Two Years

It's been two years....two whole years of marriage.  I sat and wondered today how that could be the case.  How could it possibly have already been two years?

But then I remembered, in two years, we've honeymooned in Cozumel, moved to Newcastle, England and moved home.  Traveled to Spain, Ireland, Scotland, and Italy.  Moved to Grenada, West Indies.  Enjoyed a year on a Caribbean island.  Moved home to CA yet again.  And now Josh is almost done with his Step I. 

And then I think, how has it ONLY been two years?!?! :)  We've had enough adventures for a lifetime already and we've only just started out.

But today we slowed down for a minute.  And by slowed down, I mean that I worked and layed out at Gramma's pool and Josh studied all day long for his big test.  But we were still able to find a few hours to spend time with each other.

I made Josh breakfast in bed and presented him with his "cotton" anniversary gift.  And no, I did not make these myself.  I'm not that saavy with a sewing machine. 


Cotton throw pillows for our future apartment

 I also made him a frame I saw on pinterest.

It works like a dry-erase board.  You use a dry-erase marker to write on the glass of the frame and then wipe it off and write again.  Needless to say, Josh was THRILLED with my gifts.

I came home to beautiful red roses from Josh.  And we started off year three with a glass of wine from our wedding and some M&M's from the favors for our wedding.

We headed to Steak & Grape Restaurant in Bakersfield for some yummy food and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company, something we haven't been able to do much of while he's been studying for his test.

I'm excited and nervous for what year three has in store for us, but I know that with Josh by my side, we can get through anything.  I love him with all of my heart and I know this life is not the one I had planned for myself, but I couldn't imagine it any other way. Happy two years!

Oh how I miss...

...Grenada.
 
June 21, 2011.  It was one year ago today that Josh and I boarded a plane at LAX bound for the tiny island of Grenada.  We didn't know what to expect as we flew a few thousand miles across the world.  I was unsure about how we would fair in a third world country, but when I saw Grand Anse Beach on day one, I fell in love.  When I met my Limes kids, well, I fell even harder.  And the love affair has continued ever since. 

We've been back in the United States for 6 weeks, and while I have enjoyed the great restaurants, cheap groceries, central air-conditioning, clothes dryer, and dishwasher, I miss my island.  I miss my beaches.  I miss my kids.

I can't help but think about my days in terms of Grenada time.  Oh, it's 11:00am, if I were in Grenada I might be going over to Magazine Beach for an afternoon of some of the most amazing snorkeling on the island followed by a pina colada or two :) from Aquarium which is right down the beach.

Or maybe I'd be at Grand Anse Beach where the water is the most crystal clear you could ever imagine and it's not a normal day there unless I find at least one sand dollar.

If I wasn't wanting to make a huge effort to get there, I would just take a five minute walk over to Lance Aux Epines Beach to enjoy the black sand and the barely there waves.

Or perhaps some of us SO's would have taken a little drive over to La Sagesse Beach.  Where the cove is so very private and you can wade out in the water for what feels like forever because it never gets too deep. 

And if we were feeling extremely adventuresome, we would have driven up to Levera on the Northern tip of the island so that we could gaze out at the little islands to the North while enjoying the peace and quiet.

It's 3:00pm you say?  Well then I should be heading over to the Limes field for some non-stop fun with my kids.  I tell you you've never seen happy until you've seen Kyla's face light up as she skips out to see you.  Her smile melts even the toughest boy's heart.

It's getting close to 6:00pm. As the day winds down, there's just enough time to get down to the beach to watch one of the many beautiful sunsets over the Caribbean Sea.

Yes, I miss it.  I miss it all.  And I miss it terribly.  We left for Grenada one year ago and as quickly as I snapped my fingers, it was over.

It's so hard to move forward, when all I really want to do is go back.

Tea for Twenty

About a week ago, I got to help celebrate my best friend Julie by attending her tea party bridal shower.  It was so appropriately themed considering she has lived in England, home to all things tea party.  We were even asked to wear a tea hat, or fascinator as the Brits call it.  Her Maid of Honor Christina did a FANTASTIC job of decorating her parents home for the shower and it really felt like we had stepped into an English tea room in Newcastle.  Minus the 90 degree weather.  :)

It was so fun to celebrate Julie and her soon to come July wedding to Mr. Kevin Connolly.  Josh and I can't wait to attend.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Christina's Mom made ALL the food!

Me and the beautiful bride!

The bride and her bridesmaids

WINNERS! of the bride dress toliet paper challenge!

I'm SOOOO excited for the wedding AND the bachelorette party coming up in Vegas in a few weeks!

Dear USMLE...

...YOU. SUCK.

Seriously.

Josh has been studying like 10 hours a day for this stupid test and his stress level is through the roof. 

I guess it's not a stupid test.  It's like the biggest test he'll ever take in his life.  His words not mine.

But it seems practically impossible to cram two years worth of material into your head for one test.  

Since he started studying four weeks ago, he's only taken one day off. ONE.  How long can he really keep this up?

But everything is riding on this test.  You have to pass to start clinical rotations.  You have to do well to get a preferred residency.  And you have to do really stinkin' well to get a top specialty, especially coming from a Caribbean Medical School. 

Josh doesn't even know what kind of medicine he wants to go into yet, he just wants to be able to get into the one he wants to when he does know.

I feel like it's even harder to study when he's at home.  When we were in Grenada there weren't many distractions (crazy right...Caribbean island and little distractions!) but at home in Bakersfield there's family and friends, restaurants and shopping, going out of town and spending time with me.  It's tough here.

One month and four days left until T-day (Test Day).

July 18th can't come soon enough.

And I thought fourth term was bad. Ugh. 

Weekend With Friends

This past weekend, I headed South to my college town of Long Beach to visit my high school friends.  Is it funny that many of my high school friends ended up living in my college town?  I think it is.  Anyway, the purpose of the weekend was to celebrate my friend Katie who is moving up North to Santa Rosa for a new job.  And I just love a reason to celebrate with some of my very best friends.  So I left my hubby studying at home and spent the weekend in Southern California with my girlfriends.

My Scooty and me :)

Katie (the girl of the weekend!)



Highschool buddies

On Saturday evening we went to The Ranch in Anaheim, a country restaurant and line dancing club.  It was perfect for all of us country Bakersfield gals.  I am now seriously considering seeking out line dancing classes.  It was SO. MUCH. FUN.

Liz, Katie, Me, Tristen

Tristen and Me!

And don't worry, Josh got to take a study break and go out for Brandon's birthday on Saturday night too!  Poor guy has been stuck in his mancave for far to long.

Josh's new BFF Andrew

On Sunday morning, Liz, Katie, and I met up with the Golden-Grant's for breakfast.  We hadn't seen them since the wedding in April and it was so nice to catch up on how married life has been for the newlyweds.

It was a fun weekend, but I'll be glad when I can go out of town with Josh in tow.  This studying for the USMLE is just no fun, for either of us.

Letters from Limes

My best friend Julie did the sweetest thing for me.  She gave me something that I will treasure forever.  Notes from my Limes babies. 

She, with the help of other Limes volunteers had the kids write me notes while I was home in CA for a week back in April.  I went to visit her this weekend in Santa Clarita to help her with wedding crafts and she gave me all the notes with a photo album of some of my favorite pictures of the kids from the past year. 

I would be lying if I didn't admit that it made me miss them even more than I already do, but I'm still so happy to have them.

Naomi loved the snack :)

The Rocket ship turned turkey?!?!

You IS the best teacher ever.....melt my heart Mikel

And what was the most hilarious one of the bunch....

I THINK it's a person!

Who drew this beautiful card might you ask??  Miguel of course. :)

It hurt my heart so much to leave these children, but I'm delusional if I think that us leaving doesn't affect the kids as well.  Some of them are hurting just like I am.

They are still missing you Miss Kelsey.

Thank you Julie for my sweet letters.  You have no idea how much I love them.