He's 26!

And almost a doctor!!


A look back . . . 2007



2008



2009



2010



That's just the post-marriage history. I've known Charlie since he was 16 and I can honestly that he is a truly, wonderfully thoughtful, giving, funny, smart, handsome man inside and out. I'm so blessed to be married to him. I love you!!

Happy Birthday, Charlie!!!

Tea Fun

Today we headed off to Boulder to tour the Celestial Seasonings tea factory. I think that's what you call it - a factory. Maybe it's a plant. Anyway, we had a lot of fun with Nicola and Jeremy and we all felt slightly silly after drinking so much tea, we couldn't stop laughing at everything! The best part of the tour in my opinion was the "mint room" where they store ... mint, that's right! Seriously, it burned the eyes and opened the sinuses like Vicks vapo rub X 10! Which was great for Charlie's cold.
For lunch we went to Cheesecake Factory which is a special treat because we don't have anything like that in Fort Collins. Charlie got an early birthday piece of cake. Of course we had to help him finish it, and mmm was it good.



Of course it was snowing nonstop today (and will continue tomorrow) but we sure showed the snow who's boss! J/K. Can you tell I'm still in a funny mood?

Valentine Friends

Charlie has been working all week including the weekends for 2 weeks straight ... but we still managed to have a fun Valentine's Eve get together with two other couples we love very much. Not only are they wonderful friends but they make the most amazing dishes! No one went hungry. We played games and laughed and had a good time. This is one of the famous "family portraits" that I love making us take when we are together. I have no idea why, it makes me happy. :-) Plus there won't be very much longer that we live so close together. Sad to think about ...

I was also going to tell a really good story about our neighbors that happened yesterday, but I think I will wait on that. Everything seems so ... silly and irrelevant, maybe, after finding out that one of my close choir friends passed away during the night after battling breast cancer for 8 years. She left behind her husband and young daughter. Please keep them in your prayers.

To all our family and friends, we may not say it enough, but we love you all so much. We cherish the time that we are together and we miss you dearly when we are apart.

Cool Earmuffs?!

Ok, all of my friends who live in cold climates and/or go skiing, snowboarding or what have you, I have a question:

Have these always been in style? Did I never notice people wearing them before because I lived in Arizona and I never went skiing? Because today, I kid you not, I saw like 10 people wearing these exact earmuffs just today.



In my humble opinion, they look like those headphones we wore in 2nd grade when we went to "listening lab" time. But I have a sinking feeling that these are the trendiest earmuffs out there and I have just not been paying attention. Maybe someone needs to invent better looking ones ... sorry if I just offended your favorite pair of earmuffs. I know these are not very deep thoughts, but I am genuinely perplexed. :-)

Double Digits

Less than 100 days now until graduation and moving back and hopefully seeing my dad! So nice to be able to think about that now...

Today I had my first neuroanatomy exam and (I think) it went great! The material that we covered for this one test was honestly more than any other exam I've ever had, including finals! Not for the faint of heart.

I was so nervous and I totally felt like an outsider walking into the exam. All the science masters students had a single glove on and were holding their pencil before they even walked into the room, like they'd done it a thousand times before. During the lab portion this little timer went off every minute, signifying it was time to move to the next station and look at another brain or spinal cord or skull.

But you know what makes me the happiest? Last night, while I might have been killing myself with unnecessary studying, I went to see the Metropolitan Opera "Live in HD" broadcast of "Carmen" at the movie theater with my friend Thalia!

It might sound weird to see an opera at the movie theater but it was soo amazing. First of all, you get to see the singers and sets up close, and I mean clooose, which makes everything really engaging and dramatic. Then, Renee Fleming narrates the whole thing and interviews the singers, orchestra conductor, and choreographer during the intermission times. They show all the people changing the set behind the curtain, and it's so close it feels like you're there. Definitely go see one if you get the chance!

To make it even better, the soloists Elīna Garanča as Carmen and Roberto Alagna as Don José were soooo good. And they had amazing chemistry too. Ahh. I love getting to do stuff like this.