A Change of Plans...Again

Monday came and went. Beau and I had sent out prayer requests that his Pediatrics rotation would not work out so we could move back to the Midwest before Thanksgiving.

The Lord answered out prayers, but there has never been a more truer saying that the Lord's plan is always best. I'll explain:

When Beau called me and told me the Peds rotation hadn't worked out it felt like my heart was shot into space, and then he told me that they had offered him the surgical rotation and just as fast as my heart departed from the ground it came crashing back down again. Surgery...

The surgery rotation is a grueling one. Long hours and difficult scenarios and very very stressful at times. We knew that it was going to be a hard rotation and I knew that if Beau were given the opportunity to do it here, then we'd take it so we could just get it out of the way. If he were to take it here, then he'd be green book certified and there would be no restrictions in any states in terms of matching for residency, or being able to practice. I knew that this was something Beau had been stressing over basically since he started medical school so when he told me he had taken it, I understood the importance behind it even though it wasn't what we planned at all. We were so desperate to get home.

So the change of plans. We went from the possibility of coming home mid November to now March. That is UNLESS Beau can get his peds rotation some where other than here. If he can, then we are done here in NY on JANUARY 27TH. Tentative. Very tentative.

We wanted to come home so badly, but this is where God wants us for now. And I am happy with that actually. Plans change, especially the ones we make for ourselves.

We will see what happens next ;)

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

I Have a Feeling I'm Going To Have a Case of the Mondays

Monday is on its way, but before I get to that, I want to reflect on the great weekend we had.

Thursday we made an impromptu trip to New Jersey and spent a couple days with our family. It was so great to be there. It was a much needed break and I was missing Jaqui in a major way. Its funny how just a simple hug from someone and to just vent to someone who really knows you can make you feel so much better. It was a great weekend. We made dinner for her and Travis and just hung out. It was absolutely WONDERFUL being able to spend time with them. I always look forward to spending time with them.

We tried out Thomas Sweet's for the first time this weekend! Last night Jaqui burst out with "I want Thomas Sweet's!" ( I have no idea if that is the right name or not but its pretty close) So Beau and Travis ran to pick up the most AMAZING pumpkin frozen yogurt I have ever had in my entire life. It was great to spend that girl time with Jaqui and just really talk to her. She always has a way of putting me at ease. From the very beginning of Beau and mine's relationship she has always been there and I can't imagine not having her close.

But I should explain why I have been so hard to get a hold of and apologize to all of you (a hem, Chunk) who I haven't emailed yet...

I haven't wanted to get into the whole story. I have asked for prayers and Beau and I have been so deep in prayer over this. Let me explain...

When Beau was in Miami (over a year ago) he had to have labs drawn for school. He had his labs drawn through the school that he is attending (keep that in mind as the story progresses). As we are driving down the road on our HONEYMOON his school calls. We were in having dinner and so we listened to the message when we came back out. They (his school) said that the labs (that his school had drawn) weren't the right ones and that he was going to need to have his labs drawn again before he could start his next rotation. They called us on a Wednesday and they were due to the hospital on that Friday! So after he had called the school back and asked them if he could get an extension because we were on our honeymoon and driving cross country, they told us that they didn't give extensions. They said we'd have to show up at the hospital and hope that they allow him to do this rotation. So I got on my phone and called up the doctors office and we turned around and drove all the way back to Toledo. In the end we didn't get the labs into the hospital on time, but the story doesn't end there...

After having the labs drawn and being told they definitely would NOT be submitted to the NY hospital on time we set off. It had put a damper on the entire honeymoon. We were so stressed. What does this mean? Are we going to be able to get a different rotation in NY? Are we going to have to move within the next few weeks? Should we even bother taking all this stuff back with us to furnish the apartment if we weren't going to be there much longer?

When we got back to NY the school had "worked things out" and that he should be able to do the rotation. At least that's what they said. Beau was so relieved but I was, well, not. There was a part of me that just wanted so badly to be done here. To be able to move back to the Midwest. So we stocked up on all kinds of food and set up the apartment thinking we were going to be here at least another six weeks. By this time we had decided that we were going to move back in December regardless.

The day before yesterday his school called back. Basically we are bogged down by the same questions we had before we got back. But the funny thing is, that at this point, we are praying that it doesn't work out. We want so badly to be done with this place. We want to leave NY for good. And up until yesterday, despite how badly I want to leave, I felt guilty because I didn't want to leave Jaqui and Travis here to spend the holidays alone. But as I talked about everything with her, she told me how desperate they were to get home as well. This made me feel so much better. Especially when she told me they would be praying that we get back to the Midwest as soon as possible.

So as I sit here, Beau is looking at the cost of appliances and we have been house hunting with the hopes of having to find a new place very soon. And as I sit here, looking at him, and as I drink the chamomile tea he made me because "he thought I was stressing about things" (Lord how could I love him any more?) I think about how blessed I am that we are together through this and I think how even though we hate it here and want to be home with our family and friends, I know the Lord brought us to NY for a reason and I know he knows our hearts and hears our prayers. I have the most amazing husband and we are going through this together and we are becoming even stronger because of it.

So if you read this, can you please say a prayer for us?

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

Thankful

My dear friend Jenna reminded me today that it is indeed November and she has a 30 days of thankfulness going. Awesome Jenna!

That got me thinking that I too have very much to be thankful for even though things are so screwy all of a sudden.

We received some FANTASTIC family news on the 27th. I will keep that day forever close to my heart. I can't really go into it now, but Beau and I are so ecstatic! To celebrate we opened the bottle of pink champagne my mom and dad snuck into our car. It has become a new family tradition, pink champagne to celebrate, my mom bought it for us the night we got engaged and she snuck it into our car for our honeymoon!


The night we got engaged! August 10th, 2010!

CELEBRATE!!!!


For the first time since we moved to New York our cupboards and freezer are PACKED. I am thankful that we were able to bring Ruby out here because the Lord has blessed us with the means to get to a more affordable grocery store and the ability to buy larger amounts of food at a time. We are so thankful for this. The grocery store we were shopping at was only a couple blocks away, but it was so overpriced it was RIDICULOUS. $5 for a box of gram crackers? You have to be nuts!

Praise the Lord for all this cheap food!


I am thankful for all our loved ones.

I am thankful for being so close to Jaqui and Travis and the time we have had together to grow a close and strong relationship with them.

I am thankful for my education.

I am thankful for mobility.

I am thankful for our health, our happiness, the clothes on our backs, and the roof over our heads.

I am thankful for my husband and all that he has become and all that he continues to become.

I am just thankful, thankful for every day, thankful for this life the Lord has given me.

I hope you all have a great month and you too are able to reflect on the many blessings in your own lives.

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

Welcome to Our Home

Hello everyone!

Initially I didn't want to post pictures of our "remodeling" project until after we had our family over but as we are having Thanksgiving at their place this year (and because I really want to show the pictures because I am just so proud of how nice we've made it) I decided to post them for your (and my ;) ) enjoyment!

I posted one picture of what it looked like when we moved in but let me give you the bare bones and now...

Move In Day, January 17th (ish) 2011...




And Now...



I LOVE our kitchen! There is one more thing I am wanting to add to the walls. Its a sign that says "Wine, How Classy People Get Trashed"

This is a view basically from our front door. The kitchen is right off to the left and the bedroom is the second door you see.

Our living room is so homey now. Its nice to have our Toledo things with us now.

So there it is in one very tiny nutshell.

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

Inspired to House Hunt

So to all of you who have endured me complaining for the last 10 months about our neighbor I apologize. I apologize but the bitching does not end there. In July the neighbor we had upstairs (the one I had been complaining about since we moved in) moved out (praise the Lord) and in moved the quietest people ever. It was great. No more late night poundings on the ceilings, no more late night trips upstairs for Beau to ask him nicely to please shut the "f" up before I punch your face in (noisey upstairs neighbor+5am rise and shine=not a happy downstairs neighbor), and no more frustration over the fact that he was completely incompetent and RUDE.

Well, I shouldn't have ever dreamed the new neighbors were going to be here til we moved. One day Beau calls me and tells me that we have new neighbors. Almost immediately my heart sank because I was so thankful for the last neighbors (who I am pretty sure levitated across the floor because they were so quiet). He told me that he had already been up a couple times since they had moved in asking them to quiet down. "GREAT!" I thought. And since I have been back to NY, I have wanted to get out my broom and do some pounding on the ceiling. Its the loud guy times 2! And, and we have a neighbor DOWNSTAIRS as well who has (as Beau puts it) decided to audition for the next season of American Idol. At the same time every morning I am awakened by the bass of the SAME SONG and the man soulfully singing along apparently completely unaware that he is not the only person who inhabits this building.

So where I am going with this is that Beau and I are house hunting. Before you say "whoa you're only going to be in NY a few more months WHY are you house hunting?" Well, the planners that we are we have started looking for houses in Janesville. Last night we were looking at website after website and even hit up craigslist to see what there was for rentals. I am thinking we are DONE with apartment living. That being said, the neighbors we had in Toledo were AMAZING and became friends of ours. Maybe its just New Yorkers.

We are pretty much sold on buying. Especially if we get residency there. Here is what we have on our wish list:
-hard wood floors
-fenced in back yard
-garage for Annie
-at LEAST two bedrooms
-full basement that we can utilize either as storage or as a living space
-nice size yard for our boys (Oliver and the future Joey) and room for a garden
-close to Mercy Hospital
-a good size kitchen
-LOTS of windows
-SPACE

I am a sucker for Arts and Crafts Architecture as well as anything Art Deco. I LOVE my friend Jenna's house with all the built in wood work and natural hard wood floors. To me that feels so much like a home. Here is an example of Arts and Crafts:


This house is an example of a Craftsman built in 1910. But before the architect in me gets carried away I will just say this: it looks so homey and I can just see us filling a place like this with loved ones. *sigh*

I don't think we have an unreasonable wish list. We have even looked at many foreclosures and fixer-uppers. There was one in particular that we were particularly interested in. It is definitely in need of some TLC, but it had all the original woodwork and LOADS of potential. I am not afraid to dig in and really make it ours. We will see what the Lord has in store for us. We are so blessed in that we have family and friends who have had lots of experience in home improvement. One thing is for sure, we are having a house warming party when we do find a home and we will have everyone over to help us paint and pray over our home. We want the Lord to fill every corner.

I am a sucker for Arts and Crafts Architecture, as well as anything Art Deco. I love my friend

Its crazy to think that we are married. It still hasn't sunk in yet. As far as owning a home and starting a family? Well that seemed like a lifetime away. Its hard to believe that this time next year we may be home owners. Its so exciting. And babies? Oh my goodness! But as I sit here and watch Beau I can't imagine our life any different. I am so excited to start physically looking at places (not just over the internet) and I cannot wait to see his face when I tell him we are pregnant for the first time. We have been emotionally ready for this for a very long time now, we just need to rely on God for the rest of it.

And then there is school...another entry for another time.

So yes, are we eager to have our own place that we can do whatever we want with, and not have to share all four walls with someone? Um, YES. Wow, its coming up quicker than we think...phew...

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

This Is What The Lord Made Sundays For

This morning Beau and I cracked open "Becoming Soul Mates: 52 Meditations to Bring Joy to Your Marriage." We do the best we can to keep the Lord central in our lives and since we haven't really found a church that we can attended on a weekly basis, we decided to start a devotional together. The first day was great and I feel already that its something we will really enjoy and a great way to reconnect when things get a little hectic.

As a wedding gift our sister and brother got us this most amazing family bible. It touched my heart in so many ways when we opened the bag and pulled out the big beautiful maroon colored treasure. She had even had our names inscribed on the cover. I remember when I was little, I would open our family bible and wonder what mine would look like. Now I Beau and I have one and we are able to fill the pages with our family histories and document our history as we begin every stage of our life together. So cool and such a precious gift. We used it for our devotion time today, and it made me feel how loved we are and how much the Lord is already a part of our marriage. Thank you Beky. Its such a precious precious gift.


Sundays...I used to think it was the last day to get your homework done or the last day you could cram before test. At least that what it has been for me for the past few years, but as I sit here next to Beau while he reads and as we listen to music and as I update our FB forum with new recipes for the upcoming cold weather, I start to think about what Sunday's meant for me as a kid.

Most weekends my brother and I would stay at my grandparents house. We used to look forward to that so much as my grandparents would make us all kinds of good food, throw us a "party" as we watched Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights, and they would take us into town to this little dollar store to pick out a treasure. On Sundays we would go to three or four church services as our grandpa was a pastor and had a yoke ministry meaning he preached at several of the local rural churches each weekend. I didn't appreciate those times when I was that age. But there are many times where I think about those simple laid back weekends with my grandparents and miss them so much it hurts.

When we weren't spending time with my grandparents on the weekends, we would go places as a family. There were many weekends where mom and dad would load up the car and we would take trips all over the state always remembering to pack our swimsuits because they delighted in taking us to hotels with swimming pools in them. It was always such a treat and there is nothing I love more than taking those little day trips here and there. My brother is in college now, and now that we live so far away, those weekends trip have almost become obsolete. But we were able to introduce Beau to one of our favorite family past times this past winter before we moved to New York. My mom and dad, Beau, and I took a day trip to Galena and it was one of the most incredible weekends. I can't wait til we get home so we can pick up where we left off and carry on the tradition with our kids, nieces, and nephews.

I am fairly convinced this is what the Lord made Sundays for. To sit and relax, to talk to one another, to cuddle with your spouse and watch TV or read together, to pack the kids up and make memories, to just sit and be still and marvel in all that the Lord has given you and the blessing that loved ones are. Yep, that is what Sunday is for.

In God's Love,

Beau and Kenz

That White Stuff Is Back...Great...

I was sitting on the couch watching one of my most favorite shows ever (The Office) and was completely lost in the cliff hanger episode when I glanced up to look out the window at the dreary, gloomy day. What happened next was much like Ralfie in A Christmas Story... "HOLY FUDGE IT'S SNOWING!!!" "Only I didn't say 'fudge' I said the F dash, dash, dash word." I guess one would have to have seen the whole thing go down to really appreciate my disbelief and absolute DEVASTATION written all over my face as I jumped up and ran over to the window to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

IT ISN'T EVEN HALLOWEEN YET, FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!!!!!

I feel hurt, I feel beat up, and I feel even colder. I feel like my most FAVORITE season is over for the year and there is NOTHING I can do about it. I feel as though I was tricked, deceived, and down right ROBBED. And because of this I am also in denial. As of two weeks ago the corn was still in the fields, and even the trees in Vermont were not so totally in the fall spirit yet. In fact, the tree outside our window is STILL GREEN and so with that, I refuse to change the background on this blog. I won't do it, not until AFTER Thanksgiving. I don't care if there is six feet of snow on the ground...I WON'T GIVE IN TO THIS NASTY WHITE STUFF!!!!

Although I must admit, as Beau and I are still reveling in our honeymoon it wasn't so terrible to snuggle up under the covers with my new husband, drink hot cider (the most amazing cider we picked up in Vermont) and watch out the window as the flakes went from tiny and painful looking to big, fluffy, and almost loving and dare I say it, "welcoming." There was a split second where I had visions of putting on our coats, hats, and mittens and going for a short walk. Then I felt a shiver and changed my mind in a hurry as I pulled more blankets over us. Its downright cold in here but I refuse to turn on the furnace.

I am sure I look like a little street urchin right now. Beau lit a candle and told me how much heat it put off as he held his hands close to the flames. "So bring it over here and set it on the table" I said to him. Well I am sitting maybe three feet away and I am not feeling it!

I suppose once we are home and settled I won't feel the same way I do now. I used to love snow. I use to love to cuddle up and watching the big fluffy flakes. I used to love to take my dog out to play in the snow. But now, well. Lets just say I don't get a childhood thrill out of it anymore. Maybe its because I am an adult now and don't really benefit from massive amounts of snow fall.

Here is the video I made of our first snow fall:




Tonight we are making stew and cuddling up with homemade Pumpkin Spice (eat your heart out Starbucks) and a good movie.

Hmm...maybe snow isn't as bad as I thought :)

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz