Summer in Iowa

Iowa in the summer is beautiful!  Well, I suppose anywhere in the summer is beautiful!  Andee and I are really starting to settle in to our new environment!  We absolutely love our 2, yes, count em, 2 bedroom apartment, I am loving volunteering at the church, and Andee is very much enjoying his current ER rotation over at Allen Hospital.  It seems that we have adapted quite easily into our new roles, which really is saying something (for me anyways!)  All in all, life is pretty good!  However, I did come across a few photos from Canada back in June when we were home for vacation, and although I am quite content here, I still always feel a little homesick when I remember Canada and all my family and friends.  Here are some fun cottage pictures of the start of a Canadian summer!

Something that has also brought us a ton of joy is the fact that we are now proud owners of A NEW CAR!!!  Okay, it is just leased while we are in the US, but I cannot even explain how much easier this has made daily life for us!  We no longer spend a large percentage of or conversations trying to figure out a "car schedule," and with Andee between the 2 hospitals and the clinic throughout each week with irregular hours, this car has truly been a huge blessing for us!  I can now fully commit to church volunteer hours, Worship team scheduling, hangouts with friends, and even grocery shopping trips!  I can even make last minute plans!!  It has been amazing!!  We ended up with another Corolla, since we have had such a good experience with our Canadian car!  Hallelujah, we are now a 2 car family!!

Although overall it has been a little cooler than usual for summer, the benefit of being in the Midwest is that there have still been quite a few pool/beach days!  Andee and I have recently found a great State Park that offers fishing, nature trails, and even a public beach!  Since the pools have just closed this week (American students go back to school in August, I know, weird), it is great to have found a new hangout spot for the remainder of this beautiful summer weather!

This past Thursday, Andee and I celebrated our Four year Wedding Anniversary!  Four years of marriage, four years of medical school, and almost 9 years together!  Sometimes I feel like we are an old married couple...except that we still look like teenagers and Andee continually gets mistaken for one at work.  Oh well!  I suppose we just have old souls!  We started the celebration with a lesiurely stroll at Downtown Cedar Falls, where we enjoyed some scratch cupcakes and a beautiful view of the Cedar River!  We finished up with a delicious trip to Red Lobster!  Andee ordered the crab trio, and I ordered a 4 course dinner with soup, salad, shrimp and scallop Alfredo, and an ice cream brownie!  YUM!  Unfortunately, we were so excited to dig in that I forgot to ask our waitress to take a photo!  So we got one of the ice cream!  Enjoy!

As the summer draws to a close (noooooooooooooooooo), we are thinking and praying for our friends that will soon be applying for Residencies!  What an intense process that we will never forget!  But we are so happy to be where we are right now, getting to partake in our new church's mission in reaching Iowa for Christ!  Happy Summer Everyone!!