October in Arizona

 

 

 I don't remember if this was how Ben was dressing up for Halloween at school or what. He sure looks cute standing in our empty and clean house. Bare white walls, new carpet and tile! Have a great day at school!

 

*Last night we played softball on our co-ed city league team. The team that we played had shirts and they looked like they might be tough, but after we got over our nerves, we beat them pretty soundly. Ben was a maniac pitcher and did really well. I was the catcher and would cheer my honey on. After our game we met at a park and carved pumpkins in the dark. Ben is great getting the pumpkin all cleaned out and it was fun to spend time with the other med-students/wives/and families. Ben and I carved our FIRST pumpkin together. It looks like an evil demon/elf/pig but I think it is pretty cute. We sure have a great group of people that we can count on for support and good times getting together.

 

Midwestern University White Coat Ceremony

Our First House

We put down our initial deposit to have this home built while we were on our honeymoon in July and it was finally ready for us to move into by the end of September. We had a good stay in the housing on campus, but we were so excited to move into our very own, very first home! Signing all the paper work seemed a little intense, but we got really good at writing our names. I took our first pictures as we walked up to the house with our keys in our hands and the papers fresh in our arms. 

OUR FIRST HOME SWEET HOME - I love how we look so young and innocent. Let's be real... we were!

When the day came to move our few belongings to our house we were lucky when our Dad Eugene brought Garrett's truck to help with the haul. We only had two loads in a pick-up truck. That was it. There is a funny story with our first trip to our house:

As we were loading up for the first time, a powerful wind storm (....word...) started up. We placed our mattress and other supplies in the truck, used a tarp on the top and ropes around the back to ensure nothing flew out. The mattress was stacked on the side going up and down. The boxspring was right against the rail and the mattress next to it. As we were driving down the interstate a powerful gust blew over us, the truck felt like it was shaking and we drove. We looked back and saw the tarp flapping around, but we didn't think much about it.

I'm so happy my Mom and Dad came to visit. We decorated and got to play around town. My Mom always is ready for a party, going out to eat, and watching a movie. Plus she knows how to put together a house that is completely empty :)


Barely able to afford food, somehow we were convinced by the Kirby Salesman to purchase a brand-new vacuum cleaner. We had a payment plan and paid it off over a year-- I still cannot believe we did that right then, but I have to say it is really a fantastic machine and it still works like a beast now 12 years later. I love/hate all the carpet we had in our first house. I loved to vacuum it, hated how dirty it looked after 4 years. All that dust and dirt made such a mess on the carpets.

I love this picture of our first house. My Dad has his arms around us--- he and my mom did co-sign on this mortgage with us. I still can't believe we bought a house right after getting married! You can also see our first vehicles. The trusty purple Taurus 1996 and Ben's Nissan Truck '88 he bought in the Spring when his Subaru died. That was a sad day... The truck would last until Ben decided to take it out in a ditch with his buddies as they climbed up rocky creek bed. One hard rock impacted the "thing" as he was climbing and smashed down hard- it died the next day. We called the number from the commercial to donate to "Cars for the Blind". We felt like we were doing a good thing to be able to donate to them.