Going to play catch up...here we go!

Kansas

Two weeks before we left Kansas, we had a scare with Mike's old white car dying on us and we really had to consider what to do with the car. We got it fixed, however, we knew that it wasn't going to make the trip through the mountains, so we quickly sold the car and Mike picked out this Jeep to replace "Willie." Thanks to many helpful friends, we closed the deal and picked the car up less than a week before we moved. So this one's name is "Bender", after the Futurama cartoon. It has been a blessing to know that we now have two reliable cars and one with very few miles. It has been used many times already for my trips back home to DE and MD over the past few months.

North Carolina

So we've been in Ocean Isle (where Mike works)/Supply, NC (where we live) for about 4 1/2 months. We've enjoyed being back near the ocean and the dogs like it as well. During the summer they got to go for walks every week with us on the beach. Tiger loves to run along the edge of the water just as long as it isn't too deep for his little stature. Henry is somewhat afraid of the waves crashing on the beach, but if he sees another dog that he wants to be friends with (which is all of them : ) ), then he'll bolt for the water. He still hates to get his paws wet though.

Here is a picture of our home that we are renting from another veterinarian that works with Mike. We have loved it and Dr. Ray and Alice have been such a blessing to us here in NC. This house has given us enough room to have many visitors come, including Mike's dad, Mike's dog, sister, 2 nieces, my best friend (Val) and a lifelong friend (Mark). It just so happened that they were all here at the same time. There were 2 children, 6 adults, 3 cats and 3 dogs..talk about a full house.

And of course, we had to make one of our guest bedrooms a K-State room.

While Mike's dad was visiting us for six weeks, we got to take him and Pepe (his dog) to the beach with us as well. Mike's dad liked to be able to put his feet in the sand and enjoy the nice cool evenings. We were glad that we could provide him with a place to vacation. We went and visited Myrtle Beach a few times, including the Aquarium (nowhere near as good as Baltimore or New England Aquariums, but it was something to see), the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and we all loaded up on fresh seafood often. I have to admit I have started to like different types of seafood. I guess it helps when it is fresh and cooked right.

It was nice to also have Val and Mark come and visit. It was hard in Kansas to reconnect with close friends from home, but thankfully God has blessed us with multiple chances to do so since we have been back east. Val, Mark, Mike and I were all over the place while they were here for 4 short days and we had a blast. We got to celebrate Mark's 31st birthday (or as Mark says, "His first anniversary of his 30th birthday") at Joe's Crab Shack on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach after going go-karting all afternoon. We had a blast.

After we were done racing go-karts for hours... Mark wasn't too happy with me because I kept getting the fast cars and he would get the Sunday afternoon drive cars...HEEHEEHEE!

Eating out on the deck at Joe's Crab Shack

Val and I were feeling a little frisky with Joe, the fisherman

Val having one of her crazy moments, even the people in the background thought so. This is why I love her so much, she always finds ways to enjoy life.

I also took all of the family and friends to see Mike's clinic and as Val said, "Pretend to be a doctor." That wasn't the only time that Val was sarcastic, however. She also suffered from foot in mouth syndrome when she told Mike's boss that he didn't act or dress like he could be a doctor. Luckily, he has a good sense of humor and played along.

Mike and I working on Pepe's eye

Mike and Rebecca doing an exam on Bobbles, the canine greeter and mascot at the clinic (Bobbles got her name back from when her head was not attached to her spine and she had to have surgery at the clinic; one of the vet techs adopted her and she has remained there ever since.)

Stay tuned...there is more to come since this only covers up through the middle of August...

You touched our hearts and will never be forgotten...

Mike and I found out yesterday that Danny, the dog I blogged about last, had to be put down last week. He was 13 years old and he wasn't eating, walking and his body was shutting down. Danny may have just been a dog but to us he was a whole lot more. He touched our lives and our hearts and will always be remembered as one of Mike's patients that truly reminded Mike (and myself) why he is in this profession. Mike has had to put many animals down in practice in just the past month, but none of them stand out as much as Danny. He will never be forgotten and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Frolio family as they have lost an amazing member of their family.

It's official...

Mike got a position in OceanIsle Beach, North Carolina and he starts on July 6th. Needless to say we have a lot to get done before that date, but we know that God has provided this job for Mike and is preparing the way for us. It is crazy to think that these 4 years have gone by, especially with all of the memories and friends we have made here in Kansas. However, we are also excited to see where God takes us and can't wait for our friends to visit us in North Carolina as well.

Where have we been?

So we left off back in January...since then Mike has completed three more rotations and has only 2 MORE LEFT!!! He is officially done in clinics on April 12th. Not much happened in January, except Mike turned another year older. February has been the bigger month for us.

The first weekend in February, Mike and I went up to Omaha, Nebraska to visit Danny (Mike's past orthopedic dog) and his family. We got to spend time with the Frolios and enjoy time around the dinner table with them. Julie & Terry are wonderful people and it was nice to share our lives with each other. I had never met them before and Mike's only experience with them was the day that Danny came to K-State's Teaching Hospital. That was not the best day for their family, but to see them now just filled my heart with joy. They are a wonderful Christian family and God has blessed us and brought us together through Danny. Here are a few pictures:

When we first got there, he was like a puppy.

After our visit

The Frolio family with their camera hog, Danny

After our visit, Mike stayed in Omaha for his externship and I made the trek home. After I got home, I then tried to replace Mike with a 6 month old rat terrier named Molly. She is my boss' puppy.

It took me awhile to remember what a puppy was like, but we had plenty of time to get used to each other. I watched her for two weeks. It helped time pass while Mike was gone. For the first week, none of my furry kids liked her. Tiger thought he had to protect me from this strange new dog. Henry was jealous for my attention. Cinder was tired of being sniffed. Hammy didn't eat for the first week. Maggie was tired of Molly trying to get into her food bowl.

By the second week, Tiger did not change. Henry finally realized he had a playmate. Cinder could care less. Hammy was eating (not like I was too concerned) again and played with Molly every night. Maggie had taught Molly not to get near her food bowl (a few good smacks with her nails did the trick) and was also playing with her.

Now I am just eagerly awaiting for Mike to get home tomorrow night. Even with 6 animals running around it was still too quiet and a piece of the family was missing.

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...

Chilling with the bison and the Halvorsons

A few weekends ago I went with the Halvorsons and the SOKS group from the vet school to a bison feed. We got to take a hayride out to the bison, feed them and then we came back and had a bison burger barbecue. The weather was perfect for the fall and we had a blast. Jake was slightly under the weather and didn't enjoy it as much but Skylar had a blast (once we got her to feed the bison instead of throwing the pellets at them). It was nice to spend time with friends and to get out of the house. Sad to say, Mike was unable to make it because he had to be at the hospital.

We got to visit the farm as well as the bison.

These guys were big but it was awesome to see them up so close.

Skylar on the round hay bails and Jake stylin'.

Jake being as cute as ever even though he wasn't feeling well.

Lisa, Skylar & Jake

Skylar feeding the bison, she didn't like the bison's tongue as you can tell by her face. But once she finally did it, she went through two more buckets of pellets.

Skylar and I

Baby Boy Blish Quilt

To give you some idea of what I do with my time while Mike is at the hospital or studying...Here are a few pictures of my latest quilt for Andy & Kim Blish's first baby due in November.

Mouse to Tower Quilt

This is the front piece that I had to piece together and sew down. A lot of work but definitely worth it. I will definitely make this quilt again in the future.

This is the fabric used for the backing.

The dogs like to think that they helped with this one...little do they know. What they were really hoping for was that this was going to be a new blanket for them. Can't you see Tiger's little paws marking it as his?

Once again, I take forever to update our blog. A sign that life is busy and time is passing quickly...

Nothing big has been happening, we're just trying to get by one day at a time. I have been busy at work as my research has picked up and I am back in the lab everyday. For those of you familiar with Manhattan, my lab that I am finally researching in is the Biosecurity Research Institute. I am the first one in their doing research in the lab so I have been a guinea pig with them trying to get all of their training and procedures in place. It has been quite an experience but it has been educating me on biosafety and biosecurity. Who knows this may be a path I choose to follow in the future (at least that is what my boss' wife tells me). I also have had a new co-worker since the middle of August that I have been training. She will be one of my replacements next summer. We'll be hiring the second one in the beginning of the new year, so I'll get to do this all over again. It just serves as a reminder that May will be here before we know it.

Mike is busy with clinics. Since I wrote last, he has completed orthopedic surgery, 6 weeks of food animal and oncology. He is currently on soft tissue surgery, which means lots of long days. Last night I went to bed at midnight because I was trying to wait up so I could see him a little bit and I gave up. I remember hearing him getting dinner sometime in the early morning and the next thing I know he wakes me up at 6:15 to tell me he is leaving to go back to school. Luckily he isn't on call for a few days and hopefully he can recuperate a little bit (not likely since he is still trying to receover from the lack of sleep from freshman year). He has had some awesome experiences with patients and their owners and we have kept in contact with a few of them with one in particular.


The first patient he bonded with was Danny back in his orthopedic surgery rotation. I became attached as well since I was going in each night to bring Mike dinner and to spend some time with him while he had to be with his patients, plus Danny was a flirt. Danny is a 13 year old yellow lab that came in lame with spinal damage and after the surgery and 2 weeks of rest and physical therapy walked out of the hospital on his own. We have kept in contact with Terry, Julie and Taylor over the past few months and have tried to arrange for a visit to see them in Nebraska, however, life keeps throwing them some hard balls. We tried to go 2 weekends ago and we were informed that their daughter, Taylor, had meningitis and ended up back in the hospital. If you could, please say a prayer for the family. Taylor has been in a lot of pain and the family is concerned and worn down. They are believers and have been asking for our prayers so I know they wouldn't mind some more from people that care about Mike and I. Mike and I are excited for the chance to go and visit them and Danny when the time is right. Danny will always have a piece of our hearts, especially as this was the first patient that Mike treated long term and made an unbelievable recovery for being an older dog.




Mike also had a long term patient during his food animal rotation and it was a goat named Wilbur. He came in with copper poisoning from eating pressure treated wood of a barn. His kidneys were failing, he had pneumonia, and all of the side effects from both. Once again, I spent a lot of time with Wilbur as well considering Mike spent a couple of hours a day with him, even on the weekends. It seemed as though Wilbur was getting better, however, after being home for a half a day he took a turn for the worst and passed away. Mike has decided that instead of liking to have a pet goat, now he wants to have a pet goat. It doesn't help either that our friends, Josh and Annie, have three pet goats that we got to see a few weekends ago at their new home. Some day you will all have to come and visit us as we start our own petting zoo, especially at the rate we are going. Mike is going to bring home every animal when he is a vet, I just know it. : )

I thought I would throw in another picture from Mike's 6 week food animal rotation, just to show you the size of animals that he worked with...and also for some amusement. He is sitting on top of Peblo, a 3,000 pound steer. Can you tell that Mike is from the city...sometimes I struggle myself these days? (I'm sure Chris Scott will be laughing when he sees this picture)

Until next time...