It's a dreary, rainy day in Carrboro. After wrapping up an easy morning at the UNC Hearing & Communication Center (my clinical site for the summer), I decided it was long overdue for me to write a new post. With the weather keeping me inside, today seems like as good a time as any!
I wrapped up my first year of graduate school (only three more to go!) in the first week of May. A tradition in the AuD program at UNC is the Third Year Send-Off, a reception dedicated to the third year AuD students that are wrapping up their last academic year and preparing for their fourth year placements. Of the 8 third year students, half are staying in the Chapel Hill area to complete their placements and the others are moving elsewhere - the furthest anyone is going is to the House Research Institute in California!
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| My cohort at the 3rd year send off - Made it to 2nd year! |
Later that week, Evan and I went to Raleigh with friends to go to a Tim McGraw concert. We bought bulk outdoor amphitheater tickets earlier in the year for a series of country concerts this summer. Country music is so popular down here, so we figured we might as well join the crowd and enjoy the shows!
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| Waiting for the Tim McGraw concert to begin! |
The evening of my last final, Evan and I went to the Durham Bulls Baseball Stadium with friends to watch some good 'ol baseball! It turned out to be a beautiful evening and we are definitely planning on getting back to Durham for another game soon!
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| At the Durham Bulls Stadium! |
As you can see from all the great stuff I got into at the beginning of the month, May has been full of good times. Unfortunately, when I headed home I got some sad news. Mom's oncologist found a "hot spot" on her latest scan, meaning those nasty cancer cells are starting to outsmart her Tarceva. The diagnosis this time around wasn't any easier to hear than the first, but the circumstances are very different (for which I am extremely grateful). As of right now, my mom is asymptomatic, optimistic, and ready to fight. It was decided last week that she would enter a drug trial for a "2nd generation drug" based on Tarceva. The drug trial is coming to the David Lee Cancer Center in Charleston, which is wonderful because her oncologist will be able to monitor her himself. We've all got our fingers crossed that the side effects of this drug won't be any more serious than the oral chemo Mom is currently taking, but I am very thankful for my lighter clinic schedule and a break from classes in case I need (or just want!) to head home for a few days at any point this summer.
After my mom told me the news, we decided it was better to enjoy the weekend than to be sad and weepy all weekend. So what did we do? What do you think!? Lots of shopping (what's better than retail therapy?), Girl's Night Out for dinner, and a Mother's Day pedicure!
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| Dinner out with Mom in SC :) |
Although I try to be really tough throughout all this stuff, I know myself well enough to know that I'm an incredibly emotional being and bottling my feelings up is never a good way to deal with my heartache. So, the night before Mother's Day, I let myself have a little cry and look through old photo albums. The tears weren't of sadness, but of happiness for having such an incredible mom who did, and continues to do, a damn good job raising her two little bundles of joy.
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| Circa October 1986 - Baby Chris with momma :) |
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| Circa April 1990 - Baby Moll with mom :) |
Then, after looking through multiple albums, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures on my camera all weekend. So the next morning, we got it out and took some pictures. I was so glad I got to be home for Mother's Day this year, and we all missed Chris a lot!
I've been back in Carrboro for a little over a week and Evan and I have been busy with gardening and a little project for the kitchen. We originally planted a few types of lettuce, basil, tomatoes, and pepper in our community garden. Since we were planting from the seed, we didn't expect much. But now a few weeks later, we have a good amount of lettuce growing and even a little bit of basil! The tomato & pepper plants weren't so successful, though, so we cheated & bought some plants at Lowe's this weekend!
Then we decided we wanted to spruce up our little kitchen with a new shelf. Our friend Sarah's parents had built a few shelves for her apartment out of old pallet wood, and she gave the ones she didn't use to us. After some sanding & a few coats of paint, we ended up with a really good looking shelf!
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| Evan showing off our fancy new shelf! |
Because of everything this month - the happy and the sad - I have been reminded to live life in the moment and to appreciate each day for all that it is. I wan to enjoy the little moments, the big moments, and all moments in between.
We're looking forward to seeing the Widney's this weekend, as they travel down to Carrboro to spend Memorial Day weekend with us.
Love to you all!
xo,
Moll
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