The Big Move

This most likely won't be the only "big move" that we make while living here in Michigan. But I'm looking forward to the "BIG move" one day to another state.

Anyways, Sean and I moved into Cooper's Landing Apartments the second weekend in March. We were able to get in early to paint some of the rooms. We painted the dining room and one wall in the living room a Martha Stewart color called Bamboo - it's my favorite. We also painted the master bedroom and the second bedroom. It makes our place feel so homey.

We actually moved our things in with tons of help from Sean's parents, members of the Kalamazoo 1st Ward, and one of our dear KDPS friends. We were able to move everything out of the old place and move into the new place in about 4 hours! Then Grandma Skinner and Aunt Barb made lunch for all of our hard workers.

Everything was unpacked and cleaned up by the following Tuesday. We absolutely love living here. It is so quiet most of the time. And there are tons of families here as well as doctors. One of the main blessings of living here is that we have the totally awesome Shumway family living below us. We met them from church and it has been awesome getting to know them better.

Sean and I are going to get a new camera for our one year anniversary coming up in June, and then we'll post pictures!!

Snow Snow Snow - My first Big Blizzard

Today we woke up to 2 feet of snow all outside. It was really windy last night, so the snow drifted. I thought it was rather beautiful to see everything covered in white.

Sean had to be to work by 6:30, and when he walked out to his car, he realized that he would not be able to drive his little sudan. He shoveled the front part of my car out of the snow, and made it about 10 feet before it got stuck! But Sean, being the amazing man he is, got it back into my parking spot. So he walked the half a mile to work. Sean is so dedicated to his job.

And it's a good thing that Sean thought he had to dress warmly for work today because his training officer told all of the new bees that they were going to spend the whole day shoveling fire hydrants out of the snow. Luckily, the ended up just wrestling each other for 3 hours and then received their gear instead!

When I woke up around 8:30 being grateful that I could sleep in because the Museum was closed, I peered through the windows at all the snow that had fallen. There was about a foot of snow on our porch, and knowing that Sean would most likely come home for lunch, and seeing that there was a break in the snow, I decided to shovel it. I mean, I live in Michigan now and will for a couple of years, I should get used to shoveling, right?

Anyways, I couldn't find the shovel and thinking, "Oh, Sean must have taken it to shovel those hydrants," as I'm still half asleep, I decide to use my mop with the nice brush end, and "shovel" our porch and stairs. I was very proud of myself for braving those cold temperatures and freezing winds. AND I did it again to shovel my car out of the snow after the snow plows came by our street. So that means that I shoveled twice in the same day. Although, as I was in the middle of shoveling the people in the plow saw me, and came to help. It was super nice of them.

Skyler ran outside with me when I went to shovel my car out - and let me tell you - I think the most difficult part was getting her to come back inside! She loves the snow, and this is the first time that there were snow walls. But I had lost her for a moment because she jumped into a snow pile and all I could see was the snow moving and no Skyler. She's the strangest cat ever.

After all that excitement, I curled up inside with my lovely electric blanket my husband gave me for Christmas, and drank my bengal spice tea while catching up on some homework. After I finished that, I cleaned almost the entire house, and made Butternut Squash Soup. All in all, it was a productive day during this wintry weather.

Hope everyone stayed warm and safe today!

This past weekend...

This weekend has been full of blessings and some hard times.

Friday was a day of awesomeness. Well, it didn't start out that way. I had my first dentist appointment here in Michigan for a teeth cleaning. Every year when I get x-rays, I end up having two cavities... this time was no different. One tooth has been extremely sensitive to cold recently, and it turns out I have a decent sized cavity on that one, and then a little one on a different tooth on the other side of my mouth :( It means that in March, when Sean's dental insurance kicks in I get to spend two wonderful Tuesday afternoons at the dentist!

Then Sean took me to go get Sweet Water donuts!! Perfect thing to eat after a teeth cleaning, right? Then we headed out to see some potential living places. We have been looking at places together for about a year now trying to decide where we want to live. And we found the perfect apartment at Cooper's Landing - thank you Jake for suggesting we look there.

We are going to be in a two-bedroom 1.5 bath apartment. It has a full sized washer and drier, TONS of cabinets and closet space, a pantry, heating is included and we can turn the thermostat all the way to 75 (not that I'm going to do that, it's way to warm inside, then)!! The only thing we'll have to pay for electric, plus it allows us to keep Skyler! And Sean loves it so much. In fact, he couldn't wait to get back to the leasing office before announcing that we would take it.

Saturday was a pretty awesome day too. We went to the Detroit Temple for the first time together. And it was only my second time in the greater Detroit area - now that I'm done with K I really need to get out more and see what Michigan has to offer. The Detroit Temple is a tiny temple, kind of like Newport Beach but maybe a little smaller. And I met some of the sweetest old ladies before we started our session.

After the session, we headed to one of my most favorite cities, Ann Arbor. We did some shopping there and I was able to go to H&M, which is one of my favorite stores, but the only time I had one close by was when I was in Hungary. And Sean was able to get some more dress clothes for work.

While we were shopping, my mom gave me an update on my Uncle Randy. He has been in the hospital for a week and a half, most of the time he has been unconscious on life support and not very stable, and the doctors do not know what happened. But Saturday he was finally stable enough for an MRI. The MRI showed that there was massive brain damage, and that one time when he coded that his brain was without oxygen for 10 minutes. The family decided that it was time to turn the machines off. So everyone who was in California was going to the hospital to say good bye to a wonderful man.

Sunday was an emotional day for me. Our primary lesson was on the Childhood of Jesus Christ, and Sean taught most of it. We have the funniest kids in our class, and we love each one of them. Sean and I had dinner at his parents' home, and the missionaries were there too. Then they shared a spiritual message with us about the importance of family, and being a forever family. It was exactly what I needed to hear! And then Scott (Sean's dad) had us all share our testimonies; it was a touching moment.

Sunday night, the family started the process of turning off the life support machines that were keeping Uncle Randy alive. He passed away this morning around 1:30 PST.

Randy - you were a great man, and you took such great care of everyone around you. We will miss you dearly in our mortal life, but we will be able to be together again in the eternities. You raised two beautiful daughters, and I promise that I will do my best to help take care of them. And I will try to comfort the rest of the family as we mourn your passing. We love you.

First Week on the Job...

Sean started his job at KDPS on January 3rd. He absolutely loved it! Then the next day they were asked to bring their workout clothes, and Sean just thought that they were doing to do DT (or otherwise known as Defensive Tactics).

Instead, they did a workout designed by navy seals to see how fit they are now, and then in 4 months after doing PT (physical training) for 30 mins or so every morning, to see how much they improved. The workout consisted of:

• 5 pull-ups, which also includes something called "jumping pull-ups" where you use a step to help you gain momentum
• 10 push-ups
• 15 squats

All of that was considered a set. They had to see how many sets they could do in 20 minutes. Sean ended up doing 11 sets, with 8 of those sets including jumping pull-ups instead of the regular pull-up.

He was proud of the work that he had done, but after the work out he could not straighten his arms. In the evening, his left bicep area started to swell.

When he woke up Wednesday morning, his urine was brown... which is never a good sign. Then in the evening, both of his arms swelled to a rather large size. We were debating whether or not to go to the ER, but Sean didn't want to go and promised me that he would tell his supervisors at work the next day about the injury.

Thursday morning rolls around, and his superiors tell him that he needs to go to the doctor's. So Sean and the captain end up going to ProHealth. ProHealth tells Sean that he needs to go to the ER for some more testing. I get a call at 10:00 am saying that I need to join him at the hospital because something is off. By the way, KDPS is considering this an "on the job injury," which means that they are covering all of the costs. This is a HUGE blessing for us!

Thursday night he ends up being admitted to the hospital and was being treated for something called Rhabdomyolysis. Basically, it is rapid break down of the skeletal muscles that floods your blood with a protein called myoglobin. This can lead to acute kidney failure, and is life threatening.

Sean ended up being in the hospital till yesterday afternoon on a constant IV drip. He is doing better, but it is not up to full speed.

He has a weight lift constriction of 20 pounds, and should not be working out for a week or two. We also have many appointments for getting blood work done, and follow up visits with the doctor.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, love, and support. We are so blessed to have so may people care about us so much! We love you all!

Christmas Letter 2010

Dear Friends and Family,

This year has been busy with many magnificent changes in our lives!

We had a wonderfully beautiful wedding on June 18^th in Newport Beach, California. Followed by a fun honeymoon. We spent a few days around Orange County, and then took a cruise to Mexico! We went horseback riding on the bluff of Ensenada– it was Sean’s first time riding a horse!

Christy graduated from Kalamazoo College this June with her Bachelor’s in Psychology. She is currently applying to various Master’s programs in Social Work, and will be attending Western Michigan University’s Graduate School as a non-degree seeking student in January. And she is enjoying her volunteer work at the Gryphon Place (www.gryphon.org) as a crisis worker. She is also working at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, where she has made many new friends, and even learned how to knit and spin yarn!

Sean has been working hard on finishing up his undergraduate work in Criminal Justice and Spanish – he only has a year left! He has been working part-time at the Village of Bellevue Police Department as a police officer, and at Sear’s as a store detective. He recently has been offered a full-time job with Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. He will be starting on January 3^rd. This has been a life-long dream of his, and we are VERY excited for this opportunity!

Mid-October, we added an addition to our family! We adopted the cutest kitten, named Skyler. We have enjoyed her very much. And she really loves her Szekely and Davis grandparents, and her cousin, Kingston! Doppa (Lynn Davis) likes to call her “the grand kitty.”

We hope all of you have a wonderful and safe Holiday Season! And we hope you have a prosperous new year!

Love,

Sean and Christy Szekely