Thankful Thursday - February 24

This Thursday I am thankful for the days getting longer! I am not particularly a fan of winter, and I am ready for spring to be here already!

Photo courtesy of Kitchtography at photobucket,

Sunshine on a winter day makes the cold a little more bearable. I appreciate the extra bit of sunlight we get as the days are gradually getting longer. Leaving work when there is still a sliver of sunshine is like a reminder and promise that spring will come.

What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Make sure to link to your actual POST and not just your blog! Thank you in advance for sharing your stories! Thanks in advance for playing along!

Answers - Part One

Okay so as promised here are a few of the questions that were asked:

Q: My question to you, without getting too specific, is are you guys likely going to have to relocate very far for residency? I'm curious because we lucked out in the sense that there are more residencies in the NYC metro area than in some entire states, so our move will only be a matter of a few miles, and I know that is not the case for many residents and their families across the country. How will this affect your career?
A: One thing I had no clue going into this process was just how little control I would have over my future. I am a total control freak that absolutely hates change! I seriously went off to college because I knew all of my friends were leaving and I didn't want to be left behind, but I was scared to death to go. And then when college was over I think what made my decision to go to law school so easy was that I was scared to enter the real world - I figured law school would be an extension of college (boy was I wrong!).
Anyways, when I married Drew I knew I would have to follow him to medical school but I figured that once he was done we would get to "pick" where we wanted to live. Unfortunately with applying to residency, certain specialties aren't located everywhere, and then there is the whole matching process that really takes things out of your control. Although I was weary (probably an understatement) to move to Springfield, Illinois, I have really grown to love it here. Unfortunately due to Drew's chosen specialty, the only way we will stay here is if he doesn't match in neurosurgery. There is no neurosurgery residency program here, and in fact there are only about 100 programs in the entire country. Then when you factor in the fact that it is a highly competitive specialty, you really have to prepare to go anywhere you can match. I try not to think to much about leaving my job because I absolutely love it and the people in my office. I also am still worried about matching, so until we get word on March 15th saying that Drew matched in neurosurgery, I won't make any career plans. If, heaven forbid, he doesn't match, we would stay here and figure things out for a year. If there was a neurosurgery program here, we would absolutely considering staying.
Also as an attorney I am only licensed in the state of Illinois, which means if we match anywhere outside of Illinois, I will have to take another bar exam. Another thing I am choosing not to think or stress about, I will deal with that after March 15th.
No I do not want to leave my current job, and I do not want to take another bar exam, but ultimately we put a lot of thought and prayer into Drew's decision to pursue neurosurgery and I feel like it is his calling. Therefore I feel like God already has the next steps in our journey planned for us, I can only hope that that plan includes a new job for me that I enjoy half as much as my current one.

Q: I was wondering if you knew of any great blogs or resources for med students husbands? I can't imagine the preppy boyfriend dropping by one of ya'lls blogs, but I do think that it would do him good to hear some of what other people go through... like for instance, he doesn't believe me when I say that during the clinical and residency years, it is entirely possible that I will spend 24-36 hours continuous at the hospital.
A: I did spend some time searching last night and unfortunately I couldn't find the blog of a male medical spouse. I do think you will spend 24-36 consecutive hours at the hospital, but most of the time that will be because you are on-call for the night and therefore you will have some advance notice of when it is going to happen. The good news is that a lot of programs have what is called "post call" so that when you worked all day, and were on call all that night, you get to leave the hospital by a certain time the next morning (usually by noon). Your hours will greatly vary by your specialty and by your med school and residency program. A good resource to check out is FREIDA program search. Programs fill out surveys yearly and one of the questions pertains to the maximum amount of consecutive hours on duty. Another resource for him to check out is the International Spouse Network, although most of the members are female, there are some male spouses as well. It is a good resource to ask questions, and also a place where medical spouses can chat with other spouses who actually understand the stress and time constraints a medical career can have on a family. (I say that because the average person thinks a doctor's life is cushy because they are "rich," they don't always realize the time commitment involved).

Q: My question is if your costs counter for applying for residency are accurate? Currently it is at $900 and I have been told by some fourth years at our school to save up $10,000 to be on the safe side. I am sure that it may be more expensive for us since there are no programs my husband (or most students) are even interested in in our state but I was just curious since there is such a discrepancy and I have seen you mention how expensive it has been.
A: No that amount was not correct. We got so busy with interviews that I didn't keep up with my tally of expenses, but now my costs should be up to date. Applying to residency can be between $1,000 and $15,0000 depending on how many programs you apply to, how many you interview with and where the interviews are at. We were lucky in that although he took 16 interviews (he applied to 42 programs and was offered 23 interviews) he was able to drive to 10 of the interviews (he probably should have flown to one of those though). We also saved a lot of money with having him stay with friends and family whenever possible. Some locations (such as Dallas) were also a lot more affordable to fly in and out of. My expenses do not include the cost of any meals or snacks and I may have missed a few baggage fees in my calculation.
Here is a brief breakdown of our costs:

ERAS Fees: $655.00 (to apply to 42 programs).
Interviews: $4,307.98 (Hotels, plane, car rental, gas, airport parking for 16 interviews)
NRMP Fee: $50
Total = $5,012.98

Although that is a lot of money I still think it is on the low end. The two most expensive interviews were $811.62 and $717.16. One of our interviews was "free" in the sense that Drew didn't have to spend any gas money because he was already in town from an interview in the same city the day before, and he stayed with family so there was no hotel bill. Two programs also covered the hotel cost and he stayed with family/friends for five of the interviews. I have spoken with two other wives who applied in ortho (another competitive surgery) and their spouses did 18-22 interviews and their costs were closer to $10,000 and $15,000 (I know one of them said the cost to change two flights was very expensive!).

I apologize as my answers were longer than expected but hopefully they were helpful to someone! I still have more to answer but I figure that was more than enough for one blog post!

So to update on last week's "laundry incident" . . . I was able to quickly throw my shirt in the washer again and it appears that most of the pink is gone. So the shirt was saved, and I can now laugh at the humor in the situation. I guess what really irked me is that I know my husband knows how to do the laundry, and normally he is a very detail oriented person, who would freak out if I wasn't careful with his clothes. But it was a mistake, and I'm over it, and my husband has forgiven me for my mean outburst as well.

And to follow-up on that expensive shower cleaner my husband purchased . . . well that "power sprayer" that provides a continuous stream of cleaner so that you don't have to exhaust your finger pushing the trigger . . . well go figure, it makes you go through the cleaner a lot faster! The bottle is already empty. It was a genius marketing plan, not only is it more expensive, it also makes you consume more product!

And if you have a moment, make sure you go checkout Mrs. Stoneking's blog for a super nice giveaway!

Rank Order List

Well, Drew and I have made several lists for the past several months. And I think we finally have our final, rank order list! We sat down today with my parents and Drew's Mom over lunch to discuss our final list. (Drew's Dad was supposed to join us but it a busy season at work so even though he had someone to cover his shift he was still called in to work all day.) Below is a photo of all of us after lunch.


We basically went through the list and discussed the pros and cons of each program and went over why we ranked each program in each spot. It turns out we were actually much more confident in our list than we thought. We didn't end up changing anything, after discussing it with them and it just confirmed that we had done as much researching, thinking, praying and discussing as possible. I don't think we could be any more prepared. So I think our list is final!
Drew certified it tonight and we plan to forget about it (or at least try to). Technically you can certify your rank list as many times as you wish, and the NMRP just uses the last list you certifiy. That way people can certify it and still change their mind and recertify it. But we plan to just leave our list as is and not touch it (even though the deadline is not until Wednesday night). Our fear is that if we do any changing of the order at this point it will be a rash decision which we will later regret.

It feels good to have our list finalized. I feel like I can exhale a bit!


I intend to get to some of your questions this week! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Confession

So I have a little confession. I had a small meltdown/spaz/freak-out on my husband tonight. And in my defense I am very tired, and I had an odd day at work.

Many of you may sympathize with the fact that when you ask (some) men to help out around the house, sometimes you just have to bite your tongue. Like when I sent Drew shopping a few weeks ago. Sometimes they just don’t do it exactly how you would, but like I said, you have to bite your tongue, because they are helping out. And if you complain when they are trying to help, they aren’t going offer to help anymore!

Drew was just about to leave for what his school calls senior night, but its not what you think, because every Thursday is "senior night." It's basically just going to a different bar every Thursday. And like I said, I am tired, so I had already decided I wasn’t going to go along.

As he was walking out the door I noticed that the last two loads of laundry were no longer on the floor in the living room. I realized Drew must have been so sweet to do them. And my first thought was, I hope he separated my cream shirt from the darks. I run the washer and open it to find my BRAND NEW beautiful cream Anne Tayor loft shirt in with my red, purple and blue tops.

The beautiful cream top was PINK! I was fuming! I immediately start screaming.

"Get out! Get out of here right now!" I tell him. I knew I was about to blow.
Instead of taking my cue to leave Drew comes up and starts to apologize and tries to hug me.
I was so angry, I continue to scream, "You want to be a brain surgeon and you cannot even figure out how to separate the whites from the darks?!"

Needless to say, it was not one of my finest moments. He eventually did leave and gave me a few minutes to calm down. He called to apologize again, and don’t worry I apologized for my horrible behavior!

I think it might be a good idea for me to get to bed early tonight!

Thankful Thursday - Feb 18, 2010

Is it really Thursday already? This Thursday I am thankful for our parents. Drew and I are so incredibly lucky to have the most loving, supportive and wonderful parents.
I feel so fortunate to be blessed with such great in-laws. They have always treated my like I was their own daughter, and they make me feel like I have always been a part of their family. They are there for us for whatever we may need, whether it be that Drew is stranded with a flat tire and he needs them to come bring him a tire iron, or if we need to be moved on the hottest day of the year (it just so happens they moved us on both the hottest day of the summer and the coldest day of the winter). I love them not only for all that they are, but also for what they aren't. They are never overbearing, bossy, intrusive, judgmental or negative. They are only supportive and loving in everything they do.

I am also thankful for my parents. They too are incredibly supportive and loving to both Drew and I. They too are always willing to help us out or come to our rescue. They encourage us in our endeavors and support our dreams. They always lend a listening ear, and give us an honest an opinion when we seek advice. There isn't anything they wouldn't do for us.

Drew and I are so fortunate to both have parents who have set amazing examples for us in our marriage. Through their marriages they have shown us selflessness, sacrifice and unconditional love.

Even though we are grown adults, and have been long out of the house they still take pity on us and let us tag along on their vacations. They make sure we are well fed any time we go home to visit, and always offer any help we may need.

Our parents are a big reason I feel comfortable with all the potential upcoming change. I know both our mothers will seriously, drop everything to help us in anything we may need, whether it be with finding housing, cleaning, shopping or packing/unpacking. I know our parents will make any potential changes as smooth as all possible.

Although our parents would never tell us how to live our lives, we do value their opinions and their life experience. Which is why we will be sitting down with them again this weekend, one last time, to review our rank list before our final submission. I know most couples would never dream of asking their parents for help, in fear of getting just too much advice, but in our case, our parents input will help us feel as comfortable as possible in making our final decisions. I just don't know what we would do without are amazing parents.

What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Make sure to link to your actual POST and not just your blog! Thank you in advance for sharing your stories! Thanks in advance for playing along!

I won!

So being the overly involved wife that I am, I periodically check up on the website and chatboards for neurosurgery. The doctor that has created the Handbook for Neurosurgery, also known as the "Neurosurgeon's bible" is coming out with a new edition. To further explain this book, it is something that every neurosurgery resident owns! It was the book that Drew read every night (for as long as he could keep his eyes open) when he was on his away rotations. And now Drew is trying to read it cover to cover in preparation for residency.
So today I was checking out the neurosurgery website and saw that the author, Dr. Greenberg is having a contest to promote the newest edition. I decided to sign up to follow his blog so that I could follow the giveaway. This afternoon I got an email asking if my husband was hoping to go into neurosurgery. I quickly replied explaining that he is hoping to match in neurosurgery next month. Then when I got home from work tonight I got an email from him offering me a copy of the latest edition! Needless to say, I am so excited! The book is still in print, but I will get a copy as soon as it comes out! Being that we just spent all our money on interviews, we didn't think we would be able to afford the book right away, but now we don't have to worry about it - he will have the latest edition just in time to start residency! I know I am a dork, but I was just so excited I had to share!

Q&A Session

There are several reasons I started this blog, and one of them was because I really felt like as a medical student spouse I was somewhat in the dark as to what medical school and medical training would involve. And I cannot even blame this on my husband, because honestly he didn't know what we were really in for either. I feel like most premed students don't even understand what the process involves, all they know is that they want to be a doctor. So one of the many reasons I started this blog was to give some insight into our lives as a medical school couple, and to shed some light on the whole process. As many people have generously offered their advice to Drew and I, I would like to do the same for others.

Although I am always open to questions, I wanted to take an opportunity to specifically invite you to ask me any questions you may have. Either leave them in the comments, or email me at marriedtoamedicalstudent (at) gmail (dot) com. I'll try and address the questions next week (if anyone has any). I'd also like to encourage you to say hello, if you are a lurker. One of my favorite things about blogging is meeting new people and reading new blogs!

I hope you all had a fabulous Valentines Day!

Counting down, Anxiety update, and a giveaway to check out!

Today, Drew had his FINAL interview! Wooooo hooo! Thank goodness they are over because we seriously cannot afford one more! It also means that we can start to seriously put together our rank list! Rank lists must be submitted by midnight on February 24th!
Today is also five weeks, or 35 days (or however you look at it) from Match Day!

And I wanted to write that in the last two weeks I really have felt a great amount of peace. The anxiety has almost magically subsided and my stomach issues have calmed as well! I'm also starting to get excited about Match day instead of terrified and anxious. I can't exactly point to what has caused this change but I think I can contribute some of it to writing down all my fears, and perhaps some of it to yoga, and of course the power of prayer. I am so thankful that the Lord has given me a sense of peace and serenity knowing that He has a plan, and He will take care of us! Now I am just hoping this calmness remains for the next 5 weeks!

And last, but not least, Bloggy Blog Designz is doing it all over again! They are giving away blog designs and all kinds of goodies. Plus ALL entrants will receive 15% off their purchase! Be sure to check out their website (www.BloggyBlogDesignz.com) for more information, or to enter yourself. The giveaway will close on Feb 14 at midnight.

Thankful Thursday - February 11, 2010

In honor of the upcoming Hallmark Holiday, this Thursday I am thankful for my sweet, sweet Valentine!

Of course, I'm always thankful for my sweetie, but this week, I'll explain a few reasons why. Hopefully I won't bore you or cause you to be nauseated.
Drew is always calm, cool and collected. He is laid back and almost never worries. When I am a complete nervous wreck, somehow just his presence will ease my nerves. He manages to balance out my natural tendency to be a high strung, worrying, control-freak. Somehow with him by my side the largest challenges, or biggest unknowns, seem manageable. Drew is also extremely motivated. Sometimes he's stubborn, but for the most part it is a good thing. He loves a challenge, and is constantly pushing himself to conquer something new, accomplish more, or improve something. Being married to him inspires me to try and do the same. I've been willing to try new things and expand outside my comfort zone since he has been in my life.
Another one of my favorite things about Drew is how selfless he is. When friends or family need help and its something I cannot do, he never minds when I volunteer his help. Even when he doesn't have the time, he manages to lend a helping hand. Never once has he ever gotten upset for all the times I commit him to help without asking him first. And he is also a good sport - like when I dressed him up as the cookie monster for Halloween this year....
Drew is also absolutely wonderful with children. I think it's his fun-loving, silly nature and the fact that he will always be a kid at heart (much like his Father). It just warms my heart when I watch him throw the football, play video games or roughhouse with my nephews. I have no doubt he will be a wonderful father some day!

And I could go on and on about all the reasons why I am thankful for my husband, the love of my life, but I think that is more than enough for one post!

What are you Thankful for this Thursday?

Make sure to link to your actual POST and not just your blog! Thank you in advance for sharing your stories!

Travel Troubles Part III

Okay so I am little slow with getting to hopefully, my third and final travel troubles post. If you missed the first two parts, click here for Part I, and click here for Part II. They are somewhat necessary to understand our frustrations... because I don't think individually they would be that horrible, but considering that they happened three straight weekends in a row was just too much. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

And also not that I am superstitious, but I also feel the need to post this so that the travel troubles chapter can be complete and closed, knock on wood we've had good luck for almost two weeks now!

So two weeks after our little ice incident (run in with the big bad barricade), Drew and I were heading to church. It was a particularly cold morning. We were about a half of a mile from our house when we began to hear some pounding or thudding. Drew pulled over, knowing exactly what he thought the sound was. Thinking it was coming from the passenger side of the car I jump out and see nothing - so I tell Drew it's not a flat tire. He quickly gets out to check the other side. Sure enough, a flat tire.

After a few expletive's, Drew pulls over into the nearest parking lot to change the tire. It was a frigid six degrees out! So my poor husband spent a half hour trying to change the tire in his nice church clothes.

The poor guy only had his dressy leather gloves so he had to try and use mine (which were of course destroyed). The first few bolts came off easily, but Drew struggled with the last one. Meanwhile I was either sitting in the warm car, or running around outside taking pictures on his Iphone (hence the pictures) and trying to laugh at the situation. It was so cold he even had to get back in the car a few times to try and warm up. He was also working so hard to get the last bolt off that he broke out in a sweat! (The bolts were particularly tight because they were put on with an air wrench by the tire shop).
(Note the dangling mirror in the picture below)
We eventually did arrive at church about 35 minutes late. So next time you see someone walk in extremely late to church, don't judge. Maybe they had to change an extremely stubborn tire in the six degree cold!

So after church Drew and I decided to head to Target to run a few errands. During the car ride we called our parents to tell them about the whole flat tire (and complain about our terrible luck), and in my head I was thinking: Good things and bad things happen in threes. First we slid on the ice in my car and crashed into a barricade (#1); then we got the flat tire (#2); I wonder what number three will be....

And I kid you not, suddenly there was a LOUD BOOM. We were rear ended. I could hardly believe it. The funny thing was the guy gets out of his car and after he asks if we are okay the next thing he says is "Ya, know you have a low tire." (Because we were driving on a donut). Luckily no one was hurt, and there was nothing more than a scratch on our car. The sound of the impact was much louder and larger than the actual impact. But the noise itself simply startled and stunned us all.

And so I think that was our third and hopefully final bad incident involving my car. And hopefully that forever wraps up my travel trouble series.

Thank you to those of you who played along with Thankful Thursday last week - I'm going to continue it hoping we can get more an more people to participate.

Winter Ball 2010

Saturday night was the Medical School Winter Ball, also known more fondly as "Med School Prom" by the medical students. I spent the afternoon trying to figure out what to wear. Money is tight and I didn't want to have to buy anything. I tried on all my dresses and couldn't decide what to wear. When Drew came home from the hospital and told me he wanted to wear his khaki suit, it helped me decide on this dress:

I have to apologize for the picture quality as I brought my old camera. Considering there was going to be drinking and dancing, I didn't think bringing my Nikon was a good idea! And although there was some great music played, Drew and I didn't dance to one single song. Although I normally love to dance, we were so busy talking and catching up with everyone we never even made it to the dance floor. It was sooo nice to catch up with all of Drew's med school friends. Here are some more photos from the night.
Below are some gorgeous soon to be doctors with Dr. Constance, the Dean of Student Affairs
Some of Drew's closest friends
The fabulous favors!
The Class of 2010. I can hardly believe these crazy kids are going to be caring for patients as doctors in six months!
A ladies picture

And an action series (the beginning of the somersault......)
And the successful landing

And last but not least, one more picture of my medical student and me.

The night was wonderful, but I must say it was hard not to get too sentimental as I realized it was our last med school prom. I can hardly believe we are starting to begin the "end" of this portion of our journey. This is the first of many "lasts" in the upcoming months.

Fabulous and Exhausting weekend

We had a wooonderful weekend! Friday night I spent laying around trying to rest up and fight off my lingering cold. Saturday I went in to work in the morning and then tried on just about every dress in my closet trying to get ready for the Winter Ball. We had a blast and I hope to post pictures tomorrow. And then today we went to church, ran some errands, tried to tidy up around the house and then headed to a super bowl party. It was a great weekend of catching up with Drew's medical school friends - we've been really out of the loop with our busy schedules. I'm exhausted and need to get some rest to be ready for another busy Monday at work, but hopefully I have pictures and details about winter ball posted tomorrow night. Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Thankful Thursday February 4, 2010

This Thursday, I am Thankful for our upcoming, weekend at HOME! Although Drew will likely have to go in (to the Hospital) on Saturday and Sunday (for cardiology) he should still be home each evening! We have an exciting weekend planned. Saturday night is Winter Ball (a.k.a. Med School Prom) and then Sunday we are heading over to a friends house for a big Superbowl party! I better start thinking about what I am going to wear for Winter Ball and what I am going to bring to the party!

What are you Thankful for this Thursday?

Make sure to link to your actual POST and not just your blog! Thank you in advance for sharing your stories!

The sound of joy

. . . . is a child's laughter.

Here is a video from playing with my nephew Gaston this past weekend. I absolutely love his laugh. I wish I could bottle it. It is just so precious!

And one more (its only a few seconds) but it is funny because I usually have to hide the camera when I am filming because if he sees it he stops playing and asks to see the "bebe" (he's French) on the camera - he likes to see himself!

I absolutely adore this little guy!

P.S. I hope some of you will play along with my Thankful Thursday this week!

Three Great Giveaways!

I just thought I'd share two great giveaways going on THIS week!

First, Julie at Color with Stiches is having a Meimei's little Designs giveaway! You can find entry details here!

And Secondly Mrs. MRS is having a giveaway on her blog. Check it out!

And last but not least, Jenny Mac's Giveaway

Check 'em out! And good luck!

My darling husband

(God Bless him) is a sucker.

Now to give you a little background, I am a cheap-o. Big time. My Mother raised me to be a thrifty penny pincher. I go to the local beauty school to get my hair done, I buy things used if at all possible, I clip coupons, shop sales, and buy almost everything in generic.

Now my darling Drew, on the other hand, he is a name-brand-whore. He loves Perry Ellis dress clothes;image from: http://reviews.perryellis.com/product-reviews/Fragrances-Gifts/Women/Perfume/PED/p/40200176-NEW-Perry-Ellis-for-Women-EDP-3-4-oz.html

He loves his Cole Haan shoes with Nike Air;

image from: http://www.colehaan.com/colehaan/catalog/product.jsp?catId=100&productId=314862&productGroup=314863

His Mom used to buy him Nexxus shampoo (I now buy him the generic);

image from: http://www.epinions.com/content_442853396100

and he loves his Starbucks;

image from: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/tag/cleveland-park/

Just to name a few of his name brand loyalties.

So it has taken me many, many, months since we have been married to get the man to bring home generic items when I send him shopping. And for the most part he has gotten better and no longer buys the most expensive brand of whatever we need. . . Most of the time.

So today I send my darling husband out to grocery shop. And one of the items on the list was "shower cleaner." Ya know the stuff you use everyday after you shower so that you don't have to scrub down your shower so much? So, usually we buy the refill because 1) its cheaper and 2) it minimizes garbage/waste.

Today Drew comes home with this:

image from: http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/products.aspx?product=shower-cleaner-power-sprayer

This is scrubbing bubbles newest shower cleaning product. Apparently our previous shower cleaner was inadequate, so we needed to upgrade. This little product was $9. Yes, nine American dollars! And why you ask is this shower cleaner so expensive? Because it has a "power sprayer" that provides a continuous stream of cleaner. (So that you just hold down the trigger/sprayer once and it continues to spray, kind of like aerosol spray).

Seriously? What is wrong with a regular spray bottle? Why did we need a different spray bottle? Does this mean that we are too lazy to push the sprayer or trigger more than once? Come on, how difficult is it to lift your finger and press the spray bottle trigger?

I think my husband was the victim of product branding and new product production. I think we just paid for a fancy spray bottle. Why he didn't just buy the scrubbing bubbles refill (since he determined our previous shower cleaner was inadequate) is unknown to me.

Although I tease, I am very grateful that my husband is willing to go grocery shopping when he can.

Drew, you know I love you honey!

Thankful Thursdays

2010 has seem to gotten off to a negative start for me. It somewhat feels like there is a dark cloud looming over my head. In the past three weeks I feel like I've been repeatedly hit with family and friends receiving bad news or undergoing hard times.
When I find myself in being negative, jealous or simply in self pity, I find that the best cure is counting my blessings. So I thought I would revive Thankful Thursdays.

This Thursday, I am thankful for unexpected blessings. Today when I went to get my new side view mirror put on my car (see this post for an explanation) I was pleasantly surprised when the total cost came out to be $90.00 cheaper than we expected! So instead of paying $341, we only had to pay $251.00 for a brand new side view mirror! And secondly, when I looked at one of our accounts, (my Dad invested the wedding money we got in the stock market), I found out that in the last couple of months, it has gone UP! The amount that it has gone up should allow us to help pay moving expenses (truck rental, gas etc.) for if and when we move! Money has been so tight lately with financing Drew's interviews. They say God always provides, and he truly does. I am so thankful for both of these unexpected blessings that will allow me to worry a little bit less about finances (at least for a little while!)

I'm so over it!

This applying to residency and match process. Yep, I am over it! It has been exhausting and seriously has been non-stop since July. And I am not even the med student! July was studying for the boards. August/September/October - we were apart for away rotations. September he officially applied to residency programs. September/October/November - were filled with scheduling and organizing interviews. And as soon as Drew got home from his away rotations at the end of October, he started interviews right away. And the interviews have pretty much been every week since (with the exception of a two week break for Christmas).
Tonight I am waiting for Drew to get home from another interview. Thank goodness it is his second to last!

:Sigh of Relief:

This process. Has been. Exhausting.

The funny thing is that is that fourth year is supposed to be the easiest! And I guess academically (with the exception of his Away rotations) it has been the easiest year for Drew. But this whole match process has been much more time consuming than the actual academic portion of medical school. I've been so incredibly jealous of Drew friends that are applying to different specialties in which they didn't have to do away rotations; didn't have to take as many interviews; and are virtually positive where they are going to Match.

I am ready to be done organizing travel itineraries, and picking out suits and ties, and paying astronomical credit card bills for travel expenses. I am ready to have a routine, and have my husband in the same state with me for seven consecutive days. I am ready to stop wondering what our future will hold. I am ready for March 18th. Well maybe not... but as for this whole process, I'm over it! And you're probably over me talking about it! Thank God we only have one more left!

Travel Troubles Part II

Okay, so I mentioned in my last post that we were driving home to Springfield so we could pack for our vacation. The next day we headed to warm Florida for a wonderful vacation with our families.

(Hopefully I can post pictures later this week)

It was our last day of vacation and exactly 7 days after our little ice accident that we got an email from Orbitz telling us that our flight to Charlotte, NC was cancelled. It was less than 24 hours prior to our departure and we suddenly had no idea how we were going to get home. We contacted Orbitz and they were able to connect us to US Airways. After giving them a little pressure, they were able to get us on another flight home, this time going through Philly.

So we got to the airport about 10:30 for our 12:30 flight on that Sunday morning (exactly 3 Sundays ago). We are walking down the terminal looking for our gate when I hear "your flight is going to be delayed until at least 5:00." I thought to myself, "man that sucks them." And then I looked to my right to see that the announcement was coming from our gate. We went and spoke to an agent and they said that they still expected us to make our connecting flight but that they would set us up a hotel in Philly and a flight out the next morning if for some reason were delayed longer than expected.

Surprise, the plane we were waiting on didn't even arrive until 5:20 and we didn't board the plane until 6:00 p.m. We arrived in Philly at 9:00 p.m. forty minutes after our flight home had taken off. When we asked about our luggage the airline agent told us that we could wait for our luggage but that it would be a while so we probably just wanted to head to the hotel. The hotel they were putting us up in was the Quality Inn. And they might be nice hotels (we've never stayed in one), but as Drew says "when the name Quality is in the name, it just raises red flags, kind of like when a place advertises clean beds."

So after exiting the plane we head to get our luggage. We had been in the airport all day and I just felt gross and I wanted to get some fresh clothes and all my stuff. We waited, and waited until all the luggage was on the conveyor belt, and our stuff was no wear to be seen. We decided to go talk to the airline agents in baggage. Turns out that their policy is to forward luggage on, so that it doesn't have to be checked again the next day. So instead of giving us our luggage, we were given toiletry bags. Awesome.

Next we headed in line to catch the shuttle to the Quality Inn. There were about 20 or so of us waiting for the van. At this point it was around 9:30 p.m., we were tired, and hungry. After waiting in the cold for about 10 minutes the van pulled up. The driver rolled down the passenger window to tell us he was already full, and that he would be back for a few more trips. Realizing that the hotel was 15 minutes away, and it would be 30 minutes before he came back, we started to consider other options. We were not looking forward to waiting 30 more minutes in the cold, only to fight other people for seats in the van. And we figured it would take additional time to check in, and it would probably be too late to find food.

While waiting in the cold we met a Canadian couple who were both medical residents. They called the Marriott that was attached to the airport via skywalk and found out that their AAA rate was only $90. The decision was easy. We were checked in and in our warm clean hotel ordering room service within 15 minutes. Who knows what time we would have gotten to bed if we waited for the shuttle.

The room was nice, but not much a view.

And trying to lighten the mood and laugh about the whole situation, I used my timer to get the picture below. If you cannot tell my husband did not find it entirely entertaining as he was incredibly exhausted.
Oh and although the toiletry bags the airlines gave us looked nice, they were pretty crappy. The toothpaste tasted like pure baking soda!

Being that the hotel was attached to the airport we figured that arriving at 6:00 would give us plenty of time for us to go through security for our 7:40 flight. We were very wrong. When we exited the hotel and entered the skywalk there was a line more than half way across the skywalk. That line was to get through security. And this was at 6:10 a.m. By the time we got through security it was about 7:20 a.m. and we weren't at the right terminal. We sprinted through the terminal to catch the shuttle. The shuttle driver called our gate but the agent didn't answer (he said that was a good sign because that meant they were still busy boarding). When he dropped us off we quickly started sprinting again, and of course our gate was at the end of the terminal. When we got there completely winded, huffing and puffing, we saw that it was not the correct gate. Sometime when we were going through security, they switched the gate. We had to run to another agent who told us the correct gate. We went running in the other direction toward the correct gate. When we got there the door was closed and we could see the airline agent walking away. We must have just missed her. According to Drew's watch it was exactly 8:30. And the worst part was that if we would have had the right gate we would have probably made it on time because we spent a whole 2-3 minutes running down the terminal to what we thought was our gate and then running back. Needless to say Drew and I were incredibly frustrated. Although we were extremely annoyed, we tried not to be too incredibly rude to the agent as we knew we needed her to get us on another flight. She claims she waited until 8:32 to close the door, but as Drew said "I guess we need to adjust our clocks."

Finally around 11:30 on Monday we did get on a Flight home. And we eventually made it home to sweet home Springfield late Monday afternoon..... about 30 hours later than we were originally scheduled to get home!

And the really ironic part is that last night (as I started writing this post) my husband had complete deja vous. He was traveling out of St. Louis for an interview and his first flight out was delayed over six hours! And then his connecting flight was cancelled. He was stranded in Atlanta and waiting in line until midnight to try and get a second connecting flight. He had to stay in a raunchy hotel and then woke up early this morning to try and get out on the first flight out, but it was full! He finally did get out on the second flight today, but again he arrived at his destination about 20 hours later than originally scheduled. Thank goodness this is a two day interview because he missed part of the first day today, but made it to dinner and will be there for tomorrows interview.