Our Road Trip to Alaska

Harbor Seals in Tracy's Arm

The highlights of Alaska...

*the wildlife: we saw so many animals, we particularly enjoyed seeing bears, whales and moosen!
*the time away from life: hundreds of hours logged in a coffee shop reading with nothing else to do, so heavenly!
*the new experiences: fred meyers was a highlight... the beauty of civilization when you've been camping for weeks!
*the people: we met so many random people who boosted our appreciation for living different lifestyles and not conforming to cultural expecatations
*the mountains: how could this not be a highlight of going to alaska?
*the memories: i can check one more thing off the list of things to do before I'm 30-- drive the alcan :)

~E

Into Our Second Year

Well, we're almost into our second year of marriage. I'm a few days early but we're leaving on our big road trip soon!

Some of the highlights have been...

*not having joel take me home every night
*watching joel play with spooner, he's so gentle toward her
*taking walks in the park
*breakfast in bed
*late night movies on the couch
*weekend afternoons at the coffee shop
*reading out loud to each other
*the picnic basket joel bought me
*spending my birthday in the mtns

Of course, there have been hard times but looking back it makes our relationship even better. I feel we'll closer and stronger because of our adversities. (Try telling me that when we're in the middle of a scuff. Ha!)

Our first year has been more than I ever expected it to be-- I've never known anyone who loves their spouse more than Joel does. He's so caring. :)

And now I'm stoked to start our second year!

before and after

After my BIG test in Denver (which I passed! whoot whoot!!!) Joel and I went to Water World!!!! I love that place... so many great memories. Here we are sitting on the lawn eating lunch.



I love the before and after effect of these photos. The day after water world, we got our hair cut. Wow! The difference it makes!!! Here's us with our hair cut.

That just might have the be the christmas card photo of the year. Isn't Joel so hot??? :)

pictures from June... a pitiful few

Not a ton has happened in June: just a bunch of studying for the NCLEX. To show for it, I have very few pictures! Here's the three that I do have...

The Family at the movie theatre celebrating Dad's birthday

A VERY photo-shopped image of our house. We thought is was very funny and inspiring. :)

We were outside admiring the new paint job on our house. Yay!

time to catch up

the past few weeks have been crazy! may has flown by with finals, graduations (4 different ones!) and many birthdays. the month will end this weekend with 3 weddings and a birthday party on saturday.

joel turned 25 in april! for the occasion, we had a pirate birthday with his parents and rachel (among other celebrations during "birthday month.")

naomi and i went to jill's college graduation at csu.

my graduation for uccs with my old roommates, kati and kendyll, and the new roomate, kim.

We enjoyed having Laura in town!!!

peds interview

I had my pediatric interview at Memorial Hospital today. I think that it went well-- but they are hiring 2-4 people out of 45 applicants. They sounded really encouraging, like I might get the job, but I don't know! Competition is stiff!!! They said that they will make a decision in the next week and call people then. So only the Lord knows at this point!

home improvments

The house is coming together. Rachel painted the hallway-- and one of the very last mirrors came down. Momentous day. Some contracting friends tore down rotten wood off the house and replaced then. Next step? Painting the house! Any ideas for colors? Keep in the mind the mustardy yellow brick... then gutters!

Joel's Eye

This is a bit post-dated information but Joel's eye is better! We went to his appointment on Thursday and the doctor said that if he hadn't known that Joel had irritis these past few weeks, that he never would have been able to tell on this examination. Hooray!

Also, good news: Joel doesn't have to take it easy for the next few weeks. He's allowed to jump back into life, and we're both so excited about it!!!

Today's full of studying for my OB exam-- got to get it done early. Laura B. is coming into town!!!

Taos for Spring Break

Joel's "intense" shades-- as promised

The Progress

Buena Vista for my 24th Birthday

Spring Break

We spent a night in Taos, New Mexico on Friday/Saturday. Joel has been couped up in our house for two weeks, and the doctors give him another week. We were so excited to get to go somewhere else for spring break, and as Joel said it "do nothing in a different location."

Joel got comments from other 20-somethings about his shades. "I love your sunglasses. They are so intense!" :)

Photos to come! Right now I need to go finish writing a paper for school.

Progress

I am having a productive morning!!! Yes!!! I love mornings like this. I already completed by next case study (it didn't take me an eighth as long to finish as my first one did) and prepared the cover page and started the references since I have to compile this one. Man, I feel like I'm on a role!

The house is rolling along too. Since Joel is working from home now, it feels like we are accomplishing so many things. We installed to door downstairs (the dear old puppy sheet finally came down at last), the basement bedroom now has floors. The trim is cut and painted, and waiting to be nailed down. The window box is nearly in... and we had potential renters come look at the house yesterday!!! They are friends from Campus Crusade, and Joel and I are loving the possibility of having this house be a ministry house! Yay!

It feels so good to see progress. I know that the day is coming when I'll be done with school and we'll be in another smaller, more manageable place-- hopefully one that we L O V E.

sugar fast day #4

today is day four of my sugar fast. i started on sunday, after I realized that my sugar addiction was really destructive. it's been super hard for me the past few days, but i've made it through!!! i hope that it'll give me more independence from relying on sweets to quell my moods. i do plan on eating cake and ice cream for my birthday on sunday, though!!!

colo. springs symphony

joel and i went to the symphony this weekend. they were playing movie soundtracks in honor of the academy awards. my favorites were from The Mission, Titanic, and Star Wars. Joel really loved Lord of the Rings.

Baby Steps

Joel and I have had a long week. Not only are there a ton of things due this week, but we're both fighting something. Yuck. The good news is that Joel doesn't have to go into work any longer except for when there is an important meeting-- so he'll be home all day long with me!

I have an exam this afternoon-- my first one for the semester, and I'm freaking nervous!!! I'll let you know how it goes.

Getting Them Done

So today went way better than I had imagined it to be. It was actually pretty slow with not a ton to do. That was such a relief! So I have one more day of clinicals tomorrow and then I'm done for a week. Whew!

sick :(

I woke up sick today-- sore throat and cough. I skipped class this morning and managed to study for an exam that I have on Thursday for a little bit. Joel's been doing my laundry for me and it has been such a blessing to me. I spent the rest of my time watching a movie and napping in bed. With long days at clinical tomorrow, please pray that I will be able to get through them. I guess being on the postpartum floor on Wednesday, which I've been complaining is SO slow, will be a blessing this week. I'm so looking forward to Friday when I can crash for a little while!

Life As It Goes On

I have been having this daily battle: do I give into my feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed, or do I fight them? And if I choose to fight them, how long can I last?

So I've been trying to focus on the great things in my life that cause me so much joy. Like spooning with my husband in the morning, and sitting in my big comfy chair to read. :)

Yesterday was a good friend's birthday and 10 of us drove up to Denver to eat at the cheesecake factory. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. Bummer. But I did order some very yummy tiramisu, and Joel and I talked to Kendyll's parents the whole time, playing our "adult roles" as Joel and I like to call them. Ha! No one's fooled by us trying to pretend that we're grown up.

Comments

I really want to write something, so y'all know that I'm alive, but I'm not sure what to say. Scanning my brain... nope, nothing to comment on, other than that newborn babies are way too cute for their own good (I've been on the postpartum floor all day for school, and holding the way most cutest little kiddos, ever.)

Oh, another thing. I met someone named Tatum this week, and I really wanted to ask her if she had a sister named Greer. You see, I've been stuck on this tangent for a while of how names in combination are important. Hence, the Tatum and Greer combo that I saw online. Ha! :)

I guess I did have something to say.

Love y'all!

my new haircut

You know when you get a haircut and you're not sure if you like it? Well, yeah...

When my hair is down...

...and when it's pulled back.

Then begs the question, if I don't look like myself, who do I look like?

a Japanese Anime character?

Audrey Tautou in Amelie?

The verdict is still out. I don't know if I like it.

the shoulda, wouldha, couldas

I have a friend who lives across town who needed a ride home today. Even though I offered to take her home, it didn't take much to convince me that she could find another way home. I was tired and ready to kick up my feet, so I let an amazing opportunity to love her slip through my hands. And to think of all the people who have loved me by giving me rides home-- I "should" have insisted. It's so hard to love other people selflessly!

penguin drop

yesterday my mother-in-law came by for a "penguin drop" and brought us soup and other goodies to eat. my heart is blessed-- we had no food in this house! thanks, jennifer!!!

yesterday, i also had core group, and lauren never showed up! i think that we've all walked through a new door into something unknown, whether we're ready or not. you see, due to budget cuts, lauren was layed off from first pres...

sick in bed

i woke up with the worst sore throat in the world!!! Nooooo!!! even though i missed having breakfast with aunt kim, god has given me the time to rest. currently, i'm reading through expecting adam, this great book about a harvard intellectual who has a downs syndrome baby. it's been really great! y'all should read it!

also, check out beth moore's blog. she provides me so many things to meditate on-- her heart is so beautiful and encouraging.

Core Group

I'm home for just a few more days before school starts again next Tuesday, so in the meantime I'm putting together a scrapbook of core group thus far. We have six sophomores in our group, and honestly we have some great photos.

New Inspirations

A friend of a friend uses her blog to "keep track of her week." That sounds like fun! Of course, it'll include more details than anyone cares about.

Yesterday evening, Joel and I went to church to listen to a discussion about prayer. It was led by two Egyptians from a sister church in Cairo. Boy, my heart just leapt up to them-- they had so much passion and spirit.

I'm in a moment of spiritual growth, and I want to start praying every morning that God's will be done in my life. That he makes every second his, and helps me to meet every divine appointment he has for me. Maybe, right now, He knows that it is with you!

Core group has been dragging, so I went to the library yesterday and got a book about how to effectively lead core groups. I'm praying so much that God will use it to bring a revival to our group.

On a last note, the speakers last night said to pray for humanly impossible big dreams-- I think that I have been in reality for so long, that I need to step into God's vision and see what BIG things he wants to happen here.

Photos from 2007

Like last year, I wanted to post my favorite picture of every month. However, I don't have even a single photo for half the year! With the exception of February, I have no pictures before July!!! That's because I was too busy planning weddings to even bring out my camera! Well, I'll just post a few of the exceptional ones, and we'll forget the one for each month thing. How about it?