Baby Shower

One of my bestest friend in the whole world is expecting 
a little boy this spring, so we had to celebrate!

It was just a small group of ladies enjoying some dessert and chatting. 

So excited for the little man to get here!

The spread was pretty simple; cupcakes, cakepops, popcorn, fruit and flavored water.

I made a diaper tower! Never done it before, I just feel bad for who ever has to take it apart...

Mom and Mom-to-be

And to take home... a cinnamon "bun" in the oven... Get it?

Unemployed

So as most of you know as of May 4, 2012 I no longer had a job. And technically, I have retired from Corporate America. At least that is the plan for now. I really hope I never have to go back to banking, but never say never.

Anyway, the reason for my retirement was Jared and I moved to New Mexico. But, back to my unemployment, when preparing to move I told all our friends and coworkers that since I won't be working for a few months my goal is to be better at blogging/updating facebook. Let's see... It is October... We've been in New Mexico for 4 months... I'm doing real good at my goal. My two excuses - we've been busy traveling and everything keeps changing!!! I swear every time I log in, blogger and facebook are different. Slightly annoying for the technically challenged.

So right before graduation (right after retirement) my dad took the family on a graduation/birthday cruise to the Bahamas. It was AMAZING!

Here is the group waiting for the shuttle. Yes, we did have matching shirts.

The first dinner on the ship. My "team" shirt didn't last long...

The first stop was Freeport

All we did was relax on the beach. It was perfect!

The formal dinner night

Hanging out on the boat waiting for the next port

Nassau. It was another beautiful day on the beach. But two pairs of sunglasses were lost while playing in the waves. 

We celebrated Lai's 50th Birthday

Back on dry land, we visited NASA

Love this little face

The boogies

After Bryson, Julie, Thomas and Asher left, Jared and I spent a few days at The Villages. 

Having lunch at Finn's

Graduation

So proud of this guy! 

Graduated from Marquette School Of Dentistry. 

Honors include: Cum Laude, Best of the Best Excellence in Prosthodontics, Oral Implantology and Implant Dentistry Pre-Doctoral Achievement Award.

The graduation weekend was a huge celebration complete with 3 processionals. The school did a good job of making the celebration last as long as possible.

First there was the Honors Ceremony were Jared received his cords and two awards.

Then we had the "Hooding Ceremony" where Jared received his doctoral hood.

And finally Marquette's graduation. He made it! 

Missing Wisconsin

So it's been awhile since my last post. Yes, I have a very hard time with this blog thing. But, I am trying to be better. So here is a post of something that has been on my mind.

For those of you that know me, the title of this post may shock you. I know! It shocked me too. But I really have been missing Wisconsin. I never thought I'd say that. 

In May 2012 Jared graduated from dental school. We found some job options in Albuquerque, NM and decided to give it a try. I was pretty excited to move. Get away from the cold and humidity. But when the time came, I was really sad. It was really hard leaving our first home together and to say goodbye to all our friends. We made a lot of really good memories in Wisconsin. But we are looking forward to the future and making new memories in a new home. 

But, here are a few things I am missing most...

- The tree lined streets. In summer the trees were gorgeous, green. In fall the changing leaves were spectacular. And in winter after a snow storm, it really felt like a wonderland.

- All the green. I don't mind the desert of ABQ, but in Wisconsin, the grass was perfectly green without a sprinkler system.

- The festivals and fairs. Ok Chocolate Fest was a bit of a let down. But there were many other good ones!

And the best of all... State Fair!

- Our house. It was 100 years old and it had issues, but it was a good house.

- The Cottage. Yes, we will visit the cottage in the years to come, but it was so nice to live so close and be able to head "Up North" for the weekend. 

- And most of all... We miss our friends! Love you all!

Family Pictures

This fall Jared and I decided to take our first family pictures. Our super awesome friend Tiffany Fairbourn was kind enough to take the picture for us. And yes, our dogs are part of our family picture. They are family members. At least I don't refer to them as our children. Side note: Milwaukee in the fall has the most spectacular scenery. This is just a small taste, and doesn't do it justice.


Setting up the shot. I just love how posed Sheamus is. Pretty much the only time he sat and looked at the camera.




Me getting ready for my close up...




And the winners are....

The full body shot



And up close