Update!

Honestly, Where did January go? not that I am complaining that it's over cause January might be the worst month ever minus my birthday. The Holidays came and went so dang fast! We have been so busy and I haven't blogged about anything! Here is a quick recap of the last little while....

-Christmas was so fun! minus the fact that I had to work for part of it. We got to spend tons of time with both our families and did so many fun things.

-Ben and I celebrated our One Year Anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. We love being married and have had so much fun this past year. I made Ben a book of all the fun adventures we had in our first year of marriage. It's way cute.

-New years we spend playing games at the Hunter's. Always a blast. It was so fun to have everyone around!

-My Birthday was perfect. Ben is great at making our holidays awesome. He planned a whole fun filled day. He got me up early and served me a gourmet breakfast! Then he made a scavenger hunt with clues leading me to various parts of our house where my presents were hiding. Then while he worked my family took me out to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Then when Ben got home we packed up and headed up to Snowbird Lodge for the night! The next day we got a full day of Snowboarding in. It was so fun.

-Ben started back up in school! He is taking 19 credits plus working hard at the Lab. I am so proud of him! I am so lucky to have such a hard working, smart, motivated husband. He is the best.

-We have been enjoying life with our new dog Leah. She is such a good dog and is so well behaved. Ben loves this dog so much! We have been going on Sunday walks up the canyon with her every week and she LOVES it!

-I started training for my RN position at my job. It has been great! I have a about two weeks left and I'll be on my own again. I took my state nursing boards last week (NCLEX) and passed!! I was sure that I failed because I got all 265 questions and it took me 5 hours. It was awful but such a relief that I passed. I feel so blessed.

Unfortunately I don't have any fun pictures from any of the above! sad. oh well, now that life has calmed down, hopefully there will be a reason to take fun pictures! Valentines maybe?? Here is one picture that pretty much sums up what its like at home when we have time to be here.....

Leah

This is Leah! Ben's early Christmas present! Ben has been wanting a dog for months. Each time he asks me I tell him the same thing. NO. We can't get a dog right now with our living situation. little did he know I was planning to get him one for Christmas! hehehe. So about a week ago I went down to the Humane Society with a friend from my ward who works part time down there. I told her what kind of dog I was looking for, hoping she would know some of the more well behaved dogs. She had a few that she thought I would like. First i decided to look around myself and pick one out to take for a walk. Leah was the first one I picked. I walked half a dozen other dogs and decided I like Leah best.
The next day I came down to the Shelter and adopted Leah. I decided to keep her at my parents house for a week so I could hide her from Ben. Well of course on Sunday night she figured out how to open the gate with her nose while we were all in Provo. She was gone by the time we got home! We looked everywhere! I had to tell Ben that his present had run away :( He was so sweet about it. We got up early the next day and went and looked. We made signs and I went down to the Shelters to see if she was there. No luck. The next day I decided to go to the shelter again. On my way down I got a call from a lady who had found Leah! She had been taking care of her since Sunday. I was so happy and relieved. I surprised Ben with her that night. He was so happy! He LOVES that dog so much! It is so cute watching him with her. On top of everything she is a perfect dog! She is super obedient, doesn't need a leash when we go out, doesn't bark a lot, she is pretty mellow but can also be very playful. Ben is in love. He even woke up extra early today to take her to the park. Merry Christmas Ben. Love ya.

Graduation!!

I can't believe I graduated! I think it's finally starting to feel real. These past few days the freedom has just been sinking in. I have had all the time in the world to do whatever I want! I keep catching myself from time to time stressing out and feeling guilty. It's like I still feel like I have some big paper to write or some test to study for. But I don't! I have a job set up too! I will continue working on the Orthopedic Floor at Intermountain Medical Center and will start as an RN on January 19th. I can't wait.

The Nursing pinning ceremony was very nice. It was cool to see all my classmates dress up all nice and see all their proud families. It was very cool to have my mom pin me with our custom designed UVU Nursing pin. She was so proud! Isn't she cute? I was also so glad to have my dad and Grandpa Loren there! I hardly ever get to see him so it was very special.

Thank you to all my family members who came to support me! Molly, Adam, Ruby, Daniel (who had just gotten his wisdom teeth out that morning!) Mom, Dad, Grandpa Loren, Aunt Darlene (who let me stay at her house in Orem at least two nights out of every week so I wouldn't have to drive down every day) Jenny, Matt, Grandma Welling (thanks for the nice cards and gifts :) Hadley, Chad, Hunter, Jane, Matthew, Katie and My wonderful hubby Benn. I had quite the crowd. thanks so much for supporting me! It really meant a lot to have everyone there! Also, thanks to Claire who dyed my hair for me earlier that day! Love it! Happy Graduation to me!

I just think these videos are awesome

Holiday Awesomeness

Picasa is my new favorite discovery. I used it to make collages of each night of the holiday week! So easy and I just couldn't leave these pictures out!

We have had way too much fun this week! Everyone came into town for Thanksgiving! Aunt Amy and her family, Sarah and her kids, and Kate and Brian and their kids. It was a blast. Ben and I have been in heaven. Ben was so dang cute with the kids. They loved him! The first night we all got together, Amy surprised the kids with matching pajamas to wear to the Polar Express! So cute!

The Polar Express was so much fun! We boarded on the train and got hot chocolate and cokies served to us by elves. Then we set off for the North Pole. on the way there the elves danced and told jokes. They even read "The Polar Express" book to each of us! When we got to the North Pole, Santa came on the train and greeted us. He gave each kid a Bell! On the way home Mrs. Claus came and handed each of us a recipe for her famous cookies. The kids were star struck.

Ice Skating was a blast! At first the kids were pretty timid on the ice but by the end of the day they were doing great! I however but really sore the next day!

Another fun part of the week was making Ginger bread houses! the first attempt kind of struggled cause the Costco gingerbread house kits were falling apart. But we got one that worked and all the kids decorated it beautifully. Avery was enjoying the frosting a little too much I think :)

On Saturday night Molly made some awesome scones and on Sunday we just got to come over and hang out with everyone. Ben and I took some of the kids on a walk around the neighborhood. It was so fun just to have everyone around! I wish it was like this all the time. By the way, Isn't max the absolute cutest little chunk you have ever seen? I am so in love with him!

Back to real life I guess!

just me thinking out loud :)

So.... I don't really have anything interesting to say today.. I'm just bored and felt like blogging :) No recent fun events, no new pictures. So even though I'm pretty sure nobody will actually read this I just felt like writing today. What I'm really just excited and happy about is what exciting events and pictures are yet to come! With this week being Thanksgiving and all :) Pretty much my whole family will be in town except my brother Brian and brother in law Perry on my side and Daniel and Nicole on Ben's side. They will be greatly missed! hopefully we will get to see them soon though. that's what I love about the holidays. It brings family together. It's always something to look forward to. I love seeing my sisters. I look up to them so much. Always have. Sarah is super mom. I hope I'm as good a of mom as her. She just seems to always have it together. Perry is in the military and unfortunately had to be away for months at a time and Sarah handles those three kids like a champ. She is always fun to be around and always has something good to say about someone. I love her laugh. It always makes me happy. She has the kind of laugh that makes whatever she is laughing at ten times funnier. Kate is also awesome. She is so creative and crafty. You should see the birthday parties this girl plans. She is amazing in the kitchen and can make any cute/yummy treat in the book. She is so stylish and has awesome taste. I miss her and Brian so much since they moved to Seattle. They are so fun to have around and are always helping in any way they can. Molly is my best friend. She is so spontaneous and always up for anything whether it's hiking at three in the morning, rollerblading at midnight or just catching a dollar movie. She is so easy to talk to and always has a good story to tell. She is so thrifty and always finding good deals. She is also becoming a very talented photographer. She is pretty much a rockstar. Wow totally didnt intend on doing a tribute to my sista's but there ya have it. They rock I know!

Anywho, while I'm talking about awesome people I should probably mention my hubby. Ben is awesome. He is pretty much a total sweetheart and I love him. He works so hard and recently got a cool new job at the Center for Human Genetics at the U and is learning tons and doing research and stuff. He is so excited and I am so proud of him. We are so blessed to have each other and such awesome family members that live so close. With a lot of my family moving away recently, It's so nice to have his family just down the street. It's always fun to be able to stop by whenever and see everyone. We totally take it for granted but who knows pretty soon we may only even get to do that at holidays and stuff.

Other exciting news...... I am only a few weeks away from graduating from nursing school. wow. I can't believe how close it is. I was talking to my friend Karen who I go to school with today and we were talking about how crazy it is! Just looking back and remembering all the clinicals, 5 hour class periods, hours doing case studies and projects, studying for and taking all the dreaded tests! it seemed like it would never end! I remember how scared I was that first day of class, or the first day of clinical! how awkward it was for me just talking to a patient, or doing simple procedures or giving meds! I was so terrified! ha ha I'm so glad I can laugh about all that now. I have learned so much and grown so much these past two years! It's crazy to think how much has happened and how I've changed. I love being a nurse. I love being able to help people do things they cant do alone. I love teaching and knowing enough to be able to help people understand things, even though I know there is still so much to learn!

I am excited to be home more. This semester I spent more nights away from Ben than with him. Between working nights and being in Provo for school half of each week it felt like we barely saw each other. Now I may actually be home most days in time to make dinner for Ben. Or do laundry, or iron clothes! all the things that Ben has been picking up my slack on! I'm excited. Life is good.

Bebecha

So I am totally into headbands right now. I found this adorable Etsy shop with the cutest headbands, fabric earrings, hair clips, and other way fun stuff! After I found a bunch of stuff I wanted I noticed that the girl selling lived in Provo. So since I pretty much live there these days with school being so crazy, I asked if I could come look at all her stuff while I was down there one week! She is so creative and makes the cutest accessories. I was in heaven! check out her Etsy shop here. Her prices are awesome! especially for the earrings! Here are some of my favorites:

So, the shop's name is Bebecha. She is doing an open house in North Salt Lake this Saturday from 12-3 and another one next month in Provo on Dec. 12th from 10-2. Let me know if you want to go and need the address! If you bring 3 friends you get a free pair of earrings. This is a good opportunity to get some cute Christmas gifts for your friends!