Life Lately

We've been in some interesting situations lately. A super busy husband, a motion sick toddler, and a little girl on Spring Break have all added up to make life pretty exciting.

Here are a few things I have learned:
1. Always carry baby wipes wherever you go - even if you don't have a child in diapers. They will come in very handy when your 2-year-old throws up in Costco and no one is willing to help you. A spare change of clothes stowed in the car (for kids and you) will also be helpful.

2. Let your 4-year-old be the boss sometimes. She'll come up with better menus and activities for you to do together than you would expect.

3. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your tired and busy husband is to have a clean house and a warm smile for him when he walks in the door. Even if you are feeling frazzled after a long day too.

4. Maybe it's the Idahoan in me, but leaving the city to spend a Saturday sitting by a river will do wonders for your whole family.

Lessons learned.

Space Needle

We are starting to make our Seattle bucket list - things we want to do before we leave.

Saturday we went to the top of the Space Needle for the first time.

It was a beautiful day. We had fun having a birds-eye view of our city and picking out places we've come to love.

Afterward we went to Pikes Place Market where Brad bought me a bouquet of fresh flowers and a painting (And took a pic with Rachel the pig, of course).

Check, check, check.

Did Jesus Really Live Again?

Did Jesus really live again?
Yes, when the third day came.
He wakened and he left the tomb.
He called Mary's name.

Did Jesus come to those he loved?
Yes, people touched his feet.
And of the fish and honeycomb
He did freely eat.

And there were nail prints in his hands
and a spear wound in his side.
Did Jesus really live again
after he had died?
Oh yes!
And so shall I.

Lainy has been singing that song for the past few weeks. I wish I could get the video to work so you could hear her too. She sings it in such a high, sweet, tender voice that it makes me emotional every time I hear her.

I know that Jesus lives. And I know that because of Him, we will too.

Happy Easter

rain, rain

my view as I ate my lunch

It is raining in Seattle.

I have been known to complain about the rain lately. Like, a lot. But not today. Today I kind of love it.

Maybe it's due to the fact that we've just had a few warm, sunshine filled days and I am more forgiving of the weather. (I mean, I do live in Seattle.) Maybe it's because the rain doesn't feel as cold as it did last week. Just refreshing. Like it's here for a purpose. I'm not sure why I love the rain today and hated it before, but I am grateful for this new perspective.

And this girl. I'm grateful for her. And her charming me into buying a box of popsicles at the grocery store. She was right, they were the perfect treat. And so fun to eat in the sunshine. (thanks for the pic Leah, and for posing so cute Lainy.)

And this one. She makes me smile, especially her new habit of coming out of her room in all sorts of unexpected outfits (most of them pant-less).

And him. Oh boy, am I grateful for him.

Life is good. Rain and all.

Match Day

Friday morning we went to UW Medical School to discover our match results. The foyer was packed with nervous medical students and their families. Sitting very prominently in the middle of the room were tables full of these boxes, each one containing a little white paper with each student's match results.

At 9am the Dean of Student Affairs rang a gong and everyone opened their boxes. It was quite exciting! Some people grabbed their box and ran away. Most of us stayed and opened the boxes with shaking hands.

We discovered that Brad matched for his transitional year of Medicine at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane!

We are thrilled! It's an easy move for us to a much less expensive area, it's somewhat closer to family, Brad's schedule shouldn't be too grueling, and he even gets to do some surgery. Wahoo! Also, our friends from high school matched to the same program! They've been in Indiana for medical school and it will be fun to have their familiar faces around for a year.

After opening our boxes, everyone stuck around talking and congratulating one another. It was pretty exciting! We learned that the University of Washington matched the highest percentage of 4th year medical students to residency positions in the country. Wow. What a blessing to be part of this amazing school and amazing class!

It was fun to talk to people we know and find out where they are headed. It's such an exciting time for everyone! We stayed until Leah started whispering in my ear, "Go away people". I'm afraid she's not quite the social butterfly that her sister is.

We're so relieved to have the match behind us. We feel so blessed. We have been praying so hard since last Fall that the Lord would bless us through this process, and He definitely has. Brad matched at two outstanding, highly competitive residency positions. We are humbled and very grateful, and ready for the adventure. Spokane for one year, Boston for three! Bring it on.

(This was a map in the foyer. Each red pin represents a medical student and is stuck where he/she matched for residency. Brad is pointing to his pins in Spokane and Boston.)

P.S. In case I have neglected to explain clearly, Brad is going to be an Ophthalmologist. His residency requires one year of general medicine (Spokane)  before training in ophthalmology for three years (Boston).