Last First Day of School!

Today was my LAST first day of school! When I was little, my mom used to take a picture of me on the First Day of School. Since today was my last opportunity to do so, I had Andrew take a picture before I headed out the door. It's hard to believe that I am into my SENIOR YEAR of college! Time has gone by so quickly and I am so looking forward to being done. I am known amongst my classmates as the one who always has a countdown going for something. So today I made a countdown until graduation. Only 265 more days!!!

Overall, the day was good. Very overwhelming and a little bit scary with the thought of all that I will have to get done in the next 10 and 1/2 weeks, but every day is just one step closer to my achieving my dream and my goal. Luckily, I have the best instructors, classmates, and of course, husband, to help me get through it all.

At lunch I went out to my car to eat, make a couple phone calls, and do a bit of homework. I turned on my car long enough to roll down the windows and then turned it back off. I must have left my lights on or something because when I tried to turn it on again, it stayed on for about a minute before completely dying. Luckily, my sweet husband had the day off so I called him and he offered to come meet me at school and jump my car for me when I was out of class later in the afternoon. My car was parked in-between two cars and there was another car directly in front of me so the only we were going to be able to jump it was to put it in neutral and push it. Andrew used his guns and fought against the power-steering that was now not working and pushed my car backwards into a spot where he could get his car close enough to attach the cables.

He is just the best!

This evening I did some homework, made dinner, caught up on some calendaring things, and now, I think I am going to go enjoy some time with Andrew before hitting the hay and getting ready to do it all over again tomorrow!

Our Story

I figured I should probably share a little about Andrew and I: where/how we met, what we are up to now, you know. All that fun stuff!

First of all, Andrew and I met last summer when I moved up here from Albany to go to Nursing School. Andrew was born and raised in Southeast Portland. His whole family, except for his younger brother, are still here. We met in the Single's Ward (congregation only for young single adults ages 18-30) at church. He was my Home Teacher (person who visits a members of the congregation once a month and helps out with things as needed) and that's how we first met. We started officially hanging out because a mutual friend was moving away and he wanted to invite her and some other friends over for a movie night. He invited me and I went, although I was in desperate need of studying for my finals the next day. Andrew brought me dinner later on in the week (as part of his Home Teaching duties and because I had mentioned that I had NO food....) and he asked me out for a date the next evening. Friday night came and we enjoyed a WONDERFUL first date in downtown Portland. After that first date, we were practically inseparable. Things moved very quickly in our relationship, but it all felt so right. By November, we knew we wanted to be together forever. We began praying about this decision to make sure Heavenly Father was cool with it as well. We had talked about a June wedding so that I would be done with school for the year and we could enjoy our summer married. I wasn't planning on Andrew proposing until end of February or early March, but on December 29, 2011 he asked the most important question of our lives. He took me downtown Portland to Pioneer Courthouse Square to see the beautiful Christmas tree. It was a very rainy and wet night but it turned out to be one of the most special nights of my life as we reminisced on our first date (which took place downtown) and our relationship, and then to have the love of my life get down on one knee and ask me to marry him for time and all eternity. Through tears and shock, I was able to say "YES!" We set a date and began planning. On June 16, 2012, we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland, Oregon LDS Temple. We were surrounded by friends and family who love and supported us in this decision. It was a magical day and I couldn't have asked for anything better!

So, where are we now and what have we been up to? Well, first, we went on a fantastic honeymoon cruise to Mexico! We visited Puerta Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. We had so much fun relaxing and playing! It was very difficult to come home to reality.

We moved into a quaint little apartment in Southeast Portland. We are close to our church building, my school, Andrew's work, and Andrew's mom. We love it! I have been working as a Home Health Aide and Andrew has been working at America's Tire in Clackamas as a technician, but we are hoping a promotion is soon to come! I start school on Monday at Walla Walla University and will begin the longest and toughest 9 months yet! It will be so worth it when I can finally say that I am finally a Registered Nurse! We have enjoyed celebrating with many friends as they got married this summer as well as a camping trip with my family, a 4th of July rodeo, Hood to Coast Relay, bike rides, and lots of time with the family. I feel so lucky to have my best friend by my side for eternity! It just makes life so much more fun!

I gave in!

Welcome to our blog! I finally gave in and decided to start a blog to keep the world posted on what's happening in our crazy lives! Hopefully I will be able to keep up with it....after I learn how this all works, of course. Enjoy!