Medical School: The Decision

These last few weeks have been very eventful in our world of medical school applications. Adele and I flew into Boise on January 19th, and she got to spend some time with Grandma Suzie and Papa Bruce, while I went to Yakima to interview at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU). As I drove into Yakima on the 21st, I had a really good feeling about the town. The school tour and information session was great, it was fun to meet the other applicants and to get to know the school administration and staff. The interview was the last thing of the day, and I was the last one to go. My heart was pounding, but the interview went great! All of the applicants were informed that if we were accepted we would receive a phone call the following Wednesday, and so the waiting game began. Adele and I enjoyed Saturday and Sunday with family, and then returned to Bemidji on Monday night. Wednesday came around and I made sure to have my phone with me everywhere I went. I waited, and waited...and waited. As the 5pm hour approached on the West coast, I became a little discouraged, and then the call came! I received an offer of acceptance to PNWU. Katie and I decided that the best place for us to attend medical school was in Yakima, Washington, and so we declined the offer to WVSOM, and we will be heading back west this summer. It has been an exciting road, and I am very excited that my dreams of becoming a doctor have now become a reality.

The Year of Adele!

To celebrate Adele turning 1 I thought I would do a year in rewind...

Silly Adele

So peaceful looking!

Love her smile! It melts my heart!

She loves shoes almost as much as I do!

My mom got her this bike for Christmas and we thought she would be too little to ride it, but she figured it out right away. She even got her cousin Soren to push her around like a princess!

Then being the older and wiser cousin, he got her to push him around! When she gets on the carpet she really has to lean into it to get it to go. So cute!

Addie doesn't like to cuddle very much, but here she is with her daddy!
Love the grin on her face!

It really looks like I let her put her finger in the outlet to get this

crazy hair effect, but trust me, I didn't!

I took her hair out of pigtails when I was getting her ready for bed and

this is what it looked like!

The Medical School Update

Last Friday I received an acceptance letter in the mail from WVSOM! It was REALLY exciting to know that my future in medicine is a reality. I was able to move my interview in Yakima sooner, so that I would have an opportunity to hear back from them before having to commit to West Virigina. So I will be flying out to Boise next Wednesday and then driving up to Washington. It will be interesting to compare the 2 schools, and I hope that the decision on which school I should attend will be clear to me after my interview in Yakima is complete. More info to come soon.

Ice Fishing on Red Lake

I am not much of a fan of the winter time (I bet some may wonder what I am doing in Northern Minnesota), because I have never found a winter sport or activity that I enjoyed. Well, I finally found it...ice fishing. A couple months ago Katie's dad bought a "Black Ice Portable Fish House-For Extreme Ice Fishermen", and since then we have been slowly increasing our ice fishing gear. The Wednesday after Christmas we had the chance to go test out all of our gear at Red Lake. Red Lake is known for their walleye, so we were hoping to catch a nice meal. We set out for the 1.5 hour drive at dawn, stopping only for bait and some fishing tips. When we arrived at Red Lake, we followed the plowed roads on the ice (the idea of driving on the ice is still something I am getting used to) until we found our spot. We decided it was a good spot when the guy next to us pulled up his 3rd fish of the day just as we were getting unloaded. After cutting 4 holes through the 18 inch thick ice, we were ready to go. We landed 3 fish all together, the one that I have in the picture was in "the slot", meaning that because it was between 17 and 26 inches I had to throw it back. The other 2 fish we brought home and cooked them up. It was a really good time and I look forward to going out ice fishing again before the season is through, and I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities, because winter lasts a long time :)

Feel the Rhythm...

Feel the Rhyme...Get up everybody its Bobsled time! When I was growing up my dad would make a sled run that started at the top of a hill by our house and went all the way down past the driveway and into the fire swamp. This year Travis and my dad recreated that tradition and made the sled run again. It is my new favorite past time! We trek up the hill and chant the saying from 'Cool Runnings' to make it more authentic. Here are some pictures from the adventure!

Adele's First Christmas

We celebrated Adele's very first Christmas in Northern Minnesota with my family. It was so fun to see her get so excited about opening presents. I was impressed with how well she did with it all. She played with the wrapping paper and the present inside!!!

Pajamas from Great Grandma and Grandpa Torfin

Our Little Christmas Family

Her tongue was out everytime she opened presents.

She really had to concentrate on this new experience!

Here is her tongue again!

Adele in her pretty Christmas dress from Mama Suzie and Papa Bruce.

We feel really blessed this Christmas Season because of the wonderful friends and family that we have. It was so enjoyable to celebrate a Christmas with our little baby and to see how excited she gets about the festivities. It is only going to get better as she gets older!