A Very Special Birthday Gift

Last year, when we sold our house in Richmond by owner, we said we'd "gift" ourselves a commissioned painting of this, our first home.

The four years we spent in this house held many treasured memories--the start of Philip's new career as a student in dental school, the birth of Wade and Holland (Holland was literally born in the house!), and the forging of many cherished friendships.  We learned to be neighbors here, where we were thankful to live amongst people with whom we had much in common and those who were very different from us.  It's where I experienced both joy and difficulty as I adjusted to my new life as a mom, and it's where I developed a love for decorating and DIY projects.

Needless to say, this was a place to remember (and really, aren't they all?).

Unfortunately, like so many things, commissioning someone to paint our home became yet another thing it seemed hard to justify doing.  There were so many pressing things going on as we prepared to move and subsequently tried to quickly get settled in our new home in Illinois that we never got around to making this dream happen.

In the meantime I discovered that a friend of mine from growing up, Kate, had quite the artistic talent and she had recently gotten back into spending time painting.  Reading through her blog, I was smitten with her work!  I love watercolor, and I think Kate has such a knack for the way she captures her subjects on paper.

Check out some of her work:

all images taken from Color Me Happy

Being the subtle person I am (cough), I suggested to my sweet mom that "Gosh, I sure would love a painting of our house by Kate!  I think she's really talented and how cool to have a piece done by a friend!"  My mom being the doting mother she is, took note of my suggestion :)

Can you imagine how excited I was to open this belated birthday gift tonight at my parent's house?! (We are finally in the great Commonwealth visiting our family before we head west to Cali!!)

I snapped the picture really quickly with my phone and there's a bit of a glare, but isn't it lovely?!  I think she captured our home so beautifully.  I'm already scheming about how I'd like to frame it.

Thank you Mom (and Kate!) for this gift I will treasure forever!  Be sure to check out Kate's blog and join me in asking her to keep on painting!!  :)

Proud

Yesterday was a really special day.  Philip officially graduated from his one year residency in the AEGD program (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) here at Scott Air Force Base!  The magnitude of the day didn't really strike me as it approached, but now as I reflect on it, I realize how amazing it really is.  You see, with the exception of a period of about 21 months back when he was a lawyer, Philip has basically been a student of some sort for his entire life.  Last summer, we marked a great milestone when he graduated from four years of dental school.  And now, with the completion of this residency, he's truly done with school.  Kind of hard to believe.  (Of course, all bets are off as to whether he will eventually decide to pursue a specialty...)

I know there are some who are just cut out for the life of a student--and Philip probably is one of them, in some ways at least.  But really--most of us can't imagine finding ourselves in our mid-30's (sorry babe, I know you're not technically quite there yet :) having been in school for nearly our whole lives.  I am in awe when I think of all my husband has accomplished.

It was really inspiring to see how the military honors a graduation of this sort.  There were all sorts of patriotic  and official things happening.  Sharp looking uniforms,  a lovely rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (thanks Stuart!), words of encouragement and praise for the graduates.  I was really touched by how the families were honored too.  Here's the part that touched me the most, though:  When Philip walked up to receive his certificate of graduation, do you know what he did?  My introverted, never prone to speaking in public, and especially not on a whim, husband--he asked if he could say a few words, and then he went on to sing my praises.  He spoke of the sacrifices he's asked me to make and how our life looks so different from how I probably thought it would when I married a lawyer over eight years ago.  I will not soon forget this.  It really meant so much to me.

Congratulations Dr. Worthington; we love you and are so proud of you!

And here are a couple little video snippets I managed to take.  My phone was low on storage, so unfortunately I had to cut these pretty short.