2010....ready for 2011

I would like to take the time to reflect on the past year Steve and I have had in 2010.  Steve and I made one of the biggest decisions of our lives to pack up everything in Tucson, leave friends, leave family, and great relationships we had built.  Moving to Seattle was one of the best things we could have done for ourselves.  We both have jobs now and have starting re-kindling old friendships, and have begun new ones.  I have really loved getting to know my new school and co-workers, and the students.  Each one of them are a blessing to me everyday with how positive and uplifting they are.  I could never ask for a better place to work everyday.  Steve has been elbows deep with Tri-med and is constantly helping patients everyday.  Steve has been offered a volunteer fire job with Skyway fire department and will be starting his training next weekend.  They will put him through the fire academy and help him begin his career as a firefighter.  We are now just praying that volunteering pays off in the end, and helps him get a career firefighter position somwhere soon in the Seattle area.  Steve will be working a 24 hour shift today...yes through NYE tonight so I pray that he stays safe and is able to help as many as he can with all of the crazy drivers on this night. 

I just hope 2011 brings us so many blessings that we had received this year.  We hope something big and great happens again to us !! My plans for today contain cleaning out our kitchen of all sugary desserts and leftover Christmas dinner....and picking up some other things around the house.  Yesterday, we took Maggie up to Snoqualamie to teach her to snowboard as well (which she did absolutely amazing), and I am still quite sore so I will definitely take it easy today.  Steve and I really don't like setting new year's resolutions for ourselves, but we do want to cut out excessive sugar and really pay close attention to what we eat.  We are pretty good about exercising and being financially responsible so I think we'll have another great year ahead of us.  Later this afternoon, I will be going to the Brousseau's to spend some quality time with them...and to celebrate the coming new year...and grade some papers I have left :(.

I will leave you with some of our pictures we have taken over the past couple of weeks I have been out for break. 

Downtown Seattle at Christmastime

Maggie's Birthday..Tubing at Snoqualmie

                                                                               Me

                                                                   Koriann and Alex

                                                                      Jim and Abby

                                                             All of us ready to TUBE

                                                             Alicia, Maggie, Maddie

                                                                   Steve and I

                                                                  The family at Christmas
                             Crystal, Nick, Abby, Jim, Maggie, Emily, Sadie, Me, Buddy, Steve and Riley

I hope you all have a great and fabulous New Year's Eve!! I hope 2011 brings you everything you hoped for!!

Season's Greetings!

(Steve's photo while snowboarding at Crystal Mountain...day after Thanksgiving...so beautiful)

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season as much as Steve and I are!  Buddy is doing much better...regarding our last post...and is getting back to normal.  He is walking stronger and isn't as wobbly as he had been before.  I have definitely been enjoying my break from work and have been making myself very busy!  I've been catching up on my reading, shopping, cooking christmas cookies, wrapping presents, and enjoying my time with our family.  Steve and I were able to use free movie tickets today that I had gotten from a student.....a word to the wise....DO NOT go and see "How do you know"...I thought I was going to vomit at the end of the movie.  The plot was horrendous and I thought it would never end.

Anyways...I thought I would share with you some pretty pictures Steve has taken during the break...

Me, and the wonderful and talented Molly Keegan!  She's one of my students and Steve and I went to see her debut in the Nutcracker!  She was a beautiful snowflake! Way to go!

Our beautiful mantle in our house.  I just love decorating for Christmas!

Our decorated tree....I really do like having a real one!! It's very local!!

At Koriann's house.  We had a lovely early Christmas dinner...Hope you're enjoying St. Louis!

The following pictures were taken just a block from our house.  Since we live close to Lake Washington, there is lots to see and do.  There are a couple of restaurants and a pier to go and enjoy the scenery.  They also had done quite a lot of Christmas lights up for others to enjoy!

The last picture is an ornament that I had gotten for us while we were on our honeymoon in 2007.  Steve thought it was funny....he has truly become a great photographer these past few months.  I hope he enjoys my presents I had gotten him this year.  Tonight we're going to downtown Seattle to take more pictures and to go see the lights on the famous "Candy Cane Lane".  I am very excited!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season...Relax, Eat, and Enjoy time with loved ones.

Tis' the Season!

It is definitely the season for happiness, giving and sharing company with those that you love.  We are definitely starting to get into the Christmas spirit around our house.  I have Christmas decorations up, and have had our tree (real tree by the way) decorated for the last 2 weeks!  The only thing I still have left to do is....all of our shopping for presents!! Yes, we are those procrastinators that wait last minute to get your presents.  I'm planning to do a lot of shopping on amazon this year since it is so convenient, and I don't even have to leave the house! 
We did have a little bit of a tragedy yesterday on our hands.  Our dog Riley was acting crazy and had jumped on our other dog Buddy.  Steve and I didn't even see what happened, but all of a sudden we heard a blood curdling scream from Buddy.  He started dragging his legs and we knew we had to go to the vet.  Something bad happened to his back right leg and the doctor had told us that it could be a soft tissue injury, but she wasn't quite sure. We got him some anti-inflammatory medicine to help the swelling, and are hoping for the best.  The doctor also told us to watch him closely through the weekend to see if he is getting better.  He is still currently limping, falling down, and wobbling where he walks.  It makes me want to cry to see him like this.  If he doesn't get any better we have to take him to the vet and have him sedated ($$), so the doctor can take several x-rays ($$$$) around $80-$150 each....and therefore almost deplete us for our Christmas budget. :(  Then we still have to pay for my damaged car from the snow storm during Christmas... :( :( 
It has been a very challenging past month for us, so please pray that Buddy is able to make it out ok without any surgeries, and it was just a small sprain.  Anyways, at least I only have this week left of school until the break and am very thankful for it!  God has definitely blessed Steve and I with great jobs that are able to help us get by with our necessities.  We are also blessed with such a loving and caring family that is always there for us.
Sorry for my rant....it's just our current situation at the moment and we're just hoping for the best outcome out of a crummy situation.  We do have lots to look forward to in the upcoming weeks and are so happy to have each other.
I hope you all have a very relaxing holiday surrounded by loved ones!
Buddy...Please pray for his health