I’m done! I’m done! Last week I wrapped up my first semester
of PT school, and what a whirlwind it was. I am so happy to be finished,
because this semester was SO much hard work! But I loved it! I learned so much!
Now for the next 4 weeks I have time to do whatever I want, and that includes…
AZ for Christmas!! We are so excited to make the drive down on Saturday (the 23rd).
We will be there until January 2nd, so a nice long time, but we
already know it is going to be completely full of family and friend time, which
we are not complaining about! But I will plan to make a post about that trip
once we’re back, so for now I need to backtrack to what we’ve been up to the
past couple of months.
After our couple of weekend trips that Jeremiah described in
October, our visitors and travel slowed down for awhile. For Halloween we
started a couple of fun little traditions for ourselves, including carving a
pumpkin, watching Nightmare Before Christmas, and getting food delivered to our
door (which I was way too excited about). We had a bowl of candy ready in
advance (because I was also way too optimistic) and only had two
trick-or-treaters who were pretty old and barely dressed up. Oh well, I got to
see cute pictures of my nieces and nephews dressed up, so that was good!
In early November, Jeremiah made a quick trip to AZ for our
friends Adam and Andrea’s wedding! Andrea was my former roommate and we were in
a small group with both Adam and Andrea. I was really sad to not be able to be
there, but luckily Jeremiah was actually able to FaceTime me and put his phone
in a tree at the back so that I was able to see (sort of) and hear the entire
ceremony! The sun was blocking most of my view, but the words are the most
important, and it was so beautiful. He also FaceTimed me a couple of other
times during the reception, so it was nice to be a part of the wedding in some
way, but Jeremiah had a blast celebrating them and spending time with a few of
our other friends who were also there! While he was there he went to Oregano’s
with his family, went to Paisley’s soccer game, and had a game night with our
friends Tommy, Emily, and Kevin! Some of our absolute favorite things to do, so
it was once again bittersweet for me, but I am so glad he was able to make the
short trip!
Back here in CO, Jeremiah experienced his first hockey game
with me! My school was selling really cheap tickets to the CO Avalanche game
for grad students so we took advantage of the opportunity! The tickets also
came with a voucher to the concessions so we got some delicious food and had an
awesome time watching the game! The Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals
pretty badly too.
The end of November came really quickly and that meant
Thanksgiving! It was a different Thanksgiving for everyone in both of our
families this year. My parents were in NYC with Heather and George, Brian and
Terrisa were in San Diego with Terrisa’s brother, and Emily had Thanksgiving
with our grandma and cousins. We were of course here in CO so we were all
spread out! Luckily we didn’t miss out on family time because Jeremiah’s family
was able to fly up to see us! They flew in bright and early in the morning on
Thanksgiving, so we picked them up at the airport and Jeremiah’s mom started
right in on making her carrot cake! We had already picked up all of the
ingredients she needed and we also made a Pumpkin Cheesecake the night before
so that it was already ready to go. It was a little bit crowded in our little
kitchen, but we made it work! Mostly it was just really nice to have them in
town and just get to hang out all morning catching up with them! Around 12:30
we drove to Downtown Denver where J’s mom’s cousins live- the Swenson crew! There
were about 10 of them over there and we had an awesome time getting the rest of
dinner ready, talking, eating a delicious meal, and playing games after dinner!
I will admit I was a little bit sad about not having the Thanksgiving meal that
I am used to, but this one did not disappoint! Especially the sweet potatoes
and stuffing! So there was no need to worry. I was able to FaceTime and talk to
most of my family too, so that was really nice and completed an awesome
Thanksgiving. The next day, before everyone got going Jeremiah and I did a
little Black Friday shopping which mostly consisted of buying Christmas
decorations. We got some great deals, and were back home nice and early! Then
we took Jeremiah’s family on a hike a little west of Boulder to a really pretty
reservoir and little waterfall, and showed them around Pearl Street in Boulder.
That night we had a delicious dinner at Sloan’s Lake Tap House and Burgers. If
there is one thing we have discovered about Denver it is that beer is huge
here! There are endless breweries! We ended the night playing games again! The
next morning we met some of the Swenson crew for breakfast before taking his
family back to the airport. Even though it was a quick trip, it was so great to
have them in town!
Not even a week after the Dwights had left, my family
arrived in town for our annual Beaver Creek trip! Most of them came into town
on Wednesday, but Jeremiah had to work on Thursday and I had class, so it was
torture knowing they were so close but we couldn’t see them for 24 hours! Once
Jeremiah was home from work Thursday we pretty much immediately turned around
and headed up to Beaver Creek. It is only about 2 hours from our apartment, so
it couldn’t have been much more convenient. Once we got to the hotel I was
basically skipping down the hall (just ask Jeremiah) to their room because I
was so excited to see everyone. That night we all just sat around talking, and
the next day was a day for skiing! Unfortunately the snow here in Colorado so
far has basically been nonexistent, so there was literally only one run open.
But it wasn’t too busy, so Jeremiah and I managed to do that run I believe 9
times! In addition to a couple of the halfway-up runs with Paisley! Paisley
rocked the skiing this year. She was so confident and kept wanting to go again
and again. It was awesome! On Thursday before we got up there Parker and
Madeline also got on the skis! They didn’t last too long, but they did a great
job! Friday night most of us went down to “The Grotto,” which is the spa area
in the hotel, and it is always one of the most looked-forward-to things about
the trip. It is so nice! After we were all relaxed from that (well, those of us
who don’t have kids were fully relaxed!) we joined in on the final prep for the
Pasta dinner that we have with all of my dad’s former coworkers and my brother’s
current coworkers. My brother now works at the company my dad used to for those
of you reading this who don’t already know that, and the people whose time
share we use for this trip all work for that company. Anyway, we have a pasta
dinner with everyone on Friday night every year, so my mom always works very
hard to put it together and it never disappoints! Saturday we did a few more
runs, then walked around Beaver Creek village, many of us went ice skating, and
just had a nice, relaxing day! Saturday night we celebrated my
birthday/Christmas with the Lucas’ in the game room of the hotel. We ordered
pizza, played games, and exchanged gifts! For me there is no better birthday
celebration than being with my whole family! Sunday was our last day, so we
packed up and took family pictures like usual! We all headed out a little bit
earlier so that everyone could see our apartment! We stopped for lunch and then
had ice cream back at our apartment. Then just like that, it was back to just
Jeremiah and me at our apartment! And unfortunately I had a final the next day
so I spent the last few hours of my birthday studying… Boo! The next two weeks
I actually had 6 finals! Two lab finals and four written finals. It was an
insane amount of studying, but it all paid off! The finals were hard, but I
made it through as well as I could have hoped! I said this before the semester
started, but now I really believe that this is the program I am meant to be in!
For one, my class is incredible and all so supportive of each other, and the
professors challenge us but want us all to succeed, and we have already been
taught so much! Bonus- I have an amazing husband who helped me every single day
push my way through the semester! Quizzing me, doing extra household things
when I had to study, and just encouraging me! All the while he has been crazy
busy with work! He works incredibly hard, and definitely faces challenges with
the work, but he is always learning and pushing harder every day!
Volunteering at a local health fair with some of my classmates (and professor in the middle).
My lab group!
A few other things that we’ve done are decorate our house
for Christmas, go to a candelight Christmas service, Lockheed Martin holiday
party, game night with my lab group, trivia night at a local brewery with a
family friend, and many other miscellaneous things! With Christmas decorations
I have been trying my hand at more creativity (and cost effectiveness) this
year, so I sewed our own stockings! I was pretty excited about it! The
candlelight service we went to was with the Swenson crew in this tiny Lutheran
Church called Rissby Church in Longmont, up north. We had dinner with everyone
before the service and it was a really beautiful service!
It is snowing today and it makes me so happy!! However, I
have nowhere to go today, and I am planning to curl up on the couch and read my
book, so that is the perfect snow day, right? Ask me how I feel by the end of
winter though!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
