We are not saying good-bye

John signed a contract and so we now have a real job. We are completely grown up (well, on the outside at least). I have been putting this post off until we had a more secure future and I was ready to say good-bye. Well, I am not ready to say good-bye, but I better get used to the idea since we only have about 3 weeks left, and one of those weeks we will be in WDW. Anyway, it has been very easy to complain while we have been here for school, but there are lots of things I am going to miss. Here are some of them, in no particular order:

1. The Green-ness. It is so beautiful right now. All of the trees have leaves and the flowers are blossoming. It really is gorgeous.

2. The Fall. It is very easy to complain about the weather here (especially when it is 30 below) but I love Autumn here. It seems to stay fairly warm for a while and the colors are wonderful! There is one tree in front of our apartment complex that gets a beautiful red-ish, orange that will really be missed.

3. My Chiropractor. I know this is silly, but he really helped. After Connor was born, my shoulder would get so tight that I could move my arm above my head, not to mention turn my head in any direction. I can actually sleep on my stomach again because I can turn my neck in a normal way (even though I know I am not supposed to). It is fabulous!

4. The Zoo. I love this zoo. If you go there, you will understand.

5. Book Club. Not only was this a great way for me to read some really good books, it was a great time to be with some great people. I love all the women in book club and will miss all the wonderful discussions we had (especially the ones that were not related to the books, which we had quite a few of). Oh, and the food was always great!

6. The YMCA. It is so nice to be able to drop my kids off and go to a fun exercise class. It has also been so nice for Sydney. She has taken a lot classes there and I know she is really going to miss her swimming and ballet classes. And I don't know how I am going to stay motivated to exercise without my fellow "steppers". It is so much easier to exercise when you have good friends keeping tabs on you.

7. Babysitting groups. It has been nice being so close to other young parents who are also in need of quality one-on-one time with their spouses. The kids love having their friends come over or going over to their house for a night and of course we loved the opportunity to talk over a nice dinner (which I didn't have to prepare) and actually hear one another.

8. Weekly Summer BBQ's. Okay, maybe it wasn't weekly, but it sure felt like it sometimes and it was great!

9. The Chocolate Nazi. Or the Northern Chocolate Company, as it is properly named. This is the best chocolate I have ever had. Come to think of it, I will miss all the wonderful goodies we have found here, like Amy's Candy Kitchen (best caramel apples ever!), ice cream at the Dairy Store in the zoo, and you can't forget the cream puffs at the state fair.

10. Great Friends! of course. I have met some wonderful people here and now that we are all blogging, I hope to keep in touch (still planning on the trip in 5 years!). I will really miss being able to run upstairs in my pj's to borrow the next episode of "24" at 11:00 at night, or drop the baby monitor off when I have to run to the grocery store real quick, or the desserts brought over because they "can't be at my house or I will eat them all". I will also miss the "is that a plus sign?", and the "guess who else is pregnant", and especially the "hey, my kids are driving me crazy, can I come up and let them play with your kids?" FUN TIMES! But luckily I don't really have to say good-bye because there will many opportunities to see each other, it will just take a little more planning for the next "girls only movie night" (it's going to be the "Twilight" movie right?) Again, I am not saying "good-bye", just "see ya later"!

Our Quick Trip

Since John's mom was in town for the graduation, we decided to take a little trip with her to Door County. It was cold, but it sure is beautiful up there. I really am going to miss all the "green" that is here.

Anyway, we stayed in a little lodge right off the lake. We visited a lighthouse,

played on the beach,

and visited a farm.

We ate at a few "mom and pop" restaurants and really enjoyed ourselves, well, most of the time.

Dr. John

We finally made it! Dental School is officially over!

On Saturday, John was hooded in a beautiful church downtown. I particularly loved the beautiful lilac color of the hood. I guess lilac is the official color for dentists.

The school had wonderful "refreshments" after the hooding ceremony. It was actually more like a nice buffet dinner. There was so much food and it was good to see everyone a little more relaxed, now that the stress of school was over. (No one wanted to think about the stress of a job that night)

On Sunday, John received his diploma and it became official.

These are all the Mormon guys. It was nice to have good friends to help get through these last 4 years. (Well, some days. The Halo nights? Okay some of them were needed.)

It is a little strange being here. I am just relieved and ready to be done. John may be a little relieved, but I think he is more anxious for the future. Luckily we have been offered a job in a location that we both like. We are in the process of looking over the contract and all that fun stuff. (I think I need a translator for a lot of it.) I will let you know what happens. Congrats to all those graduates of 2008!

Happy Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was different than any other one I have had. John and I got sick over the weekend, but John still made it a special day. He and Sydney decorated a cake for me (which Sydney was very happy to point out the yellow sprinkles because yellow is my favorite color) and got my favorite treat, chocolate covered strawberries. Yummy!!

Connor really wanted some too. Here he is saying please in sign, note the desire in his face.

We all enjoyed it very much!

Sydney also got up and sang in church today with the rest of the primary and I was so proud of her. I remember when I was kid doing those things, my mom always cried and I thought she was just a big baby. Well, as with most other things, I understand my mom a lot more now that I am a mom. I am turning into my mom, a big baby too. But that is okay. I always knew my mom loved me and I hope that my kids know it too, even if they think all this crying is silly.
I will have to say that being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done and probably ever will do, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Sydney is a great big sister and loves to help me around the house. I love reading her stories and hearing her laugh. Her newest accomplishment is climbing the "big" tree in front of our apartment (with a little help from her friend Noah).

Connor has turned into my cuddly kid (well, more than Sydney any way) and I love to just watch him play. He loves his big sister and laughs at everything she does. He also tries to do everything she does. Although he has hit the "terrible twos", he is still a pretty good kid. He listens most of the time and is very good at saying "please." Oh, and he has a strange, but cute fascination with his belly button that just makes us laugh.

(He may hate me for this one day)

Really?

Ya, that's what John said, but I know I am not the only one excited for this movie! (a wink out to all those who have read the books more than once.) Stephenie Meyer was just named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2008 by Time Magazine and I think that is just great, and funny.

Girls Night Away

That's right, no husbands and no kids. It was a lot of fun to be around good friends who are all in the same walk of life and who are all so supportive. I will sure miss everyone when we move. I look forward to a reunion. We went to Chicago and were overwhelmed by the size of everything (including the fake body parts). I think The Gap on the "magnificent mile" had 4 levels to it. It was a little cold, so we didn't spend much time on Navy Peer, just long enough for me to feel like I needed a hot dog and a churro. We also got to try the real Chicago style pizza and it was pretty darn good. We also got a LOT of shopping in, which was really productive, and fun, without children. I also feel like I should send out a special THANK YOU to all the husbands who kept our children alive while we were livin' it up. My wonderful husband even cleaned up the house for me. When can I do it again?