Christmas break is over!

It's hard to believe that two and a half weeks passed so quickly, but here we are on new year's eve looking back on all the good times we had. Christmas was wonderful with my mom and my brother in town and Katie back from Georgia. Bindi got a cute little bumble bee car from Grandma Mitchell (Denise) which she's been buzzing around in. Lots of great presents from all the family - thanks to everybody. Derek and I went to the Monterey area for our anniversary. We went to the mission at Carmel-by-the-Sea, did the 17 mi drive at Pebble Beach, and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had planned to go whale watching on our last day, but the trip was canceled. Guess we'll have to go back a different time. Overall it was a great Christmas break and we're looking forward to another long hard semester before we get to go see our family in Singapore!

Merry christmas!

It's over! My first semester of medical school is over! And as far as I know I passed all my classes, although I won't get final grades for awhile yet. To back up a little, Thanksgiving break was great - my mom came down and watched Bindi for us so we could take a little break. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with Derek's family in Gridley and Derek fried his first turkey. We hiked Feather Falls near Oroville and we posted some pictures below. Also, we visited Apple Hill near Sacramento for our fried Ryan's birthday. It's a place where everything is apple- apple pies, apple turnovers, fresh apples, apple jam - it was delicious and fun. In other news, my mom and brother Jesse are coming down for Christmas - Jesse is coming all the way from Japan. Bindi is growing up quickly - she's learned to stand up (with assistance) and to sit up from a laying down position. She jabbers all the time (as demonstrated in the video) but no real words yet. I'm sure we'll have some great new pictures to post after Christmas.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

My first 2 months of medical school have gone surprisingly well. Even though it's every bit as hard as I thought it would be, I've managed to keep my grades up and still spend at least an adequate amount of time with Derek and Bindi. I'm trying not to get too involved in unnecessary things, but there are a lot of things that I have developed a strong interest in. Health policy, for example, is something I've been interested in for years, but here I can actually become a member of the AMA and help pass legislation. Student-run clinics is another thing - they throw us into the clinical scene without much experience. They have us seeing our own patients, performing exams, making diagnoses, etc. before we learn the material in school (don't worry, there's a preceptor at each clinic who is an experienced doctor and makes sure we're not doing anything wrong). There's church and there's extracurriculars (like ultimate frisbee fridays) and it all adds up to a pretty hectic lifestyle. But it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be, and I love the people I work with, and Derek makes everything better by being a perfect stay at home spouse. In fact, we went to Ashland, OR for my surprise birthday trip over labor day weekend. It was my first time to OR and I loved it. We did a speed boat excursion on the Rogue River, went to the Shakespeare Festival and saw Twelfth Night and went caving at Lava Beds National Monument. Bindi went to the cabin with the rest of the family for labor day, but we had a good time without her. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our camera, so I'll just have to include some photos I find on the internet. That's about it for now.

Back from Texas!

We spent the past three weeks with family and friends in Texas. The first week was in Houston with Scott and Angie- Scott (Elder Briggs) was the missionary that baptized me back in 2000. Derek was able to do some work for them such as building a riser for stadium seating and starting a secret playhouse under the stairs. We also were able to peruse the Houston scene - we ended up going to the fine arts museum, the children's museum, the museum of natural science, the aquarium, the zoo, the space center, and to the beach in Galveston. We were able to see my friends Zeina and Alan, who were my calculus study group at UT Austin, and their new baby Jonah. Also, Angie decided to have her baby Keller 3 weeks early while we were there. After Houston, we went to visit my Aunt Lou and Uncle Ray in Austin and went to the Salt Lick with them (one of TX's premier BBQ restaurants). We saw the old German town of Fredericksburg and climbed Enchanted Rock with Bindi (her first hike). I almost forgot the blue bell ice cream factory in Brenham, TX, and we ate Krispy Kreme with my old roommate Lindsey in Austin. We're kind of obsessed with Krispy Kreme since they closed down all the Krispy Kremes in our area. Anyway, after that we went down to see my dad in San Antonio. We found a really awesome Mexican restuarant with him called Taqueria Datapoint. We went back to Houston and picked up my mom from the airport (she had gone to visit her family in Singapore)and took her home to Longview. She watched Bindi for a few days for us while we went and enjoyed Dallas. In Dallas we went to Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, saw Toy Story 3, and went to the temple. It made up for a lot of dates we had missed this past year. In Longview, we went to my favorite restuarant the Butcher Shop. It was supposed to be a mini-high school reunion, but only my friends Tiffany and TJ showed up. We saw them again the next day at Bindi's first birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Their two kids James and Jade were there along with Bryan and Maria's two kids (Bryan was my childhood friend) Sean and Natalie. Jade actually had the same due date as Bindi but was born two weeks later, so it was a joint birthday party. Yesterday we left from the Dallas airport and came back home. But tomorrow we'll be making the big move to Sacramento and I start school on Tues. Vacation is over!

Surgery Update

So we ended up having to stay a second night at the hospital because Bindi wasn't eating enough to keep her hydrated, so she needed to stay on the IV a bit longer. But we were finally able to go home Thurs afternoon. But first we stopped by Shriner's hospital where Bindi had an appointment to get her pinkie fingers checked out. If you remember, her pinkies don't straighten all the way. The good news is that she won't need surgery on them, just some splints and occupational therapy. After that appointment we picked up her meds and headed home. She still had some trouble eating until Fri afternoon, but now she's doing great, almost back to her normal eating schedule and even eating baby food and yogurt. We'll probably take her off her pain meds tomorrow because she doesn't seem to be in any pain anymore. In the meantime, we're enjoying taking things easy in Gridley and getting ready for our next move to Sacramento in July.

Loads of Stuff

So, obviously it has been a few months since we last updated this thing. Over the past couple weeks, a bunch of stuff has been happening. It has been crazy busy. First of all, Derek graduated on Saturday with a degree in General Studies. The graduation ceremony was nice in the sense that it only lasted 2 hrs instead of the scheduled 4. Afterwards we had an awesome BBQ with our good friends Lucas and Merridy. Then it was a crazy packing time so that we could exit Reno on Monday. I forgot to mention our awesome yard sale which we created a huge hype about but ended up being more of a bust. We got a few dollars here and there though. Monday was a crazy day, although we did have the help of our awesome family members and friends. The day would have been a great accomplishment except that the van battery died before Derek had even left Reno. I ended up getting to Gridley in the Subaru half an hour after Derek left Reno. He didn't arrive until 1:30 am. And then on top of that, Bindi's surgery was scheduled for 7:15 am this morning. That meant of course a very short sleep and a drive to sacramento at 5:45 am. We're really lucky that Bindi was able to have her surgery today, however. We hit a few bumps in the road: the first being that she got sick last week. Of course the doctor asked if she had had a cough or cold within the past week and we said that she had had a small one. That was a real blessing from God: even though she was sick, it only lasted about 2 days instead of the customary 6 with the common cold. She did have a phlegmy cough this morning, but the doctor said it would be ok to proceed. Also, yesterday they were supposed to call with the time of Bindi's surgery (they always keep you in the dark until the day before). But when they did call, they said that she was only scheduled for an ear tube replacement, a much simpler and shorter surgery. Therefore she was not scheduled for enough time for a cleft palate repair, but we fought for it and they worked it out in the end. So here we are in the hospital with Bindi. She's doing really well, but I can't say that I wasn't traumatized a little with all the pain she went through. The procedure took about 2 hrs while Derek and I were in the waiting room. When we went in to get her, she was screaming and crying, which turned out to be just because of the confusion of waking up from anesthesia. She does have a lot of pain in her mouth because of all the stitches, so she's not able to eat normally yet, but the doctor said that by tomorrow she should be right as rain. And she's been sleeping pretty much all day, which is great for recovery. Derek and I weren't expecting to stay the night because they told us we wouldn't have to, but they sprung that on us after the surgery. We're not sure where Derek is going to sleep since they only allow 1 person to sleep with the baby, but worse comes to worst, he'll sleep in the car. So that's our life up to this point. A few other minor points to mention: I'm applying to the navy now instead of the Air Force since we found out they're still accepting applicants for the fall semester; we had a great time at Frenchman's Lake with our friends from University Village a few weekends ago, we had a great mother's day: Derek took me to the Grand Sierra Resort for the evening and we went to a drive-in movie and watched Iron Man II and ate ice cream; the next day we made Ethiopian food for Denise and the girls came over...I guess that's about it. Happy Mother's Day to al those mother's and grandmother's that we forget to say that to. We've included some pictures of Bindi's first attempts to feed herself. Enjoy.

Easter +

Wow, I thought I hadn't been keeping up with the blog because nothing interesting has happened. But after reading the last post I realize that monumental things have happened that I haven't written about. I guess it was just laziness then. Anyway, found out that he will be able to graduate this semester with a degree in general studies. Although we were hoping that he would be able to get his degree in secondary education English teaching, that would have taken another semester's worth of work and might not have made a difference. To be a teacher in California you have to have a bachelor's degree (any bachelor's degree) and then take a year's worth of masters level courses. So regardless of what your degree is in, the process is the same. We felt like it was a good move for us. Especially since I was accepted into UC Davis medical school in Sacramento! I decided to go ahead and enter the 5 year program (instead of the 4 year program), which will include another masters degree. It is the Rural-PRIME program which has an emphasis on practicing medicine in rural, underserved areas. I could work in a place like Loyalton or Gridley where there are few specialists, and primary care doctors tend to do a lot more specialized work than they would in larger cities. I think it will be a great program. This was our first choice of medical schools since it is so close to Derek's family and Gridley. Also we just had a feeling that this was where we needed to end up. I was also accepted to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, but neither one of us is that keen on Utah. The bad news is that I was not accepted to the Air Force scholarship this year. I went for the Air Force physical back in January (that was the soonest I could do it since you have to wait for 6 months after giving birth) and was temporarily disqualified because I was underweight and because I had had gestational diabetes during pregnancy. (I hadn't realized I was underweight because we don't own a weighing scale, but apparently all that breast pumping had been depleting my calories without me knowing it). After to their standards they had to disqualify me, but I was told that all I needed was a waiver, which shouldn't be hard to get since I was so healthy. Unfortunately, they had to send my paperwork to the surgeon general to get a waiver - a two month process. By the time all my paperwork came back, it was too late. All the scholarships had been given out. Fortunately, I am in a five year program and the scholarship is only four years. In other words, I am reapplying for the scholarship for next year, and according to the recruiter I have a very good chance of getting it because I'll be one of the only ones to have my application in by October. So that's when I'll find out - October. In the meantime, we'll be surviving on financial aid and odd jobs. It won't be fun, but we've got to do what we've got to do. The good news is that I won't be spending five weeks away for Air Force training this summer. I was not looking forward to that. UC Davis starts on July 26, and we've got a busy summer planned in the meantime. Derek graduates May 15. Bindi has cleft palate surgery May 18. We need to find a job to earn some money for the summer, and then at the end of June we'll be going to visit my family in Texas. On July 6, there is a pre-matriculation program for UC Davis that lasts for 2 weeks. You have to apply to get into it, but if you get it, they'll pay you $500 for expenses and teach you all about how to be successful in medical school. A good deal no matter how you look at it. We may or may not be able to go to the coast this year for Derek's family reunion up in the red woods. But we've got a busy time ahead of us and a lot of worries before we get settled into med school. But we have faith that everything will turn out according to God's plan.

PS Bindi's the cutest baby in the world. Check out her Easter pictures.

Happy New Year!

Well it's 2010 now. The start of Bindi's second year of life and our third year as a married couple. A lot has happened since the last post. We went to Gridley for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mom and brother came down from Texas to see us. Jesse had to return to Japan after spending Christmas with us. It was great to see him, it's been a year and a half since we have. My mom seemed to really love seeing Bindi, we're just sorry that her visits are so few and far between. For our second anniversary Derek surprised me with a trip to San Francisco. Unfortunately I got food poisoning the day before and ended up being too weak and sick to do all the activities Derek had planned. We even missed seeing 39 steps at the theater, which Derek paid quite a bit for and was nonrefundable. So we decided to try and celebrate our anniversary again at new year's. Unfortunately, Derek came down with some sort of flu, but we went through with our plans anyway. I guess we're just not meant to have time to ourselves this year. In other news Bindi had her ear surgery and came out just fine. In fact she seems to be able to hear better and be in less pain now than she was before her surgery. Not that she seemed to be in much pain before, but she has been less irritable since. She had a really great first Christmas. She's really going to be spoiled with all the toys everyone got for her. There are some cute pictures of her opening presents that we'll attach. Derek is already into a new semester - wintermester now and spring semester in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a busy time. That's about it for now, at least that's all I can think of. Hope everyone had a great holiday and happy new year!