still in shock.

What a month.

I had the past 3 weeks off, so I was able to visit Blake in Cincinnati and Denver where he is doing rotations at the Childrens' Hospitals. A few glimpses from our time together:

Visited friends in Chicago

Enjoyed a beautiful run through Cincinnati -- love the bridges!

Cincy

We surprised me Grandpa in Colorado Springs and spent time with family

Denver Childrens' Hospital

Our last weekend together, we went to Vail where the aspens were outstanding and went camping. So fun!

We had a wonderful time to say the least.

And still, I am overflowing with pride and excitement because during the last week I was with him in Denver he got back his Step 2 board scores. As part of his training, Blake is required to take 3 national standardized board exams (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3). He did amazing on Step 1... and Step 2 he blew out of the water. My husband, Blake Windsor, made a 276 on Step 2 --> which is in the 98th percentile. Meaning, he scored higher than 98% of medical students throughout the country!!! Holy moly.

I thought my heart was going to explode.

If that wasn't exciting enough, he was selected for AOA (medical school honor society), which is a HUGE honor. There will be a ceremony in the spring, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

To top it off, yesterday he received an e-mail from an institution that informed him his scores were the 3rd highest out of 1400 applicants. That institution was Harvard.

Still in shock. And bursting at the seams with pride for my husband who has worked so hard, as well as proved himself a wonderful husband. I love him so much.

Dearest Savannahians:

Dearest Savannahians:

If you were casually driving home from work today and happened to see a 3'9'' woman running in the thunderstorm -- first, let me reassure you that I was not a run-away child (I have actually been stopped by a cop for that one before), and second I was not having a seizure (I was just mixing up my running strides with spontaneous skipping). What started as a gentle breeze turned into a full-blown thunderstorm midway through my run, and it was awesome!

I am in-love with this city and the people in it. As the rain picked up, I looked across the street and saw the man with paranoid schizophrenia that my husband has befriended and we waived. A toddler, still practicing his waives, said a squeaky "hi" through the rain. The rain came even harder, and I matched pace with my music. How could I keep myself from skipping with this song in my heart? Life is good, people. God is even greater.

Go skip a few steps. It's good for you.

Juli

a summer must.

I always look forward to the summertime here in Savannah when the farmer's market brings out their baskets of peaches. The peaches at the farmer's market are nothing like what you get at the grocery store. They're plumper, sweeter, and just plain ol' peachier.

All summer I've been saying that I want to make some peach ice cream, so yesterday I made that happen before this summer passes me by. I used this recipe, and it turned out soooooo yummy!

Visby likes to get up on the stool with me and put his paws on the counter to see what I'm doing. It's actually really cute because he will look at me, then look at what I'm doing, then look at me, look at what I'm doing, and so on.

My ice cream maker, which I love and adore. I have really enjoyed experimenting with different flavors.

And voila! Perfect way to beat the summer heat.

Crazy Joy.

This quarter I'm taking a class called Clinical Procedures where we're taught the indications for certain clinical skills (i.e. injections, IV, catheterization, etc) and instructed on how to perform them. This class, while a low-pressure class for most, has created some unnecessary anxiety in me that I attribute to my past nightmare experiences in nursing school.

I now sit here – completely dumbfounded – and asking myself, “why was I given such a hard time?? Why wasn’t I even given a chance??” The past 4 weeks I have felt like this weight I’ve been carrying around has been incrementally lifted off my shoulders each Friday, as I demonstrate my ability to do the following things the nursing school claimed were impossible:

SubQ, IM, ID injections – check. 10lbs of false assumption --> removed

Starting an IV – check. 10 lbs of dealing with people’s inability to think beyond the box --> removed

Catheterization – check. 20 lbs of being doubted --> removed

I was telling someone today, I am literally overflowing with crazy joy. Yes, crazy joy (the kind that sings from your insides). I cannot tell you how good it feels to overcome one hurdle after the other. I’ve come to realize that it was never a problem with me – I’ve shown myself I can do it. I have to practice more than some of my classmates and certain things do not come as easily to me, but I don’t see my condition as a list of reasons I’m to be excluded from the medical field. For that matter, I don’t see life as a line-up of walls that can’t be scaled.

I am so thankful to be in a school that is giving me a chance, and I am constantly humbled by the opportunity to enter the field of medicine. God has not left me throughout this whole process – He carried me through the pain, He held me when I was broken, and He’s piecing me back together at this moment. After being beat down pretty badly, my confidence is gradually returning and I know I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

Where has time gone?

Blake is officially finished with his 3rd year of medical school and is now in his final and fourth year! He has busted his butt the past 10 weeks during his surgery rotation, and I think he's relieved to have one of the most demanding rotations out of the way. He survived surgery rotation -- of course, leaving with a duodenal ulcer as a little souvenir ;-) He really enjoyed trauma surgery and got to see and do some really cool things -- pin bones back in line, stitch someone's tongue, sew a lady's face back on (she got in an accident and her face could literally be pealed back... crazy), etc.

I can't believe he's in his final year. Where has time gone? It seems like yesterday I was walking down the aisle to say "I do" and we were settling in Savannah for him to start med school. At the same time, it feels like forever ago because he has put in more hours of studying than one could imagine.

Ah, fourth year. Here's where it all comes together. The next few months will consist of taking his STEP2 exam, getting recommendations for residency programs, writing his personal statement, and applying to residency programs. This fall he'll have a chance to do a couple away rotations in other cities, travel to interviews, and we're also going to try and get away the two of us during my break in September. Come March.... "Match Day"! Match Day is when you find out where you're going for residency, and it's huge because it's something you've worked up to for the past 3.5 yrs of studying. May 5th --> Blake becomes an MD :) As you can see, a lot will happen in the next year. It's exciting, and we're constantly looking to God for direction for our future. It's humbling to even be given this opportunity to learn about medicine and be given skills to help people who are sick. I'm so proud of Blake, and we're going to make this fourth year count.

James' 2nd Bday!

Oh, and we celebrated James' bday! If you could have just seen him eat his cupcake with such persistence...

He was the last one left at the table -- still working on his cupcake and making sure he licked off all traces of icing.

And then, at some point he took off his clothes. Naturally, he wanted to wear his birthday suit.

Jared's Bday

While in Atlanta, we celebrated Jared's 27th birthday at he and Eryn's super cute, new apartment. Eryn grilled out and made some ice cream sundaes, and we just had a fun time hanging out.

Originally, his party was supposed to be a surprise, but it's hard for Jared and Eryn to keep secrets from each other :) Here we are acting surprised.

father and son