Just the Two of Us..

Lately I have had reasons to reflect on how grateful I am that Shawn and I have an endless surplus amount of time that we can hang out, JUST the two of us. This season we have spent hours cuddling by our Christmas tree, talking by the classy taped up multi-colored lights twinkling in our room, and falling asleep watching sports center on the couch. I have been thankful EVERY day for this Christmas break from school for Shawn's sake (okay, that's not true, mostly my sake). This morning he is at work, so I am sneaking away to my blog when I originally had started cleaning out our closet.

I was very lonely towards the end of the semester! I used to love being alone, but now I just don't last long..Shawn is taking an MCAT class on top of all of his other classes AND work so sometimes it feels like he is gone ALL the time. At the end of the day, I have to admire him when I am watching the E channel and he is still trying to keep his eyes open on the laptop studying. He knows how to get just what he wants in life, which is reason number 1 million that I am obsessed with him. When January hits I feel like doing a major blog update on the holidays and the past few months..until then I will be enjoying every last second, until school and work steal my boy again. For now, it's just the two of us. Can I just push pause on life for a few more weeks..PLEASE!

We are grateful for all the we have had in 2010. We have been blessed in many ways. We are especially grateful for friends and family, we may be bias but we are sure that ours are the greatest. Happy New Year! Until Next year...

Elder Allen

Today we dropped Aaron off at the MTC. He flew in last night from Arizona and we were so grateful to have just one extra night with him. We have enjoyed so much having him live in Utah the same time as us, come over for dinner, and make the long drives back and forth to AZ with us..he really is the best brother in law!
Aaron is Shawn's one and only brother and it was hard for Shawn to leave him. He really held it together, being the tough older brother that he is-but..I won't get into details of what happened in the car after we pulled away for Shawn's sake :) I've always know that Shawn is very attached to his little brother who plays golf with him, who never fails to bring a smile, who will play Super Nintendo for hours with him, and who so diligently responds to the nickname Bean. Shawn is not the only attached to this boy. I have loved having in my family, I refuse to believe that it has only been for a year and a half. It feels like so much longer..

Aaron will be the best missionary can't wait to hear about all of his wonderful experiences!! We are very proud that he is one of our own..Go Elder Allen!

He looked very handsome and all grown up..I thought it was cool that this is one of the same suits Shawn wore on his mission.




Can't wait to see this boy again in just two short years..and am very grateful for his sacrifice to serve! Not to mention we couldn't be more proud :)

We are Grateful.

It's true. We really are! We have many blessings to remember this year. This year was our year to spend thanksgiving in Arizona with the Allen's. We went down to Arizona a week early to see Aarons mission farewell. He did amazing just like we knew he would. We are grateful for his decision to go on a mission even though we will miss him! I have never sent a brother off on a mission..so I'm excited me and Shawn get to drop him off at the MTC even though we just have to leave him at the curb :( we are excited for him! Since we went down for Aaron's farewell we had an early Thanksgiving with his family. I left my memory card home so I didn't get one picture..but it was wonderful.

I had to work this year on Thanksgiving. It changed my perspective of the holiday and I realized I am very grateful for our health this year. Thanksgiving was not as glamorous as it was in my head. We decided we would go out to a nice restaurant for dinner, but everywhere was closed when I got off work. We rescheduled our celebration dinner for Friday night. And that's okay. The rest of Thanksgiving weekend we enjoyed our Christmas decorations and the new snow. We collectively decided to wrap up the weekend with about 8 hours of cuddling and doing nothing by the tree. We even watched Miracle on 34th street..

I have to admit I was sad that we weren't around family this year, and I might have pouted for thirty seconds when our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of left over enchiladas when I had imagined it so much better in my head. But I learned this year that celebrations of being grateful come in all different forms. This year for me it was being at home alone with my very best friend..we decided we are very grateful for our jobs, our amazing families, our friends, our cozy place to live, our religion, and of course for each other..I could go on forever but I won't.

Tonight maybe we will sit down by the tree again, and drink some sparkling cider that I forgot about on Thanksgiving after a long day at work..and we can celebrate one last time all that we are grateful for and toast to the start of a brand new season!! Happy thanksgiving and I guess on that note while we are at it..Merry Christmas!

Very Happy Monday

hmm today I woke up to a nice big hug and a few kisses from my favorite boy. Today I went for a run at Sugarhouse park after a morning rain and listened to Enya for 3.5 miles-which is far for me these days-and while I ran, I thought about how life is good. I usually hate Mondays. I love the weekend and I count down the days. but NOT today! Today I just love this day. I love it for so many reasons I can't even explain it. I woke up on the right side of the bed..life is just coming together

Our fun started last weekend- my Aunt/sister Lori who everyone has heard all about got married and couldn't have looked prettier. During that weekend I got to spend some quality time with my sisters, ALL of my sisters and it felt so good to be together. They are my all time favorite girls.


My most beautiful friend Whitney Price-SMITH got married on Friday and it was a blast of a day. She really couldn't be cuter, and Mike is the greatest for her. See how pretty she is? It was so fun to see old friends again..

Speaking of old friends, we had some stop by to visit yesterday morning, it really did make my day. Oh how I love this girl, and don't see her nearly enough.


So now today I am worn out because I am not as young and capable of party weekends as I used to be. Becuase of that, today I am thinking I might just relax the day away. I am still in my running clothes, I am reading my book, writing in my journal and of course taking time for the blog.

This is the boy I wait 8 hours for on my days off. This is the boy who busted out his dance moves this weekend at Whitney's reception, and made me laugh until my cheeks hurt. He even slowed down and gave me a little undivided attention on every slow song. This is the boy I can beg to dance with me forever and ever..just like we did way back when. He won me over this weekend, once again.. he would be disgusted to know I singled him out this way :)



Today I get to see this sister of mine, who never fails to make me happy. I get to obssess over my little niecy who has had a hard life lately growing her first new tooth. Just when I thought she couldn't be cuter, she pops out a little baby tooth.

Can I add that we had a sleepover with these two cousins? They were wonderful houseguests. I love when Shawn and Stetson get together, they were on top of the world. Holly and I had to beg for a little attention every now and then. It's sad to admit that I rarely see Shawn as happy as I do when he is with Stetson and Tyson watching sports center and laughing his head off at who knows what. Someday I hope to be as fun for him as those two are!

I am going to sit here as long as I want and listen to Christmas music on Pandora while I fold some laundry, and watch the rain fall, and paint my toenails. Basically just because I can.I might just sit here most of the day, until the highlight of my day comes tonight at 6:30 pm when Shawn walks back through the door into our cozy little house and is all mine for maybe one lucky hour until he opens his books. This is one of those blessed times I am just plain grateful for life itself. So I am just going to sit here and relish every minute of it.

p.s. you might laugh if you knew yesterday morning I accidentally woke up crying on the couch before we had our visitors becuase life was too hard, and I worked too much, and I had to wake up too early, and Shawn studies too much, blah blah blah..so pretend you don't know that I'm human and I have some crazy mood changes. That's not what today is about, I'll fix that later.

Perspective.

This month all of my shifts have been in the pediatric ICU at Primary's. I have been spending some time learning about all of the more advanced equipment that is specifically used in the ICU setting, so I can help in that unit more often. Naturally, dealing with more advanced equipment, means dealing with sicker kids. I am not a parent, I don't understand the feelings of loss and disappointment that occur on a daily basis inside that special unit. I don't feel like I can relate. I do however, remember hearing some news once upon a time that I wished more then anything I could erase. I do remember looking ahead a few weeks after I heard that news and thinking how miserable it would be to somehow survive them. Because of that experience, I watch the people I see walking around everyday and I so much admire them. They are much better people then me. I stare at them, yes- I have a major staring problem. But I still stare, because I want so bad to be more like them. They amaze me and I have learned so much more then how to handle advanced equipment in the past few weeks. It has persuaded me to put my life back into perspective.

On Tuesday I went to work. I had another busy day, and I told myself in the midst of it to take in every single detail. There was so much more to learn then how to write down and record numbers, how to change out drips, and how to make changes on the ventilator. I learned a lot about perspective on Tuesday. I caught a glimpse of parental love for a child. I realized life is a privilege.

I went home on Tuesday night to a castle instead of a teeny tiny 800 square foot house, with a temporarily broken furnace. I was picked up by Prince charming instead of a very tired over worked, over studied husband. We drove home in a wonderful reliable car, instead of my corolla with one side scratched up that we share and overdrive. I walked to the gym last night all by myself, down the quiet Sugarhouse main street. I thought more then once about the families I had left behind at the end of my shift. The people I look up to and admire. The people I want to teach me everything they know. And I was excited to return to work later this week, because I was excited to rub shoulders once again with those who are incredible. I am so far from the strong, inspirational nurses I see all around me, and the nurse I hope to someday be. BUT I do love being a nurse. Sometimes I forget that. Actually almost every night before I work I forget that. But I did choose a profession that keeps me fulfilled, and most of the time reminds me to keep life in perspective. I am very thankful, because I need that.

23 is awesome.

Today we went to conference. Just what I needed. I wore my highest shoes so that no one could block my view this year when the prophet walked in, and it worked. I love that feeling. Being able to attend conference a few times since we have lived in Utah is one of my most favorite memories of the time we have spent here..


A few days ago I woke up and all the sudden I was 23..
I woke up to breakfast in bed, for the first time ever in my life. For some reason breakfast tastes better in bed and no one ever filled me in on that. We made our way out to the couch and cuddled for a really long time, because time doesn't really matter on your birthday (neither do calories :))
We look five when we wake up-

Because we had all the time and calories in the world to spare, we went to lunch at Elizabeth's tea shop and bakery..hmm my husband knows me so well.


The afternoon I spent with two of my favorite girls shopping. Jaimee and I bought Sophie some jeggings and some wanna be ugg boots. It was pretty close to the highlight of my day.

Also during my birthday week Shawn and I drove up to a quiet lake at Brighton resort. I have been wanting to do the hike up to Twin Lakes or Lake Solitude but Shawn had homework :( If anyone lives close who likes to hike I'm ready for it before it gets too cold! The leaves are changing and it was so heavenly at night.
There was a perfect reflection in the water-




Now I am the same age as my husband again. I have to quiet my mind when it starts heading back to my teenage years reminding me that I thought I would have life figured out and be perfectly settled into adult life by the time I was in my twenties. None of that happened. Oh well.
23 is here like it or not. And since it's here either way, 23 is going to be awesome.

Sweet September..

My beloved boots have already been over worn, the sweaters are right back nice and cozy where they belong and..Shawn's backpack is back in all it's glory right in the middle of our front room 24/7. Fall is creeping on in..I love September. We have spent some time exploring the hiking trails around our new place, we have had some company, and we enjoyed the state fair Utah style (not to be confused or mixed up with Idaho style..they are very different things)

We hiked antelope island with a few buffalo on labor day:

Shawn enjoyed it I think-




I babysat Sophie last week and found her knocked out while I tried to sneak a shower. I must be really fun..

We did dress her up and take some ridiculously cute pictures..which was easy because she is so cute anyway. I'm not bias

I hiked in Neff's canyon with Shawn's mom a few weeks ago when they so kindly came to visit us. And we had not the first, and not the last of many chicken grillings at the lovely park by our house.




We went to the Utah state fair with our dear friends, and locked ourselves out at 1 am later that night..


Throughout all the fun, September has to bring with it some nostalgic thinking..It reminds me of driving home in my Focus from high school down the long middle of nowhere road to Burton, and running inside as fast as I could to watch Oprah with my mom on her bed. And being offended if by chance she was ever unable to be home when I walked in the door from school.

But this year it just so happens that I am loving September for the 23rd time in my life. And while I'm at it I am watching Oprah for the first time in a very long time as I type this. And I miss my mom. When I came home from work today I felt like my house might possibly be almost close to smelling like my mom's house does in the fall. And it was the most inviting smell I have came home to in a long time.

Thank you September for coming back ever year. We will enjoy you every second until you leave..


Happy Fall...

Summer Glance

We are back from Arizona, and settling in to Salt Lake City. We are having withdrawals. From Shawn's family, from our niece and nephew, from late night Rook, and built in perma-friends. We loved our summer and it flew by too fast! I have to admit I made myself very useful by the pool with my book. I have great in-laws. Thanks for more things then I could list on a blog page..We love you guys!

Before we came home we celebrated our very first, one and only, ANNIVERSARY!! We left for only 48 hours. We drove only 6 hours to the California coast, but somehow it became more fun then our 6 day Cabo cruise honeymoon. I have to admit our honeymoon was unique in the fact that certain life circumstances made me (not proudly) the world's biggest marriage chicken bride in the ENTIRE world. Our honeymoon included night sweats, hyperventilating, and don't worry, severe chest pain. Shawn is a brave soul to not try to jump out with a 24 hour cancellation deal or something.

This year we had none of that. This year around August 7th I had pathetic tears of being overly-happy, one too many times. I am so very lucky to be married. I love every single second I can soak in with just Shawn and I. Shawn knows if he ever wants me to do anything, all he has to say is.."ya and it'll be just me and you"..and I jump all over it. Even if it's watching ESPN, or going to the driving range. On our actual anniversary we ate fresh seafood, and relaxed at Newport beach. That night we watched the Disneyland fireworks, and walked up and down the lit up streets of Downtown Disney.




The next day we spent a lazy afternoon watching sailboats float by at Venice Beach, and took a walk along the Santa Monica pier. Shawn bought me a $1 beach bracelet that I have become severely attached to..For me it was the perfect cheapo weekend..just me and my boy.

Finally, to start off our new year second year of marriage we moved back to Utah, this time to a new place-Sugarhouse. It's a little far from our comfort zone of Draper/South Jordan but it's so close to school and work we couldnt' resist. Last weekend we had our friends over to play games with us in our house full of boxes-they are adorable and they reminded us what we already knew..we're gonna miss this life someday. The college life, the one car, the ridiculously easy life of just the two of us. It's very true, are we ever going to miss it! So, washer/dryer, microwave, dishwasher,dresser and second car-you can all wait, we don't need you! Trust me, we are excited for the day we have all those things! But for now, we are fine walking to the park and eating $2 taco bell meals while we get to hold hands..For now, we can think about how wonderful it is that at least for the current split second time being, life can be and currently is, just plain SIMPLE. That doesn't happen too often. Here's our new little beauty, in all it's little charming simplicity. Welcome back to the 30's. Just needs a little TLC-


Plus, I could never complain about being back in Utah knowing I am going to see this little face at my leisure..

Recent Life

For some reason lately I have been feeling like this about my profession..A little down in the dumps you could say


The past few days I came through Utah on my way back from Idaho, to work my three quick shifts at Primary Children's before heading home. I wish I had all the time in the world to see my friends that I miss so much, but instead I have to be a grown up and work :( I am exhausted from a shift that seemed way too long, and I got off two hours early! I am so happy to be back in a nice clean hospital, I could kiss the ground of that place! I have been away from Shawn for over a week to work, and that is adding to my down in the dumps-ness. Unfortunately after 6 weeks of not working and enjoying my life in the pool TOO much, I found a place to make myself useful. Sadly enough, it is usually working nights in the Arizona state prison. Definitely in ALL aspects a 360 degree turn from daytime pediatric nursing. As much as I love primary's I feel like it has been good for me to be away from the comforts of the place I consider my nursing home.

I have been working in an all men prison-at first I was terrified, I'm serious. Since I have been going back I have met some very respectable men, and every time I see them turn to walk away from me and head back to their cells alone I try to imagine how in the world that must feel. When I make the hour drive home through the Arizona desert, I think about how grateful I am that people in this life have the opportunity to change. I also think every single mile about the fact that I am only.. ONLY..doing it for a paycheck.That's it.

Last week we got a break from work, school, the prison, everything and went to Idaho with my family. I love my family! We went jet skiing, canoeing, played games, and just hung out by the lake. To me, there is no place like Idaho. Who knows if life circumstances will bring us back for good someday, but until then I will just be so grateful every time I get to visit a place so beautiful!

We missed Emily and Josh this year, neither of them could come, but family outings are not the same if even one person is missing..they better come next year we sure miss all being together. I have been spoiled being around my mom so much, it's hard not to go through withdrawals.


Tonight I am lucky enough to babysit little Soph. She is sleeping in her swing with the chubbiest cheeks ever. Her little swing plays music that is so familiar to me from piano songs we were forced to practice growing up. It makes me miss all my sisters like crazy, and I can't believe one of them is old enough to have a little baby herself. I should include Josh in there, he contributed to the Allen music with his 6th grade trumpet skills.


We are moving back to Utah next month. Back to the University of Utah, back to Primary Children's full time. We will miss our time with Shawn's family we have had so much fun with them. We are excited to get back to the place where we started out as Mr. and Mrs. Allen.

Tonight I am realizing why I write on my blog. I started out exhausted and annoyed, and I am ending very grateful for the time I have had to think back about how good life really is. Tonight I am grateful for a job, even though I like to complain about how tired working makes me. I am grateful for both my family and Shawn's, we are so very lucky when we pause long enough to think about it. I am grateful for our family friends, who have reminded us of late of the purpose of family-right when we needed it. We have grown together and thought a lot about life as we prayed and still pray for their little girl. We love you Pat and Ash. Thanks for your example! I'm grateful for my family who let me intrude when I come up to work once a month, and I'm grateful that I get a little time alone with miss Sophie tonight and that she is being so well behaved. Life really is good for us..we just need to take more time to stop and remember :) Happy Summer!

Big Huge OLD..23

So my best friend in the whole world turned 23 this week! I can't even believe we are in our mid-twenties, it actually sounds depressing when I say it that way. I had to post a few pictures from his special day. I am extremely lucky to have him around in my daily life. I think about how lucky I am when I pick up his shoes and his backpack, and his calculator after school-because I know he works so hard on his homework and in class. I think I'm lucky when he picks me up from work, or when we go out to dinner, or when I make him dinner-because I love having someone I love to make dinner for. I think about how lucky I am when I fold his laundry, or start laughing really hard, or come home to him waiting up ready to talk. I secretly think I'm lucky when I rinse out his cereal bowls, and put away the remote because I know he will somehow return the favor..I appreciate how hard he works all the time, and I am extremely lucky to be his wife.



I am very happy that he was born 23 short years ago..can't wait until 53, 73..and 93?? Who knows..either way it's lucky me.

This is blurry but this is the birthday boy in his cute birthday shirt


I could go on..but I'll spare you. We had a fun day on his birthday we went swimming, went out to dinner with family and friends and spent the day and night together..what else could we ask for. happy birthday buddy ol pal :)

Latest. Greatest. Longest..

Just a few quick pictures from our cruise..wish I had all the time in the world to post more. And these most definitely are not doing it justice. Alaska is phenomenal..if thats even how you spell that word.





So, I could never catch up on everything that has been going on..but Alaska was completely beautiful! Things like that are not good for me because all I can think about is how gorgeous so many different places in the world are..and how I have to find a way to see every one of them even if it makes me broke (Ironic after my "Dream World" post isn't it?).

Just an attempt to share the greatness of our cruise much too quickly, we went to three places in Alaska and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. There were so many old people on the cruise, so at night we had the ship basically all to ourselves. We would stay up till two am on the Norwegian Star playing games with Shawn's parents, going to shows, listening to music,and my personal favorite--dancing at the country western hootenanny (Shawn actually dances..it's a secret-but he was so very cute)
Part of the cheap bargain deal of a cruise was that we all 4 share one glorious cabin (conveniently pictured above) There were four twin beds. shawn and I couldn't handle sleeping across the room from each other for all seven nights(naturally)..so we slept on a less then twin size pull out cot in between two twin beds that his parents slept on. One of the twin beds went unused and our room keeper seemed like he thought it was a little sketchy that we would let one bed stay empty..It was hilarious. Our cabin was teeny tiny we were laughing so hard putting our stuff away because we kept rubbing bums with each other every time we turned around...luckily for us Shawn's parents are so awesome and so easy to be around that it only made it more fun.

Our cruise left out of Seattle which was gorgeous in itself.. I wish we could have seen more. We stopped to see a family from Shawn's mission and I loved seeing how happy it made him to be back in that area. On the way home we stopped in Oregon in a random national forest to see all some greenery..Then we stopped for peppermint milkshakes at some Peppermint hole in the wall we couldn't resist--Its not like we had 15 hours in the car left or anything..taking our sweet time and getting side tracked is a real problem we have. We usually get made fun of for it..but thats fine :)

Over all-The shows, the food, and the scenery on the cruise were all far above my expectations..but the company was the best part. Thanks to Shawn's parents for inviting us and finding such a good deal!! We will love those memories forever!

Since we have been in Arizona I have been surprised how this weather has grown on me..I love the smell of the orange trees when we go running at night..I love the feel of the sun baking us, daily pool hair, and just being scorching hot all the time..this place has done it's job in keeping me satisfied. I am very grateful for the chances we have had to spend so much time here, with Shawn's family and especially our cute niece and nephew.
On a side note..Last week I flipped the heat on to warm up my toes..its pretty much a regular routine. Shawn looked at me and addressed me of course by saying, "Girrll, are you kidding me?" (ha I bet if you know him you can hear him say that, it's like his most used line) We can NOT Put the heat on in this car if it is above 90 degrees outside, my contacts are drying out...While I was laughing I figured that he makes sense and I would let him have this one. I guess he's pretty logical so he won that one. But usually I win, just for the record.

Last but not least of the latest (this is not included in the greatest) I wish I had pictures to post but our one and only favorite brother left for Iraq this week. He looks so handsome and official in his army clothes with Allen across the front. What Allen pride I have, especially now. I love that name and I am glad Josh is doing it proud. He hurt his foot and I begged him to play it up so he could get left behind. He let me know that is not what soldiers do. I am extremely proud of him, but worry about him everyday. I will post a picture on here soon when I can figure out how to get one..but for now, with the fourth of July coming up, maybe it's time we all pray a little extra hard for every soldier-not just Sargent Allen but the millions of others out there leaving families as well..

Happy summertime! I miss all of my friends I hope I run into some of you soon..in Arizona maybe??? Yes, that means I am hinting-COME VISIT!