Washington Park Visit and Kayaking!

Well as summer turns to fall, Matt and I have been taking full advantage of this beautiful weather!  Recently Matt and I went to a very popular park here, known as Washington Park.  At this park we intended to go kayaking in our inflatable kayak (I know kinda funny), but due to the wind and the water not looking very fresh, we opted to rollerblade around the park instead.  It was such a beautiful loop around the park with tons of flowers, big luscious trees, and tons of people playing volleyball, rollerblading, bike riding, and paddle boating.  I love all the outdoor activities here.  I think Matt and I have already done more outdoor activities in the past three months than all four years in California.  

Since we were not able to kayak at Washington Park, on another weekend we decided to go up to a high mountain lake, where it is clear fresh water instead of gross mossy water.  The lake we went to was called Brainerd Resevoir and it was breathtaking.  The lake was surrounded by gigantic mountains that were covered in snow...there was even some snow on the side of the lake!!  Well we finally got our chance to kayak, but it was 40 degree water with an outside temp of 50 degrees.  Call us crazy, but it was rather nice out.  I guess we have acclimated to the weather! : )  Well we have now checked more activities off of our "to do" list...but we still have plenty to go since there is so much to do here in our new home CO. ....  PICS COMING SOON!!

Road Trip...aka...buying a new car!

With the potential of both Matt and I having jobs in different directions and on different schedules we thought it might be wise to invest in another vehicle since we had been sharing one.  With the news of the Wells Fargo Branch that Matt was being transferred to, we realized that one car would not be sufficient.  In knowing this we set out on a mission to find another vehicle that was of course...a good deal!  After searching craigslist and autotrader and checking into a few that were a possibly, we soon realized that it can be scary getting a used especially if you can not see it first before you make the trek to another state to purchase a car.  Anyways, with the craigslist and autotrader route checked off this list, we moved on to looking into new cars.  We found a few that we really liked (the Lexus RX haha JK... I wish)  no more like the new Honda CRV's  (both economical in price and gas mileage), but we really did not want to have to take on payments either.  In the meantime of looking for cars, we had visited with Matt's grandparents and they graciously said that they had been thinking of selling their Honda Civic, so long story short we were blessed to be able to purchase their Honda, a car that has had the same owner, had been well maintained and has had no accidents.  After hearing the good news of being able to purchase their car, we booked flights from Denver to Sacramento to visit Matt's family and of course to pick up the car.  We arrived into Sacramento on a Saturday morning and hung out with Matt's family (including Matt's grandparents, his aunt and uncle, and his other aunt and cousin who just had a new baby).  I of course was in heaven with having a new baby around, since I love babies so much.  Anyways we got to hang out with the family on Saturday and most of Sunday and then Matt and I set out on our adventure (18 hours according to GPS) from Sacramento to Denver at 9:30pm on Sunday!  Our first stop was going to be in Elko, Nevada, which was about a 7 hour drive.  Well Elko is some town....pretty desolate with pretty much a travelodge, gas station and McDonald's!  Woohoo.  haha  Matt and I arrived in Elko at like 6:00am, where we slept for like 5 hours and then got back on the road by noon.  From there we were on the homestretch aka no more stops for sleep anyways.  From Nevada we drove to Utah and then to Wyoming and then finally into Colorado.  From about Cheyenne, Wyoming it was rough but we made it home at 3:30 am on Tuesday morning, just in time for Matt to get a few winks before his first day of Banker training.  To say the least, we will not be taking a road trip like that for awhile.  We were so ready to get out of the car and be done driving, but at the same time it was a lot fun...!!  Also, it is extremely nice to have two cars and simply saves us both a lot of time throughout the day.  Well thanks Grandpa and Grandma for allowing us to take the Honda, it has been such a blessing! 

Visitors!!

Well if you don't already know this, Matt and I love visitors!  Our friends and family are welcome to visit us anytime... especially when it is below zero.  haha  Well thus far we have had a handful of visitors.  Our visitors started when my parents helped us move out here.  I guess we can count that as a visit, Right?  They helped us pick out our cozy sofa sleeper that we have to encourage guests to come.  It is actually very comfortable as we have gotten a posture-pedic type mattress cover.  Anyways it was a lot of fun having my parents and we can't wait for them to come back soon.  Other than my parents we had my good friend/roommate and her husband visit one night after they drove 18 hours straight from Sacramento to Denver.  We were their pit stop on their move to PA.  Although they were only here for about 12 hours it was great to see them again since it will probably be awhile before we see them again.  Well the visitors didn't stop there!  We have had Matt's grandpa visit for one evening, Matt's cousin and his fiance have been over a few times for dinner and or cookies, ice cream and a movie night and Matt's aunt Tracy and the family have been over a few times.  It is great having family close by to get together with.  Well our most recent guest was Matt's brother, Josh.  He stayed with us the week of Aug 11th-15th and helped us celebrate Matt's birthday on August 12th.  While Josh was here we had the pleasure of showing him all around Denver.  We took him to the 16th street mall downtown, to his favorite-The ESPN zone, to the Broncos stadium, bowling and to the ski resort Vail!  Matt wouldn't let him leave Colorado without a trip to the mountains!  For those of you that don't know, Matt LOVES the mountains and any sport that has to do with the snow... so of course we had to go and check out Vail! Vail was somewhat older than the other ski resorts we had checked out, but it did have a great village.  Ski Copper and Breckenridge here seem to be a lot newer and nicer, but it was fun to see Vail and for those who do have a condo up there I am sure it would be a lot of fun!  Also, when Josh was here we were graced with his AMAZING wedding video.  For those who don't know, Josh, along with his girlfriend Melissa videotaped our wedding from the rehearsal to getting ready all the way until the getaway.  I was blown away at the final product.  It honestly was better than any professional videos I had seen.  It was very artistic and edited down to every detail, which says alot when it is two hours long (Josh knew I wanted it long), but it includes a lot of extras and special features.  Anyways for those of you who are in need of any wedding videography he is getting into doing it now for weddings and is excellent, and not to mention very reasonable.  I have watched it several times since we first saw it and in never gets old, but then again I am the bride..haha!  Well upcoming we have Matt's grandparents visiting again this weekend and then Matt and I are headed to Minnesota for my cousin Tricia's wedding the weekend of 10/9!  We are really excited to see my parents again (it has been too long) and to see the family in Minnesota.  It will be a short trip but a lot of fun!  After Minnesota, my parents are going to make a pit stop in Denver for a day before heading back to AZ.  Well again anyone is welcome to come and visit us.  We would love it!

Finally a Registered Nurse!

My Senior Nursing Picture!....We all hated the white scrubs!

This is me Freshman Year in my first nursing outfit!




Well it has been awhile since the last post, but we have been busy with visitors, the daily "to do's" and now that I am officially a Registered Nurse the job search has been on the forefront.  Well after four years of nursing school and all that that entails, graduation does not mean you are officially a nurse.  The dreaded NCLEX examination is the final step in making it official, that is if you pass however!  On July 30th, after several LONG weeks of studying book after book and practice question after practice question, I went to the testing center to put what I studied to the test (Literally)!!  : 0  For the test there is no real way of knowing what you will be tested on, the only definite thing is that you will have a minimum of 75 questions and a maximum of 265 depending on how you do and 6 hours to complete the test.  Well after dreading this moment from the day I started nursing school, the test day came and went with 100 questions and 3 hours of torture.  Haha no not really but you do feel rather sick walking out of the test not knowing the results.  After what many think is the worst part "the test", you soon learn the worst part is not the test, but rather the 48 hours they make you wait to get the results.  Your mind goes crazy analyzing questions you had and wavering back and forth from the feeling that you passed to the feeling you failed.  After being so sore from sitting 8 hours each day I decided to go and get a massage and pedicure the following day to take my mind off the results.  Well after my family and I checked the computer nearly 100 times within the 48 hours, the results were finally in on Friday August 1st.  I had woken up at around 6 am on the 1st to check the computer and still no results.  Then about 10 minutes later my dad calls me.  I knew he had to be calling to say they were in.  (You could tell by the computer asking for your credit card number)  As my parents generously put in their credit card the results appeared on there screen first.  Matt and I were anxiously awaiting their reaction via speaker phone.  My mom, being the joker she is, says "Oh no fail", but then they both said no just kidding you PASSED.  I never knew one word could mean so much!  My mom and I both were screaming and crying at the same time.  Thats girls for ya!  : )  Anyways, it was a joy that I had waited for for quite some time.  I am finally a real nurse and no longer a student.  Those dreaded white student nursing scrubs will never be worn again!!  Woohoo.  Well once I found out I passed I took the weekend to celebrate and then hit the job trail that Monday, looking for a Postpartum position!  Postpartum/Labor and Delivery is the whole reason I wanted to be a nurse, so I hope I get one of those positions.  I'll keep you posted about job updates as they come up!  Well thank you all for your thoughts and prayers throughout nursing school and for the NCLEX exam.  It's finally a dream come true!

HOME SWEET HOME

Well we are finally totally settled and have a nice place to call home.  For the past 4 years of college, it has seemed as if Matt and I lived out of a suitcase because of traveling from Los Angeles to San Diego and vice versa (I was going to school in Los Angeles and Matt in San Diego).  Also although 4 years of having roommates, sharing rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc is a ton of fun, it is nice to have all the necessary items with you, to have a place for everything and to decorate in your own style.  I absolutely love decorating.  I tried convincing my Dad to let me quit nursing school and go into interior design, but I sure am glad that he convinced me to stick with nursing when it got overwhelming.  I now have the best of both worlds, I can still decorate our own place and can be a nurse!  : )  Thanks Dad!  Anyways, I just wanted to post a few pictures of our new place.  Notice the bedroom set.  Ever since I have been out of a crib I have slept in this bed and have had the same bedroom furniture.  I like having it here with us!  It makes it feel more like home!  Well our apt is a one bedroom, one bath, but rather spacious.  (I was convinced we needed 2 bedrooms, but it turned our to be perfect)!  Well again you are all welcome to come and visit!  We would love it!

The Move to the Mile High City....Denver!

Well this year for my Mom's birthday present, we gave her a trip to Denver.  haha  Actually, she happily volunteered (along with my dad) to help Matt and I drive all of our stuff to Denver.  We left Fountain Hills (Where I have grown up since I was 2 years old) on June 13th and were set out for Santa Fe the first night.  We made it to Santa Fe around 7 pm and therefore had time to make a visit to some old friends that are now living in Santa Fe.  Thanks to GPS, we were able to locate their house.  It was great seeing them, considering it had been almost 15 years since we had seen them last.  Well one day was down, with one to go.  We set out early from Santa Fe and rolled into Denver with my Dad driving the Budget truck and my mom, Matt and I in the Corolla.  Matt gave us the full narrated tour as we arrived, since he is rather familiar with the area due to living in Denver when he was younger.  I swear he has the best memory when it comes to navigating and remembering geographical locations.  Well we finally arrived around 5:00pm (17 hours later and 900 miles) to our beautiful apartment complex.  It was such a relief to finally be here, but the work was far from over.  Matt's aunt and uncle and cousins came over to help us unload the moving truck, which surprisingly with 8 people went rather quickly.  The apartment went from looking very bare to being consumed with boxes in no time.  If it weren't for my parents being here, I think it would have taken Matt and I several weeks to unpack everything.  It's amazing, you never realize how much you have until you take it all out.  We managed to fit everything though very nicely into our one bedroom apartment.  My parents are always such troopers.  They even stayed up until the wee hours of the morning helping us organize kitchen supplies, assemble furniture, plus so much more.  In the three days they were here we all accomplished a ton!  They left the fun stuff for us.... decorating!!  Well it was really sad to drop my parents off at the airport, knowing that I would never be staying at the home I grew up in with them like old times, but I was excited too for this new stage in life and to be married to such a wonderful guy.  Since Matt knew I was going to be sad, he booked a night at the Stanley Hotel up in Estes Park for the night they left in memory of my dad (Stanley) and my parents.  How did I get so lucky... he is always sweet like that.  Anyways, we are officially all set up, decorations and all, and the apartment looks really cute.  It is really starting to feel like home.  Well we love company and would love for you to come and visit us anytime.  You will enjoy the many things that there are to do here in Denver!  We have thus far....!

* To see pictures of the move and of our new place click the link under Our Favorite Links located on the left hand side of our blog!

Honeymoon- Just Maui'd!!

Have you ever wondered where the word Honeymoon came from?  Well  it actually dates back well before the 16th century.  The post-wedding vacation that we know as a Honeymoon was not always how it is today.  The word Honeymoon originates from Northern Europe, where for 1 month newlyweds would drink a wine made from fermented honey, known as mead.  This is where the word honey comes from and since they drank it for a month, a month was known as moon.  It wasn't until the the late 16th century that it became known as a romantic getaway.  Well our honeymoon was so much fun!  It started out actually with going to Las Vegas from Tuesday thru Friday.  In Las Vegas we stay at the Venetian, which was beautiful and so intricately decorated with an Italian theme.  Then our last night there we stayed at the MGM Grande, which was also very nice.  Matt and I love Las Vegas even though we are not gamblers.  There are always things to do, places to go and things to see.  While we were there we went and saw the show STOMP, which was much better than we had even thought.  Also we admired the Bellagio water show and the Treasure Island Pirate show.  Growing up my family and extended family would usually meet in Vegas annually and with my dance studio we would go to Las Vegas for competitions and workshops so it brought back a lot of fond childhood memories.  After our three days in Las Vegas, we were off to Maui, Hawaii.  In Maui we stayed at Kaanapali Shores in Kaanapali, which was very nice.  It was right on the water and was very convenient to the great shopping and activities in Lahaina.  Our trip in Maui was quite packed with activities, which was a lot of fun.  We booked excursions the second day we were there (after a little price shopping).  We ended up booking Jet skiing, a snorkel tour to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town, a helicopter tour to view the waterfalls and volcano and finally a dinner cruise.  All the excursions were amazing, but we would have to say our favorite was Jet skiiing!  (It made us want to buy some someday)  Other than excursions, we checked out some other beaches, went to Lahaina, went to see What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas (the movie), and enjoyed many fun dinners.  We did however stop and sign up for a Costco membership first thing when we arrived to Maui so we could eat in our condo instead of going out for every meal. (What a prime time to get a Costco Membership, Right?? haha)  Well then after a few days in Las Vegas and a week Maui, it didn't end there.  We had to go to Denver for Matt's cousin Bethany's wedding.  It felt weird being at a wedding right after ours, but it was a lot of fun and was beautiful.  It was somewhat up in the mountains, outside amongst the pine trees.    It is neat to see the different styles of weddings.  Well after the wedding we made full circle back to Arizona to pack up and get ready for the big move to Denver.  Overall our honeymoon was a great way to celebrate being "Just Maui'd" and a trip we will never forget!

* To see pictures you can click the link under Our Favorite Links, located on the left side of our blog!