...A Glimpse of Our Year...

Are you ready?

I don't think you're ready.

Hold you're breath, this is going to be a quick one.

Not really.

I wouldn't hold your breath......

:):)

...because I've literally spent the best part of this last week organizing all of our pictures from the past year. They were just thrown onto our Dropbox account to make room on our phones....

Nope. 

Not exaggerating. 

Not even a little bit.

So let's jump back to the end of last summer...

August.

Oh August.

I was right about teaching. The best part was the summer. Then August 28th hit and my life became insane.

Absolutely insane.

I knew teaching was going to be hard, but it happened to be one of those very rare experiences where thinking about it...building it up in my mind...wasn't actually worse. Doing it was much worse.

Don't get me wrong, there were high points too. But I'm not lying when I say this past year has been the hardest year I have experienced. (Keep your fingers crossed that this will be my peak! ;))

The only pictures I had on my phone from August to November (volleyball season) look something like this:

First day of Professional Development (before the monsters arrived! ;))

My Classroom

Quotes that I randomly found to use on my "Quote of the Week" wall

The incorrect usage of grammar in public places

...motivation to learn....... right?

And as the weeks progressed...

...pictures that captured my annoyance... :)

Various caffeinated beverages that I would send to Nick, without words, so he would know (and I wouldn't have to complain) about just how awesome my day was going. 

And my personal favorite... pictures of the volleyball girls. Because there is nothing more funny than stealing coach's phone and loading it up with awesome pictures like this:

Or pictures I took of the notes they left on my board. 

I get it though.. writing on a white board is pretty cool. :)

Volleyball season, though rocky, ended well. Our last game of the season was senior night against our rival, East High School. We went out with a win, and it sure was a sweet way to end the craziness. 

The things I wish I had pictures of:

Nick cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and you name what else.

I still feel a little guilty about how much was dumped on him....

Also, I wish I had more pictures with Karlee and Chantel. I saw them more than Nick during those months. And I'm not counting the snap chats the volleyball girls thought were hilarious to send around....

Oh yeah. We're hot.

After volleyball season ended, my life opened up a bit. But, without a doubt, still the hardest year of my life. I really would love to jinx it though. I wouldn't mind this being the peak of difficulty. :)

 went home to Price after volleyball ended and I think that's where this picture came from.

Had time for a trip to Montana in December to celebrate my favorite niece's FIRST birthday!

And then came Christmas

(I think I lost all of my pictures though. But I'll share the survivors.)

The annual candy making night.

The annual pile on Nick.

And I absolutely cannot remember what was happening here... 

My mom received a session for family photo shoots. Brilliant ideas since I think I was in junior high the last time we had them done. Really brilliant... whose idea was that...?!! ;)

Spring this year was exciting because Nick, moving toward graduation, was interviewing across the United States for residency positions.

Literally from the West Coast to the East Coast.

Seattle and San Diego

Iowa (close to family)

North Carolina (UNC at Chapel Hill)

This was my personal favorite. I loved North Carolina! I was already considering myself a Tar Heel -- wearing UNC baby blue proudly, cheering on UNC during March Madness, and adopting the word ya'll. 

The "Old Well" on campus

However, later in March, Nick matched with the University of Utah. An extremely exciting achievement! But since then, we have been preparing for another (unexpected) year in Salt Lake.

Had a little fun with the other Faculty Members at Highland and participated in the Faculty Lip Sync at the annual Battle of the Classes.

What started as zombies dancing the Thriller, ended up as zombies shaking it off to some T-Swift.
It was a blast.

The make-up was stubbornly attached to my face. Even after a scrubbing.

Cam, Katie, and --most importantly ;)-- Norah moved to Salt Lake.
Being able to spend time with them has been much too fun.
House hunting, dinners, and Jazz games.
And that's only the beginning of it.

Spent a weekend hanging out at Trafalga with Bennett and Miles

In March, I ended up having surgery.
It wasn't entirely unexpected.
I've been warned in all of my heart appointments since I was in junior high that another surgery would be necessary.

But it was still somewhat of a shock. Especially since I've always felt so healthy. But an appointment in November, and then a follow up MRI in January surprised us with unhappy results.

In the waiting room before...
braids by Alexis :)

Right out of surgery...

Only a few days later.
Looking rough, but going home!

The POUNDS of chocolate my awesome in-laws provided for my recovery.
(So many pounds in fact, the bag exceeded my 10 pound weight lifting restriction.)

And it definitely worked.
I'm almost four months out, and feeling great. :)

The Lord works in mysterious ways. I won't go into detail, but there were a series of events that took place that led me to the appointment in November. I was lucky. They said my old valve was basically nonexistent once they got in to repair it. I know I needed this surgery. Overall, as often happens with trials, there were so many blessings that accompanied the surgery that it turned into a very positive experience. I felt loved and taken care of in more ways than I can list right here. (Or probably even know about.) So grateful for wonderful people in my life.


Anyway...
The rest of the school year was a blur.
Going back to Highland.
Damage control after a crazy sub.

And then I think we had an event every single weekend in May..


Starting with Nick's Graduation:


VIP seating for the speaker's family. :)

The camera man loved Norah :)

So proud. :)



Lex's Wedding

She hasn't ordered her pictures yet, but here is one of the unofficial pictures.
I'll have to post pictures when we get them. :):)

Taylor's Graduation

Lex and Austin were still honeymooning, so this is us pretending they were there.

Moab Round 1

Cooling off after a five hour hike.

Moab X2

Girls shopping trip

Slam ball!

In June, we went on a 10 day road trip up into Washington, and then down the Oregon Coast.
But I'll save that for its own post.

Then I will at least have two posts this year. ;)