Catching up...always catching up!

WARNING: Very long. I use this as a means to document experiences, etc.

Ok so I am a horrible blogger. We all know that. Really a big problem is that I can only upload one picture at a time! I used to be able to upload 5 at a time and I can't figure out how to fix it. I have so much to catch up on that I didn't know where to start so I just shut down and didn't do anything! I have had a few people bugging me (mostly Grandmas :) ) to update since we are ALL the way out in northeastern Pennsylvania now. We are here and yes we are alive and well. The move out here was really rough. Reagan did fantastic though. I was so proud and grateful. On our way from Idaho to Iowa, I had a lovely experience that I never thought would happen in a million years! I was driving the Stratus with Sarah in the backseat and Erik was ahead of me with Reagan. We were in central Nebraska when a semi passed me and the driver window literally exploded into a million pieces. It scared me to death! Fortunately neither Sarah and I were hurt. My skin was a little irritated from the glass shards that covered my legs and arms. I drove about 20 miles with no window until we made it to North Platte. We had a hotel reservation in Omaha which was still a good 4 1/2 hours away. We had to make it there since it was nonrefundable. We were able to get someone to cover the window with the plastic. Once we got back on the highway, it didn't last too long. I proceeded to hold the plastic closed as much as I could with my left hand for 4 1/2 miserable hours. I thought I was going to have permanent hearing damage.

While in Omaha Erik had an experience he will never forget. Our hotel was in downtown Omaha and there were basically only parking garages for parking. We had our van with a trailer hitched to it. Erik attempted to park it in a parking garage. He never would have tried to take the trailer into a parking garage, but this is where the hotel staff said to park. Erik was told the trailer would fit, but the people had no idea what they were talking about. There Poor guy had the worst experience trying to get out of a REALLY bad situation. Fortunately his many prayers were answered and a miracle happened- no other vehicle was damaged, our car and the trailer were also undamaged. We were so grateful.

The trip from Iowa to Pennsylvania was painfully long and the girls had had enough. It took us 2 full, long days. Sarah is my worst sleeper. She maybe slept a total of 2 1/2 hours the entire 4 day trip from Idaho to Pennsylvania. Isn't that nuts? Lots of crying and screaming. Thank heavens for portable DVD players though. Poor thing ended up getting pretty sick the last day of our trip. It made for an interesting move-in day and week getting settled.

Erik started his residency program on July 1st and has been a VERY busy man. He started off with a bang as he was on call over the 4th of July weekend. Apparently that is by far the busiest holiday because well, people do stupid things! So I just wanted to document his weekend- not that either one of us but, especially him will forget anytime soon. Since the 4th fell on a Saturday this year, the hospital gave a lot of its employees Friday off but Erik was on call. He worked a 16 hour shift on Friday, was paged several times in the night and headed in early on Saturday the 4th. He worked 10 hours on Saturday and came home. He was home for 5 minutes before he got paged to go back to the hospital for an emergency. He didn't come home the rest of the night. He was there all day Sunday and finally came home around 2:30. Showered then slept for 2 hours before going back to work Monday morning for a 12 hour shift. So it ended up being 56 hours of working with a 2 hour break in between. We counted all of the hours he worked from his first day, July 1st to Tuesday the 7th was 108 hours. Crazy! And it's really sad that they only pay residents for 40 hours of labor. Thats 68 long hours he worked essentially unpaid. Man can we both not wait for residency to be over with but especially this first year! I'm so proud of him and the way he has plugged along. I couldn't do what he does every day. We're both looking forward to next month when he'll only be on call for one weekend. We all have missed him terribly!

As far as the girls and I, we're trying our best to keep entertained. It has rained a lot since we've been here so we have to make the best of the days that are sunny and dry. It is a lot different here out East. I've had a hard time making friends. Thankfully one of Erik's co-residents is a member and I'm excited to get to know his wife and their cute kids. It's always nice to have a friend who knows what you're going through. We're already looking into moving again. The hospital didn't notify us that Erik had to live within 15 minutes of the hospital until he started work...we live 25 minutes away. It has been hard on Erik driving back and forth, especially when he's on call and gets paged to go in right when he gets home! We're hoping to get out of our lease and move into a house really close to the hospital. Time is so precious these days!

Our ward here has been putting us to work. We got callings only our 2nd week here. We both teach the Gospel Doctrine class. I was and still am totally intimidated but I am very grateful for the opportunity to spend a lot more time in the scriptures. Its been a pretty good experience so far.

In other big news, Erik graduated from medical school on May 23rd! He is officially Dr. Rosenlof and I couldn't be more proud! What an amazing accomplishment. Erik's parents were able to be in Des Moines to celebrate with us which was wonderful. I was very emotional during the ceremony. A lot of sacrifices have been made to get where we are. Now to get through residency! But at least we have a little bit of income :)

Our family following graduation. I am so proud!

Erik and his parents following graduation. Both of our parents have been such a wonderful support in our journey. They were definitely a great help with the kids as we had a lot going on with packing up and moving our stuff out of Iowa. We couldn't have done it without them!

Here are a few recent pictures of the girls. During Erik's month off in June we were spoiled having him around all of the time! He is such a great dad. He made a very impressive fort with a secret tunnel entrance. The kids loved it and we even watched a movie inside it on the portable DVD player.

Here's Sarah stopping to pose for a picture on her way inside the fort.

Reagan havign fun inside the fort- I can never get enough of her cheesy grin!

The girls cheesing it up while watching a movie and eating popcorn.


The month prior to graduation we spent in Idaho with my family while Erik finished up his last rotation. For some crazy reason I got the itch to try out canning. Man is that a lot of work! But kind of addicting at the same time. I did and didn't enjoy it if that makes sense. I wanted to shoot myself while I was peeling, slicing, and dicing, and mashing and stirring over an incredibly hot stove. But the sense of accomplishment and pride over my work was worth it. I ended up canning homemade strawberry jam and salsa. Lets just say I learned that it is really dumb to chop a bunch of jalapenos without gloves on. My hands were on fire for hours and hours and it was awful! I tried everything and pretty much nothing worked. Once I can save up enough money, I want to get my own canning supplies and can homemade spaghetti sauce as my next project. I ended up canning 20 pints of jam and 30 pints of salsa. I couldn't resist snapping some pictures of the finished products:

Homemade strawberry jam.

Mostly medium and a few mild jars of salsa. This one was definitely the most labor intensive. It involved boiling, cooling, and peeling lots of tomatoes. Chopping and dicing by hand: bell peppers, jalapenos (ouch!), cilantro, garlic, and onions. Fortunately my mom helped me out with the cilantro before she left for work and I could chop the garlic in my electric chopper. I foolishly thought that I could chop up the other ingredients minus the tomatoes in the food processor. I learned quickly that wouldn't work- it mushed it and chopped it up too finely. We like it chunky! Anyways, it is good stuff!

Coming up soon: Reagan's 3rd birthday!

Family Visits- Part I of the Great Exodus to Pennsylvania

Since we are moving all the way out to Northeastern Pennsylvania, we decided to spend our last month before graduation visiting my family. Before we left California we wanted to visit Erik's grandparents in Los Angeles. Sarah is named after Erik's grandmother, Elaine. I sure do love both of them. It is hard to see them struggle through the difficulties of old age. They are definitely some of the kindest, most loving people I have ever met. Here are just a few pictures.

Sarah was not cooperating in the least bit. It made it difficult to get a decent picture! Oh well, we tried.

Fortunately, Reagan was in the mood to be photographed. I just love her sweet smile!

It was hard for Erik to say goodbye to his grandparents. We kept the visit a little on the short side because the kids were a tad bit out of control.

After we said our goodbyes to his grandparents, we headed to Malibu beach. I really wanted to hit the beach before we left California. The temperature was nice but the breeze combined with being wet from the water made it a little hard. Reagan was freezing and shivering the whole time. Sarah couldn't get enough of the experience. She was all over the place and particularly enjoyed getting in the waves. I could tell she was cold but she didn't seem phased by it at all.

Notice the lack of pictures? Erik and I were both really busy trying to keep up with these two. I thought I'd include a picture of Sarah in motion. I didn't get any of Reagan because that kid is the squirreliest (made up that word) kid you've ever seen. We had fun but were all chilled and tired by the time we left.

The next stop was to visit Erik's grandmother, Grandma Rosenlof in St. George. The girls loved seeing her and exploring around her house. This was only the 2nd time she had seen the girls so she was really excited that we stopped by. Once again, kids not cooperating very well with the picture taking.

We also stopped at my Grandma Cannon's house in Circleville, UT but I was a dummy and didn't take any pictures. We stayed overnight and loved visiting with her. She's a lot of fun to be around and very full of life at her age!

Our last stop was in Provo which we were all very excited about. Erik's sister Tara just had her baby Lydia in March. Hooray! My girls finally have a cousin in the family! We loved seeing Tara, her husband Dustin, and sweet Lydia. She is such a sweet little thing and so beautiful. Erik really enjoyed holding her. Maybe there is hope that someday I can convince him to have more kiddos!

Tara is such a great aunt. My girls sure feel loved when she is around! She cuddled them and read stories. They loved the extra attention.

Erik's younger brother Trevor is also going to school in Provo. Sarah felt right at home in his lap while he read books to her. My kids are so lucky that they have such great aunts and uncles!

Reagan had been anticipating visiting baby cousin Lydia for a long time. She was so excited to see her and she did really well holding her. She gave lots and lots of kisses. We really enjoyed our visit but sadly it went by too fast. We can't wait to see everyone again- hopefully sooner rather than later.

Easter

I guess it's about time that I blogged about Easter. I have a lot to catch up on. My excuse is always that I'm a bad picture taker and usually Erik is the one that takes them. So, in short, I'm too lazy to take pictures and to hunt down his camera and upload the pictures. We had fun this Easter, which was spent in California. We did an easter egg hunt on Saturday so that we could focus on the true meaning of Easter on Sunday.

I decided it would be fun to have Reagan do a little treasure hunt to find hers and Sarah's easter baskets. So, I used a clip art program and printed off pictures for clues since she can't read yet. She had a blast running around the house to find the easter eggs with clues in them. We eventually ended up in the backyard where the baskets were hidden and they could start finding eggs right away. It is so much fun because Reagan is finally old enough to grasp the concept of things and gets excited about things. She went to town and gathered quite a bit more than Sarah, even though daddy and mommy were helping Sarah out. It was funny to notice the difference between the two girls. The girls are only 18 months apart and even though Sarah is younger than Reagan was last year at Easter, she knew right away that there was candy inside the eggs. She is 100% addicted to sweets, just like her mommy! Feeling bad for her! I seriously need to get myself under control. Erik tried to take pictures but the girls weren't cooperating very well. Here are the few that we got:

Reagan figuring out where to find the next clue.

Pretty excited about the candy inside the eggs! This is the only picture we got of her once we started the hunt. If you know Reagan, she doesn't hold still for anything, especially when candy is involved.

Sarah discovering the goods inside the egg.

Shoving the candy in her mouth. I swear I've never seen a child who loved candy so much. But, she is related to me...poor poor girl. Hahaha!

We had a great Easter this year. Such a beautiful day!

The Many Faces of Sarah

As has been mentioned numerous times, Sarah is just brimming with personality. She is the most expressive child I have seen (not that that means very much, but to me, she is very expressive). The other day Erik took a series of pictures of Sarah and we got a wide variety of expressions. She can be happy, serious, surprised, angry, silly, frustrated, you name it, all within a matter of a few minutes. We often joke that we don't know where she came from. When I was a little girl I could be quite goofy and liked to entertain my friends. I guess as I've gotten older I'm not this way as much. I hope she keeps it with her for a long time (besides the near constant grumpies).
What are you looking at?

Laughing one minute...

Furious the next.

Her surprised expression- one of her favorites.

One of the 5 or 6 different scowls. We know where the scowl came from...me. I am notorious for having a scowl on my face. Not necessarily because I'm angry- I tend to scowl when I concentrate. And I appear to concentrate a lot...hahaha! This is a frequent of hers as she tends to be grouchy a lot.

What word describes this expression...?

What up?

This is what she pulled when we asked her for a pretty smile. She does a pretty good stare down.

There are many more but these were captured in succession over a period of 2 minutes or so.

Fortunately, she's getting to be a little less irritable and grouchy. She's showing a little less frustration and is communicating more every day. It has been a challenge to keep her happy.

She's really starting to love books and is currently obsessed with bugs. We have several books with a bug here and there in them and she will obsess over each one for approximately 30 minutes a piece. I'm trying my darndest to share her enthusiasm. It gets hard after the 1000th time of her screaming buh (bug) over and over.

We sure do love her and I can't believe my baby is already 16 months. Where does the time go?

Match Day

Well, we will be spending the next 3 years in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Erik is very excited about the program there and so I am too. Not excited about the winters but we'll try to make the best of it!

Congrats to all our fellow 4th years at DMU :)

Potty Update and Sarah's sayings and stats

She actually pooped on the potty just a few hours after my post. Yay! I never thought I would be so excited to have my child poop. It was stressing me out! Since she's been watching Cinderella A TON (we've been on house arrest since Monday), she wants to wear a dress all of the time. I didn't want her ruining her church dress and Wal-Mart has them for sale for $6 and they are super cute. I had been telling her all week as soon as she pooped on the potty we could go to the store together and she could pick out a dress. So you better believe we went as soon as we could after she went. It was so cute how excited she was. She already has great bladder control/capacity and stayed dry during our outing. She only goes every 3-4 hours. I decided that I am not doing pull ups at all. They're way expensive and I feel like it'd only prolong her being fully trained. We do a diaper for naps and at bedtime but she stayed completely dry during her nap today. So, I'm happy to report that she has had no accidents yesterday or today. It's going much better than I thought. I didn't even bother reading any books because Reagan is such a unique child, I figured I just had to go with my instincts on what was going to work. I know we still have a long ways to go, seeing as she hasn't told me when she needs to go. I just put her on the potty if she's dancing around like she needs to go or if it has been awhile since she last went. Anyways, just rambling but I'm thrilled with her progress! Thanks again everyone for your advice :)

I've been feeling awful on how I've neglected my 2nd child a little bit more while immersing myself in this potty training business. She has surprisingly done very well, the little sweetie :) I took her in 2 months late for her 1 year well child visit. She was 31 inches long (I think?) which was the 80th percentile and 23 lbs. 12 oz. which was the 75th percentile. She has the biggest little gut ever (if that makes any sense). It is so stinkin cute! Here's a list of some of the words she is saying:
Mommy
Dadda
Bye bye
Hi
Lovey (her blankie)
binky (bee dee)
what's that?
flower
moo
bottle (ba ba)
thank you (day doo)- my favorite!
Uh oh
Owie (when she gets hurt)

I'm thinking Reagan had more of a vocabulary at this age and I blame myself. It's harder for me to find uninterrupted time because Reagan requires a lot of attention and is very jealous of Sarah. It really is sad how much they don't get along.

Anyways, back to Sarah. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She says a slew of other things that are completely unintelligible. Oh what I would give to know what she means. She truly is animated and expressive. What a fun personality she has :)

So Frazzled...4th day of potty training. Help!

So I'm on the 4th day of potty training Reagan. Wow is this tough stuff! The first two days were pretty rough. She pooped in her underwear the first day but hasn't pooped since. We're going on three days here. Any suggestions?!?! I know this is a common problem when potty training but I'm desperate here. I know the longer she keeps it in, the more it is going to hurt when it does come. Which isn't going to help my plan, you know? She's peeing on the potty pretty good I guess. She never actually says "mommy, I need to go pee pee." I just put her on there now and then but for the last two days, she hasn't full out peed in her panties. Anyways, I could really use some tips or suggestions if any of you have run into a similar problem. Thanks! Oh and some prayers wouldn't hurt ;)

Reagan's sayings, family update, and Christmas pictures!

I just can't seem to get into blogging regularly. I wish I did. Erik has been bugging me (for a good reason) to write down a few things that Reagan has been saying lately. It's really funny to see what's going on in that little head of hers.

Around Christmas, Erik asked Reagan a few questions and here were her responses:
Erik: "Reagan, what are your ears for?"
Reagan: Listen to the vacuum and to Grandpa (Garner) say no, no.

Erik: "What is your nose for?
Reagan: "Um...to smell ice creams, nummy ice creams."

Erik: "What is your mouth for?
Reagan: "I don't know daddy, mine's broken."

One night after we had put the girls to bed, Reagan started crying about something. When Erik went to check on her, he asked her what was wrong. With visible tears in her eyes and her lip in full pout she said "I just need candy." She truly felt like she needed it. She is turning out just like my brothers and I were. Severe candy/sweets addicts.

One day Erik was out in the backyard lifting weights and Reagan was out playing. There was a ladder and Erik specifically told Reagan not to climb on it. When Reagan thought Erik wasn't looking, she got on the ladder. When Erik asked her if she had gotten on it, she paused and thought for a minute and said: "Daddy, I just don't know."

Today Reagan watched Cinderella for the first time and loved it. During the part where Cinderella goes to the castle for the ball, Reagan excitedly said "Look! She's going to the temple, daddy!"

I know there's a bazillion more that I'm forgetting and I really need to be better about writing them down. She makes me smile and laugh on a daily basis.

In other news, we're anxiously waiting for Match day, which is March 9th. I've been obsessed about looking at houses online and getting totally excited about entering this phase. It will be nice to have our own space again and to not feel like we're burdening family with our constant presence.

Erik has been studying for his part 2 board examination, which he takes on the 4th. To celebrate, we are taking the girls to Disneyland the next day. I can't wait! We haven't really done much as a family entertainment wise since we've been married so it should be fun :) I hope it goes over well!

Reagan and Sarah continue to fight the majority of the time. It is constant DRAMA around here. I can't take it! I just don't understand it. I didn't have a sister so this is completely new to me. The few times they get along it's because they're causing trouble and getting into mischief together. Hahahaha, I can't win :)

Sarah is now 14 months and is hating her lack of communication skills. This girl loves to be heard and understood. Man what a temper she has. She continues to demand near constant attention and still loves to be held a lot. She's very attached to me and VERY attached to her aunt Elizabeth. Elizabeth is good at spoiling her by carrying her around a lot :) I am also amazed at how expressive she is. She has quite an impressive array of facial expressions, including 5 or 6 different scowls. Anyone who knows me very well is familiar with my scowl. I don't do it on purpose, it just happens. Especially when I'm concentrating. It's fun to see things that she takes after me on.

I'm continuing to TRY to exercise although I've been very frustrated with the results. I worked my butt off all of January and didn't lose much weight. Then my appetite soared pretty much all of February. I couldn't(still can't) get enough to eat. I hate that I love to eat so much and am so addicted to sweets. I just don't have the self control I did 5 years ago.

Here are a few pictures from Christmast that I'm finally getting around to posting.


Reagan and her big blue eyes.

Our Happy Girl!

Checking out a new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Rosenlof.

Sarah was really excited about all of the presents.

Reagan concentrating really hard while she opens a present.

Reagan enjoying a warm cinnamon roll after opening her presents.

Having fun taking real pictures with her very own digital camera. I bought this on Black Friday for $20!

Reagan thrilled with the surprise and lots of presents to open Christmas morning. I loved that she's finally getting into it.

Sarah on her 1st birthday, December 23rd.

Who do you think she looks like? Sometimes I think I know but I really don't :)

I Conquered My Ridiculous Craving

Hello perfection...blissful perfection.

You can't have warm straight from the oven cookies without a cold class of milk. It's a sin.

I've been craving these bad boys for weeks on end. I finally gave in. Oh how I love you chocolate chip cookies. And yes, they tasted just as good as they look, if I may say so myself.

Now off to my second hour workout of the day...If only I had some self control!

Current Obsession: Exercise

When January of every year rolls around, I become a little obsessive about exercise. All of the food from the holidays has made its way through my mouth to my lovehandles (first place I gain), then to my thighs, and my gut. Why can't I EVER gain weight in my chest? I'd gladly eat a couple slices of pie or some homemade cookies for that. But no, weight gain is non existent there for me unless I'm pregnant. But I'm not about to go there again anytime soon. Oh and by the way, it's the first place I lose weight. Seriously, how depressing is that? Ok enough with the boob talk. I figure only females read my blog so I'm safe :) Well, I got off on a little tangent there. Anyways, I'm really enjoying my workout routine this time around. Here's what I've got going:

1. I try to do 45-60 minutes on the treadmill alternating between walking fast on an incline and running. I've been trying to take it easy with the running since I'm walking a very thin line there. Erik says I need surgery again on my foot and I'm in denial about that. Even though it hurts when I run too much. It's definitely holding me back and is very frustrating and depressing for me because I absolutely love to run.

2. I've also been doing Winsor Pilates, which I highly recommend. Each DVD is only 20 minutes and they go by really quickly. I seriously notice results really fast when I start these workouts. I alternated every other day with the Bun and Thigh workout and Abs. It doesn't really get me sweating at all but it really tones and strengthens those areas.

3. I've been doing Kathy Smith's kickboxing workout since high school. It's a really good workout and a lot of fun. I'm definitely sweating when I finish.

4. Since I liked the 30 Day Shred so much, I decided to buy the Biggest Loser's Cardio Max dvd. What I love about it is that its a really intense workout that keeps you working hard the whole time. There are three different cardio workouts each done by one of the trainers plus a warm up and cool down. It's also customizeable. You can do just workout 1, or 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, or 1 and 3.

5. I've been incorporating strength training into my daily workout more seriously than I ever have before. One of the things I'm doing is Jillian Michael's 30 day shred dvd. It has three different levels with level one being the easiest. But it's not so easy at first. Each workout has 3 six minute series of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs. I've been doing it for the last 2 weeks and I've been sore the entire time. Really sore actually. Today was the first day I tried level 2 and let me tell you it was a super intense 2o minute workout that left me sweating like a pig. I love that I can get a kick butt workout in 20 minutes. Since doing this my muscles have exploded! I was actually really not excited about this at first because I'm a little obsessed about the number on the scale going down. It was actually going up at first, even with eating super healthy and reducing my portions. But, I'm glad I have stuck with it because I feel so good! I seriously feel so much stronger.

I'm wishing I would have taken some before pictures. I've almost been doing this for 3 weeks straight and although I've only lost 2 pounds I've noticed a HUGE change in my body. My love handles have shrunk considerably and I'm a lot stronger and more toned. I'm still frustrated my weight hasn't dropped much but I'm hoping that changes soon if I keep sticking with it.

Oh and one last thing. Is it just me or does anyone else whose had kids think it's a bunch of crock that you can completely get rid of and tighten that post baby pooch? It's much smaller but still very much there! Those movie starts have to be getting all sorts of plastic surgery. That's all I've got to say about that.

Sunny California

I have really not been motivated to blog the last few months. But you already knew that :) We have been sick a lot since the fall and I've just not been motivated. This 4th year of medical school has really run me down. Lets just say that I couldn't be more thrilled that we have less than a week until Erik is with us FOR GOOD! 8 long months without him was way more than I ever want to be away from him again. My poor girls, especially Reagan, have had a really hard time with daddy being gone.

Well, we're now in California. We left Rexburg on December 29th. I cried like a baby leaving my family. It was the last time I'd see my brother until he gets back from his mission. He's leaving for Johannesburg South Africa on February 17th. Let me just tell you how much I am enjoying sunny California. It is fantastical! Oh how joyful it is to be able to play outside with my girls in January in 60 degree weather. Sorry to all of you who are surrounded by snow and below zero temps.

What's new with our family...

Reagan is 2 1/2 and talking like crazy. It's so fun to have a full conversation with her. Lately she's been saying how much she doesn't want a baby sister. I don't know if that means Sarah or a future baby. Good thing I'm not even close to being ready to have another one. Although, it's nuts how often I get baby hungry. I don't understand that one at all. She still doesn't care for her sister at all. There is constant drama. Any suggestions there? It makes me so sad (not to mention frustrated) that they're constantly at each other's throats. They're only 2 and 1 for crying out loud! But when she's sweet, she's the sweetest thing in the world. She loves to pretend play and I love her cute little imagination. She loves making me black pie. It's her original recipe. We also love to exchange recipes :) I'm hoping she'll share my love of cooking when she's older!

Sarah turned 1 last month and boy is her personality coming out like crazy! She loves to go bye-bye and constantly tells me she wants to go. She loves to play with her sister but is starting to fight back now when Reagan isn't so nice. She has the craziest temper! I think she's very frustrated because she can't communicate very much and wants to talk so very badly so she can feel a part of everything. She is so social at heart! Her facial expressions crack me up! Everyone says she looks so much like me with all of her expressions. Especially the furrowed brow. I'm always doing that...can't help it.

I've just been trying to keep up with the girls and I'm in a major exercise mode. I have been sore (really sore) for the last 2 weeks. I can't do exercise half way. It's all or nothing for me. I'm hoping to drop 20 pounds but it isn't coming off as easy as I'd like! Other than that just trying to adjust to being in a new place and can't wait for Erik to be here!

Erik is finishing up his last week in Detroit. He's very anxious and stressed about getting a good residency program although I'm not worried a bit. I wish he would realize how capable he is. I always get those "I told you so" moments so I like to rub that in! We're both anxious for him to get here on Monday next week. I'm so so proud of him for all that he's sacrificed the last 8 months. You're the best sweetie!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am so bad at taking them. Erik has most of them on his camera so I need to do a major update when he gets here.