Last Fire

This is the last fire we will light in our home in Colorado (unless, say, there is an unseasonable blizzard and we lose power and are forced to live off the land - ha)!

This is (clearly) Rachel talking here. I have to say that it was really nice to have a wood-burning fireplace while living here. I've never had a fireplace growing up and though I still have yet to actually learn how to build a fire or start a fire or anything about fire, I do appreciate them and the ski-lodge ambiance they bring. For example, there's nothing quite like studying for a neuroanatomy exam by the fire, or having dinner by the fire, or watching a movie by the fire... but alas, I would still willingly trade this (and the associated 8 months of winter) for 8 months of summer in the burning fire of Arizona. :-)

Spring Break

It's Spring Break, and what are we doing? Vacationing in Florida or Mexico or even going back to Arizona for a visit? Nah. We're livin' it up in FoCo and counting down our last 8 weeks until graduation. It's starting to feel a little more real.

Here's our picture we took for graduation purposes in our dining room.



This week so far...
*Rachel threw a baby shower for her friend and it was lots of fun. :-)

*Charlie stayed at the vet hospital until almost midnight and then had to return again at 7am.

*Rachel's been checking things off her to-do list, like doing random schoolwork, giving away sweaters and coats to Goodwill, and passing the graduate written exam (Yessss!).

*Our ghetto neighbors below us left on vacation and their alarm clock has been going off the entire time!

*Weather forecast for the weekend : Snow, of course!

The fun never ends around here, folks - make Fort Collins your Spring Break destination today!

Hoop Jumping

Lately I feel like I am an expert at jumping through hoops.
You want me to do what? By tomorrow? Sure thing.
Take 4 exams in one week? Piece of cake.
Schedule my oral exam with 3 insanely busy professors? Can do.
Study all the material I learned from the past two years in full detail? Already done.
Wear a bowl of fruit on my head and do the cha-cha for everyone? Gladly.

So I take my big graduate exam tomorrow!! Let's hope I survive the 2nd to last of the "hoops" before graduation. Wish me luck

Thoughts

1. I am sad the Olympics are over. It really helped me cope with the winter blues that I get from Colorado. Charlie knows it is the only time I am even mildly interested in watching sports unless they involve some type of dancing or costumes like figure skating. Plus I love watching athletes from other countries and seeing their interesting names and outfits. And I especially liked watching the opening and closing ceremonies. It made me A) Want to visit Canada, but only in the summer, and B) excited for the next winter Olympics in Russia after I watched the ballet dancers and Russian choir perform.

2. I took my second neuro exam last week and it was really hard. I skipped 2 other classes to study for it that day - I think I am going crazy! I will find out tomorrow how I did.

3. Two weeks until spring break means two things for me:

- The semester is almost half over!! AND
- I only have two more weeks until I take my written exams which basically determines my academic future. I just read that again and I scared myself even more!

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.