Happy Anniversary - 3 Years!!

♪♫  Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaappy Anniversary!!! ♫♪

Three years!!  Plus of course the almost 5 years we dated, almost 8 years together?!?  I feel like I barely remember anything different!  My heart is filled with joy at the notion of our Father God blessing us with getting to share our lives together every day!  We are not meant to live life alone, and our God is faithful and has allowed for the wonderful union of marriage to grow in selfless love!  I love my Andee so much, and am so very thankful for this journey that God has taken us on in our still relatively new marriage!  Through constant moving and changes of plans, He has taught us the true value of faith, perseverance, and joy!  I am overwhelmingly overjoyed at the perfect and wonderful plan of God!!

Too sappy?  Too bad!!  Andee and I celebrated this exciting occasion over the weekend by making our very first trip to Downtown Chicago!  We spent a gorgeous hot and sunny day walking around Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo!  We saw some beautiful and cute animals including a very active Jaguar, shared an 'American portion' lunch at the zoo, enjoyed the beautiful view of the Chicago Skyline and even walked along the beach!  A perfect Chicago day!  And what made it even better was the fact that the Lincoln Park Zoo is FREE, and free things make me happy!  It may have taken us almost a year to make it to Chicago, but I am glad we can finally say we made it!

On our actual anniversary, August 14th, we enjoyed an absolutely delicious Italian meal at a restaurant close by to Harvest called Maggiano's.  Maybe it was a combination of rarely going out to eat mixed with eating late into the evening, but it was an extremely enjoyable dining experience!  We started off with warm bread with olive oil and cheese, followed by an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms, delicious pasta entrees, and finished off with an anniversary treat with candles and a massive slice of chocolate cake!  Very few things make Diana happier than a 3 course Italian meal!!  And to top it all off, we were given a gift card from a friend!!!  Perfect!!!

So there you have it - Three Years and Three Countries, what will we encounter next??  The saga continues........ ❤

Happy Summer!

After my fantastic vacation back to Canada, it has been quite busy here in Illinois with lots of reasons to celebrate and get together!  In addition to the obvious pool days that summer so wonderfully creates, we welcomed Sarah's baby-on-the-way with a beautiful baby shower hosted by the Ladies of Harvest!  We are all so excited for Sarah's new little one to come into the world, but will we ever miss Sarah's amazing work ethic and smiling personality at the church!  We hope to have her back soon!

This past weekend I was able to worship the Lord on stage with the Harvest Worship Team!  So much fun!  There is nothing greater than using the gifts that God gave us to worship Him!  It was a powerful service, and I am so blessed to be a part of something so amazing!  PTL!!

After the Worship Services, I had the pleasure of attending a Community Picnic hosted by Harvest!  It was a beautiful cool summer day, perfect for spending the day outside chatting with others and eating delicious picnic food!  A very busy and very fun summer weekend!

Unfortunately, Andee wasn't able to attend the picnic or really do much of anything this weekend, as he was hard at work preparing for the Step 2 CK licensing exam!  This exam has been months in the making, with tons of studying, online question bank, and prayers!  This exam marks the last of three American exams that need to be passed before applying to residencies, matching, and graduating.  This means that there is now an entire year before another American exam needs to be taken!  Hallelujah!!  Andee took the looming exam on Tuesday, and then decided to take it easy and relax.  Right??

Wrong.  Unfortunately, along with the ever-so-horrible residency application prep, Andee has yet another exam coming up in a month, and this time it is Canadian!  Andee takes the MCCEE, the first of many Canadian licensing exams on September 10th, followed by residency applications starting September 15th, and potential interviews and residency preparations in the Fall.  Let's also keep in mind that during all of this chaos, Andee continues to hold an unpaid (in fact we pay them), full-time job with erratic hours.  The fun never ends!  Please pray for Andee and I during this season of uncertainty and, let's face it, a little bit of fear.  We are fully confident that God's plan will complete it's perfect work in us and for us, and that God will be glorified through all of this!  Look how far we have come already!  Not only are we less than a year from Andee's graduation, but our faith and spiritual growth has increased exponentially in the past three years!  God is Good!  Praise God!!

Speaking of three years, guess what monumental occasion is happening in under a week?  You guessed it!  It's Andee and my Three Year Anniversary!!!  It's kind of fun having our Marriage anniversary and Medical School anniversary so close together, because it allows us to reflect on the last year of marriage and how much God has used this difficult schooling process to strengthen both our marriage and us individually.  Even though times are sometimes tough, it is so encouraging to know that God has gone before us, and he has our back!  PTL!

So there you have it, even more summer shenanigans!  I hope the Exhibition can survive without me, because we are staying in America for the rest of this wonderful season!  I will keep everyone posted on our Fall plans, but until then, Happy Summer!