#MedSchoolMonday | Our Next Step

Lately Jeff and I have been discussing where to move next year. A&M has different tracks in different cities for third and fourth year. We are trying to choose between Round Rock (Jeff's current track), Houston, Dallas, and Temple. Jeff will spend most of his time in the hospital.

Does anybody have a good word to put in for any of these cities? We have been to all of them and they all have good qualities. We have to decide by December, I believe and it depends on which tracks are available when we apply. Houston has the best medical center. Round Rock and Dallas would be cool places to live, in my opinion. Temple has a great hospital, has low cost of living, and is close to bigger cities. Decisions...

In my experience I have loved everywhere I have lived; I have made great friends and enjoyed my surroundings. I know that wherever we choose will have great qualities and good people. It's just tricky deciding.

Where would you live?

Reflections on the Women's Broadcast + a Baby Shower!

Hello,

I guess I could say happy would-be-SaturDIY. I had a lot on my plate today and it just isn't happening. Sorry 'bout it.

Today I hosted a baby shower for my beautiful friend Amelia. It was loosely space themed. Here's  a little peek at the food and decor.

Tonight I also attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Women's Broadcast. If you missed it you can watch on LDS.org. It was so good! I loved this Elaine Cannon quote that was shared:

If you saw the broadcast I hope you loved it. :) My only wish is that I could have watched it with my lady relatives out west. 

Have a great night and consider this a rain check for that bow tutorial I promised this week. See you Monday!

#WifeyWednesday | A Printable + Some Great Reads

First of all, I made something and I just want to share it. I am challenging myself to read the Book of Mormon by January 1, 2016 (I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. Feel free to learn more here. If you want a free copy of the Book of Mormon, you can get one here!) I decided I need some extra umph in my life and this is how I am going to get it.

Let me know if you care to join me. I would love some camaraderie. You could even finish by Christmas!

Download my Book of Mormon Reading Chart here

If that is too Claire for you, I made an alternative:

Download this Book of Mormon reading chart here.

If that's too color printer for you, use this:

Download this Book of Mormon reading chart here.

Obviously I have a lot of time on my hands...

Okay.

Monday I announced my new posting schedule. I will have three regular features:

Med School Monday: I will exclusively talk about all things school related

Wifey Wednesday: I will give family updates and talk about marriage here and there

Satur-DIY: I will post a new craft and/or tutorial every week

Keep coming back to hold me accountable. :)

 If you missed this week's Med School Monday post, go check it out; I caught up with my husband about how M2 (second year of school) is treating him.

Here is a brief family update and some thoughts:

We had an interesting week, for sure. Overall it was good. Jeff had an exam (and punched it right in the face). Riley rolled from back to front three times! We went to the pool, the library, JoAnn Fabric, church, and Target. We spent time with friends and we got ourselves some new neighbors.

Also, when we went to the library I found so many good baby books! Side note: the local library lets you check out 100 books at a time! That blows my mind. I only got six. :)

I cannot wait to dive in. Let me know what you think of all of these. See any favorites? Any other suggestions? See any selections that stir a fiery rage in your soul (because I know that happens sometimes)?

I also just finished Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. We tried the Ferber method for oh, less than 24 hours, but we just couldn't do it. It was too stressful. So yeah, still sleep deprived.

I also made something really cool, but I am keeping it under wraps <-- unintentional hint-- because I am sharing it on the very first Satur-DIY. Let's just say Riley can roll both ways so I needed something other than a swaddle... Come back to see it on Saturday. I am a little bit proud of myself. :)

Okay, you guys are ah-mazing!

Have a great Wednesday!

Happy Birthday to Jeff Falco!

This guy is awesome.

He is also 25 and 1 day.

I am posting about him [and Austin, Texas] today because we were too busy yesterday. 

Here are some pictures to sum up how we spent his birthday--not featured: catching up with our friends Brett and Julie and co., and a kayaking adventure on Lady Bird Lake.

Texas Sheet Cake ice cream from Lick Honest Ice Cream  (see below)

Austin is really cool. It was full of hipster sodas and purple flowers and sweet restaurants. I like that place. I am so glad that we could spend Jeff's birthday there. Tonight we are continuing the celebration with Texas Roadhouse (Thanks, Michelle). Birthdays are just the best.

Also, can we just take a second to highlight Lick Honest Ice Cream?? I am not an affiliate or anything, but that place was crazy! They have flavors like Roasted Beets + Fresh Mint, Coconut + Avocado Curd, and Fresh Oranges + Fennel... It was really cool.  Check it out if you're ever in the area. We really enjoyed it!

Texas

This post is super old... I just never published it and thought I'd share this morning. :)

Texas just has a way of capturing my heart. The people are wonderful, the food is incredible, and the weather in winter is really ideal. One of the most fabulous things I've experienced in Texas in our four-ish months here so far is the Brazos Valley County Fair. My gosh.

We met up with several friends and enjoyed walking around the fair, listening to performers, attending a rodeo, checking out booths, and playing with lots of animals. We have great friends here. 

This was [literally] my first rodeo. I learned why the horses buck and was super weirded out. I watched kiddos mutton bust and fell in love (for those who, like me, have little exposure to mutton busting, it's when little kids--like five-year-olds-- ride a sheep as long as they can. It is seriously the cutest thing).  The mutton busting announcer was the best, "Our next competitor is from Bryan, TX... His name is Billy and he loves chicken nuggets!"

The petting zoo at the fair was Jeff's dream come true. There were tons of deer roaming around and people could feed them out of their hands! Deer are really soft and beautiful up close. Aren't they lovely?

Can we talk about this baby goat? Oh my goodness, so sweet.

I love ferris wheels. So pretty. :)

Perfect.

Turkey legs.

Anyway, I love this place. It's not like anywhere else.

A Day Trip to San Antonio

Here's a lovely little video of our trip to San Antonio last week. It drizzled the entire time--how fun! We really enjoyed our visit to Kneader's. One of our friends is the Corporate Executive Pastry Chef and she is amazing. You should bop on over to her blog as well. She has an incredible talent for baking and my gosh, you should check out her gingerbread carousel she's working on this year.

Have a fabulous, little Monday!

What is this Day?

I haven't posted in forever--sorry. Today was so crazy I deemed it blog-worthy. Here's the short version:

(1) I was screened for ebola
(2) Jeff lost a tooth. Yay!!--oh wait.

I think I have the flu. I am staying home from work and going to an Instacare tomorrow. My conversation with an on-call nurse this evening went a little like this:

Nurse: "What's wrong?" In more words.
Me: "I have the flu."
Nurse: "Who told you you have the flu?" Seriously?
Me: "Um.. the internet."
Nurse: [typical symptom and health background questions]
Me: [typical normal responses]
Nurse: "I have to ask all patients this: have you been to West Africa in the last month?"
Me: "No."
Jeff: "Oh my gosh; she's screening you for ebola."
Nurse: "Are you confused? Do you know your address? Have you been exposed to anyone who has been out of the country in the last month?"
Me: "Uh...oh yes. I know my address. No, I'm not very confused at all. I work at a daycare with tons of kids from other countries. Oh, gosh. I have no idea if I've been exposed to anything."
. . .
Nurse: "Definitely see a doctor in the next 24 hours."

I am pretty certain I don't have ebola, but I better post something on my blog now in case I get quarantined. -__-

And yes, Jeff lost a tooth playing flag football. It's one of his front two top teeth. Thankfully, it's a tooth that has already been knocked out twice before (thrice if we're counting baby teeth, ha). The first time it was lodged in his best friend's knee; the second it broke off while eating a peanut-butter-honey sandwich, really. Tonight, some shorter guy clocked Jeff in the face with his head--I mean, can we just count our blessings that this is all happening to one already-fake tooth?!

He came home looking like a hockey player with his swimsuit trunks on purposely inside-out (it was his best shot at pocketless shorts).

Also, I watched Jumangi tonight. I just have no idea what is real life right now. Somebody get me another throat lozenge (<-- took me three tries to spell 'throat' correctly).

A Cold Front & Homemade Sushi

This weekend has been all kinds of good. Friday Jeff and I went to our ward Ice Cream Social (church event). Saturday we went to a Czech Festival, hung out with friends, made homemade sushi, and watched A&M beat Rice University... and Madagascar 2, haha. Today we went to church and had the missionaries over for some leftover sushi. I am so grateful for a life outside of work!

As I think about all the things we did together, I realize almost all of these activities link back to my time spent at church! I am grateful for the community and support church brings. All my friends right now are people I have met at church. Immediately after moving to Texas Jeff and I have had a wonderful support group. Most of our friends just moved here from Provo and they are also students or spouses of students. I love them all. What great people.

Let's go back to Saturday. I woke up at 8:30 AM to go to a Czech Festival in Caldwell. It was raining and I just wanted to wear fall clothes. I really miss Utah right now because it's cooling down and the leaves are changing and such. Anyway, I decided I would wear boots to the festival (and probably die of heat). We walked outside and it was cool outside! Oh my. I even grabbed a jacket fully expecting not to use it.

Once we got to Caldwell I wished I had brought thicker outerwear. I could see my breath! This is something I never imagined happening here. I am grateful for the cold front. How lovely.

The Czech Festival Parade was apparently rained out, but that didn't stop the locals from participating in a Kolache-eating contest (Kolache is a Czech pastry? Some have fruit and some have meat),  playing polka music, and selling baby turtles. It was a very fun and unique experience.

Kolache - Photo source

The Kolache we bought we packaged (not unlike a Hot Pocket, really). They were also not hot. Jeff and I and our six other friends (and their children) spent a good chunk of time in a County Court Building alcove waiting out the rain. While we were in there we talked about finding a microwave for our pastries half jokingly. A kind woman came out and told us she has a toaster oven in her office we could use! We graciously accepted her offer and stacked 12-or-so Kolaches in the toaster oven, as you can see. So yeah, haha :)

Later we invited our friends over to have homemade sushi rolls. It was so much fun! I love doing this with friends. If people are interested I can do a tutorial post of some sort, but for now I'll just say it was a great experience and they turned out like this:

Not all of them looked so posed. Most of the rolls were on paper plates; hastily made and eagerly eaten.

Well, we're off to Skype our families. Thank you and good night! Let me know if you want to a post on homemade sushi or whatever else I have some experience doing. :)

xoxo.

Saving Money + Helping New Friends

Okay, I've been wanting to post this for a while, but it feels incomplete. Basically, I took on a challenge of making all our dinners one day of the month. I LOVE FREEZER DINNERS! I have not made dinner for several days and yet we have had lasagna, chicken enchiladas (like three times), and chicken and brown rice soup. I feel totally accomplished and unexpectedly, I feel really prepared. We can participate significantly in last-minute dinner parties as well as help people in tough circumstances. I'll actually be starting over again probably today because we're giving all our meals to a family in our ward.

Listen up because this is important: a young couple in our ward had a fiasco (to say the least) two days ago. Their home burned to the ground and they didn't have renter's insurance.

If that wasn't enough, the stress of the situation put the mom into early labor... I can't even imagine how hard that would be. I keep thinking about how this means they probably don't have anything their [unexpectedly] new baby needs. This is insane.

Someone set up a Gofundme account for them, so if there is anything you can do to help, I'm sure they would really appreciate it.

Can't believe this happened to someone I know.

Click to donate!

As for freezer meals, we made five different meals and an extra:

1. Spinach Florentine Lasagna

2. Chicken Enchiladas

3. Salsa Chicken

4. Angel Hair Tetrazzini

5. Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

6. Extra shredded chicken

I used mostly trusted recipes (I.e., they came from my mother-in-law's cookbooks)

I made about 15 meals. I tripled each recipe. This was surprising cheap! When I get a second, I will post my recipes as well as my shopping list. 

I mostly post this prematurely to spread the word for this family. They could definitely use some help right now.

Second Week of Medical School Down

At the outset, I'll share some spiritual musings as of late. Per suggestion, I read a talk called "Children" by Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is an excellent and sensitive talk about families.

The point that stuck out to me the most was that "we believe in families, and we believe in children." I don't understand why, through the years it has become so much less popular to have families and children. How can regeneration possibly be a descending trend? Elder Anderson cites this Christian blog post quoting,

"[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood ... Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get ... Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." 

I hope I can overcome myself and put this goal at the top of my list someday. I share this because I find a lot of the advice I've been the recipient of about marriage and family discouraging and this article and the blog were illuminating for me. I'm positive there will still be nay-sayers, but mark my words, I am looking forward to being a mom someday, while I fully expect challenges and difficulties beyond my wildest imagination. People told me marriage would be worth putting off and would generally limit me, but well, it hasn't.

As a matter of fact, so far it has really prodded my progression as a person all around. I think marriage has highlighted a lot of my personal issues and I've had to face them head on and change for the better. For me, I truly don't think that would happen on my own, even if I was finding myself in the Alps, or being single and obnoxious for several more years, or getting another degree or something else people feel are pre-requisites for settling down. The bottom line is that when it's right, it's right. It's a very personal matter and that should be respected.

I guess I feel impassioned about this because it is really easy to listen to those voices. I know they are trying to be helpful and many populations would feel the advice to be wise and good. I tend to be easily persuaded, but family is central to God's plan of happiness. I also found this point really helpful: Adam and Eve did not have their children in the Garden of Eden.

So, yeah.

Last week was nice. Here are some of the things that happened:

 Jeff had Taco Bell for the first time in his life. He answered a question correctly and his professor offered him Taco Bell as a reward.

Husband rating: 5/10

Jeff has already made 900+ flashcards. He has been really busy, however, we've been able to spend a lot of time together. He has his first exam in a week, so I suspect he'll be the busiest he's been so far. 

Jeff has been dissecting HUMANS. That is still so weird to me. I've never seen a cadaver, but I have certainly smelled one, if you know what I'm saying. It's not that bad...Just a little creepy. 

Here's a peek at some of our meals this week:

We really love Slab Pizza in Provo. For those not acquainted with Slab, it's a fantastic pizza place with a pretty bizarre menu. Our two favorites are Buffalo Wing and Chicken Enchilada. Since we can't go to Slab, I fashioned two copycat recipes. They turned out pretty delicious, if I may say so myself. I ended up making five pizzas this week. Yes, five. It's easy and a great way to feed a lot of people--like me and Jeff, haha.

Click for recipe :)

Click for recipe :)

As for projects, I stained this and a wooden crate. I got this mirror from Jeff's cousin Hannah right before she was going to take it to the D.I. Thank you! I sanded it down, wiped it off and gave it one lazy coat of Rust-oleum Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona (this is the same stain I used on my deer head project. I wanted a distressed look and I like it just like this. It's pretty and very dark. 

We have a free gym nearby, so I have been swimming and lifting. Yay! It feels good to be settled. Also, there are like six girls that are all are wives of students and/or recent move-ins from Provo. We have spent time together swimming, hanging out, watching movies, and generally supporting each other. :)

Disclaimer: If it sounds like I am doing nothing all day, that is a little bit true. My job doesn't begin for about a week and a half. I am doing some part-time nannying though. That, by the way, is awesome and I love it.

I've been thinking about how incredible the human body is lately. Jeff comes home and tells me that he held lungs in his hands or handled a human heart. He is having some remarkable experiences, for sure. This sums up some of my thoughts in that regard:

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!!!