September Birthdays!

The month of September is always a fun one for Andee and I, as the weather is (mostly) still warm, we have an excuse to start making fall soups and eating pumpkin flavored baked goods, but most of all, we get to celebrate each other as we both have birthdays in September!  I am not much for making a big deal out of a birthday, but I am one to always find an excuse to celebrate!  And that is what we did!

The best part of this September is that my parents were able to come visit us in Iowa for a few days!  Although the weather was less than ideal for the bulk of their vacation, it was still great to have them see our new apartment, new workplace for Andee, our new church, and our new State!  It was especially amazing that we have upgraded to a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment, which is perfect for hosting guests!  Andee and I bunked with Aloe cat, and we all enjoyed some Iowa festivities!

My parents started out the trip by surprising us and arriving a day early!  It turns out they drove the whole way in just one day!  This is great news, as we will be driving back home a few times a year, and were hoping to make it in one day!  Of course, a day full of driving is always exhausting, so we headed to bed early to prepare for the fun days ahead!

The first day was quite cool and a bit rainy, so we decided to just have a relaxing morning inside, followed by a little bit of shopping and exploring!  It was great to relax with my parents after 3 months of skyping!   Aloe cat enjoyed it too! 

The second day was a little cooler than I had hoped, but it was still decent walking weather if a little bundling ensued!  We spent the afternoon exploring downtown Cedar Falls, stopped for a scratch cupcake with coffee/tea, and enjoyed the beautiful views of the Cedar River!  It was a beautiful day to explore!

On Friday, September 12th, a cold rainy day, we celebrated my and Andee's birthdays in true Aldridge fashion with a trip to the arcade to try our luck at our favorite claw machines!  Not that it matters, but let's just say I am still the reigning champ!  We finished out the day with a delicious birthday dinner at Red Lobster!  We enjoyed delectable endless shrimp, yummy soups and salads, and the always amazing garlic cheddar buns!  YUM!!  My mouth is still watering!  We were also able to open up some gifts from home from my parents, Andee's parents, and Cassie and Trevor!  Andee received a video game, some dress pants and tie, candy, and some U.S. money, and I received some clothing accessories, a pair of earrings that I have been looking for FOREVER, some cookies, a wall plaque,U.S. money, and a hilarious stuffed animal of Tard, the Grumpy Cat!  Since Andee's birthday is still a few days away, his gift from me is still in the mail!  What an amazing birthday celebration with some of my favorite people!  We are so blessed!!

The final day of my parent's visit, we decided to make a trip to the Cattle Congress Annual Fair!  Woohoo!!  We were very pleasantly surprised with all the fun stuff to do, including a number of really entertaining shows!  We saw a man wrestle an alligator, kangaroos and their babies bouncing around, dogs catching frisbees like pros, and a family circus!  We also enjoyed some delicious fried fair food, and Andee was successful at his favorite game, skee ball!  We ended the evening with the Saturday PLC church service, and were treated to some amazing worship music and an extremely moving sermon!  What a great way to end our time together!

The next day, my parents left super early in the morning, and it was sad to see them leave!  This is always when I thank the Lord for Skype!!  What a wonderful vacation with some family!  Sometimes it gets a little lonely with no family around, and it is always appreciated when people we love come to visit!  So what do we do when we are lonely?  Hang out with friends!  We recently enjoyed a summer BBQ and birthday dinner for the 3 September babies in our Small Group!  FUN!

Well, that's all folks!  As residency interview season is approaching, it will be interesting (and a whole lot less stressful) to be on the other end of the interview process!  Thank the Lord!!!  We are so beyond thankful for the residency that God has given Andee and I, and that we are in a great location in small-town Iowa!  Praise the Lord!  I am singing this week at PLC, and if you want to catch the worship online, here is the link!

http://www.prairielakeschurch.org/default.aspx 

Love you all!!  See you in the Fall!

Summer in Iowa!

Iowa in the summer is beautiful!  Well, I suppose anywhere in the summer is beautiful!  Andee and I are really starting to settle in to our new environment!  We absolutely love our 2, yes, count em, 2 bedroom apartment, I am loving volunteering at the church, and Andee is very much enjoying his current ER rotation over at Allen Hospital.  It seems that we have adapted quite easily into our new roles, which really is saying something (for me anyways!)  All in all, life is pretty good!  However, I did come across a few photos from Canada back in June when we were home for vacation, and although I am quite content here, I still always feel a little homesick when I remember Canada and all my family and friends.  Here are some fun cottage pictures of the start of a Canadian summer!

Something that has also brought us a ton of joy is the fact that we are now proud owners of A NEW CAR!!!  Okay, it is just leased while we are in the US, but I cannot even explain how much easier this has made daily life for us!  We no longer spend a large percentage of or conversations trying to figure out a "car schedule," and with Andee between the 2 hospitals and the clinic throughout each week with irregular hours, this car has truly been a huge blessing for us!  I can now fully commit to church volunteer hours, Worship team scheduling, hangouts with friends, and even grocery shopping trips!  I can even make last minute plans!!  It has been amazing!!  We ended up with another Corolla, since we have had such a good experience with our Canadian car!  Hallelujah, we are now a 2 car family!!

Although overall it has been a little cooler than usual for summer, the benefit of being in the Midwest is that there have still been quite a few pool/beach days!  Andee and I have recently found a great State Park that offers fishing, nature trails, and even a public beach!  Since the pools have just closed this week (American students go back to school in August, I know, weird), it is great to have found a new hangout spot for the remainder of this beautiful summer weather!

This past Thursday, Andee and I celebrated our Four year Wedding Anniversary!  Four years of marriage, four years of medical school, and almost 9 years together!  Sometimes I feel like we are an old married couple...except that we still look like teenagers and Andee continually gets mistaken for one at work.  Oh well!  I suppose we just have old souls!  We started the celebration with a lesiurely stroll at Downtown Cedar Falls, where we enjoyed some scratch cupcakes and a beautiful view of the Cedar River!  We finished up with a delicious trip to Red Lobster!  Andee ordered the crab trio, and I ordered a 4 course dinner with soup, salad, shrimp and scallop Alfredo, and an ice cream brownie!  YUM!  Unfortunately, we were so excited to dig in that I forgot to ask our waitress to take a photo!  So we got one of the ice cream!  Enjoy!

As the summer draws to a close (noooooooooooooooooo), we are thinking and praying for our friends that will soon be applying for Residencies!  What an intense process that we will never forget!  But we are so happy to be where we are right now, getting to partake in our new church's mission in reaching Iowa for Christ!  Happy Summer Everyone!!

Iowa!

We have officially lived in Iowa for 3 weeks!  And quite a lot has happened since then!  Upon arrival in late June, we now have a fully furnished and organized apartment, new cell phones with Iowa numbers (despite some fun "Canadian in America problems....why do you need a social for everything??), a signing bonus and first pay check for Andee, lots of paperwork and learning, as well as seeing a few patients and Andee's orientation, and an amazing volunteer position for myself at our new church, Prairie Lakes Church (PLC)!  Andee and I have also joined a small group, and I am involved with the women's group and am auditioning for the Worship Team next week!  It seems that every time we move somewhere new, the transition gets a little easier each time!  We have both gotten quite skilled at getting involved with a new community and making new friends!  Something I never would have thought possible if we had remained in Canada this whole time!  It's funny how God works sometimes!  Aloe has also adjusted quite well to the move, and his attempts to army crawl under furniture when he thinks we are leaving and taking him in the car have lessened.  He seems to like our new place, especially because he has his own room!  Haha!  And as I am typing this I am sitting on our amazing balcony on a beautiful summer day enjoying the sun and breeze, and I've gotta say, life is pretty good!  Yeah, I said it!  Only three weeks into our new life, and I can actually say I am doing okay!  Mind you, I still very much miss our life in Illinois, as well as our life in Canada, and heck, our lives in St. Kitts and Maine as well, but God has just so clearly outlined so many opportunities here in Iowa to really get connected and be His hands and feet!  Oh, and the Andee getting paid part is pretty great too! 

The first weekend we arrived, we attended our first church service at our new church, PLC!  During this service, the Pastor stated that "it is no coincidence that you are here in Iowa today."  Spooky!  We were floored at this specific promise that God gave us through our new church, and we are really excited to really get more involved with our new church!!  After church, we headed to the Sturgis Falls (the old name for the Cedar Valley area) festival, which was pretty much like a little fair with yummy food and entertainment.  And guess who was performing on stage?  The PLC Worship band!  We were floored again that a public event would have Christian music!  I think I'm starting to really like Iowa!!  We got mini donuts and listened to the music on a sunny warm June day; perfect!

Andee's first week of orientation fell on the week of both Canada Day and Independence Day, both of which we celebrated with barbeques with Andee's coworkers!  We also traveled to Independence, Iowa (about a 25 minute drive), a small little Iowa town that had amazing fireworks for the holiday for which it's name was derived! It was really great to meet some of the other Residents that Andee will be spending a lot of time working with and getting to know better!  We also attended a barbeque with some new friends from PLC, and were able to also join in on their small group a week later!  Yay!

Throughout the week Andee was working a lot, but also learning lots about what his new job will entail!  Something fun; Andee and his fellow R1's got to see the helicopter that transports patients to the University of Iowa Hospital!  Also, Andee got business cards for his new job!  I'm so proud of my Dr. Luke!  For myself, I was volunteering at the church and going our for lunch with some new friends, and getting to know the area!  Thank goodness for GPS on my phone! 

On the weekend, Andee and I visited a local nature preserve, where we were fortunate enough to find ourselves only a few feet from a baby deer!!  If you know me at all, this was a huge highlight for me!!  Andee and I also visited a local public pool, which was a nice treat on a hot day! 

Overall, the past few weeks have been an excellent start to our summer, and an excellent start to our new town, new job, and new life here in Iowa!  Sometimes I have to sit back and just really marvel at the fact that God's got this!  I really don't need to worry because no matter where you are, you're never far from the love of God!  And we are seeing Him all over the place here in Iowa!  Until next time!!

Happy Graduation Dr. Luke!

We have waited years for this day!  Andee had finally graduated from Medical School!!!  Woohoo!!  And not only that, but he indeed graduated with High Honors at Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center in New York City!  It was so wonderful celebrating Andee's graduation with lots of people that love him, and finishing off the day with a delicious Italian dinner with Andee's family! Happy Graduation Andee!

We also spend a few additional days in New York to continue the celebration!  We took a trip to Central Park, toured around the city on a water taxi and bus, and ate some delicious New York food, and much more!  Enjoy the pictures!

We are so thankful for the wonderful journey our God has brought us on, and that He will see it to completion and will always be there to help us along the way!  And of course for the support of all our family and friends as we set out for another 3 year chapter in Iowa!  We made it this far, and we are so excited for everything that is yet to come!  Keep reading all you lovely people!!