Today I wanted to talk about making the most of what you have. Please forgive me, but I am going to tell you my personal story and why I am thinking about this today. My husband is a physician resident on his way to being a full fledged doctor (a radiologist). Many people do not realize how long this actually takes. Here is the run down of what it takes to be a radiologist: 4 years of Undergraduate work (college), 4 years of medical school, 1 year of Internship or transitional year work, 4 years of Radiology Residency, and possibly a 1-2 year fellowship (my husband will be doing a 1 year fellowship). So, after high school, you have 14-15 MORE years of education left. Longer that your K-12 schooling.

Now, through all this you do not make much money. Eventually Wes will presumably have a good salary and money will not be as much of an issue for us-the budget will loosen up a bit. But for all these years, we have been living on a very small budget (especially for a family of 6 going on 7).

Well, in spite of the budget, or lack there of we have had, long ago we decided that we were not going to be the people that put off our lives until he was done, until it was all over! We were always going to make the most of what we have NOW and not wait until later. Because of that, we learned to find fun and free activities to do. Our date nights often consist of a redbox or netflix movie in the basement after the kids are in bed (that way we do not pay for a babysitter). We tried to do a lot of babysitting swaps during medical school. But we no matter what the situation was at the time, we made time for each other and our kids-that was the main goal!

Yesterday a tragedy happened here in Omaha that has effected us greatly. A friend of ours from medical school was killed in a car accident while taking his son to his first day of school. He was a resident here just like my husband, but a year ahead of Wes. Meaning he was in his LAST year of residency and going on to a fellowship in Texas next year-he was FINALLY almost to the end of all this! It is a devastating story and my thoughts and prayers are with my friend, his wife Melissa, and their 3 children. I send all my love to them! I know Melissa and Adam, like Wes and I were excited to be done with this training, but they were also, like us, not ones to wait until the end to live their lives. They made the most of what they had through all the long training and what happened yesterday reminds us all why we ALL need to do that!

Thank you for reading through this. It is very tender to my heart now! Please hug your loved ones extra tight tonight and make the most of what you have. And please, please keep the Smith family in your prayers! Melissa and the boys will need all the prayers and support they can get I am sure!