Since October time has flown by. In November, my parents flew out for a week to spend time with us as well as to be in town for my 30th birthday. It was nice to have the chance to see them since we didn't go home this year for Christmas, as well as for them to finally see where we live, what our lives are like here in Kansas and to meet all of our friends and church family. The weather was wet, cold and windy so we didn't do much outside of the house but that didn't matter. Of course, the whole time they were here Mike was studying nonstop since he took the boards one week after they left. There was a lot going on in our tiny house all at once, but we survived.

Mike took his boards on November 18th and we should be finding out the results by the beginning of February. There is some worry and anxiety as to be expected but this too shall pass.

For Thanksgiving, Mike and I joined some of our close church friends and had a feast at church. There was food galore and enough for everyone to take even more home. Since this is the last Thanksgiving in Kansas we enjoyed sharing it with our family here. Who knows where we will be next year, but we won't forget this year.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, most of my time was put towards Christmas (obviously) and that included making a memory quilt with Lindsey and Cherry for Pastor Pat & Judy's pastor appreciation gift. It was a lot of work but it turned out awesome in the end. The church family contributed squares for us to piece together, then Lindsey, Cherry and I made the quilt. There will never be another quilt like this one. It was a blast to do it with such close friends and that alone made it special for me.

Cherry, Crawford & Marino squares

Centerpiece of the quilt (People's names are written on the fence posts as well if they were unable to provide a square)

The final product

The saddest part of this quilt was the day we gave it to the Weyrauchs'. It also happened to be Cherry's last Sunday (since she graduated), needless to say, during the presentations to everyone for Christmas bonuses there were tears. It seems as though we are all moving on and it just gets harder as that tight group of friends get smaller. I know the day will come for Mike and I as well, but we don't like to think about it. We don't know how we would of made it through the relocation from our families and into vet school if it wasn't for these friends along the way. We have a lot to be thankful for!!!

For Christmas, we did not get to go home thanks to the vet clinic schedule Mike had but we got to enjoy a relaxing day just the two of us. We don't get too much of that time these days so we took advantage of the ones we had. We relaxed all morning, watched movies, opened gifts, enjoyed Mike's spinach lasagna, and later went and played games with Kay, Lyle, Jim and June. We missed our families and talked with all of them as well. This was the first Christmas away from family for Mike and we missed not seeing the kids open their gifts. We did get to be a part of Angela and Ava's Christmas as they chose to open their one gift on Christmas Eve and it happened to be ours. We were on the phone with them when they did. So we missed Ava's first Christmas and Angela's 10th birthday, but we know that God has a journey for us to follow and this is part of it.

We also helped Cherry pack up and move the Saturday after Christmas, it was bitter sweet. We couldn't be more proud of her and all her hard work in school but we were going to miss her being around. Everyone needs to check out her blog (there's a link on our site) and check out her work. She is completely INSANE with some of her creations, but she has a true gift.

For New Year's Eve, we went and hung out at church playing games. It was a lot of fun. Mike was officially on vacation for his one week off. You could definitely tell that he was more relaxed as he was even more sarcastic (if you can imagine that). It does wonders for my heart to see him happy and enjoying life even though he is swamped with school.

As for what the next few months holds, Mike has started the job search. He will be done with clinics officially on April 12th and graduation is May 15th. There will be tons of things to do with preparing to relocate, school, work, watching the end of the NFL season (GO EAGLES!!!!!!), packing and day to day stuff. As for me, my work is ramping up again and I will soon begin training my second Research Assistant to replace me. Lots to get done and prepare for.

We don't know where we will end up, if we will both find jobs or what the future holds, but God is gracious and good! He continues to watch out for us and lead us on this journey...