Philadelphia - NCC and Reading Terminal Market

After a 7-month hiatus for multiple purposes, including the lack of time to devote to chronicling our journey, it's time to return to blogging as we begin our audition rotations. This month, we're in Philadelphia, and Aaron and I are attempting to take advantage of our free time to explore the city.
Despite having to take it easy while I'm building back my endurance after surgery, we've managed to hit many of the quintessential "tourist" spots the past few days.

Aaron is a history buff, so the National Constitution Center was the perfect way to spend a recent afternoon. The permanent exhibit is designed in a chronological order with many interactive elements and relics (ha!) from each period. One of the highlights of the visit was viewing a circa-1800s reprint of the constitution, which has to be "rested" periodically due to its fragility.

Another highlight of the week was the Reading Terminal Market. Since opening in 1893, it's served as home to some of the most famous and unique food vendors in the region. The vast market is packed with locals and tourists alike - I was very impressed with my husband's calm as we wove through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.

The visit was of our first of several planned, as it's impossible to sample every drool-inducing sight and smell in one sitting. We chose our lunch destination wisely - Dinic's Roast Pork and Beef. The sandwich we split was absolutely delicious, and worth every minute spent in the line wrapped around the corner waiting to order and snag a scarce spot at the counter. 

We went with the classic roast pork sandwich, and added provolone and banana peppers. 

It earned Aaron's grin of approval!

 We've already mapped out our next excursion, which will include the notorious Bassett's ice cream booth and a deli that caught Aaron's eye (and nose). But alas, we were just too full to indulge.

Hear Me Roar

An innate sense of peace has begun to overwhelm my spirit since making my decision concerning a specialty path. Though my internal struggle has subsided, I've been taking a lot of heat from outside sources - predominantly men.
I am not what you would consider a feminist. However, several comments of late have made me want to pull out the old soap box and defend my gender.
The first was made by my father-in-law, who upon hearing that Aaron's residency is 5 years in duration compared to 4 years in mine, said, "So Micah's taking the easy way out. I guess it doesn't take much to catch a baby."
I'm still not sure how I managed to hold my tongue after that comment, but I consider it to be a moment of great personal growth.
I've also received several tidbits of advice from male colleagues, such as, "I would just quit and stay home," in reference to the fact that my husband will also be a physician and will realistically be making more money than me.
A. I've dreamed of becoming a doctor since I was a small child. I'm certainly not going to give up on my dream because my husband's salary would allow me the luxury of not having to work.
B. I realize my chosen specialty has an extremely demanding lifestyle, and that balancing work and family life will be a struggle. This does not mean it is impossible, nor does it mean I should choose another specialty over my passion because it's 9-5.
C. I entered into medical school with the realistic expectation of working my butt off after graduation and beyond. I have the utmost respect for stay-at-home moms; however, that's not the purpose for which I was created. It irks me that there sometimes lies the premature judgement that all female physicians will stop practicing medicine once they give birth.
In summation: I work hard. I will continue to work hard. My work matters. It matters just as much as my husband's. I am not required to stay at home after I have children. I am not a bad mother because I choose not to do so. I have found my purpose and will enjoy the fulfillment it will bring. I would be doing myself an injustice by choosing anything less, or anything different. 

Removing the Rose-Colored Lenses

Relationships evolve over time. Whether for better or worse, the progression is natural. When it comes to family, the evolution often mirrors our age and maturity.
Parents and grandparents are often the apple of every child's eye. They possess superhero-esque qualities and are viewed as infallible. Incapable of mistakes and perfect in character, if you will.
As teenagers, a transition to being "misunderstood" by these same authority figures takes place. We are unaware of how desperately we need their guidance and perceive their altruistic motives as selfish and spiteful.
Upon entering adulthood, one gains the ability to see family members untainted by prejudice and presumption - as people rather than personas. A double-edged sword, this new-found truth can either be one of life's greatest rewards or largest disappointments.
Aaron and I have had several conversations regarding recent revelations about those whom we love. The facade of perfection shattered by gross flaws in character. Old wounds allowed to dictate the response to an event. The refusal to forgive. The inability to see a situation through the other's eyes. Defiance and apathy masked by excuses.
Yet there are those whom we now admire all the more. Those that reveal their internal struggles but strive to conquer them. Who remain the same behind closed doors as in public. We are thankful for these role models and aspire to imitate their path as we begin to plan for our future family.
We want our children to recognize not only our imperfections, but our constant quest to have pure hearts, minds, and actions.

Lately

With the passing of the holidays and Aaron's birthday (month), the husband and I are beginning to settle into our average day-to-day routine, minus a few exceptions.

1. We scheduled our first audition rotations today! For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, audition rotations are essentially periods of 2-4 weeks spent working with the residency programs to which you're interested in applying. You get to know them, and vise verse.
It's a daunting task, attempting to coordinate rotations in 2 specialties at 6 different sites in 4 different states in a period of 4 months with your husband. I begin to hyperventilate if I let my mind dwell on the process too long.
Nevertheless, God is already moving mountains in 2013!

2. Speaking of mountains, I successfully moved past a significant barrier in my path to becoming a physician: deciding upon my specialty. It's a wonder it wasn't blatantly obvious from the beginning, but I'll reveal my choice in another post.

3. My car now makes horrible noises when I start it, when I'm accelerating, when it's idling...basically all the time. I'm afraid it's dying. We may not be able to make it to residency without purchasing a new car after all. This both excites me (new car!) and depresses me (more loans!).

Family Celebration: the Birthday Month

Birthdays are big in my family. Now that Aaron has officially been adopted into the Nolan clan, he has inherited the rights to the "birthday month."

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but my sister somehow managed to turn her birthday into a birthday week and finally a birthday month. We now all take full advantage of "our" month, including my husband.

My parents and sister came into town Friday evening to celebrate my sweet husband as a family. Macee drew the creation above, which had a very detailed and accurate "Operation" theme. Too cute and creative - she makes the best handmade cards!

We caught a matinee of Jack Reacher (sideline: the series might be next on my reading list) and then headed to a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner.

Aaron and dad were in heaven - they stuffed themselves with endless steak, shrimp, pork, sausage, and lamb. Aaron was glad he had "prepped" adequately for the meal: a large breakfast to stretch out his stomach for the day, then a light lunch so as not to spoil his appetite. Those were pretty much his exact words as he outlined his strategy on our way to pick up lunch.

After dinner we headed back to the house for cake and presents. Chocolate cake, cream cheese icing, and gift cards to Game Stop made the birthday boy one happy camper.

I love how much my family loves my husband. It makes me love them all the more.

Birthday Boy

The beginning of a new year is always followed closely by Aaron's birthday. 

We started 2013 off with a bang, literally, as we spent the evening in with my sister and watched the fireworks display from across the river. The finale was splendid. I wish we could mark every special occasion with them. 

We slept in after our late night and chose this cinnamon roll casserole for our first meal of the year, along with some over-easy eggs to cut the sugar high. :)

Aaron had his pick of grilled steak, asparagus, and a baked sweet potato for his birthday dinner Friday night. I whipped up homemade apple crisp to serve with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Deee-lish. 

We haven't seen his parents since last Christmas, and were finally able to get the family together in Fayetteville for a reunion of sorts. 

We met our niece Adlynn, and spent a good majority of the weekend holding this adorable butterball. I have to say, Aaron is a natural. As my mom said, someday he will be holding ours! Someday...

Aaron's mother ordered a cupcake cake from our favorite, Rick's Bakery, to celebrate the December/January sibling birthdays. 

Happy birthday Aaron, Amber, Celeste, and Rachel!

Holiday Happenings

It's been a wonderfully relaxing and memorable couple of weeks. Aaron and I were fortunate enough to be given 5 days off for Christmas, as well as a half day on New Year's Eve and today off. 

We spent the entire vacation with family, celebrating Christmas 3 different times with my mom's family, my dad's family, and our little family unit alone. 

I could write several blog posts about this year's festivities, but I'd rather spend that time with my husband this week. After all, he is the birthday boy this Friday. 

We girls continued the holiday tradition of making Christmas sugar cookies. It's a long process, and the recipe makes dozens of cookies, which is why it's a once-a-year occasion.

We bought mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles from WalMart for decorating this year. It was so much easier than messing with pastry bags! 

As always, the best part was tasting those that didn't make it from the cookie sheet to the rack in one piece. 

2012 marked the birth of a new generation in the Nolan family. We enjoyed loving on these three new precious babies. The next few years will be so much fun as they grow!

Macee received a very special gift this year from our grandmother: a hand-stitched wedding ring quilt. It takes her approximately one year to make one, and Macee's is the fourth she's completed. I received mine at my bridal shower four years ago. Inscribed on the back is my grandmother's name, the recipient, and the date it was given. A labor of love, and a priceless family heirloom. 

On Christmas Eve we gathered around the fireplace and opened our presents from "Santa" - new pj's! I'm in love with leopard this year; can you tell?

Christmas morning starts with a cup of cocoa in our special Christmas mugs and a reading of the Christmas story from either Matthew or Luke. Mom tried white chocolate cocoa from Paula Deen this year - delish!

There is nothing like waking up to this sight on Christmas morning. My mom outdoes herself with the tree.

After the stocking stuffers were revealed, we dug into the mound of presents each of us spent hours carefully wrapping with embellishments. Yes, this includes my husband, who loves me so much that he spent 2 hours adorning my presents with ribbons and bows.

For the very first time, we were able to spend all of Christmas Day together as a family. We started a new tradition of Christmas brunch, for which Macee and I decorated the dining nook table. Mom put homemade hot cocoa mixes for Macee and I and a chai tea mix for Aaron in decorated jars - too cute (and yummy)!

Macee and Aaron spent the entire day tinkering with their new toys - Aaron with his Ipad mini and WiiU, and Macee with a build-it-yourself robotic dinosaur. If you know my sister well, you can only imagine the joy this present brought her.

We capped off the day with a juicy turkey that had been in the smoker for a whopping 10 hours (ridiculously good), followed by cheesecake and red velvet cake. 

We were so very blessed with precious memories this year. It was a Merry Christmas, indeed.