Aaron's first post

Hey Everyone! This is Aaron and this is my first attempt at creating a posting on our blog...so bare with me ;-)

I wanted to plop some info. on our blog to talk about some recent achievements Courtney has accomplished and also discuss a few other events that have been taking place. First of all, Courtney recently received news that she passed her written Oral Surgery Board Exam. This is an outstanding achievement and well deserved, because Courtney worked extremely hard for many months leading up to this exam. We celebrated this milestone with a bottle of champagne and a dinner out at a nice restaurant called the Tuddenham Mill.



Yet another achievement Courtney was also recently recognized for was being selected as both the "Company Grade Officer of the Quarter" for her Dental Squadron and also for the much larger 48th Medical Group here at Royal Air Force Lakenheath. This is quite an achievement! Courtney was selected over many other medical professionals who do some amazing work on a daily basis for our military troops stationed throughout England at various bases. She was recognized in front of her colleagues and received a nifty crystal award for her achievement.

One last thing I thought I would mention while doing this blog posting was our interesting weather we had over Easter Weekend here in East Anglia, England. It really doesn't snow too often in this part of England, but we were lucky enough to have a brief snow storm roll through on March 23rd. It was a really nice snowfall...big, slow falling flakes with no wind and nice temps that allowed me to take a leisurely stroll through Mildenhall village. I snapped a few photos of our village along my walk and thought a few were worth posting:

The old village church in Mildenhall

Spring flowers being caught off guard by the late season snowfall

Our house and vehicles with a few inches of snow all over

Ok, thats about all from our corner of the world for now. Take care everyone!

Switzerland Pics Part II

Okay, let's try this again....Here is one of the few pics Aaron and I have together--mostly due to the fact that the only times we were not around people that spoke English, happened to be when we wanted to take a picture.

After our day of skiing, we were ready to head out for our romantic fondue dinner. Our hotel concierge was great in making suggestions and reservations...Hotel Bristol is highly recommended!!!

There is a stream running through town. This photo was taken outside of our hotel with the Matterhorn in the background

Here is one of Aaron with the Matterhorn in the background. This was taken from the Gornergraut summit.

Love is in the air (at least what was up there...leaving us a bit winded)

So, that sums up our amazing trip to Switzerland! We are going back again next year if anyone is interested!

Today we had our first Bible study with some of the couples we met at our marriage retreat. It was so nice to be in fellowship with other Christian couples. There were three other couples and for two hours we talked about God's covenant of marriage with special emphasis on the unique challenges we have all faced being in the military. And, of the benefits. Aaron and I are grateful for this biweekly committment we have made and hope it will keep our marriage aligned with values that are important in a marriage. It has become very clear to me, how too often people (including myself) are so busy trying to live out their individual plans for their lives and not being receptive to God's plan. Our marriage is God's plan and, although it may not be perfect all the time in our eyes, it is an expression of our Lord and is God's gift to us. Rather than focusing on what we want our spouse to do and what we think should happen on this earth, we need to receive God and understand that through our spouse God is reaching out to teach us about our own sins and unraveling his plan for this life. Our friend Jim stated it best....a Husband and Wife are two sinners kneeling side by side at the foot of the cross and that rather than focus on what sins/flaws our spouse presents, we need to realize that we too are sinners. A very profound two hours!
We got on the discussion of when we miscarried, and that, although it was a devastating time in our lives, made us realize that our plan is not always in align with God's plan... I would have been 30 weeks this week. I sometimes catch myself thinking of what my belly would look like, what the gift would feel like, how our lives would be changing in 10 more weeks.... When I start to get sad about this, I pray. And, then thank God for the blessings he has already bestowed upon me.

Photos from Switzerland

Here is a pic of Aaron and I in the city of Montreaux with Lake Geneva in the background.

Here is a pic of me in the village of Gstaad. You can get an idea of the neat architecture of the homes/buildings. This area had more of a German influence.

Here is a pic of Aaron with a view of a valley/Alps in the background

Me skiing in Col Des Mosses. This is a smaller ski hill with tow-bars rather than lifts.
Here is a pic of me at Zermatt.

Aaron in Zermatt X 2


I think this pic is really cool. You can see Zermatt in the background. This was not even the highest point we skied and you can tell by the photo that we were way up there!!!


Well, blogger stalled during the installment of my remaining photos. I will post part 2 later....

Oh, and one more thing

Click on the link to Brandt and Mindy's blog on the right. They are both dentists in the Navy, stationed in Japan. I was fortunate to be in the same flight as Mindy during a Combat Casualty Care Course in San Antonio--an 8 day field combat training were we spent three days in the Texas jungle without showers....YUCK. She provided a lot of entertainment during the 8 day grueling course. ELEPHANTE!!!! Brandt was also there, but in a separate flight. What a fun couple!!

Switzerland, Etc

It has been a whirlwind week. But, before I begin....Two things. First, my sister Hilary had her baby, Garrett, while we were away. I am still waiting on pictures! Hint Hint. But, hopefully you can check her blog on the right for updates and photos. Second, I passed boards!!!! I am elated. Now, I am qualified to take the Oral board exam in Dallas next February. We will be celebrating with a bottle of 1997 vintage champaigne, that Aaron surprised me with, here shortly! Then, we are going out to dinner at a nice restaurant that he is keeping a secret.....

Now, on to the past week. I will post pictures later because Blogger is not letting me upload pics.... Switzerland is the most amazing country. The people were so incredibly articulate, friendly, and the country amazingly clean and beautiful. It was interesting to see that depending on which area of Switzerland you were in, the language would vary between French, German, and Italian. Most people were quad lingual in that they spoke English as well. So, it was pretty easy to communicate during our stay. We enjoyed it so much that Aaron wants me to apply for Swiss citizenship based on having a high-demand career.

DAY 1...We flew into Geneva were we rented a car. Aaron was stuck driving all week because it was a manual transmission. He did a great job considering the winding switchbacks throughout the alps! We drove to the village of Col Des Mosses, where my partner has a condo. We explored the local area and were a bit concerned about the little amount of snow they had. Apparently, it was a dry year. The local ski hill across the street from the condo had quite a bit of bare spots.

The second day we drove to Interlaken which was a 2 hour drive. The city is situated on an isthmus between two lakes and was beautiful. Luckily it snowed about 4 inches that night and we went skiing on the local ski hill to "warm-up" before going to Zermatt. It was so much fun...except they did not have lifts, but tow bars. Needless to say, our thighs were extremely sore at the end of the day.

Day 4....we headed to Zermatt. It was the most incredible place Aaron and I have ever seen. You can not drive a car to Zermatt. We parked our car in Tasch and then took a train to Zermatt (only a 20 minute ride). We stayed at Hotel Bristol and were amazed at the wonderful hospitality. We arrived at 10 and by noon we were on the Gondola traveling to the summit. I stayed in the middle of the Gondola because I am afraid of heights and it was a long way down as we traversed across a valley of glaciers! Unfortunately, it was cloudy and we could not see the Matterhorn peak...Not to mention very windy on the summit. But, we were in awe of the scenery! Our legs were so sore afterwards because there was not a lot of powder...mostly ice that was difficult to ski.
Then, for the fourth night in a row, we enjoyed fondue. This time, it was at a quaint restaurant in the "basement" which was like a wine cellar. It was an extremely romantic setting, with delicious food.

Day 5...was a beautiful, clear day with no clouds in the sky. The Matterhorn was stunning to say the least. So, since we did not get the view the previous day, we took a train from Zermatt village to Gornergrat (The Gornergrat Brahn) and we were able to soak in the view of 29 peaks that were over 4000 meters in height. Absolutely beautiful!!! We decided to treat ourselves to Swiss watches. I got a Longines and he a Raymond Weil....a great souvenier of a trip to remember.

Day 6...we flew back to England. But, our trip was not over. We went to a marriage retreat through our Church in Cambridge. It was absolutely eye opening and made me realize a lot about myself as a Christian and our marriage. We met three other couples who live in our village who we are starting a Bible study with. I volunteered to host the first one this Saturday. I have felt that the past 6 months have been a struggle for Aaron and I, since for all of our marriage, I have been in school or residency and feel that now that this is over, I have gone through an identity crisis. But, we have realized how strong our faith in God is and feel more connected and committed now than ever. A great end to our romantic week in Switzerland. We have already committed a trip back to Zermatt next year. Any takers???? Now, we are gearing up for our next trip with our friends, Chris and Marissa....a 12 day Greek Isle Cruise.

Sorry so fragmented, but Aaron has made reservations at a restaurant in 20 minutes. Hope all is well.

"quick" update

We leave tomorrow for Switzerland and I have been told by many to update, so here it goes.
Our trip to MN was fun. I still am awaiting board results...I think in about three more weeks, I should hear if I passed or not.
It was fun to catch up with family and friends, see my niece and nephews, and freeze my ass off (It was a bit of a shock to my TX body to be exposed to 45 below zero windchills!!!).
Here are some pics from home. Here is a pic of the girls night out after my boards.
One of Aaron and I--men were allowed only in the beginning of the evening!

Then, some of my in-laws (me, Jess, Peggy, Andi)

And, some of my ice fishing adventure. I caught 8-10 croppies, but wouldn't touch the fish or bait. Everyone was getting a kick out of the fact that I am a surgeon but was afraid to touch the fish. Um Daaa! I operate with gloves on. Give me a glove and I will gladly touch the fish. Geez!




I was able to spend an evening with my aunt Nancy and Uncle Dave and god-daughter Claire (who was very entertaining in her imitation of Taylor Swift)

Then, we headed to Sioux Falls to see Aaron's cousins, a friend from dental school, and our friends Mark and Melanie, who we met during our tour in Colorado, drove up from Omaha for the night.
Here is a pic of my good friend Laura from dental school and her son Tanner. She is a pediatric dentist in Sioux Falls.

Here is one of Melanie and I

And, one of our last nights in Minneapolis at a bar in Waconia. Aaron was our sober cab--Thanks hun!

Then, I flew back and Aaron vacationed a few more weeks.
I kept busy with my girlfriends. My friend Jess stayed over a few nights and kept me company. It was just like back in college, living with the girls!
Two weekends ago, I went with the swim team to the European Championships where our swimmers finished 2nd--quite a feat since we are one of the smaller teams. One of the kids I coach a lot took first in all six of his events and broke two records. I was so proud of him. He is also the one that I posted about earlier who said "Coach Courtney, I wish I was a bit older so I could be your boyfriend".
And, here is one of Karen (one of the parents and president of the swim team), me, and Helen (head coach) holding our 2nd place trophy!!!

They even had a coaches relay at the end. I had to swim in front of 2000 people!!! I found out about 5 days before and wished I would have gone to a tanning bed before! The kids got a kick out of it and we finished third. It was interesting chaperoning 25 kids...some of them teenage girls who were going gaga for some of the boy swimmers from other teams...It was very entertaining.
Last weekend, we went out in Cambridge for Sushi to say good bye to our friend, Neil, who is getting deployed.
Here is a photo of some of the girlfriends I have made over here. All are general dentists in the clinic on base. Amy, Jess, Heather (who just got engaged), and me.

Okay, I was trying to load more photos, but the circa 1980 technology here in Britain....It is taking way too long and
well, we leave for the airport in 6 hours and I still have to pack.