Date Night On Tuesday? Definitely.

I can't wait to see my sweet husband tonight!!  He has been in Wilkes-Barre doing an away rotation for the past two months and we are officially on the downhill slide.  He has six more days of apartment, bachelor living until he is home.for.good!  I try not to complain about him being away because, well, what would that help?  Let me just tell you though... I will be one happy chick to be living under the same roof again.  The best part is that after the end of this month there will be no more away rotations. Ever.

Residency and fellowship is all about flexibility and accepting whatever comes your way...  and to be very honest with you we have LOVED it.  Sure, there have been frustrating times, sleepless nights of nonstop pages, holidays spent away from family and even away from each other, and many plans that have had to be changed or cancelled last minute and unexpectedly... but ya know, at least we have been in it together.  This will be a phase and time in our lives that we will hold very close to our hearts.  I have LOVED this time.  We have been forced to learn to depend 100% on each other, to be flexible and understanding, and to appreciate every singe second we get to spend together, every date night, and every weekend off.  

As I decorate our home for Christmas, I've realized that this is pretty much it for our journey through residency and fellowship.  We're putting our home on the market next month and trying to plan for our next step of life.  Brian officially finishes fellowship in June... WOW time flies!  We're so thankful and so blessed to have had such an amazing journey so far.

Now... I'm off to shower and get all dolled up for date night :-)  I am amazed every day by my husband.  He works so ridiculously hard without complaints, does extra work because he wants to make sure things are fair, and really has one of the coolest and scariest jobs I could ever imagine.  However, somehow he still comes home and asks what he can do to help, has no fear of apologizing when he's wrong, makes me want to be a better person, makes me laugh until I can't breath, and makes me feel like the most important thing in the entire world.   His investment to our home life is twice that of his investment to work... which is a lot!   

All things that EVERY woman deserves!  

I'll definitely toast a margarita to that... and I plan to this evening!!

I stumbled upon this quote today and I think it's pretty amazing.  

“He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.” – Bob Marley

BOOK GIFTAWAY: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

One of my very favorite things to do is read.  I love it... especially when it involves cuddling up with my slippers, blanket, and puppies.  However, for the past several years I've come up with a million and one excuses to justify why I don't have time.  I need to clean the house.  I need to be reading for work.  I need to pay bills and run errands.  I need to exercise.  Blah, blah, blah. :-)  While all of those things are true, there is no reason I can't take 30 minutes a day to sneak away.  Thirty minutes always turns in to much, much longer but who's counting?

I love that feeling when you find a book that just sucks you in.  You know... the ones you just can't put down!  I recently finished what I could consider to be a "must read".

There are a few books that we will have forever... our Bibles, our Marriam-Webster dictionary with the cover falling off, my set of Grimm's Fairy Tales that my mom read to me as a child, my copy of Polar Express, and my collection of Herman Wouk novels that were given to me by Brian's mom.  They will all stay on our shelves forever.  I love all things with sentimental value!

However, since there are so many great books out there I think it's a shame to read one, put it on the shelf, and have it never be opened again because there are so many other great ones to read. So why not pass them along for others to enjoy?

Which brought me to my next idea... BOOK GIFTAWAY!

I'm a firm believer in paying it forward.  So this is how its going to work.  When I finish a great book, I'll post it on the blog with a short synopsis and if it's something you think you may be interested in reading then simply post something in the comments.  I don't care if we're good friends, have talked once in our life, talk every day, or are complete strangers.  I'm happy to send it to anyone that may enjoy it!  After one week, I'll put everyones name in a hat, draw randomly, and then mail you the book.  FOR FREE!!

The only thing I ask is that when you're finished that you pass it along to someone else that may love it.  Doesn't matter who :)

So here's the first book to be gifted.  Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.   This book was recommended to me by one of my best friends,  Carmen.  It has been sitting on my coffee table for the past year.  Shame on me!

This book turned me in to a crazy lady.  I was reading it at work, waking up much earlier than necessary to read, reading while pumping gas in my Prius (which takes 3 minutes) and then sitting at the pump to finish just one more page.  I was out of control!

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles--and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

Abraham Verghese, the author of Cutting for Stone, is also a physician. He did his internal medicine residency in Johnson City, Tennessee.  This is obviously a place near and dear to our family.  His history and background are incredible!  See the quote and link below to learn more about this amazing man.  

http://abrahamverghese.com/

“I wanted the reader to see how entering medicine was a passionate quest, a romantic pursuit, a spiritual calling, a privileged yet hazardous undertaking,” he said. “It’s a view of medicine I don’t think too many young people see in the West because, frankly, in the sterile hallways of modern medical-industrial complexes, where physicians and nurses are hunkered down behind computer monitors, and patients are whisked off here and there for all manner of tests, that side of medicine gets lost.”

This book is truly sensational!

If you're interested comment below within the next week and I'll let you know who will be receiving this gem!

Happy Reading.
xoxo