We Survived...

...Joel's intern year at Botsford. :)

Which in Joel's language means he's "no longer a HO".
(house officer for all you non-medical folk) 

Which means I survived living out here in Michigan for a year (June 19th was that milestone). And I didn't melt, or more applicably, freeze! I'm not sure what the future has in store for us, but I hope that it fairs better then the succulent (cactus for all you non-southwesterners) in the front yard, and Japanese fern in the back, both of which were gifted to me by the previous home owner. I told Joel that it doesn't bode well for me, as I'm a Japanese southwestern girl. He told me not to take it to heart. ;)

The picture below is of the ortho group (minus three of them) at the hospital. We went to a 4th years house for a wonderful evening of bbq, cornhole, raspberry picking and yucky cigar smoking (one of the students REALLY wants to get selected next year...).

From what other ortho wives have warned me, 2nd year isn't supposed to be any better, time-wise. I'm to still expect a lot of this...

and this...

Hopefully, he will at least have the energy to climb the stairs this year so that he can at least pass out on a comfy bed after a night shift, so we don't discover him on the couch when we head downstairs for breakfast.

And MAYBE he won't fall asleep in the 15 seconds or less that it takes him right now.

And MAYBE I will be able to trust him with babysitting our son at home so that I can run a few quick errands.

And MAYBE he will be able to stay awake during every meal we have together this year.

And MAYBE he won't be as out of it, that when his son is shoving fingers in his ears and twisting his nose and hitting his chest, maybe just maybe he will stir (I feel like hoping for him to wake-up would be too much optimism with not enough realism).

Otherwise, maybe I'll finally have a camera nearby to film this interaction for our future enjoyment.
(As you can see, Liam is quite young in these photos- it became such a daily occurrence, the fascination wore off and I got tired of taking photos of my sleeping husband!)

All in all though, this year has flown by. It's hard to grasp that we have been here already for half the time that we were in Phoenix. Here's to hoping the Lord blesses us with a 2nd year as wonderful as the first- even with its crazy business!

Thank you all for the encouragement and support you have been in our lives thus far :)