So Much Birthday and Christmas Joy!!

Gee wizz this time of the year provides so much to blog about!!

Noah and I trekked down to Omaha where we had another christmas with the Clarks! This wonderful family took Noah in to live with them during his last year of high school - when I finally met them in 2010, the summer after we were married, I fell fast in love with them as well! They truly are just like family. They took us in last Christmas, and I was blown away by how they treated us just like one of the kids. We had our own stockings and just as many presents under the tree as their own children! I was SO excited to experience it all again. One of the most special parts of our time with the Clarks is experiencing family life again - all of us 'kids' (Nate (29), Matt (27), Emily 24)) eating breakfast in our pjs in the morning, chilling in the living room playing settlers etc.... I love living with a family again. I appreciate it so much more now than I did as a kid - sorry Mum and Dad!! Brian and Janet (adopted mum and dad in law) are so awesome. They have lived all over Europe, and I always learn so much from there - especially because Janet is a therapist. She always has such wise insight! I feel challenged, intellectually and emotionally when we visit and all the kids are together. Nathan is completing his PhD in medical technology, Matthew works for the Department of Defense in WA D.C. in Cyber Security and Emily has a degree in Neuroscience and works at a hospital with patients that have inner-ear problems. Brian is a career military consultant for the Department of Defense now, and travels the world attending diplomatic functions( how fun!?!) and Janet is the coolest counselor you will ever meet!
I am always encouraged to face my fears, become the person I want to be and savor what matters in life when I am with these people.
Most of all, I am reminded to challenge mediocrity and be an honest and free thinker - and to LOVE.



{My love and I on my birthday :)}





{On the 23rd, my birthday gifts: New purse & Wallet, Anthro bolero & aquamarine/diamond/white gold earrings....yes I was SPOILED!}



{Em and I showing off our new Anthro tops...I also have the one Em is wearing!}




{Em and I hard at work preparing for our dinner party - recipes to come!}




{Emily and I excited after our Anthropologie purchases on the 22nd}




{Enjoying being together at Johnny's Steak house on the 23rd}








{gotta love group singing in action}






{Handsome's awesome cake :) did I mention that on the morning of my birthday he woke up super early to go get me my favorite coffee? yes I woke up with a kiss of the cheeck and a venti soy caramel latte in my hand - what a good hubby! oh and then he made me eggs benedict for breakfast in bed!}





{I have wanted this puppy for some time...so excited to do some french cooking!}



{present opening frenzy...actually we all opened one at the same time - lots of ooo
s and ahhh's!}



{full stockings on christmas morning...including a starbucks gift card, eeee!!!}


Its now the 29th, and after a trip back to MN to work christmas day, Noah and I made the drive back to Omaha to spend a few more days with the Clarks.

The best chocolate chip cookies!!

I have tried many a chocolate chip recipe and this is by far my favorite. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Not too cake like, and not too gooey. Perfect!

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees (personally, I do 325 because I like them a little chewier)

2)Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt.



3)Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.





4) Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.



Amy's Tips:
- Chill dough for 2 hours or so before baking. It makes the cookies more even!
- Use parchment paper, they just bake better!
- If you like your cookies a bit flatter like me, make the dough balls smaller and flatten them out a bit on the tray. They don't expand too much.
- If you like your cookies more cake like, use 1 egg instead of 2.
- throw in pecans, macadamias, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, cranberries - whatever! its a great basic recipe, and the imagination can go wild!

Desert Road

I love roads. Road trips, runways, brick paths, sandy dunes. Those chosen paths. Sometimes roads are filled with joy and sometimes with sadness. Roads and all of the analogies that involve them fascinate me, they are the inspiration for my blog. The Bible is filled about the roads that people took. The path that led Moses to the burning bush, the garden of Gethsemane, the road to Golgotha, the path were Jesus (then resurrected) spoke with the travelers....
They can lead to wonderful places, if the right one is chosen. Unfortunately sometimes the right roads are the hardest roads. Jesus reminded us that narrow is the road that leads to life (Matt 7).

A road I have become familiar with lately is the desert road. And I am grateful for it. In the desert I have met with Jesus, and my husband, in beautiful and vulnerable ways. there has been tears. there has been pain. but beauty.

the beauty surprised me. I forgot that in seemingly barren places, a beautiful character exists.

When I first moved to Arizona from New Zealand I went into shock with all of the brown.
Brown dirt, brown plants, brown rocks, brown houses. I was used to the ocean, mountains and rolling green hills.
And then, I was mesmerized. The rock formations and the endless desert were fascinating. They invited and challenged. They inspired.







I think in some way my time in Arizona prepared me for our time in the Midwest. During the times of solitude, quiet and loneliness I was able to find inspiration, creativity and peace. I didn't fear the expanse like I used to.

Recently I read this blessing from a book about desert women in the Bible, and it spoke to me.

"May you know the presence
of those who have passed
through the desert before you.
May they point the way
toward freedom
and sustain you
with their stories.
In the wilderness
may there be wellsprings.
May there be wings."

{On this desert road I have found wellsprings}


My husband
My family
Henri Nouewen
Quiet times at Starbucks (ironic, I know)
walks in the park
learning to play tennis
decorating my home
making a home
skype dates with kiwis
pillow talk
deeper understanding
new dreams
completion of dreams
new friends


{I have found wings}

My job as an RN
completeing my education
being a wife, companion and lover
volunteering at the clinic



{Just like a flower can bloom in the desert, among thorns. so can I}



This is a memory of my most favorite dates with Noah, in 2009 when we first got together. We had a magical day in the desert, picking wild apples in the rain, hiking among ancient Indian ruins, eating gormuet pizza, enjoying a picnic with all my favorites amongst the beautiful red rocks, and enjoying discovering all of the new things about eachother. I will treasure it always.

I have a Bachelors Degree!

It was a wonderful day on December 10th, when I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree! Noah and I woke up early He made me a cup of coffee and we hopped in the car! We drove to mankato and met up with our family,Brian and Janet Clark. We had a yummy breakfast then we headed to the University! As you can imagine it was the usual - cap and gown, listening to lots of boring speeches and then my name was announced!
Amy Hensley, Summa Cum Laude
(heck yes, I worked hard for the latin title at the end!!)

Noah gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and other goodies, including a starbucks :)
then we went out to dinner. it was perfect, wonderful and I felt so celebrated!!

It was fun this time around because I already had a job and had passed my nursing boards! last time all of that was still ahead of me (and a wedding, cross country move and new start!). I am so grateful to have completed my education. I have an excellent vocation that I can always use to support my family if need be. It serves others and glorifies the Lord, I am sooooo blessed!!!
I have more plans for school, but even if those never happen I can rest easy having completed a degree of some kind!!!! :)

I am so, so grateful & privileged.

A week in review

What have we been up to??!?!!?
Well, we drove down to Iowa for thanksgiving with Noah's family


Going to see the Scottish ballet at the Orpheum Theatre in down town Minneapolis:


Lunch out at Bun Mi at the University and enjoying the snow!




Not included in photos:
- lots of cuddles on the couch enjoying our TV that we can watch shows with in real time!
- late night games of Uno
- my home made mac & cheese (ok, I have a blurry photo of that)
- enjoying our capuccino maker with morning lattes and old fashioned donuts.

Work-life balance from an incredible christian MD!

I love FreshMD's blog. She has a wonderful marriage, beautiful and secure children and an incredible profession. She even volunteers at a refugee clinic. This post, in particular, was very encouraging. (so glad I have number 10 checked off my list!!!)


Ten guidelines for medicine-life balance

Right now, this month, seven years out of residency with a part-time position at the refugee clinic and three and three-quarters children, I have work-life balance. It's somewhat precarious, something that could be toppled by illness or an unbearable colleague or a newborn, but I would rate my current satisfaction with both career and home life as high. Here are some philosophical and practical guidelines that I follow:

1. Accept that you can't have it all - at least not at once - but you can have a life that is rich and full and satisfying. I watch resignedly as other (childless) physicians at my clinic leave to spend months working in Afghanistan and Peru. I'm the mother that arrives late to the preschool Christmas potluck and sets a box of mandarin oranges next to the homemade cheesy noodle casseroles. My son's school uniform pants are embarrassingly short and I couldn't make a recent cross-cultural mental health conference because I'm home with my daughter on Thursdays. But I have kind, secure children and what is arguably the most delightful, rewarding patient population in the city. It's enough.

2. Be clear about your boundaries and don't apologize for them. I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. I can't start any earlier than 9AM due to school drop-off. I've had potential employers rework schedules and change clinic start times when I tell them my availability.

3. Don't compare your finances to others'. Recently, my six-year-old son asked me, "Where do you and Daddy get money from?" He was taken aback when I explained that we are paid for our work. All this time he had assumed we were going to work for pleasure and to help others. This pleased me no end. I don't want money to be the prime consideration in my decisions.

Every year the BC Ministry of Health puts out the "Blue Book", which lists what every physician in the province billed the Medical Services Plan. I've perused it before, but no good comes from seeing that my family physician neighbour bills more than five times what I do. I start to gauge the wrong things in terms of money; what are quiet days at home puttering in the yard with my four-year-old worth?

4. Say no. This may be the most important skill I've learned in the last five years. If I feel awkward saying no to someone's face, I say I'll consider their request. Then I say no by email. I don't bother with reasons or excuses. I came across a quote from one of Dr. Gabor Mate's books a few months ago that I think of almost daily: "Always choose guilt over resentment."

5. Write. I take ten minutes once or twice a week to document for myself what was memorable. This has a magical way of allowing what's important to rise to the top while the irritations of daily life drift away, affording perspective. Here's something lifted directly from a journal entry this summer:

Playland yesterday, Leif smiling as he soared through the air, Saskia looking non-plussed even when having a great time. It felt wonderful to give them a day of whatever they wanted, unlimited rides, mini-donuts, cotton candy, a snowie despite wasps hovering over the syrup spigots, eaten cross-legged on concrete in makeshift shade. They were good as gold. Felt strange to see legs dangling from a great height, delighted screams, ferris wheel buckets the colours of candy against the North Shore mountains, and think that the same world has refugee camps.

6. Consider exhaustion the state of having given, rather than having been taken from. A few months ago, as I rounded the bend to approach the Second Narrows Bridge on my way home from work, CBC's Rich Terfry on the radio and Ariana strapped in the backseat, I thought with dismay how overwhelmingly fatigued I was. I felt drained, spent, exhausted - and reflecting on these words I realized that resenting others having taken from me was passive and inaccurate. I had given what I had by my own choice. When considering Dr. William Osler's words, "Let each day's work absorb your entire energy and satisfy your widest ambition," anything short of collapsing into bed completely spent each night feels a waste.

7. Travel lightly. I try to apply minimalism to every aspect of my life. People remark on how tidy my home is, but the truth is that we have very little stuff. I decided two years ago to leave the HIV clinic to focus my part-time work at the refugee clinic only. We eat simply. Any commitments are carefully selected and for a defined period of time.

8. Hold an AGM with your spouse. Once a year, Pete and I hire a babysitter and take an evening to take stock of where we're at in every major area of our life: his work, my work, finances, church, where we live, parenting, friendships. We identify what's working, what needs to change and when we need to reevaluate. We like to feel that our choices are deliberate; we don't want to float up to our forties to say, "Huh! So this is how we live." I have such fond memories of these evenings, full of gratitude and brainstorming and collaboration, and everything recorded in my notebook.

9. Three projects. At any given time, I have three projects on the go that require one to two weeks to complete. One relates to work, one to home and one to something creative. For example, I might apply for a research grant, order a coffee table and frame some of my photos for our front entry. No new projects can be tackled until all of the original three are completed. (See zenhabits for more.)

10. Marry well. Pete (who works full-time in a non-medical field) is supportive, a non-complainer, hands-on with the kids and flexible around gender roles. We've both made sacrifices. He is undoubtedly the linchpin to my current contented state of mother-doctor.

Thanksgiving...

"As we pause to thank Him for the blessings of the past year,
we must not forget to thank Him for the lessons we have learned through our difficult times.
We are not to be thankful for just the pleasant, easy things, but ALL things."

Noah and I road tripped to Iowa for a less than 24 hour period to spend thanksgiving with his family. We made the 5.5 hour drive down there just for the day since I had to work black friday. It was fun to get to share this holiday with him, and his family. Albeit, I have never watched football on thanksgiving before (probably won't again) and miss my family conversations of world events it was still special to see him with his family and watch their traditions. I am so thankful I am married to this most wonderful man, and that we have so many holidays ahead. I can't wait to make holiday traditions with our own children, and watch him be the most amazing dad.
I miss my family like crazy, but am thankful I have them to miss. I am thankful for unconditional love. I am thankful for my life. I did have a cry when I skyped them on thanksgiving. I felt so out of place at the Midwestern gathering....people reading books, watching football and playing video games. People didn't ask me about New Zealand, I think they think we drive horses and carts still. His Grandpa and Uncle didn't even know what the European Union was.....
I am so used to family conversations, prayer times, discussions about thankfulness and hours spent curled up on the couch drinking coffee looking at family photos or watching home videos. I went for a walk around the block with my love during the day, and we talked about it. He likened my feelings to culture shock. Which made sense since I felt like a fish out of water. Don't get me wrong, Noah's family is lovely and care about eachother, but they go about life and family in a different way than I do.
The joys of marriage....
We hauled back after dinner on thursday to get back home for work friday. However, I got called friday morning (5am!!) to see if I wanted to be canceled and ofcourse it was a YES!
Noah was such a trooper and spent {!!8!!} hours shopping with me. We got pretty much all of our christmas presents bought, plus a TV (our first ever!) and an espresso maker - its awesome!!!
check it out, a Nespresso :)



Noah also snuck away to Macy's to buy me an unknown piece of Jewelry, which I am dying to see but don't get to until christmas. boo.
We hit some unbelievable sales, it was so fun. Its the first time ever for me, and for both of us as a married couple, to be able to spend some money on eachother. Thanks to my great job, and hard core budgeting skills we were able to get some treats for ourselves, the house and friends without putting anything on our credit card and we can still save our budgeted amount.
Hubs also got me a new purse and wallet, eeeeee, for my birthday which is in three weeks!
So grateful for a good job and for a husband who loves to spoil me - and budgets so he can!!
I think I'm going to go enjoy a home made vanilla latte now....wish you could come over for one too!