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!!