It's Been Awhile...

Sorry it has been awhile...

I have had a few ideas for a blog idea but I never had the motivation to sit down and right...

One blog idea was about numbers...

Numbers play such a big role in our lives.  Numbers can tell us what we are worth, how much we weigh, what size we are, where we are, what we have done, etc.

Women let numbers dictate how we feel about ourselves too much if you ask me.  I know not all women struggle with numbers to the same extent and men also struggle, but why? Why do we let others put worth to the numbers? My sister recently wrote a blog talking about different sizes and shapes of bodies and being your own kind of beautiful.  Media tries to tell women that to be beautiful one has to be so small!

A size 8 is now a PLUS size model!! What is that?! I frequently where sizes 8 or 10 and I would not consider myself to be plus size! I don't mind the way I look and am working on feeling great about my body! Small mannequins modeling the clothes does not help! I loved going to David's Bridal and seeing a size 10 mannequin!

In addition to trying to make myself feel better about my body I had Andrew hide the scale! Stepping on the scale and not seeing the numbers go down really frustrates me and discourages me! Why do we let the numbers mean so much? What we see in ourselves is what should matter!! 

I could go on and on about why numbers frustrate me and at times mean more than they should but this is going to turn into an endless rant...if it hasn't already...

So Much Is Happening!! :)

I've been meaning to write a blog for awhile now and therefore have several topics in mind...

1. VACATION!! I recently spent a week in Hawaii for my parents 30th anniversary and happened to be there for my 24th birthday :) the best birthday present was being with my whole family under one roof (minus Andrew :( )

2. End of the School Year...Andrew was studying for finals during our family vacation and it paid off!! He did amazing his first year of med school getting straight As!! Although he is waiting to make sure he passed his standardized patient final...

3. It's almost like we've been on vacation without leaving home! :)

I've been lacking in work hours (not great for our budget but great for our lives) and Andrew has been done studying and I have been in Heaven actually getting to see him and hang out with him! :) 

This week on our vacation at home we had a lot of fun! Monday we went to Worlds of Fun with our friends. Tuesday and Wednesday were birthday days! :) Tuesday he spoiled me by doing everything I wanted to do...We went to the zoo and then cooled off at our pool and then he surprised me by taking me to the Melting Pot for dinner! I've been wanting to go there since we moved almost a year ago!

Wednesday was his day, but I didn't spoil him as much...we went and saw A Million Ways to Die in the West and then went and saw the Cardinals play the Royals and I got him a birthday cake to eat with our friends before the game. I did however pick the only win of the series for the Cardinals!

This week has made me extremely grateful for quality time!! I have so thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Andrew that I'm trying to not let anything get in the way! It's not often (or ever?) that we've had this much time together since he started school! Now his family is visiting and we are enjoying spending time with them and waiting to spend time with my family! 

I've realized over the past year I have to take the moments when I can get them! Treasure the time we have don't dwell on the time we don't have

I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

Ohh med school...

My wonderful, awesome, fiance is almost done with his first year of med school!! He has done an awesome job and I just love to brag about him to our families and friends who are supporting us from a distance :)

Andrew would not have gotten as far as he has and done as good of a job as he has without the help of his friends, his support group, his mentors, his peers.  They study alone, together, clarify things, and teach each other.  He has found what seems to be a really good group.  They go beyond school, they help each other unwind and celebrate life.

Andrew and I have been figuring out how to create time for us and I am working two part time jobs and have taken up boxing for exercise and an outlet for emotions.  I've also started volunteering at the Kansas City Pet Project (although I really need to get there more often than I do...).  Even with everything I'm trying to do I have a lot of free time!  Most weekends Andrew studies all day on Saturday and for at least a little bit on Sunday after he's spent Monday through Thursday and maybe sometimes Friday studying...it's never ending!

I would not be able to get through this without the help of my friends!! When I'm not quite sure what I'm doing I can go to my friends and talk to them and we can give each other advice because we understand what each other is going through.  Our lives are not the exact same but their guys are in Andrew's class so everyone is incredibly busy.  They are a great source of comfort and a distraction.  I am so lucky to have found them! We get together to drink, bake, watch movies, play games, go shopping, support one another, and move through this journey of moving away from friends and family. 

While my two best friends in Kansas City are part of our med school journey I also have at least one other friend.  We might not be in the same journey but she also moved to Kansas City away from her friends and family to support her boyfriend.  Sometimes it's just so nice to get together with her to get away from med school.  She is a great girl and I am glad that I found her too! 

I may not have a lot of friends here in Kansas City, but I have learned that quality is much better than quantity!! I am soo grateful for my friends, all of my friends because it's nice to know I have people supporting me from afar!! You girls mean so much to me! So thank you for your support and love! <3 

Dating in Med School

My friend told me that based off the title of my blog I should share what it's like to be engaged to a med school student.  That's what I'm doing I'm sharing the story of my life on this blog.  It's not a glamorous life and nothing terribly exciting, but it's my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  

This is my post that really focuses on med school...

Andrew spends a lot of time in school, studying for school, talking about school!  We talk about school and I'm here to support him and be a sounding board for when he needs someone to talk about, but frankly a lot of med school goes right over my head.  I'm not trying to be mean or rude, but I believe he was smart enough to get into med school and maybe I could have, but I'm not in med school he is and I want him to figure this out for himself.  We are both people that have to figure out our own process of getting through things and if our processes are messed with we are thrown off.  I don't want to mess with Andrew's process, but I am there for him when he needs help.  I do push him sometimes to study because that's who I am.  I want to make sure he is studying and getting the most out of class and the opportunities he is given from school so that he can do whatever he wants for residency and beyond.

What I can do for Andrew is help him have fun and relax outside of school.  We enjoy date nights either out of the house or staying in and doing something for free.  Date nights are important for the med student and for the partner.  There is not a lot of free time in med school and at the beginning of school (for quite awhile actually...) we were not focused on our relationship...he was focused on school and I was trying to just be there to support him and understand that he would be busy with school.  I knew (or thought I knew) what was coming because my parents who had gone through this process had tried to prepare me for a lot of busyness.  I want him to do as well as possible because I know how smart he is and how much he wants this.  Some weeks we never saw each other and with our differing schedules one of us would be sleeping in our bed and one of us would be sleeping elsewhere because the bed had been hogged.  It felt like we never saw each other and that little time between coming home and going to bed was not quality time. Finally I had a realization that we needed to focus more on our relationship.  We needed to spend some quality time together hopefully once a week...whenever we can fit it in with our busy schedules.  This has really helped us continue to build our relationship as we prepare to get married (eek!) and has made us happier.

Last weekend we had one of the best date nights in a long time! We just stayed home made some waffles and played games!! He crushed me in boggle beating me by 50-ish points!! Then we moved to mario kart and got a little competitive :).  We had fun laughing and talking and just relaxing! This date night is when I realized staying home and doing something we both enjoyed could be a lot more fun that going out and spending money.  So stay in and have a date night at home! Just don't forget to put down the phones and talk :)

No One Can Love You Like A Sister

So I've been slacking...I've been having a lot of good in my life lately but I was also stuck in a funk for a few days....I have a hard time getting out of my head and sometimes I forget to remember the positive...I need to remember to use the Happier app on my iPhone! Really you should check it out!!

Anyways....

Last week I worked a crazy busy week doing a two day scrub sale in Topeka...I worked 48 hours in 4 days!! How other people work so much in one week is beyond me!! But I do love the job, the friendly people you can encounter, and my co-workers!

This week I started my second part time job as an infant hearing screener! I LOVE babies! :) It's a different job than I've ever done before! I worked retail in high school, I did office work, and I've done day care...but never have I worked with babies who are a day old...some several hours old!

It's a good job and I think I will get the hang of it and like it a lot which is good because it's with a national company so if when I have to move I will hopefully be able to keep the job...

I am so glad I have friends in the area that help keep me a little more sane and entertained...visiting winerys, having movie nights, walking around shopping centers looking at stores when we have no money!! 

With all of this goodness around do you know what got me out of my funk?? My wonderful sister!! We face timed each other and were singing together and laughing together!! Singing gets us out of our bad moods and no one is as fun to sing with as my sister!! I love my sister!!

Friends, Family, and Home

So I missed my post last week because I was home visiting with friends and family.  

I love going home because I love seeing my family and visiting with friends.  I love catching up on life and seeing what has changed in life, in my home. However when I'm home with my family I miss Andrew.  I miss my friends. I miss the feeling of our new home and life we started and are finding in Kansas City. When I'm home I know that soon enough I'll be back in my new home.  I'm never home for long enough but I'm always gone long enough from Andrew.

When I'm back home in Kansas City though I miss my home, the crazy love that my family and I share. I don't miss the love filled teasing from sisters. I REALLY miss singing with my twin sister, best friend, Megan.  I miss having a singing buddy.  I miss my parents who know how to make things right and make things feel better. I love being in my new home because I feel like I am finding myself some more than I could at home.

With Andrew being very busy with school I have relied on friends a lot! I also try to keep busy with working out or binging on Netflix! My girls and I like to have evenings of baking and drinking wine and venting and relaxing! I think friends are the key for getting through...for the med students and their partners.  Most of us are away from home so it's nice to create our own little families.

I feel so lucky to have two "homes" but I cannot wait until I can have them in the same city!! I hope that happens some day. I hope some day after Andrew is done with school and residency that we can move back to Springfield but I'm not making any definite plans because I have learned that our definite plans don't turn out.  I'm learning to just go with the flow these days...

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Sometimes I'm here in Kansas City thinking back over the past year or so and I can't believe it.  Sometimes it all seems so crazy that Andrew and I moved away from our parents and homes and moved to Kansas City (where I am very glad we do have some family) to start a new journey.  Andrew started med school while I started a new job at yet another day care.  I love working with children and they can just really brighten your day like no one else can sometimes...I think it's their innocence... The stress of working at a day care just became too much though and I found a new job or rather two new jobs. I'm working at a scrub store and will be starting a new job doing infant hearing screening.  Andrew has said I'm not allowed to work in day care anymore because he has seen how happy I am working in a less stressful environment.

All the change has been surprisingly good.  I don't usually deal well with change but I have found a few friends and am working on finding myself, just learning to be happy and embracing life.  I miss my home and parents like crazy a lot but I slowly catch myself feeling like Kansas City is my new home.  It really might be about surrounding yourself with love that makes somewhere home...

The changes will always be coming because that's what life is but I think this year the changes will continue to be good because I will be marrying my best friend (too cliche?) this fall...according to our bed bath and beyond registry it will be in 184 days! :)

I'm excited for my life :)

P.S. I was getting ready to post this on facebook with an introduction about how I'm just kind of writing and seeing what comes out...I'm not sure if that's how you're supposed to do it to make a good blog like my sister's fashion blog.  I might be a little biased but I think it's a fantastic blog.

If You're Happy and You Know It...

Clap your hands?

I'm learning to be happier and I want to share it with others because I want to see my friends and others happy!!

I recently came across this app for the iphone called Happier where people post statuses about something that makes them happy, feel good, etc.  Others can "smile" at your statuses or click a button that says "me too". Yes I know you can do the same thing on facebook.  I've seen the 100 days of happy from several friends on facebook.  My problem? I feel like it's way too easy to be negative on facebook and that doesn't help me and it doesn't help anyone else.  I try to remember to post on Happier at least once a day it makes it easy to remember the good things of the day and I don't even bother thinking of the negatives.

So today the things that make me happy?
I spent a lot of time with one of my best friends here in Kansas City! 
After work we went to Kansas City Pet Project to walk some dogs (that makes me happier and the dogs!)
I enjoyed the lovely weather today :)

I hope you guys are thinking of all the happy things that are going on in your lives :) 

Please Share! :)