Ski Trip 2010

We went on our Annual Ski Trip to Durango, Colorado. Our trip started out with the morning of we woke up with no heat in our apartment and the furnace blowing cold air. It was 58 degrees in our apartment and there was still packing and preparing to be done. That was not what we needed to deal with. Anyways we were able to get it fixed before we left and we have heat again. We left once our church group made it to Flagstaff and got on our way. We arrived in Durango, CO and to our cabin about 9pm. We got settled and have a great time hanging out with friends and getting to know new people. Then we headed to bed for the first day of skiing and snowboarding. We had a great day! We were so tired by the end of the day but totally worth it. We got to ski and board with a lot of different people the first day! We were on the back side of the mountain most of the day and had some great runs. Once we were done on the mountain we all headed back to the cabin for dinner. Once dinner was over we had our first worship session and teaching from God. It was an amazing night. Once we were done, we played do you love my neighbor? That was a lot of fun! The second day was another great day of skiing and snowboarding. Greg and I were able to spend the entire day together on the mountain! We spent a lot of quality time together and had some great conversations. We called it early on the mountain because by 2pm we were exhausted and wanted to save our strength for our last day. For our third and final day of skiing we decided to go up as a group and get some video footage. It was going really well. One of Greg's goals was to try moguls. It was the last day so it decided to give it a go. The first one he fell but was ok. The second one he went down his ski got caught and he continued to fall. Because his ski boot didn't pop out of the ski his leg twisted and he heard a pop. He was skied down by ski patrol and had x-rays taken. Its a Spiral fracture of his right tibia that may require surgery to set back in the proper place. We will find out tomorrow once he sees the orthopedic surgeon. Please keep Greg in your prayers and pray for no surgery! I will keep everyone updated.

They skied him down the rest of the mountain in the "sled" to the clinic to check out his leg.

I also got video of him breaking his leg. If I can figure out how to post it I will. Its not too bad, but you can definitely tell something went wrong...

1/2 a Year

12-19-09 marked half a year of being married to the most amazing man in my life! The last 6 months of marriage has been absolutely wonderful. Yes we have had our tiff's but we have always worked things out and life couldn't be any better! We celebrated by eating Chinese food and by doing a deep cleansing of our apartment. Nothing super special, but we spent the day together and that was all that mattered to me. Christmas is right around the corner and we are exited to see all of our family and then enjoy a small vacation with friends to California. It will be a nice refresher to be away from work and school! Also, to spend time with some of our closest friends. I couldn't ask for anything more. Time has flown by and my marriage is continuing to blossom and grow stronger each day! I can't wait to see what the future holds for us in the near and far future. I couldn't be any happier right now! Greg is such an amazing man and I can't wait to grow old with him (a very long time from now of course...haha). 

I love you Greg! You certainly are my better half! :)

I think its time to Update!

Its been a while since I wrote on my blog. There have been some new developments. The semester is almost over. We only have finals left! Thank God!! It has been a very long a stressful semester, but we have made it through. At the end of October I signed up for my last semester of classes at NAU. That was a very weird and awesome feeling! I will be graduating in May and can't wait. Only 4 classes left to take and my career at NAU is over :) For Greg on the other hand he has a little bit longer to wait. He was going to finish a semester early and we were going to move down to the valley this upcoming summer. However that has changed. There are more classes that he has to take then originally planned for so rather than killing himself in one semester he is going to split it into two. So that means that we will move down to the valley in December 2010. He thought a lot about it and prayed about it and that is the decision he decided was best for him. I told him I supported him either way. I can work full time anywhere since I will be graduated. Our landlords told us we can stay as long as we like in our apartment. The place we are in now is perfect for just starting out but I am ready to have more space already.

I may have already mentioned this in an earlier post but we have a cat and her name is Fyre. She is so smart and cute! I swear sometimes that she is 1/2 dog because she loves to play fetch with her pink ball. That thing is almost torn to shreds, and she refuses to play with any of her other toys regularly. Its very fun to play with her. She is a little over a year old now. We took her on her first adventure over Thanksgiving break. We brought her down to the valley with us and she stayed at Greg's parents house. There were two cats already to begin with so we were very curious how she would react The first day she hid under the couch all day and that was expected. The other cats were very curious though and didn't have a problem approaching her. Fyre was a little uncomfortable with them, but it seemed like by the end of the weekend they got along a little bit. It was really cute, all three cats fell asleep on Kimberly's bed on the last day. Fyre was at the end of the bed, Prince Caspian (PC) was in the middle of the bed and Yoda was at the top of her pillow. It was very cute. The car ride for her was interesting. We had a cat carrier for her which she hates, but we got a 6' leash for her and attached it to the carrier and then let her sit on my lap and then she settled on my feet and fell asleep for most of the ride home. She was very cuddly. Another thing we have discovered about Fyre is that she loves fleece and flannel. Anytime that is available to her so goes and lays on it to sleep. We got Fyre her own fleece blanket for Christmas. We thought it was a cute idea. Here are a few pics of her.

Sleeping, isn't she cute!

I took this with my computer and she was trying to figure out what it was and what was happening...

Over Thanksgiving we were down in the valley and had a wonderful time visiting friends and family! It was so nice to see everybody and spent time with them. We usually have 3 Thanksgiving dinners, but only had two this year because my Uncle was sick. That was too bad, but it was good for my tummy. I don't think it could have handled anymore food. In a way I can't wait to host my own Thanksgiving Dinner, but at the same time I think I can :) The time flew by, but we are looking forward to seeing everybody at Christmas. Love you all!

Let's see... The next major thing that happened was Greg turned 22! I know I am a little late but Happy Birthday Honey you are now old. haha j/k Love you!  We went out to dinner to Olive Garden and had a nice dinner. His birthday was on a tuesday which was both of our crazy days. It was a late night dinner, but it worked out.

Next, I work at DCI Biologicals which is a plasma donation center. Its an ok job through school, but that is all. Every since I started I have worked a lot with new donors and getting them processed so they can donate for their first time. It is a lot of work and very time consuming, but it is one of my favorite things to do at work. In October, I got my 90 day raise and that was $0.50 which is awesome! I was informed about 3 weeks ago or so that management considered me to become the New Donor Specialist! I was very excited and that also comes with a pay raise! So I have been working there for 5 months and have moved up in the world. It feels great! Things were very rocky to begin with, but they have smoothed over some so thats nice. It will be nice to some be able to come home from work and not worry about school and that is for wherever I work!

Other than that nothing really new has happened here in Flagstaff. It is definitely colder here and it has snowed a few times Now it is mostly ice which is the dreaded part. Snow is pretty, ice is evil. The semester is winding down and then hopefully both of us can have a true break and recover. I am looking forward to Christmas and New Years. I think they are definitely my favorite holidays of the year. Well,I think that sums up the last few months. I will try and be better about this in the future and not get so far behind. Happy Reading!

Pork Chow Mein

Prep: 15 mins. + marinating Cook:15 mins

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless pork loin

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons soy sauce, divided

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup coarsely chopped cabbage (optional)

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh spinach (optional)

Served over hot cooked rice

Directions:

1). Cut pork into 4-in. x 1/4 in. strips; place in a bowl. Add garlic and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

2.) Combine the cornstarch, ginger, broth, and remaining soy sauce until smooth; set aside. Hear oil in a large skillet; stir fry pork until no longer pink. Remove; keep warm.

3.) Add carrots and celery; stir fry for 3-4 mins. Add the onion, cabbage and spinach if you choose; stir fry 2-3 mins. Stir broth mixture; Stir into skillet along with pork. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 3-4 mins or until thickened.

4.) Serve immediately over rice

Serving Size: 6

Exciting News!

So my husband just found out that he can graduate a semester early (Fall 10')! We are so excited! I am graduating in May and then he will be doing his student teaching during the Fall of 2010. After he is finished with that he can walk and say goodbye to NAU! We can both see the light at the end of the tunnel now. :) We were talking tonight at dinner about how we finally feel like we can start planning our lives outside of school. We both are going back eventually, but the break is going to be awesome! We have been in school for 16 years now, I think we deserve a break.

We are planning on moving to Gilbert in June of 2010. That is the area Greg will be doing his student teaching in. I will be working full time somewhere. I am going to try and work out a deal with Bass Pro (since I technically still work there) to see if they were reserve my job until I can return in the summer. If they will then I am all set once we move back down. If not then it will be job hunting season for me. I hope the economy is better by then so I can at least find something decent. Hopefully have a college degree will also play in my favor.

Once Greg is done with his student teaching, hopefully there will be a teaching position available for him. Soon after that I will be going back to school for nursing. I am currently on the waiting list for the Maricopa Community College Programs and I am waiting for my phone call to say a spot is open in the program that I want. They told me it was a 4 semester wait so hopefully it won't take that long, but we will see.

Once I am done with nursing school, we will go where ever God takes us. I would love to move out of AZ for a while and settle in a new place. We will just have to go where there are music openings for Greg. I trust we will be taken care of where ever we end up! We talked about Colorado, Texas, Oregon, and Nevada as possibilities for where we would want to move to. If none of those work out, there is still always AZ. We will just have to see.

Trying Something New

I have decided that I love taking pictures and thought that I might try and make a side profession out of it. I am just getting started with my new idea so if there is anyone who wants pictures taken, whether family pics, pics just for fun, individual pics, couple pictures, I will take them for free. I figure it will be great practice for me to do it on my friends that I already know. :) Please let me know if you are interested and we will find a time to get together. I am currently in Flagstaff right now.

Email me if you are interested @ trueblue326@gmail.com

Thanks!

Crazy Times

I know it has been a while since I posted anything. Married life has been absolutely amazing, but its been so busy. Greg and I have settled into life and everything is going great. Our apartment is so perfect for just the two of us. We have a new addition to the family. Her name is Fyre. She is our cat and is so cute. She loves to play and cuddle. It is nice to come home to her. The fall semester has started for both of us and its been a little rocky. Greg is taking 20 credit hours and I am taking 16 credit hours and working 20+ hours a week. We are settling into a routine and things are going better. It is amazing that we have been married for 2 1/2 months now. Time has just flown. I love everyday with my husband and it makes me so excited to be able to say, My husband and I ..... I am excited for this semester because I am loving all of my classes so far and it takes me one step closer to graduation! I will graduate in May with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Biology. For there I will start working full time and then when Greg and I move back down to the valley for his student teaching I will hopefully start nursing school right away. I have applied and been accepted into the Maricopa County Nursing Program and I am currently on a waiting list. Once its my turn then I will get to begin a program. I am hoping to be able to get into an accelerated program and finish that much quicker.

For a long time I felt like I was lost and didn't know what I was suppose to be doing, but God has finally opened some doors and let me see what he is wanting me to do. Everything feels so right and amazing. I really don't know how to explain it any better than that.

I do promise that once I get a chance I will go into more details about each placed we stopped on our honeymoon for those of you who are interested. :)