Getting Back in the Swing of Things.

We've been living here in our new place for about a week and a half now and it's finally starting to come together.  In fact, we actually had a few friends come in town and stay with us this weekend.  Our friend Andrew came down from Ft. Collins and Johnny and Gina are in town from Hawaii for their wedding this week!  It was wonderful to see them all again and it gave Matt a good chance to pick Andrew's brain about grad school since Andrew is about to start his second year of his MBA program.

We all went to see the band Blind Pilot at this really interesting venue Friday night--it was almost like a barn in a park in Boulder.  After the concert we hit up Pearl St Mall which is where a lot of shops, restaurants, and bars are in Boulder.  We haven't really gone out much here so we're still learning the best places to go, but we had a great time!

Waiting for the concert to start.

Blind Pilot.

Me and Gina.

It was nice to have a fun weekend with friends as this week is a big and busy one!  Today is Matt's first day of orientation and my first night at work.  I had my two days of orientation last week but tonight is my first shift on my floor.  I'm excited to get started in my new job and even more excited for Matt!  He has two weeks of orientation and his classes officially start on the 27th.  It seems as though we've been talking about him starting his MBA program for ages now so it's pretty exciting that it's finally here.  In fact, here's a picture of my handsome grad student husband on his way to his first day of school this morning!!

So handsome in his suit!! :)

We'll be heading back down to Colorado Springs later this week for Johnny and Gina's wedding this Friday.  We can't wait to stand beside two of our dear friends on their wedding day.  I'll try to get some pictures of the apartment taken next weekend now that we're all unpacked.

Xoxo!

And We're Back!!

Apologies for the absence of posting in the last month or so...we were busy packing up our life in Colorado Springs while avoiding the wildfire, took a much needed trip to St. Louis for the month of July, and have spent the last four days unpacking here at our new apartment.  I can't believe that we're already almost a week into August and that we're living in our new apartment!  It's going to be a bit of an adjustment and while we miss our old place, friends, and neighbors in the Springs, I think this place will work just fine for the next two years.  So, here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to this summer:

First, as I mentioned, we spent the end of June getting ready to move and taking in the whole wildfire situation.  It was a brand new experience for both of us and I started to write a post dedicated to it at that time, but I was interrupted mid-post and never really found the time to finish and post it.  Needless to say, it was horribly sad to watch on the news as the city that had become our home seemed to be hopelessly burning.  We've all seen the images on the news: the trees engulfed in flames, the C-130s making drops on the fire, the exhausted firefighters.  They're moving images for sure, but it's a whole different experience when the images are coming from your town.  The term "wildfire" seems to be misleading in itself--it makes you think of a fire out in the woods, in the wild.  However, that's not really the case.  These fires were in our cities, our home, and they burned people's home and lives to the ground.  It was hard to look at the images on the news and see these burning structures knowing that was once someone's home.  Some of the physicians and nurses from my old hospital lost their homes and I just cannot imagine how daunting a task it would be to have to essentially start over and rebuild one's life.  We are just so grateful that we never had to evacuate and that more lives weren't lost.

The Army packed our home up and we headed to St. Louis July 1st.  It was SO nice to be in town for more than just a weekend.  It seems like so many of our trips have been just a whirlwind of trying to squeeze so much into a short time.  We had a mental list of everything we wanted to do while we were in town this summer and I believe we checked all but two things off the list.  We weren't able to make it to a Cardinals game or down to my family's farm but we still had a wonderful trip.  While we absolutely love the state of Colorado, the people in St. Louis are pretty awesome and we miss all of you already!!  We were lucky enough to be able to make it up to Michigan for a week as well and it was such a relaxing week.  Matt even found time to compete in the Tour de Kirkwood triathlon before we drove back to CO and I was able to attend my friend Megan's bridal shower.  It was great to see all our family and friends and we can't wait for our next trip back.

We arrived back in CO late Wednesday night and have been settling into our new apartment since then.  As I mentioned, it's going to take a bit of adjusting as we're used to living in a larger space but it's starting to feel more like a home.  We've meet our neighbors and it just so happens that they're a young couple like us with a dog whose energy rivals Cooper's so he's already made a best friend. :)  I started orientation at work this week and it's so nice to only have a 10 minute commute.  This hospital is smaller than the one I was at previously, but I think it'll be a good fit.  Matt starts orientation for school in a week and then classes begin on the 27th.  We've got a wedding on the 17th as well--our good friends Johnny and Gina are getting married and both Matt and I are in the wedding party--so it's certainly going to be a busy month.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Michigan (if you've looked at the pictures on Facebook then these are nothing new) as that's really the only time we took any photos.

Quite possibly the best place to watch the sunset.

Typical beach day.

The hammock debacle 2012.

An evening stroll on the beach.

Enjoying a good book and the water on our toes.

Goofing off.

Big Red though it looks more like Big Pink.

A sunkissed couple. :)

Me and my dad.

How every evening was spent.

It's not a proper trip to Michigan without numerous sunset pictures.

I'll be sure to post some pictures of our apartment once it's a bit more put together.  Hope all is well with everyone back home, we miss you all!! Xoxo!