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!

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!