The Altamonte Springs SDA Church is a very supporting and loving church family. They threw a wedding shower for Mike and I last weekend, and it was really a lovely shower. The decorations were beautiful, the food delicious, and several people showed up in support. They gave us some beautiful gifts and money that will help us get settled. One of the gifts was a unity candle hand-sculpted by one of our church member's daugthers, which we plan to use in our ceremony--only FIVE DAYS left!!

Wedding is in 25 days!!!

RDMS

It is official! Tanya is finally registered in both OB/GYN and Abdomen ultrasound!

Countdown...

Only 36 more days to go until marital bliss!!!!

Wedding Shower

It's raining, it's pouring...lingerie?? My roommate (Mengkha) and I went shopping this evening, and we returned home to a wedding shower! I was completely taken off guard--didn't have a CLUE!! And the girls really made it beautiful. The theme was Indian, so it was all in red (that is color for Indian weddings--also my favorite color), so the girls dressed me up as Mike's Indian bride, and we had Indian food, Indian music--it was an absolute blast! Here are some pics:

Food

Friends

Mike's "Indian" bride

Registered!

I passed my OB/GYN registry exam today! That means I have an official RDMS credential now!!! My abdomen exam is in three weeks.

Mike just went through a strenuous exam week last week, but he did so well that I sent him a batch of chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies in the mail today. {:0) I'm really proud of him!

A New Little Life

Shenisse Miah Christo was born today to Mike's cousin, Lester, and his wife Samantha!

Shenisse was born at 7:58 a.m., weighing 6 pounds.

1st Year Medical School: Review in Photos

I downloaded some class pics of Mike's from an LLU website, so I thought you might like to see this very fine doctor-to-be in action... He is going to make a great doctor! What do you think?

Anatomy Lab (blue arrow points to Mike with the scalpel)

Histology Lab

Physical Diagnosis Lab

(Our mutual friend, Dipika)

(This is a friend of mine, Jessica, that I met when I was living in South Dakota (10+ years ago). I ran in to her during Mike's orientation at the beginning of first year. Small world...)

One Down, Three to Go

I passed my Ultrasound Physics & Instrumentation Registry Exam today! I will take my OB/GYN one in three weeks, followed by the Abdomen exam.

Thank you to those of you who prayed and for those of you who gave me words of encouragement!

And, thank you, God, for always being there and helping in my areas of weakness.

ANOTHER "BEGINNING" QUOTE

"So many fail because they don't get started--they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin." W. Clement Stone

OUR NEW HOME

We just finished moving Mike into what will be our first home together after we are married! He rented an apartment for us in a truly lovely (and convenient) neighborhood in Redlands (here is the view from our front balcony). The neighborhood is nestled in a quiet community with a view, a park, and everything we might need for shopping and convenience just a couple blocks away (good job, babe!). Our landlord is very nice, and our neighbors appear to be very friendly. Also, the apartment is within close proximity to the university, which is great for Mike (and probably me too come next fall).

We did all kinds of furniture shopping (and assembling) together during our move-in week, which was fun and exciting. By the end of the week, though, we were tired and ready to be done with our shopping, unpacking, and rearranging. Fortunately, we were able to spend our last day together basking in the coziness of our new place.

The cross-country drive to CA was a lot of fun. We stopped at new places that we hadn't stayed at before and dug deep into three new books. We'll have to finish them on our next cross-country trip in December.

RACE DAY

We ran our first race together today. Our camera was on the fritz, so the pics didn't turn out that great. Everyone ran an excellent race, Joey and my dad ran personal records. Lee who was not seriously training still ran an impressive time, and Tanya and my aunt made very impressive debuts in their first road race. Mike did well placing 37th over all. This may be our last 5k together as a family so its kind of bittersweet. The race was a very large one with nearly 1400 runners and walkers. It was sponsered by Florida Hospital. The conditions were excellent and it was a lot of fun. Good job everyone!! -MIKE

Race: Track Shack Celebration of Running 5K (3.1 miles)

Sponsored by: Florida Hospital

Beneficiary: Orlando Science Center

Mike's Time: 18:46 37th of 1400 runners

Joey's Time: 19:38 64th overall

Lee's Time: 21:44 126 overall

Matthew's Time: 26:17 405 overall

Tanya's Time: 29:27 639th, 194 out of all women

Aunt Norma's Time (aka Sister): 30:05 710 Overall, 230 out of all women

Hello everyone, this is Mike writing. Today we got our first address together in Redlands, CA. I will be living there by myself until we get married and then Tanya will join me. It's exciting news!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO LESTER

Hurray! It's another new beginning! Mike's cousin, Lester got married in Trinidad very recently. Here is a picture of the happy couple:

TRULY BLESSED

I am truly blessed. I have really had a struggle getting settled into my new career. My self-confidence hasn't been the best. My babe has been praying for me all along, but this week he kicked it into high gear and has been praying for me and my struggles all day, every day. It is only midweek, and as Scripture promises, "The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." My self-confidence has noticibly improved this week, and I've been suprised at some of the compliments and encouragement I've received at work.

Also, I would just like to say how THANKFUL and EXCITED I am that Mike and I found a really great photographer to work with for our wedding. He seems to be very talented and detail-oriented. He also is giving us a GREAT deal on our package. If you need a photographer for ANYTHING, let me know, and I will give you all of his information. --Tanya

(I just reallly like this pic of Mike and I getting ready to go to church on Sabbath.)

Thank you, Lord, for putting someone so special into my life and for blessing us both this week.

"THE ONE"

Cannot show it in its entirety now, but I found my wedding dress today! Janice, Mengkha, and I found it at David's Bridal. I wish my mom and Bobbi could have gone with us. The dress is both simple and elegant. I am very excited to see how it will look after alterations are done. I will wear my mother's diamond necklace (that my father gave her) with it on my wedding day (155 more days to go).

CRICKET 101

Here are some family recreation pics from yesterday. Tanya had her first taste of crickett.

Matthew running for the score -- needs all the pratice he can get for the Disney Marathon.

Janice up to bat.

Tanya in the outfield while Uncle Jerry bowls.

Joey and Uncle Jerry racking up the score while Janice dashes for the ball.

Mike up to bat.

Lee bowling hard to out the other team.

WEDDING PLANS

Since Mike has been home this summer, we've been working on wedding plans. It's been crazy trying to get a plan settled (lots of shuffling ideas back and forth), but things are finally seeming to fall in place!

We have chosen to have a small, intimate affair (20) on Tuesday, December 19th. Our ceremony site will the be the outdoor chapel at the beautiful Maitland Art Center. It just kind of fits us. Our family dinner will be held just down the street at Antonio's Ristorante (beautiful and romantic environment with amazing service--we were impressed immediately). We've been discussing flowers and music with some people from church, and we think we found our photographer this week. We have an appointment with him on Monday. We are planning to spend our honeymoon in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

4TH OF JULY

We had a July 4th that was OUT OF THIS WORLD -- really!! We watched the Discovery space shuttle launch off into space. It was our first launch! Unexpectedly, it was a very moving experience.

OUR FIRST BIG PURCHASE TOGETHER

We experienced our first big purchase together on Sunday, July 2nd! We traded in the ole Camry and bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Galant, GTZ. It looks almost white in the pic, but it is actually a pearl color with gray leather interior. It's a great car--we love it!

Here is a pic in front of the Casa Feliz.

ON TO 2ND YEAR!!!

Mike received his mock board scores back, and he passed his first year of medical school!!! I am so proud of him, and I thank God for helping him get to this point. There have been many, many, many study hours put into this 1st school year--and much prayer! GOD IS GOOD, and he made my baby SO SMART!!! I think Mike's biggest asset, though, is his great big heart for people and his desire to be God's man. I believe that God will continue to bless his studies so that many hurting peoples' lives can be touched (more than physically) through his lifework.

Mike is finishing up his family practice rounds and then should be home on my birthday (oh, happy day!). He will be home ALL SUMMER, so we have lots of wedding planning to do.

BEACH FUN IN THE SUN!

Well, I'm getting really excited for Mike to come home soon! We have so much we want to do this summer--including beach time! I had some help getting prepped by his family this weekend. We visited Daytona Beach, and it was LOADS of fun! Matthew and Lee purchased a MANLY boogie board for me so I could ride the waves with the boys.

I know...kinda scary. That's what I thought too. But then I thought, if it scares me, it might scare those nasty fish away too. I think it worked, because I didn't see any fish!

It took a little coaxing, but Matthew was able to get me IN the water. Before I knew it, I was having so much fun! It was a great day! We all missed Mike, but soon he will be with us!

Here are some pics:

Janice and I put a little creative effort forth...

Boys will be boys...

Hanging in There...

I am so proud of Mike! He is almost finished with his first year of medical school! Finals start on Tuesday. He studies so hard, and he is doing great! Also, he just found out last week that he got a summer internship with Florida Hospital!! He'll be coming home in mid-June, and then school will start back up again in September.

I can't wait to have him home again!!

Family Vacation

My family came down for graduation. We packed as much as we could into one week, but one week just wasn't long enough. We visited the Orlando Science Museum, New Smyrna Beach, Park Avenue in Winter Park, Disney World, Downtown Disney, and Celebration. I can't believe that our time together is already gone. {:7(

Here are some pics from our family time together:

The first day of vacation was spent at the Orlando Science Museum.

And we enjoyed the beach...

With a little bit of inspiration, our sand castle became a...

...SEA TURTLE!

Disney was loads of fun!