love

yesterday (love day) i was at the hospital for my clinical rotations. my patient was, without a doubt, the most adorable man i've ever met. 90 years old and walking strolling the halls like he was in central park. he had the brightest countenance & he exuded that wonderful grandpa-ness that just makes you smile. in no time he was calling me "nick" & we were discussing the tragedy of Whitney Houston's death.

we talked a little about our lives, where we live, what we do, where we're from...
he asked how long i've been married and when i replied "17 months" he got this look in his eye & told me that he and "sweetheart" were celebrating sixty five years this summer. the look was what i think joy, devotion, true love, tenderness, excitement, butterflies and gratitude would look like through sweet grandpa tears. it was perfect, it made me pause.

the hours flew by & all too soon he was leaving and i was left patient-less. normally i consider that a lucky day (terrible, i know), but this time i was so sad. he was such a doll. his daughter came to pick him up & as we were chatting she opened a little window into his life for me.

she told me that he needed to get back home to take care of his wife who was in a wheelchair & battling dementia. he has taken care of her around the clock for years. how interesting that such a trial was nothing to deter the love and devotion her felt for his sweet wife. i thought back to our converstaion about marriage & couldn't recall a trace of heartache or regret or weariness when he spoke of her. his pure love was so evident and it really stunned me to the core. we said our good-byes and he gave me the sweet old man wink-&-wave and that was it.

he was so eager to return to a life that some would call binding, unfair or even cruel.
but he was just missing his love.

what a man.
what a valentine's day.

(goodbye + hello)

We've been in our new place for almost a month now & are so in love with it. Not living right above our landlords (& their cats) is great & we have wonderful neighbors (our good friends are right next door). Oh, and Mckay's commute to work is 3 minutes from door to desk. We hope to stay in this apartment for as long as we can.

Moving night (back in December right before Christmas)! We packed and packed and packed for almost an entire day. I had no idea we had so much stuff. We did a major organizing overhaul and took probably 1/5 of our belongings to Goodwill, that felt good. We were so lucky that moving in December didn't involve snow, rain or freezing temperatures.  

The new place! I LOVE the dark wood floors. & almost everything about it.

The first meal we shared in our new apartment, Subway $5 sandwiches.

It was so fun to pick new paint colors for the place. It literally took me hours days. Mckay thought I was crazy, but I'm so happy with the results.  In the living room/kitchen/hallway "we" chose a beautiful light blue/grey (Horizon from Benjamin Moore Off-white palate) and for the bedroom and bathroom, a darker, richer grey (Stoneington, Benjamin Moore). 

The one (& possibly only) thing I do miss about our place in Stamford was having a walk-in pantry. That was a dream. Nowadays the food shares a space with the coats, but that's okay. You can't have it all. 

Since Christmas-

Mckay has been working hard and studying harder. He's taking the GMAT on Saturday so he spends long hours studying and taking practice tests. He is always studying for something & I love that about him. Although in a few months when we're in CFA mode I'll have to eat my words. He's a smarty pants! In our new ward he teaches the 11 year old primary class, is a Scout leader for the Blazers & a high adventure coordinator.

I have had the longest break in between these semesters.  I start again on Friday (maternity & psych) and I'm thrilled. I've enjoyed my time off- cooking, shopping, working some, making appearances at the gym, organizing, getting all the "to-do's" done -but am ready for a more structured, busy schedule. I teach the CTR 4 class now! They are so many things; wild, darling, noisy, crazy, teary, cute, happy, sad, energetic, loud, bouncy, eager... it keeps me on my toes. I taught the lesson today and as I was standing in front of the class (in my heels) one cute little guy looked up at me & said, "WOAH! You're the tallest!"
Best.

I'll be home for Christmas

Christmas break was so sweet.  

It was packed full of fun & I hardly got any pictures of the festivities.

Here are a few we managed to snap on the iPhone-

Movie time! Trevor wasn't mad, I almost considered cropping him out of this picture because he is scary in it, but just know that is not his real face.  We saw Sherlock Holmes (so cool!) & Mission Impossible (so ridiculous.) 

 

Sister love. We had a great time together. I could never love anyone as I love my sisters (as Jo of Little Women would say). Sharing make-up, clothes, hair products and ridiculous/stupid jokes never gets old with those two.

Christmas Day right after church.  I love that Christmas was also on a Sunday; that made it so special.  I also love that Trevor was telling us something very important and it was caught on camera.

Christmas Eve! 

The beautiful temple, we went and saw the lights with some friends and it was amazing. There were nativities everywhere, I loved it. I haven't been in a long while & it was so nice to go again.

Things I wish I had pictures of:

Our family ski day up at Beaver Mountain.  It was beautiful!  I don't think there was anyone on the entire mountain who was worse at getting off the stupid lift. I fell, collapse-sprawl-yelp style, ev-er-y single time. Poor Mckay, it was usually pathetically right onto him.  His bruises are all from me. Besides the falling, it was so much fun. 

The day we spent with Grandma Dunn & Grandma and Grandpa Craven.  It was so wonderful to spend time with them.  It will be a day I will never forget.  I love them so much, we are so blessed to have them in our lives.  

Breakfast with Shanna Tavenner, one of my favorite college roommates.

Breakfast with Krissy & Ali.  

Dinner party with a bunch of girls I went to high school with.

Dinner with Mckay's good friend Shea & his girlfriend.

Lunch with Ethan (the wonderful soul to whom we attribute our meeting/being together).

Lunch with Ben & Holly, good friends Mckay went to SVU with.

Always fun to get together and reminisce and laugh with good friends.

Trev & Mckay battling on the Wii.

Christmas this year was a perfect success.  We were so happy to get to spend our Christmas with my family for the first time.  It did not disappoint.
2012 is going to be a good year- I can feel it.

Winter Love

Time is flying by.  We've been busy little bees, going nonstop.  I am really looking forward to Christmas break so that we can relax and just spend some lazy time together with our families.

On November 30th we scored sweet tickets to a party at the Rockefeller Center for the lighting of the Christmas Tree.  It was magical & such a fun kick-off to the holiday season.  Justin Bieber was prerecorded so we totally missed out on his performance!  I thought Mckay was going to cry.  JK.  We were mostly there for the food (amazing) & the glowing 80 foot tree.

(The artsy shoe shot by mckay, cutie)

A few weeks later (Dec 9) we flew to LAX to attend a wedding in Palm Springs.  Not just any wedding, a gay, 60's themed wedding, quite the experience.  The ceremony, reception and farewell breakfast were held at the legendary Riviera Hotel.  The groom (well, one of them) was Mckay's college roommate, football teammate & good friend. 

Saturday morning we strolled around the downtown area and I got a pedicure, Mckay got a massage & we had a delicious Mexican lunch together.  That night was the wedding ceremony & reception, the venue was fabulous & everything looked perfect.  Ryan (groom #2) is a Hollywood/Broadway-type so all of the entertainment was provided by their Broadway-type friends.  One song was performed by "Christine" from Phantom of the Opera, yes, my jaw was on the floor.  We had a grand time dancing & mingling with all sorts of souls.

 (Immediate stop an In-n-Out the hour we landed, I've missed it.)

(Poolside heaven)

(11pm, right before we left the wedding, which went until 2am.)

(Mckay & blinking Graham)

(Funny "do not disturb" sign at the hotel, I was so amused.)

Lest I forget to mention- our weekend highlights:

Mckay: Meeting Stephanie Tanner from Full House.  She is (of course) a good friend of the couple & Graham introduced us.  Mckay had stars in his eyes, apparently she was the hot-ticket item for him 20 years ago.

Nicki: Nothing so life changing as Mckay's, BUT I did meet Kristina & Zack from Oprah's Own Show.  Kristina & I had on very similar dresses & she was so darling & said she loved mine.  I loved it.  If you didn't watch the show (we did because Ryan was on it) you have no idea who these people are, but they're great.

It's official!

We're moving!!! Just to Darien (a skip and a hop away) but definitely an upgrade.

Bye, bye Stamford, you truly were good to us. Bye, bye little top apartment house. I will miss you because you were the first place we called "home" together. First of every holiday. First dinner together as husband and wife. First big project. It was the perfect backdrop for the first 14 months of marriage. But I am really ready to say goodbye-

Goodbye:
Moldy bathroom
Slowest sink (the latest hoopla, we timed it-29 minutes to drain!)
Broken tub faucets
Yucky, dull, stained wood floors
Dust bunnies galore from radiant heat
Cold, drafty winter windows
Bacon smell every Sunday (3pm on the dot), apparently the landlords need their weekly pork fix (!!??!!)
Cat smell, thanks for that one too, landlords

But there are things I'm sad to say goodbye too as well:
Kitchen pantry
Separate his and her closets
Front and back deck
Arched doorway
The charm of a house almost 100 years old

Hello to the new! A DISHWASHER, thank you. A sparkling new bathroom, a sparkling new everything. No landlords on premise. Pretty, dark floors and over sized kitchen sink. Beautiful fresh paint I deliberated on for hhhhooouuurrrsss. I think we're really going to like it here (there).

Wedding in Palm Springs this weekend. Finals next week. Christmas in Utah the following week. Oh, and we're moving somewhere in all of that. Perfect. I am elated.

Oh! The primary reason for this post... Since we are moving we are also SELLING a few things:
LG  24" A/C unit (6 months old) 12,000 BTU
Grill (also 6 months old)
Microwave (1 year old)
and a rug, possibly two.

Be in touch if you are interested in any of the above items, or pass it on!

happy thanksgiving- seven things i'm thankful for.

for him. for his sweet words. for tickling my back whenever i ask. for doing the dishes after every meal i cook. for letting me sleep in the middle of the bed snuggled up so close to him. mostly for loving me, even when i'm not the best.

for nursing school. i took my last test yesterday (besides the final), phew! i feel so blessed to be in school, in such a great program, with such wonderful people. i love my new school friends & i have some of the best teachers i've ever had. and somehow i've managed to do well, i'm especially thankful for that.

for my family. immediate, in-laws, extended, new members i haven't met, those living and the special ones in heaven. i love them all dearly.

for our corky home. slowest-ever draining sink, unreliable heat and all. it's ours and i'm so grateful to have a place to call home.

for what i believe and know. for my church and the gospel. it makes me happy, it buoys me up, brings tears of joy to my eyes, makes my heart swell and grounds me in something that is so good.

for the beautiful temple and to have been married inside of it.

for christmas lights that make me feel happy & so excited to be spending christmas in utah this year.

crazy times square this thanksgiving

Boston is for lovers.

On Thursday Mckay called me from work and told me that there were open casting calls in Boston for The Amazing Race over the weekend and asked if I'd want to go.  It is our dream (especially his) to make it onto that show.  So we went!  Luckily, our wonderful friends Ashley and Scott recently moved to Boston -all the more reason to make the trek! They only live 2.5 hours away from us. Love!  We arrived at their house at 10pm on Friday night and chatted and laughed until 1am.

 On Saturday morning we stood in line with approximately 2,000 other people.  We got there early (7:45am) and there were already 500 or so teams lined up.  We stood out in the autumn chill for three hours chatting with two funny guys.  This picture is the crazy line. The right side is people almost into the interview area, the left side is the last of the line, after it wrapped around the entirety of a massive furniture warehouse.  We had 1 minute to impress the judges!  Pressure!

I also have to mention that Mckay tried to convince me to go CAMP OUT at the warehouse with him that night.  When I flatly refused he tried to convince me that he would just go and "scout it out".  Ridiculous?  Yes.  He was trying to convince me at 1:30am that it was a good idea.  He lost big time on that one.

We went back to Ashley and Scott's and the four of us drove to Lexington & Concord.  We learned all about the first shots of the revolution and Paul Revere.  It was really cool.  I love having access to so many amazing places as a result of living in the East.  The battles of Lexington and Concord marked the first armed outbreak of the colonists against their King.  And this lovely little house we're standing in front of is the Orchard House of Louisa May Alcott, it's where she wrote one of my favorite books, Little Women.

"The shot heard 'round the world"

This nice man was dressed up as part of the colonist militia and taught us all about what happened and guns and officers and bayonets and other intense things (see Ashley's and my face).  Behind us is the North Bridge where 500 militiamen fought and defeated the King's soldiers.

After Lexington & Concord we went to downtown Boston for dinner in Little Italy. 

And you can't go to Boston without a stop (or two) at Mike's Pastry for some to-die-for cannoli's! 

Back home to devour our cannolis and play a game of Life.  The boys were mad because we were "cheating" but that is a subjective statement I think.   

Sunday best!  Went to church on Sunday afternoon before saying goodbye.  It's so great having them "close", it makes being so far away from family seem not very far at all.  Thanks for a super fun weekend Ashlot!!!

*Have to put a plug in- while we were together in Boston we were missing our dearest Rachael's baby shower.  We missed her & our other friends who got to be there (jealous is right!!!) desperately.  Hopefully one day we can all be together again. 113!

Broomsticks are for sweeping.

Friday night we went to the city for a fancy-schmancy dinner at a chic, french restaurant -thank you Groupon! It was so fun. I love to eat out at new places... little did we know the night would take a turn for the interesting, in an assault and battery type of way.

So we're on our way to the restaurant and mistakenly got too close to Times Square which means we were slowed down by traffic and a million pedestrians swarming all over. We ended up on 40th, stopped at a red light with 15 or so other cars. It was a one-way street and there were two lanes of cars, we were on the right side of the street. I looked over to the other side and saw a scary looking man wielding a broom stick. I thought to myself how funny it was that he was just carrying a broom stick that he obviously picked up out of someones garbage pile on the sidewalk. He was walking with arms flailing, in the street, looking all around icky in appearance. I pointed him out to Mckay when two seconds later,
WHAM.
Psycho man starts assaulting cars. Literally, taking huge swings at the sides of people's cars. It was insane, wish I had a video for everyone to see. Imagine a baseball player, dressed as a bum, swinging with all his might into innocent, stuck-in-traffic cars, causing the loudest commotion and crunching sounds heard over the city noise. It was so scary. The light would not turn green. He got 4 or 5 cars before things started to move.

We were so nervous that he would cross the alley for us.
What do you even do in that situation!?!? I kept asking Mckay, "What would you have done?!!" and he just kept repeating, "You don't mess with crazies." and telling me that his adrenaline was pumping.

Thank heavens (seriously) we weren't one lane over, or our lovely Subaru would have a nasty wound and I would have peed my pants on the semi-new seats.
Uhg. That poor soul.

Weekend got less exciting from that point on.
Dinner was fabulous and we left the restaurant stuffed to the brim. We went to bed at 2am that night, I really hate doing that because the next day is painful, but he is a night owl so on the weekends I humor him.

Saturday we cleaned the apartment together. Mckay cleaned the tub for me! He even wore my purple cleaning gloves. It was the best.
Then we both studied for hours.
Watched a football game with friends.
Went grocery shopping at 1am. Seriously. Again, the worst. That was a case of bad time management, not Mckay wanting to stay up late and grocery shop with me :)

Sunday we went to the city for a few hours to cheer on a friend as he ran the NYC marathon, which was super cool. Initially, I had a bad attitude about going (too cold, traffic, Sunday, studying, blah...) but it was awesome. We were lucky and spotted our runner and cheered our little hearts out and then got back in the car and had a nice drive home together.
Sunday dinner with friends, always so enjoyable.
Study time.
Relax time.
Foot massage time.
Football time (those coincide).
Sleepy time.

A wonderful & eventful weekend.
Hello, Monday!