December 1st

Will here.

I love Christmas - always have. The lights, the cold, the fires in fireplaces, the friends in town, the family visits, the awesome food, the fantastic music... It never gets old for me.

But this year, Christmas means something extra special. Yes, it will be the end of a long and demanding semester, and for that I am grateful. What I'm thinking of, though, is much bigger.

Clare and I will be celebrating our first Christmas as a married couple.

As I write this, the night is passing into morning and plenty of work remains to be done, but I am just overwhelmed by my situation at this very second. Clare and I are married. Still totally blows my mind. We live in a quaint little apartment in the heart of Belhaven. We went and picked out a Christmas tree for our place yesterday and had to ask the folks if they had anything smaller they could show us. It was fantastic! We really are at such a unique junction in our lives together, and I'm just thankful for it - for all its quirks, its bursts of laughter, its understandings that the important things in life don't cost a dime.

When Clare and I were early on in our courtship, we used to lament the fact that there were so many years separating us from where we were then to that ONE DAY when we would, in front of God and everyone, be married. After feeling sorry for ourselves for a little while, we finally realized how much fun we were having just being right where we were. 'Besides,' we said, 'What's six years in the span of sixty?' How true that's been, even with the little time we've had.

But yes, I am amazed and humbled to be at such a spot in my life. Clare, you are wonderful - thank you for agreeing to share your time on this planet with me. That is just too cool.

So, in sum: Med school = finite. Challenges / Obstacles = come and go. Getting to spend the first of many, many Christmas' with the woman you love = just no beating that.

Welcome, December! You are always a sight for sore eyes.

Best to all of you,
Will

PS - Found a neat quote that I think is worth sharing. It's a Serbian proverb: "Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars." Just excellent.

Mary Kay Beauty Consultant

I think that probably every woman out there has hard of Mary Kay, right? It is a line of make-up and skin care items for women, and they also have several items for men. A few weeks ago I went to a May Kay party for a friend of mine (her husband is also an M1 at UMMC, and we are in the Wives' auxiliary together!). I was listening to the beauty consultant talking about what Mary Kay was like for her and I was so inspired! Not only was she really able to boost her financial situation, but it gave her an opportunity to meet some really amazing woman and touch so many lives. I was inspired to look into becoming a consultant myself. So.....last week I signed up and I am now an official consultant!

I am so excited to be working with such a great group of women. They emphasize that our priorities should always be- God first, Family Second, and Career third. I was so impressed that from the very beginning they were emphasizing that a career should not be the most prominent thing in our lives. Of course we need jobs to survive and pay bills (etc etc etc), but a job or one's desire for money should never be the ultimate goal or our driving force. 

I think this is an especially hard concept in the world today, particularly in my generation. We are beginning to enter the work force now and it is hard sometimes to remember that all the benefits of life and work will come in due time. Our parents didn't have 3 story mansions and granite counter tops when they were our age. I believe there is a certain sweetness that comes with working hard at something and then enjoying the benefits. I've been thinking about this a lot lately because I think the timeline Will and I are looking at has become more apparent and 'real' to me. He's got at least 3 1/2 years of school left and then several years of residency, and soon (hopefully!) I'll be back in school. We've still got a long haul before we'll be in our careers and working. 

I know our time will come when we can work and enjoy the benefits. For now I am trying to enjoy all the small things that come with our lifestyle at this point, for I know this time will pass all too quickly. 

I love that I can vacuum the whole apartment without having to plug the vacuum into more than one outlet. 

I love that I can always hear where Will is in the apartment. 

I love that Will can ride his bike to the hospital.

I love that we are in the middle of a neighborhood and can go walking and visit with our neighbors. 

I love that we are almost equidistance from all 3 families. 

I love that this apartment has so many windows and we always get so much sunlight. 

I love that the small space means we are constantly bumping into each other. 

I love that our laundry is right in the kitchen. It makes me laugh now, but I know I'll miss it one day.

I love living in such an eccentric part of the city and seeing all of our weird neighbors walk around. 

I love that in the afternoon I can hear the local high school marching band playing. 

I love that we are right across from a park where they show free movies like ET and Indiana Jones. 

I love that we have two porches and a little patch of green space that I have reclaimed. 

Circa May 2011

There are so many things that I love about this apartment and this stage of life we are in now. I'm trying to enjoy everything about this moment because it's going to pass too quickly. So for the time, I am going to take too many pictures, stay up way too late with Will (every night this week), and try to enjoy all that this stage has to offer.

Go hug someone you love :)