Graduation Pics

Well, you must be thinking. It's about time!

Here's what E's medical school graduation looked like from my perspective. My beautiful (and energetic) little girl to my left. My Dad and brother to my right. I'm SOOOO glad they flew out. And can you believe my Dad is 50?!

And my brother is available . . . :)

Yes, E graduated almost 2 months ago and I'm finally posting these. But better late than never. I just thought I'd share with all of you--especially 3rd and 4th year med students and wives--that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know those early hours (i.e. 4:30 am) and call (ugh) can be a shock to the system at 1st. But it gets better.

Here's the processional as they make their way across campus to the ceremony.


And here's the handsome graduate. B couldn't contain herself. She kept calling, "Daddy! Daddy!" or more like: "Dawee! Dawee!" That must be what brought the smile to his face. I had to hold her back from running to march with him.











I couldn't help but have my heart swell a bit with pride as I watched the whole thing since to me it reflected the culmination of years of effort. E has wanted to be a doctor since he heard about Operation Smile while in high school.

I feel like it was kind of a team effort since we would study together a lot through undergrad and for the first couple years here. I also received my RN while here and almost completed my masters. But I never did get any sort of graduation thing. So I guess I felt this was sort of my bit of the pie too.

And here he is being hooded by some Dr. from the College of Medicine. He was thinking he wanted one of our doctor friends to do it, but they are all so busy in residency that he didn't want to bother them he said. I still think it would have been cool.

Ok, well. That's about as bring and brag as they come. Until the next spurt of energy hits me! Ciao, ungentle readers.

Happy 4th of July!

We braved the rain and saw the local Hilliard parade. It was fun although we left after an hour because it was a down pour. B loved gathering and eating all the candy people threw. By the end, she was waving at everyone and everything. We sure hope Minnesota has a parade next year!

Happy 4th of July!

Feeling Manly

I know, I know...it is a rare occasion that I am able to push R away from the computer so that I can post something, but tonight I was successful. There have been several experiences in the past month that have made me feel worthy to carry my "man-card".


1) Finishing the basement: Despite the "Great Bathroom Fiasco of 2005" R convinced me to complete the job by finishing the basement. Going from cinder brick walls and concrete floor to seamless drywall and soft carpet. It took four
weeks to do everything (a considerable improvement from the four months that it took for the bathroom basement) mostly thanks to the framing and drywalling help from my Dad and the borrowed tools from an Allen and a Whitehead. We are happy with the way it turned out and welcome anyone over to enjoy it with us, although Bella's toys have already overtaken it.
Before and after pictures are displayed.












2) Getting paid: For the first time in over four years I am going to be coming home at the end of the day knowing that I made a little money for my efforts. So what if it breaks down to just a little over minimum wage, that's not so bad after eight years of post high school education...right? No matter, it still feels good.

3) Going golfing: This may be a regular occurrence for some of you, but it is extremely rare for me so a morning of golf was much appreciated. I'm not afraid to admit that I can play the whole course with 3-4 clubs, even though I still carry around a bag full of them (that makes it look like I actually know what I am doing). I am proud to say that I only had to resort to my "you never get over par on a hole" rule more than twice.

4) Yard work: Okay, it wasn't real yard work but it involved dirt, a shovel and my hands...so it counts. R, B, and I planted flowers in the spacious few feet of soil we have in front of our town home. We kept it simple but like the little splash of color it adds to our home. Here's B helping us water keep the flowers well hydrated.

5) Not showering for 3 days: admittedly not my most glorious moment, but manly nonetheless.






6) Working on my car: This was the apex of my "man month". I had been trying to ignore the blasted orange Check Engine light in my trusty Saturn for the past several months. I think I waited so long because I always feel like the mechanic works me over whenever I go to get something fixed.

"Oh wow, you need to replace your colon coil ASAP."
"Colon coil? I've never heard of that before."
"Oh yeah, it's right next to the cold fusion reactor behind the hamster runner."
"Well, if you think its important."
"For sure, if it doesn't get fixed immediately your car could blow up, or worse."

Needless to say I feel like I'm taking it up the colon coil by the time I leave, so I decided to figure this one out myself. I went to Advanced Auto and had them gather the error codes from the car and found out that the O2 sensor needed to be replaced (which costs ~$250 for a mechanic to do it). So I looked online and found a video on YouTube that shows a guy changing his O2 sensor and I said to myself "I think I can do that". So I bought the part (for $75) and in a true man move I set to work doing something that I had never before attempted armed only with a You Tube video as my instructor. Five minutes later the repair was made and my car was purring like a kitten. At this point, my manliness proven, I went inside and declared my mechanical prowess to R who gave me a well deserved congratulatory pat on the back. We'll see if the car makes it to work tomorrow. Rachel is on stand-by, just in case YouTube led me astray.

More trip to Utah

So, for my Dad's 50th we had a big party where we invited tons of people, had bratwurst and other traditional German sausage, delicious salads, cookies, and other good food. Me and my sisters were kept pretty busy trying to keep up with all the neighbors who came.

Here's a picture of my Dad (center) with his good friend (and former mission companion), Jim Renner, and wife who is an amazing sculptor and hilarious guy. This isn't a very good picture with the light in the background but I guess it's fitting since my Dad was in the spotlight the whole night and really enjoyed himself. He is a social animal. And Eric wonders where I get it from? . . .



Here's Eric in one of his more GQ moments.

Here's a pic of the 6 Oswald kids. And you think I'm tall?!

And here's the whole gang. B was a bit tired after a long day and I was feeling a bit sick so I don't look so happy. But it was really fun being with everyone. You can see the "Welcome Home" and "Happy Birthday" signs in the background. It was a trip we'll remember for years to come.

Thanks everyone! (especially Mom, who is not in any picture, but who was the main force for planning all this and taking care of everyone). We really appreciate you!

Trip to Utah - May 2008

We headed to Utah before graduation to celebrate my brother's homecoming from his 2 year mission to Panama as well as my Dad's big 5-0 Bday party. It was sooo nice to be there and see everyone. Who knows when we'll go back so I cherished this trip.

Here's Eric with my brother, Nate, just home from the mish.















B had a blast visiting everyone and getting all the attention as the only grandchild. She loved playing with her aunts and running around in the backyard. Here she is getting chased by Amanda and Tressa.








Here's B with all my sisters. ONO, Manda, and Tressa. Aren't they all so gorgeous?
You can see B was spoiled with attention!










And here's my other bro, Dave. Look at that photogenic smile! I don't know why I don't have a picture of his beautiful wife, Rashelle, but here's a link to their blog to get more info on the homecoming from her perspective.

Enjoying artichokes

Well, some of our friends remarked that they had never had artichokes before. Since E's from California, we were taken back by this and it inspired us to fix artichokes that night. Here's B with her 1st one. She loved it!! Frome now on we have to fix her one all for herself or she eats all of ours. However, she has not yet discovered that the heart is the best part. :) We'll tell her when she's older.

Mmmmmm!

April 2008

So, I thought I'd write a bit about what we've been doing these past 3 months. I'm feeling better today and actually topped it off with some Buckeye Blitz ice cream from Graeter's. It was SOOOO delicious! Of course, I may be regretting that in about 30 minutes when I head to the toilet. Anyhow . . .
Here's little B and friends Thomas and Hewitt during our trip to Philly at the beginning of April. I feel like such a slacker cause this was the only picture I took. But I went there to help my friend who had just had a baby and had to get her house ready to move. For some fun, I took her two boys and B on some outings. We went to the grocery store, story time at their library, and (across West Philly) to this AWESOME huge mansion that has toys in every room and is free for the "children of Philadelphia."
This picture was after this trip. Looks like I wore them all out, didn't I?







Next, is Miss B trying on her swimsuit for the 1st time as we got excited for the pool to open up.
At least she had the right idea . . .

Blog and Blah

Well, as aforementioned, I do so hope to post some pictures from the past couple months. As for this lofty goal--since I am not a blogger and have not yet tried Picasa--these 2 will do for now.

Plus, whenever I do have free time to blog (B's nap or bedtime) I am usually so sick by then that the last thing I want to do is stare at a computer screen while waves of nausea come crashing over me. Because afternoons and evenings are the worst for me, E and I have not had a real date in over 2 months. But maybe that's because I have a daily date with our toilet and bed. Thank goodness for Lysol wipes.

I can't help but be a bit jealous of those who have no sickness with pregnancy. Then I tell myself that they must have other challenges somewhere else. That makes me feel better. A little.

Plus, "it could be worse." I am usually GREAT in the morning and have no hint of nausea. HALLELUJIA! This, of course, coincides with church and most activities, which is good. However, if people looked closer they would see the dark circles under my eyes and little bruises (called petechiae) all around my face from throwing up so hard the night before.

When I'm staring at the dinner I so valiantly cooked, digested, and undigested--even though while cooking I thought "chicken never smelled so bad"--I can't help but wish for the day that this will be over. With B it was over around 16 weeks, which would be next week. So here's hoping.

But, since this consumes most of my day from 1 o'clock on, let's list the stuff that makes me sick: 1) the smell of boiled chicken, 2) the smell of cooked broccoli, 3) anything dairy products, 4) sickly sweet air fresheners, 5) Caesar salad, 6) chocolate, 7) staring at a computer screen. Ok, that's good for now. What makes/made you sick when you were pregnant?!


To end this post on a happy note. Here's B making up for my lack of eating. Here she was helping her grandma cook a delicious dessert--at least I heard it was good. She loves being a little helper!

2 more things

Oh yes, and I just had to add two more significant things that happened in the last couple months:

1) E has been working hard during his time off of school and FINISHED OUR BASEMENT! Thank you!!!!!

and

2) We are expecting Baby #2 in December! (yes, I'm still sick--ugh). Luckily, there have been no complications with this one as with the last. I've been paranoid about telling people cause of my last pregnancy, but I think I'm out of the danger zone for now. We'll see what the next ultrasound brings.

Note: Sympathy meals for any of the aforementioned events (i.e. baby, husband starting internship, etc.) are more than welcome after the aformentioned cruise in 10 days.
Just kidding. ;)

p.s. We will REALLY miss ALL our friends who are moving this next week. I start tearing up every time I think about all those empty houses where we had fun memories. I know B will especially miss her good friends Alyssa, Creed, and her favorite babysitter Katherine (& Tommie and Kassie) with her van that she just LOVED.

Last 2 months!

Hey all!
You're probably wondering what the heck happened to my posts? Actually, I won't kid myself. I'm not that significant in your lives. But, just fyi we've been super busy the last 2 months with trips to Philly, Utah, and visitors here for over a week. We've gone swimming for the first time this year and visited Fort Rapids (indoor water park).

B wore pig tails for the first time.
And . . . . drum roll please . . . E is graduating from med school TODAY! So, we're off there and then headed to Boston tomorrow for a cruise to Canada . . . more on that later.

Anyhow, gotta go. Busy day! Will post more in 10 days when we return! :)

Congrats!

Well, just wanted to say CONGRATS to my wonderful best friend and hubby, E, for his amazing accomplishments of plugging through not only 4 years of undergrad, but another 4 of med school. One word: WOW.

We've tried to make most things in our life a team effort, but for this he deserves his due. He worked hard and studied more than I ever could. He studied long days (and sometimes evenings)--but his hard work and dedication really paid off, I Must Say. . .

Ok, so that's about it from my "Bring and Brag" object of the day. E You Rock.

Oh yes, and sorry for the long break from posting. We had family in town and the fun just couldn't stop!

Here's a pic of E with some of his fellow geniuses at an Honors' recognition banquet. I guess they all got the memo about the blue shirt requirement. :)

Earning Her Keep

Well, B has been running low on money lately. (Haven't we all?) So we told her we would pay her some big bucks for taking over my chores. She happily agreed as she loves to "help" do them anyhow.

She started by cooking us a delicious breakfast . . . as soon as she could figure out where that dang "whisk" thing was.


Afterwards, she realized that she had a whole sink of dishes to do!! But, not to be dismayed. This, she realized, was one of her favorite tasks! (to this day big tears fill her eyes when we deny her request to do the dishes).


Especially when it came to turning off and on the water. REeeACH!


And last, but definitely not least, she volunteered to babysit her little friend J for some extra dough. He is her favorite "baby" to take care of. Here she cozied right up to him and tried to amuse him with a funny finger-in-mouth sound . . . definitely NOT amused. :)

In the end, we thought she had earned her keep pretty well for that day. But there's always tomorrow. :)

With Flash and Without

I recently read that you should NEVER use flash. While I doubt that is totally true, I decided to experiment with no-flash pictures. B likes to look out the window at some stray cats that have graced our back and front porches (lucky us).

The picture on the lower right is with flash.

The picture on the upper left without.

What are the differences?! See them?











And again sans flash below (this picture is better than both above, I think):


I guess one of the keys of NOT using flash is learning to use natural light--which I still have to figure out.

One of My Favorite Things

Well, I've been gone for a little under a week visiting a dear friend in the City of Brotherly Love--and I dare say Sisterly Love, because I do love her as a sister. We met back in the days of BYU and played basketball together on a couple teams, hung out with our husbands as couples, and just "clicked."

In Philly, we had a lot of time to talk since we did a lot of cleaning and fixing up to get her house ready to sell. And we started talking about our favorite things. Hmmm . . . my list is long: chocolate ice cream, chocolate, delicious food, . . . ok you get the point that I love food.

But, among other things, I LOVE to play basketball. It is so fun to run and jump and exercise and have fun with other people while not even noticing how much of a workout you are getting. It is also a time when I do not realize or think about how much taller I am than most all other women (and men) and can just be in the moment and ENJOY--even though I really am fully exhausted after a good, hard game.

Recently, I have been on a basketball team that plays once a week in a women's league. We've also had church ball--which league we won! So, in honor of that, I had to include a photo: (unfortunately this does not include everyone, but it's pretty close).


Oh yeah, don't you love my wings behind my ears? Guess I should have waited for that haircut . . . (Note: this is also post game).

Also, B likes to help me get ready every week for the big game, so here she is modeling three jerseys that she just HAD to layer for the full effect:


She'd be pretty intimidating on the court, don't you think? Especially when she's posed like a Shaq or KG. That's why she gets to go to Sporties for Shorties every week with her daddy--to work on those skills. Watch out!

Easter Hunting

We decided to do B's Easter basket hunt after church and a good nap. And with a little help, she found it!

At first she seemed a little lost--(note the post-nap hair and glazed look).
But she got the idea pretty soon . . .

Especially when she discovered the jelly beans . . . mmmmmmmm . . . yummy!

Then, we went out side and joined some friends for an Easter egg hunt.

She hunted . . .

And hunted . . .

And hunted . . .

Look at her stash!

When she was done looking on the ground, she "found" some in a friend's basket.


Here's B with all her friends.


It was such a beautifully wonderful day!!

Easter Weekend - Duckling Day Parade

Well, B is sleeping more during her sick days, so I guess I do have some time for blogging . . .


The Saturday before Easter B was invited to a birthday party and got to march in the annual Duckling Day Parade. Here she is as a little duckling. I think she's soooo cute but she was rather overwhelmed by it all so she had a blah face on. Also, it was SOOOO cold. So, she wore her coat for most of it.
She LOVED the big ducks that were posing for pictures outside the library--as she is an animal lover at heart. She wasn't even afraid to walk right up and give it a hug.

She was also pretty excited to see some dogs being walked and to collect this rubber ducky dressed up as a fire fighter--placed along the duckling's route.

But her favorite part of all was afterwards . . . at the birthday party, EATING CAKE! You can see the little hand reaching up for another cupcake. B is sooo tall for her age that she can reach most things a 2 1/2 year old can, but she does not have the capacity or self control for understanding "no." Plus, it was Easter weekend. So, did I really care how many (19) jelly beans she ate in 1 hour?! :)

I must say to the party planners, it was the best party and best food I've had in a loooong time. Of course, these friends are notorious for their fun parties and invites and craftiness, and all around creativeness. Unfortunately, I did not get a good picture of B and the birthday boy together. But, thank you & Happy Birthday!