Stay Close to the Ground

Ever wonder why the Japanese sleep on futons on the floor? Culture or wellness? Let's talk about wellness...

"Help! I've fallen and can't get up"
Well, when was the last time you were actually on the floor and had to get up? Think about it - from 65 on, when will you ever be on the floor? Sometimes when the elderly fall, they can't get up because they haven't used those muscles in 20-30 years! Studies show that the Japanese, because they sleep closer to the ground and use those muscles daily, when they fall they are able to get back up. This also includes staying flexible and keeping those legs in shape. Our society (especially Texans) has the mindset of bigger is better, including taller and bigger beds. Maybe making things easier for us now will only hurt us in the end?

Sometimes staying simpler can be better (and healthier).

Just food for thought...

Going Away Parties

Our last few weeks in Austin were filled with lots of going away parties, get togethers, saying a goodbyes...

1. We were able to have dinner with our newlywed group's mentors before we left. We went to a restaurant on South Congress called HopDaddys - the best burgers ever, and milkshakes too! At that time they were a few weeks away from having their first child, so it was great to hear everything they were doing to prepare. Since then they now have a healthy little boy named Gabriel and we wish them the very best!!

2. The in-laws had a BBQ for us the Sunday before we left. It was nice to eat, lay out by the pool, play with the doggies, and enjoy some family time before we left. Yum! :)

3. At work we always had a monthly potluck for birthdays, anniversaries, and anything else we can come up with a reason to celebrate. This month we had a potluck for my going away and another girls baby shower! We both got gifts and it was a great way to say goodbye to the team. One of my friends at work is an amazing baker. We always ask her "Why do you work here? Go start your own bakery!" Hopefully, one day she will be able to fulfill that. I have to show off her amazing cupcakes for the mama to be!

and yes she made those little duckies from scratch. She melted starbursts and formed them her self and added eyes with frosting. Talented, eh?

4. We also went to Gloria's at the domain with more friends from other departments at work. At work we were constantly emailing others in another department or floor and it's rare to get a chance to put a face to the name. It's always a pleasure to hang out with the people you constantly email outside of work too.

5. We also got to do some last minute dinners and hang outs with some other friends as well! And we are ready for people to come visit us!!

God puts friends in your life for a reason, even if it is only for a season.

Check out our Fortune Cookies we got at dinner the first week in our new home...

...And on to the next season of our lives! :)

Updates

Car Shopping...

To make a long story short, we came to the decision that now is not the time for us to buy a car. The main thing holding us back was that we recently got the title changed for my car and it is still in the temporary status; it will take 4-6 weeks for the paperwork to go through. As much as we brainstormed, we had too many expenses coming up for the big move, vacations, and med school. We also made the point that it is more important to us to not be even more stressed each month for money. We would rather enjoy going on outings with new friends, than driving around in an older car for one more year. We are happy with the decision we made and have reflected back on the decision multiple times with great contentment.

A few good things - one reason we didn't want to buy a car during a semester of med school, is because this med student wouldn't be able to give as much time, energy, and research for car searching. So I am grateful we spent that time diving into this process and being 'so close' to buying, that we know what to expect and prepare for when that time does come. It is very important to us to live within our means (we will save that topic for a later post). It is definitely hard to budget a car payment when we don't know the full income we will have.


Moving...
Well, both of our parents ended up moving on the exact same day, and then us a week later. Busy, Busy, Busy! We ended up inherting a lot of furniture that we are very grateful for.
PS: I would just like to take some time to show my appreciation for having such a strong husband. He makes moving easier on me and more affordable and he definitely put all those muscles to good use! Lets just say I came home from work early ready to fill our Uhaul and when I got home he had it ALL done. By himself. Couches, kitchen table, dressers, beds, everything!

We are now getting settled in. We love our new house and there are definitely some adjustments we are making. More to come.

Love,
the Bs

Let's put our life in to perspective...

2011 - 2013 --  MS1-2; classroom lectures
2013 - 2014 -- MS3; clinicals
2014 - 2015 -- MS4; audition rotations
2015 -- Graduate from med school!! (we will almost be 30 years old)
2015 - 2020 (years depending on specialty) -- residency (heading towards 35 years old)

By the time we are settled in and begin paying back all these student loans, we will be reaching 40. Just something weird to think about!

Saturday Mornings

Our new favorite thing to do is drive downtown to a cafe for an outside breakfast on Saturday Mornings. The weather in the mornings have been beautiful and so relaxing. Our favorite restaurant is Taverna. We order their $1 mimosas, New Orleans style beignets, eggs benedict, french toast, waffles, and the list goes on ... so much good food and great atmosphere! Saturday mornings have become our favorite quality team each week and we hope it continues in our new city too! Luckily, there is a Taverna there!

Today, we stopped by the Austin farmers market! We saw duck and goose eggs, tons of vegetables and fruits, homemade soaps, homemade dog biscuits, salsa, flowers, tamales, breakfast tacos, veagan cake and cookies. We could have done some damage there, but we just left with some organic tamales (pork and chicken) that we will be eating later tonight. Yum!

Trying to soak in Austin before we leave!!

Calendar and Book List

.July 5th - 15th Pre-matriculation Workshop

July 18th - 22nd Orientation

July 22nd - First Day of Med School

July 23rd - White Coat Ceremony

< 2 weeks off for Christmas >

< 1 week off for Spring Break >

< 6 weeks off for Summer >

Year 1 Semester 1

If you see RED, that's not good. If you see BLACK, that's just a free study day.

(Be kind on the red days.)

Book List for Year 1

This is the 2 page book list for our first year.

Love,

a Busy StuDoc

God's next curve ball...

Welllllll... my car's brakes went out this week. Awesome. A pretty scary feeling when you are on the road! We took it in today to get an estimate on repairs, and now we sit trying to weigh the cost of getting the repairs or getting a new car. We already thought about getting a new car in the near future, but we were too busy focusing on moving and starting med school first. This could not have happened at a worse time. We start moving in two weeks, both our parents are moving before us, we work at completely different times (day shift, night shift, and weekends). So all of our spare time is taken up by moving, helping parents move, and dinner dates with friends here and there. It doesn't leave us much time to research cars together and test drive a few. However, because we work at different times, we would be able to get down to one car and make it work. Here's how: hubby takes me to work at 730, we switch at lunch and I take him to work, and I pick him up from work at midnight - Exhausted yet? Car buying would be a new process for us and we would definitely want to take our time and ask lots of questions.  Those who know me, know I hate making rash decisions. But now we are thinking it might be better to buy a car now due to the fact we both have jobs and both have proof of income. We learned our lesson on previous blogs. Med school loans are not a proof of income and I am in currently in the job search. So waiting it out and taking our time might not be the most logical decision.


This was on our list of things to do - it is just happening sooner than we thought. God just keeps throwing curve balls at us and we are trying to keep up. Stay tuned for what happens next....