Highlights of 2012

So since I was an epic failure at sending out Christmas or New Year's cards this year, including not writing up a letter, I've decided to just make a little post about the highlights of our year. :)

We started the New Year on our honeymoon in Mexico!  It was a great way to ring in 2012 and we got to have so many great experiences while we were there, from watching shows, to exploring caves, to enjoying the swim up bar at the resort.  We definitely loved our trip and would love to go back as soon as we can.

Spring of 2012 was really busy for us as Clint finished up basketball season with another trip to the state tournament in Lincoln and I wrapped up my last semester of graduate classes.  I was able to travel to Indianapolis with a great group of friends for the national occupational therapy conference.  The conference was great and I have such wonderful friends I was able to share it with.

In May 2012, I moved from Omaha to Lincoln for a rotation at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in the pediatric unit.  It was arguably one of the best experiences of my life and I am so happy that I received that placement.  Clint was also able to relocate to Lincoln for the summer and worked for his dad and brother on the farm.  We were finally able to live together after nine months of marriage!  Also over the summer, Clint completed his masters in Administration from Concordia University!

In August we celebrated out one year anniversary with a trip to Denver to watch the Colorado Rockies, explore a new city, and spend some quality time together.  I also made the final move from Lincoln to central Nebraska, where Clint has been living for three years. 

This fall Clint started his fourth year of teaching and coaching football at Overton and I started my professional rotation at the ESU 10 school district and Children's Rehab in Grand Island.  I had a great experience working and dancing with kids.  We had a very busy and eventful fall with lots of football and visiting friends and family.  We also adopted the newest member of our family, a husky-yellow lab puppy named Millie.  Two dogs and two cats definitely keep us pretty busy.

In December, I graduated with my doctorate in occupational therapy from Creighton University after three and a half long years of school.  It was a wonderful weekend and I was able to celebrate with so many close friends and family who supported me throughout my education.  I am so grateful for everyone's support and am excited to start my career in the new year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we wish you all the best in 2013!

Miranda & Clint

Plus Titan, Jack, Rory, & Millie :)

Update on 30 by 30...

So I've been focusing a ton on my other blog and I've been wanting to keep up with this one more.  So here is my 30 things I want to do by age 30 update:

Things I have accomplished since January:

1. Get my dog to like my cats: kind of, they are at least tolerating each other... plus the new puppy is helping!
2. Live with my husband finally: we have been living together since the middle of May, so six months now. It's been wonderful and sometimes I forget that we were apart for so long...
3. Go on a road trip to a place I've never been: In April I took a road-trip with three of my good friends from OT school.  We went to Indianapolis for AOTA conference and it was super fun.  Clint and I also took a little trip to Denver for our one year anniversary.
4. Find a job that I love to go to every day: This should be true.  I have found a job and I'm pretty sure that with the people I'm working with and the fact that it's an OT job, I'll probably be pretty happy.
5. Teach/coach dance or cheerleading again: I'm coaching cheerleading again and it has been really fun. I'm also going to continue teaching my adapted dance class so I get to stay involved in two of my great loves. :)

And in December:

1. Graduate with a doctorate in Occupational Therapy: I am four and a half weeks away so I'm pretty close. This is a huge goal to cross off and I'm super excited!

 So... 24 things left to cross off my list and about 3 1/2 years left to do it... :)

30 by 30...

Due to the fact that I am nearing the end of my education this year and have gone through quite a few changes in the last few years, I've decided that it's time to revamp my idea of where my life is heading and why.  You know the whole question, where do you see yourself in five years?  Well I am deciding to focus on the journey, instead of the destination, by answering what I would like to DO in the next five-ish years.  I'll be 26 in about 3 months, to give some perspective.  So... here is my list of thirty things (in no specific order of importance) that I would LIKE to accomplish by the age of 30!

1. See the Nutcracker Ballet in New York City 
2. Graduate with a doctorate in Occupational Therapy
3. Go on a vacation with my mom
4. Go to an NFL or college bowl game
5. Visit California, go to a wine tasting at a vineyard, and put my toes in the Pacific ocean.
6. Celebrate a birthday in Las Vegas!
7. Get my dog to like my cats (this would make my life a lot easier)
8. Live with my husband finally!
9. Buy a house, preferably a yellow one.
10. Have a porch...  and a porch swing :)
11. Go on a road trip to a place I've never been.
12. Publish something.
13. Visit North Carolina 
14. Learn to drive a tractor so I can feel like I'm caught up to my 3-year-old nephew.
15. Be a better swimmer (so I can snorkel without freaking out)
16. Develop a coveted recipe, or maybe more than one!
17. Find a job that I love to go to every day
18. Learn to do my dishes right away, no matter how much I hate it...
19. Visit Louisiana and New Orleans!  Maybe go to Mardi Gras... :)
20. Do an over the top surprise for my husband.
21. Meet up with my friends from OT school at conference after we graduate.
22. Go to a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley field.
23. Start a family... :)
24. Go on a camping trip with my husband and no cell phones for at least a whole weekend. 
25. Change a life
26. See Hairspray the musical for the first time and Wicked for the second.
27. Read 100 books, just for fun (This might happen waaay before 30, but we'll see)
28. Host a holiday with both my family and the in-laws. :)
29. Teach/coach dance or cheerleading again.
30. Go back to Mexico with my husband and some friends!

Obviously some of the things on this list are easier to accomplish than others and plans may change depending on where I am with work and finances.  But... at the very least it was fun to think of some things that would be really meaningful to me.  :)

18 weeks...

So 18 weeks might seem like a long time, but in comparison to say... 2 1/2 years... it's not.  16 weeks from now I'll be starting at Madonna for my summer fieldwork, and about 2 weeks after that Clint will be coming to stay with me for the summer.  And in August I'll be moving back to Overton with him.  So, in 18 more weeks this long distance relationship stuff will officially be over! Yay!

I have been at Creighton about 2 /1/2 years now, and that whole time Clint and I have been living about 3 hours apart, seeing each other every other weekend on average.  4 weeks is about the longest we've been apart, which doesn't happen very often.  For many, living apart when you are married seems crazy (I've heard more than enough opinions on the topic).  Others say we have the perfect set up.  And while it sucks, the times when we are together make it worth any wait.  I could not be more excited for our future together.

I fully intend to enjoy the next 18 weeks at school and starting my pediatrics rotation.  But I needed to share my excitement and say... Let the countdown begin! :)

Stress!

So, our  last semester of school just started and let's just say I've been a bit of a mess to say the least.  We have so much going on already with data collection, research papers, labs, etc. that I am feeling completely unorganized.  To top all this off, I made a New Year's resolution that I was really going to do all of the readings this semester, not what just seemed interesting.  So... I'm regretting that one a little bit.

While this does all stress me out, I am also excited because we are getting so close to going on rotations.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'll finally be doing what I've been dreaming of doing my whole life.  And getting so close to finally making some money.  This time next year I might have a job!  I should anyway.  I was talking with a friend today and she gave me a reminder not to wait to be happy until you graduate or have a job.  The perfect situation may never come up.   She's so wise.   So... this is my reminder to myself to chill out, enjoy my last semester with some of my best friends, and remember what all of this is going towards... :)

Honeymoon!

I wanted to do a short post because I really want to start keeping up with this blog instead of just pretending it will write itself.  So here it is! 

Clint and I went on our honeymoon to Riviera Maya in Mexico, south of Cancun, and it was beautiful!  Seriously the best six days of my life.  We went ziplining, repelling into a cave, swam in a cenote, snorkeled, rode through the jungle in a big truck, saw Mayan ruins at Tulum, visited a Mayan village and ate authentic food, and waded into the ocean (we didn't know to bring out swimsuits).  And we ate a ton of food!  We also got to go to a huge new year's celebration, complete with circus performers.  So awesome!  Our resort was a buffet for breakfast and lunch, and you needed to order like four courses at dinner.  It was fantastic!  We also got to lay by the pool or by the ocean and had drinks delivered to us.  I am now a huge fan of Pina Coladas. Yum :)

I so want to go back again.  Six days with Clint without any interruptions or things we absolutely had to do was wonderful.  I highly recommend it!

Oops...

Well, oops on my part... Things were literally crazy this summer and I feel like I had literally no time to write anything down and reflect upon how many changes were going on.  And since it is impossible to go back and explain everything... I won't :)  I'll just do a quick summary.

Fieldwork first...  Amazing experience.  I walked in on my first day terrified and pretty much spent the first three weeks racing around behind my clinical instructor, trying not to screw up.  But somehow over those twelve weeks I went from being terrified to feeling completely confident.  I used to be intimidated by patients and now I can walk right into a room and start a conversation. I have stood in the shower with at least 30 people.  And I feel so much more assured that I love everything about OT.

Second...  living with Clint all summer= amazing!  He is such an easy roommate to live with, other than leaving the toilet seat up.  But really it was so easy to get used to living together and splitting up chores.  He really is pretty much the perfect guy and I'm going to miss the living together when I go back to school.  But it's only temporary :)

Lastly...  I'm married!!!  Clint and I got married three days ago and so far (I'm aware it's only been 3 days) I love being married.  It's so nice to say husband and wife instead of fiance.  And while the name change is taking some getting used to, everything else has been perfect.  Our wedding was beautiful and so amazing.  Everyone really pulled together to make it amazing for us.  We are really very blessed.  I am so excited to see where our future will take us, but also just happy with the present.  And I cannot wait for our honeymoon over New Year's!