% that I wanted to be an orthopedic PA.

Just a few weeks ago we started our Women's Health/OB-GYN section, and my love for delivering babies resurfaced. We got to do pelvic exams/pap smears on real women, learn how to deliver babies, etc. And I thought, 'holy cow I might want to do this with the rest of my life'. This is exciting people!! I texted my husband in the middle of a lecture and said, "I love this stuff. I really want to do this when I grow up!" :) 

When people ask me how I am liking school, I start off with the expected "the studying 24/7 SUCKS" but then explain how freaking awesome it is to be learning about what I have loved for my entire life. Not many people grew up so passionate about something, and for that I am lucky! I am so thankful to be interested in what I am learning about. There is nothing in the world more liberating than pursuing your dreams. 

Proof that I have always been obsessed with babies and pregnancy. My mom preggo with my baby sis. And yes, I made her do this in stores, restaurants, etc.

Happy Friday!

This is about how I am feeling after finishing a week full of exams. Time to head to the beach and get my champagne on! Happy Friday!!

Xoxo,

Owen

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my hard-working, silly, generous, caring, passionate, stubborn dad. I see so many qualities in myself that I got from you, and for that I am thankful. You taught me that I can be anything I want to be. And to never give up. You expected great things out of me, which taught me to set high goals for myself. You give selflessly to those that are less fortunate. I am glad you are mine!

Five on Friday: 5 honeymoon tips!

My honeymoon was the best week of my life... hands down. Can't we have a honeymoon every year?? That would be amazing. We chose the Iberostar Grand in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Here are the 5 things I would tell any engaged couple when planning their honeymoon:

[ONE]

Go somewhere that someone you know has been before. We knew we didn't want to go somewhere that everyone we knew had been, but we also wanted to know first-hand that where we were going was pretty, clean, etc. I posted a comment on Facebook asking for suggestions of resorts/places and got a million responses. It was super helpful and I researched a lot of the resorts before we made our decision. Pictures on the internet are always edited and don't usually acurately portray the resort [for the most part] so knowing that someone has actually been to your honeymoon location and approved can ease your mind and make you confident in your decision. It was super important to us that the food was good, resort and rooms clean, staff nice and helpful, and beach gorgeous. A friend went to this same resort for her honeymoon and assured us that we would be impressed, and we were!

[TWO]

Go the week after your wedding! I know this can be super hard with schedules and the busyness of everyday life, but it is so important that you spend time with your now husband to unwind, spend good quality time, and set the foundation for the rest of your marriage. Even if it's just for 2 days, DO IT! Postponing a honeymoon was not an option for us, so we planned entirely around my school schedule to ensure that we could have a week honeymoon [which is why we had to get married 3 days after Christmas]. It was so much fun to re-live the weekend together and cherish a week of no school, work, emails, stress and just enjoy each other.

[THREE]

Pack an outfit in your carry on bags! Don't you agree that the absolute worst trip to lose your luggage on would be your honeymoon? Yep. That happened to us. Thankfully my brilliant husband suggested that we pack a bathing suit in our carry ons, just in case. Otherwise, we would have been stuck in our room the whole first day. Or he would have ;) Luckily [for me] they lost his luggage and not mine! We had to cancel our dinner reservations and order room service the first night because dress pants were required for men, and he had no clothes! We were super bummed but thankfully his bag came late that night. Moral of the story: be prepared with carry-ons.

[FOUR]

Put your phone down. Luckily we couldn't use our phones in Mexico so I wasn't tempted, but I encourage you to cut it off, put it in your bag, and DON'T look at it until you get home. This is the one week that you can feel guilt-free for not responding to emails, family, friends, etc. I am so guilty of using my phone too much in everyday life, but I am thankful I didn't have it on our honeymoon. Our conversations were uninterrupted, engaging, and it was super nice to have dinner every night without a single text or phone call!

[FIVE]

Don't make plans ahead of time. If you are like us, you will just want to relax. We considered going on an excursion but decided we were happy just sitting on the beach. We were so glad that we didn't book the excursion ahead of time or we would have had to go. Just get there and see how you feel! It is ok to do nothing!

My husband's goal of the trip was to get on this huge wooden horse. So after one a few too many drinks, I made sure no one was coming and he gracefully hopped on. We have never laughed so hard.