And Neuro Continues...

Updates about my head and my hubby :)

So the Hubs test last week went well again, started off rocky when the professor buzzed in on the intercom before the test begun to admit it was gonna be a tough one! If I were Luke I would have been mentally checked out from that point on, my nerves would have gotten the best of me. But as always slow and steady wins the race and I know my hubby well enough to understand that he took his time calmly and did the best he could which worked out really well for him! 

I'm going to take just one second to bring on him because I have been so incredibly impressed with him this semester! Not to say that I wasn't last year too, but this year he has really transformed. It is as if he has grown into himself, if that makes sense. He is doing this year what he had aspirations of doing last year and it just warms my heart.. I know he can do ANYTHING he sets his mind to and he's proved to himself that very point by the wonderful achievements he's already made this first semester! Im so proud of him and even though it gets lonely sometimes when he's away I think about how truly happy he is with his work this year and that helps me from sending him a text every ten seconds!

So for anyone in my shoes or who is going to be, my best piece of advice is to help encourage them to do what they NEED to do. Wether you are a girlfriend/boyfriend or husband/wife of a med school student you will find out quickly that they really DO need your help and encouragement just as much as you need theres! It is a crazy time for the both of you but if you help them realize that they will be happier spending more time studying, and if they are happier you will be happier. Which believe me I never thought that would come out of my mouth!!!!!! Now I realize this is an adjustment for you as a spouse because who wants to spend less time with the person they love? But I promise you that it can give you more time to help them and yourself by keeping up with groceries or the house or just getting things done you enjoy but ever thought you'd have time to do! So in a nutshell remember to be an encouragement! I promise you will reap the rewards of what you sew into them!

On an update for my head, I had 4 nerve blocks done yesterday in my Neurologist office. It was not painful one bit because of the very tiny needle they used! But I did pass out! Yep thats all it takes folks is one tiny needle and Im lightheaded and feel like I have cotton in my ears and down for the count for the rest of the day! He did two injections above my right eye brow and two in the back of my head on the right side! It is the WEIRDEST sensation having your scalp and forehead be numb… but hey it worked and helped my head feel much better until right when I was going to sleep! Today so far so good as well! Monday I will be seeing an ENT to talk about my diverted septum and see if that is having anything to do with my headaches as well since a lot of research I and my mom have done have lead us to diverted septum's being an issue and my septum is anything but straight! Below you can see my nose in my MRI (pointing to ward the top of the image) and this that squiggly line running through it is supped to be straight!!!!!!!!!

Life with Neurology... In more ways than just school!

SO... its been a little while since I've posted! Is it just me or do you just continually get busier and busier as life goes on?

BEAR UPDATE

Silly Elly Belly

Sweet Sleepy Winnie

We've had a great first semester this year! Luke changed up his study habits and it has worked AMAZING! His first unit of the semester on the Renal system (and something else I cant remember) went great and now we are on the last unit, Neurology which is going even better!! Not only for him but for us too... so thats really wonderful thankfully!

We've done a lot of fun things already this year too! We visited our precious friends Lyndsey and Sean in Missouri not to long ago and it was so great to spend a little time with them and their adorable son! My advice to anyone if you go to Springfield is to eat at Whole Hog BBQ and get an Andy's frozen custard for dessert... however the company of good friends makes it all even better!

Although we have had some great memories we have also experienced some difficult moments we are still working through! My precious Grandfather "Pop Pop" passed away a little over a month ago, and although we knew he was not doing well and it wasn't a completely sudden him passing it still shocks you and crushes your heart. He was such a blessing to so many lives as an incredibly talented Neurosurgeon that paved the way for so many Neurosurgeons today! My husband and him always had a fun connection since Luke was in medical school. When my Pop Pop's health started really declining the last few months he began to not always recognize all of us when we would come over but somehow he would ALWAYS know who Luke was and that always meant a lot to me! The last day we saw him we had gone over to check on him and Lucas could only stay for a few minutes... the whole time I had been there if Pop Pop ever spoke it was really hard to make out anything he was saying but we would all smile anyways! So as Luke was leaving he went to say bye to Pop Pop and told him he had to go back to school, and then the coolest thing happened that I will never forget for the rest of my life!!! Pop Pop looked at my husband and held his hand and plain as day said "Study hard now" and then paused only to follow that comment up with a loud "AND GIVE 'EM HELL"!! It was just something that was so moving and precious! I will always love my sweet Pop Pop and I know someday we will all be together again.. I just wish I had a little more time with him here on earth! I got to see my wonderful sweet family though which was a highlight of this sad time! I love them so much and cherish the time I have with them... just wish I could see them more!

Me and My Precious Pop Pop

Our other little predicament this semester has been ME! Yes M.E. I have had the weirdest "migraine" things and they have been going on since JULY! Thats 4 whole months of this constant weird feeling every single EVERY SINGLE every single day! I think we are all a little confused what is going on... (even my neurologist) I've been diagnosed with sinus infections to extreme stress to migraines and maybe a nerve issue! Who knows what this really is but I think I am seeing some improvement! I've done a small nerve treatment to try and reach this nerve bundle behind my sinuses which has so far only worked a little bit (maybe), so come monday they will be trying several nerve blocks and hopefully that will work perfect! But... I was secretly hoping that now that Luke is in his Neurology unit he could figure something out! I am desperate enough that I have listened to a migraine lecture by one of his professors (It was actually really cool)!! So hopefully it works..

Tonight I have some free time to write this update because Mr. Smile is working with interns in at ER at OU Children's Hospital overnight! Although I have barely seen him the past few days because he had a test this week, I am really excited to see how his evening goes! I know the experience for him will be worth the lonely evening, Im just so thrilled he gets to go be in the field for a little bit instead of cooped up in the library!

One other small update I did my first fun photo shoot this year for my PRECIOUS friend who just found out she and her husband will be welcoming a baby girl to their family!! Congratulations!!

One of my favorite pics of these cuties I took!

Wow theres so much more to add to this but I hope I have captured some of the big things going on with us lately!! Happy Fall Everyone!!

It's been a while....

Wow it has been too long since I've written anything... but better late than never I guess!!

The school year ended very well for Luke, nothing too incredibly crazy just a lot of studying for his final exam and then voila! First year down only three more to go!

So this summer was FABULOUS! Let me just say that it is a complete night and day difference having your husband home all the time :) and not only physically being there... but mentally present in your everyday life! Didn't even know how great it was till I had it and let me just tell you I cherished every single moment!

Lots of med school students tend to shadow physicians or do some research work, some travel the world and go backpacking... the options are abundant and I think it is so nice that they have so many choices! Mr.Smile spent the majority of the summer at home, taking care of EVERYTHING and it was so nice! I'd come home to the lawn freshly cut and the house tidy with towels folded and dinner cooking... seriously incredible!

He shadowed one of our wonderful friends who is a Urologist and head over the Robotic Surgeries! His name is Mike and he is fairly new to his practice, only being there about 10 months when Luke went to spend a few days with him, he was able to relate to what is going on in Luke's life at the moment and give him some pointers as well as a great time experiencing a day in the life of a Urologist! I think one of the coolest things that Lucas was able to do while shadowing was playing around with the latest and greatest Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System! He said it was quite awesome and not too long after he had this experience the T.V. show "Doctors" had a segment on about it and I was able to see what Luke had been talking about all that time... so fun!! (not to mention it is so cute to see him get all excited about this stuff)

We also took a really fabulous trip to Colorado Springs (which we L.O.V.E. it is one of our favorite places on earth) over the 4th of July. His amazing Grandparents invited us out to their beautiful summer home and we had the most wonderful time with the entire crew! We went to our favorite zoo there and drove through the beautiful Garden of the Gods... so many amazing things and adventures happened while we were there! Some of the best times were just sitting on their back patio with everyone and looking at the mountains! One day we went to a small town up in the mountains (whose name escapes me at the moment) filled with casinos, of course we almost all left in a small amount of debt (minus the boys dad... he was a big winner and our sister-in-law won some too). However, one of the greatest parts about this day was the fact that we got to take a LIMO... yes I said a LIMO up the mountain to the  little casino town and out to dinner at this amazing little place called Swiss Chalet! Oh it was just so fun! We also got to drive around in Lucas' precious grandma's little sports car one day... everything was just like heaven!!

I also took up a new hobby this summer... for our anniversary Luke got me the camera I have always DREAMED!! So I was lucky enough that our anniversary came right before our Colorado trip so we could take it with us! Something fun we also did was celebrate our 1st anniversary with dinner at the top of the Devon tower... words can't even begin to describe what a wonderful experience that was!

Summer was a blast...

Now its back to reality!

Today was the first day back for all the med school students... I would be lying if I told you I didn't cry a little last night! I've just had the best time having him around this summer that I don't want to share him with school!!!!!

So here we are, starting on what I think is going to probably be the most strenuous year of med school with the big test coming at the end that everyone is so worried about! But I know God is there to help us the whole way through! We will prevail and we will only become better at this little routine! I truly am excited to see what this year has to hold for us.... Here we go!!

Wedding Week & Missouri Traveling!

Wow... what a week we've had!
Lucas started a new unit in school right before spring break, it's Nutrition (which we both really need to learn from) and we had about twenty billion things to do! His brother's wedding week was finally here and everything went so well! Let me just give the best piece of advice and say that you should FOR SURE have your rehearsal dinner at a horse race track! It was seriously the most fun evening and everyone had too much fun betting on the races and it gave us all something to talk about! Remington Park was the bomb, seriously it was awesome and I don't use the term "the bomb" often!

I think my dad and Luke will now have a new hobby to do together... but who knew there was ever so many things to keep track of when you're betting on the races! Ps: no one came home with many winnings :)

The wedding was absolutely fabulous, we literally had three back to back days of incredible weather for the wedding festivities and then late that night after the wedding it got really cold.. it was fate! Im so incredibly happy for Cal and Jess, we love them so much and they are seriously the bother and sister I have always dreamed of! I had too much fun making wedding projects and to be honest I do not know what to do with my life now that its over!

Word of advice when making chalkboard signs... do not use an oil based finishing spray when you are done with them! It makes the paint separate which caused me to have to re-do one of my signs 48hrs before it was needed(sign above)! Unfortunately that sign ended up breaking when the wind picked up later in the afternoon and knocked it over, but thats neither here nor there Im just glad we had it ready to go it and wasn't my fault!

Luke and I along with the other maid of honor made a speech for the newly weds at the reception! It was nerve racking, and I don't remember a word I said! Lucas however said some great things... thank you Lucas... he made sure to tell the couple the importance of patience! Apparently he has to exercise his patience skills when it comes to me :) but seriously it was really sweet and I was really proud of him!

The BEAUTIFUL Bride and I

We left for Missouri the day after the wedding and stayed for a few days with our amazing friends Sean and Lyndsey! We got to meet Baby Jack who is the newest addition to their family! Oh. My. Gosh. Jack was the most precious little boy I have ever seen! At 6 weeks old he was making the best facial expressions and sweet cooing noises! I just never wanted to leave! We love getting to spend time with Sean and Lyndsey... just wish we could have stayed longer! 

While we were there we ate some AMAZING BBQ and frozen custard... we went to a cool pottery painting place and it was lovely! Sean and Lyndsey were smart and only made tiles for Jacks hand and and feet prints on them. Lucas and I on the other hand made a bowl and platter, which I think will turn out cute, but there were hard to do ha ha! I'll have to post pics when they are completed! 

We already miss Sean, Lyndsey and Baby Jack, now we have an excuse to get to see them cause we will need to get our pottery someday! Love that family so much!

Ohhh I love sweet baby Jack!

I told Lucas he needed to make himself a "Popcorn" Bowl! We will see how it turns out!

So now since Luke is on spring break I'll get to spend some precious time with him when I get home from work the rest of the week! Im so excited for some down time and Luke's home cookin'

It's Wedding Season!!!

So, lately our lives... well at least my life, has been consumed with weddings. Attending weddings, wedding crafts, wedding invitations, dresses, flowers, planning, thinking, eating, dreaming and I must admit some stressing about weddings!

Last week was the a big wedding weekend, we had the big family shower for my brother-in-law and later that evening the bachelorette party my soon to be sister-in-law! Let me just say the shower was beautiful and magnificent, but the bachelorette was the best part of that day! We started out by meeting at mine and Luke's house where we were graced with the custom t-shirts for our dancing extravaganza we were about to attend. This "dancing" I'm talking about was the good old pole dancing and chair dancing lessons i've always heard about but swore I would never do! This is SO hard, not anything like I expected and it was so incredibly funny... Im pretty sure I was blushing the whole time! We all left sore and at our nice dinner at Nonna's (which we changed into actual cute clothes for) some of us had a little trouble even lifting our wine glass off the table from so much muscle fatigue :). I still have a bruise on the inside of my knee and one on my shin as well... so lesson learned, pole dancing IS NOT easy!

I also am playing out my passion of doing crafts and making a few things for my precious sister-in-laws wedding... this is so fun for me because it gives me a reason and a purpose to actually do something I love without feeling guilty about not doing house chores or grocery shopping :) 

This is one of the chalkboards Im currently working on... Only "you are the" is 100% complete but I took a break from this one for a little while to work on a few other things, I just L.O.V.E. crafting!

Lucas and I also attended one of my greatest friend's wedding last night, it was absolutely beautiful and so incredible to get to catch up with old friends! Haley and Ben were such a lovely couple and as always just seemed so happy and in love, brought tears to my eyes! Im a sucker for love!

(isn't she beautiful!)

So now this week will consist of more crafts and the ongoing search for something that Mr.Smile and I can wear for his brothers rehearsal dinner... so far all we have are the cowboy boots as you've seen in previous posts and Im pretty sure it wouldn't go over very well if thats the only thing we showed up wearing! 

And I have to end on another story that has no relation to weddings... The other night as the hubs and I were in the hot tub I saw a reflection of something moving in the window, I turned around only to see the creepy silhouette of a opossum crawling across the top of our fence against the night sky! Needless to say we got out of the hot tub because the bears weren't outside to protect us, not that i'd let them outside to get the opossum anyway!

(Im pretty sure this little bear would have given the opossum quite a scare with her lovely hair do)

"You've Lost That Bakin' Feeling..."

Some of you know that my history is filled with baking dreams and cupcake paradise... and for those of you who don't know about my past love of baking, hopefully you will get to experience more of it soon with me!

For the first time in over a year I made a batch of cupcakes this evening!!! Yes, I said it... OVER A YEAR!

As the Med School Student was studying I thought I would try to make myself do something fun...Who knew that I could let something I love so much slip right through my fingers. So much so, that absolutely nothing turned out like it use too! I fear I have lost my magic touch and tears literally filled my eyes as I desperately tried to frost these so called "cupcakes" with a frosting that had the fluffiness and bounce of a pet rock! What has happened to me?... but when life gives you lemons you must make lemonade! Needless to say next time I will be baking us some lemon cupcakes and we will see how that goes.

These baby cakes are raspberry with orange citrus icing! 

Prior to this cupcake adventure was of course the lovely Valentine's Day, I made Luke's favorite chicken and spinach stuffed pasta shells... We sent some home with our sweet friends Sara and David since it makes such a big batch! Wasn't my best batch but that just means I'll have to make more for them to come over and eat some time (I'm sure Lucas won't hate having to eat them again). 

I received some BEAUTIFUL flowers at work and it was such a surprise, especially since we had previously picked out a special orchid for my "valentine's" flowers a few days before cause I just couldn't live without it! But besides my flowers that were carefully planned out and sent to me the day before Valentine's as even more of a wonderful surprise....It was the best Valentine's Day Ever! 

The first one as a married couple and let me tell you it was a much needed night to be devoted towards our love for each other! We have both been so incredibly busy lately... in fact I have not actually taken a true day off in I don't remember how long... theres always something and I am so ready for things to slow down! So, an evening just sitting in each others presence with no computers or phones was incredible!

I highly advise for couples, in this med school experience or not, to try this! It was so great to just look at Luke. I know that sounds funny but I really didn't realize how busy we have been until we were just resting side by side watching a movie and holding hands... where does time go? I need more!

Miss Winnie was being so silly relaxing with us! She was all stretched out taking a little rest!

So even on Valentine's Day the feeling of losing a little bit of something I loved had hit me. It was so sad to feel like I had been missing out on a wonderful part of my life, I was so grateful to be next to my husband on our couch that night!

So moral of this post is... don't "lose that lovin' feeling". 

Whether your love is cupcakes or you really do cherish those silly pet rocks, don't let your passion slip through your fingers! I think that recently I have lost a little piece of myself just from all the hustle and bustle of everyday things and transitioning to solely working all the time with no more school! Once you've lost it, it's really hard trying to discover it again! 

I love being married, I love my precious husband and more than anything I love taking care of us and the little bears... I can't let anything get in the way of that! And I am going to work really hard on finding who I am again! So cupcake tins watch out cause you are getting ready to be dusted off and properly used, just please forgive me if it takes a few times to get back into the swing of things!

Crazy Wonderful Week!!!

So... last Saturday we went cowboy boot shopping and a real cowboy dinner at Cattleman's steakhouse in "The Stockyards"! It was so much fun, we celebrated my birthday with my precious in-laws and just a blast! They were so kind to Luke and I both and got us each not one... but TWO pairs of cowboy boots! We have never had like the real deal cowboy boots before so it is quite a treat and they are so beautiful!

(these are my darling boots)

There was also a CRAZY sunset one evening.. it was absolutely beautiful! We babysat our wonderful friend's little girl while they went on a birthday extravaganza that night! It was so fun to keep her and get to spend a little time with them too! Made me even more excited for having our own kids someday.. this was the first time Lucas has really been around a very small infant for a significant amount of time and he was absolutely precious and just a natural!! She is the absolute best baby in the world so it was perfect practice for him!

(Beautiful Oklahoma Sunset)

We had lots... and lots, of puppy time! Our little bears are just so stinking precious and it makes me so happy to get to spend time with them!

(Getting Elly Kisses)

(Miss Winnie fell asleep while rooting me on to finish one of my many projects)

(Ohhh the precious Elly Bear, little baby sleepy head)

I ALMOST, forgot to mention we got to celebrate another wonderful Friends Birthday! We got to catch up with some amazing friends and meet a few new people! Everyone met up at Tap Werks in Bricktown to celebrate one of my dearest and oldest friends hubby's b-day. We had never been there before and had a wonderful first expeince but I have to say it was the people we were with who made it special! It needs to be something that happens once a month, we can't wait till it is someone's birthday again, I feel like I really enjoy going out more now that I'm not in school and really just travel a mile to work and a mile home everyday.. I don't get out much!

I've begun another new journey of my life and we will see where it goes! Other than being a part time party planner (it seems like) for some amazing events coming up for my brother- in - law and his soon to be wife, I have been working on a new project! This has been a long time coming and we will see where God's path takes me, but Im so thankful to have my family and husband helping me the whole way through!! Needless to say the week got very stressful at one point so Mr. Smile brought me home some beautiful flowers (that are currently still on my night stand) and a scrumptious mousse filled edible chocolate tea cup!

(Precious flowers and yummy dessert)

It's a Stella & Dot kind of love...

So... I've begun the journey of selling the beautiful jewelry line of Stella & Dot! It started out a love affair with this jewelry line, everything was precious and so sparkly it just attracted my eye and I couldn't help but become passionate about it! (I'm such a girl, oh my goodness) I attend several trunk shows and hosted one at my own house only to become addicted even more! Then through the help of a lovely stylist, Natalie, I decided I should sell for myself and take on this lovely hobby!

I'd do anything to provide more for my hubby, especially when he is working so hard in school and we really need to be saving our money for the future! I figured this was the perfect opportunity for me to do something fun while he was busy as a bee studying... needless to say I am Very Excited!

Everything is so stinking cute, it's hard not to buy it all... but I need to keep reminding myself "Save, Kylie, Save Save Save"

If you ever need a fun piece of Jewelry or just have a hankering to shop! You should look at this cute line!! I've had a lot of fun with it so I know other people will!

Here is another link to my website: stelladot.com/kyliesmith

23... it's the way to be!!!

So today was my lovely 23rd birthday!

Yesterday I was able to kind of celebrate with a precious cake from my lovely friend and some girl time! I made my second batch of french bread in the bread maker I got for christmas that I am SO thankful for (Thank you my precious In-Laws)! It was a lovely evening to begin the birthday celebration and Lucas had finished up the first section of this semester too so he was off the hook with studying!

(Darling cake from Becca! It was Strawberry, from Johnnies which is THE Best)

I had a fabulous day today and luckily Lucas only had class from 8-10... which he slept through, so even better! The morning started out nice, Luke made "eggo" waffles with peanut butter and syrup (which is my FAVE)! We finished off the waffles, peanut butter and syrup if that tells you something! I opened my gift from the hubs which were some amazing shoes I've been dreaming about and of course I wore them today... only to mess up my fresh pedicure I had this morning!

We spent a good 30 minutes at the post office which was just lovely, thats all I have to say about that...

Mr. Smile kept asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday and I swear all I wanted to do was get him some new jeans! He deserves them by all means and REALLY needed a new pair that didn't have holes in them! Sooo, of course I just had to get a few things on sale at Target too and came out like bandits buying multiple outfits for the price of ONE pair of jeans from the mall! (Luke looks super handsome in his new jeans :) such a cutie pie)!

Dinner was amazing with my sweet family at RedRock Canyon Grill, we got to see the sunset and at the worlds best ribs! Then the day came to a fabulous end by eating my favorite sugar cookie cake with strawberry icing and strawberry cupcakes! This sweet treat however was slightly tainted... in the back of my mind I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty due to my AMAZING new membership to the OU HSC gym from my parents so I can go work out with the Hubs! I feel so blessed to be making such lovely memories!

We also saw a double rainbow on our way to dinner... and I blew out all my candles (meaning just one lonesome candle) at the same time... I think I am off to a very lucky, loving and lively year!

(My sweet Daddy looking at my BEAUTIFUL earrings my mom had made for me from her jewlery)

(I blew my candle out in one breath... it was a tough one ha ha ha)

(And the evening ended with our sweet Winnie, snugged with her new favorite "Giggling Toy")

Prepping for "the" test.... Again and again

So... Truth be told, the worst part about this whole med school thing is the "pre-test" waiting... Waiting the night before to finally spend some time with your husband (it's so close to being over it becomes agonizing lol)... Waiting on him to get to a stopping point so he can come eat dinner... Waiting on him to finish studying so you don't have to fall asleep by yourself (which is common when they have a lot to study)!!

It's never any fun and so hard not to go in and bother them while they are studying away! Yes you can certainly get some personal time in, or a lot of chores... But those times when you've had a long week and just want to spend some time with them and its also time for him to take a big test, you get a little lonely!

But I have to say my husband certainly cheers me up when I get a little tired of sitting to myself! He will come in and give me a big hug and just sit with me even if its just for a few minutes! Or if he needs to get some water or something he will come find me just to give me a kiss and say hello!

I've really become a believer of the saying "it's the little things that matter the most" and that's because they are! Every little second is so precious... Luke does an excellent job of making me feel loved and important regardless!

Now off to my baking adventure of using left over cookie dough and cream cheese ... Hope it works!

Christmas Cheer and New Years Eve!

This was such an amazing holiday season for us! We experienced our first Married Christmas and it was just so fun! We celebrated Christmas with our families but because of some sketchy weather we were able to spend the ENTIRE Christmas Day together!!!! We are some breakfast with mimosas and opened gifts from each other! It was just the greatest day to spend with the hubs and little bears!

We had the first snow of the season that hit on Christmas and it was absolutelybeautiful!!!! We got in our hot tub that night and it was absolutely freezing that night but so beautiful with all the snow on the groud!

I fortunately have an amazing boss who let me have some time off so I could spend it with Luke before his next semester began again! We went to a movie and relaxed at home... It was so nice having him home and able to spend time with me! We really decorated the house for Christmas and so while I'd be gone at work Lucas would tweak things or I'd come home and more little gifts would be under the tree! He hung lights outside and got a ton of leaves picked up (having a husband who has time to do chores now is insanely wonderful)!

We got to spend New Years Eve together and share it with some really great friends! My Aunt had me meet another med school wife of a guy in Luke's class!! We've had so much fun getting to spend time together! They came over and I cooked dinner, the brought their precious little girl who was almost 4 weeks and I think it will be good practice for Luke by having her around :) it was a fabulous New Years and exactly how I'd like to spend it every year!!

Yesterday Mr. Smile started back to school! He was not happy getting back into his early schedule again but I know he will get back into a good routine again and be happier! He's just doing such a good job and I'm so proud of him.... Last semester flew by so quickly, it's crazy to think he just has 3 more semesters of "school" left till he gets to start doing rounds and not have to sit in a classroom all day!!