2009 in Review

What a year this has been! I wanted to share some special moments that have filled the days within 2009.
~ January ~
The year began with a sad time. We had to put our sweet Millie girl to sleep. 2 days before our wedding we found out she had beginning stages of heart failure. She made it until January and I know she was just a dog but she really was like a little person and definitely a big part of our family. We had her for 11 years.

~ February ~
February brought with it the start of many weddings of the year. My dad got hitched! Yes they did the corny Valentine's Day thang (just kidding dad) and got married on February 14th.

Papa and Mema Dancing (They will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in June 2011)

The best dad around :)


My hubby and I

~ March ~
The wedding madness continues. My cousin Josh and Lieren got married this month and their wedding was beautiful. She was such a beautiful bride! They have a great marriage and they really adore each other. They moved into the apartment upstairs from us and I love having family live nearby. If ever we need any butter, eggs, or Worchestire sauce they are only a flight of stairs away.

All of the cousin's (Minus my hubby)


David and I made a trip up to Aiken, South Carolina to spend time with the Boerstler's and we went to the Spring Steeplechases. It was such a fun town.

~ April ~
This has to be one of my favorite adventures of the year. Well probably one of my favorite times in the past 5 years! The Story: It all began when my family had to put our dog to sleep due to heart failure. My mom did not want to get another pet so she signed up for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. She instantly fell in love with her little girl. A long story short, the family has 4 children under the age of nine who are raised by the grandparents, one which is a Leukemia survivor. The place they called home had no beds for the children or a tub in the bathroom. My parents came across a foreclosed trailer on an acre of land and had the grandmother look at it. So my mom and Fred bought it. Grandma fell in love with the distressed run down trailer immediately. This was like a castle already to her with holes in the wall and all. So starts the remodeling, and 2 weeks later the family will come with the clothes on their back, and finally call this place home. This is the day that the Lord hath made.
Pictures of the children:


The finished new home!!



~ May ~
I am still in disbelief that my sister has graduated from high school. She has been the best sister to me and I will always love our relationship not only as sisters but as best friends. She really makes me proud. She is so smart and beautiful.

~ June ~
This was a month for vacations! After the end of my hardest year in pharmacy school, we needed to take some trips and relax!
In the beginning of June, we had a girl's weekend in Destin, FL to celebrate Nicole's birthday.
Here's the birthday girl:

We were at the beach all day every day!!

For Father's Day, we surprised dad with a trip to Charleston for the weekend. We made him drive there and we didn't tell him where we were going we just told him which turns to make until we got there. We had alot of fun. We did several tours while we were there. One tour we went on was a culinary tour where we walked around in the downtown area and visited several places and learned the history of the food in the area. The best part was sampling all the good southern staples that make up the diet of the people from the area.



People were selling these grass baskets everywhere on the side of the roads and down in the market. They would sell the small baskets for about $50 and the price soared up to like $300 and more for a larger basket:

~ August ~
David and I celebrated our 1 year Anniversary August 9th. He has the been such a blessing in my life and I am so thankful for him. He is such a great leader for our family, and always encourages me. This past year of marriage has been so blissful. Simply perfect.

We started the day with Cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast, Carrabba's for dinner, and Cheesecake for dessert :)



Ephesians 5:1-2 says "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says it well, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
~ September and October ~
These months were spent with our nose in the books. Well not really David because he doesnt "have" to study very much to keep his 4.0 but me on the other hand, every waking minute is spent studying just to get by. David did take his PCAT, the Pharmacy College Admission Test during this time and blew it out of the water. When I told my dad his test results, he said "Lins, did we expect anything less?" The answer is obviously no. I don't know how my husband knows so much. His brain is like a super sponge. I'm not even exagerating because he's my husband but he really is brilliant. He is in the process of completing his UF pharmacy school application and the deadline to submit it is February 1, 2010. I hope to report back with an updated blog of any exciting news when we hear an answer from the college!
~ November ~
This was an amazing month! I have had the opportunity to share my faith with one of my Walgreens co-workers. I wish I could tell her entire story because it is nothing less than incredible of how God called her to receive His grace and salvation. It has been a difficult, heart-wrenching journey for this young believer in Christ and I am amazed at how the Lord has changed her.
Two Sunday's after she was saved, she joined the church and was baptised.

We celebrated at Chili's afterwards:

David and I hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner in our tiny one bedroom apartment and it was perfect. He cooked his first Turkey and all the fixing's to go along with it. I didn't really do any of the cooking because my hubby is such a pro at it, I didn't want to mess anything up!

The last wedding of the year was such a special wedding. David's brother married a wonderful girl named Hannah. I am thankful for a wonderful new sister-in-law! The small wedding ceremony was held in Alabama the day after Thanksgiving. It was a special date in that it was David, Jason, and Kyle's mom's birthday. It was so nice to spend the weekend with family.

~ December ~
David and I both finished up this semester of school and are enjoying a nice Christmas break right now. A few weeks ago, David completed his first race! Miranda talked him into doing the run with her. They did the Reindeer Run in Fernandina Beach. It was a 10K run and he finished it in 1 hour and 7 minutes. I am so proud of him for doing it and finishing in such good time with not alot of training. He really makes me smile.




With the closing of the year, I am thankful for all the Lord has blessed us with. I pray that he will continually use us to encourage those around us and to share the good news of Christ.
-Lindsey

Christmastime

So, as I sit here on my couch relaxing, I'm am enjoying the sight of my husband in the kitchen washing oranges. Yes oranges. We just got home from the yearly Christmas in Claxton at Cilantros and the grandparents sent us home with about 100 oranges. Ok maybe not that many but I have already ate several. They are so fresh and so yummy yummy! On another note, it has kinda been an odd weekend. There are so many things that are going to be changing in the near future. The semester ended well and my grades were fantabulous! Do you even have to ask how dave's semester turned out? All A's of course. This past weekend while in Claxton, I received my rotation schedule and where I will be going. Upon first glance, it wasn't very encouraging and I was not excited. Out of 11 months of rotations, 3 were assigned to St.Augustine and 1 month is to be spent in Pensacola. How in the world will I survive 4 months in a different city without my husband and family?? Let alone the financial burden of having to pay for 4 months of stay in a far away town. There are a few solutions to my dilemma. We have what is called "Swap periods" in which all 300 pharmacy students petition to the professor of their wishes for a schedule change. Obviously it is not going to be possible to please every person. I am trying my hardest to be patient with this process but is it selfish to want to be home with my husband and ask for all my rotations in Jacksonville?? The process has just began so the only change I can forsee right now is that 2 can be swapped for the Jacksonville location, however, I have an Adult Medicine rotation at the Flagler Hospital in St.Augustine during the months of May and June and it does not look promising to be able to swap with anyone. I apoligize if any of this does not make much sense. I am just venting and this seems to be a good outlet, if anyone is even reading this. Maybe a little background of what Pharmacy school has been like might help. I began at the University of Florida, yes that's right, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in 2007.

Here are a few pics from when I was accepted:

The first year of Pharmacy school was extremely difficult. My grades were not what I was expecting but I was hanging on. The first year was spent studying Pathophysiological Basis of Disease, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Dosage Forms, and Intro to Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy. Here is a pic of my course work over that first year:

At the end of my first year, we had our coating ceremony. This is what being in Pharmacy school was all about. Or so I thought at the time. I felt so special when I finally got to wear this white coat.


This next picture is my study buddy Molly and me. I literally would not have made it through these past 3 years without her!

We were bombarded by drug info during the second professional year. During this year, most of my time was spent studying downtown at Seattle's Best coffee, Starbuck's and Panera. Most night's I had to kiss my hubby goodnight and keep at it at the dining room table while he was catching some sweet sleep. Then about 1-2 am I would crawl in the bed for a few hours of sleep and wake up at 6am and do it all over again. Man, I do not miss that second year. There is alot to know about drugs and we should be so thankful for our pharmacists :)
I just finished the first semester of my third year. All I can say is this was a "catch all review" semester. I don't feel like I learned anything about drugs but alot about Law and Study designs/significance and Continuous Quality Improvement stuff. Our pharmacotherapy course felt like a whirl wind. It was all case based and we covered several cases including Diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia's, arrhythmias, heart failure, trauma, alzheimers, and lots of others. We also did self-care which included learning about over-the-counter meds and self-treating patients, like cough/cold, foot fungus, and allergies to name a few :) It was just a crazy semester.
When I come back after Christmas break, my spring semeseter is only 8 weeks in the classroom and then I start my rotations March 1st. I am very excited and hope that I will be able to get on here and blog about my monthly rotation experience and all that I will be learning and the different places I will be. Wow this was a long one.
I will leave with a verse that has been in the forefront of my heart and mind in the anticipation of all that is changing around me.
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10
-Lindsey

Catch Up

August 9, 2008 was one of the best days of my life. I married my best friend. The weather was perfect. The 4 Saturday's before our wedding had been rainy but our weekend was full of sunshine. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Fernandina Beach for two nights and then left for the Dominican Republic. It was all inclusive which was very nice. The beach, the breeze, and just being able to say "Husband and Wife" was so cool. Here are a few pics of that week:
Getting Ready

The Bride

The Groom

Tyin the knot on the dock :)

After our honeymoon, Brittany our photographer did a Bridal Portrait Session, here are a few more pics:
At Scott's Road Beach Access

Downtown Fernandina

A random families yard we found and pulled over to take a pic

The Honeymoon


The Lord has really blessed our family. David is such a great leader and encourager. I pray that I will give him the respect he deserves as my husband and to love him always.