December-January

January

Well, darn. I meant to blog about my Christmas break, and I see that never happened. Dang it. I guess I should just summarize what I remember.

 Christmas Day

 The entire family together!!

 Long time no see!! Literally...

 Christmas Eve Dinner

My best friend from high school (minus one twin)

Let’s see….We spent a good portion of the holidays here in TN spending time with our friends the Harmons as they moved two days after Christmas to North Carolina. We’re totally bummed. They have turned into one of our best friends and we are really going to miss them…so far I can say that I have talked to Martha at least once a week since they have left. It’s been really nice. Other than that, we spent the rest of our time here relaxing as a family. It was the most blissful, wonderful time of my life (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I needed a break from school so badly I could hardly stand it). We went to my family’s house Christmas Eve Day. Cheri and Derek came into town that afternoon, and all the siblings and Dad went to pick them up. We spent the rest of the day playing games, crocheting (I had just learned the previous week so I taught them), and socializing. Chistmas Day was glorious, with gift opening, boys playing video games, and girls socializing some more. Wednesday we hung out and that night we went to the Hodges (minus Cheri and Derek and Joel). I had such a good time visiting with them! Sadly, Hunter was sick so I only got to see him for a brief time. But I absolutely loved getting to spend an evening with friends I consider to be family. So wonderful. Thursday we went to Derek’s parents’ house and played games literally all day and into the night. It was very relaxing and honestly, perfect. Friday the boys went shooting, the girls socialized again, and then it was Laurel’s patriarchal blessing. It was the perfect way to end a gathering with our family. Laurel is so special and it was wonderful to share that day with her. We drove home that night and I was very sad to go. In the end, I’m glad we did. Derek was sick that week, but it really hit Saturday. He spent the entire day on the couch and I cleaned the house. That Sunday I sang in church with a friend which was fun, we got a number of compliments, which really made me feel special. Then we had Monday, which I spent get ready for school and then Tuesday I went to the movies with some friends to see Les Miserables. I sobbed almost the entire movie. It was so touching and well-done. That night I drove to Nashville, TN for school.

       I was just about to go to bed when…I realized that I did not remember to bring a book that was mandatory for my class at 8am the next morning. Mandatory. Yeah. As in you can’t continue the program without it…As in can’t start next January…as in 11 hours from now. So, I immediately got into the car prepared to drive 5 hours and called Derek in hysterics. By this time it was 10:30pm his time (1 hour later), and I begged him to drive halfway and meet me. Being the wonderful husband he is, he was in the car 5 minutes later with my book, and calipers (I left those too) in hand. Let me just say, this experience ruined me. The reason I forgot my book was because I had tried to not be my usual self and prepare a week early for school starting and double check and triple check again to make sure I had everything. So, needless to say, I’m 3 weeks into school and I’m 3/5 of the way through my school work (at least the stuff I can complete). Oh well, when I get everything I can do ahead of time done, I should be able to relax again. On a side note: We hardly used the book at all and it would not have made a difference if I had it that day or not…yeah…dumb…poor Derek…

Clinicals are going amazingly for me and I really think I’m going to enjoy what I do. I already had someone tell me to send me my application when I am graduating! How cool is that?

Let’s see….What else?

Derek is loving his job, training for Tough Mudder, and staying busy a calling in Young Men’s. He does a wonderful job keeping me positive during school.

Marquette is the light of our little family’s life. He is constantly smiling, dancing, and playing. He discovered belly buttons a couple weeks ago and is constantly trying to pull our shirts up to look at them…it’s really quite funny. Marquette sings to himself already and dances constantly. The second any music plays he begins to bob up-and-down and spin in circles. He babbles constantly and says “buh buh” (for bye-bye) while waving. We have a baby-sitter who watches him while I’m doing school work named Katie (she is in our ward and lives in our neighborhood) whom he loves. But it’s funny, the second she arrives he runs up to me, asks me to pick him up, and then turns and waves “bye bye” to her as if to say “You can go now.” But then whenever she ends up leaving for the day Marquette cries. I just think when she arrives he knows I’m going to disappear. So sweet…he’s perfect.