Life in the O-T-T

 I'm not gonna lie, moving to the OTT - as the locals call it - has been an adjustment.  Leaving our dental school family was rough.  And moving to a place where the best shopping is located at a dilapidated Target and most of Joseph's patients would rather have their teeth pulled than fixed (yes, even their front teeth...are you getting the picture?) has not helped the situation.  However, what has helped the situation is this beauty:

We love our new home!  Just the fact that we live in our own place has been like a little piece of heaven.  Our neighborhood is a little oasis.  Across the street lives two retired teachers, a pediatrician, an internist, and next door is another pediatrician.  Our neighbor joked that only in Ottumwa will you find doctors and teachers living on the same street, and we absolutely love it.

Because we are still a one-car family (I know...) I have been spending a lot of time at home getting this place feeling like...well...home.

We bought new living room furniture:

Before  

After

Set up our unfinished basement to be a playroom:

 Got the boys bathroom set up:

 complete with dentures for bath toys (that's how we do it dental style here):

We got Jake's bedrooms done:

and we're still working on Eli's room (no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, Eli's room is pink.  C'mon, guys, one thing at a time):

The kitchen is now done:

The landscaping in our backyard is still a work in progress, but we've done lots already, including ripping out a dead tree that was in the middle of the yard.  Why it was there in the first place is still a mystery to me.

There is still a lot that needs to be done.  Next thing on our list (well, besides a car) is to get our entertainment room set up.  We're still living in the dark ages of a big box TV, and Joseph is more than ready to upgrade.

 We also have a fourth bedroom that is sitting completely empty.  Literally.  So, that means plenty of room for visitors, hint hint!  As long as you're willing to sleep on the floor, that is...  Just kidding, we'll get an air mattress.  :)

So as you can see, life has been busy.  It hasn't been all work though.  We've started to make new friends in our church and our neighborhood.  Some of our new friends even took us out on their boat recently.  Yeah, we choose our friends wisely.  :)

Jake getting out of the boat...love the face!

Tubing with friends

What handsome boys!

Life in Ottumwa has been dichotomous.  On the one hand, it's been hard living here.  I've had my fair share of breakdowns, as Joseph can attest to.  It's a completely run down city that the people have kind of left for ruins.  Sometimes I drive around the town and I look around and think to myself, "Wait, I live here?" But on the other hand, life in Ottumwa has been wonderful!  Joseph loves his job, and I love our home.  We have met some wonderful people and are anxious to get to know them better.  All in all, it's taking some time to adjust,  but we feel blessed every day.

A whirlwind

My friends, this past month has come and gone in a complete whirlwind of activity!  I finally feel like I have a moment to sit down and put it all together, but there is just so much to say that I really don't know exactly where to start.  I guess, the best place to start is with the most important and exciting thing that has happened in four years...JOSEPH'S GRADUATION!!!  

Can you believe it??  After four years of hard work and sacrifice and being dirt poor, Joseph finally has that piece of paper that says it was all worth it.  Congratulations, Dr. Dougherty, I don't think that there is anyone more proud of you than I am!  :)  

The boys spotted Joseph as we were walking in, and Jake wanted to wear his "funny hat."

Here is Joseph standing in line, anxiously awaiting to hear the name "Dr. Dougherty" and walk across the stage.

Such a proud wife!

 Later we celebrated with some cake and friends, always a winning combination!

Then the next day, we left for the Bahamas to celebrate!!  We dropped our kids off with my parents in Michigan then flew to Florida for a cruise to the Bahamas.

We went on our celebration cruise with our dearest of dear friends the Whiteheads, who also graduated from dental school.

 We were in paradise for four days.  

This was the balcony and view right outside our room

This is a view of our hotel from a beach on the other side of the island.  

 We gorged ourselves on cruise food, went snorkeling, tried Conch (the official food of the Bahamas), laid out on the beautiful beaches, shopped the local vendors, watched a fire breather, and saw one of the boats that they used in the Pirates of the Caribbean when they filmed on the island.

It was an amazing trip, to say the least, and we were sad to have it come to an end.

But, once we came home, it meant we were on to our next adventure: moving!

Thanks to a moving stipend from Joseph's new office, we didn't have to lift a finger during the move.  We hired Two Men and A Truck, and they did everything for us!  Packing, loading, moving, and unloading.  I think I could get used to this "real life" thing.  :)

Jake was more than happy to just chill and watch movies while the men packed and loaded the truck.

 So spoiled!

 Don't worry, I will put pictures up of our new house.  I know you want to see them because I'm always dying to pry into others people's homes myself.  But this is all I have for now...our kitchen full of boxes!

 It doesn't look like that anymore...everything has a place (of course it does with all that cupboard space!) and the boxes are gone.  My dear friend Tawnya came over to help unpack, and I really couldn't have done it without her.

Then, as soon as we got all moved in, we took a little trip to Kansas City to meet up with Joseph's sister and her beautiful family.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures, but we had tons of fun playing with each other and going to Oceans of Fun water park.  Just imagine 6 crazy kids and four adults all sharing one hotel room...it was mayhem and we loved every second of it!  (Except for the part where Jake refused to go to bed and Eli screamed every time we left the room...other than that, it was great!)

So, now we're back home and taking a breather from this whirlwind we've been in.  We're starting to settle into Ottumwa, and Joseph starts his new job next week.  Life is good, and life is progressing.  We're so excited to start this next phase, but of course miss our friends like you wouldn't believe.  I guess you can't have it all. *sigh*

Ham it up

Lately Eli has really been hamming it up for the camera.  Every time we get it out he gets this squinty-eyed, cheesy smile on his face that just cracks us up!  Of course, it is my motherly duty to document and share it with the world. Enjoy! 

A family affair

Do you ever feel like when you're really looking forward to a really exciting, new, life-changing event that time just seems to creep by?  Then as it gets closer all of a sudden it seems as though you're speeding toward the goal line and all you can think is WAIT!  Slow down!!  I'm not ready for this!!!  This seems to be a recurring theme in my life: my wedding date, the birth of each of my kids, moving to Iowa to start dental school, the list goes on and on... Well, this whole graduation thing has been no exception.  Joseph has two weeks left until he puts on that cap and gown for the very last time in his life and is handed that ultimate, extremely hard-earned (and very expensive) piece of paper which will say "Joseph Dennis Dougherty, Doctor of Dental Surgery."  We've been looking forward to this since we've been married - 6 years!!  I am so proud of him, but at the same time, as graduation draws near I can't help but wish time would slow down a little.  

I'm not quite ready to leave all the amazing people that we've met here in Iowa. You see, for me, the experience of dental school has been less about learning dentistry, and more about navigating the rough terrain of raising our little family.  Of course, neither Joseph nor I would have had nearly as much fun with said experiences if it weren't for these people:

Here we are four years ago, when each of us were starting our various programs at the university:

(P.S. Because I know you're all thinking it, my hand is not on Joseph's butt, it's on his thigh...it's the angle...)

And here we are today, when we're (almost) all about to graduate:

Our numbers have exploded exponentially!  The reason I say "we" when I refer to graduating is because dental school has been a family affair for all of us.  It hasn't been something that only Joseph has accomplished, but something our whole family has done!  And really, all of these people that have gone through this experience with us (including ones that aren't in this picture) have become like family.  As time gets closer to Joseph putting on that cap and gown, I don't know how we're going to say good-bye to our dental school family.  I guess I still have two weeks to figure that out.  

I'm still here

I'm sorry for the lack of blog updates lately, and lame excuses, but I have just one more for you.  My right arm has been killing me lately and it's painful to type!  Was that a good excuse?  I know, it's not, but if it makes you feel any better, I certainly haven't forgotten about you.  Thankfully, since you are reading this, it means that you have not forgotten about us yet either.

I do want to update you on some of the major things that have been going on this past month, though, because it has been quite an exciting time!  First of all...we bought our first home! Sorry we don't have pictures, but we will definitely take some when we move in.  It was quite an ordeal, but we are so excited to have our first home.  One of the best parts was that my mom was able to come out to Iowa to help us house-hunt!  Love this woman.

Also, we recently had Frolics (aka Dental Prom) which is essentially a great excuse to get a babysitter, dress up, go to a fancy dinner, and dance the night away!  I was totally in my element that night and had a blast! 

   

 
Then we recently just returned from a little mini-vacation in Chicago where we visited my Aunt and Uncle and their family.  We toured the train museum, played at the park, and just enjoyed being with each other.

I'm not sure if we were supposed to climb on these trains, but no one was there to stop us!

 (can you tell he's terrified to be up on the train ladder?)

 He got up!

Finally, I thought I'd end this post with a word of advice from Eli: If you're going to eat a cookie, make sure you at least brush your teeth!