The New Year!

So here we are, in the New Year already. Rob and I have been "go go go" since the beginning of 2010. After returning from Indiana, we unpacked our stuff from our car, got some sleep, and have been in class since! We haven't even had time to put up our Christmas decorations. We will need to do that sooner or later, but I can't say I mind all that much, because I love having Christmas decorations up, especially the tree.

We had such a wonderful time in Colorado and Indiana. The long drives weren't that bad either. Sonora did great in the car and Rob did all the driving. I offered, but he always said he was good, so I was okay with that too :)

The next big item on our list: graduation for me! I am now starting to feel anxious about becoming a nurse. No longer can I hide behind the reason of "oh, i'm just a student nurse". Now I will be the one in charge making the decisions, talking with the physician, and calming any situations that are going on with the patient. Eek!! I know they give you training etc., etc but it still makes one very nervous!

This morning, Rob and I had planned on getting up and going on a hike, but of course, it is super cloudy outside today! Hello, we live in Phoenix! It's always sunny here, but the one day we actually decide to do something outdoors, the weather is poor. Cloudy and chilly, not the most ideal weather for a hike.

Well, guess thats all for now. Truly, life is just filled with textbooks and papers right now.

Arrived in Indiana

Last night, Rob and I arrived in Indiana to Robs parents house ( a log cabin in the woods) :) Snow is covering the ground and it is beautiful. They live on a lot of land, so it is fun to watch Sonora run all over the place. She is a happy pup! Right now, we are waiting for Joe, Robs brother, to come over with Sydney and Sarah. We haven't seen Sydney since last July and this will be the first time we meet our new niece, Sarah. We are so excited! The next few days will be filled visiting w family. We had a great time with my family in Colorado...all in all, we are so blessed we are able to spend this Christmas time with BOTH families!

Weekend in Colorado

Rob and I are currently traveling across Kansas towards Indiana after our weekend in Colorado.

We left Phoenix Thursday after my final class for the semester. We got into the Springs Friday afternoon. That night, we headed to the Kairos Christmas party. It was so great to see and talk w old friends. Afterwards, Rob and I headed to Old Chicagos to see Jeremiah and his mom and brother. We use to always go to Old C's w friends in CO so its always so great to go when we are in town.

On Saturday we headed to Ft Collins to watch Nic graduate from CSU. We are so proud of him. Him and his fiance are thinking about moving to Phoenix, which would be pretty cool! After graduation we went to dinner at a hibachi restaurant, so fun!

Sunday morning we went to church w my mom and celebrated "Christmas" with my family that day.

All in alln it was a great weekend. I think one of the most memorable moments from this trip will be my Aunt Dee's rant about models vs regular women. Rob and Brian Jr know what I'm talking about.

So currently, we are 30 miles out of Hayes, KS. Tonight we are stopping in Kansas City, MS and we are finishing up the rest of the drive tomorrow.

(Please disregard the flow or grammer, this was typed on my blackberry)

Most Beautiful Thing In The World

Upcoming Courses (4)

NUR443 Nursing Mgmt & Leadership 08-Mar-2010 (1)

NUR456 Complex Care 08-Mar-2010 (1)

NUR498A Capstone 04-Jan-2010 (1)

NUR498B Practicum in Nursing 04-Jan-2010 (1)

the last 4 classes popped up on my class schedule...then I am done with my undergrad!

Our First Thanksgiving as the Hosts

This Thanksgiving Nic, Andrea, and Brian Jr drove down from Colorado to share Thanksgiving with us. My mom headed up to Minnesota, with Vern, to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. I thought having my brothers come down to Phoenix was the next best thing so we could all spend time together. Rob and I were really excited to host the Thanksgiving dinner. My only hesitation: would I be able to pull of a delicious & moist turkey?!

They left Colorado Wednesday around 5pm (from Colorado Springs). They drove through the night and go into town around 5am Thursday morning. We got them set up in bed and then went back to bed ourselves. They woke up around 8am so the boys could go play football with the church. Andrea and I got up as well and chatted and went about deciding how to start preparing our feast.

I finally got the turkey in the oven around 1130am. Next year, I will give the turkey more time to defrost (4 days instead of 3) and get up earlier to get the turkey in the oven. We then went about taking showers, getting to know each other, watching football, etc. At 3 we started making our sides and had dinner served around 6 pm. Way too late for my taste, but it was my first time getting things prepared so i'm not being hard on myself. Other than it being served at 6pm, it was a success! The turkey was delicious. The best compliment was Rob saying ( a couple times) how good the turkey was. I was very happy it turned out great :)

Everyone (including the dogs by licking the dishes clean...shhh!) helped with clean up! We had the whole kitchen clean in less than 45 minutes, it was awesome. We then sat down and played the game "Things". I turned in early that night because I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled the next morning. I was feeling very, very anxious about that! I will write in another post how that went...but for now, I gotta go study for an exam. Just wanted to get some blogging down about our Thanksgiving. It really was great, we enjoyed having my brothers and future sis in law, and 2 dogs, and 1 cat running around the house. I love a house full of family!!!

November Happenings

....well, not much has been happening in November actually. But, figured I needed to get up here and update something.

Rob and I are both busy in our fall semesters of school. For me, this one is a tough one. Community Health is about the most boring class I have ever taken, and it's more research/stats based than anything else. It'll give me a broader perspective when I am out in the nursing field and definitely is a class that probably models more Graduate-type classes, but nonetheless, it's a tough one and I am just gritting my teeth and getting through it. They say this is one of the classes that Bachelor degree nurses take and Associate degree nurses do not...who knows.

Rob is finishing up his internship at our church so we are at a crossroads and are expectingly and nervously awaiting to see where God leads next. Of course, if I am being honest, I'm hoping it leads Rob to a job that he loves AND pays well. I know that these last few months have taught us a lot about budgeting and saying "No" to going out to eat a lot...but I would definitely enjoy a little wiggle room in the finance department.

Sonora and Socrates are doing great, as usual :) The weather here is turning cool and it's wonderful!!! Nic and Andrea are coming out for Thanksgiving which we are really excited about! Then, we are driving out to Colorado for Nic's Dec 19th graduation from Colorado State University! From there, we are continuing on to Indiana for Christmas, where we will meet the newest addition to our family, Sarah Madison. Since we are driving, we are taking Sonora Jones along for the ride. We are really looking forward to this Winter Roadtrip! We love roadtrips, just pray that the weather holds out for us and no surprise winter storms!

Well the weather here as finally turned and is becoming cooler. Still shorts/tshirts weather but at least in the evening you have an excuse to put on a long sleeved shirt if you wanted :) It's amazing how you can become so tired of the summer. We all look forward to the summer but here in Phoenix, you really do look forward to the cool weather more than the hot weather!

Today, Rob is in class all day and I should be studying for an exam. I'll get around to that sooner or later :) I have 8 1/2 more weeks until I start my FINAL semester of my undergraduate work! Yay! I'm almost a nurse, cannot wait!

Rob is busy with his graduate work. He is taking three classes this fall, which are, Exogetical Method (translating the Greek Bible into English), Study of the Pentateuch (which are the first five books of the Bible) and an Oral Communications class. He is busy, busy, busy!!! He is still interning at our church but come January we will find out if he will go on staff or if he is on the job hunt again. Please pray for some direction and peace with that decision because we really need it.

Other than that, life has been filled with working, school work, and other various activities of daily living but nothing that exciting!

The picture at the top is from our quick trip to Orlando last month. My cousin Ben got married and we were able to fly out a Thursday-Sunday for the wedding. My aunt works for Disney and she was super sweet to give Rob and I park-hopper passes to the Disney parks. We checked out Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It was fun since we hadn't been to Disney World since we both were kids and probably won't go again until we have kiddos of our own! So it was fun to experience it has a couple :)