Because He Can

Joe has decided to grow out his beard during finals week "because he can!" He was not allowed to have facial hair at his previous school and now he's taking advantage of it. He looks like a totally different man to me. The picture below shows him in his "finals attire." I told him he either looks like a thug or a backstreet boy. What do you think? Here's the other side of Joe- the nicely cleaned up, church going guy. I wanted to take this picture to show just how long both of our hair is getting (taken in our front room)! I have been cutting Joe's hair since we moved here and he says I get better with each one, but I know a professional would look at his hair and make one of those faces that says, "oh please let me fix this for him!" It's been fun to try it out though! As for me, I've decided to grow my hair out until it drives me crazy. This is about as long as I have had it since I was in elementary school!

Belated Wedding Presents

Up until we moved into our first home, I never had the space to get out all of our cool kitchen appliances we were given for our wedding. Now, I think the crock pot is just about the most fantastic thing ever!! The George Foreman, the punch/cake platter, and the hot chocolate mixer are all great adds to our collection!! How fun it is to use things for the first time 2 years later! I just have one present left that I have never opened and it's a 20" lazy susan. I think I'm intimidated by its size. I look at it and think, "I would have to invite over a lot of people and make a lot of food to fill that puppy!" Some day I'll find a reason to use it, I'm sure!

An Indicator of Wealth

You know you're a poor medical student when the change in the fountain outside the school is tempting. Joe has mentioned diving in numerous times when he or I want a drink from the vending machine while studying late at the school!!

The Happenings

Not a whole lot has gone on in the past 2 weeks, but here are a few random things:

1) I made Joe calzones from scratch for our anniversary dinner. They were DELICIOUS! I was so pleased that he loved them.

2) Joe has 2 weeks and I have 1 week left of school until Thanksgiving break! Yeah!

3) We lost another intramural basketball game this week, but my soccer team and Joe's volleyball team are playing for the championship!

4) We have had wonderful fall weather this past week and it's been great to be outside. Joe and I enjoyed a night jog for our date on Friday, followed by a trip to Walmart afterward for ice cream, of course! I couldn't believe that I actually wanted to walk around Walmart for "fun" that night. We spent about 15 minutes in front of the $5.00 movies before we finally picked one to watch while we had our ice cream desserts.

5) I made lots of crafts this week... coming soon on my etsy craft store!

6) I realized on Tuesday that I have gained a few pounds since arriving in Missouri. So, I threw in a couple 2 a day work outs and dropped about 3 of them. I'm afraid for the scale tomorrow, however after the weekend's yummy joys. I'm probably going to continue the 2-a-days this week and try to keep my fingers off the good stuff. Warm bread, anything with caramel, and ice cream are most definitely my greatest temptations.

7) We have had a number of potential students come stay with us for their interviews. Last weekend we hosted a guy from Utah who was nice enough to buy us dinner. Turns out, Ruby Tuesday food is pretty good.

8) Last one... I participated in a boutique on Saturday which turned out to be a great social event rather than a successful entrepreneurial endeavor. Thanks to everyone who participated and especially Tiffany for hosting it at her home!

"House Health Care Overhaul Faces Senate Stone Wall"

The bill which was passed on Saturday evening for health care reform has been on the forefront of mine and Joe's mind's today. We have wondered if President Obama's ideas for the health care system might immediately or eventually change the course of Joe's goals for his medical career. Somewhat to my relief, I read an article tonight (Sunday) titled, "House Health Care Overhaul Faces Senate Stone Wall." Sen. Lindsey Graham said, "The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate." For those of you who have not read up on what this bill has to offer, here are the main points....

• Both the House and Senate bills gradually would extend coverage to nearly all Americans by providing government subsidies to help pay premiums. The measures would bar insurers' practices such as charging more to those in poor health or denying them coverage altogether.
  
• All Americans would be required to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government plan or by purchasing it on their own.


• To keep down costs, the government subsidies and consumer protections don't take effect until 2013. During the three-year transition, both bills would provide $5 billion in federal dollars to help get coverage for people with medical problems who are turned down by private insurers.


• Both House and Senate would expand significantly the federal-state Medicaid health program for low-income people.


• The majority of people with employer-provided health insurance would not see changes. The main beneficiaries would be some 30 million people who have no coverage at work or have to buy it on their own. The legislation would create a federally regulated marketplace where they could shop for coverage.

While I strongly believe that something needs to be done for the millions of Americans stuck in the gap between qualifying for Medicaid and making enough to afford private insurance (or those who are not offered insurance through their employment), I do not believe heading for socialized medicine is going to be an advantageous direction to take. Yesterday, the passing of this bill was said to be one large step in that direction. We'll see what happens next.

I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on health care reform, if you care to leave a note...

You can find the article at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

A Joe Funny

I just have to tell you this quick story. The other day, I came into the kitchen and Joe was trying to make himself a shake in the blender. He says to me, "Do you know why the blender isn't working?" I watched him as he unplugged the blender, plugged it back in and continuously pushed the "OFF" button. I started to chuckle and replied, "maybe you should try a button other than "off" and it might work for you!" He sarcastically replied, "You see what all this studying does to me? My brain has turned to mush!"

It's Always Better When We're Together

October 26, 2009 marks our 2 year anniversary!!

This sign was hanging in the restaurant we went to on Friday night called the Pear Tree. It's an upscale steak place that all the first year medical students got a $25 gift certificate off to when they started school. Because Joe has tests and school and lots of yucky stuff to do on our actual anniversary day, we celebrated a few days early by going to St. Louis this weekend.

We went to see the arch. It was huge! All the beautiful surrounding fall tipped trees made it even more majestic to me.

After the arch, we had a picnic in the park.

Next, we went to the St. Louis Zoo! It was a rather large zoo and so worth the price of admissions! It was free! There were lots of Halloween activities going on at the zoo that day so we got to enjoy seeing all of the little kids dressed up in their costumes. Most of them were dressed up as animals. They were so cute.This is the face that Joe made when the rhinos were not to be seen in their cage. I swear, Joe has a 5 year old little boy living inside of him. As we walked away from the rhino cage, I just had to chuckle at Joe's little whimper, "But, I wanted to see a rhino. There's no rhinos. I've never seen a rhino. Can we come back later to see if the rhinos will be here?"

After the zoo, we went to the St. Louis Art Museum (also free). Lastly, we went out to eat in a cute little part of town filled with shops and restaurants. We ate at a bar/grill called Culpeppers. It was pretty good. Then, of course, we had to go to Cold Stone since there was one within four miles of where we were. We both love ice cream and cold stone is simply the best ever!!

We've sure loved our first two years together! Can't wait for the next one!