April

April was a crazy month! I had one month left to finish my Masters project, I started work as a trainer at the new Ruby's in Orange, my niece went into the hospital and my grandma went into the hospital.
Being a trainer for a new store opening is always so much fun! It feels like summer camp. Edward, the boss, always puts together a really fun team of trainers and he makes the long days feel like a fun day with friends. The Ruby's in Orange is amazing. I'm very proud to work there! Come visit!
My niece, Scarlett got a really bad cut on her leg that got infected and she ended up in the hospital. Although the rest of us were worried about her, she LOVED it. She got ice cream almost everyday and she got to play with her toys and watch TV. She got out of the hospital a week later and was completely fine! Thank God!
The same day Scarlett went into the hospital, my grandma did too. She has had very weak lung for the past year or so. Whenever she gets sick, its hard for her to breathe and she ends up in the hospital. This time was really scary though. When I visited her in the hospital I felt like it was my last time seeing her alive. It was so hard. I didn't want to leave and so I sent Bryan home with the car and I took the train home the next day. I sat by her bed and held her hand. She told me about her dreams and told me that she would always be with me. Right before Bryan left, she told him to take care of me or she would haunt him :) For dinner, my mom and I got Chinese food, chocolate ice cream and we snuck in some yummy blue moon. It was wonderful to be around family. We got in trouble for the beer and so we called it a night :) After a week of my grandma being in the hospital she was sent home to be on hospice. A couple times she called me to say good-bye but still today she has stayed strong and is doing great! June 9th will be my grandparents 60Th wedding anniversary! I'm so proud that I come from such a long line of strong, stubborn women. We don't give up!

One of the wonderful things I got to do in April was visit was my friend Candace and her husband. Candace has been one of my best friends since we were 2. I love her like a sister and love the bond we have. She is expecting a baby boy in July and Bryan and I are so excited to be auntie Katie and Uncle googly :) We spent a day golfing and taking maternity pictures. It was a wonderful day!

The Boys :)

Bryan and I's pregnancy picture :)

The Girls!

Life is so precious...

March

It has been way too long since I have updated this blog so this is my attempt to catch up :) I'll start with March! The month started off with a weekend canoe trip and then my birthday! This year I turned 28. Usually I get weirded out by getting older but this was the first year that I put my thoughts into perspective...Not everyone gets to grow old, I'm one lucky girl! I have turned another year older :) This was my 5th year of celebrating at Heroes. It was so much fun. I have loved celebrating my birthday in the same place for 5 years. Some people came early and others came late, but throughout the night I was surrounded by people I love. It was a fantastic birthday. Bryan spoiled me with a new Iphone!

The canoe trip this year was really fun! I went on this trip 10 years ago with my girlfriends and mom. My mom has continued to do this trip with her group of friends a couple times a year. This year she wanted to lead a group of my friends down the river. I was thrilled with the idea! I got a group of about 16 people, some non-campers and some experienced campers. The weekend was quite wonderful! I loved introducing a different world to people. I'm looking forward to doing again next year!

Water cave

The open river...

Climbing up waterfalls

The river water was cold but there was natural hot springs all over the place. We stopped and relaxed in a couple of hot pools.

One of the stops we made was in a sauna cave. It was pretty rad.

The trip starts right under the Hoover damn. The first day we canoed 3 miles, then we camped. The next day we canoed 9 miles.

We had a wonderful Trip!

Valentines Day

Our first Valentines day

The first year of marriage is so much fun. It is full of firsts all over again. Our first Christmas, Our first trip, Our first movie and our first Valentines day. I would say that we are not the most romantic couple. We prefer wakeboarding and beers to an expensive dinner with champagne. That being said, we are big on milestones and experiences. This is our fifth year of celebrating Valentines day. Our first Vday was spent at the beach, so this year we did the same.

I woke up in the morning to a love letter and red roses. This is the third time I have received flowers from my baby, so flowers are a big deal. The love letter was wonderful and made me cry.

We took our nice camera to the beach to capture the beauty.

Bryan remembered our wedding favors :) It was a nice touch to the evening.

My Vday gift to Bryan was making him pasta salad. I'm trying to get better at cooking more often so I though today would be the best day to make him his first wife 'cooked' meal. It turned out really good! He loved it.

Ice cream, two spoons

Our favorite game, cribbage. I'm not going to say who won.

My sexy husband

After experiencing the beauty of New Zealand it's great to look at our country with fresh eyes. We live in our own beautiful state.

As the sun went down we started the fire for hot dogs

It was a wonderful, peaceful evening.

Our first baby

Now that New Zealand is over, Bryan and I were feeling a bit sad. The past couple of years have been extremely jammed packed with fun. Ever since our engagement we have been now stop. A whole year of planning for the wedding, then another 6 months for New Zealand. This is the first time in a year and half that Bryan and I have had a chance to stand still, and I don't really like it. I love to plan! It's hard to plan for the future when we are at a point in our lives that we can't control. We are still living with Bryan's parents and we still enjoy it. They are wonderful company and we have our own space. It is just time for Bryan and I to get our own place. We have never lived just the two of us. The problem is we really want to buy, not rent. We're saving up for a down payment but it may be a while. This is my last semester of the Masters Program and I can't wait. Although I don't think I will get a full time job in the Fall, I am looking forward to the freedom to work as a sub, and a server, now that I won't have school to worry about.

Since we can't control the job market and buying a house/condo we have switched to focusing on things that do make us happy and things that we can control.

We bought our very first baby together. A baby Hydrangea plant. It's name is Aqua man. Isn't it beautiful!

New Zealand-Last day :(

January 6th 2011

We woke up really early and jumped on the plane to go home. We were so tired and sad about leaving. Mike and Andrea surprised us with upgrading our seats to first class! It was so wonderful. I had never sat in the front row before. All the drinks and food were for free. We had a grade ol' time. The first flight was from Christchurch to Melbourne, Australia. The second flight was from Melbourne to Sydney. Then we got on our last flight that was from Sydney to LA. The last flight wasn't first class but it was an upgrade for sure! We got champagne with take off. I'm not sure how I'll ever go back to coach seats :) The Slattery's spoiled us, we loved it!

Once we landed we meet up with Brooks and Sam. We took them around Hollywood while Sam had a layover. We also got to take them to see ComedySportz. We didn't play but it was great to show them what we do best. We dropped Sam off at LAX and took Brooks back to our house to get some sleep.

The next day, Mike and Andrea flew up to take Ben and Brooks on a ride. After the ride the Slattery's had to go back home before the sunset and the rest of us went out to dinner with Ben's AUnt and Uncle. They were awesome. We had cocktail hour and then went to dinner. It was so much fun. The whole trip was amazing and I couldn't be happier. Thank you for everyone who helped us get there! Thank you to all the amazing people we met! Thank you to our wonderful friends Mike and Andrea for coming with us, you were great company! We love you all.

New Zealand-day 16

January 5th 2011

Today we left Lake Ohua and went back to Christchurch to leave for home. The weather was so bad that we couldn't see the beautiful lake. We were bummed but it was okay. Once back in Christchurch we were able to walk around the town and we really got a chance to experience the damage the earthquake caused...Now that I am writing this journal entry weeks after the second earthquake I am extremely devastated by the damage it has caused. It's strange to see the pictures of Christchurch as we knew it, now it has changed.

This is a picture of me pout about it being our last day. The bruise on my chest is from the zip hitting my chest over and over again while skydiving. When we checked into the hotel at Christchurch I started to cry. I was so sad about leaving New Zealand and all our new friends. Bryan gave me a hug and for the first time told me "I can't wait for you to plan our next vacation." Little did he know, Andrea and I have already started planning :)

Making a wish that we could stay just a little bit longer :)

Some of the damage from the first earthquake... Last night out at the bar.

Bryan 'ice' skating in Christchurch.


When saying good-bye to everyone we started crying all over again. I was so sad. I think I was also really sad because I knew that New Zealand was our big trip of a life time, and it was over. We would love to travel to Europe, Africa and South America...but that isn't really in our budget. This was our big trip...We hope someday we'll be able to go to the other places on our bucket list but at the moment we are more than happy with our choice. New Zealand was amazing. It was better than I could imagine.