Weekend Wedding in Iowa

This past weekend, Joel and I made the trek to Iowa.  We spent a total of about 20 hours in the car.  Fortunately, Kyper only spent about 6 hours in the car.  He got to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma as well as some other family and friends in Holland.

The reason we trekked to about the middle of the continent--Nate and Mandy's wedding.  Nate is a friend from our church we attended when we lived in Iowa.  The wedding was beautiful.  I am so happy for both of them.

We kept busy while we were there.  We actually drove to Holland on Thursday night--we were able to celebrate match day with my parents, Joel's parents and Joel's brother and sister-in-law that night.  Friday morning, we had breakfast and headed out west.  Joel and I arrived to Des Moines around 3:00pm.  We made record time and only stopped once.  We stayed with Rick and Monique, so when we got in we chatted and caught up with them.  They were involved in the wedding, so they headed to the rehearsal and we headed to AM and Marc's house for dinner.  Pizza and the game, What if, made for a good night.

Saturday, we went out for breakfast with friends from school--Clint and Brandie.  After breakfast, we met up with Monique and went to Jasper Winery.  We then headed back to the house and got ready for the wedding.  Like I said before, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was beautiful as well.  It was fun seeing all our friends from our old small group there.  It was good to catch up.  The wedding got done fairly early, so we headed back to Rick and Monique's.  My friend, Meri, and I went shopping--I'm in the market for a cute springy dress for graduation.  Meri needed to look for something to wear to her interview--pray for her on Tuesday.  The rest of the gang started watching the movie "Escanaba in Da Moonlight"  I have seen it before and really don't need to re-watch it.  It is about going up to the U.P. for deer camp and hilarity that occurs up there.  We had a fun night catching up with every one.  Below are some pictures from the wedding:

Meri, Roger, Marc, AM, Andy and Laura

Pastor Jim, Christopher, and Jen

Me, Monique and Rick

The delicious cupcakes

We left bright and early Sunday morning and met Joel's parents in St. Joe, MI, so we could get our Kyperman back.  It was a grand weekend for everyone.

But, there is more.  I basically told you the schedule of the weekend.  I missed 4 very exciting things that happened to us while we were there.
1.  We received the second free lawn mower in three week.  About three weeks ago, our landlord came over to put in a new washing machine and bring us a new lawn mower since the old one didn't work.  He told us to do what ever we wanted with the old one.  We have a great friend Tim that is handy, so we called him up and Joel explained what the problem was with the lawn mower.  Tim said "Oh, I just rebuilt my lawn mower's engine, I can take a look at it."  So, we figured that the next house we may move to might not have a lawn mower and it would be a goo idea to see if we can get this one working and we would have a free one.  Well, we were telling this story to Rick and he says "Wait, I have a brand new lawn mower that hasn't even touched a blade of grass, do you want that one?"  We took a look and decided to take him up on the offer.  Since, we had packed lightly, we had room.  It folded down into a nice cube, so it fit perfectly in the Jetta's trunk.  Don't worry we aren't going to keep them both.  We are letting Tim fix the other one and do what he wants with it--sell it or keep it.  We are going to keep the new one.

The first free lawn mower

The second free lawn mower.  Look!  It fits in my trunk.

2.  A few days ago, Joel was listening to NPR about how many keys people have on their key chains and if they knew what all of the keys were for.  He then realized that he still had AM's house key from when we stayed with her right before Ky was born.  Actually, it took him a little while to think of that, but decided that was probably what one of the keys was for.  So, while at their house Friday night, Joel tried it out.  Come to find out, that Marc--AM's husband of 9 months never got a key when he moved in.  So, we were able to give Marc his very first house key to his home.

3.  We learned about the Iowa Corn Song--or the Iowa Intersate 80 song.  Here it is for your viewing and listening pleasure.

4.  I saw a squirrel get hit by a car and live to tell about it.  A car clipped this squirrel and the squirrel flipped and ran like a crazy creature to the side of the road.  I have never seen a squirrel move that fast.  (We were waiting for the light to turn green when this happened on the cross road.)  I pointed it out to the other passengers in the car and they unfortunately did not see the squirrel get hit, but they can attest to the speediness and the craziness of this squirrel's running.

Courtesy of Signs Up (signs-up.com)

Where?

Although on Monday our nerves were relieved knowing that Joel matched into a neurology program.  We were still a bit anxious.  We didn't know where we would be going.  We had to wait until today at 1:00pm EST.  Let me just say that this morning seemed to drag on.  (It didn't help that Kyper seemed to be in a mood today and that I hadn't slept well.)  But, I also kept looking at the clock willing for it to go faster.  I wanted to know where to look for housing and what not.  Alas, 1:00 arrived.  Joel called me from the other room and said he had gotten an email.  (He came home for lunch, so we could find out together.)  We read it and looked at each other.  We were not at all disappointed with the outcome.  Without further ado...

Joel matched to Henry Ford's Neurology Program, Detroit, MI!!!

Needless to say we are ecstatic.  This was Joel's top choice.  It was also mine.  This means several things for our family.

First,  Joel is going to be a neurologist.
Second, we get to stay in MI for FOUR solid years.  
Third, we will be moving from our current house for various reasons, but the main one is that we can move much much closer to our friends and church.  We live a half hour away at the moment.  Next year we hope to be more like 5-10 minutes from church and maybe even within walking distance. 
Fourth, because we will be here four years, most likely in three years when we celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary, the number of times we have moved will be less than the number of years we have been married.
Fifth, I am so grateful for this in regards to my professional career.  I have a small part-time job currently and am in the process of securing another grant writing/research gig as an independent contractor/consultant.  It means that I can keep networking within the area and hopefully gain one or two more clients if I have the time and gain experience.  This is my dream professionally--I want to be a non-profit consultant in regards to grants and planning.
Sixth, I won't have to find a whole new support system.  After moving many times, Joel and I feel like we are fairly good at finding friends in new places, but I really didn't want to have to create a whole new community.  (Our Christmas card list is too long as it is....haha.)  I have friends in place here and like I mentioned before, we will be moving closer to them.  Residency is long hours, so I am excited to have a support system already in place for those times I don't see Joel for an extended period of time.
Finally, God affirmed his will for us.  Joel felt called to be a neurologist and God made it happen.  We have been headed in this direction for a long time--even before getting into medical school.   Some days we knew it and other times we didn't.  This just reaffirms to me that God is great and faithful!

Thank you so much for all your prayers.  We are excited to begin this next adventure of residency.

Give Away

I found a pretty sweet give away on my friend Erica's blog.  I am looking for a fun dress to wear to graduation on May 28, so I thought I would enter.  if you want to enter click here.

To Match or Not to Match

Well today at noon we recieved one of the best emails ever!  It said something like this:

"Congratulations!  You have matched"

Joel was matched into a neurology program!  What a relief and blessing.  We still don't know where, but we know it is one of three places--Detroit, Milwaukee or Toledo.  We can't wait until Thursday at 1:00pm to see where this next adventure takes place.

It may not be fun not knowing where, but we are just so relieved he matched.  God has truly blessed us and I know he will continue to do so.

Thank you, thank you for all your prayers!  God is so good.

Waiting on pins and needles to find out where?  Well, stay tuned I am positive there will be a blog post on Thursday!

6 Adventurous Years and Counting

Friday marks my 6th wedding anniversary.  It marks the day I married my best friend.  I could type all the ways he is amazing, but that might make people want to puke.  Instead, I will say this:  we have had some crazy adventures in these 6 years.  Here are a few in no particular order:

• We got married over our spring break.  We were seniors at Calvin and thought Spring Break would make a fun honeymoon.  We weren't disappointed.
• We moved to Detroit hoping Joel would get into Wayne State for medical school.  Joel ended up not getting in and worked that year while I went to school and received my MSW from the University of Michigan.
• We waited a total of three years for Joel to get into medical school, but it was worth the wait.  He got into DMU and we made amazing friends in Des Moines, IA.
• We had a baby.  I can't imagine my life without Kyper.  Okay, maybe a little gushy, but Joel is an amazing dad.  I wouldn't choose anyone else to parent with.
• We moved 4 times in the first 6 months.  
• We have moved a total of 7 times (not including our four week stays in AM's house, Tim and Melanie's house and in Traverse City) in our first 6 years.  We are going to make it to number 8 before we reach the 7 year mark.  
• The last time we moved, we had a 7 day old son!  Yes, days.
• So far, we have only had six months to one year in which we were DINKs--double income no kids.  I guess that won't ever happen again since we now have a son.  Hopefully this July, we will be DIOKs--double income one kid and in the future DIMKs-double income multiple kids.  Haha.
• We are really used to living in limbo due to some of the above adventures.  We lived in three years of limbo while Joel applied to medical schools.  We lived in limbo during his second year when we didn't know if he would be placed in Des Moines or Detroit.
• I am glad we moved back to Detroit.  He has been able to do all rotations in the area. (well except Traverse City, but that was our choice.)  This means I have seen him every night or day when he has been doing his third and fourth year rotations.
• We have taken vacations together.  We circumnavigated Lake Michigan when we first moved to Des Moines.  We went to Maggie Valley, NC this year.
• He's had adventures on guy's weekends.  I have had adventures on girls' weekends.  Including the time he ended up having to pick me up from the "wrong" train station when I was coming home from Chicago.  We ended up driving through three hours worth of torrential downpour, so he could pick me up, bring me to my car at the next city an hour away and then back to Des Moines.  
• He had lung surgery and was in the hospital for our first Christmas and New Year's as a married couple.  He has a great scar to show for it.  One cut and two chest tube holes.
• I am finally starting to get into some grant writing.  Okay, some more gushy talk:  Joel is so supportive with me and my professional goals.  He is a great encourager and pushes me to do my best.

Wow, we have had a lot of adventures.  The ones listed above are just the major ones.  It doesn't even mention some of the day to day adventures we have.  I could not have been blessed with a better partner for these adventures.  I thank God everyday for Joel.  I am excited and, let's be honest, scared about what future adventures God is going to call us on.  One thing I know though is that I am super excited to be on the adventures with Joel.

Happy Anniversary to us.  I love you, Joel!

We actually are going out for a date on our anniversary.  I'll do a separate post.  The deal I got on it is totally worth it!

Here is a video of Kyper's latest trick and him trying to figure out how the camera works.

In The Meantime

We have 20 more days to wait.  Where in the world is God going to send us?  We don't know.  But, in the meantime we are living our lives.


What else is happening in our lives?  Well, we had a blizzard, then we had a few short but wonderful days of spring like weather in which the snow all melted.  Then we got 10-12 more inches of snow in one night.  Joy.  I am done with the cold and snow by this point in the year.  But, I did learn the joy of snow-blowing yesterday.  Our neighbor let us borrow hers.  I got to snow-blow while Joel got some playtime in with Kyper.  Ky was playing outside, but once the snow-blower turned on, he was ready to go inside.

Kyper learned that I will let him spin in the office chair.  He asks nicely to go up in the chair and then either laughs while he spins or has a super serious face.  I took a video.  After this video, he grabbed his two teddy bears, Elmo, his two blankets and a small pillow.  He put those on the chair and then spun them around.  The next thing I know he joined them.  It was goofy.