Last, But not Least

Real fast, I can't believe I forgot to mention this.  A few weeks ago Marsh was officially sworn in as a 2nd Lieutenant for the US Army! Sounds intense! It is totally awesome too! But, he doesn't actually do anything in the military until he finishes medical school. He actually was a recipient of the Health Professional Scholarship Program through the Military. We are really excited about it and feel like it is a blessing in our life in so many ways. Marshall is excited about the adventure it will be to serve in the military and I mostly think he will look great in the uniform. And....it pays for all of med school, which really could have been a huge burden. I think it's cool. I am so proud of him, he has done so much to deserve this, and I am just grateful that our little journey through medical school looks so much less stressful knowing we have a plan all set.
Anyways, here are some pictures of Marsh's big swearing-in day! :)

Doctors Club Night

Last night was phenomenal! It was the annual  Collegium Aesculapium dinner in Salt Lake. The name is quite interesting, but what it is a Medical Professionals foundation for LDS doctors around the world to get together and talk about issues and help the church with medical needs. Our doctor used to be the president of it, and after Marshall shadowed him a few times he convinced Marshall to join. We got to go last year as well, and the people we have met are amazing! Like really, last year we sat by this sweet old man, and he was just nice the whole night.  Then at the end of the night his wife started bragging about him--he worked as a heart surgeon with Elder Nelson and has a whole cardiac wing in the hospital named after him. Same thing happened this time. We sat by the sweetest people that are so inspiring and so helpful as we start our journey into the medical world. The doctor we sat by this time was also more amazing than he let on, but he got started talking to us about when he went to medical school at Stanford and tuition was only $200 a year! That's right only $200.. it's gone up just a little bit since then.

Each year a General Authority from The Church Of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints comes and speaks to the organization at the dinner. Last year it was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and this year it was Elder Jeffery R. Holland. I really can't begin to tell you how amazing this was to here him personally in such a unique and wonderful setting. He had this picture handed out to everyone there. 

He gave so many amazing insights about the Savior Jesus Christ as not only the master teacher but the master healer, and how we can become like him and be healed by him as well. He pointed out so many things I have never noticed. I could never word it as eloquently as he did but a few of the things he pointed out and what I learned from it was: 

How the two focus points of the picture are the Savior and the man in the red hat.  The man in the red hat is not the one actually being healed, but he gives the idea of wanting to be healed and wanting to turn to the Savior but something is holding him back. We cannot let anything hold us back from turning to the Savior and being healed and taught by him. 

He pointed out the figure on the bottom left next to Jesus's feet ( you probably can hardly see it ). It is a man coming towards the Savior through the crowd on his hands; he has pads on his hands to help him crawl. We should do all that is in our power to come to the Savior

Finally, he made notice of the family on the right--the mother carrying a pot and her child, followed by a grandmother figure in the very back. He spoke almost randomly, but it really touched me last night, of the role that mothers and grandmothers play as healers and teachers, that they must be like the Lord, and they must bring their children closer to Him. "All those dishes and car rides and meals really do heal souls!"  I loved how important he made the role of mothering to be. I'm glad that that little side story was part of this painting. 

The night was wonderful all together! We are so grateful to Dr. Cook for getting us involved and for our friends Marie and Isaiah for sharing the night with us; it really was one to remember. Now I just can't wait for General Conference this weekend! Hope you enjoy too! 

Things we live for..

Last night may not have been the happiest night but it was the end of something that Marshall and I have really loved during our time at BYU.
Athletics. ( I say athletics because were not always a fan of Intramurals here but oh well)
Its what we have done almost every week of our BYU lives together, basketball game after basketball game, an occasional football game, and soccer games. 2 weeks ago i seriously went to a basketball game everyday of the week except for monday. ( don't worry we also watched at least 9 hours of March Madness basketball through the week too, can you tell he is a fan?)
I feel really lucky because Marshall is Really good at basketball, and I'm not just bragging because we're in love, but really he is good, which is lucky for me because i don't know if i could put up with watching so much basketball if he wasn't. Like really, only 16 teams make up the upper division of all hundred and something teams at BYU and husbands team was 6th. Im just really proud of him. Even though they are our of the tournament and i think he is bummed they wont get a t-shirt this year, i just remind him that  lots of people that get t-shirts at BYU weren't even good enough to play on their level.. so really everyone in the upper division should get a t-shirt. Vanity...
ANYWAYS!
 The other thing i love about watching him play ball is that he only likes to play basketball with awesome people, really tho, all of his teams have been jerk free ( which can be pretty hard to do around here)  he plays with all these boys that are turly outstanding, and so are there wives, which makes the sidelines great to be on.
Its people like this guy- Craig
Marsh has played with and against him since i can remember and we love him, such a stud, and such a good ball player.

The last 2 fall seasons I've played on a wonderfuly fun girls flag football team. Marsh coached us because, well at first we didn't know anything about football. our first game we got 3 penalties in a row at the start of the game because we didn't know any of the rules. but 2 years in a row we lost all of our games during the regular season.. and then went on to make it to the championship game each year! This year we lost by one on a touchdown in the last second of the game.. heartbreaking.

This year marsh and I got to play on a team together. He was so sweet and played soccer with me and a group of our friends. Really it was a blast, i loved playing with him, i love how naturally talented he is to just step in and be so good on our team.

The thing is, is that its been so fun to stay active and busy by playing so much the last 2 years but really now that it is all over the best thing about it has been how much marshall and i have grown together by supporting each other at all our games and helping out whenever we could, and it has also been the AMAZING and inspiring people we have met. I really cant even begin to make a list of all the amazing people we have been able to get to know through sports at BYU so many people that have inspired us to be better that have made us laugh and just been fun to relax and play with some of our best frienships at BYU have come from Sports or the friendship has been solidified through sports. Even though i have had my fair share of freak outs at intramural refs i am so grateful that this has been a part of my BYU experience.
Thank you all you people who have changed our lives when you didn't even know it simply by being our teammates.