Six Months and Two Seasons Later........

is exactly how long it has been since I lasted posted something. I think it is sufficient to say that I am a terrible procrastinator and thus worse blogger. I honestly dont know how people post something everyday! I mean, my life isnt that crazy or busy, I dont have any children yet and I only have myself and Kamron to take care of, so if I cant find time to blog everyday, who can? Lets see, a lot has happened this past spring and summer, and we are going into fall, geez! I cant believe that it is fall again and another year has gone by living on the east coast.

In May kams parents came to visit us for 10 days. They took a cruise that ended in Brooklyn, so we just picked them up from there and hung out that day (and several other random days) in New York. It was a lot of fun and nice to see some family from back home! We had a blast, we took them to Times Square that first day, China town, Little Italy and generally walked a ton all over NY. Kam's parents loved it so much that on days when we were both working they would take the train into the city and spend the day there. We live walking distance to the train station so it was perfect for them. In between we took them around where we lived, ate at good restaurants, shopped. We all managed to live together in our small one bedroom apartment too! It wasnt easy, and not because we didnt get along, because I love them, but because 1 bathroom plus one bedroom is not easy for four full grown adults to share! But all in all , I think it made us all a little closer and we really did have a great time. Here are a few pics from their visit

 The other fun thing we did over this past summer is that we made a trip back to California to visit our friends and family. We stayed for ten days and got to see both of our families and friends that we hadnt seen in a year. We ate out A LOT, lounged around, had a Torbati-Owens barbecue, celebrated my brothers belated 21st and reminisced about the good old days back in Fresno. Here are a few pictures from our visit

Also, when we were in Fresno we got to meet my second cousin Elizabeth Grace for the first time. She is my cousin Chris and Sarahs first child and she was born a week before we made it to Fresno. We were so excited for them and knew that they would make great parents! I am close to Chris and Sarah so we couldn't be happier for them, congrats! She is beautiful.....

We are also very excited for Kamron's brother and his wife Ashley who are expecting their first baby in a few weeks, a girl named Madison. We are excited for them to begin the journey pf parenting and get back to us on the secrets. I cant believe we are going to become an uncle and aunt!

Overall, we had a great time back home. It was especially nice for Kamron to take a much needed break between third and fourth term, and also before the madness of his Step 2 board exam.

 Right when we came home Kamron had to start studying like crazy for that long, grueling, life determining test! That was definitely a very stressful and trying time! Technically, its the last test in medical school. so at least that is done and over with. He took it September 9th and he said that he thinks he did well, fingers crossed! To top it all off, during the madness of this exam crunching time we had to move out of our spacious one bedroom apt on the ocean to the hospital housing for medical students and residents. Boy did I not know what I was getting into! Although the price is almost half as much as what we were paying (utilities included), I had no idea beforehand that it was maybe half the size, old as dirt and with virtually no kitchen. We made it our own though, with some nice touches, and I can proudly say that we probably have the nicest box in this entire complex, haha. With that Kamron is officially fourth year now and has applied to residencies all over the place (60 programs). It will either be the east coast, west coast, or the south. All I can say is that we want to go somewhere new and are ready for a new adventure! We are keeping all of our options open and are looking forward to the interviews in the next few months. We might live like vagabonds but at least we get to see so many new places and experience life to the fullest. For that I am grateful!

The New Year

I know this blog is a little late in coming, it is March afterall, but Im a firm believer of the saying "better now than never". The past couple of months have brought about some important changes in our lives. I left my job at Macys to possibly pursue a Masters degree. Once I realized that getting a Masters in Teaching in New Jersey is very different and difficult than I thought it would be, another job seemed the logical choice. The university near our home (Monmouth University) decided that some of my courses from my under grad were not good enough, so naturally I had to appeal that decision. But all of that paperwork, transcripts and emailing takes time. Getting a Masters degree is something that is personally very important to me, so whether I pursue this dream now or later (once we know for sure where Kamron will be doing residency) is not that pertinent.

In the meantime, I had gotten a callback from a bank that I had applied to when we first moved here, almost 6 months ago. I had a friend who had worked in a bank back in California and I had heard that bank jobs are reliable, good paying and offer good benefits. The bank I had applied to as a teller is PNC. Unfortunately, for all you West coasters out there, you probably have never heard of this bank. PNC is located in various states along the East Coast as well as in the North East (Chicago, Ohio, etc). I ended up getting hired for a teller position part-time. This company not only offered an incredible wage, and benefits if I so chose, but the position is only 20 hrs a week, which is very beneficial to me as I enjoy being a housewive also...hehe. I started a week ago and am still learning and being mentored. I enjoy it and I think it is a good job to keep whether we move for residency or not.

About this same time we also learned that it is possible for Kamron to do one of his rotations back in California, near our hometown. We also learned that Kamron CAN apply to residency programs in California, even in Fresno. We were very excited for this, as we had previously thought that going back to California would be an impossibility until after residency. The rotation wouldnt be until next January and it would be a good chance for both of us to spend some quality time in our home state and with our family and friends. Until then, going back to visit is going to be difficult, not only because of my job but also because of Kamron's busy schedule with Step 2 of his board exams coming up.

The life of a medical student and his family (wives, children, parents, etc) is a very uncertain and difficult one. Moving around a lot and not knowing where you will be next or what the future holds is a very stressful thing. We dont know where we are going next, where we will start our family. Because of this I dont know if I should go back for my degree now, or when we are settled. Do we want to start all over again in a new place? Is it worth it?  Starting all over again with a new home, new furniture, new friends and new jobs/roles is never easy. To say that we underestimated the difficulty of the med school journey would be a severe understatement. But at the same time, isn't it these uncertainties, this sense of adventure and achievement that makes life interesting and gives us the experiences that make us who we are. To say that I have not had an interesting and exciting experience through this all would be a lie. Through all the difficulty and emotional suffering (not being surrounded by any friends or family), it has been one amazing, exciting and beneficial journey. I would not take back one second of it, not one, all of our time in Grenada included. Because when I am old, grey and predictable, I know I will look back at this time in our life and think, "that was so great. That was the best time of my life and because of that I am who I am today." 

Happy New Year!!!!

New Years Eve on the East Coast was cold, windy and snowy!!!! We woke up to a couple of inches of snow in the morning and by that night it had turned to an icy mix. Kamron's 28th birthday was also on New Years Eve so we decided to go out for a little while to celebrate. We ended up going to dinner at teppenyaki-Kamrons favorite, followed by drinks and hitting the wine bar!!! Here is to 2010! Hope everyone has a great year filled with happiness, good health, new opportunities and luck! We miss all of our great family and friends and look forward to having some visitors this year :)

Getting ready for the Arctic cold to go out

                                                            At dinner

More snow pictures from the blizzard.... The day after, or what I like to call the aftermath......

Let It Snow!!!

Our first real snow experience and we got blizzard like conditions!!! It didnt look that bad early in the day..... I thought "for sure we can drive in this so I can go to work......"

Throughout the day it got progressively worse though.......And Jenna decided to hide under the Christmas tree

And then it was way too bad to drive anywhere. We tried and failed. We only made it down the street until we deemed it was too treachero. Sorry Macy's

Christmas at the Torbati's

Thanksgiving, Crazy People and Sick Days

This holiday season being away from our family and friends we decided to branch out and make new memories with new people instead of sitting at home. For Thanksgvivng we were actually invited to a co-worker of mines home with her family and friends. Her name is Farrah and she is a Persian woman I work with at Macys. At first I was understandably hesitant to accept. I felt that I hardly knew her and I was afraid that Kamron and I would be the outsiders and would feel isolated since we would know no one except for her and one other co-coworker. But I figured it could also be our chance to find surrogate friends to share the holidays with, Farrah is sweet and I wouldnt have to cook. So I accepted..... I was so thankful I did too. Not only did we have a great time sharing food with about 15 other strangers we also shared stories about our various experiences and backgrounds and made memories and friends that will stay with us hopefully throughout our stay here in the East. Farrah even suprised me with a birthday cake and birthday song (my bday was the next day). I was so touched that this woman I hardly knew remembered that my birthday was the next day and went so far as to organize a celebration. I believe that things and experiences like this are exactly what Thanksgiving are all about. Making new friends (even if you dont speak the same language), sharing stories and good food. It was the best Thanksgiving we have had since Kamron started his med-school journey......

Unfortunately the next day, Black Friday, also my 25th birthday, I had to work at 4 am. Waking up at 2:30 am to go to work is not only one of the hardest things I have ever done but very unnatural. I of course tried to go to bed early but with no luck..... It is now my belief that no one should ever have to wake up in the middle of the night to get ready for work. There were crazzzzzzyyyy a@# people waiting in a line at the mall to get in when I got there. And when Macys opened at 5am there was a mad rush......... That is the moment I realized that whoever wakes up voluntarily at this unholy hour to go shopping must be very crazy and irrational. If you happen to be one of those who fall into this category I am sorry. I am sorry that you woke up that early to really only save 20$, I am sorry that you are able to wake up that early, and finally because I believe you are crazy.

All of this waking up sooooo early and working long hours finally took a toll on me.... The next day I was exhausted and sick. I had been battling a cold for the past week and so I think that day my body finally said N-O!!!! I woke up for another early shift and my head felt like it was going to explode, I felt nauseous and my nose was running like a faucet. I tried to function at work but within the hour my boss took mercy on me and sent me home. I spent the next 7 hrs sleeping and laying around. The next day I felt so much better and I was able to move on with life. The holidays are a crazy time that can be stressful and exciting all at once. It is important to take care of yourself and others during these next few months!

Interesting People and Places

So being from California and living here on the East Coast, I find myself constantly analyzing and comparing the differences between the two. Today, I really had an interesting insight into the differences in attitudes and personalities of people who live here. I went to go get my nails done today for the first time since I got married. I missed having them done and now that Im working, I figured why not treat myself. So naturally I didnt know where to go since Im not from here, so I ended up going to the closest one that I could find from my house. Of course, it looks like so many other nail salons all over the country. It reminded me of several places I have gone to before in Fresno.

Although I was shocked at the price (55$) to start, I decided to go ahead anyways. Other customers arrived and started chatting with each other (even though they were complete strangers), and one girl with severe psychological issues sat there and talked on and on the whole time with some other girl/customer the whole time. I know her whole life now, what psychological problems she suffers from without even knowing her. Now In Fresno, in any nail salon, you would never see something like this. Getting your nails done in Fresno in comparison to other strangers is like sitting on a train, bus or subway. No one looks or talks to eachother, let alone discloses their whole life to a complete stranger. Here, this seems to not be the case at all, actually the polar opposite.

In addition, working at macys I have met many interesting friendly people. A couple of the women I work with are persian so I get along with them really well since Kamron is persian too. Lo and behold we have been invited to one of the ladies house for a Thanksgiving dinner! I dont know her that well, so I was initially a little nervous about accepting. But I know that the awkwardness of going there and meeting people I have never met would pass in a matter of minutes. It is a chance for Kamron and I to spend Thanksgiving with other people than ourselves (like we have been doing for the past three years) and a chance to meet new people. We have done much more extreme and adventurous things (ie, moving to Grenada) so this should be a piece of cake! Trying new things and taking a risk is what makes life memorable and exciting!