2008 December: North

Dear Family and Friends,
Wow, has it really been a year? Really where did 2008 go? It seems like it was just yesterday that we welcomed in the New Year. Well besides being in shock that it’s time to write this letter once again, Stewart and I are doing fantastic! Life is wonderful and we have been richly blessed

Last year around this time I (Becky) was on the lookout for a new job. I am happy to report that I found that job shortly thereafter. I still work at ISU’s Holt Arena when they need extra help selling tickets for different events. My new job however is working as a receptionist in the Academic Advising Center for Idaho State University. It is a great job, Stewart and I get good health insurance and because I work for the university Stewart gets to go to school for $5.00 a credit, which is a huge financial lifesaver. We lucked out when I got this job as it has helped us meet our needs.

Stewart is still going to school here at ISU. He will graduate May 9, 2009. Just one more semester to go! He has been extra busy this past year preparing to pursue his dream of becoming a D.O. Doctor (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). In May he took the MCAT, his score was a 28, which is competitive for D.O. schools. He then met with the Pre- Health committee for an interview, the reason being he needed a letter of recommendation from them to apply to med schools. That interview was not as helpful as we had hoped; many of the committee member’s slammed Stewart with questions that targeted his personal beliefs associated with ethics. It surprised Stewart that the very group whose job is suppose to help him succeed would try to drag him down for his standards/beliefs. Anyway, with the interviews behind him Stewart focused his spare time on shadowing a D.O. Doctor here in Pocatello, as well as volunteering his time at the Hospital in the E.R.

We ended up applying to four different Medical schools: 1) A.T. Stills, Kirksville Missouri, 2) West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg West Virginia, 3) School of Osteopathic Medicine (A.T. Stills), Mesa Arizona and 4) Midwestern University College of Medicine, Glendale Arizona. All schools invited us to do secondary applications but we decided to only reply to our two top schools (A.T. Stills, Missouri and West Virginia). Stewart was asked to fly out and interview with both of those schools, lucky for us… and our pocket book, both interviews were in the same week. So on September 26th Stewart took off and was gone for a whole week, it was the first week since we have been married to spend apart… needless to say, it was a long week. Both interviews went well, and we were accepted at the school in West Virginia and put on the alternate list for the school in Missouri. Because of time restraints, we have decided to forgo waiting on Missouri and accept in West Virginia. We will move to West Virginia come July or August of 2009.

Over the past year Stewart and I have had the privilege of serving in a singles ward. If you recall shortly after we were married Stewart was called to serve as the second counselor in his old singles ward bishopric. We loved being able to learn from the great men and women that made up that ward. Sadly, the bishopric was recently reorganized, resulting in us going back to our home ward. We now are serving as ward missionaries in our university married student ward. Even though we both miss the singles ward we are enjoying our new calling and the opportunity to serve together. It has been a great learning experience thus far.

This past summer we had fun going to two family reunions. It was fun to see many of our family members there and to learn what they have been up to. On a sad note my Grandmother, Lucille Willard passed away October 17, 2008. She was a great example to all who knew her and has been greatly missed. On another note, Stewart and I decided it was time to sell one of our cars since we needed the extra funds to pay to hold Stewart’s seat in med school. We sold our Toyota Corolla, making us officially a one car family. The car actually sold recently, so currently we are not sure how having one car is going to work with our schedules, but we will be just fine. This may sound corny to some, but I am really going to miss “Miles”, he was an excellent car and gave us no grief; I hope the new owner will appreciate him as much as we did.

Well, In conclusion, Stewart and I are doing well. We have been richly blessed and have felt the influence of our Father in Heaven guide us along. We are grateful to Him for his loving arms that have been extended to us. We know that without this gospel in our lives we would not be the people we are today. Life together gets better and better day by day! God bless you and your family this coming year.

Loves, Stewart and Becky North