M2- WEEK SIX

Friday was the first day of medical school so far that I can remember feeling emotionally defeated. I was sick of studying. I felt totally sorry for myself. I so wanted to have a life where I could cook a serious dinner each night, keep my house clean, and.. imagine this.. spend time with my husband on a regular basis.

I guess I had a mini-moment like this last weekend too. I told T that I felt like my life outside of school was spiraling down- chores were piling up, it had been a long time since I'd seen my friends, and I missed him! He asked what chores around the house I was talking about and the first thing I blurted out was our front flower bed needed some attention. So, what did T do the next minute he had free? He headed right outside and started pulling out our dead plants. He is so fantastic. He does so much to support us and is willing to do even more if I just let him know it's on my mind! (Now, I need to add that life is totally not spiraling down. We aren't even very behind on chores. Sure our floors are dusty.. but our clothes are clean, our dishes are dry, and most surfaces aren't too cluttered.  So these emotional moments were just total burnout from studying.)

How did I deal?

Well, Saturday, I put my nose in my books and accomplished a lot. I feel so much better when I am productive. Then, starting Saturday night, I took time away from school and hung with my fabulous husband, did something creative, and visited with some friends.

T and I started with some good food: grilled pork and zucchini! We shared a good laugh when we, like last time we grilled indoors, set off the fire alarm and clogged the house with grilling smoke.

T has been begging for an apple pie. So I bought the best frozen pie Hyvee had to offer (it was super good!). Plus, I got to use my cool Pampered Chef help-me-hold-in-all-the-pie-goodness-please contraption.

Finally, I hung the shelves I bought off Craig's List a few weeks ago:

Please imagine the frames filled and painted!

I love all things clean-lined and simple. I know these are way out of proportion for our bathroom.. I probably should have hung all three and worked with smaller frames.. but today? I LOVE IT. I have so many awesome black frames I have been hanging on to until I had the perfect space for a gallery wall. Who knew I'd end up with gallery shelves.. in my bathroom! But I am excited to play with stuff around our house to find the right mix.

A short story about these shelves:
I saw a picture online of someone with wall-to-wall floating shelves in their half bathroom. I figured to make that happen I would need to build my own shelves. So, I bookmarked some plans online and then forgot about them for a while. Fast-forward a few weeks and I am browsing Craig's List for some patio chairs and I run across some floating shelves. I click on them for kicks and giggles, and what do you know.. they are the exact size of my half-bath wall. Like, to the 1/8th of the inch (43 and 5/8th inches if you were wondering). So I snatched those up with some birthday cash and they have sat in various parts of my house for a few weeks until today, when I had the patience to perfectly center and hang them on the wall.

The final bit of awesomeness for the weekend? OUR WEDDING ALBUM!! I proofed the pdf a few weeks ago.. but it now we have the. real. thing.

Here are a few of my favorite spreads (photographed in poor, poor light):

Oh, and PS, I was famous this week: ARTICLE & VIDEO HERE

Our First Anniversary

One year ago today, I married my favorite man in the world (sorry dad!). I've had trouble writing this post because I want to tell you how intelligent he is, how he is always making me laugh, how he is so thoughtful, how he keeps our house clean, how he continually works so hard, how he is willing to cook, how he constantly supports me, how he prays for others often, how he is always striving for more, how he will watch "my shows" on TV (I think he secretly likes them too), how he is brave, adventurous, relaxed, and a fantastic balance for me. This post is hard to write not because I am searching for things to say, but because I am searching for how to say them without vomiting text all over this blog (whoops. looks like I already did that).

Right after we got engaged, T and I started passing journal back and forth (he was living in Omaha while I was in Lincoln). One of the first things I wrote is what I titled "The top TEN reasons I want to marry Travis." I remember sitting down and, again, word voimitting the first things that came to my mind. I think they still hold very true. Here are a few of my favorites:

- "His laugh and smile are contagious."

- "He is incredibly selfless. Travis puts everyone he loves before himself. His wants and needs in life always take a             backseat to others."

- "His love is genuine, unconditional, and deep."

- "He is constantly thinking about the future and how he can make our life brilliant."

- "He protects and cherishes the people he cares about. Travis would never let anything happen to me, whether he can      control it or not. He is extremely loyal and would never do anything to hurt or betray me."

- "In situations where I stress, he is relaxed. In times where I am over-optimistic, he is real."

In this first year, we have spent more time laughing and smiling than I ever thought possible. I expected frustrated arguments, moments of selfishness, and disagreements on goals as we got used to living together. However, we've experienced few of those things. 

We were able to stick to the goals we set for this year. Our budget has only been blown a few times (T would probably say more than a few, lol). We were able to travel to see family and of course, completely enjoyed our honeymoon. 

Labadee, Haiti -- June 2011

We were confident in our decision to get married last year as we danced to "When I Say I Do" by Matthew West and we haven't regretted that decision one bit:

"And I have never been so sure of anything before, 

Like I am in this moment here with you 

Now for better or for worse are so much more than only words

And I pray everyday will be the proof 

That I mean what I say when I say I do

Yeah I mean what I say when I say I do"

One of my favorite things T said to me on our wedding day was during our ring ceremony in front of our nearest and dearest. He said:

"To know that I have you in my corner, I feel like I can take on the world. I love you Krista, I always have and I always will."

 I have not wiped this silly grin off my face since I married this amazing man.

So when people ask, "How has the first year been?" I reply, "Incredible! Fantastic! I have a loving husband who supports me everyday as I am gone at school studying, who doesn't have to be asked to do the laundry, who tells me I am beautiful, who isn't afraid to try new things, who loves to laugh, who is always working hard, who loves God, and who makes me happy each and every day. I can only pray that others can find a partner who makes them feel as delighted as I feel right now." 

I look forward to many, many more wonderful years. Just as Sinatra said, "the best is yet to come!"

  

[sorry about so many smoochy pictures!]

For more from our wedding, check these out: 6 month anniversary, wedding photo proofs, wedding video highlights

Back to reality

^ that is what we have been studying this week. Its actually a lot of fun and feels really applicable compared to the genius-scientist explaining some random molecule that has a cryptic name of random numbers/letters. If you haven't seen one before, that picture is of an ECG (electrocardiogram). Its the reading from a bunch of electrodes placed on someone's body. Like this guy:

Analyzing the squiggles is like a fun, yet super complicated puzzle-- and you can tell loads about someone's heart health by looking at them. 

In other news, we had a cooking-first this week--we bought a whole chicken to cook for homemade chicken noodle soup. Well, except we bought the "homemade" noodles. Maybe next time it can be all from scratch...

Finally, we spent January 1st at our friends' wedding in Topkea, Kansas. 

The fabulous girls I study with every day

Best of wishes to our friends Sarah & Mike! 

May your marriage be full of joy!

Are you all adjusted to being back at work/school after the holidays? Any fun tricks to getting back to a normal routine? Leave a comment and share your wisdom!

PS- Thanks to a certain someone for the belated birthday gift! Your generosity and kindness is inspiring!

Six Months of Bliss

Today is exactly six months since we tied the knot! As an 0.5 anniversary gift (okay, probably just a coincidence) we got to see our wedding photos yesterday! We added a link on the side of the blog if you want to browse through all four hundred and twenty five !!

Yes, we really did take pictures jumping on the bed

If you'd rather have an abbreviated view, I took screen shots of a few favorites:

        [disclaimer, this is in NO way a recap of the day.. just a hodgepodge of pictures that stood out for one reason or another] 

Fun fact: we took this picture in a cemetery

We expected some fabulous pictures from the shoot in Lauritzen Gardens. Isn't that a major purpose of a wedding photographer? To take pictures of the bride + groom? However, some of our favorites from the day are the candids of our family our photographer snagged:

There are some great candids from the reception as well:

The story behind this picture: Travis loves raspberry-jelly-filled doughnuts almost as much as he loves me, so after we cut the cake, we shared a heart-shaped doughnut :)

Mother-son dance!

Father-daughter dance!

A rare shot of Travis dancing! HEEEEY macarena!

We have thoroughly enjoyed these last 6 months and are excited for many, many months to come! Tonight, we are using our 0.5 anniversary as an excuse to: (1) not do too much house work (2) eat those Omaha Steak filets we have in the freezer and (3) watch a Christmas Devotional! (you can find out more here)

Have a fabulous week!