An Incredible Gift

I find myself complaining a lot. I’m tired. I’m worn out. I’m exhausted. I’m sore. I’m growing. I don't feel good. My pants don’t fit. My shirts are getting tight.
And on and on and on.
But I know that this is an amazing gift and miracle that God is creating within me, and I know that that is a confirmation of how He loves and cares for us. I mean He is building and forming this tiny little baby in my belly.
I found this verse that gives true confirmation of what a marvelous gift the Lord is giving us.

Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the wonb his generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed you are parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you; you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.
- Psalm 127:3-5

I hope I can keep the complaining down to a minimum and keep praising the ONE who deserves praise for this blessing!

Bring on the back pain, tiredness, soreness and everything else that comes my way!!

My baby is not a fruit...

I think it is so funny that all of these books and websites compare your baby's size to a fruit. Now I don't really understand the analogy but I think I found one that men can definitely begin to understand.

http://www.hisboyscanswim.com/dads-pregnancy-guide

According to a fruit our baby is the size of a lemon but for men out there it is the size of a gas cap.

A belly full of God's Grace

What an exciting time we had yesterday at our first ultrasound. It was so amazing to see that this little peanut was inside of me. The little baby was sleeping and then all of a sudden woke up and you could just see it squirming around. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. What a blessing that the Lord is giving us. We could not be more excited. 

Baby Shadid is due May 13, 2010. 

A new approach

I have decided to start blogging again, but instead of the exciting adventures of medical school life I think I have new and exciting adventure to start blogging about. WE ARE HAVING A BABY! Yup you heard right. Christopher and I are expecting our first child. Crazy, weird, and a an amazing blessing from the Lord. We are so excited for this adventure to begin and can't wait to see what is in store for us. Keep checking out our blog to follow this exciting adventure we are beginning.

MICHIGAN!!!!!

We finally got word that we are moving to Michigan next month and I don't think we could be anymore excited about it. We have found a place to live, through friends that live there and a very nice landlord, we choose a place. I think it is going to be great. I am so excited to finally be able to experience a winter. It is going to be one extreme to the other, but I think we are going to really enjoy it. Most of our friends are going to be joining us in Michigan so we are really glad about that. We are just excited for this next chapter in our lives to begin.

This is the front of our Apartment in Michigan!

4th Semester Banquet

Every semester there is a 4th semester banquet. It is a banquet for the 4th semesters to basically say goodbye to island life. At this point we will be leaving some of our friends because some will be going to Miami and some to Michigan. So this is basically a goodbye banquet. This banquet was while the Shadid's were here so it was fun to be able to enjoy this exciting event with them. At the banquet we have a wonderful dinner and they give out awards and show a video slideshow of our time on the Dominica and the Bahamas. After all the awards and stuff was over they had a DJ and we got to dance. It was really a nice night. We had a lot of fun. It was nice to finally be able to dress up for something. Since everything  done here is very casual it was nice to dress up for once. 

Luan and Christopher @ the banquet

Raksha and Christopher @ the banquet

The 4th semester Bahamas Class

Shadid's Visit

I haven't blogged in a long time but decided to get a little blogging in because a lot of things have happened lately. I will put them in all different blog posts because I think I have a lot of different topics. Stan, Linda, and Linley came to visit. It was so fun. We hung out at the beach and just enjoyed some family time. It is so nice to have family around. That is one of the biggest things we have missed since moving away from home. There is just nothing like having your family around. The first day they were here we went to the beach and Linley and I went parasailing. It was so much fun. I have always wanted to go parasailing but have never done it and I am so glad that I did. We liked it a lot and I want to go again. We ended up spending a lot of time at the beach and also had a wonderful dinner at East. East is like the best sushi restaurant I have ever been to. Actually I didn't even think I liked sushi until we ate here. We have taken everyone who has come to visit to East because it is our favorite restaurant here. We had a great time together. It was sad to see them leave but that only means we are one step closer to being back in the US. We can't wait! 

Chris's Birthday!

Chris's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we had a great birthday celebration. He turned the big 25. We went to our favorite restaurant here called East. It is a sushi restaurant that is outstanding. We went with about 15 of our friends. It was a great day to celebrate Christopher. After we ate dinner everyone came over and ate cake. I will say it was a little better than his last birthday we had in Dominica. I mean not that Blue Bay wasn't fun but this was a little more our style. 

Things are moving right along here in the Bahamas. Before we know we will be back in the US. We should be applying for 5th semester (Michigan or Miami) in a week but we won't know for sure where we are going until about the first of July. We are excited to see where our adventure takes us next. Chris's next exam is next week so please be praying that he is well prepared.

Back in the Bahamas

After a great break at home we are back in the Bahamas in full swing. Christopher has had one full week of class and they are getting to it. There is no time to waste. 

While we were at home we just enjoyed hanging out with our families and seeing all of our friends. We went to the Lion King with my parents. Which was absolutely awesome. The costumes were outstanding and the music was great. We had a great time. Christopher played plenty of golf while I got to get some work in at my grandpa's office. It was nice for me to get my brain working again. In the little time we had to relax we packed up all of our wedding stuff in boxes in preparation of moving somewhere where we can actually use it all. Yay! We can't wait. 

With Christopher's last semester of book work we are looking forward to moving back to the States while enjoying the little time we have left living on an island. We will be applying for Christopher's 5th semester location in June. 5th semester consists of an introduction to clinicals, and allows some time for Christopher to study for the USMLE Step 1. We are hoping to apply for Michigan but who knows we could end up back in Miami again. We are just hoping that wherever we go Christopher will have plenty of time to study for the Step. Because his goal is to take Step 1 by the middle of October. In the mean time I am looking forward to moving back and getting a puppy. Yes, still looking forward to getting a puppy I know its been like forever but hopefully once we get back to the States we will find the right time to get one. 

The Bahamas are great. It is really hot here but with the wind of Oklahoma, which makes it a lot cooler. Christopher's birthday is on Monday and we are really excited because for his birthday we are going to go Deep Sea Fishing. We are hoping to catch some really great fish like Mahi Mahi, Tuna, and any many others. We can not believe that we have been out of the country for a year. It has been full of adventures and excitement and has made us both stronger people. Who would have thought that a year would have gone by so fast.

Getting it done

Our time in the Bahamas is just flying by and Christopher's 3rd semester is almost over. One more semester of book work and we are back to the US to begin his clinical rotations. We are so thankful for this experience we have had. It has allowed us to understand that we shouldn't take anything for granted and that no matter what our plan is God's plan is what we should be looking for. We shouldn't be planning months or years in advance but learn to live for today. This has been quite a task for myself because my entire life was planned out before I went to college. So I am learning to live a life that is unplanned.  While Christopher has been learning to be a doctor, I have been learning to be a better cook. I have learned that the way to my husbands heart is through lebanese food in his stomach. I think it is probably in his blood but because this is the case I have been working very hard to cook the things he likes. I have learned to make cabbage rolls and spheeha (meat pies) and many other things. It has been a really good chance for me to take my time and learn to make things because if I would have been back in the states I probably wouldn't have taken the time to learn to do these things. 

Here is a timeline of what Christopher has done and has left of school. Hopefully this will clarify what he is doing.

October 2007-February 2008- Medical Education Review Program in Miami, Florida

May 2008- December 2008 - Basic Science courses in Dominica, West Indies

January 2009- August 2009- Basic Sciences courses in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

August 209 - December 2009 - Advanced Introduction to Clinical Medicine in either Saginaw, Michigan or Miami, Florida *location to be determined in July 2009*

January 2010 - January 2012 - Clinical Rotations *location to be determined*

Easter!

Easter, although different this year, was a really great day. Christopher took off the day studying and we just spent the day together. We woke up and the Easter bunny had come. Which was really exciting because it made us feel like we were still at home. On the Friday before easter we kept the tradition of dying easter eggs. It was a lot of fun and things like that alway give us a sense of home as well. On Easter we went to the pool and laid out and just enjoyed a day of relaxing together. Then that evening we had all of our friends over for dinner. Everyone brought something and it was a great dinner. We had a great time celebrating Christ's resurrection with all of our friends. Although it was hard not being with family, we made the best of it and enjoyed the day. 

Dating a Medical Student

This is an article about dating a medical student. It is absolutely hysterical to Chris and I because it is so true. My friend Ralna found it but I hope it gives you a laugh.

How to Date a Med Student

Friday, November 14, 2008 | FoxNews.com
Marissa Kristal

Dating a med student? Check out these tips for a "healthy" relationship.

1. Don't expect to see them. Ever.

2. Accept the fact they will have many affairs. With their books.

3. Learn to hide your “ew, gross” reactions when they tell you all the stuff you never wanted to know about your bodily functions.

4. Support them when they come home after each test, upset because they failed—and gently remind them after they get their well above passing grade how unnecessary the “I’m going to fail out of medical school and never become an MD” dramatics are.

5. Each week they will have a new illness. Some will be extremely rare, others will be more mundane. Doesn’t matter. They will be certain they have it (no second opinions necessary.) Med school can, and will, turn even the sanest into a hypochondriac. Date them for long enough, and you’ll become one too.

6. There will be weeks you'll forget you even have a boyfriend—friends will ask how he is and you'll say, “What? Who? Oh....right. He's well...I think.”

7. They'll make you hyper-aware that germs are everywhere and on everything. Even though you used to walk into your home with your shoes on, and sit on your bed in the same clothes you just wore while riding the subway, or sat on a public bench in, you'll become far too disgusted to ever do it again. Believe me, it's going to get bad...you'll watch yourself transform into the anal retentive person you swore you'd never become. And when you witness others perform these same acts that, before you began dating your med student, you spent your entire life doing too, you'll wince and wonder, “Ew! How can they do that? Don't they know how many germs and bacteria they're spreading??!”

8. Romantic date = Chinese take-out in front of the TV on their 10 minute study break.

9. A vacation together consists of a trip down the street to Walgreens for new highlighters and printer paper.

10. Their study habits will make you feel like a complete slacker. For them, hitting the books 8-to-10 hours a day is not uncommon, nor difficult. You'll wonder how you ever managed to pass school on your meager one hour of studying per night.

11. They're expected to know everything. Everything! The name of the 8 billion-lettered, German sounding cell that lives in the depths of your inner ear, the technical term for the “no one's ever heard of this disease” disease that exists only on one foot of the Southern tip of the African continent. But ask them if your knee is swollen, or what you should do to tame your mucous-filled cough, or why the heck your head feels like someone's been drilling through it for oil for two weeks straight, and they won't have a clue.

12. “My brain's filled with so much information, I can't be expected to remember THAT!" will be the standard excuse for forgetting anniversaries, birthdays, and, if you get this far, probably the birth of your first-born.

13. You'll need friends with unending patience who pretend never to get sick of listening to your endless venting and complaints. Or, you'll need to pay a therapist who will pretend never to get sick of listening to your endless venting and complaints.

But take this all with a grain of salt. It's not like I'm speaking from experience or anything...

Blogging Slacker

I have been a very bad blogger lately and I have come up with the reason why that has become. I have never been one that has enjoyed writing and most of the time I don't feel like I have that much to say. But when we moved to Dominica I think that blogging was a way of therapy for me. It was a way to get through the tough times. I think it encouraged me to be a better person and to continue to work on the things that I need to work on as a christian, a wife, and a friend. When we moved to the Bahamas it was kind of like we went back to our previous life before we were stripped from everything we ever knew when we moved to Dominica. So it makes life much easier. You begin to forget the things like clean water, hot water, or even the grocery stores you shouldn't take for granted. I think that moving to Dominica and experiencing what we experienced there was something I would never give back and I am so thankful for everyday. But although I am thankful for that experience I am extremely thankful that the Lord brought us to a new place. We absolutely love the Bahamas. It feels like a home a place where we can both relax and not have to worry so much about other things. So I think because life has gone to a simple life and not so stressful I have less to blog about because now life is like it used to be and not crazy weird things happening on a daily basis.

Yay for Visitors!!!

Betsy came to visit last week and we had a great time. The weather was a little crummy but we made the best of it and enjoyed our time together. It is always fun for me to get visitors because it gives me something to do during the day while Chris is studying. Betsy got here on Monday and on Tuesday we went to the beach all day. It was so fun and we both got really burned. It was a great beach day. We went to eat at a Sushi place and it was delicious. It was Betsy's first experience with sushi and thankfully it was a good one. Haha! She love it. If you come visit you have to go to this place because it is awesome. Along with our sushi we had the best lobster and soft shell crab. Mmm... it was delicious. On Wednesday and Thursday it rained all day. It was kind of a bummer but on Thursday we went shopping at Port Lucaya and found Betsy some great souvenirs. We also went fishing and caught a couple of small fish. I had a great time with her here and it has really been nice having people come and visit because it makes our time here go by so much faster. 

Check out some of our Bahama's pictures

http://candkshadid.shutterfly.com

Mom and Dad came to visit!!!!

To view a slideshow of pictures from my parents visit to the Bahamas

CLICK HERE

My parents came to visit Christopher and me last week, and we had such a great time. We went to a great sushi place to eat dinner the night that they got here. It was very good. I didn't think I liked sushi but apparently I really do. After that we went out and watched some of the shows that they have down in the tourist area. They have a guy that can limbo and a fire dancing lady. It was a great first night having them here. The rest of the weekend we just relaxed, went to the beach, and we even fished in the canal behind our house. We caught a few fish and ended up cooking them for dinner. It was nice because Christopher was even able to come to the beach, even though he studied a little bit while being there. What a great time we had. I actually felt like I was on vacation a little bit. I have learned that after living at the beach for almost a year now we can really take that luxury for granted. 

My parents stayed with us for about 4 days and then my parents and I went to the island of Green Turtle Cay. My grandpa owns a house out there and they were there so we went to visit them for a few days. The flight that we took over there was a 9 passenger plane. It was so small my head was hitting the top of the plane. But when we got there it was really fun and even more relaxing than Freeport. It was really a neat place. Everyone there drives golf carts and the conch that is available there is way better than what we have had in Freeport. I also learned that I really like looking for shells on the beach. Timi has a great collection of shells at their house in Green Turtle and I have decided that this might be my new hobby to go look for shells on the beach. 

One of the days we were in Green Turtle we went fishing with a local that my grandpa has become good friends with over the years. We caught really awesome fish like Grouper, Red Snapper, Yellow Snapper, Parrot Fish, and Porgi. After we caught the fish Lincoln our captain took us to an island and cooked all the fish for us along with some lobster, potatoes, and salad. It was delicious. But the best part was when he through the fish guts in the water. There were sharks that came and ate it. It was the first time I had ever seen sharks and they were definitely as scary and cool as they seem. We had our feet in the water and the sharks were probably about 2 feet in front of us. It was pretty cool. We also had sting rays eat fish out of our toes. It was really neat. It was a great experience that I would hope to do again. 

Christopher on the Ross Video

We saw today that Christopher is on the Ross Recruitment Video. To view the video go to:

http://www.rossu.edu/medical-school/

Once you get there click on the link that says "Welcome To Ross" on the lower right hand side. The video should begin. Once it begins he is about 1/3 a way through the video. You can't miss him. It is when they begin to talk about problem based learning. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

25 Things About Me

There is this new deal going around on facebook to create 25 things about you. It is kind of like a chain letter, and I have yet to fall into the trend until today when I decided I was bored enough to do it. So here you go, I hope you enjoy it.

1.  I want a dog more than anything in the world, and have for about 5 years now. But I am patiently waiting for the right time to come for me to get one. 
   
2.  I am a planner and have encountered a life in which I can't plan my future. 
   
3.  I have lived in 4 places, 3 countries, and 2 different states within a year and the only place I desire to live is in Oklahoma.
   
4.  I love my family more than anything and can't wait to live near them again.
   
5.  I have learned that there is nothing more powerful than the grace of God and that no matter the situation you can always make it through if you have faith in Him.
   
6.  I love the peacefulness of being by myself.  I feel like being alone energizes me.
   
7.  I truly believe that my husband was created for me. And it is by the grace of God that he loves me everyday. 
   
8.  I feel like I have failed the day if I don't make my bed.
   
9.  I have learned since I moved away from home that my love language is quality time. I could sit on the phone with anyone and not say anything just because I know they are sitting on the phone with me (I know it drives my Mom and Dad crazy)
   
10.  I always have sweaty hands and if they aren't sweating and I think about it, they will sweat.
    
11.  I broke my leg in high school and will never forget my Dad carrying me off the field, he is always there for me and always will be.
    
12.  I hate walking barefoot. I love to have socks on or walk on carpet.
    
13.  I believe that the best thing for my marriage was for us to move away from home.
    
14.  I love the cake shows on the food network and wishfully want to own a bakery.
    
15.  I love that I am just like my Mom, from our mannerisms to our desire to honor and glorify God.
    
16. I have crooked pinkies and I think it's awesome.
17.  Having a brother and a sister is like the best thing in the world, and I love being the middle child.
    
18.  I require at least 8 hours of sleep. If I see past midnight it is a special occasion.
    
19.  I love going to movies but have only seen like 5 movies in the theater in the last 7 years because my husband hates them.
    
20. I secretly want to star as Elfaba on the broadway show Wicked (I guess its not so secret anymore). Although God didn't grant me with the gift of singing, dancing, or acting.
21. I have a weakness for candy.
22. My best friends in the world are those that I don't have to talk to everyday or see very often but when we get together it is like we were never apart.
23. I wish I could remember all of the bible verses I learned when I was little, I think I will make this my new goal in life.
24. I would rather take a road trip than fly.
25. I have learned the power of prayer. It makes everything better.

 

Transportation... Birthdays.... Super Bowl Parties

We finally found a way for us to get around. After debating a lot about whether or not to get a car, a scooter, or a bike we decided that a scooter was the best idea for now. A friend of ours got a car so if we ever needed to us a car we have access to one and it is really almost too far to bike and would cost the same to buy bikes as it would to rent the scooter. So we decided on the Scooter and so far we love it. I will admit I am a little nervous driving it but a little nervousness never hurt anyone I guess. It has been a great way for Christopher to get to campus and home, which I like because now he can come home for lunch. Before we were using the public bus system which is $1.25 one way so it was just a hassle. But we are happy with our new Scooter.

Last Thursday was our friend Adam's birthday. We all went out to dinner and came back to our place to have cake. I made him a chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. It was delicious. But we had a great time celebrating Adam's birthday.

On sunday we had a Super Bowl party at our house. We had a lot of fun. Adam brought Chili, Ilene and Knema brought guacomole and brownies, Raksha brought a chili layered dip, Chanel and Colt brought chip and Jered brought the drinks. Christopher and I just made a salad. We had so much fun. We were all rooting for the Cardinals so we were kind of disappointed in the outcome. But oh well it was a fun party and anything that can get these guys away from studying for a few hours is always fun for me.

Here is the whole group watching the game. 

Dave, Colt, Chanel, Dave, & Jeff

Ilene & Knema

Crazy Adam (Who won't take a good picture for me), Christopher (Thanks for smiling), & Jered (who is too cool to even look @ the camera)