Homeless

"Where are you living now?" We've been asked this question several times in the past couple weeks. Well, we're homeless. This is the 3rd time in our marriage we have been homeless. Actually, when I met Ben he was 'in between jobs, sleeping on his brother's couch'. Not quite the line most guys use to pick up a girl, but it worked for me and it still does! 

Last day in our house. So many great memories made here!

I love our crazy life, but it being homeless has gotten much more difficult with a child. Especially our little monkey who climbs out of her pack 'n play in 0.83 seconds. Let's just say the first week of being homeless shaved a few years off my life. It was terrible. Scarlett has been a great sleeper from the day we brought her home, but that week she climbed out of her pack n' play 27 times, skipped naps and was sleeping an average of 3 hours less than normal a night. Not only was I getting a lot more Scarlett time but a lot more crabby Scarlett time. She went to back up daycare a couple days while the movers were in the house and both days she got yellow cards for playing rough with other kids. Maybe she was watching too much of the World Cup, but I think it was the extreme lack of sleep.

Having a professional moving company was a life saver. Both of us being farm kids, we typically are more do-it-myself then a 2 year old. That being said, I will never move ourselves again (hopefully we won't be moving for a very long time anyway!) I don't know how much it cost because the bill goes straight to Mayo, but whatever the price it would be worth it. Having a 53 foot Mayflower semi backed up to our house and a crew pack up everything we own straight out of the cupboards was amazing! Four men spent 11 hours between Monday and Tuesday packing and loading everything.  

Best day of my parents' life!
After helping move me 13 times in 12 years (not making that # up) they got to spend
 the week fishing in Canada while professional movers moved us

Last weekend call shift! Never again will the hospital hold Ben ransom for 24 hours!

We closed on our house Wednesday, June 17 but don't close on our new home until Friday, July 10. Ben's brother who lives in the Twin Cities (Blair) was in Europe so we house sat for him which kept us off the streets a few days.

Despite having an overly tired child, we managed to still do a few fun things while staying in the cities. We took Scarlett to the Mall of America where she enjoyed running wild and going on a couple rides. One day I took her to the zoo, which she loved! We had taken her to the zoo in Jacksonville 2 months ago and it was remarkable how much more engaged she was this time. 

Train ride at the Mall of America

Scarlett's favorite animal at the zoo were the goats

We drove to Fargo for the weekend for Ben's cousin's wedding. He has 25 Aakre cousins, so there is always a wedding or new baby in the family. The Aakres are an amazing family and have an impressive record for attending family functions. It is always worth the drive! We also got to take Ben's dad out for brunch on Father's Day while we were in the area.

Aakre Baby Boom: 6 cousins in 10 months

While week one of being homeless was exhausting, mostly because of a tired toddler, week two could not have been more relaxing. Scarlett and I spent the week in Iowa with my parents while Ben stayed with his brother in Rochester (Jerry) and worked. Scarlett and I got to spend a lot of quality time with both sets of my grandparents and catching up on missed sleep. 

Thursday I left Scarlett in Iowa while I went to Rochester. Ben had a department dinner which honors the residents completing the program. Crazy to think 3 years ago we were at that dinner not knowing anyone or anything about anesthesia. Now we are saying good bye to some of our best friends and Ben is a world class trained anesthesiologist. 

Two of my favorite doctors receiving their certificates of completion from
Mayo's Anesthesia Residency Program #bigdeal

Friday I had an interview in Mankato for a nursing job in a multi specialty clinic. The clinic is in the Mayo Health System. The job sounds interesting and it would be a supplemental role; which means I get to pick my hours! My position in Rochester has been that way since September and I absolutely love it! Some weeks I work 4 shifts, some weeks none at all. It is the best of both worlds. I am so grateful to be in the position where I work for fun and don't need to be the breadwinner anymore!

Our final night in Rochester was spent together with many of Ben's anesthesia colleagues for a wine tasting party. We had a lot of fun...and a lot of wine. We are going to miss our great friends, but it's comforting to know if we stayed in Rochester it wouldn't be the same since most of our friends are moving all around the country for fellowships and jobs too.

Wine Tasting Farewell Party

Red wine ranking
1st Place: Bogel

We drove back to Iowa on Saturday and celebrated Ben's completion of residency with my entire family at The Open Flame in Gilbert. My family is unique in that I have just as many grandparents as cousins. Not only is my family small but they are extremely close so Ben is considered a grandchild too. It was great to have my family all together and see them all so proud of Ben :)

This week Ben and I are going to Cancun to relax before we dive into the next season of life. Poor Scarlett will be suffering with all the attention in Iowa while we are gone.

Normal

We recently had a glimpse of "normal". It was a brief and fleeting season, but now that we are living out of suitcases again I have time to reflect on it. Here's a little of what our six weeks back in Rochester looked like.

We drove home from our 9 week stay in Jacksonville on May 1 & 2. Some might consider survival as the only goal on a 1,400 mile road trip with a toddler, but not Ben. He strategically planned the timing so we would go through Chattanooga, TN in time to catch a Lookouts game. The Lookouts are a Double-A affiliate for the Minnesota Twins. We got to see Byron Buxton, who of course as we all know, was called up to the Major Leagues this week. I'm sure we all will be able to tell our grandchildren where we were when we heard that Byron Buxton was called up to the Majors. Maybe that, too, is just my husband. The game was a great break on the trip. We got to enjoy the gorgeous weather and Scarlett burned off all her pent up energy climbing up and down the stairs.

Engel Stadium: Home of the Chattanooga Lookouts

Scarlett playing with her cousin

 The first week back to reality left me in shock of how much you can get done in a week! No more lazy beach days for us. I unpacked our car and the 8 boxes of our things FedEx delivered, worked a shift in radiology,  had a couple overnights with my niece & nephew while their parents were out of town and shared my testimony of what God has taught me during the season of residency at my Bible study.

While in Rochester I have had the wonderful opportunity to be apart of Side By Side Ministry. The Bible study is attended by >100 doctors' wives in various seasons of life. It has been such a blessing to learn from and be encouraged by other women who completely understand the "luxury" of sharing your husband with medicine. Of course I had all the time in the world to write my talk, but my love for public speaking left me writing it the week of. What I shared centered around Isaiah 41:13. The verse has been an anchor for me during the difficulties of residency. It reminds me that we have a personal God, and although He may not take away our troubles, He will help us.

What better way of celebrating being home for 5 days then to go on another road trip!? Scarlett and I went to Iowa for Mother's Day weekend while Ben was working. It was great to see not only my mom, but both of my grandmas and aunts. Scarlett got her hands dirty helping grandpa put fish in my parents' pond. And, of course, all good trips to Iowa involve a tractor ride.

Great Plains pizza for Mother's Day with both sides of my fam :)

Grandpa's helper

May brought many celebrations involving cake... and family, of course family is more important than cake. Ben's cousin got married, his niece turned 2 and my grandpa turned 80. My cousins from Boston and Houston even made it home for  my grandpa's birthday (or did they come home for the cupcakes from Scratch Bakery??). 

Scarlett playing with her Great Grandpa Jim. She'll tell you he's 80 and acts like it's the biggest number ever :)

Big birthday girl!

We also persevered through four house hunting trips to Mankato. Buying a house is actually nothing like House Hunters on HGTV. In fact, the whole experience may leave HGTV off my television for quite a while. We looked at 30 homes and finally found what we both wanted! Once our offer was accepted we decided to celebrate by going to Minneapolis to have dinner with friends and see The Script. The concert was at the State Theater which was built in the 20's and only holds 2,000 people. We saw The Script last year at Target Center which holds 20,000 and it was not nearly as great as seeing them at the State Theater. Special thanks to my old coworker, Julia, for not only watching Scarlett so that we could go to the concert but to go to our housing inspection earlier in the day.

Date night out

The Script

And a few pictures of our Scarley

Miss Independent giving herself a bath

DQ break from our family bike ride

Jumping and eating at the same time

                     

Brain freeze

The Rest of the Story

Our time in Jacksonville is coming to an end. We will be on the road Friday and are looking forward to being back in Rochester Sunday. We have loved the weather but will definitely not miss apartment living! We've had enough car alarms and cockroaches for awhile.
In April a few other families from Rochester came down for rotations too. Having these gals here has made a huge difference in my quality of life! Most mornings we meet up at a park, or better yet the beach! 

The beach has become our destination of choice. Scarlett was initially scared of the waves, but after seeing how much fun her 3 year old friend was having jumping in them she let me hold her in the water. By the end of the morning I couldn't pull her out of the waves! Unfortunately, a day at the beach is no longer "a day at the beach" because I am constantly holding her hand in the waves, running after her, apologetically giving the toys back to the kids playing near us, asking every dog walker if we can pet their dog and removing washed-up jellyfish from our path. But we're on the beach, so I can't complain!

Hard to believe by her body language, but this picture
was taken just moments before she said
"I love you" to me for the first time :)

St Augustine is a touristy town 30 minutes south of Jacksonville that we've enjoyed going to a few times. It has a Spanish feel to it and is actually "the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States" (thanks Wikipedia).  There is an old fort, narrow cobblestone streets, tons of shops and always a party going on. We were in town for the Rhythm 'n Ribs Festival. Scarlett was appeased by an ear of corn for a solid 20 minutes, so we bought her a second one. I can't help but shudder at spending $6 on two ears of corn. I used to sell it out of the back end of my grandpa's truck for $2 a dozen! Uffda! 

That smile is worth the $3 ear!

One of my birthday presents from Ben was tickets to Diana Krall (No, I did not turn 50. Yes, I am an old soul). It was the perfect night out! We had dinner at Benny's Steak and Seafood downtown at Jacksonville Landing. The Florida Theatre was the perfect venue for jazz music. I enjoyed her live even more than the countless nights I've listened to her Pandora station cooking in my kitchen with a glass of wine.

The silver lining in Ben spending 20 hours a the hospital one day is that he gets the next day off.  We took the free weekday to explore the Jacksonville Zoo thinking it would be quiet. There were a few classes on field trips with some overwhelmed looking chaperons but once we managed to get in front of them it was quite bearable. Scarlett loved the giraffes, elephants and carousel. 

Taming the wild zebra, Scarlett Aakre...or is it the other way around?

We enjoyed an evening at Bargan Stadium watching Jacksonville's AA team. The Jax Suns played the Memphis Biscuits. Needless to say, the Suns won. Who names a team the Biscuits? My toddler eats those for breakfast. I know my husband was a Concordia Cobber, but at least you can "fear the ear". There is no intimidation factor with the Biscuits. Anyway, the stadium was very family friendly. An usher gave Scarlett a ball, there was plenty of open space for her to run and even a playground in the outfield. 

Bragan Stadium home of the Jacksonville Suns

Last weekend we enjoyed not only being in a home but a really nice home! Dr & Dr Rodriguez invited us and another anesthesia family from Rochester over for a wonderful afternoon. They were both doctors in Brazil before moving to the states and trained as anesthesiologists at Mayo in Rochester. They now work at Mayo in Jacksonville. The kids had to practically be drug out of the pool for lunch. They grilled us Brazilian steaks and chicken hearts. Scarlett really liked the chicken hearts :)

The farmer's daughter report (aka weather): Last month most days hung in the 60s- low 70s. April has been a different story with sunny days in the 80s. Sunday it reached 92!  It has been very humid with frequent rains. A day after I made the comment that they don't get 'midwest' thunderstorms with a chance for tornadoes I got a notification on my phone of a tornado warning. Turns out I was wrong! We had torrential downpours and strong winds Saturday that broke off three maple trees in front of our apartment.

Storm damage

Savannah

Easter weekend was spent in Savannah with my parents. They were on their way back to Iowa from their winter in Naples, so they stayed with us Thursday and we headed to Savannah Friday afternoon. Ben had to work Friday so his plan was to meet us there for our dinner reservation at Alure to celebrate my birthday. On his lunch break he let me know that it didn't look like he would get out of the OR until 6 and still need to drive ~3 hours. Normally I don't get bent out of shape when the hospital holds my husband hostage. It's part of the territory. But didn't Mayo know it was my birthday?! Turns out the doctor Ben was working with (who decides when he can leave) goes to the church we've been going to Jacksonville and is in a Bible study with the friends we've made in our apartment complex. He let Ben out early so he was able to make our dinner reservation- God is good!

Alure was delicious! Not frequented by toddlers, they didn't even have a highchair. Scarlett sat nicely watching Elmo on her Kindle while my parents, Ben and I enjoyed a bottle of Malbec and seafood.

Saturday we took Scarlett to historic (everything is historic in Savannah) Grayson Stadium for an Easter egg hunt. There was live music and several age-specific egg hunts with 15,000 eggs. Scarlett loves egg hunts. I have been setting one up for her almost daily over the last several weeks. Even with all her practice she has "toddler technique", opening up an egg and eating the candy before finding another egg. Next year we will be more aggressive.

Egg hunt in T-5

Dress rehearsal egg hunt in the hotel room

Saturday afternoon we boarded a harbor cruise. We were surprised to learn Savannah is the 4th busiest harbor in the nation. My dad and Ben were like little boys watching the huge cargo ships go in and out of the river.

Cruisin' the river

Easter Sunday we walked to a branch of Savannah Christian Church that is held downtown at historic Lucas Theater. The theater was recently went under a $14 million restoration that took 14 years. It was beautiful! The community uses it for performances various nights of the week but Sunday mornings it's used for church.
We enjoyed brunch sitting out in a courtyard of the City Market district. Scarlett didn't sit so well for this meal. One of us was always up chasing dogs with her. We saw the city on a trolley tour, getting out for a break at Forsyth Park. Hundreds of people were enjoying the sunny, Sunday afternoon at the 22 acre park. The best meal of the weekend was enjoyed at the Pink House. We had received many recommendations for the Pink House and it did not disappoint. The large, home was built in 1771 and can seat 400 guests for classic southern comfort food. Our waiter assured me we were his favorite guests :)

He is Risen!
Off to church

On Easter dinner at the Pink House

Monday morning my parents hit the road for Iowa while we toured the train museum, had breakfast at Clarey's (which was in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"- not that we've seen it) and took turns reading the paper and watching Scarlett on the playground at Forsyth Park. After a long weekend we were ready to call it an early night but we had to stay up to watch the NCAA tournament. My crazy love for basketball had led me to the educated picks of Wisconsin and Duke to be in the championship. Actually, I could not tell you one college basketball player and got extremely lucky with my picks. Either way, I was heartbroken when Wisconsin lost because I could have made some pretty good money winning the bracket.

Scarlett left the train museum so filthy she looked like an engineer

South Carolina

Last weekend Ben had a four days off so we seized the opportunity to cross another state off our list. We drove 5 1/2 hours to Myrtle Beach. We stayed at Dunes Village right on the beach. The hotel had an indoor water park, outdoor pools, playground, Starbucks and tiki bar. What more could you want?  It was so kid friendly there was even milk in the vending machine. We checked out the shops and microbreweries at Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach. Friday morning we went to Alligator Adventure Park. We loved seeing all the animals, especially those we've seen in their natural habitats in Africa, Australia and Asia. Sharing the experience with Scarlett was so fun. We hope she never outgrows her love for discovery.

After not having enough time in Myrtle Beach we went and spent not enough time in Charleston. We learned a lot about the history of Charleston, Fort Sumter and the Civil War on a harbor tour Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we had a horse drawn tour of the historic district. Scarlett just thought we were looking for babies and puppies, so when we were in areas that didn't amass them she got a little restless. We gave our apologies and a good tip. After checking out the old City Market we headed to James Island County Park for the Lowcountry Cajun Festival. I found a food truck that's menu had nothing familiar to me and jumped in line. We ordered jambalya, muffaletta and pecan beignets. All amazing. All too small. Scarlett was a trooper with all the new sights and sounds, lack of schedule and fragmented naps. Needless to say she was exhausted and slapped almost all of the 3 1/2 hours back to Jacksonville fro Charleston.

Taking a little break at the Georgia/ South Carolina line

Sitting on a turtle statue at the alligator park

Up to no good- licking all the powdered sugar off the donut holes in our hotel

Saying "hi" to our tour guide Cash the mule

No complaints about SC from the backseat