Before We Got Here...

Today, we woke up in Minnesota.

Well, we have been for over two weeks now...I know, I'm behind on my blogging! Anyway, we got here safe and sound and are alive and happy...and I would prefer not to talk about the day we left. So I'll catch up real quick and talk about BEFORE we left:

I turned 23.

We had a yummy dinner at Carabba's!

We played some tennis (Ben's brother & mom)...

Made some molten chocolate cake with my little brother,

(Isn't he cute?)

Went to a Real Salt Lake soccer game in the rain with my family (below are my brothers minus the green shirt friend),

(Two more brothers and my cute parents.)

...and we got soaked. But it was still fun.

Went to a Wade family reunion in Idaho, where Ben and I went on our own little day trip (Ben loved his huckleberry shake)...

Watched a cool thunderstorm...

(Isn't that a cool picture?)

...And my smart husband graduated from BYU (yay!) with University Honor's. Here he is holding his thesis.

My family came to Commencement...and I decided to close my eyes during the picture.

We also had Convocation the next day. Why is the lighting always bad at important events like this?

Here's Ben with his wonderful parents.

To celebrate, we tried a victory slide down the railing.

Ben misses his days at BYU, but is already loving University of Minnesota.

We sold Ben's Nissan Altima. Beauty was never her best feature, but she was very good to us (and Ben, before we got married). We'll miss her.

My friends, Lindsey and Melissa, were nice enough to throw me an early baby shower! It was a lot of fun.

I gratefully received some needed baby advice,

and my belly also got measured...a little embarassing...

Here's the whole group...family and friends. Thank you to everyone who came!

Here are my lovely in-laws...

...and my wonderful mother, who has raised plenty of boys and will be hearing from me very often for advice (oh yeah, by the way, we're having a BOY)!

I also had my last day at work. This was my first nursing job and I will really miss all of the cute, smart nurses I worked with! I spent a lot of time and had a lot of laughter and even some tears over my three years there in labor & delivery...they were all so good to me and even threw me a little party on my last day.

Ben's brother, wife, and their baby (Jordon, Brittany, and Kenzie) came out from Indiana to visit! We loved spending time with them...and now we live even closer!

We had one last little hoorah with our friends at Pizza Pie Cafe, where my little brother works.

We sure will miss them!

And this is the night before we left. My family hopped the fence over to Ben's family's backyard, where we played volleyball and had dinner and ice cream. We already miss them so much, but are glad we were able to live so close to them for our first two years of marriage.

Minneapolis has been good to us so far...we have met great friends already and are just about done getting settled in our new apartment.
More to come on that later...

There's got to be a better way

We've all been there...monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and on and on until exhaustion. Tweaking adjectives on your resume to better fit job postings becomes a game you play as you drive about daily errands. For the past few weeks searching for a new job in Minnesota has become my quest.

I started by searching major health systems, hospitals, and clinics in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Some of the large systems had a number of RN jobs posted and I applied. Much to my dismay, my first 8 of 10 applications were rejected due to "electronic prescreening!" Ironically, each department insists on applicants having prior experience in that particular department; so how is anyone going to set foot into any department in the first place?! I was expecting an easy transition over to my next enjoyable job, just like the first time when I signed on with IHC in Labor and Delivery right out of college.

With all that said, there's got to be a better way to find a job. And so I'm asking you, my blog readers, for any connections. Do any of you happen to have any connections to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area? I know a lot of times the best way to find new jobs is through connections. Most job posititions are filled even before they are advertised; they're filled internally, becuase so and so knew so and so who recommended so and so to the manager. If you happen to know any of these "so and sos" please put my name out there. It doesn't have to be restricted to people working directly in hospitals or other health care settings. A computer technician might have a friend who needs a nurse or a school teacher might have a neighbor who runs a local clinic.

Thanks for your help!

Two Years of Deepening Love

Two years ago I married the cute boy next door.

Now we're a little bit older,
a little bit wiser,
and much more in love.

Three Month Hiatus

I am emerging from a bittersweet 3-month hiatus from normal daily life.

Here's what my hiatus consisted of:

• Taking lots of unplanned "short naps" and waking up three hours later.

• Trying to comfort my nauseous patients...and then asking them to share their barf bag with me.

• Going to great lengths, when not too nauseous, to get my hands on anything meaty, cheesy, or salty...yum!
  

• Surprised at how revolting my once-loved cooking shows are.

• Expanding my waist size. Rapidly.
  

• Realizing even more how patient and loving my husband is.

• In shock that my husband didn't turn his tired and sick, yet ravenous wife in to the psych unit.

• Staring in disbelief at an ultrasound picture with my name on it...not my patient's.
  

Thank goodness for modern medicine, a wonderful husband, and the second trimester!

I'm 14 1/2 weeks and due January 8th.
We're so grateful and happy!

So far this summer...

Ben and I are trying to relish every moment we have left in Utah. Who knows if we'll ever come back?

We started off our summer saying farewell to my older brother, Josef, who, I can't remember the last time he spent the summer in the states. This year he's in Russia for study abroad through BYU. We doubled with him and Christina on a bowling date before he left!

I can't even count how many strikes and spares Christina got.

I think Josef scored the highest.

Ben had some pretty fancy moves.

And I...well, we won't talk about my score. My game face didn't even help.

We played in teams...and the losers had to buy ice cream.

They won, of course.

But we still had fun. :) And Josef even let us use his gift card at Maggie Moo's. How nice.

I can't wait to see him again in August (a couple days before we leave for MN)!

My little brother, Jake, turned 17. He requested my "Dangerously Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake," as Ben calls it.

We had a fun BBQ with games at Ben's family's house.

Ben has been Mr. Busy this summer. He officially finished classes at BYU in April, successfully passed his Honor's Thesis Defense(!) (see picture below), and is now working full-time finishing up his internship hours.

"Assessing Russia's Perception of Graphic Tobacco Warning Labels" was his Honor's thesis.
PLUS, he has been working on a journal article with two of his professors, which is going to be published!

In his spare time, he plays on a rec. softball team and has 3 on 3 basketball tournaments with his friends from High School (he's in the red)...in church gyms with really bad lighting.

And one of my biggest highlights recently was a delicious brunch with Mary and Anne, two of my very favorite college roommates. I love these girls!

Little Brother

My not-so-little brother, Erik, graduated from Lone Peak High School this spring!
After my older brother and me, I have five younger brothers, and I have always collectively referred to them as "the little boys." Even at 6'4" with a size 15 foot, he'll never outgrow his "little boy" status in my mind. :)
I don't currently have a graduation picture, but ice hockey has been his "thing" during his High School years.
Congratulations, Erik!