Friday, September 13, 2013

Fall Update

So Lauren and I have been going full bore for the last few weeks. After our killer vacation to Mexico (which we still need to write about), we got ready for school and work. Lauren is thoroughly enjoying her new job working for BYU IMG Sports Marketing and they seem happy to have her (who wouldn't be!!!!).

She has also been super busy helping out in the ward. She was recently called into the relief society presidency and is also busy working on ways to reach out to sisters in need. We both got new callings which brought us out from the forsaken realm of primary and inserted us in the heart of the action. It's been really fun. We're getting to know a lot of outstanding people and learn from the examples of great leaders. We're coming to love serving in the Oak Hills 7th ward.

I started graduate school and it's great. It's fun to be back in classes, doing less busy work and being in control of my course of study/pace. One of the highlights is TAing for my favorite undergraduate course, neuroanatomy. Teaching others about the brain has already been super fun and it's only been a week. Maybe this will influence whether I go into academics someday.

In addition to grad-school fun, I have two interviews for medical school; one at University of Texas San Antonio and the other at University of South Florida. Lauren and I are pumped and feel fortunate for the opportunities that have come to us. Hopefully other schools like Uniformed Services, University of Utah, and Oregon Health and Science get back to us soon! We feel blessed to receive interview invites so soon, considering there were only two last year and one was in February.

Also, I am training for my first (and potentially last) marathon. I think I'm going to run in the Huntsville marathon, a nice little town in northern Utah. 26.2 miles downhill (4000ft elevation drop) should be pretty nice in late September! Training is slowly teaching me to enjoy running, but I look forward to getting back in the gym and putting diversity back in my exercise routine. Hopefully Kelly and Eric will be able to tag along and enjoy the run. We were originally planning on running in the Top of Utah Marathon but because of recent events we won't make it.

Unfortunately, there was a stint of sad news in the family. Lauren's maternal grandma, Verna Allen, passed away earlier this week. We look forward to gathering for her funeral and celebrating her life. She was a very sweet women and hope things will be OK for her surviving spouse, Verlan. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Allen family that's mourning this loss.

All in all, we've been very blessed over the past few months and have learned a lot in 2013. We look forward to the remainder of what this year will bring and hope to chronicle more of the small pearls we encounter along the way.