finding gratitude

Sometimes, to get away from your own difficulties, you either have to focus on helping someone else out of their struggles or take the time to notice the wonderful things in your own life that you feel grateful for. 

Here's what makes me happy today:

1) this incredible man i get to live with every day. i am so lucky. and i know it.

he's wearing all those beads so that i can just wear the pink, purple, and silver ones we caught so far that day

2) my education. my grandparents put me through both undergrad and graduate school and while i know it's disappointing them to that i'm not currently working as a mental health therapist, i am so grateful for those experiences and everything i learned, and who it made me. plus, i see the knowledge i gained from it helping me out in my every day life. i wouldn't change a thing.

that's my friend Leigh on the left. hi Leigh!

3) A hot rod sno bliz from Hansen's. well, the photo is actually a chocolate milk snoball from Beaucoup ( i wouldn't go that direction again, but their mango is ammaaazing). anyway, on a hot day there is nothing like a snoball from Hansen's but to make it even better you can get a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle. i will wait in line for 45minutes in the sun for one of those. it's less than $5 and blissful.

4) Savasana (corpse pose). Lie down on your back, spread your arms and legs wide, shoulders pulled onto your back, close your eyes, relax every muscle in your body, and just be. along with this i'd like to add my gratitude for restorative yoga is immense as it has gotten me through a lot.

5) my general good health. sometimes i think that my wrist pain, bursitis, rib problems, migraines and whatever other little physical ailments i have remind me that overall i am healthy. yes, i have physical problems that bug me and not having health insurance is a pain. but, i am not dealing with any long term physical illness that requires painful procedures or intense medications and i am grateful for that every day.

6) good friends. friends are the family that you choose and i have some really truly incredible ones. ones where you don't see them for a year but you talk all the time and when you're back together it's like a little piece of your heart has fit back into place. 

that canon was burning my thighs 

7) my bike. it's two trillion degrees down here but i'm gonna pump up the tires (why are they always losing air?) and ride to work in a little bit knowing that my body can take me places, i can breath in fresh air, and i don't have to pollute the environment to get around. plus, my car is out of gas. hehe

8) my family (and technology). they seriously drive me crazy sometimes. seriously. and i'm sure i really bug them at times too. but, watch this video of my little cousins from December 2009 and you just have to smile. at one point D punches Ben in the crotch and then goes to get a little gun toy to shoot him. C is so young then and just wants to be in the mix. thank goodness for photos and videos... (i've never posted a video...hope this works!)

9) we have been so lucky to live in some amazing places. I was privileged to grow up in such a nice place as Greenwich, CT. Ben moved around a lot but as a teen he got the land he (truly) needs in NH. I got 8 whole years in Boston before moving to New Orleans. and i'm grateful for what each city has offered me.

Ben, Boston, November 2009 

New Orleans, November 2010

What makes you happy? What are you grateful for today?

medical school- T1 comes to an end

adorable, wild, little boys at the fly

Oh hayy there bloggie. I kinda forgot about you for a bit.

Well, the truth is, I didn't forget. I sometimes just wonder what I am doing on here. Initially I had two ideas about this bloggeroo- 1) to write about the recovery of Nola from an outside perspective as I had just moved here and have lots to say (Ben's mom's idea) or 2) another significant other's view of medical school...
I went with neither and just chose to ramble on about whatever I wanted at that moment. (Hope you like it!)

I haven't had much to say about medical school. Before we moved I began reading all types of blogs and articles and whatever I could find about the lives of medical school students and their girlfriends, fiances, and wives. Nothing I found was encouraging. Everyone had that "i'm gonna put a smile on my face while I'm miserable" attitude. Lots of women talked about raising children completely alone since their partner was either in class or at the hospital for days. Literally, days. Sleeping there and working and coming home for a quick shower. I also had to read about the stress that the students go through when it's time for the big tests, for instance at the end of year 2. Then when I got a little further I read about people flying all over the country and taking out loans to pay for trips to interview for residencies.

Sheesh.

Then I got here. And, It's just not that bad at all. It's not even bad. Ben has way more free time than I ever had in graduate school. Some nights I'd get home at 7pm and have literally hundreds of pages of reading, something to write, needing to shower and eat and breathe and do it again the next day except actually seeing real live clients. But Ben is managing his time really well (not that I didn't). So far there has only been one time where I really wanted to do something (go out somewhere?) and Ben said he needed to stay in and work.

But lately I have a feeling that that is going to change. Maybe it's because last Friday he took his final test of Year 1 and moved on to be a T2. Maybe it's because he had been around a lot and now is in school 8-3:15 at least every day. Or that we only have one car so he's been leaving the house at 6:30 and walking to school or I've been driving all around New Orleans taking him places. Or, more likely, it could be that he is leaving me here for an entire month while he lives where google says is 2 hours and 10minutes away...without a car (him not me)...doesn't know how he'll get back and forth...living in a hospital... Oh and while I was going to be driving him to and from on Fridays and Sundays, I now am teaching on Friday nights. Then there's this weekend where I'll be traveling "home" without him because he is in medical school and can't afford financially or career wise to be taking off and traveling. Ugh!

Sigh. But, besides this one little blip, medical school has treated me well so far. I am looking forward to his T2 adventures and I'm sure I'll have more to say about the topic as we go along. And, a lot of fun has come from medical school. I love that they have block parties celebrating the end of a block. I like going to their fancy Owl banquet dinner nights. I liked when we did lab group potlucks (hey, we haven't done one of those in a while!).  Last weekend they got kegs at the fly and just hung around in the gorgeous Louisiana sun. I got to play with adorable, funny, tiny children. Wanna see?

one from the Owl Banquet since we love Sean and they look cute :)

ahh adorable!!

how cute! I got so lucky capturing these moments

maybe my new favorite photo ever?

girl time

this is what happens when i've been drinking...i tell other people to do things

While I don't consider "acro-yoga" to really be yoga...eek i know, sorry guys!...I still think it's super fun and want to try some more :) Look how good my med friends are at it! Take away message: Medical school is, overall, a lot of fun. Even if you're not in it ;)