Open wide!

One of Elena's favorite ways to help out is to feed Lucas. She is quite good at it. She always wants to share her food or give him his own. The bite of food is sometimes accompanied by a "here, brudder, brudder." (trans; here, brother, brother) He gets a kick out of his sister feeding him, too.

Service Ideas???

I teach the Young Women in our ward and we are trying to brainstorm service project ideas. If any of you have something that you have done in past or present ward, please leave a comment or email! I would love some help with this.

The choices we make

After reading my last post, Drew mentioned that I seemed awfully negative for someone who was so positive. I thought about this, and although I reserve the right to rant and rave as much as I want to I came to the conclusion that I was letting this silly test dictate my mood for the day. This led to some further thought unrelated to the test. We can all have bad days and be in bad moods for a bit, but have you ever met someone who is just kind of always in a bad mood or in a negative frame of mind? I don't want to be that kind of person.

A common theme that I have developed over the past several years is that of taking ownership of our lives. We accept responsibility for lots of our decisions. How fast we drive, what we eat, who we're kind to, etc.. So why not take responsibility for our attitudes? There is a lot that happens in life that we don't have control over or maybe something we did have control over didn't work out the way we thought. What are you going to do about it?

I have a friend who was dealt a really tough hand in life. She lost the love of her life a few years ago. This loss left her on her own with two small children. I admire her so much because she has decided to go on with her life in a very positive direction. She has accomplished incredible things with so much faith and positivity. Sure she gets discouraged, but she keeps going and I believe that she is happy. Sure she's not happy about what happened, but she has made positive things come out of her tragedy.

I truly believe that being happy is a choice that we make. We can make it everyday, or recommit ourselves to the decision occassionally. What is wrong with looking at the world through rose colored glasses? They make it beautiful. Is it natural to focus on the negative? I think it is natural to identify it, but it is possible to move beyond it and get on making something positive out of the situation.

Drew and I decided a long time ago to be happy no matter what life throws at us. We can be happy where we live, although it may not have been our ideal choice. There are lots of great things about our house and Morgantown to focus on. We are happy even though we hardly get to see each other as a family because at least we're not being separated by an ocean and desert. Lucas cries a lot, but I still love him. It's OK to vent out frustrations and dissappointments, but I really try not to dwell on them. I just hope we can all make the choice to be happy, at least for today. You can decide again tomorrow.

Round Four

There is an air of tension floating over our household today. Not really tension, more like a combination of annoyance and anxiety. Drew is taking his fourth round of his medical licensing board exams today and tomorrow. Just allow me to vent my frustration at this process. He has been taking board exams since his second year of medical school. Each round is different in some degree, but the passing rate also increases as the testing goes on. My thought is that by now, if he isn't qualified to be a doctor someone should have taken his medical degree away from him a long time ago.

These tests are ridiculously expensive as several friends I know are aware. The exam has nothing to do with his chosen specialty. That would be a different situation. His score will basically qualify him to be a doctor in West Virginia. He will get a prescription pad with his name on it. The test is meant mainly as a screening, but he has been practicing as a resident for almost a year as will most of his colleagues who have to take the same test. I would like to think that if you aren't cut out to be a doctor something would have tipped you off by now.

I suppose I should save my rantings until after we find out if Drew has passed. I'm probably jinxing him as we speak. I am now knocking on wood and crossing my fingers.

Thanks Wylee!

Trenton's girlfriend, Wylee, has a great job running the youth's shoe dept. at a local sporting good store in Fargo. She is also a great shopper. The combination of the two has led to some awesome contributions to the kids' shoe collection. Here are the recent additions. Between Wylee and my mom, the kids are pretty well outfitted. Thank goodness!

On another note, Lucas is finally progressing into the world of a walker. This week he's been taking steps like crazy and crossing rooms. With and without shoes.

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Happy Easter!!

We had a great Easter weekend and hope that you did as well. The kids went on an Easter Egg hunt Saturday and Elena found 17 eggs all by herself. Lucas found one with the help of a five year old. Elena loves carrying around purses and baskets and putting stuff in them, so an Easter Egg hunt was perfect for her! The only negative was the weather. Rain and a temp of 33 didn't stop our kids from playing outside forever. Lucas just crawled through the wet, freezing grass happy to be free from the house. Elena is just unaffected by temperatures, so I don't even think she noticed.

We had a great Sunday morning and the kids loved digging through their Easter baskets. Thank you to the grandmas and great-grandmas who helped stock them! We were able to enjoy having some friends over after church for a fun Easter dinner complete with ten pounds of ham. Sandwiches, anyone?

Easter is such a great time to think about the blessings that we have and to be grateful for our relationship with the Savior. It's also a great start to spring. Hopefully, the weather will start to perk up around here. This place gives Indiana a good run at the title of gloomiest places to spend a winter.

Missing You!!

In reading my emails and comments from those of you who have visited the blog and even just looking at my address book in sending the invite out, it made me think about all of the friends that we have made along the way. Our family has covered a lot of territory, but I just wanted to post a message to let you all know that we miss you so much! I'm grateful for the examples that have been set and the lessons that have been taught by so many wonderful people. I was thinking about the nightly stroller parade and playground rendevous in IN. I seriously could not have gotten through the last two years of medical school without my girlfirends at Manchester!! I miss having that constant support, but I am making new friends and building an even broader support system that includes old and new. My firends from college and graduate school and high school have been amazing as well! I know that everyone moves on, but I hope I've been able to leave a small impression on each of you because I know you've all had a great impact on my and my family's life.

I miss you all,

Alicia

Handy Helpers

I have set a goal for posting some new pictures of our project house. I know lots of you have been wondering what we got ourselves into when we moved here. So, in the near future I will do that. I have lots of befores and not many afters. Probably because the house is still a work in progress and probably will be until a week before we move.

Isn't that true of most homes though? It seems like people always have something they would like to get done or some redecorating on their to-do lists. Our house was built in 1929 and recent owners tried to convert it to a three unit apartment building. For example, Elena's room was a kitchen and Lucas' had a furnace and bright blue carpet in it. Needless to say, we got a great deal on it. Thanks to the help of family members (including Elena and Lucas), we have made considerable progress in the short time we've lived here. We have had to undo a lot of the previous owners' crazy ideas, but it is now something that I am very excited to call home. Pictures will be coming shortly!

My Little Messes

These kids crack me up. It seems like one of them is always into something. These are a couple of recent pictures. Lucas has just gotten into Elena's abandoned yogurt. The other is one we took on a recent trip to North Dakota. Elena is helping me cook. I have learned that it is easiest for me to give her a bowl of flour and some other random ingredients and to let her mix to her heart's desire.

Trial Run

I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon. It seems like an easy way to keep friends informed of recent happenings, but my worst fear is that I will stop hearing from my friends because they'll already know everything. So please stay in touch!!