Home

Home....it has become something that I have pondered quite a bit these past couple months as we have been able to visit MN which I think both Brett and I will always consider "home". Then when it is time to leave MN and come back to CA where we live we say it is time to go "home". So what really is "home"? It has become an ever abstract concept to me as we have moved more and more these past few years- and finally now that we have a home together, we have less places that we both call "home". Many people have tried to define home with clever catch phrases:

"Home is where the heart is."

"Home is not where you live but where they understand you."

"A house is made with walls and beams, a home is made with love and dreams."

"Home is the place you grow up wanting to leave, and you grow old wanting to get back to."

and my personal favorite quote about home:

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."

 

 

Home is a place where we feel comfortable and welcomed going back to. Minnesota will always be home for us- and the place we want to go back to when our Air Force adventures are through, but for now California is home, wherever Brett and I are together as a family is home, and I feel as though we will leave a little piece of our hearts in every place we live. I still tell Brett all the time how I miss Oklahoma- even though I never actually lived there- but we had our first place there where I spent summer breaks and we spent holidays together when we were first married.

I just hope that my heart is big enough that I will still have some left if I start leaving part of it in every place we live:)

Living He Loved Me

So my newest favorite song is Glorious Day which Casting Crowns sings- which is actually an old hymn that they made more contemporary. There are so many hymns that are so powerful and have such great meaningful words. It gives me goosebumps every time and I never get sick of hearing it! It played on my way to and from work today and I cranked the volume and sang! Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqrqPGt11bA&feature=player_detailpage

It makes me sad that our contemporary churches don't sing these songs any more because they are "old" and "outdated" as far as musical style goes- when I think many of the hymns have more meaning then some of the new songs that just repeat the same line 15 times- and 3 different times in the song. Don't get me wrong I like choruses and contemporary songs just as much as the next person- but there are so many amazing hymns that get forgotten and are amazing worship songs.

I think part of the reason I am so nostalgic about hymns is some great memories I have are from hymn sing nights at my small town church in MN- where the whole church congregation would come out and we would sing together- and when one hymn was over someone would shout out another number of a favorite hymn and we would just sing for an hour or so- and of course have refreshments afterwards, which I am sure at that time was my favorite part:) But looking back as I get older- singing those hymns and all of the cherished older individuals in my church loving it so much- including my beloved Grandma Clara- makes me appreciate those hymns so much more. They are packed with spiritual truth and encouragement! Who wouldn't love them!

Graduation, Goodbyes, and New Beginnings!

So I am obviously really bad at blogging and it is many months between each of my posts, maybe now that I have more time to myself I will blog more often. Well lots of things have been changing with us lately! I finished my last clinical at NorthBay Medical Center here in Fairfield, which I loved! I got to know the therapists and everyone was so great! I graduated from PT school in May and Brett was able to accompany me back to MN and ND for visiting family and friends and my hooding and graduation which was amazing! We didn't think he was going to be able to come- we thought he would probably be deployed! It was so great to see all of my classmates, many of whom have become my very close friends from all of the stress, studying and times of relaxing between tests, classes etc. we have had together. It was fun to celebrate this exciting time with them and was very hard to say goodbye at the end of the weekend! But maybe now that we can make some money we can see each other every once in awhile! Everyone is pretty spread out from coast to coast- but with email and facebook it makes it easier to stay in contact. Brett was able to be up on stage and put on my hood with my advisor Peg. The hooding ceremony was very personal and it was nice because the graduation ceremony is so huge and impersonal. It was nice to have the hooding ceremony to be just our class and Tom the head of the department gave a nice speech about how they already miss seeing us around the department. It was very heartfelt and a nice end to a difficult and rewarding 3 years.

My family and some of Brett's family came up for everything- it was nice to have them there to celebrate with me!

We were able to see a lot, not all, but quite a few of our friends when we were home in MN, which was so nice. It is always for an occasion that we are home and it is nice to be able to see all of the people we can even with our busy schedules!

So then after we came back to CA we had a couple weeks before Brett left for his first deployment. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary by taking a trip on the Napa Wine Train- it was a 36 mile trip that was 3 hours long and we ate on the train- it was great food and fantastic scenery- it was nice to relax and enjoy each other and California. We have been so busy we haven't had a chance to enjoy all the area we are living in has to offer.

Brett left May 31st for his first deployment to the Middle East and has been flying quite often refueling all of the planes that are protecting the troops and borders over there. He has been doing well- there is air conditioning thank goodness because it is 115 degrees. It has been lonely here since he left- but I am so glad we got Cooper when we did, he has made it bearable. I also have lots of great people that I know out here and they are looking out for me as well.

I took my national physical therapy examination this past week (board exam) and passed! which was very exciting! It was a 5 1/2 hour test with 250 questions and I had been studying 24/7 for several weeks. It is so nice and quite a relief to be done with that! I have another exam on Tuesday over the laws of PT practice in California but this is a much shorter exam which I have heard is not too bad! I also got a job working for NorthBay Healthcare- where I did my clinical. They have 2 hospitals and 2 outpatient clinics and I will be working on-call covering people's vacations, sick days, and maternity leave. I am very excited to be working for them- it is a really great opportunity- they have a growing women's health program in one of the outpatient clinics (which is something I have become interested in) and the hospital is getting certified as a Level 3 Trauma Center as well as working on being a certified Stroke Center. So there are many exciting things going on and I am excited to be a part of it. I am hopeful that the position will turn into a part time position at some point! But as for this summer I already have work for almost every day in July! so I will be keeping busy! I am excited to finally be using my knowledge to help others and making money while I am doing it!

Well I am tired so that is all for now! I need to update more often so I don't have so much to update on when I finally write. I will try to write more often now that I have my evenings and weekends to myself (instead of studing ruling my life) :)

Emily

CALIFORNIA!!!

Well it has been ahwhile and as always lots has changed! I am sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea and ready to catch everyone up on all that has gone on! I am FINALLY in California and living with Brett! We are really enjoying spending time together and making our house into our home! I drove out to California after finishing my 3rd clinical in Stillwater, MN. My sister helped with the drive and it was so nice to have company and another driver. The drive was uneventful for the most part, we did sit on I-80 in Wyoming for about 30 minutes waiting for it to open again after a snow storm! Otherwise it was great and we had a nice time- we were ready to get out of the car though after 30+ hours of driving!!

We got to California on the first Friday in March and Shelly was able to stay til Tuesday which was great because on Saturday (not even 24 hours after we got to Cali) Brett left on his first mission to Europe and Quatar for 12 days. It was so nice to have Shelly around while I was getting used to being in Cali. We also had our friend Will Giles (who is a C-17 pilot we met while Brett was in pilot training at Vance AFB) staying with us while he completed his inprocessing and finding a place to live.

Brett made it back safely and has also gone on another 5 day trip since to Hawaii, Guam and Japan. He is enjoying flying and the guys in the 9th Air Refueling Squadron. He now has a job in the squadron and is helping to schedule trips for the pilots. Hopefully he will get his pick of trips that work best for our schedule:)

We now have a new addition to our family! His name is Cooper and he is a 3 year old Black lab. We got him from the Golden Gate Lab Rescue and he is a great dog. He is very energetic and likes to play and run, we took him to the lake today and he was fetching a stick in the water for at least an hour! He also does very well at being calm in the house, as I type he is sleeping in the front living room. He stays in the house when we are gone and hasn't even chewed on anything!

He is definitely a companion dog, he likes to be wherever we are. He had a hard time when Brett was gone on a trip a couple weeks ago and he followed me wherever I went, and I do mean wherever, bathroom and all! He likes to be a part of everything we do and doesn't even like to be in the backyard unless we are there. He barks when people come to the door and is protective of me. We were over at a friends place on Thursday and he would growl whenever their dog came close to me. He loves to play with other dogs and has a blast at the dog park whenever we take him. He is a great dog and is very gentle and loves any attention he gets.

The weather has been warming up here lately and we took a trip to Lake Berryessa today to go kayaking! We grilled and took a walk and kayaked and had a great time. It is so great to relax and enjoy the outdoors. I am loving my clinical at North Bay Medical Center, a local hospital. I am working on preparing for my national exam in May/June and applying for a license and jobs!!! Not much fun but I am looking forward to getting a paycheck for all of my hard work! We are really enjoying the Fairfield area and are making some great friends. Everyone is so nice and welcoming at our church and at the Air Force Base, it is a great place to live and we are so excited to be finally settled down for awhile:)