For Katie!

Well it looks like my annual six month blog update is a little over due! Probably my one and only loyal blog follower has been asking for an update and I promised I would do it and here I am a week late.

I'm halfway though my clinical and I seriously LOVE it. The hospital is so wonderful and the other techs are so friendly and patient with me. I can't believe that I will graduate in June. Time has been flying. We're enjoying our time here in Utah. It feels so weird to be living here again. It's been fun to be able so show Michael around and catch up with old friends that still live here. Michael was able to transfer his job up here and has been working from home. We don't know where we will go after I graduate. We would LOVE to stay here if I can find a job. Keep your fingers crossed!



More updates to come...I finally found my camera cord. We didn't unpack everything when we moved because we knew it was going to be temporary. So now I can upload some pictures!

Idaho

My Mom had been on vacation with my brother and his family and she stopped by Spokane to see Michael and I. She was planning on staying for a week but decided she didn't want to drive back to Boise alone, so she took me with her, and I flew back. I love going to Boise! I love being home and spending time with my family. My brother has also moved to Boise and is living with my Mom until their house is done. I'm already looking forward to my next trip back. 10 days and counting!



Jakobe enjoying his fair food



That's my Mom, Meridian Dairy Queen 1961 showing them how it's done.



Petting Zoo



My uncle grew corn this summer and this is our second car load. We made freezer corn with all of it.



First day of school in Idaho. These California kids are in for a shock!

I passed!

On Friday I took the first part of my boards, Sonography Principles and Instrumentation and I passed. It was the most stressful two hours of my life. I'm so glad it's over. Next up...vacation until September 20!

I'm Back!

Well it's been over a year since I updated the blog. A lot has happened and we have both been so busy, blogging went to the bottom of the to do list. I survived my first year of school. It was the hardest thing I have done. I never thought I could study for 8+ hours a day but I accomplished my goals and it has paid off. This quarter in school we are actually seeing real patients. We offer free screenings at the school on Monday and Wednesday. It's been so fun to actually perform ultrasound on someone other than my classmates. We started the program with 17 and we are now down to 10. This is us on our first day of summer quarter, all ready to see our first real patient.



Michael and I went to Cabo in June. It was so fun to get away from life and enjoy spending time with each other with no worries. The resort we stayed at was amazing. It even had hot tub on the balcony. We did not want to come back.



While we were in Cabo, my Dad passed away. He had been battling stage 4 melanoma for almost a year. I'm so thankful that he only had to suffer for a short time. We're grateful for the gospel and our understanding of eternal families. My Mom has kept herself busy traveling around visiting all of us. We look forward to having her here again next week.

On Friday I'm taking the first part of my boards. I've been busy studying and I'm looking forward to a month vacation when it's over!

Go Music??

Has anyone ever heard of Go Music? A coworker told me about it. He says he has been using it for years. It appears to be a Russian ITunes. You can download a song for only 9 cents or an entire album for under $1. I did some research on it and it appears to be for real! I loaded my account for $25 and have been downloading away all day long. After you buy the song and download the song it opens right into ITunes. I thought I would pass this little gem onto you. Check it out and see what you think.

Happy Anniversary!

Best decision I have ever made. I love you Michael. Happy Anniversary!

Winter Wonderland

We've been gone since Friday. We spent the weekend in Boise celebrating Christmas with our families. We had a great time but we knew what would be awaiting us when we returned. It snowed over 25 inches. It's absolutely beautiful but it has been a nightmare trying to dig out the cars and clear the driveway. Thank goodness for me sweet neighbor Dixie. She saw me out shoveling this morning and brought her snow blower over and saved me hours of work. Michael's going to be so proud of me!!! Here's to our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs and what a beautiful snowy one it will be. We're expected to get another 8 inches tomorrow and 8-10 inches on Christmas Day.



Wednesday Night



Trying to get the car out so we can get to the airport



Thursday Night



Poor old Blue



Monday Morning

Birthday Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE! This girl is one in a million. The most loyal and supportive friend you could ever find. LOVE YOU NATALIE!

UTAH HERE I COME!

I have been wanting to go to Utah for a long time to see the bff's Natalie and Rosanne but there are never any good deals on flights. So I was just looking tonight and I found a round trip ticket for only $97. SO EXCITED! Michael is leaving to go hunting for a week on Saturday so I figure I can treat myself to a little girls weekend.



I'll be eating Cafe Rio for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! 23 days and counting...CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!

SEATTLE

We finally went to Seattle and it was so much fun! Our neighbors were going over to see some friends and offered to drop us off downtown. It was a very last minute idea so we got on Priceline Thursday night and got a great hotel downtown on 5th Ave for only $70 a night! Saturday we went to Pike Place Market, Chinatown, Space Needle, Experience Music Project, had lunch in Little Italy, did some shopping at H&M and the original Nordstrom. On Sunday we went to the Seattle Aquarium ( my favorite tourists activity) and just walked around downtown until we got picked up. I have always loved the "big city life" Michael kept saying we should move to Seattle, but I don't think I could deal with all of those people everyday. We had a great time and we will defiantly be going back!



Pike Place



Michael rockin out



Space Needle



I loved the tide pools






Mr. Octopus

Hello Brunette!!

I finally got the courage to do it! After seven years of being a blond I'm finally back to my natural hair color!

Happy Birthday Michael Lyle!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL! Words can't express how thankful I am that you were born 28 years ago. Michael's honest, loving, loyal, supportive, hard working, a best friend, and he's mine FOREVER. I love you Mikey! HAPPY, HAPPY DAY!!

Anderson Lake

Michael LOVES to go backpacking. To me the thought of carrying everything that you need in on your back, eating dehydrated meals, no toilets or running water, being attacked by wildlife really isn't my idea of a good time. However, we went backpacking over Labor Day in Northern Idaho and I actually enjoyed myself. We hiked into Anderson Lake, it's about 30 miles south of Sandpoint, ID. The hike in was only about 3 miles but it was uphill the entire way. I was scared to death we were going to be attacked my a grizzly bear after we kept seeing large piles of bear scat along the trail. We had so much fun after we got to the lake and set up camp. It was absolutely beautiful! We we're planning on staying until Monday but Sunday afternoon it started to hail/snow. We played a game of phase 10 in the tent and decided if it hadn't stopped by the time the game was over we would pack up and leave. The sky was getting darker and it started to thunder so we quickly broke up camp and headed home. It was a great weekend, very nice to get away and just enjoy each other without any distractions. I'm already looking forward to our trip next year.



Happy Campers



Michael getting water from the lake



Chimney Rock



Catching Dinner

Glacier National Park!

Michael and I celebrated 6 months of marriage under the stars! We spent the weekend with our friends at Glacier National Park...the most beautiful place I've ever been. We enjoyed the majestic mountains, drove on the highway to the sun, encountered some wildlife, and enjoyed a beautiful hike. We've decided to make it an annual tradition, and I'm looking forward to next year!



Driving on the Highway to the Sun



The Weeping Wall



Pretty mountain goat



Hello Mama Bear (so glad we were in the car!)

Goodbye Mr. Mac

Last Saturday Michael was getting ready to take a test for his online class and the computer froze. We tried to force quit but nothing was working so I just turned off the computer. I turned it on the find a white screen with a flashing black box in the middle with a question mark. I knew this couldn't be good but was hoping the computer was just locked. Unfortunately there isn't a Apple store here, so we went to an Apple repair center to find they had gone out of business. We came home and I called Apple and they informed me that our hard drive had crashed...ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I then spent the next 2 hour talking to a man in the Philippians, trying to restore the hard drive. Mission not successful. Mrs. Mac was shipped off and we're very thankful he was able to be repaired thanks to our Apple care protection plan. The bad news...we like most other people I know never backed up our computer so the past three years of our lives are now missing. Goodbye pictures, goodbye music, goodbye every document I've written. You will never know how much you depend on your computer until you're without. I seriously felt like I was disconnected from the world. My advise for the day...back it up!

Happy Birthday BFF!!!

Today (actually tomorrow, i wanted this to be done before your birthday) Katie turns 25! Katie and I have been friends since 7th grade. We've been through thick and thin together and I wouldn't be the person I am today if she hadn't been a part of my life. Katie is the most loyal and genuine person you will ever meet. This girl has a heart of gold, and I feel privileged to call her my best friend! Happy Birthday Kate!!! Here's to 25 more...WE LOVE YOU!!!

A Dream Come True

My sweet husband took one for the team tonight, he took me to see Sex and the City! It was a perfect ending to a great story!



Michael..."I'll love you forever!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today's a double birthday in my family. My sister Robyn and my brother Casey share the same birthday! We love you and wish we were there to celebrate with you!



Happy birthday Robyn and Casey!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Michael and I went home for Memorial Day. We had so much fun being home with our families! We met up with Michael's family for so fun in the woods! We attempted to do a little camping but Mother Nature rained on our parade! We did tough it out for two days, I'm sure Michael would have stayed the entire weekend, but I'm not so brave. We went down to Boise and stayed with my parents for the rest of the weekend.



My little fisherman



This little guy was anxiously awaiting the arrival of aunt megan



Happy Birthday Mama



No trip home is complete until we sink our teeth into this deliciousness

Monday came too quickly, we're counting down the days until we see them again. Thanks for a great weekend!

GO ARCHULETA!!!!!!!!