Two Years

It is amazing what can happen in a few short years. 

April 23, 2010.

Ryan was just finishing his mission in South Korea.  He had his next year planned, filled with football, dating and school.  I, on the other hand, didn’t know what my future held.  I was about to leave for a study abroad in Spain and was confused about a relationship, my major, and basically my entire future. 

April 23, 2011.

We were married.  What???  Yes we did only date for a few short weeks and were engaged for a few short months, but it is truly amazing how our lives were carefully and thoughtfully intertwined in order to bring us together.  I didn’t know if I was going to be able to transfer to BYU and was exploring other options.  Ryan was busy with football and other demands. 

April 23, 2012.

Both finishing up one of our last semesters of school, not working and looking forward to a summer of fun together.  Ryan finished his last season playing at BYU and I had managed to transfer to UVU, with a couple semesters under my belt.  We moved to our beloved “Briar” apartment and began to explore all the nearby mountain trails.

April 23, 2013.

Both graduated.  Medical school put off another year, and two masters in the works (Neuroscience for Ryan and Dietetics for me).  Working full time and studying full time.  Looking forward to a family, an acceptance to medical school and a solid five-year plan.    

Life keeps you on your toes.  One year our lives are thrown together, the next we are trudging through school, and the next we are working and just as confused about our futures as we had been a few years back.  But, it is wonderful to reflect on the growth we have had as individuals and as a couple, and the blessings we experience every day. 

I am lucky enough to have a husband who:

• turns on some music and asks me to dance right there in the middle of the kitchen floor, with flour on my face, a spoon in my hand and an apron tied around my waist
• tells me he loves me at least 5 times as day
• lets his arm fall asleep just so I can be snuggled as tight as possible
• has 10+ hour study days and never complains
• wakes up and exercises with me even though he doesn’t want to
• pretends he loves my burned cookies
• grabs my hand on our nightly walks
• gives me the “I love you” hand squeeze every day
• deals with my occasional craziness
• loves to play our instruments together
• is more attractive to me now than he was when I was 14
• is a true listener, a kind companion and my best friend

 
 Two years today.  It is such a wonderful thing to be married not only to an amazing husband, but a genuine, loyal and positive person.  I look forward to another year with my man!

 

Time.

Two blog posts in three months. 

It is kind of depressing.  Ever since starting full-time work, any hope for “me” time has since disappeared.  I have several dusty books and a dusty guitar.  A neglected blog and hopefully a not-too-neglected husband.

This is the very first time in life where I have felt robbed of time.  My day begins with a quick workout, measly breakfast, messy hair and thrown-together outfits – all to get to work where somehow time tends to stand still. 

After work we make dinner, clean dinner, get ready for the next day and just like that – it’s morning again.  I could read a few pages or plunk out that one song I have wanted to learn, but my time talking with Ryan means so much more.

This past weekend my family was in town for a family wedding (yayyyy for Tony & Abby!) and our nights finally had some variety!  A movie here, a dinner there, some new conversation.  Ryan and I are truly trying our best to make each evening together meaningful and worthwhile, as sometimes we feel the pressures of technology and succumb to work emails, studies, or sometimes even random television shows.  With whatever energy and brains we have left, we are trying so hard to stretch ourselves and each other with the time left over in the day. 

I look toward my summer with a tinge of sadness.  This new full-time work I prayed so fervently for is all of the sudden not what I had imagined.  Responsibility.  Summer means early morning walks and lazy afternoons.  Swimming pools and good reads.  Gardening and bike rides.  The realization that work still carries on is hard to choke down. 

I hope I don’t sound ungrateful.  I am grateful for employment.  I am grateful for my husband’s hard work.  I am grateful for a myriad of other things.  It’s just today, I realize that things are changing…whether I want them to or not!

Trail Blazing

So 2013 has welcomed us with a couple slugs to the gut with regard to what we had hoped for our future. Last week I was fortunate enough to receive info on my candidacy for medical school in 2013. The answer from the only two schools I had a shot at, was no.

Why fortunate, you might ask? Because now at least we know a little more about our immediate future. Lauren and I have been praying our guts out, hoping, worrying, and wondering if I was going to get the green light this year. That can make life so miserable! The anxiety and uncertainty of the whole process was gut-wrenching. Just knowing that this year is a no-go and next year will bring new opportunities is better than all the fussing and constant email checking.

Also, Lauren has been considering going back to school, studying something she's actually interested in and passionate about, and getting another degree in something like dietetics or nutrition science. Although the idea of starting over seems daunting, school can be so fascinating when you study something you're interested in and that's what Lauren's looking forward to.

For me, 2013 should be pretty fun. Minus the next few months which will be spent endlessly studying for the MCAT, filling out applications (and hopefully interviewing!), I am starting the neuroscience master's program in April and hope to complete my degree in a little over a year.  The program should be really fun. Since graduation, I've spent a lot of time working in the lab and have observed the life of a grad student.  It seems relaxed, less structured, and more liberal than the rigors of undergraduate work at BYU. Also, I'll be able to work on my own personal research project and hopefully publish my first paper as a somewhat-primary author in a scientific journal.

All in all, Lauren and I are becoming more and more excited about blazing a different trail than we had originally planned and learning to welcome the detours of life with increasingly welcoming arms.

Also, with respect to all the obstacles and stumbling blocks that have been set in our paths, I came upon this quote from Winston Churchill that I am going to frame or print out or something.

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Quotes like these are always good reminders to keep hoping and pursuing personal/family goals, regardless of the challenges that inevitably surface at the most inopportune time!

Hopefully the lessons learned and experiences gained during the upcoming year will prove worth the wait!