stuff·itis [stuhf-i’tis] An unnecessary inflammation of the quantity of stuff owned

Another trash bag hauled to the curb.  Another carload dropped off at Goodwill.  Another cupboard cleared out and empty.

I’m embarrassed at the quantity of expendable junk we’ve accumulated over sixteen years of marriage and thirteen years of parenting, junk we’re now all too happy to kick to the curb or donate to the unwashed masses.  I wish we could reclaim even a fraction of the cash we spent on merchandise once-upon-a-time deemed a good idea when it beckoned to us brand-new at the store. “You want me!” Read the rest of this entry »

This is the personal statement that helped get Cari into medical school.  As we were preparing her application we spent time searching for samples of medical school application personal statements, and we were always grateful for people who were willing to share theirs.

So now we are paying it forward.

I am the oldest of eleven children.

At an early age I became more than a big sister.  I was also a teacher, a caregiver, a comforter, and all too often, a make-shift nurse.  As a child I could not have known, but my sibling’s health struggles laid the foundations of my desire to become a physician. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m still not sure what I’m going to do for a job while on the island.  A couple of possibilities are floating around out there, one of them is teaching school at The Caribbean International Academy, a private k-12 school where we hope to send Andi and Tanner.  I’ve been emailing them about possible teaching positions and trying to envision myself leading a computer class, maybe 8th or 9th grade math, maybe History…

You get the idea.

Then two days ago I received this email: Read the rest of this entry »

Any Given Evening in our Living Room

We’ve been in St. Cloud, Minnesota for 14 years.  Five of those years were in the first home we ever owned, and the last nine years in our current home.  I thought I’d share a few favorite pics from our home in St. Cloud: Read the rest of this entry »