RENEGADE!

OK, here is the story!  Brendan and I were talking about Molly and how anxious she gets when we leave her home.  We both had heard from several people that if a dog has separation anxiety it can help them to have a friend.  So, we talked it over.  We talked dogs, cats, fish, you name it, we talked it.  We talked about the different responsibilities of each pet and after much debate we settled on fish...(What? Fish? How in the world would fish help Molly?)  

We went to PetSmart to go pick out some fish..yes, seriously.  We couldn't decide on any, and almost simultaneously we looked at each other and said "This is not going to help Molly!" (We finally came to our senses)  Right next to the fish was about 10 cats, poor cats..they had to be next to the fish!  Luckily, they couldn't see that they were right next to a thousand yummy treats!  We went in the cat room and were able to play with them all.  There was one particular cat that we both really liked!  We thought, well hey, cats are easily trained and Molly loves her cat cousin Mr. Brooks, so maybe this would work!  After about 45 minutes playing with Casper the cat...or like we called him, Garfield..we realized we were both WAY too allergic.  Brendan was sneezing and I was breaking out in a rash and our eyes were watering...needless to say, we realized we were not meant to be cat people.  

We then left PetSmart.  We both realized we really wanted a dog, and that we were just being absolutely CRAZY thinking about fish or a cat.  We are not cat people!  Not that there is anything wrong with cat people...especially after we know Mr. Brooks and then met Casper, we can totally see how people can become cat crazy.  But, we were never as excited about a cat or fish as we were when we really started discussing if we could get a new dog.  We carefully planned out all of the ins and outs of having a new puppy, and decided we could "abso-posit-utley" get a new dog.  We wanted to rescue a dog this time and really truly save an animal.  

So, as we headed to Galveston the next day, we toyed with the idea of stopping at the Galveston Humane Society.  Brendan warned, "You know this is a kill shelter, right? We may leave being really sad."  And I said "I understand.  But, not matter what, we aren't going home with any new animal without us bringing Molly to meet it.  So, either way, we can't take any new fur baby home today."  That made both of us feel better.  Also, since this was the Saturday before Memorial Day, we were going to have two days before the shelter was open again.  Giving us plenty of time to marinate with the idea, if we did indeed see a pup that just had to be ours. 

Turns out, on that Saturday afternoon, Brendan spotted a little mutt that he thought we should play with.  As soon as we got into the play room with her, she walked right up onto Brendan's lap and just wanted some love.  We played with her for about 45 minutes.  We were so excited and nervous at the same time.  We knew we had to leave her that day and come back with Princess Molly to see if we could make this puppy a Murphy.  The shelter allowed us to put her on hold until the end of the day on Tuesday.  We spent the next two days puppy proofing and creating a home for a puppy.  We were anxious and excited...so much pressure was on little Molly! 

 So, after creating a nice warm welcoming home (the bathroom is now hers...), Tuesday two of my study buddies (and now close friends) accompanied me to the shelter with Molly.  Brendan had to work and wouldn't have made it to the island before the shelter closed.  The three of us and two dogs spent well over an hour together at the shelter.  Molly wasn't extremely welcoming, but she was tolerating the puppy the best she knew how and the puppy would listen if Molly tried to put her in her place.   Basically, the interaction was better than I thought it would be, and Brendan trusted me to make the right decision...so, the adoption took place!  Now we have a new fur baby, Renegade (named after the FSU mascot, of course!).  She has already thrown some challenges our way, but we knew going into this it wouldn't be easy!  We love her already and can't wait until Molly and Renegade become best friends :)  

That's all for now, time to redo a quiz (technology got me today...as I submitted a 40 minute quiz there was an error and the entire thing had to be reset...just got an email from my professor saying it's ready for me to attempt again)  and do a little suture practice and studying!  Cheryl and Joe are coming into town tonight for the weekend and I am going to try my best to not have too much school work to do! It's so exciting to have family here!!! More updates to come later!  

One year!

Wow, I can't believe Brendan and I celebrated our one year anniversary already!  Time flies when you are married to the love of your life :-)  We had a great day.  Brendan had to study for half of the day (he had a final exam the next day).  He was able to get home in the late afternoon.  We opened cards/gifts from family and friends and are so very thankful for being surrounded by love...even if it is from afar. Since this year is the "paper" year we tried to base our gifts to each other off of that, and actually our family did too!  Uncle Frank and Aunt Connie gave us a digital photo frame that anyone can send us pictures to and it will display them!  So, that gift is the "new age" paper medium, and still qualifies as a "paper" gift to us!  Our best friends, Tina and MJ, sent us a USA map.  The purpose of this map is to get pictures of ourselves during a visit to a particular state, cut it out in the shape of that state, and place them over the state on the map.  It's super cool and creative.  Tina already cut out Texas, California, and Florida and added pictures.  We are currently on the hunt for pictures from a few other states to get them added...we LOVE the gift.  We also exchanged gifts between the two of us.  I am the lucky recipient of various personally made coupons from Brendan!  I can't wait to use these...including a mani/pedi, or shopping day, or movie night, etc etc etc..all the things I love, he has made me coupons that I can present to him ANY TIME!  I framed our wedding vows that we wrote for each other and decorated them.  They are now on our wall.  I hope that we never forget the words we spoke that day and forever live by them.  So far, so good.  Also I created a binder where we are going to keep our goals and achievements documented.  Hopefully we will update this yearly and have a pretty cool memory book to look back on.  We also went out to our favorite Sushi restaurant and then even ice cream afterwards! That was a huge treat. We had a nice evening!

We also decided to treat ourselves after we have so carefully been spending/saving money as our first year rolled by.  We also both are working so hard in school, we thought we could reward ourselves a little...We each got new iPads!!  I was encouraged by the second year PA students to purchase this for rotations, and Brendan has been eyeing his friends at school who use these during lecture for note taking.  This will save him a backache or two!!  We both LOVE them already.  

Last week I finished up Great Syndromes.  This course was a speedy course, only 4 weeks, and covered an enormous amount of information.  It consisted of lectures and small group/problem based learning sessions.  The PA school (first years) and the medical school (second years) students are all mixed up together in this course.  It was really interesting to see where we were at comparatively in our knowledge base.  The medical students knew a lot more about pathophysiology than we did, but we held our own on some subjects (particularly HIV) and pharmacological treatments.  It was an awesome experience because technically we should be around the same base of knowledge with each other, and I think we were.  I read some pretty neat comments that my small group said about me (we had to comment on each of our 8 other small group students).  That was a confidence booster for sure...which is nice to have right before clinical rotation start!  We still do not know our final grades...but we are anxiously awaiting!  BUT, Brendan got his last grade of the semester yesterday...and he ROCKED it! I am so very proud of him.  He is doing great in engineering and he truly seems to be enjoying learning this material.  It's hard, but he is a hard worker and very determined for success.  

Last weekend was really nice.  Neither of us had too much going on, and we were pretty much able to just enjoy each other!! We went wandering around various stores and places around town...just to be out in the "real world!"  We also checked out Fresh Market, which just opened up last week!  It was awesome. So many goodies and delicious foods.  We also checked out a new Buc-ee's...it's a Texas thing...it's literally a giant gas station with Texas gifts, Buc-ee the beaver gifts, all the different sodas, or icees, or candy or snacks you could want, and this one was beach-themed because it is on the way down to Galveston.  It is an experience, and was very crowded when we went. We went into Houston on Saturday night to dinner with a friend from PA school who is in my study group and her boyfriend.  It was a lot of fun.  We went to Alladin's, which was a delicious greek place and then out to a bar/lounge Hay Merchant.  We played darts and chatted all night.  It was worth the drive into the city.  Hopefully we can do something similar again soon!  Sunday was Mother's Day, and of course we both really wish we could have been with our moms and Grandma Jo.  But, we were able to talk with them all and even skype with my mom.  Holiday's make it hard to be away, but we know it is a temporary thing!   

I started clinical skills, applied research, and community medicine on Monday.  This 5 week summer shouldn't be too difficult, however, it will require a lot of work!  This week I've already started practicing suturing, which I actually enjoy! Brendan started his internship this week.  We've been waking up together at 5:00am every day and getting into bed by 9:00pm...with the lights out by 9:30pm. So far, it's been going fine! I know, what??! 5 am?! Brendan's internship is a hike through the middle of Houston and then further north. It was my idea to force myself to wake up and go to bed with him, because otherwise neither of us would have gotten a good night's rest.  So, it's worth it!  And I can get a lot of work done in the mornings!   Brendan is really enjoying his internship so far.  He thinks it is really going to be a wonderful experience for him.  He has been issued his own computer, which I think is pretty cool. I know he is just going to shine during this opportunity.  

This weekend we are going to miss out on Joe and his fiancee's engagement party.  Unfortunately, we just couldn't get it work out with Brendan just starting a new internship and multiple other factors.  We are sad to not be there for Joe, but hope he knows we will be thinking of him!   

So, instead of a quick trip to Florida we are trying to find other fun things to do this weekend.  We are going to see a band, Jimmy Eat World, and are looking forward to that.  We both have liked them for a long time!  Our apartment complex is having a crawfish boil (apparently crawfish are a big deal around here) so we may wonder over to the pool area on Saturday.  Other than that, I'll be keeping myself busy with school.  Brendan has also been doing some research at night on things he learned about that day at the office, so I'm sure he can find enough to keep himself occupied this weekend too!  

Lastly, I am tickled to announce I am the recipient of a Scholarship!  I just found out and I am so honored!  Not only is it neat that I received one, BUT it also automatically changes my tuition for the next year to be based on in-state fees...Meaning it will save us tens of thousands of dollars.  I am so so excited.  I guess hard work does "pay" off sometimes!!  Now to keep our fingers crossed that Brendan qualifies for in-state tuition at Houston this year....he was told he would after living in Texas for a year..so, we are hoping that is the case!! 

Ok, that's the update for now!  Here are a few pictures :-) 

One year ago <3 

Suturing Day 1: 

This is a suture pad and the very first sutures I tried! Not too shabby...

Gift from Tina and MJ: 

Since I couldn't describe this well enough, here's a photo:

Here's a picture of my hunny and our spread at our sushi place...can you see how happy he is?:

Buc-ees!:

That's all folks!