Anticipating Texas

Good morning!

Obviously I have not been very present lately. It's because my husband and I are having a fabulous last summer together before he starts school in less than a month. Wow! We are so excited to take this next step in life and embark on an adventure. We are verrry sad to be leaving behind all the people we love (although we have siblings that already left for Paris and Zambia. <-- We miss them, too). Nevertheless, we look forward to meeting our neighbors and making new friends. We will make special efforts to keep the fire of our present friendships burning strong. After all, we know some really great people.

One thing I am looking forward to is {hopefully} the time and opportunity to pursue new hobbies. I looove immersing myself in a new passion until I feel like I have a rudimentary grasp on it. On the list for the foreseeable future are gardening and sewing... Oh my gosh, I am so excited. I really have no idea how to do either of these. Well, I did take a TLC class in middle school where I sewed a small pillowcase. I missed the seam almost all the way around and sewed through some wrinkles, so...

As for gardening, we just applied for an apartment and I really have no idea what kind of earthy resources I have to work with in College Station. Who knows?

Lately, I have been doing several one-year photo shoots. I love one-year-olds. They are great! Here are some little previews. By the way, you can check out my photography and rates on my blog or Facebook page.

Well, we are really looking forward to what lies ahead. Love you all. :)

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! :)

Regular Life

I am committed to posting regularly whether some med-school related thing has happened or not. As it goes, today no med-school related thing has happened, besides, perhaps that it was the last day that we could get accepted to other Texas schools.

Apparently, if you are accepted into a Texas med school other Texas schools cannot accept you after June 1. We are content with that. Seriously, A&M is going to be super awesome! I get more excited every day.

Aside from that, today was very fun. I got to see my beautiful friend Jessica at her twin baby shower. :) She is so lovely! I mean, check out that bump:

 Her sister-in-law bought a new puppy that day. They named him Loki and he was so cute!

After the shower, Michelle, my mother-in-law, and I went shopping at a great boutique in Draper and I got a new statement necklace for $4.99 and a dress for $3.00. Not bad. The dress is still in the bag, but the necklace got some action at my cousin's graduation party tonight. :) It's featured below in this cute shot along with my sweet cousin Zoie. We're BFFs. 

While I'm at it, let's just talk about how gorgeous my cousins are! Great genetics, guys. :)

Dang, these kids are cute!

The graduation party was great. It was wonderful, but the wind destroyed a couple mason jars and picture frames so we moved the party inside Natalie's super cute house.

 Beautiful graduates Vanessa and Asia. All the little details were incredible. Shout out to Manjanique, Natalie and everyone else who made it a fantastic party!!

Goodnight! 

The Deets

A story to start:

Last Tuesday, as the Falco's and I were preparing Carly, my sister-in-law for her mission in Zambia, Jeff threw open the door and announced excitedly, "I just got accepted to Texas A&M!" Positive sentiments flooded the room. I'm sure Jeff was ecstatic. I personally am very happy and the buzz of {increased} financial security can't be beat.

So we embark on our journey. The white coat ceremony is midway through July, which changes some of our plans. Right now we are looking up jobs and housing. That is pretty exciting. If anyone has a lead with either of those let me know, please! :)

Let's be clear on something, I will be working full time and Jeff will not work. Sugar mama in the house. The only other alternative we've discussed is going through the military. Apparently they will pay your tuition. Temping as that may be, the collateral is a little steep, in my opinion.

As a result we haven't really made a decision. If anyone has insights on their experience going through the military for medical school, please share. Seriously. To me it seems like such a gamble. I don't know how the military would shape our lives on the whole.

All we know at this point is that we are moving to Texas. I can't believe Jeff and I are going to be Texans, and we are so excited! In the meantime, we are literally living in my in-laws' basement #ohtheplacesyoullgo. Funny story (if you're inclined to laughing at our misery, haha):

Last night we left our dear Provo apartment. We stayed up waaay too late doing cleaning checks, blew our kisses and said our goodbyes with our Queen-sized mattresses strapped to our car. Jeff and his father, Chris spent so much time rachet-ing down those puppies, but what do you know, they popped right off. On the freeway. While I was praying that we would drive safely... Jeff said three quarters of the "s" word. Hah.

We got out of the car, Jeff tinkered while I lent a concerned gaze (I know little about that sort of thing), and we drove off again, not being able to see out our back window. About three minutes later we pulled over again. Our mattress was coming up! Ahhh! I imaged it sliding off the back and killing everybody, and ex-nayed all notions of driving on the freeway. We switched to backroads, although Jeff suggested driving 35 mph.

After getting lost a couple times in Draper neighborhoods and an hour and a half later, we decided to get something to keep us awake (it was well past midnight at this point). We pulled into a McDonald's (the one by you, Grandma!) and in the light of the golden arches we put the boxspring on top of the mattress, instead of the other way around. Genius! We got back on the freeway and made it to Kaysville by 2:30 AM. Sweet! It was a night that makes you grateful for other nights. Jeff woke up today and said, I am so glad it's not yesterday anymore. Meee too.

I also feel inclined to add that I may throw projects and meals and such in here. From time to time I feel that urge and this may be a good landing place for my DIYs.

We are excited to move to Texas! I am excited that all of our boxes are packed two months in advance. We will keep you posted!

:)

New Beginnings

Alright,

So I have three blogs. I started {Smatterings of} Wifey & Whimsy right after I returned from my Hawaii honeymoon-- a very BYU-married-student thing to do, haha :) It was abandoned pretty quickly for two reasons:

1. I felt presumptuous to be posting recipes and other know-it-all items, and
2. I felt... predictable. Of course I would start a blog! It was only a matter of time because I love crafts and Pinterest, and HTML (haha, yeah right), and attention, and--cough--procrastinating

My second blog, Claire Falco Photography, is still a thang. I really love this blog because it contains my photography business information. BOOM. Official (hah, kind of). I have had so much fun playing around with picmonkey.com (plug. PLUG, PLUG, PLUG!) and Photoshop. The only problem is that there is--in my opinion--no room for my non-work life. Thus, the birth of my third timely blog:

Mrs. Med School. Did I exercise creativity composing the title? Not quite. Did I come up with a title in less than ten seconds? You bet. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to employing this blog a lot! I'm guessing I'll rely on this little hub considerably.

So, first things first: My husband, Jeff has been accepted to two medical schools: St. Louis University and Texas A&M. We are seriously leaning towards the latter mostly because of cost. Also, it just seems right for us. I love that feeling.

Why another blog? I need a place to share our story with family, friends, and other medical school hopefuls that may stumble on over. That was the inspiration for this blog: searching in desperation for support from women who have been there with their husbands.

Also, please don't be alarmed by the never-ceasing aesthetic changes to my blog. This tends to happen. Haha, it's my favorite part! :)

Here we go.