Married in Real Life

Hi all.

It's been a time of transition for me lately. I finished up my infectious disease rotation in Ohio and came home about 4 weeks ago. For the first time, my brand new husband and I were living together and trying to have work lives at the same time.

My handsome husband.

I've been on a preventative medicine rotation this past month that's taken me to all kinds of experiences.

I went and got a massage, I did immunizations in the public health building, observed pediatric speech testing and therapy, epidemiology modules from the CDC, watched documentaries and did yoga, all in the name of class. It has actually been a very busy month. With new experiences every day, it was med school as usual. Instead of settling into a routine, I think the norm is the lack of routine.

The advantage is that there's been weekends available for personal development, no overnight call so I'm well-rested, and that's been great for these first "real life" weeks of marriage. The difficulty is that we've also had a lack of routine in our new married life and it's already hard to predict how much we'll see each other. John works sometimes from home and sometimes commutes 1+ hours to work, so his time is unpredictable too. I expect that the complicated schedules will only continue, at least for the forseeable future.

I don't regret going to Ohio for a month, but looking back I probably wouldn't do it 3 weeks into my brand new marriage. No permanent damage done, but it was kind of hard on both of us.

Being flexible is a skill I've been working on, and there's been varying levels of success. Sometimes I have to be very conscious that I'm suddenly feeling anxious when my expectations for time or schedule aren't met and be intentional about making the best of it.

This morning the power went out while I was in the pool for my workout. They wouldn't let us stay because it was dark at 6 am and if we'd drowned they couldn't see us, which is fair.

But I was only 8 laps in, all wet and chlorine-y and kind of mad that my workout plans were thwarted.

So I prayed for some peace for the frustration and anxiety that produced and went running when I got back home. And it was great.

Expectations can be adjusted. That's what I'm learning.

Also John and I did a good portion of 21 day vegan kickstart in the past few weeks and I have food photos and reviews that I'll be sharing soon.

And since it's my first October post (I know right?) happy Vegan Month of Food!

And happy Fall. And all of that.