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......