Stressed. And belated birthday.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while--as the title says, I've been a little stressed. Or a lot. I started my last semester of school, and let's just say, thank goodness it's my last semester, because even if it weren't I wouldn't come back. My schedule is so busy and I am so overwhelmed with my assignments and all the clinical hours I have to get it that I feel on the verge of tears at most times. So, my non-blogging pattern will likely continue. But, just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well.

And, I never officially wished my sister, Kristin, a Happy Birthday! Her birthday was on January 1st, and we were out of town so we didn't get to see her. But, she is wonderful and I love her and just wanted to let her know!

"She's a real beaut, Clark."

The title is from our favorite holiday movie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation--a classic. So, I promised holiday updates and here they are. First, I love these slippers. They are made of down and the most amazing things for defrosting my feet. But, that's neither here nor there.

Before Christmas, Andrew and I spent a night on a very cheap date--total cost: $1. We bought a Diet Coke from McDonald's (any size = $1!) and drove aimlessly around Provo/Orem exploring lights. Below are a few of our favorites--way to go you people with abundant Christmas cheer! We love you :)

(You can't see the whole thing here, but this house/yard was a huge estate totally decorated. We spotted it from I-15!)

Andrew, Jenna, Brennan, and I spent a large portion of one of our days building this gingerbread house. Pretty impressive if I might say so myself!

We went ice skating on Christmas Eve with my Mom and brother and sister. I wasn't feeling too hot that day, but it was fun nonetheless. And it was crowded, so the other people around us provided some great entertainment!

I felt horrible Christmas Eve & Day, so sadly I didn't take any pictures of the big day! But, we were very blessed by Santa and our generous parents--thank you to them! On the bright side of being sick, though, I slept through the Christmas Eve night for the first time ever thanks to Nyquil :)

Andrew and I were given a getaway trip to San Diego by Andrew's parents, so we spent a night there while we were in California for the week. It was SO much fun--we stayed in the Marriott and walked around downtown all day. We finished the day off with sushi...can't beat that!

The view from our room--Petco Park!

A shot of downtown San Diego

We had to hit up Ghirardelli's.

We were able to do a session in the San Diego Temple, which I have never been into. It was just wonderful. It was an unplanned trip, or else Andrew would have been wearing a white shirt--he was embarrassed about that.

Finally, we attended the Rose Parade with Dana, Beth, Bryan, Haven, Berkley, and our good friend Skyler. It was so neat to see the floats up close and a really fun experience! Our favorite float featured snowboarding dogs.

Yay for Christmas! I'm sad it's over...guess I'll just start counting down to next year! Hope everyone had a splendid holiday.

And so it begins.

Tomorrow officially begins my last semester of college, and I could not be happier. In four months, I will be a real nurse! Watch out world. It's only taken my six years! ha. Wish me luck and a speedy semester. I will be working in the Timpanogos Regional Labor & Delivery for approximately 220 hours in the next four months, and I hope to take the NCLEX in early May (gulp).

In other news, we had a splendid Christmas/New Years holiday, apart from the nagging head cold I had most of the time. It was wonderful to spend time with family, and we feel rejuvenated for the new year. I haven't uploaded pictures yet, of couse, because I'm a lazy blogger (if you haven't noticed). My first goal of the new year is to get my pictures up before school gets crazy. Until then!