2010, Year of Wonders

As I sit in my comfy little therapy room, waiting for my client to come, I can't help but think of everything that has happened in 2010. Sometimes changes happened quickly, like moving from Colorado to Arizona (if you consider a 17-hour drive quick), or receiving our degrees (again, quick is relative - my ceremony was like 3 hours). Other changes happened more slowly, like the ticking of the clock during my oral exam, or my 6-month internship that led to a job, or looking for a house. But seriously, everything is so relative, and looking back, it seems like a blur.

So let's recap.
1) Survived Extremely Snowy Colorado Christmas (still counts in my mind as 2010)
2) Rachel's written and oral exams (nailbiting a definite understatement)
3) Charlie's job search and job offers
4) Graduation in all its glory
5) Packing. Moving.
6) Trips to San Antonio and North Carolina
7) Starting internship and Charlie's first day as a vet!
8) Househunting and housefinding :-)
9) Our 3rd Anniversary!
10) Finishing internship, interviewing, and starting Rachel's job.

Hopefully, 2011 has lots of more adventures to come. Can anyone say "Japan??"

Merry Christmas

Words can't describe the level of fun and happiness we shared with our friends Melissa, Amanda, and Eric the day before Christmas Eve. So here are some pictures!












"You hef to shmesh de meat."








Merry Christmas!! More to come....

The 6 Degrees of Veterinary Association

For several years now, Charlie has been the delighted and grateful recipient of telephone calls from family whenever they have questions about their pets. He has learned alot from the questions and problems these phone calls pose. He has a heart for animals, especially when he has met them or is in some way related to (or friends with) their owners.

Now that he is a vet, some of those calls turn into actual visits to see Dr. Charlie and get all fixed up. But he still gets the occasional call, especially when friends or family live far away. Which he gladly receives. He's a vet. It's what he enjoys!

The funniest call so far came this week, when we were out watching the movie "Tangled" (soo laugh-out-loud funny - we both loved it).

The call was what Charlie called "the 6 degrees of veterinary association." It regarded the health of his brother's friend's sister's friend's dog. Not even joking. The thing is, when it takes 5 separate phone calls to reach a veterinarian, you're probably better just calling your local clinic and asking advice. Especially when time is of the essence. Just saying.

Parties & Caroling

The weekend is not over yet but it feels like we have already packed so much in!
Friday night was my work Christmas party, so fun and classy and festive, with delicious Italian food. Then last night was caroling at Zoolights and Charlie's work Christmas party. I absolutely love this time of year.




Us at Zoolights




The host of Charlie's work party decorated his house for 2 full weeks to get ready. Everything inside was completely Christmas. I don't know any other way to describe it, but it was as if every picture on the wall, every houshold item (rug, towel, plate, shower curtain, etc.) had been touched by a Christmas elf or something, ha. The buffet was silver platters full of food and real homemade egg nog and cider. Their backyard was decked out in Christmas lights and displays, and they backed up to a lake, so we could see other boats and houses decorated as well. They had at least 3 full-sized trees - this is one of them.



Here are some of our Christmas decorations in our own house!



Another exciting development was that we finally hung the curtain panels I finished. It really motivates me to finish the other valences because I love the way it totally changed the room. It already feels so much more homey.

Over the river and through the woods

To Grandmother's house we go! I flew to Amarillo, then drove with my cousin and her two little girls to Abilene to see my grandma. It was a good, productive visit and so good to see my cousin!! I wished we lived closer, but I admit it was nice to come back to nice warm weather.

What can be done on a short trip with 2 toddlers? Trips out to lunch, making 2 batches of fruitcakes, grocery shopping, Walmart shopping, picking up pecans, mulching front and back yards, making meals, and setting up Christmas decorations!Here are some pictures.


Ava



Lila



Grandma showing us how to mulch the lawn. Don't worry, I made her stop after this little bit!



me and Lora - we did it!!



Tomorrow I take my MT-BC exam (Board Certified Music Therapist) and start my first day of work - provided that I pass, of course!! Wish me luck.

Thanksgiving!

My curtain project is going along very well, thanks to the help of my mom!! Sewing is fun. At least sewing in a straight line. :-)



Charlie has been sick this whole week and seemed to be getting better, then yesterday at Thanksgiving dinner, he could barely eat anything and had a high temperature. This morning he seemed better.

Yesterday we went to his parents' house - along with about 20 other people - and had some good food and visiting time. I have never seen their house so full. The had to set up 3 long tables in the family room to fit everyone. All of Charlie's cousins were there. I loved getting to play with the little ones!

Then last night after we got home, we put the lights, ribbon, and one ornament on the tree. I think it looks pretty so far.

"I have a friendly feeling"

I got this email today and enjoyed a nice laugh. I get these things all the time through my school mail and while I know they are a scam of some sort, I just don't understand how anyone would respond in the first place. :-) Hope this brightens your day! Ha!

Hello My Friend,

My name is jennifer, I have a friendly feeling, As I saw your contact today And decide to leave a message for you, I know you're many miles away. separated by such distance, But yet your letters will bring you near to me; Through the mails we will share in future if it touches you to be a friend to me and if you feel to know more about me you can reach me on my via e-mail (jennifergab@gmx.com) bye and have a nice day.

Kisses,
jennifer gabriel.

My Fun Week!

Last week was a great week. First of all, it was the last week of my internship (tear)and it was group week, which means all of the clients that come at the same time, get to have music therapy as a group with all of the therapists. It's fun for everyone and it keeps things fresh. On Friday, I got a card from everyone and the most gorgeous flowers from my supervisor. I am so lucky!



Plus, on Wednesday, Charlie and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance Season 7 tour (he got me tickets for our anniversary/my birthday). I think this season was my favorite as far as the dancers, and I was so excited to go. Charlie was definitely not the only guy there, although there were alot of screaming girls. There were people from all walks of life, and I mean ALL. And we even saw other people we knew, some we expected (our friends bought tickets the same time as us) and some unexpected! The dancing was soo good and we had great seats to see everything. I had an absolute blast.

Then, we dog-sat for my parents (my dad went to his yellow ribbon ceremony in CA with my mama) and went to see the "windmill lighting" after it was lit Friday night.



The last exciting part is that I am embarking on an adventure in unknown waters -- I am making curtains. That's right. The girl who was not even slightly interested in learning to sew (my mom used to sew clothes, curtains, costumes, everything) is coming to her senses. Mostly after I realized that I was not going to find anything premade that I liked in the stores. And that paying someone to make them would cost more than our house, ha.



So I am sure that over the course of these next 2 weeks off I will be learning some important lessons ... wish me luck!

Last Sunday

We got to visit Charlie's great uncle who recently moved to Arizona from D.C. We had dinner with his family and Charlie's family and even though we didn't get home until 10 on Sunday night, it was a fun time. My favorite part (apart from the people and their amazing home) was their dog Nicky, a standard poodle. We are feeling the urge to get a dog ... we will see!

What month is this?

I'm pretty sure it's the beginning of November, right? I'm asking because usually I am the first one to start decorating and singing Christmas songs, but this year it seems everyone beat me to it.

Example 1: I went in Pier 1 on Halloween day and they were playing Christmas music.

Example 2: Even the grocery store was decorated for Christmas. In the produce area. Now that takes alot of purposeful planning. Putting ornaments in vases in the middle of apples doesn't happen by mistake, and only after they have decorated the rest of the store, I'm sure. Haha. But there they were.

Example 3: Then two nights ago I noticed that one of the houses on our street was decked with Christmas lights. Granted, I think they are from India, so they might be for some other celebration. But there's still a chance.

I did my part yesterday to Novemberize our house by baking pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins. And I have it in my head to make this crazy recipe I heard about where you stuff a pumpkin with delicious items and bake it for 2 hours in the oven. I guess maybe after all of that, then I will give in and start going red-and-green like everyone else!

Halloween

Last October we were knee deep in this:





This year we had a much different Halloween in our house! Charlie carved pumpkins and we had friends over for fondue. We played games like Clue and drank homemade apple cider. I loved that we actually had trick-or-treaters. We turned on all the lights and opened the blinds so people could see we were open for business, since we didn't have many decorations besides the pumpkins.



Charlie was a cowboy and I was a senorita.







Then at the end of the night, Charlie and I just sat outside and talked. We both agreed that we love the smell of candles in pumpkins. I love fall!

October Fun

Duststorms, anyone?


I have always loved October since I was little because it is my birthday month, my mom's birthday month, and Halloween finishes it off with a bang! Then I got married and October got better still - it's my mother in law's birthday and Charlie's parents' anniversary as well!

We had a nice little party at our house for Charlie's parents a couple of weekends ago and had lots of fun. The theme was Italian and I got to fix some delicious dishes for dinner. I love playing hostess. :-)

Here are some pictures. We made this cake from scratch on Donna's actual birthday and we were going to write her name on it, but the icing started shooting out everywhere so we made a "Jackson Pollack" creation instead.




Me and my parents - it was the night before their trip to Hawaii



The star of the party of course was Emma, the daughter of Donna's friend. She loved the colored lights I put on the stair railing and kept naming off the different colors.

And I thought we lived far away

Higley. Queen Creek. San Tan Valley. My eyes are opened to the crazy growth that is still happening in Arizona, despite the economy, after a long drive this Sunday. Charlie and I went out the the Olive Mill in Queen Creek and we decided to keep driving to "see what is out here." Well, there is alot. I don't know why it impresses me so much - maybe because I lived in Chandler for so long before college, and yet enormous communities have sprung up without my knowledge. I am one of those people that loves looking at model homes for no reason other than to look, so I convinced Charlie to follow the signs out to one of a dozen builders. We found one, stopped, and got out, and I was laughing to myself because I had no idea what town we were even in at this point. It was sooo far from everything! Well it turns out it is San Tan Valley. It's about half an hour drive southeast of our house. So now I know a little bit more about what is out there. And maybe I won't complain about my drive as much.

Because that. is. seriously. far.

What do you think about...

Clients who can read your thoughts? Not kidding, even a little bit. I started a new rotation of clients today and my last person of the day (he communicates by typing) typed out the thoughts of the other therapist and my thoughts as well, at the beginning of the session. Like, specific things that nobody could ever guess. I literally had goosebumps for like 5 minutes.

Wow.

Anyway, before this happened today I was going to write about what a fun weekend we had! Our friend Trevor was in town from Colorado, and he took turns staying at our house and another couple's house. We had a great time playing games and chatting before going to very cool places in Scottsdale for dinner and after dinner. The first place was a restaurant called Stax, which serves these little 3-oz burgers in many different varieties, with very trendy toppings. Charlie had one that was Wild Boar burger. It was a little pricey but very fun. And they had yummy sweet potato fries.

Then after dinner we went to a wine bar called Kazimierz, where everything was super dark. Like only lit with candles, literally. The walls of the place were stone, and I felt like I was transported to Medieval times or something! I didn't have any wine (just chocolate fondue, yum) but I would definitely go back, just for the experience. We also did a lot of people watching. I was never in the "going out" scene, especially in Scottsdale, so I was just fascinated by how everyone acted and dressed. And had lots of plastic surgery. Like they were movie stars or something.

The next morning we all drove to Flagstaff to go hiking ... and we didn't know until we got there, where we would go. We went to the lava tubes!! Which, if you have never been, is a very fun, challenging, hike through a cave made from volcanic rock. It is literally pitch dark, and Charlie and I were sharing one flashlight the whole time. I think our marriage grew alot in those 2 hours, haha! It was really hard to get a good picture because the flash on our camera didn't do a whole lot, but I found this picture online.



We heard at the beginning that everyone rips their pants on this hike (can you see all those jagged rocks?) so I made it my personal goal not to have this happen. I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans, after all! Well, I triumphed. I came out with my intact jeans (just slightly dirty), slightly sore quads and triceps (who would have thought?), and most importantly, my husband.

Occupations

Since we moved into our house in July, we have been busy every weekend doing something or other - usually something house-related, if not with our lovely family and friends :-). Thus, we have not been very regular to blog on what we are doing. So here are some things to give you an idea...

1) Catching crickets.
When we get home from work, I point them out to Charlie. He uses the humane "capture with cup, stick a paper underneath, and set free outside" method.

2) Catching lizards.
I have been the sole lizard catcher thus far, and my count is 2. I sang to one (I am not at all kidding) and then caught it with a bowl. The second one I persuaded to climb our sliding glass curtains, then opened the door and pushed it outside. Each time, I got the chills and a sick feeling in my stomach. Reptiles are just creepy.

3) Chatting with our neighbors
They are pretty nice. The man across the street is a mechanic, and although we thought his little boy was nuts at first (he kept running after their dog and shouting "I'm gonna kill you" in a scary voice) Charlie talked to the boy and he is better, haha. The next door neighbors have two kids in marching band at Higley High School and they hold band booster meetings at their house. It brings us back to the good old days.

4) Exploring
Our neighborhood is so fun! We have been to our swimming pool close by and we have been (don't even laugh) rollerblading together some mornings around the lake, parks and houses. Power Ranch is huuuge and we have only seen a tiny part of it. There's also this place called the "Barn" where they hold events. Sometimes we go and peek in the windows at random people's weddings and parties.

5) Chores
Let me just say I am very thankful we have a smaller backyard and that Charlie (and his dad) have been taking care of it because mowing the lawn is one house chore I dread the most. I have never enjoyed laundry so much before - our machines literally play like a 16-bar song after they finish a load. Ok, it can get annoying too, but I figure we can teach our future kids to sing the laundry song with solfege syllables (do-re-mi) someday or do some melodic dictation.

6) Decorating
My favorite. We have been doing it slowly but it is fun! The top 3 things we did so far are buy this photo collage frame at Hobby Lobby and put it upstairs in this little niche area, the picture of Paris at night in the dining room, and another picture we just got to go above the couch. It's hard to find "art" at stores that doesn't cost a fortune and doesn't look like it belongs in a La Quinta hotel somewhere.

I am already anticipating Christmas ... is that wrong? I can't wait to buy our first real-sized tree and reunite with Melissa and Amanda when they come home!!

Housewarming

We had our family housewarming party last Saturday, and it was so much fun. At one point we had 19 people all over at the same time, which is quite a bit more than we could fit into the Colorado condo!


On Sunday we went to church and then Sears to buy a grill - yay! Then yesterday we picked up the grill and went shopping for some other random things. We also swam in our community pool for the first time, which was so fun. It is huuuge, and usually really crowded, but we went at 8am and nobody was there except for one sunbather. We also had two dinners our with family. I love 3-day weekends!

El Paso

So last weekend was El Paso! Besides my dad and mom of course, I got to visit with my Uncle Roger, Aunt Maria, cousin Haley, and Aunt Angie.

Haley was the flower girl at our wedding 3 years ago. Hasn't she changed?





Her dad and my dad are 17 years apart, and Haley and I are 19 years apart. But we are still best cousins!




We drove to Socorro, where my dad and his family lived in the late 60s. This is a picture of him with his brother and sister. They were very happy to see him again!



We got to meet Haley's new dog, Harlan. He is a Rottweiler and weighs over 100 pounds. When he steps on your foot, it seriously hurts! I am more used to little dogs...



Like these babies! Aren't they cute? We got to babysit for a week. We still don't have a dog yet, and for now we are enjoying our petless lives. But Lily and Luke are excellent stand-ins.

Back in Town!

(he was trying to compensate for his sleep deprivation in this one)

Guess who's back from a certain Middle-East country that rhymes with Mafghanistan? My dad, of course!! We are all so happy and relieved! We greeted him at the airport early this morning (you can see how early from the pictures, ha), had breakfast, and we will be seeing our family in El Paso tomorrow to celebrate!

Friends

Last weekend we had some friends visit our house for the first time and Charlie made the most delicious Jerk Chicken from this recipe he found. I didn't realize all the ingredients that go into the sauce - things like cinnamon sticks and habanero peppers!



This weekend, we had another friend's wedding at Ocotillo Golf Club, and it was so fun to see our old friends again. :-) It's amazing how some things never change - in good ways of course! Meghann looked so beautiful in her dress!