Love These Two

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This is what I happened in our house yesterday before we went out to celebrate the big birthday of the night. J having a conversation with Ollie complete with his interpretations of Ollie's responses. Makes me love my boys and my silly little family that much more.

J: Hey Ollie. 

O: Sits up and looks right at J.

J: Did you know grandma is coming tomorrow? I know, I'm pretty excited too.
O: Turns his head and looks at me. Did you hear that mom? Grandma's coming. Looks at J.
J: Yep you're right, Grandpa too.
O: Stands up and shakes.
J: Now don't get too excited.
O: Sits back down. Sorry dad.

Sometimes we swear Ollie knows English sometimes and just doesn't tell us. Have a fabulous Tuesday everyone.

2011 In Review

2011 has been one of those years that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so happy I decided to do this post because it made me look back at all the pictures, stories and memories I've created in the past year and how special each and every moment was. 

So take a look back with me....

+ Our after-Christmas/New Years vacation to Waikiki on Oahu, HI. I feel so blessed to be able to go to such a beautiful place with someone I love so much. 

 + I celebrated my 22nd birthday (the 4th one celebrated with J) and was spoiled rotten! 

 + Our poor Ollie got horrible blisters on his feet but did so well as they healed and

+ We spent far too long without furniture waiting for the new stuff to arrive

 + J's birthday was spent with friends from out of town, lots of margaritas and days spent relaxing by the pool. 

 + We graduated! It was a long four years with lots of stress, studying, and wondering when it was going to end but I finished my bachelors degree and J finished his masters. 

 + We spent lots of time taking our pup swimming in the ocean. He loves it so much it's hard to get him out. 

+ J and I celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary! I cannot believe how quickly the time has past and how many amazing memories we've created together. I love that man!

 + We got to spend some time back in CO this summer to celebrate the wedding of two of our great friends. While the drive from SD to CO is never fun we wouldn't miss trips like this for anything.

 + After a lot of stressful paperwork, specific deadlines and lots of finger crossing we finally bought and moved into our first house! We have loved being able to do whatever we wanted in the new house and there's nothing quite like home. 

 + We've done lots of work since we moved but it is all so worth it. A yard for our pup to play in and a guest room to host family and friends.

+ Now that we have this amazing new house we decided to host Thanksgiving for my mom and sister. Our turkey was a big success, I made homemade gravy for the first time ever and we spent some time at the beach. Noting says Thanksgiving like the sun and the sand!

+ The holidays are definitely my favorite time of the year and I was so excited to finally be able to decorate outside as well as inside wherever and however I wanted. I can't wait to make holiday traditions in our new home. 

+ And last but definitely far from least.... J and I got engaged on Christmas Day 2011. I promise that I will do a post soon specific to the details about this but lets just say I have never been happier in my whole entire life. I cannot wait to start planning this wedding and continue to grow our lives together!

Thanks 2011.... 

for an amazing, spectacular, whirlwind year that I'll never forget. 

Because My Life is Boring

... I figured I'd update on where I've been, what I've been doing, why I haven't been crafty, why I'm basically just useless in general right now, and a few other random things I think you should know.....

[1.a] We had some awesome visitors here for the weekend.

[1.b] We laughed. We went to the zoo (one of my favorite places ever). I made new friends. We watched SDSU basketball win. We drank a few too many Cape Cods and fishbowls, which leads to my next point...

[2] I'm sick.... again. Which completely ruins everything. It makes going to class hard. It makes working all day hard. It makes studying, shopping, being productive in any way just plain hard. I hope it goes away soon.

[3] I've been working a lot of hours lately and I can't wait for Friday to be here. Because we all know what that means..... Pay Day! It feels so nice, beyond relieving, to be making money again.

[4] I decided it wasn't the best idea for me to go volunteer at Hospice tonight because I'm not feeling good so I'm hoping I can get at least something done today. My goals for the day are:

* Buy shampoo, pillow protectors, and breakfast food

(you know, all the essentials)

* Attempt to make my very first skirt

* Maybe splurge on a new OPI nail polish

(I've been wanting one from the new Texas line for some time now.)

* Do some of my dreaded reading for my classes

* Take the pup on a walk

(or at least to the dog park)

[5] I head to Omaha in exactly one week for my interview at Creighton Medical School and I'm a little nervous. I'll be traveling there by myself and staying with a student host (I hope) and I'll be there for about 24 hours total. I definitely have some research to do on the school itself and I need to prepare my interview answers a little more but fingers crossed it goes smoothly.

[6] Yesterday I received notice that I've been placed on the "alternate list" for admission at University of Colorado Medical School. This is both good news a bad news rolled into one so I'm not really sure how I'm handling it as of now. It's awesome news because alternate is way better than rejected. But it's unfortunate news because a straight up admission would have been so much nicer. Now I have to wait (hopefully not all the way until August 19th) to find out if I will be given a spot after all.

[7] I promise to be back on a regular schedule soon, as soon as my sickness goes away. But for now, be jealous of the 80+ degree weather SD is having today and wish for summer (because there's no such thing as the season spring in SD)

via

on being able to relax

Spring break could not have come sooner. I thought this semester was going to be my easiest one yet but I still find myself stressing out.

Stressing out about MCAT studying.

Stressing out about committee.

Stressing out about lab reports.

Stressing out about interviews.

Stressing out about exams.

Stressing out about presentations.

I guess what gets me the most is that I anticipated it being different. I anticipated having more down time and more time to relax. But that's exactly the reason I'm glad its spring break... finally. While I wish that I had the life where I could go on vacation and sit on the beach for the whole break, I'm most excited to have some time to relax. Its been so nice and so needed to be able to do absolutely today. I spent the day in sweats, watching Say Yes To The Dress and Keeping Up With The Kardashians while painting my nails and eating left-over pizza from dinner. (Yes I'm guilty of enjoying these shows.) And the best part of today is that I don't feel bad about any of it.

I don't have the creeping voice in my head saying I need to get things done. It's not telling me that there's laundry to do or that we don't have anything for dinner or that I need to be productive. While the rest of my break is going to be spent studying for my MCAT and spending time with my family, I have taken full advantage of a day for myself. Maybe I'll decide to shower and get dressed at some point but if I don't, there's always tomorrow. Maybe I'll manage to find something to make for dinner but if I don't, I'll eat a bowl of cereal. Maybe I can find something to be productive doing or maybe I'll read some of the book I'm in the middle of. Maybe, maybe not. And I'm completely okay with that.

+On a side note, I am very excited for my mom and sister to come to SD for a few days. It will be really great to have them in town. And I am also very excited to go home for a few days. I miss my house in Littleton and my family and plan to mix in a few fun excursions amidst my studying.