Looking Ahead to 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

Its always fun to start a new with looking ahead, and remembering the past…today is our 4th anniversary! It cracks both of us that we’ve been married for 4 years, it doesn’t seem like that long.

And looking ahead, we’re excited about 2012. The year 2011 was a stressful year with jobs and school (we’ve decided that both of us being in school at the same time should never ever happen again!) but good things are coming in 2012.

Becka

  • I start my new job as an ICU nurse on January 18th. I’m so very excited to be back in patient care, albeit with some anxiety about everything I need to learn or re-learn. Training is 3+ months which will have to be balanced with school!
  • School continues on! I’m considering changing to the Family Nurse Practitioner program, but am undecided…three weeks to consider before my appointment with my academic advisor!

My messy office!

Will

  • Now that he has his MBA, Will is looking to see where that could take him within Mayo. He’s been looking for Analyst positions, either within Patient Account Services (the area he is in now) or Patient Access (the area he was in when he was with Transplant).
  • He has spare time now, so he’s been getting more into hunting. He and my Dad weren’t able to do their annual South Dakota trip but they’ve been scoping out new hunting locations in the area.

Will working on some of the trim painting

Our House

  • Our house to-do list feels so small compared to last years! This year we would like to get a new roof for the garage, a carpet runner on the stairs, finish painting the trim, and get a new storm door for the back door. We could get that done by March, right??

Travel

  • We have three vacation times for next year! We’ll be going to Jacksonville, Birmingham, and Little Rock for our Southern trip(s), and we’re considering a trip to Alaska to visit my sister Jennifer!

Lots of good things coming, and we’re looking forward to a great year! :-)

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Labs + Memory Foam = Love

Posted on November 27, 2011 by

The boys got an early Christmas gift this year, a therapeutic memory foam dog bed from L.L. Bean. We ordered the extra-large, but were still surprised by how huge it was! Its easily the width of a twin bed, and about two-thirds of the length. Despite its size, Max will still stretch out on it to the point where Brewer doesn’t fit (although he’ll shove his way onto the bed), and Gracie will sneak over to it for naps sometimes too.

Will tested it out too and was impressed, suggesting that we get a memory foam mattress pad. Does L.L. Bean sell human beds?? And Brewer gets jealous if Dad is on it, and will sit on him. :-)

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Happy Halloween

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

And we have come full circle…an entire year of dog pictures! Wonder if we can get one of the dogs and the cat to use for next years pictures?? :-)

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Fall Happenings

Posted on October 15, 2011 by
  • Will’s Mom and Dad came for a weekend at the end of September…and we don’t have a single picture! Just a Facebook tag at Victoria’s for dinner on Saturday night and a trip to Trader Joe’s. It was a fun relaxing weekend, lots of talking and relaxing. 
  • Will has been using his spare time to do some serious yardwork before winter sets in, clearing out the thistle-raspberry-lily disaster area along the stone wall. We’re going to till it, and then this spring we’ll put in some evergreen bushes and hostas. 
  • There has also been a lot of time spent playing with his bows in the back yard (the current bow count is 3) and he’s taken a few days off in November to go pheasant hunting with my Dad in South Dakota. 
  • My new job starts in January, and I’m really excited to go part-time. It will allow for more uninterrupted time to do schoolwork, but also possibly some time doing non-school activities. Like shopping! :-)  School work is consuming my waking non-work hours, but only 426 days until graduation! 
  • The boys are their usual happy selves, and I’m sure if you asked them, they would tell you how excited they are about their Halloween costumes. :-)
Happy Fall everyone!
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September, According to Becka’s iPhone

Posted on October 2, 2011 by

Cleaning out the closets upstairs- 7 bags of stuff for Goodwill!

Tomatoes from the garden.

My Aunt Yolanda’s funeral in Minneapolis. :-(

We remade Will’s old dresser with spray paint and some new fixtures.

School, school, and more school…I have my bookshelf with my textbooks, notebooks, computer stuff, and a place to set my coffee!

More additions to the picture wall.

And Will’s new diploma!

Happy Fall! :-)

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Our Weekend: In Pictures

Posted on September 9, 2011 by

Brewer giving 'the eyes' in hopes of a cookie...

The back gate got a spruce-up...

Gracie enjoying her favorite pastime...

Max falling asleep while begging for a snack...

And some furniture getting a makeover!

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Camping Out

Posted on September 5, 2011 by

This is where Will spent the weekend…voluntarily! He realized that its the end of the summer and he hasn’t spend a night in the tent- so last night he built a bonfire, and then snuggled up in his subzero sleeping bag and camped out. Crazy man… :-)

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Another Weekend Project

Posted on August 13, 2011 by

This weekend it was so cool and breezy, it seemed like the perfect time to finish up some labor-intensive projects outside. The next item to be crossed off was the the Doggy Doo Waste Bin.

We love our furry children, but the dog doo issue is not so much fun. And at 30lbs of dog food a week means a lot of doo! So Will took a giant garbage bin and built a little doggy waste bin in the backyard, complete with lid and bacterial docomposer to help things along!

Definitely not the most glamorous of projects, but a great addition to the back yard- and one more item off the list!

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Smith Happenings

Posted on July 24, 2011 by

I’ve been wrapped up in school, three classes going right now- two moderate classes that require papers, and the heavy duty class, pathophysiology, that requires a lot more studying and tests. I love the topics, although I’m still adjusting to the new pace! I am still taking time to supervise the house projects, the tile in the foyer was finished on Wednesday and its beautiful!

New tile in the foyer!

Will has been working on house projects, both inside and out- he took old furniture to the recycling center, he’s done a ton of touch-up painting on the trim and the stair risers, got the foyer ready for tile, and all sorts of other items on his honey-do list! I gave him an iPad for a graduation gift, and I like to tell him that he could quite possibly add Mad skills in Angry Birds to his resume. :-)  

Way better than a textbook...

The boys have been spending a lot of quality time on the couches, its been so hot that they don’t like being outside- although the boys went out and stood in their empty kiddie pool the other day, giving a hint that the heat would be more tolerable after a dip in their pool!

Happy summer! :-)

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Summer Heat

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

We’ve been roasting in truly unbelievable weather for Minnesota, 98 with high humidity and not a cloud in the sky! Will says it reminds him of Mississippi… :-)

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