Mele Kalikimaka

We leave for Kauai on Christmas morning! Wahoo. That is less than 4 days away! Here is our theme song this Holiday season!

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say "Merry Christmas to you."

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say "Merry Christmas to you."

acceptance

-we are accepting what has happened

-we are mad/frustrated at the air force for blind siding us with this since we never new this was even a possibility: dave got a deferred (civilian) PGY1 spot which equals worst case scenario and he will need to apply to these programs, he will have to withdraw his name from the civilian residency match and basically enter a different 'match'...crappy, just crappy. More work but we have come to terms with it...God works in mysterious ways and there must be a reason for this sudden shock to our systems.

-dave will be applying to PGY1 programs across the country that are still accepting applications (similar to him applying to residency programs)

-in January time frame, dave will be busy interviewing for the PGY1 spots

-we will find out march 15th where dave 'matches' for his PGY1 (works like the residency match, but now he is applying to PGY1 programs).

-after the PGY1 year, dave will decide between applying to residency programs again or doing flight medicine with the AF...not too sure about any of that, but this PGY1 will only prepare dave to be a better doctor in the end.

-i know it seems confusing but i hope this helps to explain what has happened.

-we were hoping for answer yesterday, but i feel like we got more questions.

-Truth: God is in control and He will put us where we need to be.

feelings...

we are on a roller coaster, but not the good kind like at an amusement park; an emotional roller coaster... how did this happen, why did this happen, what are going to do, where are we going, how are we going to make it, why is this is this so hard... the questions are endless.

dave will now need to spend his time, money, and effort to apply to any and all programs that are still accepting applications for the PGY1 year...most places are done taking applicants, but some still have openings. again, this will be an exhausting process in which dave will end up doing internal medicine (hospitalized adults) or surgery; either way is will not be a very fun year for him.

i am struggling to determine how i feel: upset, afraid, sad, angry, lost, confused, let-down, scared, sick to my stomach...

this emotional roller coaster sucks and dave and i just want off. when will we know? how will we know? where do we go? where do we apply? why did this happen to us? did we chose the wrong path? what more could we have done? what happens now? what do we do? what is the next step? who will help us? so many questions and absolutely no answers from the military or the school. we are on our own to figure out our future.

The only truth i can put my finger on is that we have each other and God does have a path for us. we may not see it (at all) but this must be in His plans.

not good news:(

we just found out devastating news.... we have NO IDEA where we will be. dave now has to apply to Civilian PGY1 (Post-Graduate Year) programs. this is about the worst thing that could happen. we will post more when we know.

countdown is on!

Not sure how much sleep Dave and I are going to get in the next two days but we are only about 40 hours away from the Air Force telling us our destiny for May/June. This seems like the most exciting/stressful time in our lives. We know God has big plans for us, but sometimes it is hard to wait for them to unfold. This time, it is like we get a sneak peek into His future plans! Yay! Seems like we have been waiting a long time, but now we can countdown in hours! Woot woot!

Christmas Time Here We Come....

I decided to get tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet in Denver and get some Christmas CD's from the library to get Dave and I in the holiday spirit. The ballet was nice. The story of the Nutcracker is a little odd, but I enjoyed myself. Dave enjoyed being with me but I think he could have done without the ballet. Saturday morning we played Christmas music and did some cleaning/organizing of our apartment. I still need to watch ELF to feel like it is actually Christmas time, but we are trying. I guess, all Dave and I want for Christmas is to figure out what we will be doing for the next three years, which will hopefully happen on Dec 15, the date of the Military Match. We are also looking forward to Christmas morning, when we fly out to Kauai, Hawaii!!!!!! We are very excited but it just does not seem like Christmas time. I will keep trying to get us in the Christmas Spirit, but it may have to wait until after the 15th, and even then it may not be the most Christmas-y year for us, but it is still an exiting time and we are excited to see what God has planned for us.

Merry Christmas to us.... sunglasses for Hawaii:)



I also wanted to add these two cute pictures.... Asher is such a cute little cuddle-bug:)

Birthday's

I was a little bummed this year that Dave would be out of town for my birthday, but at work on Friday the 29th I received FLOWERS from him:) Dave is soooo sweet and it made my day! I seriously had a HUGE smile on my face and could not believe the wonderful surprise!

Me at my office, taking a quick pic of the flowers and my smile!



On Saturday, I woke up to a birthday cold and fever:) Yay.... but Amy and I made it down to Colo Springs to have chili and cake (and yummy caramel apples) with the family. It was nice to see everyone, but I felt awful and just wanted to crawl back into bed. Later that night, Amy threw a little party for me at her apartment and we went out to eat. It was great to see friends, but it was an early night for me to since I needed to get my sicky-butt back into bed. Here is a picture of the ladies at dinner. Thanks for the wine and dinner ladies!




Happy 10th Anniversary of your 21st Birthday Cheez!! I stole that line from Sarah, but thought it was cute. To celebrate Kezia's Birthday, we did a little shopping at Park Meadows and ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (Hagiwara's fav).

Best Surprise EVER!!!!

DAVE CAME HOME EARLY AND COMPLETELY SURPRISED ME!!! On Tuesday night, my best friend Amy tricked me and picked Dave up from the airport then 'stopped by' for a minute and out popped DAVE! He was supposed to be back Friday evening, but took his exam early and moved his flight. He decided not to tell me and surprise me instead! It was awesome! I might have cried a little! One month away from you hubby is toooooo long:)

Dayton Update and Interview

Three weeks here in Dayton. It hasn't been too bad, the ER is not super busy or exciting, but it could be worse. Overall I've learned some stuff while I've been here, I've done a lot of reading, and I did see the one neat attraction Dayton has - the National Museum of the USAF. It is a world class museum, full of planes, everything from Wright brothers planes to F-22 Raptors. The even have THE plane that dropped the A-bomb, which I thought was pretty cool.

Today I interviewed in Columbus at The (have to add that) Ohio State University. I actually really liked the program, the residents seemed really happy and the curriculum was one of the best I've seen. If I end up getting a civilian deferred residency slot I'm sure this program will rank high on my list.

This weekend I will be heading back to Columbus to go to an OSU football game with with college roommate, Eric. He is originally from Columbus and we will stay with his parents. It should be a trip to experience big time college football, a stadium of 105,000 packed full of hardcore fans. CSU just didn't have the same intensity. And next week I get to go home, which I am looking forward to.

Dayton

I just arrived in Dayton, OH for a 4 week AF rotation. It should be pretty interesting. My room is nice, but it is very hotel-like. In San Antonio, my room was more like an apt with a stove and full size fridge. Here I have a mini-fridge and a microwave but that is it. I drove around outside the base a little bit, and this place is quite "ghetto". I've heard from other AF peeps that have already been here that this is kind of a dying base, and so far I believe it. It is really trashy around the base, and the base itself doesn't seem very nice either. It should be an interesting four weeks, but I will make the best of it. My friend and old roommate EZ only lives about an hour and a half away in Toledo, so I look forward to seeing him, as well as my childhood friend Dana and her family. I'll be working in the emergency department at the hospital on base. If I will have a few days off in a row here we will see if Gwen can come visit. I'll keep you posted on how things are going, and I appreciate your prayers that I will impress the right people and will have a good time during my stay here.

crazy sunday!

WOW... yesterday seems to have been one of the longest days of my life. I felt tired, a little out of it, physically beaten down, but exhilarated at the same time.

I woke up early Sunday morning and headed down to Civic Center Park in Denver to race with Amy and 16,000 other runners for the Denver Rock-N-Roll 1/2 Marathon. The race was brutal considering I was not as trained as I would have liked due to some minor setbacks/injuries, but it was amazing to run through the city and have music, people, fans, bums, children and animals cheering you on. Seriously, a man had his dog bark for runners on cue. True story, it made me smile. During the race, I was hurting pretty bad, but kept running and finished with a personal best 2 hours 7 minutes for the 1/2 marathon.

Little did i know though that 16,000 runners would bring all of there family and friends and it would be so chaotic after I finished. Dave, his mom, my parents and Kali struggled to even make it to the park for the finish. 45 minutes waiting to cross one street.... crazy but thank you all for coming out and supporting. It was great to know you were there!

Next up, eat some food and head out the our frisbee tournament. We were the 2nd ranked team going into the tournament. That meant, we needed to beat two teams to make it to the finials. Yes, folks, that is three 1.5 hour long games of ultimate frisbee. WOW, I was beat. We had one sub for the first game but really all of the women played most points. I felt okay but wobbly toward the end. I was almost delirious at times but continued to eat and drink as much water as I could. Sadly, we lost in the finals but enjoyed every minute of it. Dave did a great job supporting me today and also killin' it on the frisbee field.

I think my body was really confused about what the heck I was doing to it. I took an Epsom salt bath that felt nice, but I am still hurting today. Once I get going I am fine, but initially standing up it tough. Also, squatting to pee or sit it very difficult. I know this is a random post, but thought I would enlighten everyone on my crazy Sunday.





On another note, here are some pictures of the Maroon Belles in Aspen, CO, the Continental Divide and a hike to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon.






Anyone who has ever traveled in the car with me (or been around me for more than a minute) will appreciate this picture... yes, it is me peeing on the side of the road. I HAD to go and we were too far from the hotel (like 5 minutes, but far enough). At least I was puking too:)

playing catch up...

Wow... it has been a month since our last post?!?

Where do I even start?? So much has happened I hope I don't miss anything.

Okay, to start out; Dave spent a month in San Antonio checking out the Emergency Medicine Residency Program with the Air Force. Although he was still at Wilford Hall, this hospital is actually being converted into all outpatient offices and the ED will soon not exist there. Everything will be on Brooke's Army Medical Center in San Antonio. It is a Level One Trauma Center and even though it is on an Army base, he would still work there. Dave had a very successful time while in SA connecting with other residents and doctors and they all really liked him and wanted him to come back for his residency. He was pretty pumped and as of now he would rank them first overall. He will be going to Dayton, OH in October/November to check out the other military program. I am sure it will be fine, but I feel San Antonio has more to offer us. But, we will see. Also, December 15 is the big day that Dave and I figure out our future! Make your calendars:)


I was able to make a trip down to see Dave for a few days and we had a blast! We enjoyed a huge Texas sized margarita on the River Walk in downtown SA, saw the Alamo, viewed Lackland AFB, viewed Dave in uniform (very hott ;)) and just enjoyed being together. It was HOT but we were able to enjoy our time outside when needed. We floated the river while I was there and it was AWESOME! The water was warm and it felt great to relax on a tube and drink some beer:) We also ate a TON of mexican food, which I loved but my stomach did not love. We went to Sea World and it was neat to sea the killer whale show and ride the coasters with no line.









Next up, I went on a fabulous trip to Sanibel Island, FL. My family rented a condo and we hit up the beach for a wonderful family adventure! My parents, the Hagiwara's, CB squared, Sarah and I ate yummy food, swam in amazing water, enjoyed the warm weather, got eaten by mosquitoes and kept our eyes out for gators! It was an awesome family trip that I wish Dave could have been on, but he was still in SA.








Since Dave's return, we have been to many more baseball games, of course:) We have been able to see our friend Ty that had been gone traveling for 8 months in South America. He is also a die-hard Rockies fan, so it was nice to have him join in on our fun.



We also went to a concert at Red Rocks. We saw Sublime with Rome. It was a good concert and Rome did great filling some pretty large shoes. The amphitheater was awesome though and it is amazing how the rocks form such a great place for music.



In mid-August, we said out goodbyes to Kailey because she is headed to Korea for a year to teach English. She made the journey safely and is now preparing lesson plans and trying to survive the heat on JeJu Island. Please keep her in your prayers for strength, to keep well, to meet friends, connect with her students, listen to God's path and to enjoy her time.

Bryan is still in Africa and he is really finding himself there. He absolutely loves the children and everything he is doing there. He will be back for a short time in December but plans on taking a full time position in the Spring. Please also keep Bryan in your prayers.

Just last week Dave and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We went out for a nice dinner downtown and had a great time reminiscing about our years together. Crazy to think we met over 7 years ago! Wow, time flies! Oh, and I wore a cute black dress!







Well geezzz, I guess we should post more often. I think that is all for now.

A Fun(ny) Event at the Rockies Game

A few nights ago Gwen and I went to the Rockies/Cardinals game together. Gwen had to do some work in Colorado Springs that day, so we hit traffic going to the game and didn't get to the stadium until after the game had started. This of course stressed me out and I was trying to rush us in as fast as we can. As such, we didn't have time to really eat anything for dinner before getting into the game. Normally when we go to Rockies games we never buy any food there, however, since we were both hungry and I felt bad for making us skip dinner I relented on my frugal ways and we got some nachos to share. We were sitting way up in the third deck down the first base line. Our seats were right against the railing, which was actually really awkward because you had to lean forward to see over it. So we moved sideways a few sections to a relatively empty section.

A few innings in I was close to finishing off our nachos when Gwen hit me and pointed out a foul ball that was amazingly heading toward us. We were way up there and very far away from the plate so I thought there was no way a ball would ever come to us. Nevertheless, here it came, and I quickly stood up and jumped as the ball sailed over our heads. I couldn't quite reach it, but Gwen and I turned to watch it hit the fencing just a few rows behind us. We both took steps toward the ball, and now our backs were toward the field. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow I tripped over one of the chairs/cupholders in the row in front of us and toppled backward into the row below, hitting my back on the seats two rows in front of us. This whole time I was holding my nachos, which were mostly gone but still had some cheese, a few chips, and a nearly full cup of salsa. The nachos flew all over me. Two very worried looking ushers rushed down to check on me, thinking the salsa all over my hands and jacket was blood. As I looked up at Gwen she bent down to help me up with one hand, and in the other she was holding the ball. She laughed as she helped me up and the crowd around us gave me a standing ovation. Unfortunately I walked straight to the bathroom to clean up before thinking to take a picture of myself. When the usher asked if I was okay, I said I was but I was pissed I spilled my nachos. Shortly after I came back from cleaning up, the usher came and brought me a brand new free tray of nachos, which was really nice.

All in all, it was a pretty crazy experience. Gwen got her first live game ball, which we were both happy about. I made a fool and mess of myself, but at least I got some free nachos out of it. And after eating almost two full trays of nachos, I also got a nice stomachache to go with the bruise on my back and Gwen's ball. Plus the Rockies won on a Chris Iannetta walk off HR in the 9th. A game we will never forget.




Where our seats were


Gwen with her ball


The aftermath of the spillage in the row in front of us. You can't really appreciate the salsa on the ground/seats, but it is there

Kailey's First Half Marathon!!

Great run today Kailey! She and a friend ran a half marathon from Copper to Frisco, that is at over 9,000 feet elevation! The weather was not great, lots of rain and cold. The girls running were okay, but the spectators were chilly. Kailey, you are a rockstar!




On a side note, I created a new mirror collage for above our dresser in our bedroom. I think it turned out nicely. I got all the mirrors at a thrift store, then spray painted them the blueish color.

Ultimate Frisbee Champs!!

Our frisbee team won the championship today! It was very hot outside but we were able to kick some booty and win! Here are a few team pictures. Woot woot!!!!

CO Marathon

4 hours 27 minutes!! Wahoooooo... the marathon was awesome! I felt great and all my hard work training paid off with a strong finish! I was so happy! Dave ran the last mile with me to support me, even after his stellar 10K performance of running 7 minute miles! Amy finished a little after me, but also did awesome!! We had a great race day with beautiful weather! Here are some pictures after the race.

Chicago

Chicago!!! What a wonderful city! We had a great experience here in Chicago. The architecture was a beautiful mixture of old and new. Dave and Amy took a National Board Exam on Tuesday so we made a fun trip out of it. On Monday we took in the sights starting with breakfast at a great local favorite. Next, we walked down State Street (lots of shopping) and then to Millennium Park. President Obama gave his acceptance speech in this park and it also holds the "bean". This is a reflective sculpture that is shaped like a kidney bean. Very cool actually. The park also had beautiful tulips and nicely landscaped gardens. From there, we headed out to Navy Pier. This was very touristy, but it was pre-tourist season so it was nice to walk around and see the pier without the hustle and bustle of too many tourists. By the pictures you can tell it was windy and chilly while we were there. Next we headed for deep dish Chicago style pizza at Uno's. This place was established in 1943 and started the 'deep dish' tradition in Chicago. It was delicious! They put the cheese on the crust then the toppings and sauce. Different, but yummy! Pretty long day of walking around, especially post marathon! Tuesday, Amy and Dave went to their exam, so I wondered back into the city. I was planning on seeing the Sears/Willis Tower, but the low lying clouds prohibited me from seeing past the first 1/3 of the tower; so I saw the building then headed to the 'Magnificent Mile'. This is known for its wonderful shopping! I found a giant H&M, which I spend nearly an hour in. I saw the Water Tower which was the only building still standing after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. I also spotted a three story Crate and Barrel.... had to take a pic! I also enjoyed the sights of the Chicago Tribune Building (very gothic), Wrigley Building, the riverfront and I enjoyed a yummy sub from "potbelly's sub shop". I headed back to the hotel just in time to meet back up with Amy and Dave. We took a nap to prepare for a dueling piano bar in downtown Chicago. It was a great time and we thoroughly enjoyed singing along! Wednesday was Dave's day: WRIGLEY FIELD!!!! We got Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast (very big out here) and got to the game in time to watch batting practice. Dave caught a fly ball without a glove and was pretty stoked about it! He is such a stud:) He got lots of cheers and 'nice catches!' It was a little chilly for the game, but luckily, no rain. Amy was pretty cold, but Dave and I have tough baseball watching skins:) The Cubbies won and we had a blast in the left field bleachers! This place in known to get rowdy and has crazy fans. The Cubs left fielder (Soriano) was interacting with the crowd during the entire game. It was pretty awesome to see the fan support and the players appreciation of their support. The area around the field was beautiful and fully supports the Cubs! Sadly, that was our last day in Chicago, but we packed plenty into our time in the city. Here are some pictures that sum up the fun:)

Breakfast at Lou Mitchell's: est. in 1923 and hasn't moved. Great waitress and yummy food.


Millennium Park- awesome tulips!


The 'Bean': awesome reflection in this kidney bean shaped reflective sculpture.


The three of us at Millennium Park.



Navy Pier


Navy Pier- Chicago Skyline in the back


Chicago at Night...


Home Plate View


Wrigley Field!


Dave's pumped for his 'on the fly' catch!!


At the Game with our free shirts:)


Pumped to be at Wrigley



Wrigley Field


Hugest Crate and Barrel ever- three stories... Carrie/Kezia/Mom/Sarah thought you would enjoy a picture of this:)