So Proud of This Man...

I am so proud of Jake Wilding today! I got to be there when he presented his thesis to the board. He did such a great job and it's good to know what has been occupying so much of his time for the last three years :-). I must admit that in retrospect, I feel bad about all the nagging he's gotten and the questions about "WHY RESEARCH IS TAKING SO LONG!" I can honestly say that no matter the future outcome, all the time he has spent on his research has been worth it...

 

Can't Wait!

Jake told me we got a much anticipated item in the mail today.  I came home to this!  Can't wait to hit up the trails in Havasupai with my love!

Congratulations in Order

I just want to take a minute to say just how far we've come in dental school.  Monday, Jake discovered that he passed part two of his boards!  I don't know why he was so worried (I knew he had passed).  It's finally starting to feel like maybe, just maybe there is a light at the end of the dental school tunnel.  I am in awe of Jake's determination all the time (although he might not know it).

The happy couple before we had any idea what we were getting into!

Congratulations baby! 

The Impossible

I don't normally blog about media, but Jake and I watched this movie this weekend.  It seems like since I have been sick for over two weeks that all I feel capable of is watching movies, but everything seems petty after seeing this film.   It was so raw and gripping and of course, I already knew it would be this way because I knew this was a film about a family during the tsunami in Thailand, but so incredibly sad.  I often wonder what I would do if I was a person in a situation such as this.  I, of course, hope that I would be able to be strong and protect the people I love and the strangers around me in need of help.  

I often wonder why I WANT to watch films that I KNOW will grip me and make me feel like my life is meaningless when other people have had to face and are in the face of disaster everyday of their lives, but I guess I like the reminder that life is precious and love is beautiful.  I guess the takeaway for me from films such as this; films that manage to effectively portray adversity to this level of extreme is to let the people we love know that we love them.

I think for the most part, we all live normal lives.  I assume that this family that experienced the tsunmami lived a normal life before that experience. I don't think we have to seek out extradorninary experiences to necessarily feel like our lives are not meaningless.  I think that the most important priorities we can have in our lives is to show the people that we love how much we love them and if we don't love anyone, then we should start to.  When life can potentially be gripped away from us at any moment, I guess I want to make the most of my life in the here and now by loving those close to me fully and deeply.

I've been trying to come to terms with the New Year and anxiously trying to set for myself some New Years Resolutions to help me find more meaning and depth to my live.  I think that it's always good to have goals and to progress, but I think when it comes to the core of our lives, everything we do should focus on love.

Anyway, I recommend this movie.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

...And I'm so excited!

Christmas Time is Here

It has been a long time since my last post.  That has become a common story this past year I suppose, but I have finally been inspired to post something!  Christmastime will do that to a person I guess!  It's not that nothing has happened in the last six months, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down to a post.

Well, excuses aside, we've been getting ramped up to celebrate Christmas this year!  One of my favorite things about Christmas is the warm and cozy feel lighting a lit up tree can bring to your home.  We've never had one before, but since we are going to be in Buffalo up until the 24th of December, I thought that this year would be the year!

I heard from a friend about a tree farm outside of Buffalo, so we checked it out and I LOVED IT as I the following pictures should contest to.

Once you get to a farm, you get a wagon ride out to the lot of trees.  Then, you get dumped off and are free to roam to your heart's content.

Roaming...

...Discovering trees

Taking a break from roaming for a photo op....

And here is Jake staking claim on our tree.

It's fallen!

 

Success!

And here is the finished product. 

Jake Had a Birthday and I Made a Cake

This past week, Jake had his 29th Birthday.  Now I won't be the only one in our house in the last year of their 20's.  Whew!  One sure way into Jake's heart is through food, so we splurged and celebrated with some filet mignon and carrot bake-both Jake's request.  I have to say, none of the fancy schmancy steak houses out here were any match for Jake's grilling skills!

Jake opening up a package in the mail from his parents-it's always fun to get stuff in the mail and remember that family isn't TOO far away!

Behold my cake decorating skills!

I'm sorry if you are grossed out by meat and are reading this, but it was truly amazing!