A Little Victory Dance

It has been one year since my last treatment. I've been thinking about it for the past two weeks. The twist - apparently everyone I know was too.

On Saturday, Dashing and I were supposed to have dinner with his parents, his sister, her husband, and 2 family friends from out of town. We spent that day hanging out with our friend Zach watching the fantastic Butler basketball game at a great pizza place enjoying the 70 degree air and warm sun (sitting in the shade to avoid UV rays though !). Slowly, we made it to Dashing's parents' house and Zach went to "dinner with his grandparents". However, I didn't find the family ready to go to dinner, instead, I found a backyard filled with family and friends.  I wasn't sure quite what was going on. I turned to Dashing and he was just smiling, not surprised at all, so I stood there in a little bit of shock. I said something to the effect of "what's going on?" and he replied, it's for you - you're one year past your treatments, this is to celebrate you victory. WHAT?! Excited and shocked, I started greeting and thanking everyone for coming one by one only to find a friend from Texas and another from Colorado who had come to visit followed by my Dad from Indiana. How incredibly special. I was so humbled that all of these friends and family were there to celebrate me. I truly should have been throwing them a party in thanks for all of the support they have given me through my journey. I turned to Zach, who we spent the entire day with, and said YOU KNEW THE ENTIRE DAY? How long have you all been planning this ....."Oh, for about 2-3 months." I am SO impressed that 75 people were able to keep a secret through baby showers (Miss E's), birthday parties, and family get together. I had no idea my friends and family could be so sneaky. And another fantastic surprise of the day, Dashing (the eternal non-planner), with the help of his family, put it all together...and kept it a secret! Ok Dashing - you did earn some bonus points here. Kudos.

Thank you to all who celebrated with me or sent me cheers electronically. I love you all.

I'm just glad I wasn't wearing something ridiculous!

The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get

My father-in-law uses this phrase ALL the time. Although, I actually don't mind hearing it over and over again as I think he is totally right. Yesterday, Dashing and I were given an envelope by his College of Medicine informing us of where he will be completing his residency in Emergency Medicine. (It was double-ly fun as I planned the event for the College!). We Dashing has put in lots of time and effort into his education and building relationships over the past four years, and it has paid off. We matched at our number one choice, The University of Arizona, University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. This was not luck on the lucky day of St. Patrick's, but a result of hard work and dedication. We are thrilled to begin this new journey that will start in June 2011.