So Many Blessings!

I want to start by testifying the God loves His children! He hears our prayers and pays attention to even the smallest details of our lives. We can feel His love, promptings and warnings through the Holy Ghost as long as we remain worthy of it. I especially feel this way after this last week. We have felt so blessed by our Savior and have felt His hand in our lives.

A while back I felt the urge/need/desire to go back to Singapore to visit my parents and sister. It just didn’t seem it was going to be possible but the more I talked about it with my parents the more it became a possibility. Thanks to some almost expired miles and a great deal Ellie and I are headed to Singapore for a few weeks this fall. We are very excited (though extremely nervous to travel 25 hours with a lap infant, who is really 18 months old!). Well today I was thinking about what to pack and what needs to get done before I leave when BAM! It hits me that I forgot about Alex’s White Coat Ceremony. I thought I remembered him saying that the ballpark time was in October but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that we would be gone when the ceremony took place. I was right. His ceremony was on the 19^th of September, just 4 days after we were supposed to leave for SG (Singapore). I cried all morning. I felt like I had betrayed Alex and wasn’t being the supportive wife I know that I need to be while he’s in school. I don’t think Ellie has ever seen me cry, because she had no clue what to do. She was really confused and then started to cry with me. So here we were, two bawling girls on the couch. I had no idea what it would cost to change international tickets and I was scared to find out. I summoned up my courage and called our airline company. It would only cost $50 to change. Wow! I will absolutely pay $50 so that I can see my husband participate in such a neat ceremony. Then I realized my second obstacle, which also leads me to our other blessing.

I was given the manager job over our complex. It is paid in the form of free rent, which is amazing to a couple living off of loans. The less we need to take out, the better. What made it more perfect was that we need to move into the “managers” apartment, which is zoned out for free rent. The apartment isn’t ready quite yet; it needs some updates and won’t be ready till October. This was perfect because that meant I could easily go on the SG trip without it interfering with my work. But back to the changing flights dilemma, if I extend my trip further into October, will my job still be waiting for me when I get back. After a very sympathetic phone call with my soon to be boss, she told me I had nothing to worry about. As long as we were okay paying a prorated rent for October, she would just put me to work when I was ready. Again, another blessing.

So now I will be able to attend the White Coat Ceremony, go to SG with Ellie for 2 ½ weeks, and work as the manager of our complex when I return. This is a serious case of having cake and eating it too, twice over J I know that Heavenly Father listened to my prayers and selfish pleas to have things work out and I am grateful for His loving and quick answers.

I also got called to be the Pianist for Primary in our ward. I am so excited to improve my piano playing skills. It’s been a while. I will be in SG for the program, but I look forward to playing after I return. We are becoming more familiar with Spokane. Ellie has been to 4 different parks and we still enjoy our morning jogs. We also got a bike trailer so that should be fun to take her around on that. Speaking of bikes, we learned our first lesson about theft. Someone stole the front tire off of Alex’s bike. We bought a replacement and will now be parking his bike inside. I am just grateful that they only wanted to the bike wheel and didn't try to come inside.

We spent the weekend in Vancouver for Labor Day. We enjoyed taking family pictures, throwing a baby shower for Sveta and spending time with Nellie (who lives in NY). I always love visiting the Doroshkins. I returned home with a new love of mint tea!

Alright, that’s all for now. I’ll write again soon!

1 Week Down, 3 Years and 51 Weeks Left

Welcome to Spokane! We love our new home! We are finally getting situated and our apartment is starting to feel like home. Alex has been in school for a week now. He said that some 2^nd and 3^rd years told him that after a few days of school it would feel like he had been in school for months, and that is so true! His schedule is crazy busy! He gets up at 6am, leaves the house by 6:45, study on campus from 7-8, lecture and lab from 7-4, and sometimes hospital stuff till 5pm. This is when he gets to come home, have dinner and a little play time with me and Ellie and then back to studying from 7:30 until 10 or 10:30. Ellie and I play; go out exploring the city, run errands, bake and our favorite is to walk along the river trail that is right by our house. Life is crazy, but it’s wonderful too. I’m mostly happy that we have survived our first week of medical school.

Our church ward is awesome too. We have met some people and have felt very welcome. I am going to be part of the play group and book club. Ellie enjoys playing with all the kids at church and is excited to start nursery next week. Our ward is very missionary oriented. They have had a lot of investigators and converts. On our first Sunday I was asked more than a few times if I was an investigator. Wouldn’t that be so neat if missionary work was like that in every ward that every unknown face you assumed was an investigator? It’s awesome to look out and see people from all walks of life embracing the Gospel and coming closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ. Last Friday we had this ward BBQ at a local park. I noticed an older man sitting on a bench watching the kids play. I asked Alex to go see if he wanted something to eat. When Alex asked him, the man turned and said, “oh, I don’t speak English, only Russian,” so Alex replied, “Privet!” He was able to talk with the man and help him get dinner and then introduce him to the Russian Sister Missionaries who were in attendance. It was a neat experience. I’m glad I acted and Alex too, on the prompting to ask the man if he was hungry. I have started to study Preach My Gospel in my scripture study to help me prepare to be part of the work!

I’m not currently working. We are living in a subsidized complex and if I get a job, it complicates our rental lease. They are looking to hire a complex manager. I told them I would be interested in doing that. It would be about 15 hrs a week, but could all be done with Ellie, and would include free rent (which wouldn’t complicate the lease). It does involve us moving to a different unit, and I’m not looking forward to moving all our things again. We’ll just have to see.

Ellie is handling all the changes pretty well. She is getting a bunch of teeth and so that doesn’t help but she is happy most of the time. She really misses her Dad and often will walk through the house calling, “Dad?” We have started introducing potty training. She pooped and peed on the toilet for the first time yesterday and today. I’m not being too serious about it, I still don’t think she’s completely ready, but when she asks to sit on the big girl potty, I let her!

Anyway, all in all we are doing really well and are looking forward to spending at least a year here in Spokane! If any of you have great places here you’ve been to and recommend, let me know! Until Next time!

Our Vacation in a Nutshell!

When Alex decided to pursue a career in medicine, I knew that during medical school and residency, all of his extra time would be dedicated to school. I decided to make a deal with him that when he got accepted to medical school, we would go on a cruise together. When we heard the news from University of Washington, I immediately started searching for a great deal and something fun we would both enjoy! Thanks to frequent flyer miles we were able to both fly for free to Ft. Lauderdale. We decided to book a 5 day cruise that would visit Key West and Cozumel Mexico. Because we were flying with miles, we had an extra day in Ft. Lauderdale as well.

Jennie and Derek generously offered to watch Ellie for the week, and for that we were so gratefully. I don’t think we could have left her with someone else or in a place she was unfamiliar with. Besides being unusually quiet, she seemed to do okay while we were away. We missed her like crazy, we even brought a picture to put up in our room. Okay, enough of the background, on to the vacation!

Day 1: After a red eye flight and hardly any sleep, we boarded the Vision of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) without any troubles. We grabbed some lunch and took a much needed nap. After a delicious dinner in their awesome dining room we decided to retire early and catch up on some sleep before Key West the next day. Little did we know our room was under the main dance floor that was hosting a 70’s dance party. Instead of sleeping, we ordered room service for late night snacks and then listened to classics like the YMCA until after midnight.

Day 2: In Key West we rented beach cruisers and rode around the island of Key West. We visited a beautiful botanical garden, rode on the pier and saw a big sting ray! We visited the most southern point of the United States, it’s closer to Cuba than to Miami. Our next stop was a state park called Ft. Zachary Taylor. Besides the beautiful beach, there is a civil war fort. It was so neat to go through the fort and see the cannons and the amazing structure of the fort itself. Back on the ship that night was formal night and we saw a great comedy/music act that evening.

Day 3: This was our first sea day. It was so wonderful just to soak up some sun, enjoy the pool, and relax! We ate delicious food and saw a show that evening that combined a bunch of favorite Broadway musicals. We also watched a funny love and marriage show.

Day 4: I can’t tell you how beautiful the water is in Cozumel. We took a little risk and booked an excursion from a private company. It was a great deal and we figured it was worth trying it out to save that much money. We also had plenty of time to get back to the ship when the excursion was done. Our excursion included off beach snorkeling, fajita style lunch (yum!), open jeep tour around the coast of the island, and visit to Punta Sur Eco Park. We also thought that we would be taking a tour of the smaller ruins on the island called San Gervasio, but because of some scheduling issues (that we were unaware of until that day) we were going on a tequila tour. The snorkeling was a blast, we saw a sting ray, star fish, many other fish, lobsters and beautiful corals and sand! The Eco Park was pretty neat too. There was a gorgeous light house we climbed up (all 130 steps!). The view at the top was breath taking! There were tons of lizards and some small ruins we were able to see. There were also salt water crocodiles! Driving around the island in the jeep with the wind blowing our hair and the sun on our skin was amazing! The island was so beautiful! Needless to say, we would have skipped out on the tequila tour and seen more ruins, but it was out of our control. Back on the ship we loved a juggling act! It was amazing and the performer was very funny too!

Day 5: Another sea day and last day on the ship. Again we took advantage of getting some warm sun. I also signed up to take a sushi class. I know the basics of making sushi, but it was really fun to see some new recipes and styles of rolling/cutting/plating. Alex and I really enjoyed the delicious sushi lunch that was included with the class. That evening we enjoyed our last meal in the dining room and the goodbye show. There was an aerial acrobatics show that was spectacular and also the flag presentation. Each crew member was announced by country. It is amazing to see all the countries working on the cruise ship.

 

Day 6: We got off the ship and checked into our hotel that was nearby. Another needed nap later and we were off to the beach for the day. The beach was gorgeous. It has nice sand and fun waves that we played in most of the afternoon. It was an adventure getting there and back on the public bus system but we made it. That night we had dinner at TGI Fridays and saw the new Spiderman Movie. That night we went to sleep ready to be back home with Ellie, but so grateful for our fabulous vacation!

It seems that our trip went by so quickly, but we think about it all the time! We had such a great time just being together, enjoying conversation, and seeing a beautiful part of the world we had never been to before! 

A Month of Thanksgiving.

Where has time gone? The last time I posted, Ellie was being blessed, we were moving to Meridian and the summer was just starting. Now, all the leaves have fallen, Ellie is CRAWLING, Alex is enjoying  his job and the holiday season is upon us. I will give just a quick recap.

June- Trip to Vancouver to see grandparents! We also took our amazing two week trip to Singapore. I could write an entire blog post just about that. It was truly a unique experience and such a wonderful time to see my parents.

July- I taught swimming lessons at Christine’s pool, it felt so great to be back. Ellie moved into her own room, is eating solid food like crazy, and sleeps like a log J

August- Alex started working as a PSR, helping kids and adults with social anxieties/disabilities, addictions etc. I did a weekend on my own with Ellie at a family reunion. Ellie turned 6 months!

September- Another trip to Vancouver, to meet our new nephew and see family. This was the first fall that either of us didn't have school, I guess that applications kind of count, but it has been wonderful to have a break from the books.

October-  We took a trip to Provo! It was great to support our friends in their wedding, see Amber and Adam and other friends. My dad had a business trip in Boise and we had him around for a week. Ellie had her first trip to a pumpkin patch and enjoyed the little petting zoo. She is crawling all over the place!

November- Is it really November already? We took family pictures this last weekend. Ellie didn't smile much, but hopefully we got a couple of good shots. Alex and I joined our local gym. I am determined to get back into shape, let’s just say it’s a work in progress. Alex and I are both teaching the 8 year old kids in our ward. Alex is their scout leader and I am their primary teacher. It has been a learning experience, and the good times definitely help with the not so good times. Applications are going. Alex has worked so hard on them and we wait (not so patiently) every day to hear back from the schools. Alex has decided to also apply to some DO (Osteopathic medicine) schools this year and we are looking forward to hearing back from those schools as well.

This time of year always makes me think about the good things that I have. I n life it is easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you have so far to go. It is easy for  me to see friends my age who are buying houses, have “real” jobs, are in great shape etc. And think that I am so imperfect. Well the good news is, I am imperfect, but I am trying to be better. I have to take each day at a time, slow down and appreciate all of the good things I do have.

Most importantly, I have a Savior, who loves me for who I am (imperfections included). The gospel means so much to me; it truly is my greatest treasure. I love Alex and Ellie and I am so grateful that we can be together forever. I know that I am a child of God, I have divine potential and I work toward that each day through prayer, scripture reading and lots of other things.

I wish you the best holiday season, remember to be grateful and do service for others continually. I’ll try to post again soon.

How Our Lives Change

In addition to adding a new member to our family, we have experienced a lot of other changes recently! Ellie is wonderful and she is growing everyday! In April Alex and I both were able to graduate from BYU and even got to walk Ellie across the stage with us! The same weekend as graduation we blessed Ellie. My dad was able to finagle a business trip the same weekend and it was so great to have him there. We appreciated all the support from siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends!

This last week we packed all our things and moved out of Provo! It was really hard to leave Provo. Alex enjoyed his time working with all the missionaries and is sad to leave the MTC. I’ve been working with Provo City Recreation for almost 5 years and I also was sad to say goodbye to coworkers! We are excited for this next chapter in our lives.

We will be living in Meridian, Idaho. We are living with my brother and his wife in my parents’ house (since they are still in Singapore). Unfortunately, Alex didn’t get into medical school this last year, so we have begun the process again, and are much more optimistic! We have a game plan and have learned from our mistakes and look forward into getting in this year. We are applying all over again, but have added a few Texas schools, South Carolina, Iowa, California and Utah to the list! We’ll keep you posted on how this goes!

For now, we are visiting family in Vancouver and next week head off for a two week adventure in Singapore. We are nervous to travel with Ellie, but are so excited to see family and a new part of the world! We’ll be back at the end of June and will start to get settled in Meridian then! Wish us luck! 

Our Newest Addition

On February 26 Miss Ellie Marie Doroshkin came to our family! Her arrival into this word was a little bumpy, but ultimately she was healthy and happy! I know a few of you wanted to hear the whole story, and I apologize that it is now 3 ½ months later and I’m just now doing this! To start off, I have to tell you that I did a lot of preparing for Ellie’s birth. I read lots of books and articles about all different kinds of delivery. I had my goal delivery in mind, but I prepared myself for anything that might happened. I think that my preparation is what saved me that day. Nothing went the way I had planned, and I am glad I knew a little bit about alternative ways to deliver a baby, because in the moment, there is not a lot of time to ask questions.

Sunday, February 24 (40 weeks and 6 days pregnant). Alex and I woke up to go to church, like we always do on Sunday mornings. This morning was a little different though. By the time we got to church I was experiencing some pretty good contractions. We decided to head off to church and see what happened. By noon my contractions were coming about every 8-10 minutes! We finally thought this was it. We went home and made sure everything was ready. Contractions kept coming, but not any closer together. After walking a lot (even going up to campus to walk in the WILK) and around 6 pm, contractions were finally about 3-5 minutes apart. Time to go to the hospital! We were sadly disappointed when they checked us in, did an exam, only to find out we weren’t in labor. I was only dialated to a 1 and wasn’t progressing. Bummer! That night Alex and I returned home, hopeful that in the next few days, we would have our baby girl.

Monday, February 25 (41 weeks pregnant). Because I was now a week overdue, they scheduled me for a non-stress test. Basically I was hooked up to a monitor that kept track of my contractions and Ellie’s heartbeat. There were a few concerns after the test and so they decided to induce me. Apparently there wasn’t a good reason not to, since I was overdue. So I checked into the hospital around 10am. They started me on a few different drugs to induce labor. I had really wanted to have a natural birth and so felt determined not to take any pain medication just yet. Fast forward 12 hours. 10 pm- still only dilated to about a 1. Pain was tolerable. During those 12 hours, Alex and I watched a movie, played the wii and ate French fries!

Tuesday, February 26 (41 weeks and 1 day pregnant).  Fast forward another 4 hours. Contractions were starting to become painful and very close together. Still only dilated to about a 2.  By this point, I was exhausted. After talking with my doctor, she recommended that I get an epidural. She said that there was still a long ways to go and that I needed to have some energy to push. I agreed and at 3 am I got an epidural. Wow! Did that feel great! I slept for the next 4 hours and at 7 am they came in a checked me again. I was about a 3. I was trying not to get frustrated, but I didn’t think it would be like this or that I would take so long to dilate. After a few more ideas and drugs, I was at a 5! Hurray! It was now about 2pm and I figured if I kept progressing, maybe by that night we would have a baby! Hour after hour, nothing happened! At 4:30 pm I was still at a 5. My doctor has one last trick up her sleeve. Ellie had turned and was wedged almost diagonally in the birth canal. My doctor was going to try and turn her and see if that would help move things along, and also make pushing later much easier.

The next 10 minutes were the scariest of my life. While they were trying to turn her, Ellie’s little heartbeat just plummeted. The beeps were so slow and Alex and I were very worried. My room became the scene you would see on TV! Doctor and nurses were everywhere. Trying to get me to move so her heart rate would rise. They gave me a shot of adrenaline to get my heart rate to rise and it started to have a positive effect on Ellie. In the process I heard “prep the OR, we need to get this baby out.” They prepped me for surgery, Alex got to get dressed in his gown and into the OR we went. They started surgery at 5:09 and by 5:18 Ellie was born. She was 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long. Alex held my hand the entire time, keeping me calm and expressing his love. I couldn't have done it without him! After 30 hours of labor, a lot of pain medication and a surgery later, I was simply exhausted. They put me in recovery, but all I could think about was holding my little girl. I was able to see her in the OR for a minute but I hadn't held her yet.

That moment when I held her in my arms was perfect! The love I felt for Ellie and Alex is indescribable. I had just done the hardest thing in my life, but the payoff was beyond comprehension. Alex’s Mom was able to come down to Provo and help me while I was recovering in the hospital and for that I will always be grateful. Alex balanced his classes and being there for me and was absolutely wonderful. We were in the hospital for 4 days and then got to come home on Friday, March 1. My mom was able to fly in from Singapore a few days later and stay for a week. It was a crazy time for our family, but so great!

Fast forward 3 months. Ellie is a perfect baby! She eats well, is sleeping through the night and smiles like crazy! We love her and have enjoyed every moment being parents. I’ll try to be better about keeping the blog updated. Thank you all for your love and support during this time! 

Miracles DO Happen and the Lord Answers Prayers!

We would feel ungrateful if we didn’t share this amazing story with those people we care about. Before I get into the details we want you to know how grateful we are for Jesus Christ, our Savior. This time of the year is my favorite, as we get to celebrate the birth of Christ, His life and ultimate sacrifice for us. Alex and I have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father and it continues to amaze us how he truly is in even the small details of our lives. So here is the story!

As most of you know, Alex is applying to medical school right now. Though we have applied from California to New York, our sights have really be set on University of Washington. Well when Alex went to submit his secondary last Saturday, we realized that we had missed something. Instead of taking payments electronically, like most schools, UW requires that applicants mail in a check. Well we obviously didn’t do this and realized that we were no longer considered valid applicants at our dream school. Needless to say, Saturday and Sunday were extremely hard days. Our hearts were broken that because of human error, we would no longer be considered for UW. Alex has put in so much time and effort and it made me sad to see him hurting like he was. On Sunday, fast Sunday, Alex and I had a special fast. Mine was more of a fast in prayer seeing as I can't go more than a couple hours without food. We pleaded for a miracle. We humbly asked that if there was anything we could do to change our situation, that we would be able to. 

Well good thing Alex doesn’t give up and he sent an e-mail to the admissions office asking if there was anything he could do. On Monday, no reply had been sent and so after some digging, Alex found a contact number to the office. After a brief phone call, we were informed that the deadline for the check had been extended until 5:00pm that day. The time was currently 4:00 in Utah. This meant that we had 2 hours to find someone, anyone to drop off a $35 check at the UW Medical admissions office. After trying everyone we knew, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, siblings, parents, we were out of luck. Why would we be blessed with this second chance, only to fail again. I had one last idea, look up local bishops in the UW area and see if any of them could help us. Call #1, no luck. The second Bishop answered but regretfully told us there was no way he could get down town Seattle in the allotted time. He did know of someone who worked at the institute building on campus and gave Alex his number.

As our last hope, we called the number. This kind man said that he would be happy to take a check over and that he was in fact within walking distance of the office. Wanting nothing in return, this man was our miracle!

As we move forward, we still have a long road ahead of us. It makes it so much easier though, knowing that the Lord is aware of our needs and that no matter what, the church provides a support and service system that we are so grateful for. We feel humbled that our prayers were answered, and so quickly and have faith that things will work out, even if it may not be the way we originally wanted.  We also want to thank friends and family who have been such a support to us during this time. We have felt your prayers and concern in our behalf and we love you!

If you are struggling at this time, know that the Lord loves you and is mindful of you. Continue in His path and you will find happiness and His blessings will be poured out upon you. I testify that He lives and loves His children. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the restored Gospel and of my divine nature. If you want to find out more about the LDS church and principles that we believe in, visit www.lds.org. Have a great week!