Chasing Life

It's been almost 5 months since my last update, so my guilt has finally motivated me enough to get another one written. I got so used to writing about our moving and traveling adventures that it is difficult to just write about everyday stuff now that residency is keeping us in one place! Back in July, Paul was fortunate enough to only have to work one shift over 4th of July weekend. We decided to go up to my parent's place on Mille Lacs Lake (where I spent my summers growing up). It was little surreal being able to do the things with my own kids that I did as a kid on the same lake that I did them (fishing, tubing & skiing, playing on the lake shore, etc). And there is nothing that makes me still feel young more than doing active things that require some physical skill (such as water skiing). Unfortunately I only caught one fish, but I guess that's better than getting skunked! We were also able to go to my parent's other house in South Haven a couple weeks after t

Let the fun begin! Yesterday was Paul's first official shift of his Emergency Medicine residency here in MN and we're off to a wonderful start. He had a busy night in the ER, got home around midnight, slept for a few hours before having to go back to work for morning conference, came home and saw the kids and I for 30 minutes, and is now sleeping again until he has to go back to work for his second shift in the ER. THIS is why we have not been looking forward to residency! But, it is my residency resolution to try to look at the bright side of things...we are now down to 2 years and 364 days until residency is over! :) Seriously, besides the long work hours, we don't really have much to complain about. We are happily married (most of the time), have three wonderful children (most of the time), are living in a great house with family nearby, and pretty much all of our needs are met. I am working on finding a church and establishing a social network here, but that is obviousl

Just wanted to report to those who don't already know that we bought a house! I went back to MN on 4/3 and had a signed purchase agreement three days later!!! Although I can't even stand the thought of having to leave San Diego, knowing we have a great house to move into helps me cope. Paul was home with the two older kids (yes, he survived on his own for 10 days), so he hasn't even seen it yet. I was able to take a video of the house for him though so he has at least gotten a virtual tour. It's so hard to believe we only have 42 days left before we move. I swear we just unpacked our boxes (oh wait, we did just unpack our boxes!). We're headed up to LA this weekend. Paul is going to the CrossFit games qualifier (surprise surprise) and I am going to Mamma Mia with a girlfriend. Then on Sunday we are going to check out Saddleback Church (home of Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life). The following week we have two different sets of friends coming into

I will start this update by telling those of you who don’t already know that we will be moving back to Minnesota after Memorial Day. Paul got matched to his number one choice of programs, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), in Minneapolis. Needless to say he is quite excited and I am just happy to finally know where we will be living for the next three years! We will most definitely miss San Diego, but we have been waiting a long time to be back close to family (4 years, actually) and so it will certainly be nice to go back ‘home’. Paul starts his orientation on June 15th, so we don’t have very long to get situated once we arrive. Paul is taking some time off from work to stay home with Kade and Jacey while I fly back to MN for 9 days with Kye to look for a house. Hopefully we will find one before we move. If not, my parents have a house near St. Cloud that we can stay at while we continue house hunting, but it would be quite a drive for Paul to go to work everyday (almost 90 minute

Happy 2009, everyone! As I write this update we are awaiting news as to where Paul’s career will be leading us next (again), raising a newborn baby (again), and living in a new house (again)! Back in December, Paul finished his 10 days of interviewing for residency programs back in the Midwest. He felt very good about how they went so we are hoping he will get selected by one of his top two programs (HCMC in Minneapolis or Regions in St. Paul). We find out what residency program he will be joining in mid-March. Hopefully the time will pass quickly. As I wrote in my very brief update about a month ago, our third child Kye Aaron was born on 12/20. It took him a couple of weeks to catch on to the whole nursing thing, but he is apparently doing just fine now as he has already gained 3 pounds in one month. We’ve already got him onto the Nystrom sleep schedule of going to bed at 6pm. Now if he would just stay sleeping all night that would really be something. Kade and Jacey have adjusted to