It's almost Christmas!!!

Well it looks like this year is the year of sparse blog updates.  The past few months have flown by and with less than 3 months before baby girl budd arrives, I'm sure we're headed for more of the same.

Since my last post a few things have happened:

1. We found out in mid October that we were indeed going to have a girl!  Such exciting news, especially since we thought she was going to be a boy - it's been fun picking out names and we have 3 but won't name her until we see her beautiful face!
2. My beautiful baby sister Breanna got married on November 11th to the love of her life - Tim Remer.  It was such an honor to be part of their special day and it was so fun to be with all of my sisters and their kids.....four kids under 4 left us with little energy at the end of the day, but it was awesome!
3. Kelsey finished his 5th Semester on December 2nd and kept up his "A" average for med school.  Proud doesn't begin to describe how I feel about the work he's been putting in for the past two years attending medical school, being a great husband and soon to be dad!
4. With the end of 5th in Michigan we moved back to Jers....where there really is no place like home.  We plan to be here until sometime in Aprilish (depending on where we start rotations) and we'll be having Ms. Baby B on Feb 29th in Jers...just like her daddy =)
5. I had my 34th birthday which was nice to have back on US soil (for the past two b-days I was out of the country, Thailand for 32 and Dominica for 33).  It was a great day that started off with breakfast in bed (french toast, eggs, coffee and grapefruit - compliments of Kelsey).  We then spent the rest of the day just the two of us....which when your husband is in the middle of studying for one of the biggest tests of his life is the BEST present ever!

So that's a quick little update of what's been going on with us.  I'll be trying to post more pictures of baby bumps as I am getting bigger and bigger as the weeks pass along!

Until next time....remember the reason for Christmas...the greatest gift each of us has ever received!

Fifth Semester, Michigan and a New Addition

Family and Friends:

You all know me by now and know that what started out as a great attempt to blog all the time has almost become non existant, and for that I apologize.......Many of you don't talk to me on a regular basis nor do you have even a general understanding of the craziness that is our life in medical school because I haven't updated this little blog =(

So here is my attempt to update you all on what has happened the past few months in our lives:

TIME IN DOMINICA.......has come to an end.  On Aug 22, 2011 Kelsey and I were scheduled to leave the island of Dominica and make it home in one day with very tight connections (if you flew here all the time you would know that is almost an impossible feat!)  So we got all packed, sold everything that we couldn't fit into three bags (we left a suitcase behind) and hoped we would be under the 50lb per bag limit so that all our bags would make it to St. Marteen (we flew Liat to St. Marteen via Antigua) and then we would board a different plane and airline to make it to Newark!!!!  Sounds simple enough except a little chic named Irene almost messed it all up!  That's right Ms. Irene swept through the night before and closed St. Marteen's airport, which we didn't find out until we were at the airport Monday morning.  What were we to do????? The airline told us they would call around 10 am (our flight was to leave at 9:15am) and for those that no me "that was just not acceptable" I wanted no NEEDED to get off that island THAT DAY!  So we started praying, sent out a text to Kelsey's mom to get everyone she new praying and literally within 30 minutes tops we found out that the airport was open (from a different counter) told Liat, who called, checked us in and our two extra bags (best $120 I have spent on the island) and we boarded our plane by 9:15am!!!  We made all of our connections, including a two hour layover in St. Marteen that was shrunk to just an hour! But thanks to the baggage guys downstairs who called our airline and let them know we were in baggage and not to sell our seats, we got on our flight, had time for lunch (best Quizzno Salad ever!!!), made it through security with 1 minutes left to board and we got home 20 minutes early!  If that wasn't God I don't know what else it could be.........PRAYER works people!

U.S. and OUR MOVE TO MICHIGAN.........What a blessing it was to be home for two weeks in NJ.  We got to see friends, family and Kelsey got some much needed R&R as well as some of the best food we have had in a LONG time...can anyone say steak?????  OOOOH  and we got to celebrate Aunt Sue and her 50th b-day which entailed lots of family and friends, a phillies game, and more steak!!!  After a brief two weeks home filled with swapping our spring/summer wardrobe for fall/bitter cold winter  wardrobe, we packed our car with all that would fit and headed out on a long 12 hour drive to Saginaw MI.  "Where???" some of you may ask....it's about 1 1/2 north of Detriot, but it's America and we are having a great time here. 

Kelsey had to take a HUGE test which is a mock of the first board exam he will take early next year and had to pass in order to even move on to the next two years of school!  You have three tries to take this exam, and PRAISE GOD - Kelsey passed the first time with a great score (although all you need is a 66 to pass) =)  So he is off to a good start here in Saginaw and already did his first (and only for now) pelvic exam on an "actual patient".  I think he has ruled out OB/GYN as a field he is interested in, but he is getting to work with patients on a regular basis which is a nice change of pace from sitting in a classroom five days a week.  Oh and did I mention (although he'll hate me for posting this) he has still maintained his 4.0!!! PROUD doesn't even begin to describe my feelings but it's only been by God's grace that he has gotten this far and been this successful, and to GOD be all the GLORY for his grades and success!

NEW ADDITION............now some of you may have heard through the grape vine.......

Just kidding!!!! But seriously.....

Kelsey and I will be expecting our first Baby Budd on February 29th (yep it's a leap year) of next year.  We are still a little shocked by the whole thing and at least 10 times a week still say "We're going to be parents!?!??!"  or "We're going to have a baby!!!!!!!!"  So crazy how a little over a year ago we were beginning the craziest thing either of us had ever done (well at least for Kelsey) by moving to a small 3rd world island in the Caribbean and now we are embarking on the craziest, most wonderful, scary, and exhilarating, life-changing experience we could ever have in becoming parents! 

We appreciate all of you who have been praying and continue to pray for Baby Budd and the growth and health of this beautiful miracle!

Until the next time (hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.....) remember to love those around you with more than just words....

The Final Semester Begins

Argh I was hoping to do a better job of updating this blog over semester 3 but as you can see....it DIDN'T HAPPEN!  So my goal is going to be to update this little bitty blog each Sunday, which was the plan for last semester, but with only 4 weeks of teaching left, and more free time then ever I think I should be able to accomplish this goal.

So what has been happening since our last update......


1. Apartment - we are actually staying in the same apartment this semester as last semester, which means for the first time in our marriage Kelsey and I will be living in the same space for more than 4 months!!!!  Here are just a few quick shots of our apartment...

 This is the view of the ocean from our front porch and kitchen!

 This is the living room.....

the dinning room and HUGE kitchen (for Dominica anyways)

 The bedroom.......

and our view from our bedroom....I literally wake up to the mountains each and every morning

..this apartment is such a blessing!

SO as you can see we love our apartment and are able to have our home fellowship KOINONIA in our apartment each Saturday.

2. School for Me - school for me is coming to an end.  School's official last day is JUNE 30th!  I will be glad to have more free time, but will miss the kids and the free A/C!!!!  But I have decided to work the summer program 2 days a week to keep me busy and to help cover expenses over the last few months when I don't receive a paycheck :(

3. School for Kelsey - Kelsey is doing AWESOME in Med school...while he doesn't like to brag, he's among the top in his class of over 250 students for his semester and is involved in several student groups, he leads our home fellowship group and tutors Anatomy!  Needless to say I am sooooooooooooooooooo proud of him this blog would make most people gag if I wrote on and on...so I won't but know that he's kicking butt and all of your prayers for us and for him during test times are not only appreciated but being answered.

In addition to this being Kels last semester on the island it is also the semester where he get's to be most like a "real doctor".  Yep he gets to go to hospitals and clinics and interview REAL patients.  Now while that might not seem like such a big deal it really is....up until now he has been interviewing "fake" patients who are given certain symptoms to report, history, etc.  He is now getting to go and try to determine what next steps a "Real Person" would need to take...this is no longer a textbook case of such and such.  His first hospital visit (for a full day and at our hospital in Roseau) will be on this coming Tuesday so keep him in your prayers!!!

4. The Break - This break we decided to stay local and head to another island so we jetted off to Barbados!  In theory this sounds like a wonderful idea...we find a great deal on a hotel right on the beach and we head out with another couple and poof!  We are whisked away to an island adventure in central america (technically I guess the southern islands are considered part of central america...who knew?)....

That's all for tonight....look for more updates on Barbados and our 2nd anniversary and Kelsey's 32nd birthday in the weeks to come...

Love ya all....and remember...if you can't love the ones your with...love them from a distance LOL!

Updates for Semester 3

Yes, yes I know I KNOW it's been way to long since any type of update.  Thoughts of "are they ok?" "do they have a place to live?" "are they still in Dominica?" must be running through everyone's heads.  But rest assured we are alive and well and enjoying our 3rd semester (months 8-12) of living in Dominica.

Here are just a few quick things that we have been up to:

1. Moved into yet another apartment (this time only to the building next door).  We lost the 2nd bedroom but gained a huge living room, eating space, kitchen and bedroom.  So I've been able to cook and bake like I did back home which is an incredible thing to do!
2. Valentine's Day  - we had a wonderful V-day with a homemade dinner to die for and a fabulous bottle of wine Kelsey surprised me with from one of my favorite places...South Africa!
3. Hiked to Victoria Falls - it's one of the largest (or maybe the largest) waterfalls on the island.  We had quite the adventure (individual post to follow)
4. Hiked to Boiling Lake!  YES you heard me correctly - a BOILING lake.  This hike usually takes 3 - 4 hours each way, but our crew did it in 2.5 hours each way!  Needless to say there were points of desperation, a walk through the Valley of Desolation and an amazing hidden waterfall that was featured in the Piarates of the Caribbean 2. (individual post to follow - with pics)
5. Started then canceled a trip to Paris =(  I personally was so excited to see that there were tickets for $650 each way to go to Paris from the neighboring island of Guadeloupe, unfortunately we didn't snatch them up in time, so it will be bumped til next year when we hope tickets are still a great price.  Until then Au revoir Paris!  We will see you again soon......
6. Carnival!!!!  Today is Carnival in Portsmouth the town that is nearest to the school....Kelsey and I plan to go there for a few hours today and check it out....

I promise to update more and post more pictures....but until then - keep on loving the ones you're with!

N

Birthday Island Style

So once again I am spending my birthdays overseas, in a foreign country and in HOT HUMID WEATHER!  But thanks to the great friends I've made here we had a great night - full of cake, poker and chocolate.  What more could a gal ask for.

Birthday Cake - Complements of Emily, Katie and Monique

The cake bakers/decorators!  So much talent on one little island

 Ladies getting their game on....

 My poker face!

That's right....look at the chips...those are real Dominican noodles there!

Veteran's Day

Wow it's really been over a month since I've updated...teaching, getting in shape, being a wife and house manager are really keeping me busy....I wanted to give a quick update and some reflections on Veteran's Day though and will try to do better....

UPDATE
We are five weeks from going home and I can hardly wait!  I don't know what's in store for us on our quick little visit home but I know we both get to see our families and that is more than enough for both of us.  Life has it's ups and downs on the island and lately I feel like it's been a little more up but with bigger downs.

The ups - playing softball, running, baking (we have chocolate chips!) helping with church and trying to stay creative have all been great ups but the lows have been a little lower than usual.  Missing family, hating the heat and wanting to go home have been really hard.  It has helped to talk with family and friends and to skype and see my new niece and nephew, but it's still not the same as being home.  All this homesickness has led to a love/hate relationship with facebook.  I LOVE being able to see everyone's updates and all that they are doing in their lives, but it's hard.....sometimes I feel like Kelsey and I are stuck in some sort of time warp and the rest of the world is going on, moving on, without us! And I HATE that!  I feel like we'll come back and everyone will have fancy flying cars and be talking about the latest song/movie/book/show/ that we've never even heard of!  But then as quickly as they come these lows disappear and another high comes along. 

Much of this I know has been my choice to focus more on God.  No magic recipe (5 prayers a day, with two chapters of the bible, mix with three worship songs and rest for 8 hrs....) No it's just little ole me, doing what I can each day to remind myself to think on Him and His goodness, and somehow the time is passing by and before I know it I will be getting back on a plane to go to Philly and to see friends and family.  It's been a hard balance though....to enjoy and get all that God has for me in this time here on Dominica and to not constantly focus on the future of when we get to leave (for good).  A very special THANK YOU to all who continue to keep us in your prayers and send us emails and words of encouragement....they mean more to us than you know.


VETERAN'S DAY:

Today has two special places in my heart.  The first is it is or was my grandparents anniversary!  They would have been married for 67 years this year and it's hard to believe at times that they are still not here anymore.  It got me to thinking about being married that long.  I remember when my grandfather passed away almost 3 years ago this Christmas and in talking with my grandma she said "You know I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't married to your grandfather" (they had been married for 64 years at the time).  I was so shocked, (not being married at the time) I couldn't think of being with someone for so long that you wouldn't remember a time without them.  Now on the flip side of that coin (marriage that is) I look forward to one day having 64 years with Kelsey and being able to look back on this time in Dominica and all the years to come and think "I can't remember a time when Kelsey wasn't in my life".  What a beautiful thing to be able to celebrate all the ups and downs, joys and sorrow of you WHOLE life with another person!  Thanks grandma and grandpa for showing your granddaughters that God, love and hard work can make a beautiful life!

The second of course was Veteran's Day!   As I sat there and saw the numerous facebook posts (still on the love/hate relationship but check in several times a day) and realized that outside of a friend here in Dominica and my father and uncles, I don't know anyone in the military.  I remember growing up that is was sooooo common to talk about Veteran's Day at school and EVERYONE had someone in their family that was in the military.  In fact in my grandfather's and father's time you could get drafted into the military, and not that all agreed with it, but most I feel felt it was an honor to serve their country and to protect the liberties and freedoms that we all cherish in this country.  I know military life isn't for me or for most of the people I know which makes me wonder who will be protecting our freedoms and liberties in the future?  I am comforted though in knowing that as long as we have been a country there have always been people willing to fight (physically) to make it happen.  So be sure to thank those that fight for us and our country, not just on Veteran's Day or Labor Day or Memorial Day, but each and every day in person, prayer or remembrance.

Until next time - live out the LOVE God has placed in you!

In my own back yard

In my own backyard is a pool - while not really in my backyard, but at the school's housing there is a pool that many of the spouses, students and kids love to go to for a "pool day".  Today was the last "pool day" for one of my friends Chelsey who coincidentally I met at the pool my first week here when Kelsey was at school.  My only other friend at the time Emily. Chelsey was so welcoming and even texted me a number of where to get my laundry done!  She's a mom of an adorable little girl, from Utah, loves the suburbs and Anthropologie.  Well this sweet friend will be traveling back to the States with her daughter as her husband finishes up his 4th and last semester here in Dominica.  It got me thinking how in only 5 months I was able to make such a great friend!  What was it that made our friendship develop so quickly.  Was it the shared struggles:  shopping at stores hours away, paying ridiculous prices to have AC running in our homes, sweating where ever you walk - WALKING to get anywhere in incredible heat!  Of course these all played a role, but I think it was so much more than this.

The women I have met here in Dominica have bypassed the "coffee shop" friend, the "see out and about" friend, and the "let's go to the mall" friend, directly to the "heart to heart" friends.   These women have become friends that I can confide in and share with, even exposing the dark and ugly parts of myself that I don't want to face myself - let alone share.  Part of this is because I know they KNOW where I am coming from......we all have husbands who are med students and we all know what it's like to see your husband for short stints at a time.  We also all have the luxury of living within a mile of each other, and due to the lack up hubby time at night - we are able to schedule "Glee Nights" (thanks Meagan) and Bible Studies to get to know each other at a much more intimate level.

But it is also because we made an EFFORT to get to know each other!  Each woman here has had to at one time or another make the first step to be the one to say "hi" and not wait for someone to say "hi" to her first.  It's an environment where you have two choices:  you can sit in your house (which even in this someone WILL call and see how you are doing) and be all alone or you can put yourself out there (emotionally speaking) chance rejection and see what type of people you will meet.  I have met people from all over the United States from all different backgrounds.  Some from cities, others small towns, some had careers, some were stay at home moms, but ALL have been amazing women with AMAZING stories that truly have only just begun.

If I never came to Dominica - would I have gotten this revelation about women and friendships?  Would I have realized the importance of investing in neighbors who are literally "next door".  Would I have discovered the treasures in friendships hidden in the hearts of women who are different from me?  Would I have been so bold as to force myself to be the one to initiate the friendship.  I don't know that I would.  Before Dominica making friends was a result of where I worked (I've been blessed to make great friends with my coworkers), where I went to church, or where I went to school.  There was not a challenge to meet my neighbor, share my struggles, open my heart to those around me.   I was comfortable seeking out people who were like me - city lovers, creative types, single, (more recently married) and who know the joys of a great glass of wine!  But now I've discovered something much more valuable than gold on my island adventure....I've discovered the value of investing in others who had different lives, backgrounds than me.  This little nugget of knowledge I pray to take back with me to any city that Kelsey and I may move to.

Until next time - I leave you with this.....if it's been years, decades, months, since you have made friends with someone in a one mile radius from your home....try baking some cookies and meeting your neighbors, you never know what hidden treasures are right in your own back yard!