8.28.2009
Bummer...
So I spent most of today at the doctor's office. Nearly 5 hours to be exact. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling like my head was going to explode. It has quickly progressed into pneumonia. Yup after all the tests, treatments and x-rays, they decided I've got pneumonia. They sent me home with lots of meds, so I suspect I'll be a bit loopy over the next few days. Esther has also been sick this week, but thankfully she seems to be on the mend. With her weak immune system the doctor suggested I wear one of these beauties while I'm around her. Lovely. Let's pray we all get well quickly. I've got a Labor Day Breakfast to host in a week and a half! :)
Catching up
I've been receiving requests for updates, so here's a little one.
Here's just a cute picture of our little family. It's actually quite amazing Esther was looking at the camera since it was on a timer. :)
When I lived in Albuquerque I became friends with a fiery red head named Sarah. :) She's really not bad, but I gotta tease her. :) We've been dear friends for the past decade or so and no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we are always able to pick up where we left off. :) Definitely a bosom buddy, if you know what I mean. Well last week she came to visit me for 4 glorious days! :) Poor Mike, it was definitely a girls week. :) While Sarah was here we did a LOT of talking, laughing, eating and crafting. :) One of the things we also did was go see the touring production of Phantom of the Opera. :) We decided to get dolled up to go to the theater (a practice that is sadly less common these days...).
The next day we went to the free day at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It's got such an awesome architecture, plus lots of cool stuff inside. :) I seriously could spend days there (that is if I didn't have our baby with us....).
Sarah striking a pose in front of the museum. :)
I love Esther's expression in this one!
Sarah and I contemplating a piece called "Red, Yellow, Blue 2". We didn't get much of the stuff in the modern wing. Mike said he likes modern art because it's so easy to make fun of. :) We much prefer the more classical stuff. :)
Esther chewing on her toes, a common occurrence. :)
That night we got Indian food take out. Oh it was so good! :) I LOVE Indian food.
Esther was cuddling up with Mike on the floor, it was so cute, we had to get documentation. :)
And here's some cute (if I do say so myself) family pictures. :)
Mike enjoyed his summer research and is doing well being back in school. I wish my summer break had lasted longer, but think that this semester will be a good one (especially since when I'm done with the semester I'll be graduating!). :) Esther's growing wonderfully and we are enjoying each others company. :)
Here's just a cute picture of our little family. It's actually quite amazing Esther was looking at the camera since it was on a timer. :)
When I lived in Albuquerque I became friends with a fiery red head named Sarah. :) She's really not bad, but I gotta tease her. :) We've been dear friends for the past decade or so and no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we are always able to pick up where we left off. :) Definitely a bosom buddy, if you know what I mean. Well last week she came to visit me for 4 glorious days! :) Poor Mike, it was definitely a girls week. :) While Sarah was here we did a LOT of talking, laughing, eating and crafting. :) One of the things we also did was go see the touring production of Phantom of the Opera. :) We decided to get dolled up to go to the theater (a practice that is sadly less common these days...).
The next day we went to the free day at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It's got such an awesome architecture, plus lots of cool stuff inside. :) I seriously could spend days there (that is if I didn't have our baby with us....).
Sarah striking a pose in front of the museum. :)
I love Esther's expression in this one!
Sarah and I contemplating a piece called "Red, Yellow, Blue 2". We didn't get much of the stuff in the modern wing. Mike said he likes modern art because it's so easy to make fun of. :) We much prefer the more classical stuff. :)
Esther chewing on her toes, a common occurrence. :)
That night we got Indian food take out. Oh it was so good! :) I LOVE Indian food. 
Esther was cuddling up with Mike on the floor, it was so cute, we had to get documentation. :)
And here's some cute (if I do say so myself) family pictures. :)
Mike enjoyed his summer research and is doing well being back in school. I wish my summer break had lasted longer, but think that this semester will be a good one (especially since when I'm done with the semester I'll be graduating!). :) Esther's growing wonderfully and we are enjoying each others company. :)
8.26.2009
Pinching Pennies
I feel that Mike and I have been incredibly blessed financially. We've both been able to get grants and such to have schooling paid for. In fact Mike is in a program here at medical school that is actually paying him to go to school. That's not why he's in the program, but definitely a bonus. :)
We always have enough to pay for what we need and still manage those little splurges (like frozen custard...). But as of late I've really wanted to practice more provident living. We don't pay for any sort of cable or satellite service. We have an old TV that we pull out every so often if we want to watch a VHS, but usually we just use my laptop and watch either DVD's or something free on hulu.com or the like. We have the cheapest internet service we could find, and it's actually just fine. We usually let videos load completely before we try to watch them and we usually make popcorn or clean up while it's loading.
We try to utilize our public library, but I need to plan further in advance. I usually go wanting something right then, but they don't have it at our library. If I plan, I could do an inter-library loan. So that's on the to-do list. :)
I've been sewing, well not a lot, but more than usual, and I love it. I really enjoy sewing and it works for me. I love getting fabrics at jo-anns in the remnant bin and making it into something. In fact I made a shirt the other day. :) I've been buying everything on clearance. In fact there was a pencil skirt at Kohl's the other day that I LOVED, but they didn't have it in my size; it was a size too big. I had Kohls cash, so it was basically free. So I decided to buy it and alter it. I did and I think it turned out wonderful. It fits me better than most store made stuff does and I feel cute in it. :) Plus, since it was a bigger size it's longer than most skirts would be, so it's comfortably modest (you know, long enough that I'm not having to tug on it every time I sit down...). I also found a dress at Goodwill a while back. It was a color that I loved, but it was a 1X. It was only $3 so I got it, figuring I could do something with it. I finally took it in and you would not believe how many comments I got on it when I wore this past Sunday. It's nice to feel cute and even better to know I didn't spend a ton on it! :) So I've got several items of clothing that I haven't worn for years that I'm planning on refurbishing. :)
Next is something I want to do, but haven't really started yet. I want to de-clutter. I'm a terrible saver. I save nearly everything sentimental and it just takes up space, rarely to be looked at again. One of my friends said "stuff begets stuff". If you've got a lot of stuff you're likely to bring more stuff into the home and then it's just a big mess. So before this semester gets too involved I'm going to de-clutter. I know I should have done spring cleaning, but I was a bit busy then. End of summer cleaning is good, right? :)
This leads me to my next point. I've decided to go greener and cheaper by making my own laundry detergent. A bit granola-ish I know, but I tend to lean that direction anyways. :) So if anyone would like to join me in this endeavor, let me know. I'm thinking of making our own household cleaning supplies too.... Anyways.
These are just a few of the ways we're trying to save money. I love hearing how others are saving money. Leave a comment and let me know how you do it. :)
We always have enough to pay for what we need and still manage those little splurges (like frozen custard...). But as of late I've really wanted to practice more provident living. We don't pay for any sort of cable or satellite service. We have an old TV that we pull out every so often if we want to watch a VHS, but usually we just use my laptop and watch either DVD's or something free on hulu.com or the like. We have the cheapest internet service we could find, and it's actually just fine. We usually let videos load completely before we try to watch them and we usually make popcorn or clean up while it's loading.
We try to utilize our public library, but I need to plan further in advance. I usually go wanting something right then, but they don't have it at our library. If I plan, I could do an inter-library loan. So that's on the to-do list. :)
I've been sewing, well not a lot, but more than usual, and I love it. I really enjoy sewing and it works for me. I love getting fabrics at jo-anns in the remnant bin and making it into something. In fact I made a shirt the other day. :) I've been buying everything on clearance. In fact there was a pencil skirt at Kohl's the other day that I LOVED, but they didn't have it in my size; it was a size too big. I had Kohls cash, so it was basically free. So I decided to buy it and alter it. I did and I think it turned out wonderful. It fits me better than most store made stuff does and I feel cute in it. :) Plus, since it was a bigger size it's longer than most skirts would be, so it's comfortably modest (you know, long enough that I'm not having to tug on it every time I sit down...). I also found a dress at Goodwill a while back. It was a color that I loved, but it was a 1X. It was only $3 so I got it, figuring I could do something with it. I finally took it in and you would not believe how many comments I got on it when I wore this past Sunday. It's nice to feel cute and even better to know I didn't spend a ton on it! :) So I've got several items of clothing that I haven't worn for years that I'm planning on refurbishing. :)
Next is something I want to do, but haven't really started yet. I want to de-clutter. I'm a terrible saver. I save nearly everything sentimental and it just takes up space, rarely to be looked at again. One of my friends said "stuff begets stuff". If you've got a lot of stuff you're likely to bring more stuff into the home and then it's just a big mess. So before this semester gets too involved I'm going to de-clutter. I know I should have done spring cleaning, but I was a bit busy then. End of summer cleaning is good, right? :)
This leads me to my next point. I've decided to go greener and cheaper by making my own laundry detergent. A bit granola-ish I know, but I tend to lean that direction anyways. :) So if anyone would like to join me in this endeavor, let me know. I'm thinking of making our own household cleaning supplies too.... Anyways.
These are just a few of the ways we're trying to save money. I love hearing how others are saving money. Leave a comment and let me know how you do it. :)
Cake decorating
So ever since I was young I have always loved the idea of cake decorating. I remember for my little sister's birthday one year I made a miss piggy cake complete with a frosted ding dong for the nose. I've had a lot of fun coming up with my own creations, but I've always wanted to take a class and learn how the professionals do it. :) Well I'm finally doing it. I signed up for 8 weeks of cake decorating fun and I am SO excited! :) It's the Wilton 1 and 2 courses given at Jo-anns. They had a sale where their classes were on sale for 50% off, so I could get two classes for the price of one. I splurged and did it. :) They want me to buy all sorts of Wilton brand products for the classes, but I'm thinking not. So if anyone here in Wisconsin has the supplies that they wouldn't mind loaning me for a while, I would be much obliged. I'm hoping that once I figure out what I really need I'll be able to find cheaper alternatives elsewhere. Wish me luck! I start in two weeks and I'm really excited. :)
8.13.2009
Thanks overdue
This is Mike posting, by the way.
One year ago last week, I started at a new school for the 4th or 5th time. And for the 4th or 5th time, I made it through. This first year was special because Robyn was a few months pregnant by then and it was medical school, and as Robyn and I have learned, being pregnant or even having a pregnant wife while trying to do school mix like oil and water. And for those of you who've taken organic chemistry, you know that oil and water do mix in the vapor phase--in lots of heat and pressure.
So I need to thank everyone who helped me make it through the heat and pressure of this past year--first and foremost, I thank God for making it possible. And thank you Robyn, for being the best friend, psychiatrist, chef, real estate counselor, mom and all the other roles you've played this past year to make it wonderful! Thanks, Esther! If you only knew the power of your cuteness!
Thank you to all those that supported Robyn--I couldn't have made it without my biggest supporter's support. Really, you each deserve a million dollars!
Thanks Mom & Dad Larson and Mom and Papa Sampson--you guys saved us when we became new parents. And thank you, family members, for all the visits, phone calls, letters, emails, smiles, hugs, clothes for Esther (isn't she adorable?) etc, etc, etc. Our family is totally awesome, no?
Thanks all my M1 buddies--I really appreciate your help studying and encouragement!!! (sorry, I'm not listing names here to avoid writing an e-novel). Same for my M2, G1 and G3.5 friends--I look at you and wonder how you did it and it gives me hope:)
Thanks Kyle Jensen (what are you, like an M9 now?) for being a great career counselor.
Thanks Dr. Richlen for helping me get through Neuroscience--without your... motivation (some might call it un-motivation)... I might have lost my mind trying to study just that--the mind.
Thanks all the scientist I work with (including Joe Barbieri and Carol, the office mom)--who knew I'd love it so much and dream science? And actually, Robyn can attest to me dreaming about science and math equations:)
And thank you all those in the ward I didn't mention earlier--life would be very different w/o y'all!
Thank you all! Keep it up--I'll need it this next year;)
One year ago last week, I started at a new school for the 4th or 5th time. And for the 4th or 5th time, I made it through. This first year was special because Robyn was a few months pregnant by then and it was medical school, and as Robyn and I have learned, being pregnant or even having a pregnant wife while trying to do school mix like oil and water. And for those of you who've taken organic chemistry, you know that oil and water do mix in the vapor phase--in lots of heat and pressure.
So I need to thank everyone who helped me make it through the heat and pressure of this past year--first and foremost, I thank God for making it possible. And thank you Robyn, for being the best friend, psychiatrist, chef, real estate counselor, mom and all the other roles you've played this past year to make it wonderful! Thanks, Esther! If you only knew the power of your cuteness!
Thank you to all those that supported Robyn--I couldn't have made it without my biggest supporter's support. Really, you each deserve a million dollars!
Thanks Mom & Dad Larson and Mom and Papa Sampson--you guys saved us when we became new parents. And thank you, family members, for all the visits, phone calls, letters, emails, smiles, hugs, clothes for Esther (isn't she adorable?) etc, etc, etc. Our family is totally awesome, no?
Thanks all my M1 buddies--I really appreciate your help studying and encouragement!!! (sorry, I'm not listing names here to avoid writing an e-novel). Same for my M2, G1 and G3.5 friends--I look at you and wonder how you did it and it gives me hope:)
Thanks Kyle Jensen (what are you, like an M9 now?) for being a great career counselor.
Thanks Dr. Richlen for helping me get through Neuroscience--without your... motivation (some might call it un-motivation)... I might have lost my mind trying to study just that--the mind.
Thanks all the scientist I work with (including Joe Barbieri and Carol, the office mom)--who knew I'd love it so much and dream science? And actually, Robyn can attest to me dreaming about science and math equations:)
And thank you all those in the ward I didn't mention earlier--life would be very different w/o y'all!
Thank you all! Keep it up--I'll need it this next year;)
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