Love is Not a Fight

Love is not a place to come and go as we please. It's a house we enter in, then commit to never leave. So lock the door behind you. Throw away the key. Work it out together. Let it bring us to our knees. Love is a shelter in a raging storm. Love is peace in the middle of a war. And if we try to leave; May God send angels to guard the door. No, Love is not a fight but its something worth fighting for. To some love is a word that they can fall into. But when they're falling out keeping that word is hard to do. Love is a shelter in a raging storm. Love is peace in the middle of a war. And if we try to leave; May God send angels to guard the door. No, Love is not a fight but its something worth fighting for. Love will come to save us; If we'll only call. He will ask nothing from us but demand we give our all. Love is a shelter in a raging storm. Love is peace in the middle of a war. And if we try to leave; May God send angels to guard the door. No, Love is not a fight but its something worth fighting for. Cause I will fight for you. Would you fight for me? It's worth fighting for! - Love is not a Fight, written by Warren Barfield.

That is the theme song for the movie, Fireproof. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. The message it presents is amazing! Watching that movie made me think of my own marriage and the vows we made to one another almost 3 years ago. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one," Genesis 2:24. Marriage is a huge commitment, but a wonderful one. In my opinion, I am married to the most incredible man ever! You might beg to differ with your hubby, but let's just agree to disagree. :) The movie was such a testament to how tough marriage can be at times, but it's through Christ's love for us, that we can truly know what it means to love another. We are incapable of doing it alone because to most, love is a feeling, but really, love is a choice. Romans 5:8 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. .. Christ chose to love us and he chooses to love us still even though we are sinners. He chooses us! We have chosen our spouses and no matter what we go through, we must continue to choose to love them each and every day we walk this Earth.

I don't know where you are in your relationships - married, engaged, dating, or single, but we can make the choice to choose to love everyone we come in contact with on a daily basis. God chose us and by choosing to love others, ultimately we are choosing to love him as well. Remember, love is worth fighting for!

Don't urge me to leave you or turn my back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God - Ruth 1:16

My Past Time

Many of you know that I coach cheerleading at P.K. Yonge High School and we are in the height of our competition season this year. For those of you who think cheerleading is a joke, do I have a video for you! This is just a glimpse of we have done over the last few years. It's pretty awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NCdTXnlz9M

Flawless

Interestingly enough, Dave and I are in a music video! Dave's uncle, Richy, is an AMAZING guitarist and has begun playing with an up and coming musician, Mark Gaignard. Who is also AMAZING! They play an acoustic set almost every Friday at the Wine Bar. Dave and I have been going and supporting them for quite a while. One night, we got a call asking if we wanted to be in his newest video for his first single, Flawless. Of course we said yes! We began filming with Dave's cousin/Richy's son, Kalin, and some of our good friends. After the long, anticipated wait, the video is done! You can check it out on YouTube for now at the link below. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmChmYt8HhY

It's Tough Being a Woman in a Mean World!

Last night I joined a woman's bible study on the book of Esther written by Beth Moore. There really are no other words to describe this study other than absolutely AMAZING! The entire study is geared towards women and how it's tough to be a woman. Here are just 2 of the most common toughest things about being a woman, as stated by various women around the world... (1) Being too much and not enough at the same time. We are always trying to be something instead of just being who we are. (2) Living among and comparing ourselves to other women. Trying to live up to someone else can create hostility and jealousy in a relationship. As women we should be working together and not fighting with each other. It is because of our own insecurity that we do this and we have to stop! ... It's a 9 week study and I thought I would turn it into a bit of a ministry by sharing my thoughts and what God is teaching me with you. Maybe it will transform your life. Beth Moore is a wonderful writer and an even more incredible speaker. I hope for you women out there it makes you think about your place in this world, just how valuable you really are, and how we can work together & stop being mean to one another!

So, the title, "It's Tough Being a Woman in a Mean World!" Beth Moore really challenged us to think about meanness and the things girls do to each other. She said that meanness perceives a threat - meaning that as girls, we measure ourselves up to someone who we perceive as a threat; someone messing with our territory. But God says in 2 Corinthians 10:12, "We do not dare classify or compare ourselves with some who comment themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." Why then do we do this? God plainly states here to be confident in who you are in Christ. He made us just the way we are, why do we spend so much time comparing ourselves to one another?

Beth also states that meanness catches like a virus. It can be passed down from generation to generation or person to person. When someone is mean to us, that strikes up the meanness in our own hearts. No matter how pure of heart we think we may be, each and every one of us has a mean girl within us. I loved her quote, "Coming in contact with a mean girl will bring out your own mean girl." I don't know about you, but I think that is so true! Thankfully though, meanness is curable! Romans 12:17-21 states, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If at all possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome with good." Basically, God is saying that he will take care of it all. We don't need to be mean back for we have the love of Christ within us. Just as the old saying goes, "Kill them with kindness!"

Beth ended with a few descriptions about mean girls that I thought were pretty funny and true. Let me know if you agree. Mean girls will let you hang out with them if it's about THEM! Mean girls never take responsibility for their own actions. And, the funniest one of all... Mean girls dress provocatively around other women's men! Beth says to cover up the places that are meant for YOUR husband. :) She is so straight forward and blunt, I love it! I am really excited about this study and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. So, if you've got a mean girl in you, find out why. Identify the threat and ask God to help you overcome it. Remember Ephesians 4:26, "In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."

Until next time... Much love to you all!

Ped's Interviews - The Final Round

Well, the interview process is over and the waiting game begins. Dave had his final pediatric residency interview last week in Tampa. The program is actually a really good one. The residents float between All Children's Hospital in St. Pete and Tampa General Hospital in Tampa. This gives the residents the opportunity to see what happens in a children's hospital and a community hospital. I got the opportunity to go with Dave this time to the dinner the night before and meet some of the residents. They seem like a really great group of people, even though I only got to meet a few of them. They are happy and they like their job, but there is one major down fall. As a resident you work at two hospitals, which is a plus, but also a HUGE minus. The hospitals are 30 minutes apart without traffic. If you have ever been to Tampa, you know traffic is awful at rush hour. Dave started his interview at All Children's in St. Pete, which he enjoyed. Then, he got in the car with a resident to make the trip to Tampa General, which took ONE HOUR!! If you know Dave, you know he does not have patience when it comes to driving. I think he might drive himself absolutely in sane driving an hour in the car each day from one hospital to the next. And then, we would have to make the decision to live in St. Pete or South Tampa, which means depending on which hospital he starts his day at, he could have another drive ahead of him. For some of the residents, they enjoy the drive to take a break from the work, but Dave enjoys working with the people more than driving in his car. As it comes time to rank the programs, we are thinking we would like to stay in Gainesville. In comparison to all the programs, UF has more of what Dave is looking for and it provides a little bit of comfort knowing we already have a life here.

So now what? The waiting game begins! Dave ranks by February 25th and Match Day is March 19th. It will be exciting to walk across the stage, receive the envelope and announce where we will continue our life for the next 3 years. Yes, we are hoping to stay, but we are okay with wherever God wants to take us. After all, He can see the big picture when we cannot.

Wedding Showers, Christmas & New Years - Oh My!

Whew... The holidays sure do fly by. As usual, Dave and I spent our holidays in Tampa where both our families live. It is always fun to get back together with both families during this season. The Smith family usually has an annual Christmas party at their house, but this year, with weddings in the air, we had a wedding shower for Casey and Rebecca. It was lots of fun and everyone looked beautiful. They got tons of gifts to stock their new house in Minnesota and they played the Newlywed game, in which they did surprisingly well. We tried to stump them, but I guess they really do know each other. :)

Here is a picture of the Smith Family, significant others and all.

Christmas Eve is always at my parents house. The Russell family tradition is to open presents on the eve of Jesus' birth. It's the way we have always done it. It works out pretty well since the Smith family tradition is to open presents on Christmas morning. Everyone from my side of the family this year just did gift cards and simple stuff. We had lots of fun!

Santa, a.k.a Mama Smith, surprised us on Christmas morning at the Smith house with stockings and lots of gifts. It was fun to open up all the gifts from the siblings as well. This year David and I did something a little different for everyone and made shoe boxes filled with gifts for orphan children in Africa. We sent a gift in honor of everyone in both families. Our hope was to give these children the joy of Christmas morning we were so fortunate to have when we were children ourselves. Unfortunately, the only picture we took on Christmas morning was blurry. :(

On New Years Eve we hung out with Ryan, Missy, Jamie and her friends on the Smith family back porch playing games and having a good time together. At 10:00 we drove down the street to a neighbors annual New Years Party where we enjoyed a magician and some live music put on by various musicians including Ryan & Dave Smith on the bongos, Joe Smith on the block, Missy Beish on the triangle, Danielle Smith on the shakers, and Jamie Smith & co. as back up dancers! There were also a few guitarists and singers that cannot be named at this time. We had so much fun! I wish I had a picture of the craziness that it was! Jamie and I made new years resolutions to get buff this year! We'll see how long that lasts. :) We at least have to make it last until the wedding in March so we can fit into our bridesmaid dresses. I think we can do it!

Dave and I headed back to Gainesville on New Years Day after the Outback Bowl. It was nice to be home in our own home again and relax from our adventurous vacation in Tampa. We took down all the Christmas decorations and got everything organized before it's back to the grind tomorrow morning. Oh, how I wish to be in college again when I could go to class 2 days a week instead of working 5. I guess it could be worse. I hope all of you had a restful holiday and that 2009 brings lots of health, peace, joy and love to you all. Merry Christmas and Happy 2009! Until next time...

Family Group Christmas Party

Dave and I hosted the annual FG Christmas Party at our house this year. It's always good food, good times, and good friends. The most exciting part about the party is our White Elephant game. Now, this is not your typical White Elephant, this is bring the most random crap that you can find at your house and wrap it beautifully White Elephant. It is quite humorous, I must say. This year Dave and I wrapped a recorder (from 6th grade) and an "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" lunch box & game set. Other gifts you might enjoy were old people perfume, red hot chili peppers (yes, actual peppers, not the CD), a Santa toilet seat cover, and the best gift of all - herpes! You might be thinking, What?!? Herpes?!? Yes, herpes, a stuffed animal version of the herpes virus. You might be able to spot it in the picture above, it's the yellow stuffed toy. Dustyn decided it would be a great dog toy! Haha! I just don't know what kind of company produces stuffed toy versions of STD's. What is this world coming to?

Thanks for coming guys. We had a great time! Love to you all and Merry Christmas!

Yard Sale

Stuff, stuff and more stuff! Last week Dave and I decided that we had too much unnecessary junk - I seriously don't know where it all came from! So, we spent all week cleaning out every room in our house and created a huge pile of clothes, random bags, tons of VHS tapes, nick-knacks, picture frames, books, scrapbook items, towels, sheets, an old vacuum cleaner, a book shelf, and one of those circular chairs I just had to have when we got married. We priced everything and put it all outside our house on Saturday morning. Let me tell you, these yard sale people are crazy! The sun doesn't even come up until 7:00 am but people were there - before I was even done setting up. We had a great flow of people which I thought was really impressive since we live in the VERY back of our neighborhood; it's like a maze just to find our house. At the end of the day, we made $220 and sold a lot of stuff. Dave says the best sale was the random guy who came and bought 20 VHS tapes - the movies were priced at 50 cents each and he paid us 15 dollars! The clothes we didn't sell made great care packages for the homeless and the random things went to Goodwill. Oh, what a successful Saturday! :)

It is pretty invigorating to think that you can grab a bunch of junk out of your house, put it on your front lawn and make some extra cash - pretty much for doing nothing. I'm thinking we have some more stuff laying around this house we could sell. As Dave Ramsey says, "Sell so much stuff, the kids think they're next!" Or in our case, the dog thinks he's next. :) Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the Russell's
Every year David and I travel to our home town of Tampa to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. Our families live 5 minutes from each other, which makes it easy to spend time with everyone. We always go to my family's Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon and David's family dinner in the evening. By the end of it, we are stuffed! Here are some pictures from the Russell Family Thanksgiving...

My brother Jason, my sister Amber, Dave, and I all pose for a picture. My brother is definitely the goofy one out of the siblings as you can see in the picture to the right. :)

Here is the Russell/Carty/Welch Family picture. We take one every year to see how much everyone changes. It really is the only time of the year all of us get together, except for my Uncle Craig's wild and crazy Christmas parties every year! But then, people just dance on tables and fall into Christmas trees! :) That's another story!

Thanksgiving at the Smith's

After a complete meal, with desert and all, we hop in the car and travel over to our next set of festivities at the Smith Family Lake house. It's always a wild adventure over there and there sure is more scrumptious food to eat. Here are some pictures from the Smith Family Thanksgiving...

Here is Pop's preparing the turkey for the evening... mmm, looks delicious! And here is Jamie making a funny face at the turkey. This is just another normal day in the Smith Family Kitchen!

Me, Missy, and Jamie - the only girls at Thanksgiving this year. Sadly, we could not take our traditional Smith Family Portrait because we were missing quite a few members of the Smith family. Ryan was out doing his fire fighting duties and Casey & Rebecca recently moved to Minnesota and were unable to make it down for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the Smith house just wasn't the same. But then, a surprise!

Welcome Home Casey & Rebecca!

Much to our surprise, on Saturday morning we came down the stairs to find Casey and Rebecca! They had flown in from Minnesota early that morning to surprise us all for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to see them! In the end, we did get to take our Smith Kids Family Picture!

I hope you all had an eventful Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day from our crazy family to yours. Much Love to you all - Dani and Dave :)

Pediatric Interviews - Rounds 2 & 3

David had his second and third interviews this week for peds residency. He interviewed at UF on Monday and just got back from his Orlando interview today. I had the privilege to go with him on Sunday night to the UF peds dinner to meet some of the residents and hear a little bit about the program. We both left the dinner highly impressed with what UF has to offer, despite the lack of a free standing children's hospital. We actually did come to find that UF does have a free standing children's floor in Shands with it's own administration separate from "Big Shands," as it is called. This means that UF is on their way to having a separate children's hospital a few years down the road. Anyway, David thoroughly enjoyed his day at Shands, had a great round of interviews, and found the people to be engaging and down to earth. Aside from the fact that UF doesn't have the a lolly pop launch pad, arcade games, ball pits, and brightly painted halls, it's an incredible program and will offer a lot more teaching opportunities for David. It comes down to one question, do you want to become a great doctor or do you want to become great at arcade games? (David is on the fence) After 4 years of med-school and a LOT of money in school loans, I'll pick the great doctor. :)

Then comes Orlando, which like Wolfson, has an INCREDIBLE free standing children's hospital. There are actually 2 children's hospitals in Orlando, directly across the street from each other - Arnold Palmer Children's and Winnie Palmer Women & Babies Center. David said the Women & Babies Center is like a resort. He showed me the website when he got home and it was absolutely beautiful. It's literally like having a baby in an upscale resort. Tiger Woods actually rented out an entire floor when his wife gave birth. If you get some time, check it out. But, the actual children's hospital is a lot like Shands. Once again, David was impressed by the facilities, but the teaching just isn't up to par with UF. And, the residents said they work up to 90 hours per week, sometimes more. WHAT?!?! Not my husband! :)

So, after this week, our residency views are leaning a lot more towards staying at UF. Out of the three programs we are considering so far, UF beats them all. And, the perks of great friends, a great church, and my great job help a little as well. We will continue to keep you posted! Until then, much love to you! :)

Family Group Thanksgiving

David and I have the wonderful privilege to attend The Family Church here in Gainesville where we have an amazing support group of friends who we love dearly. Every year we have an annual Thanksgiving Feast with lots of food, fun, and CHARADES! Unfortunately, I had to attend solo this year because David was at his peds interview in Orlando, but a few other Family Group members traveled solo as well so we just pretended to be each others dates. :)Here is a picture of the group, minus David of course, and a few others. Sorry Zach, Beckett, Lauren, and Lance. My camera window just isn't big enough. :)

Me and my darling friend Kristy who is absolutely AMAZING! I just have to tell you how much I value our friendship dear. We are so alike which helps validate our insanity to one another, although our poor husbands hate it!

Here, Kristy and her sweet little girl, Evie Kate, are saddened by how extremely COLD it is going to be walking to the car. Evie was also a bit tired and I know she was so sad to say goodbye to me. :)

We are so blessed to have such a loving family of friends here in Gainesville. As we approach the time of med-school graduation and the start of pediatric residency, the thought of moving is difficult. We know that where ever the road may take us, there are more people for us to meet and more friends along the way. But, God has done so much in our lives these past 2 years and each of these individuals has played a significant role. We love you guys!

Old School Visit

How many of you have seen the movie Old School? It's a classic! A bunch of college graduate, professional level, old friends, decide that despite their age, they are going to get together and pretend to be in college again. Well, this past weekend 4 of our great college friends came into town for a visit - hence the title of this blog - Old School Visit. :) Now, don't worry, no debauchery took place, but what a fun time it was to hang with friends from college and reminisce about old memories. I know we are not that old and college really was only 4 years ago for us, but time flies by faster than you can imagine. Dave and I have been married almost 3 years, Beth and Andrew have been married for a year & a half, and Dan and Sara will be getting married this April. See, maybe we are OLD! :)

Saturday the Gators played USC and once again, it was another Gator victory! The weather was not the greatest, but as true Gator fans, we stood in the cold rain and supported our team. Before the game we went to the Med-School tail gate for free food and fun. It was just like old times.

Thanks for coming to visit! We enjoyed having you and hope we can do it again soon! Much Love to you! :)

Coon Hunting

After reading my sister in-law's blog about deer hunting, I was inspired to share with you a hunting story of our own. Last Saturday Dave and I went out to Williston (where I work) to watch the Gator game with a few friends. After a Gator victory and a lot of excitement, the Williston boys decided they wanted to show Dave what it was like to grow up in the country. So, we bundled up in our coats (b/c it was 38 degrees outside!), got in the pick-up truck, and drove out to 2,400 acres of open land to go COON HUNTING! Yes, raccoons, those little animals that you find rummaging through your trash at night. Adam drove while William used a spotlight to search the trees for coon eyes. Dave, Stephanie, and I sat in the back. After only 5 minutes of driving, a coon was spotted. "Stop the car, stop the car!" William shouted. Adam slammed on the brakes and all the boys hopped out of the car, gun in hand and ran to the HUGE oak tree. The first shot was fired - miss. The second shot was fired - a coon fell from the tree and began convulsing on the ground. It was the saddest sight to see. I literally teared up for the little creature. They may tear apart your garbage, but do they deserve to be shot and killed? However, it was a victory for the boys. After a few minutes of what seemed like a coon seizure, the coon finally settled down and they threw him in the back of the truck. We hunted a little longer, but only 1 coons life was taken. After getting back to the house, the boys wanted a picture with their prized coon capture and the dogs were very interested as well. We'll chalk it up to another day in the life of a country boy.

Pediatric Residency Interviews - Round 1

Hey everyone! We have finally entered into the final stages of medical school. I can't believe 4 years of medical school is coming to a close. Time sure does fly by. As this season ends a new season begins and for us, that is Pediatric Residency. The way residency acceptance works is a lot like sorority rush for you Greeks out there. The med students apply at various residency programs around the country. Then, they go on on interviews at the programs that liked their applications. After all the interviews are complete, each applicant ranks their programs in order from greatest interest to least interest, and the programs do the same to the candidates. All this wonderful information gets entered into a computer system and on March 19th (Match Day) the students find out which program they were accepted into. Sounds like a crazy mess, doesn't it!? We are just putting it in God's hands.

David had his first residency interview last Thursday. He interviewed at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville and absolutely LOVED it. The program is a lot like the program at UF, with all the wonderful insurance perks that we are looking forward to, but the one thing Jax offers that UF doesn't is a CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL! :) David said the hospital is built in the shape of a castle and is inviting to children of all ages. He said the walls are painted bright colors, ball pits and arcade games fill the halls, the helicopter launch pad is a lolly pop, and the people who work there are happy & truly have a desire to work with children. The program seems to be family friendly and doesn't work their residents into the ground, which is a huge plus for us, because family comes before anything else, yes, even work! :) Another great plus for Jacksonville is we already have some great friends who live there that would make the moving transition a little easier. Friend perks are nice too! All things aside, David still has a few more interviews to go on, so we aren't making any definite decisions yet. But as of now, Jacksonville is ranked number 1.

Please keep our little family of 2 (+ our dog) in your thoughts and prayers as we make these life changing decisions. David interviews at Arnold Palmer Children's in Orlando and UF next week. We will keep you posted. Thanks for all your love and support! Until next time ... much love to you :)

Happy Halloween!

This year, my Halloween started on Wednesday when my school had a Character Dress up day for the kids. It was so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes. They were so cute! We had a transformer, a few ferries, a zebra, a cow girl, and even Sherlock Holmes showed up. :) I dressed up as Where's Waldo, but my kids didn't even know who he was. Don't worry, I broke out the books and we had a search party! Sherlock Holmes was a big help. Check out the photo below of my precious children. Don't worry, it's okay to awe at how adorable they are.

On Friday, we had an exciting day of fun fall activities. The kids got to paint pumpkins, make monster stew, decorate bat cookies, count candy corn, and have a scarecrow relay race. First grade is so much fun! Check out our scarecrow relay race pictures below.

Later on that night, Dave's parents came to visit us and we spent Halloween night in loving company with family. These are the days!

I hope Halloween treated you well this year!
Much Love to you, Dani & Dave