Update/First Week of Med School!

Dear everyone,

Thank you so much for all the love and support you have shown Jeff and me in the past couple weeks! We have felt so secure in our new surroundings thanks to all the encouraging and helpful comments, texts, and phone calls.

Here is first, an explanation of why I haven't posted recently and second, a little update on our lives (or some good news after this post...oy vey).

An explanation:

Jeff and I have been reasonably busy lately. Jeff is starting his second week of medical school today! Here's a cute, but sad story to illustrate what that looks like so far (Jeff allegedly doesn't remember this); Jeff typically falls asleep much faster than I do, so just as I start drifting off to sleep, Jeff bolts upright as says, "I'm stressed out about med school!" He then fell back asleep. I have no words.

Real-life [almost] doctor man!

Maybe this is why he feels that way:

Jeff wakes up around 6 AM (not new) and does his routine he's done since I met him. He leaves for school around 8:15 AM. He finishes lecture/lab sometime between noon and five depending on the day (although he stays on campus until about 5 PM to study almost every day) and then he comes home, where he studies until 10:00 or 10:30 PM.

Jeff has mentioned that he covers much more material in medical school than he did at BYU. It seems that he has already covered a semester's-worth of material in a week, people.

The hardest part seems to be that the students don't know what exactly will be covered in the exams, so they are memorizing everything. Jeff has also mentioned that medical school is a little less organized than BYU was. Thank goodness for the student Facebook group that has saved a number of hides as other students have sent out due dates as they are uncovered in the lack of syllabi... yikes.

Notwithstanding Jeff's workload and dedicated study habits, we still hang out for about an hour and a half every day. :) Man, he's the best.

Here's what I have done all day:

• Moved all of our things in (keep reading to find out what that means, exactly)
• Organized our belongings
• Bought this couch (look familiar? Craigslist)
• Hung out with these people; I.e., made friends (I have made quite a few friends, but haven't taken pictures of them, haha)

• A bunch of stuff Jeff would be doing if he were here
• Cleaned a lot
• Painted this

Jeff loves deer. I consider it a patronus. Win win. ;)

• Celebrated this

Made it me-self, words and all.

Blimey, 'Arry!

• Updated my blog 
• Implemented this life hack

• Exercised
• Picked this up off the side of the road (project pending)

• Fed the missionaries
• Fraternized with other med student families (in church, in Jeff's study groups, and in the Married to Medical School group)
• Tried plenty of great restaurants (C&J's barbecue [Claire & Jeff?], Fuego's, Grub Burger, Hullabaloo...)
• Exhausted my GPS
• And cooked these

Click on image for recipe :)

Click on image for recipe :)

Oh! I also got a job. I will be working at the A&M preschool! I am so excited, but I don't start until the end of August so if you need me, I'll be watching Netflix (just kidding).

An Update: 

So, about  my last post. I think some folks are probably wondering what in the freak happened in the end, haha. Let me tell you: 

Jeff and I moved into the stinky apartment. I got sick, blah, blah, blah, we went to a hotel for three or four days (management refunded us, bless their hearts. Seriously). They told us that a unit two doors down from us would be available until the beginning of August. They told us we could live there until something else became available--dismal, but better. In the meantime, we moved our things over to the new apartment, washed a bazillion loads of laundry trying to get the cigarette smell out, met with an apartment locator and school attorney, and prayed that everything would work out. 

Further, we talked to our manager, regional manager, and corporate manager about breaking {annihilating} our lease. We got things in writing, we took plenty of pictures, and then they called us telling us that two larger and smoke-free apartments were available. They happened to be the floor plan we were kind of expecting (sans granite countertops, which apparently never existed--we don't care). We moved for the third time that week into a different building, and guess what. It is pretty, darn cute! 

Some people might be wondering why we didn't keep fighting to end our leasing agreement ("They were dishonest with you," "It was a bait and switch,""Why would you want to stay there?"). To that I would say that it really is nice. We live in a beautiful, green, quiet area with nice neighbors (and two other Mormon, married, med-school couples in our complex); the management proved that they were happy to accommodate us when we had issues (arguably personal preferences, even); we have free water, cable, internet, and a full gym; and we like the apartment itself (I will post a tour once we have pictures on the walls). 

By the way, none of our belongings smell like smoke! If you want to know how to get cigarette smoke out of furniture, here is a resource. We used cornstarch and baking soda to "deep clean" our mattress. It was way easy and totally effective.

A final word on Southern charm and hospitality: PEOPLE HERE ARE SO DANG NICE, Y'ALL! Really! I can't believe how friendly they are! AAAAND THEY REALLY DO SAY HOWDY!! I really love Texas. I love my apartment. I love the people. I love all the Texas-shaped things, haha. I love the food and the campus and everything. 

I feel right at home. 

Again, thank you for all the help. We know so many good people.

YOU ROCK!!!

Mistakes

Only ten-or-so posts in and I'm composing a serious one--oh boy. But really, please read this. Please help us or just learn from our silly, but consequence-provoking experience today.

I am living in Bryan, TX. As a matter of fact I have lived here for a little over a day. While I really like Texas so far, it has been a bit of a ride. Read on.

After a reasonably pleasant 20-or-so-hour drive across the country we arrived at our apartment complex office. Eager to see our apartment in person for the first time, we naively filled out our leasing agreement and paid our first and last month's rent. The thought never occurred to us to scope out our new home before signing... can you see where this is going? Despite decent reviews, we were not prepared for what was yet to come:

After pulling up the moving van to the curb in what actually turned out to be a flash flood, I had a feeling to lower my expectations spectacularly. We swung the door open to meet a ceiling fan swinging threateningly off it's axil, a pungent wall of cigarette fumes, and a floor plan--to our great surprise--we had never even seen before. That's right, a different apartment, free of the granite countertops, black cabinets, spacious bedroom, and walk in closets that lured us away from other reasonable apartments.

This is all sort of embarrassing to admit, really. We just had no idea.

I actually said, "Well, this is kind of a let-down." Never had it crossed my mind that the apartment might have allowed smoking. Neither had it occurred to me that we could be mislead by pictures and reviews (I can tell if someone used a wide-angle lens in their pictures so I thought we were good). I was just totally naive. We stuck it out for a while, but eventually cracked, "Jeff, someone pooped in our toilet; I know because there are skid marks (haha)," "Claire, this is a totally different apartment than they told us we were getting," etc. Panic mildly washed over us, but not completely because we figured, hey, we have lived here for, what, three hours? Of course the management will rectify these issues and we'll be out before we know it.

We headed over to the office and mustered up the courage to mention the stinky smoke, which had made me totally sick. They were kind enough to send a guy over to take care of it... Except that he just told us, "This stuff makes it smell good." and sprayed what seemed like super Febreeze into our air conditioning unit. Three hours later, the apartment smelled exactly the same. This time I got massive headache and a sick-y stomach. Cool.

Amidst this, Jeff and I decided firmly that this place didn't meet our needs at all and that we really couldn't live in the odor (which really is pretty intense; our clothing totally smells like it. In fact, it simply seems as though someone is smoking right in our living room relentlessly. We took our concerns and four reasons for wanting to leave to the management. They were:

1. Cigarette smoke
2. We felt mislead
3. The apartment needed repairs
4. the overarching fact that we didn't get the apartment we planned on and didn't want to live there

While the management was very kind in handling the issues, they didn't have anything to offer on ending our contract and said we could sublease or relet the apartment (and be held responsible for any damage or fees on the subleaser's part).

Taking advice from parents and friends, we then contacted the regional manager and Texas Apartment Association. Both suggested subleasing or reletting. Still there was not even a hope for ending the year-long contract.

The accompanying trouble is that some apartments won't let us a sign a contract with them until we have written proof that our current contract has ended (understandably, of course). We just feel stuck...

We also learned that many universities have attorneys at no cost for students. We called at set up an appointment. So here we are, staying at a hotel while we pray for a miracle (because the conditions totally stink. Double. Meaning). So my serious question, has anyone been in a situation like this and made it out okay? I'm sure we sound high maintenance, but I ugly cried at the prospect of a year's worth of secondhand smoke piping right into our home we didn't even want. See ya; I've got some Blue Bell consolation ice cream calling my name...

*feeble laugh*

(Okay, first timer here. THIS STUFF IS SO GREAT!!!!! I love the South already.)

Applying for Jobs (I.e., blogging about it instead)

I love me a good interview. Is that weird? I really love applying a primer under my makeup, ironing outfits, printing things out, and wearing pretty shoes.

Conversely, applying for jobs is a mildly frustratingly nerve-wracking event. Every time. Somehow, I forget all my good graces when I'm filling out applications and imagine myself as this slow-typing (60 wpm. I don't even know if that' good or not), credentials-needing, luster-lacking child.

Here's the thing, I've never done drugs, I have a degree from a competitive university, and I have great communication skills. I love people and I am passionate about my assignments. However, I don't imagine those qualifications cutting it compared to the things I lack. These include a marketable degree, Jeff's cumulative GPA (summa cum laude, what, what?), or a passion for accounting or data-entry or even stuffing envelopes (trust me, I've been there).

You know, for the first time in my life (sad), I am donning my big-girl pants and applying for full-time jobs. I can do it! Really, I know I can. It's just a little disheartening to not be a mechanic or nurse or IT person right now. The pickings [online] are a little slim for a girl like me. On the bright side, if I find a job at Jeff's school I might just cut his tuition in half, so...

I know that I'll miss 100 percent of the shots I don't take (butchered sports analogy courtesy of Claire Falco). I guess it's time to wrap up this little distraction and get back to applying then. Feed the family, feed the family..

Anyone else in my shoes? Let me know what's working/has worked for you in the comments below.

Keep on keeping on. I'll pray for you if you pray for me. Half kidding-- no, not kidding. You know what? Let's do that! :)