San Diego

Hello sweet and precious friends and family!

The Dents are back for 2015 and boy are y'all in for tons of catching up! We've started school back and this semester started off with a bang and I'm not sure bang captures the awfulness that this semester is (well, at least for me). Addison is finishing up with his more rigorous classes and will be getting into the clinic in the beginning of March. I've started my clinicals at a hospital here in Mesa that I'm also volunteering at! They are awesome, but also terrifying. I had my first day last week and came home exhausted, but I definitely enjoyed my day. Nursing can be stressful and hectic and tiring, but it sure can be rewarding. We've done a good bit since school started! We went to San Diego a few weeks ago with some friends, Erik and Autrine, and it was a great weekend getaway!

San Diego is absolutely gorgeous with a TON of stuff to do. We left on Friday afternoon and it took us about 5 hours to get to San Diego. We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant in downtown San Diego that had a great funky atmosphere. The food was delicious and we branched out a bit and tried some new things that were all fantastic. We stayed at a loft we found downtown that sounded very appealing online, but when we got to the place we found out we had been bamboozled!!  We were right by a metro stop and the walls were very thin so our sleep that night was not exactly restful. However, it was an experience we can laugh about now and we were all up bright and early for a day full of exploring. We went to the San Diego Zoo the next morning and it was great! We took a bus tour through the zoo and were able to see tons of animals while sitting and cruising around in style :). They have an INCREDIBLE elephant area. They have 1 male and 4 females, I think, and they have a ton of space to roam around. They also have areas where the elephants can go through and play with the trainers. The zoo does tons of conservation work and is rehabilitating several animals- like a condor from California and the Tasmanian devil who has been almost wiped out in its' native home because of a blood disease. It's an incredible zoo and we loved it.

After the zoo we had lunch at the harbor. I had clam chowder and it was absolutely incredible! We watched Navy planes flying around and boats coming and going. After lunch we headed to a park with an incredible view. We enjoyed the view and watching puppies play and it was awesome to soak up the sun in gorgeous California. Our next stop was an aquarium in La Jolla and we marveled at the teensie tiny animals in the ocean and those that are huge! It was a great aquarium and we got to touch sea stars and tons of interesting sea creatures. I'm sure you think that's where our day ended, but NOPE. We made our way down to the beach after the aquarium and stuck our toes in the ALWAYS chilly Pacific. We found a bbq place for dinner that wasn't the best thing we'd ever had, but I should also mention that Addison has high standards because of his dad's bbq and bobby q- a restaurant in Phoenix Addison is always raving about. After dinner we found a bar and did some people watching while trying to find a hotel to stay at for the night. Before we called it a night we found a Ghirardelli's and Addison and I split a wonderful banana split because the best days end with ice cream.

Lunch at the harbor! 

The next day we had brunch at a great spot in La Jolla and had some fantastic food before driving down to Imperial beach. We passed where the Navy Seals do their training and took a nice walk down the beach. We went down to Coronado and loved the place. It reminded me a lot of Seaside, but with a California vibe. There is a stunning hotel in Coronado that I've added to my places to stay list. There were tons of great looking restaurants in the area. We made our way back to mesa after walking around for awhile in Coronado.

 It was a little bit chilly. 

It was a great way to spend a weekend. Yummy food, great company, and sunny California.

I made a video of the trip (it's quick!) Feel free to check it out here

xoxo

Tis the Season

Merry Christmas y'all and the happiest of New Years!

Oh, I have so much to fill y'all in on! We flew home on the 20th and made it just in time to celebrate Christmas with Addison's mom's family. We were so glad to finally get to see our families for the first time in months. It was everything I could do not to sob my eyes out when we saw my adorable dad at the airport waiting to pick us up. My dad took us to my parent's house (wow, that felt weird to write) so we could squeeze my beautiful momma, love on Sam, and check my brother out (who was out for a run when we got there). My mom wasn't feeling so well when we got home so she stayed home resting while my dad picked us up. After a quick hello we were dropped off at Addison's parents' house and got ready to visit with Mrs. Dent's family- who we were so eager to see- for the rest of the evening. We had yummy food, played some games, and caught up with everyone we hadn't seen since May! It was a great first night home. We were pretty tuckered out from waking up at 4 that morning to make it to the airport to fly home and all of the excitement of seeing sweet loved ones. The next day we went to church with my family and then had Christmas lunch with Mr. Dent's family. There were a few family members that weren't able to make it that we missed, but it was fantastic to get to hug all of his family and catch up with them. On our wedding day it was hard to get to spend more than 5 minutes talking to people, which was sad because people traveled and took off work to be with us so it felt so unfair that we couldn't give them more time! But it was so nice to get to talk with everyone and just see everyone we had been missing! That night I spent the evening at my parent's house and just sitting in the living room and seeing their faces in real-life and not on a screen was enough to make my heart overflow with happiness!

The following day was my parent's 30th wedding anniversary! They had a romantic lunch together and then went to the movies. We were able to catch up with them after they got back. Check out how adorable these lovebirds are:

My parents truly are two of the best human beings on this planet. It's incredible to have such a great example of a fantastic marriage to look up to now that we've embarked on our journey together. Cheers to y'all for raising two kids, two puppies, 2 birds (?), and countless fish. You're both amazing. 

We celebrated Mrs. Dent for her birthday the following day, which was a great day! I'm so glad that Mrs. Dent is a December baby and we get to spend the day celebrating her and how special she is to all of us! It was a great night that included delicious food and great company! 

Christmas Eve snuck up on us and we celebrated with my family. In our family Christmas Eve is Noche Buena and it's the day you celebrate. Christmas day for us is always kinda boring because we've already had all of our fun. We went to church with my family. Christmas Eve service is always one of my favorites. You can feel the excitement and the church is always packed with faces you love to see.  The holidays mean so much to me, but especially this past year. It was my first Christmas married to the man of my dreams and it was the first time reunion with our families since May. I was thrilled to be sitting in the pew with some of my favorite people. After the service we went home and my mom spoiled us with some of the best food in the world. We had ham, empanadas, black beans and rice, potato salad, and croquettas. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! The food was great and we were able to Facetime with my Dad's family and wish them all a Merry Christmas. After dinner we opened presents and then settled in for a classic Christmas movie, The Interview. My dad and brother were all about sticking it to North Korea so we enjoyed a slightly stupid, but funny movie all together before Addison and I headed back to his parents to call it a night. 

We spent Christmas morning opening gifts with Addison's parents and Melissa and then had a delicious lunch with both of our families and spent the afternoon chit-chatting all together. If you're wondering if I gained half my body weight over Christmas break...the answer is yes, and I would do it again now if you gave me the chance. 

The next day my mom and I made a trip to Mobile so that I could try on my bridesmaid's dress on for Claire's wedding (that we've had a countdown for since we got the great news! Less than 5 months, y'all!). We had a great morning together. Later on the night we met up with Matt and Nathan to celebrate Matt's birthday at The Hard Rock. We so enjoyed getting to see them, catch up, and get a free buffet courtesy of the hard rock for all being December babies. I wasn't lying when I said I gained 740328b pounds. 

On the 27th, we were able to celebrate a darling friend's wedding! I'm so glad we were in town for Cathryn and Daniel's wedding. It was a gorgeous wedding and I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up when I saw the beautiful bride! It was great to catch up with some sweet friends we haven't seen in way too long. 

The next day I went to church with my parents and had some delicious burger's grilled by my marvelous father. I spent the afternoon at my parent's and planned our festivities for the next day!

I'm debating making a new post for my birthday celebration, but I won't. I feel like my parent's made a big deal about our birthdays and maybe that's why I feel like my birthday is such a very big deal ;) We were hoping to get to spend some time in New Orleans so we decided that it would be the perfect place to spend my 24th birthday! We- my parents, brother, Addison, and I- headed for NOLA early on the 29th and started our day off at Cafe du Monde. We didn't think that NOLA would be so packed on the 29th for the Sugar Bowl, but it was. The line for beignets was huge. We got our beignets to go and found a bench by the river and I think that was a better plan then eating in the packed restaurant. We walked through the french market and just enjoyed everything that is New Orleans. I love that city so much. The street performers, the smells of delicious food, and the feeling of New Orleans is like nowhere else. We stopped at St. Louis Cathedral and did some shopping. After awhile we stopped for lunch and had some delicious shrimp po'boys (my only demand for my birthday) and gumbo. We left tired from lots of walking and full of food so good I'm contemplating hopping in my car and driving to NOLA for another shrimp po'boy. It was a birthday very well-spent and remembering it now makes me so very happy. So thank you to my sweet family for a perfect day and to all my friends for making me feel loved from far away.

We flew out on the 30th and started our trip off with a ton of delays and some very tearful goodbyes (on my part, of course). We ended up making the third flight we were put on standby for and made it home 7 hours later than originally planned. We hugged and spun Sassy around (kidding), but I wanted to since I missed her so much. 

I'm sorry for the lengthy post! We miss y'all all so very much!!!

xoxo