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

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Hello y'all!

Let me preface this post by telling y'all that I am writing this comfy from my couch with my first semester of nursing school under my belt and let me tell ya it feels great! I'm not even a week into break and I've already watched about 7 movies on Netflix and eaten a whole bag of cheetos so all is well in my world.

In all seriousness I couldn't possibly be happier to be done with this semester. I only have a year left before I can officially introduce myself as Natalia Dent, RN and if you think I'm kidding.....I am, but I'll want to. This semester was hard and everything I thought nursing school would be plus some more, but I made it out alive and it was all I could do not to sob out of sheer exhaustion and elation when I got out of my last final. I'm shocked over how much I've learned in what feels like a short amount of time. I was somewhat doubting I would be ready to take care of someone after 16 months of schooling, but after this semester it's beginning to seem likely.

We have been the captains of the struggle bus since we got back from Thanksgiving break. I almost wish I didn't have that week off because it was close to impossible to get back on the study grind after a week of relaxation and fun. I say that, but I probably would of spontaneously combusted without a week off from school. My last two weeks of school were filled with exams and Addison (who still has a day left, bless his precious heart) has pretty much had nonstop exams. I think he has like 5 exams this week? If that doesn't make you want to jump off a cliff I don't know what will. They really make you work for a dang break around here, am I right?

Addison had his 25th birthday on the 3rd and wouldn't ya know it he had an exam that day. It also ended up being my longest day because I had an exam that ran an hour late so I didn't get to spend much time with him on his special day. We went out to eat and then met up with some friends for a drink. I made Addison some cupcakes to celebrate that night and I will proudly mention that we didn't eat all of them! It ended up being a very low-key and hopefully relaxing day. His birthday is my favorite day of the year because I am the most thankful for that cute, hard-working, loving, sometimes frustrating, but mostly cool husband of mine ;).

Anywho, Addison has been going shooting a lot (no surprise there). We've hung out with his classmates on the weekends to let off steam and relax and it's always a good time. On Thursday, my last day of class, I went out to dinner with my class and then spent some time with some of my classmates after dinner and we had so much fun. Addison couldn't make dinner because...wait for it...he was studying for a test! He was greatly missed, of course. I was so nervous that I wouldn't find any friends in my class when I moved here or that everyone would be like...why are you from Mississippi, but turns out no one thought I was weird and they're smart and fun and will be awesome nurses.

I haven't done much since I've been on break other than try and tidy up the house and start packing and wrapping presents. OH, and I think I've changed the polish on my nails every day because I can finally have them polished on days that aren't weekends! We set up our christmas tree the week after we got back from Thanksgiving. It's filled with Ole Miss and Oxford ornaments from The Lily Pad in Oxford (if you're near Oxford you need to go to the The Lily Pad...it's the best store in the world). Mrs. Dent gave us some beautiful Ocean Springs ornaments too so pretty much it's a Mississippi tree and I couldn't possibly love it more. Sassy has taken to sitting under the tree and using the bottom branches as a back scratcher because she's short enough that she can scoot her way under the branches and get her whole back scratched as she moves. She's a smart one. She has tried to climb our pretty little tree and swat down at ornaments I thought would be out of her reach (how could I be so dumb), but she hasn't caused any serious damage or anything...yet.

So pretty and purrfect ;)

We are so looking forward to going home for the holidays and my birthday(12/29 for those who need to set a reminder on their phones). I can't believe this year is almost over. I started 2014 with some of my best friends in Oxford after a long day of work at the hospital and a few days managed to land the cutest boy in the world thanks to the sweetest and most cuddly proposal ever. I had the best bachelorette weekend, the wedding of my dreams, a perfect honeymoon, started nursing school, and began a life in a fabulous new place over the course of one year. It'll be hard to top this year, but I've got a good feeling about 2015. Of course, I couldn't of done ANY of it without my incredible parents and brother, my awesome husband, my fantastic in-laws, my fabulous family, and my spectacular friends (new and old). My heart is always on the verge of overflowing with so much love.

We hope y'all have a fabulous week and a very Merry Christmas! I'm sure I'll post again before new years and it'll probably be sappy because I get so many feelings at the end of the year so brace yourself for that wild ride.

We love y'all and miss y'all so very much!!!!

xoxo

Thanksgiving in Steamboat Springs

Hello sweet family and friends,

Happy belated Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's something about yummy food, family, and a built-in nap time that you just can't beat. Although it's my favorite holiday, this is the first year I've had a countdown going since August because it was my first break from school and I truly didn't think I could make it to the end of the semester without it. i'm only being a little bit dramatic. Now, we just have to tough it out for a few more weeks and then we're home free and off to be reunited with family, southern accents, yummy food, and the smell of salt water. My mom sent me a picture of the food she made for Thanksgiving and even though I had stuffed myself until I might pop my mouth still watered. I can't wait to see that lovely woman.

This Thanksgiving we met Addison's family in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was cold and snowy and the opposite of Arizona and we loved it. We've decided that while the snow is beautiful it can be a pain and we'll take our 100+ degree summers over snow plows and lots and lots of layers of clothing. Although, I won't lie and say I wasn't super excited to break out my boots and hats. On our first day we explored the precious downtown and spent a lot of time relaxing with his family. I love getting to spend time with Addison's family, but it was definitely too short of a visit. The week was exactly what I hoped it would be, filled with good food, sweet family, and relaxation. I spent a few hours everyday preparing for finals, but finally I just gave up and decided I should enjoy the company I rarely get to spend time with and that school could wait until we got back to Arizona.

When we did head back home, it was sunny and 84 degrees. We spent Thanksgiving with some of Addison's classmates and some of their family. It was the perfect ending to a long day thanks to the delicious food and great company. Addison and I brought macaroni and cheese made from the recipe Addison loves and that his mom was kind enough to share with us. We also brought green bean casserole and I'm happy to announce that Addison approved of both and said the mac and cheese tasted like his Mom's! I was on a bit of a losing streak with my dinners before Thanksgiving so this was kind of a big deal for me. I made a spicy chicken rigatoni that ended up being about 20 times spicier than anyone on the planet would like. I also struck out hard with a honey balsamic chicken that ended up tasting like nothing. I'm thankful for a husband who is willing to try my pinterest experiments and is fine with waiting another 30 minutes for me to run over to panda express and get us dinner after my experiment flops. I will say that I made fajitas and lasagna this week and the lasagna was my best one yet :) !!

Since getting back I've tried to study and get the house back in order. I had been losing weight before Thanksgiving only to gain half of it back in the days before Thanksgiving....shameful, I know. So I've spent time at the gym as well. Addison got a beautiful over and under shotgun for his birthday and took it out to go clay shooting with his friends and is even more in love with it. It really is a gorgeous gun! Sassy was surprisingly unhappy to see us when we got back, but she's made up for it the past few days by being sweeter than ever. She actually got into my lap and cuddled today while I was writing a paper. I got some pretty priceless video of her purring her cute little face off yesterday while cuddling with us.

Addison's birthday is coming up and I'm so lucky that I've been able to spend 7 birthdays with this handsome, brilliant, hilarious, and adorable human being. We have plans to put up our Christmas tree this week and I am so excited. I've still got some Christmas candles from The Lily Pad (check them out if you're in Oxford) and I've been burning them non-stop since we got back.

I hope to update y'all again soon! These next few weeks will be busy for us, but hopefully will include some blog-worthy stories. I hope y'all are all doing well!! We miss you and love you each so much!!

xoxo and hotty toddy to all :)

More Recent News

Hello sweet, sweet friends and family,

I'm going to power through the past couple weeks to catch y'all up!

School is overwhelming and stressful, but I learned how to do injections and put in a foley catheter (we don't have to talk about that) last week. Injections were so much fun! I can't wait to practice on Addison and Sassy. Only kidding, we practice on lemons and hot dogs, although I'm still nervous my lemon is going to welp in pain or something...which is so silly, but whatever. Also, Addison doesn't let me practice anything on him. I guess the whole nurse fantasy isn't so hot when your nurse pumps up your blood pressure cuff to the point of "pain" because she can't hear your non-existent pulse at all. BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT. Addison is going through another tough class, but that's okay because we get to be miserable together. How's that saying go....a couple that cries together, stays together? The rest of my semester is pretty much horrible and every hour that puts me closer to Thanksgiving break and Christmas makes it slightly bearable.

I forgot to tell y'all that I ran for a board position for my school's student nurse organization and I got it!  My campaign consisted of bribery via candy and pictures of grumpy cat (still relevant? questionable...but he's from AZ so that's cool) instead of posting pictures of Sassy, because unfortunately Sassy's fame hasn't quite reached Arizona yet.

Addison has been going shooting a lot with some of his classmates and I think he is really loving it. They tend to go after they finish their tests, which I imagine is somewhat therapeutic. We went to the movies for the first time since July 4th (we were so patriotic on the fourth and went to the movies instead of watching fireworks or doing anything remotely American) to see Gone Girl. I read the book and I practically could not sleep because all I wanted to do was finish it. I was so pumped for the movie and couldn't wait for Addison to get all confused by everything, but we both left a little disappointed. None-the-less, it was a much needed study break and I'm always down for those.

This past week we were graced by the presence of sweet Melissa and Sadie! They came into town for a vet school interview and we were able to squeeze some time in with them before they left. It was so much fun getting to see Melissa after months of being apart. We went out to eat, showed them around town, and caught up on each other's lives, but the visit was too short. It only makes me want a break from school even more to get to spend some more time with our girl!

I won't talk about the game-that-shall-not-be-mentioned, but I will say that we are so ready to watch the Rebels take on Auburn in Oxford this weekend and I can't tell y'all how badly we wish we were there. Oxford in the fall is just so stinking perfect. Have I mentioned how "fall" in Arizona still means temperatures in the 90s? YEAH. You would think I would have become a tan goddess by now, but I am pale as a sheet because all I do is stay inside and study. We have had some nice days though and this Sunday it's supposed to be a high of 75, which is literally music to my ears. I made sure to pack all my boots and sweatshirts and scarves for the move to Arizona because.......who knows. So the fact that I get to break those out almost moves me to tears.

We miss y'all so very much and hope y'all have the best week. We're sending you guys all HUGE hugs and kisses!!!! Don't forget to send up a prayer to the football gods that Ole Miss gets a W; we like being ecstatic rebels not depressed ones. Happy early halloween!!! Love Y'all!!!

They melt your heart with their cuteness, right???

xoxo

Playing Catch Up

So how about those Rebels, y'all?? We've been riding the high from beating #1 Alabama now for 2 weeks and last night the Rebs gave us another reason to yell "hotty toddy" at strangers and hug everyone we see!! On to LSU next weekend (the most heart-wrenching game for this Louisiana girl) I hate to root against my dad and my brother, but I want that Rebel win. Here's to a good ball game!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted! I guess time flies when you're having fun? We've actually been busy bees for the past month or so. School is in full force. I've already had 5 tests and I'm right around the corner from test number 6. Addison just finished up what has bene rumored to be the hardest class he takes this year and he survived! He's currently studying for a final he has on Monday so send good vibes his way!!  I've got a countdown going until Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hate feeling like I'm wishing my life away, but I can not wait until we get a break! I'm about to start my 9th week, which means I have less than 14 months left before they let me lose on you people and I get to join the big girl world.

We'll try and catch you up on what we've been up to! Addison had a much needed fall break a few weeks ago and we went to Sedona and Mormon lake for the first weekend. Sedona was just as beautiful as I expected it to be. We drove up to Sedona on Saturday morning with two of Addison's classmates, Pedraum and Lucas. It's only about 2 and a half hours from Mesa and the drive is gorgeous! The red rock mountains are so red it makes the blue sky and green vegetation stick out and you feel like you've never seen a more blue sky or a more green tree. We stopped at Slide Rock National Park first.  Slide rock is a natural water slide made by some rocks in the water that you can slip and slide down. We were so pumped. When we pulled up to the park the park ranger let us know that we were there on opening day and that they had been closed for several months because of the Slide Rock Fire that happened in May and had dirtied up the water with sludge and debris. She told us that there would still be sludge in the water so to get in at our own risk. Buzz kill, am I right? Naturally, we decided that sliding down rocks > potential cancer and changed into our bathing suits and made the trek down to the water. To sum up our experience: the water was freezing, the rocks were super slippery, and someone let their dog pee in the water we were playing in. That being said, it was cool and on a really hot summer day I might not even care that there was dog pee in the water.

We ended up realizing that we hadn't planned well and wouldn't be doing any hiking on this trip. Also, Pedraum, our DJ for the weekend, had a hurt leg and we couldn't leave DJ Cool Peds behind. We found several jeep trails and took Addison's jeep out and played. The trails were great and we made it to some beautiful spots that helped make for some stunning selfies. Lucas and Pedraum helped Addison navigate the jeep through the trails and I just assumed the role of the photographer.

That night we hit up the sketchiest restaurant in Sedona and got our food order in about 5 minutes before the kitchen closed so the food was super awesomely delicious (kidding). We managed to make it out before Lucas and Addison were gobbled up by the cougars at the bar and before the truth came out and they discovered Pedraum wasn't actually named Tom.

We woke up the next day and did a few more jeep trails and then took the scenic and very rural route to Mormon Lake. We rode through the woods and passed by a few cows on our way. It was scenic, beautiful, and serene. In conclusion, always take the scenic route. We made it to Mormon Lake and the super homey cabin of another one of Addison's classmates, Austin, around 4 in the afternoon. We experienced about a 20 degree drop in temperature by going a few hours north and it was perfect. It was almost heart-breaking when we made it back to Mesa and were greeted by the sunny 98 degree weather. I got to sport my Walter Anderson sweatshirts (I packed two for our two night trip) and couldn't possibly have been happier. That night we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and enjoyed the company of some of the sweetest, coolest, and funniest future dentists and people we know while playing games, chatting around the fire, and eating s'mores. It was fun and relaxing and a great way to kick off Addison's week of relaxation. We got tons of great pictures that makes us so happy! We've decided to try and document as much of our lives as we can. We have a lot of pictures of us during undergrad and I swear the pictures take me back to that second and makes me smile. Excuse that almost Nickelback quote, yuck. Lucas got ahold of Addison's camera and got some great candid pictures of everyone so I'm sure he'll shoot the cover of Vogue soon.

We came back to Mesa on Monday because I, unfortunately, was not on fall break and had class on Tuesday. Addison spent the rest of his week going shooting, sleeping in, and doing some mild studying. Addison's fall break ended with us checking out the Scottsdale scene and it was fantastic! Scottsdale has some huge dance clubs and bars and you can spend your whole night bee- bopping around the club and break out some of those dance moves you've been working on in your car when T-Swift comes on...or maybe that's just me....

Anyways, I know I haven't caught y'all up on much, but I don't want this to go on for too long and bore you guys! I'll add more and get ya up to speed soon :)

We miss you guys so much and love y'all to pieces!!!

xoxo

Start of Something New

Feel free to play this on repeat while you read through this post. I did while writing it :)

Hello!!

The past few weeks have been pretty eventful for us because I FINALLY started school! My first day was on August 26th. The week before classes started I thought I would be proactive and get my first root canal (scary) done and out of the way. So, I wouldn't say I'm afraid of the dentist or anything, but I'm definitely afraid of any procedure...no matter how "routine" it may be. I did lots of googling and consulting with my future dentist and was able to calm my nerves before I went in. Everything went well until the last 15 minutes of the whole procedure. My dentist broke a file in one of the canals of my tooth and I had to go to an Endodontist for "emergency surgery" to try and remove the little stinkers. Long story short, I go back in in a week to (fingers crossed) finish my root canal. I've become a regular at Jamba Juice and may have done irreparable damage to my liver by consuming half a bottle of Ibuprofen in like 3 days...oops.

My first week of school has come to an end and I only have 63 weeks left, which doesn't sound so bad, right? I'm about to get reeeeaalll sappy here for a bit so feel free to scroll down if you're not in the mood for feelings because ready or not, here they come. As most of you know, I started off at Ole Miss freshmen year with the plan to go to med school. I made it through Bio 160 (still thanking baby Jesus for that) and finished out freshmen year still thinking I was on track to be Dr. Vera. Sophomore year I decided to show the world what a genius I was by taking organic chem, physics, and cal 2 AT THE SAME TIME. Needless to say, that was a failure, literally, I failed cal 2. I began to realize that I didn't like what route I was on and began doing some soul searching. I changed my major 5 times (or...6?) and went from med school to law school to grad school to nursing. I will admit, that once I began questioning what I wanted to do Addison mentioned nursing.....and I laughed and said no. I think a recurring theme in my life is that my family suggests I do something, I don't do it, I bump my head on the wall a lot, and then decide that what they suggested made a lot of sense. Whatever. So maybe I could of figured this out earlier, finished school, and be saving lives 24/7, but better late than never, right? I can 1389% say I wouldn't be where I am without the UNCONDITIONAL love and support I have from my friends and family. Every time I changed my mind about what I was doing with my life Addison made up a spread sheet of what I needed to do to get into school and what schools I should apply to. My parents would get me the books I needed to study for the LSAT and the GRE and be just as supportive as ever. Addison's parents would encourage me and never judged their driven son's indecisive girlfriend. They would all tell me that I would make a great doctor/lawyer/psychiatrist/psychologist. My friends dealt with the never-ending, "Maybe I'll move to Africa and work with elephants.", "Would you still be friends with me if I'm homeless?", Maybe I'll somehow get famous...". Seriously, thank y'all. I'll hook you up with free flu shots one day. I feel so great about the place I'm at today because I'm finally doing what I really think I'm meant to do. As cheesy as that sounds. I'm so excited for this next chapter of my life and will still need my incredible support system. You guys are awesome and incredible and phenomenal and every other positive word in the dictionary and as I'm writing this my heart is filling up with more and more love for each of y'all. Thank you so much, again.

I had my first panic attack on day 2 of classes. This is definitely an intensive program and it's going to take a little more effort than I thought to whip me into nursing student shape, but I'll make it. Addison is ALMOST done with one of the toughest classes he's had to take and is doing really well. I'm so proud of my precious husband. If anything makes me want to excel in nursing school it's being his other half. I mean, he can't be an awesome dentist with a mediocre wife. Sassy is living the life and by that I mean sleeping through life. She's figured out how to manipulate us both into giving her wet cat food all the time. You'd think not much goes through that little cat brain of hers other than where she's going to nap next, but home girl knows what's up. I think she's managed to get three bowls of it in one day....more times than I'd like to admit.

We've managed to get to know our area pretty well thanks to some of Addison's classmates planning some pretty awesome study breaks. We went to a driving range in Scottsdale a few weeks ago and had so much fun. Last night we went to Tempe and went out on Mill Ave where ASU is. It was so much fun I (FOR A SECOND) thought about how much fun it would of been to have gone to ASU for undergrad. I then repeated the hotty toddy chant 35 times for my transgressions so all is well. Speaking of Ole Miss, how about them rebels? A win is always the best way to start off a season. We've been missing Oxford and Ole Miss a lot lately. I can't promise I won't sob when I watch our first home game from 1,465 miles away. Here's to many more W's for the Rebs!

Sassy being so sweet and helping me study!! 

My first day of class!!! 

We miss y'all all so much and love you dearly!!!!! Hope y'all's Labor Day is filled with relaxation and yummy food! 

xoxo