Memorial Day!

Yesterday was an unexpectedly profitable day. Aaron and I capitalized on the typical Memorial Day furniture sales. We can't believe the amazing deals we were able to get! Our living room will look completely different once the pieces are delivered and set up this Friday afternoon. I'll be sure to post pictures later this week.
We dropped by a furniture auction with friends in the morning, munched on some delicious sushi for lunch, and split up an afternoon of browsing stores with a QT icee, Macee's favorite treat.
Aaron and I cooked up some fish tacos and guacamole for dinner with our friend Sean, then dragged out the fire pit for the first backyard evening under the stars of the summer.

 Macee squealed as loud as I did over my furniture upon seeing the size of these fluffy marshmallows

 Sean was so excited for s'mores!

Everyone attempting to get the perfect golden-brown toasted marshmallow before s'more assembly. 

Another friend, Jason, joined us soon after this. Aaron asked him to bring a lawn chair - he wheeled a rolling cooler from his house a block over instead, complete with beverages. I hope people drove by to witness it.
I couldn't be more grateful to and appreciative of the many men and women who have selflessly sacrificed so much so that we may enjoy these simple pleasures. We have a wonderful life because of their acts of service.

Bad Habits

I love being married to my best friend. The reason our wedding was so special to me was that it was a true new beginning. We hadn't lived together before, so the exchange of vows and all that followed was very exciting. Moving in together was an adventure, but also came along with a period of discovery of each others' habits.
I was reminded of this last night as I walked into the bathroom to take out my contacts and discovered my husband peeing with a popsicle in one hand. You can take a moment to gag if you'd like...I did.
When I'm rounding up loads of laundry, I now know to check a specific corner in the dining room, underneath the large sofa, and on his side of the bed for the piles of dirty clothes he collects in these random places for reasons unknown. I can expect that if I clean the bathroom sink, he will inevitably decide to trim his beard the next morning. I no longer attempt to figure out what in the world the sticky substances on the kitchen counters are.
For every undesirable habit of his, I undoubtedly have at least one of my own. Sometimes they even make me smile, because I know that I would miss them dearly if he were ever gone. They are evidence of our life together and the home we've built. So I'll take my boyish man, bad habits and all, and love him all the more for them.

I could get used to this...

Aaron and I are just now settling in to our summer schedule of staying up late, sleeping in, reading for enjoyment, and doing whatever else we desire on a whim. Heaven.
After a late lunch, Aaron, Macee and I went to our favorite antique shop and perused the booths for over an hour. We discovered three beautiful tea cups and saucers for the tea party I'm planning for my mom's birthday this June. I'd love to one day have an eclectic collection of tea cups and other dishware and am slowly building a nice little foundation. In addition to my future shoe closet, I will have a large butler's pantry lined with dinnerware. Sigh. 

 I thought it was unique that the floral pattern was continued on the inside of the cup.

I LOVE this color palette! This set is especially delicate.

I'd also like to mention that Aaron found a Hobbit record that he had to have. Now we need a record player.

 After shopping, we spent some time outside on the deck enjoying the utterly gorgeous weather. Macee is re-reading the final Harry Potter book in anticipation of her themed birthday party that coincides with the final movie premiere this July.

It was so refreshing to see this image after the recent string of storms. I spent several minutes staring up at the sky, taking in the breeze and sunshine and reflecting on how enjoyable the past week has been. Many more to come this summer...

Aaron's Quest

I've drafted a list of goals for my last summer ever. Camping, antiquing, dinner parties, game nights, barbeques... I've got a lot to fit in.
Aaron has some aspirations of his own. First and foremost: beating each and every Legend of Zelda video game in sequential order, special quests included. The first and second have already fallen at his hands. It's only a matter of time (days) before the third and fourth are conquered as well.

The theme song on a continuous loop is embedded in my head. I'm pretty sure it was the track to my dreams last night.
If the correlation between video game talent and surgery prowess is true, my husband will be the go-to man for all of your surgery needs. Play on, babe. Play on.

Rainy Day Love

I have a love/hate relationship with rainy days. I abhor them when I have to travel or study all day. I love them when I have absolutely nothing to do but be lazy and lounge around the house all day. Now that I'm on summer vacation, every rainy day has the potential to be the latter.
I took a luxurious 3 hour nap this afternoon...because I could. There's nothing like curling up in the sheets with the sound of raindrops pattering against the windows.
After my snooze, Aaron and I made tacos, cheese dip, and yummy guacamole for dinner, settled in on the couch and watched two episodes of Criminal Minds.
To top the day off, we played an intense game of Scrabble.

 Not bad for a first draw!

 Aaron's first word...

My 66-pointer!

 Final score: Aaron dominated with a win of 313 to 284. Don't challenge us unless you're prepared, folks.

I realize I might have described a typical day in the lives of an elderly couple, and I'm OK with that. I found my old man :)

Take Away

It's the end of our second day of summer vacation. It's only beginning to seem real that I don't have upcoming exams for which I need to study, or 8:00 AM classes requiring an early morning alarm. Aaron and I have both dreamt about studying for the past two nights. Last night was Clinical Skills... maybe because it was my last priority this week? It's so difficult to fully relax, breathe, and accept the fact that I have three months of freedom before me.
I've realized that while I covered more information than I ever imagined possible in only 2 semesters, the life lessons I've learned during this first year of medical school outweigh the thousands of pages of notes I spent hours devouring. Here are a select few.
1. No one truly understands what you go through as a medical student unless they have gone through it themselves. Those that realize this fact and do everything they can to empathize anyway are priceless (mom, dad, and Macee).
2. You will never, ever, walk into an exam feeling prepared...with the exception of OMM. Regardless of how many hours you spent in preparation, you will undoubtedly feel as if you could have done more. Accept it, acknowledge the work you did accomplish, and move onto the next exam.
3. You cannot conquer medical school alone. The success is shared with those select loved ones who supported you every step of the way, and owed to God, who heard every single prayer and answered exceedingly and abundantly every. single. time.
4. My marriage is more important than a 4.0. Choosing to spend quality time with my husband over putting in an extra hour of studying was an investment in our future and undoubtedly one of the reasons that our marriage is stronger than ever after this first year.
I'm so blessed to have survived the first year, and to have learned a few things in the process. Second year lessons can wait. I have a lot of naps to catch up on before then :)

Graduation(s)

Aaron and I are officially MSIIs. Wow. I'll dedicate an entire post to that feeling sometime later this week; right now, I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that the first year is over.
It was a big weekend in our families. Aaron's youngest sister graduated from high school Friday evening. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it because our Neuro final ended too late for us to make it in time.
One of the toughest sacrifices medical school demands is time stolen from friends and family. My sister and his oldest sister graduated from the University of Arkansas this past Saturday. Due to Snowmageddon, our finals week got pushed back a week, which put Aaron and I in a precarious position.We had a final all day Monday and two the following Tuesday. However, we gave up an entire day of much needed studying to celebrate the momentous occasions with our families. My beautiful, intelligent, sweet sister graduated with High Distinction in the top 10% of her entire college with a BS in Communication Disorders. I wouldn't have missed it for the world...every single second was worth it. I couldn't be more proud of her.

Could she be any more gorgeous- inside and out?!

My grandfather obtained his Masters and Doctorate from the U of A, so he and my grandmother celebrated with us Saturday. We heard some interesting stories from their time in Fayetteville and how different the campus, and town, were back then.

Aaron attempted to study before Macee's ceremony began since he attended TWO that afternoon. He was really disappointed that his graduating sister chose to spend the evening with friends when he had made such a sacrifice to spend time with her, but he got to spend some quality time with his sister Celeste and his parents, which made the trip worthwhile.
It's now been 3 years since Aaron and I graduated from the University of Arkansas. It was so surreal to be there for my little sister, whom I often still see as that precious 2 year old shadow of mine. Mom made the comment that the next time we'll be there is for our children's graduations - you can bet they'll continue the tradition and become Razorbacks themselves!!!