Good For The Soul

I know I sound like the rest of the world, but December gets so crazy and busy, and at some point things start to feel out of control. Amongst the craziness, there have been some peaceful moments that have been really really good for my soul. 

Christmas Lights: Last Saturday, Jordan was still in super study mode and spent the entire day at the library. I spent the day at home having a quiet productive day. I fixed steak for dinner (nearly smoked our entire home). After dinner, we fixed hot cacao, got in the car, turned on 105.7, and drove around Greenwood getting lost and looking at Christmas lights. For a few hours, we forgot about Jordan's impending final and had so much fun. Moments like this make me so thankful for marriage and the happiness it brings to my life.  💗

There were some amazing houses around Greenwood. People are serious about their lights. 

All The Treats: My patients. Oh my heart. Every year I am floored by the amount of treats that our patients bring us during Christmas time. We're talking cookies, cakes, breads, candies...all of that on top of the usual catering that we get daily. The majority of our patient population is incredibly poor, and while it doesn't make any sense, it seems like the poorer the patient, the nicer the gift they bring. I am humbled, daily. I'm so grateful to take care of these sweet sweet people. 

This was one of the cards that accompnied a gift, and naturally, I love it! 

Small Group Christmas: For the 3rd year in a row, we had a hilarious Christmas party. Each year, our friendship grows sweeter and our parties grow funnier. Brit and Corey hosted. We had apps and drinks, did a gift exchange, and played hilarious games. The USB sea salt lamp will always be a good memory, and the accent game still has me laughing. So so thankful for this amazing group of people.

RIP 11/17

The Last Warm Day: The last warm day of the year happened on November 17th. I ditched my regularly planned workout for a long walk outside. I walked and walked until it was completely dark. It was amazing, and I'm being extremely dramatic about not having nights like this anymore. 

Punch Bowl Social: We don't "go out." We don't do parties or partying. 2 beers is wild for us. I love our life, but I'm glad we have friends to keep us current. At the suggestion of Brittany, we had a night "out" aka we stayed out until 11:30 and we took and Uber, so crazy(i'm being sarcastic, of course.) Punch Bowl is a new, fun, and way trendy. We ordered dinner and played pictionary. It was a ton of fun, and we're so grateful for our small group people.  

 Reminders: This was in a stall in the bathroom at church. We all need this reminder from time to time.

Ellie Jo: She's getting so big, and has a personality that's even bigger. Love that girl 

Up From the Grave: After a short stent with a "kitty wheelchair"...yes you read that right, the cat had a freaking wheelchair, Cleo is walking again. I don't understand it, but somehow, after 3 months of being paralyzed...our family cat is walking again. Cue Whitney Houston's "Miracle"...

Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. After 15 years of being "overweight," I finally realized that I never truly enjoy "eating" holidays. I always overeat, get anxious, act withdrawn, eat more...cycle continues until the food is gone...and the leftovers. I tried to think about this, make a plan, and not repeat the cycle. It worked out ok. I definitely had slip-ups, but overall, things went better than usual. 

Aaannnnnnnyyyy waayyyyyy... on a lighter note...we spent Thanksgiving day with the Burch side of the family. Most of the family was able to make it, and Jordan had the day off-which was the best part. 

On the Saturday after, we spent the day at the Bushnells. The boys played a ton of football, we watched a lot of football, and ate a ton of food. Carole always makes a tooooon of food, and it's always delicious. I'm still thinking about the coconut cream pie that Danny made.

Elie's standing and noise making was the highlight of our day. 

 Christmas Is Here: We made our annual trip to Phillip's to get our tree. We finally got a "smaller" tree that didn't destroy our apartment. Per the usual, I love our apartment at Christmas. I love the glow of the lights, and how homey it makes our place feel.

Jordan and I have both been struggling with the super materialism of the Christmas season this year. The huge amount of gifts, and amounts that we spend of "stuff" has started to bother us. We're still spending a bazillion dollars on everyone, but trying to be more intentional about the gifts we give. Anyway, Merry Christmas...here's to a crazy season.

Real Life

This happens every year during the final part of the semester-life gets real, and it requires more effort to enjoy. Don't get me wrong, we have a ridiculously easy life and very little "real" stress. But about 4-5 weeks from the end of the semester, the tests get harder, the load becomes heavier, work days become closer together, and the stress builds. All of this makes tempers shorter, nerves higher, and filters go away. Marriage is beautiful in that we get to care for each other and help lighten the load for each other, but we need a vacation. We need some time away from test grades, preceptors, and anxiety. I. Am. So. Ready. By late December it will all get better and we will buckle down for one more semester on the grad school journey. It's close. I can feel it. Until then, we will stay calm and enjoy the moments of sweetness and joy that are scattered amongst the crazy. 

Not-so-baby Ellie: Ellie is growing(surprise, surprise.) Last week on my day off, I was able to spend some much needed time with Abby and Baby Ellie. At the end of the day, I took Ellie for a long walk around their subdivision so that Abby could have some alone time. The funniest part was that at exactly 5:30, Ellie started to cry for no reason at all...I soon found out that 5:30 was dinner time, and she is serious about her schedule. So. Funny. 

 Back On Training: I'm back to normal tri training with Dani, thank freaking goodness. I feel in schedule and don't have the anxiety of "am i doing enough? is this ok? will this help?" I simply do as the schedule says and don't have to think about it. On the flip side, when I am training, I feel an anxiety to preform and strive for immediate perfection. I randomly found this article on Facebook last week that made some amazing points about physical health and our relationship to Christ-so eye opening. I love these prayers below, and am striving to build my triathlon life around them.

 Christmas Shopping: I made a 5 minute attempt to start Christmas shopping...but it's still 60 degrees out and I just couldn't do it. I'm still in fall mode. The only thing I found was this mug that made me laugh out loud-this IS me and Jordan. It's us to a T, and it still makes me happy.

Real Friendship: Ugh. Heart strings. It's probably hormones and stress...and lack of carbs, but the feelings of "growing up" and "real friendship" have been so real lately. Having "jabber" aka our health network's IM system has allowed me and Dani to have real conversations about tough and crazy parts of our lives. I'm so thankful for it. There's a feeling that comes when you realize you can tell someone something serious, and you know they won't run or not respond, that's a good feeling. Life is tough, and I'm so thankful to have found people to share it with. ....segway....Dani's bff, Nick, came to visit her last weekend. Dani invited us to go to dinner with them right after Nick arrived. It was so fun to get to know someone who knows Dani so well. To hear his stories and know that he is such a great friend to her comforting. Now I can believe all of the great things Dani says about him! Dinner at Taxman was delicious, and made me so thankful for the people in my life. 

My Grandpa: This week marked two years of my grandpa being gone. It brings tears to my eyes just to think about it. Timehop brought up the link to his obituary, which I started reading at my desk, and I ended up crying heavier than what was appropriate for work. The next day, my  dad sent me this photo of the "super moon" from their farm where he been hunting. This photo makes me cry if I look at it too long. It brings back so many memories, smells, tastes, and sounds. I usually "hated" going up to my grandparents on a Sunday afternoon. I thought it was a waste of time, because we never really "did" anything except for walk around the farm, eat dinner, and take a walk. Now, I long for those afternoons. I can see my grandparents coming up the stairs from the basement with a can of their green beans from the summer, thawing out the frozen sweet corn. I can feel the glider my grandma always sat in the kitchen, and can hear the Lawrence Welk show on TV. I can even distinctly remember how I thought I was so sly getting a frozen twinkie out of the freezer after dinner, and taking it to the bathroom to eat it because my mom wouldn't let us have them. Yep, everyone knew. This one picture brought back all of those memories in a flood. I am so so so grateful for those days. 

My Patients: Work has been tough lately. With Katie leaving, it has thrown off a "balance" for me. In the midst of the craziness, my patient's never cease to bring my joy or a smile. This patient in particular made a fake tattoo of Dr. A's face and placed it right on his bicep for his last chemo. The look on Dr. A's face was priceless. Even looking at the photo now brings me happiness. Our patient's are the best. 

Fall Is My Favorite

Drew And Bryn's Wedding: They got married!!! Drew and Bryn's wedding was a complete success. The day was so fun and everything went smoothly. Jordan did a great job on his best man speech, and we danced the night away. This was one of the first friend's weddings that I have been too where I finally felt like we were growing up. To watch Tyler officiate the ceremony, and to have so many of our friends stand by Drew's side felt like the end of our high school era-we're moving on and growing up, which isn't a bad thing. 

Grandmas's Violet: Grandma has been gone over 3 years now. After her death, mom gave me one her African Violet's to raise. It's grown and is still beautiful, and it makes me feel like she's still here in a small way. 

Cirque de Symphony: For my birthday, Jordan got us tickets to see the Indianapolis Symphony. The show included a group of cirque performers that would perform dances or stunts while the orchestra played popular Broadway hits. It was an amazing show. We did dinner before at Pioneer(5/10 stars.) It was such a fun night, and I'm so thankful for an amazing husband who knows that I would rather have experiences than things.

Brown County Trip: Continuing the birthday celebration, the ladies from my small group planned a trip to Brown County State Park and Nashville, IN. We spent most of the day hiking. The leaves hadn't changed quite yet, but the weather was beautiful and perfect for hiking. After the park, we walked around the seriously crowded Nashville and had lunch at Big Woods Brewery. I'm so thankful for these ladies. I'm pretty sure we didn't stop talking from 9am to 6pm, good times. 

Pumpkin Carving: Every Halloween, we carve pumpkins. Jordan is the best, and cleaned out the pumpkins before I got home from work so that I could do the fun part. It was a blast, and I loved having these lit for 2 weeks. Love. Fall.

Low Carb: This is the perfect description of how LCHF is going. Perfect.

Dani...keeping me on track. #RIPbakeslays

These pictures were both taken at the symphony, 2 years apart. In the picture on the right, I had gained back all of the weight I had lost for the wedding and felt so helpless, gross, and disappointed in myself. I truly felt like there was no way that I could lose all of the weight again. I feel like I look so much younger in the picture on the left, even though I'm 2 years older. I gained my life back, lost the weight, and realized that getting older doesn't mean losing your health. 

Irvington Halloween Festival: We spent the Saturday before Halloween at the "Historical Irvington Halloween Festival." It was unreal. I couldn't believe how huge this festival was. It was great people watching, fair food eating, and always good to spend a stress-free afternoon with Jordan. 

Princesses: For Halloween at work this year, the office did a Disney theme. Mer and I chose to be princesses, Snow White and Elsa. It's always fun to bring a smile to our patient's faces.

26 Years

So I turned 26. This was the first birthday that I felt "old." Turning 25 felt fun, this felt really close to 30. Regardless, I felt so much love. Jordan, my family, friends, and co-workers made me feel so special. I've always felt like God gave us birthday celebrations so that we would feel enough love at least once a year to fill us up til the next. I felt all the love.

I celebrated with my family the weekend before when Mikayla had a golf tournament in Indy. We spent the first part of the day at the tournament(18 holes of girls high school golf...it was a long day) and then came back to Haley's for lunch and cake. Wendy, April, and Andy came over as well. It was a fun day, and it was so nice to have everyone in one place. 

My mom's hilarious and awkward card. 

Holly brought me the sweetest gift. How cute is that wrapping?! Gah.

My co-workers brought me so many treatsies. Oh. My. Goodness. Shout out to Jaclyn who made the most delicious fruity pebble macaroons! 

Jordan took me to dinner at Taxman Brewery. As usual, the restaurant was fun, the food good, and the beer delicious.

The tenderloin...I went big. 

Birthday sunset.

Fall Is Here

Fall is finally here. The stifling heat is getting less and less. Fall is my favorite season, so naturally, there is a lot to be thankful for. 

1. Family: I'm grateful for living near family. I'm glad that we get to bake bread in a brick oven, eat lunch, and watch Ellie grow up. I'm so glad that everyone has chosen to live in Indy, and we can do life together.

Ellie is crawling and cruising like a boss. She is everywhere!

2. Living In An Apartment: A weird one. I definitely don't want to live in an apartment forever, but at this stage it is perfect for us. Our refrigerator had been making a terrible sound for months, and after having it looked at once with no fix, I put in a ridiculous maintenance request and they fixed it the next day. I know we pay for it in rent, but it feels really great to have someone that you trust come fix things and not have to pay a bill. Bonus: they replaced the light in our kitchen...turns out that one of the bulbs had been burned out, and we were too lazy to fix it.

3. Jordan: I'm so thankful that he is good with kids and will be the best dad. He babysat Ellie for a few hours last week, and had no reservations or fears, he jumped in head first and did an amazing job. He is the best.

4. The Hampsch Kiddos: I have missed these kids so much. Sometimes you miss people, and don't realize how much until you see them...this was one of those moments. It was so fun to watch Malachi run and spend time with Holly and Pam. These kids are growing up so fast, and it makes my heart hurt. If they ever read this, I hope they know how loved they are.

5. Day Dates: Jordan and I finally had a day off together during the week. (I know this makes us sound like complete divas, I know, but time is important to us.) We wanted to "go" do something and have an adventure...for cheap...in Indianapolis ha, a somewhat tall order to fill. We ended up stumbling on the Indiana Medical History Museum. For $10, we had one of the coolest, nerdiest, most interesting medical experiences we have ever had. To hear how medicine has changed in the last 100 years is fascinating. I'm so glad that Jordan and I share the passion of medicine and have so much to talk about.

The Medical Plant Garden was ahhhmazing! So cool to see where so many of our drugs come from!

These are the plants where taxol and vincristine come from-so cool! I was nerding out!

The researcher who tried to cure tertiary syphilis by inducing people with malaria. The high fever caused by the malaria would kill the spyrochete that caused the syphilis. Fascinating.

Every nerve of the human arm, tedious to say the least.