Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving, and in the spirit of being thankful, I thought I'd share with you all the many many blessings I am thankful for this year.  Let me just say before I start that I am sure that I will forget something, as I am so incredibly blessed, but I will list as much as I can at the moment....

1.  I am thankful for my Daddy.  He is the most amazing father a girl could ask for, and as we were discussing just this morning, great dads are hard to find.  He has been so patient with me through the last few years as I've wandered from job to job and tried to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing with my life, and I appreciate so much his unconditional love for me.  

2.  Along those same lines, I am thankful for my step-mom.  She has made my daddy so incredibly happy after losing my mama, and I will always be thankful to her for that.  I am also thankful for her patience with me as I try to acclimate myself to this new family and new life that I never expected to have.  I am thankful that I am growing to love her, and that she is growing to love me.  And I pray that that continues for many more years. 

3.  As I look towards my 5th holiday season without my mommy, I am thankful for the wonderful life that she lead, and the wonderful relationship we had.  I am thankful for the woman she raised me to be, and for the 23 years I had with her.  

4.  I am thankful that at 28 years old I am still able to enjoy time with all of my grandparents.  I am thankful that I get to have dinner with them regularly, and that I truly enjoy my time with them.  I am thankful that they are all in (relatively) good health, and that I have many more years of good memories to celebrate with them.  

5.  I am thankful for the Ruppel family.  I can honestly say that they are 7 reasons why I have survived the last five years.  I am thankful for the summer I got to live in their home and really get to know Daddy John and Mama Joanie.  And for the 5 extra siblings I have in Chris, Bebba, KT, Nick, and Zoe-girl.  My oldest and dearest friends.

6.  I am thankful for my sister-in-law, Missy.  She came into our family so easily, and loves my (sometimes difficult) brother unconditionally.  She is by far one of my best friends.  I look forward to her phone calls and spending time with her.  I can't imagine our family or my life without her, and I am so thankful that my brother chose his wife so brilliantly. 

7.  I am thankful for a great group of friends that support me and lift me up and have loved me through many stages in my life. Friends from childhood (Jilly-bean!), high school (Liz, Emily, Brianne, Andrea, Krystal), College (My Megs!), Cincinnati (Tricia and Robyn), and newer friends like Shashy, Boo, Kate, and Rhonda - I am so blessed.  God sent you all to me for a reason, and I could never thank him enough.  

8.  I am thankful for this new journey I am embarking on.  I am thankful to have finally found a career path that I am sooooo excited about.  To feel like I am finally using the brain that God blessed me with.  I am looking forward to finally being challenged and working hard and seeing a result.  I am thankful to know that I will be making a difference in so many lives.  I am thankful that God never gave up on me, and never stopped leading me, even when I wasn't paying attention.  

9.  I am thankful for my "nieces" and "nephews" and my God-son.  I don't see them as much as I would like to, but each of them - Molly, Leah, Gabriel, Cameron, and Carter - has been a huge blessing to me.  I look forward to continuing to watch them grow and learn and to be awed by how amazing they all are.  And I look forward to loving Baby Reagan like my own as well! 

10.  Last but DEFINITELY not least - I am thankful for A.  I am thankful to have a found a man who loves me as I have always wanted to be loved.  I am thankful to be able to love him and to be myself and to be cherished for who I am.  I am thankful for what he is teaching me about love, and life, and myself.  I am thankful that at the end of the day, next to him is ALWAYS where I want to be.  I am thankful for his support of my desire to go to med school and become a doctor.  I am thankful for the future we are dreaming of together, and the life we are building right now.  He inspires me every day with his patience and perseverance, and I can't imagine loving anyone more than I love him.  

That is the Top 10.  I'm sure if I sat here long enough, I would come up with at least 10 more things to be thankful for.  I didn't mention my aunts and uncles and cousins, my health, my home, or TCU football - all things that I am extremely thankful for as well :)  But on this day when we pause to say "Thank you" to a God that created each of us and loves us unendingly and unconditionally - I wanted to take a moment to write it down.  Because I have been incredibly blessed, and I don't ever want to forget that.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

Step 1.... and Baby Fever.

So in case you haven't heard - I got accepted to the Post-Bacc Premed program I applied to!  Yay!  That is step 1 in the long list of steps that will eventually lead to me becoming a doctor.  Step 2 - get good grades in said Post-Bacc program.  Step 3 - get a good score on the MCATs.  Step 4 - Apply to Med school.  Step 5 - Get lots of interviews and really knock their socks off! Step 6 - Get accepted to so many med schools I have trouble deciding between them, but eventually pick one! 

That is as far as my brain will take me for now..... there are so many steps after that as well.  

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to what I want to specialize in.  I've always said pediatrics (obviously) because I really love working with children and I already have so much experience working in children's hospitals.  I gave lots of thought to specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, which tends to be the doctors who treat patients post-Spinal Cord Injury or Traumatic Brain Injury, but I think I've decided that treating SCI all day at work, and then coming home to my WONDERFUL (future) husband and living with SCI might increase my likelihood of burnout.  So back to Peds it is.  

Except.... recently it seems that I have come to the stage in my life when all of my friends have baby fever.  And not just "Oh, we've been married for a while and now we're trying to conceive" kind of baby fever.  One of my good friend from high school did it that way and just had her sweet baby girl yesterday (yay Liz and Brian!  Welcome Reagan!), but the rest of my friends with baby fever right now seem to be going about things the non-traditional way.  My college roommate just had (healthy) triplets.  A good friend from Cincinnati is undergoing artificial insemination to try to conceive and be a single mother by choice (kudos to you R!).  A friend of mine who's husband is also a quad just underwent IVF and a miscarriage.  I share all of this to get to this point - Babies make me happy.  Pregnancy is fascinating to me.  I am enthralled by the miracle that is a woman becoming pregnant.  And being a woman who dreams of having children and knows that it will not be an easy road for A and me, my heart goes out to my friends who are facing these same issues.  And so I consider - could I find a home in Reproductive Endocrinology?  I think I would find joy in helping women and couples become parents who would otherwise be unable to.  I know I find the female reproductive system fascinating and the process of pregnancy enthralling.  And it is sooooo satisfying to me when you finally see that long awaited sweet baby in the arms of a parent who has waited and wept and hoped and prayed for this little life.  And to know that I had a part in making that dream come true, that God blessed me with that ability - I think that would be such a blessing.  So.... yeah.  I'm considering Reproductive Endocrinology.  Studying Gynecology is the only draw back to this plan.... As much as I like the Obstetrics part of the female system, I can't say that treating STDs and giving PAP smears appeals to me in the least.  And everyone knows the cost of malpractice insurance for an OB/Gyn is astronomical.  So I guess we'll see.  I have a long time until I have to choose.  I just wanted to share a piece of my journey, and see if anyone out there would like to weigh in with their opinion.