Reasons #346, #347, and #348 I'm excited about PA school:

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Blake and I have been talking about where we'll go after he graduates. This time next year he will be applying to residency programs, which will take us to a new city once he graduates. Prior to my acceptance to South U, we were looking at places that had a good residency program AND a PA school for me. #346 --> And now.... the options have expanded! Blake won't have to worry about me because I will already have most of my schooling complete. Even better...

#347 --> We were concerned that we might have to live separately for a period of time because he graduates May 2012... I won't graduate until March 2013. However, I will be doing my clinical rotations May 2012-March 2013, and South (unlike many schools) allows their students to do off-sight rotations if they meet the requirements of academic status, professionalism, etc. Meaning... (crossing my fingers)... we may not have to be apart at all :)

#348 --> I get to stick a needle through people's skin.

Forever Friends.

Lots of hugs. Squeels. High-pitched noises. Caffeine. A $5 plane ticket for me and a 10 hr train right for E....

Together at last!

Mission accomplished.

About 2 weeks ago, me and my three best friends from Taylor U planned a spontaneous reunion in Chicago. Jade and Jessie were already there, so it was just a matter of getting Eprise and I to the windy city. And we did it!

And while I have doubts that we will ever all live in the same state, I hope we can continue to choose different cities as a meeting place. So far, I can count: Indianapolis, Portland, St. Louis, Columbia, Paris (yes, France), Atlanta, and now Chicago :)

picking up E from the train station... there was a mad rush of excitement going on.

we literally sprinted to catch the train going downtown for a day in the city... JUST made it!

"the bean"

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (The Message)

Love this verse...

"My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in
your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the
handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's
strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and
with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size-- abuse, accidents,
oppositions, bad breaks.

I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I
become."

FINALLY!

For those of you who know what I've been through the past 2 years know it has not been easy. It has been a roller-coaster of emotions with moments of strength and periods of weakness. Two years ago I was forced to withdraw from a nursing program due to blatant discrimination. What I went through was entirely unacceptable and should never happen to anyone. That's a whole other story.

I initially pushed away medicine-- to avoid the pain of revisiting the past-- but my desire still lingered.

On June 6, 2009 I wrote in my journal:

"Lord, I have felt such joy the past few weeks. Such hope. I know and I trust
you completely. Whatever is ahead of me, I know it is far beyond and better than
my own plans. I am so in-love with you, Jesus. Thank You for pulling me through
this rough time and for building endurance in me. I asked you to make me
into the woman of Prov. 3:25, but I can't ask that without expecting You to
take me through circumstances that will make me like her."

People...

God is FAITHFUL! He does not abandon you, and He hears your cries!

I cannot begin to express the joy I am feeling now because in the end of this two-year journey I GOT INTO PA SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!

After finding out I was accepted, I wrote in my journal:

"Lord, you saw my heart. You knew my vulnerability-- at any moment
along the path of pursuing PA school I risked heartbreak. It is incredibly hard
to make yourself vulnerable again after being crushed. But it was Your love that
gave me strength. Your faithfulness was my joy. Though I felt Your absense at
times, I remembered Your works in years past. You asked me to trust. And trust
was a matter of trusting You were still the same God who met me as a child."

Now, a week after being accepted, I am still in shock. I'm. Actually. Going. To. Be. A. Physician. Assistant.

It's surreal, and I am bursting at the seems with joy! Would I have expected this outcome two years ago? Nope! But I look back on my journal entry June 6, 2009 and remember that He has always been in control.

Orientation begins January 3, 2011 :)

The Waiting Game...

Today I interviewed at South University for their Physician Assistant (PA) Program. I'm holding my breath until I hear back from them...

I'll give more details if I'm accepted, but it would be really, really, REALLY awesome if I get in!

Ronald McDonald House Birthday

I love my job!

I am a Weekend Manager at the Ronald McDonald House, which gives me the unique opportunity to be part of a support team for families with hospitalized children. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to have a child in the hospital! As a parent, your primary concern is for your child and I'm sure it throws your stomach all in knots to watch their little body laying in a bed, hooked up to IV's. If a room and warm meal makes it just a little bit easier.... well, that's why we're here ;)

I am constantly amazed by people's generosity in the way they give to our charity. Which leads to the story of this little girl...

This girl decided that for her 8th birthday she wanted to celebrate it at the Ronald McDonald House. But wait... it gets better. She stated that she did not want presents (what 8 year old doesn't want presents???), but instead she wanted people to bring "presents" off of our Wish List. People brought bags of paper goods, toiletries, laundry detergent, toys for the playroom, and food for the kitchen. And. they. left. every. bag. for. us.

Wow.

I was talking to the birthday girl after eating cake and ice cream, and she said-- "I'm glad I donated my birthday!"

I love it.

I am truly amazed at the youngest donors. She genuinely wanted to give, and that should speak to us all.

This little guy was actually a preemie, and his mom stayed in the house when she first had him. He was itty bitty, but now he's almost 3 years old! I love to see the children again and hear the progress stories.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Something we've really enjoyed doing with Blake's class is potluck-ing! Last week his classmate planned a themed potluck-- "Vegetarian Thanksgiving". The tofu was delicious!!! And I mean that because I'm not the biggest tofu fan.

I brought this dessert, and it was quickly devoured. With the holidays coming up, I highly recommend this recipe for carrot cake with cream cheese icing... AMAZING!!!! The trick is that it uses both coconut and pineapple. Happy baking :)

Our Speckled Map.

Blake and I have started talking about where we want to live after he graduates and enters residency. It's hard to believe it's only a year away before he will be applying for his residency program!! Where did time go??

So, last weekend we went out for dinner with two maps printed off-- one of the east coast and one of the west coast. As we sat at our booth, we each took turns circling the cities we could see ourselves living. In the end, our maps turned out very speckled! Between the two of us we circled 24 cities in the US... from Atlanta to Seattle. We definitely don't lack adventure :)

Until we know where we'll be, there will be much prayer. Even though we both love adventure, we are also very close to our families and recognize how difficult it would be to live afar.

To be continued...... within the next year ;)

Back in the Spotlight!

I was recently offered a lead role in a show, Holiday Ice Spectacular. And yes... the word "ice" means that it's on ice :)

This opportunity literally fell in my lap, and it's such an answer to prayer. All of my professors have been wonderful in working with me, and they're going to allow me to take my finals early in order to make it to rehearsals starting Dec 1st. Eeee!!!

My character is a female elf who is sweet and hospitable, but constantly has to keep her husband in line and out of trouble. And the "husband/male elf" role will be played by the talented Mikey Post.... ironically, the same person who introduced Blake and I!! Crazy, hu?

Together, Mikey and I will narrate the show and make it all flow. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. On top of that, we'll be performing with a cast of Olympic athletes and figure skating medalists..... ummm, what??? I guess I better keep practicing my Russian because one cast member is from Russia and another from Belarus :)

Just for fun: here's a little bio they put together about me. You can ignore the spelling/grammar errors... they're still working on it.

"Happy Birthday"

When we all started singing "happy birthday" to Joseph, James lit up and was convinced we were singing to him. It was the funniest thing!!! I wish so badly I got it on camera...

We re-lit one of the candles just to let James blow it out, but he still hasn't learned the consequence of touching flames. Just watch ;)

Labor Day 2010

3 or 4 years ago, my family started a tradition to plan a family trip every Labor Day. It's always a special time together, and it's especially fun to see how things change... as spouses and babies are added to the mix.

This year, the family decided to make a trip down to Savannah!! We were very grateful that they traveled the distance to see our new place and experience a taste of our charming little town :)

It's hard to believe that baby James was only 3 months old last year...and this year he was toddling around and babbling his own gibberish. He LOVED playing with my little rocker and saying "rock-rock"

We celebrated Joe's 20th birthday (crazy!) with his favorite cake-- Boston Cream Pie

James was ridiculously cuddly when he woke up from his nap. He just laid down on top of me and rested for a while... a slice of heaven right there! He eventually sat up and just stared at me. Oh, how I wish I could snuggle with that cuddle-bug more often!!!

Definitely one of my favorite stories from the weekend:

My parents took us all out to a Sand Gnats game, which was so much fun! As we were going through security, the guard took the banana out of James' bag (AKA his dinner).Mitch argued for a while, explaining it was dinner for their baby, but he ended up handing it over. When Jaillene found out that they took the banana... let's just say "mama bear" was NOT happy! The supervisor was called and the guard was ordered to go to the store and buy Jaillene another banana since her original banana was thrown away. In addition, she was given two free tickets to another game to make up for the inconvenience. We were all laughing at how quickly her mother instincts kicked in. Her baby got his banana :)

Dad, Jaillene, James, & Mom at the game

Jesse, Blake, me, & Joseph

The ball game ended with fireworks! We were all curious how James would respond.

He started off just laying back and watching with amusement... then sat up and starting pointing... and eventually was laughing and clapping. This kid is not scared of much.

Mom and Dad put James to bed while all of us went into town for late-night pizza at Vinnie's. It was soooooo good!!

Joseph, Jared, & Jesse

We caught some sunshine at the beach on Sunday

The girls-- Jaillene, Eryn, and I

Eryn, Joseph, Jared, & Jesse all made a sand castle for James...

...which he enjoyed destroying ;-)

Post-beach feast at Crab Shack!!!

We got a platter for 6, and the 10 of us couldn't even finish it!

And then, we tried out a new frozen yogurt shop that just opened. You fill your own cup with yummy frozen yogurt, add whatever toppings you want, and then they weigh it at the end and you're charged by the ounce. Mmmm!!

We both feel so blessed to have the families we've been given, and we're incredibly thankful for times like these to catch up and relax. We're already looking forward to next year :)

First Rotation Complete!

Blake completed his first rotation (OB/GYN), having delivered 4 babies himself! So stinking cool. He is really enjoying being in the hospital and actually applying the knowledge he has soaked up the past 2 years, but I think he's glad to have OB/GYN complete.

The last week of rotation he was on night float, and I would come home to this--

Poor baby...he was so exhausted after being up all night and having his nights/days flipped. Of course, I enjoyed having him home during the day even though he was dozing :)

Grandma Erickson & Swedish Pancakes

My Grandma Erickson was a lovely lady. She taught me a lot about love and joy, as she always put family first. I cannot think of a birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Valentine's Day when there wasn't a handwritten letter in the mail waiting for me. She faithfully wrote letters to all of her family members, which included 8 grandchildren, at least once a month. In fact, I have a whole stack of her most memorable letters in my keepsake box.

It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to her this summer, but we find peace in knowing she is now with her sweet Savior.

One of my favorite memories of Grandma Erickson was her Swedish pancakes. When Blake surprised me a few years ago with a trip to Colorado, Grandma gave me her own recipe. I made sure to write it in my journal, so that I wouldn't lose it. I hope to pass along the family tradition and enjoy Swedish pancakes with hot coffee on snuggly, lazy mornings :)

_____________________________________________

Grandma Erickson's Swedish Pancakes

serves 2-3

1 c. flour

2 c. milk

3 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

4 Tbs butter, melted (although... I would use a little less)

Beat egg and 1/2 c. milk with whisk. Add flour and beat until smooth. Add the remainder of milk, then the butter and salt.

Pour about 1/4 c. of batter onto heated skillet. I usually pick up the pan and rotate it to spread the batter thin, so that it reaches the edge of the pan. Cook for about 3 min on each side. Enjoy!

*** Traditionally, Swedish pancakes are served with lingonberries and whipped butter (you can get the lingonberries at Ikea). But when I made these a couple of weeks ago, I filled them with cooked peaches and a maple cream sauce. It's fun to play around and try out different fillings. Enjoy!

Maple Cream Sauce

3/4 c. heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs maple syrup

1 1/2 Tbs light corn syrup

from an island... to downtown

In the midst of a busy summer we also moved!

It's fun to say that we started off our married life living on an island with a palm tree outside of our bedroom window, but for the past year we have both been itching to move downtown. We now live right in the heart of downtown, and we're absolutely loving it!

There's actually a funny story to it. You see... I found the place, negotiated, and signed the contract before Blake even saw it. Blake was on an away-rotation for 6 weeks when I found this little treasure and, afraid that someone else would snatch it, I called him and asked what his thoughts were.

Me: "I just don't think it's still going to be here when you come back. I don't know what to do."

Blake: "You like it?"

Me: "Yes! It's perfect!"

Blake: "Ok. Well, I trust you. If you think it will work go for it!"

So I signed my name on the dotted line :)

Rest assure, he liked the place once he finally got to see it.

My favorite part about living downtown is that you can walk/bike just about anywhere. We're a block from a farmer's market, 5 blocks from one of my favorite coffee shops, 3 blocks from a local bakery, just blocks from many beautiful parks. I love, love, love it!

More photos to come once everything is more settled...

Med School Memories Made in Honduras

Ah!! I completely left out one of my favorite stories from Honduras. Shame on me ;-)

To preface this story... I just want to claim my bragging rights as a wife. Done. Claimed. So I'll continue....

So in early June Blake took his first board exam, the USMLE Step 1. He studied his butt off for it for it, which still blows me away. You know when a 10 year old plays video games hours on end, and then his eyes are completely bloodshot afterwards? Blake would come home looking just like that, only his "video games" were six inch thick textbooks filled with medical gibberish. Doesn't sound nearly as fun to me. But anyways... I left many of you hanging because I asked for prayers on the day that he took the exam, but I never brought back report. So then... let your mind travel back to Honduras....

We were in this little town called Valley of the Angels, which has a ton of touristy shops. You could buy tiny trinkets, beaded jewelry, a rainbow of hammocks, and intricate wooden carvings. I decided to go scout out a hammock while Blake went with a group to an internet cafe. I found my hammock, and then as I was walking towards the town center I started running into people...

"Have you seen Blake??!!"

"Juli, Blake is looking for you!!!"

"OH!! You need to talk to Blake!!!"

One of his classmates explained to me that Blake had good news he wanted to tell me. Actually, the way he described it was that Blake was asking if anyone had seen me.... then he started walking in the direction he thought I was, then picked up speed, which turned into a jog, and ultimately became a SKIP! Haha... I just wish I could have actually seen Blake skip through Honduras!

Somebody pointed me in the direction of where they last saw him, so I went in that direction. As it would happen, Blake circled around the opposite way. Pretty soon, we're both making circles around a foreign city in search of each other. There were groups of people helping us find each other.... it was like something straight out of a movie. One of his classmates finally reunited us, and then Blake told me the good news-- he dominated the USMLE Step 1!! He beat that test until it cried. I was so stinking proud!

We screamed, danced in the streets, and then celebrated with a coconut-mocha-iced-coffee-drink-thingy :) It was such a fun memory!

This boy amazes me. He really does. To give you some idea of what he made, he scored above average for a neurosurgeon.... you know, the people that cut into people's brains and stuff. I'm excited to see where he goes in the medical field and which direction God takes him. He is definitely gifted, that's for sure.

Honduras

Where to begin.

I am constantly being molded and shaped each time I travel to another country. Each foreign land offers something unique and beautiful in the big picture that paints an eternal perspective. I am reminded of God creativity and extravagant love for people! How amazing is He! On the other hand, traveling can be a painful experience. You realize that your own idea of "normal" is not necessarily the world's "normal", and you question whether we have everything backwards. You see pain, suffering, poverty... and it's overwhelming. I find it especially difficult to make relationships with people of other cultures only to return home after a short few weeks. I often feel like I leave behind a piece of myself, and the faces I've met cannot be erased from my mind.

But I think that's all how it's supposed to be. We're supposed to be challenged and chiseled. Growth doesn't just happen-- it's a process that often includes aches and pains.

Before we even got engaged, Blake and I talked about the desire we both had to someday live overseas... whether long-term, or short-term. We definitely have dreams and ideas of what this could mean, but we're looking to God for direction. To start, it will be a while before we could actually get up and move. Blake has 2 yrs of school left, then residency, then debt to pay off. Aside from that, during this trip I felt a sense of affirmation that living overseas may very well be in our future.

I could go on and on with stories from our time in Honduras, but I'll have to cut down and share just some of the highlights:

Pink Nails

I must have painted 20 kajillion Honduran fingernails while I was over there. The little girls loved to get their nails painted, and they would say "que bonita! (beautiful!)"

I had so much fun painting nails. Pictures cannot rightfully show how beautiful the children were!

Mountain Medicine

Honduran people living in the mountains have minimal access to healthcare. This became evident to me when I saw a continuing line of people who traveled miles on foot to see our doctors and receive treatment. Field medicine was a portion of our trip in which we set up clinic in the mountains and brought our resources to the people. On the day I participated in field medicine we saw 251 patients. Remarkably, other days saw as many as 600 patients!

The Story of How I Snuck into the Delivery Room to Help Assisted in a Delivery

By far, one of the highlights of the trip was witnessing a birth! Well... I wasn't really supposed to be there.... but that's beyond the point.

All week I had been saying, "somebody needs to have a baby! I want to help deliver one!" Finally, one day Blake watched as a young woman was carted into the adjacent room we were in and he said, "well, looks like a delivery is about to happen!"

It was like my heart skipped a beat. No seriously. Meanwhile, I side-stepped into the room and the door simultaneously closed behind me. I was later told that everyone was instructed (on the other side of the door) to not enter unless we're asked to help. I've heard that many of the med students were anxious to get in the room.... the one that I "snuck" into.

So here I am in the delivery room. It's just me, the Honduran obstetrician, and a Honduran nursing student. The mother is crying, "Ay, doctora!! Me ayuda!! Me ayuda!!" It's obvious that the baby is about to pop out any moment. This girl had not been given any anesthesia or pain medication. Despite the fact, she hardly screams. Next thing I know, I'm being given instructions in Spanish... do this, do that...

wait, how did I become in charge??

Oh right... I side-stepped into the room.

It was entirely chaotic, but I tend to thrive on chaos.

I kid you not... less than 20 minutes after the woman arrived, the baby was out. Wet. Crying. Beautiful baby boy. By that time, three of my teammates were in the room to help. Together we cleaned the baby, gave him his eye drops and Vit K shot, and handed him to the exhausted mother. Such a cool experience and a true miracle to witness!

Surgery

An orthopedic surgeon and his team joined us on the trip. So then, the hospital elected patients for surgery and had them lined up for us when we got there. Some of the surgeries included ganglion cyst removal, resetting of a clavicle bone, and several ACL reconstructions.

The surgery that I scrubbed in for was a bilateral amputation of a sixth toe. The patient, an 8-year old little girl, was born with 6 toes on each foot. Even though her condition had no real medical risks, it greatly affected her self-esteem...she would keep her feet hidden from peers in fear of being teased. I assisted in surgery by operating the vacuum sucker to clear away blood, holding back tissue with surgical instruments, and cutting the stitches after the surgeon made each suture. As minor as my role was, I was totally loving it! The little girl regained consciousness with some nausea, but she could hardly hold back her smile. Evidently, her parents promised her before going into surgery that they would buy her a new pair of sandals like her friends after she got out of surgery. She wanted to jump right out of that hospital bed and find a pair of sandals!

Bilingual Worship

After church on Sunday, I was searching all over the hospital campus looking for Blake. I could not find him anywhere! And where did I finally find him? He was jamming out with the Honduran worship team ;-)

He actually led worship most of the nights during our team meetings, which I think he really enjoyed doing again.

Clean Water

Something as essential as water is scarce in the villages surrounding the hospital. Each day we were there, a team was sent out to deliver clean water in this 700 gallon tank that fit on the truck bed. As we passed the houses, people would beam a joyful smile and retreat into their homes to get containers (of all kinds) to fill with water. One man thanked us by picking an orange (which was actually green) from his tree for each of us... makes me wonder if I willingly give the same proportion of my belongings to others.

We are both so thankful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip! My prayer is that the people we served understand our driving motivation to serve. It is because of Christ's love....that incredible love is something we want to share with others.

And when you experience a love so overwhelming, it doesn't take much to motivate you to cross seas and talk about it ;)