We Are Alive, I Promise!

So, I do realize that it has been 5 months since my last update. I know, I am a total slacker. I am going to recommit to blogging, and try to do better! So where did I leave off the last time...Oh, summer. We had a fabulous summer. We went to the Keith Urban concert in June, which was in Des Moines, IA. What a fun place. We really liked that city. We were able to meet up with our friends Devin and Shalise Kearns who are attending medical school up there too. We went to dinner, and they showed us around Devin's school. It was so much fun seeing them!

July we had a fantastic time with friends for the 4th. Colt went a little crazy with the fireworks. I think he and his friend Jason went to the firework stands (which there were probably 15 stores/stands in this small town) like 4-5 times. All of the fireworks were aerial, so they had to come up with a way to launch a bunch of them. Colt created a little launching bucket! It was fantastic...he was like a child again! We also went home in July! What a fabulous time! We went golfing, swimming, boating, shopping, etc... It was sooo good to see family and friends. We stayed up late, and played hard all day long.

August brought us back to school. Colt dove in hard, and did very well in all of his classes.
As for me, I discovered Twilight, and the rest of the books. I have to admit I was very reluctant to start the books. I really didn't think I would like them...well needless to say a little over 2 weeks after starting Twilight, I had finished all 4 books of the Saga. I am officially a Twilight fan!!

September we were able to have Colt's sister Diana come out to visit us. We had so much fun with her here. We played the first weekend in Kansas City. We discovered the Plaza shopping area! That was so much fun!! The following weekend we were able to go up to Chicago with her. Chicago was a blast!! I love that city! Diana had a friend who showed us around the first day. I think we probably walked well over 10 miles (Not a good idea to wear flip flops you haven't worn in a couple months...I had horrible blisters at the end of the day!) We walked up and down Mag Mile, Navy Pier, around Millennium park (took pictures with the bean), then walked up to Willis Tower (formerly Sears tower). Then to finish the first day off we had pizza at Due! It was such a fun day!! I absolutely loved every minute of the city. All the people, so much entertainment, fabulous shopping, and fantastic food!

The weekend after Chicago, Colt and I went back down to Kansas City to see Mamma Mia at the Starlight Theater. I had a blast!! Colt was a good sport! It was so much fun to see the Broadway production of Mamma Mia! I love the songs, and you can't help but just smile and sing along!! (Like I said, Colt was a good sport!!)

That now brings us to the rest of September and October: school and work! That pretty much sums it up! Actually In the end of September Colt and I were able to make it out to Nauvoo for a temple trip together. It was a lot of fun. I really love Nauvoo. There is such a special spirit there. It is also a beautiful time of year there. It is so beautiful to see all the leaves changing right there on the river. We had stake conference out there as well. It has been so fun being in the Nauvoo Stake, we love it!

We have now caught up the last 5 months. I will try to be more diligent with my postings, and try to keep up to date with things.

Coming soon...pictures of our summer adventures!

Tornadoes, Floods, and Heat!!!

So, yes I know it has been a very long time, and I have so very much to write about...I don't know where to start. So I will do 2 entries: this one to catch up, and one to tell about the AMAZING concert Colt and I went to last night (yes it was Keith Urban).

So in May we had a Tornado rip through the town of Kirksville. It was VERY scary. I got home from work, and the storm radio was going off like crazy. I went up stairs, and heard it announce that there was a tornado headed for Kirksville. Now keep in mind that EVERYONE from around here made fun of us for even having a storm radio. They all told me I am worrying for nothing, and that tornadoes don't hit Kirksville. WRONG!! Within 20 minutes the tornado hit. Colt and I were tucked safely away in the tub with his giant foam pillow over us, and Bauer was safe in his kennel next to the tub. We heard the wind and the power flipped on and off. The tornado touched down about a mile away from us, and did a lot of dammage to many homes and businesses. We had friends and ward members whose homes were destroyed. It is amazing what powerful winds can do. The whole thing was surreal to see. The dammage was unbelievable. We feel lucky to have come out unscathed, and our hearts go out to those who lost so much.

A couple weeks after the tornado we had a flash flood. It was crazy. Our whole back yard filled up with water. There was a waterfall from the road to the storm ditch we have going down the back yard. I was worried for a bit that we might get a little water dammage, but again we were spared. Some houses across the back from us were not so lucky. They had quite a bit of flooding. I will post some pictures.

Since the tornado and flood we have had very hot weather. (In between the days its not raining) Try 97 F that actually feels like 110 from the humidity!!! Wow the weather here is CRAZY!!!

Colt's turn- So, besides enjoying the fiery inferno that we so lovingly call Kirksville, I had a fantastic opportunity to rotate with a doctor after my first year in a little Missouri town with a population of 950 (which is including both cats and dogs over 6 lbs......... apparently they got counted in the last census). It was a wonderful experience, and a great "first" exposure to family medicine. Both the doctor and his staff were fanstastic. Let me just say this, if anyone has fungal toenails or just needs them clipped, I am now a professional with a set of clippers a drumell tool! Do yourselves a favor- brush your teeth and wash your feet.

Back to Kandis- We are now just enjoying the summer. Colt has been Mr. Project Man. Everyday I come home from work he has accomplished some new project. He planted flowers, built a flower bed, sprayed the lawn with weed killer and bug spray, fertilized, planted new grass, and steam cleaned the carpets...Wow he is amazing!!!! I am so Lucky to have him!!!

Flood Pictures: Our backyard

Hiding in the bathtub before tornado hit and the sky after it hit

Looking out our friends' roof (their roof hit this roof across the street)
Looking stright onto our friends' home. The roof is completely gone

The Day after the Storm: The car dealership was completely destroyed. Cars were flipped and tossed. Most of the windows were blown out.

Day After: one of the homes destroyed.
Another Home

There was a lot of coverage on this. We were on the Today show, GMA, the Weather Channel. It was crazy to see all the coverage the little town of Kirksville got. You can also look up videos of the tornado on You Tube.

Hello March!!!

Okay, I am truly the biggest slacker, but we are alive and well.  I guess I haven't updated for a while, because I haven't really had anything to write about.  January and February have been very busy for Colt. He is studying all the time.  Especially right now. He leaves at about 7:00 in the morning and gets home at about 12:00 at night (well at least the last 2 weeks this has been his schedule).  All of the wives are so ready for this quarter to be done!  We are ready to spend time with our husbands!  They have all been working so hard.  

So the question is, what do I do since Colt is gone all of the time?  Well after working everyday, I seem to come home and stay quite busy with Bauer.  He is doing a lot better.  He loves to play. In fact that is all he wants to do. (He is not a cuddler at all) He runs and fetches, then brings whichever toy he is playing with at the moment back to me, right to my hand, to try to do tug-o-war.  He even tries teasing, I will try to grab the toy and he takes a step back then forward back to my hand to try to get me to take it again.  It is really funny.  (I know I need a child to talk about, but until then...Bauer it is)

The other thing I have really enjoyed is reading.  It is funny, I have only read text books, school notes, etc for the last 7 years, and have read very few books for enjoyment.  I wasn't the biggest fan of reading, but now that is my favorite past time.  I am loving it.  So any suggestions on great books to read, I am all ears! 

The month of February wasn't entirely studying for Colt.  He did have time to take me to a formal dinner for SAA (a club/organization for spouses of the med students).  It was on Friday the 13th, and it was a lot of fun.  As for Valentines Day, I played volleyball, and then got my hair done by my friend Laura.  The boys were studying until midnight again.  Colt promises we will have a nice dinner when his break comes!  Colt did give me some beautiful Gerbera daisies (my favorite flowers which are also hard to find), and a sweet card. Even when he is stressed to his max, he still comes up with the most thoughtful things to let me know he loves me.   

One thing I have found that is so great out here is the support that I get from all of the other wives.  They are all so wonderful!  Especially those in our ward.  We really do come to rely on our ward members when we are away from our families, and everyone here is so supportive.  I love our ward, and I love our friends.  They definitely help get through the tough days, and make the other days a lot of fun!   

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...a little late!

Sorry I started this post last week and just finished (1/13/09) I know I am a slacker!!

First off, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and a great New Year.  As for Colt and myself, we had a great Publish PostChristmas....but an okay New Year (We were back in MO, and I was sick).  We went home to Utah for Christmas, and it was a blast. Unfortunately the trip was shorter than what we would have liked, but it was still so great to see family, friends, mountains, and just be home.  It was a very busy week with family parties, Christmas, Cafe Rio (Oh how Colt has missed it!), snowmobiling, etc.  It was truly an awesome Christmas.  The best surprise was my brother Mark and his family drove up on Christmas Eve and surprised us all (they live in AZ right now, and said they couldn't make it up).  It was so fun to see them.  We were all surprised...well mostly...I found out a 1/2 hour before they arrived, but the best reaction was from my mom and Paul's kids (esp Bailey). What a good memory.  

We had a fun time with our families. We played a lot of Guitar Hero World Tour, had lots of sleepovers, stayed up very late every night, went sledding and snowmobiling, and basically fit in as much as we possibly could in 1 week.      

Colt and I officially have a new member of our family...Jack Bauer. He is our Shih Tzu puppy we got for Christmas, and we call him Bauer.  He is now 14 weeks, and a lot of fun.  He is also kind of naughty, and he definitely mirrors both of our stubborn personalities.  He already has an adorable personality, and loves his toys.  He loves to play fetch, and he thinks he can jump (Instead of gently jumping off the couch he leaps half way across the room.  It is hilarious.) We are having a lot of fun with him.  He loves Colt so much, and loves to still Colt's pencil while he is studying.  It is great. 

Well as for New Years, I was sick.  I had the stomach bug, and was miserable. I was literally puking my guts out at midnight.  Oh well, so it goes. We are now back to the grind. Colt has a very busy quarter, and I am busy with work. 

We wanted to say thanks to all of our family and friends for making our trip to Utah so great. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful families whom we are both so close to. You all do so much for us, and we truly appreciate everyone. We love and miss you!

  

   

  

Where did November Go?

I know I am horrible at keeping up on this blog. I am very sorry. I am going to try to be better. To be honest, not a lot happened the first part of November, except for my birthday. I do have to say thank you to my husband, family, and friends, who all helped make it a wonderful day for me. Colt was very sweet, and took time out of his very busy schedule to take me to dinner, and also make me dinner the following night. Thank you everyone!!!

As for Thanksgiving, it was definitely memorable. I made my first turkey, and I also made homemade stuffing and stuffed the bird. It was a trying experience, but we made it through!! We had dinner with a group of friends from med school, and we had a great time. We ended up with a ton of food, and a ton of desserts! After dinner they pulled out Rock Band to play on the Wii, and we all gave it a try (well at least I gave it a try, others were awesome at it!). Even though we weren't with family, we had a great time with friends. We feel very blessed to be living in an area with such amazing people, and to be forming great friendships.

Saturday after Thanksgiving Colt and I drove to Kansas City to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert. We had a lot of fun! We love going to the city!! We ate at Arthur Bryant's again (Colt had to give it another try), and then went to the concert. We weren't able to get very many pictures, because photos weren't allowed during the concert. After, we went to dinner and then to the mall for some Christmas shopping. It was a great end to a wonderful week.

Thanksgiving day (Sorry for the blurry picture, camera was having issues)  

All the yummie pies!

The boys playing Rock Band on the Wii

Colt and Chris giving their own concert

At the Concert

Downtown Kansas City

Kansas City With Mark and Ali and Kids

So 2 and 1/2 weeks ago Mark called me up to ask what we were doing for the weekend. He said lets meet in Kansas City and hang out. They are moving to Arizona, so it was the last time we will see them for quite some time. That Friday, after work, Colt and I packed up and headed to Kansas City. We stayed Friday and Saturday night.(Thanks Mark and Ali you two are too good to us!). We were so excited to see Mark, Ali, and their kids. We love them so much.

On Saturday we went to Union Station. They have all sorts of fun stuff there including trains (of course), a planetarium, shops, and Science City. We decided to hang out in Science City. It has all sorts of stuff to entertain the kids, Colt, and Mark! We were seriously there for about 4-5 hours. It was a lot of fun. Then right as we were about to leave I took Lexi and Deven to get a Carmel apple. We heard that Obama was speaking across the street. We got in the car, but before we left we wanted to check out all the crowds. Just then Obama came driving by while we were stopped at a red light. Ali and Colt jumped out of the car to try to get pictures. It was funny. After all that excitement we headed to get some food. We went to a famous BBQ place called Arthur Bryants. It was pretty good, but Colt got yelled at for not ordering correctly. (It was a little like Seinfeld "No soup for you" episode) Good times! Later on that evening Mark, Colt, and I found the Cheesecake Factory and got some fabulous pieces of cheesecake!!!

Sunday Mark and his family drove up with us to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. They have never been there. It was such a great experience. We sat and discussed different things, and Lexi was so cute she said, "I love hearing all of these stories, can we keep talking about them." We had such a great time with them. We are going to miss them so much. We love you Mark, Ali, Lexi, Deven, and baby Guss!!!

Catching Up....Again!

Okay, so I know I am slacking a bit. So here I am with another post and some more photos. The month of September flew by so fast, I hardly can believe it. We started it out down in Oklahoma, where we visited Mark and Alli for Labor Day weekend. We had such a fun time playing with the kids, and just hanging with family. I also had a fabulous time shopping with Alli and Lexi!!! (Colt and Deven were quite board!!) It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun. We were able to shop, golf, play, and even get some pictures taken while we were there. (Thanks Alli) (BTW I am going to post some of the pictures Alli took, but to see more of her work click on her photography link...she is amazing!!!) We are so glad we were able to go down there, because Mark and Alli are now moving to Arizona. We will miss them, but we are glad that they were able to find a job near friends and closer to Utah!
The second adventure to write about is my trip back to Missouri from being in Utah for Grandma J's funeral. You see it is not an easy task getting back to Northeast Missouri. The major airports are in either Kansas City (2 hour and 15 minute drive) or in St. Louis (3 hour drive). The day I had to fly back in, Colt was not able to come get me. (He had a test). For that reason, I flew into St. Louis where I could get on a flight into Kirksville. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be a small plane. I, however, wasn't prepared for how small it was. There was the pilot, one other passenger and me! The plane had 4 passenger seats, plus the pilot and copilot seats. Luckily the rain let up that day, and it turned out to be a beautiful flight. It was fun taking off from St. Louis where you could see the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It was a good experience, even though I was a little nervous at first.
When Colt came to pick me up I was very excited to see him. That was the longest we have ever been apart since we have been married. When I got home, he had typed up a sign to put on the garage (which he was very proud of). It said "Welcome home Dr. Bunny." Dr. Bunny is a nickname given to me by my friends at Parkway pharmacy...and I guess it has stuck! Colt asked if the picture of the sign was going to be put on the blog, and I said you bet!! How cute is he!!!!