Thank you 2011

January

Found something new we both love and love to do together

February

Celebrated Drew's birthday with family

March

Purchased our first vehicle together

April


Celebrated my birthday at the beach

May

Became an Auntie and Uncle to sweet baby girl, Scarlett

June

Given acceptance to the RN program

July

Spent a lot of Saturday's in Newport Beach

August

Celebrated our 1 year anniversary the best way: sunning and couples massages

September

Took my craftiness to a new level when I recruited Andrew to help me build and upholster a bed

October

Found a new love for yarn wreaths and spent Halloween at home watching spooky movies

November

A few ups and downs but with the support of so many people we managed to stay in school, find amazing doctor's, and overturn previous diagnoses (insert PTL here!)

December

Ended the year with passing my first semester of Nursing school, Andrew being given acceptance to the RN program, becoming a new Auntie and Uncle to baby Elliott, and spending Christmas with my lovely in-laws in New Mexico with a couple snowy days on top.

It was a very good year :)

Christmas in Cruces

This year we spent Christmas with Andrew's parents in New Mexico. We arrived a couple days before Christmas, and so did they. Needless to say, we had some Christmas-ifying to do! First thing on the to-do list was pick out a Christmas tree.

Would you believe there is only 1 lot in town? At first it was kind of a scavenger hunt to find a tree and I was beginning to rationalize a fake one. It was a very dark time in all of our lives. But then we found the lot and saw they had a ton left still. We were so happy.

Dad was either a) taking naps between handing me the lights behind the tree or b) plugging them into the wall...

After trimming the tree we started decorating. This years theme was snowmen. Mom loves snowmen. We even brought her that little guy off to the left of the picture. It reminded me of Andrew so I thought she would like it.

Chance really wanted to help us get into the holiday by dressing up like a reindeer.

On Christmas Eve we watched Andrew's favorite Christmas movie and ate lots of See's candy.

Last year it snowed, which is not very common, so this year we hoped that it might happen again while we were there. It did. I have always wanted a white Christmas. Something about snow makes Christmas so much better.

This was Chances first time playing in snow. She was a little unsure at first...

... but she loved it. She was a new dog that day.

Love this handsome guy.

I have always heard that water and Ugg's don't go together, but now I believe it.

Our annual stocking photo.

Mom in her element.

This Christmas was so special. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! We hope you enjoyed your holiday too!

San Diego

We just returned home from a whirlwind trip in San Diego. Andrew had a couple Doctor appointments which resulted in surgery Friday, so it was definitely a much needed trip. He is doing so great now, just laying low recovering. We had a lot of down time in between appointments so we tried to make the most of it. Here is what we did:

• We spent our first night near the hospital because we were going to be coming in out of there for the first couple days for appointments/procedures.
• The next night we tried to spice our life up a little by staying in the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. Boy what a culture shock. We had zero knowledge about the area so we let tripadvisor pick our hotel for us. I am such a control freak so this is way out of my element. You basically punch in how many stars you want and the area, and you don't find out which hotel you are staying in until you pay. Ah makes me cringe just thinking about it again! Luckily for us it all turned out well. We actually really loved our hotel, it was called the Palomar.
  
• While we loved the hotel, the area took some getting used to. I totally thought I could be a city girl, but now, not so much. We spent the morning window shopping the outdoor mall and the evening at a cute Italian restaurant called de' Medici. To go along with our "city experience" theme we walked to dinner. Yes, I was terrified. Just as we were finishing up our meal the fire department and an ambulance pulled up because apparently Chef Gordon Ramsay had gotten the best of another chef while filming his new show (I think the guy is okay now though). We decided to watch all the commotion for a while and eventually Gordon Ramsay came outside. I then realized now would be the best time to walk back to our hotel and take advantage of all the cops nearby.
• After our city experience we headed back to our hotel near the hospital to get settled before surgery. We had a yummy meal and did some more window shopping at another outdoor mall. I got to explore Restoration Hardware for the first time, so much better in person than online. There also was an outdoor skating rink according to the directory but we never found it.
  

This is the front door of the Palomar. I don't think it gets any cooler than that.

We didn't have an authentic city experience until we saw the "occupy everything" art work.

Now this is much more my speed. As we were leaving our hotel near the hospital and heading toward our hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter I spotted a Sprinkles Cupcakes.

This was my very first Sprinkles Cupcake. I picked out Coconut and Andrew picked Red Velvet.

For a week revolved around something not fun, I think we managed to enjoy ourselves quite well. This handsome boy kept smiling like so, with his bright eyes, not complaining ever. I just love him to pieces. He is so optimistic its contagious. I think that it's definitely helping his recovery go smoother than expected. Thank you everyone who prayed during all of this, it means the world!

PS: My parents were so nice to come by today to bring us some food. We really appreciated it! I hate to leave the house right now. In return I took their photo. It was nice to have new faces to shoot. And is it just me or do they have some real modeling talent?

Schools Out

And I have no desire to say anything more about school until January 30th.

Routine

Every day twice a day we take the same walk to a nearby desert for Chance. (you know, #apartmentliving). Some days it can be such a chore. Then other days I am so thankful for it. It's the only time in the day where its just us with no distractions. You can imagine how sacred that is during preparation for finals.

Have I ever told you how amazing my husband is? It's true, he really is. Love this guy :)

Christmas Party

Last night was our Student Nurses Association Christmas Party. It was another cocktail themed party, which means that I've now been to 2 cocktail parties in my lifetime. I hope there aren't anymore because I've run out of dresses. I did get a great pair of black heels out of this last one though. Is it bad that I really look forward to the food at these parties? Last nights party was delicious. My favorites were the meatballs (they were amazeballs) and the cherry tomatoes stuffed with a bacon green onion mixture brought by Natalie (I'm gunna need that recipe..). Andrew pointed out that next SNA Christmas Party he'll be finishing up his 2nd semester and I'll be finishing up my 3rd... getting ready for my last! Insane. Time is going to fly by I know it.

Study Group photo take 2 with myself, Kym, Nat, and Aly (missing Bridgette and Steph). Someday we will take a complete photo.

Tomorrow after class we're having a Potluck and I am super excited. I have been craving a beef stew, weird I know, so I signed up to bring one. Only now that really does not sound good to me, but do you know what does? Barbeque beef sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls! Which reminds me, another weird craving I have been having: coleslaw. I hate coleslaw. But for some reason BBQ beef sandwiches with coleslaw on top sound so good.

Madness. I have to get back to studying for my exam tomorrow. Last one before Finals! Then San Diego, then New Mexico for Christmas, then Ski trip!

Have a great Sunday!

Early Decemeber

So long Fall wreath, hello beautiful Christmas Fir wreath. I was beginning to think I would never find this style of wreath, but just when I wasn't looking I found it (score!). Sometimes in the morning we realize were out milk right when we start the coffee machine and have to make a run to Ralphy's. This is where I found my beautiful wreath. The best day to take a shortcut through the floral section I'd say. Sometimes I keep the front door open just so I can stare at it.

In other news, Chance is still more photogenic then us. I think she knows it too. Photos like these are great to have because even if she is the most annoying dog on the planet that day, we can remember how cute she is and why we love her.