Catch Up: CHRISTMAS AND NYE!

CHRISTMAS BREAK: I cooked, a lot. From homemade pizza (crispy crust anyone?) to steak to pecan pie to... well, I don't even remember because I was in a food coma. Since I had nothing else to do (yay! no school!), I cooked, and it was glorious.

In other news, Ryan and I went to NYC on December 23 and 24. Everyone says there is something about New York at Christmas time and I can confirm it's the truth! Buildings are dressed in bows and the night is a shimmer of sparkling lights. Despite freezing temperatures, our trip was top notch. We enjoyed the city, grabbed some chop sticks and gobbled up some amazingly delicious sushi, watched masses of people on the Trump skating rink, and fought the crowds to see the window displays on 5th street. We also found some deals at Gap while on 5th street. Thick winter sweaters for 8 bucks? Yes please! My winter wear doubled in that trip!

I'm not sure I brushed my hair Christmas morning...

You can't go wrong with Beatles Rockband.

We take the festivities very seriously. Antlers and santa hat are a must.

Ryan and I ditched NYC (before the HUGE snow storm, may I add!) and enjoyed Christmas at home in our apartment. It was nice to relax, open presents, eat popcorn, play games, and catch up on TV shows (Prison Break!). 

NEW YEAR'S EVE: Ryan and I played Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii...until 6 in the morning. We were in a particularly stressful part of the game around 12:00am...so it wasn't really a "Happy New Year!" until maybe 1:00am. DK, isn't that supposed to be for kids, you say? Flying a barrel holding an ape and a monkey through a cave full of gigantor-monster-sized bats is no easy task! However, I'm happy to say we reigned victorious the day before Spring semester began. It felt good knowing we have a jungle full of bananas again. 

Catch Up: FALL!

FALL: Packed full of work, but much more manageable since we had an entire semester (unlike summer when we had 4 weeks for 2 classes, 6 weeks for pharmacology, and 4 weeks for another set of classes...all meshed together. I'm not even sure what happened in summer. I got to Fall semester and felt like a survivor...of some terrible tragedy or something) In between 15 credits, 20 hours of clinic a week (...I am exerting self control to not discuss clinic. I'll just say that one was particularly difficult, but not in the good way), Ryan and I found time to pick apples and pumpkins at a local farm, make ourselves Thanksgiving dinner, and watch a movie or two in a theater (tickets are 10 bucks for the early showing?? Geez.).

My handsome husband and his awesome sunglasses.
RIP Awesome Sunglasses. We miss you.

The best part of fall semester was probably Labor and Delivery. I can definitely see myself in that area of nursing. I loved the babies, the process, the joy, the relief, the overall sense of accomplishment (well, more for the mothers than for me) of that rotation. It seems that in a lot of areas of nursing, you just work with the patient that is assigned to you for a little while, but you don't always see the full picture and the outcomes (though sometimes it might be better). However, in L&D there is a beginning, middle, and end...and more often than not, it is a happy ending. I love it!

It was very windy, excuse the horn coming out of my head.
Check out my broken pinky finger. 

We got a visit from my brother, sister in law, and their adorable toddler in October! We went to NYC, Statue of Liberty, NJ, and PA (to see our little apartment). I was a blast to hang out for a couple days! Ok, that was the one of the best parts of the fall. I just love my sibling's kids...I want to squeeze them and take them home.

We, also, were able to go down to Baltimore to meet Ryan's dad while he was on business. We walked around the city, ate at Hard Rock, and just enjoyed the company. It was quick but fun...until we hit a deer on the way home (around 2 am maybe?). Luckily, I have some serious race car driving skills, and I swerved just enough so there was little damage to the car (we only lost a side mirror, not bad right?! The deer had large antlers even!).

The Good
(Terrible quality, I didn't realize our new point and shoot was on some weird mode)

The Bad.
We did not hit the deer, the deer hit us.  You can guess what the red is...

Our last visit was with a couple friends from Boise. They were in Ohio and we met them half way - in Pittsburg. We went to a science museum that boasted entrance into a retired government submarine parked in the adjacent river. I certainly would not vacation in one, but it was amazing to see the smallness and efficiency of the rooms, hallways, and bathrooms, and offices. The day earlier, we wandered around the city, went to a a local spot to catch a show (which reminded me, no...everyone..the importance of a good deodorant), and ate at a terrible Italian restaurant that we are sure was haunted. If I had died in a restaurant that had tasteless pesto pasta that was only edible with 60 oz of Parmesan cheese poured on top, I might haunt the place too. It's just a theory, though. Anyway, it had been a while since we had hung out with any old friends and it was clearly good for our souls.

Somewhere in the midst of all that stuff and school, Fall disappeared leaving only a couple pictures, some Dean's List grades, and an old calendar behind.

Catch Up: SUMMER!

SUMMER: I started nursing school and realized quickly that I will have no life until it ends in August 2011. My summer consisted mostly of Pharmacology (nearly 3000 page book condensed to 6 weeks - 9 tests total. The last test covered 25 chapters and we were only taught approximately 3 of them). I am not sure I completely recovered from that course until mid-fall.

When the semester was over, I had 10 days to make up for my long lost summer. Ryan and I went to Viriginia Beach...and went camping. We packed up our little Hyundai, grabbed some supplies (like a tent), and started driving. Camping by the beach seemed so lovely, until we arrived. We were welcomed by 100% humidity, drizzling rain, and a damp ground. My poor hair didn't stand a chance. I was wild woman for a couple days. But, being the champ that I am, I helped set up camp and start a fire. This is the only day we took pictures, simply because I was probably in fight or flight response the rest of the trip (and I was afraid of killing my precious camera with the salt cloud hovering over our site).

See how wet it was when we arrived? The mat in front of our tent is soaked.

The rest of the days were drowned in rain and intense heat/humidity. The tent, although having mesh 'windows' on all four sides, kept the air completely stagnant and the only relief from this painful weather was to lie completely still on the damp sheets that covered our blow up mattress (I like the finer things in life). We only had one day that was sunny and gorgeous, and instead of sticking around the camping site or the camp site's beach, we drove to the pier at Virginia Beach. We sat on the sand, burned, watched schools (is that the correct term?) of dolphins swim close by, waded in the ocean, and indulged in all you can eat seafood. That evening we welcomed a cool breeze and sat on a grassy area listening to a pretty decent cover band. It was fabulous. We had a couple hours the next day that were nice, but we were both too burned to do anything else but read. I certainly was not reading in the tent, so we decided to invest in a beach umbrella and relax by the ocean. That was one of the best moments of the trip.

Then we trekked back to the muggy tent.

And then I think we both decided that sometimes it is just worth it to get the motel room.

New Years 2009 – Times Square Edition!

Ryan and I (and our friend, Dan) rang in the new year with about 1 million others in Times Square. While I am happy that we did it, it was so stinky (as is much of NYC)  and  it continually rained, sleeted, and snowed.  We headed for our pen at about 2 pm, and after about an hour of claustrophobia (thousands of people should not be this close together on the sidewalk. period.), we finally flew through security into a pen, in which we stood for 8 hours! And then, it was like we were all penguins, huddling together to survive.  Whenever the cameras came by our station, people would wake up from their freeze and wave furiously, beaming with smiles. Once the cameras were off, it was back to survival.

The entertainment was mainly for the TV viewers, not the people who made the long trip, suffering from the freezing cold weather…oh yes, it’s certainly a facade that it’s a party in Times Square! At least, we were stationed in the pen that was right next to the main stage and could see a bit of the action. We managed to see J-Lo, Chris Daughtry, and a couple unfamiliar acts.

The final 3 minutes of the year produced such a massive buzz, people suddenly lit up, forgetting how frozen they had become over the last 8 hours, and began counting down. This was the most memorable part of the whole trip. Fireworks blasted off the tops of the buildings followed by one ton of confetti. It was magical and hands down the best crowd experience ever!

Thanksgiving in D.C.

Yes, it has been a month since Thanksgiving, but it really was lovely...So here is the long overdue post.

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On Thursday morning, Ryan and I drove through some pretty dense fog to get to Sandra and Gary's house in Virginia. Three hours later,  we made it and we're glad we did. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry jam (which I recently learned I enjoy), and some rolls later, we found ourselves embracing the country-wide couch slouch. Then...the dessert (cue drooling). My cousin brought maple ice cream, and unfortunately, both Ryan and I got only one scoop, but it was the best part of the whole eating experience. Did I mention, that said cousin is also a chef? It was an exquisite two minutes, really.

Friday and Saturday, we spent in Washington, D.C. My uncle was kind enough to provide taxi service to the metro, and as I was headed out the door commented on my lack of winter wear. Somehow, I got this crazy idea that it wouldn't be that cold in the city...Yup, totally against my normal behavior. If you know me, you know that I am, well, always cold.  Last winter, I wore my winter coat from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed (It's down/alternative mix and makes for a perfect and consistent temperature). I went back upstairs and put on a thin blue coat to put on top of my blazer. So much better, right? Not so much. I barely made it through the day. The next day, though, I threw out fashion and laced up my tennis shoes and threw on my huge winter coat. I enjoyed every minute the second day.

We toured through the city on foot. Here are the places we visited:

• White House 

• Lincoln Memorial
  
  
• Washington Monument - The reflecting pool was emptied revealing boring slabs of concrete.
  
  
• WWII Memorial - This place was recently finished and open to the public. Lavish waterworks and intricate war scenes on the walls, it was a touching memorial.   
  
  
  
• Einstein Memorial  
  
  
• Museum of Natural History
  
  
• Museum of Art
  
  
• Air and Space Museum - Amazing. Just Amazing. Besides the planes and shuttles hanging from the ceiling, there was an unexpected art gallery! Alan Bean was the first artist in space and his pieces are spectacular. He used moon dust, the sample machine, the boots he wore during the expedition to create his masterpieces. Ryan and I spent a good 30 minutes browsing his works.
  
  One last photo:
  

boys love their dinosaurs.