Meet the Rushtons

You have not met the perfect neighbor until you have met the Rushton's. They are our "across the street" neighbors and we feel so lucky to know them.

When we first arrived and were unloading our truck Jerry Rushton marched right over to introduce himself, welcome us to the neighborhood and offer a hand with moving stuff in. A couple days later when we were trying to figure out how the lawn mower worked and trying to tackle the disaster of a yard we were left when Jerry marched over and offered to see if he could fix the mower for us, then offered to mow our lawn for us. Of course J.R. wouldn't let him mow our lawn while we sat and watched, but we did borrow his mower. While J.R. was mowing the lawn Jerry totally fixed our mower - even when to the store for parts and when J.R. tried to pay him for it he refused saying it wasn't a big deal at all. His wife Debbie also saw me cutting down our bushes by hand and brought over an electric trimmer that cut the work time in half. These people are just awesome! If I continued to tell you everything they have done for us while we've been here, this post would be a mile long. Ie: Dinners for J.R. when I was gone, and for me when he is gone. Babysitting for MD apts. Use of their truck at any time - he even offered to give us a key to it in case we needed to use it and he wasn't around. Borrow their fax machine. Shoot hoops on their court behind their house. Let J.R. drive their convertable for 2 days when we accidently forgot to pick up our car at the shop before the weekend. Seriously, the list could go on and on. Just amazing people!

The kids in the neighborhood are just as great. While we were taking a break from moving stuff into the house, we heard a knock at the door. There were 3 kids standing at the door introducing themselves and welcoming us to the neighborhood. How Polite!
We felt so loved and welcomed that I even dared ask Jerry for a ride to the airport after being their neighbor for just a few days. Of course Jerry took it a step further and offered to mow our lawn while we were gone for two weeks. We made him promise to let us return the favor someday. Crazy nice people. So giving, so kind without any secret agendas. This is exactly the friend and neighbor we want to be. I'm so happy for their example. For now on FHE lessons will be "what would the Rushtons' do?" (in a non sacreligious way of course)

The pictures below are just an average summer day on our street. Playing in the pool that turned into a water fight. Playing in the truck (not sure why that's fun, but I guess being stuck close together and watching Elliot push all the buttons and getting him to say "hamburger" makes kids bust up laughing) Elliot loves the Rushton boys. Josh, Jacob (twins) and Jared. You should see the fit he throws when I tell him it's time to come in for dinner. It's embarrassing, but I think they secretly love the attention. He's other good buddy is Mathew. He comes over every once and a while asking if Elliot can play. Mathew is 8. They can't even communicate, but Mathew likes to make Elliot laugh and Elliot loves having a buddy to play with. Such cute kids.

Mathew & Austin (brothers), Josh and Jacob (twins), Elliot

Debbie & me (i guess I was taking a short nap?? JK)

Debbie just got back from playing a church softball game. What a cool mom.

(Sorry, no picture of Jerry yet)

They keep him happy with treats and juice drinks

Sitting on the Rushton's porch. Elliot right in the middle of all the kids.

Elliot, Josh (or Jacob - I still can't tell them apart), Mathew

Jared, Elliot and the rest of the gang

The Sun Still Shines!

Wow, I must have been having a rough day yesterday...what do you know- just when you think it can't get any worse, the sun rises and it's a brand new day!

J.R. got home tonight at 6pm! We quickly ate left overs and took off for a family night on the town. I wasn't about to take this time for granted. We went to a place called "Great Times" it's got all sorts of fun things to do, but tonight we went MINIATURE GOLFING! We had a great time watching Elliot attempt to hit the ball. It was so fun being together. What a breath of fresh air!

Moral of the story....Heavenly Father's tender mercies are everywhere, I just need to open my eyes and notice them!

What a splendid day!

Ramblings on residency

MY FIRST POST ABOUT INDIANA!

4 years of residency, here we come!!!
It has been very eye opening the past few weeks. You hear horror stories from other residents and you try to prepare yourself for the future, but I'm sorry, nothing can prepare you for what you actually have to go through as a wife of a resident.

I just got back from visiting Sarah in Columbus for the weekend. I was so excited to see J.R. and to get to sleep next to him again...then the alarm went off at 5am and I realized the last week wasn't just a nightmare. We are still going strong and the alarm and the pager still controls our lives. I was so sad this morning hearing him leave knowing that since he was on call there was a very big chance I wouldn't see him till the next day. SO, I eventually got out of bed, wrapped Elliot into my arms and went on with the day, trying to keep us busy and our minds off the fact that "dad's at work" again.


I've been searching for a "How to survive residency" book and there's nothing out there. If I had the slightest bit of writing skills I'd write a 'how to' book for all those lonely resident wives out there. I keep telling J.R. that I need a task. I need something to work on or work toward that is tangable that I can focus on every day. I feel like Elliot is bored out of his mind and I'm tired of going to the zoo or the park with no one to talk to or laugh about how cute Elliot is with. Poor J.R. is missing out on Elliot. Some weeks he only gets to see him for just a few hours. A few hours a week??? That's crazy. Do we seriously have to do this for 4 years?
When we first moved here I thought the next 4 years would go by so fast, but now it seems like the days last forever!

As you can tell I might need a little encouragement along our path. Any suggestions or comments on how you survived a medical residency with cold dinners left out on the stove and pagers going off before you can even steal a kiss....PLEASE let me know.

There is so much unknown in our future that it's hard to look forward to something. Where are we going to live? What kind of practice will he have? Will he have to take hospital call? Will he only have to work 3 days a week or is that a big lie? Will we actually want to spend time together when we've spent the last 4 years living totally separate lives? Will our kids have any kind of relationship with their dad? Is it all really going to be worth it? Will our loans ever get paid off?

After all that ranting and raving, there are several quotes that come to my mind...

"Bloom where you're planted"
"Memories are made everyday - make sure they are happy ones"
"Fake it till you make it"
"Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day"
"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. "
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude"
"Got no checkbooks, got no banks,Still I'd like to express my thanks -I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night."
"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives"
"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more"
"There is a time and a season for everything"

And so, I will continue on our journey through J.R.'s education and try to stay possitive and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. There is always something to do and relationships to nurture. Maybe this is my time to work on my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus. Even though I won't see much of J.R. at least our relationship will grow because my relationship with God is growing. (visualize the marriage triangle)

XOXO, Chelsea

Elliot loves wearing his cowboy boots and back pack

Eating "opikals" on the back steps

Playing in the back yard with the sweet water dragon/snake.

This is what J.R. looks like everyday.

Same scrubs, same lab coat, same pager, same stethoscope...

Dr. J.R. Haynie DDS - What a hottie!

SOS....AAHHHH!

I am just devastated! My external hard drive just failed and when I went in to see if the Geek Squad could recover the information they said there was no readable material on the drive. WHAT??? NOOOOOOOO!

I had all my photos and videos from our move to Ohio in September 2005 till about May 2009. That's 4 years of pictures and video...GONE...

-All of Elliots birth and first 2 years of life.

-All our Ohio pics and memories.

-All those years in Sun Valley.

-Trips to Nauvoo, TN, Utah...

It also had all my digital scrapbook supplies I've been collecting. And what's worse all the pages I've done so far. There were probably 50 or so completed pages...GONE

I feel like I'm going to throw up. The tears won't stop and I want to slam my head against that wall for not burning everything to CD's. AAAHHHHH!

Now that my tantrum is mellow I'm begging and pleading for anyone who has any photos or video of our family from 2005 till now to PLEASE send them to me. If you could burn them to a CD that would be great - that way I can have them in their biggest file. Email always shrinks the files too small to edit.

To make the day worse - After sleeping alone because J.R. was "on call" last night and ended up staying at the hospital...I woke up this morning to pouring rain and when Elliot and I walked out the door to go to the library I shut the door behind us locking my car keys and the house keys in the house. Seriously, can this day get worse? It's only 10am and I'm feeling totally out of control of my life. I need to get a grip.

Maybe tomorrow will be better....sigh

Trip to Utah recap #1

I must be crazy. 4 weeks in Utah?? Let me tell you, it has been AWESOME! And it's still not over :) I think being away for 4 years has really helped me charish my time in Utah. I know a lonely, friendless and husbandless (thanks to residency) Indiana is waiting for me when we go home. :(
Here a few pics from our first few weeks surrounded by family and lovin every minute of it.
This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more fun and adventure!

Waiting for our plane in Indiana. Elliot is obsessed with planes.

He was in heaven watching them come and go.
Our #1 reason for the long visit! My new sweet twin nieces. Brooklyn Rae & McKenna June. Born May 20 (5 weeks early) Now they are 6 weeks old and still don't weigh as much as Elliot did the day he was born. Yikes. I just can't keep my lips off them. YUMMY!!

Elliot loves his cousins. He's constantly giving kisses on the head and asking to hold them. Cute!

Grandma was so great to hook the boys up with cowboy getups. SO CUTE!

My little cowboy. Yeehaw!

Little grumpy face.

Chillin' in the tree house at PVP

Hangin with the Haynie Fam at PVP

A rainy day at Bear Lake

We got chased off the beach by the wind.

Goofing off with friends at PVP

Doobie, J.R. and Andy were in a golf tournament at Bear Lake and took 2nd place! Sweet! They all got matching hats. J.R. also won golf balls for the long drive competition.

Me and Shar were a tad upset when they got home 3 hours late. The boys brought us food and dessert as a peace offering.

This is the best part of my day here. Just lounging, holding those sweet girls.

Visiting my other sweet baby twins.

We love you Landon & Lydia!

Our Zoo Craze

Gotta love the Zoo. From Columbus to Indiana to Utah, we just can't stay away.
It was strange to have to drive 1 1/2 hours to the zoo in Utah when we've lived just 5 minutes away from the zoo in Columbus.

Even Sharli, Andy and the twins joined us.

Cart & Elliot

Merry Go Rounds in both zoo. Elliot's favorite part!

I love these pics of our last trip to the zoo. We got rained out, but it made for pretty fun photos!

Dr. Haynie DDS

His official diploma. Sweet!

Just a few of his many awards. (embarrassing that they couldn't all fit in one picture)

The one in the frame is for being #1 in his class! It came with a fat check too. HOORAY, being GREAT really does pay $$

The supportive wives

All the "Mormons"

J.R's parents were so kind to come show their support

CONGRATS DR. HAYNIE!!

J.R. graduated Dental school #1 in his class and we couldn't be more excited for him! He has worked so hard these past 4 years and I can't believe it's over. Everyone told us it would fly by and they weren't kidding. We've grown so much and learned very important life long lessons while living in the Buckeye state. We love Ohio and will miss Columbus so much. We actually have even considered moving back once we're ready to settle. Hummm....it's not official, it's just crossed our minds. :-)

Seriously though, J.R. is INCREDIBLE. He blows me away constantly with his dedication and commitment to what he's doing. When he sets his mind to something, consider it done. My cheeks are aching from the smile that never ends. What an amazing man!!

I LOVE YOU HONEY! Thanks for being so great!

(J.R.'s going to kill me when he reads all this gushy boasting, but I don't care....he deserves it!)

A "WICKED" week

This has been a more then crazy week. Amidst all the packing, planning, and graduation activities, J.R. and I were in charge of our stake variety show. Now if anyone has had a stake calling you might know how big a project it can be. Especially when our stake is spand out over a huge area of columbus. After all the planning, preparing, planning and creating it came together. It was a huge success too. There were more then double the attendance from last year and all the performers were fantastic!
As if we didnt' have enough to think about J.R. decided to pull our ward choir together to perform a medly from Wicked. It came together pretty quickly and it was so fun to be able to sing with such great people and belt out loud on stage again. Everyone was incredible and J.R. was in his element. Music really is his love and passion!

(more pics to come...)

Our lame Cedar Point attempt

BUMMER. That pretty much describes our day at Cedar Point. Actually, we never even made it into the park. We drove the full 2hours to the park, paid the $10 parking...sat in the car waiting for the pounding rain to calm, ran to the entrance while being pushed along by the gushing wind, decided it wasn't worth the money, ran back to the car (1st stopping to take a pic) and drove the 2hours back to home.

I was so mad. I've been wanting to go to Cedar Point since we got to Ohio and we just never got the chance. Then when we finally had a baby sitter (thanks Ben) and it was the very last chance to go before graduation and moving....IT RAINED. And it wasn't just "rain" it was a major storm. The wind literally whipped our car doors open when we ventured out of the car. What a disappointment.

I guess that's life. Better luck next time perhaps.

Sarah & Glenn were great enough to come with us. We would have had so much fun. STINKY!!