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!

Merry Christmas!!

DONE!

Okay, so I turned into a crazy person last night and decided to take both of my finals today. I felt slightly like I was in a manic phase (studying for a Psych exam--had to throw it in there) all day long. I woke up early, took my ICU final, then studied all day to take my Psych final. And they're done! There's no sweeter view than the one leaving the testing center, just days from Christmas, with the load of finals off my back. Ah.

• Funny story about my first test (at least it's funny now): I came down to the TV to see my score and saw that I got a 52%--that's just not a common thing for me, and I felt pretty good about the test, so I started to freak out aka almost cry. I went back upstairs, feeling stupid, and said, "uh, I know this sounds dumb, but there's no way I did this bad." Long story short, the test was miskeyed and my score thankfully improved after it was corrected :).

Also, Andrew finished his last final exam today as well--and is done with college! I'm so proud of him, and am amazed at the differences in our brains. He is so creative and insightful when it comes to advertising. It's something I just don't get very well! So, I'm glad to have someone who compliments me so well.

Also, we've (or I've) been stressing out a lot lately about Andrew finding a job for next semester. After many prayers and hours of worrying, some promising opportunities are starting to arise. So, I'm grateful for that. I know that times of trial are to test and strengthen us, and if we do good, Heavenly Father always follows with blessings.

I can finally get into the Christmas spirit now, and start all the sewing projects, baking, books, organizing, etc. I've been eager to tackle. Yay!

Finals.

The week is here. Two finals to go each (Andrew has a final and a paper left). Goal: done by Wednesday. Wish us luck!!

PS--Andrew will be done with college forever once these are done!! (unless he decides to go back sometime of course).

Oh Christmas Tree.

So, yesterday we got our Christmas tree, and I'm very excited about it! I love live trees--they smell so good--and we can't afford a fake one this year even if we wanted to get one. So, we went to a local tree farm and got this little beaut for a nice price of $17. She's a little small, but certainly warms up our home with her nice glow. So, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Only 15 days... :)

With the presents I've already wrapped...thanks to Andrew's help!

A close-up.

The tree looked hilariously small on top of Lola. But, we were proud :)

AMAZING Flick.

I've been meaning to blog about this--we saw The Blind Side over Thanksgiving break and it was INCREDIBLE! I almost cried a few times. It was so inspiring, funny, heartwarming...and a true story. It's a must see. So, you must see it!

We also saw New Moon, which was better than the first movie (Twilight). I love the books--yes, I'm a nerd--and I love seeing books come to life on the big screen. Oh, and speaking of, there is a very small preview of the next Harry Potter movie (yeah!) here if you're interested.

And finally--only 16 days til Christmas! WOO!

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas!

Well, we woke up Sunday morning to THIS! The white stuff has finally made its appearance in Provo. I'm not gonna lie (and I'm sure I'll regret saying this when it's still snowing in March)--I'm actually really excited! I have been in the Christmas mood for a while now (Andrew can confirm this, as I've made him help me wrap all our gifts already), and the snow fits perfectly with my mood. The only unfortunate thing is that I have 8 am class tomorrow...I'm thinking my mood might be affected slightly when I find my car trapped in snow.

But, wherever you are--MERRY CHRISTMAS! I love this time of year.

Poor Lola.

Disclaimer: Photo has been dramatized for effect.

So, Andrew and I stayed inside for the first half of the day working on homework and studying for tests. As we went outside so Andrew could drop me at the testing center, I went to my pretty wagon's door and what did I see? An egg. An EGG! Okay, we don't really have any enemies (I don't think), so I'm assuming it was some punk teens or immature college freshman. Whoever it was--watch out! Nobody messes with Lola without messing with me.

Thankfully, Andrew, being the good husband he is, washed her while I was taking my test. And, thankfully, I did well on my test. So, it my day wasn't totally ruined. But, come on, I live in Provo! I shouldn't have to worry about such miscreants.

On a happier note--it's almost Thanksgiving! Thank goodness. We will be trekking to good ol' Prescott, AZ to dine with Andrew's grandparents and our Garlock family. Andrew's grandpa, Harry, is apparently an amazing Turkey chef, so it should be delish. We're excited to get away from school, and even more excited that the semester's almost totally done! Hope you all have a great and safe holiday!

Oh baby.

Okay, I'm not baby hungry yet--but, I was bored in class the other day and decided to pick out some of the items I will buy/hopefully have gifted to me once we do have a little munchkin. So, here are my finds:

The Orbit Infant System--the car seat swivels, it has a big storage bag underneath, and it has two cupholders! Hello. Drawback--it's pricey. I'm hoping some rich people will sell their gently used one on craigslist for me to buy one day :)

Kate Spade "baby bjourn"-type baby carrier. So cute, looks comfy, and the stripes are doin it for me.

Let me know if you have any other amazing baby finds/essentials! And once again, we're NOT prego. This is just what hours of my boring psych class do to me. Yay for the semester coming to a close!

And PS--another thing that has gotten me thinking of baby's lately is the fact that I found out my Capstone (internship) rotation next semester is going to be in labor & delivery at Timpanogos Hospital! I'm so excited, it's exactly what I wanted.

Our First Halloween.

We came, we costumed, we conquered. Actually, not so much, but it was still a good Halloween--our first one married (last year we were having our family wedding dinner!). We celebrated our anniversary during the day by walking around the pretty grounds of Thanksgiving Point and going to Happy Sumo.

I was very excited to get trick-or-treaters, so I made sure we got home in time. I threw together a last-minute cat outfit (I like to dress up for the kids, too!), and prepped the candy dish. We were going to watch some scary movies on TV while waiting for the youngsters--but, weirdly enough, none were on. Disappointing. And, weirdly enough, we only got like 10 trick-or-treaters. Sigh. I was a sad kitty. Oh well! Hopefully once we move into a neighborhood without so many college students, we will get more kidd-o's coming for candy.

Dastardly Dinner Party.

Don & Betty Draper from AMC's Mad Men

The table. Pretty.

I made these pom poms I found on Martha Stewart's website. It's one of my few creative projects that has turned out looking half decent!

Appetizers! Yum. I love butternut squash SO much (in the salad).

Another table shot.

The Obamas. They were incredible. I was mad at them all night for some reason though...ha.

Gray's Anatomy's Meredith & Richard Simmons. What a perfect couple.

The newlyweds. Must have had some trouble on the way home from the wedding!

The most "in character" of all, Hans Solo and Princess Leia

Gloria's yummy and pretty cake

Some pictures from the Dastardly Dinner Party we threw with Mitch & Glo on Halloween Eve. It was so much fun, and we're glad everyone could come! However, due to the lack of dishwasher, I won't be hosting another party any time soon :)

Happy 1st!

It's our ONE YEAR anniversary! Oh, happy day. We made it. And, I must say, we are much better than we were when we started! I can't believe how time has flown, but even more just how much I love Andrew. He's the best husband I could have asked for and my best friend. So, to him I say I love you! Here's to 70 more.

It's Gilly.

I'm alive! Other than a few respiratory annoyances, I have pretty much beaten the swine flu! Woo! Andrew will be vaccinated tomorrow. Thank goodness he didn't get it--get your vaccinations people. You don't want your kids or yourselves getting this! It wasn't too bad because I got some anti-viral meds right away, but I have a girl in the lab I teach who is in the hospital on life support. Scary.

In other news, Andrew and I have found a new favorite SNL character. Her name is Gilly, and she's hilarious! She's a grade school student gone wrong. You need to watch it a few times to get used to the humor, but if you're like us, you'll be quoting it in no time! Just type in "Gilly" into hulu.com's search.