Stickywrites

Mom, Dad & Matt after ceremony

Did I say I was glad to be back in Dallas? Our “home” without a home so to speak? Well, when we returned from our 6-week stint away, we left again – this time to see Matt, my little brother, get inducted into his medical school in Houston! Wow! I am so proud of him and it was great to see him and my parents and sister (who also just finished taking the Texas Bar Exam and just graduated from Law School at UT – did I mention my siblings are smart?) who all attended and drove to Houston for the night. Houston reminds me much of Bangkok – hot, humid, boggly, and mosquitoey mostly ALL the time. I like to make up my own words (e.g. mosquitoey). However, the trip was a big one for us because I had to say my first big goodbye – to my brother. It does not yet seem real that I won’t get to see him or talk to him whenever I want. I was thankful to have the opportunity to get to see him before we left and before school gets really busy for him.
Matt’s Program
Matt walking down the aisle to receive his white coat

The same morning we left for Houston, we also welcomed Sgt. Mike Leeman back from Iraq after he has been there serving in the army for over a year! We are so proud of him and are excited for him to start Officer Candidate School in Georgia soon.
At the airport with Mike, parents, grandmother, Brian Steinbrueck & Andrew

First week of August we found ourselves at Penn Station in Baltimore, a far cry from NYC’s massive Penn Station we had departed from only 3 hrs before. We visited Camden Yards, the Bronsons’ favorite baseball stadium and home of their beloved Orioles before flying in Bethany’s Rodeo to Ocean City, Maryland for a week at the beach with the Bronsons, the Jacksons, and the Crowleys, both family friends of the Bronsons that go way back!
Orioles game at Camden yards
Bronson kids with friends at Orioles game

We had a few run-ins with some rather pesky, biting horseflies that seemed to love the scent & taste of OFF! repellant, but we managed to enjoy our hard life of being at the beach in a beautiful house a family friend allowed us so graciously to use. A family vacation was great for the Bronsons all to enjoy with the many changes that are taking place in all of our lives right now!

The Bronson kids (Andrew & me, Bethany, Erin & Aaron)
Steamed crabs Maryland-style (pre-mess)

Finally, we returned from 6 weeks of being gone from Dallas, (basically the majority of the hot summer) – we had been to St. Louis, Missouri; New York City, Amsterdam, Baltimore, and the East Coast of Maryland. We were rested from our week at the beach, but feeling rather weary of returning to once again living out of suitcases and scattered miscellaneous boxes, bags, duffels, you name it, and really missing a place we can call HOME. It has been a difficult and humbling thing to realize our need to ask people – family & friends – for help during this time. Obviously not only for financial support for our 2 years we are preparing for, but just for other means of support – a place to live, a place to store our stuff, help with packing & moving several times, getting all of our ducks in a row before leaving the country. I’ve had to realize again & again that I cannot do everything myself and that we have to swallow our pride many-a-time as we prepare to go and even over the next 2 years. But wait!! Suddenly Erin & Aaron are moving to DC for a new job! Which kind of foils our plan to live with them til we leave in September. However, not to worry – Brian & Katherine Steinbrueck to the rescue! Our Vanderbilt friends move to Dallas for a new job while we are gone in New York and alas! they have an extra bedroom for us. They are so kind to host us for a few weeks before we leave again to see my parents & the Rogers family at the Texas coast for the last time. So today we moved yet again – out of Erin & Aaron’s house, and into Brian & Katherine’s house. Andrew & Brian are currently out buying a bed for us to sleep in!