4 Year Anniversary

Two posts in one day? How exciting is that?!

It's hard to believe Christmas break is already over and that Robbie has completed the first few weeks of Spring semester. Juggling two families in Fort Collins made for a pretty busy break and I, unfortunately, had to work through most of his break as well. I will say that sitting around at the school organizing/stocking/cleaning without any clinic going on gets really old really fast. I am so glad clinic has started back up and we finally have the students back! I promise to never complain about how messy they make the clinic ever again. Their mess is what keeps me from getting bored!

My favorite part of the break was celebrating our 4 year anniversary at The Melting Pot (a delicious fondu restaurant that we go to every year). Since the restaurant was in Fort Collins and we didn't think it sounded very fun to stay at one of our parents' houses for our anniversary, we decided a few weeks ago to book a hotel room instead.

This is us in the hotel lobby before we left for dinner. I was a little disappointed that the front desk lady couldn't capture a better picture but after three takes, I figured "Oh well."

One thing I love about Old Town Fort Collins is that they cover all the trees with Christmas lights each year.

He's not excited at all.

We went with the spinach artichoke cheese fondu, yet again. It's so good we're afraid to branch out!

Had to snap a picture of us with our chocolate before we messed up the lovely yin/yang dark/white chocolate.

It's amazing to think of all we have been through together over the past four years. Career changes, adopting a kitty cat, applying to Dental School, moving to a new city, traveling (to California twice, Virginia, Arizona, southern Colorado, and Puerto Rico), and completing the first year and a half of Dental School. I just can't imagine where I would be or what I would be doing if God hadn't brought Robbie and I into each others' lives. Robbie truly brings out the best in me and treats me with such tenderness. I feel absolutely blessed beyond capacity to stand by his side as his wife. I love that we are such a good team and that I know I will always have someone in my corner when life gets difficult.

Puerto Rico, Part 3

I just realized I never finished posting about our Puerto Rico trip back in August! If you missed the first two parts to this series, here they are: Part 1 and Part 2. Mostly I just want to make sure that when I look back on my blog a few years from now, I didn't leave out any important/fun parts of our experience during Dental School.



On our final day in Puerto Rico, we decided to head to Old San Juan in the morning to explore the shops and grab breakfast. By this time we had become public transportation experts and hopped on the right bus after making a quick stop into Walgreens for some cookies "sin gluten."

We ended up in a little cafe called Cafeteria Mallorca that I had read about online.

They are actually famous for their namesake pastry, mallorcas, which are little sweet-bread rolls covered in powdered sugar (kind of like a donut) but since Robbie couldn't eat them I opted for a more classic breakfast as well.

And by classic breakfast I mean cheesy scrambled eggs, two pancakes, and... cocktail weenies? The pancakes were perfection.

Robbie had an omelet that came with french fries instead of hash browns.

 After breakfast, we took Mary Poppins' advice and fed the birds.

They didn't seem to mind gluten free cookie crumbs.

I told Robbie that I would be okay with him opening a practice in Puerto Rico when he's done with school.

This Starbucks looked small from the outside, but it just kept going back and back with room after room of sitting areas.

Starbucks Support Center: for coffee addicts perhaps?

After a fun morning in Old San Juan, we decided to head back to our hotel and change to go to the beach. On our way, we passed by the Capital.

My dad let us borrow his GoPro camera so we had fun playing in the waves with it.

The surf was a little too rough for getting underwater shots since it was kicking up so much sand.

After a few hours of swimming, we settled in to the bar at The Atlantic Beach Hotel where they had an amazing Happy Hour.

Our view of the beach was fantastic!

In total, we had three pina coladas, a daiquiri, three mojitos, and an order of french fries over the course of several hours and our total bill was only $20. Talk about an awesome Happy Hour!!

It was so relaxing and romantic to watch the sun go down as we enjoyed our drinks.

 After a long day at the beach, we headed back to our hotel and freshened up to go out to dinner on our final night there. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant called "Cielito Lindo" or "Pretty Little Heaven." The owner was awesome and actually had a whole conversation with me in Spanish (something I had been wanting to do the whole trip). Overall I would say this was definitely the best trip Robbie and I have gone on together, by far! I definitely recommend visiting if you have a chance!

Laying Bricks

If you have read my blog for long, you probably know that I have a love for Proverbs. One that keeps coming to my mind this morning says:

"The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands." -Proverbs 14:1

Whenever I read that verse, I get a picture in my head of a woman building a brick house. She carefully places each brick to get a perfect seal with the mortar to ensure that her finished house will have strong walls. Even though it is so painstaking for her to place each brick correctly, she intermittently will pull a few bricks back off the wall and toss them aside.

It sounds so stupid when we picture it that way, but this Proverb reveals that many of us have a tendency to do just that in our own marriage. We put time and energy and love and sacrifice into our marriages to build them up and make them strong. Then, for whatever reason, we foolishly do things that tear our hard work back down again.

An opportunity came up last night for me to choose between placing bricks or tearing them down. I have a cold and Robbie made me some chicken noodle soup. I regret to say that instead of simply expressing my appreciation, I began to critique him on how he could've made it a little bit better. Next time, maybe cook the noodles separately and then add them to the soup when we're ready to eat so they won't be so mushy. It could use some more chicken, too. Why are the carrots and celery chopped so big? There go a few of my bricks. I cringe at myself this morning thinking about it.

The problem is, I can't just fix myself. I can't decide that from here on out, I'm going to express my appreciation more and my dissatisfaction less. My words aren't the problem; they are a symptom of the problem. Ultimately, it's my heart that needs fixing. Jesus explained this in Matthew 15:17-19.

"Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."

What he's saying is that my words are a reflection of the attitudes and beliefs I hold in my heart. If, in my heart, I'm an unforgiving and bitter person, it will come out in my words at some point, perhaps as sarcasm or angry comments. If I'm a controlling person in my heart, my words will be bossy and nit-picking. If I believe in my heart that I have no value, my words will be self-depricating (or they may swing to the opposite side of the pendulum and be constantly self-praising in an attempt to cover my low self-image).

In my case, my heart idolizes perfectionism. I want things to be just how I want them so my words express dissatisfaction and discontent when my standards aren't met. My heart also clings to being comfortable. When I'm  hanging out with a person who's making inappropriate jokes or gossiping about someone, my words come out as people pleasing to avoid confrontation and an uncomfortable situation. Instead of standing up for truth, I remain silent or, worse yet, join in with the gossip.

So what's the solution? Jesus tells us in John 15:4-5.

"Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing."

The Greek word for abide is meno which means to remain, to stay, to wait for, or to be held/kept continually. My pastor always described it as "soaking in God's presence." The way to fix the perfectionism in my heart is to spend time with the One who is Himself perfect and yet is full of grace for those like me, the imperfect. The way to get rid of my idol of comfort is to hang out with the One who regularly had uncomfortable conversations regarding sin and yet was a magnet to sinners.

Meditating on His word reminds me that He laid aside all comfort to endure crucifixion on my behalf. The more I am "held continually" by that thought, the more I fall in love with Him. The more I fall in love with Him, the more I want to spend time with Him. It's a vicious cycle really.

Maybe you feel like you've been pulling so many bricks from your marriage that it doesn't even resemble a house anymore. Maybe your marriage looks more like a pile of ruins at this point. Take heart! Jesus came to restore and to bring life and to set free. Ask Him for forgiveness, acknowledge that only He can change your heart, and then ask Him to direct you in what to do next.

"Then I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh... On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities and the ruins shall be rebuilt." -Ezekiel 36:25-26,33