Christmas is Almost Here!!

It's December!!  And aside from the fact that it has officially turned into winter outside, it is a wonderful time of year with Christmas just around the corner!  And the best part is, we get to come back home for the Holidays!  Andee managed to get a week off over Christmas to celebrate with our wonderful family and friends!  Praise the Lord!!

Speaking of coming back home, and also Praising the Lord, Andee and I were able to head home a few weeks ago for a "surprise" week off!  Let me explain.  A mere 2 days before we headed back to Canada, Andee was a day away from finishing his last core rotation, and had no elective rotations booked for the following week or for the rest of his schooling.  He needed all of his rotations to be back to back in order to get a week off at Christmas and still be able to graduate before June.  As we were getting a little concerned about how the next few weeks would pan out, that is when God worked a miracle.  Actually, a series of little miracles that made the next week possible!  Within the span of literally under an hour, everything just fell into place in God's perfect timing!  As Andee was making a series of calls to UMHS to sort out the rotations, he received his MCCEE (Canadian Licensing exam) grade, which was well above the average, and even above the average CSA (Canadian Studying Abroad) acceptance grade for a Canadian Residency!  PRAISE THE LORD!  This grade will significantly improve Andee's opportunities for landing a Canadian Residency for next year!  How great is our God!?!  Also within the hour, Andee received an interview invite for a Family Residency program in Rockford, Illinois, which is under an hour and a half from where we are living now!  PRAISE THE LORD!  In addition (as if it couldn't get any better) Andee was given a 4 week radiology rotation here in Illinois that started the Monday coming  - but here is the kicker.  The radiologist that Andee would be rotating with was taking that first week off - and therefore giving her students the week off too!  Which meant that Andee would be given credit for the week, and also that we would be able to take the week off to head back to Canada!!!  PRAISE THE LORD!!  Which also meant that we were able to (just barely!) make it to April and Darryl's Wedding back in Canada!!!  PRAISE THE LORD!!  Andee was also able to book 2 time sensitive exams that he was having trouble booking at a testing center in Toronto, allowing us to spend the entire week back home!  And all along I had started a 21 day fast that was convicting me of unbelief and focusing on prayer!  God is faithful!!  We are so blessed!!

We headed back to Canada on Saturday, which was the same day as April and Darryl's wedding!  We woke up early and drove through the day in order to make it just in time for the reception!!  We had a great time seeing our wonderful Canadian friends, and we were so glad to be in attendance for this wonderful day after giving this wonderfully understanding couple only 2 days notice that we were coming!  What a great way to start a week back home!

We spent most of the impromptu week hanging out with our family and friends with dinners, lunches, hot tubbing, and lots of relaxing after Andee's hectic 6 week rotation in Psychiatry.  We had a wonderful time visiting with our favourite Canadians, and were so blessed to get this "surprise" week off!  We did have some trouble at the US border, in which we were treated unfairly, but God is merciful and faithful and we are putting our trust in Him that we will both be back in Illinois come the new year!  He is good!!

When we returned back to Illinois, we decided it was time to put up our Christmas tree!  Halloween was over, and since we Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, the only thing left to do was to start celebrating Christmas early!  We were a little concerned as to how our Aloe Cat would react to such a strange new object in the apartment.  It turns out, he loves the tree!  He has spent much of the last few weeks sleeping and relaxing underneath it!  And all was well with our Aloe Cat and the Christmas tree.  Well, there was one exception.  We woke up one morning to find that something was a little off - there was a Christmas tree on the ground, and a very guilty kitty beside it!  Good thing all of our ornaments are plastic!  Since the tree incident, it has been smooth sailing ever since!  Oh kitties, always good for a laugh!

Just before winter weather hit in full force, Andee was able to get one last fish in for the year - with the lakes freezing over only a few days later.  He caught one last monster bass to close out this fishing season!  I suppose we will have to start skiing season soon!

Andee's interview in Rockford also went very well, and we are hopeful and confident in what and where it is that God has next for us!  We also got to stay a night at a really nice hotel with sleep number beds!  So fun!

Once all the craziness of traveling home, interviewing, and exams started to wind down, Andee and I have enjoyed a lot of time together hanging out due to Andee's much light rotation schedule than his core rotations.  Even though it has been cold outside, it has been really great spending time with the Hubby!  In addition to this, I was able to spend some time with Naomi and family (and new member, baby Anna!), who surprised us by arriving in Illinois recently!  We were able to spend a day at the Cosley Zoo, and are planning more hangouts to come!  Also, Kristen and family have just arrived in Illinois for a 4 week rotation in the city!  After over 2 years since we were both on the Island, we get to hang out tomorrow morning!!  I also get to meet her new little baby, Brylee!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  It's going to be a great Christmas season!!  And let's not forget the reason for the season - our Saviour!  Happy Holidays!!

Illinois Fall x2

It's Fall!  Well actually, the last time I posted a blog it was still technically Fall, but with the beautiful "summer" weather we had for most of September and the beginning of October, it has just started to feel like fall these past couple of weeks.  I can't say that I'm impressed; we (Andee) has already had to scrape the car from ice at least twice so far, and it will only get worse before it gets better!  Didn't you all miss Winter Diana?  I didn't!  At least I can start making a variety of hot and yummy soups again!  Let's get back to the Summer part of Fall!

For virtually the entirety of September, as well as the beginning of October, we had some pretty beautiful t-shirt type weather.  This allowed for some much anticipated time outside with the Hubby!  Since he has been so busy lately with exams, applications, blah blah blah, etc., we hadn't had much of a chance to enjoy the summer weather together.  Good thing summer stuck around for a while!

We (Andee) were also able to spend some time fishing!  Although the fishing isn't quite as good since the flood, Andee was still able to catch a few monsters!  And of course, I always love spending time outside!

Andee and I were also able to enjoy a Benedictine Football game with Amy and Coach Freitag!  Haha.  It was really fun seeing Joe in action, and even though we had terribly rainy and unpredictable weather throughout the game, it was still really fun to watch!  And we even managed to snap this photo before the rain!

Another exciting part of October is of course, Canadian Thanksgiving!  Andee and I were both off work, and so we were able to have a wonderful date climbing the ski hill, relaxing, and chatting.  What a beautiful apartment complex God has blessed us with here in Illinois!  If you remember correctly, Andee and I called over 50 apartments, with only two even willing to accept our student loan without an American co-signer.  And one of those places is now the place we can home! (for now at least!)  God is good!!  All the time!!

Meanwhile, Andee and I were preparing a delicious Thanksgiving feast consisting of mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash, green bean casserole, stuffing, and of course, turkey!  Perfect for a table for three!  Look who decided to join us for dinner?  (The real story is that this picture took at least 10 minutes to orchestrate, we persuaded Aloe to the table with the promise of delicious turkey, several 10-second timers later followed by a photo shoot of just Aloe chowing down, and all the while our delicious meal getting cold)  But not to worry!  A little microwave later, and voila!  A delicious feast was had by all! 

This past weekend we were also thrilled to have Cassie and Trevor visit us for the second time in Illinois!  Although it was a pretty cold weekend, it was so fun seeing family!!  We were able to get in some shopping, Bass Pro shop, and some delicious meals and much more!

On Friday morning at 6:15AM, Cassie and Trevor arrived in Illinois!  After driving all night, they needed at least a few hours of sleep to be able to enjoy the day!  They settled for about three solid hours before we had a leisurely breakfast, and then headed out for the day!  Since Andee had to work during the day, the three of us enjoyed some fun activities until Andee was off for the weekend!  We started the day at the Cosley Zoo, which is always a fun afternoon!  We saw some cute farm animals, birds, and of course, Bob and Robert the Bobcats!!  I love them!  There was also a cute little straw house, pumpkins, and bales of hay to get us in a Fall mood!

We then headed to the mall to do a little shopping, and had a delicious American Lunch at Whitecastle!  Yum!  Afterward, we headed to Bass Pro Shop where we met Andee for the evening!  A little bit of shopping later, as well as a very cute Peanuts characters Halloween display, (sorry for the horrible quality of the picture, it was a print out!) and we headed to dinner!  We enjoyed some yummy Chicagoland Portillo's, and the first of the three day visit was a success!

The next day, it was a little on the cold side, so we headed out to Chick-Fil-A for a yummy American lunch!  We did a little bit more shopping, and Andee and Trevor got to spend a bit of time fishing while the girls fed some neighboring geese and walked around the complex!  We finished out the evening by ordering in some pizza hut pizza, and relaxing inside.  Perf!

Day three of the visit we had an extra special day that included visiting the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago!  Ironically, Cassie and Trevor had been to the Aquarium before, but these two Chicagoland temporary residents had yet to explore downtown!  The aquarium was home to so many interesting and fun sea creatures, and we had a really fun time!  It was a beautiful day outside, and we even got these amazing photos in front of the Chicago skyline!  Beautiful!

We then headed back to the apartment for Cassie and Trevor to pack up and head home.  They would once again be driving through the night, and both had to work in the afternoon/evening the next day.  Wow, they must really love us to do all the driving and sacrificing sleep just to come see us!  We so appreciated having them come to visit us, and we hope to head back home to Canada for Christmas to see the rest of our wonderful family!

See you all soon!

It's a Canadian Birthday kind of September!

Guess what day it is today? (OK yesterday, but I wrote this yesterday, and it applied then, so just humor me!)  HUMP DAY!!  Just kidding, but it actually is, but more importantly it is Andee's Birthday!!  I foresee a delicious dinner and baked treat in his future!  26 years old for the both of us this month, which is officially the last year we have in our "mid-twenties".  We also went to bed before 9pm last night, which means that we are officially old.  Good thing we can still pass as teenagers!  Or maybe not such a good thing.....

Anyways, today Andee and I found out that he passed all three of his American licensing exams!  And the residency application process continues!  Only one more exam results to go, this one Canadian, and we can breathe a little easier......except not really because here come the applications, interviews, paperwork, and more clinical rotations!  Med student living!  Good thing we have the hope and assurance that comes from Jesus!!  How in the world does anyone do anything without Him??  Onto the final stage of the Med school journey we go!!

In other news, we were able to celebrate both of our September birthdays last week with an impromptu visit to CANADA!!  WOOHOO!  Although Andee was quite busy with school related nonsense, we were able to see lots of family and friends during our visit!  Unfortunately, Cassie and Trevor had already planned a vacation for that week, and so we weren't able to see them at all!  But they are hopefully coming to Illinois to visit us sometime soon!  

We arrived home on Saturday evening after an especially long and tiring road trip to be greeted by my wonderful parents and chubby Purr Face!  Aloe and Mr. Purr got along extremely well this time around, with only one hiss from Aloe followed by a submissive squeak, and then smooth sailing for the rest of the week!  We enjoyed some delicious Canadian McDonalds dinner with yummy birthday cake, chatted for a bit, and then called it a night!

On Sunday, I was able to visit my love Jenna in Toronto!  Since it was my first time visiting her new place, I was glad to see how much she loves living in the city!  We got some delish brekkie, and caught up on everything new in our lives!  Yay!

Afterwards, Andee and I headed to his parent's house for a delicious meal with the whole Luke family!  The food was incredibly yummy as usual, and it was great getting to catch up with more family!

During the week I was able to see lots of friends and family including brunch with Lori and Elisha, a walk to Lake Ontario with my Mom, tea at Auntie Anne's, Orfus Rd. shopping with Nicky, and fun date nights with Dave and Arielle!  And since I didn't work at all this vacation, I was really able to spend quality time with all of these wonderful Canadians!

I was also able to see my Grandparents this vacation with two special lunches.  The first lunch my parents and I travelled to Toronto to my Mama and Papa's house for a wonderful lunch and great conversation with my Papa!  I missed him so much and hadn't seen him in a while, and it was so great catching up!  The second lunch consisted of my Grandma and Grandpa, my parents, and two Aunts!  The lunch was very delish, and it was delightfully followed by scrumptious date squares and AAHMCCC's.  If you don't know what I am talking about here, I wish you could taste them!  The lunch was appropriately followed by a mini Euchre tournament, which of course, Grandma and I won!  The two players that cared the least about winning of course, won it all!

It was so amazing seeing all of our family and friends back in Canada, and celebrating our birthdays with so many people that love us!  Until next time Canada!!

Back in Illinois this week it has been quite a warm start to a usually brisk and cold season!  Before we left for our vacation the Harvest Staffers were so kind to buy some delicious cupcakes for my birthday!  Yay!  I was also treated to a delicious breakfast made by my Andee!  Double Yay!

Andee has also been able to spend a little bit of time fishing!  Fall in Illinois is absolutely beautiful, and we are trying to make the most of it while it lasts!!

Aloe was quite the happy cat upon arrival back to our wonderful apartment in Illinois!  After two long car rides and a week of being a Canada cat, he was happy to return to his home!

Andee also starts a new rotation this week, which is located right in the city in Chicago.  Yikes!  Keep praying for safety and a positive attitude towards this new rotation!

If you are reading this blog, there is a very very high chance that we love you a lot!  Keep reading my friends!