New Beginnings

Hello friends, and happy new year. I hope you all had a Christmas full of joy and wonder. James and I were so glad to be back with the Jersey gang this Christmas, although it just wasn't the same without Rachael and Reilly around! We loved the Christmas party at the Witko's (especially that beautifully set table!), the fun at Aunt Debi's Christmas, and a cozy night in front of the fireplace at the Van Wyck home. We're back in Buffalo, and we're both feeling that it's a time for new beginnings. We have officially been married a full year. It's been beautiful. Hard, sometimes, and we've both learned a great deal about sacrifice and especially about grace. In all, it's been far more beautiful than we had ever imagined. As we have hardly any other friends in Buffalo, we've learned, for better or for worse, to be each others' entertainment. Thankfully, I laugh pretty hard at really corny jokes, so James is in luck, and he can still make me die with laughter at his crazy accents. And though our apartment seems to be growing smaller every day, thanks in part to the fact that Oliver has gained about 10 pounds since he's lived here, we still love being home together.
Another new beginning will officially happen in May of this new year. I was accepted into the Graduate Nursing program at the University at Buffalo, where I will officially begin my career in medicine/nursing. James and I have big hopes and dreams, and it feels good to be getting on the road leading toward the realization of those dreams. We're trying to plan a trip to Haiti for this spring, so that we can just smell the air there, feel the dirt between our toes, and see and hear the things we're working for. If you'd like check out Double Harvest's newly spritzed-up website (www.doubleharvest.org). We're so anxious and excited to get our hands to work on this life goal of ours. For us, this year will bring more purpose, more serious living for the dream of getting back to that beautiful country, to work towards this kenosis, handing out glasses of water. We're still trying hard to live with eyes wide open.

"Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act." -Albert Einstein.

So, happy new year, and bon courage to all of you who are starting new beginnings in your lives. Isn't it exciting???

All She Needs...

Just wanted to share the newest addition to the Ziegler gang. She was the kids' Christmas present, and she seems to be settling in quite comfortably. She's adorable, kind of a nut, and the kids especially love taking her out to pee at three a.m.! So, all she needs now is a name...we're thinking we need a good German name, as she is a daschund puppy. Olga doesn't quite fit, so if you have any other ideas, send them our way, please (go ahead and write a name suggestion in the comment, folks...we need help)!

Baby, Baby!

Wendy, Daryl and baby Jacob came to visit snowy Buffalo this week! We loved seeing our nephew...he's changed so much in the past four months. We were surprised to see how animated he was, and how he recognized his name! We all stayed at the apartment, and had one big slumber party. Jacob found a new friend as well: his cousin Oliver (our kitty). Oliver was terrified at first, having never seen such a mini-person...and Jacob's squeals and kicking legs scared the wits out of Oliver, but I think they ended up buds after all. We loved having Wendy and Daryl over...and it gave us a cause to have some nice wine, play a few games, and explore the blustery city of Buffalo a bit more. Thanks, guys for making the trip! It really meant a lot to us. We LOVED having you...
Other news: James and I are almost finished with our semesters (Hallelujah!), and desperately looking forward to coming home to NJ for Christmas! It's been almost four months since we've been back. We can't wait for the Ziegler Christmas party (who's bringing a stocking for stocking face?) and getting together with the Van Wycks in front of the cozy fireplace...it's such a joy to be with family for the holidays.

Sunday Walk

Last Sunday, before the snow, James and I indulged in a long, brisk walk around our neighborhood. The air was clean and smelled of leaves and fireplaces. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! We spent quite a while exploring our favorite cathedral (I like to pretend we live in a village in the middle ages)...

Another Day

It's been a while since I've written...sorry, but it's been a crazy month. I've been working long shifts in the ER, and it seems like I'm staying late almost every night. It's been a zoo at the hospital...I spent 13.5 hours there yesterday, and as a result, came home at 10:30 last night, only to spend most of the night awake, with my heart racing. I love my job in the ER. It's exhilarating, fast-paced, and deals with life and death on an hourly basis. I learn enormous amounts of new information every day, which I love, and which I am sure will serve me well in my future in medicine. As I become closer to the ER nurses, mid-levels, and physicians, they are becoming more comfortable inviting me in to observe procedures, sometimes even assist. Within the last week, I've aided in a lumbar puncture (almost passed out on that one), suturing, and been smack in the middle of several full-blown codes. I am thankful for all these experiences, but they have left my mind racing and my emotions drained. Yesterday was extraordinarily rough, as we had three codes (who didn't make it), an acute heart attack, a patient seizing on the floor in front of me, a massive brain aneurysm, and a gunshot wound...I found myself in the middle of two patients in respiratory arrest, running with the crash cart, grabbing equipment for the gunshot wound who rolled in at 10:00 last night, and holding a sobbing 80-year old woman in my arms as her husband was getting CPR in the code room. He died. I couldn't help but cry with this woman as her best friend, her husband of 60 years left this life right before her eyes. I held her as she shook (she suffered from Parkinson's), and realized how blurry and faint the line between life and death really is. In the last six months, I have seen more death up close than many people see in a lifetime. Yes, sometimes it keeps me awake at night, my pulse racing...but mostly, I am just amazed and thankful each morning I wake up and realize that my heart is still beating, and I have another day of life.

"To live is so startling that it leaves little time for anything else."-Emily Dickinson