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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

How we got here.

The past 11 years of my life is broken up into segments (undergrad then med school then residency). This is a flashback of med school in a VERY tiny nutshell. Speaking of tiny, this is our um, house. Student housing called Sachem Village located exactly a mile south of campus in West Lebanon, NH. They are old army barracks set up in a forrest of trees. When we first moved in I was completely not sure if I could do it. No carpet, no dishwasher, no place to store anything, our washer and dryer were located in the kitchen next to the stove. We lived next door to one that the ceiling had caved completely in. Huge spiders everywhere. I remember the first conversation with my mom on the phone was something along the lines of me feeling like the next four year were going to be a slight step above camping. I was scared! We put carpet and linoleum in, used lots of paper plates + cups and tried to make the most of it.
The thing (and only thing) that got me through was friends and I repeat friends! The small part you can see to the right of our car above is the just as small duplex of one of my best friends ever, Emily. She kept me going...through studying and exams and never ending piles of snow! We even got through the worst winter in 100 years together and -20 temperatures for 3 weeks. We would pile all the kids in the minivan and take turns running into the grocery store so that the kids didn't have to bear the freezing cold. We had tons of fun and I will always remember such great times in med school because of her. They had two little boys (at the time) one Taylor's age, Carson, below. We were always hoping one days they'll meet at BYU + fall in love and we could be grandma's together! Still game for that evil plan Em?! Aren't they so cute?!

Connor was born here. At Dartmouth-Hitchcock. 
When it was good weather....I have to say it was absolutely beautiful. This is famous Occom Pond that friends and I would push strollers and walk around ALL the time. There is little to do in Hanover...one thing we did do was A LOT of walking! At least we had a pretty place to look at!
We did lots of this in the winter...see the snowballs? (there's two)
And in the summer time, we did a LOT of hiking. Since we could pretty much throw a rock from our front door and hit Vermont (it was across the street) we hiked all over the place. 
We had a dog, a chihuahua named Bear, who Taylor loved and loved and loved. Chihuahuas and New Hampshire winters? Yeah, we soon realized there's a reason these dogs are from sunny Mexico.
Connor had two cute turtles. I carried these on a plane in a plastic cup all the way from St. George one trip. By graduation one survived and the other we found under the carpet ...um, or we found his shell I should say. Yuck!
These two were always inseperable and best friends...still that way really. They never really change either, they were 1 and 3 in this pic.

Bryan's school - the famous Dartmouth Green.




10 comments:

Karly Barker said...

I know it sounds crazy but I can't help but think your kids will have the best memories despite the freezing cold!

Stephanie said...

Hey Jaime! Thanks for this post making NH seems so cool. February brings out the worst in the Northeast! Actually, we love it here, too, and I dread the day we have to move! Such great pictures of Sachem--those places are no longer standing.

[BrookeO] said...

Ok. J I love that you are doing these flash backs. I love the pictures and the memories. You are always so good at telling the story too.
I remember that place, cement floors and all, I always remember thinking "how is she doing this?" but you made it and better than I could do.
Tay and Con are the cutest little things.
Thank goodness for good friends huh?!

xo

April said...

ok how gorgeous are those trees by your NH house?? So so pretty. I would probably walk around that pond all day too!
I love your little baby quilt - I'm excited to see it all finished and with a cute little baby inside!

Vanes said...

Jaim - I LOVE YOUR BLOG!! I love the beautiful pictures - I love reading your thoughts! I've told my girl friends to follow it! Before you go private will you add my best friend Shauna?! Shaunalw@yahoo.com
You are amazing! I'm dying over that baby blanket! :)

Kristal said...

Did you ever visit Lake Winnepesaukee? That's where I'm from :D My grandmother had a Chihuahua in NH for years named CHarlie Brown...we think an eagle carried him away...or he was trampled by the neighbor's horse...

Lacey said...

What a pretty place. So fun to see part of your life in the past. Thanks for sharing! I agree, friends make everything bearable!

Rachel said...

I LOVE this post! I remeber coming to visit you there for Thanksgiving and how fun it was! You made amazing meals, we tried learning to knit, shopping on that cute little street (gap, we still have our matching jackets from 4+ yrs ago) no taxes, ben&jerry's, and ofcourse the turtle. That was such a fun trip! i know i've left a bunch out too.
I'll call ya in the morn! by the time you read this i'm sure i'll have already talked with you.
luv ya j
ps. tay and con are the cutest! they have barely changed a bit!

Plain Jame said...

What a fun post, I love a good story that has pictures and some history to it. Thanks for sharing!

Natalie said...

Those were days I'll never forget (thought I would never say that! Cause at the time you feel like Med school will go on FOREVER!) Oh how some of us needed Em:) Great Pictures brings back so many memories:)