Bullet-Point Sunday

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This past week, in bullet-point form:

• If there's one thing this week has taught me, it's that life never. slows. down. Hubs and I were immediately thrown back into a full week of work and school the day after we returned from Korea. What a busy, eventful, exhausting, yet encouraging week it's been. My brain is scattered with the updates and thoughts I want to share, so I've turned this post into my first official Bullet-Point Sunday! Be on the lookout for these each week =)

• I'm a second year medical student. Just one year shy of taking the formidable boards and starting rotations, which is the second (and much anticipated!) phase of medical training. I am having trouble getting back into the groove of studying, though. Let's admit it - I'm a nerd. I grew up loving school, and the first day of school was always one of my favorite days of fall. It's the first time, ever, that I headed to my first day without any excitement or anticipation. Sure, I was excited to see my friends again, but that's different. I dreaded picking up our syllabus, and when I saw how thick the notes were for our first 3-week course, my heart dropped to my stomach as my brain told me, "Summer's over." 

• God has been so full of mercy towards me this week, though. I had sweet and refreshing times with him almost every morning this week, meditating on several chapters of Psalms. 

• I find myself praying every day that God would carry me through the next hour, this day, this year. I don't know why I feel so tired of studying and burnt out already, and second year has barely begun! Please pray, friends, that I will rely on my Father to find joy in what I learn, and to be thankful and content with the life He has given me right now. 

• For the past few years, my Facebook newsfeed was dominated by engagements and weddings. Now my newsfeed is slowly becoming overrun with this one's ultrasounds, that one's baby bump progression, profile pictures of their baby, "first steps" videos, you name it! So much so that Hubs and I find ourselves talking more and more about "when will we have one?". Oh, don't get too excited; you'll have to wait a couple more years before you see that kind of news from us. ;) But it does make me wonder. When will we receive the gift of our very first daughter or son? I am so glad that my Father knows the perfect timing for our first baby to come; it's comforting to know that He will provide everything that we need when this season arrives. 

• Last week we met some of Hubs' future seminary classmates (and their wives!) at a dinner event. I'm excited for Hubs to start school! I think he will make some great friends (who have awesome wives) this year. We're both so thankful that God provided us this new community to be a part of. 

• That's it for now, friends. Check back later this week for a kitchen update on My Favorite Pancake Recipe!

Memories to last a lifetime

Hot, very hot. And humid - record-breaking humidity.
 
More patbingsoo than we imagined our bellies could handle.

Cheering on our motherland in the London Olympics (which we did very well in, by the way - for the tiny country that we are, we ranked 5th in the total number of medals!).

Waking up in the middle of the night to watch the soccer matches live.

Hiking along the old walls that once protected a smaller, more ancient Seoul.

Meeting his relatives, meeting mine.

Spending quality time with my parents and his dad.

A weekend in the lush, green mountains of Kang-Won Province.

Lots and lots of Korean popsicles.

Even more street shopping.

Some of the best Korean food we've ever had (the best were from the countryside, of course).

Reminiscing about the other summer that we were in Korea together: the one after our freshman year of college, when we were dating-but-not-really-but-really-we-were. 

It all passed by in such a wonderful, memory-filled blur. Thank goodness we took almost 400 photos of the past 2 weeks, so we can pause at each event and remember.

It'll be difficult setting my mind back to school mode again, and so fast: we arrived back in the US today, and I start school tomorrow! (Hm, do I sense a trend going on here? Last year we returned from our honeymoon the day before med school orientation. That means next year...uh oh.)
But I feel recharged from our vacation, and ready to face what this new school year (for both of us!) will bring!

Goodbye, sweet Korea.
Hello, Philadelphia, medical school part 2, and wife-of-a-seminarian part 1!

Why Hello, Korea

친구들, 안녕 (Hi Friends)!!! 

I am so thrilled to be in Korea. I haven't been here in 3 years, the summer after grad when I lived in a random countryside town for a month, teaching English. And since this is the last extended break I'll have for a while, I'm so thankful that Hubs and I were both able to score free plane tickets to Seoul!

Not a long update this time, but I will leave you with some photos of what I've been up to in the 2 days I've been here. Hubs is not in Seoul yet; he will arrive tonight. Yes, our free trip came with a caveat - we both had to make the 22-hour trip alone. On different airlines. My mother in law thinks we're so weird to be flying alone. ;)

Without further ado, the snapshots of my weekend:

Photo credit for all these pictures goes to my dad, by the way. Me, Mom, Grandma in the elevator... can you tell we were excited to be together again?? I have a beautiful (and never aging!) mother. =)

Deep discussions while waiting for our bus

Enjoying the plethora of cute cafes

Rippin' up the streets looking for bargain finds. I must say, I rather like this summer's street shopping landscape in Seoul. Korea knows its fashion. :)